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July at The Kitchen is Spectacular!
We are Open for Dinner Saturday, 4th of July.
Come Celebrate with Us!
Call us for reservations in July…Seats are going
fast.
5 O’clock Sunday Suppers for the month: July 12th
and July 26th!
Please
call Bobbie for available seats and reservations.
916.568.7171
July
is heating up at The Kitchen. We have a very elegant,
clean, and fresh menu to complement the month and the
season to perfection. Many of these dishes sound simple,
but it’s all a trick. As Chef Noah said, this
menu is actually a ton of work behind the scenes –
it just looks easy! The July menu is full of refined
and refreshing courses that will melt in your mouth
and have you ready for more. Good thing you can ask
for seconds, thirds, and fourths on anything, anytime.
Come have an evening getaway with us and savor all the
best of the season and the best things in life.
We
are happy to adjust the menu to meet your dietary needs
-
please let us know in advance.
The
Kitchen: July 2009 Menu
- First Course -
Creamy Burrata Cheese Stuffed Heirloom Tomatoes
with Crispy Soft Shell Crab, Tomato-Beef Jus,
Virgin Olive Oil and Basil
We know many of you have just been waiting for the sinfully
rich and creamy Burrata Mozzarella to come back. Well,
it’s the time and the season, because with ripe
summer heirloom tomatoes comes the beloved Burrata.
This Italian specialty cheese is amazing stuff. It’s
a fresh Italian cheese, made from mozzarella and cream.
The outer shell is solid mozzarella while the inside
contains both mozzarella and cream – essentially
making it mozzarella stuffed mozzarella.. The name "burrata"
means "buttered" in Italian, and you will
be hooked from the first bite. Ours is coming to us
from a small producer named Gioia, who actually makes
the artisanal cheese completely by hand in a small warehouse
down in El Monte in Southern California. Vito Girardi
is the top cheese maker there, and is a master at making
this silky delicacy. Of course, we also have our favorite
accompaniment to Burrata, perfectly ripe heirloom tomatoes
in different varieties. For the July menu, we are selecting
the cream of the crop every couple of days from Capay
Valley Farmers. With the dish, crispy fried first of
the season Soft Shell Crab from Chesapeake Bay goes
beautifully with clean, delicately flavored single orchard
designated Prunatelli Olive Oil and a light jus of tomato
water and seared pan juices from our Piedmontese beef
tenderloin. Randall came up with this playful addition
when he was grilling up some steaks with tomato salad
recently at home with the family. He thought the juices
from the steak mixed with the juices from the salad
“accidentally” were a great combo, adding
a bit of richness and depth and charred flavor, so he
incorporated his find into the menu. Enjoy!
-
Second Course -
Roasted Summer Mushroom Tart with
House Made Peppered Bacon, Fresh Picked Herbs
Maple-Bourbon Sherry Gastrique and
a Poached Duck Egg
This dish is chock full of amazing ingredients and is
my personal pick of the month for the sleeper hit. Get
ready to order seconds of this flakey and buttery tart
filled with gorgeous mushrooms all procured for us by
Connie Green the Mushroom Lady in Napa. Varieties will
include California Porcinis, European Wild Chanterelles,
and cultivated Shiitakes from Oregon. In the tart, along
with the mushrooms, you will find one of life’s
most amazing gifts – bacon! This month, Sous Chef
Stan Moore is taking the great pork we get from small
local producer John Bledsoe at Bledsoe Farms and making
a Peppered Bacon that is cold cured then smoked for
12 hours over apple wood. We serve the tart with a phenomenal
sherry gastrique we make using an artisanal, hand crafted
sherry vinegar with unmatched flavor from Blis in Michigan.
Blis “9” year old is a true double solera
sherry vinegar, which has been aged twice in small batch
single barrel bourbon casks that had previously contained
aged organic maple syrup. This lends an enhanced sweetness
and intense flavor of wood, orange peel, vanilla and
butterscotch not found in any other vinegar. Add fresh
picked herbs and a touch of cream, and you have a summer
mushroom tart that is simply stunning. The poached duck
egg is just a bit of icing on the cake, lending an unexpected
element of creamy richness.
- Sushi - Sashimi - Crudo -
-
Third Course -
Pan Seared Very Large Sea Scallops and
Fried Hamachi, Potato Confit, Chervil
and Chardonnay-Fennel Broth
The seafood course this month sounds too good. I’ve
tried these giant sea scallops from Maine and they are
so delicious – clean and meaty – not fishy
at all, and with a delightful firm texture. If you love
scallops, these fresh-caught beauties will impress.
And if you haven’t enjoyed scallops before, we
promise they will make you a convert. These are dayboat
scallops, meaning they are caught, brought to shore,
and shipped all in the same day do they never sit around
on ice in the boats. This ensures optimal freshness
and flavor. We will simply sear the scallops and serve
them with small diced pieces of lightly fried hamachi
from the world famous Tsukigi fish market in Tokyo.
Then we add some russet potatoes poached down in butter
and duck fat – the best kind of fat there is –
and place it all on an ethereal and subtly flavored
broth of reduced Chardonnay, fennel, and the cooked
down Scallop “boots”. The boots add a true
depth of flavor to a broth that altogether completes
a wonderfully grown up and elegant course.
-
Fourth Course -
Natural Piedmontese Beef Tenderloin
with Lobster Creamed Corn, Small Onion Rings,
Truffle and Red Wine
One of our favorite and most-loved beef tenderloin producers
is back this month for an encore. We were going to try
a New York strip, but when Randall and Noah tasted the
Montana Ranch tenderloin again they were smitten, and
just had to go with it for July’s menu. The Montana
Ranch beef tenderloin is amazingly tender, juicy, and
absolutely delicious. Raised all naturally without the
use of added growth hormones or antibiotics, this hearty,
full-flavored beef comes from herds born and raised
on open rangelands where they enjoy peaceful surroundings
and the finest resources nature has to offer. The Piedmontese
strain, originally an Italian breed, is in particular
renowned for its juicy and tender qualities that offer
up just the right amount of all the good-for-you-fats
that are delicious and only taste sinful! Along with
the beef however we do of course have all your rich
and over-the-top flavors that we love in the Lobster
Creamed Corn, which is essentially butter poached Maine
Lobster combined with ultra-sweet creamed Brentwood
corn from down south Brentwood corn is prized among
chefs and foodies for its quality and sugar content.
Little crispy onion rings add a nice touch of texture,
and a reduction of veal and red wine infused with luxurious
truffle butter add the final flourishes to our last
savory dish. Time to order those seconds again.
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Dessert Course -
Peach and Crème Brulee Napoleon with
Watermelon Broth, Blackberry Mash
and Toasted Macadamia
This super-seasonal and totally fresh dessert is all
about the amazing locally grown farmers market fruits
we are incorporating into it. The peaches, just now
in season, are divine. As always, we are getting them
from Brenner Farms up in Newcastle where they consistently
grow the most beautiful, juicy ripe peaces we’ve
ever seen. Ask Bobby Georges, one of our chefs, and
he might just make you one of his Peach Milkshakes!
We are also getting our Blackberries from the Brenners,
and they give the peaches a run for their money. We
are layering the peaches with crispy flaky pastry and
a crème brulee style custard and topping the
napoleon with a decadent mash made from the blackberries.
On the base of the dish, a light and refreshing broth
made from watermelons grown in the Stockton area by
our friend Beatrice Jimenez is the perfect Summer touch.
Then we add crunchy, sweet macadamia nut brittle for
texture and flavor. Knowing Randall, he will want to
incorporate chocolate somewhere on this dessert. He
just can’t help it! Perhaps a chocolate lace cookie
on the side…Stay tuned and find out…”
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Come Join Us -
We can’t wait to see you in July!
All the best,
Gina, Noah, and the Crew
- July Dinner Menu -
Presented by Chefs Nancy Zimmer, Randall Selland
and Chef de Cuisine Noah Zonca
______
Creamy Burrata Cheese Stuffed Heirloom Tomatoes
with Crispy Soft Shell Crab, Tomato-Beef Jus,
Virgin Olive Oil and Basil
~~~
Roasted Summer Mushroom Tart with
House Made Peppered Bacon, Fresh Picked Herbs
Maple-Bourbon Sherry Gastrique and
a Poached Duck Egg
~~~
Sushi ~ Sashimi ~ Crudo
~~~
Pan Seared Very Large Sea Scallops and
Fried Hamachi, Potato Confit, Chervil
and Chardonnay-Fennel Broth
~~~
Natural Piedmontese Beef Tenderloin
with Lobster Creamed Corn, Small Onion Rings,
Truffle and Red Wine
~~~
Peach and Crème Brulee Napoleon with
Watermelon Broth, Blackberry Mash
and Toasted Macadamia
______
Seats will fill up quickly, so please make reservations
soon.
Please contact The Kitchen at 916.568.7171
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