The 2013 Farm-to-Table Dinner

(Note:  I scheduled this post for Monday morning, and the one about the wine and farmers at the dinner was supposed to go up on Tuesday.  Unfortunately I fat-fingered the scheduling thingee and gotten the cart before the horse.  Maybe it's better to close out with this one after all - that dinner was great, as you'll read below!)

I’ll close out the posts about the 2013 Page County Grown Farm Tour with a couple of posts about the farm dinner that was held at the Mimslyn Inn on Saturday night, August 10, 2013.  Chef Harris surprises us with his creations every time – this one being the third annual, and all of the featured ingredients in each course come from the local farms. 

So today’s post will cover the menu and courses, and tomorrow’s will make a note about the farms that grew the ingredients and the featured wines, which were all Wisteria selections. 

The occasion began with cocktails in the hotel lobby, but as soon as 7:00 rolled around everyone made their way into the party room – a new venue this year – for the feast.  We began with a little welcome from Page County Grown, and then a speech by Chef Harris.  As each course appeared, Moussa from Wisteria introduced the wine selection, and that was how the evening rolled out.

The first course was gorgonzola-sweet corn polenta, garnished with a mixed pepper ratatouille.  A mixed green salad accompanied the dish.  The dish set the playing field for the evening, and afterwards, there were a few people who told me this was their favorite course.

The second course was introduced on the menu as “eggplant parmesan salad,” but I’ve shortcut that every time I talked about the dinner, just calling it eggplant parmesan.  The eggplant was panko encrusted and grilled, and plated with slices of mozzarella and heirloom tomatoes.

My table mates especially enjoyed the third course, mixed vegetable ravioli.  One of them even said, “That’s the first time I could taste and identify everything that was in the dish.”  Eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, caramelized onion and fresh basil were all part of the filling.

We had a palate cleanser at this stage of the game – cantaloupe sorbet.  It was matched with Pinot Gris, which you can see in the photo.

In 2011, the first year, the meat course was beef brisket, and in 2012 it was short ribs.  Since the beef comes from my friends at Skyline Premium Meats I always look forward to it (and I often purchase these same cuts at the market to grill at home).  

Before dinner, Jared told me that he had brought over sirloin steaks for this evening’s dinner – and when the beef wellington came out, everyone was once again surprised and delighted at the unusual dish.  It was paired with potatoes au gratin – these were locally grown, too – as was the Japanese eggplant, although I don’t know which farms provided them.

Needless to say, everybody was having a good time and enjoying the delicious meal, but these things always come to an end.  The desert was a surprise:  a terrine of watermelon sherbet and vanilla custard.  Look up "terrine" sometime, and you’ll understand the bit of whimsy that made this a fun conclusion to the evening.

So:  six courses, and every one of them unexpected and delicious.  Our chef at the Mimslyn has really hit his stride.  They are serving farm dinners every Saturday during the season this year – it’s well worth the stop; I think Mary and I will have to get by there again before the season is over!

Farm-to-Table Dinner - Wine and Farms

Today will be my second to last post about the 2013 Page County Grown Farm Tour.  Tomorrow’s post will be about the Farm-to-Table dinner, and today's will have information about the Wisteria wines that were served, and a note about all the farms that provided ingredients that were part of such a delicious meal.  I have photos of the menu and the acknowledgement to accompany this post.

Six wines were paired with the six courses.  I am writing these descriptions from memory – based on talking with Sue and Moussa or the introduction he gave for each course, or I’ve simply Googled and summarized what I found.

• Ashtaroot – This is a light white wine that is named after a Phoenician goddess.  It is a very pleasant blend of grapes and apple juice.  It was paired with the polenta dish that was served as an appetizer.
• Oak Vigonier – The grape is “Virginia’s official grape” and Wisteria offers two main versions of the wine, one fermented in oak and the other in steel.  I’ve heard many of our neighbors describe this one as their favorite Wisteria offering.
• Chardonnay – Here’s one that needs no description; it’s an obligatory offering.  It was delightfully paired with the pasta course at our dinner.
• Pinot Gris – The lighter taste of pinot gris was an element of the cantaloupe sorbet that was served as a palate cleanser.  So we didn’t actually drink it, although plenty was consumed.
• Carmine – This is a red wine that Wisteria introduced in the last couple of years.  It features an intense red color, great aromas and ample tannins.  At past dinners, I’ve gone back for more, but there was never enough for another pour.  This time it was served with the meat course.
• Velvet – This is another red, a blend that is a little sweeter.  So it was served with the dessert course.

By the time the dinner had progressed to the third course, the crowd was pretty rowdy and cheered Moussa and Sue on for each new introduction.  Good times – and they were made better by the full pours at dinner!

For a complete description of the farmers – not just those who were part of the Farm-to-Table dinner, but all of the members of Page County Grown, check out the web page here: 

http://pagecountygrown.com/

Here’s the list of contributors to the Farm-to-Table Dinner:

• Wisteria Farm and Vineyard
• Skyline Premium Meat
• Public House Produce
• Survivor Farm
• Moyers Farm

All in all, another great tour, and a fantastic dinner.  I’m looking forward to next weekend at the farmer’s market after all of that.

Farm Tour Stop 2: Wisteria Farm and Vineyard

(Note:  I read on Facebook that Wisteria is celebrating the fourth anniversary of its opening this weekend.  I'm pleased about the coincidence that I was going to write a post about them today - but even happier to say "congratulations" to Sue and Moussa, and to say how much Mary and I appreciate and enjoy the wonderful place they have created in Page County!)

After our group finished up at Public House Produce, we took a circuitous route back to Luray, hoping to take in one of the other farms on the Page County Grown Farm Tour.  That wasn't to be, so we stopped in at the hopping West Main Market for some sandwiches, with the intent of making a little picnic out of the stop we had planned at Wisteria Farm and Vineyard.  That worked out nicely, I might add!

I write about Wisteria frequently - they're neighbors to Hawksbill Cabin, so it's very convenient to stop by there on a weekend afternoon.  We often take visitors there, especially if we can schedule around one of the musical events under the arbor.  We've even visited the vineyard with our friends Kathy and Brendan, who were out for the farm tour and dinner.

Between all of that chilling, we enjoyed volunteering during the harvest last year, and there have been some times when I was out on brewing research and stopped by to chat with Moussa on technical points about fermentation and equipment.  I had been in the Wisteria cellar before - but never on an official tour - so when Sue offered us one we were quick to take her up on it.

She showed us around the areas where the white wine is made and the casks where barrel aging takes place, mostly with the red wines.  I hadn't seen the bottling machine before, and it was pretty fascinating to see how the whole operation comes together in there. And of course, we were in the cellar, so it was cool and a refreshing break from the summer heat!

When we first arrived, we had strolled out to one of the picnic tables near the pasture.  We'd chosen the Traminette to match up with the two or three different kinds of sandwiches everybody had brought with them.

After the visit and tour, we headed back to Hawksbill Cabin for a little while.  The Farm-to-Table Dinner was fast approaching, so we needed to rest up in preparation for that event - which will be the topic of my next post!

Farm Tour Stop 1: Public House Produce

After the rain stopped, Mary, Kathy, Brendan and I made our way to our first stop on the PCG Farm Tour - we went to Public House Produce.  We ran into a couple of the other farm touristas there when we first arrived.

David and Heather had set up their annual tomato tasting (I have a photo of a few of the varieties from under the barn).  I'd make a confession that until I became familiar with some of the heirlooms I was never a big fan of tomatoes, but they're growing on me nowadays.

This stop also featured the flower garden, where they were offering "cut your own" sunflowers.  The flowers were pretty wonderful.  I used a photo of them in my post yesterday.

I also got to meet the new pigs, or as I have been calling them, this winter's hogs.  I'll make a few stops by there as they grow between now and January, and Chris and I have already had a quick email exchange about the news.  More on them to follow.

While I was checking out the pigs, Delilah and Butterscotch, the goats, came over for a little visit.  Butterscotch in particular wanted some attention, so I scratched her noggin.  She's quite the social bird.

During the spring, David had told me he got a new tractor to help manage things over at the "river patch" he's been working this year.  The machine adds a lot of capability - it's really been an eye opener learning everything that a tractor is used for on the farm.

This one has an extra low gear that is perfect for setting onions, green beans and sweet corn.  Here's a video of him standing next to the tractor as it inches along at a speed approaching 1/4 mile per hour.  He tells me it's hard to keep it moving in a straight line at this speed!



Our late start had put us behind schedule, so after a great visit there at Public House Produce, we decided to see if we could catch Long Acres on the recommendation of John and Nina, who we'd run into when we first arrived.  Alas, the rain had made us too late for that, so we decided to make our second and last stop at Wisteria Farm and Vineyard - that will be the topic of my post tomorrow.

2013 Page County Grown Farm Tour

Last weekend was the third annual Farm Tour put on by Page County Grown.  We had our friends Kathy and Brendan out for the event, but as the morning broke I have to admit I wasn't optimistic that the whole thing was going to come off due to some rather heavy rain.

In the end, the day turned out pretty grand, but we got a little bit of a late start and didn't make it to all four farms:

• Long Acres
• Survivor Farm
• Public House Produce
• Wisteria Farm and Vineyard

As usual, the event concluded with an excellent Farm-to-Table dinner event at the Mimslyn Inn.  My plan is to put up some posts about the two farms we managed to visit on Saturday and the dinner, and today I'll note the two we weren't able to get to - that's a regret, because I really enjoyed the visit to Survivor Farm last year, and other folks out on the tour told me they were really impressed with what they saw at Long Acres!

First there is Long Acres, linked here on the Page County Grown page:  http://pagecountygrown.com/jennings-farm/

They produce a variety of produce, but also have a meat and poultry operation on the 500 acre spread.  We almost made it by there during the tour hours but were just a bit late - but enjoyed a drive-by, taking note of what is probably the largest painting of a Hokie I've ever seen on the side of the barn.

Survivor Farm is linked here:  http://pagecountygrown.com/survivor-farm-darrell-hulver/

Survivor Farm is a small farm, located near Lake Arrowhead in Luray.  They grow tomatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers, asparagus, blackberries, and raspberries.  Their products are available in the CSA shares at Public House Produce, and at the Luray-Page Farmers Market.

I also posted about this farm during last year's tour, linked here:  http://hawksbillcabin.blogspot.com/2012/08/2012-page-county-grown-farm-tour.html

We had a great time on the tour and regretted not getting to all four of the farms.  But each was represented at the Farm-to-Table event, so we did get to celebrate their farm heritage with them.  More to follow in posts this week!