Bottling Dynamo Red at Harbinger Winery

The new vintage of Dynamo Red is now in the bottle! The bottling process at a small, boutique winery is a "all hands on deck" experience and lots of fun for those lucky enough to join in. Luckily, as a wine club member of Harbinger Winery in Port Angeles, WA's west end, I get a call from Sara Gagnon, co-owner and winemaker or her right-hand-man Dave to join in the inner-workings of the winery. Many club members have enthusiastically volunteered their time and learned about the many hands involved in making fine wines. The corking process is a rather aerobic experience and I slept REALLY well that night. Harbinger Winery is a friendly, informative place to come and sample some product, learn about each of their wines and visit with friends. They have numerous art pieces on display and for sale, FANTASTIC local cheeses to purchase and try their two or three beers on tap as well.

Cheers to Harbinger Winery and supporting our local wineries!

What the Pho'!

Literally, that's what the restaurant in Bellevue, WA is called, What the Pho'. Ironically it was our mood last Saturday morning too after our flight to Palm Springs, CA got cancelled and we couldn't fly out until Monday am.! The Ulins were NOT a happy family that morning! However, quick thinking Brad thought of a happy door prize of going to our favorite Pho shop in Bellevue for a steaming bowl of goodness and some fresh spring rolls. We all chose the flank steak and eye of round steak as our meat, added our bean sprouts and various favorite condiments to the broth. I love the fresh lime squeeze, the fresh basil and cilantro and a dash of Asian hot sauce (the one with the rooster on the label).  It was a nice bit of warmth in the POURING rain. We'll get to the sun soon enough we thought.  Making lemonade after getting served some lemons:) It's our Vietnamese comfort food, kinda like Grandma's chicken soup. My son Alan said "it was like heaven in a bowl". We agreed. Our attentive, friendly waiter said "gama" was "thank you" in Vietnamese. "Gama" to Brad for bringing us out of our funk!

Are fresh salmon patties considered leftovers?

Now I love leftovers as much as the next guy, but do salmon patties really qualify? Not sure, but I'm hungry and no time to ponder. They are a definite bonus of leftover amazingly grilled salmon (caught by yet another super nice friend Kyle)!  I use almost all the classic salsa ingredients but instead of onion, use minced shallots when available. ...think combo between making salsa and meatloaf.

Then I use a freshly beaten egg, a few tablespoons of a good mayo, a few more tablespoons of Dijon mustard, some minced garlic, freshly ground pepper and several dashes of hot sauce, Now for the "salsa" side of the ingredients; freshly diced tomato, chopped cilantro, the juice from half a lime. The freshly flaked salmon is carefully scanned for any residual bones and then the ingredients are gently combined in a bowl as to not mash up the salmon too much. We want some flake, some texture to the salmon patties. I form them into patties in my hand and place each one onto a plate of Panko bread crumbs.  My patties are a little smaller than a fist and about an inch or more thick. Remember, the salmon is already cooked so we are focusing on warming throughout and forming a toasty, crispy crust with the Panko bread crumbs embedded on both sides of each patty.

Before I fry those off, I get my side dish ready. Today, I'm thinking bistro, more elegant but comfort/bar food. Fingerling oven fries fit that bill! They are sliced into wedges, tossed in a bowl with fresh chopped garlic, freshly ground sea salt and pepper and olive oil. The coated spud wedges are separated on the cookie sheet or my favorite, a large Silpat (silicone baking mat from Demarle) and a perforated Demarle baking sheet (allows for even heat flow on the baking surface).

 Into the middle rack of a preheated oven on 375 degrees on convection bake if possible, bake if not, for about 10-15 minutes, depending on thickness of the potato wedges. They emerge from the oven still bubbling and they get a quick grind or two of fresh sea salt to boost the flavor.

 I check on the salmon patties in the fry pan of 4 tablespoons of Canola oil. They take about 5 minutes each side, medium high heat, to brown on each side. Make sure to not cover the pan as steam will not allow the crust to get as crispy as an open pan.

You can use fresh tartar sauce, ketchup, cocktail sauce, a lemon wedge or nothing at all to grace these crispy exteriors, moist, steaming interiors of fresh salmon patty. This amazing "leftover" makes me look like a rock star and they really are a matter of simply great ingredients, respectfully combined!  Enjoy!