Farm-to-Table e-News

SEPTEMBER2009

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Inside This Issue
C orn, Corn and MORE CORN
Glendive Eat-In Great Success
Only two more Farmer’s Markets left!
Culinary Classes at DCC have started! See what Chef Garth Clingingsmith has to say about his class…
High Tunnel grant proposal
Glendive HARVEST FESTIVAL October 18th!

Cal and Jess in the morning sun, pickin corn

SUMMER PICNIC!

Culinary Classes with Chef Garth Clingingsmith,

In his own words:

We have seven students enrolled in the class--Introduction to Culinary Arts. We're meeting in the Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) classroom at DCHS. It's an almost ideal kitchen for this class. On Tuesday, we covered knife skills. So we talked about the anatomy of a knife, cutting boards, a bit of knife safety and cleaning, but the bulk of our time was cutting a ton of fruits and vegetables--watermelon, orange supreme, julienne, minced herbs, diced onions, garlic (not from a jar!)...

It was interesting, for me, to see just how much of what I take for granted as an efficient, experienced knife-guy, was eye-opening for the students. It was a fantastic reminder that the little things that I take for granted and do automatically, without thinking, are some of the best information for someone less familiar with these skills. If the students are having half as much fun as me--they'll have a ball.

Next week, we'll be into garde manger--it's a broad, classic subject, but think "cold food" and

appetizers. That's an oversimplification, but the highlight will be some local paddlefish caviar. Something that we pull out of our very own Yellowstone River but something most of us have never tried. Our mission is to expose ourselves to as much of the culinary world as possible--especially if it's something so local and so unknown.

There will be a wide variety of single-day classes coming soon. These will be focused on a single skill and as much experience as possible. I've been daydreaming about a pasta making class where we'll make dozen different pastas and some surprisingly simple sauces--we'll have a great time and, at the end of the day, eat like kings.

September 2009

Recipe of the Month:

By: Jessica Gerencser

Roasted Tomato Sauce

20 Garden fresh tomatoes

1 Garlic bulb (finely diced)

1 Bunch of fresh basil (finely chopped)

1/2 C Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Cut tomatoes into quarters or smaller depending on size. Place on sheet pan and spread out evenly. Drizzle tomatoes with half of the olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. After tomatoes have cooled slightly, place in blender and blend until smooth. In a large pot, place the rest of the olive oil and garlic and cook on low-medium heat being careful not to burn the garlic. Add blended tomatoes. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 2 hours. Add fresh basil before serving or canning. For a smaller batch to feed about 4 people, cut the recipe in half.

On Labor Day over70people gathered to share a meal together during an Eat-In here in Glendive…

…in support and celebration of local food. The potluck was part of a larger effort headed by Slow Food USA to get funding from the Child Nutrition Act (up for reauthorization this October) for local food in school lunch programs. There were 300+ Eat-Ins in all 50 states! The Eat-Ins were a real wake up call to congress that it is time to get more local, healthy, real food into our schools, our communities and our lives!

Thanks to everyone who came out, it was a lot of fun with over 30 local and delicioussalads, desserts, and pastas!

Thanks for Reading!!

--The Farm-to-Table team

For any questions or comments about Farm-to-Table or our newsletter please contact Cal Silver or Jessica Gerencser at 377-4284.

If you are interested in placing an advertisement or know of something food/farming related in the MonDak region please don’t hesitate to contact us so we can put it in our next newsletter!

Farm-to-Table

313 W. Valentine st

Glendive, MT 59330

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Bruce Smith, County Extension Agent, Farm-to-Table

377-4277

Peggy Iba, Farm-to-Table, Community GATE

377-4284

September 2009