Culinary Demonstration

Thanks to all the fine folks that came to the cooking demonstration today. It was a great blast. The recipe for the lentils will be posted under the recipe tab at the top of the page. We’ll see ya next time.

Catering Snacks

Some great snacks for an upcoming event.  Home made buttermilk crackers, grilled rosemary flat bread all topped with tapenade, hummus and pesto.  

Another Perfect Health Inspection!

Congratulations to everyone!  ANOTHER perfect 100 points for our health inspection.

Local Wheat

Here is a pic of the wheat we grew here at the Inn from some local seed stock…  I have never actually seen wheat growing.  It’s a blast teaching the kids about wheat and how you make bread and cereal and all the wonderful other things that are associated with it.  True food, not processed.

New Local Tuna Special

I have finally (FINALLY!) hooked up with the Port Orford gang and they are now sending me fresh albacore tuna straight from the Oregon coast.  Here’s a special we’re running with it right now…  Sesame seared with a nice Asian slaw, tomato puree and avocado.  Turned out really delicious…

Cherry Citrus Strudel with Lavender Ice Cream

Nice one with candied zest.

Wild Columbia River Sturgeon and Fresh Rainbow Trout

We’re getting some great seafood in right now…

Vineyard Dinner Photos

Here are some shots on what we hope to be a regular occurrence…  Imagine taking a trolley ride to a Southern Oregon winery where you are greeted with wine and fantastic food, much grown on the winery’s grounds.  This was a lot of fun.  Stay tuned…

Wheat from Dunbar Farms, Southern Oregon

We have spread some wheat berries from Dunbar Farm around our garden a few months ago when it was really cold out.  Actually, it was our chief maintenance man, Trapper who grabbed a handful back in February when I was toiling with what to do with them.  Well, now that it’s warm, and the sun is shining, this is what we have…

 This is a great example of natural selection.  This wheat is grown in this area and selected for these growing condition.  I’m not sure of the lineage of this red wheat before I got it, only that it is an heirloom variety…  But we have kept it going for another season.  Perhaps we will continue to replant it season after season and show how this wheat is much better than GM seeds that have no value after it’s planted.  My seeds have history and can be replanted year after year, adapted to this region, unlike the genetically modified wheat that can only be planted for one season, then it’s lost.  Only time and people can decide what’s better.

Wild Ramp Butter

I made a lot of ramp butter with some more ramps I got.  Thinking something with oven braised rainbow trout….

Sous Vide Chicken with Oregon White Truffles

Here is the first dish I made today using my truffles for Sunday Brunch.

          

Hawaiian Tombo Tuna

Found a use for these great Oregon pickled ramps.  I’m pairing them with a salad of crispy Spring new potatoes, grilled asparagus, pepper bacon and a cider-mustard vinaigrette.  It’s finished with avocado puree, hard boiled egg and micro turnips/pea tendrils from our kitchen garden.  Can’t wait for the local albacore tuna season to open up!

Oregon White Spring Truffles

Funny, I didn’t even know these existed until I saw them.  And the aroma…  WOW!  Seriously.  These are unreal.  It’s frustrating though because I am having a hard time devising my next special for them for some reason.  I just want to smell them.  🙂  Hopefully I can come up with something soon.  The weather has been warm and sunny.  Not really what you would think of for truffles I’m only used to using during cold winter months.  We’ll see…

Oregon Ramps Are (finally) Here!

Okay, okay, okay!  I’ve been asking Louis over at Mushrooms All Year where the ramps are for the last 2 months.  “No, chef” he would say….  “Only from Michigan right now.”  Michigan??  What???  Well, I would have to wait.  Well, that wait is OVER!   We have been  waiting for a while (Honestly for about 10 months now since last season…) So, now I have pickled them and am thinking of how to use them.  I wanted to use them fresh, but they seem to be in really short supply just like morels this year.  How depressing.  So, They are now pickled and I will probably make ramp butter with the tops.  It’s the best way I can think of to stretch them in case I don’t get another crack at ’em this season.  

Our Micro Greens Revisited

So, I took the plunge and purchased a 50 liter bag of “Hydroton”.  This is the clay like rocks I started experimenting with to grow microgreens under out grow lights in the kitchen.  It cost $35 and we are now converting all our indoor growing operations to utilize it.  Our most recent planting includes pea tendrils, micro radish and micro beets.  The tendrils have been tested and work great (see prior post) but the other items have yet to be seen.  Germination has already taken place after just 2 days.

Wild Columbia River Sturgeon

The restaurant is known for it’s Salmon and Halibut on the menu that we feature year round.  People come looking for it.  As the customer demand dictates that we must have this available all the time, I have started trying to focus on other fish that we can offer that may, perhaps, sway some guests into discovering how delicious local, fresh fish can be.  Remember, ALL food we consume has a season.  Just because it can be purchased year long does not mean that it’s at it’s best year long.  With this in mind, I have been really trying to utilize some of the wild Columbia River sturgeon we have available.  This fish is truly amazing.  It is an ancient species that swam with the dinosaurs.  It has a rich history in the Columbia River.  The sous vide sturgeon we have on the menu is garnering a lot of attention.  Here we have another application.  It smokes up great.  We will probably feature this smoked sturgeon for our mother’s day brunch.  It came out delicious!

Farmer Platon Getting Ready to Plant Our Heirloom Tomatoes

Here is Platon working the land and planting his tomato plants.  Don’t know where is farmer hat is…  Can’t wait till we can feature these tomatoes on our Summer menu!

Join Me In July As I Cook For a Fantastic Farm to Fork Event July 23rd

I will be excitedly joining Matthew Domingo, Director of Farm to fork Events to be a guest Chef for his July 23rd event at Willow-Witt Ranch in Ashland featuring their wonderful pastured pork and goat.  Enjoy wines by Weisinger’s Winery as we celebrate local farmers and wineries and enjoy food right at the source.  It will be a fantastic opportunity to meet the ranchers and learn about what goes into a fun and fabulously prepared dinner.   Farm to Fork events have become known for their interactive dining formats and this evening will prove to be no different.  Come join us and see what’s new from The Jacksonville Inn.

House Made Canadian Bacon

We have started making our own canadian bacon.  Partly because high quality bacon has gotten REALLY expensive  lately and partly because this house made product is MUCH better than the high quality product we were using. And now we can feature pork loin from local producers like Willow-Witt Ranch…

New Hybrid-Hydroponic System Results for Micro Greens in Our Kitchen

Well, here are some photos of what our pea tendrils look like using the new soiless growing medium.  These photos are taken 10 days after germination with just water and organic fertilizer.

 Needless to say, we will be switching all of our indoor growing operations to this new system. 
 It’s remarkable.  Thanks to the Ladybug Store for hooking us up with the experiment.