Orcas Island - Inn at Ship Bay

Orcas Island January Ravioli

2012-02-01T21:40:00.000-08:00

Ravioli

The best thing for me about not having the restaurant open is being able to cook and eat at home with my family. We tend to make a lot of simple meals, this January night we made ravioli, one was filled with roast squash (adults) and the other with a mixture of parsley, mozzarella and reggiano (kids). No trickery here.

There are many pasta recipes, using flours of many types, oo flour, bread flour, a.p. flour etc... I like to use straight semolina, I like the density that it gives and once you get used to it, it is quite easy to work with. It absorbs moisture more slowly than almost any other flour, so you need to compensate when initially mixing the dough. For hand cut noodles, it dries and holds very well.

I take 2 cups (approximately) semolina, three fresh local eggs, a short glug of extra virgin olive oil and a touch of water to help make the right consistency, remember that the semolina will take 20 minutes or more to absorb all the liquid, so you want it to start out just a bit loose. I find that when I cook the pasta in salted water and have seasoned the filling, salt is not needed in the dough (not sure what Mario or the Cool Guy says). You can mix with a paddle in a Kitchen Aid or by hand. Even if you use a mixer, turn it out on a wood table to work with your hands a bit, just to feel the dough with your hands. Let it rest and relax before rolling.

I just use a hand roller, and work the Ravioli sheets to number five (for our machine, they do differ) , if it is too sticky, dust everything with some semolina. Place the filling into a pastry bag with a large straight tip and carefully lay down the filling, I can go three wide if I am careful. The next sheet goes over the top, make sure that the sides are stretched to fit the bottom sheet, a helper at this point can be advantageous. Start at one end and work down the middle, taking care to remove all the air surrounding the filling, then do the same to the sides and crimp with a pastry cutter of fork. You can make larger ravioli if you are having a hard time with three across (this is not a contest, the only hero is the one who cleans up).

You can fill pasta with anything, just make sure that it, a) tastes great, b) is sealed well and has some structure when hot, no explosions. For tonight, a super easy saute of mushroom, caramelized onion, chicken stock with chopped parsley with reggiano landed on the ravioli when they finished cooking, which really only take several minutes when this fresh.

Mangalitsa - Berkshire Piglets

2012-01-09T16:01:00.000-08:00

Three Little Pigs

Three of Link's piglets came over to Orcas from Horsedrawn Farm on Lopez Island yesterday. Two barrows and one gilt. They are almost two months old to the day. Very frisky and quite cute. Link seemed ready to move on from her litter, as they had all been weaned and were investigating the farm. Catherine really likes to give the piglets 8 weeks with the sow, which can be hard on the sow, but Link really looked great. Typically factory farms wean piglets at 3 weeks and start them on antibiotics, as they tend to get sick when pulled from their mother too quickly. The other four piglets will remain on Lopez, with two different families who wanted to raise pigs with Mangalitsa genetics.

Because they are half Berkshire and half Mangalitsa, we may breed the gilt back to a pure Mangalitsa, which would yield 3/4 Mangalitsa, providing most of the characteristics of pure Mangalitsa with faster growth. After a snack of Mangalitsa Coppa, Salami and Speck, we headed back to Orcas Island on the ferry.
Anyone who wants to drop by the Inn to see them is welcome.

Back on Orcas Island

2012-01-04T17:03:00.000-08:00

We have just returned from a trip to the east coast, where we witnessed weather from 5 below zero in Vermont to 55 F in New York City. Coming home we were greeted with mild weather and rain.

Kale

Basically unblemished Chidori Kale, Swiss Chard, Lacinato and Arugula in the garden. Hard to believe it is January 4, 2012, the temperatures have been in the 40's F both day and night. The winds have been strong and consistent, whipping everything, but very little frost damage.

Winter Lettuces

In the greenhouse, everything is looking great as well, normally winter crops just sit through this period, until daylight time lengthens and it warms in February. This year, the relative warmth has everything growing slowly. I can't help but think that we will slip into a deep freeze very soon, but I will keep my fingers crossed in hopes that does not happen. In the meantime, we will enjoy slug free fresh greens.

Mizuna

Off to Lopez Island on Sunday to pick up three Mangalitsa cross piglets from Horsedrawn Farm.

Pictures to follow.

Our Beloved Link... and the Linkettes

2011-12-10T22:37:00.000-08:00

The post that everyone has been waiting for. Our sweet Link and her piglets, count them, seven, not bad for a Mangalitsa sow's first litter. They are one month, almost to the day old. Link looks great, very happy to see us again, and very attentive to the little ones. The litter is three little girls and four boys. We will bring three back to Ship Bay and Catherine will keep two gilts, because Link has been such a great mother. Two of the other piglets will also stay on Lopez with another fan of the heirloom Mangalitsa genetics.

This is the beginning of the next generation.

Thanks to Heath Putnam.

Epic Sunset

2011-11-11T16:50:00.000-08:00

Really cool cloud formation in front of the Inn today. Looks like winter is on it's way.

Link our Mangalitsa Sow has given birth to seven piglets. She is at Horsedrawn farm on Lopez Island. We will post pictures as soon as we have them.

Scenic View From Mt. Constitution

2011-10-03T10:53:00.000-07:00

View over Mt. Pickett to Cypress, Guemes and Sinclair Islands, among others

A quick trip and hike to Mt. Constitution gives us a reminder of how truely scenic Orcas Island really is. Still too early for any quantities of mushrooms, but with some rain in the forecast, that should change soon. Hard to believe that the park only 3.5 miles from the Inn.

2011 Tomato Season Has Arrived

2011-08-03T11:37:00.000-07:00

A nice bowl of heirloom tomatoes to kick off the summer season, this is just the tip of the iceberg, hundreds of pounds to go. We thought this day would never arrive, in reality we are only two or three weeks behind.

Another Happy Marraige on Orcas Island

2011-07-18T12:25:00.000-07:00

Very Nice cake by Annie

Eagle

2011-07-08T10:12:00.000-07:00

Nice photo taken in front of the Inn of one of our many Majestic scavengers
by Luke aka Spreadeagle

Strawberrys

2011-06-30T10:07:00.000-07:00

George's Berries

These are the nicest berries we have seen, they are large, and sweet, brightly colored throughout, thanks to our good friend George Orser and his very fertile Orcas Farm. So good that you do not even ask the price. On the menu in many forms until they are gone.

We have swiftly turned the corner from, when is going to warm up? and where is all the produce? to what are we going to do with it all. Feast or famine for the farmers. We have been lucky here at the Inn, we have a warm site and have been able to provide most of our own greens and all of our herbs.


A Forest of Favas

Our fava Beans are almost ready and we have many green tomatoes now, it will not be long before they ripen, it is just so hard to wait.

Very Fresh

2011-06-22T19:47:00.000-07:00

Stevo came by with some beautiful Sea Urchins, seaweed is delicious as well.

Fresh Troll caught King Salmon from Westport, Washington, super nice.

Coppa

2011-06-16T14:26:00.000-07:00

Mangalitsa Coppa ready to role, fantastic rich flavor. Great marbling, cured and flavored with fennel seed.

Kartoffel the Mangalitsa

2011-06-10T17:09:00.000-07:00

Much larger now and still cute?

Link goes to Lopez

2011-06-04T09:59:00.000-07:00

After a ferry ride and short drive, here is Link as we were introducing her to Horsedrawn Farm on Lopez Island. Her new home is all clean straw, and she has a group of 8 or 9 young hogs to mingle with next to her. She has really filled out and looks like a Swallow Belly Mangalitsa, she probably is about 350#, live weight. After settling in for a day or two, she will meet Angus, who is all Berkshire, he is young, but still around 500 # or so and growing.

So with any luck, they will do what pigs do and we will be expecting piglets in the fall sometime. It will be interesting to see first hand what the F 1 hybrids will look like, as we have raised pigs of various color, body type, all with various degrees of Mangalitsa. All of the pork was excellent, well marbled, very fatty and consistently better than any pork we have tasted. The big dark Mangalitsas that were most recently slaughtered were truely fantastic, very dark, rich, flavorful meat (see below) with excellent marbling, just a shade or two lighter than beef. We also did a good job finishing them with a no corn, high protein feed. No lard shortage here.

Truely Local

2011-05-25T11:34:00.000-07:00

We realized recently that all of our meats and poultry were produced either by ourselves, or someone we know, in the San Juan Islands, or only as far away as Ephrata, in Eastern Washington. The Mangalitsa Pork was raised here at the Inn. The beef was raised down the road at Coffelt Farm, Lamb from Horse Drawn Farm on Lopez ( yes they mostly use horses instead of tractors), Eggs from Ruthie at Brightmeadow farm here on Orcas Island, poultry ( chicken, squab, quail, quail eggs from Bernie Nash, otherwise known as the Mad Hatcher. All the shellfish is from either Buck Bay Shellfish or Judd Cove. Mark Hoffman caught the Black Cod we are serving and the troll caught King Salmon came from Ecluelet on Vancouver Island.
While we always do our best to source local, quality products, it does not always fall into place, so it is very gratifying to have it all work out this way.

2011-05-22T14:54:00.000-07:00

The first 30 or so tomato plants are in the greenhouse. It has warmed up a bit, finally getting day time temperatures into the 60's. It may be too late for some of the fruit trees to be pollinated, but the bees are now officially flying.

Here is a shot of our newly planted garden outside of the kitchen. Now that the area is fenced in, we are deer proof, everything is starting to take off, we have a mix of perennials and lots of culinary herbs, like various basils, thyme, sage, rosemary, lavender, chives, Bay, Artichoke, Nasturtiums, parsley, etc...

One of our spring favorite combinations, Local Morels and Ramps, served today with Troll Caught King Salmon from Ucluelet, British Columbia, not far at all from Orcas Island.

Tomorrow our little female Mangalitsa, Link, goes to Lopez Island for some piggy love. She will be bred with Angus, a rather good looking young Berkshire boar. So with any luck we will have some half Bershire - half Mangalitsa piglets. Most likely we will only raise three of them here at the Inn.

Wood Fired Pizza

2011-05-10T12:51:00.000-07:00

A nice Sunday afternoon pizza. The plan is to have casual outside pizza, salads, beer, wine and dessert every Sunday, 12 - pm, throughout the summer at the Inn, weather permitting. This week with Mangalitsa Salami & Basil. Also asparagus & sweet herb flatbread.

More Mangalitsa on it's way. Two hogs hit the scales at 220# & 229#, finished on Bruce Dunlops corn free formula. They will be on premise tomorrow.

Transplant Successful

2011-05-03T12:29:00.000-07:00

All 120 transplants are alive and well. It is nice and warm.
Go time for Tomatoes.

Tomatoes

2011-05-02T12:34:00.000-07:00

Today is tomato transplant day. The seeds were started on March 8th. Nearly 100 % germination = lots of tomato plants. We will put them into 1 gallon pots until we can make room in the greenhouse, which is full of various lettuces. So it will be very tight for the next month or so. The basil looks very good for this time of year, with our long, lingering cool spring weather. Thanks for the greenhouse.

The line up for this year so far is;

Cherokee Black
Brandywine
Lopez Red (6 years saving seed)
Green Zebra (6 years saving seed)
Orange Persimmon (9 years saving seed)
Yellow Pear
Sungold
Paul Robeson
Black Cherry
Zuchello *
Sioux *
Arbuson *
Mountain Crest *

* New varieties from mrf, thanks John. Curious about Japanese Black Trifele.

Spring on Orcas Island

2011-04-29T16:50:00.000-07:00

Cool but very sunny weather. Not warm enough to eat outside, but soon it will be.

Another tasty Mangalitsa product. Brined and then hot smoked ham. Really delicious, quite juicy with just enough smoke. Tonight we will serve it with slow cooked local duck egg and asparagus cooked in some of the smoky fat.

Rubber Band Ball

2011-04-27T12:29:00.000-07:00

Wondering what to do with all of the rubber bands from asparagus, etc...

This one is getting large.

Blossoms

2011-04-26T13:05:00.000-07:00

Nice Head of Pirat Lettuce. All greens are being harvested from our garden at this point. We will see how long we can keep it up

Another nice sunny day, actually warm enough for the bees to fly, hopefully lots of successful pollination.

Finally Spring

2011-04-22T13:25:00.000-07:00

A nice calm sunny day at Ship Bay on Orcas Island. Finally a day warm enough for bees to pollinate, the plums are in full bloom, so hopefully we will see more fruit this year. The plums always seem to do ok with fruit production.

All the greens for the restaurant are now coming from the garden, radishes, turnips, Loma, Arugula, Pirat, Ruby Streaks Mustards, Frisee, Broccoli Rabe and Sugar Snap Tendrils.

The warm weather plant starts, tomatoes & Basil are looking very good as well, but still are on the warm bed.

Trees & Pigs

2011-04-12T11:59:00.000-07:00

Asian Pear graft from last year. It has been grafted onto a volunteer sucker that came up near an old pear tree. Most likely old pear or quince stock. It is amazing that this flowered on it's first real year. Soon we will make a spot for it out in the orchard.

Here is Link. She is a gilt that will make the trip to Lopez soon to be bred with a Berkshire. She has really sized up very well. Good natured and as you can see, she knows where the food is. Maybe in the future she will be bred via A.I. with pure mangalitsa, when it becomes available. We are most certainly sold on the pork quality, thanks to Heath, it has made us crazy enough to keep pigs on site.

Spring Growth

2011-03-31T10:44:00.000-07:00

After a bunch of rain last night the pigs were in

no hurry to get up. A blurry picture, but gives you an idea of size next to the split 50 gallon drum. Classic Swallow Belly Mangalitsa look.

Lots of new growth, seed starts, tomatoes, Basil, etc... We look forward to getting some warmer weather.

First Two Mangalitsas are back Home

2011-03-30T16:38:00.000-07:00

Two large and very Fatty Mangalitsa loins. Should be on the menu tomorrow. Tenderloin and kidneys on for tonight. One leg is being cured for ham and we just put two large coppas on cure.

Nice Fat belly pieces to cook overnight. If tasty pork is your thing, then come in and have some of the best, Locally Raised Mangalitsa.

Spring Is Coming?

2011-03-11T11:22:00.000-08:00

Finally some growth in the greenhouse. We were on track for an earlier spring when all went out the window with sub zero temps. It is likely that we are a full month behind last year temperature wise. Nothing was killed, except a copper pipe in the wall behind the kitchen, Mother Nature put all growth on hold for a while. It sure is nice to have freshly cut chives and the sweetest fennel to use in the kitchen.

Lots of baby lettuces, ruby streaks mustard greens, arugula, radishes, Turnips. Soon we will be overcrowded and planting heavily outside. First round of starts are planted inside, lots of heirloom tomatoes, basil (many types), leeks, etc...

Pasta filled with the last of Horsedrawn farm's Blue Ballet squash. It seems to be the sweetest this time of year.

Coffelt's Farm Pig Tour

2011-02-02T14:54:00.000-08:00

A trip to Coffelt's Farm for eggs, slowly gearing up for Feb. 11 opening of the restaurant. I had almost forgotten what 'normal' pigs looked like. The ones above ( 200 + lbs.)are mostly Berkshires and the ones below ( 25 - 35 # ) are Berkshire and basic pink pigs, Sydney did not know their pedigree.

It gives some perspective on how different the Mangalitsas look and interact with people. Their lives revolve around food.

Early Garden

2011-01-28T21:01:00.000-08:00

Sorry no pictures, but we planted a lot of seed this week, way earlier than normal, it is still January for Pete's sake. The top is back on the greenhouse now. All the greens will be fine, but sugar snap peas and favas are a bit iffy this time of year, they either thrive or succumb to rot. We will keep you posted. We also planted Neal's famous turnips, which produced great little baby greens and have survived form last fall. Much pruning to do and opening in 2 WEEKS!

Thank you John for the extra seed.

Cool Sunset from Ship Bay

2011-01-27T21:30:00.000-08:00

O.K. crappy camera, but awesome view. Taken before going home today. The things that we take for granted.

I would say we are blessed, but more than likely we are just in the right place at the right time.

Judd Cove Oysters

2011-01-26T17:25:00.000-08:00

On the way into town this afternoon, at the end of a beautiful sunny day. Low tide and Judd Cove Oysters. Bill was out harvesting oysters, so I snapped a couple shots. Bill and Char grow them in mesh bags and bring the bags in and then grade according to desired size. The rest go back onto the beach to grow some more. You can see the bags of oysters in the background, they are held off of the sand by racks. It is hard to believe that many local restaurants do not even serve these incredible oysters, they prefer imports, or do not offer them at all.

Bill & Char are mostly selling in the Seattle area during the winter, but we will be sure to have them on the menu when we reopen the restaurant on February 11.

We are very lucky to have such an excellent oyster less than a mile from the Inn and there is no better time to eat them than during the cool winter months.

Here is a shot of one of the Mangalitsa Pigs. He is getting chunky, bulking up. The big ones are at around 200 #'s now. We are happy to give a tour.

Not the best picture, but you get an idea of their size, they do love the mud.

Winter

2011-01-16T17:37:00.000-08:00

Cold, Rain, Snow, Cold, Melt, Rain, Cold, Snow, Melt & More Rain.

The winter cycle is in full swing.

Nothing too crazy to report, a quick trip to NYC, to visit my sister and to do a somewhat illegal dinner with Curtiss and his adventurous dining group, check out Gastronauts, look at photos then Chevaline Dinner and you will get the general idea. Our west coast, product driven style was well received. More to come on Gastronauts.

The Mangalitsas are getting really large, we can honestly say hogs do gain weight in the winter months.

Little Kartoffel

2010-11-27T13:34:00.000-08:00

Who says pigs are not cute? At least until they put on another 200 pounds and start pushing you around. This is the smallest of the six Mangalitsa pigs, he is starting to put on weight now. He is roughly 70 pounds. The biggest ones are now about 150 pounds. They are growing fast. Plenty of good food.

Halloween

2010-11-04T12:56:00.000-07:00

The mangalitsas are getting their daily allotment of Vitamin A, C and lots of Potassium from the many pumpkins left over from Halloween. They seem to really like the whole thing, especially the seeds. It is nice not seeing them go to waste. The only part left over is the stem.

The Hunt is on!

2010-11-03T22:51:00.000-07:00

The hunt for mushrooms that is.
Chef Geddes has made mushroom hunting a hobbies for over 20 years.
The delight and fever he expresses for "The Hunt" is very infectious. So if you spend any time with him, which I do, you start to day dream of eating saute Chanterelles over your eggs in the morning.
Lucky for the novice seeker, like myself, this has been an amazing mushroom harvest year. Making edible mushrooms easier to find. "Epic" mushroom hunting stories have been have filling the kitchen and inspiring weekend adventures.
When searching the forest floor for edible morsels this autumn, you might find:
Cantharellus-Chanterelle, Armillaria-matsutaki, Pleurotus-oyster mushroom, and Agaricus Augustus- The Prince. Just to name a few. I encourage everyone to have an expert on hand to help determine what is what. Eating the wrong mushroom won't just ruin your appetite.

Geddis holds two huge Matsutaki. The larger matsutaki are considered less valuable then the smaller younger mushroom, but still have the same pungent "Sweet Hot" aroma. If you are not familiar with the "Sweet Hot" reference, it is a candy we ate as kids. They have a sorta sweet cinnamon flavor and smell.

Corgi Mind Control

2010-10-28T16:30:00.000-07:00

Ike is exercising the ancient art of Corgi Mind Control on one of the unsuspecting Mangalitsa pigs. For what reason we are not sure. The pigs are putting on weight and appear to be enjoying their new home.

Latest Additions to Ship Bay

2010-10-24T13:00:00.000-07:00

After a quick trip to Eastern Washington, six young Mangalitsa pigs have found their new home on Orcas Island at The Inn at Ship Bay. They are lucky pigs with a filtered water view(as they would say in the real estate business), but all they seem to care about is good food, clean water and a dry place to sleep.

We figured that this was our last easy opportunity to fatten some Mangalitsas, as the Wooly Pigs operation was moving to the Midwest. Look for more Mangalitsa on the menu next year, but much of our Bacon, Lardo and Prosciutto will be a part of future menus.

More Tomatoes

2010-09-02T17:06:00.000-07:00

Cherry Tomato Tarts, Super sweet sungolds & Thyme.

Tomatoes!

2010-08-14T19:37:00.000-07:00

Lots of Heirloom Tomatoes, warm weather, full on summertime.

Flatbreads

2010-07-31T21:29:00.000-07:00

Fired up the wood oven for some appetizers, before a wedding dinner. Various pizza and flatbread with the sourdough crust. Tomatoes from the garden of course, Arugula Pesto, Soppresata, Reggiano, Roasted sweet onion, etc... Tasty, no leftovers.

Another happy couple ties the knot at Ship Bay on Orcas Island.

First Few Tomatoes

2010-07-20T11:09:00.000-07:00

Another Saturday wedding. Perfect weather, everything worked out very well, happy guests, newly weds off to Kaui for a week or so. Annie made a very nice cake. It tasted as good as it looked.

Picked a few tomatoes today. maybe enough to find a small place on the menu tonight. Lots of arugula from the garden and the basil is on. We will be pulling fava beans this week and we have started to harvest and dry fennel pollen.

First Day at The Farmers Market

2010-06-27T13:13:00.000-07:00

Pizza and Flatbread making with the Wood Fired Oven at the Orcas Island Farmers Market. We were well received, and all went well. With a few production adjustments we will increase our speed and efficiency.

Organic Cauliflower

2010-06-25T11:56:00.000-07:00

Here is the first batch of cauliflower this year from Horsedrawn Produce on Lopez Island. Ken and Catherine have a way with cauliflower (all produce) that we rarely see anywhere else. We source most of our produce from Maple Rock Farm, a bit from Morning Star Farm and we love the duck eggs from Black Dog Farm, but we rarely turn away anyone with great fresh produce or mushrooms.

We are getting ready for our first day at the Farmers Market with the wood fired oven. Just a flatbread or two and Tomato, Fresh Mozz and Basil pizza.

Final Coat

2010-06-15T11:21:00.000-07:00

So here is the final coat on the oven. It went from looking like a beaver dam to an igloo. A lot cleaner and this should help with insulation and thermal mass. Of course it started raining last night, so it should cure well. The last layer is about two inches thick, 8 parts sand, three clay and 1/2 part Portland cement.

We will begin fires tomorrow, Fenders will go on and we should be up and running soon.

June Progress Report

2010-06-12T12:48:00.000-07:00

Tomato plants are all trellised and set in the green house. It is finally warm and dry, everything is in super growth mode from all of the rain. We should see fast growth once they settle in. It is not too cool in the Pacific Northwest or Orcas Island, to grow heirloom Tomatoes

The plum grafts are really taking off.
We have removed much of the original tree to allow all of the energy go directly to the graft. This graft is in range of our many deer, who would love to eat all of the leaves, so we had to add the cage. Look at the growth since the picture from May 9 th post

This pear tree looks like Frankenpeartree, but soon the new growth will fill in. This has the old heirloom varieties, with any luck, pears next year.

First Flatbread

2010-05-31T09:15:00.000-07:00

Here is the first flat bread produced in the oven. The oven is still drying out so it is hard to get the heat up to where we would like it, about 700 degrees Fahrenheit or more. Tasty, but took over five minutes to cook, which is too slow, we are looking for two minute pizzas. We hope to take it on the road soon.

Nice Lupines this year, they made it past a bad aphid infestation and lots of powdery mildew to produce these showy blooms.

Lots of figs in the tree outside our kitchen back door.

First Fire

2010-05-27T18:59:00.000-07:00

The Cob is drying and we have lit a couple of small fires. Once it dries, we will lay on a final skim coat of plaster.

Orcas Island Pizza Oven

2010-05-24T20:34:00.000-07:00

A good day, final wood fired oven build happened. First, build up a sand mold with many other space occupying objects. Next, layer of straight clay, sand, and a bit of Portland Cement. Finally, a cob layer and a skim of the same mix with added straw. The shape is great, we look forward to removing the sand mold as soon as it sets. Pizza is coming soon and many other roastable items, including our local Mangalitsa Pork.

Next Phase of Wood Fired Oven Build

2010-05-22T15:25:00.000-07:00

Garden Jungle. Greenhouse is over full. Trying to harvest the last lettuces before we turn over to all tomatoes. Everything is looking good, sugar snaps are 7 feet tall.

Garden Basil, I could not resist. Tomatoes and warm weather plants are very happy.

Here is the frame for the door of the oven. We have the rebar support to help out the clay when moving down the road. Made by the amazing Pete Welty, who also made the custom trailer. Tomorrow we lay the hearth and Monday is oven build day, barring any major issues.

Wood Fired Pizza Oven Build

2010-05-18T11:20:00.000-07:00

Here is the Trailer with poured slab and insulating layer for our latest project, A fully mobile wood fired pizza oven. We will be setting the oven floor, building the door frame & chimney and will make the actual oven this coming weekend. More pictures to come.

Our focus will be on quick fired, hi heat pizzas.

New Growth

2010-05-09T08:52:00.000-07:00

The gardens are really taking off and most of the grafting work we have done is starting to grow. Five types of plums, six types of pear. It will be interesting to completly work over all of the vigorous trees that produce inferior fruit.

The tomatoes have been repotted and now we are waiting for all of our greenhouse lettuces and snap peas to finish so we can transition into our warm weather crops. This year we have, Tigerella, Green Zebra, Cherokees, Black Cherry, Sungolds, Yellow Pear Cherries, Orcas Orange, German Greens and some Brandy Wine Tomatoes. The utdoor greens are enjoying the warmer weather.

Spring

2010-03-25T10:20:00.001-07:00

Not to rave too much about any one topic, we just had to show everyone the incredible marbling of the Mangalitsa pork. This is a piece from the leg, which was brined and seared. Truely awesome.

We had the good fortune to be taught some basic grafting technique from a local expert orchardist named Ed, he grew up in Holland and was kind enough to come over and show us how to top work some old pear trees. The tree was vigorous, but the pears were not good at all. We grafted an old heirloom, asian type that we had here, and several old varieties of keeper pears that Ed had in his orchard, including one named after his father, Suij, from Holland. The tree looks kind of rough, but as the grafts take, we will continue to remove the old growth. We also grafted several plum varieties into our healthy Italian Prune Plum trees, of which we have plenty. We will look forward to reworking these trees and it will give us greater diversity and let us ripen over longer periods of time. Some of the cooking pears that Ed brought us were from last year, and are really good. As it is now, most of our pears ripen at the same time, during our busiest period, late August.

Here is a terrine being lined with some of the nice cured Mangalitsa Lardo. It is very clean and white, great for lining duck or chicken liver mousse.

The sun has been shining, lulling us into a false sense of security. We all know that many weeks of rain could be in store. But spring is unstoppable at this point, the tomatoes are started and the fruit trees are begging to bloom.

Finally Open for 2010

2010-02-13T09:21:00.000-08:00

After a two plus month hiatus, we have finally reopened the restaurant. It was our hope to keep the posts coming, but our intentions have not become reality.

The weather has been incredible, or even a bit weird. Lows only into the 40's, no frosts since December and the garden looks great. Chives, tarragon, tons of fennel, mache, several types of lettuce, trevisio, green garlic, parsley, and that is just the beginning. Have not opened in Feb. with as much local products as this year. The Orcas Island grown Mangalitsa pork and Coffelt Farm Veal are super tasty. The heat table is on and we have been germinating salad greens and snap peas are in. Basil & tomatoes are just around the corner and we are trying to figure out our 2010 pig program.

Inn at Ship Bay Menu
February 13, 2010

First Courses

House Made Charcuterie featuring Locally Raised Mangalitsa Pork, Chicken Liver Pate, Pork Terrine, Pork Heart, Lardo & Sausage
Local Greens, Blue Cheese, Toasted Hazelnuts and Red Wine Vinaigrette
Dungeness Crab Salad, Local Shaved Cabbage, Fennel, Citrus, Bacon and Spicy Aioli
Meyer Lemon & Garden Greens, Goat Cheese, Walnuts and Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Kamilche Sea farms Mussels, Toasted Chili Lemon Butter, Caramelized Onions & Herbs
Hood Canal Oysters on the Half shell with Citrus Mignonette
Orechette Pasta, House Cured Mangalitsa Guancale, Caramelized Onion, Reggiano & Herbs

Entrees

Troll Caught King Salmon with Creamy Polenta, Escarole & Roast Garlic Butter
Meyer Lemon & Saffron Carnaroli Risotto, Leeks & Fennel Salad
Weathervane Scallops, Yukon Potato-Bacon Hash, Green Garlic Aioli
Mangalitsa Pork Loin, Sibley Squash Puree, Pear Butter, Apple Syrup and Crispy Shallots
Coffelt Farm Pasture Raised Veal, Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, Garlicky Greens and Red Wine Sauce
Draper Valley Chicken, Potato Puree, Italian Plum Gremolata and Plum Reduction
Pan Seared Angus Beef Rib Steak, Spring Garlic Potatoes, Wild Mushrooms Sauce

2009-11-20T16:11:00.000-08:00

So the first 3/4 Mangalitsa has arrived back at the Inn. We will finally be able to serve some of the delicious pork in the restaurant. Due to legalities, after it was slaughtered, the pig had to be fully cooled at the Island Growers Meat Coop in Bow, they don't let us take it off the mobile unit unless it has cooled to 41 degrees, this is a new rule, or at least newly enforced. So we had to go off island to pick it up.

We are rendering lard, cooking the head for a terrine, making lardo, making guancale, curing bacon and sous vide bellies. Hang weight was 219#, a bit small, but the quality and flavor is really amazing. The fat is clean and pure white.

Mangalitsa will be on the menu as early as tomorrow and will certainly be a course for Thanksgiving.

Three (Not So Little) Pigs

2009-11-16T14:35:00.000-08:00

Today we placed a small horse trailer inside the pigs yard and filled it with hay to have them get used to walking in and out. They were all over it quite quickly. They went right up the ramp and in. Hopefully this will be a stress free transport to the mobile slaughter unit, which will be only a few miles away. The pigs were very curious, chewing on the metal trailer, the tires and scratching themselves on whatever they could.

2009-11-15T10:37:00.000-08:00

Black Oregon truffles and Black Dog Farm duck eggs. For tonight, hand cut pappardelle with leeks, shaved black truffle, Extra Virgin Olive Oil and last but not least, a poached duck egg. Pretty much a no brainer.

A quick bike ride to a secret location and return to work with some of Orcas Island's finest. #1 perfect Matsutake Mushrooms, smelling of the forest.

Piggy

2009-11-13T11:51:00.000-08:00

Summer has come and gone on Orcas, we are well into the fall and it really feels like winter. Almost all of the apples and pears have been picked, dried, stored, made into syrup, butter, etc...

Here is a picture of cured pork belly from 1/2 Berkshire & 1/2 Mangalitsa pig. We will smoke some and keep some for fresh bacon. The flavor is great and the fat has a noticeable lightness. At the thickest point, the belly is almost four inches thick.

This coming week, we are having one of the 3/4 Mangalitsas slaughtered, so we will be able to compare the two. As in all of Wolly Pigs pictures, the fat is truely amazing and the flavor is exceptional.

Mangalitsa Pigs

2009-07-01T09:07:00.000-07:00

For our first post, we had to introduce our new friends. Here are the Mangalitsa pigs that were delivered in May by Heath Putnam, from his farm near Spokane. They are living at Maple Rock Farm here on Orcas Island. The little striped one is a purebred, the two largest ones are half Berkshire and half Mangalitsa and the two less striped ones are 3/4 mangalitsa. They are growing fast and are amazingly good natured. They have completely rooted out this formerly overgrown grape arbor area. Little Marco Pierre, the purebred, is attempting to climb the grapevine for a snack, in the upper photo.