Connecting Customers and Local Food

This September is Eat Local Month for Whatcom County.  To celebrate,  we using the month to cast the spotlight on a few of the local farmers we source their menu ingredients from.

Earlier this year, we began posting video blogs about our Local Connections.  The videos were each short interviews with local restaurants, delis and stores that serve Boundary Bay beer on tap or in bottles.  In each interview, we asked business owners to share why it was important to them to do business locally.

This month, we’re expanding their Local Connections videos to showcase where they get their chevre, apples, potatoes and greens.  We’ll film the video blogs out at the farms and give you a chance to meet the farmers face to face.  We think the videos will play an important role in connecting consumers and local food producers.

Boundary Bay Brewery works with many local suppliers and we it a priority to source at least 25% of their food budget from local producers.  We’ve even clearly marked dishes on our menu that are made with local ingredients  to help inform customers who think it’s important to support local agriculture too.

During September, we’ll be filming interviews with K & M Red River Farm, Cloud Mountain Farm and Gothberg Farms and will post the videos here on our blog and on our Facebook page. Don’t forget to also take advantage of all the Eat Local events happening throughout the month!

Eat Local Month is a project of Sustainable Connection’s Food and Farming Program and includes farm tours, edible events and special locally-sourced menu items featured at various restaurants throughout the month including at Boundary Bay Brewery from September 25 – October 1^st.  All week we’ll be serving up a special all local menu (alongside our usual eats!).  Here’s what we’ve got in store

Salmon Salad Sandwich

Samish Bay Coho salmon from Barleans mixed with capers, lemon juice, onion and mayonnaise topped with cucumbers from Cloud Mountain Farms and alfalfa sprouts from Happy Valley Sprouts and served on toasted ciabatta from Avenue Bread. $10

Spinach Salad

Fresh Alkmene apples from Cloud Mountain Farms on spinach from Red River Farms, with Gothberg Farms chevre cheese, hazelnuts from Holmquist Orchards with a honey-white balsamic-champagne reduction. $10

Caprese Salad

Heirloom tomatoes and basil from Cloud Mountain Farms and goat cheese from Gothberg Farm, drizzled with olive oil and served with Breadfarm‘s Bow Hill baguette.$9

Beer + Cheese = True Love

We are very excited for this weekend!  Not only will we be at the Bellingham Highland Games and the Northwest WA Demo Derby, but on Sunday we’re heading to Gothberg Farms for a slow food movement event with Cafe Adrift.

There’s a fun farm dinner and tour planned for June 6, 2010, from 1pm-5pm.  This will be a Texas style BBQ prepared by Nicole and Maggi from Cafe Adrift in Anacortes.  They have a new catering “wagon” with  BBQ attached.  This event is in conjunction with our local Slow Food chapter (Skagit River Salish Sea) and part of each ticket sale will go to them.

So, here is a general plan for the afternoon:
1pm-3pm: Farm tours and beer and cheese tasting/pairing.  Beers will be from Boundary Bay Brewery in Bellingham and cheeses will be from Gothberg Farms.  Julia Wayne from Edible Seattle will be here to help us with a fun and interactive way to do this.

3pm-5pm: The Food
BBQ Brisket (from Island Grown Farmers Coop Bow WA)
Chicken (from Well Fed Farm Mt. Vernon WA birds being grown now just for us!)
Grilled Oysters (from Taylors Seafood Bow WA)
Potato Salad (local of course)
Cole Slaw (local of course)
Bread (from the Breadfarm Bow WA)
Delightful Dessert (made with Gothberg Farms chevre)

Tickets are $65.00 which includes everything. Children under 12, $10.00.  Must be paid in advance.  For reservations, contact Rhonda at 360-202-2436 or stop in at Adrift.  We can both accept credit cards, but not over the Internet.

Special Menus at Boundary Bay Brewery

It’s a big, busy day today here at Boundary Bay Brewery!  We’re welcoming October in with two special menus.  Upstairs, in our bistro and taproom, you can Eat Local all day long.  We’re participating in Sustainable Connections‘ Eat Local Every Week program.  Eat Local Every Week is your chance to take an extra step—or ten—in eating local. There are major environmental, economic, and social benefits of buying food from local farms.  Doing so says you believe in the importance of keeping our farmland in agriculture and knowing that your dinner had a positive effect on the land, water, and people from whence it came.  In our global food system, it can be a big challenge to change our habits and eat local.  Eat Local Every Week is an opportunity to try it on, just once or twice a week for the growing season—to go a little further into our local foodshed than you’ve been before!

So join us today, here at Boundary Bay Brewery, and treat yourself to our special Eat Local Menu sure to please your tastebuds and your conscience!  For our appetizer (available all day), we’re serving Caprese Salad: heirloom tomatoes sliced and layered with fresh basil and house made ricotta cheese, served with garlic baguette toasts (tomatoes: Cloud Mountain Farms, ricotta: Breckenridge Dairy Milk, garlic: Red River Farms and bread: Breadfarm).  For lunch, you can grab an Oyster Po’Boy: breaded pan fried oysters served with mesclun greens and a sweet pepper remoulade on Parisian Rolls, served with choice of salad or roasted potatoes (oysters: Taylor Bay Shellfish, peppers: Cloud Mountain Farms, potatoes: Red River Farms, bread: Breadfarm and dairy: Breckenridge Dairy).  If you’re coming for dinner (only available after 5pm), you’ve got to make the tough choice between salmon or spaghetti with clams!  We’ve got Grilled Salmon with an Heirloom Tomato and Ground Cherry ‘Salsa’ with mashed Yukon Gold potatoes and Seasonal Veggies (salmon: Barleans, tomatoes: Cloud Mountain Farms, potatoes & veg: Red River Farms, cherries: Holistic Homestead Farms and dairy: Breckenridge Dairy).  Or try Spaghetti Vongole: Taylor Bay Manila Clams sautéed with garlic and tomatoes with a lightly spiced white wine broth over fresh pasta (clams: Barleans, tomatoes: Cloud Mountain Farms, garlic: Red River Farms and pasta: Bellingham Pasta Co.).

But that’s not all folks!  Nope, we’ve got even more special treats for you today here at the brewery.  Down in our beer garden, at 4pm, we’re kicking off our Oktoberfest celebration!  Not only do we have a FIRKIN keg of our Harvest Ale that’s been fresh hopped with hops from our very own beer garden, but our brewers decided this morning to pull out a keg of Dunklesbock to really make it a party!

We’re serving up a special Oktoberfest menu too.  We’ve got The Best of the Wurst: Your choice of Brat, Bock or Knockwurst served with sauerkraut and mustard on freshly made buns from Ralf’s Bavarian Pretzels.  Served with German potato salad.  Of for the vegetarians and vegans: Your choice of Tofurky Polish Kielbasa or Tofurky Beer Brat served with sauerkraut and mustard on freshly made buns from Ralf’s Bavarian Pretzels.  Served with potato chips.  And, if you’re not really in the mood for wurst, try our Ploughman’s Lunch: Ham, aged cheddar and Gruyere served with a freshly made bun from Ralf’s Bavarian Pretzels.  Served with pickled onions and German potato salad.