Patio cafe to serve up French cuisine at CTC

The Central Texas College (CTC) Culinary Arts department will host a Patio Café dinner this Friday featuring a French cuisine. Dinner will be served from 6 – 7:30 p.m. in the Student Center.

 The menu opens with an appetizer, soup and choice of salads. The appetizer is golden shrimp towers – five pan-seared shrimp drizzled with golden dill hollandaise. The featured soup is French onion $7.50 for a bowl or $2 for a cup - caramelized onion Brule made with beef and chicken stocks simmered with herbs and spices then finished with a baguette crostini and melted Swiss cheese. Diners can choose the vert salad  – a blend of shaved asparagus and romaine hearts tossed in light honey vinaigrette with baby arugula and toasted hazelnuts then topped with orange supremes and shredded Gouda cheese; or the house salad.

 Entrees for the evening are pork Normandy - a sautéed pork loin steak cooked in an apple brandy crème integral sauce and smothered with a caramelized apple and onion compote; coq au van  - a seasoned half Cornish game hen braised in white wine and herbs and topped with bacon, pearl onions and button mushrooms; and poisson en papillote - a classic French dish of cod fish cooked with lemon, herbs and a buttery vegetable medley all steamed with white wine in a parchment paper pouch.

 Each entrée is served with a choice of two side dishes. Diners can choose whipped potatoes - light and airy whipped potatoes with roasted garlic, butter and cream; white bean casoulet - a mixture of white beans, herbs, mirepoix, bacon and chicken stock simmered until tender; traditional ratatouille - a colorful blend of seasonal vegetables stewed in garlic infused tomato sauce; and Black Forest beans - vivid green beans sautéed with Black Forest ham and garlic butter seasoning.

 For dessert, there is a blackberry crème Napoleon - thin and crispy honey-infused tuiles layered between delightful blackberry culinary cream and lemon verbena scented blackberry syrup and chocolate a l’orange - a decadent dark chocolate mousse married to an orange-flavored liqueur and garnished with a citrus Chantilly cream.

Reservations are required and should be made before 10 a.m. on Thursday by calling the CTC Hospitality department at 254-526-1515.