Food news to go: News of the Asheville-area food scene in small bites

Ed Boudreaux’s Bayou Bar-B-Que has closed indefinitely, say neighbors of the dining establishment, located at 48 Biltmore Avenue.

Stone Bowl Korean Restaurant has opened in South Asheville.

Chorizo is closed all this week, reopening Saturday, Jan. 21. The restaurant is undergoing renovations.

Green Opportunities, Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina, Inc., Asheville City Schools Foundation, A-B Tech, AIR and MANNA FoodBank are cooking up a program to provide career opportunities in the food service industry and potential job placement. The GO — Kitchen Ready Training Program, managed by Green Opportunities, will offer training in basic food service and technical skills in culinary arts, baking, food safety and sanitation, nutrition instruction, food vocabulary and kitchen math. A portion of the class will focus on such life skills training as interviewing, job search and retention skills, resume writing and management of personal finances. The use of local food products will be a key component of the program. The Blackbird Restaurant in Black Mountain features a “Bison and Beer” dinner on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 6:30 p.m. The dinner features six courses paired with six beers for $40 (a price that we find rather remarkable). Local items featured at this latest installment of the Black Mountain restaurant’s farm dinners include Carolina Bison, Highland Brewing beers and Dynamite Roasters coffee. Here’s the menu:

Liver and caramelized onion skewer on creamy grits — St. Teresa Pale Ale
Oxtail soup — Tasgall Scotch Ale
Gaelic Ale-braised bison tongue with golden beets and buffalo mozzarella — Gaelic Ale
Short ribs braised in Mocha Stout with hominy stew — Black Mocha Stout
New York strip with fried onions and root vegetable hash, espresso demi-glace — Kashmir IPA
Thunderstruck Coffee Porter ice cream float

To reserve a space, call 669-5556.

The Market Place has an awful lot going on right now. Chef William Dissen is featured in the pages of Xpress this week for his commitment to going green; his restaurant just kicked off a weekly retro happy hour event on Thursdays; a Valentine’s Day celebration is planned, as is an upscale West African-themed dinner/cultural event/fundraiser. On Wednesday Feb. 1, the restaurant hosts its first “Italian Night,” with music from the Guggino Trio (Barrett Smith, Nicky Sanders, and Mike Guggino of the Steep Canyon Rangers), plus good old Italian-American classics like homemade Italian meatballs, gnocchi and tiramisu.

So much is going on, as a matter of fact, that we’re mildly surprised that Dissen has time to post recipes on his newsletter, but he makes it happen. And that’s good news to us, because the Xpress test kitchen is still very much in the conceptual phase.

As part of a continuing commitment to a healthier New Year (our resolve isn’t flagging yet! No really!), we offer you Dissen’s recipe for quinoa salad. Remember what we said about whole grains?

Quinoa Salad with Ginger Lime Dressing

Yields 4 portions
 
Ingredients:

Dressing:
2 tbsp. lime juice
1 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1 tsp. minced ginger
1 tsp. minced shallot
1 garlic clove, minced
pinch of cayenne
pinch of salt
2 tsp. sesame oil
1/4 cup canola oil
2 tbsp. buttermilk
For The Salad:
3 cups cooked quinoa
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1 small cucumber, halved, seeded and thinly sliced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
 
Method:
In a small bowl, mix together the rice wine vinegar, lime juice, garlic, ginger, shallot, salt, cayenne, sesame oil, canola oil and buttermilk.
 
In another bowl, toss together the cooked quinoa, scallion, cucumber cherry tomato and cilantro with the dressing. Check seasoning & re-season, if necessary. Divide among four salad plates.
 
Grilled shrimp or seafood make this salad into an entree.
 
*the cooked quinoa will keep for 3-4 days in the refrigerator.

For more information about The Market Place, located at 20 Wall St., visit the restaurant’s website.