Dinner Menu Changes 7.14.14

DINNER MENU CHANGES 7.14.14

MAINS

What came off: Lamb Coratolla

1. Sicilian Style Swordfish
   1. Served with Eggplant, Zibibbo Raisins, Caper Berries.
   2. A 5 ounce piece of Swordfish will be local and served without bones or skin. It will be pan roasted in grapeseed oil.  It will be about a 15 minute pick up time.
   3. Eggplant, which is wildly popular in Sicily, will first be charred on the grill. After, the eggplant pulp will be scraped out and pressed through a roasting rack. The result will be akin to a rustic puree, almost like a babaganoush. Fun Fact: the French call this preparation “eggplant caviar.” The rustically pureed eggplant will be mixed with roasted garlic, a little Aleppo (spicy Syrian pepper), lemon juice, and olive oil.
      1. Additionally, Chinese or Japanese eggplant,  Zucchini, and patty pan squash from the farmer’s market will be thickly cut and grilled before going on the plate. These vegetables will be seasoned simply with salt, pepper, and olive oil.
   4. A pickled raisin and caper vinaigrette will also be served. Red raisins are mixed with Champagne vinegar, honey, salt, and a little water. The vinaigrette will be strained. The now pickled raisins will be chopped up with capers and added back to the vinaigrette along with Sicilian olive oil.
   5. Zibibbo raisins are indigenous to Sicily and are in the Muscat Family. They are huge grapes. They still have seeds, but because the grapes have been dried out, the seeds are also dried and provide a pleasant crunch to the raisin. We will be reconstituting the raisins in a little warm water for this dish.
   6. Caperberries will be sliced thinly in small rounds. Caperberries are the fruit that forms from capers. Capers are actually buds of a plant.
   7. Herbs featured: parsley, oregano, celery leaves.
   8. What makes it Sicilian Style: The use of raisin and eggplant is a play on Caponata, which is a traditional Sicilian dish made from stewed eggplants with raisins and/or capers. Additionally, capers grow like weeds in Sicily and everyone with a home garden in Sicily plants eggplant.
   9. Allergies: Seafood

PASTAS

What came off: Maltagliati

1. Tomato Pappardelle
   1. Served with summer squashes, blossom, and scamorza.
   2. Pappardelle is a wide noodle shaped pasta. It is common in Tuscany and other parts of Central Italy. The root of the word “pappardelle” means  “eat quickly” in Central Italian dialects.
   3. The tomato pappardelle is made in house with toasted tomato paste, egg yolks, olive oil, Durum & 00 Caputa flour. Egg yolks give the pasta a richness and a nice elasticity.
   4. The dish will feature a wide variety of seasonal squashes from the farmers market. Currently, we’ll be using zucchini, summer squash, and patty pan squash. Along with the squashes, heirloom cherry tomatoes will be featured.
      1. These vegetables will be sautéed with garlic, olive oil, a pinch of chili flake. A house vegetable stock will also be added.
      2. The vegetable stock will be zucchini heavy.  The stock is made with mirepoix (carrots, onion, celery), lots of zucchini, tarragon, parsley, and bay leaves.
   5. Squash blossoms will be stuffed with scamorza cheese. Scamorza is a smoked provolone. The stuffed blossoms will be wilted in the vegetable stock that is added to the vegetable sautee so that the cheese melts a bit.
   6. The dish will feature the same herbs as the vegetable stock: tarragon, parsley, bay leaves.
   7. The dish will be finished with olive oil, lemon, pecorino (sheep milk cheese), and a little butter.
   8. Allergies: Dairy*, Gluten*, Egg