Spring Salads for Lunch

Two new salads on our Spring lunch menu, and we love 'em both. In the photo above (taken by multi-talented manager/bookkeeper Heather), nearest to the viewer, is the Apple Ribbon and Arugula salad. Crisp and tart green Granny Smith apples are sliced to order (so no browning) into broad, flat ribbons and tossed with peppery arugula greens and sweet-but-not-too-sweet honey-poppyseed dressing. Sprinkled over the whole lovely mess are gorgonzola (a crumbly blue cheese) and pecans spiced with cayenne, paprika, and brown sugar.

The second salad, pictured below, is the 8th Street Chopped Salad, and it is completely filling and satisfying. It's a jumble of avocado, cucumber, crispy onions, radish, celery, tomato, and broccoli. The pile is topped with feta and a sliced "six-minute egg," which means it's boiled for about -- you guessed it -- six minutes, so that the white is done firm and the yolk is mostly done, left just a little creamy at the center. The final touch: toasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds.

We're a The Knot Best of Weddings 2010 Pick!

Wedding season approaches, and we're getting ready to host many a blushing bride. Now we're blushing, too... because we won an award!

We are proud to announce that Pachamama's has been rated by local brides and voted The Knot Best of Weddings 2010 Pick. This is our second year in a row to receive this honor. You can see the 2010 winners here, and learn more about how we were selected here.

We've hosted some beautiful weddings in both our Blue Room (seats 50) and our Alton Ballroom (seats 200). We are happy to provide couples and their families with such great evenings.

Mother's Day Brunch Menu

A quick post: our Mom's Day Brunch menu is finished! It'll be served one day only: Sunday, May 9 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (It's five courses, $35 per person.)

Sweet Crab and Mango Martini with Crushed Avocado, Lime Leaf Yogurt, & Caramelized Macadamia.

Asparagus and Sweet Pea Soup with Soft-Poached Egg & Truffled Bacon.

Farmers’ Sausage and Cheddar Crêpe with Granny Smith Apples & Cracked Pepper-Maple Drizzle.

Entrée: Choice of...

Lavender and Tomato Roasted Snapper with Fingerling Potatoes, Arugula, & Chive-Blossom Citronette,

Or,

Peppercorn Cullotte Steak with Spinach Stuffed Portabella, Fried Onions, & Tart Cherry Jus.

Dessert: Assortment of Pastries and Sweets.

Reservations strongly suggested; call 785.841.0990 to secure your spot!

Bienvenue, Monsieur Baptiste!

We are excited to welcome Jean Baptiste, winemaker at Moulin de la Gardette, to our restaurant for tomorrow’s Wine Dinner (Thursday, April 29, 6 p.m.) Pictured here is a scene from the beautiful Gigondas AOC.

Here is some information about Monsieur Baptiste, taken from the Moulin de la Gardette Web site:

“For five generations the Meunier family has devoted itself to caring for the vines on the upper garrigue slopes of Les Dentelles. The rich, full and complex Gigondas of Moulin de la Gardette that we enjoy today is the joyful culmination of that tradition. Since 1990, care of the estate has been in the capable hands of Jean Baptiste Meunier who marries sensitivity, respect for traditional values and the best winemaking technology to produce the remarkable Moulin de la Gardette Gigondas wines.”

Here’s our menu, with Chef Ken Baker’s wine pairings:

Reception, 6 p.m.
Green Dirt Farms Woolly Rind Cheese, with arugula-herb salad, apricot-orange blossom vinaigrette, and rye bread crumbs. Ch. De Montfaucon, Comtesse Madeleine, Cotes de Rhone 2005.

Dinner
Banyuls-Cured Pork Belly, with fava beans, charred spring onion, strawberry, and rhubarb. Moulin de la Gardette, Rose, Gigondas 2005.

Eggs En Concotte, with rosemary white beans, saucisson sec, toasted country bread, and aged boucheron. Ch. de Montfaucon, Baron Louis, Cotes de Rhone 2005.

Wood-Fired Duck Breast, with spring vegetable farro, honey-roquefort butter, raspberries, and duck jus. Ch. de Montfaucon, La Cuvee Tradition, Gigondas, 2005.
Fromage Blanc Sorbet

Grilled Spring Lamb Chops, fried ramp-stuffed morels, blackberries, and mint-tarragon lamb essence. Moulin de la Gardette, La Cuvee Ventabren, 2005.

Coffee and Tea Service, with an assortment of truffles and petit fours.

Cost is $75 per person. At the time this blog post was written, we have just a few spots left. Call 785.841.0990 if you're interested in joining the party.



Ici, le petit Jean et son pére.

LOLA Spring Show at Pachamama's

Art
Mommy's Day is around the corner... Pachamama's can help out with that in two ways. First, we're hosting the Ladies of Lawrence Artwork (LOLA) Spring show this Saturday, May 1. LOLA is a loose collective of artisans who make crafts from jewelry to soap, laptop bags to dog collars, greeting cards to headbands. All of these vendors will be at the show:

Early Jewelry
Glitter and Rust
Molly Murphy
Awava
KitMit
Ugly Mug
Little Bluestem Baby
Leslie Kay
Healing Moon

Come in this Saturday to the Blue Room and take a gander, anytime between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. You'll find something beautiful, hand-made, unique, and local for dear old Mum.

Then, on Mother's Day proper (Sunday, May 9), you can treat your mother to Pachamama's Mother's Day Brunch, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. We're serving a five-course menu. $35 per person. Menu details coming soon - we promise it'll be amazing. Reservations suggested; call 785.841.0990 to secure your spot.

House-Made Smoked Mozzarella

When we say something is "house-made," we mean it. We make everything we can right here, from ketchup to salad dressing, burger buns to marshmallows, and infused vodkas to spiced simple syrups.

This includes our smoked mozzarella. First, our cooks make the mozzarella itself, from purchased whole curd. They put the curd into boiling salted water, shape it into balls, and then shock the cheese by putting it into ice water.

The process basically "remolds the protein strands in the milk; it elongates them," which gives the mozzarella its stretchy texture, explains cook Chetan Michie.

After the mozzarella is made, it's put into our smoker out back and smoked for about fifteen minutes. (The smoker gets filled with either apple- or cherry-wood.) We use this mozzarella on our Bondai Burger, but it makes cameo appearances in other dishes from time to time.

The above photo was taken today. That's our cook Jay, taking the mozzarella out of the smoker and beholding its awesomeness.

Salad Niçoise: An Ode

Guest written by manager Becca Evanhoe



For months, I've been trying to convince Chef Brian Strecker to put a salad niçoise on the menu. I suggested. I strongly suggested. I asked politely. I asked with authority. I pleaded. On occassion I demanded. (Brian put up with my hounding, but alas, no salad niçoise appeared on the new spring lunch or dinner menu.

What's the big deal about a salad niçoise? Why my obsession?

First, understand this: salad niçoise is the perfect salad. “Niçoise” refers to Nice, a coastal French city, where the salad originated. There are hundreds of variations, but a typical one contains greens, often tossed with fresh herbs; fresh haricots verts (thin green beans); sliced hard-boiled egg; boiled new potatoes; tuna, anchovies or sardines; black olives; sometimes finely chopped shallots, and occassionaly tomatoes. Tastewise, it's got fresh produce; rich, satisfying proteins; nice starchy potatoes; salty moments from anchovies and olives, and a refreshing salad dressing (a basic vinaigrette, usually). It's light and filling.

And the other contributing factor to my fascination with this salad has to do with nostalgia. Six years ago, I was lucky enough to spend three weeks traveling along the Mediterranean coast of France. While there, I tried enough of these salads to become an expert. Here is an excerpt from the journal that I kept on the trip:

"Lunch: Cassis white wine... the salad niçoise of my dreams: salty, black olives, fresh green lettuces, haricots verts, mealy boilet potatoes, briny anchovies, tomato wedges, fresh tuna, a star of perfect boiled egg on top, a subtle mustardy, vinegar-y dressing... so perfect. A eaten about 300 m from the beach, 10 ft from the harbor, palm trees, boats, clouds and sun peeking out, framed by mountains... best lunch I've ever had."

But back to the present. Yesterday, it finally happened. For a dinner special, Brian created a Pachamama's take on salad niçoise. He layered fried potatoes, caper aioli, asparagus (in lieu of haricots verts), egg, and tuna together. Not just any tuna, though. He used olive-oil poached tuna, which means it’s slowly cooked in lots of olive oil; the olive oil “simmers,” but doesn’t fry the fish. The result is incredibly moist, tender tuna. After you try olive-oil poached tuna, you won’t ever want to see a can of tuna again.

This is one of those meals that’s powerful recalling to me; eating a well-prepared salad niçoise takes back me to one of the most exciting times of my life.

Look at the beautiful pepper sprinkled across the eggs! Look at that shiny green aspsaragus (which, I assure you, was perfectly cooked. Done all the way through, and crisp.) The beautiful brown color and texture of the fried potato rounds.

In this photo, you can see the olive-oil poached tuna peeking out.



I call this shot Salad Niçoise in the Afternoon. (Photo taken by Stephanie Bell.)