Holiday catering menu features local food

Thanks to Stone Gardens Farm, Liquid Lunch

SHELTON - Two area businesses passionate about fresh, local foods will be offering up a unique catering menu for Thanksgiving this year, after a season of tasty collaboration.

Stone Gardens Farm and Liquid Lunch will be teaming up to offer area residents a catering menu for Thanksgiving that features locally-grown produce and turkeys.

The turkey and half of the menu’s side dishes are grown at Stone Gardens Farm by owners Fred and Stacia Monahan, while the preparation of the traditional holiday dishes are done by Fred and Michele Bialek, owners of Liquid Lunch, and their staff at the restaurant’s main kitchen at Research Drive.

The menu includes an option for a 12- to 15-pound turkey and one pound each of 10 different side dishes, or an 18- to 20-pound turkey and two pounds of different side dishes.
The sides include traditional favorites such as mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, as well as green beans and sautéed fresh spinach and garlic.

Customers have the option to pick up the Shelton-raised turkey already cooked and dressed, and to add on Thanksgiving desserts prepared by Michele Bialek, which include traditional pies and apple crisp.
Jones Winery of Shelton will also be offering wines for purchase through the catering menu, to round out the local holiday feast.

“We are very excited about the partnership with Liquid Lunch,” said Stacia Monahan. “It’s going to make it easier to incorporate local foods in your holiday menu, because it will take our produce at the peak of its freshness and turn into already prepared foods ready to eat.”

The Monahans have been growing the produce featured in many of Liquid Lunch’s prepared soups and sandwiches this past growing season, and their continued collaboration has included the launching of a jarred salsa, featuring Stone Gardens tomatoes and peppers from a recipe created by Fred Bialek of Liquid Lunch.

“We looked to the community, because we consider ourselves to be very community-minded,” said Bialek of the collaboration with Stone Gardens. “This is another way to keep things local, by using what is available around us. It also just seemed like a very fun, cool thing to do.”

For information on the Thanksgiving catering menu, visit  http://liquidlunchct.homestead.com/. Stone Gardens tomato sauce and salsa are sold at the farm’s stand, Cityseed farmer’s markets in New Haven, and at Liquid Lunch locations.

For information on Stone Gardens Farm, located at 83 Saw Mill City Road, go to www.stonegardensfarm.com.


This information was provided by Nicole Heriot of Ansonia.