Cooking with Karina Davidson

For years I have wanted to assist Karina Davidson in the kitchen during one of her cooking classes.  Karina has cooked and baked in many capacities here in Bellingham.  You may know her delicious fare at the Firehouse Cafe in Fairhaven or her work teaching cooking classes with the Healthy Connections program held by the Community Food Co-op.  I recently assisteed her at the State Street location where she taught "September in Paris" to a sold-out class.

Karina travels to France as often as she can and confesses that her favorite city is Paris.  The menu for September in Paris featured fresh ingredients that all complimented each other to make a delicious meal using techniques that most of us can master.  

Thyme leaves that Kate, the other assistant, and I plucked

crumbled Gorgonzola

pie crust,  "piece of cake" Karina makes it look quick and easy

she manages to chat with students while she works

perfect crust is ready

cheese spread across the bottom of the pies

sliced tomatoes on top

sprinkled with the thyme leaves to make the Provencal Tomato Tart

slicing lemons for the tapenade dressing

fresh garlic that I helped to peel

olives to be chopped into a tapenade and stuffed into salmon

fresh parsley to be chopped with garlic for on top of the salmon

Cauliflower for the gratin

gruyere and parmesan cheese to cover

will be the Gratin de Choufleur (Cauliflower Gratin)

slicing a pocket into salmon sections

opening the pocket being careful to not cut all the way through

opening the pocket

stuffing the olive tapenade into the pockets

finishing with olive oil, garlic and parsley on top

and more tapenade on top of that - gorgeous

one cake is ready while Karina shows the students how to make another one

whisking the coco

finishing with Julia Child's Chocolate Mousse Cake

I was too busy cleaning up to take more photos, but let me tell you . . . the rewards of assisting Karina in the kitchen are the delicious leftovers including a delightful glass of wine.  I may have a new motto, Will Work For Food. . . think that will fit on my license plate?

Links
https://www.facebook.com/firehousecafe98225

http://www.appleseedmac.com/firehouse/page6/page6.html

http://www.communityfood.coop/learn/classes/

A Month of Eating Local

Did you try to eat local in September?

It's hard.  I tried.

I buy a lot of my produce directly from the Farmers and I still found a large percentage of my food is not local because some of it does not grow here.  Here's how I did.  It was great fun.

Local Heirloom Tomato

Local tomato, local cream, local frozen peas

Local tomato, local kale from Terra Verde Garden

Local carrots from Lunaria Farm and Alm Hill Farm

Local beans from Terra Verde Garden

The prettiest pears I've ever seen from BelleWood Acres

Friend's backyard plums

to make my grandma Gertrude's Pflaumenkuchen (Plum Cake)

and used the leftover plums to cook up local Brussels Sprouts from Terra Verde Garden and BelleWood Apples

Washington apples, local kale, carrots from Sunseed Farm

for juicing to make up for all the ancient Einkorn wheat that I'm eating lately

the hens who lay the eggs that I eat really like the leftover fiber from my juicing, so they are eating local too

I juice ginger that has been in my freezer since last year, local from Terra Verde Garden

Nectarines from the Okanogan Valley in Eastern Washington in a skillet cake

local eggs, local butter

Ricotta cheesecake made with local eggs

cooked emmer (farro) berries from Bluebird Grain Farms in Winthrop, Washington, local cherry tomatoes, local basil

Local pizza made by . . .

 . . . local guy Russ of Gusto Pizza

lunch by local food truck JTs Smokin BBQ made from local pork from Farmer Ben's

JTs baked beans are the best I've ever had in my entire life.  These are destination baked beans.  If you love BBQ and baked beans, find this guy's truck (links below) and drive there for lunch.  Call me, I'll join you.

If you have never bought meat directly from a farmer, Jessica and Ben make it really easy and friendly in their farm store.  It's lovely, they are lovely and they treat their animals with respect and gratitude.

local distillery tour at BelleWood Acres

they distill their own apples to hand craft vodka, gin, eau de Vie, liqueurs, brandy, whiskey, pommeau, and ciders 

local eggs in my Tuscan wheat

local eggs

local eggs

When I put it all together, it sort of adds up.   I'm glad that we truck certain foods half way around the world.  I love my Italian wheat, Sumatran coffee, California citrus.  I don't always know where my food comes from.  I support my imports as much as I support my locally sourced food.  If I can't call myself a locavore - can I call myself a globavore?

What do you eat that is local?  Imported?

Links to a few farms and providers that I love:

http://myfarmerben.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Terra-Verde-Garden/73526016804

https://www.facebook.com/GustoWoodFiredPizza

https://www.facebook.com/lunariafarmfresh

http://www.sunseedfarm.com/organic/Welcome.html

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alm-Hill-Garden/104698329597870

https://www.facebook.com/JtsSmokinBbq

http://www.bluebirdgrainfarms.com/

http://www.bellewoodfarms.com/