This weeks menu January 11, 2010

When looking over the menu to see what I wanted to change this week I looked at cooking one-pan wonders and have added a couple of classic dishes one steeped in Canadiana and the other a classic Tuscan braise. When I was growing up my mom would switch up roast chicken night with chicken and dumplings when the mood struck. The difference between my chicken dish and mom's is that I make my dumplings out of potato, hers were flour. I prepare a proper braise, my moms - in the crock pot. The other dish with its origins in Tuscany is Arista al Latte, pork cooked in milk. When my wife and I lived in Europe we spent quite a bit of time in Tuscany and in particular Florence as our base. We lived in a little pensione right by the Duomo where every night at about 2:00 in the morning some drunk guy would play the guitar for the rest of the night, once I heard him play sober, he was better drunk. The advantage to where we lived was twofold, we were within walking distance of a street called Via Faenza that had 2 great restaurants on it. One was a seafood place with an incredible anti pasto bar and the other I can't remember the name but it used to serve this pork roast/braise that was absolutely incredible and was served with potatoes and very well cooked vegetables. A bottle of local white wine and all was good in the world. Finish the night with a walk down to Gelateria Il Gran Duca for gelato and then an espresso, perfect.

This is the type of experience my menu can offer, cooking steeped with heart and soul, comfortable rustic healthy food. Food you really can't find elsewhere, you can find other potpies, stews, braises, soups, ethnic dishes, but not like mine. Thirty years of cooking have allowed me to gain the experience to build flavour while using my intuition with cooking to make it somehow better. I invite you to take a trip to Tuscany this week or a trip back in time to the family dinner table.

Good Eating,

David

Good Eats 2GO Menu
week of January 11, 2010

Soups & Sauces

Old fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup 10
Double chicken stock, chicken, vegetables, noodles, herbs & sea salt. This hearty
Soup makes the perfect lunchtime meal with some good crusty bread.

Classic Onion Soup 10
A winter classic that just needs the finishing touches, some gruyere cheese
or emmanthaler and toasted croutons to create your own French onion soup.

New England Clam Chowder 12
My chowder is rich and thick loaded with clams and potatoes. Ingredients – bacon, onion, celery, potato, butter, a touch of flour, milk, cream, sea salt, pepper and lots of clams.

Tomato Sauce (1lt) 9
Tomatoes, onion, garlic slowly cooked and gently pureed

Bolognese (1lt.) 16
Meat ragu with red wine & plum tomato slowly cooked in a low oven to develop
the complex rich flavours of a true Bolognese


Lunch

Burritos ($6 each, packages of 5) 30
Homemade burritos filled with marinated chicken, rice, guacamole, salsa, chipotle aioli
in a flour tortillas. Will freeze for 6 weeks

Quesadillas ($5 each, packages of 6) 30
Flank Steak, black beans, green onion, jalapeno, salsa & Monterey jack cheese.
Will freeze for 6 weeks

Red Chile Enchiladas (package of 8) 24
Tortillas filled with a marinated chicken mixture. Ready to bake with a
green chile tomato sauce & Monterey Jack cheese

Soups (500ml tub) 5
Choose from a selection of this week’s soups, minimum order of 3 tubs

Vegetarian Chili (500ml tub) 7
A medley of seasonal local vegetables and shell beans slowly cooked with tomatoes
and my own chili powder

Southwest Spicy Chili (500ml tub) 8
Slow cooked ground beef, tomato & white kidney beans highly seasoned
with my own chili powder.


Pasta

Traditional Lasagna 13/26
Layers of hand-made fresh pasta, Bolognese, 3 cheeses & béchamel

New! Fussili 14/24
Corkscrew pasta tossed with roasted chicken breast, mushrooms
Herbs tossed with white wine cream sauce

Orrichette 15/26
'Little ears' with homemade sausage, rapini, garlic and pepperoncino
tossed with rich tomato sauce

Mains

Chicken, Broccoli, Cheddar Casserole 16/29
Pan roasted chicken breast, steamed broccoli, chicken veloutÈ & lemony mayo
A touch of madras curry powder & cheddar cheese

Chicken Pot Pie 15/25
A traditional potpie with braised chicken & vegetables in a creamy chicken veloutè
My own butter short crust to top it off

New! Chicken & Dumplings 28
Whole Chicken cut in 8, braised in a rich chicken stock with fresh thyme
garlic, carrots, bulb onion, mushrooms, potato dumplings
sea salt & pepper.

Du Breton Pork Loin Braised with Fennel & Onions 15/27
A classic Italian braise of pork loin slowly braised with fennel, red onion, garlic
White wine & milk

Steak & Mushroom Pie 17/29
beef with mushrooms, onion & pancetta slowly braised in a red wine sauce
topped with a butter short crust.

New! Braised Short Ribs 18/34
Short Ribs braised in a red wine jus with, carrots, parsley root, parsnip and potato.
This dish is the epitome of a one-pan wonder, a complete dinner for 2 or 4. Enjoy one
of the most popular dishes in high-end restaurants now that braising is back in vogue
in the comfort of your own home.

Meatloaf 14/22
Lean meatloaf made with ground sirloin and smothered in mushroom gravy.

Sheppard’s Pie 15/26
Lean ground beef slow cooked with aromatic vegetables and topped with Yukon mash.



Southwest Spicy Chili (1lt tub) 15
Slow cooked ground beef, tomato & shell beans highly seasoned
with my own chili powder.

Cabbage Rolls (12 rolls) 28
Tender savoy cabbage leaves stuffed with a mixture of ground pork, rice
onion, tomato and spices gently cooked in a rich tomato sauce


Sides

Yukon mash 10
Hand whipped Yukon potato with Stirling creamery butter, Hewitt’s cream & sea salt

Yukon Potato Gratin 10
Layers of Yukon potato with red onion, thyme and cream

Sweet Potato Puree 10
Hand mashed sweet potato whipped with maple syrup & vanilla

Honey roasted Butternut Squash 10
Slow roasted butternut squash tossed with olive oil, honey, garlic, rosemary,
sea salt, black pepper

Steamed Jasmine Rice 5

Kids Menu

Chicken Fingers (800g) 19
Lightly breaded and pan fried strips of grain fed chicken breast simply seasoned
with sea salt & pepper

Mac ‘n Cheese 13
Rustic maccheroni tossed in a 3 cheese sauce & topped with parmigiano crust