October 2009 Archives

The Bacon-Wrapped Dates Stuffed with Fresh Goat Cheese and Apple are back on the menu!  A quick story about the dates-  a few years back I sampled one of Katie's Medjool dates.  The texture and balanced sweetness blew my mind and I was determined to put them on the menu somehow.  I remembered a simple bacon-wrapped water chestnut dish that I loved at a restaurant that I worked at years ago and thought this might be the thing to do.  After tasting the bacon-date combo, I felt it was wanting something stuffed into the center,  I tired arugula and I tried goat cheese.  The cheese was the staff favorite so we went with it.  The apple slice went into the dish to give a little crunch to the mushy texture.  These dates have become a runaway hit- they've been picked as one of the best dishes in the region in Sacramento Magazine and Katie seems to sell out faster and faster each year as customers fall in love with her dates at Tucos then flock to her booth at the Farmers' Market.

Welcome back Katie!  We're delighted to see you.

Recipe:

Wrap pitted date and secure with tooth pick.  Bake at 400F until bacon is fully cooked.  Remove tootpick, stuff with fresh goat cheese and a wedge of a crisp apple like a Pink Lady and serve.

Starters

Kumamoto & Sweetwater Oysters hog island oyster co., tomales bay, ca  $3 ea / $18 for 7 ‡

Marinated Olives fresh herbs, lemon, garlic  $7 ‡

Oven Roasted Almonds & Golden Raisins olive oil, rosemary, crushed red pepper  $7 ‡

Bacon-Wrapped Medjool Dates, house-made chevre, pink lady apple  $8

Warmed Herb Goat Cheese Crostinis house-made chevre, fresh herbs, garlic toast $7 ‡

Dungeness Crab & Cheese Bruschetta aioli, fresh herbs, cheese, garlic toast $12

Grass-Fed Lamb Meatballs cuban mojo sauce  $12 ‡

Scallops Benedict day boat scallops, prosciutto, hollandaise sauce, toast $12 ‡

Japanese Tobiko Caviar with Buckwheat Blinis crème Fraiche, sieved eggs, sweet onion $8 ‡

Smoked Trout Spread acme bread $9 ‡

Chilled Cucumber-Melon Gazpacho Soup shot $4 / bowl $8 ‡

French Onion Soup cheese, garlic toast (vegetarian) $8 ‡

Cheese Plate with acme bread $5.5 per oz ‡

Selection of cheeses: CA: Brie (Triple Cream), France:  Comte, D'Affinois, Bucherondin de Chevre, Bleu D'Auvergne, Spain: Manchego (3 Mo.), Holland: Sheep Gouda, Aged Gouda, Italy:  Taleggio, Red Cow Parmigiano Reggiano,  Portugal:  Queijo Sao Jorge, Vermont: Cheddar (2 yr.)                     

Salads

Market Salad lettuce, fresh fruit, roasted almonds, warm herbed goat cheese, herbed citrus dressing  $7 ‡

Green Bean & Tuna Salad hard-cooked egg, sweet onion, black olive dressing  $9 ‡

Bread Salad lettuce, poached egg, bacon, garlic croutons, citrus dressing  $9 ‡

Roasted Beet Salad watercress, walnuts, goat cheese $9 ‡

Grass-Fed Beef Carpaccio Salad beef tenderloin, watercress, caper dressing, grana cheese $15 ‡

Caesar Salad romaine lettuce, garlic bread $8 (add chicken $4) (add shellfish $6) ‡

Roasted, Spicy Monterey Sardine Salad lettuce, tomato, onions, citrus dressing  $12

Pizzettas

Grass-fed beef flank steak, chimichurri sauce,  fresh mozarerlla, lettuce, tomato, onions $16

Bacon, Spinach, Apple & Blue Cheese, fresh mozarerlla, olive oil, blue cheese dressing $14

Prosciutto, Arugula, Tomato & Nicoise Olive, fresh mozzarella, olive oil, citrus dressing $14

Roasted Zucchini & Onion, fresh mozzarella, olive oil, mojo dressing $14

Burgers & Sandwiches

Grass-Fed Burger with bacon & cheese, house-made bun Beef $8, or Bison $12

Salami-Caprese Sandwich, salami, mozzarella, tomatoes, basil (vegetarian available) $9 ‡

Sandwich Cubano $12

Fried Egg Sandwich, bacon, collard greens, mozzarella, hollandaise sauce $10

Dungeness Crab Melt hand-picked crab, aioli, fresh herbs, cheese, cocktail sauce, green salad $14

Grilled Cheese & Tomato Sandwich, mozzarella, fresh tomato, ketchup, green salad $8 ‡

Pastas

Build-Your-Own Macaroni & Cheese Select your favorite cheese from our cheese list $9

Cheese Raviolis dungeness crab, butter, lemon juice  $21

Grass-Fed Bison Stroganoff pappardelle pasta  $25

Latin

Brazilian cheese bread (Pao de Queijo)  $2, with black truffle $3 (allow 20 min)

Venezuelan seafood cocktail (Vuelve la Vida)- wild shrimp, clams, calamari $8 ‡

Free-Range Chicken Tacos corn tortillas, bacon, collard greens (vegetarian available) $12

Feijoada (brazilian stewed beef, pork, black beans) rice, collard greens, farofa (toasted yucca) $19 ‡

Empanadas (beef or butternut & collard greens) $9

Butternut Cachapas (venezuelan griddle cakes) $9

Arepas (shredded beef or avocado & fresh mozzarella) $9

Entrees

Seared Peking Duck Breast with Sangria Reduction, mashed root vegetable-potatoes, veggies $21

Pot Roast grass-fed beef, red wine sauce, mashed butternut-potatoes, seasonal veggies  $19 ‡

Nectarine Chutney-Glazed Pork Chop mashed butternut-potatoes, seasonal veggies  $17

Paella with Sausage, Chicken, & Shellfish $25

Grass-Fed NY Beef Steak mashed butternut-potatoes, seasonal veggies  $30

Tucos Wine Market & CafE

Dessert Menu

All Desserts $8

Panna Cotta house-made summer fruit compote

Strawberry Tres Leches Shortcake strawberries, crème fraiche, evaporated & condensed milk, whipped cream

Walnut Cake Roll  fresh-ground walnuts, whipped cream, bourbon-caramel sauce

Cinnamon Crumb Bread Pudding house-made vanilla ice cream

Chocolate Pudding Cream Puffs bourbon-caramel sauce, hot fudge, toasted walnuts

Affogato shot of espresso, house-made vanilla ice cream

Dessert Wine Flight (1/2 oz pours) $15

Prunier Pineau des Charentes, Cognac, France

Radee Passionfruit Wine, Thailand

Vientos Alcyone Dessert Tannat NV, Atlantida, Uruguay

Quinta Infantado Tawny, Porto, Portugal

Tea for Two

Pot of Loose Leaf Rare Tea $6

Chinese Oolong Tea Monkey-Picked

Pot of Herbal Tea $4