Wood Sorrel

I have been putting together July's menu and I am going to be using wood sorrel in one of the dishes.  If you have never had wood sorrel, aka false shamrock, you should definitely try it.  It is similar to sorrel in that it is lemony and acidic but it looks like a clover with a yellow flower...and it grows like crazy in Western MA.  I have it all over my yard.  Sometimes I think there is more wood sorrel than grass.  If you have a patch growing in your yard, try throwing some into your next salad.  The crisp and acidic green will bring a whole new life to your salad.  Know that I think about it, there just might be more wood sorrel in my yard than grass...at least it tastes better...

"It's what's for dinner"

My wife and I rarely eat beef.  In fact many people are surprised at how little beef we eat.  For some reason once summer rolls around, we are beef-a-holics...at least for us.  Yesterday I realized why.  At first I though it was the start of grilling season.  Not really, although grilled beef is the way to go.  Then I thought it was because we are a little more active so we crave the protein.  Nope, not really true.  Then right in the middle of our delicious grilled River Rock flatiron with chimichurri, fennel, fresh-churned butter, warm baguette and sungold tomatoes, I realized what it is.  It's tomatoes.  Well, really it's umami but tomatoes play a big part in that. 

Umami is often called the fifth taste.  To me it is more of a sensation then a taste.  You can achieve "false" umami, which is what makes great chefs great chefs.  Their uncanny ability to balance their dishes so well that all of your taste receptors go nuts at the same time.  "True" umami is actually a taste.  Your umami taste buds are located right in the middle of your tongue and when you eat umami your tongue gets, well, numb.  I studied umami quite a bit, in fact I almost opened a restaurant devoted to the phenominon.  It turns our there are too many variables, including mood, so I moved on.  Since umami is so complex I will try and keep this simple.  There are two different kinds of umami, basic and synergizing.  Foods may have one or both types and in many varying amounts and proportions.  These ratios change when food is cooked, matured or dried.  Think of a shitake mushroom.  When fresh it can create subtle umami, when seared it gets more, and when dried the umami is off the charts.  Now pairing two or more umami rich ingredients together, especially when you can achieve the "right" balance of the two types of umami, can create an extreme umami sensation (think of caesar salad...almost every ingredient is loaded with umami).

Now back to tomatoes.  Tomatoes, especially when super ripe and raw, have a great deal of basic umami.  You pair that with a food that is loaded with synergizing umami , like a dry-aged (more umami than fresh beef), grilled (adding more umami) flatiron (the more marbling in the cut, the more umami) and you get exploding, addicting, delicious umami.  So when I can get my hands on tomatoes, I crave beef to go with them.  It is a perfect meal for me.  This was a perfect meal for me...

Muscadet

Summer is upon us and we just finished "updating" the wine menu with some nice hot weather wines.  One of my favorite summer sippers is muscadet.  This often overlooked wine is perfect for warm weather and pairs wonderfully with light and refreshing summer foods.  Muscadet is bottled early so it tends to have some residual CO2 which gives it a light spritz.  Most have slight briny and minerally notes which add interest to its lemony, apple character.  Probably my favorite thing about muscadet is that it pairs perfectly with light summer seafood, especially clams and oysters.  I have clams on the menu right now and the pairing is unbelievable.  I was a bit sad when I finished my plate, I almost ordered another...

Come and Go and Come Again

Restaurants have an incredibly high employee turnover.  We have been very fortunate to have a surprisingly low turnover at BLG.  Of the employees that have left, most have left on great terms.  One of our favorite ex-employees is in town visiting and while it is great to see her, it is really interesting to see how much the staff bonds when she is back in town...old and new.  It really does make me think that we have a small family of sorts and it is nice to be apart of.  know that I think about it, the same happens when I visit my old stomping grounds.  Old and new staff meet and everyone has a good time, telling stories and reminiscing about the place we called or call our job.  I don't think many professions are like this, but then again I only know of this one...

Sunday Recap

This week I learned:

New Englander's love their lobster rolls...

That patience is good to have when hiring, some work out and some won't...

It is good to live in the Valley, even with a "tough" start to the growing season we still have amazing produce...

No matter how hard I try, I may miss a day of "the Journal".  Sorry about yesterday...

That biking to work in New England means there are going to be wet rides...

When I get stressed out and overworked I end up booking a hotel in NYC...

That BIG NEWS is hard to keep secret, but I must for a few more days...

I miss dining at the BLG, I haven't sat down in the restaurant to eat in a few weeks.  That needs to change, I have always said "if the owners don't eat there, you shouldn't either"...

Worried...

Another cool, rainy day and the thought of a tough produce year is turning from thought to gossip.  This is hard for a restaurant like us to swallow because all we use is local produce.  We have all been so excited to move on from the parsnips, purple turnips and potatoes that Winter Moon Farm worked so hard to store and deliver to us over the long winter.  There is only so many ways you can change the form of a vegetable over a course of a few months and still keep it interesting.  I am getting slightly worried that I may have to do the same with the summer vegetables.  We have been fortunate that our farms like us so much and have been giving us preferential wholesale treatment...in some weeks we have been the only restaurant they have delivered to.  I worry that a bad year may be detrimental to the farms we have grown to be more than business acquaintances with.  I want to see everyone we work with become prosperous, especially ones we consider friends.  Hopefully Mother Nature makes a turn for the better soon, otherwise we will be serving a lot of zucchini this year.  That's ok I guess, I love zucchini...

Sustainable Seafood Dinner

We love to use cook with seafood at BLG and like everything it needs to be sustainable.  This year we are celebrating sustainable seafood with an eight-course wine dinner.  I just finished the menu yesterday:

-Raw-

Bluepoint oyster, grapefruit confit, house-made creme fraiche

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Albrecht Brut Rose, Crémant, Alsace

-Cured-

scallop ceviche, pickled berries, jalapeno mousseline

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Dr. Loosen, Blue Slate, Riesling Kabinett, Germany 2009

-Poached-

salmon terrine, foraged wood sorrel, scallion oil

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Bonnet, Entre Deux Mers. Bordeaux Blanc 2010

-Steamed-

countneak clams, PEI mussels, prosciutto consommé, saffron

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Chateau Routas, Rouviere Rose, Provence 2010

-Fried-

dungeness crab cake, marinated mediterranean cucumbers

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Benton Lane, Pinot Gris, Oregon 2009

-Seared-

fennel encrusted ahi tuna, red beet puree, picholine olive relish

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Martin Codax, Temprinillo, Rioja Spain 2008

Roasted

pacific halibut, roasted summer vegetables, fennel infused vin rouge

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Terre d'Ombre Vin de Pays, Provence Rouge 2009

-Dessert-

champagne gelée, summer berries, chantilly