This coming Saturday, some foodie and DIY types will gather at the Brooklyn Kitchen in Williamsburg for a demonstration by a noted cookbook author from Portland, Ore. — that food-city du jour responsible for current hot spots Pok Pok and Atera in NYC. However, attendees won’t be learning about Thai street food or “the art of fermentation.” Instead, they’ll be taking a class on homemade dog food.
Rick Woodford, a k a “the dog-food dude,” will be demonstrating two recipes, salmon patties and mutt loaf, from his new book, “Feed Your Best Friend Better: Easy, Nutritious Meals and Treats for Dogs.” The fishy offering is from a section of the book titled “foods to share” featuring recipes that can be enjoyed by both dogs and their owners. “They’re really good,” Woodford says, noting that they’ll be served to people at the event. Sadly, no pets will be allowed to attend, but owners will get a slice of the beef mutt loaf to take home to their dogs.
Woodford got into making his own dog food and researching animal nutrition when his beloved Belgian Malinois-Lab mix Jackson was diagnosed with lymphoma in late 2005 andgiven less than a year to live.
When Jackson stopped eating commercial dog food, Woodford started cooking for him to give him strength. Eighteen months later, a surprised veterinarian pronounced the pup cancer-free.Jackson passed away in 2010, having lived years longer than the doctor predicted.
Woodford launched Dog Stew in the spring of 2007. He soon had upwards of 150 clients, but it got to be too much. “On large-scale production, I’m pretty inefficient,” he says. He closed up shop in the summer of 2008 and began writing a book so that his customers could serve themselves. Today, Woodford shares his home, and his home-cooking, with collie-German-shepherd mix Raleigh, Chihuahua Duncan and Lhasa apso Baxter.
For those daunted by the prospect of cooking for Fido full time, Woodford advises taking an incremental approach. He recommends feeding half-homemade and half-commercial food. “I really promote that as being the best alternative, the best of both worlds,” he says.
Fresh Kiss Cookies
From “Feed Your Best Friend Better”
* 10 cups water
* Bones from 1 chicken carcass, all skin removed
* 2 medium carrots, chopped
* 2 stalks celery, chopped,
* 1 apple, cored and chopped
* 1 cup packed fresh spinach
* 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
* 1 teaspoon dried basil
* ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
* 1 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
* 1 cup finely chopped fresh mint
* 2 tablespoons canola oil
* 2 ⅓ cups whole-wheat flour, plus more for rolling out
Bring water to a boil in large saucepan over high heat. Add chicken bones, carrots, celery, apple, spinach, rosemary, basil and garlic. Bring back to a boil, skim any fat and foam from the surface. Reduce heat to low and simmer with lid on for 40 minutes. Strain the stock, discarding bones and vegetables.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Lightly flour a baking sheet.
Mix one cup warm chicken stock in a large bowl with parsley, mint and canola oil. (Remaining stock can be used to moisten dry kibble or frozen for later use.) Gradually add the flour to form dough. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured board. Knead until smooth, about two minutes. Gather dough into a ball and transfer directly to the baking sheet. Dust dough with additional flour and flatten into a 10- inch square. Use a pizza cutter to cut large square into 1-inch squares. Bake for 25 minutes for a soft cookie or up to 45 minutes for a crunch cookie.
Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet. Then, break apart on the cut lines.
Yield: 100 cookies
Recommend allowances per day
10-pound dog: 2 cookies
20-pound dog: 4 cookies
40-pound dog: 6 cookies
60-pound dog: 8 cookies
80-pound dog: 10 cookies