Renegade Dinner #7

Renegade Dinner #7

‘Día de los Muertos’

Day Of the Dead Feast

Saturday, 10.29.11 7:00pm Beaumont, TX

Offerings & Homage 

  Flounder Ceviche Chips

“El águila no se entretiene en cazar moscas”

The eagle doesn´t waste time hunting flies

~~~

El Primero

Sopa Ranchero “Farmhouse Soup”

& Spicy Pickled ‘Yonder Way 

Farm’ Chicken Feet

El Segundo

‘YWF’ Trotter Terrine, Salted Garlic Chips, Jalapeno-Grapefruit Jelly, Pickled Red Onion & Pan De Muertos       

 (Bread of the Dead)

El Tercero

Ancho Mole Glazed ‘YWF’

 Beef Tongue, Crisped Plantains & Celery Root Puree

Coctel de vida pura

'La Santa Muerte' Pequin infusion de limon agave reposado

*By the Renegade Cocktail Goddess Gina Morishige

   El cuarto

Red Chili Fried Alligator, Maneados Sonorenses (Sonora 

Bean Puree) & Tangy Jicama-Radish Salad

El quinto

Flan de Naranja

Prepared by:

Chef Monica Cobb, Carol Cuccio, Hannah Persia & Bill Fults

Notes:

All Proteins are wild caught, shot & foraged.

 All Vegetables and Fruits are grown and traded locally.

All Artisan Cheese is hand-crafted locally.

Remember:

Location will be announced on Sat. morning

October. 29, 2011

Please Bring your Spirit of Choice

***Please Bring Your Own Glass***

Think Local, Trade Local, Fish Local, Shoot Local, Forage Local, Eat Local & Drink Local

Chef Monica Cobb

Chefmonicacobb@gmail.com

Renegade Dinner #6: A little Italy in Southeast Texas By: Marilyn Tennissen

When I first heard about Renegade Dinners last spring, I knew this was something I wanted to try. I had heard of the concept: a dinner featuring dishes – as the Eat Renegade slogan implies -- made from wild caught, shot and foraged ingredients. A sort of combination locavore-clean food-organic-eating style with a little Texas “livin’ off the land” mentality mixed in.

I didn’t know Chef Monica Cobb, but with the abundance of game and seafood around here, I knew she was on to something!

After several sold-out dinners, I finally snagged a ticket to Renegade Dinner #6 on Sept. 24. The menu/theme of the dinners, as well as the location, is kept under wraps until the day of the event.

Growing up in Beaumont, I had a lot of Italian friends and had eaten some mighty-fine Sicilian dishes so I was delighted to hear the dinner theme was Italian food.

The location of each dinner is only revealed on the day of the event, so as I headed to Burns Antik Haus that evening I was beginning to feel like a hipster going to some secret rave.

Owner Julie Burns and the Eat Renegade team had transformed the Old Town shop into an elegant restaurant. Beautifully set tables were nestled among the incredible antique furniture and artwork. I was seated at a massive wooden table from Italy, decorated with equally-massive candelabra and bottles of chianti (old school, in the basket-wrapped bottle).

Dinner began, as any formal Italian dinner would, with antipasto. My favorite item in this course was the Eggplant Caponata, a dip/spread made from roasted eggplant with red peppers, onions, olive oil and other ingredients. Carol Cuccio, a member of the Eat Renegade team, provided the recipe, which had been handed down from her great grandmother Rosina Mangiapone from Palermo, Sicily. It was served in mason jars, and we spread this tasty mixture onto Carol’s fresh, perfectly browned and flaky bread that came in twisted loaves that I would swear were about 3-feet long. 

And I think there may have been actual swooning at my table over the smoked olives, which Chef Monica had ordered from Chef Alessandra Innamorato.  By the end of the course, there wasn’t an olive left on the table, and the jar of eggplant spread had been scraped clean!

The first of the main courses to be served was ravioli, filled with cushaw and butternut squash. If you don’t know, cushaw is crook-necked winter squash with green and white stripes on the outside and meat like a pumpkin on the inside. It had a slightly nutty taste and was stuffed into a delicate pasta, with a brown butter sage sauce that kept it from being too sweet. 

Next came Cioppino, a fish stew. I learned the dish originated in San Francisco, when the Italian fishermen would chop up (“cioppino” means “chop”) some of the catch of the day and cook it with tomatoes.  Our “Rienstra style” The cioppino was made with big chunks of red snapper, speckled trout and flounder. This of course was sopped up with even more bread. Delicioso!

Then we were served a dish I had been anticipating: beef short rib and wild morel mushrooms in a tomato sauce. 

Morels are edible wild mushrooms that are foraged like truffles. They have a rich smoky flavor, but they only grow for a very short time, so it becomes a foraging frenzy to find them and requires trekking through the forest and searching the underbrush. Experienced foragers keep their best locations secret, much like an old fisherman would never give away his favorite fishin’ spot. I came across a quote that said “the first rule of morel foraging is that you don’t talk about morel foraging.”

Chef Monica used morels that had been foraged by Andre Kohler of Southern California to produce a rich but subtly earthy-tasting sauce, which she served with a wonderfully creamy polenta (a dish made from cornmeal).

For our “digestivo” (after dinner drink) we took a break from the ever-flowing wine with a Limoncello, composed by Gina Morshige, that had quite a kick!

For desert, we had fruit and cheese, including mozzarella hand-made by Chef Monica and her team. (Check out some of her photos of the process, I think they had fun!) These creamy little balls of heaven were drizzled with a balsamic glaze and were accompanied by thinly sliced cantaloupe seasoned with sea salt and pepper.

And it has to be mentioned that throughout the evening, the guests were entertained by vocalist Marjorie Grace Mathis and the lovely ladies styled by Larena Head and Dedra Johnson of Viva La Diva Day Spa.

The delightful table conversations and wonderful company made the whole soiree one of the most fun evenings I have had in a while.

I hear Chef Monica is planning something using alligator for Renegade Dinner #7. I can’t wait!!

Renegade Dinner #6 ....9-24-11

Renegade Dinner #6

‘Sicilian Family Fall Dinner’

Saturday, 9.24.11 7:30pm Beaumont, TX

Cocktails & Greetings
(Bring your own glass)

 “Non essiri duci sinno tu mancianu,

non essiri amaru sinno ti futanu”

Do not be sweet lest you be eaten, do not be too sour, lest you be shunned

~~~

L'antipasto

Eggplant Caponata, Peperoncini Sotto Aceto, Orgasmo de la Boca's Smoked Olives, Cuccio’s Fresh Baked Bread w/ Herbed Extra Virgin Olive Oil & Chianti

~~~

Il primo

Cushaw & Butternut Squash Ravioli (Renegade Made)

& Brown Butter Sage

(Beaumont Farmer’s Market)

~~~

Il secondo

Cioppino

‘Rienstra Style’, Gulf Reds, Specs & Flounder

~~~

Digestivo

Limoncello
(Composed by Gina Morishige)

~~~

Il contorno

Gentz Longhorn Beef Short Rib &Wild Morel Mushroom Ragu & Creamy Polenta

(Morels foraged by Andre Kohler of So. Cal.)

~~~

Formaggio e frutta

'Renegade Made' Mozzarella, Cantaloupe, Arugula Sea Salt, 
Cracked Black Pepper & Balsamic Glaze

~~~

Prepared by:

Chef Monica Cobb, Carol Cuccio, Bill Fults & Jeff McNeill

Suggested Donation of $70 per person

Nimpha Mangiapane
Palermo
Carol Cuccio's Great Great Grandmother

Notes:

All Proteins are wild caught, shot & foraged.

 All Vegetables and Fruits are grown and traded locally.

All Artisan Cheese is hand-crafted locally.

Remember:

Location will be announced Sat. Sept.24^th, 2011

Please Bring your Spirit of Choice

***Please Bring Your Own Glass***

Think Local, Trade Local, Fish Local, Shoot Local, Forage Local, Eat Local & Drink Local

Chef Monica Cobb

Chefmonicacobb@gmail.com

R.D.#5

Renegade Dinner #5

Renegade Dinner #5

‘End of Summer Feast’

Saturday, 8.27.11 8pm Beaumont, TX

Cocktails, Amuse and Fishing Tails 8-8:30 Dinner to Follow.

“Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.”

Texas Sweet Tea “Arnold Palmer” Style, Raspberry, Jamaica Hibiscus & Chilled Texas Vodka Bar

 By the Talented Jill Jeansonne

Amuse

Chili-Bacon-Maple Popcorn

~~~

Roasted Red Pepper & Biscamp Pear Gazpacho

First

Wild Silver Salmon Tar Tar, Jalapeno-Sriracha Aioli, Black Hawaiian Sea Salt, Panko Fried Grit Cake

Salad

Tangy Jicama-Pineapple Salad & Grilled Fallow Dear

 (Al Pastor Style)

Main

Blue Corn Crusted Gulf Caught Reds, Specs & Snapper, Skinny Fried 1015 Onion Straws, Guacamole & Red Chili Roasted Tomato Salsa

Last

Pear & Plum Crumble, Honey Miabella Chevre & Kirbow’s Sugar Cured Pork

Prepared by Chef Monica Cobb & Bill Fults

Photography by Robert Stringer

Notes:

All Proteins are wild caught, shot & foraged.              All Vegetables and Fruits are grown and traded locally. All Artisan Cheese is hand-crafted locally.

Remember:

Location will be announced Sat. August 27^th, 2011 @10am

Please Bring your Spirit of Choice…..

If it’s Wine bring a glass…..

Seasonal-Casual Dress.

It’s Texas Renegade so stay COOL.

Think Local, Trade Local, Fish Local, Shoot Local, Forage Local, Eat Local & Drink Local

Chef Monica Cobb

Chefmonicacobb@gmail.com

Renegade Dinner #4 Photos by Robert Stringer

Christmas in July

Christmas in July

Renegade Dinner #4

(A Loving Tribute to my Dad, Monty Woodford, and his ‘Brother’ the Legendary Wild Game Hunter Larry Landes.)

Sacred Prayer w/ Zuni Piki Bread

‘Ancient tradition prepared by Rose Paywa of Zuni, New Mexico’

Watermelon-Jalapeno Gazpacho

~~~

Quartet of Southwestern Wild Game

Tapas Style

Antelope Tenderloin Flautas & Roasted Red Bell Couillis

~~~

Aoudad Sheep Stuffed Anaheim Chili Peppers & Mole Rojo

~~~

Wild Russian Boar Nachos & Cilantro Crema

~~~

Javelina Red Chili Tostados

Segundo Plato (Carnes)

Black Bear Tamale Red Chili  & Corn Queso Tamale Green Chili w/Calabacitas Con Queso

~~~

Platos Principales (Pescados)

Blue Corn Crusted Gulf Red Fish, Spotted Trout & Nectarine, Israeli Melon & White Peach Salsa w/ Pinto Bean-Quinoah Salad

~~~

Postre

Dark Chocolate-Chili Pot de Crème w/ Himalayan Sea Salt

~~~

Prepared with Love & Respect by: Chef Monica Cobb & Bill Fults

Jamica Tea  & Cucumber Water

Compliments of Nancy McGrade

Renegade Rita Bar (Sans Tequila)
Bring your choice of Tequila & a Glass
*Hibiscus
*Citrus
*Pineapple
*Combine all three for a Hurricane Rita

Special Thanks to Leslie Hall for making the trip to Arizona happen.

Special Thanks to my Mom, Beatrice, for helping me make the tamales.

‘Fruits, Pintos, Corn & Israeli Melon furnished by:

 Elizabeth Winslow @ Farmhouse Delivery -Austin, Texas’

‘Vegetables & Miabelle Chevre furnished by:

Beaumont Farmer’s Market’

Bring your choice of Spirit and a glass if you need it.

Location to be announced this Saturday after Farmer's Market.
Gathering begins at 7:45