Pan Seared Alaskan Salmon with Tuscan White Bean Panzanella Salad

Chef Peter Levine of Waterfront Seafood Grill putting the finishing touches on his Seared Salmon with Panzanella. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

As prepared by Chef Peter Levine of Waterfront Seafood Grill for his cooking demonstration at the Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market on August 12, 2010.

Ingredients:

• Alaskan salmon
• cooked white beans (cooked fresh or canned)
• fresh toasted croutons
• chopped heirloom tomatoes
• radicchio
• watercress
• capers
• mixed fresh herbs (basil, green onions, chives)
• extra virgin olive oil
• sherry vinegar
• kosher salt
• black pepper

Wild Alaskan Sockeye from Loki Fish pan roasting. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Preparation:

Prepare the white beans as per your favorite recipe or open the can and let them drain. Have the croutons toasted and set aside. Have the heirloom tomatoes seeded and chopped on the side. The radicchio and watercress should be cleaned and lightly chopped. The herbs should be cleaned, dried and chopped and set aside. The rest of the ingredients should be at hand for assembly.

Pan sear salmon in grape seed or canola oil, flesh side down until it releases from pan, then turn off heat, flip fish and let it finish cooking skin-side down with residual heat from pan.

Chef Peter Levine tossing his panzanella. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

While salmon is searing, assemble the salad:

• in a large bowl, combine in equal parts the tomatoes, croutons and white beans.
• all the other ingredients will be added (per your personal tastes)
• mix well and serve quickly.
• the idea is to have the croutons still kinda crunchy when you serve it to your family and friends.

Present it with the salmon either right up on top or let it mix in with the salad. Either way, it is sure to make you a seem like a culinary star.

Ta-da! The finished product! Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Thursday, September 2nd: Chefs Brian McCracken & Dana Tough of Spür Gastropub, Finnriver Hard Cider & Flour @ TASTE & A Beautiful, Warm, Sunny Afternoon!

Chefs Dana Tough (left) and Brian McCracken of Spür Gastropub. Photo by Kristin Zwiers, courtesy Spür & The Spellman Group.

The inaugural season of your Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market is winding down. After today, we’ve got just one more week. And these two last weeks are going to rock, just like the first seven did. For instance, today, we feature a cooking demonstration at 5:30 p.m. by Belltown’s own Chefs Brian McCracken & Dana Tough from Spür Gastropub. Come watch and learn as these rising stars of the kitchen have some fun with what’s fresh today at the Market.

Sparkling hard cider from Finnriver Farm. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Today, in TASTE Restaurant & Events‘ Liquid Lounge, you will have a chance to taste some of the amazing hard cider produced in the old world way by Finnriver Farm. Finnriver is one of the many great Washington farms who sell each week at your Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market. Also today in the Liquid Lounge:

• Wine Tasting: Terra Blanc Sauvignon Blanc, 2007; Milbrandt Vineyards “Traditions” Chardonnay, 2007; Buried Cane Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007; Tranche Cellars Barbara, 2005.
• Tiffany’s Farm-to-Glass Cocktail: Roasted Heirloom Bloody Mary.

Finnriver whole grains & flours. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Finnriver Farm will also be featured at TASTE Restaurant & Events’ food booth today. Finnriver produces grain, which they mill into fresh flour that TASTE will use in today’s menu:

• Grilled Panini with Summer Run heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil pesto. Served with a potato and corn salad.
• Lucy’s Farm-inspired Doughnut - S’more doughnuts – honey red wheat doughnut filled with chocolate marshmallow, featuring Finnriver flour and Skagit River Ranch eggs.

Seastack from Mt. Townsend Creamery. Photo copyright 2009 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Mt Townsend Creamery, from Port Townsend, which sells its cheese right here at your Olympic Sculpture Park, won First in Class for its Seastack cheese in the Soft Ripened category at the 2010 American Cheese Society conference & competition held here in Seattle this past week. Come sample it today, and bring home what the rest of the world is raving about!

Fresh Frasier River sockeye from Loki Fish. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

The boys at the helm of the boats of Loki Fish have returned now to Washington waters after a successful summer of fishing in Alaska. The are currently fishing for Frasier River sockeye just south of the Canadian border, and some of that fish may be available to us fresh today!

Red Zebra & Black Zebra tomatoes from Billy's. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Billy’s has entered into its second big wave of great heirloom tomatoes. Check out these gorgeous Red Zebra & Black Zebra tomatoes, and they have many others, as well. We may even get to taste a few of them during the cooking demonstration today!

Catalina Plums from Collins Family Orchards. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

And how about these beautiful Catalina plums from Collins Family Orchards. Collins has a number of plums, apples, peaches and other orchard goodness now, great for that waning taste of summer!

Remember, this blog is your source for all things Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market. You will learn about what’s in season; the people and businesses that produce it; what chefs will be performing cooking demonstrations from week-to-week; recipes from those demos and our vendors; and so much more. Each week during the Market season, one or more articles will be posted here, and each week the What’s Fresh Now! pages in the upper right-hand margin will be updated to let you know what all you can expect to find this week at the Market. So check back often, subscribe to the RSS feed, and then come visit us at your new Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market.

Thursday, August 12th: Chef Peter Levine from Waterfront Seafood Grill, Wild Salmon, Gluten-Free Bread, Kimchi, Heirloom Tomatoes & Something Called A Cherry Plum!

A spectacular smoky sunset as viewed from the Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market on August 5, 2010. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

As we packed up your Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market at the end of the day last week, we were treated to the positive side of the smoky haze drifting down from British Columbia: a spectacular red sunset! I know, photos rarely do sunsets justice, but even so, this image serves as a reminder of just how amazing a location the Olympic Sculpture Park is for a farmers market. We have world class art, like The Eagle, we have Elliott Bay and Puget Sound, and we have the Olympic Mountains and the summer sun. Awesome!

Chef Peter Levine from Waterfront Seafood Grill on Pier 70. Photo courtesy Mackay Restaurants.

And this week, we have Chef Peter Levine from Waterfront Seafood Grill on Pier 70 performing a cooking demonstration at 5:30 p.m. under the red tent, next to The Eagle. Waterfront Seafood Grill calls the Olympic Sculpture Park its front yard, with Elliott Bay its back 40. It is the single closest restaurant to the Market, and Chef Levine serves up some great food there in a dining atmosphere that is as classy as it gets around these parts, right down to the lounge pianist who plays everything from Gershwin to Led Zeppelin.

Amy from Loki Fish holds wild Keta salmon. Photo copyright 2009 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Being a seafood kinda guy, I expect Chef Levine will be cooking up some fine wild Alaskan salmon from Loki Fish today. Loki Fish is based at Ballard’s Fishermen’s Terminal, and they fish in both Alaskan and Puget Sound waters during the summer. They handle their fish very carefully, which means you get some of the finest salmon you’ve ever tasted. And they’ve got great smoked salmon, salmon patties, salmon sausage, salmon roe, canned salmon and more!

Gluten-free breads from Platypus Breads. Photo courtesy Platypus Breads.

Are you looking for gluten-free bread? Well, we’ve got Playtpus Breads right here at your Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market, and I will use two words to describe them that most folks wouldn’t dare use to describe any other gluten-free bread: moist and flavorful! I kid you not. So there’s no need go without great bread for dinner, just because you can’t deal with the gluten.

Fremented kimchi from Firefly Kitchens. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Today, we welcome Firefly Kitchens to your Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market. These folks absolutely rock the fermented local vegetables. They’ve got kimchi, classic sauerkraut, red sauerkraut and a little thing they call ying-yan made from carrots and ginger. This stuff is amazing, and it’s alive, too, so it’ll cure what ails you while pleasing your palate.

Heirloom tomatoes from Summer Run. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Summer Run always has the most beautiful organic vegetables, and these heirloom tomatoes are no exception. And, of course, what’s better than the brilliant colors these heirloom tomatoes have to offer is their spectacular flavor. Few things make people long more for summer than fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes. Well, it’s time, people!

A local bee visits the lavender at Floating World Lavender. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Floating World Lavender Farm from Sequim has a relatively short fresh lavender harvest each year, and we are enjoying the fruits of that harvest right now. Their lavender is so fragrant that it always attracts all the local honey bees in the neighborhood, like this one burrowing around in it recently. So brighten up your home with some fresh lavender today, and make it smell wonderful in the process.

Cherry plums from Tiny's. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Cherry plums? Yup. Not so much a hybrid, the name is a reflection of this plums tiny size. Some of them, at their peak of ripeness, actually take on a hint of fresh coconut in their flavor. You’ll find them at Tiny’s. And here are some other things you’ll find today:

SAM presents Jovino Santos Neto, performing hot Brazilian Jazz for a summer night, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. in the OSP Amphitheatre. And in TASTE’s Liquid Lounge, they’ll be tasting out the following wines:

• Mirth Chardonnay 2009
• Terrapin Cellars Pinot Gris 2008
• O ‘Reilly’s Pinot Noir 2007
• TASTE’s own Masterpiece Red.

And don’t miss Tiffany’s Seasonal Cocktail today: Blueberry Cobbler.

And remember, this blog is your source for all things Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market. You will learn about what’s in season; the people and businesses that produce it; what chefs will be performing cooking demonstrations from week-to-week; recipes from those demos and our vendors; and so much more. Each week during the Market season, one or more articles will be posted here, and each week the What’s Fresh Now!pages in the upper right-hand margin will be updated to let you know what all you can expect to find this week at the Market. So check back often, subscribe to the RSS feed, and then come visit us at your new Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market!

Grill Roasted Loki Seafood’s Keta Salmon

The ingredients for Jeff's Grill Roasted Salmon. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

As prepared by Chef Jeff Maxfield of SkyCity at the Needle for his demonstration at Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market on July 22, 2010.

Ingredients:

• 1 side skin on Keta salmon (approx 3lb)
• 1 cup fresh raspberries
• ½ ea small sweet onion, thinly sliced
• 3 ea garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 ea lemon, sliced into rounds
• 4 oz cold butter, cut into slabs
• Salt and pepper
• 4 sprig fresh thyme

Preparation:

Fold heavy duty aluminum foil to form a boat around the salmon.  Season with salt and pepper, layer on garlic, onion, raspberries and lemon, place butter over the top with thyme on last, roast in a medium high grill with the lid closed for 15 minutes or until fish is lightly cooked through.

Salmon ready to grill roast. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Raspberry Beurre Rouge

Ingredients:

• 1 cup red wine vinegar (preferably raspberry infused)
• 1 ea shallot, sliced
• 2 Tbl whole peppercorns
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• 1 lb cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• ¼ cup fresh raspberries

Making Beurre Rouge. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Preparation:

In a non reactive sauce pan, add all ingredients except butter and reduce over medium high heat until mixture is ¼ of its original volume.  Reduce heat to medium low and slowly whisk in butter to form an emulsion. Season and strain through a fine mesh sieve.

Salmon fresh off the grill. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Thursday, July 22nd: Space Needle Chef Jeff Maxfield, Sweet Corn, Wild Alaskan Salmon, Artisan Bread, Tomatoes & More!

Chef Jeff Maxfield (on right) of SkyCity at the Needle. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Chef Jeff Maxfield of SkyCity at the Needle will help us launch Week 2 of your Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market. Jeff will perform a cooking demonstration at 5:30 p.m. under the red demo tent at the north end of the Market, next to The Eagle. Come learn great ideas for cooking up local deliciousness from the chef who’s office has the best view in Seattle.

Just a sampling of what Loki Fish has to offer. Photo copyright 2009 by Zachary D. Lyons.

We welcome Loki Fish to your Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market this week. Loki is based at Ballard’s Fishermen’s Terminal, and they fish in the cold waters of Alaska and Puget Sound for some the best salmon you will find. They catch all five major species of Pacific salmon, and they offer it up in all sorts of ways, from fresh-frozen fillets to smoked to jerky to spreads, patties and sausages, and even Ikura, or Keta Salmon Roe, the Northwest’s own native caviar.

Sweet corn from Alvarez Organic Farms. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Alvarez Organic Farms is located in Mabton, near Sunnyside, in the Yakima Valley. It is the hottest area in Washington in the summer, and the result is great, hot-weather crops, like this first-of-the-season sweet corn. They also have some of the first eggplant of the year this week, too, and don’t forget that they offer Washington’s only fresh, local peanuts — the best you’ve ever tasted.

Chef Lucy Damkoehler cooks for an attentive crowd, with Elliott Bay in the background. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

If you missed opening day festivities last Thursday, you missed scenes like this, and I don’t just mean the stellar cooking demonstration by Pastry Chef Lucy Damkoehler from TASTE Restaurant. I mean the scene in the background — Elliott Bay! Yes, your Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market is surrounded by spectacular views, and it is filled with brilliant art. And now we’ve added a fantastic Thursday Market to the mix. And the best part is, if you did miss opening day, we’re going to repeat it all again today, and every Thursday! How sweet is that?

Beautiful artisan bread from Grateful Bread Bakery. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Grateful Bread offers up wonderful artisan breads, like these above, as well as delicious pastries, cookies, bagels, scones and more. But last week, they sold out fast, so make sure you get there early to pickup your loaf for dinner, and a bagel or scone for breakfast tomorrow, too!

Belltown's own farmers market. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Yes, this is Belltown’s own farmers market. And just look at this incredible scene, with all the farmer tents in the foreground, lining the Park’s Z-Path, and all the high-rise residential buildings of North Belltown in the background. If you go back and  look at the very first post to this blog in February, you will see a photo taken from this same vantage point, just sans Market. Wow, isn’t it amazing how much the Market adds to this seen?

Sungold cherry tomatoes from Stoney Plains. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Tomatoes are coming into season all over Washington now. Like these incredibly sweet Sungold cherry tomatoes from Stoney Plains. One of the quickest tomatoes to bear fruit, Sungolds are one of my favorite tomatoes. I can eat them like candy. Very sweet, low acid, they will never last long enough for you to get them into a salad, unless you buy a second pint, and even then I bet you’ll eat them all right out of the container.

A mix of six different berries from Jessie's Berries. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Berry season is just plain off the hook right now. And the proof is in this basket of berries from Jessie’s Berries. Currently, they are harvesting blackberries, blueberries, boysenberries, loganberries, marionberries and strawberries. Wow! Pickup a pint of cream from Golden Glen Creamery, and you’ve got dessert. Put in a little more effort with some flour from Finnriver Farm, some eggs from Skagit River Ranch and some butter from Golden Glen, and I can see a pie or a crisp in your future!

Certified organic chickens from Skagit River Ranch. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Speaking of Skagit River Ranch, they’ve got plenty of certified organic, pasture raised beef, pork and chicken (above) for your dining pleasure. Can’t you just smell it cooking of your grill on your deck right now? Of course, when your neighbors all ask you where you got that amazing smelling meat or chicken, you tell them, “at our Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market, every Thursday from 3:30-7:30 p.m.!”

And remember, this blog is your source for all things Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market. You will learn about what’s in season; the people and businesses that produce it; what chefs will be performing cooking demonstrations from week-to-week; recipes from those demos and our vendors; and so much more. Each week during the Market season, one or more articles will be posted here, and each week the What’s Fresh Now! pages in the upper right-hand margin will be updated to let you know what all you can expect to find this week at the Market. So check back often, subscribe to the RSS feed, and then come visit us at your new Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market!