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