2010 Kitsap County Fair canning
entries. Photo by Meegan Reid
WSU Kitsap Extension once again is offering a series of food
preservation classes so you can take a taste of that very short
summer into winter.
This time, all classes are from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sundays at the
Silverdale YMCA, and you can
register online. Cost is $95 for all four classes or $35 per
class.
Classes start Oct. 9 with a look at Sassy Salsas. Guess what
you’ll be making.
Next up, on Oct. 16 is “In a Pickle” in which they’ll discuss
the process of fermentation and brining pickles. Participants will
make and take home a quick-make pickle.
On Oct. 23, you can learn how to safely use a pressure cooker to
can low acid foods like vegetables, seafood and meats. In class,
participants will can low-acid vegetables.
Oct. 30 is a look at the variety of ways to preserve apples from
canning it to making pie filling, dehydrating, and making sauces
and ciders. Participants will take home a jar of apple sauce.
If you’ve ever seen those impressively pretty plates of
Scandanavian cookies and wanted to learn to make your own, now’s
your chance.Oslo Lodge, Sons of Norway in Bremerton will host
three, free cookie baking workshops.I heard about it somewhat late
(in today’s paper), so the first one, in which the group baked
Spritz cookies beginning at 9 a.m. today will probably be tough to
make in time (about 15 minutes as of this posting).
The next two, however, are coming Sept. 26 and Oct. 3, also
starting at 9.
On Sept. 26, they’ll bake Sanbakkel (pictured), which is A
tender almond cookie baked in tiny tins.
On Oct. 3, it’s Krumkake, airy cookies baked on a special hot
iron with decorative etching and rolled into a cone.
Registration is required. Call 360-373-1503 or 360-377-7356.
The classes are at the lodge on Warren Avenue, at the north end
of Olympic College’s parking lot near the bridge.
The Washington State
University Kitsap Extension’s Small Farms Team this week will
kick off a series of classes dubbed “Hip Homesteading” to teach
skills from jam and pickle making to home brewed beer. (Mmmm
beer.)
All but the homebrewing class will be taught at Silverdale
Community Center, 9729 Silverdale Way. Cost is $35 per class ($50
per family). 4H and FFA youth are free.
The first class starts Thursday from 10 a.m to 1 p.m. with a
lesson in using some of the season’s fresh berries to make jam.
Bring an apron and a sack lunch.
For more information on this and other classes, contact Shannon
Harkness at 360-337-7026.
Here is a list of other classes coming this month:
Cheesemaking: Monday, July 11 6 p.m. to 9
p.m.
Homebrewing: Thursday, July 14 6 p.m. to 9
p.m., at the
Slippery Pig Brewery, 795 NW Finn Hill Road, Poulsbo
Hot Summer Nights Farmwalk: Monday, July 18 6
p.m. to 8 p.m., at Red Barn Farm/Wyckels Farm on Central Valley
As part of it’s continuing series of food classes, Washington
State University Kitsap Extension will host a class on fermenting.
(Think sauerkraut.)
Here’s their press release on the class:
BREMERTON – Experienced and novice food preservationists will
learn all aspects of fermenting foods at the Friendly Fermentation
class to be held at the Silverdale Community Center on Saturday,
June 18th, 2011.
WSU Kitsap Small Farms Team is pleased to host nutritionist and
fermentation diva, Trish Carty for this afternoon workshop.
Friendly Fermentation will de-mystify home fermentation, while
simplifying the process and enforcing the health benefits of
lacto-fermented foods. The class will cover a brief historical view
on fermenting, detail the process involved, and discuss materials
to get you started. We will have several hands-on demonstrations to
show just how simple fermentation is!
In her book, Nourishing Traditions, Sally Fallon writes, “The
proliferation of lactobacilli in fermented vegetables enhances
their digestibility and increases vitamin levels. These beneficial
organisms produce numerous helpful enzymes as well as antibiotic
and anti-carcinogenic substances. Their main by-product, lactic
acid, not only keeps vegetables and fruits in a state of perfect
preservation but also promotes the growth of healthy flora
throughout the intestine.”
Friendly Fermentation will be held on Saturday, June 18th,
1:00pm – 4:00pm at the Silverdale Community Center, 9729 Silverdale
Way NW, Silverdale, WA 98383. Cost for the class is $35/person or
$50/ family. As always, 4-H and FFA youth are free. To register
visit the WSU Kitsap
Extension website at http://kitsap.wsu.edu/. For more
information about Friendly Fermentation contact Shannon Harkness at
360-337-7026 or shannon.harkness@wsu.edu.
About the WSU Kitsap Extension Small Farms Team:
The Small Farms Team provides educational programs and
research-based information for Kitsap
farmers, consumers, decision-makers, and others involved in local
food systems. Learn more at:
http://kitsap.wsu.edu/. WSU Extension programs and employment are
available to all without
discrimination. Evidence of noncompliance may be reported to your
local WSU Extension office.
BRINNON — The Olympic Mountains and a bald eagle perched in a
tall tree stood guard over a wide expanse of tideland near the
estuary of the Dosewallips River.
“Welcome to my office,” said John Adams, Taylor Shellfish Farms’
Dosewallips manager.
He was talking to a group of a couple dozen people plucking
oysters from the beach as part of an outdoor program on shellfish
foraging with Bainbridge island Metro Parks and Recreation District
and Langdon Cook, blogger and author of “Fat of the Land:
Adventures of a 21st Century Forager.”
It was among a series
of classes (I also went to one on
nettle foraging) designed to get people outdoors and get people
reconnected with the bounty around them.
We had started the day at Dosewallips State Park, going over
what kind of clams we might find on the beach — butter,
varnish/mahogany,
manilla
and native
littlenecks.
“Digging for oysters and clams is super easy and cooking them is
even easier,” Cook reassured everyone before we headed just north
of the park to Taylor Shellfish property to forage.
Before you go:
To harvest clams and oysters on a public beach, you need a
permit, which is sold online or at most sporting
goods stores, Fred Meyer, Wal-Mart and Kingston and North Mason
chamber of commerce offices. You must be 15 or older. Cost is
$12 annually or cheaper for a one-day permit. How many shellfish
you can harvest varies from beach to beach.
Clam Rules: Most species must be 1.5 inches
wide. Fill in your hole when you’re done digging in it.
Oyster rules: Bring your shucking knife,
because on public beaches, you’re required to leave the shells
there (the backs of those shells are where new oysters will
grow).Oysters must be 2.5 inches or larger.
Where to go: The Washington Department of Fish
and Wildlife has lists of public
beaches where you can harvest shellfish. You can search by
county or click on the map, then click on a beach to see whether
it’s open and to find links to the Health Department for any toxin
concerns.
When to go: Low tide is the best time to find
oysters. Consult your favorite tide chart or try this
one, which has a clickable map with links to that area’s high
and low tides by month and day.
Did you read about the
stinging nettle foraging trip last month and wish you were
there? Well, Bainbridge Island’s park and recreation district has
decided to offer an encore presentation with author and foraging
guru Langdon Cook.
This time around, the nettles participants gather during a short
morning hike will be turned into a pesto pasta.
The class is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 13 (yes,
that’s next week). Cost is $35 for island residents, $5 more for
those off-island. Register by calling 206-843-2306 or go to
biparks.org. Here’s the
flyer (pdf) for the class if you want to print it off.
On a recent sunny weekday afternoon, noted Northwest forager and
“Fat
of the Land” author (and blogger) Langdon
Cook stood in a clearing in the Gazzam Lake preserve shaking a
clipping from a stinging nettle.
“I remember the first time I got stung by nettles as a kid ..
and then years later I have a distinct and fresh memory of eating
them, having my revenge,” he said.
And with that, he and 16 people from Bainbridge Island, Seattle,
Tacoma and trekked through the woodlands, snipping at a seemingly
endless supply of the weed. They filled baskets and paper sacks and
in a Strawberry Hill Park kitchen, sauteed onions, potatoes,
garlic, added stock and whirled in freshly washed (using tongs)
nettles into a
a nettle soup.
From the taste, this revenge was a dish best served … with a
scrape of nutmeg. The nettles added a bright note to the soup,
which was akin to a potato leek style. No blistered tongues were
found (boiling or drying destroys many of the stinging compounds in
the nettle hairs), though I did feel a slight and very likely
psychosomatic tingle on my tongue.
In the search for new tastes and exotic foods, it can be easy to
forget that a walk through the woods can offer an edible bounty.
It’s a lesson I’ve often forgotten, and one I was gratefully
reminded of this week as I shot video for
Tristan Baurick’s story on nettles.
As a kid, my grandma used to come home from a friend’s Hood
Canal beachfront house with strands of seaweed, occasional bunches
of horsetail shoots or bags of woodsy mushrooms. Or she’d put a
garden shovel in my hand and tell me to dig fast for those butter
clams.
A renewed appreciation for the food around us — and a way to
entice foodies outdoors — is one Bainbridge Metro Park and
Recreation District’s Jeff Ozimek hopes to spark with a series of
spring and summer classes called “Bounty of the Land.”
“One of my biggest passions is going to hike in the woods and
being able to figure out what to eat,” he said.
The classes, which opened for registration this week, will be
led by Cook and others and range from digging and cooking shellfish
on the beach to picking berries for pies. Classes cost $30 to $75
for island residents, though for $5 extra, non-residents can take
them too. They encourage you to sign up early; some classes fill
fast while others may be cancelled if there aren’t enough people
who sign up.
Here are a few of the classes coming up. Download the “Bounty
of the Land pdf” to see them all and register at biparks.org.
Oyster gardening, April 11:
Take a tour of the Taylor Shellfish Hatchery, learn aout the gear
you need, when to harvest and sample a variety of oysters on the
half shell. Cost: $29.
Shellfish Foraging and Cooking,May 1
(repeated May 18): Visit Taylor Shellfish Farms with
Langdon Cook to learn about several species of Puget Sound
shellfish, learn how to shcuk them and cook a batch with a
champagne vinegar and white wine sauce. Cost:
$49.
Geoduck Dig, June 15: Hunt for the
difficult-to-get geoduck with Langdon Cook and learn how to cook
the briny delicacy. Cost: $75.
I hope to take a couple more of BI Parks’ classes this year, and
would love to hear from any of you who do the same.
In some circles, it’s considered a painful annoyance when hiking
in shorts. In others, stinging nettles are a superfood.
For the latter group, Bainbridge Parks and Recreation
will offer a class on how to forage for nettles in local parks
as well as how not to get stung and how to cook it with food
foraging blogger
and author Langdon Cook. Participants will leave both with
knowledge and some stinging nettle soup.
The class comes during peak nettle-foraging season, early
spring, when the plants are tender. The class runs from 10 a.m. to
2 p.m. March 23 (unfortunately for the working class, that’s on a
Wednesday). Cost is $35.
A famous quote, though with a political, not necessarily food
leaning, seems to be an appropriate thing to start this blog post
with: “Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion
as we know how they are made.”
Diane Fish and Shannon Harkness
mix spices for a bratwurst recipe.
I think Otto von Bismark was saying that neither process is
pretty. However, I’m going to disagree with it — sausage making —
not inspiring respect.
They covered the basics of temperatures, how-tos, offered
recipes and resources and explained to the the 16-member class
—half of whom seemed to be hunters — why making your own sausage
can be better than store bought.
In a time when more people are joining the slow food
movement, concerned about the safety and healthfulness of
processed foods, acts like canning or making your own sausage have
made a comeback.
“(Sausage is) a processed food, but you control the process,”
Fish said.
Beyond the benefit of health and supporting local farms, though,
it also allows you to control the taste, as demonstrated while they
added spice to ground pork, cooked up a patty and added more or
different spices to taste.
I won’t claim to offer a complete guide to sausage making in
this post, but I thought I’d offer some of the highlights (and the
photos to go with it). Harkness said they plan to offer more food
preservation classes through next year, with a jam-making class
coming up next month with classes on cheese-making, raising
chickens and more on the way. If you wish you’d made this class or
have a suggestion for another class, let her know at
shannon.harkness@wsu.edu.
To start, let’s just say ground meat is not pretty. Fish
recommended making sure that the meat to fat ratio is 4 to 1 so it
holds together. And you have to mix in the spices well:
You can use natural or collagen casings, like the one shown
below. The benefit of natural casings for some is the taste and the
feel when you bite it and it seems to be more elastic when pushing
in the sausage meat. The drawback being that you have to soak and
rinse them really well. And while it’s being rinsed, it looks like,
um, well … a child’s balloon. Yeah, the kind of balloon that you
twist to make funny hats or poodles:
You can use one of multiple kinds of machines to stuff it or by
hand with a funnel (not recommended). A couple are available for
rent through the WSU Extension. Or you can purchase one online or
at a local sporting goods or some hardware stores.
Once you’ve filled out a casing, you can easily twist it into
multiple little sausages, like Fish did for this bratwurst:
And, of course, the best part of the class was the post-creation
taste-testing complete with sauerkraut:
