Memento Meal - Farmers Market Edition

Tonight we gathered again for Memento Meal - 11 food-loving friends challenging each other to try new things and create delicious dishes. (Plus their kids sometimes daring to taste our creations).

This time, the theme that inspired and wove together the dishes, selected by Carolyn & David, was The Farmers Market.



The meal started out with a bang courtesy of Anna & Jason. They brought out 4 cheese plates for each area of the table to enjoy, with each plate featuring three Estrella Family Creamery cheeses and three accompaniments.

First was a cow's milk cheese called Cecilia, which had a turmeric rind and was paired with some honey comb.

Next was another cow's milk cheese, known as Domino, sharing the plate with some poached apricots.



And third was a 'Chevrette' cheese of goat & cow milk, with a balsamic cherry compote.



For a little protein and crunch, they also served some locally grown hazelnuts with a little butter sprinkle on top.



And finally, to wash it down we enjoyed some vanilla flavored DRY soda - bottled right here in Seattle.



Next up was our second appetizer course, courtesy of Kristin - who works right at the Pike Place Market, and shared a history of the market as represented by four small bites.



First was an edamame with chili oil & orange peel, topped with some teriyaki salmon. This represented the early years of the Pike Place Market, pre-WWII, when the vast majority of the farmers and vendors were of Japanese descent.



Next came a dish representing the period during & post WWII, when Japanese Americans in Seattle were forcibly moved to internment camps, thus stripping their many contributions out of the market - and leaving behind a largely Eastern European influence. A cabbage cup topped with a salad of pork fat, bacon, goat cheese and vinegar was a delicious, heavy reminder of that period.



As the 20th century moved forward, globalization of food markets opened up world wide trade and established expectations that the American consumer could get whatever we want whenever we want it - seasonality be damned! An amazing California white corn fritter, with a spicy aoli showed just why globalization was so successful.



And rounding out the quartet of tasty history lessons was a crispy fried wonton, stuffed with locally made fudge and lavendar jelly, with a mixed berry sauce. This decadent little dish represented the long overdue return of Asian influences at the Pike Place Market, and the return of focus and appreciation for seasonal, locally grown, locally produced foods.



The salad course, dreamt up (and partly grown) by Marcy (aka Condiment Grrl) & James was next in front of us.



Combining bacon produced by Gerald, rose petals, rosemary and basil from their own garden, and sauteed dandelion greens, blueberries, mixed greens, feta and walnuts from the Farmers Market, they produced a delicious, incredibly flavorful, delicate yet rustic salad for us to enjoy that not only celebrated numerous aspects of the Farmers Market (dairy, nuts, foraged greens, berries, produce), but also their own garden and Gerald's amazing pork products.



Following the salad course we took a little breather at the half-way point before things got even more serious.



Our hosts, Carolyn & David, delighted us with a grilled flank steak featuring a Kona coffee marinade and rub of coffee, chocolate, and spices. Under this beautifully cooked beef was a flavor burst of yellow chard, golden and candy cane beets sauteed in butter and garlic with Attika cherries. The meat was tender and so full of flavors - and Dan, Anna & I took advantage of some extra pieces to gorge a bit... unaware of what was coming next.



It came as no surprise, I guess, that Gerald (aka Drunk on Pork) & Jacqui's first foray into an entree course for Memento Meal featured pork.



But not just any pork: they acquired, from Sea Breeze Farm, pasture-raised pork ribs from a pig slaughtered yesterday. It was coated in an amazing barbecue sauce made of market produce made by Gerald & Jacqui themselves, and was accompanied by both a salad of purple & orange carrots and cabbage from Full Circle Farms with a raspberry vinaigrette, and a Sea Breeze buttermilk and Bluebird Grain Farm biscuit that featured their homemade bacon and was topped with a little cheese.



For Dan & I, who are not usually rib eaters, the course was as comical as it was delicious. In contrast to pro-rib eater, James, who had a pile of bones so clean a dermistid beetle would have a hard time finding a bite to eat - my ribs looked like I'd barely touched them, despite being covered in sauce down to my elbows and trying my damnedest to get every morsel I could.





In addition to serving us this amazing dish, G&J canned their 'Bacon Dog BBQ Sauce' and gave us each a jar to take home!



Rounding out this Memento Meal were Dan & I with our dessert course.



My hope was to feature a few ingredients that we notice the most spectacular difference between fresh from the Farmers Market and store-bought versions: honey, dairy, and eggs. Using Sea Breeze Farm milk, cream from the store (Sea Breeze was out), egg yolks from Skagit River Ranch, and Tahuya River Apiaries blackberry & wildflower honey, I made ice cream, which I poured into silicone cupcake liners and froze, then removed from the liners for plating, giving them a scalloped edge. I topped that with a honey tuille cookie made using some of egg whites, Bluebird Grain Farms Cake flour, more Tahuya honey, and some Darigold butter. That was then topped with a dollop of Italian Meringue made using the rest of the Skagit River Ranch egg whites, and more Tahuya honey. And that was capped with a chip of Tahuya honey candy, made by brining the honey to the hard crack stage. I had actually made the beautiful swirled candies... but then mistakenly packed them in waxed paper that they stuck to and wouldn't come loose. Thankfully, I'd made a big chunk of honey candy, as well, 'just in case', which was a good thing indeed.

Paired on the plate, for a simply contrast to the arguably overwrought honey 'tower' was an unadulterated pluot from Tiny's Organics.



And as the final drink of the night, Dan prepared a delicious kava, licorice root, and Tahuya honey iced tea - something non-alcoholic and calming to round out a very decadent meal, indeed.