Chefs Collaborative

This is a guest post by Drew McDonald of The Plaid Apron in Knoxville, TN

The Plaid Apron is a cafe tucked into the historic Sequoyah Hills neighborhood in Knoxville, TN.  We consider ourselves to be a “relationship driven” restaurant.  We rely on many local and sustainable resources; utilizing what’s here and working closely with farmers and small producers, who we know by name, is just how we roll.  This is the “circle of life” of the local movement! This summer, we’re taking part in the Bristol Bay salmon dinner series.

At first glance, you may wonder why a chef in East Tennessee could care about the precious Bristol Bay area. One word: gift! God has blessed us all with this world, and we have done all but ruin many of the valuable resources she bestows. The Bristol Bay region of Alaska is a precious resource that remains untouched, and it’s not too late to protect this special place. It’s also a place that touches people across the world; from the plates in restaurants across the country to the families that have been fishing there for hundreds of years.

On the 13th of July we hope to gather a group of 100 or so at the historic Riverdale School House to feast on the beautiful Bristol Bay Wild Sockeye.  This 100+ year-old schoolhouse sits just above the majestic French Broad River and provides a view to the Smokey Mountains section of the Southern Appalachians.  As expected we are calling this meal the Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon BBQ, we are in East Tennessee after all.

The food will range traditional southern picnic sides, to grilling and smoking the salmon over open coal just a few yards from the table.  We aim to provide education about the issue at hand while doing what we all enjoy; sitting at a table with good food and good friends even if we just met.

Outside of home-cooked meals, I believe that chefs provide more meals to individuals than any other people on earth.  Why do we do what we do? Because we love it.  If you love what you do why would you not take care of those whom allow you do what you love?

From farmer to fisherman to forager we work as a community, a sort of supporting cast in the big picture.  Bristol Bay is a major segment in the picture and we are the subtitles between the scene and the viewer!

By Elijah Lawson; Crossposted from Elijah Lawson’s blog, Tails from Bristol Bay. Tails from Bristol Bay is a 2013 documentary film project to introduce the fishermen of Bristol Bay to consumers across the country.

Leaving Dillingham at 5am on the way to Nushagak Point for our first day of filming

Here comes the sun, still on the way to Nushagak Point

Sammy is taking us to his summer home.

Sammy is taking us to his summer home out on Nushagak Point. He’s worked Bristol Bay for two decades. He inherited his set net site from his dad. By the time we land the sun is fully up. When you are running your boat at dusk, dark or dawn the watery space you move through is like a cocoon. You are wrapped in the space and nothing exists past the few feet of visibility you have.  Sunrise magically opens up the sky and the world around you opens up with it. It is crazy how the sky and the water are the same gold and black tones with splashes of blue. At certain times of day you can’t tell where one starts and the other ends.

We find Nushagak Point just as we remembered it from last year.  Wild, rugged and like no one has ever been here. You can see that ribbon of beach where we pulled boat ashore in greater detail in the next blog post, First day of filming, Part Two: climbing. Stand by for more…

This past Friday, Alaskans heard about our campaign to savor Bristol Bay salmon with the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association.

Click below to listen to an interview I did with KDLG’s Dave Bendinger. You’ll hear more about why we’re working with 70+ chefs to raise awareness about Bristol Bay sockeye this summer:

Click here to learn more about our campaign – and see who’s serving sockeye across the US this month!

As the peak of salmon season draws closer, we’re watching this video to learn more about what’s at stake with Bristol Bay. In the video, you’ll meet fishermen, advocates, and consumers passionate about protecting this precious natural resource, including chef, restaurateur, and author Tom Douglas.

Join us to learn more about Bristol Bay, and our role in protecting this special place:

Click here to take part in our 2013 Bristol Bay salmon dinner series in June & July.

In case you missed it, we want to share Chef Mary Sue Milliken’s fantastic appearance on CBS This Morning: Saturday!

Click below to watch the 4-minute video of Mary Sue talking about her recipes, how she became interested in food, the evolution of Chefs Collaborative, and The Chefs Collaborative Cookbook:

The Chefs Collaborative bit begins at 2:52. The recipes she shared include Alaska black cod verracruzano, Heirloom Bean and Bacon Tostada, and Vegetable Pie with Potato Crust.

On what was supposed to be the last day for public comments on the Bristol Bay watershed assessment by the EPA, we just learned that the EPA extended the public comment period until June 30.

This is great news, and it’s clear that the EPA wants to hear from the public on this issue. Click here to add your voice to the public comments: http://www2.epa.gov/bristolbay

Photo Credit: Bob Waldrop, BBRSDA

With this news in mind, here’s a quick refresher on what’s going on in Bristol Bay: Bristol Bay, Alaska is home to one of the world’s last wild salmon runs. Pebble Mine – a proposed copper, gold, and molybdemum open-pit mine project – is proposed for the headwaters of two major rivers that feed Bristol Bay. If built, Pebble would be one of the largest mines in the world. As Save Bristol Bay says, “because of its size, geochemistry and location, Pebble runs a high risk of polluting Bristol Bay.” The mine threatens the livelihood of the tribes, fishermen who live and work there, as well as our supply of wild sockeye salmon. Every year, more than 35 million adult salmon return to Bristol Bay, and it is a $1.5 billion commercial and recreational fishery. Clearly, there is a lot at stake.

And if you have any doubt about the importance of this issue, here’s a key quote from the Washington Post:

“Most people aren’t aware of the fight over Bristol Bay, home to nearly half the world’s sockeye salmon. But it may be one of the most important environmental decisions the president faces in his second term.”

Click here to add your voice to the public comments: http://www2.epa.gov/bristolbay

And, don’t forget to sign up for our 2013 Bristol Bay salmon dinner series!

Chef Mary Sue Milliken

She’ll be talking about Chefs Collaborative (she was there 20 years ago at the beginning!), The Chefs Collaborative Cookbook, and she’ll share a few yummy recipes including her Beet Greens and Legs Pie from the Cookbook.

Beet Greens and Legs Pie, Chef Mary Sue Milliken

By Josh Lewin, Executive Chef | Beacon Hill Bistro, and Alisha Fowler, Chefs Collaborative

Photo by Bob Waldrop, BBRSDA

Last year, Chefs Collaborative and the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association teamed up to host Bristol Bay salmon dinner events across the country during the peak of salmon season. Our goal was twofold: first, to raise awareness about the pristine Bristol Bay, Alaska watershed. Second, to help chefs and thousands of Americans enjoy the delicious, special flavor of Bristol Bay’s wild sockeye salmon – a resource worthy of celebrating, and protecting.

There are a lot of sticky facts about Bristol Bay, here are just two to chew on: more than 35 million adult salmon return to Bristol Bay each year in June and July to spawn, and it is a $1.5 billion commercial and sport fishery. Wow! Those are huge numbers.

At the end of the day, though, I think the following phrase sums up the way that Bristol Bay touches our lives regardless of whether we live in Alaska or the easternmost Lower 48: if you have ever enjoyed wild sockeye salmon, chances are you’ve had salmon from Bristol Bay! That’s how big this industry is, and it touches a lot of lives.

For many chefs, the 2012 dinner series was an opportunity for them to develop their own unique and lasting relationships with the salmon and communities of Bristol Bay.

Chef Josh Lewin of Beacon Hill Bistro in Boston, MA lives approximately 4,700 miles from Bristol Bay. Yet chef Josh feels closer to Alaska than ever before as the 2012 dinners helped him foster a relationship with a small community on the eastern shores of Bristol Bay. Read on for his story, and plans for 2013:

Chef Josh’s salmon, the side cut of wild sockeye from Bristol Bay.

“Salmon was one of the first things I remember really enjoying as a kid – in various forms. my mother would cook it fresh, my grandmother would serve us smoked salmon, and her aunt, Margaret would serve heavily cured and peppered salmon when we would visit her in Montreal. I loved it. When we started learning more about the issues surrounding the Bristol Bay fishery we really felt compelled to raise awareness for all Americans and their relationship with salmon, and this natural resource that is worth protecting.

In 2012, Beacon Hill Bistro made a commitment to carry the fish fresh while it was in season in the early summer. We worked with our suppliers to make it possible to purchase from one small fishing family in Egegik, on the south side of Bristol Bay.

Egekik, image from caughtwildsalmon.blogspot.com

Since first getting involved with the fisheries in Bristol Bay I’ve made an effort to understand the people there and what their lives are like. I have a close friendship with a number of families there, including Aleut Indians. They have been fishing in Bristol bay for generations; their livelihoods and well-being are utterly dependent on the presence of the fish, and a market for its consumption thousands of miles away.

One friend of mine, Shana, who’s family is from Bristol Bay reports that her father has worked for Trident Fisheries for more than 30 years. Some of her sharpest memories are from working in her family’s smokehouse with her grandmother and brother, gaining experience preserving their catch, and remarking about how her family’s yearly wages depended on that short salmon run period in June and July. I want to see her family be able to continue in its industry.

To support our efforts to raise awareness about Bristol Bay, Shana’s grandmother sent us some wild cranberries they had preserved, from Egegik, to serve at the New England Aquarium during a screening event of the documentary Red Gold.

Developing a relationship with these communities, and understanding how their livelihoods and traditions depend on the salmon, has deepened my connection to the food we serve, and my interest in Bristol Bay.

Bristol bay sockeye with dried lime vinaigrette, coriander yogurt and barberry

This year, we will be renewing our commitment to the families fishing the Bay and are looking forward to our first delivery of Bristol Bay Sockeye very soon.”

Places all set

On Monday, May 20, ten of Chicago’s finest chefs proved that there’s really no such thing as trash fish. Working with our environmental partners at Shedd and Monterey Bay aquariums and Fortune Fish and Gourmet we came up with a species list for our Trash Fish Dinner that read like a who’s who of misrepresented, misunderstood, under-utilized species of fish. The chefs each took a hand at polishing these diamonds in the rough, with delicious results.

Invasive lake species such as Asian Carp and Rainbow Smelt were elevated high above their ill-deserved low culinary stature by chefs like the night’s host, Paul Fehribach of Big Jones, and Laura Piper of Trattoria No. 10. Their preparations of crispy Asian carp cakes and cornmeal crusted smelt were true delights.

Underappreciated ocean species were served as well. Sarah and George Bumbaris of Prairie Grass Café served up the delicious, if often overlooked, Speckled Sea Trout. Patrick and Michael Sheerin of Trenchermen whipped up Sardines. Paul Kahan and Erling Wu Bower stopped by from avec to feed us Bonito. While Paul Virant of Vie and Perennial Virant, featured Pacific Rockfish. North Pond’s Bruce Sherman did a wonderful play on Bluefish, a fish many may love on the East Coast, but looked upon with low expectations by a majority of the country. Chef Sherman’s dish would be sure to change anyone’s opinion.

The busy chefs crowd the kitchen.

The point of the trash fish dinner is to change opinions and expectations. “No fish are trash,” said Chefs Collaborative Executive Director Melissa Kogut in her opening remarks on the night of the dinner. “We want people to be open to trying alternatives to the species they know and love and to give over-stressed populations a break.” Melissa repeated a sentiment we shared at our first Trash Fish Dinner in March hosted by chef and board chair Michael Leviton at his Cambridge, Massachusetts restaurant, Area Four, and in two Huffington Post op-ed’s–one by Paul Fehribach and Shedd Aquarium’s Michelle Parker and the other from Michael Leviton, written with the help of our friends at the Environmental Defense Fund.

As consumers, both chefs and diners alike, we often focus too much on too few species when there are other delicious options. We must change this, we must come to understand that there’s no such thing as a trash fish, and that when managed responsibly, choosing to eat these under-appreciated fish can help improve the health of our oceans, improve our own health, and may help to support the beleaguered fishing communities along our nation’s coasts. And, these alternative species are delicious! In Chicago, the chefs proved it.

The chefs greet the guests.

Complete Menu:

Paul Kahan and Erling Wu Bower, avec

Smoked Bonito, English pea puree, cacao nibs, fried chickpeas, grapefruit, & pk’s miner’s lettuce

Patrick and Michael Sheerin, Trenchermen

Smoked and pickled Sardine, celeries, manchego, citrus, grilled bread

Laura Piper, Trattoria No. 10

Three Sisters Garden cornmeal crusted Smelt, Genesis Growers Kale salad, rhubarb agrodolce

Bruce Sherman, North Pond

Smoked Bluefish mousse, almond-hazelnut macarons, radishes, baby arugula, honey

Paul Virant, Vie, Perennial Virant

Marinated and roasted Pacific Rockfish, dill pickle clam vinaigrette, Nordic creamery cultured butter, “Spring vegetable slaw”

Sarah Stegner and George Bumbaris, Prairie Grass Cafe

Sautéed crusted Speckled Trout, River Valley Ranch mushroom duxelle, sautéed spring greens, Three Sisters Garden pea shoot sauce

Paul Fehribach, Big Jones

Crispy breaded Asian Carp cakes, hog’s head gumbo, Cajun-style potato salad, hot and sour pickled radishes

TCHO chocolate boca negra, home made quince honey, Sea Island benne brittle, dulce de leche ice cream, early mint

The nights cockails featuring American Harvest Organic Spirit:

Rhubarb Limeade cooler

Dry housemade tonic, kaffir lime and lemongrass

Chatham artillery punch ca. 1888

The Chicago Trash Fish Dinner was the second in our series of Trash Fish Dinners, an event series happening across the country to help bring awareness to the importance of diversifying the types of seafood we eat and elevate under-appreciated seafood species out of their maligned position. For more information about upcoming events, including our next Trash Fish Dinner, please visit our events page and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Smoked Bonito, English pea puree, cacao nibs, fried chickpeas, grapefruit, & pk’s miner’s lettuce	Smoked and pickled Sardine, celeries, manchego, citrus, grilled bread
Three Sisters Garden cornmeal crusted Smelt, Genesis Growers Kale salad, rhubarb agrodolce	Smoked Bluefish mousse, almond-hazelnut macarons, radishes, baby arugula, honey
Marinated and roasted Pacific Rockfish, dill pickle clam vinaigrette, Nordic creamery cultured butter, “Spring vegetable slaw”	Sautéed crusted Speckled Trout, River Valley Ranch mushroom duxelle, sautéed spring greens, Three Sisters Garden pea shoot sauce
Crispy breaded Asian Carp cakes, hog’s head gumbo, Cajun-style potato salad, hot and sour pickled radishes	TCHO chocolate boca negra, home made quince honey, Sea Island benne brittle, dulce de leche ice cream, early mint

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This is the second of a two-part post talking preservation and sustainability with Chef Brendan McGill of Hitchcock Restaurant on Bainbridge Island, Washington State.

Brendan McGill checks on the progress of an order in the applewood-fired oven at Hitchcock, Bainbridge Island, WA. (Photo: Brad Camp | Kitsap Sun)

Preservation, or what I like to call “pre-refrigeration food storage,” is at the heart of much of what we do at Hitchcock, and it touches every food group at the restaurant from meats to vegetables, dairy, and fruit. So many culinary concepts—cheese, vinegar, pickles, confit, cured meats, and alcohol—were derived from this necessity.

Preserved items from the Hitchcock pantry (Photo: Hitchcock)

As an offshoot of our kombucha program (a popular item at our next door deli, and fun for using to steam shellfish), we began to ferment our own vinegars. We start with an organic Columbia Valley blended red wine, and after a few generations, we can say the starter is our own. It’s a rich, fresh vinegar that makes an excellent mignonette for our oysters. The next elaboration we have planned is to hollow out a cured piece of applewood and torch it like a burnt cask, fill it with vinegar, and allow to age.

We receive a weekly delivery of raw cow and goat’s milk from small local dairies, which we sell at our deli. As soon as we see them getting close to their expiration, we take them into the restaurant kitchen where they make excellent cheeses. Because they haven’t been pasteurized, their natural enzymes curdle the milk when heated without any added citrus or rennet. With these curds, we pull mozzarella, whip up ricotta, or press the ricotta into a “salata” cheese. We’ve had a batch of creme fraiche running for over 2 1/2 years; it started with our organic heavy cream, inoculated with buttermilk culture, which soured over 48 hours at room temp. We then refrigerate it, and use the cream in everything from potato salad to ice cream. When we get down to a few cups, we heat up another gallon of cream and inoculate that with the remainder. The whey that is an inevitable by-product of the whole milk is used to ferment our own whole-grain mustard, which gets a buttery flavor from the slow lactic fermentation that follows its preparation.

Of course, our charcuterie program is a great example of our preservation efforts. Cuts of pork are processed into bacon, dry-cured sausages, pancetta, lonza, prosciutto, and head cheese. Some of these, we’ll enjoy over a year after slaughter; a brilliant extension of piggy’s life.

Charcuterie platter at Hitchcock. (Photo: Hitchcock)

The fruit from the orchard on our farm undergoes the same preservation efforts. We turned over 50 lbs. of pineapple quince into 75 lbs. of carne de membrillo, which we use to garnish cheeses and show up in desserts and alongside foie gras all year. Apples became applesauce and figs were pickled. We also preserved the ground cherries that we bought from Sol Farm. We saved the pith from Eastern Washington watermelons and pickled them. After a few months, we have a citrusy, translucent fruit that few people can identify, and are always surprised to see in January at a Western Washington farm-to-table restaurant.

Since we opened on this island a few years ago, we’ve developed an intimate knowledge of how the seasons roll around here. The bumper crop of sweet and hot peppers on the island inspired us to pickle large amounts two seasons ago, and we made hot sauce in our wood-fired oven from these house-pickled peppers right up until the last crop became available. Tani Creek Farm provided us with a selection of hot peppers, and we’ll never use those dried chili flakes from god-knows-where again. This year, we use some of the hot peppers, along with our dried sole roe, to make a kimchi-style ferment for hardy greens and cabbages. We also invested in a 22-quart hand-turned Polish crock, in which we can ferment 35 lbs. of local, organic cabbage from Laughing Crow Farm. This tangy, fizzy kraut was a game-changer, and allowed us to prepare a classic “choucroute garni,” with our kraut cooked in goose fat rendered from the local whole animals we receive, garnished with our pork charcuteries, and accompanied with our own fermented mustard.