Feast From The Fields - Feast Report

A Celebration of the Garden to Table Movement

October 21, 2008 - FEAST report from the field

Friday October 10, 2008 was a busy day, with all the gathering and picking, hauling tables & chairs and organizing all the parts of our first FEAST. My brother and sister both arrived during the week and after making our rounds of the neighboring gardens, picking up the pasta maker ("what -this isn't electric?" my brother asked!), we commence on our 'practice' run of fresh ravioli -my brother had made a test batch of the venison ragu before his arrival so this was the final item we needed to test out before Saturday's dinner.

And so it began... what was only a wishful idea this winter came to fruition on Saturday Oct. 11th and what a splendid time it was. Guests came from near and far, some traveling nearly 3 hours to attend. The weather was as perfect as it could possibly be -bluebird skies, mild breeze and the prospect of a huge full moon making a showing later.

The menu started with a canapé created by guest Chef Jay Mahoney; just smoked WV trout served on a bit of toast with mustard aioli and sweet onion relish, alongside was the marinated goat milk Feta from farmers Darlene and Joe. These were served with a bright Riesling and a sturdy Goat du Rhone red (yes, we mean the pun!) down by the pond just before sunset.

During the appetizers guest had a chance to wander over the farm that is now the Confluence Resort, and out to a fabulous overlook of the nearby Gauley River, returning to the dinner tables, in the old barn set with candlelight and white linens.

The second course -a velvety butternut soup with a line of balsamic vinegar syrup, was followed by the locally harvested venison cooked in a ragu of fresh tomatoes, carrots and onions-along with a couple of bottles of the dinner red. Using eggs from my own flock, we made the fresh pasta ravioli stuffing it with Darlene's amazing goat milk ricotta and fresh herbs. Dinner was paired with West Virginia wines from Watts Roost Winery of Lewisburg WV, their Greenbrier White and a smooth Landot Noir red were very popular. We then moved on to a salad of wilted greens (chard, kale, spinach and beet ) - my brother and I had gathered these from several generous friends on a couple of clandestine garden visits - were mixed with the last garden picking of arugula from my firewood man Captain Rick . Chef Mahoney's students at the Pierpont College Culinary Program generously donated the pancetta, made from WV pigs, that we used in the sweet-n-sour dressing.

Dinner was full of lively conversations and lots of laughter, and soon it was time for my favorite course of it all....dessert:

2 gallons of fresh pressed cider reduced to an indescribably tasty amber colored sauce-poured over and around a scoop of vanilla bean goat milk ice cream (churned during the set up) and a very tasty and warm pumpkin cake-- baked on site with charcoal in an old fashion dutch oven- all topped off with a serving of Sopia Blanc de Blanc Champagne ------wow! We all agreed it was fabulous.

After dinner guest wandered around the fire ring stretching and talking about the meal-saying their good-by's under the rising full moon.

PS.

This entire meal was made from local ingredients (except the flour for the pasta), many of them coming from the farmers right down the road in my rural neighborhood, others from fellow gourmand gardeners in town along with the farmers (goat milk gatherers!) Darlene and Joe Falbo. The dinner became exactly what I had envisioned when I first started down the road of producing the FEAST using only local foods and in doing so I have come to realize that making the connection to our land -just this easily- is becoming a real possibility for more and more people. Seek out your local farmer's markets or roadside stands and consider how you can make your dining more local anytime you eat. Bon Appetite!!

Gourmet on the Gorge will be hosting more FEAST in 2009....the next date is Saturday October 10th out at the Confluence Resort, the location of the 2008 FEAST -hope to see you! Remember to search out your own local feast whenever you can

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October 11, 2008 - Image Gallery (click photos to enlarge)