La Brea as our Mentor

  Hopefully this will be the start of something beautiful!  Nikki has made the sourdough starter by using grapes to provide the yeast.  Seems like a pretty cool technique.  Doesn't smell like one though.  It is a nine day process before bread can be made.  These pics were from day 3. This is some potato bread Nikki made to test the oven for bread baking capabilities.  

A Little Refinement

Dehydrated Kalamatas

Kalamata Air

Green Olive Toast

Parmesan with Traditional Flavors

Sweetened Parmesan Cream

Sundried Tomato

Olive Bread Crumbs

Micro Basil

Black Pepper

Roasted Parmesan Rocks

New Zealand Wine Dinner

  The Blue Ridge Food & Wine Festival will be going on in Blowing Rock April 16 - 19.  We will be creating a five course menu, April 16, that will be paired with wines from Saint Claire Vineyards of New Zealand.  The cost is $115 per person, which includes the food, wine, gratuity, and tax.  This will be a great way to kick off the spring season at the Gamekeeper.  Here is the menu.  Pics will come later.

Amuse

Undecided

I

Vicar's Choice Sauvignon Blanc  

Spiced Rubbed New Zealand Lamb Skewer With Dipping Sauces

II

Saint Clair Sauvignon Blanc

Steamed Green Lip Mussels with Passion Fruit, Ginger Broth

III

Vicar's Choice Pinot Noir

Grilled Red Snapper with Kiwi Salsa, Grilled Avocado over Rocket, Lemongrass Viniagrette

IV

Saint Clair Pinot Noir

New Zealand Venison Denver Leg, Peach Chutney, Chili Glazed Sweet Potatoes

V

Hokey Pokey

Vanilla Ice Cream with Soft Caramel, Dark Chocolate Espresso Beans, Vanilla Shortbread, Warm Mocha Sauce

We Welcome New Belgium

  Slowly but surely New Belgium Brewery of Fort Collins, Co. has been making its way east.  Fat Tire, probably the most well known of New Belgium beers, was always something to look forward to when making a trip out west.  We welcomed our first case of Fat Tire to the restaurant last week & needless to say, there were a lot of smiling faces!  Besides their beer tasting great, the company is extremely environmentally conscious.  So much in fact, it would take me longer to type it out than it would for you to browse it here!  They are setting a great example and beer always taste better when the water is clean!   Unless it comes from an Olympia can! 

   

Taking Coffee In New Directions

  I took one of Alinea's aromatic recipes and altered it.  I should have cut the recipe in half.  I used some of it and had quite a bit leftover.  What to do with it?  Brew it, of course.  Take away some of the anise, add some pistachio shells, maybe some juniper?  The pistachio shell idea came from home when my girlfriend was shelling some pistachios, and my latest bag of coffee from Bald Guy Brew had chocolate and peanut butter essence all over it.  The Sumatran coffee was asking for salted pistachio shells.  So, what are the possibilities of extra essence in your cup of joe?  Oh yeah, I toasted the pistachio shells first.  Here is the Alinea aromatic recipe.  It is a good starting point.

160 G Fennel Pollen

120 G Star Anise

60 G Lemon Zest

300 G Coffee

Grind Coffee & Anise

Chop Zest

Mix All       

Defeat In The 1st Round ; Apple Battle

Spice Rubbed Grilled Pork Tenderloin, Apple & Sweet Potato Hash, Wasabi Apple Sauce, Red Orach, Apple Chip, Crispy Sweet Potato

Fried Sea Scallop, Apple Slaw, Parsnip Puree, Apple Sauce, Apple Cilantro - Lime Coulis, Peppercress & Popcorn Shoot

Chef Nikki, Chef Eddie, Chef Ken

  Unfortunately I missed getting a photo of the dessert.  We had a great time doing this competition.  We don't really consider ourselves competitive when it comes to "Iron Chef" type stuff, but it was fun to do something new.  I was happy with all of our food, but seemed to be the only one.  The dishes were judged by the diners who did not know who was cooking each dish until after they completed the meal.  We ended up feeding 48 people, 3 courses from each team.  The variety of ingredients provided for us to work with was quite nice.  Each team was allowed to bring their own specialty bag, valued up to $100.    It was interesting cooking in a kitchen that I had only briefly stepped into once before.  It sure did make me appreciate our kitchen alot more.  No offense to Crippen's!  You guys just need some new cambros!  We do look forward to giving it another shot next year!