how to make

from our home to yours, 'how to make meyer lemon and rosemary marmalade'.

ingredients:
10 lemons, 3 cups sugar, 3 sprigs rosemary (stemmed and chopped)

preparation:
slice ends off lemons just enough to reveal the flesh, then cut in half length wise. make a small V cut through the center of the lemon to remove the core and the seeds. lay lemon cut side down on board. with sharp knife, slice into thin half moons. repeat this process for the batch of lemons and place in a non reactive pot. reserve any juice that is released while slicing the lemons and add to the pot with sliced lemons. cover lemons with sugar and simmer on medium heat for approximately 40 minutes or until lemons are tender and the liquid has turned into a viscous syrup. be  careful  not  to  over  reduce  the  syrup  as  this  will  make  the  marmalade  bitter  and  dense. remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. pour mixture into food processor along with stemmed chopped rosemary and pulse until lemon peel is coarsely chopped. pour warm mixture into a jar and refrigerate over night. your meyer lemon rosemary marmalade is now ready to spoon over everything from roasted duck, ham, biscuits, pancakes or even ice cream!

first dinner of 2012

ahhhh yes!  a new year full of possibility.  after a much needed holiday break, STAPLEHOUSE is back at it expecting this year to be THE year.  below are some snaps from this past weekends dinner.  don't be alarmed if you didn't get the invite, this dinner was privately sold, but be on the look out for invites, small batch offerings and other STAPLEHOUSE original events coming up very soon.

prepping handmade agnolotti and cream biscuits.
 

salad of crispy spanish chorizo, pickled green tomato, cilantro, red onion and pig ear.

the finished product, lobster salad on warm cream biscuits with celery caper slaw and housemade hot sauce.

olive oil poached fluke with savoy cabbage, habanero pickled scallions and carrots, berkshire sausage.  hand packed ricotta agnolotti with house cured wagyu beef bacon, chicory, meyer lemon/chive salsa and horseradish.

last but not least, chocolate pots de creme with candied hazelnuts and sea salt.

 

thank you guy, seven, baby aiden, erin, helena, alvin, eric, carmen, justin, cathy and ashley!

just a little website house cleaning

good news.  as STAPLEHOUSE continues to grow, we are starting to make some upgrades to our website.  we just wanted to let everyone know that on sunday night the 15th, we will be moving our RSS feed to a new location.  for those of you who don't know what RSS is, fear not, this won't have any impact on you whatsoever.  however, for those of you who enjoy receiving STAPLEHOUSE updates through things like google reader, please make sure to check back on monday the 16th to make sure you are able to get our new feed.

a toast to allen jones

the client list that consultant allen jones carries with him is the face of the atlanta restaurant scene. though many are unaware of the remarkable contribution this brilliant man has made to the way atlanta dines.  a talented entrepreneur, business consultant, market feasibility consultant, political organizer, and networking leader, allen's excellent organization and leadership skills have proven successful to many of atlanta's most successful and longest living atlanta restaurants.

for one night only, join a 'Toast to Allen Jones' to honor his talent, uncommon character and unique contribution to the atlanta restaurant scene. 

guests will be enjoy an informal evening of delicious food and creative drink in a casual walk-around tasting/grazing format to laud allen's remarkable work.  proceeds will benefit the Feed My Lambs foundation that allen has started to benefit and empower under-served children and communities.

location: 4th & Swift

date: sunday, january 29, 2012

time: 4:30pm - 7:30pm

toast to allen: 6:00pm

restaurants and chefs include jay swift of 4th & swift, chris hall, todd mussman and ryan turner of muss & turner's and local three, steven satterfield of miller union, todd ginsberg of bocado, linton hopkins of restaurant eugene, samantha enzmann of the mercantile and ryan hidinger of staplehouse!  

libations from holeman & finch, kimball mill (new restaurant coming soon) and kevin brag of 4th & swift.

price is $100 per person (+ small fee to brown paper tickets) and 100% of proceeds go to charity.  contact seth roskind of 4th & swift at 678-904-0160 or brown paper tickets for more info.

post copy courtesy of grapes and hops.

hors d'oeuvres

staplehouse hors d'oeuvres!  this weekend jen and i hosted our neighbor thom and his closest friends for some bites.  good ol' southern fair... biscuits with butter and orange marmalade, fried chicken with red onion jam, heirloom grits with bbq pork white cheddar and arugula, celery root soup with pecans and parsley and smoked salmon with capers and preserved lemon.  for dessert, staplehouse 'hazelnutters' and custrard with jam . 

thanks to everyone for stopping by and hanging with us for the evening!

christmas 2011 in LA

this year christmas was a much needed break for jen and me. what is typically a busy stress filled week of driving, flying, eating-bad-food-as-fast-as-you-can-so-you-can-get-on-to-the-next-house, sleeping for a few hours and staring all over again... was anything but.

we headed to los angeles this year.  yeah i know, LA weather for christmas, not right.  but honestly, atlanta chritsmas weather is about the same, but in LA we had the beautiful santa monica mountains to our east, the pacific to our west and family and bad ass restaurants in between. right out of the gates, landing the tuesday before, we stop at in-and-out burger for a couple double doubles. could this trip start any better?

entertainment for the in between eating moments, remote controlled helicopters. yes, i am a child...  no, i don't want to grow up and yes, that is a draft beer tap coming out of the counter with a painting of 'sloth' from goonies behind it.  just try to imagine a better setting for me to reset my engine.

aside from catching up with loves ones our mission for this trip was to eat at as many restaurants on my hit list as possible.  first up, animal.  all i can say is, GO.  the flag ship restaurant of chefs, jon shook and vinny dotolo is every bit as good as you may have heard.  crispy pigs ears with chili, lime and sunny side up egg, unreal.

our list for this trip: animal, son of a gun, lukshon, waterloo and city, a-frame, mb post and jonnie's pastrami. i'd say we did well for the holiday.

time for recess.  jen heads out with my brother scott for her first motorcycle ride. can't think of much better ride than his fully overhauled 2007 triumph bonneville to a custom, blacked out, bratt bonnie. if you are into bikes, check out http://bratbonnie.blogspot.com/ for a play by play on scotts labor of love.

a toast! to family, near and far, past and present.   it's tradition in the family that christmas eve scott puts out a spread of snacks in honor of our grandmother.  kids are to excited to sit down and eat dinner the night before santa arives, so plates full of bbq meatballs and all sorts of goodies are laid out for us to do a fly-by on in between viewings of elf and toy helicopter missions.

ah the beach!  christmas morning we have a quick breakfast and head out to the beach for some bocce ball and wine.

christmas dinner.  ham, buessles and stuffing.  scotty's now famous sweet potato cheese cake.

a chistmas elf and a sleeping old friend.

a sunset with family.  thanks scott, blair and cora for hosting us all, what a great week.