Mill Creek Pub introduces restaurant’s new fall menu

When Mill Creek Pub Owner Russell Brent introduced the restaurant’s new fall menu, it was such an instant success with area residents that the new menu items sold out a couple days in a row before kitchen manager and chef, Mychal Culver, determined an appropriate amount to keep on hand.

The Pork Shank looks like a turkey leg and is served with garlic mashed potatoes and sautéed seasonal vegetables. Mill Creek braises the meat for three hours in its own demi-glaze incorporated with Black Bear Stout from Alameda Brew-house in Portland. The fact that it’s so tender poses a good problem for the kitchen staff as they try keeping the meat on the bone while transferring it to a serving dish.

The Alameda Brewhouse Turkey Pot Pie is the signature dish of its namesake restaurant. Alameda co-owner Matt Schumacher walked Culver through how to make it, but patrons who visit both restaurants may notice a slight difference between the versions. This is due to the fact that they follow different recipes for the house-made Cajun seasons that accent this dish. The 100 percent all natural, boneless turkey is roasted at Mill Creek Pub and the flaky dough is made from scratch, as well. Black Bear Stout goes into this pie to add the right touch of sweet and hop flavors and it’s cooked up with lots of wonderful vegetables including Anaheim peppers, which lend a bit of smokiness to the dish without the heat.

Culver tried many versions of Chicken Piccata before arriving at the Mill Creek Chicken Piccata that rounds out their new fall entrees. Full bushels of rosemary and whole peppercorns are used and then strained to soften the texture of the broth before adding cream to finish off the sauce. Each six ounce breast is marked on the grill and, along with the cream, presented with capers and a sprig of rosemary.

Dessert-lovers were not forgotten. Mill Creek Holiday Pie is a collaboration with the family-owned Four C’s Produce, also located in Battle Ground.

Four C’s Produce Owner Jennifer Carrell said, “It’s my mom’s pumpkin pie. She uses sweet meat squash. She’s used that recipe for years. Sugar pie pumpkins are the typical orange meat squash that people are accustomed to.”

Mill Creek’s Holiday Pie is not made from the squash that many people may be familiar with but it doesn’t miss a beat on flavor. The homemade crust is crisp, the spices are perfectly-balanced and the custard has the sweetness one would expect of traditional pumpkin. Knowing that supporting local farmers and businesses goes into every slice makes this pie that much more craveable.

While on the subject of dessert, Culver added that all of Mill Creek’s cobblers are made in-house and they use fresh fruit as much as possible. With fall upon us, area residents will see more apple and pear options on the menu as the late summer fruits are phased out.

Culver came to Mill Creek Pub from the Clark College Culinary Arts program. He’s been with Mill Creek for two years and his enthusiasm for what he does every day is hard to contain.

“People said for years I should go to school for cooking. I fell into my dream,” Culver said.

Over the years, a couple of other restaurants and three separate owners have tried to make a go of the location that Mill Creek now successfully occupies. Brent believes it comes down to having a better understanding of the community he services.

Brent was originally hired on a consulting basis but, after picking up a copy of the coffee table book, Battle Ground ... In and Around, he fell in love with the pioneer spirit that makes up the history of the area. He envisioned a restaurant with a replica of the bridge at the entrance to the Cedar Creek Grist Mill, a working water wheel and reclaimed timbers from area buildings. Those stunning features and more are what customers are surrounded by when dining at Mill Creek Pub.

Although Mill Creek Pub promotes local wines, the restaurant has 18 beers on tap and the relationship that stemmed from that focus is what led to the inspiration for cooking with beers.

“When we first met Matt, we knew he was a brewmaster but we didn’t realize he was a culinary chef,’’ Brent said. “There’s a lot of opportunity pairing with beer. It kind of opened our eyes to cooking with beer.”

Mill Creek Pub was recently honored with The Reflector’s Readers’ Choice for business lunch and restaurant. Due to keeping up on all the political editorials and stories in The Reflector recently, Brent was unaware of the contest.

He said, “(I’m) blown away. I’ve been so blessed here and I know it can go away in a heartbeat. This town has been amazing.”

A two-year anniversary celebration took place at Mill Creek Pub on Nov. 12. Money thrown into the water wheel fountain throughout the year is donated to a different charity each year around Mill Creek’s anniversary date. This year the $363.87 collected is going to The Children’s Center in Vancouver. The money is being matched by Skip Ogden, owner of Dan’s Tractor, Riverview Bank in Battle Ground and Waste Connections.

The winner of the contest to guess the amount collected was Jason Worthington from Battle Ground. His guess of $365 was the closest. He will receive a $100 gift certificate to Mill Creek Pub and Brent will donate $100 in his name to The Children’s Center.

Mill Creek Pub is located at 1710 SW 9th Ave, Suite 101, Battle Ground. For more information, visit http://www.millcreekpub.com/.