Tag Archive for: Lowcountry Local First

Lowcountry Local First Field Feast- Food is Good

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We went to the 4th annual Lowcountry Local First Field Feast on Sunday, and it was as expected- AMAZING!! The setting was spectacular out at Rosebank Farm on Wadmalaw Island.  The tent  was set up by the river, we enjoyed cocktails on the lawn with Long Miles played, and then we moseyed down to the dock for a cool breeze and a raw bar.  I had gone over the menu when we arrived, and by the time we sat down, I almost couldn’t contain my excitement for the meal.   Fire charred bread was served with pumpkin seed condiment and a yogurt dip.  We snacked on this yumminess while introductions and thank yous were given, and then we heard from the farmer about the cow named Link that we were about to enjoy.  Okra soup followed, and then we were onto the meat.  Plate after plate of the best meat and sauces and vegetables and beans came out of the side yard where it was all prepared by Chef Mike Lata and his unbelievable staff from FIG (which stands for Food Is Good and they are so right).  I am in awe of this group.  It was a little warm on Sunday, the bugs were out, and the serving staff from FIG had been there all day on their day off no less.  While they passed around the drinks and appetizers, helped cook and serve us all dinner (and there were about 180 of us), dealt with the rain that came pouring down right after the soup course- they all smiled, were cheerful, were the best wait staff I have ever seen.  I could not be more impressed.  Now, I need to make special mention of dessert.  Because I am still dreaming about it.  On the menu, it just said Sea Island Milk Candy.  I was curious.  When dessert was served, it was cream stuffed crepes with a caramel sauce that was just special.  I don’t want to even degrade it by superfluous adjectives.  It was just special. This is by far and away my favorite event in Charleston, and if you are ever able to go, I would jump on the tickets as fast as possible, and if you can’t make it, then you should just eat at FIG because it is the next best thing.

The Whole Pig

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I have eaten a lot of pulled pork in the last two weekends.  It has been pretty awesome.  What I have been amazed at is the different ways said pork has been prepared and how tasty each different one is.  The first round of BBQ sandwiches was last weekend when we spent the day on the dock down in Wadmalaw.  My fantastic friends Brooke and Jodie said they were bringing some BBQ which was great because while I had dinner planned out, I had not done anything for lunch.  When we all got hungry from not catching any fish, Brooke ran up to the house to heat up the BBQ.  He came down with Jack Daniels new line of “ready to eat meats” Pulled Pork (http://jackdanielsmeats.com/products/PulledPork/index.html).  I must admit I was skeptical as I am not usually a fan of that kind of stuff, but this was really good.  The sauce was great, the meat was delicious, and it was so easy, and also the perfect size for just a few people.  Definitely a great thing to have in the fridge when you have a craving for BBQ.

The second event for pulled pork was this past Saturday night.  My brother and his wife have just recently moved to Charleston, and they had a house warming party.  Mac and cheese, biscuits, and pulled pork were on the dinner menu, and bourbon banana pudding and apple pie was for dessert.  It was pretty special.  Corby has cooked pulled pork on the grill a couple of times before, and it has been really delicious, but it takes forever!  He has to let it marinade in a brine for 24 hours and then he puts it on the grill for 8-10 hours, and it is just a huge effort that doesn’t happen very often.  Clearly, the low and slow technique is what good BBQ is all about, so why had I never thought to cook it in my crock pot like my sister in law did for Saturday night- genius!  As much as I love my crock pot and BBQ, I can not believe I have never done this!  Here is a great recipe I found for crock pot pulled pork- it is at the bottom.

Now, the third eating of pulled pork was last night at a Lowcountry Local First (www.lowcountrylocalfirst.org) event out at some friend’s house on Sullivans Island.  It was a great event to raise money for LLF which is a great group supporting local farmers and connecting them with restaurants and people to buy local and eat local.  The hosts had spent some time getting ready for the party.  The house is amazing and looked beautiful, they had a great band, and they had cooked an entire pig in a pit in their yard.  A big, huge pig in a hole- slow cooked for hours and hours.  It was pretty impressive and oh my god good.  So basically, from store bought to crock pot to whole pig in the ground- pulled pork BBQ is pretty awesome no matter what.

Crock Pot Pulled Pork

Ingredients:

1 pork roast or butt (size depends on how much you want)

1 large Vidalia onion, sliced thin
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (4-6 lb) boneless pork butt or shoulder
¾ cup cider vinegar
4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
1 ½ teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoons dry mustard
½ teaspoon garlic salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:

Rinse pork roast under cold water and pat dry with paper towels.

Place onions in crock-pot. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, paprika, kosher salt and pepper; mix thoroughly. Rub mixture all over roast and place the roast on top of the onions.

In a medium bowl, combine vinegar, Worcestershire, red pepper flakes, sugar, mustard, garlic salt and cayenne pepper; whisk to combine. Drizzle about 1/3 of vinegar mixture over roast. Cover and refrigerate remaining vinegar mixture.

Cover crockpot; cook on low for 10-12 hours. Drizzle about 1/3 of reserved vinegar mixture over roast during last ½ hour of cooking.

Remove meat and onions; drain. Chop or shred meat and onions. Serve with remaining vinegar mixture or your favorite barbeque sauce.

 

Lowcountry Local First Farm Tour

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I was asked to write an article for Eat This! Charleston about the Lowcountry Local First Farm Tour.  It was so much fun!!  Corby, Walker, Nemo (our 11-year-old Springer Spaniel) and I piled into the car and drove out to John’s Island, where we met up with Ian, the photographer (his photograph is to the left and there are a lot more in the article) from Eat This!. Ian is a sophomore in high school and got into photography through the school newspaper, and he is extremely talented- I can’t wait to see where this kid is in ten years.  There were seven farms on the tour, and because of timing and the fact that we had Nemo with us, we only ended up going to five farms.  It was so interesting to see what an amazing impact of the whole “buy local, eat local” movement is having on these farms that might otherwise be out of business.  The best part of the whole thing was that each farm was serving some sort of food, and clearly, since I was writing an article, I needed to try everything that they had.  It was really tough for me when we got to the winery, and all they had was four fantastic desserts that we just had to buy and eat.  It was awesome.  Here is the article from the magazine- hope you like it! http://www.eatthischarleston.com/index.php/features/item/the-low-down-on-our-local-farms#

And here is the picture of the pet Walker adopted at one of the farms.  He, of course, wanted to keep him and his justification for taking him home was that we wouldn’t need to mow the grass anymore!

Home Grown Breakfast

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I recently was asked to write an article for a new food magazine in Charleston called Eat This! Charleston.  It is a great magazine about the amazingness of the food in Charleston and all of the wonderful “farm to table” initiatives we have here.  The article was on a breakfast hosted at Butcher and Bee which is a relatively new restaurant way up King Street, and it was sponsored by Lowcountry Local First which is all about connecting farmers to restaurants and grocery stores to help people by local.  Several different farms were represented, and the food was delicious.  Here is the link to the article, and check out the rest of the magazine on-line as well http://www.eatthischarleston.com/index.php/features/item/home-grown-breakfast.  Stay tuned- I am going on a farm tour of all the farms on John’s Island and Wadmalaw Island this weekend and will be writing an article about that as well!

Feast in the Field

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Last night we went to a Feast in the Field event sponsored by Low Country Local First, FIG, and Garden and Gun Magazine. The setting was a beautiful spot on the river called Dirthugger Farm with lighted Live Oak trees, Spanish moss, and a sunset that was breathtaking.  The food was even better.  Passed hors d’oeurves were deep fried stone crab balls, chicken liver pate, and oysters (because as everybody knows, October 1st is the official day you can start harvesting local oysters here in Charleston).  The bluegrass band was fantastic, and they were giving boat rides on Scout crafts.  The whole evening was magical.  Dinner was family style and started off with Virginal Sheep’s Mil Ricotta and Oregano Grilled Sourdough bread- amazing!  I actually kept the bowl of the ricotta next to me, and continued to eat it for the whole night with everything else that was served.  At the same time, they brought out Escabeche of White Shrimp with Fall Vegetables and Fresh Ginger.  It was gone before I could get a good picture. The Porchetta Tomato Celery Heart Lemon Confit was divine as was the Butter Pea “Pasta e Fagioli”.  I could have eaten just that (and of course the ricotta) all night.  The Wood Grilled Keegan Filion Farms Chicken Al Mattone with Charred Lemon Jus and Dirthugger Bread Salad was if possible even better.

The evening was topped off with Pear Tartatin with Honey Syrup and Pistachio Creme and the Board of Lowcountry Local First gathering with Chef Mike Lata for a photograph in the live oak tree!

For good measure, here is the sunset and the river.  It was such a fun evening, and I can’t wait for next year!