A Pickle Workshop for Slow Food Boston

I'll be going back to my Massachusetts roots on Friday, August 8th when I teach a pickle-making workshop for Slow Food Boston. We're going to make some pickled beets, some dilly beans, and some TBD form of sliced cucumber pickle with funky chilis. Information is available at http://www.slowfoodboston.com/events.cfm

See ya there and go Red Sox!

A Pickled Corn Experiment

This morning I got up early and made a test batch of pickled corn. The last time I tried fooling around with corn I found the color of the final result to be a tiny bit pale. So this time I added some turmeric. I also felt that the earlier version was a little bland. So I went to my secret supply of carefully-frozen peppers that I procured last season from my fellow Greenmarketer, Tim Stark of Eckerton Hill Farms. Tim is a tomato specialist, and his heirlooms are widely prized (and written about, by Tim, in his cool new book "Heirloom". But Tim also grows the finest array of unusual chili peppers I've ever seen. I'm particularly fond of his Aji Dulces, a small round red pepper with medium heat and an unforgettable sweet aroma. I still had two Aji Dulces left in my freezer, and hopefully that'll be enough to bring some zing to this small batch of pickled corn. I'm calling my recipe Handy Corn and assuming all goes well with this batch I'm going to make a single commercial run while the best of the local corn is still around to sell at the Greenmarket and online. Stay tuned for more details about Handy Corn!

Rick's Picks visits Seattle!

Hail all you pickle people in the Great Northwest!

I am coming to Seattle for a jam-packed (OK, pickle-packed) weekend of store appearances. Come on down and say hello and please pass this link on to your friends, family and fellow pickle-lovers!

Thursday, July 24:

3 PM - 6 PM
Metropolitan Market Proctor
2420 N Proctor Street
Tacoma WA 98407

Friday, July 25:

3 30 - 6 30 PM
Metropolitan Market Queen Anne
1908 Queen Anne Ave N
Seattle WA 98109

Saturday, July 26:

11 AM - 3 PM
Metropolitan Market Admiral
2320 42nd Avenue SW
Seattle WA 98116

3 30 PM - 6 30 PM
Metropolitan Market Sandpoint
5240 40th Avenue NE
Seattle WA 98105

Sunday July 27:

11 AM - 1 PM
De Laurenti's
1435 1st Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101

2 PM - 5 PM
Pike Place Grocery
1926 Pike Place
Seattle, WA 98101

Spread the word and see you there!

Best,

Rick

Pickled in Pennsylvania!

Our friend Bryan is the proprietor of Almanac, an awesome store in Springtown, Pennsylvania. He's doing a special Rick's Picks tasting this Saturday, June 28th, from noon to 5 PM. If you are anywhere near Bucks County, please stop by for a pickle!

Get pickled at:

Almanac
3291 RT 212
Springtown, Pennsylvania
610 346 7509
www.almanacgoods.com

PICKLED RAMPS!

Last night the whole Rick's Picks gang got together at my house and engaged in one of our favorite rites of Spring... pickling ramps. If ramps are unfamiliar to you, they are a fern-like root that grows wild on the forest floor for a short period in Springtime. They are similar to a leek or scallion in appearance once trimmed, and have a spectacular pungent earthy flavor. They are great sauteed or pureed in a soup, and as pickles... well, they are just sublime. Ramps have an interesting history. In the old days, they were considered suitable only for poor folk... not the stuff of epicurean desire. Now, they are prized by top chefs who pay a premium at the Greenmarket for the best ramps. They are truly the caviar of spring vegetables. We tried two pickling styles last night. The first was a white vinegar brine with muddled pink peppercorns and dried hibiscus flowers. Part of the ramp's stem has a reddish-purple cast, and the pink peppercorns and the hibiscus reinforced the beautiful color while lending a sweet astringency to the flavor of the pickle. The other approach used a white wine vinegar brine with muddled green peppercorns and whole coriander seeds. There's an earthiness lingering in the ramps... the terrior... and these spices amplify it. We'll see which one comes out better. The goal is to introduce pickled ramps as an official Rick's Picks' pickle in 2009 for our Greenmarket and online customers. One thing is certain...we've already got the name: ON-RAMPS. When I told our friend Will the Chef at the Barnard Inn, in Barnard, Vermont about Project Ramp he responded thusly: if baby leeks are called ramps, what are old leeks called? Answer: Gramps.

We'll be here all week!

Rick's Picks at Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation TONIGHT!

We're thrilled to join 50 of the top restaurants in NYC along with several other artisanal producers at tonight's Taste of the Nation benefit at Roseland Ballroom here in New York City. The reason for the event is this: NO KID HUNGRY. Tonight there will be Taste of the Nation events in over 20 cities each with this same theme, to raise money to help feed hungry kids. If you'd like to learn more about Taste of the Nation and what you can do to help, visit newyorktaste.org.

RICK AND ANNE SAXELBY TALK ABOUT THE BUSINESS OF SLOW FOOD

Friends: tonight I am speaking with my favorite neighborhood cheesemonger, Anne Saxelby about the business of Slow Food. Here's the invite:

SLOW U :THE BUSINESS OF LOCAL

Join successful, "slow", entrepreneurs,
ANNE SAXELBY, of SAXELBY CHEESEMONGERS, who sells only regionally produced farmstead and artisan cheese and
RICK FIELD, of RICK'S PICKS, who pickles only produce grown in our region.

Anne and Rick will talk about why they got into and how they became successful in the businesses of purveying and producing local food. There will be a Q&A period accompanied by Anne's excellent cheese and Rick's superlative pickles, all washed down by locally brewed beer.

WHEN:
Tuesday, April 29th 6p - 8p

WHERE:
Neighborhood Preservation Center
232 East 11th Street
(btwn. 2nd and 3rd Aves.)
Manhattan

TICKETS:
$20 - Slow Food Members
$30 - Non-members
Available ONLY at
www.brownpapertickets.com

SLOW U - The Business of Local

SLOW U is an educational program of Slow Food NYC, the local chapter of Slow Food USA, a national, not-for-profit association dedicated to achieving a Good, Clean, and Fair food system, where food is REAL and delicious, where it is produced sustainably and humanely, and where producers are compensated fairly and each eater has access to good, clean food.
Visit www.slowfoodnyc.org.