Food, Missoula News

Flash in the Pan

Ari LeVaux — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Harvesting horses by Ari LeVaux Barring an act of Congress, Valley Meat Company in Roswell, N.M., will soon become the first horse slaughterhouse in the U.S. since 2007, when the nation's last equine abattoir closed its doors. For the time being, the resulting meat will be exported.…

Hangriest Hour

Alex Sakariassen — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Bayern's Bavarian brats by Alex Sakariassen What you're eating: Bayern has long billed itself as the "only German microbrewery in the Rockies"a bragging right that goes well beyond the brewery's strict adherence to the German purity law. Bayern also imports traditional Bavarian brats all the way from owner Jürgen Knö¨ller's homeland, in three flavors: smoked, jalapeno cheese or chicken andouille.…

Happiest Hour

Jessica Mayrer — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

BrewFest winners by Jessica Mayrer On May 4, roughly 6,000 people descended on Caras Park to mingle with neighbors and sample 68 different beers at the 21st Annual Garden City BrewFest. If you attended the celebration, you might have noticed clutches of ale connoisseurs scribbling notes while scrutinizing the aroma, appearance and flavor of lagers, IPAs and stouts.…

Flash in the Pan

Ari LeVaux — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Pull back the shrink wrap by Ari LeVaux In February, Amy Meyer became the first person charged under a so-called ag-gag law. Six states currently have such laws, also called "Farm Protection" laws, which aim to stop video recording at slaughterhouses.…

Flash in the Pan

Ari LeVaux — Thu, 02 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Nitrogen fixation by Ari LeVaux The massive fertilizer explosion in West, Texas, made less of an impression than the relatively small Boston blasts two days earlier. But if terrorists are scary, the dangers presented by stockpiles of ammonium nitrate, aka nitrate fertilizer, should be even scarier.…

Happiest Hour

Skylar Browning — Thu, 02 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Trip 15 by Skylar Browning What it is: A Belgian style ale brewed with dates, dandelion and buckwheat. This small-batch brew comes from "an artisanal collaboration" between New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, Colo., and Seattle's Elysian Brewing.…

Hangriest Hour

Jamie Rogers — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Biga's calzones by Jamie Rogers Biga Pizza is best known for its brick oven-cooked pies topped with ingredients like Flathead cherries, local beef and toasted hazelnuts. It's why the eatery is one of the most consistently filled joints in downtown.…

Flash in the Pan

Ari LeVaux — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Know thine onions by Ari LeVaux Onions can be tricky to grow, which is why a farmer's onions have long been considered a litmus test for agricultural skill. Hence the expression, "he knows his onions," which is like saying "he knows the ropes."…

Flash in the Pan

Ari LeVaux — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

How to cook a rattlesnake by Ari LeVaux A neighbor once told me that it's bad luck, not to mention bad form, to kill a rattlesnake. Unfortunately, he told me this after I'd already killed one.…

Hangriest Hour

Kate Whittle — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Five on Black by Kate Whittle At 10 minutes to noon on a recent Friday, there's a line out the door of Five On Black. The new "fast-casual" Brazilian-inspired restaurant opened April 3 in the former Runner's Edge building at 325 North Higgins Ave. Owner Tom Snyder says it's been busy ever since.…

Flash in the Pan

Ari LeVaux — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Spring tonic by Ari LeVaux For most of human history, winter has been a time of nutrient depletion, if not starvation. After months of living on staples like sugar and flour, with hardly any fresh vegetables, it was common for those who made it out the other side of winter to forage and devour whatever non-poisonous, or even semi-poisonous, green leaves and shoots that could be found beneath the melting snow.…

Happiest Hour

Alex Sakariassen — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

The Shandygaff by Alex Sakariassen The what?: Maybe you've noticed those summer six-packs of Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy popping up at parties, or maybe you've just dabbled in at-home mixology. A shandygaff—or shandy—is beer mixed with some tasty nonalcoholic companion.…

Flash in the Pan

Ari LeVaux — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Roadkill grill by Ari LeVaux The Montana Legislature recently passed a bill legalizing the salvage, consumption and/or donation to charity of animals hit and killed by cars—aka roadkill. The law applies to deer, elk, antelope and moose, and puts the state in the company of Alaska, Illinois, Wisconsin, New York, Florida and West Virginia in condoning the consumption of vehicle-tenderized meat.…

Happiest Hour

Jessica Mayrer — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Plonk Missoula by Jessica Mayrer The big opening: Four hours before Plonk Wine Bar officially opens, owner Brett Evje is busy fielding deliveries, consulting with craftspeople and signing off on the various permits and licenses he needs in order to open. "I've had five hours sleep in the last four days," he says, admitting that might be an exaggeration, but not by much.…

Flash in the Pan

Ari LeVaux — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Local or sustainable? by Ari LeVaux Locavore fundamentalists might call it blasphemy, but there's no reason a meal made with local foods can't contain ingredients from the other side of the world. What's wrong with imported oyster sauce on homegrown broccoli?…

Happiest Hour

Jamie Rogers — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 04:00:00 -0600

SMaSH Märzen by Jamie Rogers The Brew: Märzen is a traditional Bavarian-style lager that translated from German literally means "March beer." The Tamarack Brewing Company's SMaSH Marzen is a single malt, single hop (hence the capitalization) version of the old-world classic.…

Flash in the Pan

Ari LeVaux — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 04:00:00 -0600

The gods of grease by Ari LeVaux Foods that are organic or otherwise more "natural" have reached unprecedented levels of public acceptance. But in the valuations and price action that represent truth on Wall Street, fast food companies are beating the tar out of organic corporations.…

Happiest Hour

Skylar Browning — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Salty Dog by Skylar Browning What it is: A throwback of a cocktail that's easy to make and perfect to drink as spring weather arrives. All you need to do is rim a highball glass with kosher salt, add ice, pour two ounces of gin or vodka and top with about four or five ounces of fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice.…

Flash in the Pan

Ari LeVaux — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Solid green by Ari LeVaux A kitchen garden is as much an act of self-expression as a means of growing food. But not all of a garden's expressiveness is intentional.…

Happiest Hour

Kate Whittle — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Rocky Mountain Pickleback by Kate Whittle What it is: The pickleback is traditionally just whiskey and a pickle brine chaser. The Rocky Mountain version takes its inspiration from the tequila-lime-salt shot.…

Happiest Hour

Alex Sakariassen — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 04:00:00 -0700

Flathead Lake Brewing by Alex Sakariassen The backstory: Last fall, Flathead Lake Brewing shut its doors in downtown Missoula for extensive remodeling. The offshoot of the Woods Bay-based brewer announced at the time it would be teaming with first-floor restaurant Sapore and re-opening as a three-level complex under the name Flathead Lake Brewing Company of Missoula.…

Flash in the Pan

Ari LeVaux — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 04:00:00 -0700

Tea eggs for spring by Ari LeVaux I once owned a T-shirt that read, "Stock up on eggs for Passover and Easter." I bought it overseas, along with some other bits of shirt-bound poetry like "On the Road With Feeling," "Head For These Seafood Values" and "Casual Hookups."…

Flash in the Pan

Ari LeVaux — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 04:00:00 -0700

To saturate, or not to saturate by Ari LeVaux We've been told since the 1960s that animal-based saturated fats will give us heart disease, while their polyunsaturated fatty acid, or PUFA, counterparts, found mostly in vegetable oils, will prevent it. But a recent paper in the British Journal of Medicine suggests the exact opposite.…

Happiest Hour

Jessica Mayrer — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 04:00:00 -0700

Ridge Distillery's Absinthe by Jessica Mayrer What you're drinking: Absinthe made from wormwood and dried herbs harvested in the Flathead and sold at Grizzly Liquor in Missoula. "We grow all of our rare alpine herbs here on the ridge.…

Flash in the Pan

Ari LeVaux — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 04:00:00 -0700

Life with less bacon by Ari LeVaux Looking back, the early years of the bacon craze seem like a time of innocence. We took it for granted that any problem, culinary or otherwise, could be solved with various preparations of pig belly.…