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How to Host a Plot-to-plate Supper

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Farm-to-table and plot-to-plate cooking is a culinary phenomenon in its own right and now, after years of writing about the beauty of fresh raw cream, the differences between CAFO beef and grass-fed and imploring readers and friends to take an interest in traditional foods, it’s finally happening. And why shouldn’t it?  The food just tastes so darn good.  It’s my favorite form of activism – good food.  You see, while I might wax poetic about the reasons I drink raw milk, or spend countless hours researching foods for fertility, it’s not the impassioned pleas to support small farms or the hours of research that turns folks into real food lovers.  Nope, it’s about the food, folks.

Now, I’m not saying that impassioned pleas, exposés on factory farms contrasted with pictorials of sustainable farms, or science don’t have a place in the real food movement. (They most certainly do.)  It’s just that, in my experience, celebrating the pleasure of real food is where interested parties become real food converts.  From farmers market blind taste-tests to nourishing recipes that celebrate whole, unrefined foods, it is this very real experience of flavor and cooking that’ll turn anyone into a real foodie.

My favorite way to celebrate real food is hosting farm-to-table suppers.  Now, 90% of the food in my cupboards come from my local foodshed and spices, good quality fats and olive oils (see sources for my favorites) and other seasonings account for the remaining 10%, so I take farm-to-table cooking pretty seriously as, I imagine, my long-time subscribers know.  As part of my work with our local farmers market, I host some serious farm-to-table suppers, and some positively criminal suppers of contraband foods, too.  Most are quiet – feeding between 40 and 60 – though some harvest suppers have seen attendance soar to 200.  And, in that time, I’ve learned a little about serving supper in true plot-to-plate style – and here are my experience, distilled into five tips.

And, no, I’m not a trained chef – I am, like most of you, just a chick who digs real food.  So whether you’re just serving your first farm-to-table dinner to your family and neighbors, or your planning a bigger affair, keep these tips in mind.  And, try not to run out of food (been there … done that … ahem).

Planning a Farm-to-table Supper

1. Let the seasons dictate your menu.

When planning most dinner parties, most of us ask ourselves what is it that we want to serve, not what is it that you can serve.  At the most recent farm-to-table dinner to benefit our farmers market’s WIC program, I very gratefully handed over the responsibility of organizing and preparing our dinner to a dear friend of mine and recent graduate of the Culinary School of the Rockies (you can see him beaming with joy in the photos below).  And while we discussed a loose menu based on a spring vegetable soup and slow-roasted chicken, it fizzled away in as soon as we learned that half the ingredients of our proposed menu just couldn’t be found locally, even though they were considered foods of spring.  Seasons vary too greatly from region to region.

So we surrendered our ideas of springtime vegetable soup (there was no carrot or celery or onion for the much-needed mirepoix).  And we gave up the idea of serving strawberries and cream – as our dinner was early yet and only a box or two could be found from the local delivery service.  In the end, we built the menu after determining which foods we could purchase and working from there.  We asked ourselves, “What can we make from this?”

Lesson Learned: Don’t assume any food, seasonal or not, will be available.  Find out exactly what’s available from local farms, farmers markets, farmstands and your kitchen garden and plan your menu from there.

2. Keep it flexible.

When preparing a farm-to-table dinner, it’s essential to keep your menu flexible and open.  At a January dinner, we ordered winter greens, shallots and root vegetables from a local delivery service only to find that, after delivery, they hadn’t been grown locally at all and were, in fact, grown more than a thousand miles away.  A thousand miles and three states away doesn’t go over well with the locavores attending our dinner.  So we improvised, and implored our farmers to dig into their root cellars for us.  At the most recent dinner, we expected a bag full of local potatoes – which didn’t arrive.  A few hours before the dinner, we were fortunate enough to adjust the menu to feature local tricolored quinoa instead.  When I left my rhubarb compote and honey custard too long on the stove without stirring (and ruined both), we served cherries preserved from the previous year’s harvest.

Lesson Learned: Always allow yourself a little room and flexibility.  Don’t marry yourself to your menu so severely that your dinner is lost if a single ingredient (or two or three) cannot be found.

3. And keep it strict.

The greatest appeal of true farm-to-table cooking is in the creativity spurred by the limitations of the foodshed.  Where’s the honesty in a farm-to-table supper if you’re serving salad dressed with imported olive oil, or sweetening your dessert with long-traveled cane sugar and exotic spices?  The beauty of true farm-to-table cooking rests within exclusive reliance on the bounty of the local foodshed.  So when it came time to serve a spring salad of leaves, herbs and flowers, we didn’t dress it with the easy solution of olive oil and vinegar; rather, my good friend spent the early part of the week developing a yogurt-herb dressing that positively blossomed with the flavor of spring in the rockies, combining yogurt, honey, tarragon vinegar, rosemary, mint, parsley, lemon thyme and countless other herbs into one spectacular dressing.  Without the limitations of true farm-to-table cooking, we might have taken the easy way out and missed a beautiful dish.

Lesson Learned: Limit extraneous or imported ingredients to salt and pepper.

4. Look to your garden.

We’ve spent a lot of time in the garden this spring – working on the sowing millions project and I’m hoping to upload some garden pics to the virtual garden soon. And it’s in the garden where I’ve sown my organic seeds (see sources) and starters from a local farm, that I’ve found the greatest inspiration for some of these farm-to-table meals.  It’s the lettuces, herbs, leafy greens and cabbages sown from seed by hand and harvested by a community of real food lovers that has nourished guests at local harvest suppers.  It also serves the very important purpose of keeping food costs down: when 2-ounce bags of herbs sell for $3.50 each, knowing I can harvest several bunches of thyme, sage and mint for free is a relief.  Guests at your dinner party might dig deep into their gardens, harvesting potatoes or root vegetables for your soup or to garnish your roast.

Lesson Learned: Take inspiration from your garden, and focus on the wealth of flavor it can offer your dinner plate.

5. Use up every bit.

In true farm-to-table style, make use of every bit to prepare your meal.  Separate the tops of your root vegetables: radish, turnip and carrot greens, for braising or for use in soups.  Use the bones of chickens and other animals to make nourishing and rich bone broth. Use the liver and organ meats for a rich pâté.  Vegetable scraps can be used to season broths and stocks.  Skin and extraneous fat can be rendered (learn how to render lard), Whey, separated from yogurt, might be used to ferment vegetables.  In the end, by using every bit of every plant or animal food that comes through your kitchen, you not only exercise your creativity as a cook, but also illustrate the diversity of individual foods within your region and lighten your budget by minimizing waste.

Lesson Learned: Use every bit, leaving minimal waste and maximizing the output of your ingredients.

6. Serve less meat and more vegetables.

When budget is a great concern, consider serving less meat and more vegetables which are, typically, less expensive.  Small amounts of high-quality animal foods are loaded with nutrients, and often contain more nutrients per ounce than an equivalent amount of plant foods, so a little can go a long way when budget is your primary concern.  Serve moderately sized portions of meat (about three to four ounces) with abundant, seasonal vegetables which can add interest, variety and volume to the dinner plate.

Lesson Learned: Skip large 6- to 8-oz portions of meat and serve moderately sized portions of high quality, grass-fed and pasture-raised meat instead, making up the volume with lower-cost vegetables served with plenty of wholesome and nourishing fat.

7. Relax a little.  It’s about community.

Lastly, relax a little.  Remember that your party is about building community and celebrating the bounty of your foodshed, not perfection.  Serve your meal outside.  Dress your table with dandelions.  Serve your drinks in mason jars.  Enjoy a casual atmosphere of good food and good company.  It’s okay if your custard breaks, or if the beef is served slightly cold as long as you and your guests enjoy yourselves.

Lesson Learned: Enjoy your party!

 

And just a reminder, I’m participating in the Sowing Millions Project by Real Food Media on behalf of Seeds of Change. I received product and exclusive content to facilitate my post (free seeds rock!). My thoughts and opinions are my own and not of those of Real Food Media or Seeds of Change.


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