I have always enjoyed seafood - wild caught, natural, and sustainable seafood is delicious and a great source of protein and nutrients.
Last week I attended a seafood tasting event at New York City's Tin Building by Jean-George to celebrate all of the wild and sustainable seafood coming from Alaska. Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten prepared an array of delicious dishes and demonstrated a selection of techniques on how to prepare seafood at home. He also spoke about the importance of using high quality, sustainable ingredients. Third-generation Alaska fisherman, Hannah Heimbuch, who was on my Roku television show, "Martha Cooks," filleted an Alaska salmon and talked about the state's dedication to sustainability and responsible seafood harvesting. It was a very informative and fun event for all.
Here are some photos, enjoy. And please visit www.alaskaseafood.org for more information.
The Tin Building by Jean-Georges is a 53,000 square-foot structure that houses six restaurants, six fast-casual counters, four bars, a private dining room, a central grocery, pantry shops, a flower shop, and much more. The space is based within what was once the location for the Fulton Fish Market, which operated in this district from the mid-19th century until relocating to The Bronx in 2005. The design of the Tin Building includes a corrugated metal façade with decorative two-story sheet metal pilasters. Chef Jean-Georges says it was one of the first places he visited when he came to New York City in 1985. (Photo by John Labbe, smugmug.com)
Here I am with Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. We’ve known each other for many years. (Photo by John Labbe, smugmug.com)
The event was held in the second-floor dining room and reception space which serves as The Tasting Studio – the Tin Building’s broadcast space for the production of cooking segments and the recording of a daily podcast. On one side of the room was a display of Alaska Seafood. More than 60-percent of wild seafood harvested in the United States comes from Alaska waters including five species of salmon, white fish species like sablefish, halibut, cod, rockfish, sole/flounder and pollock, and shellfish like crab. (Photo by John Labbe, smugmug.com)
Here’s a closer look at the display. Shown here – Alaska crab and Alaska halibut. (Photo by John Labbe, smugmug.com)
All seafood from Alaska is wild and sustainable. (Photo by John Labbe, smugmug.com)
Here is a photo of Chef Jean-Georges, third-generation Alaska Fisherman Hannah Heimbuch, and Greg Smith with Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. Chef is holding a a whole Alaska salmon. (Photo by John Labbe, smugmug.com)
This is wild salmon roe, also known as ikura. (Photo by John Labbe, smugmug.com)
Here is Chef holding a large Alaska dungeness crab. (Photo by John Labbe, smugmug.com)
Chef Jean-Georges and his team prepared an array of delicious dishes including this Alaska scallop with caper and raisin emulsion. (Photo by John Labbe, smugmug.com)
Here is a closer look. It is served with caramelized cauliflower. (Photo by John Labbe, smugmug.com)
My former VP of Public Relations, Katie Goldberg, on the right, now works with Edelman and Alaska Seafood. Here she is joined by Tanna Peters also from Alaska Seafood and Eden Straussburg from the Today Show. (Photo by John Labbe, smugmug.com)
There was so much for everyone to taste. This is Crispy Alaska Sockeye Salmon Sushi with chipotle mayonnaise, and a soy glaze. (Photo by John Labbe, smugmug.com)
Hannah demonstrates how to filet a whole Alaska salmon. Hannah is a lifelong Alaskan commercial fisherman. She owns and operates a small fishing vessel and set net site that harvests wild Alaska salmon in the North Pacific. (Photo by John Labbe, smugmug.com)
Guests paid close attention to her tips and techniques. (Photo by John Labbe, smugmug.com)
This is a lovely filet of Alaska sablefish also known as black cod. Here it is topped with yuzu miso. (Photo by John Labbe, smugmug.com)
It is served with a slice of lime. Everything was so flavorful and fresh. (Photo by John Labbe, smugmug.com)
Here is Calder Quinn, Mad Hungry creative director and son of my former editorial food director, Lucinda Scala Quinn. He’s pictured with Greg Loft, my former food editor. It was nice to see so many familiar faces. (Photo by John Labbe, smugmug.com)
This is Alaska halibut with Chef Jean-Georges’ Chateau Chalon sauce, tomato, and zucchini. (Photo by John Labbe, smugmug.com)
Of course, there were also lots of freshly made sweet treats. (Photo by John Labbe, smugmug.com)
And cocktails – this drink is a yuzu drop with vodka, vanilla liqueur, tart yuzu juice, and matcha tea. (Photo by John Labbe, smugmug.com)
Each guest left with a bag filled with Alaska sablefish to prepare at home and an Alaska Seafood Hedley and Bennett apron. (Photo by John Labbe, smugmug.com)
And here I am with Chef Jean-Georges and his team. What a fun and successful event. (Photo by John Labbe, smugmug.com)
We’re expecting a mix of sun and clouds in Bedford, New York today with temperatures in the upper 30s - a little chilly, but still good weather for continuing our outdoor work and early spring chores.
The crew is busy with many projects, including mulching the garden beds, removing the old bales that insulate my hoop houses during winter, preparing the hoses and sprinklers, blowing all the dead grass and leftover leaves, and of course, beginning the task of pulling off all the burlap that has covered my boxwood since last December.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
We had a pretty mild winter here in the Northeast, so my outdoor grounds crew has been able to get a strong start to all our early spring chores around the farm. Among them – blowing and removing all the leaves that were not blown last fall.
Pete and Fernando rake old leaves and other debris off the carriage roads.
Bigger branches pruned from the elm trees outside my Summer House are piled nicely, so they can be picked up later and chipped for top dressing.
Over in my small pond, dead, fallen trees and branches are pulled out carefully.
Here, Fernando rakes and levels the carriage roads. Potholes are formed when precipitation seeps into the pavement causing it to expand and contract, and ultimately crack with freezing and thawing. This is a high traffic intersection at the farm, so tending the roads is done a couple times a year.
In my old vegetable garden, Pete tills the soil, adds a new layer of composted soil, and then tills it again.
We planted two rows of herbaceous peonies here last year, but I also decided to plant other flowers here for a new cutting garden.
I am fortunate to be able to make my own hay right here at the farm. Most of it is fed to my horses, but during the cold season, uneaten or old bales are positioned around the perimeter of each hoop house to prevent drafts. Two-stringed bales can weigh between 40 and 75 pounds, and much more when wet. Jimmy takes the heavy bales to the edge of the carriage road for pick-up.
And here’s the crew after loading the hay onto our trusted Kubota tractor – Cesar, Pete, Juan, and Jimmy.
Pasang is in the woodland blowing old leaves leftover from last fall. He’s using one of our very dependable STIHL backpack blowers.
Just like clockwork, once the weather starts to change, the hoses, which were neatly stored in our stable barn, are all taken out for distribution.
A hose and two sprinklers are neatly placed near every bib. We use hoses and many stand up sprinklers from Gilmour, a Madison, Wisconsin-based company that’s been manufacturing watering equipment and solutions for more than 65-years.
The Equipment Barn floor is blown and washed clean also – making for such a refreshing start to the season.
In the stable office, Carlos cleans all the windows and doors. This is an interior glass door connecting one of the offices to the front vestibule.
The Equipment Barn lunchroom is also given a thorough cleaning.
The window frames and windowsills and all wiped down.
And remember all the burlap? It has held on very well this winter, protecting all my boxwood from the heavy snow and winds. It’s time to take it all off. Here’s Chhiring folding the burlap removed from the boxwood at the pergola.
The burlap is rolled neatly, labeled and then stored until next year.
I love seeing all the greenery revealed in spring.
And mulching also continues. The mulch is carried by wheelbarrow to the beds and then spread out into a thin layer over the bulbs.
Overseeing all the action – my beautiful Chow Chows Empress Qin and Emperor Han. I hope you’re able to get a good head start on your spring tasks wherever you are.
This time of year, anyone who walks around my farm always admires the beautiful hellebore flowers.
Hellebores come in such an artful array of colors, markings and formations, it’s hard not to love these fascinating perennials. Sometimes known as Lenten rose or Christmas rose, these plants are long-lived, easy-to-grow and thrive in shady locations. I’ve had hellebores in my gardens for many years, and I find it so rewarding to have blooms that start in March, and continue through spring until the end of May - to me, hellebores are must-haves for any gardener's collection.
Here are some photos of the hellebores blooming at my farm right now, enjoy.
Hellebores are among the earliest perennial flowers to bloom. They are members of the Eurasian genus Helleborus – about 20 species of evergreen perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. They blossom during late winter and early spring for up to three months.
Hellebores are widely popular because they are easy-to-grow and are able to resist frost. It is common to plant them on slopes or in raised beds in order to see their flowers, which tend to nod.
I have many hellebores planted around my farm – under allées, in the gardens across from my pergola, and in various beds near my Winter House. Hellebores prefer partial to full shade during the warmer months but require more sunlight in winter. They do best underneath deciduous trees where they are shaded by foliage in summer but are exposed to full sun after the trees have dropped their leaves in fall.
The bright green foliage looks so dramatic against the colors of their blooms. Hellebore foliage is thick, evergreen, and forms a low clump with leaves that are lobed and palm-like.
Hellebores get their common name, Lenten rose, from the rose-like flowers that appear in and around the Christian observance of Lent.
Here is a dark colored hellebore just about to open. The flowers come in a wide range of colors including shades of maroon, apricot, yellow, green, metallic blue, slate, dusky pink, and white, with or without picotee, spots, and freckles.
They also come in a variety of flower forms – single, semi-double, fully double, and anemone.
What’s most impressive is their bowl-shaped blooms. This one is light pink and white with dark edges.
As new growth stalks emerge, any old or damaged foliage can be trimmed back to the base. We just groomed all the hellebores here at the farm.
This hellebore has dark magenta and light green-white blooms with heavy veining.
Unlike the blooms of most other flowering plants, hellebore flowers do not consist of petals, but of sepals, which serve to protect the flower.
The sepals surround a ring of small, cup-like nectaries which are actually petals modified to hold nectar. The sepals and veins on this hellebore are deeply colored to invite pollinators.
These plants are not choosy about their insects, so all types can pollinate the flowers effectively.
These plants are also fairly deer and rabbit resistant.
Here, one can see the stamens – the long white filaments with bilocular anthers. Each flower can have many stamens.
Hellebores can reach up to 36-inches in height and width, so when planting, be sure to position hellebores in protected areas away from winter winds.
They are considered slow-growing plants that can take up to 18-months to reach their mature size.
After the first year, when the plant is well-established, hellebores are very resistant and require little upkeep.
The natural downward facing growth pattern helps protect the blooms from rain, since water sheds well off the sepal backsides.
And look how pretty the flowers are when turned up.
They like to be watered deeply enough to saturate the root zone but then not watered again until the soil feels dry to the touch. These plants are drought tolerant but quite sensitive to soggy soil.
Given the right conditions, hellebores will spread nicely in the garden and look beautiful through the season. Wherever you live, I hope you are able to enjoy some of these early colors of spring.
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