Fun Playing With Locally, Naturally Raised Meats

We've been eating at home a lot this winter, and I want to share some of the goodness with you. Also, it is CSA subscription season - so I'd like to show you some wonderful things we've done with products obtained through our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) with Breychacks Farm. Kathy Breychak recently indicated that she still has meat shares available, so I'd like to remind you that membership in a CSA will yield fabulous meat (and/or vegetables) at a reasonable cost, without the worry that your vendor will sell out before you can get to it. Kathy accepts new meat share members until April, unless she reaches capacity sooner (which may well happen). Breychak Farms is offering lamb, poultry, (chicken, turkey, duck, goose) and heritage breed pork this year. She is also offering vegetables, as explained on her website.

We are truly blessed in Cleveland to be able to acquire wonderfully fresh, farm raised foodstuffs, even in the cold winter, and even if we don't join a CSA. The dishes shown are not in any particular order of creation/consumption.

Have I got your attention now? More on the eggs later.

First up - lamb stew, made from the leftovers of a roast from Breychak Farms's gorgeous Dorper lamb:



This stew also included frozen garden peas, and carrots Bob dug up from the snow so we could have them in the stew.






Below is Bob's take on Beef Bourguignon, using a beautiful hunk of grass-fed, locally raised Texas Longhorn from Sand Farm LLC.  Brandon Smith and his family have been in the beef business for many years, and the meat is raised on grass and love.

This dish also contained green beans, carrots and garlic from the garden. Sand Farm sends out a weekly E-newsletter to those who subscribe. In addition to their weekly booth at the Geauga Farmers Market in season, they deliver to a central location in Solon during the winter, and can make more personalized deliveries for an additional charge. Sand Farm also sells pork and firewood.

More recently, Bob made bean soup, using the ham bones leftover from a meal made from Breychak Berkshire ham.

Since he didn't think it was smokey enough, Bob added some sliced hotdogs we had in the freezer (my mother's savory  touch when she made Lentil Soup).

Bob is of Bohemian (Czech) extraction- so his New Year's Day food tradition is Pork Roast and Sauerkraut. Though I wasn't crazy about this dish the first time he made it for me (with supermarket pork) - I've grown to love it when it is made with better meat!

Breychack Farms's Pork Roast

Onion saute.

Sauerkraut gets added to onions.

Goodness happens.

See how the fat glistens? That doesn't happen with supermarket pork. And it tastes so good!

First night's dinner, with potatoes cooked in the sauerkraut pot.

Second night's dinner, with Dilled Smashed Potatoes (lard instead of butter - yum!)

It seems like a lot of bloggers and others are making or eating Chicken and Dumplings lately - with winter biting, it is one of those great comfort foods.



To make a great pot of Chicken & Dumplings - one must start with a great chicken. This birdie came from either Breychaks Farm or Miller Farm - I'm not sure which. Miller Farm is discussed in more detail below - but be assured that both Kathy Breychak and Aaron Miller raise their birdies with love, wholesome feed, and true pasture. For some reason, Bob did a deconstructed version of this dish - no matter, it was delicious!


Browned and Simmered Chicken Atop the Dumplings, Far Left


Gravy

I still don't know why he served it on the side..

Next up - another lamb stew, this time from Breychak Farms's Dorper stew meat.

Garden Peas again, though the garden was too deeply buried in snow for Bob to reach the carrots this time; organic carrots came from Heinen's.
 

 

What is more soothing in winter than a pot of hearty black bean chili.

The grass-fed, locally raised beef in this chili came from Miller Livestock Co, Inc. Miller Farm delivers to the Cleveland Area periodically - check the blog of Slow Food Northern Ohio if you want to know when they are in town. Miller Farm also sells lamb, poultry, eggs, and pork.

First Night Dinner, Over Organic Corn Chips

 

Nancy's Corn Bread

For the subsequent Chili dinners, I made corn bread, using some beautiful eggs from BlueLoon Farm and frozen corn from our garden. It came out well, though apparently our baking powder is too old, because it didn't rise as much as I expected.

 

BlueLoon Farm Eggs

BlueLoon Farm is a new farm located south of Cleveland. BlueLoon doesn't have a website yet, but Farmer Jenny can be reached at 330-235-4441 if you would like to discuss an egg purchase. Since she doesn't have a website yet, I'll share some info that Jenny gave to me about her farm:

"[W]e purchased the very rundown farm in October of 2007 and a few days after closing the farmhouse burned to the ground. So we had to build a new house which set the farm renovation back a year plus.

In addition to the ladies and their roosters, we have 4 guard turkeys and 2 steers and A TON of work to do! We have planted over 800 native trees and have begun a small orchard. We are also in transition to certified organic ( a few more months yet).

Our long term goals: Fruits (tree, shrub, small, brambles), vegetables, herbs, hops, poultry (layers, broilers), sheep (undecided if meat, wool or both), pigs in the woods, and maybe a milk cow....oh and bees. My background is in horticulture and native plants so we will be growing some unusual/rare plants. We believe that diversity is the key to a healthy farm."


We procured these eggs because our other favorite local producer, another Jenny, at Hensbury Farm, did not have any (a situation now rectified by additional heat in her barns!). Hensbury Farm also sells Boer Goat, which we have not yet sampled.

It was such a treat to enjoy some Blue Eggs (now available from both Hensbury and BlueLoon) in addition to the browns! Here's our first breakfast using BlueLoon's eggs:

 

Bob's Wheat Bread, Hartzler Farms Butter, BlueLoon Farm Eggs, Kielbasa Rounds

The last photo was the blue egg; the previous ones were brown. Words fail me to describe the exquisite taste to you.

Bob is preparing pork chops from our Breychak hog for tonight, with pickled garden beets. I'll make sure to show them to you, sooner or later! In the meantime, I hope you are having fun playing with foods sourced from our local, hardworking farmers, or at least making arrangements to enjoy their goodness later this year.

Fun Playing With Dinner at Restaurant Dante

As I reported here, Chef Dante Boccuzzi's long-awaited re-opening of Restaurant Dante, in Tremont, has given some brightness to the dark, cold and snowy Cleveland winter. I was fortunate to dine there Thursday night with 6 friends (plus my husband), which allowed me to taste a nice selection of dishes on the menu.

Chef Dante Rolls Sushi for the Grand Opening Cocktail Party January 9, 2010

As regards food photography at Dante, I have reached this conclusion - I either need to reserve the Chef's Table in the well-lighted kitchen, or get a better camera. So, please apologize for the duskiness of these photos - this is why I haven't quit my day job!

Private Dining For Four in the Vault

I didn't get to photograph this the first time I was here due to the crowds - but this is indeed the bank vault (my camera could not do justice to the massive door, which still hangs on its original hinges).

Beyond the Door - Pork Fat Zoo!

 

This chandelier is worth the price of admission all by itself.

As we walked to the end of the bar to meet our friends, we thought they were standing at a high top - but no, this amazing, glass topped "table" is actually built in to the end of the bar:

Go see it in person; it's pretty cool.  Did I really type the word "cool?"

This amazing bar deserved an amazing cocktail. While I generally favor rum and not martinis, the Finocchio  Martini looked too interesting to resist:

Grey Goose paired with finocchio (fennel), Pernod, and a few other flavors, including fennel-stuffed olives!

A lovely start to a lovely evening! As our party arrived for our 6:30pm reservation, we took our seats in the dining room (I love the comfy chairs) and perused the menu. Our wonderful server Michael, who had served us so valiantly at the Cocktail Party, deftly guided our party through a delightful meal that lasted almost 4 hours from the time we sat. It took that long because we deliberately paced it slowly, ordering each course as we went.

Bread service at the new Dante comes in a molded record album (as it did at the old Dante) - and the bread is steaming hot and simply marvelous. We were offered three varieties - olive, white and multigrain.

Bread is served with this incredibly smooth bean puree.

Olive Bread and White Bean Puree

Charcuterie

Chef Dante was kind enough to send this assortment of tastes to our table.

My tasting plate

Beginning with the top left - mustard, pate, Pistachio Mortadella, Beef Sausage, headcheese (and I have never liked any headcheese I ever tasted before - until now). Bottom left - pickled vegetables, pork rillettes, capicola, black pepper salami, prosciutto. And I'm not a big proscuitto fan - but this taste was simply amazing. All of it is made in-house (or in-vault, as it were). Here is another plate shot taken with flash - now it's too bright! I can't win!



Anyway, the dinner menu is divided into three sections, top to bottom, and, as noted, we decided to order one course at a time. Bob and I had already decided to split the Foie Gras.


Seared Foie Gras, citrus scented waffle, roasted pears 

This dish hit every note. The foie was exquisite and perfectly cooked. The roasted pear was sweet and a lovely counterpoint, offering chew as well as taste. I didn't really get a lot of citrus from the waffle, which to me seemed more like a pâte à choux than a waffle, but I loved the crunchy taste and texture against the foie and the pear. The combination of all of the components tasted together was over-the-top. One of our dining companions ordered this for her main!


Duo of Crudo Beef Tenderloin Carpaccio, pickled cauliflower, spicy pepper sauce, garlic chips and Hawaiian Tuna Tartare, poached egg, olive caper remoulade, crisp potato nest 

I did not taste this, but my dining companions who did pronounced it exellent.

 
Chilled Market Select Oysters - hot pepper puree, cilantro, yuzu ice

Again, my photos do not do justice to the presentation. I did not sample the oysters, which Chef Dante told us were East Coast, but again, all of those who did pronounced them, and the accompaniments, perfect.


Crispy Calamari and Rock Shrimp, fine scallions, chili spice mayonaise 

I did taste this dish (which is why I'm including this pitiful photograph) - and the calamari was fresh and tender, with a very gentle breading and cooking process that allowed the taste of the squid to really shine. The spicy mayo that came on the side added zest and zip.

The next course was a "pasta" course - with a choice of house-made pastas, risottos, polentas and soups. Bob and I decided to split a "tasting" portion of the special - a house-rolled ravioli stuffed with the most amazing combination of shredded and minced meats, and bathed with a tomato sauce that offered a sweet perfume of tomato, delicate chunks of more meat, cheese and herbs. The pastas and risottos are offered in three sizes: taste, appetizer or main, and priced, respectively, at $4, $8 and $15. 





The pasta was so fresh and perfectly cooked so that it remained toothy while not too chewy. The combination of flavors and textures made me regret, for a moment, that I hadn't considered this dish for my main.

But my regret did not last long - the mains, which range in price from $18-23 for a very generous portion - were even more amazing.


Pancetta Wrapped Duck Breast, foie gras toasted gnocchi, and apple variations 

Bob and another dining companion ordered this - my taste was lovely - perfectly cooked duck breast wrapped in bacon, beautiful gnocchi with foie gras and apple flavors all together - harmony.


Roasted Dayboat Scallops, tofu, daikon, shiitake tempura, and sesame vinaigrettes

Another tablemate had this beautiful plate, and offered me a taste. The scallops were lovely, as were the vinaigrettes (and yes, there were two). Even though he kept protesting that he was full - our friend managed to reach clean plate, with a little help from his table mates.

I tasted, but did not  photgraph the Branzino (Italian Sea Bass), Gnocchi Carbonara, and Seared Pork Medallions. My tastes of all were terrific - I'd eat any of those dishes in a heartbeat! But I still think that I (and John) chose the best dish of the evening (and I so wish that I had a better photo for you):






Confitted Salmon,  new potato risotto, sweet garlic, and smoked salmon ribbons 

Chef Dante confits the salmon in duck fat. OMG OMG OMG! The taste and texture were simply amazing - the confit treatment gave the fish a mouthfeel (and taste) like the most premium salmon I've ever tasted. And it was perfectly cooked to a gentle medium. I loved everything on the plate, but the salmon was the rightful star. And the plate included not one, but two varieties of salmon - the smoked salmon ribbons - morsels of the same lovely salmon we'd sampled at the cocktail party - tasted perfect. Though I am normally a devotee of belly lox - I'd put this fish on my bagel any day of the week and twice on Sunday!! The sweet garlic was so tasty, I wonder if that also got a duck fat bath. At $19 a plate - I'll be eating this again, I'm sure.

After this course, we all pronounced ourselves sated. The Cleveland Cavaliers were about to seal their win over the Lakers, and so we took advantage of the crowd at the bar and the building excitement in the room to stretch and move around. When I returned to the table, it turned out that two table mates decided to share the Tahitian Vanilla Creme Brûlée with passion fruit shot and fine phyllo strands. I got a taste of this, but not a photo - it was so lovely. The creamy pudding was warm, and the candied top crunchy - I liked it a lot.

Our end of the table decided that we were too intrigued by the notion of black pepper flavored ice cream, and so we got the Tasting of Ice Creams and Sorbets plate:





These lovely tastes cleared our palates and gave us a sweet taste to end the evening. I'd order it again - if I had friends to share it with - its a generous portion. The pepper in the ice cream did not overwhelm the sweet at all, and was nice when combined with a bit of the dark chocolate disk. I also really liked the chocolate ice cream with the cakey topping.

Service was handled with a brisk and attentive team approach - though the restaurant was close to capacity for part of the time we were dining, service never missed a beat. Looking around the restaurant, I saw equally attentive service at other tables, and smiling faces among the diners.

Food, service and decor at Dante were all deemed first class fun by our table of eight - and we'll be back soon for the dinner Dante is doing to benefit Slow Food Northern Ohio - read about it here and hope to see you there!