Weekending Feb 2nd-Ground Hog's day, already!

We have been blessed so far with a nicely mild winter. I know. I just probably jinxed us. But I have already heard rumors of the occasional brave narcissus raising its head. The forsythias are beginning to put their energies toward buds. It can't be too long. However, I am still awaiting the true harbinger of spring--the eau de skunk.

A couple of week's ago I had the opportunity to take a good hard look at where I really wanted to take our cafe. I shared many of my thoughts with you. I am happy to say that, without any delay what-so-ever, some new talent made a point of reaching out to me. While we are still establishing just what the roles will be, I am confident that I now have the staff to make those goals happen. I have always wanted this game to be much more than what I personally could make happen. I love treating this as a happy game and I am loving having others around me who want to play this game, as well. It is WAY more fun to conspire with others to create a game plan. I am looking forward to mining those talents and plugging them into the direction we are going. Please welcome the new faces. I'll introduce them to you in the next few weeks via this blog.

The opportunity to bring in the tuna last week went really well. Thank you for supporting us by ordering it. We sold out pretty darn fast. I had lovely feedback. Thank you.  By the way—if you'd like to tell the world how we are doing, please feel free to leave comments on our Facebook page. In fact, if you'll "like" us you'll automatically get notified when we have updates on the menu.

There are just a few slots left available for the Filipino Flavor Excursion. While there are still a couple of things to be finalized I can tell you that there will be 5-6 courses with 5 wine pours and one specialty beverage.The cost is $60 per person including the wines. The date is Saturday, February 23rd at 6 pm.

I have had several requests for a Valentine's dinner. I am still putting the menu together, but yes, we will do a special dinner. Valentine's Day falls on a Thursday so we'll be open that night, anyway and the full menu should be available. I would encourage reservations.We are also planning on having a photographer on hand in case you'd like your "valentines" photo taken. That will be fun. I'll try to post the special dinner menu later this week.

Several people have requested that we do more beef items at dinner. This week the "Flavor Journey" will take us to Russia for Beef Stroganoff. This dish, whose name most likely was chosen to honor the famous Stroganov family in the 1860's, has many variations. After the fall of  Czarist Russia  it was served in the upscale hotels of China. Americans were introduced to it by returning servicemen in the pre-communist era in China and following the second world war. As a family dish it probably was at its hey day  in the 1950s. Many of you probably have fond memories of being served it by your grandmothers. Nowadays it is most often made with a good cut of beef cut into either skinny strips or small bites. Those pieces are seared and sautéed with onions and mushrooms. We'll serve it over egg noodles but in Russia it is most typically served over what we would call "shoe string potatoes".  The creamy sauce has a characteristic bite brought on by the use of a bit of sour cream.  I'll serve it over egg noodles plus a braised red cabbage and pan-roasted broccoli. Includes soup or salad. $13.99 Available as of Tuesday evening

The seafood entrée will be a combination dinner of a crab cake and grilled shrimp. The crab cake will be made with back-fin crab meat, fresh herbal seasonings, egg, mustard and just enough panko breadcrumbs to bind it together. I'll top it with a roasted red pepper coulis. That is a thick sauce made with red peppers and onions that have been sautéed until tender and sweet and puréed.  Also I'll have a skewer of marinated shrimp and pineapple served with a coconut curry sauce and served over a bed of quinoa mixed with parsley, cucumber, craisins, almonds and snowpeas. Includes soup or salad. $15.99. Available as of Wednesday evening.

~~Lunch Specials~~

Tuesday~ California rolls( real crab meat) Miso soup, cucumber-wakame (seaweed) salad $7.95

Wednesday~ Antipasto salad (if it's Italian, it is in it) $7.75

Thursday~ Pork tamales with salsa verdes and Spanish rice $7.75

Friday~ Beef empanadas with black beans and tostones (fried plantains) $7.75

Flavor journey~ Beef Stroganoff over egg noodles with braised red cabbage and pan roasted broccoli $13.99 Tuesday- Friday

Seafood Entrée~ Crab cake plus grilled shrimp with pineapple, atop a quinoa pilaf.$15.99 Wednesday-Friday.

I hope you have a glorious week. Watch for fresh plantings in the pots outside. I am itching to get my fingers in the soil; even if only a pot. We've already got pea shoots started and I'll get chives, parsley and oregano going ASAP. As always we delight in hearing about your family happenings, food wants and silly jokes.

See ya!!!

~~Susan

Weekending January 12,2013 Off and running!

Well the New Year started with a bang and we are back at it. No matter how much time we get "off" it never seems enough. Don't get me wrong—I love what we are doing. But the energy commitment is fierce.

I've been reading Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential and Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma. Each brings a  perspective that is both intriguing and spooky. Not personally having been professionally trained as a chef, I am sure I have missed out on many of the "tricks" in the industry both good and bad. It has opened my eyes to some of the decisions we face in making menu choices as well as the means of walking the fine line in serving food based on personal moral choices. There are now many genetically modified foods out there that have had little testing and virtually no labeling. The closer to home we source our foods, the better chance we have of asking the producer what they feed their stock, what environment the animals were raised in and how they were butchered. I'd like to continue focusing on providing food that can be tracked from the farm or boat to your plate because I know who produced it. I am especially pleased with the volume of  local produce and eggs we are able to acquire. I wish all of it was from local sourcing. This last year's drought took its toll on the farmers in the area and without exception I have heard stories of super high feed costs, drought-affected livestock, plants that stopped growing and weary workers. We are hopeful for the new year bringing more compassionate weather for all.

We'll keep searching for locally raised meats, eggs, poultry and produce. We'll also work to keep our prices within reason. Were we in the Northeast, the Northwest, or even in larger regional cities, we could charge and get much higher prices for what we are producing. We are fortunate in that some of our costs are not as high as those areas demand. But we pay the same amount for our food costs and utilities as any restaurant in a larger city. We save in areas of rent, insurance, and payroll.

I mentioned in my last blog about the Flavor Excursions. We are planning four seasonal events of this kind. The first will be based on Filipino cuisine. I thought tropical might inspire you. I have recently purchased 2 cookbooks whose focus is entirely on foods from the Philippines. Much of the flavors originate from 400 years of Spanish rule and therefore have some similar foundations we find in Latino foods, with additional influences from China, Japan and Malaysia. The foods from that region are very fragrant and flavorful, utilizing an abundance of fresh coconut, limes, tamarind, ginger, palm sugar, local seafood, poultry and pork. I am currently researching out several sources of ingredients for this multi-course feast. The plan is to start fairly small by limiting the number of reservations for this event to about 20. As each diner will use several dishes, more than that and we have to start buying a lot more plates, dishes, glassware, etc. My plan is to pair each course with an appropriate alcoholic beverage or local fresh drink. As I am still researching I won't figure the price yet. I should know within the next 2 weeks all the pertinent data. We are looking at doing this Saturday, February 23rd. I am expecting the cost to be in the range of $60/person, which includes the paired wines, etc. You'll be able to get that here without the cost of filling your gas tank and traveling 3-5 hours each way as you would have to do if indulging in such a feast in St. Louis or Kansas City—if you could find such a thing. We're planning on making it a full-immersion experience with appropriate tablescapes, native music and even encourage you to come wearing native costumes. Here's a link to what people wear in the Philippines. http://www.philippines.hvu.nl/culture6.htm. I hope you think this will be as much fun as I do—a chance to explore the world around us without even having to leave town or find a pet sitter. My intention is to use the foods to introduce an understanding of the people, the culture and the cuisine. If you know someone who has access to a digital projector, I'd like to use it to include some images as background information. We'll start taking reservations for this event this week.

While your personal home garden may be currently dormant, the greenhouse at Maranatha Farm is full of green stuff. This is the time of year to enjoy the oriental greens such a mizuna and tatsoi as well as other various sturdy greens like Swiss Chard and arugula. I love incorporating them into my nightly stir-fries.We're keeping alive our various fresh herbs like rosemary, parsley, chives, thyme and curry plant by over-wintering them inside. They look a bit scrappy right now, but still useful. We certainly look forward to spring when we'll have local access to fresh spinach, peas, dill, lettuces, etc.

If you are one of the lucky folks who occasionally take in a steer to be butchered, could you please have the processor hold back the leg bones and perhaps the tails? I prefer to make our own stock and demi-glace. Since most of the local processors sell off their bones to dog food processors, I am having a tough time getting any. Done right, the bones are roasted to develop flavor and color and are then cooked with various veggies and herbs; then allowed to develop flavor intensity by boiling down the broth into a true stock. Fortunately this doesn't need to be done weekly; just several times per year and then frozen in batches. As one who has a vested interest in the quality and flavors we produce, I hope you can help us out.

A note about our "specials"— in the restaurant industry specials are often used to offload less-than-fresh foods before they go to waste. In our case they are menu items created especially for that day, or in the case of the evening meals, dishes that are being prepared only during that week and will be gone.

This week~~

Soup~ Texas style red chili

Lunch specials~
Tuesday~ Winter solstice salad $6.99
Wednesday~ Chicken pad Thai $7.25
Thursday~ Pork tamales with salsa verde and Spanish rice $7.25
Friday~ Chicken pot pie and side salad $7.50

Dinner specials~
Flavor Journey~ Roasted lamb ribs with rosemary; fresh spinach and garlic with jasmine rice. Served with soup or side salad. Note! only about 4 servings total. $11.99 Come early in week.
Seafood~ Pecan-crusted tilapia, fresh spinach and garlic with jasmine rice. Served with soup or salad. $12.99

Thank you for being a part of our weekly business. We appreciate how much you support our efforts to bring you real, unadulterated food. We depend on your word-of-mouth sharing to help us grow. We also appreciate and expect your telling us how we are doing, both good and when not so. We know we have one shot to make a good first impression and hope we live up to your standards while expanding your palate.

~~Susan