Chef's Night Out

The Ithaca Taste of the Nation Committee is pleased to announce the 4th Annual Chef's Night Out!

Ithaca Taste of the Nation and Share Our Strength's Cooking Matters would like to invite you to join us as we honor the memory and spirit of Deb Whiting of Red New Cellars Bistro & Winery.

3 Fabulous Dinners hosted at 3 elegant locations:

Tue. Oct. 11, 5:30-9pm - The Hayloft at The Carriage House

Tue. Oct. 25, 5:30-9pm - La Tourelle Resort and Spa

Tue. Nov. 8, 5:30-9pm - Celebrations

Each meal (beginning with a cash bar cocktail hour from 5:30-6:30) will be a 5-course delight created by a team of 5 local chefs - each preparing one of the courses. The chef teams will be different at each location and the menus promise to be very special.

Menu for Celebrations Chef's Night Out Dinner. Nov 8, 2011

Soup: Chef Anthony Jordan - Taverna Banfi's Butternut squash soup with a duet of pasta stuffed with brown butter sage and fresh ricotta, local, grass feed beef sausage, local shiitake mushrooms and truffle oil. Wine: 2008 Curry Creek Vineyards Gewurztraminer

Appetizer: Chef Seth Gregory - Fine Line Bistro Figs stuffed with Lively Run Chevre, Autumn's Harvest Bacon and finished with balsamic reduction. This appetizer will be available without bacon as well. Wine: 2008 Glacier Ridge Vineyards Merlot

Entree 1: Chef Jim Durkee - Cayuga Medical Center Maple Grilled Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with caramelized apple, local honey, and quinoa stuffing. Served with rum roasted red & golden local beets, braised micro Swiss chard and apple-pear demi. Vegetarian option: Five layer stuffed grilled portabella mushroom en crute with roasted red peppers, braised spinach, grilled zucchini, caramelized Bermuda onion, and gorgonzola cheese, baked in puff pastry. Wine: 2006 Red Newt Reserve Riesling

Entree 2: Chef Samantha Buyskes - Simply Red Bistro at Sheldrake Point Autumn's Harvest Braised Beef Oxtail with West Haven Farms root vegetables, Lively Run blue cheese and farmer ground herb polenta and red wine demi. (Dish includes fresh ginger from Good Life Farms; fresh garlic from Sean Dembrosky and milk from Ithaca Milk). Vegetarian option - Roasted local root vegetables with braised greens will be served in place of the braised beef. Wine: 2007 Sawmill Creek Vineyards Cabernet Franc

Dessert: Chef McKinzie Klein - Celebrations Tri Chocolate Bavarois with a White Chocolate Ganash sauce, Fruit Compote and a fruit sauce with a swan white puff pastry with an espresso cream and fresh mint garnish. Wine: Red Newt Soiree

Make a group reservation to take advantage of a special opportunity to join with your friends, coworkers or business partners to give a little more for a great cause: With a group donation of $750, you'll receive 8 tickets, a reserved table & 2 bottles of wine for your table (in addition to the wines served with the meal)!

Individual tickets are $75 for each dinner.

Cooking Matters utilizes the talents of local restaurant chefs and nutrition educators from Cornell Cooperative Extension to teach food preparation and nutrition to low-income families. Each six-week class series teaches the skills necessary to prepare healthier meals on a limited budget. Every class ends with a hands-on experience, preparing the meal highlighted in that day's session. Participants leave with ingredients & encouragement to try their own variation at home.

Menu for La Tourelle Resort & Spa Chef's Night Out dinner - Tues. Oct. 25 5:30pm-9pm

Soup: Local beet and root vegetable borscht served with dill crème fraiche and wild mushroom stuffed pasta ears. Wine: 2010 Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards, Pinot Gris Karen Gilman & Dano Hutnik from Dano's Heuriger on Seneca

Appetizer: Local hunter sausage & country pate served with assorted local cheeses, fresh baguette, whole-grain mustard and assorted accoutrement. Wine/Stout: 2009 Cabernet Franc, Americana Vineyards and Winery & Black Cherry Porter, Bandwagon Brewery Lindsay Freeman & Jen Ungberg from Crystal Lake Care at Americana

Entree 1: Seared Bay of Fundy Salmon with Atwater Riesling-Sage brown butter, savory bread pudding, local arugula & warm bacon vinaigrette. Vegetarian Option: Seared local, organic tofu with Atwater Riesling-Sage brown butter, savory bread pudding, local arugula & apple vinaigrette. Wine: 2008 Pinot Noir, Ravines Wine Cellars Carol Kanfoush from Maxie's Supper Club

Entree 2: Cider braised local pork with sweet potato, local braised greens and caramelized apples served with a cider thyme sauce. Vegetarian Option: Grilled eggplant with sweet potato, local braised greens and caramelized apples served with a cider thyme sauce. Wine: 2010 Riesling, Sheldrake Point Winery Angelina Tagliavento from Simply Red Bistro at La Tourelle Resort and Spa

Dessert: Cinnamon and nutmeg infused mini cheesecake served with bourbon whipped cream and local berry compote. Wine: 2008 Treleaven, "Eis", Late Harvest Riesling Lindsey Pou from Madeline's

PAST DINNER

The Hayloft at The Carriage House Tue. Oct. 11, 5:30-9pm

Soup: Roasted local tomato bisque with Lively Run Goat Cheese. Andrew Noyes from Northstar

Appetizer: Shiitake mushroom tamales with roasted tomatillo sauce, cumin corn relish, pumpkin seeds and fresh cheese. Jen Irwin & Stan Walton from Just a Taste

Entree #1: Highpoint Farms grass fed, braised beef shanks with red wine reduction, wasabi mash and pomegranate balsamic.
Vegetarian Option: Braised wild mushrooms with red wine reduction and wasabi mash. Kristian Woodall & Dominique Wrisley from Carriage House Cafe

Entree #2: Duck two ways-Seared duck breast and confit duck legs, served with savory corn pudding and brussel sprouts, finished with a Cassis sauce.

Vegetarian Option: Roasted zucchini summer squash sauteed spinach portobella goat cheese between fried eggplant finished with a pomodoro sauce. Rich Avery & Dean Zervos from Simeon's

Dessert: Ports of NY port poached Seckel pear stuffed with Roquefort cheese, served with raspberry sorbet and a ginger spiked lace tuille cookie. Leslie Muhlhahn from Just Desserts

The money raised from ticket sales supports Cornell Cooperative Extension's Cooking Matters program (formerly Operation Frontline), which has been operating in our area for 11 years in partnership with Share Our Strength, one of the county's leading national organizations helping to fight childhood hunger. Cooking Matters utilizes the talents of local restaurant chefs and nutrition educators from Cornell Cooperative Extension to teach food preparation and nutrition to low-income families. Each six-week class series teaches the skills necessary to prepare and eat healthier meals on a limited budget. Every class ends with a hands-on experience, preparing the meal highlighted in that day's session, and participants leave with ingredients and encouragement to try their own variation at home.

For more info contact Jerry Dietz; 6072776961 or jerry@cspmanagement.com

MARK YOUR CALENDARS: 2012 Taste of the Nation is Tuesday June 19th!!