Kevin made beet pasta yesterday for the Wednesday menu's entree. It was quite a sight:
The end result was a cannelloni filled with St. Brigid's beef shortribs and a pesto cream sauce. It would have been appropriate for a December menu as well as a summery one.
The pesto sauce smelled heavenly. And of course more beets on the plate in the form of Harvard ones.
The starter course consisted of a salad made with Godfrey's corn and Redman's cucumbers. The cucumbers are especially nice; Cathy called them "burpless longs" and they are exceptionally crisp. Kevin made some of those quick pickles with them, which was a very good idea - they were perfect for that!
Mark and Andrea came in for their honeymoon last night. I kid you not! they got married at the courthouse at 10:30 yesterday morning and at 6PM they were at the bar, being toasted on their wedding day.
Of course not everyone is joined by friends on their "honeymoon" like Mark and Andrea were - and Mike there is covering up some stains on his girlfriend's blouse by the way, despite what it might look like...
Breakfast this morning was a plate of peanut noodles. We are big fans of this dish, and have several different recipes, all of varying degrees of complexity. This mornings attempt came from a recent NYT contribution, and it was the most unusual so far. We were only interested in the peanut sauce part, so we made that and the dipping sauce to drizzle over the vegetables. It turned out okay, especially since we doubled the amount of peanut butter they called for. Before we did that, the resulting sauce was very thin and very citrusy. I would do it again, but cut back a bit on the lime juice. Still, it was a lighter version than most, and I suppose we could have added a little less peanut butter... We tripled the recipe, because it is so nice to have on hand for a quick meal, breakfast lunch dinner. Just need to get some sprouts for the next time!
I worked the bar last night, substituting for the scheduled substitute. Nicole very agreeably agreed to pinch-hit for me as host, and she did a great job. We had some pinch-hitting going on in the kitchen too, with Rayvon coming in to help the new salad guy who was going to have to be ready to help out on the line if they needed him to cover for the new line cook who was out sick...man, it can get very complicated. Luckily we have cross-trained more than a few cooks, planning so that everyone can work any station if needed.
HOT again today, which means Brittany's latest soup - the cold carrot ginger with coconut milk - will once again prove very popular. The other night a group of three, all of whom were enjoying a cup of the creamy cool concoction, told me it was the best soup they had ever had! Way to go Brittany!
And for us wine drinkers, rosés are, of course, where we are at. Right now we are pouring the Acrobat rosé of pinot noir, from Oregon's Kings Estate winery. Its light style and understated fruity nature makes it pretty versatile, food-wise, and not bad for just plain sipping. This would be our third rosé of the 2011 vintage, following the original French classic from Mas La Chevaliere, and then the Cline rosé of mourvedre. The Cline was a very fruit-forward example of a more "light chilled red" style that our red wine drinkers favor. There are two or three more I am trying to get before the summer is out, so be prepared to do some sipping. So much rosé, so little time!
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