Hi Humans,
Fall is finally here, and while the weather here in San Diego is late to the party, I’ve started to shift focus to my favorite autumn dishes. Fall is my favorite season and produces some of the tastiest produce of the year. I’ll not only be incorporating them into our traditional Cow by Bear brunch and dinners, but also the special 7-course, 50-person dinner/costume contest on Saturday, October 29 to celebrate Halloween. There are still a handful of tickets available here.
I had such a blast two weeks ago at our anniversary dinner at the Broadway Pier. It was the largest dinner Cow by Bear has put on (100 people) and we learned a ton about how to make these special events true one-of-a-kind experiences. I can’t wait to share some of the upcoming ideas! You can check out pictures from the Broadway Pier event here.
Now onto a few recipes. We partnered up with Barcón Cocktail Co. for the anniversary dinner and they provided two awesome custom cocktails for the event. I wanted one to have our house spirit, of course, Rhum Barbancourt from Haiti - so they incorporated that with the Imperial Buck.
Imperial Buck w/ Haitian Rhum Barbancourt
1.5 oz. Haitian Rhum Barbancourt
1/4 oz. fresh lime juice
3/4 oz. pineapple juice
2 dashes of bitters
Shake and strain over ice
Top with ginger beer
We were also lucky to have a guest dish prepared by our friend, Chef Marguerite Grifka, formerly of Starlite and now at her own California's Table. She prepped for us a 'Super Simple Melon Kanten' and it's really great.
Super Simple Melon Kanten
2 heaping cups watermelon chunks (or honeydew or cantaloupe)
water
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
2 tsp. Kanten powder (or agar-agar powder)*
Cut melon in half. Remove seeds from the melon and scoop out the flesh. Then strain through a sieve to reserve the juice. Add water to the juice, up to 500ml. Add granulated sugar and Kanten powder, then mix well. Put in a pot, bring to a boil, and boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Put in the fridge until chilled (at least two hours) and serve.
I also wanted provide a recipe for our Coffee Mustard Steak Sauce because I'm constantly getting asked for the recipe and I'm not very good at keeping secrets. It's always a hit when on the menu at Cow by Bear. We serve it with ribeye, of course, but it can go on pretty much any meat.
Coffee Mustard Steak Sauce (makes about 2 cups)
2 tbsp. honey
1/2 c dijon mustard
1/4 c white vinegar
1/4 c cold-brew coffee
1 1/2 tbsp. ground coffee
1 tsp. salt
pinch of black pepper
1 tsp. sugar
3/4 c vegetable oil
Add all the ingredients save for the oil into a food processor and blend for 15 seconds. While still running, slowly add the vegetable oil in a thin stream until all the oil is incorporated and the mustard starts making a loud noise inside the bowl. The mustard should be fairly loose, but be able to thoroughly coat the back of a spoon (or finger). Adjust seasonings to taste, but I like mine to have bold coffee notes, a slight kick from the mustard, and a smooth honey-sweet finish.