Focus on Farming Lunch

For the second consecutive year, I participated in the menu for the lunch at the Focus on Farming conference, held in Snohomish County at the Lynnwood Convention Center. It is always a pleasure to participate in an “agriculture-first” event, where the chefs are not in the spotlight. An even greater pleasure is being able to help out Linda Nuenzig of Ninety Farm in Arlington with her conference. Linda was among the first farmers in Washington I met at my first Farmer-Chef Conference. As a matter of fact, after the event in 2006, she brought me out to her car and loaded up my arms with samples of her pasture-raised veal. I had been cooking this type of meat already for some time, so I was pleased to see that the flavor was not diminished and the rosy color reminded me that I was eating beef. This was the being of a long and continuing relationship in which I’ve bought many other carcasses from Linda, primarily lamb and veal.

Last year’s lunch, in which I contributed a salad to the menu, was a bit rough as far as the composition of the meal and the process of feeding 650 hungry farmers. I told Linda after that lunch that I’d like to step up and help create the menu and to run the kitchen on the day of the event. So with two weeks left on the clock, I contacted the four chefs responsible for the lunch menu and we shaped a nice meal.


Soup
Potato and Leek Soup
Larry Fontaine – Everett Convention Center
Salad
Baby Spinach and Roasted Beets with Feta and Hazelnut Vinaigrette
Seth Caswell – Emmer Restaurant
Entrée
Braised Beef and White Bean Cassoulet with Caramelized Onions and Fresh Herbs
Russell Lowell – Russell dean Lowell Catering
Emmer Farro with Local Mushrooms
Seth Caswell – Emmer Restaurant
Glazed Carrots
Jodi Bardinelli – Kirkland Farmers Market

Dessert
Snoqualmie Gourmet Ice Cream
Chocolate Truffles
Autumn Martin – Theo Chocolate

The execution of the meal could not have been done without the assistance of Lynnwood Convention Center’s Executive Chef Michael Felsenstein. He spent all day Wednesday getting the plates, plate covers, hot boxes, and everything in place for a smooth plate-up on Thursday. I spent the entire day making farro, roasting beets and mushrooms, and making the vinaigrette. We spent a little time at the end of the day discussing the strategy for plating all of the meals for the following day’s lunch.

The event could not have gone any smoother. We plated 550 hot lunches and salads, and then waited for the guests to be seated before serving the soup. All in all, we fed everyone a four-course meal in an hour and fifteen minutes.

The conference itself provides a wealth of useful information for Washington farmers. The panel discussions bring experts from all over the country to share their knowledge in many areas of expertise. I had a chance to listen to Carrie Balkcom discuss the development of the American Grassfed Association, a group that is defining the standards for grass fed meats, and providing free audits to farms. Carrie is a former member of the Chefs Collaborative board of overseers and her transition from helping chefs to helping farmers is a great story. I hope to entice her to return to Seattle for the 2009 Farmer Chef Connection conference next February.

I wish I’d had the opportunity to meet more farmer this year and to sit in on more of the panels, but I managed to keep myself pretty busy all day anyhow. Next year, I look forward to helping in the kitchen again, and to create meal that rivals the years’ past.

Food Lust Auction Dinner

Cascade Harvest Coalition is the type of organization that affects so many people in so many ways. Its campaigns range from seeking livestock and produce processing facilities for local farms to mediating between state organizations and local interest groups to large projects like the Puget Sound Fresh label found in grocery stores, restaurants (and the side of buses) throughout the region. They receive funding from state agencies and national grants, non-profits and small businesses. But one of the biggest sources of funding comes from the annual fund-raiser Food Lust at Fall City Farm. I’ve participated in the event for the past two years as the Executive Chef of Stumbling Goat Bistro, cooking Bluebird Grain Farm’s emmer farro with sea beans and asparagus in 2007 and preparing Bruce Dunlop’s Lopez Island Farm delicious pork this past year.

During the auction at this year’s event, a dinner for 12 was offered by Linda Neunzig of Ninety Farm in Arlington. Although this item was not on the auction sheet, an impromptu corralling (by Linda) of some of the chefs in attendance that night resulted in the largest fund-raiser of the evening. The plan was for myself, Tamara Murphy of Brasa, Autumn Martin of Theo Chocolate, Alison Leber of Beecher’s Flagship Program, and Gary Knopp of VineOne, under the “front of the house” guidance of Mina Williams, foodie-extraordinaire, to prepare a meal of farm products and scrumptious wine and cheeses for the lucky guests. Celebrating her birthday at the Food Lust that evening was Erin MacDougall, a King County Public Health official (and also foodie extraordinaire). Erin gave herself the birthday present of this wonderful dinner and invited 11 of her dear friends to join her.





The weather couldn’t have been any better – late summer sun shining on happy and hungry faces, followed by a full harvest moon rising over the jagged Cascade peaks. After a tour of the Ninety Farm property, including a demonstration of Linda’s corgi team in action while rounding up the sheep in one of the pastures, Linda brought everyone to the dinner table on the lawn between rows of lettuces and the horse corrals. The guests nibbled on and eggplant marmalade, Summer Gem tomatoes filled with gazpacho and pork (from Tamara’s pigs) and cranberry beans on crisp apple slices.

As the evening proceeded Tamara and I plated up three courses – a chanterelle and bread soup with chive crème fraiche, a raw salad composed of herbs, carrots, squash and lettuces that I’d picked from Linda’s garden only an hour before (part of our 20-foot diet we’re promoting ), and an entrée of Ninety Farm Katahdin lamb roasted in “la caja china” served with emmer farro, lobster mushrooms and braised garden greens and broccoli and sage. Each course was thoughtfully paired with wines from Gary’s collection that included a remarkable Zinfandel from Ravenswood and a 2002 Covey Run Late Harvest Riesling that poured like liquid gold.

Cheeses from Beecher’s and a fantastic molten chocolate cake with raspberries and herb-infused cream finished the meal. Autumn chose to bake her cake in the cutest little Mason jars and she showed her confectionary talents with a cocoa cookie and chocolate tuile as creative garnishes. Each guest parted with hand-made chocolates from the Theo shop in Fremont.

It is always a pleasure to cook a meal consisting of locally sourced products, but it is an even more gratifying experience when you’ve harvested the vegetables a few hours earlier and then transformed them into a delectable feast for guests who really care about this sort of thing. I am fortunate to Linda, Tamara, Autumn, Alison, Gary, Mina, Bruce and Jill for helping to put on this special dinner. But I am especially pleased that Cascade Harvest Coalition benefited from Erin’s generosity and deep regard for the local food economy.