Notes from the Chef
April 2012
During the spring closure we held more classes for the students. We made Swiss and cheddar cheeses, as well as more salami, pepperoni and mortadella for our Lodge-made ciabatta sandwich. Everything on the sandwich is made here at Sun Mountain Lodge!
Next time: Our classical European flavors class!
December 2011
November was a great month for classes! We spent one week on charcuterie, patés, galantines and tureens. The following week was a 3 day class covering the global tropics. Apprentices Dawn Gray and Joe Williamson were joined by Chris Chamberland, Sous Chef Pete and myself.
After a morning of lecture about the culture and foods of the day’s region, we each of prepared a few different dishes from these regions then sat down to feast and discuss each dish. The flavors were increasable and so varied yet similarities could be found as we spanned the globe and realized the progression of influence from region to region.
Day one was Southeast Asia. We made:
Day two was India and North Africa:
Day three was South America and the Caribbean:
October 2011
On Sunday, October 16 we celebrated the end-of-the-season bounty of the Methow Valley with a harvest dinner honoring our local farmers and providers. The dinner was a great success!
August 2011
Meet Annie and Michael of Kings Garden, local organic farmers.
I spent the day with them while they showed me around and told me what they do. I’ll tell you, it is quite impressive! As we walked around Annie was constantly pulling weeds, almost compulsivly. The passion for what they do is evident.
The science behind it all is no less impressive. For instance, they use a natural pesticide to control the grasshoppers called “NoLo Bait”, a wheat bran with the Nosema Locustae protazoan that is only harmful to grasshoppers and mole crickets. Yesterday they released thousands of ladybugs to control spider mites . Only natural composted fertilizers are used such as steer, chicken manure and fish emulsion.
Some of what they grow; winter squash, summer squash, baby beets, various types and colors of sweet corn, purple cauliflower, herbs, various peppers, tons of gorgeous tomatoes, potatoes, fingerlings, leeks, various types of onions including Walla Walla, and much more. They can be reached at their farm south of Carlton on Highway 153. Phone (509) 997-3013 or (509) 429-3330.
The August Interactive Dinner was great fun! We cooked curried mushrooms, korma curry shrimp and lemon coriander chicken.
Next month's featured menu will be from Thailand. Sign up soon - space is limited!
It's Pickle Season! We've started 35 gallons for now, and they should be ready in 3 weeks. We used local and organic cucumbers from Annie (King's Garden). We are also making sauerkraut with her cabbage and Chris Thomson's bacon.
We also have briskets from the steers from Harold Heath (Big Valley Ranch).
Where else on earth can you get a Ruben sandwich like that?!
The Heirloom Tomatoes are On! Now that we have these beautiful tomatoes, we decided to make fresh Mozzarella for our caprese salad.
Apprentices Dawn Gray, Joe Williamson and CIA Extern Jared Prager making Fior di Latte (flower of the milk) or fresh Mozzarella. The fresh basil is so aromatic, you can smell it across the kitchen!
Some of our best students come from Oregon Coast Culinary Institute. Amanda and Micky are no exception! With cherries, peaches and apricots in full swing they made quick use of these in the peach brulée with raspberry sorbet pictured below. This as well as the special dessert, the “Raspberry Trio”, that they created under the tutelage of Pastry Chef Justine Huntsman.
“Raspberry Trio” : Almond-Raspberry Financier/raspberry-buttermilk sorbet pavé/almond streusel
Peach brulee on short bread with raspberry sorbet
July 2011
Just in!
Look at the lettuce from Annie of Kings Garden! Lapin cherries are here as well as baby carrots, baby summer squash, shell peas.
The beautiful organic produce that sprouts up all over the Valley each year is now available ~ better late than never.
Ingredients for a spectacular salad: Annie's lettuces, Lapin cheeries, Sunny Pine Farms roasted pepper goat cheese, house made bresaola from Big Valley Ranch steers, goat cheese stuffed squash blossom, candied walnuts and a Lapin cherry vinaigrette. Delicious!
Strawberries are here - and we have them every where!
Enjoy strawberry yogurt soup with champagne, strawberry salad with house made bresaola and Sunny Pine Farm lavender goat cheese, braised Arctic char on roasted barley with strawberry composition, strawberry profiterole with strawberry sorbet, sour cream/brown sugar Chantilly cream. Yum!
June 2011
June's "Interactive Dinner" was a great success! Everyone had fun, learned a few things, ate and drank well. Here's a copy of the menu.
Next month, July, will feature "The Big Easy" and will include Pasta Jambalaya, Shrimp Creole, and Bananas Foster.
We hope to see you there!
May 2011
Dawn Gray has just finished her first year of ACFE Apprenticeship and was asked to do a practical exam.
Her perimeters:
- Only classical cuisine.
- Only book allowed: Le Guide Culinaire by Escoffier
- 6 courses plus an Amuse Bouché
- Show techniques learned
- Every item on plates must be made by her
- First year Apprentice Joe Williamson may assist with gathering and plating only
As you can see from the photos, the dinner was a huge success! We are very proud of Dawn for her accomplishments!
Morels are here! Here you see Culinary Institute of America extern Jared Prager cleaning the first batch of locally foraged morels. We’ll be pairing these with the first of the asparagus on many menu items and specials.
April 2011
As spring continues to move toward summer we see life sprout up out of the earth. Morels, chanterelles, wild watercress, ramps and other foraging greens find their way into our kitchen.
Spring is also a time to start choosing which steers we want from Harold Heath. Pete, Dawn, Chris Thomson and I went down to the Big Valley Ranch to choose the 3 with the fullest brisket, straightest back, square hindquarters and that seemed the happiest.
It is also a time for fattening pigs as Judy is doing for us again. We are also placing our order for chickens from Crown S Ranch and lamb from Sheepy Hollow Farms.
Sunny Pine Farms has finished calving their goats and ready for more production. We continue to make more Charcuterie items for our platter and have added a Tuscan style salami and pepperoni to our selection, all made from local meats.
As the year progresses we look forward to what Judy will be bring us from her farm in Carlton.
Our pastry chef, Justine, headed down to Oregon Coast Culinary Institute in Coos Bay OR. She spent 10 days working with their chef instructors and students developing new techniques and ideas. You will see some of these reflected in our pastry program.
Where are they now?
John Lundal
Sun Mountain Lodge 2010 culinary extern from Oregon Coast Culinary Institute has landed a job at Canlis, one of Seattle’s premier restaurants.
Miguel Alvarez
Sun Mountain Lodge 2009 culinary extern from The Culinary Institute of America graduated and worked on campus as well as weekend stages at Blue Hill Farm at the Stone Barns with Dan Barber http://www.bluehillfarm.com/
and is now helping to open a new restaurant as Sous Chef in Mexico City.
Jessica Davis
SML Sous Chef for many years has opened her own place, The Twisp Orchid, a southeast Asian restaurant that has been very successful.
February 2011
Lachini Vineyards Open House/Wine Tasting
Thursday, February 24
5-7 PM in the Wine Cellar
Ron Lachini will be here to pour 3 wines from his award-winning vineyard.
$15/person + gratuity & tax.
January 2011
I would like to introduce a new member of our culinary team.
Pete McKenny comes to Sun Mountain Lodge as our new Executive Sous Chef. Pete comes to us most recently from Willow Point Country Club in Alexander City, Alabama. Pete also spent many years at L’Auberge, a four star property in Kettering, Ohio, as well as at the Vila Joya, a Michelin two star restaurant in Albufeira, Algarve, Portugal. We are very excited to have Pete join us!
November/December 2010
During the lodge close-down in November we were able to focus on our primary mission of buying local and preparing these dishes for our guests. We have purchased 7 lambs from Sheepy Hollow in Carlton, beef from Big Valley Ranch in Winthrop, steaks from Double R Ranch in Loomis, chickens and pigs from Crown S Ranch in Winthrop. We’ve plucked, butchered, sliced, diced, made cold cuts, hung our own saucisson, coppa, pancetta, jambon de Paris, bresaola and in general made some absolutely fantastic foods for you to enjoy. Our charcuterie plate is second to none – and all made in-house right down to the mustard. You can see more about this on the education page of this web site.
We’ve also completely changed the menu in the Wolf Creek Bar and Grill. I wanted to get away from “bar and grill” food in order to bring the freshest ingredients to your plate, served in a more trendy but traditional manner. It is very exciting knowing exactly where our food is from. Please take a moment to check out our menus and see what is new…and of course, local.
Probably the most fun dishes we worked on were the simplest. I wanted to bring to the table the best hamburger you could possibly get, and the best hot dog around. Well, Harold Heath of Big Valley Ranch in Winthrop sold me a few heads of beef last autumn and we now have what I believe is the best burger around. The beef flavors are delicious. I could not get a great hot dog so went one step further and better: I asked Chris Thomson (local butcher in Twisp) to see what he could come up with and now we have our very own Frank, which snaps when you bite into it. Sorry, you can’t buy these at the store!
After the holidays I will have some very exciting team news!
Oct 9th
Last week the students went down to Chris Thomson's Custom Meat shop in Twisp for a class in butchering. We broke down the steers we bought from Herald Heath. We were amazed at the quality and marbling, and will be featuring some steaks as a special as soon as it is properly dry aged. We also have some Bresola curing and should be ready in about 3 months.
incredible marbling
Oct 2nd
Yesterday Chris Thomson from Thomson’s Custom Meats butchered the Berkshire pig Judy of Undine Acres Farms has been raising for us. Soon we will have a Charcuterie class there and will be making Prosciutto, Serrano hams, and pancetta to name a few things. So after enough time has passed to allow these items to cure, you can expect to see them on the menu or as specials.
As we run with the Harold Heath steers we are working on a relationship with Howard Asmussen of RR Ranch in Loomis and plan on featuring Okanagan beef on our menu as well.
A you may know, Sun Mountain Lodge will be closed beginning Oct 24th and will reopen December 16th. During that time the students and I will be busy curing, drying and preserving whilst working on a new menu for winter.
Sept 28th
Harold Heath
September 28th will be our first interactive wine pairing dinner with myself and Don Elsing, our wine manager. This dinner will be an Italian theme. We will start with passed hors d'oeuvres, and comari and soda. Each guest will then participate in making a course for their table while I demonstrate the dish. Cost is $45.00 per person and includes a glass of wine with each course. Space is limited- make reservations soon by calling Don directly at (509) 996-4770.
It just keeps getting better...
~J. Russell Bradshaw, Executive Chef
