Farmers Market Hash: Mother’s Day Brunch

— Posted in: Breakfast, Main Dishes, Recipes

Mother’s Day 2023, our 29th Mother’s Day as a family. Today we celebrate Jessica (Mom) in Nashville at Mansell & Henry’s house in Hillsboro village. Yesterdays trip to the Sylvan Park farmers market provided spring flair to the Mothers day hash.

At the market we came across a unique variety of garlic scape with soft, straight, verdant green stems. We also found Tennessee ghee, fresh eggs, kale, sweet potatoes, and a variety of lettuces and radishes for the salad. The plan for our celebration brunch came together easily in a light rain on the lawn across from Henry’s new gastropub Streetcar.

serves a family of 6

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Shiitake & Tofu Ranchero

— Posted in: Main Dishes, Mexican inspired, Recipes, Vegetarian
Estia's Shiitake & Tofu Ranchero

serves 8

Ingredients for ranchero:

  • 2 blocks extra firm tofu
  • 4 cups chopped shiitake mushrooms
  • 4 cups salsa (tomato, red onion, jalapeño, cilantro)
  • 8 cloves garlic, diced fine
  • 2 tablespoons dried oregano
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil
  • 3 teaspoons salt
  • 1 quart water

Brining the tofu will give it a good flavor boost. This recipe works best served fresh out of the oven.

Start by soaking the tofu in salted water for 30 minutes, then set on a cutting
board wrapped in paper towels, place another board on top, and weigh down
with 3 plates. Squeeze for 30 minutes to dry the tofu.

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Coq au Vin with mashed potatoes for Jessica’s birthday party

— Posted in: Chicken, Main Dishes, Recipes

In October I visited the Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and spent a weekend at The Milkweed Inn, a unique bed & dinner run by Iliana Reagan and her wife Anna. At breakfast on Sunday morning, Iliana gave me an advance copy of her new book “Fieldwork”. As Iliana shares the story of growing up in her parents home on a farm in central Indiana, tales of her Grandmothers restaurant and the recipes she was raised on shine through. 

I was inspired by several references to a duck soup, Czarnina. The idea of using duck blood to thicken a stock made an impression on me and I applied the technique in this dish.

Last night we celebrated my wife Jessica’s 63rd birthday. All 3 of our daughters were home, along with 50 close friends. Special occasions require extra effort. Coq au Vin was the answer.

Estia's Coq au vin recipe ingredients card
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Estia’s on the Radio

— Posted in: Recipes
Estia’s offering special dishes and cocktails on a regular basis.
Estia’s Price Fix Dinner specials Fridays and Saturdays 5pm to 6pm for $30 for 3 courses: salad, dinner and dessert!
Also enjoy our few special cocktails.
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Polenta Apple Cake

— Posted in: Desserts, Recipes
Polenta Apple Cake with whipped cream and edible flowers

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups polenta
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • pinch of salt 
  • 3 cups brown sugar
  • 10 eggs (separate 5 for whipped egg whites)
  • 1 pound unsalted butter (soft)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 pint ricotta cheese
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 12 crisp, tart apples
  • 2 cups apple cider
  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 3 cups brown sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
Finished Apple Polenta Cake with whipped cream
Finished Apple Polenta Cake with whipped cream
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Tres Leches Cake with Raspberry Mousse

— Posted in: Desserts, Recipes
Colin's Tres Leches cake with raspberry mousse

serves 24

Ingredients for Cake:

  • 15 eggs (separated)
  • 1 1/2 cups AP flour
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • unsalted butter to grease 9″x14″ baking pan
  • 1 1/2 cup coconut milk
  • 1 1/2 cup. 1/2 & 1/2
  • 1 1/2 cup whole milk

Ingredients for Raspberry Mousse:

  • 16oz heavy cream
  • 1.5 cup powdered sugar
  • 16oz frozen raspberry
  • 1/4 cup orange juice
  • 1 packet gelatin
  • 1/4 cup water(room temperature)
  • 4oz Mascarpone
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice
  • pinch salt

For Frosting:

  • 16oz heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Whisk to peaks.

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The Great Lakes Rivers Tour

— Posted in: Recipes
Peshtigo river catch

Estia’s Little Kitchen proudly presents: Great Lakes Rivers Tour 2021!

Join us as Colin sets out to fish the Great Lakes Rivers with friends and experienced guides. They travel from the Peshtigo, to the Escanaba River, the Big Two-hearted, and finally the Manistee River. A lot of cooking over open fire is happening and new recipes are explored.

Colin Ambrose – Executive Producer
Jeff Wilder – Cameraman
Editing – Jensen Gore | Smash Studios
Tim Shultz – Guide
Up North River Service – Guide Service
Jeff Topp – Guide
Mangled Fly Outfitters – Guide Service
Gavin Marquart – Guide
Tight Lines Fly Fishing – Guide Service
Nancy Atlas Project – Music: Feels Like Home, Lost Highway, Boots

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Chicken Stuffed Pumpkin Paella

— Posted in: Chicken, Main Dishes, Recipes, Stories
Pumpkin Paella stuffed with Chicken and veggies

Sunset Place, Nashville, Tennessee
October 24, 2021
Dinner with Mansell & the Beveridge family 

Henry’s sister Glory was married at noon yesterday. It was a first class southern family celebration. Proud father, gorgeous bride, beaming groom, 16 bridesmaids, of which Mansell was one, and a parade of groomsmen. The reception featured deviled eggs, fried chicken and waffles and a glorious white almond wedding cake (I had 2 pieces).

This morning we attended a brunch at Henry’s family home, his parents Mark & Nancy Beveridge hosted family and friends from out of town. I enjoyed hot coffee, mini quiches, mini biscuits with ham and cheesy grits. Each room in the Beveridge home tells a story, new and old.
We felt comfortable, everyone was friendly and happy, proud to share stories about Mansell and the light she shares with them.

Tonight was our turn to host the Beveridge’s at Henry and Mansell’s house. This dish took center stage on the service table. I was concerned that the rice might not cook through, but it did. While still firm and a bit nutty it cooked through. 

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Flame Braised Goat | Chivo Tacos with Colorado Sauce

— Posted in: Main Dishes, Meat, Mexican inspired, Recipes, Sauces
Chivo Taco

Ingredients and preparation:

  • 1 30lb goat, butcher into large pieces, legs, ribs, back portions, bones in.

Season heavily with salt & black pepper and sear over high heat 10 min per side

Combine in a 50 gallon pot:

  • 4 Spanish onions, chopped
  • 1 head of celery, chopped
  • 2 cups garlic cloves, chopped
  • 4 limes, peeled and cut in half
  • 12 arbol chili’s
  • 18 guajillo chili’s, chopped
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 tablespoons sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 6 sticks of cinnamon
  • 1 cup Mexican oregano (dry)

Stir on stove top over medium heat until soft. Add all seared goat & move pot to the fire.

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Dos Hombres Watermelon Mezcalita

— Posted in: Recipes

Watch how we put together our famous “Dos Hombres Watermelon Mezcalita”!
Made with watermelon puree, lime juice, a splash of soda & a touch of agave.

Come into Estia’s Little Kitchen and enjoy.

This is how we create our Dos Hombres Watermelon Mezcalita

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Vegan Aquachile Rojo Salad

— Posted in: Mexican inspired, Recipes, Salads, Vegan, Vegetarian
Vegan Aquachile Rojo Salad

Serves 2

For Salsa Rojo:

  • 1 cup white wine vinegar
  • 1/2 cup lime juice
  • 2 cups extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 small roasted beet, skin removed, diced
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1 jalapeño (seeds removed), diced fine
  • 1/8 cup cilantro, chopped
  • 2/3 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/4 cup cold water

Combine vinegar, lime juice, olive oil and beet in a blender and run until smooth. Transfer pureé into a jar.

Aquachile Rojo pureé
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Vegan Paella: Estia’s Earth Day Dinner

— Posted in: Main Dishes, Recipes, Vegetarian
Vegan Paella at Estia's for Earth Day weekend

Serves 4 people as a main dish

Ingredients:

  • 1 large artichoke – heart removed, sliced into 8 sections
  • 1 cup sugar snap peas – chopped
  • 1 small fennel bulb – sliced thin
  • 1 cup sweet corn
  • 1 carrot – peeled and diced
  • 2 celery stalks – diced
  • 1 cup zucchini – sliced
  • 1 small Spanish onion – diced
  • 4 garlic cloves – diced
  • 4 tomatoes – canned, cut into ¼ pieces 
  • 10 green olives – sliced
  • 4 cups vegetable stock 
  • 6 tablespoons olive oil 
  • 1 teaspoon of saffron threads 
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • 1.5 teaspoons sea salt
  • 1 large orange –  juiced
  • 1.5 cups jasmine rice

Preheat oven to 400° degrees.

Vegan Paella at Estia's for Earth Day weekend

Start by stirring saffron, salt and paprika into the vegetable stock, set aside for a few hours.

Vegan Paella at Estia's for Earth Day weekend
Vegan Paella with artichokes at Estia’s for Earth Day weekend
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Roasted tomato and basil pasta sauce: The A.Sisters Christmas giving

— Posted in: Recipes, Sauces, Stories, Vegetarian

It’s been 8 years since the A.Sisters have made a batch of pasta with our machine at Estia.

Now that each of my daughters has their own kitchen and more of an interest in cooking (Mansell especially), we thought it was time to put together a Christmas gift of red, white, and green pasta with a simple tomato sauce and a chunk of cheese. We gifted these to family friends and a few hard working chefs that I love, too.

The finished Gift box
The finished Gift box
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Thanksgiving story & Turkey Roulade

— Posted in: Main Dishes, Recipes, Stories
Turkey Roulade for Thanksgiving

After a traditional Ambrose family Thanksgiving day breakfast of roasted pork loin and sweet corn hash with red skin potatoes and poached eggs, Mansell and I stuffed the turkey that we’d boned out on Wednesday morning.

All of the vegetables we used came to us in a farm box from our friends at the Foster farm in Sagaponack.

We diced carrots, chopped green onions and garlic, rosemary, arugula and 4 lovely dried Shishito peppers. In a sauté pan the vegetables were softened with Cromer’s Italian sausage. After the mixture cooled we rolled it into the boneless bird and tied the roulade off with sage.

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Cornbread for the Thanksgiving table

— Posted in: Breakfast, Mexican inspired, Recipes, Sides, Vegetarian
Estia's Cornbread

My corn crop was destroyed by birds this past summer. It was coming in strong, 6 feet tall with a wonderful showing of several cobs on each plant in mid July. The bed I set wasn’t large, about 25 feet wide and 40 feet long. Then, late in the month a freak hurricane named Hanna ran up the Mississippi River and turned right mid way through the country, we were hit with its tail end. Just enough force to mess with my corn, twisting it up and opening the tightly packed rows. This in turn provided the birds access to each Cob which are generally buried tightly in the mass of plants that I refer to as my wall of Oaxacan green “Indian corn”. The birds ate all of my corn this year, it was hard to watch nature take her share.

The birds got to share our Estia’s garden corn this year.
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Boneless Beef Short Ribs

— Posted in: Beef, Main Dishes, Meat, Recipes
Boneless Beef Short Ribs

Sunday night dinner with all 3 of the A. sisters home. That is a special night. We had planned on dining out at the Main Street Tavern in Amagansett, 177 Main Street. This is a special address for my family as we spent 16 years in that space running it as a coffee shop and restaurant. It would be safe to say that our family was born out of this coffee shop which started in that address in 1981. It was commonly known as Estia.

Jessica and I purchased the lease for Estia in 1991 and maintained a business there until 2007. Since selling the lease, 3 different operators have worked the space. Presently Main Street Tavern which has been open since the spring. Challenged by the Covid pandemic it’s been a struggle for them and I’ve chosen to wait to visit. Tonight’s reservation was canceled, apparently they have plumbing issues. Chalk it up to growing pains. Operating a restaurant in Amagansett is not easy in any business climate. We can wait.

With tonight’s plan for dining out off the table, I volunteered to cook (my daughters are all good cooks now) and I decided to let a walk through Citarella steer my menu. As I looked in the butcher case, braised short ribs were the easy choice, 3 1lb boneless short ribs to be exact.

Boneless Beef Short Ribs
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