Summer is a Sparkaly Spritzer / Fall is a Warm Fuzzy Sweater

To me Summer is a time for meals that remind me of wine spritzers and bathing suits, running through the sprinkler and sitting by the lake.  These ideas for the autumn menu make me feel like i am wearing a nice cozy sweater.  Breathing in the crisp air that is pungent with leafs on the ground.  The smell of the dessert air when it has just rained, the juniper and sage strong pungent, refreshing.  Then after spending a day out in the crisp weather there is nothing better than putting on a warm dry sweater.  These menu teasers to me embody all of this.  This is not our entire menu.  These may not even be there.  Cozy up to the blog, and enjoy.

Grilled Lamb Belly, White Bean Rillette, Lamb Glace

Oregon Coast mussels, Oregon curried butternut squash béchamel

Chicken leg and thigh braised in Crux Fermentation Sour Beer, Herbed Spaetzle, Chorizo, Mustard Greens, sage brown butter Beerchemel

Grilled Poblano Chili Stuffed with Barley, Quinoa, and autumn squash, Crisp Fried Polenta, Sauce Creole

Rock Fish, cumin Black Bean cake, Grilled Fennel, Salsify Root Puree

This is a work in progress. The students and I are discussing what we can use for fall time. Tell us what you think. Do you have any favorite Autumn dishes. Let us know. it may just turn up on our menu.

Fall Is In The Air

Well no. Its not actually. But the summer is rolling on. Berries are going out of season strawberries are all but gone and stone fruit is just arriving as well as the watermelons from Hermiston. The beet salad evolved to include these little jems from the trees. The peaches are golden with red spots in them. The plums are a bit sour still but the firm texture is amazing. Different from the sweet drippy goodness that will come later but still very appreciated for what they are. I love this part of working in a kitchen. Cooking through the seasons. Utilizing the produce that abounds in the northwest. It is great to see the students learn from the progress of the produce. How the lettuce is different when the weather is hot, dry, damp, wet, cold. Everything that mother nature throws at us changes the way we must cook. Just because we had amazing dry mushrooms one time does not mean we will have dry mushrooms the next. This is the art and science of the kitchen. This is what you can be told over and over but until you see it with your own eyes and touch it with your hands and heat it in a saute pan you will never truly understand. The bounty of the earth we rarely appreciate enough. Just in this small part of the world the earth offers us hundreds of different items. In our kitchen not one of them is canned, bagged, or processed. (except for wine, oil and vinegar)

We are all in this together. Creating amazing feasts every night for our community. Seeing smiles, meeting people, nourishing our community. That is what we are here for