Update: Sample Menu of Grassroots in Scottsdale

The AZFoodDude first reported on Grassroots here and has now seen a preliminary menu and can give you an idea as to what's on it, including appetizers, soups and salads, sandwiches, a selection of dishes from sea, air and land, as well as desserts.  The following will be a sample list of items for each category as the actual menu has many more to choose from...

Appetizers (portioned for sharing):

• Home-Made Smoked Salmon ($10) - Chilled Scottish Salmon, soft toast, capers, red onions, remoulade.
• Baked Oyster Rockefeller ($11) - Creamed spinach, Parmesan bread crumbs, hollandaise, Louisiana Hot Sauce.
• Dad's Grocery Bag ($11) - Loaf of French bread, 3 cheeses & 3 cured meats, olives, nuts.

Soups & Salads:

• Wally Boy's Chili - $4/cup, $6/bowl, $8/bread bowl
• Creamy Clam Chowder - $4/cup, $6/bowl, $8/bread bowl
• Roasted Chicken Waldorf ($12) -Fuji apples, celery, radishes, cranberries, golden raising, grapefruit, red onions, toasted pecans, watercress, shaved asiago, mustard-yogurt dressing.
• Broiled Shrimp Louis ($14) -Hard boiled eggs, cherry tomatoes,red grapes, roasted corn, avocado, radishes, romaine, Louis dressing.
• Roquefort Wedge ($9) - Iceberg, sheep's bleu cheese, cherry tomatoes, diced red onions, crisp pork belly, bleu cheese dressing.
• Cobb ($11/$14) - Roasted chicken or Marinated filet, mixed greens, chopped egg, avocado, Nueske bacon, cherry tomatoes, English cucumber, Roquefort bleu cheese, balsamic vinaigrette.

Sandwiches:

• BBQ Brisket ($11) - Slow roasted brisket, slaw, asiago, red onions, sliced pickles, thin BBQ sauce, toasted brioche.
• Shrimp Po' Boy ($12) - "Dragged through the garden," remoulade, French baguette.

Sea, Air & Land:

• Cedar Plank Salmon ($17) - Raspberry chipotle butter, grilled asparagus, mushroom risotto
  
• Blackened Snapper ($19) - Drawn butter, dirty orzo, maple butternut squash.
  
• Spit Fire Rotisserie Chicken ($13) - Half chicken, dirty orzo, maple butternut squash.
• Duck Duo ($17) - Breast, leg, sage brown butter sauce, mushroom risotto, sauteed chard.
• Bone-In Veal Loin ($22) - Rich demi-glaze, bleu cheese smashed red potatoes, black beans & brown rice.
• Aged Prime Rib ($22) - Au jus, loaded baked potato, creamed spinach, available after 4pm.

Dessert:

• Sweet and Salty Bar ($6) - Almond crust, roasted & salted nuts, home-made chocolate, gooey marshmallow.
• Bubba's Oreo Cookie ($6) - creme de cocoa, vanilla bean ice cream.
• Pimms Cup ($6) - English gin, melon, cantaloupe, watermelong, red grapes, lemon cucumber.

UPDATE (12-16-11): Grassroots is now open.

USDA: Pink Pork is Cool, AZFoodDude: Pink Pork is Terrifying

So I came across this story earlier today and my first instinct was to be skeptical. Perhaps I am too safe when it comes to food, but if there is one thing that I don't want, it's some sort of foodborne illness that keeps me up all night, waiting in dread as an inevitable hurl stalks me. Nonetheless, from NPR:

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture released new recommendations for cooking pork today: The Department now recommends that like beef, veal and lamb, whole cuts of pork should be cooked to 145 degrees Fahrenheit, then allowed to sit for three minutes." 

According to the article, this means the pork might still have some pink in it. Evidently, chefs are very happy about this. NPR quotes from an AP article where a chef states that he has been doing this for years because he and other chefs knew it was safe. According to the USDA, that's now true. But from all the sources I've been able to find online, it's only likely to be safe when pink, if the pigs haven't managed to eat things like undercooked meat and animal carcasses, such as rats. In this country where this stuff is supposed to be monitored and inspected, one can make a reasonable argument that there really is nothing to worry about and those chefs are all correct. Yet, if something does go wrong, you could be introduced to Trichinosis. The cysts associated with Trichinosis burst open in the digestive system, grow into roundworms and invade muscle tissues, including the heart and diaphragm. (NIH)

According to the National Institutes of Health, only about 40 people in the U.S. come down with Trichinosis every year. A very low number for sure, that said, here is what the NIH website still says, even with the new USDA guidelines coming out:

"Pork and meat from wild animals should be cooked until well done (no traces of pink)."

Call me a contrarian if you want, but for now, you better cook my pork until there's no pink. What do you think?