Cut Cyclamen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

photo Kate Headley

Although cyclamen plants have been in my world for ages I just recently discovered cut cylclamen.  They come in a wide variety of pinks and a pure white.  If handled correctly the blooms last for two weeks.  Right now the only source I know of is  Holland, I buy  them directly from my broker at the Dutch Flower Auction.

How to process cut cyclamen flowers:  cut the stem to the desired length, near the end of the stem, about 1/8 of an inch from the bottom, cut a 1/4 inch slit part way through the stem lengthwise and immediately place in water.

Home Restaurant February 11, 2012

photo Kate Headley

Fabulous group gathered for a birthday celebration this past Saturday– this is what we served...

Passing

Parsnip with Garlic, Argmanac and Port Puree

Potato and Black Truffle

Grilled Flat Iron Steak with Rosemary

Vin de Paille Broth with Chive

Sweet Potato and Caramelized Onion

Pickled China Rose, Black Spanish and Watermelon Radishes

Bay Leaf Vodka Martini, (Labbe) Abymes Savoie 2010

Seated

Monkfish, Cabbage, Celery Root, Grainy Mustard and Black Walnuts– 48 hour farm bread

(Dom. des Roy) Touraine ROUGE "Les Linottes" 2009

Chiogga, White and Red Ace Beets – Tendersweet, Sugarsnax and Sweetness Carrots–  Gold Ball, Scarlet Queen and Purple Top Turnips on Arugula with Sesame Poppy Seed Dressing and Savi Seeds– herb whole wheat roll

(Tenuta Roveglia) Lugana Superiore Vigne di Catullo 2010

Wood Grilled Guinea Hen, Leeks, Salsify, White Lima Beans and Pea Shoots– olive oil spelt focaccia

(Dom. de Fenouillet) Beaumes de Venise "Cuvee Yvon Soard" 2009 MAGNUM

Grayson Cheese and Olive Cracker

Frozen Pistachio, Chocolate Cake, Thick Chocolate Sauce and Cocoa Nibs

Bites:  Salty Rosemary Walnut Biscotti, Coconut Almond Macaroon, Olive Oil Carrot Cake

Nouveau Nez

Vegan Home Restaurant

Last night we were very excited to host our first all vegan Home Restaurant.  Often we accommodate vegans at 1508 but this was the first time we served an entire vegan meal...

PASSING

Garlic, Port and Armagnac Puree

Mashed Potato and Black Truffle on Roasted Potato

Roasted Parsnip

Vin de Paille Broth with Chive

Sweet Potato and Caramelized Onion

Pickled China Rose, Black Spanish and Watermelon Radishes

(Ch. Les Valentines) Cotes du Provence ROSE Estate 2010, Bay Leaf Vodka Martini 

SEATED

Root Vegetable Salad: Chiogga, White and Red Ace Beets on Baby Arugula and Savi Seed Dressing– Tendersweet, Sugarsnax and Sweetness Carrots on Baby Blue Kale and Sesame Dressing–  Gold Ball, Scarlet Queen and Purple Top Turnips on Pea Shoots and Poppy Seed Dressing

(Tenuta Roveglia) Lugana Superiore Vigne di Catullo 2010

Leek and Wood Grilled Salsify Stew with White Lima Beans and Sorrel

(Cheveau) Saint Amour 'En Rontey' 2009 

Napa Cabbage filled with Yellow Oyster Mushrooms, Savoy Cabbage filled with Shiitake, Green Cabbage filled with Button Mushrooms, on Celery Root Puree with Roasted Chanterelle and Black Walnuts

(Triacca) Sassella Valtenllina Superiore 2008

Grain and Nut Yogurt Cheese on Walnut Cracker

Frozen Pistachio on Chocolate Cake with Thick Chocolate Sauce, Roasted Pistachios and Cocoa Nibs

(Moutard) Champagne 'Cuvee 6 Cepages' 2004 

Bites: Coconut Almond Macaroons, Salty Rosemary Walnut Biscotti, Mini Carrot Olive Oil Cake

Take Home: Sesame Coated Bread

Roasted Parsnips

Eat your parsnips, this time of year there are few things better... Roasted Parsnips

Peel parsnips, cut them in half, remove the core and then cut them into thin strips, preheat the oven to 375 degrees, coat the parsnips lightly with grapeseed oil, season with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar, roast them until they start to turn brown, stir them and continue roasting until they brown some more.  Total cooking time will be about 15-20 minutes.

Home Restaurant Hors d'oeuvre

Hors d'oeuvre translates into English as “a part from the main work” or “outside the oeuvre.”  Passing small bites or ‘hor d’oeuvres’ during cocktail hour is something that can’t really happen in a traditional restaurant.  We used to serve an amuse-bouche to people as they sat down in our former restaurant Rupperts. However this seemed very much a part of the main meal for us-- A gift from the chef to try to make people feel at home.  Of course the trend these days in restaurants is small plates— multiple small plates that aggregate into the main meal.  But how does one serve something at a dinner and keep it separate from that dinner.  During our Home Restaurants we create small bites that are served during a cocktail hour. Guests gather and visit in the library or out in the garden, weather permitting.  We use the time to develop relations with the diner.  A stranger has entered in to our home to eat, not the usual entitlement that goes along with the hard and cold contract of dinner reservations at a restaurant.  We want to introduce the guest to who we are with out intruding on the meal they are about to encounter.  There are three thoughts that we take into consideration as we try to do this. 1. Size… Knowing that people can only eat so much–  keep it small,  and light— avoid heavy ingredients.  2. Function…Make it easy to eat so it is welcoming and there are no awkward moments in an already unfamiliar setting.  3. A part from the main meal… Look for lacunas in the sit down portion, maybe there is no poultry or seafood, or maybe there is something that you do really well and that something did not make it on to your menu.

We have gone back in forth over the last few years with our bites and feel just recently to have gotten the hang of this ‘outside’ of the meal.  We look at it simply as if we were in our mother’s or grandmother’s kitchen and she would offer us a taste of something that she had stashed away but wasn’t on offering that night. Simple and raw, which is to say: beginnings always start from the outside.

Flower Today at 1508

This February we are doing more cooking than flowers, looking ahead at the spring  calendar I know this balance will shift. Today there are some gorgeous blooms around here that returned from a photo shoot, others that are for a sample for a large June event.

John shot these this morning and wanted to share...

My New Favorite Cutting Board

We have a collection of small wood cutting boards that are perpetually in use.  Right now many are made of bamboo which is not a favorite of mine because it is too hard a surface and quickly dulls our knives. A couple weeks ago we had an errand to do in Virginia and on the way home stopped by Eden Center, a huge Vietnamese strip mall in Virginia.  We brought home vegetable bao, some delicious citrus, beautiful greens and most excitingly a $20 wood round cutting board that we found at the Cho Saigon Supermarket.  We might need to make a dedicated trip back for a few more boards.

Sorrel in February

Sorrel, a favorite herb of ours is a perennial.  We grow a red veined variety in our front herb garden and green sorrel in our back walled garden.  Most winters it completely dies back and returns in the spring– this mild winter it is still going strong.  Saturday night we hosted a Home Restaurant and used it to complement passed Path Valley scrambled eggs.

Take Home Gift– chocolate, fig and walnut bread

I have always been a fan of both giving and receiving goodie bags.  When we do Home Restaurants we send guests home with something in hand, often warm bread just out of the oven– eaten by some on the way home from dinner and others for breakfast the following morning. My favorite take home gift of the moment is chocolate, dried fig and walnut bread.  The bonus is that we always make an extra loaf or two so we can enjoy it for breakfast the morning after we cook.

Birthday– Wednesday, February 1

-Salsify from Path Valley Cooperative, Pennsylvania

We were thrilled to host a birthday celebration for a friend of ours we met years ago at our former restaurant, Ruppert's. American wines were requested, not usually the origin of wines at our table. Tom, the wine importer who we count on to help us match food and wine did an outstanding job as always.  We enjoyed tasting wines that were all new to 1508.

Passing

Shiitake Soup, Kale with Sesame and Watermelon Radish, Parsnip, Celery Root and Shallot, Egg and Sorrel, Sweet Potato and Candy Onions, Guinea Hen and Parsley

(Illahe Vineyards) Pinot Gris Willamette 2010

Titos (Austin TX) Bay Leaf Vodka Cocktail

Seated

Wood Grilled Flat Iron Steak, Savoy Cabbage, Butternut Squash, Tiny Potato– Farm Bread

(Porter Creek) Zinfandel Sonoma 2009

Fennel, Black Walnut, White Lima Beans, Beets, Turnip, Carrot, Black Truffle– Rosemary Whole Grain Roll

(White Rock Vnyds) Chardonnay Napa 2009

Rockfish, Salsify, Saffron, Pea Shoots– Spelt Focaccia

(Porter Creek) Pinot Noir Russian River 2008

Harbison Cheese, Cracker

Carrot Cake, Coconut Sorbet, Toasted Coconut, Almonds, Pineapple

(Red Newt) Finger Lakes Riesling 'Circle' 2010

 Mini Chocolate Cakes, Tonka Bean Crisps, Chocolate Mint Drops

Take Home: Chocolate, Fig, Walnut Bread

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Mid-January Wedding Flowers

Just got these images back this morning.  Anemone, hyacinth, tulip, ranunculus, muscari... Ceremony at the Sidwell Friends Meetinghouse, followed by a celebration at the Women's Museum.  Bouquets and the second floor of the museum were filled with deep saturated color flowers,  the main floor was all silver and white blooms.  Thanks Paul Morse for the photos and Alexandra Kovach for putting it all together!