In this issue:

The annual big Burrito gift card event is almost here

Big thanks for helping make our benefit a big success

The Gobblerito returns for November along with Cranberry and Pumpkin margaritas

Mad Mex taps Sierra Nevada Celebration on Nov. 7!

Photos from Halloween at Mad Mex

Third Annual Alzheimer's Association Benefit at Casbah Nov. 13

Uncorking the Beaujolais Dinner on Nov. 20 at Casbah

Bill Fuller stockpiles entire seasons, plus a Green Chicken recipe

The 2008 big Burrito gift card event
November 17 - 30, 2008

It's an annual tradition: Our Holiday Burrito Bucks make seasonal gift giving even more rewarding. When you purchase big Burrito, Eleven Contemporary Kitchen, Umi (new!) or Mad Mex® gift cards, we thank you with a special card to use yourself.

Specifically, for every $100 in gift cards you purchase, we'll give you $25 in bonus Holiday Burrito Buck$. For every $50, you get $10.

Some limitations apply to the bonus cards, and they must be used between December 28, 2008 and April 30, 2009. Please watch your mail or the big Burrito calendar as the big promo date approaches.

big success with the big Benefit

Warm thank yous go out to everyone that helped us make our third Big Benefit a huge success—especially our customers, staff, and friends in the media. Together we raised over $44,000 for local food banks and hunger relief organizations.

Even more than we could have foreseen when we planned the event, this contribution comes at a crucial moment for both the organizations and their recipients; the current economic trends have simultaneously left more people needing assistance while making that aid more costly to provide. As Anne Hawkins, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank's Chief Development Officer, wrote in her thank you note to big Burrito, "The funds raised through this event are critical to the Food Bank staying on track to try to reach more people and to cope with general increase in demand. I'm sure I don't need to tell you how food prices have increased—our wholesale price for a case of pasta has risen 88% in two years."

Thanks again, we couldn't have done it without you.

Gobblerito touches down!

November 1st marked the return flight of the Gobblerito—the burrito-o-plenty—a whole Thanksgiving feast trapped in a tortilla.

These monsters, stuffed with turkey, mashed potatoes, bread stuffing, corn and gravy, with cranberry sauce on the side, have carved themselves a special place in the hearts and stomachs of their ravenous fans. And all month long, we're rounding out the meal with special frozen Cranberry and Pumpkin margaritas, too. These specials are only available this month, so wattle in soon!

Mad Mex taps Sierra Nevada Celebration November 7th!

Ho, ho, what have we here?! We may still have a few Halloween decorations up, but Mad Mex is kicking off the Winter beer season early by tapping Sierra Nevada's renowned holiday brew on November 7th. If you like your beer ruddy, hoppy and jolly, yule love this brew. And, like all of our draft beers, it's half off during happy hour!

Halloween Madness

Mad props go out to all the folks who came in on Halloween dressed in their spooky finery. We've got pics of our tricked out contest winners, and our staff treated us to a few peculiarly frightening getups. See our picture book here, if you dare.

Beaujolais Dinner at Casbah

Thursday, November 20

In celebration of the rollout of their signature vin de l'année, Georges Dubœuf has established the third Thursday in November as Beaujolais Nouveau Day. The wine captures the fresh flavors of grapes harvested, rapidly fermented, bottled and distributed as quickly as possible.

For this wine-lover's holiday, Chef Alanson Peet’s four course tasting menu features Duck Confit “Cassole”, and ends appropriately with Concord Grape Crostada. See the whole menu here. $55 per person includes the Beaujolais, reservations are encouraged.

3rd Annual Alzheimer's Benefit at Casbah

Thursday, November 13 (early this month because of Thanksgiving)

The last Casbah benefit dinner of 2008 is for The Greater Pennsylvania Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. They provide vital services and support to individuals struggling with the disease, their families and caregivers. In addition to community outreach and education programs, the PA Alzheimer's Association helps families coordinate care and sponsors support groups throughout Pennsylvania.

Please see the menu here.

About Casbah’s benefit dinner series

Each month, we present a menu inspired by a Mediterranean region or seasonal foods as an opportunity to enjoy a wonderful dinner while supporting a worthwhile cause. 100% of proceeds go directly to the organization of the month.

Recipe Archive

2005 2006
2007 2008

Have comments for me? Tried a recipe and want to rant or rave? Shoot an email my way.

The underlined recipes are linked to PDF documents. If you cannot open them, try using the free Foxit reader on the PC, or Preview (part of OS X) on the Mac.

If I could put summertime in a bottle... Oh wait, I can!

big Burrito Corporate Chef, Bill Fuller

There is a large maple tree behind my house. The leaves turn yellow in the second half of October. Around Halloween, they begin to fall. By election day, they are usually at least half down, the second half following quickly after. From the experiences of nine autumns in my house, this is my definite marker of the transition from Autumn to Winter. The nearly bare branches reaching over the garage in the fragile sunlight of early November mornings murmur as I make coffee, “Winter has come. Winter has come.”

And I transition in my cooking. Released from the strident pleas of late autumn produce, these gray branches give me a pass to braise, to stew, to roast. They let me know that I can pack the canner away and start eating the over two hundred quarts, pints, and half pints of tomato sauces, peaches, chilis, green sauce, fruit butters, and jellies that I frantically stockpiled through August, September, and October.

I have also loaded the basement chest freezer with a fat Durok hog and a lot of chickens from local farms. I’m not nuts, I know that the grocery store will have food all winter. I know that staying up until 1 or 2 AM to put up another two bushels of tomatoes, however, is a little nuts. I know that few people need over four dozen half pints of pear jelly, three dozen of peach jelly, and two dozen of peach syrup (unfamiliar, just ask my son).

But when the branches whisper and crackle, promising ice and freezing rain, I feel warmth from the glow from the jars downstairs. No matter what winter brings, I have a cabinet full of June rain, July sunshine, and August heat. I win again.

All I need is a bushel or two of sour apples to make a little more jelly...

Here is a dish made with canned green sauce and delicious local chickens. I have included the recipe for green sauce if you haven’t had the foresight to can a few dozen pints. Serve it with rice, tortillas, and a salad of late season greens. I suggest Tröegs Mad Elf seasonal beer because I just can’t get enough of it and it only happens once a year.

Chicken in Green Sauce

Thanks for being part of big Burrito, and for making our 15 years possible.

© 2008 big Burrito Restaurant Group. All rights reserved.