Where there's a grill, there's a way

I've got more blueberries and peaches than I know what to do with- I've canned, cobblered, and just plain gorged myself into oblivion on these hot-weather delicacies and there is still fruit to spare. But hey, if that's all I have to gripe about, things must be going pretty well.

I've only consumed 5 servings of cedar planked salmon this week, down from my usual 8-9 weekly servings. Fortunately, just about everything goes with planked salmon and where there's a grill, there's a way!

This week's recipe is Super-Summery Salad with Planked Sockeye topped with a Blueberry Balsamic Reduction, but first, a quick a brush-up on planking technique.
Here's how it works:

First- soak your cedar grilling plank in water. An hour or two prior to grilling will work just fine, but a longer soak time permits the plank to absorb more moisture. This allows for more cedar-infused water vapor to be released during the grilling process.

Then- get your grill up to medium heat, 350-400 degrees. Place the wet plank on the pre-heated grill and heat plank for another 5 minutes before adding the food. This allows the plank to begin to smolder and smoke.

Next- place your seasoned salmon on plank and close grill lid and let cook for recommended time. The average fillet takes between 14-18 minutes, depending on thickness. No flipping, turning, or tweaking is needed. Once cooked, remove from the grill and enjoy!
So, for my salad, I used mixed baby greens, but just use whatever you have fresh in the fridge or from the garden, toss with a little olive oil, salt and fresh cracked pepper and top with hot salmon, blueberry balsamic reduction and freshly slice peaches!

Blueberry Balsamic Reduction

1 cup Balsamic Vinegar
1 cup Fresh Blueberries, plus extra for fresh garnish

- Macerate berries until juicy and then add vinegar. Let the berry juice and pulp meld with vinegar for up to an hour.

- Pour blueberry and vinegar mixture through cheesecloth or very fine strainer to remove pulp and seeds. Bring strained blueberry vinegar to a simmer, whisking constantly.

- Reduce vinegar down until desired viscosity- I like it pretty syrupy. Mix in fresh blueberries and top salmon with your hot Blueberry Balsamic Reduction!

Welcome to your weekend! -KB

The Blueberries are Always Bluer in the Next Row

It's August and blueberry season is in full swing here in the Northwest. And speaking of full swing, we hit up the rope swing along the Pend Oreille River on the way out to the Riley Creek Blueberry Farm for some evening U-Pick.
When picking blueberries, I spend a while scoping for the best row- the row that looks like there is the best size, color, and volume of berries. I find my row and start picking, but then, I peak to the next row and heck if I didn't choose wrong! The next row's berries are WAY better... bigger and bluer (Bluer? Not a word? Oh well). This leads to a terribly ineffective, perpetually row-shift method of blueberry harvesting. I can't help it! They just look bluer in the next row.Eventually my bucket is full, my mouth is an incriminating shade of purple, and it's time to weigh out. Huckleberries are all well and good, but it's sure hard to walk away with gallons to spare and a full belly. So, here's encouraging you to turn off that BlackBerry for a couple hours and pick some blueberries.

Welcome to your weekend! -KB

Local Winery Gets Their Grill On

Planking, good friends, and great wine- what could be better? Our hometown vintners at the Pend d'Oreille Winery planked up a storm at the winery's summer bash and were kind enough to share their photos.

For more info about the delightful, local wines of Sandpoint, visit www.powine.com.

Cheers and plank on!


Welcome to your weekend! -KB

Feeling Festive Part II

"The big white tent" shook, rattled and rolled for a booty-shaking good time on Friday the 13th. Michael Franti and Spearhead rocked a sold-out show on a clear night perfect for taking in some tunes and the Perseids Meteor Shower simultaneously.
The following night, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band delighted the crowd with old favorite such as Fishin' in the Dark, Mr. Bojangles, and Will the Circle Be Unbroken, along with some fun, yet funky covers.

Tonight, the symphony will play and the finale fireworks mark the end of another fabulous Festival at Sandpoint. What a good time, what a great line up! I can't wait for the big white tent to go up again.
Welcome to your weekend! -KB

Feeling Festive

Early August in North Idaho- the water is finally a tolerable temperature to swim and the huckleberries are at their peak. This time also means tipsy tourist and Sandpoint scenesters alike turn out for the big summer event- The Festival at Sandpoint.

Each year, a local artist designs a fine art poster for the event. This year's artist was Carver Kearney.
Tunes, chow, and waterfront views kicked off at Memorial Flied Thursday Aug. 5th and continued on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Everyone gets a breather for Monday through Wednesday, only to crank back up for a raucous second week.
This year, the line-up is...

Week One

Thursday- Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (Ever popular local band Tennis opened)
Friday- Brandi Carlile
Saturday- Keb' Mo'
Sunday- Children's Concert: Peter and the Wolf

Week Two

Thursday- Natalie MacMaster
Friday- Michael Franti and Spearhead
Saturday- Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Sunday- Grand Finale Concert: Russian Masterpieces

I've already hit up Keb' Mo' and I have tickets for Franti and the NGDB! I can barely wait.
Welcome to your weekend. - KB

Incident Report

There was an "incident" this weekend. Don't panic! I barely did. Well, let me start over. What's a good incident report without a preface?

I was supposed to go camping over the weekend, but forces conspired against me and the plan was kiboshed. Crestfallen, I trudged back up to my mountain perch. I opened the door and... Holy Expletive Batman! I've been robbed! The condo was sacked and my junk had been scattered.

Wait. Scratch the burglary theory- the TV was still there along with my Kitchen Aid Mixer and Le Creuset enamel (what? don't most burglars know their cookware?). Along with everything being scattered about, the carpet was torn up in several spots and a liberal amount of pasta and oatmeal had been strewn about. Then what could have made this mess... Oh my god! Bear in the White Pine Condo Complex! Retreat!

And as I was about to boogie on out of there in favor of somewhere a little less bear-ridden, when I noticed a trail of droppings that seemed petite, even by baby bear standards. Upon further investigation, the culprit was spotted. Ground Squirrel? Prairie Dog? Well, whatever it was, the well-fed member of the rodentia family had taken up residence in the fold-out couch.
Feeling like Nathan Lane in the 1997 Disney epic "Mouse Hunt," I spent the better part of Friday night/Saturday Morning chasing the intruder around with a Swiffer Duster extension and James the security guard who claimed "it was the most excitement he'd had in a while."

One Hugglie (generic form of the infomercial sensation the Snuggie. Yes, it was a re-gift.), multiple shrieks of rodent-induced fear, and a live trap later, the mess-maker was trapped like a rat. Because that's what it was. A Bushy-tailed Woodrat (Neotoma cinerea) to be precise, more commonly known as a Pack Rat.
How it got in? I have two theories. One- I leave the door open when it's nice for some fresh air and it may have just wandered in and got trapped when I shut the door. Two- During the hunt, that dirty rat ran up into the wall to the right of the sink. There is a hole where the cabinet baseboard meets the wall. This is where the live trap was set in front of with an elaborate tunnel made of black garbage bags and the aforementioned Hugglie.

The damage toll is as follows: Couch- more than vaguely musty, even after copious amounts of febreze. The pack rat had made a nest out of whole wheat spaghetti, toilet paper, and one of every earring I own. Carpet near both doors- moderate chew-age.

And what does all this have to do with food, more specifically Outdoor Gourmet Grilling Planks? Drum roll for this week's recipe please!

Cedar Planked Woodrat with Shallots and Herbs

Ingredients:

1 well-fed pack rat (they seem to thrive on pistachios, pasta, and toilet paper)
1 Outdoor Gourmet Cedar or Hickory Grilling Plank
2 Shallots
3 Cloves of Garlic
Fresh Rosemary, Thyme, cracked black pepper, and sea salt to taste

Ok, so I actually didn't cook it.

Here's wishing you an infestation-free weekend! -KB

Disclaimer: No rodents were harmed in the making of this blog. Once caught, Woody the Woodrat (I even named him.) was released back onto the 4th floor. KIDDING! Actually, he was released back outside, if indeed outside was where he came from. It was basically like a scene from Free Willy or Born Free. For any of you who do decide to grill up some rodents, the Outdoor Gourmet is in no way responsible for the contraction of Hantavirus, Rabies, squAIDS, or the Bubonic Plague.

Schweitzer Mountain Resort

Not to brag, but I live on Schweitzer Mountain, which is part of the Selkirk Mountain Range, a sub-range of the Rockies. I'm all sorts of "Rocky Mountain High" most the time sitting around 6,400 ft.! Residing here lets me live out my life-long dream of being a ski bum, whilst still being a somewhat-contributing member of society. (My contribution is, of course, making the world a better place one cedar-planked entree at a time.)

In the winter, there is skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, and other snowy fun to be had up here. In the summer, there's hiking, biking, huckleberry picking, and music festivals to take in. This past weekend was The Mountain Music Festival, which was a whole day of bluegrass and BBQ.

Here are some photos we snapped while playing the 9-hole Folf course and just cruisin' around before the music started.


A bit about the mountain...

According to Wikipedia- Schweitzer Mountain was named after an old, Swiss hermit who lived at the bottom of the basin. "Schweizer" is German for Swiss and the name evolved to "Schweitzer" and stuck. As part of a crime investigation, the Schweizer hermit's house was raided and searched, yielding the bodies of numerous neighborhood cats that had gone missing. According to legend, the man enjoyed cat stew; Mr. Schweitzer was soon hauled off to the asylum and forgotten, but his name remains...

What, really? No, but seriously? I thought the name was a tip of the hat to the Swiss Alps or maybe they named it after Dr. Albert Schweitzer, the philanthropist. Anyway, enough about crazy/geriatric Swiss dudes.

During the ski season, Schweitzer runs seven lifts: a high-speed six-pack, two high-speed quads, one fixed-grip triple, and three doubles. In the summer, the Great Escape Quad is fired up for hikers who just want to go down hill. My feet are in high-top hikers, second nearest to the lens...
Come up and check out my home mountain.

Welcome to your weekend! -KB

Cedar- It Grows Here!

I just can't say it enough- Outdoor Gourmet is the OG! Not only are we the original, but we're the sustainable and authentic choice. Here's why...

Our competitors (more like imitators) simply cannot measure up for one simple reason. Cedar- it grows here! Western Red Cedar (Thuja Plicata) is an indigenous species of the Pacific Northwest and other producers of similar products are wearing hard on their "carbon karma" by using first-cut timber from Canada, then shipping it to China for processing, then back to east coast for distribution.
Instead of using first-cut timber, we recycle "seconds" and waste pieces from local mills that own tree farms that are managed for a sustainable yield. Our beautiful product is hand-selected from this post-production cedar and we are careful to cut around any defects. The grade of cedar that we salvage our planks from lumber that cannot be used by construction or artisan craftsman industries, and is therefore destined for the burn pile. This gleaning process is a lot like cutting a bad spot out of apple or pear that then yields perfect fruit.Sustainability also means being part of an authentic community. We provide living-wage manufacturing jobs to families that would otherwise be priced out of our resort area. All phases of manufacturing and packaging occur in our Sandpoint facility. This means that our team has to be very productive in order to compete with the offshore producers that don't pay American living-wages. This very productivity is the economic proof of sustainability. Our local manufacturing and control also ensures that our grilling planks are 100% pure.

Choose the sustainably option. Choose the Made in the USA option. Choose the Northwest Pure Outdoor Gourmet for your Cedar Grilling Planks!