AT THE ROOT OF IT ALL DIG INN 路 FALL 2015
DIG INN AT THE ROOT OF IT ALL Food. The way it should be grown and shared. This autumn, we celebrate the roots that grow and feed us all. Let’s start with a meal.
WASTE NOT
EXTRA CRUNCH
ROOTING FOR FRANK
DRESSED to KALE
UPGRAIN
Orange peels get a second life with our new Brussels sprouts recipe.
A savory take on the breakfast favorite.
Learn how three brothers are turning black dirt into gold.
We like our pesto extra green. We bet you will too.
Our friends in Maine are stepping up the grain game.
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Find out more on diginn.com/blog.
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foreword Fall is a season of nostalgia: leaves crunching under your feet, long hikes, wool sweaters, and old friends gathering around the bonfire. When creating this season’s menu, I wanted to use a pantry whose smells and tastes evoke these memories—“forest spices,” such as cinnamon, juniper, star anise, and clove. This is also my favorite time of year at the farmer’s market. In the northeast, the fall market is the most abundant. The last of summer’s bounty is piled alongside the new crop of apples and pears, while winter squash and freshly pulled roots are getting ready for cellaring. What follows in this tastebook is a few of our recipes for fall, the story of a farmer and friend, and a peek inside the Dig Inn kitchen. Enjoy your meal, Matt Weingarten Culinary Director & Executive Chef
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SUNCHOKE & ENDIVE SALAD Raw and roasted sunchoke, pear, endive, celery root, toasted organic sunflower seed, parsley-horseradish vinaigrette
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Almost every vegetable can be made into some form of tasty pickle to be enjoyed well into the next season.
Spinach & pickled mushroom salad Spinach, house-pickled mushroom, forest spice, organic golden raisin, shallot dressing; add freshly shaved parmesan to taste
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WASTE NOT This autumn, our Brussels are dressed in an orange confit cooked from the peels of the oranges that make our breakfast juices. Each week, we will save 525 pounds of orange peels from the compost bin.
Brussels sprouts Brussels sprout, spiced coconut oil, no-waste orange peel confit
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how to make confiture Confit it short for “confiture,” a classic confection of preserved fruits. You can use this basic method for most confitures. Boil the orange skins in plenty of water to extract the bitterness from the pith. Drain. Weigh the orange peels. Divide the weight in half and add that amount of a sweetener of your choice. Add vinegar to mixture— enough to cover the orange peels and sweetener. We love agave nectar and rice wine vinegar for this particular recipe. You can add in herbs—rosemary and thyme are nice, as well as cinnamon, vanilla bean, or star anise. Be creative and don’t be afraid to play with flavors.
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EXTRA CRUNCH
KALE GRANOLA SALAD Kale, house-made rosemary walnut granola, date, citrus dressing
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savory rosemary walnut granola An easy yet impressive topping for any salad.
PARTS ¼ cup olive oil ½ cup honey 1 tablespoon rosemary needles
1 quart gluten free rolled oats ½ teaspoon salt ¼ cup walnut pieces (optional)
WHOLE 1 Preheat oven to 300˚ 2 Place the olive oil, honey, and rosemary needles in a blender and puree on high until well blended 3 Place the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl—add the oil-honey mixture, oats, and salt and toss well to coat 4 Place on well-oiled cookie sheet and cook in 300˚ oven for 20-30 minutes or until nicely toasted and fragrant 5 Allow to cool completely and store in an airtight container
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ROOTING FOR FRANK
Meet Frank from Dagele Brothers Produce. Frank and his brothers, Robert and Randy, are close partners of Dig Inn and third generation farmers based in Orange County, New York. We like to say they turn black dirt into gold. Their 500 acre farm lies on top of “muck,” or black dirt, a very fertile soil due to its high component of sulfur, nitrogen, and other organic matter, inherited from a long gone glacial lake in the region. This nutrient-rich soil grows especially strong onions, making Dagele Brothers one of the largest onion producers in the area. The farm boasts tons of diversity in the field with nine of the ten plant families, including greens, beans, carrots, cucumbers, beets, garlic, onions, kale, and sunchokes—our favorite root for fall. This fall, Dagele will grow 16,000 pounds of Brussels sprouts for Dig Inn. Crop diversity is very rare for a farm of this size, but it helps keep the business profitable while also supporting the environmental health of the land. Frank and his brothers do not compromise on quality and execute their grandparents’ vision of sustainable farming. Frank is a taciturn man most comfortable in the fields, but gets fired up on the basketball court. He often plays with Dig Inn team members on Friday nights and organizes games twice a week with high school kids he quietly mentors. Frank creates a space for everybody to play on the court—just what we’re trying to accomplish at our table. DI 11
FALL FARMS Cassaday Farm · Monroeville, NJ Dagele Brothers Produce · Florida, NY Ithaca Milk Creamery · Interlaken, NY Maine Grains · Skowhegan, ME Mead Orchards · Tivoli, NY Muzzarelli Farms · Vineland, NJ R&R Produce · Goshen, NY Red Jacket Orchards · Geneva, NY Reeves Farm · Baldwinsville, NY Tremblay Apiary · Van Etten, NY
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DRESSED TO KALE
Roasted carrot with Kale-pumpkin seed pesto Slow roasted carrot, kale-pumpkin seed pesto, dried cranberry, arugula DI 13
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Roast your vegetables whole to let natural sugars and minerals concentrate for an explosion of flavors.
kale-pumpkin seed pesto We like our pesto extra green. Substitute pine nuts with pumpkin seeds and basil with kale. Great on its own as a dip or slathered on any well-roasted vegetable.
PARTS ½ cup pumpkin seeds 1 clove garlic 2 tablespoons grated parmesan 2 large kale leaves (chopped with hard center stems removed)
2 teaspoons lemon juice 2 tablespoons water ½ teaspoon pumpkin spice ½ teaspoon salt ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
WHOLE 1 In a small mini chopper or blender, place all ingredients but the olive oil 2 Grind on medium speed until the mixture is coarse 3 Slowly pour in the olive oil to emulsify into a grainy pesto 4 Adjust seasoning to taste
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THE DIG INN CLASSIC
GETS (W)EDGIER
sweet potato wedge Roasted sweet potato, eggless garlic aioli
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Looks can be deceiving. Celery root has a sweet flavor and tender texture that adds a bit of a crunch to this cheesy indulgence.
UPSTATE MAC Ithaca Milk, rBGH-free three cheese blend, whole wheat pasta, celery root, panko bread crumb
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UPGRAIN The Northeast foodshed has a deep agricultural history in the cultivation of hearty grains. The resurgence of artisanal whiskey and liquor as well as whole nutrition have encouraged farmers young and old to keep wheat, rye, oat, barley, and others in production. We love the nutty flavor of the wheat and rye berries from our partners at Maine Grains.
farro with but ternut squash Toasted organic farro, butternut squash, rosemary oil, no-waste orange peel confit, celery, cinnamon, parsley
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Soak any kind of grain berry overnight to help soften the kernel and minimize cooking time.
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GRAND CENTRAL
MIDTOWN EAST
BATTERY PARK CITY
275 Madison Avenue · NY
150 East 52nd Street · NY
225 Liberty Street · NY
between 39th + 40th
between Lexington + 3rd Ave
Hudson Eats at Brookfield Place
WALL STREET
MIDTOWN WEST
NOMAD
80 Pine Street · NY
40 West 55th Street · NY
1178 Broadway · NY
corner of Pine + Pearl
between 5th + 6th Ave
corner of 28th + Broadway
BOWLING GREEN
COLUMBIA U
UNION SQUARE
80 Broad Street · NY
2884 Broadway · NY
17 East 17th Street · NY
between Stone + Marketfield
between 112th + 113th
between Broadway + 5th Ave
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MADISON SQUARE PARK
BOSTON
350 Hudson Street · NY
16 East 23rd Street · NY
557 Boylston Street · MA
between King + Charlton
23rd + Madison Ave
Spring 2016
Let’s start with a meal.