A taste of India offered to Great Falls residents
By POLLY KOLSTAD For the Tribune
Wearing spotless saris and distinct long dresses, Rupa Mehta, Mina Parikh, Rekha Shah and Malti Sheth recently taught a class in Great Falls on the cooking of India.
Delighted to be sharing their food and culture, they prepared recipes from their native country including Channa Masala, Bataka ni suki Bhaji, Poori and Masala tea.
Mehta pulled back her long braided hair as she talked about these typical Indian dishes, all vegetarian and served for lunch and dinner.
“We have our morning tea (chai), not too much food, then we eat lunch, our big meal, and we eat a light meal around 8 o’clock, maybe one curry and some bread,” she said.
The women, who with their families are in the hotel business in Great Falls, are continents away from their native city of Ahmedabad, located in the western part of India. “In our country, the women mainly cook,” Mehta said. “My mother taught me. I teach my daughter. She knows how to do it.”
The recipes are passed down through generations and rarely are transcribed into books. The women say they love their traditional cuisine and admit that only after one or two days of western food, they can hardly wait to get back to their traditional roots. They were brought up on the same food mentioned in Hindu scripture, with vegetables and fruit serving as the mainstays of their diet.
Preparing to demonstrate Channa Masala, a popular vegetable dish usually made with chickpeas, onion, chopped tomatoes, turmeric, coriander and garlic, Mehta pulled out a large drawer filled with shiny jars of dried peas and beans.
“We need protein which we get from 10 different kinds of beans,” she explained.
India: Food from afar
It took only minutes to prepare the intensely spiced bright orange entree, eaten separately or served over rice.
In India, most people have gardens filled with eggplant, watermelon, okra, pumpkin and potatoes, they said.
“People love potato,” Shah said as she demonstrated how to make Bataka ni Suki Bhaji, or steamed potato with cilantro.
Bataka doesn’t require many ingredients and is easy to prepare. The delicious yellow curried dish often is served to guests who come to lunch or dinner.
Making bread from scratch is an everyday task for these women. In much of India, wheat is a staple and a key component of many main dishes. Among these are poori (puri), a traditional fried Indian bread served piping hot and puffed.
Parikh taught the class how to make the simple whole wheat dough. After rolling out thin small rounds and plunging them into hot oil, puffy, light and crispy pooris emerged, served with fresh cucumber raita, an Indian condiment made with yogurt.
The afternoon was topped off with Masala tea.
It’s made by brewing tea with a mixture of aromatic Indian spices and herbs. Tea is important to Indian life, taken at all times of the day. Though recipes and styles vary from family to family, making a good, strong Indian masala tea isn’t difficult. The predominant note of an Indian masala tea is cardamom, a staple throughout India.
Some ingredients might not be readily available. For more information, call Rupa Mehta at 788-2224. She is also available to teach Indian cooking classes.
CHANNA MASALA
1 cup (dried) or 1 can garbanzo beans
1 tsp. garam masala (an Indian spice available at 2Js)
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tbsp. lemon juice
¾ cup chopped onions
2 finely chopped tomatoes
1-inch piece fresh ginger, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 tbsp. cumin
½ tsp. chopped jalapeno pepper
1 tbsp. paprika
Chili powder to taste
1 tbsp. cream or plain yogurt
1 tbsp. tamarind powder
Garnish: 1 small tomato cut into wedges; one small onion, cut in wedges; fresh cilantro
If using fresh beans, soak overnight or for five to six hours. Pressure cook with a tea bag. Discard the tea bag and set the beans aside.
Using a food processor, make a paste of onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, cumin, paprika, jalapeno and chili powder.
Heat oil in pan and add bay leaf and paste. Allow to cook for a few minutes. Add cream or yogurt and tamarind powder. Add the beans, and ½ cup water; bring to a boil and cook until thick. Add cream or yogurt and tamarind powder. Sprinkle garnish and serve with rice, if desired. Serves four to six.
BATAKA NI SUKI BHAJI STEAMED POTATO WITH CILANTRO
2 large potatoes
1 tsp. cumin seeds
½ tsp. mustard seeds
2 chilies, cut into rings
Juice of half of a lime
2 tsp. sugar
1 tbsp. chopped cilantro
2 tsp. raw coconut
¼ cup golden raisins
¼ cup raw cashews
6-7 curry leaves
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
Salt to taste
Put potatoes in a glass bowl with ½ cup water and pinch of salt. Cover and cook in the microwave until done. Peel potatoes and cut into mediumsize cubes.
Heat oil in medium saute pan. Add mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add cumin seeds, curry leaves and chilies. As they start to pop, turn heat to low and add potatoes, lime juice, salt and sugar, coconut, raisins and cashews. Stir. Add cilantro and cover pan. Cook on low heat for about five minutes until heated through. Serves six.
POORI
2½ cups whole wheat flour
½ tsp. salt
ª cup water (room temperature)
Vegetable oil for deep frying
Put flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle and pour in water. Mix together with hands until dough may be gathered into a rough mass. Wet hands and knead the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic. Cover with a wet towel and let rest for ½ hour. Knead dough again and separate into small balls of dough. Cover with a damp cloth. Take one ball of dough and dip in vegetable oil, then roll again into thin rounds. Repeat process to roll out all pooris. Heat plenty of oil in a kadhai or small deep pan until very hot. Put in a poori and immediately start flickering hot oil over the top of it with a spatula so that it will swell up like a ball. This should take a few seconds. Flip over and cook the other side until golden brown. Remove from oil and rest on paper towel. Serve warm.
CUCUMBER RAITA
Peel a medium-size English cucumber. Grate into a small bowl. Add 1 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. sugar.
With the back of a spoon, squeeze out moisture and drain. Add 2 cups plain yogurt, 1 tsp. grated green chili, 1 tsp. chopped cilantro and 1 tsp. ground mustard seed. Mix together.
See INDIA, 2L
POLLY KOLSTAD PHOTO
The cooks from India show off dishes prepared in a recent cooking class. The women are, left to right, Rupa Mehta, Rekha Shah, Mina Parikh and Malti Sheth.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Guru of Garlic
Retired track coach turns attention to gardening
The guru of garlic
Story and photo by POLLY KOLSTAD For the Tribune
In Branch Brady’s plentiful hillside gardens, live 300 garlic plants. Recently harvested after flourishing in richly composted soil for a year, fat cloves will soon go back in the ground for another season.
The retired C.M. Russell High track coach has grown garlic for 15 years after Bob Miller, a CMR shop teacher, gave him a few seed heads to plant. He also purchased five bulbs from Jim Bundi at the Great Falls Farmers Market.
Each year, he replants five of the largest bulbs.
He has two varieties — Bundi’s white, a hardneck or corkscrew version that turns as it grows and a red heirloom he got from another garlic hobbyist, Ray Heffern.
“I just have fun with it; I’m not a garlic expert,” Brady said. “I like to grow it and give it away.”
Garlic needs sun and well-drained soil. Planted in the fall, it comes up in the spring. As it grows, it sprouts green stalks that appear like iris leaves. From these stalks, a green bloom emerges that must be plucked to promote the growth back in the underground bulb. The green bloom has a mild garlic flavor and can be used in salads and soups. In these climes, garlic is ready to be dug up in July and August.
Garlic is usually milder soon after it is pulled from the ground because the chemistry within the garlic evolves during the year. September is the best time to buy garlic because it recently has been harvested.
Once it’s pulled, garlic slowly dehydrates in a natural drying-down process that takes months. As it loses its moisture, it slowly shrinks, and the flavor begins to condense and continues to intensify as long as it is stored at room temperature.
You know you have fresh garlic when the skin clings desperately to the clove when you try to peel it. If at any point during this process you slice and dry it, it will retain whatever flavor it had at that point.
Its shelf life at room temperature at about 50 percent humidity runs from four to 10 months or longer, depending on the variety and the health and condition of the garlic.
Garlic keepers, covered ceramic pots with holes for circulation, provide the cool, dark conditions in which garlic bulbs keep best. Never store garlic in oil, even while refrigerated as is sometimes recommended, because botulism can result. Commercial preparations of garlic in oil have been treated to prevent botulism.
Bundi Gardens plants 6,000 garlic bulbs each year, which were harvested recently. They have 12 varieties, available at 4410 10th Ave. N. and at the Farmers Market. Their garlic is priced by weight, both by the braid and by the bulb.
SHERRY’S ROASTED GARLIC
Garlic becomes rather sweet when roasted and may be squeezed out of the cloves and added to olive oil and balsamic vinegar to spread on French or Italian bread. It’s sometimes referred to as Italian butter.
To roast garlic, preheat oven to 350°. Take one (or more) garlic head and snip the top to level. Place in tin foil and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Make a tent by bringing sides of foil over garlic and twist to close. Roast until tender, 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and squeeze out the garlic paste from each clove.
GARLIC CHEESE BREAD
½ pound grated cheddar
1 ounce grated Parmesan
1 cube butter, softened
1 clove garlic chopped
½ tsp. paprika
Dash of Tabasco sauce
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 loaf French bread, sliced ½ inch thick
Preheat broiler. Line jellyroll pans with foil.
Mix together first seven ingredients. Spread cheese mixture on bread slices and sprinkle with a little paprika. Place on prepared pan. Broil until very browned and bubbly.
GARLIC SMASHED POTATOES
2 pounds unpeeled new baby red potatoes, halved if large
6 cloves garlic, halved
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. heavy cream
¼ cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste
Þ cup chopped chives
2 tbsp. bacon bits
Gently boil potatoes and garlic in salted water until tender. Drain. Using the back of a large spoon, smash each potato once so the pieces are large and chunky. Add butter, cream, chicken stock, salt and pepper. Stir gently to combine. Fold in chives and bacon bits. Serve hot. Four servings.
ROSEMARY–SCENTED PORK LOIN STUFFED WITH ROASTED GARLIC AND APPLES WITH PORT WINE PAN SAUCE
3 tbsp. olive oil
16 to 18 whole peeled garlic cloves, plus 2 tbsp. minced cloves (about 1½ heads)
1 whole boneless pork loin, 4 pounds, patted dry, at room temperature
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tbsp. minced fresh rosemary, divided
2 cups peeled, chopped, apples
Heavy kitchen string or twine
¼ cup plus 2 tbsp. apple jelly
¼ cup port wine
½ cup chicken broth
2 tsp. cornstarch
Adjust oven rack to uppermiddle position and heat oven to 250°. Heat oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Add whole garlic cloves and cook, stirring occasionally until soft and golden, about five minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon; reserve oil.
Turn pork loin fat-side down. Slit lengthwise, almost but not quite all the way through to form a long pocket, leaving a ½-inch border of unslit meat at each end. Brush cavity with some of the reserved garlic cooking oil, and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and 1 tbsp. of the rosemary. Line cavity with sauteed garlic and apples. Tie loin together with twine or string at 1½ inch intervals.
Brush with remaining oil, and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Set roast, fat side up, on a large, jellyroll pan. Warm ¼ cup apple jelly along with the minced garlic and remaining rosemary and brush mixture onto meat.
Roast until a meat thermometer stuck into the center registers 125° to 130°, about 1½ hours. Remove from oven; raise oven temperature to 400°. Brush loin with pan drippings, return to oven and continue to roast until the loin is golden brown and a meat thermometer stuck into the center registers 155° to 160°, about 20 minutes longer. For more attractive coloring, broil until spotty brown, three to five minutes.
Let roast rest 15 to 20 minutes; transfer to a carving board. Stir juices around pan to loosen brown bits.
Pour through a strainer into a small pan. Stir in port, chicken broth and remaining 2 tbsp. jelly. Bring to a simmer. Mix cornstarch with a couple of tablespoons of cold water; whisk into sauce. Simmer until lightly thickened. Slice pork and spoon sauce over.
Serves six to eight.
I just have fun with it. I’m not a garlic expert.
I like to grow it and give it away.
— Branch Brady, gardener
Branch Brady grows two types of garlic each season and gives most of it away.
The guru of garlic
Story and photo by POLLY KOLSTAD For the Tribune
In Branch Brady’s plentiful hillside gardens, live 300 garlic plants. Recently harvested after flourishing in richly composted soil for a year, fat cloves will soon go back in the ground for another season.
The retired C.M. Russell High track coach has grown garlic for 15 years after Bob Miller, a CMR shop teacher, gave him a few seed heads to plant. He also purchased five bulbs from Jim Bundi at the Great Falls Farmers Market.
Each year, he replants five of the largest bulbs.
He has two varieties — Bundi’s white, a hardneck or corkscrew version that turns as it grows and a red heirloom he got from another garlic hobbyist, Ray Heffern.
“I just have fun with it; I’m not a garlic expert,” Brady said. “I like to grow it and give it away.”
Garlic needs sun and well-drained soil. Planted in the fall, it comes up in the spring. As it grows, it sprouts green stalks that appear like iris leaves. From these stalks, a green bloom emerges that must be plucked to promote the growth back in the underground bulb. The green bloom has a mild garlic flavor and can be used in salads and soups. In these climes, garlic is ready to be dug up in July and August.
Garlic is usually milder soon after it is pulled from the ground because the chemistry within the garlic evolves during the year. September is the best time to buy garlic because it recently has been harvested.
Once it’s pulled, garlic slowly dehydrates in a natural drying-down process that takes months. As it loses its moisture, it slowly shrinks, and the flavor begins to condense and continues to intensify as long as it is stored at room temperature.
You know you have fresh garlic when the skin clings desperately to the clove when you try to peel it. If at any point during this process you slice and dry it, it will retain whatever flavor it had at that point.
Its shelf life at room temperature at about 50 percent humidity runs from four to 10 months or longer, depending on the variety and the health and condition of the garlic.
Garlic keepers, covered ceramic pots with holes for circulation, provide the cool, dark conditions in which garlic bulbs keep best. Never store garlic in oil, even while refrigerated as is sometimes recommended, because botulism can result. Commercial preparations of garlic in oil have been treated to prevent botulism.
Bundi Gardens plants 6,000 garlic bulbs each year, which were harvested recently. They have 12 varieties, available at 4410 10th Ave. N. and at the Farmers Market. Their garlic is priced by weight, both by the braid and by the bulb.
SHERRY’S ROASTED GARLIC
Garlic becomes rather sweet when roasted and may be squeezed out of the cloves and added to olive oil and balsamic vinegar to spread on French or Italian bread. It’s sometimes referred to as Italian butter.
To roast garlic, preheat oven to 350°. Take one (or more) garlic head and snip the top to level. Place in tin foil and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Make a tent by bringing sides of foil over garlic and twist to close. Roast until tender, 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and squeeze out the garlic paste from each clove.
GARLIC CHEESE BREAD
½ pound grated cheddar
1 ounce grated Parmesan
1 cube butter, softened
1 clove garlic chopped
½ tsp. paprika
Dash of Tabasco sauce
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 loaf French bread, sliced ½ inch thick
Preheat broiler. Line jellyroll pans with foil.
Mix together first seven ingredients. Spread cheese mixture on bread slices and sprinkle with a little paprika. Place on prepared pan. Broil until very browned and bubbly.
GARLIC SMASHED POTATOES
2 pounds unpeeled new baby red potatoes, halved if large
6 cloves garlic, halved
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. heavy cream
¼ cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste
Þ cup chopped chives
2 tbsp. bacon bits
Gently boil potatoes and garlic in salted water until tender. Drain. Using the back of a large spoon, smash each potato once so the pieces are large and chunky. Add butter, cream, chicken stock, salt and pepper. Stir gently to combine. Fold in chives and bacon bits. Serve hot. Four servings.
ROSEMARY–SCENTED PORK LOIN STUFFED WITH ROASTED GARLIC AND APPLES WITH PORT WINE PAN SAUCE
3 tbsp. olive oil
16 to 18 whole peeled garlic cloves, plus 2 tbsp. minced cloves (about 1½ heads)
1 whole boneless pork loin, 4 pounds, patted dry, at room temperature
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tbsp. minced fresh rosemary, divided
2 cups peeled, chopped, apples
Heavy kitchen string or twine
¼ cup plus 2 tbsp. apple jelly
¼ cup port wine
½ cup chicken broth
2 tsp. cornstarch
Adjust oven rack to uppermiddle position and heat oven to 250°. Heat oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Add whole garlic cloves and cook, stirring occasionally until soft and golden, about five minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon; reserve oil.
Turn pork loin fat-side down. Slit lengthwise, almost but not quite all the way through to form a long pocket, leaving a ½-inch border of unslit meat at each end. Brush cavity with some of the reserved garlic cooking oil, and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and 1 tbsp. of the rosemary. Line cavity with sauteed garlic and apples. Tie loin together with twine or string at 1½ inch intervals.
Brush with remaining oil, and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Set roast, fat side up, on a large, jellyroll pan. Warm ¼ cup apple jelly along with the minced garlic and remaining rosemary and brush mixture onto meat.
Roast until a meat thermometer stuck into the center registers 125° to 130°, about 1½ hours. Remove from oven; raise oven temperature to 400°. Brush loin with pan drippings, return to oven and continue to roast until the loin is golden brown and a meat thermometer stuck into the center registers 155° to 160°, about 20 minutes longer. For more attractive coloring, broil until spotty brown, three to five minutes.
Let roast rest 15 to 20 minutes; transfer to a carving board. Stir juices around pan to loosen brown bits.
Pour through a strainer into a small pan. Stir in port, chicken broth and remaining 2 tbsp. jelly. Bring to a simmer. Mix cornstarch with a couple of tablespoons of cold water; whisk into sauce. Simmer until lightly thickened. Slice pork and spoon sauce over.
Serves six to eight.
I just have fun with it. I’m not a garlic expert.
I like to grow it and give it away.
— Branch Brady, gardener
Branch Brady grows two types of garlic each season and gives most of it away.
The guru of garlic
Story and photo by POLLY KOLSTAD For the Tribune
In Branch Brady’s plentiful hillside gardens, live 300 garlic plants. Recently harvested after flourishing in richly composted soil for a year, fat cloves will soon go back in the ground for another season.
The retired C.M. Russell High track coach has grown garlic for 15 years after Bob Miller, a CMR shop teacher, gave him a few seed heads to plant. He also purchased five bulbs from Jim Bundi at the Great Falls Farmers Market.
Each year, he replants five of the largest bulbs.
He has two varieties — Bundi’s white, a hardneck or corkscrew version that turns as it grows and a red heirloom he got from another garlic hobbyist, Ray Heffern.
“I just have fun with it; I’m not a garlic expert,” Brady said. “I like to grow it and give it away.”
Garlic needs sun and well-drained soil. Planted in the fall, it comes up in the spring. As it grows, it sprouts green stalks that appear like iris leaves. From these stalks, a green bloom emerges that must be plucked to promote the growth back in the underground bulb. The green bloom has a mild garlic flavor and can be used in salads and soups. In these climes, garlic is ready to be dug up in July and August.
Garlic is usually milder soon after it is pulled from the ground because the chemistry within the garlic evolves during the year. September is the best time to buy garlic because it recently has been harvested.
Once it’s pulled, garlic slowly dehydrates in a natural drying-down process that takes months. As it loses its moisture, it slowly shrinks, and the flavor begins to condense and continues to intensify as long as it is stored at room temperature.
You know you have fresh garlic when the skin clings desperately to the clove when you try to peel it. If at any point during this process you slice and dry it, it will retain whatever flavor it had at that point.
Its shelf life at room temperature at about 50 percent humidity runs from four to 10 months or longer, depending on the variety and the health and condition of the garlic.
Garlic keepers, covered ceramic pots with holes for circulation, provide the cool, dark conditions in which garlic bulbs keep best. Never store garlic in oil, even while refrigerated as is sometimes recommended, because botulism can result. Commercial preparations of garlic in oil have been treated to prevent botulism.
Bundi Gardens plants 6,000 garlic bulbs each year, which were harvested recently. They have 12 varieties, available at 4410 10th Ave. N. and at the Farmers Market. Their garlic is priced by weight, both by the braid and by the bulb.
SHERRY’S ROASTED GARLIC
Garlic becomes rather sweet when roasted and may be squeezed out of the cloves and added to olive oil and balsamic vinegar to spread on French or Italian bread. It’s sometimes referred to as Italian butter.
To roast garlic, preheat oven to 350°. Take one (or more) garlic head and snip the top to level. Place in tin foil and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Make a tent by bringing sides of foil over garlic and twist to close. Roast until tender, 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and squeeze out the garlic paste from each clove.
GARLIC CHEESE BREAD
½ pound grated cheddar
1 ounce grated Parmesan
1 cube butter, softened
1 clove garlic chopped
½ tsp. paprika
Dash of Tabasco sauce
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 loaf French bread, sliced ½ inch thick
Preheat broiler. Line jellyroll pans with foil.
Mix together first seven ingredients. Spread cheese mixture on bread slices and sprinkle with a little paprika. Place on prepared pan. Broil until very browned and bubbly.
GARLIC SMASHED POTATOES
2 pounds unpeeled new baby red potatoes, halved if large
6 cloves garlic, halved
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. heavy cream
¼ cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste
Þ cup chopped chives
2 tbsp. bacon bits
Gently boil potatoes and garlic in salted water until tender. Drain. Using the back of a large spoon, smash each potato once so the pieces are large and chunky. Add butter, cream, chicken stock, salt and pepper. Stir gently to combine. Fold in chives and bacon bits. Serve hot. Four servings.
ROSEMARY–SCENTED PORK LOIN STUFFED WITH ROASTED GARLIC AND APPLES WITH PORT WINE PAN SAUCE
3 tbsp. olive oil
16 to 18 whole peeled garlic cloves, plus 2 tbsp. minced cloves (about 1½ heads)
1 whole boneless pork loin, 4 pounds, patted dry, at room temperature
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tbsp. minced fresh rosemary, divided
2 cups peeled, chopped, apples
Heavy kitchen string or twine
¼ cup plus 2 tbsp. apple jelly
¼ cup port wine
½ cup chicken broth
2 tsp. cornstarch
Adjust oven rack to uppermiddle position and heat oven to 250°. Heat oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Add whole garlic cloves and cook, stirring occasionally until soft and golden, about five minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon; reserve oil.
Turn pork loin fat-side down. Slit lengthwise, almost but not quite all the way through to form a long pocket, leaving a ½-inch border of unslit meat at each end. Brush cavity with some of the reserved garlic cooking oil, and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and 1 tbsp. of the rosemary. Line cavity with sauteed garlic and apples. Tie loin together with twine or string at 1½ inch intervals.
Brush with remaining oil, and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Set roast, fat side up, on a large, jellyroll pan. Warm ¼ cup apple jelly along with the minced garlic and remaining rosemary and brush mixture onto meat.
Roast until a meat thermometer stuck into the center registers 125° to 130°, about 1½ hours. Remove from oven; raise oven temperature to 400°. Brush loin with pan drippings, return to oven and continue to roast until the loin is golden brown and a meat thermometer stuck into the center registers 155° to 160°, about 20 minutes longer. For more attractive coloring, broil until spotty brown, three to five minutes.
Let roast rest 15 to 20 minutes; transfer to a carving board. Stir juices around pan to loosen brown bits.
Pour through a strainer into a small pan. Stir in port, chicken broth and remaining 2 tbsp. jelly. Bring to a simmer. Mix cornstarch with a couple of tablespoons of cold water; whisk into sauce. Simmer until lightly thickened. Slice pork and spoon sauce over.
Serves six to eight.
I just have fun with it. I’m not a garlic expert.
I like to grow it and give it away.
— Branch Brady, gardener
Branch Brady grows two types of garlic each season and gives most of it away.
The guru of garlic
Story and photo by POLLY KOLSTAD For the Tribune
In Branch Brady’s plentiful hillside gardens, live 300 garlic plants. Recently harvested after flourishing in richly composted soil for a year, fat cloves will soon go back in the ground for another season.
The retired C.M. Russell High track coach has grown garlic for 15 years after Bob Miller, a CMR shop teacher, gave him a few seed heads to plant. He also purchased five bulbs from Jim Bundi at the Great Falls Farmers Market.
Each year, he replants five of the largest bulbs.
He has two varieties — Bundi’s white, a hardneck or corkscrew version that turns as it grows and a red heirloom he got from another garlic hobbyist, Ray Heffern.
“I just have fun with it; I’m not a garlic expert,” Brady said. “I like to grow it and give it away.”
Garlic needs sun and well-drained soil. Planted in the fall, it comes up in the spring. As it grows, it sprouts green stalks that appear like iris leaves. From these stalks, a green bloom emerges that must be plucked to promote the growth back in the underground bulb. The green bloom has a mild garlic flavor and can be used in salads and soups. In these climes, garlic is ready to be dug up in July and August.
Garlic is usually milder soon after it is pulled from the ground because the chemistry within the garlic evolves during the year. September is the best time to buy garlic because it recently has been harvested.
Once it’s pulled, garlic slowly dehydrates in a natural drying-down process that takes months. As it loses its moisture, it slowly shrinks, and the flavor begins to condense and continues to intensify as long as it is stored at room temperature.
You know you have fresh garlic when the skin clings desperately to the clove when you try to peel it. If at any point during this process you slice and dry it, it will retain whatever flavor it had at that point.
Its shelf life at room temperature at about 50 percent humidity runs from four to 10 months or longer, depending on the variety and the health and condition of the garlic.
Garlic keepers, covered ceramic pots with holes for circulation, provide the cool, dark conditions in which garlic bulbs keep best. Never store garlic in oil, even while refrigerated as is sometimes recommended, because botulism can result. Commercial preparations of garlic in oil have been treated to prevent botulism.
Bundi Gardens plants 6,000 garlic bulbs each year, which were harvested recently. They have 12 varieties, available at 4410 10th Ave. N. and at the Farmers Market. Their garlic is priced by weight, both by the braid and by the bulb.
SHERRY’S ROASTED GARLIC
Garlic becomes rather sweet when roasted and may be squeezed out of the cloves and added to olive oil and balsamic vinegar to spread on French or Italian bread. It’s sometimes referred to as Italian butter.
To roast garlic, preheat oven to 350°. Take one (or more) garlic head and snip the top to level. Place in tin foil and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Make a tent by bringing sides of foil over garlic and twist to close. Roast until tender, 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and squeeze out the garlic paste from each clove.
GARLIC CHEESE BREAD
½ pound grated cheddar
1 ounce grated Parmesan
1 cube butter, softened
1 clove garlic chopped
½ tsp. paprika
Dash of Tabasco sauce
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 loaf French bread, sliced ½ inch thick
Preheat broiler. Line jellyroll pans with foil.
Mix together first seven ingredients. Spread cheese mixture on bread slices and sprinkle with a little paprika. Place on prepared pan. Broil until very browned and bubbly.
GARLIC SMASHED POTATOES
2 pounds unpeeled new baby red potatoes, halved if large
6 cloves garlic, halved
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. heavy cream
¼ cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste
Þ cup chopped chives
2 tbsp. bacon bits
Gently boil potatoes and garlic in salted water until tender. Drain. Using the back of a large spoon, smash each potato once so the pieces are large and chunky. Add butter, cream, chicken stock, salt and pepper. Stir gently to combine. Fold in chives and bacon bits. Serve hot. Four servings.
ROSEMARY–SCENTED PORK LOIN STUFFED WITH ROASTED GARLIC AND APPLES WITH PORT WINE PAN SAUCE
3 tbsp. olive oil
16 to 18 whole peeled garlic cloves, plus 2 tbsp. minced cloves (about 1½ heads)
1 whole boneless pork loin, 4 pounds, patted dry, at room temperature
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tbsp. minced fresh rosemary, divided
2 cups peeled, chopped, apples
Heavy kitchen string or twine
¼ cup plus 2 tbsp. apple jelly
¼ cup port wine
½ cup chicken broth
2 tsp. cornstarch
Adjust oven rack to uppermiddle position and heat oven to 250°. Heat oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Add whole garlic cloves and cook, stirring occasionally until soft and golden, about five minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon; reserve oil.
Turn pork loin fat-side down. Slit lengthwise, almost but not quite all the way through to form a long pocket, leaving a ½-inch border of unslit meat at each end. Brush cavity with some of the reserved garlic cooking oil, and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and 1 tbsp. of the rosemary. Line cavity with sauteed garlic and apples. Tie loin together with twine or string at 1½ inch intervals.
Brush with remaining oil, and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Set roast, fat side up, on a large, jellyroll pan. Warm ¼ cup apple jelly along with the minced garlic and remaining rosemary and brush mixture onto meat.
Roast until a meat thermometer stuck into the center registers 125° to 130°, about 1½ hours. Remove from oven; raise oven temperature to 400°. Brush loin with pan drippings, return to oven and continue to roast until the loin is golden brown and a meat thermometer stuck into the center registers 155° to 160°, about 20 minutes longer. For more attractive coloring, broil until spotty brown, three to five minutes.
Let roast rest 15 to 20 minutes; transfer to a carving board. Stir juices around pan to loosen brown bits.
Pour through a strainer into a small pan. Stir in port, chicken broth and remaining 2 tbsp. jelly. Bring to a simmer. Mix cornstarch with a couple of tablespoons of cold water; whisk into sauce. Simmer until lightly thickened. Slice pork and spoon sauce over.
Serves six to eight.
I just have fun with it. I’m not a garlic expert.
I like to grow it and give it away.
— Branch Brady, gardener
Branch Brady grows two types of garlic each season and gives most of it away.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Bacon Park story
Beauty and peace befall upon Bigfork’s tranquil Bacon Park
By POLLY KOLSTAD For the Tribune Quiet discovery awaits visitors to Bacon Park on Eagle Bend Drive in Bigfork.A haven of tranquil beauty, the park treats guests to a peaceful descent into a landscape where stones, shrubs, trees and flowers emphasize the subtle symmetry of nature.Laura and Jerry Bacon love the little oasis they have created in Harbor Village across the street from their townhouse.“Nothing makes me more happy than to get up with a cup of coffee in the morning and head over to our park,” Laura Bacon said. “It is our fairy garden.”The Bacons call the park their “peace on Earth.” It offers the solace they’ve sought since 2004 when they began planning their horticultural dream with landscaper, Jim Doepker.Doepker graduated with a degree in forestry from the University of Montana, but found his niche in landscaping. He enjoys working with clients like the Bacons, who immerse themselves in a project.“We built the park, all three of us,” Doepker said. “The Bacons have very much been the inspiration.”The Bacons wanted a Montana Japanese garden, and along with Doepker, made trips to the Portland Japanese Garden, bought books and studied them in the winter.The original plan was simply drawn on onion skin paper. There never was a blueprint or sketch.“That’s part of the Japanese philosophy,” Doepker said.A typical Japanese garden features several elements including rocks, water, islands, ponds, bridges, lanterns, plants and a teahouse. Japanese gardens present impressive vistas in a small place.Displaying these design traditions on two-thirds of an acre was not an easy go.They started construction in 2004, designating where they wanted the pond and doing the excavation. The next spring they brought in soil from Creston and 330 tons of boulders from McGregor Peak, west of Kalispell.“It was one year before we planted anything, and even at that, after three years, we redid one area as we discovered it was a dead zone,” Doepker said.The Bacons’ garden is understated when it comes to color. They have lilacs, azalea and roses, but more for the color and texture of the foliage rather than the flowers.It also features a waterfall that rushes into the pond.Botanical lovers enjoy the pond’s koi and goldfish. From under the dainty wooden bridge, they swim, darting in and out of blooming lily pads.Doepker said they will come to you and eat out of your hand. An older white one he calls “Hot Lips Houlihan” is his favorite. Occasionally, an osprey swoops down and takes a fish. They have even seen blue herons perched and ready for the take. And, a neighborhood duck has been known to waddle in with See BACON PARK, 4L
COURTESY PHOTO Bacon Park is located on Eagle Bend Drive in Bigfork. Jerry and Laura Bacon created the park in Harbor Village.Bacon Park: Park attracts birds and dragonflies
FROM 1L her brood.A key to an authentic Japanese garden are the maple trees. The Bacons first planted five, and now there are 30. Many of these plants come from the Iseli Nursery in Oregon, which grows dwarf conifers and Japanese maples and prunes them using a Japanese garden technique.Along the garden’s sylvan paths are many unusual trees, in particular, the Hindu Pan, an evergreen which is actually a type of shore pine tree related to the lodge pole pine.The park attracts hummingbirds, cedar waxwings and robins. Laura Bacon enjoys watching the grosbeaks.“Their babies come right next to you,” she said.There are dragonflies of many colors, as well.Most of the trees and plants in Bacon Park were purchased at local nurseries and tree farms. Brenda Guild, of Montana Gardener Inc., maintains the plants and has been with the Bacons since the park’s inception.Jan and Bob Livesay of Great Falls said the park is one of the most tranquil places they have seen and are impressed with the ever-changing landscaping.“Each visit offers new plantings and seasonal varieties,” they said. “We are fortunate to have the opportunity to enjoy the garden.”The Bacons welcome the public to visit their garden, though they don’t allow large tours.This past winter was hard on Bacon Park, devastating Zone 5 plants as well as others. They brought a crane in to take out the dead trees and plant new ones. The loss really bothered the Bacons, but they are recharged and re-energized.“Now, I think the garden is about where they envisioned,” Doepker said.“Yet, they get more ambitious all the time.”
By POLLY KOLSTAD For the Tribune Quiet discovery awaits visitors to Bacon Park on Eagle Bend Drive in Bigfork.A haven of tranquil beauty, the park treats guests to a peaceful descent into a landscape where stones, shrubs, trees and flowers emphasize the subtle symmetry of nature.Laura and Jerry Bacon love the little oasis they have created in Harbor Village across the street from their townhouse.“Nothing makes me more happy than to get up with a cup of coffee in the morning and head over to our park,” Laura Bacon said. “It is our fairy garden.”The Bacons call the park their “peace on Earth.” It offers the solace they’ve sought since 2004 when they began planning their horticultural dream with landscaper, Jim Doepker.Doepker graduated with a degree in forestry from the University of Montana, but found his niche in landscaping. He enjoys working with clients like the Bacons, who immerse themselves in a project.“We built the park, all three of us,” Doepker said. “The Bacons have very much been the inspiration.”The Bacons wanted a Montana Japanese garden, and along with Doepker, made trips to the Portland Japanese Garden, bought books and studied them in the winter.The original plan was simply drawn on onion skin paper. There never was a blueprint or sketch.“That’s part of the Japanese philosophy,” Doepker said.A typical Japanese garden features several elements including rocks, water, islands, ponds, bridges, lanterns, plants and a teahouse. Japanese gardens present impressive vistas in a small place.Displaying these design traditions on two-thirds of an acre was not an easy go.They started construction in 2004, designating where they wanted the pond and doing the excavation. The next spring they brought in soil from Creston and 330 tons of boulders from McGregor Peak, west of Kalispell.“It was one year before we planted anything, and even at that, after three years, we redid one area as we discovered it was a dead zone,” Doepker said.The Bacons’ garden is understated when it comes to color. They have lilacs, azalea and roses, but more for the color and texture of the foliage rather than the flowers.It also features a waterfall that rushes into the pond.Botanical lovers enjoy the pond’s koi and goldfish. From under the dainty wooden bridge, they swim, darting in and out of blooming lily pads.Doepker said they will come to you and eat out of your hand. An older white one he calls “Hot Lips Houlihan” is his favorite. Occasionally, an osprey swoops down and takes a fish. They have even seen blue herons perched and ready for the take. And, a neighborhood duck has been known to waddle in with See BACON PARK, 4L
COURTESY PHOTO Bacon Park is located on Eagle Bend Drive in Bigfork. Jerry and Laura Bacon created the park in Harbor Village.Bacon Park: Park attracts birds and dragonflies
FROM 1L her brood.A key to an authentic Japanese garden are the maple trees. The Bacons first planted five, and now there are 30. Many of these plants come from the Iseli Nursery in Oregon, which grows dwarf conifers and Japanese maples and prunes them using a Japanese garden technique.Along the garden’s sylvan paths are many unusual trees, in particular, the Hindu Pan, an evergreen which is actually a type of shore pine tree related to the lodge pole pine.The park attracts hummingbirds, cedar waxwings and robins. Laura Bacon enjoys watching the grosbeaks.“Their babies come right next to you,” she said.There are dragonflies of many colors, as well.Most of the trees and plants in Bacon Park were purchased at local nurseries and tree farms. Brenda Guild, of Montana Gardener Inc., maintains the plants and has been with the Bacons since the park’s inception.Jan and Bob Livesay of Great Falls said the park is one of the most tranquil places they have seen and are impressed with the ever-changing landscaping.“Each visit offers new plantings and seasonal varieties,” they said. “We are fortunate to have the opportunity to enjoy the garden.”The Bacons welcome the public to visit their garden, though they don’t allow large tours.This past winter was hard on Bacon Park, devastating Zone 5 plants as well as others. They brought a crane in to take out the dead trees and plant new ones. The loss really bothered the Bacons, but they are recharged and re-energized.“Now, I think the garden is about where they envisioned,” Doepker said.“Yet, they get more ambitious all the time.”
Flathead Cherry Story
Great Falls 08/11/2010, Page L01
Savor sweet cherry season
Flathead gems are ripe
Enjoy them now, preserve some for the winter
By POLLY KOLSTAD For the Tribune
I knew I liked Toby Phillips the moment I saw him.
Wearing sturdy boots, he came through my door lugging two boxes of fresh Flathead cherries.
He had come to help us with our wheat harvest, bringing a tasty surprise.
He had spent the previous day picking and culling 40 pounds of cherries with his father-in-law, Hugh Hockaday, at the family orchard on Angel Point near Lakeside.
Flathead cherries are abundant around Flathead Lake, and the season is at its peak. Orchard growers in this area are famous for their high-quality bounty.
Though the harvest is a little late, it’s a good year for Flathead cherries. Picking began around the first of August and will continue for another week to 10 days.
The Hockadays’ cherries are Chinooks, pollinizers that resemble a Bing cherry .
“The cherries are of good size,” said Hockaday, who has been running the operation for more than 50 years.
Other big sweet cherries that do well in the area are Bing, Lambert and Queen Anne varieties. These cherries ripen after the Washington and Oregon cherries are off the market.
With a little help, cherry trees live a long time. It takes three to four years before they produce. They peak at 12 years and might produce another 12 years.
The Hockadays cultivate their trees repeatedly over the summer to keep the weeds out and to make sure all the moisture is going to the trees. Any split, cracked or bruised cherries go on the ground, left for the deer.
His grandfather had bought the land in 1910. Hockaday moved onto the property with his dad in 1946 when his granddad had a stroke. There were some trees there then, and he planted a lot more for commercial sales. Even then, cherries were big business.
“Granddad hired girls t o pick in the morning and pack in the afternoon,” Hockaday explained. “Then the cherries were loaded on steamers (boats) and taken to rail at Somers,” Today, the Hockaday orchard is a Upick operation charging $1 a pound.
Many people return year after year for the tree-ripened fruit which, according to Hockaday, is a lot sweeter because they don’t irrigate and pump them full of water.
My hands are beautifully stained from handling and pitting the plump red fruit.
Not letting one go to waste, I have prepared many recipes. Still, I have a windfall of Montana’s sweetest picking.
“Just throw them in bags and freeze them,” Phillips suggested, “that’s what we do.
“Then, in the cool of winter take out a bowl of cherries and relish the delicious memory of summer.”
SWEET CHERRY PIE
Prepare pastry for two-crust pie. Measure 2 cups flou r into large bowl, and with your hands, make a well in the center. Pour in ¾ cup vegetable oil, and ¼ cup water. Mix together. Divide into two balls of dough. Roll out one ball between waxed paper and fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Roll out second ball between waxed paper, and set aside.
PIE FILLING
1 cup sugar ¤ cup flour Þ tsp. salt 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice 4 cups pitted sweet cherries 2 tbsp. butter
Combine sugar, flour and salt. Add lemon juice to cherries and toss with sugar-flour mixture to mix thoroughly. Turn into pastry-lined pie pan. Dot with butter. Add top crust and crimp edges so juice doesn’t escape. With a knife, make three slashes on the top. Bake in hot oven at 425 degrees about 40 minutes.
SWEET CHERRY JAM or TOPPING 4 cups pitted sweet cherries 2½ cups sugar ½ cup lemon juice
Put ingredients in a heavy bottomed pan and mash together lightly. Cook, stirring while mixture boils, for five minutes. Cook five more minutes until thick and syrupy. Ladle into hot jelly jars. Seal with paraffin wax. Will fill two pints, or four small jelly jars.
CHERRIES JUBILEE
4 cups pitted cherries ½ cup water 1 tbsp. sugar mixed with 1 tbsp. cornstarch ¼ cup Kirsch (cherry liqueur) Vanilla ice cream
See CHERRIES, 2L
PHOTO COURTESY POLLY KOLSTAD
It’s easy to present cherries elegantly so your dessert looks as good as it tastes. Cherries Jubilee are pictured.
Powered by TECNAVIACopyright (c)2010 Great Falls Tribune 08/11/2010
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New window Print all Expand all Collapse all Forward allSponsored LinksSuperior Dried CherriesTart, Bing, Ranier, and More! Super-Fast Delivery. Try Some Now.NutsOnline.com/Dried-CherriesDessert RecipesMake desserts to remember. Free recipes from Safeway. Get them now!Safeway.comCherry JuiceTop selling concentrate on sale. Supports healthy joint function.BrownwoodAcres.comDelicious RecipesFind Thousands of Recipes and Menu Ideas - Visit KitchenDaily Now!KitchenDaily.comMaraschino CherriesBulk maraschino cherries for restaurants and bars. Best Pricewww.reliablepaper.comMore about...Cherry »
Growing Cherries »
Vegetable Recipe »
Rainier Cherries »About these links« Back to Inbox Archive Report spam Delete Move to Labels More actions ‹ Newer 12 of 48 Older ›Send messages from your other email addresses using your Gmail account. Learn moreYou are currently using 401 MB (5%) of your 7488 MB.Last account activity: 4 hours ago on this computer. DetailsGmail view: standard turn off chat turn off buzz older contact manager older version basic HTML Learn more©2010 Google - Terms - Privacy Policy - Buzz Privacy Policy - Gmail Blog - Join the Gmail team - Google
Savor sweet cherry season
Flathead gems are ripe
Enjoy them now, preserve some for the winter
By POLLY KOLSTAD For the Tribune
I knew I liked Toby Phillips the moment I saw him.
Wearing sturdy boots, he came through my door lugging two boxes of fresh Flathead cherries.
He had come to help us with our wheat harvest, bringing a tasty surprise.
He had spent the previous day picking and culling 40 pounds of cherries with his father-in-law, Hugh Hockaday, at the family orchard on Angel Point near Lakeside.
Flathead cherries are abundant around Flathead Lake, and the season is at its peak. Orchard growers in this area are famous for their high-quality bounty.
Though the harvest is a little late, it’s a good year for Flathead cherries. Picking began around the first of August and will continue for another week to 10 days.
The Hockadays’ cherries are Chinooks, pollinizers that resemble a Bing cherry .
“The cherries are of good size,” said Hockaday, who has been running the operation for more than 50 years.
Other big sweet cherries that do well in the area are Bing, Lambert and Queen Anne varieties. These cherries ripen after the Washington and Oregon cherries are off the market.
With a little help, cherry trees live a long time. It takes three to four years before they produce. They peak at 12 years and might produce another 12 years.
The Hockadays cultivate their trees repeatedly over the summer to keep the weeds out and to make sure all the moisture is going to the trees. Any split, cracked or bruised cherries go on the ground, left for the deer.
His grandfather had bought the land in 1910. Hockaday moved onto the property with his dad in 1946 when his granddad had a stroke. There were some trees there then, and he planted a lot more for commercial sales. Even then, cherries were big business.
“Granddad hired girls t o pick in the morning and pack in the afternoon,” Hockaday explained. “Then the cherries were loaded on steamers (boats) and taken to rail at Somers,” Today, the Hockaday orchard is a Upick operation charging $1 a pound.
Many people return year after year for the tree-ripened fruit which, according to Hockaday, is a lot sweeter because they don’t irrigate and pump them full of water.
My hands are beautifully stained from handling and pitting the plump red fruit.
Not letting one go to waste, I have prepared many recipes. Still, I have a windfall of Montana’s sweetest picking.
“Just throw them in bags and freeze them,” Phillips suggested, “that’s what we do.
“Then, in the cool of winter take out a bowl of cherries and relish the delicious memory of summer.”
SWEET CHERRY PIE
Prepare pastry for two-crust pie. Measure 2 cups flou r into large bowl, and with your hands, make a well in the center. Pour in ¾ cup vegetable oil, and ¼ cup water. Mix together. Divide into two balls of dough. Roll out one ball between waxed paper and fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Roll out second ball between waxed paper, and set aside.
PIE FILLING
1 cup sugar ¤ cup flour Þ tsp. salt 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice 4 cups pitted sweet cherries 2 tbsp. butter
Combine sugar, flour and salt. Add lemon juice to cherries and toss with sugar-flour mixture to mix thoroughly. Turn into pastry-lined pie pan. Dot with butter. Add top crust and crimp edges so juice doesn’t escape. With a knife, make three slashes on the top. Bake in hot oven at 425 degrees about 40 minutes.
SWEET CHERRY JAM or TOPPING 4 cups pitted sweet cherries 2½ cups sugar ½ cup lemon juice
Put ingredients in a heavy bottomed pan and mash together lightly. Cook, stirring while mixture boils, for five minutes. Cook five more minutes until thick and syrupy. Ladle into hot jelly jars. Seal with paraffin wax. Will fill two pints, or four small jelly jars.
CHERRIES JUBILEE
4 cups pitted cherries ½ cup water 1 tbsp. sugar mixed with 1 tbsp. cornstarch ¼ cup Kirsch (cherry liqueur) Vanilla ice cream
See CHERRIES, 2L
PHOTO COURTESY POLLY KOLSTAD
It’s easy to present cherries elegantly so your dessert looks as good as it tastes. Cherries Jubilee are pictured.
Powered by TECNAVIACopyright (c)2010 Great Falls Tribune 08/11/2010
Reply Forward
New window Print all Expand all Collapse all Forward allSponsored LinksSuperior Dried CherriesTart, Bing, Ranier, and More! Super-Fast Delivery. Try Some Now.NutsOnline.com/Dried-CherriesDessert RecipesMake desserts to remember. Free recipes from Safeway. Get them now!Safeway.comCherry JuiceTop selling concentrate on sale. Supports healthy joint function.BrownwoodAcres.comDelicious RecipesFind Thousands of Recipes and Menu Ideas - Visit KitchenDaily Now!KitchenDaily.comMaraschino CherriesBulk maraschino cherries for restaurants and bars. Best Pricewww.reliablepaper.comMore about...Cherry »
Growing Cherries »
Vegetable Recipe »
Rainier Cherries »About these links« Back to Inbox Archive Report spam Delete Move to Labels More actions ‹ Newer 12 of 48 Older ›Send messages from your other email addresses using your Gmail account. Learn moreYou are currently using 401 MB (5%) of your 7488 MB.Last account activity: 4 hours ago on this computer. DetailsGmail view: standard turn off chat turn off buzz older contact manager older version basic HTML Learn more©2010 Google - Terms - Privacy Policy - Buzz Privacy Policy - Gmail Blog - Join the Gmail team - Google
Monday, June 7, 2010
Ewald vineyard Sonoma,California -June 6,2010
Grapes for fine wines grow in Great Falls native’s vineyard
The Russian River Valley, approximately 50 miles north of San Francisco in Sonoma County, is the location of some of California’s most distinguished wine country.
Along one of the area’s beautiful roads is the sculptured iron gate at the entrance to the Ewald Vineyard. The vineyard is owned by Sally and David Ewald and boasts 4,321 pinot noir vines. Sally Ewald, formerly Sally Hatcher, is a Great Falls native and Great Falls High graduate.
My daughter and I were fortunate to be houseguests of the Ewalds this spring just as the grapevines were about to bud and leaf out.
With a master’s degree from Stanford, Sally has had a long career in business.
Early on, she took a job with Western Airlines in San Jose before going into consulting for Wilson Learning Corporation. Eventually, she left that job and started her own company, Learning Solutions Alliance Global, where she continues to serve as chairman of the board.
David, an aeronautical engineer, was a spy satellite test controller in the late 1960s and early ’70s. After working in that field for years, he switched gears and went into residential and commercial real estate in the Palo Alto area.
But even with busy careers, they both found time to practice winemaking. The house they purchased in Los Altos came with h 50 grapevines.
“Initially, we made batches like Old Lead Pencil and Chateau Garage,” Sally said with a grin.
When they moved to their Sebastopol vineyard in 2002, the vines already established there had a good reputation, and the Ewalds looked for a vineyard manager who would oversee the growing, harvesting and marketing of their grapes.
Even with that help, it doesn’t keep her husband out of the vineyard, Sally said.
“He’s a perfectionist,” she said. “He’s out here all the time.”
Climate, sun exposure, soil makeup and surrounding flora make this prime grape-growing country for pinot noir and chardonnay. As we headed down the landscaped path of rosemary, lavender and decorative grasses, we looked at the symmetry of the grapevines, stretched out in perfect form and supported by horizontal wires. David said grapevines can live up to 100 years, but production drops off after about 30 years.
In the spring, the danger of frost occupies much of David’s attention. A weather station in their master bedroom provides temperature readings for every row of vines.
“It (an alarm) is set at 37 degrees and tells me if I have to turn the water on,” explained David, whose nightly activity sometimes involves getting out of bed to turn on the various sprinkler systems that will encase the vines in ice to protect them from frost damage.
“I want water flowing at 36 degrees,” he said. “I recheck the forecast to know the dew point. If it is above freezing you are less likely to get caught with frost. April and May are of great concern when the plant is leafing out and buds are beginning to form.” David’s operation is powered by 50 solar panels placed on the roof of his barn. He has more than enough power for his vineyard, house and other projects, and what he doesn’t use, he sells back to the electric company’s grid.
As summer progresses, the Ewalds and Jim Pratt, their vineyard manager, keep a close watch over their three and a half acres of premium vines. Their autumn harvest goes to Siduri Wines, their contract winemaker. Adam Lee, Siduri’s co-owner, and his wife, Dianna, have been producing premium wines since 1994. As the grapes ripen, they come out to the Ewald vineyard to taste, pick and then haul the crop to the Siduri winery in a Santa Rosa industrial park.
Lee has been called “a powerhouse pinot noir producer,” and the Siduri Pinots regularly make the San Francisco Chronicle top 100 wines list.
We were eager to try some for ourselves at the Siduri winery, a short drive away.
We toured the winery and enjoyed a tasting of six to eight wines including pinot noir, chardonnay, syrah, viognier and zinfandel.
Siduri wines can be ordered through Pizazz in Great Falls.
We decided that the Siduri Ewald Vineyard Russian River Pinot Noir was the best, a classic wine to be remembered.
ABOVE: A grape vine budding in the spring
RIGHT: Sally and David Ewald in their vineyard
The Russian River Valley, approximately 50 miles north of San Francisco in Sonoma County, is the location of some of California’s most distinguished wine country.
Along one of the area’s beautiful roads is the sculptured iron gate at the entrance to the Ewald Vineyard. The vineyard is owned by Sally and David Ewald and boasts 4,321 pinot noir vines. Sally Ewald, formerly Sally Hatcher, is a Great Falls native and Great Falls High graduate.
My daughter and I were fortunate to be houseguests of the Ewalds this spring just as the grapevines were about to bud and leaf out.
With a master’s degree from Stanford, Sally has had a long career in business.
Early on, she took a job with Western Airlines in San Jose before going into consulting for Wilson Learning Corporation. Eventually, she left that job and started her own company, Learning Solutions Alliance Global, where she continues to serve as chairman of the board.
David, an aeronautical engineer, was a spy satellite test controller in the late 1960s and early ’70s. After working in that field for years, he switched gears and went into residential and commercial real estate in the Palo Alto area.
But even with busy careers, they both found time to practice winemaking. The house they purchased in Los Altos came with h 50 grapevines.
“Initially, we made batches like Old Lead Pencil and Chateau Garage,” Sally said with a grin.
When they moved to their Sebastopol vineyard in 2002, the vines already established there had a good reputation, and the Ewalds looked for a vineyard manager who would oversee the growing, harvesting and marketing of their grapes.
Even with that help, it doesn’t keep her husband out of the vineyard, Sally said.
“He’s a perfectionist,” she said. “He’s out here all the time.”
Climate, sun exposure, soil makeup and surrounding flora make this prime grape-growing country for pinot noir and chardonnay. As we headed down the landscaped path of rosemary, lavender and decorative grasses, we looked at the symmetry of the grapevines, stretched out in perfect form and supported by horizontal wires. David said grapevines can live up to 100 years, but production drops off after about 30 years.
In the spring, the danger of frost occupies much of David’s attention. A weather station in their master bedroom provides temperature readings for every row of vines.
“It (an alarm) is set at 37 degrees and tells me if I have to turn the water on,” explained David, whose nightly activity sometimes involves getting out of bed to turn on the various sprinkler systems that will encase the vines in ice to protect them from frost damage.
“I want water flowing at 36 degrees,” he said. “I recheck the forecast to know the dew point. If it is above freezing you are less likely to get caught with frost. April and May are of great concern when the plant is leafing out and buds are beginning to form.” David’s operation is powered by 50 solar panels placed on the roof of his barn. He has more than enough power for his vineyard, house and other projects, and what he doesn’t use, he sells back to the electric company’s grid.
As summer progresses, the Ewalds and Jim Pratt, their vineyard manager, keep a close watch over their three and a half acres of premium vines. Their autumn harvest goes to Siduri Wines, their contract winemaker. Adam Lee, Siduri’s co-owner, and his wife, Dianna, have been producing premium wines since 1994. As the grapes ripen, they come out to the Ewald vineyard to taste, pick and then haul the crop to the Siduri winery in a Santa Rosa industrial park.
Lee has been called “a powerhouse pinot noir producer,” and the Siduri Pinots regularly make the San Francisco Chronicle top 100 wines list.
We were eager to try some for ourselves at the Siduri winery, a short drive away.
We toured the winery and enjoyed a tasting of six to eight wines including pinot noir, chardonnay, syrah, viognier and zinfandel.
Siduri wines can be ordered through Pizazz in Great Falls.
We decided that the Siduri Ewald Vineyard Russian River Pinot Noir was the best, a classic wine to be remembered.
ABOVE: A grape vine budding in the spring
RIGHT: Sally and David Ewald in their vineyard
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Saguaro Cactus of the Sonoran Desert
Slow-growing saguaro is a symbol of the desert
As a visitor to the southwestern United States a couple of weeks every year, I had always wondered about the saguaro cactus that signals a welcome to the vast Sonoran Desert.
Like stoic sentinels standing guard, the giant saguaro marches up mountains, occupies highway roadsides and even lives along golf courses.
No two are alike. They inhabit only the Sonoran Desert, an area that includes parts of Arizona, California and Mexico.
Many are simply green spiny trunks rising out of the shadows of a paloverde tree or a bursage bush. Others have arms that reach up to the sky and may be 30 feet tall.
They don’t bloom until they are about 50 years old. The mature giant finally gets an appendage around its 75th birthday. The strange plant may tower in the desert until it is 200 years old and sport multiple branches.
Fascinated, I ventured out to the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, where the silhouetted saguaro grows prolifically.
Nancy White, the assistant director of education at the Desert Botanical Garden, talked about the saguaro’s role in the desert’s ecology.
Nature has finely engineered the saguaro, which can weigh several tons, and can survive extreme temperature fluctuations.
“Think of a Hummer vehicle loaded with the family and the dog,” White said.
The columnar structure of the pleated accordion- like surface allows the saguaro to expand or contract depending on the amount of water it’s storing. It holds so much water that it can go for many months without rain.
The saguaro is able to withstand storms and winds that blow across the desert thanks to system of lateral roots that run just below the ground’s surface. As soon as it rains, these roots and other hair-like roots suck up as much moisture as they can. Often, these roots twine around rocks and give the saguaro a phenomenal structural strength.
In late May, the saguaro sprouts creamy white blossoms with yellow centers that cluster near the ends of the branches. The blossoms open during cooler desert nights and close again by next midday.
Not all of the flowers in a single saguaro bloom at the same time. Instead, over a month or more, a few open each night, secreting nectar into their tubes and awaiting pollination. These flowers close at about noon the following day, never to open again.
Bats and moths feed on the nectar, pollinating the plant to produce a pink fruit about the size of a kiwi that has bright scarlet pulp with tiny black seeds. The fruit, said to be one of the tastiest foods of the desert, ripens just before the fall rainy season. It is hard to pick one before the birds and other insects get to it.
The native people harvest the fruit with a long tool made from the dead skeletal wood of the saguaro. They make preserves and syrups from the delicacy.
Fruit left on the tree drops its seeds. They germinate and start growing under a nurse plant. In about 10 years, the new saguaro will be about the size of a thumb. Eventually, the nurse plant may die as the saguaro takes its water. To survive, the saguaro seed needs the shade and protection of a nurse plant, such as a paloverde or bursage.
The typical mature saguaro is a happy hotel for the birds that inhabit the Sonoran Desert. The gila woodpecker drills holes in the saguaros. That’s just fine with the saguaro as it forms a “scab” that becomes a nesting house.
The nests maintain a comfortable temperature even during the warmest summer days because of protection from the sun and the natural air conditioning provided by the saguaro.
Many varieties of birds live in nests in the saguaro, including the woodpecker, cactus wren, elf owl, screech owl, sparrow hawk and whitewinged doves.
As a visitor to the southwestern United States a couple of weeks every year, I had always wondered about the saguaro cactus that signals a welcome to the vast Sonoran Desert.
Like stoic sentinels standing guard, the giant saguaro marches up mountains, occupies highway roadsides and even lives along golf courses.
No two are alike. They inhabit only the Sonoran Desert, an area that includes parts of Arizona, California and Mexico.
Many are simply green spiny trunks rising out of the shadows of a paloverde tree or a bursage bush. Others have arms that reach up to the sky and may be 30 feet tall.
They don’t bloom until they are about 50 years old. The mature giant finally gets an appendage around its 75th birthday. The strange plant may tower in the desert until it is 200 years old and sport multiple branches.
Fascinated, I ventured out to the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, where the silhouetted saguaro grows prolifically.
Nancy White, the assistant director of education at the Desert Botanical Garden, talked about the saguaro’s role in the desert’s ecology.
Nature has finely engineered the saguaro, which can weigh several tons, and can survive extreme temperature fluctuations.
“Think of a Hummer vehicle loaded with the family and the dog,” White said.
The columnar structure of the pleated accordion- like surface allows the saguaro to expand or contract depending on the amount of water it’s storing. It holds so much water that it can go for many months without rain.
The saguaro is able to withstand storms and winds that blow across the desert thanks to system of lateral roots that run just below the ground’s surface. As soon as it rains, these roots and other hair-like roots suck up as much moisture as they can. Often, these roots twine around rocks and give the saguaro a phenomenal structural strength.
In late May, the saguaro sprouts creamy white blossoms with yellow centers that cluster near the ends of the branches. The blossoms open during cooler desert nights and close again by next midday.
Not all of the flowers in a single saguaro bloom at the same time. Instead, over a month or more, a few open each night, secreting nectar into their tubes and awaiting pollination. These flowers close at about noon the following day, never to open again.
Bats and moths feed on the nectar, pollinating the plant to produce a pink fruit about the size of a kiwi that has bright scarlet pulp with tiny black seeds. The fruit, said to be one of the tastiest foods of the desert, ripens just before the fall rainy season. It is hard to pick one before the birds and other insects get to it.
The native people harvest the fruit with a long tool made from the dead skeletal wood of the saguaro. They make preserves and syrups from the delicacy.
Fruit left on the tree drops its seeds. They germinate and start growing under a nurse plant. In about 10 years, the new saguaro will be about the size of a thumb. Eventually, the nurse plant may die as the saguaro takes its water. To survive, the saguaro seed needs the shade and protection of a nurse plant, such as a paloverde or bursage.
The typical mature saguaro is a happy hotel for the birds that inhabit the Sonoran Desert. The gila woodpecker drills holes in the saguaros. That’s just fine with the saguaro as it forms a “scab” that becomes a nesting house.
The nests maintain a comfortable temperature even during the warmest summer days because of protection from the sun and the natural air conditioning provided by the saguaro.
Many varieties of birds live in nests in the saguaro, including the woodpecker, cactus wren, elf owl, screech owl, sparrow hawk and whitewinged doves.
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