Carbonara

Currently in the lounge we a running our version of an Italian classic.  Purists will argue what true carbonara is, but everyone agrees on the basics, pasta, pancetta, cheese, and egg yolk.  If you start adding ingredients beyond that it might get you into trouble (definitely stay off the streets of Rome late at night).

The current Hinterland version is a bit of a twist.  Instead of pancetta, we are using a house cured and lightly smoked guanciale (the jowels are from sweet grass farms).  We add some sweet peas, a little pasta water, some piave, and a little manchego.  Instead of the egg yolk, we finish the dish with an sunny side up egg from Sunset Farm.  A great, simple tasty dish. 

We have also included the links to a few other companies.  The cheeses I mentioned are from a company we have just started using called Artisinal Cheese.  Not only do they work to insure the cheese we get is at its peak condition, they have tons of great information, educational tools, and pairing ideas.

Finally, our eggs come from Sunset Farm.  They supply us with a good portion of our local pork, chicken, and beef.  You can find their products on our menu and on Chef Brett's menu at The Whistling Swan.

Broadway Farmers Market

Chef Kelly checks out the chard

Now that summer is mostly here, we thought it would be a good time to talk about the Wednesday market.  Not only do we get a majority of our fresh, organic vegetables there, but Hinterland also has a stand.  If you are at the market we suggest taking a break during your shopping and sip on a nice cool local micro brew and enjoy some of our Championship Nachos (poblano cheese sauce, chipotle grass fed beef, pico de gallo).

We buy from a lot of different farmers at the market, but we thought we would highlight two of the ones we use a bit more frequently. 

Todd Jaskolski runs Caprine Supreme and we buy all of our goat cheese and goat cheese curds from him.  Besides Chevre and curds, Todd has a rotating roster of cheeses.

Luke Wojcik runs Twin Elm Gardens in Pulaski.  All of our sunflower sprouts, peashoots and micro greens are grown by Luke.  In addition to greens you will also find a wide variety of other great high quality products at Luke's stand.

That's it for now, but as the summer goes on we will be sure to post more.  All of these people are making some fabulous products and doing their best to help the community, please support them!

Tuna

We always get the best and freshest fish at Hinterland.  We are particularly picky about our tuna (only #1 sashimi grade for us).   This weekend we have a special treat.  #1 grade Japanese tuna!  The Japanese are very passionate about their tuna and thus have a more rigid grading system.  This stuff is gorgeous! 

The burger is back

The burger has had an occasional spot on our lounge menu in the past. Recently a regular customer requested it. Instead of going back and rehashing the kobe burger, we decided to go local and go large.

First, we have the beef itself. Not only is it local and grass fed, but its also a custom grind done specifically for Hinterland. 40% chuck, 30% brisket, and 30% shortrib have produced a moist and ultra flavorful burger.

The bun is homemade. The big, moist burger required a sturdy roll to take in all the juices without falling apart. Check them out, they're gorgeous.


Next, being pork fanatics, we knew we couldn't make a burger without some form of pig. Bacon and pancetta are natural choices, but we wanted to go all out. Pork Belly was the obvious answer. We cure the belly for a few days, cook it confit style, slice it, grill it, and glaze it with home made BBQ

After that, some arugula from Ledgeview Gardens, tempura onion rings and a nice mound of garlic fries. I like mine with Pub Draught.