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Monday, October 1, 2012

Events Eating well at the 7th annual Field of Greens

Posted by Brad Kaplan on Mon, Oct 1, 2012 at 9:45 AM

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The drizzle didn't dampen the mood at the 7th annual Field of Greens. The setting was Whippoorwill Hollow Farm, outside Walnut Grove (AKA East Bumbleflip). Amidst the crowd of hundreds, you couldn't toss a pig without hitting a farmer or a chef, or both in one fell swoop. Come to think of it, you probably couldn't toss a farmer or a chef without hitting some pork, either. So, yes, there were lots of farmers, lots of chefs, and plenty of pork, but more than anything there was a familial embrace of local food, local agriculture, and plain old good times in the name of Slow Food.

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Field of Greens was a combo of chef demos, tasty food, live music, lots of cute furry farm animals, and vendors hawking all sorts of local products. Kids scurried about in t-shirts bearing "locally grown" or "I dig local," lining up to milk a goat or admire a pony with pink hair (I hope that was organic hair dye, beet juice maybe?!). But the main attraction (at least for the hungry) was the Chefs Tent with roughly 30 local restaurants serving up dishes that (mostly) featured local produce.

The produce star of the show was the African squash that has just starting showing up in local farmers markets. This Kubota-type squash appeared in several dishes, from sweet beignets to savory soups to chutney paired with ricotta. One Eared Stag's deeply satisfying and well-spiced African squash soup with apple puree and ginger gelee was my favorite bite of the day (Broderick from Savory Exposure - and his camera - liked it, too). Runner up? Close call - but High Road Ice Cream's caramelized banana ice cream over brown butter griddle cake with dark rum chocolate ganache sauce and toasted coconut was very, very, very good, if not quite as "on theme" as other dishes being served. Another great bite, and one that was the epitome of grabbing a bite out in a Georgia farm field, was from The Bakery at Cakes & Ale, where David Sweeney was dishing out raw pecan pate with radish, cilantro and pear, all wrapped up in baby collard leaves. As is typical of Sweeney's cooking, the flavors were simply astounding in their clarity and strength. There were plenty of other great dishes - the beets being smoked on a Big Green Egg by JCT (after being oil-poached first) win my "best technique" award. For $20 a person (that goes to a good cause, AND kids under 12 are free), this is easily one of the best value tasting tent events in Atlanta.

My only lament is that we couldn't stick around for the whole pig roast from chef Todd Mussman and crew, but I'm glad that the many chefs and farmers hanging out likely had a tasty end to this excellent event. At that point, I bet you could toss an African squash and hit a chef, a farmer, and a pig all in one throw.

Robert Phalen of One Eared Stag pours out some African squash soup
  • Brad Kaplan
  • Robert Phalen of One Eared Stag pours out some African squash soup

David Sweeneys raw pecan pate

Mary Rigdon of Decimal.Place Farm helps kids milk a goat
  • Brad Kaplan
  • Mary Rigdon of Decimal.Place Farm helps kids milk a goat

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