Refreshment

You know how in the summer you hear people say, "It's too hot to cook?"

I agree. That's why you should come to the Red Hen.

This menu has "refreshing" written all over it.

STARTERS

Creamy Sweet Corn Soup 8

spicy fennel & cucumber chow chow, chives

Local Roasted & Raw Baby Beet Salad 10

fresh goat cheese, marjoram, arugula, almonds, truffle honey vinaigrette

‘Stonehouse Farms’ Field Green Salad 8

shaved fennel, cucumbers, herbs, flowers, coriander vinaigrette

‘Stonehouse’ and ‘Fox Ridge’ Farms Heirloom Tomato & Melon Salad 10

buffalo mozzarella, basil

MAINS

House Made Spaetzle Pasta & Sunny Side Up ‘Red Hen’ Egg 20

sweet corn, pole beans, oyster mushrooms, tomatoes, ricotta, anise hyssop

Pan Seared Local Lamb Meatballs 23

cracked wheat salad, curried eggplant, cucumbers, tomatoes, watercress, pickled turnips

Rosemary and Garlic Grilled ‘Buffalo Creek’ Pork Blade Steak 24

panzanella of squash, beans, tomatoes, fennel, stone fruits, and herbs

Caramelized Georges Bay Sea Scallops 25

summer corn succotash, confit new potatoes, chorizo, purslane, lemon emulsion

Grilled ‘Buffalo Creek’ Short Rib Paillard 25

roasted new potatoes, summer vegetable ragout, basil flowers, thyme, balsamic molasses

DESSERT

Cherry Tart 8

shortbread, amaretto cream, chocolate sauce, whipped cream

Lemon Verbena Crème Brûlée 8

fresh fruit, made with our ‘Red Hen’ eggs

Belgian Chocolate Bete Noire 8

fresh berries, chocolate ganache, whipped cream

Rose Geranium Panna Cotta 8

Lemon curd, fresh fruit, toasted almonds

Bread and Butter Pudding 8

salted caramel, whipped cream, toasted pecans, fresh fruit

Our menu changes daily to incorporate the freshest, seasonal, and local ingredients.

Foggy Ridge Cider/Broadview Ranch Dinner

Foggy Ridge Hard Cider Dinner Thursday June 2nd

Please find below the menu for next Thursday's special dinner featuring Foggy Ridge hard cider and Broadview Ranch pork. Diane Flynt from Foggy Ridge will be on hand to talk about her amazing ciders, and Collin has outdone himself with this paired menu, so we hope you'll be able to join us!  Call us at  540-464-4401 or email us today and we'll save you a spot.      ---Stephanie, John, and the Red Hen team

Thursday, June 2nd, 2011  The Red Hen Swine n' Dine With Foggy Ridge Cider & Broadview Ranch Quartet of House Made Charcuterie: pate de champagne, mustard, scallion flat bread porchetta di testa, capers, preserved lemon, kale noix de jamon, pickled turnips lardo, toasted walnut, wine caramel, thyme First Fruit Cider Chilled Pig Foot Salad cucumbers, fennel, cilantro, turnip greens, pickled garlic & hot chile vinaigrette & Crispy Cracklin' and Blue Crab Lettuce Wrap spring onion, maple hot sauce, blood orange Sweet Stayman Cider Grilled Brochette and Shenandoah Style Pon Haus kidney, pancetta wrapped liver, loin, radish, cippolini onion, sage, cherry molasses & House Made Pork Meatball asparagus, poached rhubarb, quail egg, mustard egg sauce, chervil Serious Cider  Crepes ricotta, strawberries, anise hyssop, candied bacon, lemon granita Pippin Gold Cider $75 per person Menu subject to change

Yes, Virginia, There Really Is a Red Hen

Actually, there are a couple dozen of them. They are a cherished part of our restaurant family.

Delivered to us in a cardboard box, almost two years ago:

So cute. I defy you to observe without melting a little.

These twenty four New Hampshire Reds have thrived on hand-feeding, fresh air, and a lot of doting by us and our children.

She looks cranky, but trust me, we should all have such nice lives.

And today, the hens are fat and happy, and laying like there is no tomorrow.

We are family. I got all my sisters with me.

And oh! the eggs. You have never seen plumper, yellower yolks. These eggs star in several dishes, like Collin's frisee salads with poached Red Hen egg, or his handmade spaetzel and egg dish (with peas, spring garlic, oyster mushrooms, scallion, lemon ricotta & chervil), or Amanda's crème brûlée.

Happy food from happy hens. Come in and see for yourself.

"The Nut of the Ham"

You learn something new everyday. Tonight's Red Hen Market Menu features something called "noix de jamon," which Collin tells me means "the nut of the ham." Think best part of a piece of pork, perfectly cured.

I don't care what you call it, I call it delicious.

Here's how it's playing this evening in our $35 Market Menu.

1st course: a small plate of noix de jamon, brie, lavash bread

2nd course: butter leaf salad with strawberries (picked yesterday by our friend Rodney), fennel, radishes, turnips with vinaigrette

3rd course: rosemary & honey-roasted quail with grits, asparagus (also just picked), & walnuts

I know it's 5:30 pm & you might already have dinner plans. But hey, there's always tomorrow.

Tour de France Spring Wine Dinner

Tour de France Wine Dinner

Tuesday, April 26th
6:30pm
$55 per person


Warm Goat Cheese
toasted hazelnuts, local butter leaf lettuce, strawberries, thyme vinaigrette
Bieler Pere et Fils Rose 2010

Local Asparagus
poached red hen egg, garlic crouton, bean stew, fresh herbs
Domaine Vercheres Macon Villiages 2009

Border Springs Farm Lamb Shank
peas, leeks, fiddlehead ferns, house made potato gnocchi
Lou Bar Rou Cotes de Venteaux 2007

Rose Geranium Panna Cotta
lemon curd, poached rhubarb, cocoa nib praline
Saint Hilaire Sparkling 2007

Maybe April is the tastiest month

April 2011 -- What's on the menu

(We change our menus daily to incorporate the freshest, seasonal, local products available.)

BAR MENU
(4pm to 6pm)

Basque Olives 3

Roasted Medjool Dates & Smoked Virginia Bacon 9
local watercress, toasted walnuts, blue cheese, truffle honey

Selection of Four Artisan Cheeses with House Made Lavash
North American Selection 14
European Selection 14

14 Month Aged, Virginia Peanut Fed, Smoked ‘Surryano’ Ham 12
reggiano cheese, fresh pear, cracked pepper

Artisan & House Made Charcuterie 16
house pickled vegetables, grilled flatbread

Porchetta di Testa 8
capers, preserved lemon, local baby kale, spicy poached rhubarb

House Made Pâté de Campagne 8
pickled shallot, parsley, mustard, grilled flatbread

Grilled Local Asparagus 9
house cured lambchetta, honey cured ‘Red Hen’ egg yolk, fennel yogurt

Soft Boiled Local Quail Eggs & Smoked ‘Surryano’ Ham 6
mustard, chives


DINNER MENU
(5:30pm to 9pm)

STARTERS
Stone Soup 7
celery root, rutabaga, leek, white beans, ham hock, local kale

‘Stonehouse Farm’ Spring Lettuce Salad 8
herbed goat cheese, spiced pecans, coriander vinaigrette

14 Month Aged, Virginia Peanut Fed, Smoked ‘Surryano’ Ham 12
reggiano cheese, fresh pear, cracked pepper, arugula flowers

Roasted Medjool Dates & Smoked Virginia Bacon 9
local watercress, toasted walnuts, blue cheese, truffle honey

Artisan & House Made Charcuterie 16
house pickled vegetables, grilled flatbread

Selection of Four Artisan Cheeses with House Made Lavash
North American Selection 14 European Selection 14


MAINS

House Made Spaetzle & Poached ‘Red Hen’ Egg 20
peas, spring garlic, oyster mushrooms, scallion, lemon ricotta, chervil

‘Maple Leaf Farm’ Duck Breast 24
braised french lentils, local radish, blood orange, local radish greens, candied squash seeds

Roasted ‘Broadview Ranch’ Pork Jowl 23
wade’s mill stone ground grits, creamy leeks, peas, local asparagus, local morel mushrooms

Pan Seared Carolina Shrimp 24
leeks, sweet potatoes, house made potato gnocchi, pea tendrils, tarragon-white wine broth

Grilled ‘Buffalo Creek Beef’ Flat Iron Steak 26
buttermilk mashed potatoes, ‘stonehouse farm’ turnips, turnip greens, preserved lemon, herbs


DESSERTS

Lemon Tart 8
shortbread, orange caramel, fresh citrus, whipped cream

Rose Geranium Crème Brûlée 8
made with our ‘Red Hen’ eggs & fresh rose geranium

Belgian Chocolate Bete Noire 8
fresh strawberries, chocolate ganache, whipped cream

Bread and Butter Pudding 8
salted caramel, whipped cream, toasted pecans, apples

Selection of Four Artisan Cheeses with House Made Lavash
North American Selection 14
European Selection 14

Market Menu Returns!

I just talked to Collin, and he and Amanda are planning on bringing back Market Menu tomorrow night, Wednesday 4/20 in celebration of the reopening of the Lexington Farmers Market.

See you all at the market-- and hopefully also at the Red Hen soon.

Upcoming at the Hen

Do not miss Cory Campbell live at Red Hen this Thursday, April 21, starting at 8:30. Collin is preparing a special bar menu for the evening, and of course you cane enjoy our specialty cocktails, craft-brewed beers, and exceptional wine offerings. $5 cover charge.

And Tuesday, April 26th we will have the next in our series of wine dinners. This one is the Tour de France, with four courses paired with great wines from around France. Starts at 6:30, $55. Call now for reservations: 540-464-4401

from the pages of Southern Living

The April issue of Southern Living exhorts readers to Savor the Shenandoah Valley, including dinner at the Red Hen, "where husband-wife team Collin Donnelly and Amanda Bertschi serve seasonal farmhouse fare like 'your grandmother's home-cooking if she had been eating at French Laundry.'"

Check out the little picture in the center, with Agnes Carbrey's paintings...