Hard cider bottling of the Newton pippin cider that I pressed with Nat West last winter. Really good this year -- much better than last's. The dandelion wine is bottled on the left...

Ever since I bought a copy of Sandor Ellix Katz’s Wild Fermentation shortly after moving to Portland I’ve been a food fermentation freak.

I love everything about home food fermentation. I love the DIY aspect of crafting foods that I love such as sauerkraut, wine, and miso. I love the time and patience involved in creating these foods and drinks — most ferments I make take anywhere from a few days to a year. I love the full flavor of food ferments — from pungent and sour to salty and spicy to sweet and effervescent. I love that fermented foods and drinks are inherently good for me because of the live micro-nutrients they contain. I love that I’m carrying on food traditions born well before refrigeration, artificial preservatives, and pasteurization. The list goes on and on.

In January 2009, I got to travel to Nashville to meet one of my heroes — Sandor Ellix Katz — and interview him for The Sun Magazine. In October of 2009, we got him to come out for the inaugural Portland Fermentation Festival that David Barber, George Winborn and I organized and continue to organize every year. The date is still TBD for this year’s and I’ll let you know soon when/where it will be.

For now, I’ve got a bunch of home food and drink ferments that I’ve been checking on, bottling and eating up lately to share with you here. This weekend I started a sour cherry wine with fruit collected from a neighbor’s tree. I’ll post about that soon.

I’ve got two batches of miso going right now that I started in November — soybean miso and red bean miso. Here’s what they’re looking like now after several months of fermenting…

I scraped the salt off the top of this red bean miso and it's looking pretty and already tasting DELICIOUS. Going to be patient though and let it ferment until fall. At least.

The soybean miso is looking and tasting great too. Did the same and scraped off the salt and mold, repacked with a nice layer of sea salt, covered and put back in the utility room till fall.

Yes, you have to be very generous with the salt so you don't get too much mold.

This year's three gallons of Brooks plum wine has finished fermenting and is now bottled. It's so good. It's tart and off-dry and tastes like a perfect plum. The alcoholic kind.

These petals and more went into this year's gallon of dandelion wine. We bottled last year's and it's delicious as always, a little more flowery this year too which is nice.

If you’ve never done any home food/drink fermentation I recommend starting with saurkraut or kimchi. They’re both quick and easy ferments that pack a lot of flavor. I can’t recommend Sandor Ellix Katz’s book Wild Fermentation enough. I use it all the time. Happy fermenting! Let me know what you make.

Baked this Saveur Magazine strawberry pie with Hood strawberries from the front yard, lemon zest and juice.

I always like these blog posts but when the garden is kicking in they’re even more fun. Lately we’ve been eating a lot of spinach, arugula, Hood strawberries, honeyberries, blueberries, sugar snap peas, nettles and fresh herbs from the front and back yard. In my front yard herb garden I have rosemary, thyme, lavender, sage, bay, mint, lemon balm, peppermint, fennel, chives, thyme, valerian and chamomile. I use the first five year-round and the remaining from spring through early to mid winter.

Coming in now we’ve got tomato plants searching out the sun, all kinds of beans and pickling cucumbers gaining ground, garlic curing, asparagus going uneaten so the root system gets bigger and better for next year, rhubarb thickening, blueberries ripening and seedlings trying to scare up some more sunshine. So there’s a lot more good food to come.

If you have a garden, how’s it growing? Any new edibles you’ve got in the ground or are planning to cultivate this year? If you don’t have a garden what early season eats have you been enjoying?

Pickled this asparagus that a neighbor gave us for my boyfriend's Grizzly Tattoo shop opening party in early June. It went fast.

Everything in this arugula, ribboned fresh herbs (including oregano, mint, lemon balm, fennel, chives) and chive blossom salad was from the front yard except the toasted hazelnuts. Dressed it with a Jorinji Miso, lemon vinaigrette. Look forward to this every year.

Made potato tacos in the evening and the next morn used the filling for this tostada topped with a sunny side up egg.

Look forward to making this every year too -- hazelnuty arugula pesto with lots of lemon juice, parm, garlic and olive oil.

Pesto and tapenade spaghetti topped with parm.

Straight up Hood strawberries and honeyberries from the garden.

Mustardy tuna salad sandwich with homemade cornichons.

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Last year's Vegan Iron Chef in Portland. Photo by Lucas DeShazer.

Unfortunately, I’m not going to be here for the second annual Vegan Iron Chef Competition this year — but if you are I’ve got a pair of tickets for one lucky commenter. Since last year’s event sold out quickly I’m doing this giveaway early so those who don’t win can go ahead and purchase tickets ($12 advance/$15 at door/$100 VIP tasting seats).

Comment below on the best vegan dish you’ve eaten out in Portland recently (or a vegan dish you’ve made at home recently if no restaurant dishes stand out) for a chance to win a pair of tickets.

From the press release:

Three chefs from the community’s favorite establishments will prepare dishes inspired by an unveiled secret ingredient for a panel of esteemed judges and a live audience, while the event is live-streamed to anticipated thousands.

The event will be co-hosted by bestselling cooking author Isa Chandra Moskowitz of The Post Punk Kitchen and local artist and zinester Nicole J. Georges.

Our chefs are Kitchen Dances’ Piper Dixon, Homegrown Smoker’s Jeff Ridabock, and Dovetail Bakery’s Morgan Grundstein-Helvey.

This year’s judges include Julie Hasson from Native Bowl and Everyday Dish, Aaron Adams from Portobello Vegan Trattoria, Grant Butler from The Oregonian, John Janulis from The Bye & Bye, and last year’s crowned Vegan Iron Chef, Quasu Asaase Yaa.

Live music, exhibitors, sampling, trivia, and raffle prizes round out this can’t-miss event.

Tickets ($12 in advance/$15 door; $100 VIP tasting seats) are available at VeganIronChef.org. Sponsorship opportunities available now.

Vegan Iron Chef is a nonprofit organization based in Portland, OR, with a mission of spreading the message of veganism by showcasing the art of vegan cuisine and celebrating community. Other cities are encouraged to join the Vegan Iron Chef network, hold their own competitions, and unite for regionals and finals in upcoming years.

Vegan Iron Chef Competition
Sunday, July 10th, Competition 5-7:30pm; after party until late
Event @ Refuge PDX

So many good things have come our way food-wise from friends in the last few weeks. We’re so lucky. Here are some of the yummy things we’ve been gifted lately…

Our friend Amanda Myers of Infinity Tattoo keeps bees and we got some of their spoils -- two jars of liquid gold honey.

Our next door neighbors recently went to Portugal for a couple weeks and brought us back this lovely olive oil.

Our friend Ariel Kempf gave us a jar of her Creaux Creole Mustard. Hot and spicy good. Learn more about it at www.creaux-mustard.com.

Our friend Dave gave us two jars of super yummy almond butter.

We got a couple Woodblock Chocolate bars from the makers themselves. Delicious!

Eat anything tasty lately?

Check out Friend Food Pt. 1

Spanish rice and beans with basted egg and bacon.

Beet salad with lemon and olive oil and a salame cheddar sandwich.

Beet salad inspired by Evoe's with a creamy Dijon vinaigrette tossed with herbs from garden and green leaf.

Janie Hibler's Elk Pot Stew (with mince rather than stew meat) from her book Wild About Game made with elk that our neighbor hunted. Lots of cinnamon, ginger and chile. Mmmm.

Elk pot stew with rice and egg for breakfast the next morning.

Bacon chive and cream cheese scramble with potato hash.

Beet and nettle risotto tostada, kale with lemon and Zenner's red hot.

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