fried quail with bourbon-orange-clove bbq sauce, crispy brussle sprouts, smoked blue cheese

Quail dredged in rice flour, and tossed in...

Makers Mark-Orange Zest-Clove BBQ sauce

Duck Fat Braised Brussle Sprouts, crisped with butter.

Smoked Blue Cheese

Micro Spring Mix

fried shrimp and scallops in roasted tomato and red pepper broth, with grilled leeks, marcona almonds, & sweet paprika oil

Shrimp & Scallops fried in Butter and Fine Herbs

Roasted Red Pepper & Roasted Heirloom Tomato Broth

Grilled Leeks

Crushed, Toasted Marcona Almonds

Smoked Sweet Paprika Oil

pan seared pheasant with carrot-clove puree, bacon-potato hash, wilted spinach & pork belly jus

Went into work the other day and was delighted to be put in charge of the entree special for the night, usually the grill cooks job, a nice change from appetizer specials. So I made this, because it was nasty and cold, and well, we live in Wyoming. I figured everyone needed some primal needs met...like bacon, potatoes, vegetables, protein, noms.

Pan Seared-Butter Basted Pheasant

Wilted Baby Spinach

Sweet Potato-Blue Potato-Bacon-Oyster Mushroom Hash

Creamed Carrot & Clove Puree

Pork Belly Braising Liquid Reduced with Shallots & Wine

lamb, elk & porkbelly meatballs with roasted tomato sauce, braised shallot, arugula & pecorino romano

So meatballs are literally my absolute favorite food to make, and to eat. Sauce included. You can't have meatballs without homemade sauce. My closest friends know, meatballs are how I show affection. The love is palatable. Because I freaking love when my friends eat my food, especially my saucey meatballs. I'm not going to give any more of a description for this one, actually, because you can kick rocks if you think I'm gonna share my meatball secrets, or my saucey ones.

steamed mussles in chardonnay-butter-lemon sauce with roasted beets, purple carrots & endive

We often have lots of mussles to use up at work, so it comes down to creativity. How many ways can
I make em? This was tonight's...

Prince Edward Island Mussles Steamed 

Rosemary-Lemon-Honey-Butter

Thyme

Chardonnay

Chicken Stock

Roasted Beets

Purple Carrot Curls

Raw Endive

pheasant fricassee with blue potatoes, carrots & fennel

Pheasant Slow Cooked in Butter, Lemon & Rosemary

Parmesiano Reggiano Rind-Fennel -Chicken Consume... 

...Finished with Butter, Cream, Shallots

Butter and Herb Sauteed Carrots, Fennel & Blue Fingerlings. 

purple potato, tasso ham & cauliflower au gratin with smoked maple cheddar cheese & pickled vegetables

THIS: UGH:

Purple Fingerling Au Gratin with Maple Smoked Cheddar
 
Tasso Ham & Cauliflower 

Pickled Onions, Carrots, Celery, Fennel

 

black sea bass, shrimp & mussle-citrus ceviche

Black Sea Bass, PEI Mussles, and Tequilla Marinated Shrimp in Citrus Juices, Herbs&Spices

Citrus Pickled Vegetables; Red Onion, Bell Peppers, Cucumber

Corn Tortilla Chips with Salt and Lime

Fresh Avocado

Micro Mint-Lavendar

steamed mussles and crispy pork belly with basil fennel cream, grilledleek salad, and chamomile honey

Maine Mussles steamed in wine, butter, herbs.

Crispy pork belly.

Basil fennel cream.

Grilled leek-carrot-fennel salad

Chamomile-Rosemary Infused Honey

Micro Chives 

Micro Turnip Greens 

honey, beet, lemon and herbal tea infused medley

So, today is "Ground Hog Day," a holiday that seems completely obscure and unnecessary...however the origins of the "holiday" are really rather beautiful. The day has evolved through time...

IMBOLC: a Pagan celebration observing the half-way point between the Winter Solstice, and the Vernal Equinox; the re-awakening of the sun, and the prevailing victory of light over darkness in our days.

DAY OF SAINT BRIGHID: Brighid was a goddess associated with the celebration, until the Catholic Church got a hold of the whole shin-dig, and named her a Saint. It's the Christianized version of Imbolc. 

CANDLEMAS: The Christian holiday based on the Pagan Celebration Imbolc, but re-staged, as the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, as described in the Book of Luke. 

GROUND HOG DAY: A North American holiday, when Punxsutawney Phil, a Ground Hog, awakes from hibernation, and decides, with his shadow, how much longer winter will last..... 

For a holiday with so much history and such lovely origins (kinda got weird after the Pagans), I couldn't help but think all day about the sun re-awakening, and the earth budging from its icy covers. I wanted my special at work tonight to reflect how I feel about my favorite celestial body getting stronger, and eventually beckoning Spring. I thought about it for a while, and then it came to me: BEES. It's all about bees and honey and pollination and plants and oxygen and water and SUNLIGHT. So....honey all up in my special, along side a few earthy, vibrant themes that seemed appropriate. (LEMON & HERBAL TEAS)

Honey Glazed, Lemon Verbena Poached Baby Beets

Butter and Honey Braised Shallots

Fennel & Arugula Salad

Lemon-Chamomile Apple Sauce

Beet-White Balsamic Vinaigrette

Beet, Thyme & Verbena Infused Honey

Mint

pan seared tile fish, on beet and endive chutney, in grilled zucchinibowls

Pan seared Tile Fish

Beet, Endive & Honey Chutney

Grilled Zucchini Rounds

Creamed Parsnip Puree

Allspice Carrot Puree

Micro Greens