Tuesday Tasting Menu 4/3/12

Tuesday 3-course Preview - April 3 - Apples

Apple Computer keeps reinventing itself, over and over and over again.

Who would have thought that the small niche computer maker would evolve into the company it is today, with some of the most sought-after commercial products in the world?

They reinvented the intelligent cell phone, created a whole new way of selling and playing music, and made tablet computing popular. They launched the first generation iPad on this date back in 2010, and since then by December last year had sold over 55 million iPads. Their newest generation was released earlier this month.

Our menu next week is our tribute to Apple!

Tuesday 3-course menu - April 3

Apples!!!!

First Course

Gala apples, candied pecans, montrachet cheese with an apricot vinaigrette and field greens

Second Course

Fox Valley Berkshire Pork Chop with gingered apples, bacon braised collared greens and crispy sweet potato pancake

Dessert

Warm apple crumble with cinnamon semifreddo

John Vitale, Marilyn Fisher, and Ken Kuehl will be playing in the bar.

Tuesday Tasting Menu 3-27-12 Aphrodisiacs!

Tuesday 3-course Preview - March 27 - Aphrodisiacs

On this date in 1998, the FDA approved the drug Viagra. We thought it would be fun to look at foods that over the years have been considered afrodisiacs.

We've colored all of the foods that have been considered aphrodisiacs in the menu red.

Tuesday 3-course menu - March 27

Aphrodisiacs!!!!

First Course

Fresh shucked oyster with basil mignionette

Second Course

Pan seared salmon with avocado-honey tomato salsa
and fresh grilled asparagus over shitake risotto

Dessert

Almond rum cake with chocolate ganache,

strawberry with a vanilla bean creme anglaise

John Vitale, Marilyn Fisher, and Ken Kuehl will be playing in the bar.

Tuesday Tasting Menu 3-20-12

Tuesday 3-course Preview - March 20 - 1st Day of Spring!

Next week marks the first official day of spring, and it's a great time to think about the upcoming new spring menu. Be looking for our announcements - we're going to be spending most of a week introducing you to our new spring menu, launching a new item or two each night for you to get a preview.

Tuesday 3-course menu - March 20

1st day of Spring!!!!

First Course

Braised lamb ravioli with brown butter sauce

Second Course

Pan seared salmon with grilled asparagus and cilantro couscous

Dessert

Key Lime Tartlet with bruleed meringue

John Vitale, Marilyn Fisher, and Ken Kuehl will be playing in the bar.

St Patricks Day Specials

St. Patrick's Day -

We're celebrating it all weekend (Thursday through Sunday)

The Irish are a big part of New Orleans history. An early wave of Irish immigrants, fleeing British persecution at the end of the 1700s, landed in New Orleans and became well integrated into the economy and social life of the city. The first St. Patrick's Day celebration was held in 1809.

Immigrants from Ireland started arriving in significant numbers as famine began to drive them out of their homeland in the 1820s, a famine which peaked in the 1840s. Living conditions for the thousands of Irish immigrants once they arrived in New Orleans were also far from ideal.The Irish laborers found hard work digging the canals, where thousands died because of the poor living conditions and disease.

The Irish founded many well known churches, and of course a number of terrific Irish Pubs.

Pat O'Brien's (with the flaming fountain in the courtyard) invented the Hurricane cocktail, a New Orleans classic. St. Patrick's Day is celebrated with enthusiasm in New Orleans!

Irish heritage figures prominently in Fitchburg's history and settlement as well. Many descendants of those first families can still be found in Fitchburg...the Kinneys, Gormans, Lacys, O'Briens, Foxs, Purcells, and Barrys.

We can't get enough of St. Patrick's Day! We've just got to get started on Thursday night, and we'll keep things really moving all weekend, including our Saturday Late Night and beyond.

Here's what we've got planned:

Lunch

We'll be serving Liliana's take on a Reuben Sandwich - House-made corned beef, house-made sauerkraut, and Swiss cheese on toasted marble rye with thousand island dressing and horseradish on the side. Served with our sweet potato chips and white bean salad - 9.

Dinner

Irish 3-course Dinner
(Thursday through Sunday)

3 courses for $25

Paired beer / Irish coffee flight $8 additional

1st course

Mussels in Guinness

(Abita Turbodog)

2nd course

Corned beef and cabbage with roasted garlic mash

(Abita Jockimo IPA)

3rd course

Guinness Brownies with Baileys Ice Cream

(Irish Coffee)

St. Patrick's Day Saturday

$3 taps all night

$3 Green Cows all night

And don't forget the Saturday Night Raw Bar, starting at 8pm.

Tuesday 3-course Preview - March 13 - California!

March 13 is the anniversary of the founding of San Diego State University, and since Chef Dave's wife Tiffany is from the San Diego area, we thought we were overdue in recognizing the cuisine of California. Here's our tribute to the food of California:

Tuesday 3-course menu - March 13

California!

First Course

Shrimp cevice on avocado with chili lime tortillas

Second Course

Pan seared mahimahi with grilled orange salsa

on a bed of kalamata and feta couscous with baby arugula

Dessert

Citrus cheesecake with orange caramel and creme anglaise

John Vitale, Marilyn Fisher, and Ken Kuehl will be playing in the bar.

3-6-12

Tuesday 3-course- March 6 - Alamo Day

March 6 is Alamo Day, marking the fall of the Alamo back in 1836. We're recognizing the day by serving a meal of Texas favorites.

Here's what we've got planned:

Tuesday 3-course menu - March 6

A salute to Texas

First Course

Texas style chili with avocado salsa

Second Course

Texas style dry rub pork spare ribs

with homemade baked beans and cumin / cilantro slaw

Dessert

Bourbon pecan flan

Cliff Frederiksen and Ken Kuehl will be playing in the bar.
Reservations are recommended.

Tuesday Tasting Menu 2-28-12

Tuesday 3-course preview February 28 - Celebrating Florence Parry Heide

Chef Dave's grandmother would have been celebrating her 93rd birthday on February 27. We thought a great way of celebrating the date would be to center this week's 3-course chef's menu around her.

Several times throughout the course of the evening we'll play an animated short movie of her book Sound of Sunshine, Sound of Rain which received an Academy Award nomination in 1984.

In addition to her passion for writing and connecting with children, she loved to host parties with new and old friends, and she celebrated everything with friends and family. She would have been the first to tell you that she was never at home in the kitchen, and always was anxious to get out of the kitchen and back to the party and friends.

There were a few dishes she mastered, and Chef Dave will be putting his own Liliana's spin on them to really bring them to life.

1st course

Cheese fondue

2nd course

Chicken "casserole"

Dessert

Rice Pudding with almond

Courses available separately

At almost every party she would have her copper chafing dish set out with cheese fondue and endless amounts of torn French bread to dip into it. Her recipe may have been mostly Velveeta, milk, and sherry, but it was the perfect thing to snack on when you were busy meeting new friends. (Don't worry - Chef Dave won't be using Velveeta in his version of her dish!).

Her chicken casserole (which originally started out as a veal casserole until her children objected) was one of her real successes in the kitchen, and the kids loved it. Chef Dave's sister Anne was a vegan for many years, and always said if she ever stopped being a vegan that would be the very first dish she'd have. Chef Dave is making it vegetarian with the chicken added at the end so that our vegetarian friends can enjoy it with tofu instead.

For dessert, we couldn't resist picking rice pudding, which she had tried to make every Christmas Eve. The Danish tradition was to have one almond hidden in one of the bowls of rice pudding, and whoever found the almond in their bowl won a special extra Christmas present. She was often disorganized in the kitchen, and one Christmas had completely forgotten to shop for the things to make it. So she made Jello brand butterscotch pudding instead. She had no almonds or nuts in the house, so she used a chocolate chip, which promptly melted in the still-warm pudding. The winner (Chef Dave's dad that year) had to show the darker brown streak in the pudding to claim the prize.

We'll make it the way it should be, and a few of the servings that night will have an almond hidden in them. The winners will be able to take home an autographed copy of her book Princess Hyacinth, which she had signed last October as she was getting ready to come to our Princess Brunch.