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One Block West Sensational Seasonal Cuisine
25 South Indian Alley Winchester VA, 22601 540-662-1455
Newsletter for February 2004 Your source for what’s cooking at OBW |
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From January 20th to January 24th, we had a Greek week, featuring creative modern Greek dishes on our dinner menu. Demand was so strong for these dishes that we carried them over through the 29th. Next up is a Creole/Cajun week, just before Mardi Gras. Tapas are coming towards spring. I will send you a note about each of these events.
On Sunday February 8th, we’ll be at “A Chocolate Affair” at The Daily Grind, Creekside from 3 to 6 pm to help raise funds for Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre. Tickets are available at the door and at the Shenandoah Box Office, (540) 665-4569. We will taste chocolate desserts and will have some for sale to help raise funds for the theatre.
Valentine’s Day is coming up quickly. We are 70% booked. If you plan to visit us on Valentine’s Day, please call us immediately at 540-662-1455. It’s $50 per person for four courses. You will have a choice of dishes for each course. I haven’t made the menu yet, so if there is something you want in particular, let me know. Boo Snider will be with us playing his acoustic guitar and singing.
Most of you know that I am happy to cook special meals for you. Over the past 14 months, I have done a lot of special menus. The latest was for a party of 8 that gave me a budget and said, “Just cook for us.” Whether many courses or a couple courses, I would be happy to work with you to do a custom menu.
Are you a single malt fan like me? We now have 8 malts on the bar for your enjoyment, including Aberlour, Ardbeg, The Dalmore, The Glenlivet, Glenmorangie, Isle of Jura, Oban, and Springbank. The list changes all the time because Virginia is a tough state in which to buy whisky on account of ABC and quotas, etc. If you would like to read more about Scotch and its production, read on.
Recent menus have introduced some items with which you may not be familiar. In my recent cassoulet, I used Tarbais beans and duck confit.
Tarbais Beans. Tarbais beans are runner beans from the southwest of France in the foothills of the Pyrenees from the area surrounding the town of Tarbes. It is a white bean with a thin skin that looks like a cross between a white kidney bean and a lima bean. Because of the demand for their buttery texture and the lack of supply—they are hand harvested—Tarbais beans are extraordinarily expensive, but are the thing to have for cassoulet. (Visit the bean growers’ cooperative web site).
Duck Confit. Another indigenous product from the southwest of France, duck confit is duck that is preserved by salting to draw out moisture, and then by slow cooking in duck fat, and then finally by being sealed in duck fat. The verb confire means to preserve, so a confit is a preserve or conserve. Confit is renowned for its rich flavor and silky texture. Look for it in lunch special salads at OBW.
If cooking from the southwest of France interests you, the definitive book in English is The Cooking of South-West France by Paula Wolfert.
We rolled out the winter lunch menu in mid-January. Demand for the new dishes including Frittata with Caramelized Onions, Spinach, and Feta Cheese is very strong. We’ve replaced the Grilled Vegetable Plate with a Grilled Portabella Sandwich with Sun-Dried Tomato and Goat Cheese Spread because vegetables are of awful quality in winter. Come try the new menu. (View menu).
I found a great product that is new to me, called Shiro (white) Shoyu (soy sauce). It’s not a new product by any stretch in Japan, but I am just starting to see in on the US market. It is a soy sauce made largely from wheat, rather than soy beans, yielding a very clear product with a much more delicate flavor. I won’t serve anything else with sushi. (Read my note on soy production in the September 2003 newsletter.) I still don’t know where you can buy it at retail yet.
I’d been hearing good things about Chrysalis Vineyards in Middleburg through the chef grapevine for months. So when their Director of Sales, Kelli Hart, called on me, I was eager to taste the wines. I am happy to report that across the board, the Chrysalis wines are well made and of high quality. I selected three for our list: Chardonnay, Viognier, and Norton. The Chardonnay reminds me of a Meursault, the Viognier is wonderful, and the Norton 2001, well, it is an untamed beast with great promise. It needs years more in bottle to mellow, but it is also drinkable now. Come try the wines and support great Virginia winemaking. (www.chrysaliswine.com)
Wow! I was overwhelmed with the response to this vegetable side dish! It is really easy to make and there is something magic about spinach and dill. Hint—throw some eggs in and I bet this makes a wonderful frittata!
Spinach with Onions, Dill, and Feta
2 T extra virgin olive oil 1 small onion, diced 1 clove garlic, finely minced ½ lb spinach leaves, washed and drained 1 T chopped dill (must be fresh) ½ cup crumbled feta cheese pinch of salt to taste
To a hot sauté pan over medium high heat, add the olive oil and the onions. Cook a couple of minutes until the onions are very translucent. Add the garlic and cook a few more seconds. Next, add the spinach. (It may pop and splatter because of the water on the leaves). Stir until well wilted and then add the dill and the feta. Stir until all is well warmed, season to taste, and serve immediately.
Note: at the restaurant, we precook the onions and we blanch all our spinach in boiling water for a couple seconds and then put it in an ice bath and then drain it. Makes it faster for us to cook at dinner time because we don’t wait for the onions to cook or the spinach to wilt. Not necessary at home.
Things you have been asking me about:
· I finally invested in an espresso machine. It took a long time to find one that I found reliable enough to spend my money on.
· Because of so many customer requests, I bought many new olive bowls from our potter and they are now for sale. We are also taking orders for custom colors and custom initials on the bowls.
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Copyright © 2004 Shenandoah Food and Beverage Holdings, LLC |
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