It’s been almost five years since Rent-a-Kitchen opened its Talent doors, providing a certified commercial facility for start-up businesses that otherwise couldn’t afford their own digs.
The sour economy has since forced out a few small food businesses, but there’s no lack of entrepreneurs taking their places at the stove. One of these is Vintner’s Kitchen, featured in this week’s A la Carte. Recent Rogue Valley arrivals Bob and Barbara Steuk became certified only last month and already have a product list of 20 items, some of which I sampled on-site.
A recipe with this week’s story recommended using their Port-Cherry Marmalade to top a ricotta-cheese tart. I loved it slathered onto homemade crepes. Of all their products, this one is truly special, not only because cherry preserves are so hard to find (I usually buy Bonne Maman) but because I’ve never seen one that also contains toothsome pieces of orange rind.
I also love that the cherries are suspended whole in the jar, but the approach could neglect pit fragments still clinging to the fruit. I found a small piece lurking in mine, a minor annoyance for such otherwise superb jam. Agressive masticators take note, though.
Another local speciality prepared at Rent-A-Kitchen that lends a gourmet touch to meals is Shibui, a balsamic-vinegar reduction with intense, tangy flavor. Chef Jay Krebsbach sells Shibui at Ashland Food Co-op, the adjacent Tark’s Market, Weisinger’s Winery or by special order.
Granted, it’s not a new idea. Columnist Jan Roberts-Dominguez explained how to make balsamic vinegar reductions in a November 2007 column.
In 2004, Rising Sun Farms of Phoenix was selling balsamic reductions blended with fruit, dubbed “drizzles.” After a trademark dispute and marketing difficulties, the company reformulated drizzles into new oil-free balsamic dressing and marinades, released this month in three flavors, lemon-thyme, raspberry and pomegranate. Owner Elizabeth Fujas says she hopes to soon bring back the her former drizzles’ popular fig flavor.
Krebsbach is marketing his product as sugar- and salt-free. Packaged in a 1-ounce bubble bottle, almost like a magic potion, Shibui is attractive enough to present as a gift for the foodie on your list (and the ideal stocking-stuffer size). Krebsbach will even box it for giving for an addition $1 added to the regular price of $6.
I must admit I had a bit of difficulty opening the bottle, sealed attractively (but maybe a tad inconveniently) with red wax that had to be scraped away from the cork. The cork also broke off as I tried to tease it out of the bottle and had to be gingerly extracted with a wine key. Maybe there’s a trick to this that Krebsbach should share.
Nevertheless, Shibui did add that bit of pizazz to my risotto of roasted butternut squash and turkey sausage with only a bit of work on my part. The previous evening, I enjoyed it drizzled over poached eggs, sauteed crimini mushrooms and polenta.
And let’s not forget about Heidi’s Pie in the Sky, the original Rent-a-Kitchen tenant since 2005. After reading about readers’ trials with a now-infamous vegan brownie recipe, Heidi Wolfe e-mailed me to spread the word that her vegan brownie is worth a try. Unlike the relatively dry brownie that I baked up from the January recipe, Heidi’s is fudgier while still delivering whole-grain flour rather than funky starches.
Rent-a-Kitchen is not open to the public, but ask for these and other tenants’ goods at locally owned grocery stores and gourmet shops.
