Tips from the Green Market
 Beans are the thing this month. Green, yellow, purple, solid, striped, flat, round, oblong, French, Italian, fat, thin, whole pod, or out-of-the pod. And on and on. So many options from which to choose; how is one to decide? My attitude is try 'em all and then decide which ones you like. Standard pole or bush bean varieties are delicious raw when über-fresh, but barely blanched then marinated or pickled, they become magically refreshing as a star component of a summer meal.  And funny thing about the purple and striped ones is that they often lose their characteristic beautiful colors when conventionally cooked, yet when cooked very quickly over intense heat they haven't the time or inclination to change.
Shell beans are equally misunderstood and often under-appreciated. These wonders can be creamy and rich without much assistance, though (as always) they're delicioso when cooked with hardwood bacon or a little pork fat. Succulently toothsome as an accompaniment to roasted meats, or satisfying pureed into a chilled smoky soup as a prelude to fresh cut heirloom tomatoes and refreshing summer cucumbers, these beans are so much more than the butt of campfire jokes. Here at the restaurant, we're currently serving an Etna bean ragout with braised pork belly, pickled red peppers and a cornmeal-crusted soft-boiled egg. You can only imagine...
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Tips from the Fish and Meat Market
Guinea Fowl
This month, we're offering succulent guinea fowl on our dinner menu. And while most European cooks know well and value this beautiful bird, guinea fowl is still just beginning to gain an understanding and appreciation in this country. Historically a free-roaming "wild" animal, most guinea fowl available in this country are confined to the limits of the barnyard or immediate fields surrounding the farm. The meat tends to have a deliciously deep, richer flavor than that of chicken, yet not so gamy as to border on pheasant. When treated with care, guinea fowl remains moist and tender and the skin can be rendered crisp yet still juicy. We're currently pan-roasting and basting the breast and serving it alongside a roulade made with the boneless thigh rolled with a shallot-leg meat mousseline; it's served atop a crispy Yukon potato cake, with baby carrots, English peas and a foie gras-enriched sauce.
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Watch Our Garden Grow!
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Drink of the Month
Peach Wobbler
1 1/2 oz Templeton's Rye 1/2 oz Amaretto 3 oz peach juice 1/2 oz Frangelico Fill a cocktail shaker with ice;  add first three ingredients and shake vigorously. Strain into a martini glass and carefully float Frangelico on top. Relax and enjoy!
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Recipe of the Month
Corn and Arugula Salad
 6 ears sweet
corn; husked,
blanched
2-6", iced,
kernels
stripped
4 slices Vidalia
or other
sweet onion, ¼" thick
1 Tbl vegetable oil
2 ea plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded,
1/3" dice
4-6 oz baby arugula leaves, 2-2.5 inch
length
1 Tbl sherry vinegar
1 Tbl lemon juice
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 Tbl wildflower honey
1/3 c extra virgin olive oil
1/3 c sunflower or canola oil
1 tsp coarsely ground black
peppercorns
1 tsp fine sea salt
- In small bowl, whisk together vinegar, lemon juice, mustard and honey.
- Drizzle in olive and vegetable oils, whisking constantly. Reserve.
- In large pot of boiling salted water, blanch sweet corn ears 2-6 minutes, according to freshness. Remove to ice water bath and chill 2 minutes.
- Drain, dry and carefully strip kernels from ears into bowl, discarding ears.
- Oil and season Vidalia onion slices, and if possible char them on very hot barbeque grill. Cook through, remove from heat and chill.
- Cut onions into even ¼" dice and place in bowl with corn.
- Add diced tomatoes, 1/3 cup of the reserved vinaigrette, and the teaspoons of black pepper and salt.
- Mix with rubber spatula until evenly coated. Reserve until ready to eat.
- Place baby arugula around perimeter of shallow serving bowl or platter and pour corn mixture in center.
- Serve immediately.
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Farm of the Month
Illinois Farm Direct
This month's "farm" is actually a website of Illinois farmers and farmers' markets helping promote and facilitate the connection between you, the consumer, and your food. The website -- a joint project of a number of like-minded academic, agricultural, and otherwise concerned individuals hoping to help link delicious, local, responsibly-produced foods with folks like you -- can be easily used to locate farms, markets and very specific commodities within reach of your local area.
Illinois Farm Direct
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Charity of the Month
Slow Food USA
Each year, we accumulate donations through our wine program for four deserving organizations. Their inclusion on our list is based on their work to help preserve diverse food choices, contribute to the local community, support local farmers, and help commit to a more sustainable future. Although it has been featured before, this month's selection is worth another look in consideration of their big event at the end of this month.
Slow Food (international) was founded in 1986 to combat the industrialization of food - for fear of standardizing and sanitizing tastes and decreasing biological diversity. Slow Food encourages the world to slow down - to respect local food customs, the traditions of the table, and the bounty of our planet. The organization envisions a future food system that is "good, clean, and fair" and is active today in more than 50 countries with a worldwide membership of over 80,000 people. For more info, click here: Slow Food USA
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News from North Pond
And beginning on the 29th of the month and lasting through the 1st of September will be the first ever Slow Food Nation, bringing together some of the world's and this nation's foremost thinkers, farmers, and food artisans to share their ideas, words and wares in San Francisco. If you've got the time and money, this original event will be one to savor: 
