shh...

Several months ago we were introduced to an underground supper club called 'The Test Kitchen'. We applied, were accepted (!) and since then have been drooling over the invitations to their events. Recently the group was "exposed" in a Kansas City Star article. Contrary to what you might think, this isn't a bad thing--just another way to encourage 'discipleship' (membership), and support the growth of local culinary talent here in KC.

When we saw that the sous chef from one of our favorite local restaurants was being featured in March we decided to enter the lottery. What were the chances that we'd be 2 of only 20 people chosen to attend? But chosen we were and attend we did!


Words cannot begin to describe the experience! Last night's dinner was called "low and slow" with a menu developed and prepared by Chef Chris Eis, the sous chef at the fabulous Justus Drugstore in Smithville, Missouri. The 'top secret' location was the basement of a local wine store where we met some incredible people who we hope to dine with again soon! We ate, drank, talked and laughed for close to 5 hours and hoped the evening would never end!

We were greeted with glasses of Prosecco but soon a very talented bartender (also from Justus Drugstore) arrived to prepare a spring cocktail with forsythia flowers and gin infused with wild organic dandelions. Yes, even the Pollmanns enjoyed this drink (and a few more throughout the evening)!!

The invitation only tells you the theme and gives you clues to what you might be eating. Many of the ingredients used for this event were locally foraged-not an easy task considering that 2 days prior we had 6"+ of snow on the ground!! The menu featured:

Seasonal Cocktail & Amuse

stinging nettles, Missouri sushi rice, hemp seeds, lemon oil, roasted pepper puree, sumac and smoked paprika

local goat, carrot, wild honey, spice

fresh carrot broth, local goat cheese with ginger, toasted cumin and coriander, wild herb honey, cilantro

heads & tails

crispy fried striper bass tail, potato-leek puree with sauce made from parsley, capers, lemon zest, grilled red pepper, toasted garlic

bass meat (cheeks) in a rich saffron broth with brunoise fennel, carrot and shallot, garnished with orange zest, thyme, fennel frond, black pepper profiteroles

foragers salad

selection of greens and lettuces including bulls blood beet, wild chickweed, sedums, dandelion greens, white kale with crispy beau solais farms oyster mushrooms, pine nut streusel, celery leaves, dandelion vinaigrette, pine bud syrup

this little piggy

roasted Berkshire pork loin, soft polenta with smoked bacon, wilted spring onion, granny apple, chickweed salad, pine needle infused apple vinaigrette, roasted shallot jus, pork rind crumbles, wild bee balm

bourbon, fresh orange, black walnut, smoke

ooey-gooey sticky bourbon date cake, fresh tangelo gelato, whipped creme fraiche, black walnut praline, smokey candied walnut, lemon-rosemary caramel

In addition to the food we were served several glasses of wine including a wonderful Bordeaux Grave. Between dinner and dessert we were served a 'shot' of meyer lemoncello infused with saffron and caramom.

Our compliments to the chef, the Test Kitchen Founder and staff, and all of the disciples who have dined before us. We hope this is just the first of many amazing 'renegade' dinners in which we partake!

luck of the kansas citians

we can't all be irish (even if you do have red hair) but we can all enjoy an 80 degree day in march! while at the brookside st. patrick's day parade on saturday we made plans with our neighbors to enjoy an unseasonably warm st. patty's day with burgers, brats and beers after work. a few friends joined the festivities and before long we had 18 people and a grill on our front porch!

foodie friends

As if we hadn't had enough great food already this weekend, we enjoyed cooking and eating with our friends Jay and Karen Mulligan. Both are fantastic cooks and we love to swap stories of traveling, eating, running and cycling with them!

Our fabulous menu included:
Wild Mushroom Ragout on Crispy Polenta with Comte Cheese
Pear Soup
Grilled Pork Porterhouse With an Apple-Maple-Ginger Sauce (a recipe from a recently published NY Times article featuring Justus Drugstore)
Roasted Winter Root Vegetables
No-Knead Bread
Chocolate Bouchons with Baileys Ice Cream

Yum!

happy birthday to you!

To celebrate Mike's 35th birthday we enjoyed a quiet evening at home with a dinner of mussels with saffron and mustard (from the Bouchon cookbook), french fries and chocolate Bouchons (do you see a theme here?!)

It was then time to rest up since we were hosting our Saturday morning running group, friends and neighbors for 8 miles followed by brunch. Friends brought great breakfast dishes to share in addition to our bagels and lox. Lately, Mike has been experimenting with homemade bagels and this batch was especially good (his first attempt at toppings--poppy seeds!)

Later, we attended the annual Brookside St. Patrick's Day Warm Up Parade with our neighbors!

r + r

It's been a busy week with deadlines and tests. For weeks we had been planning a gourmet dinner with our friends Lynnis and Larry but by the time Lynnis and I finally talked late Thursday night as we were both leaving work, we decided what we really needed was some r+r. What better for a relaxing dinner than pizza? We made 4 pies: Spicy Spinach and Goat Cheese Pizza, Chris Bianco's Pizza Rosa, Smoked Salmon, Dill Sauce and Onion Pizza

and a Two Cheese Pizza with dijon mustard, feta and Havarti cheese, Kalamata olives and caraway seeds. We also enjoyed the Zuni Cafe Caesar Salad, Chai Spiced Almond Cookies and artisanal beers from Boulevard (some of us enjoyed the beer more than others--but we all tried it!)

it's not easy being green

Mike took the LEED exam this morning and passed so there are now 2 LEED APs in the Pollmann household! Congratulations, Mike!