Culinary Corner January 10-15

Hello! Hopefully all of you are happy and healthy in this second week of 2022, we are touch and go as far as staffing and COVID-related issues but we persevere and hope to continue to bring things as close to "normal" as we can during this latest wave. Please wear your masks as much as possible, and if you haven't gotten your booster shot, I urge you to do so and stay healthy.

The soup of the week is Thai Wild Mushroom. A mix of wild mushrooms (no Shiitakes), coconut milk, miso and curry paste. This soup will be gluten-free, dairy-free and vegetarian.

The Appetizer of the week is Chicken Teriyaki Meatballs. Ground chicken, breadcrumbs, and egg are the basic ingredients for the meatballs, then they are braised in teriyaki sauce for a couple of hours until tender.

The Cheese plate this week is Laura Chenel's Marinated Goat's Cheese. This california version of French Cabecou cheese is marinated in extra virgin olive oil, with fresh herbs and garlic which softens the tart flavor and adds a rich aroma. Probably my favorite part of this cheese is the oil, which I always save and use in vinaigrettes or just to drizzle on fresh bread. We serve this with Beet Chutney and fresh bread.

At Lunch look for Crispy Soft Shell Crab. When crustaceans such as crabs grow, their hard shells don't grow with them. They periodically have to shed their armor, and there is a period of time before the new shell hardens. If the crabs are harvested right after they shed, and then refrigerated alive, their shell will not harden (for a few days at least)

.To serve, we clean out the head and gills, and then the entire crab is cooked and eaten whole. This is absolutely delicious, and this week we serve it with a lemon aioli, wild rice and asparagus. Aioli is just a fancy French word for a garlicky mayonnaise. We use egg, lots of lemon, a little garlic and canola oil to make our sauce, which will accent this treat nicely.

We have a low-fat Turkey Burger on the Lunch Menu with a creamy cranberry spread, Swiss cheese and seasoned potato wedges.

Try the Sweet Soy-Glazed Pork Tenderloin at lunch, it is served sliced thin over fried rice and snow peas.

Also, a Baja Shrimp Wrap at lunch with fresh shrimp, tomatoes, lime, cilantro and chives.

For our vegetarians, we have a Quesadilla made with Impossible Burger meat. if you haven't tasted this you should really try it. It does taste quite a bit like burger meat (at twice the price...), with shredded colby cheese, our own fresh salsa, Lupe's guacamole, Spanish rice and jicama slaw.

For a pasta this week, we have a simple Spaghetti and Meatballs dish covered in shaved parmesan, served with rich garlic bread.

On the dinner buffet, look for Bacon-Wrapped Scallops with tomato coulis, Chicken Enchiladas, Barramundi (a type of sea bass), Beef Stroganoff, Lobster Tail, and classic Fish and Chips with Malt Vinegar.

Don't forget, the Sip and Savor this week is on Tuesday at 2pm. I am planning a tasting of Four different styles of Tequila, with accompanying foods.

We haven't done this one since 2017, but the stories from the last one still linger. As always, this is only a tasting, and even if you don't care for tequila, we plan to have a lot of fun anyway so please come. I'll make sure everyone gets a good meal before we finish...