May Delights at Panzanella! By Peter McCloskey, Chef May at Panzanella will bring lots of new things. "Spring Salad Madness" continues at lunchtime. Bluebird Farm's Norma Burns brings us a fabulous mix of lettuce and herbs, which always provides a special salad for the evenings. Last week we ran her mix with roast beets, Celebrity Dairy goat cheese, strawberries, and avocado with orange vinaigrette. Perry-winkle Farm's spring garlic provides the inspiration for "Chilled Spring Garlic Vichyssoise." This nice creamy cold potato soup is typically flavored with leeks. The spring garlic is very mild, and actually tastes of spring. We also fry this delicate garlic and garnish salads and hot dishes with it. If you like fried onions, then this is a nice twist. May is the month of strawberries and rhubarb as well. A new dessert menu will include a Rhubarb Crisp with Maple View Farm vanilla ice cream, and also a buttermilk Panna Cotta served with fresh strawberries soaked in Marsala wine. I love chilled Strawberry and Prosecco Soup garnished with a dollop of mascarpone cream. This refreshing soup will be available through out the month of May. More

Events Gallery

On the Menu Recipe

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May Delights at Panzanella continued

By the time this reaches you, the succulent, tasty creatures that we love will have arrived. As our coastal waters warm, blue crabs shed their old shells giving us about a two-week window to enjoy soft-shell crabs before the new shell hardens. Every spring, we try new ways to prepare these tasty morsels, but frying them in a beer batter, and topping them with a nice spicy remoulade is one of our favorites. I am in the process of writing our early summer dinner menu. Throughout May, any lingering reminders of winter will leave our menu and our local farms will be providing us with fresh, delicious ingredients and inspiration.

Events

Mother's Day, Sunday, May 14 We are still able to take reservations for Mother's Day brunch or dinner, for parties of 6 or more. OREGON WINE DINNER June 12, 2006 7pm-9:30pm Join us Monday, June 12 for a tasting tour of Oregon's wonderful wine growing regions. When Oregon's pioneer grape growers were in the first stages of modernizing the wine industry in the 1960's, they were told that they were crazy, simply put. Many detractors believed that they would be knee deep in mud, plagued by rain and never be able to ripen fruit. What these visionary growers knew, however, was that Oregon's now-famed Willamette Valley has the same climate and latitude as France's Burgundy region, world famous for great Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. They also knew that the rains came predominantly from late fall to early spring, not during the growing season. What these growers had on their hands was an excellent cool-climate area to grow great wine grapes with acidity and complexity. Come taste world class Pinot Noir and crisp, Alsatian style whites from some of Oregon's most acclaimed and well-respected producers. We welcome Darren Royer of the Grapevine distributors, to take us on a wine tasting tour of this great Region. Plenty of delicious food will be served from the Panzanella kitchen to complement these wonderful wines. Tickets are $40 and may be purchased at Panzanella or the Customer Service Desk at Weaver Street Market in Carrboro. Seating is limited so purchase early. AMERICAN MICROBREW DINNER Monday, June 5th, 2006 7pm-9:30pm We will be kicking off the beginning of summer with our third beer dinner, which will celebrate our very own American Microbrews. So you ask, what exactly do you mean by microbrew? Well, in a nutshell, the term microbrewery is used to describe a small commercial brewery. However, the initial coining of the term was used in the United Kingdom to describe the new generation of small breweries that had a focus on producing traditional cask ale. In the states, the term microbrew indicates that a brewery produces less than 15,000 barrels of beer annually, and more recently, these smaller breweries have begun calling themselves "craft breweries". After Prohibition, several decades passed where all breweries were consolidated and resulted in only a few very large corporations (like Budweiser) producing beer, who only offered very uniform mild-tasting lagers. This streak of boring beers encouraged beer drinkers who craved more variety to begin homebrewing, which provided a catalyst for the explosion of microbeweries in the United States, largely on the Pacific Coast. Now with close to 1,500 different microbreweries throughout the United States, we will be focusing on some real quality brews that you will not want to miss! Due to such a daunting array of delicious microbrews, our beer dinner will feature about seven specific styles of beer from select breweries that will tantalize your tastebuds and have you clamoring for more. Not only will you be sipping on some serious beer, your palate will be enhanced and senses delighted by a seven-course spread of tasty fare! Follow your appetites and inquiring minds to join us in this festive gathering and get your reservations now! Tickets are $40 and may be purchased at Panzanella or the Customer Service Desk at Weaver Street Market in Carrboro. Seating is limited so purchase early.

Gallery

Beaufort and Beyond Paintings by Jenifer Crowell through June 18 As time goes on, Jenifer finds herself drawn to explore the feelings of people and places with paint. She uses her imagination and insights to express her appreciation of a variety of people, the wonders of nature, and the passage of time. She wants to capture the essence of that moment in time, and allow the viewer to feel and imagine as well. She is largely influenced by scenes in her neighborhood which has a large African American community and is always spellbound by the loving spirit of her neighbors who take the time to sit down, share stories and look out for each other. Some of her paintings evolved from a day's trip to Guangdong, where the people live simply and are not entrenched with possessions. Finally, she is in love with the old cherry tree in her neighborhood and it seems to find a way into many of her paintings. Jenifer is a self-taught artist who lived in Carrboro for 10 years and now resides in Beaufort, NC. Most of her life she has focused on performing in theatre and is also known as "SkyBlue", a silent clown, and has performed for Duke Children's Hospital, UNC Hospital, as well as many other events. She has also performed as a "moving statue" and has acted in Murder Mysteries, films, and television.

On the Menu: New Lunch Menu Includes...

Spring Salad Madness Menu: Caesar Salad with Focaccia Croutons $5.95 ...Add shrimp add $2.00 ...Add skirt steak add $2.00 Chicken Salad made with Ashley Farms chicken, watercress and shaved fennel dressed with orange vinaigrette $7.50 Caponata Salad with grilled local eggplant, slow roasted tomato, olives & Caramelized onions served with bruschetta and Chapel Hill Creamery's fresh mozzarella $7.50 Shrimp and Crab Salad with spring asparagus and crostini tapenade $8.50 Panzanella Salad - fresh tomato, cucumber, onions and basil with WSM Focaccia bread & fresh herbs $6.95 Eco Farms Arugula Salad with Peperonata, Black Eyed Peas & Celebrity Dairy Goat Cheese $7.00 Our New Sunday Brunch Menu is a big hit. We left favorites like Eggs Benedict and Eggs Florentine on as well as French toast, and have added Pancakes wiht Stewed Apples and Sugary Pecans and Crepes. The Lamb Sandwich with Roast Peppers and Celebrity Dairy Walnut-goat Cheese is more popular than we imagined. We are also featuring the Pastry Department's Irish Oat Scone served with Apple Butter and Kahill Porter Cheese. We're open for Brunch a half an hour earlier! Brunch from 10:30 AM - 2:00 PM. Bar News: We are very pleased to welcome back Joe Farrington, who will be bartending Thursday through Saturday nights. Long time friends of Panzanella will be as happy to see him as we all are. Bar specials this month include the refreshing Limoncello Martini, the too delicious White Chocolate Martini, and a juicy Strawberry Margarita.

Recipe

Panzanella's Strawberry & Prosecco Soup Serves 8 Ingredients: 2 quarts of strawberries 2 cups of apple juice 1 1/2 cups of sugar 1 cup Prosecco 1/4 cup honey fresh mint to taste (about 1/3 of a cup) pinch of salt Purée all ingredients together for a great vegan treat or add 1/2 lb of Marscapone cheese, yogurt, or sour cream. Sometime we use chocolate mint from Bluebird Farms as well. Serve as a soup course or dessert course or try it as a daiquiri mixer.

Visit Panzanella's website to view all menus (lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch).