Menu Change for Thursday March 1st

After a recent trip to Miami, I was inspired to bring a bit of the Cuban flavor back home. We are going to prepare Ropa Vieja with Frijoles Negro y Arroz (black beans and rice). Please join us. Buen Provecho!

Ropa vieja originated in the Canary Islands (Spain), which were the last place ships from Spain would stop on the way to the Americas. They were also the first place that Spanish ships coming from the Americas would stop en route back to Spain. Due to this, Canarian culture is very similar to the Caribbean as well as Spain. The Canarian Spanish dialect of Spanish spoken there is very similar to the Caribbean and sounds extremely close to the dialects of Cuba and Puerto Rico, due to heavy and continuous immigration to both islands. This is how ropa vieja arrived in the islands; with the Canarian immigrants.[citation needed] The original version of ropa vieja contained leftovers, but later became a shredded meat dish with chickpeas and potatoes in the Canary Islands.

There are many theories as to how the dish was named. One of the more popular ones is a story about a man whose family was coming to his home for dinner. Being very poor, the man could not buy them enough food when they came. To remedy his situation, he went to his closet, gathered some old clothes (ropa vieja) and imbued them with his love. When he cooked the clothes, his love for his family turned them into a wonderful beef stew.

Todays Menu - 2/17/12

Today we are serving Jerk Fish, Braised Collards and Coconut Rice. Please join us. Bon Appetit!

Coconut milk is extracted by grating mature coconuts and squeezing them by using cheesecloth or both bare hands.

Following are some of the health benefits of coconut milk:

1.Helps to maintain blood sugar places:
Glucose intolerance may cause manganese deficiency in your body. Coconut milk is a rich source of manganese. Whole grains, legumes and nuts are some excellent sources of manganese.

2.Aids in building strong bones:
Coconut milk is not rich in calcium, but it is rich in phosphorus. Phosphorus is an essential nutrient that body needs for strengthening bones. It is must to take phosphorus with calcium particularly to prevent bone loss because it supplies phosphate to the body.

3.Relaxes muscles and nerves:
Whenever you feel muscle cramps or muscle soreness, have some food along with coconut milk. It is rich in magnesium and can help you in relieving the problem. One of the functions of magnesium is it acts as a gate block in many nerve cells. If magnesium is not present in body, nerve cells become very active because of calcium that activates nerves. Excess contraction of muscles is caused by over active nerve cells.

4.Helps in Controlling Weight:
This can be a good news for people who are trying to reduce weight. Coconut milk makes you feel full very quickly because of high concentrations of dietary fiber.

5.Helps in lowering high blood pressure:
People who are concerned with their blood pressure will not face any problem for reaching the foods containing potassium. Potassium helps in lowering blood pressure levels in the body.

Coconut Milk and Lactose Intolerance
If you have lactose intolerance, the easiest way to manage your symptoms is to avoid foods with lactose, such as any products made with milk that comes from animals. Coconut milk is free of lactose, meaning that you may consume coconut milk if you are lactose intolerant, according to the DairyFreeLiving website. Although you can substitute coconut milk for animal milk in recipes, coconut milk has a different taste and consistency than animal-derived milk, so it may not be ideal for some recipes.

Menu Change

Tomorrow, Thursday February 16th we are changing the menu. We will be serving Baked Ziti with a Vegetable Medley. Tomorrows original menu will be next Wedsnesday.
Bon Appetit!

Menu Change

Tomorrow 2/15/12, we will test out a new recipe. We will be preparing Turkey Pot Pie. Come by and join us!

Whats for Lunch? Feb.10, 2012

On Friday Feb 10th we are serving Seafood Jambalaya, Rice and House Salad. Please join us. Bon Appetit!

Jambalaya History
Creole jambalaya originates from the French Quarter of New Orleans, in the original European sector. It was an attempt by the Spanish to make paella in the New World, where saffron was not readily available due to import costs. Tomatoes became the substitute for saffron. As time went on, French influence became strong in New Orleans, and spices from the Caribbean changed this New World paella into a unique dish. In modern Louisiana, the dish has evolved along a variety of different lines. Creole jambalaya, or red jambalaya as it is called by Cajuns, is found primarily in and around New Orleans, where it is simply known as 'jambalaya'. Creole jambalaya includes tomatoes, whereas Cajun jambalaya does not.

Cajun Jambalaya originates from Louisiana's rural, low-lying swamp country where crawfish, shrimp, oysters, alligator, duck, turtle, boar, venison, nutria[1] and other game were readily available. Any variety or combination of meats, including chicken or turkey may be used to make jambalaya. Cajun jambalaya is known as 'Brown jambalaya' in the New Orleans area; to Cajuns it is simply known as 'jambalaya.' Cajun jambalaya has more of a smoky and spicy flavor than its cousin Creole jambalaya.[citation needed] The white French Creoles introduced jambalaya to the Cajuns, but since tomatoes were rarely used in Cajun cooking, they omitted them, browning the meat for color instead

Menu Change

Today we are serving Hawaiian BBQ Chicken, Mashed Sweet Potatoes and House Salad. Sorry for any inconveniences.

Whats for Lunch? Feb.6, 2012

Todays lunch features: Spaghetti and Meatballs with House Salad. Bon Appetito!

The Marinara Sauce today was created using locally sourced Heirloom Tomatoes.

An heirloom is generally considered to be a variety that has been passed down, through several generations of a family because of it's valued characteristics. Since 'heirloom' varieties have become popular in the past few years there have been liberties taken with the use of this term for commercial purposes. At TomatoFest Garden Seeds we chose to adopt the definition used by tomato experts, Craig LeHoullier and Carolyn Male, who have classified down heirlooms into four categories:

Commercial Heirlooms: Open-pollinated varieties introduced before 1940, or tomato varieties more than 50 years in circulation.

Family Heirlooms: Seeds that have been passed down for several generations through a family.

Created Heirlooms: Crossing two known parents (either two heirlooms or an heirloom and a hybrid) and dehybridizing the resulting seeds for how ever many years/generations it takes to eliminate the undesirable characteristics and stabilize the desired characteristics, perhaps as many as 8 years or more.

Mystery Heirlooms: Varieties that are a product of natural cross-pollination of other heirloom varieties.

Meatball Facts
The record for World's Largest Meatball was set several times in 2009. It was first set in Mexico in August weighing 49.4 kg (109 pounds) and then again a month later in Los Angeles when late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel helped set the record weight at 90 kg (198.6 pounds).In October 2009, an Italian eatery in Concord, New Hampshire set the new record at 101 kg (222.5 pounds).

Today in our Cafe we are serving Fajitas, Rice and Vegetable Medley. Join Us. Bon Appetit.

A fajita (/fəˈhiːtə/; Spanish pronunciation: [faˈxita]) is a term found in both traditional Mexican cuisine and in Tex-Mex cuisine,[1] commonly referring to any grilled meat served as a taco on a flour or corn tortilla.

In Spanish "faja" means belt or girdle; "fajita" is the diminutive form. In original Tex-Mex culinary parlance, fajitas are a dish with roots in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas made from a specific cut of meat: skirt steak.

Whats for Lunch? Feb.1, 2012

For todays lunch we are having Hamburgers, Mashed Potatoes & Sauteed Spinach. Please join us.

Beef Facts
All of our beef is coming locally from NY and is grass fed. But what does that mean?
Many of us think of “corn-fed” beef as nutritionally superior, but it isn’t. A cornfed cow does develop well-marbled flesh, but this is simply saturated fat that can’t be trimmed off. Grassfed meat, on the other hand, is lower both in overall fat and in artery-clogging saturated fat. A sirloin steak from a grainfed feedlot steer has more than double the total fat of a similar cut from a grassfed steer.

Grassfed beef not only is lower in overall fat and in saturated fat, but it has the added advantage of providing more omega-3 fats. These crucial healthy fats are most plentiful in flaxseeds and fish, and are also found in walnuts, soybeans and in meat from animals that have grazed on omega-3 rich grass. When cattle are taken off grass, though, and shipped to a feedlot to be fattened on grain, they immediately begin losing the omega-3s they have stored in their tissues. As a consequence, the meat from feedlot animals typically contains only 15- 50 percent as much omega-3s as that from grassfed livestock.

Fun Facts about Burgers
Supposedly, the first hamburgers in U.S. history were served in New Haven, Connecticut, at Louis' Lunch sandwich shop in 1895. Louis Lassen, founder of Louis' Lunch, ran a small lunch wagon selling steak sandwiches to local factory workers. Because he didn't like to waste the excess beef from his daily lunch rush, he ground it up, grilled it, and served it between two slices of bread -- and America's first hamburger was created. The small Crown Street luncheonette is still owned and operated by third and fourth generations of the Lassen family. Hamburgers are still the specialty of the house, where steak is ground fresh each day and hand molded, slow cooked, broiled vertically, and served between two slices of toast with your choice of only three 'acceptable' garnishes: cheese, tomato, and onion.