Weekly Specials For Dec. 13th

This Week’s Specials….
Catch of the week
Seared Scallops with Crab and Scallop Stuffed Sole
Drizzled with a Lemon Cream Sauce
Wild Rice Pilaf
Vegetable

Salad of the Week
Shaved Fennel Salad
Served with Feta cheese
Sliced Almonds
Tossed with Citrus Dressing
$7.00

Tuesday
Rosemary Chicken Breasts
Whipped Yukon Gold Potatoes,
Vegetable
$12.95

Wednesday
Linguine with Vodka Cream Sauce
Garlic Bread
$9.95

Risotto Milanese
Served with Marinated, Grilled Chicken Breast
Balsamic Vinegar Reduction
Steamed Asparagus
$12.95

Thursday
Marinated Lamb Skewer with Sauce Robert
Served with grilled shrimp
Sautéed Purple Potatoes
Vegetable
$19.95

Fried Chicken
Twin Boneless Chicken Breasts, Hand Breaded and Fried
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Vegetable
$8.95

Friday
Friday Night Buffet
Snow Crab with Garlic Butter Sauce, crab and scallop stuffed sole,
Prime Rib, Cassoulet, Chicken Cordon Bleu, Whipped Yukon Potatoes, Broccoli
Cream of Parsnip Soup, Pumpkin Pie, Snicker Doodle Cookies,
Pumpkin Cheesecake
$19.95 per person

Saturday
Marinated Lamb Skewer with Sauce Robert
Served with Grilled Shrimp
Sautéed Purple Potatoes
Vegetable
$19.95

Sunday
Brunch with Santa and Mrs. Claus
Roasted Sirloin, Beef Bourguignon, Quiche Lorraine, Biscuits and Gravy,
Bacon and Sausage, Eggs Benedict. Steamed Vegetable, Baked Pasta,
Au Gratin Potatoes, Assorted Salads, Soups and Desserts
$14.95 for Adults
7.95 for kids 4-10
Kids under 4 are free!!!

***Please Call 234-8831 to make reservations***

New Menu January 2012

Here is the new menu that we are going to launch in January 2012. I have been working on it for sometime now and believe it is almost ready for the members. There may be one or two changes before its finished, but here is what it looks like as of now. I am attaching a link because I cannot seem to get the second page to show up.

http://docs.google.com/open?id=165X5D362km0h3mR2h79OJV4zMfnI1Q_j6S0eMWvsG3cI9nR6W7THbHsBl0RH

Specials at the Club for the Week of December 5th

This Week’s Specials….

Special Dessert of the Week
Peppermint Crème Brulee
$5

Catch of the Week
Spiced Sea Bass
Wild Rice Pilaf
Rainbow Baby Carrots

Tuesday
Grilled Chicken Breasts
Grainy Mustard Demi- Glace
Whipped Yukon Gold Potatoes
Haricot Verts
$13

Wednesday
Linguine
Rich Red Sauce with Sausage and Beef
Garlic Bread
$9.95

Cheese Tortellini
Marinara Sauce
Garlic Bread
$9.95

Thursday
16oz Porterhouse Steak
Baked Potato
Broccoli
$23

Friday
Steak House Night
16oz Porterhouse Steak
Baked Potato
Broccoli
$23

Chef Selected Prime Rib
10oz or 14 oz cuts
Yukon Whipped Potatoes
Brussels Sprouts
$16.95 for 10 oz
$19.95 for 14 oz

Saturday
Club Closed For Private Events

Sunday
Brunch with Santa and Mrs. Claus
Featuring Chef Carved Roast Beef, and Omelet Station, Eggs Benedict, Breakfast Meats,
Biscuits and Gravy, Baked Mostaccioli, Au Gratin Potatoes, Assorted Salads, Desserts
and More!
$14.95 for adults,
$7.95 for Kids 10 and Under

***Please Call 234-8831 to make reservations***

Classic Creme Brulee

Nothing better than a good, classic Creme Brulee! Creme Brulee, which literally means "burnt cream" in French, is a truly decadent and indulgent dessert. It is made with only egg yolks, heavy cream and white sugar and then topped off with more white sugar and burnt to a golden hard candy like crust.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups heavy cream
• 8 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar + extra for sprinkling (1 Sugar in the Raw packet per ramekin is the best way)
  
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract (use vanilla bean pods if have...way better flavor)
  

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 300° F. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine cream and 1/2 cup sugar. Cook while stirring until cream just begins to bubble (about 4-5 minutes).

In a bowl, beat egg yolks and vanilla until well blended. Yolks will become a light yellow. Gradually pour hot cream into yolks, stirring constantly. If the mixture looks a bit grainy, strain mixture through a sieve set over a bowl.

Pour the custard into 8 6-oz ramekins (custard cups). Place ramekins in a baking dish and add hot water to fill pan halfway up the side of the ramekins.

Bake until set, about 40-45 minutes, until custard is mostly firm but the centers of the custards shake gently when tapped. Remove from the oven and allow the ramekins to cool slightly.

Remove the ramekins from the pan and refrigerate overnight. Just before serving, sprinkle the custards with 2 teaspoons sugar and caramelize the topping by using a hand-held propane or butane torch to caramelize the sugar.

Serve along with some fresh berries for added flavor.

TIP: Keep the water bath close to the oven to avoid walking across the kitchen and spilling water onto your floor.

Lunch Special For Out Literary Club Members

For lunch yesterday I was asked to put together a lunch special for a few of our lady members and their guests. They wanted something "off" menu, so I looked around the kitchen and came up with this great dish. It is Grilled Marinated Chicken Breast over Red Wine Risotto, Grilled Asparagus, and a Balsamic Vinegar Reduction. I was thrilled at how the outcome was of this dish and after I sent it out, all the bowls came back licked clean! So, I think I can assume that they really enjoyed it. Coming up in January, I am re-writing the menu and may even include this on it...we will see. Hopefully I will have the new menu up and ready within the next few weeks.

If you would like the recipe for the dish, just email me and I will get it to ya.

Random Dishes On Day Off

Here are some pics of dished that I put together on my dy off and with ingredients that I had from the garden. First is the soup. It is Roasted Butternut Squash and Apple Soup. The butternut squash I roasted in the oven for about 45 minutes to an hour to make the flesh super tender. The pic is of the soup in its begining process; I pureed it after.

Stuffed mushrooms done three ways: 1) portabella 2)white button 3)porcini

Here are some new cookbooks that I have been waiting to have enough money to finally purchase. I am so excited to dig in and start trying out many of the recipes throughout the pages. The French Laundry Cookbook is definitely going to be the first book that gets cracked open.

The French Laundry Cook Book, Thomas Keller
Charlie Trotter's, Charlie Trotter
Culinary Artistry, Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page

This week has started off great at work. The club usually gets pretty dead when the leaves start to fall, but compared to the previous years, since I've been chef, our numbers are up. For the past month, I have been trying out doing weekly "themes" for the dinner specials. Like, this week, I am doing an Italian week; here is what I've done and are doing for the rest of the week. The only thing that isn't Italian is Thursday night, which is "Family Style Cooking" for the rest of October. We have been open to the public for the past month as to try and get people in the door and hopefully become members to the club, so I have to "dumb" down the food that I am doing in the kitchen. Its bullshit, but I kinda need the members since they are the ones who pay my salary!

Catch of the Week
Italian Corvina
Rosemary roasted red potatoes
roasted corn puree

Tuesday
Chicken Vesuvio
half chicken, white wine, garlic, herbs de provonce
garlic mashed red skin potatoes
steamed broccoli florets

Wednesday
Linguine Bolognese
garlic bread


Thursday (Family Style Food)
Fried Pork Chop
country style green beans
Yukon Gold mashed potatoes


Friday and Saturday
Osso Bucco
Garnished with Gremolata
Yukon Gold mashed potatoes
sherry green beans

Here is the recipe for Linguine Bolognese

Ingredients
4 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, sliced
1 small carrot, small dice
1 stick celery, small dice
3.5 ounces apple wood smoked bacon or pancetta, diced
Pinch of sea salt
14 ounces ground beef
14 ounces ground pork
3/4 cups full-bodied red wine, or use full-bodied white wine

26 ounces canned chopped Italian tomatoes (including juices)

2 sprigs fresh thyme, roughly chopped

1 pound linguine
freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino to serve

Heat a little olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion, garlic, carrot, celery, bacon and a little sea salt and cook for 15 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally – the vegetables should caramelize, but not burn. Add the ground beef and pork and a little extra salt and cook for 5 minutes, stirring, to color the meats well. Add the red wine and bring to the boil, then simmer until reduced by half. Add the tomatoes and simmer for about 30 minutes. Add the thyme, taste, and check seasoning.

While the sauce is cooking, cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water. When al dente, drain. Divide the pasta among 4 bowls, add the sauce and serve with some grated parmesan or pecorino and freshly ground pepper.

Yield: Serves 4 – 6

Grilled King Salmon with Apple Chutey

This is a dish off the new fall menu. It is a King Salmon fillet that is grilled and then covered in apple chutney. Served with asparagus and wild rice.

Mixed Peppercorn Crusted Ahi Tuna Filet

Here I took a nice tuna fillet and rubbed mixed green, red, and black peppercorns over both sides, then pan seared for about 1-2 minutes per side to a nice cool rare. It was served over smoked Gouda Yukon gold mashed potatoes and large stalked asparagus. Also, there is wasabi aioli on the side for the tuna.

Mattoon Golf and Country Club Fall Menu

It's been almost a year now and I have been busy. Currently, I am not the Chef at Mattoon Golf and Country Club. Above is the first menu that I have put together for service. A lot of the dishes follow along with the season, so by Spring, I will have yet another menu ready to work on and get out to the club members. I will attach the lunch menu once I get it loaded on my computer.