Reds on the River

Farm Fresh Flavor

admin — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 21:18:26 +0000

This has definitely been a challenging growing season with the warmer spring, damaging May frost, record high temperatures and low precipitation levels. I am amazed and grateful for all our hard working farmers as they tap into generations of experience to save the crops. I am visiting our local farms every week to see what is ready for harvest, then building my specials, side dishes, and reductions to maximize on the farm fresh flavors. Today I visited Helen and Dave at Ingraberg Farms and picked out baby zucchini, cucumbers, banana peppers, and thai basil. We’re counting the days until the red-tasseled candy corn on the cob and the heirloom tomatoes come in. Check out our photos in the gallery …

Spring plants at the farm … just in time for our new summer menu

admin — Fri, 20 May 2011 13:21:30 +0000

Hello everyone! Finally made a trip to the farm this week to see what is going into the ground for summer! Lettuce was transplanted, thyme and sage are being harvested and the Rhubarb plants are looking big! So hopefully in the next two or three weeks the weekend specials will be driven by the farm produce. Over the next week everything else should go into the ground, assuming we have hit the last frost, and we will start to film their growth so you can track the progress of our produce this summer!

We are finally getting more Michigan morels in. This has not been a great year for morels (too dry). But they will be a special appetizer this weekend so come and get ‘em!

Last but not least, the summer dinner menu is rolling out this Thursday, so lots of reasons to come in and visit the deck this week. See everyone soon!

Chef Glenn

Wine Dinner next week

glenn — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 17:38:24 +0000

Hello everyone! Been a while thanks to a busy winter! So time for a wine dinner. In case you haven’t attended one of these they are spectacular! Mike (my Sous Chef) and I have tasted 6 wines and paired them perfectly with the food. Yumm…. So if you are free this Thursday enjoy a special dinner with me as the MC!

It is that time of year to start thinking of what to plant for the summer. So we have sat down with Dave and Helen at Ingraberg and talked seeds for this season. Can’t wait for the produce! For now Mike and I will concentrate on citrus. Meyer lemons, blood oranges, navel oranges, lemons and limes are at their peek this time of year, so expect to see lots of these featured as I get all of our minds turned to fresher and lighter food as the springs starts to break in. Talk to you soon!

Chef Glenn

Heirlooms galore!

admin — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:58:08 +0000

The vines are loaded with 85 varieties of heirloom tomatoes at Ingraberg Farms, and Dave and Helen report they are picking nearly 24/7 to make sure we have plenty of tomatoes for this Saturday’s 2nd Annual Heirloom Tomato Festival. (more than 1000 pounds! … that’s a lot of lumpy, bumpy, VERY tasty tomatoes). Definitely head to Reds and enjoy the free samples of several varieties of heirlooms, plus we’ll be serving up a few of Reds specialty dishes featuring the heirlooms. There will be live music throughout the festival (11 am – 4 pm), a marinara sauce contest, a Little Miss Heirloom Tomato competition, beer, brats, roasted corn, cotton candy, kettlecorn, kids games and grafts, prizes, and lots of good old fashion fun. Just look for the big tents in Reds parking lot. For details on entering the contests, check out the special events page. We’ve also posted a few pictures from the farm this week.

August 19, 2010

glenn — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:50:03 +0000

Hello again! Well the last visit was “fruitful” at the Farm this week. Tomatoes are comin’! So from now until the festival (and hopefully a few weeks longer) we are celebrating the tomato harvest and corn. As I have said in the past, it is my favorite time for cooking with produce and with all of the heirloom tomato varieties that Dave and Helen at the Farm have planted…I am ready to play. Starting this weekend, we will feature the tomato on our small plates menu and incorporate corn and tomatoes into our specials. So look for caprese salads, my Southwestern corn cream soup and a shrimp and tomato ceviche. See you next Saturday at our 2nd annual Heirloom Tomato Festival!

August 6, 2010

glenn — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 20:44:56 +0000

Tomatoes are coming! Corn is right around the corner and my favorite time of year is near. With the weather as hot as it is the tomatoes are starting to ripen much better than the last couple of years. So look for these items next week in the restaurant! This weekend we are cooking with baby carrots, turnip greens and green beans for our dinner specials. We are also running a tuna ceviche this weekend with Michigan watermelon…Yummm! See you soon!

Chef Glenn

July 13, 2010 – Beans, greens, broccoli, kohlrabi, tomatoes, corn and more …

admin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 22:35:48 +0000

Wow – the fields are full with incredible flavors which our culinary team can’t wait to put to good use.

Check out today’s video and stop in soon to see how we are using the harvest of sweet peas, yellow beans, broccoli, fennel, kohlrabi, greens, and soon “Incredible” corn and tomatoes. Farmer Dave is very excited about the field of heirloom tomatoes — they are thriving and a few early birds are PACKED with flavor.

Also, don’t forget to mark Saturday, August 28th on your calendar for Reds Second Annual Heirloom Tomato Festival — 11 am – 4 pm. We’re adding even more fun into the line up this year …

* Live music throughout the festival

* New Holland Brewing Beer Tent

* Grilled brats and roasted corn on the cob

* Marinara Sauce contest – judging with media and VIPS starts at 1 pm

* Little Miss Heirloom Tomato contest for girls 12 and under – dress in a tomato, heirloom, or harvest theme (noon)

* Kids games and crafts, including the popular “Mrs. Tomato Head”

* MSU Extension Services Master Gardeners on hand to answer questions and offer diagnostics

* Heirloom tomato samples

* Reds dishes made from heirloom tomatoes

* Fresh pulled mozzarella

* Seeds and tomatoes for sale

* Old fashion lemonade stand

* Kettlecorn and cotton candy

* Downtown Rockford “Show us your tomatoes” sales promotions

We’ll keep posted on the harvest — I walk the fields every Tuesday morning at Ingraberg Farms. Stay tuned …

Fresh off the farm this week …

admin — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:12:58 +0000

The vines are loaded with English sweet peas, tender brocolli, green beans and several micro greens … check out the attached video from Chef Glenn’s trip to Ingraberg Farms in Rockford

June 17, 2010

glenn — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:32:13 +0000

Rockford has kicked off summer with our annual Start of Summer Celebration which kicks off our summer season here at the restaurant! The deck is rockin’ and I am ready for summer specials! Mother nature needs to help out this year and give us a strong growing season. It was a good visit this week at the Farm. Helen and Dave at Ingraberg have all of the tomato and pepper plants in the ground now and the farm is starting to look green. One of my favorite early harvests is peas and they are knee high and setting fruit already which means a couple of weeks and its pea risotto time. For the weekend we will have mixed lettuces, baby romaine for a grilled salad at lunch (with blue cheese and tomato dressing) and Helen’s Grandmother’s rhubarb for a rhubarb pie! See you on the deck!

Chef’s Random Notes 1

admin — Tue, 18 May 2010 19:00:54 +0000

Hello everyone! Finally made a trip to the farm today to see what is going into the ground for summer! Lettuce was transplanted, thyme and sage are being harvested and the Rhubarb plants are looking big! So hopefully in the next two or three weeks the weekend specials will be driven by the farm produce. Over the next week everything else should go into the ground, assuming we have hit the last frost, and we will start to film their growth so you can track the progress of our produce this summer!

We are finally getting more Michigan morels in. This has not been a great year for morels (too dry). But they will be a special appetizer this weekend so come and get ‘em!

Last but not least, the summer dinner menu is rolling out this Thursday, so lots of reasons to come in and visit the deck this week. See everyone soon!

Chef Glenn