Judith Henderson’s Wine & Country Living

I am officially 2012 Harvest Cook for Mead Ranch in Dayton. The bunk house on Mead Ranch is not what you might envision. Built in the 1930s, the house is comfortable and clean as a whistle. It comes with a modern kitchen, dining room, a cook's bedroom with claw-foot tub and plenty of refrigeration. The air conditioning keeps the house deliciously cool, welcoming field hands who dine on this chef's six-day-a-week menu.

Tradition is everything to Skip and Julia Mead. The returning harvest crew has come to expect the family style meals served each day. Coffee is brewed and served from a 1930s percolator, is a bit of a contraption, but is tradition as is they sit down for breakfast served on a 12-foot table lined in Depression-era glass salt and pepper shakers.

Each day at 11:45 a.m., Skip returns from the field to pick up the Mead Ranch traditional chuck wagon lunch. The meal could include sliced honey-baked ham, potato salad, three-bean salad, sliced Walla Walla sweet onions, homemade pickles, fresh tomato, crisp cold let- tuce, condiments, chipotle salsa, baked breads, frosting filled peanut butter cookies and a container of "strong" iced sun tea. Leaving in a cloud of dust, Skip heads into the field to serve his tailgate lunch to harvesting hands.

Dinner at the bunk house is served at 8 p.m., and might be tender short ribs, peeled fluffy mashed potatoes, steamed speckled corn, creamy Dutch cole slaw, homemade whole wheat rolls, butter, local honey and a light short bread, fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

A friend passing me on the Kellogg at 3:45 a.m. asked what I was doing on the road out there at that time of morning.

"Cooking for harvest on Mead Ranch," I replied.

What else would a former restaurateur, Cordon Bleu Parisian / American Chef, be doing on Mead Ranch unless she is writing a cookbook first-hand about bunk house food served in tradition?!

Bavarian Meatballs

1 pound ground clean beef

½ cup white breadcrumbs

1 teaspoon ginger powder

2 tablespoon dried onion

1 tablespoon milk

½ teaspoon prepared mustard

1 teaspoon brown sugar

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fry the meatballs to well brown. Place them in a greased baking dish and cover. Bake for 20 min- utes, douse in your favorite brown mushroom sauce. Serve over buttered egg noodles, paired with a 2008 Bunchgrass Triolet red wine, cranberry-pomegranate nose swooshing in velvet soft ber- ries and espresso-wrapped tongue.

Hear Judith's Food and Wine Commentary, photos and reci- pes: www.chefjudithhenderson.com.