10.27.09
Autumn at Evangeline
We are getting in to our groove here with Autumn. While I love cooking all year round (there are about three days in March that are iffy), Autumn seems to be my favorite. Maybe the change from late summer to Autumn is more drastic than the transition from Winter to Spring, I don’t know.
I built my first cassoulet of the season. Little white coco beans are the traditional bean, though some may argue Tarbais. Braised pork belly, some bacon, some lamb and pork sausage, maybe a pork shank and pheasant. Mine is somewhere between the Carcassonne, Toulouse and Castelnaudary. They say there are as many cassoulets as there are cooks. Just like last year, I will use the last bits of each cassoulet to begin the next.
We now have the next harvest of Mitra’s Clabber fed Chickens, and these are fatter and more beautiful than the past. We will be doing a few of our composed clabber bird plates, or you can always call 24 hours in advance for a whole roast bird with garniture.
Wild game birds, (some still with shot in their flesh) like wood pigeon and red leg partridge from Scotland are on our plates, with traditional accoutrements like Bubble and Squeak, and bread sauce.
Pheasants from the Mid-West (they do pheasant right) are being served with heirloom squashes from Matt, and a whole Veal Calf from Longfellow’s Creamery was reduced to beautiful cuts in minutes. Longfellow’s Creamery is providing us with delicious cheese and some great cream. I made a small batch of table butter this week.
Soon enough, look forward to our Choucroute Garni. We have a whole bunch of Matt’s cabbage on a cure, which will be ready in a few weeks. Scallops are still delicious, and Maine Shrimp season is almost upon us.
Veal blanquette and Coq au Vin blanc are coming…tripe soup is working hard, and Matsutakes are adorning requested vegetarian plates, as well as Veal Sweetbreads. (For the vegetarians and vegans out there, come on in! I have been loving the challenge of cooking Vegan.)
Stephen has a great Autumnal drink list, and our Wines by the glass program has been a huge hit.
Many, many more things are popping up on our menu every day. (I change the menu daily, so please don’t use the menu on the website as a reference.)
I hope to see you all in soon!
Erik