- Washington Grown is made possible by funding from the Washington State Department of Agriculture, and the USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant program, and by the Potato Farmers of Washington.

Learn why Washington is home to the world's most productive potato fields and farmers by visiting potatoes.com.

- Hi everyone, I'm Kristi Gorenson, and welcome to "Washington Grown."

Washington produce isn't just for eating.

Take these hops, for example.

These are being grown in Prosser, Washington, and they will end up in some of the best beer in the world.

In this episode, we're going to explore our favorite beverages, and the Washington grown ingredients that go into them.

Val's learning how Washington wines are being used to make brandy.

- I'm gonna stick around.

[Val laughing] - And I'm making a Columbia River steelhead dish at Outsider in Spokane.

Two thumbs up.

If I had more thumbs, I would put more thumbs up.

Plus, I'm learning how to make apple cider.

- I think we should replace her.

[group laughing] - I'm a little slow.

All this and more today on "Washington Grown."

[vibrant music] It's a flavorcation for your mouth.

- Flavorcation.

[Kristi laughing] - Now I'm just gonna hold on.

- You got a long ways to go.

Let's go.

- Okay.

Sorry.

I know.

Get with it.

You were not kidding about a party of flavors.

Wait a minute, where are my pears?

- Eat two, pick one.

- Exactly.

[laughing] - I'm gonna stick around a while.

- We're changing hearts tonight.

- Yes, we are.

- Wow.

I got work to do.

- Yeah, you do.

- All right.

Let's go.

[vibrant music ends] - If you're from Spokane, you've probably heard of Chef Ian Wingate.

As a successful restaurateur in the area, his culinary talents have fed many people in Spokane, and his newest adventure takes his expertise even further.

Outsider is Chef Ian's dream kitchen.

- I kind of call it my like retirement job.

- Your retirement job.

Because this is like your dream, the dream restaurant?

- Exactly.

Yeah.

Yeah.

- Yeah.

- I built the kitchen around like how I wanted it, to invite guests into my home.

- He has a certain style, a lot of fresh vegetables, and seafood, and quality without being too pretentious.

- Spokane legend.

- I knew it was gonna be a treat.

- With an incredibly relaxed and friendly atmosphere, Outsider is serving up some amazing food.

The way Chef Ian approaches his menu is by focusing on fresh, local ingredients first.

From there, everything else just comes together.

- I don't really have a game plan on what I'm gonna make or what dish I'm gonna do, but when I see something that inspires me, then it goes from there.

- Yeah.

- My favorite farmer here in Spokane is Dan Jackson with Jackson Farms.

He grows the best tomatoes, literally in the United States.

- Go Dan.

- And his little cherry tomatoes, - Yeah?

- people that don't like tomatoes, eat one of those, it's like eating candy.

- Just fresh, real, authentic food.

- The hidden gem in the city.

- Don't go anywhere, because later in the show, Chef Ian and I will make a special Columbia River steelhead dish with local veggies.

- So I'm gonna have you chop some parsley here.

- Okay.

He's like, "Stop talking, start chopping."

[bright uplifting music] - The Walla Walla region is known across the nation for its wonderful wines.

Riesling, Chardonnays, Merlots and more are all specially made to be delicious in this region.

That's why I'm talking to Brad Binko, owner and winemaker of Eternal Wines.

So what are some of the things that you enjoy about the wine world?

- Everything.

[Val and Brad laughing] I picked Walla Walla because it was an up and coming wine region.

I mean, we have the great soils here, and the minerals that were deposited through the Missoula floods, you know, thousands of years ago.

And as a wine maker, I just feel it's important to let the grapes kind of show their true nature at the end of fermentation.

- But wine isn't the only thing being made out of these amazing grapes.

[uptempo big band music] - This building was an old barracks built during World War II.

It was built to train B-17 and B-24 bomber crews, and we turned it into our distillery.

- Here at DW Distillers, Keith and his partner Craig, are making something special out of this region's favorite beverage.

- We make brandy out of local Walla Walla wines.

And we use wines that are already aged, already tasty, delicious wines.

- Mm-hm.

- And then we convert them, distill 'em into brandy.

Some of the best wines in the world are here in Walla Walla.

There's so many wineries, and they're all so good.

And we've got some great relationships with the wine makers here.

And it's one of the things we really try to do is make the brandy taste like the wine that it comes from.

So each of our brandies is a little different, - Mm-hm.

- And has its own flavor.

- You know, I never had my wines made into brandy before.

It was kind of fun to see the final product, you know, versus if we gave 'em a Viognier, or whether we gave him a Merlot.

And there was the different personalities to each of these brandies.

- It's not just an alcoholic spirit.

I mean, I think about this place, and I'm pretty sure there were young men here who after doing something, they had a glass of something.

- Mm-hm.

Mm-hm.

- Quite often it was probably brandy.

People have just enjoyed this drink for centuries.

- Right.

Now I'm meeting up with Keith's partner, Craig, to see the process in action.

- So these are all brandies that are aging.

There's a Merlot here from Eternal Wines.

That's Brad Binko's work.

There's a Rosé from the Walls'.

There's a Cab Sauv also from Eternal.

- But the real test comes with the taste.

- You can smell the caramels and vanillas in there.

- I'm smelling alcohol.

- Well, there is alcohol.

[Val laughing] That is true.

This is much, much stronger than most alcohol should get.

- Yes, I mean, whew.

- This is at about 56%.

I get the right vanillas there.

- Mm-hm.

- I get a little bit of baking spice.

- It's really cool.

- Well, there's, I'm getting a little bit of cherry in it.

Almost like a chocolate covered cherry.

- Yeah.

- Something like that.

- Okay.

Okay.

- All right then.

[smooth big band music] - Wow.

I just don't have the palette for it yet.

- Well, you just need to drink a lot more.

That's all.

- Okay.

Okay.

Whew.

[Val laughing] - You're fine.

- And now, it's time to taste the final product.

- So the best way to taste is to take a little nose, see what you can get out of that.

- Do I smell something citrusy?

- Oh yeah, that's great.

- I do?

- It's a Riesling.

- Okay.

- So definitely there's gonna be some citrus in it.

- Okay.

- And so a little nose, a little taste, but don't finish it.

- I feel like I got the peach.

- Cool.

Cool.

- Which I thought I was smelling, but I wasn't confident.

- Yeah.

Right.

If it's gonna be a cocktail, then you're gonna mix it with water, because you're gonna either mix it with fruit juices, or you're gonna mix it with ice.

And so the evolution of it is going to be important.

- Huh.

- So I'm gonna put one drop of water.

- Okay.

- Boom.

So it's just one drop.

See if you see a difference.

- Okay.

Now I'm tasting things that I didn't even see on the sheet.

- Sure.

Absolutely.

[Val laughing] Yep.

That's exactly right.

[claps hands together] [claps hands together] That's exactly right.

- Wow.

You guys make the best brandy.

- What's really happening there is that the universal solvent, water, is breaking all of the weak hydrogen bonds.

By breaking them apart, you can taste more things.

But it evolves.

And if you're gonna make a cocktail, or you're gonna put a rock in it, you wanna know how will it'll evolve.

- Mm.

Could I like brandy more than I like wine?

- You can like both.

[Val laughing] There's no wrong answer to that.

- Definitely a lot more drinking to do.

So I'm gonna stick around a while.

[Val and Craig laughing] [smooth big band music ends] - Coming up, I'm making Columbia River steelhead with local veggies at Outsider in Spokane.

Two thumbs up.

If I had more thumbs, I would put more thumbs up.

And, we're in The Kitchen at Second Harvest trying Chef Laurent's berry crostata recipe.

[bright uplifting music] We're back at Outsider in Spokane.

Incredible food made right in front of the customer, creates a unique and intimate experience for guests.

There's no smoke or mirrors here.

At Outsider, it's fresh, Washington ingredients prepared right.

- It has everything I want in a dish.

It feels healthy and delicious, and interesting and balanced.

- It's like as if somebody just, you know, picked the ingredients from the garden and brought it over to me.

- People are working really hard to grow stuff, and it's like, let's just let it taste like it, how it's supposed to taste.

- Owner and Chef, Ian Wingate knows that making amazing dishes means using amazing ingredients.

And here in Washington, we grow all sorts of amazing produce.

- The cocktail we're gonna do today, actually is with lilac flowers.

And they're only in season for a short window.

And then we got some local cherries.

- Yeah.

- And we're gonna use a local DW distillers brandy to make a cocktail with.

- Now I'm meeting Bartender, Amber to make a special cocktail.

So there are actually lilac flower something.

- Yes.

It's infused into our simple syrup.

- Okay.

Well, I'm excited.

So, tell me what we're gonna do.

- So first you're gonna grab your glass over here, and you're gonna put it into a little bit of our lime juice.

And then just put in the sugar.

- Sugar, some lilac infused- - Simple syrup.

- Which is so creative.

And now what is this?

This is the- - This is our Washington grown cherry fruit puree.

- Okay.

- And now we have some of our Luxardo, which is infused Cherry liqueur.

And then the star of the show, our brandy from Walla Walla.

We could do a little shake.

[Kristi laughing] Pour it in here.

- Oh, look at that beautiful color.

- And we're gonna just top it with a cherry.

Voila.

Would you like to taste?

- Yes.

I absolutely wanna taste.

[bright music] Oh, that's delicious.

- Very good.

- Yeah.

- Brings some warm, tingly feelings.

[Kristi laughing] It's a good drink.

- That's what I'm feeling.

Now that I'm all warmed up, it's time to cook with Chef Ian.

Well, what are you and I gonna make today?

- Today we're gonna do a Columbia River steelhead.

It's gonna be with local lentils, peas, asparagus.

- Well, now I'm hungry.

- Okay.

[Kristi laughing] - I feel like we're sitting around a campfire.

- Yeah.

It gets toasty back here.

- I know.

It's nice and warm.

This is a beautiful looking filet.

- Yeah.

Steelhead's nice.

They spawn twice a year, so they're more relatively available than salmon.

And we're gonna put the skin side down.

- Okay.

- So it gets nice and crispy.

- So that's just gonna sit in there- - Yeah.

We're gonna, the oven's about 850 degrees right now, - Oh, so that's why- - it won't take long, and, - A little warm [Kristi laughing].

- So I'm gonna have you chop some parsley here.

- Okay.

He's like, "Stop talking, start chopping."

[Kristi laughing] - And then I'm gonna add some lemon to this.

Now you're gonna chop that, 'cause we're gonna keep chopping.

We're gonna add a little garlic here.

In Italy, they use this as a accoutrement for fish.

- Okay.

- Kinda like we use tartar sauce.

- Yeah, I see.

You know, I have no idea what I'm doing over here.

So.

- That's the beauty of this.

There's no wrong or right way to do it.

Just keep chopping.

- Okay.

- Just throw it right in the bowl there.

Beautiful.

I did these lentils beforehand.

So what we have in here is lentils with curry.

There's some potatoes, garlic, curry, chili powder, cumin, lemon juice.

And then- - That smells really- - Yeah.

So that's kind of our base.

And then from there, we're just gonna chop up some of this- - Lovely- - local asparagus, - Washington grown asparagus.

Look at that.

- And then some fresh spring peas.

- This is like the perfect spring dish.

- Yeah.

We'll add a little bit of a bell pepper for sweetness and color.

And then we're just gonna throw that right in the oven.

- I love how you're using so many fresh ingredients.

I think that makes such a huge difference in how things taste.

- Absolutely.

That's our philosophy here, is like, we let what's grown, dictate what we're gonna make for our menu.

So.

Alright.

Now we're gonna grab the lentils outta the oven.

- Ooh.

Look at how pretty that is.

Awesome.

- Steelhead.

This is called zhug.

It's kind of a medi- - Zhug?

- Zhug.

- Okay.

- It's a Mediterranean hot sauce.

So it's cilantro, jalapeños, lime juice, and olive oil.

- Oh, that sounds great.

- And we'll put a little bit of flake salt on top.

This here is a green peppercorn aioli.

- So many flavors going on in here.

- Yeah.

We have the steelhead, but really the vegetables and the lentils are the star of the show.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- Yeah.

[bright music] - How do you attack a dish like this?

- I like to try to get a little bit of everything.

- Okay.

- For the perfect bite.

- Oh, my gosh.

That is so good.

- What I love about steelhead, super mild, - Mm-hm.

- It's not over fatty like salmon.

- Yeah.

- And then when you pair it with vegetables, the vegetables really shine.

- Yeah.

- It doesn't overpower it.

The lemons that you chopped up.

- Yeah the chewy lemons- - that cilantro.

- Oh, my gosh.

- And then the curry comes from the back end, and you just get that- - Yeah.

- finish with curry.

- Two thumbs up.

If I had more thumbs, I would put more thumbs up.

[Kristi chuckling] For more restaurants, recipes, farms and fun, visit us at wagrown.com.

[light-hearted guitar music] The best way to teach kids about farming, is to get them outside picking fruit.

And there's no better place to experience that magic in Spokane than here at Green Bluff.

- I started picking raspberries when I was about eight.

And I'm gonna finish out picking raspberries.

[Karen and Kristi laughing] Because we've got, we have raspberries here, and I love it.

- Here at Hansen's Green Bluff Orchard, Karen Hansen knows the importance of fresh fruit.

She and her family dreamed about having an orchard before this land even became available.

- Married my husband back in '64, - Mm-hm.

- And he had always dreamt of having a farm and an orchard.

I came up here to buy a box of pears.

You know, I said, "My husband always has wanted to have an orchard."

She laughed, Gert Rinck, And she said, "We've got 10 acres for sale just down the road.

- And the rest is history.

[Karen and Kristi laughing] - And here we are.

What's it like working with your mom?

- The truth?

[Derek and Kristi laughing] Actually, it's great.

- Farm Manager, Derek Hansen works with his mother and his team to grow amazing fruit.

At this time in early fall, apples are ripe and ready for the picking.

[apple crunching] - Oh, my gosh.

- I heard the crunch from here.

- Mm-hm [Derek laughing] Can hear the crunch for miles.

- When my husband planted the trees, he knew he wanted to do cider eventually.

- Yeah.

- So he planted varieties that would ripen throughout the season.

So there would always be fresh apples to pick for the cider.

- So that's a popular item for you.

- It is.

By Sunday we're out.

- Wow.

- I mean, it's just, it's crazy.

We cannot keep cider in that cooler very long.

[Kristi laughing] It's just, you know.

- People love it.

- And I'm so thankful.

- Well, Thursdays are cider making days.

So let's see what all the fuss is about.

Every batch is different.

- Every barrel is different.

- Every barrel is different.

[Derek laughing] Let me get you a pair of gloves.

Go ahead and stand up here on the platform.

- Okay.

- And the object is to fill the hopper up with apples.

Just dip that in there.

And you lift it up there, and kind of try to roll it down the side of the hopper.

- Okay.

- Nice and slow.

This is a great shoulder workout.

- Yeah, no doubt.

- I think we should replace her.

[Derek and Kristi laughing] I'm a little slow.

I can feel my muscles getting bigger already.

- Well, Pete's got the bionic shoulder.

He can do this for about three hours straight.

- Show me your muscles, Pete.

[group laughing] He needed a break.

Oh, look at him go.

- Well let's get some glasses here.

- Okay.

- And we'll try a sample.

About as fresh as you can get.

- Oh.

Whew.

That's delicious.

[Derek laughing] There's nothing better.

- Yeah.

You have to be careful drinking too much of this 'cause it is loaded with pectin, and it will go right through you.

- Good to know.

[Derek kackles] - What we can produce up here is just amazing.

You know, it really is when you think about what you put in the dirt and what comes out of it, you know.

I know there's a scientific reason for how it all happened, but it's a miracle to me.

You know?

- It's magical.

Yeah.

- It is.

It really is.

- Cheers, guys.

Thank you so much.

[bright guitar music ends] Coming up, Tomás is trying out a boozy shake at Shelby's Burgers.

- Now that is a shake.

[uplifting music] - If you love a good burger and fries like I do, then look no further than Shelby's burgers in Spokane.

Using fresh Washington ingredients, they are knocking it out of the park with their zesty smash burgers and hot crispy fries.

But when I showed up today, Manager, McKayla Miller had prepared something that I wasn't expecting.

This doesn't look like burgers to me.

What is the story here?

What's happening?

- So we kind of wanted to have it have its own vibe of having like a retro diner vibe as well.

- Okay.

- So milkshakes and burgers.

- Alright.

Milkshakes are a dime a dozen.

So Shelby's has decided to max the fun with their boozy shakes.

Unlike a traditional shake, Shelby's uses raspberry liqueur from Whidbey Island Distillery, and get this, a creme brûlée cheesecake to make this.

- It looks like a lot, but really it's just on top is a lot going on.

It's gonna get messy.

- It's gonna get, that's okay.

Let's get messy.

We get a little bit of raspberry.

I wanna little of everything.

Here we go.

What's so fun about that, is as soon as you get that liqueur in your mouth, that kind of wakes you up.

- Yep.

- You're not expecting that.

- You get tired after you eat a burger, and you need a milkshake, and then it just kind of pops you right back to life.

- It is a fun surprise.

- Right.

And sometimes they're a little dangerous because you drink, you drink two of them and you're like, whoa.

- You're gonna be full and tipsy at the same time.

- Yeah.

[Tomás laughing] - I asked McKayla to whip up a couple more shakes for my friends.

After I check their IDs, of course.

- Now that is a shake.

- Want to eat it again?

- Yeah, let's do it.

[Mckayla laughing] - Oh, I could taste it more in that one.

- You put a bigger pour.

- A little overpour.

- She has a bigger pour in that one.

What goes better with burger, fries than a milkshake, right?

- A boozy milkshake.

- A boozy milkshake.

- Never seen one like that.

[Tomás laughing] [bright music] - That's delicious.

- It's pretty, pretty good.

[Tomás laughing] - That's not just what you're gonna say.

[both laughing] - It wasn't.

- We should probably have more of these.

- Yeah.

As soon as I got to that second bite, I was like, "Mm."

[Tomás laughing] I can taste it now.

- This is a big boy drink.

- Uh-huh.

[Tomás laughing] - And we'll see what happens if we order a second one.

[group laughing] - All right.

Make a session of this.

- That's right.

Now that's a milkshake, isn't it?

- Mm-hm.

[Tomás laughing] - Toward the end of summer, a pilgrimage is made.

From all over the country, brewers flock to the Yakima Valley.

- I mean, Austin, Seattle, Portland.

There's some back east, there's some midwest.

It's all over the country.

- And the reason they're here, hops.

What do you like about Washington hops?

- They're amazing.

I mean, they grow obviously the majority of the hops in the country.

And I think a lot of the best hops in the country.

It's such a great growing region, and there's so many growers.

There's just some magic, you know, about the soil and the hops that are produced here.

So it's really a nice place.

- It's around three quarters of US hop production that's produced here in the Yakima Valley.

- Dr. Kayla Kayla Altendorf is a research geneticist with USDA Agricultural Research Service.

The Brewers visited her research plot in Prosser as part of their tour of the Yakima Valley.

- The brewers come here to make their selections for the hops that they're gonna purchase for the upcoming year.

And that gets down to like the field level.

- The cool part was going to meet these growers and farmers, and seeing their passion, which is the same passion that, you know, we have for beer, and the brewers have when they're making the beer.

- They come and make their selections.

And that's like a pilgrimage that they do every year to this region.

- And there's beer drinking involved for sure.

- Yes.

Oh yeah.

- Dr. Kayla Altendorf's research is focused on hop quality.

She and her team breed different strains of hops for various purposes.

- We're trying to improve hops, develop new hop varieties, as well as improve the process of hop breeding.

The best hop in my mind is resistant to powdery mildew, downy mildew, has really good agronomics, like yields well.

But then honestly, we could develop a hop that has all of those things, but if the brewers don't find it interesting, or it doesn't have a place in beer, it doesn't go anywhere.

We actually put a lot of selection pressure on cone shape and size because it matters for commercial picking machines.

- Yeah.

- So we're looking for something that's of substantial size, but that doesn't just easily fall apart.

We're always checking the color of the lupulin.

- Is that the yellow part?

- Yes.

And that's where all the aroma and flavor comes from.

But then of course we rub it together, smell it.

- Uh-huh.

- This one's under ripe.

It smells like green pepper.

Just kind of like greenish vegetables.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- After a while they start to get like that signature hop smell.

- Yeah.

- And then once they become over ripe, they smell like onions and garlic.

So we- - Yeah?

Really interesting crop.

- The engagement that you see with hops, they wanna know what we're doing, they care about the research, they support us.

That makes it so much fun.

[bright uptempo music] [lively music] - We're in The Kitchen at Second Harvest, and I'm joined by a great group of friends.

- Yeah.

The gang's here.

- I know, I love it.

- All of us now.

- Exactly.

So we have Val, and Tomás, and Chef Laurent Zirotti.

Thank you.

- I'm especially happy to be here.

- There was a lot of booze in this episode, wasn't there?

- Oh yes, there was.

- I always love it when we do a beverage, when we do the beverage episode.

It's like my favorite time of the year.

- Yes.

- Yes.

- It doesn't get much better than that.

- And the time at the distillery.

- Oh, my gosh.

It was a sweet treat.

- That was cool.

- Now I have to say, I heard about- - You heard- - Your little trip to the distillery.

- What did you hear?

- Well, that you really liked the brandy.

- Yeah.

You did.

- I did.

I'm sure that's because I learned how to drink it properly - Yes.

- How do you drink it properly?

- Well, there were several things that were helpful for me.

One, was having a little cheat sheet, first of all.

- Okay.

- Oh, right.

- For all of the different brandies, they had the elements that were in there.

- Yeah.

- And I found that to be very, very helpful, understanding the elements.

Because then, by the time I got to my nose and it got to my palette, - Mm-hm.

- It was easier for me to identify- - Sure.

- What it was I was tasting.

- You knew what you were searching for.

- Yeah.

And so to be able to taste the pear, to be able to taste the cherry, to be able to taste these flavors was great.

- Yeah.

- And for me, the secret was closing my eyes so I could really become one with the libations.

- Ooh.

I love it.

[Tomás and Val laughing] - It was a, it was deep.

You should've seen it.

- She had a zen moment with the brandy.

Well, I got to taste the brandy, because then we used that brandy to make the cocktail- - Oh.

- at Outsider, and- - Oh, right.

- I have to say, that was one of the best cocktails I've ever had.

They made a couple, and I was like, "Okay, look that way."

And I stole it.

[group laughing] - It's like cooking.

Being a bartender is like cooking, yeah?

We have the term now, "mixology."

And it's an art, like cooking.

- And you could really use, you know, fresh ingredients.

- Oh, for sure.

- For cocktails.

And it just, you know, is mind blowing.

- And some berries.

And we're gonna berries for that recipe today.

- Awesome.

- In that episode.

Right?

A berry crostata.

- Nice.

- All those berries and juice, and- - Oh.

Love it.

- Can't wait.

Let's do it.

[group laughing] - Let's do it.

- Let's see how we make it.

[bright uplifting music] What a great way to showcase Washington grown berries.

- I thought you were going to say, "What a way to showcase whipped cream."

[group laughing] - And whipped cream.

- Anything with berries though is my favorite.

- Mm.

Mm-hm.

I'm moving gently, 'cause my fork is, oh, you like that?

- It is really good.

- Whoa.

- Yeah.

- I love just watching you enjoy.

[group laughing] - That is good.

- That's what you call "table pounding good."

- Yes.

- I know.

- And I like the mix of the berry today.

- Yeah.

- Blackberry, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, all mixed together.

- Summertime.

- Summertime.

- It's very bright, it's light, but it's tasty.

You want to keep going back for more.

- Mm-hm.

Mm-hm.

- You have this... - The pastry is divine too.

- And the pastry is really good.

Yes.

- Oh.

- So what are you waiting for?

Make this at home right now.

[Tomás laughing] - Mm.

Gobble gobble.

- Yeah.

Gobble gobble is right.

[group laughing] To get the recipe for Chef Laurent Zirotti's berry crostata, visit us at wagrown.com.

Wine, beer, brandy, whatever it is you like to drink, have a toast to Washington farmers.

That'll do it for this episode of "Washington Grown."

We'll see you next time.