james beard foundation 2012 semifinalists

jen + i wanted to say congratulations to our dear friend greg hardesty.  greg is a huge part of why i am as passionate about cooking as i am, and more importantly he is a dear friend.  i credit a huge part of my cooking to the philosophy of this indiana chef.  a way overdue nod to a chef who has pioneered the indianapolis fine dining scene for the last 14 years.  if you ever find yourself in indy be sure to stop into his restaurants, recess and room four,  for some of the best indy has to offer.  congratulations old friend!

we would also like to say congratulations to atlanta's own huge acheson of empire state south and billy allin of our favorite atlanta restaurant, cakes and ale for best chef semifinalist southeast!

a february dinner

it's been a while since our last dinner as we have been working on developing our small batch program and taking steps to make staplehouse restaurant a reality, but we were back at it last weekend and here are some pics from the night.

roasted duck breast with sauteed brussels sprout leaves, confit duck leg, caramelized fennel, FL orange, mint and candied ginger.

 grilled lamb shank with herb spatzel, swiss chard and roasted cherry-black pepper jus.

cherry clafoutis with soft cream and winter spice syrup.

not everyone from the dinner is pictured, but thank you to jackson, trey, lisa, jessica, charles, cathy, justin, jonathan, jason and emmanuel for joining us!

sunday, february 19th 2012 - SOLD OUT

menu

--

oyster and clam stew, crackers, hot sauce

roasted duck breast and confit of leg, brussels sprouts, naval orange, candied ginger, mint

grilled boarder springs lamb shank, lamb bacon, herb spaetzle, swiss chard, roasted cherry-black pepper jus, goat cheese espuma

cherry clafoutis, winter spice syrup, soft cream

toasting to allen jones

an evening to celebrate one of our city's true greats!  the weekend before last, staplehouse participated in a night of food and drink, to celebrate allen jones.  who is allen jones you ask?  he is only the man behind such great restaurants as restaurant eugene, 4th & swift, bocado, miller union and many other greats.  mr. jones is responsible for helping young restaurateurs get it together.  business planning, bank interviews, networking and coaching you through every step of the process. staplehouse is fortunate enough to be working with allen and we jumped at the chance to honor the man of such great influence.  below are some pics from the event which jay swift, of 4th & swift and his amazing crew were kind enough to host.  check out more talks on the night and pictures here at liveurbanlux.com.

miles macquerrie of kimball mill

"the consultant" by kimball mill

greg best of holeman & finch public house

staplehouse char siu pork cheep with carrot ginger salad

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.