Hunt it (or catch) it, grow it, cook it and serve – Waitsburg Style

I truly believe the best ideas are hatched at cocktail parties. Or maybe it's just with cocktails, but we had an idea. Brad hunts and fishes, his wife Alexandra (Ali) is an expert and prolific gardener, Daniel is a professional chef, and me – well, I do dishes and love to eat! Hence, an idea was born, to combine our talents and appetites and come up with a menu, based on our local food, because we are lucky to live where it's possible to truly eat local!

Ali swooped by our front porch one morning and dropped off: venison roast from Brad's hunting, and from their garden; asparagus, spinach, radishes, red onion, shallot, chive flowers, rhubarb and 6 farm fresh eggs. It was like the TV show "Chopped," but thankfully, without a weird ingredient. Daniel was in chef heaven. Our menu was by no means typical or conventional, but it was spectacular!

The three-course menu was:

Appetizer

Melon soup garnished with pickled radishes, cucumber gelée, sweet pickled ginger, chive flowers and mint

Entree

Charred venison, with red onion marmalade, spinach spätzle, fresh steamed asparagus tossed in tarragon butter.

Dessert

Rhubarb compote, yogurt custard, topped with rhubarb granita

Here is a glimpse at the process:

Venison - Daniel portioned the venison into 3 "logs" cut along the grain of the meat. Once cooked, this allowed him to slice against the grain for tenderness. Before cooking them, he gave them a dry rub of British sweet spices (think mulled wine), vacuum packed them, and cooked in a water bath for 12 hours at 131 degrees. Before serving, he caramelized the meat with the blowtorch.

Soup – First, he pickled the radishes, (sweet pickling spices), then pickled julienned ginger in simple syrup, then made a cucumber gelée by juicing the cucumber and setting it with agar, which acts like gelatin, but sets at room temperature. Next he juiced a cantaloupe melon and strained the juice through a coffee filter. The cold soup was garnished with chive flowers, mint and melon pearls.

Spätzle – (think tiny dumplings). The spinach was blanched and chopped very fine, then added to a batter (similar consistency to pancake batter), that he made into spätzle by running the batter through the holes in a colander over boiling water, drained and tossed with olive oil.

Dessert – first he made the rhubarb compote. He then drained the juice from the compote to make the granita, (shaved ice).

For those who don't have a professional chef in their kitchen, here are some other suggestions.

Quick pickling is easy – and it is an interesting and fun way to use all the radishes (or carrots) that are ready for harvesting. Added to a sweet type of cold soup like melon, it's a good way to wake up your taste buds for the meal to come. Or, even more simple, just wash the radishes and eat them (my favorite way).

I love a spinach salad, and with hard boiled farm fresh eggs, and bacon -it's always a winner. The asparagus is always tasty tossed in butter, and like most Waitsburgundians you have herbs in your garden, an easy addition to elevate fresh asparagus. Chive flowers are a fun kick to add to a salad or vegetable dish, and they're pretty.

Roast the venison like a roast beef; set the temperature of your oven at 350 and cook about 15 minutes per pound (final result should be pink like a medium rare steak). Asparagus – steam and then toss in a simple mixture of tarragon butter (or another herb you have in your garden).

We learned about hunting and keeping chickens, they learned about cooking, while social distancing!