Autumn's bounty

As we enjoy the radical change from July's record heat to the cooler temps of October we are delighting in the region's ability to bounce back from extreme drought. The coral mushroom harvest has been extraordinary. We are seeing signs in the local wild persimmons of a heavy winter. I think that translates to lots of the white stuff. But while we await that onslaught we can celebrate the end of the summer growing season by rescuing the last of the green tomatoes, making freezable amounts of pesto and enjoying the flavors of the moment.

By the way, the image above is of frost flowers. This phenomena usually only occurs the morning of the first hard frost. It is the remaining liquid in the stems being slowly frozen as it escapes the confines of the cell walls. Startling and beautiful.

Each week from fall through winter, we mark Tuesdays by starting a big batch of vegetable broth. All the vegetable scraps from the week's prep go into the pot and, over the course of the day, are boiled down to provide a rich broth for addition to soups and sauces.

Last week I re-introduced the roasted root vegetable soup. I had several inquiries into just what went into it. It began as a big roasting pan full of red potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips, carrots, turnips, rutabaga, onions, garlic, and beets. Each vegetable is peeled and chopped to about an inch in size then tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper and dusted with ground thyme. Into the oven for about an hour and then tossed into the food processor for a quick purée. From that point it is just a matter of getting the liquid to solid ratio right. Because of the beets, when first made, the soup is a hot pink. After simmering a bit the pink disappears and the color settles down to a nice golden orange. We use the freshly made vegetable broth to thin it to a consistency that flows nicely down your throat and make final adjustments for salt and pepper. That's it. SIMPLE but delicious. Thanks for asking!

Several changes are in store; so listen up—
This is the last week for the bahn mi sandwiches this season. We are offering the chicken bahn mi at 50 cents off on Tuesday.

Also leaving for the season are the Roman sandwiches. We are at the end of trout season so they are departing until spring, as well.

The Flavor Journey this week is the very last of the elk and I am making the elk meatloaf we've become known for. It has an Asian direction in its seasonings and is topped with hoisin sauce instead of the usual tomato-based sauces. Those who already love it—don't miss out. If you haven't tried it yet, don't. You'll be hooked and missing it. I am actively seeking an alternative source. We are also looking at bison as an option. Cost is a consideration. If you have contacts in the elk or bison market, please share them with me.

Next week I am introducing a couple of new regulars to the menu. So don't panic, yet.

The soups this week will start with the coral mushroom and portabella cream soup and finish up with the roasted root vegetable soup.

I have not forgotten the tuna. Patience, Grasshopper. October 15th marks the start of stone crab season. I have been promising them upon the season opening, too. Stand-by for updates.

Music this week will be Vinny Ray and Thom Hoglen. Together they play a pretty awesome jazz set featuring violin and guitar. Vinny is a state fiddle champion. Thom is superb. Together, darn near perfect. See them Friday night. There is no cover charge but we ask that your join us for a meal or dessert and tip them well.

Several staff members, including Jon and myself, are fighting our way back from being ill. Therefore, our energies are low and I am keeping things simple and uncomplicated. Here's this week's special board:

Lunches~~
Tuesday~ 50 cents off the Chicken Bahn Mi sandwich. $6.49
Wednesday~Deep dish leek and coral mushroom quiche with a side salad. $7.50
Thursday~Shephard's pie. Think pot roast with a mashed potato topping plus side salad. $7.50
Friday~ Classic tuna casserole made with fresh mushrooms and bechamel sauce with side salad. $7.50

Dinner specials~~

Flavor journey~Tuesday through Friday or until it is gone~ Elk meatloaf, mashed garlic potatoes, plus stir-fry of late season veggies $10.99

Seafood~ Wednesday through Friday~ Shrimp and scallop crepes with a light curry sauce plus fried green tomatoes. $13.99

I hope you have a glorious week~~

Susan

Floating through June

This is a peculiar time of year. It seems that most of life is normal but schedules don't seem to flow as easily as they did before the kids were turned loose for the summer. My kids and grandkids aren't even nearby—so how do I even know this? Because we had a fairly quiet week last week when all other indicators would say we would have been super busy. Fortunately, that is an anomoly that I hope is rectified this week. I know lots of folks are traveling, but we hope to see you if you are not. Since we don't get to travel much these days, we love to hear of your travels and join you vicariously.

Our next task in marketing our café is to add large letters spelling out the café name to the outside above the windows. This will cost about $400 for the letters themselves. We are trying to expedite getting them and are dedicating any money taken in for gift certificates to this project. Do you need to buy for any upcoming celebrations? You can even buy them for yourself! We appreciate the amazing level of support our customers have shown and thought you might want to be a known part of our next milestone. You are already a part of everything we do around here.

Next week is the summer solstice. We'll be in the middle of NATF week when that happens, so I am introducing our summer salad this week. I call it Solstice Salad and it will be available until the equinox. It starts with a bed of Romaine lettuce, topped with fresh mozzarella, chopped fresh local tomatoes and fresh local basil. The dressing is a fresh basil balsamic vinaigrette. We'll add wood-fired chicken on top to give you some extra protein. Simple, pure, summer. $6.99

I am tickled to be able to report that I finally finished a piece of art that I have been poking at for over two years. During that time it was easy to let my fiber passion wane. Fortunately, I had this commission in the works when we started this enterprise. Had I had any idea it would have taken this long to get completed I never would have taken on the commission. However, I am most grateful for that opportunity. The person I made it for was extraordinarily patient and that gave me the room and time to gather little nuggets of energy that I could summon and use to work on it in small spurts. It also gave me time to allow myself the opportunity to experience the pure joy I feel when in my studio. With all the busy-ness of running the café, that joy could have easily gotten lost in the shuffle. Instead, I had a reason to keep my studio intact. I was able to do small amounts and walk away, then come back with very little time to re-orient myself. It was lovely. Once I have delivered the work, I will show you images of it. Until then, please be patient. He was.  

Here's the menu of specials for the week~

Tuesday~ Chicken Chiliquiles~ Kind of a Mexican pot pie. Layers of roasted chicken breast meat, corn tortillas, green beans, zucchini, corn, tomatillos, and mushrooms in a spicy creamy sauce. If you had the Mexican dinner during the Cinco de Mayo you had this. It will also be served with corn pudding. Both of these dishes got rave reviews and multiple requests for a repeat. I am doing a lunch- sized version so more could enjoy it. $6.99

Wednesday~ Chicken bahn mi~ We grind our own chicken to make these ginger and lemon marinated patties that are grilled and served in our French baguette with sriracha mayonnaise, freshly pickled cucumbers and carrots, sprouts and cilantro. With a side $6.99

Thursday~Shrimp in adobo sauce tacos. The spicy sauce that the shrimp are cooked in begins with soaking toasted dried chili pods. You won't find a fresher, more authentic flavor in town. You'll get 2 tacos  plus guacamole, and a special toasted guajillo salsa and chips. $7.75

Friday~Lunch portioned size of one of our most requested dinner entrées~ pork loin chop with strawberry chipotle glaze, garlic mashed red-skinned potatoes, fresh green beans $7.50

Flavor journey~~
Elk meatloaf. This has quickly become a customer favorite and we will only be able to serve it once or twice again. In our version we are giving it an Asian slant and topping it with a hoisin-based sauce. We'll serve it with garlic mashed red-skinned potatoes and fresh green beans plus a side salad, of course. $10.99

Seafood~
Shrimp pasta. We introduced this a few weeks ago and it was instantly a hit. I take lots of tasty shrimp and toss it with linguini, garlic, parsley, green onions, parmesan and cream to make a fairly light pasta dish. Served with a side salad. $12.99


I hope you have a lovely week~

Susan

Much ado about catfish

As we head into the Memorial Day weekend, I wanted to notify you that we will be closed Friday NIGHT. We will be open Friday lunch. We wanted our staff to have time to spend time with their families and last year proved quite quiet. We hope to see you during our other regular hours this week. Our hours next week will return to normal.

I try to keep politics entirely away from our establishment. But the food chain is inextricably tied to political and financial decisions worldwide. Last week it was time to order more catfish for our smoked catfish dip. When I was given current pricing I nearly fell over. What had happened since the last time I had ordered 15 pounds of catfish? First of all, the price was nearly double. Why? Well, it seems that catfish farmers in the South are plowing their ponds under because the corn market for biofuels is higher and more profitable. Add to that, many fish farmers in Asia are buying their fingerlings (small hatched catfish) from the US, shipping them to Asia and raising them and selling them back to us—again shipping. However, the conditions of the fish farms in Asia are considerably different than they are here. I've heard several times (but have yet to see it in print) that often poultry farms are set ABOVE fish farms so the droppings feed the fish. Ugh. The water conditions are not monitored the same way either. So I made a firm stand and opted to pay higher for all US raised catfish. Ours are hatched and raised in Mississippi. Each choice we make regarding our food chain has a lasting effect on our local economy. I also learned that with the higher prices, many, many places serving catfish are opting for the less expensive imported options. Just thought you should know. If you eat a lot of catfish, I suggest you ask for proof that they are being raised in the US. Here's an image of the outside of our box.

I have wood-fired tuna salad sandwiches for as long as they last this week. You may have read in the news that in April there was a voluntary recall of most frozen tuna. This has affected our source of both sashimi grade and yellow-fin tuna. I still have a few of the sashimi grade tuna steaks which we use in our tuna-topped spinach salad and tuna Roman. But we have wood-fired all the yellowfin and I have chopped the remainder for the tuna salad sandwiches. There is no word on when tuna will be available again. I am expecting it within the month, but... get it now before we run out! The smokey flavor does stand out and is a noticeable difference from the usual canned tuna with which most prepare their tuna salad sandwiches.

We are bringing back the Pork Bahn Mi sandwich. My plan is to have them on our menu each week from Wednesday through Friday. I have not yet figured out how to have the fresh baguettes ready for Tuesday mornings. When that happens we'll have them daily. Let me remind you of how they are created. The Bahn Mi is a fusion dish of French and Vietnamese. I'll take thinly sliced pork loin and marinate it in various Vietnamese spices including 5-spice powder, Thai fish sauce, honey, toasted sesame oil, fresh garlic, cilantro, jalapeno and cayenne. Then we'll grill it and slice it. It goes on a grilled French baguette (which we make in-house) that has a Sriracha mayonnaise dressing. This is topped with freshly pickled cucumber slices, freshly pickled carrot shavings and finished with sprouts and cilantro. It can be a bit messy to eat...but yummy! Plenty of people have reminded me of how much they enjoyed them the first week we served them.

Thursday at lunch I am bringing out the grouper cheeks. They made a pretty tasty sandwich when we debuted them a few weeks ago. Grouper cheeks are literally the cheek of a grouper fish. There is no waste, no bones and no skin to deal with— just tenderness and flavor. I'll serve it on the French baguettes with our Sea Sauce, lettuce and tomato. At $9.95 I know they are pricey, but what a treat. Normally, the cheeks never make it out of Florida as the locals grab them for themselves.

As we grow we are looking for ways to consolidate our gains. I have several small packages of frozen seafood I'll combine to make a luxurious ceviche (pronounced say-vee'-chay) on Friday for lunch. We'll have bits of red snapper, black sea bass, coho salmon, scallops and shrimp all combined with fresh lemon and lime juice, cilantro, garlic, cayenne and Vidalia onions to make this fresh tasting dish. What a perfect way to start the summer!

And speaking of things that run out— it seems our local supply of elk is about to end. This saddens me no end. Last time we served it I made an Asian meatloaf that was exceedingly well received. I'll do it again this week as our nightly "Flavor Journey." Again, the need for profitability raises it ugly head. It seems that the only way one can be profitable in these parts is to sell all parts of the elk—from the meat to the antlers to the hide. Unlike cattle, where one can be profitable just selling the meat, elk is a tougher sell. Our source has decided to go out of the business rather than chase down the profits. We'll miss them but understand.

My seafood this week is Jon's absolute favorite way to eat shrimp. I'll do shrimp pasta. Lots of decent-sized shrimp, garlic, green onions, parsley, parmesan and cream make up the sauce, which is piled over linguine. When you see that smile on Jon's face this week, it just might be because he got to eat his favorite! We became addicted to this dish while living in Florida, and I am delighted to bring it to you.

The line up~
Tuesday~ Wood-fired tuna salad sandwich plus side $6.99
Wednesday~Pork Bahn Mi sandwiches with side $6.99
Thursday~Grouper cheek sandwiches with side $9.99
Friday~Ceviche with side $7.50

Dinners~
Seafood~Shrimp pasta with side salad $10.99
Flavor Journey~ Elk meatloaf done in an Asian style with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans plus side salad. $10.99

Thank you for being a part of our adventure. Each week we are delighted to meet your friends and family. We hope you get to spend precious time with them this weekend.

My warmest wishes~
Susan