Michele Morris - A taste of Washington : favorite recipes from the evergreen state

A TASTE OF WASHINGTON Favorite Recipes from the Evergreen Stateby Michele Morris foreword by Andy Perdue For Jenny

by Andy Perdue Washington is a state of incredible beauty, diversity, and bounty. In just a few hours, you can drive from wheat land to shrub-steppe to sky-piercing mountains to a water-surrounded metropolis to fjords and to rain forests before arriving at the worlds longest beach. And those are just the highlights. Washington is a breadbasket for chefs seeking fresh local ingredients. Consider this: Washington state is first in the nation in producing apples, blueberries, red raspberries, processed carrots, chickpeas, juice grapes, hops, pears, mint oil, sweet cherries, fresh peas, and processed sweet corn. Additionally, the state is in the top ten in the country in crops such as asparagus, apricots, wine grapes, nectarines, onions, potatoes, dried peas, lentils, tart cherries, plums, wheat, barley, cranberries, strawberries, fresh sweet corn, and peaches.

These are just the big crops. One small farm in the Columbia Basin town of Eltopia actually grows more than 300 different crops, including more than thirty varieties of eggplants. While impressive, this expansive view of farming across the state doesnt even include the amazing riches we receive from the sea. Our oysters are famous throughout the world, as are our Dungeness crab, our salmon, and our clams (including the famed geoduck, one of the worlds largest clams, for which youll find a recipe herein). In addition, dairies provide milk for drinking and cheese production, and ranchers in central and eastern Washington raise cattle and sheep for meat. 2 in the country. 2 in the country.

Though far behind California in total production, Washingtons 50,000 acres of vineyards and more than 800 wineries compete on a quality level with the best of Napa Valley and Sonoma County. From Riesling to Cabernet Sauvignon, Washington has proven its worth in the world of wine. For brewers, Washington provides all the key ingredients, and the inspiration for the modern craft brewing movement can be traced to the eastern Washington city of Yakima, where Grants Brewery opened in 1982the nations first brewpub since Prohibition. In short, Washington provides an amazing level of abundance by any measure. The key to Washingtons diversity is the rugged Cascade Mountains, which bisect the state east from west. Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, Mount Baker, and Mount St.

Helenswhich famously blew its top in 1980 and continues to cause occasional volcanic excitementhighlight the range, which keeps most of the moisture in the western part of the state. Seattles notorious rain (which is only half of what Miami gets, by the way) is caused primarily because the clouds arriving from the Pacific Ocean are stopped by the Cascades. While this provides ample precipitation for farming around Puget Sound, it also keeps the east side of the state perpetually arid. The heart of Washington wine countrya three-hour drive east of Seattlereceives only six to eight inches of rain per year. And this is where the Cascades provide a vital service. The snow that falls in the mountains acts as a reservoir that feeds such rivers as the Yakima and Columbia.

These rivers are the lifeblood of Washington agriculture. Without them, little could grow, but with them, hundreds of thousands of acres of land are used to grow nearly every crop we could possibly consider. The result of this remarkable climate? The stunning quality and quantity of fresh ingredients available here combined with the exciting, diverse, and laid-back attitude of the Pacific Northwest work together to attract many of the worlds top chefs, putting the food scene here in the major leagues right along with Vancouver, Portland, and San Francisco. For the lucky diners, the result is a never-ending opportunity to savor the bounty of the region as served up by the creative chefs who live and work here. Here in your hands, Michele Morris cookbook does a beautiful job of capturing the amazing breadth and depth of Washingtons agricultural bounty from a culinary point of view. While many cookbook authors tend to focus on the greater Seattle area (because that is where the majority of the population lives and, thus, where the chefs are), Michele has traveled a winding trail that will transport you to the best food in every corner of the Evergreen State.

Washington is a treasure trove of succulent and savory wonder; let Michele be your guide. Andy Perdue is the wine columnist for the Seattle Times and editor and publisher of Great Northwest Wine, a news and information company (greatnorthwestwine.com).

For as long as I can remember, back to my very early years, I have loved to cook. I learned to cook the basics at my moms side as a young child. By the time I was fourteen, I shooed her out of the house for the day and made her an entire Chinese dinner, complete with homemade wonton soup, from scratch, for her birthday. When I was in college, my roommates and I would create special meals for our friends, despite our frugal college budgets.

And as a young adult I learned how to throw just about every kind of dinner party imaginable, from simple to spectacular. What enabled me to cook so well, even at a young age, without any formal training? In a word: cookbooks. I began collecting cookbooks as a kid, and by the time I was in my thirties, had amassed a collection of about 400. Today, although I cook largely my own creations from scratch, I still cant resist a brilliant cookbookone with tested and reliable recipes, gorgeous food photos, a bit of a story to tell, and something new to taste. Certainly a broad collection of creative recipes using the very best ingredients is of utmost importance in a cookbook. As I began researching which Washington chefs and venues I wanted to include in this book, I met chefs with an astounding gift for creativity, along with some fierce commitments: to the quality of food they serve at their restaurants or inns, to their insistence on using fresh and seasonal ingredients, and to their passionate support of the local farmers, ranchers, fishermen (and fisherwomen), orchardists, vintners, gardeners, and producers who supply them.

People tell me all the time how important it is to have pictures of the finished dishes in a cookbook, and so Ive worked hard to capture each and every one for you in this collection. My food styling and food photography skills are largely self-taught, yet very important to me. I took great pride in putting these images together, and I hope they whet your appetite and lure you into the kitchen as you peruse the pages of this book. The food scene in Washington is widely regarded as one of the most exciting in our country. Farmers grow everything from apples60 percent of the nations productionto grapes and mushrooms and lentils. Ranchers turn out some of the best pork, lamb, and beef.

There is ample opportunity for hunting wild game such as elk and venison. Washingtons wine country, established just after the repeal of Prohibition, is booming. And with a seemingly endless availability of some of the best seafood in the world, its no wonder chefs here are inspired. In this collection of recipes from the finest chefs at some of the best venues across the state, youll find everything from a simple salad made with local arugula to a decadent cake made with chocolate from Seattle chocolatier Theo. Ive included recipes from some of the most well-known James Beard award-winning chefs, as well as from some of the best home cooks turned innkeepers. Ive also tested all the recipes to ensure the portions and instructions work for a home cook, and where needed, steps were simplified.

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