Artisan Gardner

 Warm weather brings an irresistible urge to dine outdoors & an appetite for seasonal menus calls for dishes made with fresh ingredients.

"Seasonal" can also apply to schedules that may find you running or relaxing. Either way, uncomplicated meals made at home with simple ingredients are smart & healthy and offer the perfect opportunity to sit down together and give thanks.

 Artisan Gardner is a nod to Laura Gardner ~ a friend & fabulous cook! There is a liveliness in Laura's cooking. Partly due to her genuine love of preparing good food & her seasoned career in the culinary & hospitality industry, but mainly it's her generosity and ease in which she entertains.

A casual invitation to dinner at the Gardner's fills us with joyful anticipation! We just know it's going to be good ~ and it's definitely a collaboration. Her mouth-watering menus are always earthy & regional and Mr. Gardner's wine pairings beautifully complement the meal & elevate the evening. They are quite a team in the kitchen & in real life!

You may be wondering why all the beet photos. Well ~ It's because they're in season and because Grilled Beet & Goat Cheese Pizza was on the menu! Since Laura prefers to cook off-book & I'm a visual gal, I grabbed my iPhone and started snapping away!

Here is the result with recipe & instructions below. 

Grilled Beet & Goat Cheese Pizza

{Ingredients}

Serves 4

4 medium-sized Beets with greens

Dough 

{White or Wheat ~ Fresh or Packaged}

Corn Meal

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Goat Cheese

Provolone Cheese

Dried Figs

Sea Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper

{Directions}  

Wash beets & greens. Remove greens & set aside.

Peel beets with a paring knife or vegetable peeler. 

Slice to medium thickness using a mandolin.

{be smart & use the guard}

Toss with S&P and 2 tsp. olive oil.

Chop greens.

Toss with S&P and 2 tsp. olive oil.

Let dough rest at room temp and then separate into sections for individual pizzas. Gently press the dough into rustic shapes.

Let the dough rest again as it will bounce back a little. Prepare a sheet pan sprinkled with cornmeal to prevent dough from sticking.

Place pizzas on pan & prepare cheeses.

Grill the beets over medium-high heat, flipping & rotating until they start to spot or blister. 

Over medium-high heat, place individual pizzas on the grill for approximately 4 minutes or until the underside becomes golden brown and easily releases from grill.

After a minute, you can lift an edge and peek underneath. You want a slight char around the edge, which adds a lot of flavor!

 Flip the dough back onto a pan with cornmeal so uncooked side is facing down.

Spread the top grilled side of dough generously with goat cheese.

Layer with the fresh chopped greens & grilled beets.

Top with dried figs.

Top with provolone cheese.

Place pizzas back on the grill for another 4 minutes to brown underside of the dough. Cover with a lid during this time to allow the cheese to melt.

Best when served hot off the grill!

These were quite filling so a sliced heirloom tomato with fresh basil & sea salt would be a great side & as always, a selection from J. Lohr Vineyards is the perfect compliment to any meal prepared by Artisan Gardner!

I hope you're looking forward to a great summer weekend! Get your grill fired up, dial up your favorite music, gather together and enjoy some chewy, crispy & smoky Grilled Beet & Goat Cheese Pizza!

Remember - cooking at home is not about perfection. It's about cooking what you like, how you like and for who you like.

Bon appetite! 

Taste Memory

For the most part, edibles found in my garden have consisted of tomatoes from my neighbor’s vine, herbs from my herb garden, and an occasional crate of Mandarin oranges from Trader Joe’s.

This summer I wanted to put more on my table & in my assorted mason jars.

A sudden desire to preserve or “put up food” as they say in the south, found me exploring a myriad of sources on growing & preserving good food to eat.

The best sources I found for down-in-the-dirt or out-in-the-orchard-goodness into a hot-steamy-kitchen and onto the worn-wooden-shelves-in-a-dark-cool-pantry were ~ my local agriculture cooperative, my 2013 Farmer’s Almanac, real farmers, and a friend who’s mother is a master at preserving everything!

Along the way, I also found Taste, Memory ~ Forgotten Foods, Lost Flavors, And Why They Matter

The cover caught my eye and thumbing through eventually had me curled up in a deep leather chair appreciating the nuances of heirloom crops and understanding the importance of preserving food.

Taste Memory also reminded me that I’m actually more attracted to the nostalgia of preserving food traditions ~ not hot steamy kitchens!

It’s already late in the season so I think I’ll just hold on to my fondest taste memories of gathering exceptionally beautiful peaches for my Grandmother in Texas. She was not only putting up food for her family’s sustenance, but also for their pleasure ~

I guess I can say that “putting up food” actually has been a part of my life!

I’ll end with another wonderful taste memory called Going for Peaches, Fredericksburg, Texas from Working Dirt ~ An Anthology Of Southern Poets.

This one’s been on my shelf forever ~ 

   Enjoy!

Mandarin Oranges

Taking a moment to share some warm sunshine, sweet mandarin oranges, and the best part of my day with you!

 

 

Bright green twigs with leaves still attached are signs of careful picking and freshness.

Thank you Trader Joe’s!

 

 

 

Tonight a few will be squeezed over grilled chicken & tossed in a green salad.

 

 

 

So long for now ~

I’m headed back outside to enjoy the sun & another mandarin or two.

If you love oranges as much as I do, you might also enjoy

To Make A Day ~

and

Sarabeth’s Kitchen ~

 

I hope you’re having a great day & looking forward to a blessed weekend!

Burgundy to Portland

While looking for an escape from the heat yesterday, I found myself browsing through the vineyards of Burgundy.

 

A couple of photos caught my eye.

I clicked to learn more and found my way to Sauvie Island and the charming front porch of Wild Goose Farm.

  

  Sauvie Island is not in France, it’s located on the Columbia River 15 minutes north of Portland Oregon.

 

 

  Wild Goose Farm sits on five-acres of this agricultural heaven. Deep in lush island grass, the farm is surrounded by garden patches, beehives, chicken coops, a greenhouse & a big barn.  Can you say “sustainable?” 

 

 

   Wild Goose Farm is also home to Interior Designer Jessica Helgerson, her Eco-Architect husband Yianni Doulis and their two children.

“Tiny House” as it is often referred to, has been their home & Eco-experiment for the last several years.  Their goal was to restore its original 540 square feet using mostly reclaimed materials while creating a comfortable home for their growing family.

“As part of the remodel, the worn-out roof was replaced with a green roof, planted with moss and ferns gathered along the Columbia River Gorge. The green roof offers insulation as well as a playful visual counterpoint to the traditional white cottage.”  JHInteriorDesign

 

 

Clean & uncluttered best describes Jessica’s style. 

“For any project, her goal is to ensure that the fundamental design and the materials are classic, long-lasting, and appropriate to the building and its period. Then she likes to layer on fresh, contemporary elements—such as lighting, furniture, and art—that feel just right for the clients and for the moment.” JHInteriorDesign

Step inside the front door and find absolute charm, pure & simple.

 

 

You have to see more of this “Tiny House!”

I’ll let MARTHA STEWART LIVING  & photographer Lincoln Barbour take you on an up-close & personal tour.

Meet me back on the porch because I want to share with you a different kind of story about Wild Goose Farm.

 

Once a month Jessica & Yianni turn their farm into a kind of homestead. Long tables covered in white linen set the mood for evening dinners on the lawn to reflect their love of food, drink, and design.

 

Friends from LA, colleagues, French-speaking wine connoisseurs & families all come together for starlit evenings &  four courses of some of the best food to be found.

 

 

This feast is farm-picked & requires many helping hands. Even Jessica’s daughter does her part in cutting cucumbers fresh from their garden.

And thank goodness for the barn!

For these artisanal dinners, it becomes a regular gourmet kitchen complete with a three burner camp stove!  This beautiful barn also adds culinary charm & introduces Portlanders to talented newcomers and cooks not attached to traditional restaurants.  Wild Goose Farm began its 2011 series with chef Thomas Boyce (below, center) who spent 15 years at LA’s famed Spago restaurant under Wolfgang Puck!

 

Menu

Appetizers:

elegant oysters beneath finely grated radishes and a collection of wood-fired pizzas sporting porcinis, fava beans, and other seasonal surprises to match a honey-tinged crust. 

Course one:

Yianni Doulis’s chicken liver terrine (featuring his own chickens) to match Boyce’s rhubarb mustard and eye-popping spring salad, with each vegetable cut to reveal hidden beauty.

Course two:

breathtaking fresh pasta pinched into beautiful packets.

Course three:

expertly wood-oven-roasted salmon with skin as crispy as bacon.

 

The feast also included:

Yianni Doulis’s artisan cheese board accessorized by thoughtfulness, from wood-roasted cherries soaked in port and pinot noir.

And for dessert:

The chef's baker-star wife Kim Boyce prepared hand-folded rhubarb tartelettes! 

  Seated family-style & reflecting the bounty of the season, the feast begins.

   

Respect for the abundance and traditions of the region coupled with an appreciation of the playfulness and freshness of modern design prove that the landscape of Wild Goose Farm is just as important for creating a sense of place as is Jessica Helgerson’s Tiny House.

Visit Jessica Helgerson Interior Design to see her incredible portfolio & more of her family place in Burgundy.

Her firm does “Big Houses” too!

  

Photos & Additional Sources Courtesy of

 Lincoln Barbour Photo

 Portland Monthly Magazine - Eat Beat

 Portland Monthly Magazine – Wild Goose Farm – Sauvie Island

David L. Reamer Photography