We ran a mini game around inventorying all the computers in the ZCoB and won!  Our reward was attending the ZingFeast on June 28, 2007.

Beverages:
Fresh Strawberry Spritzer
Wild Mulberry Spritzer

Starters:
Grilled Norwegian Mackarel served with a gooseberry chutney atop a crostini
Cold Sour Cherry Soup topped with Marcona almonds
Fresh Arugula Salad tossed with fresh goat cheese, raspberries and tarragon

Mains:
Fresh Twigs & Berries - a salad of whole-wheat berries, sunflower sprouts, fresh cherries, herbs, onions and apple cider vinaigrette
New York Style New Potatoes simply boiled and served with Michigan farm butter
Organic Roasted Pork Shoulder slow roasted with blueberries, vinegar, bay leaves and onions

Dessert:
Fresh raspberry sorbet

Billie reintroduced an idea today that grabbed our interest. We have been doing our IT department dinners every couple of months but haven’t really leveraged our connections with the Zingerman’s businesses. What we’d like to do is work with the Zingerman’s businesses and build on current promotions of food  (such as Australian month) to craft our IT dinner and then we’d blog about it afterwards and share with the world our enthusiasms - further promoting the food!

We all got together at Craig & Jenny’s house to cook dinner last Friday. The menu: flounder stuffed with mushrooms topped with a tomato reduction; grilled asparagus with pecorino; corn chowder; homemade vanilla ice cream with fresh strawberries. Jillian’s taking the picture. More pics here…

For serious tea geeks, how about a tea-themed dinner?

“From tea-smoked salmon fillet, to herb-tea infused rice dishes, to green-tea flavored ice-cream or sorbet, premium teas are really a secret weapon to adding phenomenal flavor and depth to a variety of dishes,” said Thomas Griffiths, Certified Master Chef, professor in nutrition and culinary arts at the CIA.

Lipton-sponsored recipes included.

Ari hooked us up with some new Japanese green teas from Rishi (thanks, Ari!). Yesterday we brewed up the Kukicha, and it was delicious! Tasting notes coming soon, in the meantime enjoy the copy:

“Kuki” means twin in Japanese, and kukicha is one of the most popular types of green tea. Twigs from green tea contain polysaccharides that lend a sweet flavor and smooth mouthfeel to our blend. Rishi’s unique kukicha blend is infused with matcha which is prized for its high content of antioxidant polyphenols and the amino acid L-theanine, a natural anti-stress agent and nervous system relaxant found in tea.

A blend of deep steamed first flush fukamushi sencha tea leaves and twigs from he distinctly flavored Yabukita tea bushes of the Makinohara lowlands. Infused with matcha, this unique blend has a bright emerald infusion with a complex floral aroma, creamy body and sweet flavor.

The article Unhappy Meals in this last weekend’s (28Jan) NY Times Magazine is simply incredible. You should read it.

It fits in with other strands we see around us, such as Zingerman’s focus on traditional real foods, the Slow Food embrace of healthy food culture, the recent local problems of the Hebron Family and their raw milk service, and the popularity of Sally Fallon’s book Nourishing Traditions (in the 500 top selling books on Amazon.)

January 11, 2007 @ Elph’s

Olives: Luque
Cheese: Stilton, Alpeggio Fontina, Gabietou

Wine: Bigi Orvieto Classico Amabile, J. Lohr Cabernet Sauvignon

Entree: Salt encrusted rib-eye beef
Porcini & caramelized onion Risotto
Oven-roasted root vegetables (rutebega, turnip, potato, golden & red beets, onions, carrots, parsnip, garlic)

Dessert: Macaroons and Roadhouse vanilla gelato with raspberry reduction

Check out the photos in our photo gallery.

We picked up this new tea from Zingerman’s Deli last week (thanks, Gauri!), here are our thoughts:

A very pleasant nose with a rich malty aroma. Its taste hints at roasted grain and has a touch of sweetness. There’s little astringency and the flavor is long and smooth with a clean finish. It has a full body, but is not overwhelmingly strong. It’s companionable, and as Elph put it, “A tea I’d be happy to wake up to in the morning.” First steeping: 3 minutes, Second steeping: 4 minutes (and just as good!)

Wow, what a dinner. The Roadhouse threw down some awesome food - the theme was foods from the South that were special because of their local nature. Maybe you’ve tried them, probably you haven’t. The dinner was accompanied by stories from John T. Edge from Southern Foodways Alliance and some short films by Joe York. It was a full house of 75 excited people.
The menu included so many yummies - big ole Apalachicola oysters from northern Florida, Nashville fried HOT chicken, nassau grits, fried sweet potato pie (nice job from the Bakehouse on the desserts). The surprise favorite for me was the Georgia barbecue quail - it’s a wee bird but Alex did it up with some nice subtle sparks of cayenne so that it had a lasting impression without being too hot. It was a lyrical foreshadowing for the HOT chicken entree to come. That was spicy, and from the very funny short documentary film we watched on the subject, it was probably the mild version of what is served at Prince’s Hot Chicken in Nashville.

I’m looking forward to what the Roadhouse comes up with for these special dinners in 2007.