Our Local Foods and Chef Sean Brock from McCrady’s Tavern in historic Charleston, SC celebrated the garden this week in an extraordinary way. We hosted “dinner on the porch” as fulfillment of a pretty classy auction item from the coffers of the local fundraiser circuit.
The wonderful meal consisted of vegetables freshly harvested from the damp rows that afternoon, as they were hastily collected in the rain for the evening event.
Guests arrived just as the rain subsided to find the table all set with linens and candles on the screened-in front porch of the cabin that will become our farm store. Mini-lights and citronella lanterns filled the space with a soft welcoming hue of light that said “settle in for a comfortable evening with the chef…”.
With a glass of champagne in hand, poured by the classic Andre from the same restaurant, we loaded into the six passenger golf cart and took a tour of the garden at dusk. The rows were tidily laid to bed, with glimpses of squash blossoms folding in their petals for the evening. The low shadows of the grand oak that stands in the middle of the garden told of a restful day, being that this dinner on the porch was on a Sunday evening in May.
After the tour, and back at their respective assigned seats, each guest was greeted with a celebration of “turnips!” Chef Sean had elegantly attired these springtime tenants in fine fashion. A triptych of preparations, the cylinders of raw root and roasted triangles of the same were sandwiched between a disc of gelatinous seaweed and a silky broth of turnip puree. Sound exciting???
The second course consisted of an explosion of fresh ingredients. Some thirty in number, the collage of freshness was the backdrop (or not) of a simple pan roasted portion of indigenously (from Alaska) harvested halibut. Chef draped the mélange in his version of a pistou, elegantly infusing the palate with fireworks from the earth!
And if this is not more than we could imagine, the next course was “steak and eggs”! A digitally controlled “bain marie” was the cooking method of choice for both, and the results were amazing. A slow and delicate cooking process resulted in texture to sleep on. It turns out that you can cook slowly at a temperature that will not melt butter and keep all the flavor completely intact. Our garden fresh poached eggs were nested in a plump bed of Russian Red Kale. Amazing!
For a finale that was a true celebration of the earth, Chef prepared Chocolate Dipped Carrots! Dig that!
Many thanks to the chef, McCrady’s staff, Joan Perrie, and the lovely dinner guests that spent a Sunday evening in May on the porch at Thornhill Farm.
