'Basque Country' Dinner at Bedford Post Inn

Bedford Post Inn will pay tribute to Basque Country food with a four-course, prix-fixe dinner on Sunday, April 7. The meal, to be served in The Farmhouse (one of the inn's two restaurants), is called "Basque Country Food of the Euskaldunak." [Basque Country is located in the western (near the Atlantic) Pyrenees. Its cities and settlements lie on both sides of the border between France and Spain.]

The dinner is part of a dining series called "Grilling Around the World," created by Bedford Post Inn chef Jeremy McMillan, with forthcoming dinners based on the food of Italy's Tuscany region, Mexico and the U.S.A. The program began with an authentic Argentinian meal served on March 3. 

"Each dinner in the series is focused on traditional ideas and ingredients of an area or a country—all the while allowing for our slight interpretation," said McMillan. "A big part of the menu relies on the techniques each culture uses," he said. "Each area has a slightly different approach, technique and philosophy for grilling whether it be the slow-and-low, wood-burning-down-to-charcoal used in Argentina, or the pit style of cooking in Mexico where proteins are buried in the ground under rocks, leaves, dirt and coals."

In this series, regional food and ingredients will include:

• April 7. Basque Country: Chuleta (big beef or ox cuts), whole grilled turbot, baby squid, clams and hake kokotxas
• April 21. Tuscany: Bistecca Florentine, wild boar, rabbit and fisherman's chowder done on the fire
• May 5. Mexico (Cinco de Mayo): mole, corn, whole goat (barbacoa) tortillas and tortas
• May 26. USA. (Memorial Day Weekend): Chef McMillan's take on different areas of American barbecue: Memphis, Carolina, St Louis, Texas, and California

Entrées to be offered on the April 7 Basque Country menu will include turbot (flatfish), cordero (lamb) and chuleta (beef). The menu selections for this dinner follow:

Introduction
Pintxos mixed bites of traditional Basque tapas

Second Course
1. Hongos wood oven roasted mushrooms, cured egg, foraged lettuces
2. Piperrada ragu of grilled peppers, onions & fennel, smoked duck egg
3. Kokotxas al Pil Pil hake cheeks cooked in terra cotta, with garlic & olive oil
4. Txiparones en Tinto grilled calamari, preserved lemon and its own ink

Main course
1. Vegetables roasted in the embers, dressed simply with olive oil & lemon
2. Rombo turbot grilled on the bone, dressed with lemon, parlsey & olive oil
3. Cordero lamb ribs marinated with pimento & espelette, grilled over vine trimmings with fava beans, leaves and black olives
4. Chuleta dry aged beef with olive oil, with gem lettuce, shaved onion and charred tomatoes

Postres
1. Mamia cultured milk custard and caramel
2. Gateau Basque traditional cake of Pays Basque
3. Torrija de Pan French toast of Donostia
4. Gelato smoked milk gelato with cassis

The cost for the four-course, prix-fixe dinner is $55 per person plus tax and tip.

For more information about Bedford Post and chef McMillan, see Bedford-KatonahPatch, November 4, 2010.

Bedford Post Inn. 954 Old Post Road, Bedford, NY. 914-234-7800. www.bedfordpostinn.com