A Sally Fields Moment

On Monday last week I had a "Sally Fields" moment. You know that time when she won the Academy Award... Well, it kinda felt like that.  You see, one of my main objectives in cooking for you is to expand your palate—broaden your view of what might taste good. To make that happen you have to be able to trust me to take you on flavor journeys that won't send you over a cliff. So on Monday I was able to offer a dish that included local morels. To my dismay and delight, you lined up for them and we sold out quite quickly. So, there I was thinking, "they trust me, they really trust me."  Don't worry, my head came back out of the clouds on Thursday when very few showed up for our Cinco de Mayo offerings. Hmmm. But, I forge on.

This week we will be hosting a supper club whose theme this time is Morrocan. I've had quite the time investigating this cuisine and learning the ins and outs of presenting it.  Naturally, my digging has resulted in my adding at least one dish to this week's menu. Among the specialties that set the Morrocan cuisine apart are the heavy use of almonds, honey, lemons, and an herb mixture called ras-el-hanout that means "top of the shop" or best the shop has to offer. There is no definitive set combination of spices that makes up Ras-el-hanout. Each shop, company, or person would have their own secret combination containing over a dozen spices. Typically they would include cardamom, clove, cinnamon, ground chili peppers, coriander, cumin, nutmeg, peppercorn, and turmeric. (thank you, wiki-pedia) The meats are often slow cooked with these spices and served over cous-cous, a tiny pasta made from semolina flour. Semolina flour is that flour that is used to make pasta, made from hard durham wheat. The combination of apricots and melons has me intrigued. I'll be finally digging out my bottle of orange blossom water given as a gift by my dear friend, Marlene. This, too, is a delicate flavor direction of the cuisine. In celebration, we'll be making mint tea, also.

Last week was a stellar week, overall. Despite Thursday being the slowest day we'd had in weeks (including the stormy ones), we had our best week ever. Friday night was a total rock-out! We had 5 different acts for open mic. All were well worth the listen and we hope to see them again. I absolutely LOVE the feel of Friday nights as we switch gears and focus on good food, good friends and a slower pace...and you can be home in your jammies by nine!

Just a reminder~we have office meeting packages that pack multiple lunches in larger containers and save you some dollars. Next time you are staying in, consider sending someone by to pick up a group order that will make any meeting go better! Please call in by 9:30 a.m.

Because this is going to be a very busy week, I am keeping my blog entry short.Watch for new flowers on the steps in back. Know that you are a very valuable part of our adventure. We treasure your business and even more, the many warm friendships we've developed. Thank you for being here and for spreading the word about our little cafe. Now here's this week's flavor journeys—

Monday~Spinach and Arugula salad with carmelized Vidalia onions, Blue cheese, apple slices, seasoned pecans with a sun-dried tomato vinaigrette

Tuesday~Tamale Tuesday;Wood-Fired Chicken and Black Bean Tamales, with Avocado-Verde Sauce, Salsa Verde and Spanish Rice.

Wednesday~Pork Tenderloin with garlic new potatoes and side salad
 
Thursday~Waldorf Chicken Salad
 
Friday~ Lunch: Elk Burgers
Dinner: Chicken Tagine with couscous; Spaghetti with grilled ratatouille; Shrimp with grilled watermelon salad
 
Have a lovely week. It looks very good for dining al fresco.
 
—Susan