Stephanie and a really special experience last Sunday Night. We participated in the First Annual Tour De Farm dinner put together by Scott Pampuch from the Corner Table Restaurant in Minneapolis. The first event was sold out and took place at Lisa and Eric Klein's Hidden Stream Farm, in Elgin Minnesota, 90 minutes south of the Twin Cities.
Stephanie picked me up at 2:30. We did some Weekly Dish show planning on the ride down and got caught up on what we had eaten that week. As we got closer to the farm it was pretty easy to leave our weekday worries behind and embrace the beautiful surroundings of southern Minnesota. The weather was a cool 52 degrees but we had just had two days of rain and things had greened up nicely. The land had the look of a patchwork quilt of green as we made our way to Hidden Streams Farm. At 4pm we pulled into the Farm.
The farms lay out was a simple white ranch style house, a silo, a few pole barns, a few pig barns, a hen house and a garage for equipment. There was a large vegetable garden with Rhubarb, Arugula, Raspberry brambles and what looked like to be lots of tomato plants. A tent had been erected and everyone gathered under the tent to have Cava or Fattyboombalatty beer from Wisconsin that was really a great choice for this dinner as every course of the meal featured pork. There was a marble slab in the tent that had Pork pate laid out on it with Toast points and mustard. It was here that you got your first taste of how special this meal was going to be. The mouth feel of the pate was like butter and it was perfectly seasoned with the spicy mustard along side it. Scott Pampuch and Mike Phillips, our featured chefs of the evening introduced Lisa and Eric Klein the proprietors of the farm and we were on our way for a wet, muddy tour.
Here is Scott:
This is the type of farm that made me feel like having one. Many times when I visit my relatives on the farms in Nebraska they are shoulder high with corn. I love corn but anyone's who has read Michael Pollan's Omnivores Dilemma can tell you that we over farm corn in this country. Also in Nebraska, is one of the largest meat packing plants in the country, which smells awful. I realize the, "how to farm debate" is a great one to have, I will just say that for me - this is the type of framing that I would like to do. Eric took us on a tour introducing us to his cattle and explaining that all the crops on the farm went to feed their animals. They practice rotational grazing for the chickens.
Here is Eric describing his farm.
At Hidden Streams Farm they have 140 heads of pig in a building that would typically house 250 giving them plenty of time to root around in the hay and chase each other. They don't dock the pigtails and they let the piglets have the run of the farm until they start eating the garden food and can get big enough to pen up. The roosters roam free. I was digging the mud on my boots and the faces of the pigs as we went by.
From the tour we went into the pole barn for dinner. Our first course was Chacuterie prepared by Mike Phillips at the Craftsman. I have always been a huge fan of his cooking. Mike seems to take the whole animal concept to heart and he really made great use of the 6 pigs they butchered from the farm to serve to us. The plank they served the chacuterie on featured Head Cheese, (Stephanie March loved this - I was too chicken to try it.) bologna, cured ham, sausages with bits of morel that were really special and a pork rillet (like a confit) that was to die for. Bread was served alongside the meats as well as that yummy mustard (I don't know the brand they used and wish I did) I loved the pickled Ramps and Cabbage that were served as sides. Also served was a rhubarb chutney that made the pork sparkle. A very nice sherry that was very earthy accompanied this selection. This course set the stage for what was ahead. You knew these chefs weren't messing around when they had hung a ham for three years to serve you on this night. Here is a picture of the Chacuterie course and a video of Mike Phillips describing the meat.
The next course was a salad with Arugula, a balsamic reduction, lardoons and a special side of pig's ear. The lardon were like giant pieces of crunchy, crispy, melt in your mouth bacon - I could not get enough of these morsels. The pig's ear however was sliced and fried also so it looked good and mixed into the lardon. You weren't quite sure what you were eating until you got a chewy morsel and then you knew - yep that's the ear. It was chewy and the texture a bit gross for me but it was fun to try. Here is a picture of the salad course and a video of Stephanie March and Jason Derusha from WCCO TV working on the ears.
It was at this point that the courses sort of flew by. Pork sausages on polenta that had been farmed locally. The polenta was really great, not the mushy stuff I remembered it had body and was buttery and the perfect way to sop up the pork juices from the beautiful sausages Mike Phillips made. The sausage was sweet and spicy and had a great consistency.
The Pork Roast was the next course that was covered in mixed greens of arugula and stinging nettles with horseradish. The peppery greens worked perfectly with the meat, which was fork tender and perfectly salty. Usually roast is tough and overdone - this was not your average roast and the browned bits of skin that came along each piece were delicious. Each diner on our end of the table gloated when they got a bit of skin. I cannot recall the wine served here as the paper I wrote it down on went missing but it was a great, fruity red zinfandel.
This was followed by pork belly and ham hocks that had been cooked with some type of vinegar sauce that made this almost seem like pulled barbeque pork. It was delicious and I would have never thought that hocks would yield that much shredded delicious meat as when you use them in soup at home you don't ever get that much meat. This was one of my favorite courses. The belly was like salty, butter with a fabulous mouth feel and the greens and potatoes served alongside also were great accompaniments for the simple au jus like sauce.
My tablemates at this point were calling uncle. Our stomachs were gorged, our hands were cold as the weather was unseasonably miserable and cold and then the final course came out which was a bit of chocolate cake in a nugget shape on a cherry sauce accompanied by bacon bits. My first attempt at chocolate and bacon this year was at the Minnesota State Fair at the Famous Dave's stand where they featured chocolate covered bacon. I sis like it but you could only have a small bit as it was so rich. This chocolate bit they served was perfect. Salty, sweet and a bit tart.
I cannot wait for the next event. There are 5 this season and some are sold out but some tickets still remain for the Duluth event and you can get more details on Tour De Farm and more video and pictures of the event (taken by professionals) at their web site. I always knew Scott Pampuch is a special chef, his Corner Table has served me three amazing meals and Mike Phillips spot is one of my neighborhood favorites. These guys really helped me connect to the food, the farm, and what it means to be a chef who loves doing their job.
The full slide show of pictures is here: