Give the gift of SPIN! Pizza and Get a Gift in Return

Give the gift of SPIN! Pizza and Get a Gift in Return

 SPIN! Neapolitan Pizza Gift Cards Reward Harvesters and You

Include Donation to Food Bank and Gift Card for Purchaser

Purchase $50 in SPIN! Pizza Gift Cards and SPIN! will donate a portion to Harvesters and reward you with SPIN! bucks.  Details are below from their official press release.
Kansas City, MO (Nov. 29, 2011) – Purchasing a SPIN! Neapolitan Pizza gift card this holiday season could reward you and Harvesters: the Community Food Network. SPIN! will donate $5 to Harvesters and give $5 in SPIN! Bucks, good for food at SPIN!, to anyone who purchases a total of $50 in gift cards. A donation and SPIN! Bucks will be included with each additional $50 purchase, with no limit.
This is the first time that SPIN! has given a donation with the purchase of gift cards. The donations are especially important right now, says SPIN! co-owner Gail Lozoff, as Harvesters reports that it currently is experiencing the greatest need in its 32-year history.
“We just hosted a series of dinners to raise funds for Harvesters and want to continue to support Harvesters throughout the holiday season,” says Lozoff. “This is a way to say thank you to our customers and an opportunity to act on our deep appreciation and gratitude for the many blessings we enjoy, by sharing with others.”
The gift cards are available online at http://www.spinpizza.com/giftcards and at all four SPIN! locations: 4950 Main St. in Kansas City, Mo., 1808 N.W. Chipman Rd. in Lee’s Summit, Mo.,  6541 W. 119th St. in Overland Park, Ks., and  14230 W. 119th St. in Olathe. A fifth location is scheduled to open in Lenexa, KS in early 2012 and a sixth is planned for Prairie Village, KS.
SPIN! is known for its exceptional, artisan food made from fresh ingredients without the gourmet price and its rotating roster of eclectic, affordable premium wines priced at $18.
SPIN! Neapolitan Pizza’s award-winning recipes are developed in collaboration with
James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Smith. All of SPIN’s soups, salad dressings, pizza toppings and ingredients are made from fresh produce and prepared daily.
SPIN! offers a variety of traditional thin-and-bubbly crust, hand-tossed rustic whole wheat, and gluten free stone fired pizzas, appetizers, soups, salads, Paninis, signature Italian deli sandwiches, and Italian gelato ice creams.
Named best pizza in Greater Kansas City by every major local publication, SPIN! was recently named one of the “Rest of the 101 Best Restaurants” in the nation by TheDailyMeal.com, one of the most heavily visited “foodie” websites in the country. Its architecture won Best of Show at the Mid America Design Awards.
SPIN!’s pizza dough is made fresh every day using three types of flour including one specially imported from Italy. All the toppings – such as mushrooms, caramelized onions, tomatoes, artichokes, even chicken sausage and pancetta (Italian bacon) – are roasted each morning in a stone hearth oven made especially for SPIN!  A variety of cheeses is hand grated. The menu features both traditional Pizza Rossa (red pizzas with crushed roma tomato base) and Pizza Bianca (white pizzas with roasted olive oil glaze).  Customers can choose between a menu of 17 signature pizzas, and an infinite variety of SPIN YOUR OWN! Pizzas.

SPIN! Neapolitan Pizza is owned and operated by Gail and Richard Lozoff and Edwin Brownell, who are experienced in large multi-unit expansion, franchising, and operations. For information, please visit www.spinpizza.com.

Kansas City Restaurant Week ~ January 20 – 29 2012

Kansas City Restaurant Week ~ January 20 – 29 2012

Below is information from a press release regarding Kansas City Restaurant.

Food enthusiasts will once again have the opportunity to experience hundreds of menus from hundreds of different Kansas City chefs during the third annual Kansas City Restaurant Week presented by Quintessential Wines and Young Beverage Company, January 20 – 29, 2012. The second annual Kansas City Restaurant Week in 2011 featured 101 restaurants, making it one of the most notable restaurant weeks in the country compared to markets of similar size.

The 2012 Kansas City Restaurant Week will highlight a variety of cuisines with hundreds of menus for lunch and dinner that will be created by participating restaurants’ chefs and culinary staff. The prix fixe menus will offer various courses for lunch and dinner at $15.00 and $30.00, respectively. Ten percent of each meal will again be donated to Harvesters – The Community Food Network, helping fight hunger in the Kansas City metro area. Last year, Kansas City Restaurant Week raised nearly $80,000, which translated to 400,000 meals provided to the hungry in Kansas City.

Restaurants from throughout the entire Kansas City area are featured in 2012 Kansas City Restaurant Week, providing diners the option to stay close to home or work or to venture beyond their neighborhoods for a new dining experience. As of November 7, 2011, a total of 90 restaurants were already enrolled in the 2012 event – a 260 percent increase from enrolled restaurants at the same time for the 2011 event. A complete list of participating restaurants is available at www.kansascityrestaurantweek.com. The list is continually updated as new restaurants enroll. The list also incorporates online reservations via www.opentable.com for participating restaurants offering the service. The prix fixe lunch and dinner menus of participating restaurants can also be viewed. Diners can find regular menu sneak peeks by becoming a Kansas City Restaurant Week fan on Facebook. Kansas City Restaurant Week is also on Twitter at @RestaurantWeek.

Bluestem: The Cookbook Now Available

Bluestem: The Cookbook Now Available

Bluestem: The Cookbook. This cookbook which hit shelves earlier this months is the creation of Chef Colby Garrelts a repeated nominee for the James Beard Award for “Best Chef Midwest,” and highly respected pastry chef Megan Garrelts.

This Culinary power couple who call Leawood home, are chefs and owners of Bluestem Restaurant in Westport, and Executive Chefs at Trezo Vino in Park Place.
With the use of many local and seasonal ingredients, the book has over 100 recipes and is divided into four seasonal sections, each including recipes for appetizers, pasta dishes, dishes from the sea, dishes from the land, and of course desserts. Every recipe showcases local, Midwestern ingredients and artisan producers, which are also profiled in the book.  Breathtaking photos from food writer and photographer Bonjwing Lee capture the simple beauty of Bluestem’s composed dishes. 
The cookbook is available at the restaurant, Rainy Day Books in Fairway, KS, Amazon.com and additional online and retail outlets.
Below are couple of recipes from the cookbook courtesy of Colby and Megan.

  cranberry floats

I don’t naturally take to cranberries. Even when helped along by some sugar, the flavor is often too tart and tannic for me. But I do love the color of cranberries. They provide a cheery blush to the otherwise rusty fall landscape. In this recipe, I round out the flavor of cranberries with orange and spices (and sugar). With a splash of sparkling wine, it becomes a lively, crisp end to an autumn meal. You can also serve the sorbet by itself.
Serves 4 to 6
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
 2 cups sugar
 4 cups water
 2 cups cranberries
 Juice and peel (pith removed) of 1 orange
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cinnamon sticks
 4 star anise
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Champagne or dry sparkling wine, for serving
Using the tip of a small knife, scrape the vanilla seeds out of the pod halves into a medium saucepot. Add the vanilla bean pod halves, sugar, 2 cups of the water, cranberries, orange peel and juice, vanilla, cinnamon sticks, and star anise and bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. When the cranberries begin to pop, lower the heat to medium-high and continue to cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool slightly. Remove and discard the vanilla pod halves (or reserve for other use), orange peel, cinnamon sticks, and star anise.
Pour the remaining contents into a blender. Holding the lid firmly with one hand wrapped in a kitchen towel, blend the mixture on high speed until liquefied. Strain the sorbet base through a fine-mesh sieve. Stir in the remaining 2 cups of water and the lemon juice. Chill the base for at least 4 hours, or preferably overnight. Churn the chilled base in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Freeze the sorbet for at least 2 hours before serving.
Using a small melon baller or a ½-teaspoon measuring spoon, scoop 3 balls of sorbet into a tall shot glass. Top the glass with Champagne and serve immediately with
spicy fig cake
I’m convinced that people who bristle at fruitcake have never had a good one. This recipe will change their minds. Moist and soft, this is the antithesis of those dense bricks that modern mythology has us passing annually from family to family like a hot potato. I particularly love the meaty pieces of dried figs, the seeds of which give this cake a bit of crunch. This cake can also be served simply cut into slices. It needs nothing more than a dollop of fresh whipped cream and a cup of tea. Wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, this cake will keep for up to 3 days. Wrapped in multiple layers of plastic wrap and stored in the freezer, it will keep for up to 3 months.
Makes one 9-inch loaf
10 ounces dried figs
 1 cup ginger liqueur or brandy ½ cup
 (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
 ¼ cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 vanilla bean ¼ cup sour cream
 3 tablespoons orange marmalade or apricot jam
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 Zest of 1 orange, grated with a Microplane zester
 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground allspice
 ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1⅛ cups cake flour
 ½ teaspoon salt
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Soak the dried figs in the ginger liqueur overnight, covered.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter the loaf pan.
Drain the figs, reserving the liqueur, and dice the figs.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and the sugars together on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl with a spatula. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time until incorporated. Scrape down the bowl once more.
Slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Using a small knife, scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the batter. Add the sour cream, marmalade, honey, vanilla, zest, fresh and ground ginger, allspice, and cloves and mix well. Scrape down the bowl.
With the mixer on low speed, mix in the cake flour and salt until just incorporated.
Scrape down the bowl and fold in the drained figs.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Rap the pan firmly against the counter to remove any air bubbles. Bake the loaf for 40 to 45 minutes, until the surface cracks and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Using the tines of a fork, prick the top of the cake all over. Pour the reserved liqueur from the dried figs over the top, letting it seep into the cake.
Allow the cake to cool completely. Flip the pan over to release the cake. Trim the cake with a serrated knife, removing the domed top and shaving the sides and bottom to create a block with squared edges. Slice the block into ½-inch-thick slices and cut each slice into thirds for petits fours–size pieces. Dust them with confectioners’ sugar and serve.
Kansas City’s 2012 Restaurant Week

Kansas City’s 2012 Restaurant Week

Below is information from the official press release regarding the 2012 Restaurant Week.

Kansas City, Mo. – Food enthusiasts will once again have the opportunity to experience hundreds of menus from hundreds of different Kansas City chefs during the third annual Kansas City Restaurant Week presented by Quintessential Wines and Young Beverage Company, January 20 – 29, 2012. The second annual Kansas City Restaurant Week in 2011 featured 101 restaurants, making it one of the most notable restaurant weeks in the country compared to markets of similar size.

The 2012 Kansas City Restaurant Week will highlight a variety of cuisines with hundreds of menus for lunch and dinner that will be created by participating restaurants’ chefs and culinary staff. The prix fixe menus will offer various courses for lunch and dinner at $15.00 and $30.00, respectively. Ten percent of each meal will again be donated to Harvesters – The Community Food Network, helping fight hunger in the Kansas City metro area. Last year, Kansas City Restaurant Week raised nearly $80,000, which translated to 400,000 meals provided to the hungry in Kansas City.

Restaurants from throughout the entire Kansas City area are featured in 2012 Kansas City Restaurant Week, providing diners the option to stay close to home or work or to venture beyond their neighborhoods for a new dining experience. As of November 7, 2011, a total of 90 restaurants were already enrolled in the 2012 event – a 260 percent increase from enrolled restaurants at the same time for the 2011 event. A complete list of participating restaurants is available at www.kansascityrestaurantweek.com. The list is continually updated as new restaurants enroll. The list also incorporates online reservations via www.opentable.com for participating restaurants offering the service. The prix fixe lunch and dinner menus of participating restaurants can also be viewed. Diners can find regular menu sneak peeks by becoming a Kansas City Restaurant Week fan on Facebook. Kansas City Restaurant Week is also on Twitter at @RestaurantWeek.

Strong Ale Fest

Strong Ale Fest

BeerKC presents the inaugural Strong Ale Beer Fest, an ode to bold ales. The festival takes place on Saturday, November 12 from 1pm – 5pm at the McCoy’s parking lot, a benefit for AIDS Walk Kansas City.

The festival will feature 30 strong beers from breweries across the United States. Attendees will receive a commemorative tasting glass and enjoy the opportunity to mingle with the brewers and creators of the beers being poured.

Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 at the door.
Click here to purchase your ticket.