Nourish-ing for the soul

Last night I had the opportunity to volunteer for a wonderful and worthy event and I also had a lot of fun in the process. I was reminded of the way I felt back when I volunteered for the World Pastry Championships in Nashville and of how great it felt to both be a part of an exciting event and to be around chefs and work with food. I've got to do it more often.

Last night's fun was a benefit that took place at our local farmer's market called Nourish Nashville. A benefit for the Nashville Food Project, it was a four-course dinner with wine pairings prepared by some of the best chefs in the Southeast followed by an auction. The dinner was sold out and at $160 a pop, it was a huge success.

My role was to assist the (some of them James Beard Award nominee) chefs in the kitchen. When I first arrived there was a bit of confusion and not a lot to do. I saw some friendly faces, Cara and chef Hal, owners of the soon to be opened around the corner from my house (yay!) Lockeland Table. 

I jumped right in and helped plate the appetizers Chef Hal Holden-Bache was preparing: beef heart tartare with mustard green and peanut pesto, and pickled Gulf shrimp with cucumber mint salsa (photo above). Yum. After tasting these and knowing what these two are capable of, I cannot wait for their new venture to open.

Then, there was some waiting and standing around while the MC (none other than esteemed Southern food expert and journalist, John Edgerton) talked about the cause and introduced important people. In the kitchen the man who seemed to be in charge, or at least the one everyone looked up to, was Chef John Fleer (of Canyon Kitchen at Lonesome Valley in North Carolina but known formerly as the man behind Blackberry Farm, one of my all-time-would-die-to-eat-there-let-alone-stay-there places in the world). I was equally impressed by him and by his calm and courteous demeanor. He even thanked the volunteers for being there (before we even did anything).

(the first course: tomato terrine, Empire State South Fromage Blanc, bread crakers, country ham, fennel and Georgia olive oil, prepared by Empire State South (Atlanta) chef Ryan Smith.

Each chef was responsible for one course and as the tables were lined up and the chefs and their assistants started stacking plates and getting their ingredients ready, it became a joint effort and it took every set of hands from every chef or volunteer to get the 250 + plates ready to go out. Once the course was plated, it was picked up by the servers and whisked off to be devoured by guests seated just beyond the flimsy curtain that separated the kitchen from the makeshift market hall dining room.

I wanted to be a part of the energy even if just as a bystander so I stood nearby watching as they readied the first course. I never thought that I'd be asked to jump in and help plate this delicious and complicated-looking food. But when a chef motioned for me to jump in the line, I didn't hesitate and my job was to carefully place a little mound of chili-braised Tuscan kale alongside the crusted Sunburst trout and rum-sorghum glazed pork belly--the second course-- prepared by none other than Chef Fleer himself. I tried not to falter and work as fast as everyone else was working and it really was a well-oiled assembly line of quick hands and sliding plates. Wow, it was fun.

 (there I am in the middle, looking very serious).

The third course (prepared by Taylor Ricketts of Delta Bistro in Greenwood, MS) looked amazing and it was all I could do to not visibly drool while I stood there sprinkling the shaved almonds on top of the mound of buerre noisette-poached rabbit saddle roulade over burrata risotto, with pear confit, fried sweet potato greens, acacia honey with dried fruit and almonds. (Whew). It took about as many people to plate as it did words to describe. Chef Hal, who was working next to me, handed me a bite of the rabbit after we were done and it melted in my mouth.

The final, dessert course looked mouth-wateringly good too and I did get to try that one at the end of the night, sharing a leftover plate with another volunteer.  It was prepared by Tandra Watkins of Ashley's Restaurant in Little Rock, AR and it was a blueberry and buckwheat upside-down cake with coriander cream. Oh. my. goodness. It was ridiculous. That was fun to plate because we all just walked around the tables randomly setting the little cakes on top of the triangular-shaped plates with drizzled blueberry sauce and then spooning (or "quenelle-ing" -is that a word?) the cream on top of each one.

(here is Chef John Fleer getting into helping out by drizzling blueberry sauce).

At the end of the night, I drank a spot of bourbon with the other chefs and then headed out, a quart-sized mason jar of mustard green pesto under my arm as a gift from Chef Hal, tickled pink with myself and vowing to volunteer for another event like that as soon as I could.  Thanks to my friend Amanda Dixon for sending the opportunity my way. 

Tomato Time, Memphis, TN

There is something to be said for keeping traditions alive, even when times are tough. For example, the East Nashville Tomato Art Fest went off without a hitch and was the most well-attended in their 6 year history, despite the beastly temperatures on August 8th.

And, although it's mid August and we should be deep into tomatoes by now, many (including mine except for a few early ones) are languishing on the vine, refusing to ripen. Our farmer who supplies our CSA says he lost over 600 tomato plants this year due to a 'blight' - the same one perhaps that seems to have affected the crops all over the Northeast. One of the perils of organic farming is that refusing to use pesticides and chemical fertilizers can also mean losing an entire crop.



But all of this was not enough to stop Connie Adams of Memphis, TN. My good friend Galloway's mother, Connie was one of the first people I met when I arrived in the South four years ago, on my move from Colorado to Nashville. She welcomed me into her home and what a home it was. It was August then too and her kitchen was filled with women of all ages, suited up in aprons and deep into Tomato Time, the traditional canning party that takes place at Connie's every year at this time. It's been going on for more than 20 years now and every August family members--children, nieces, grandmothers, aunts and cousins-- and friends old and new get together to put up hundreds of jars of tomatoes over four days in what has to be one of the best food traditions in the South.

After that first time I told myself I had to come back and learn from these women. So this year, when Connie invited me to come, I didn't hesitate to accept her invitation. Now that food and its preparation is becoming more and more an integral part of my life, I was more excited than ever to learn how to can tomatoes from these professionals.

And what I learned was valuable in more ways than one. I learned that you can't stuff the jars too tight or they may break in the boiling water. I learned that having the proper equipment is very important. And I learned that the more hands you have, the more fun-- and efficient-- the work is. Canning is definitely not a one or two person job.



I remember stories about my great Aunt Kate and Uncle Les who canned everything in their basement in Colorado, just the two of them. Every year for Christmas they'd bring my mom beautiful jars of tomatoes, peaches, pears, pickles and anything else they had that year. While I knew that my family was always delighted to empty out their contents, I never understood the amount of work that went into those jars until now.







We worked hard over those days, all the while talking --about books, about friendships, about family and kids. Mostly I listened, just soaking up the history that was in that room, happy to be cutting, peeling, stuffing or boiling tomatoes in the company of others--of all ages--who were all so happy to be there.





And orchestrating it all from her perch at the stove, running circles around us and making extra trips to the farmer's market each day for fresh tomatoes, checking each and every jar for air bubbles and making us re-do them if she found them, was Connie. She is the master of the ceremony, the Tomato Queen of Memphis.


(this is Connie here making salsa for us after the first long day of work...the lady never stops, which is why this is the only photo I managed to get of her.)



And now, looking at the fruits of our labor, I understand why she does it: almost 400 jars of tomatoes in 4 days, each one more perfect than the next, a lasting memory of time spent together in the kitchen. What better kind of tradition is there?

August = Tomatoes!

August is always a mixed bag for me. This is because it brings all kinds of contradictory emotions wrapped up in one month. Maybe because I have spent the better part of my life until recently working in the academic world, and as soon as August rolls around the dread of going back to school creeps in and makes me realize that summer is almost over. On the other hand, I was always a very eager student who actually looked forward to going back to school and couldn't wait to show off her new school clothes and meet her new teachers. (I know, geek alert).

Now that the academic calendar no longer rules my life, I still have remnants of the mixed desire/dread that plagued me for so many years. It's like a learned reaction that I can't quite kick. I dread that summer is almost over and I feel like I haven't done enough canning, preserving, traveling, swimming, biking, etc. And pretty soon it will be winter. I mean, it's almost Christmas! (can you see where this is headed?) On the other hand, I love the month of August for its mixture of carefree summer days and the promise and potential of new beginnings that lie just around the corner.



Oh, and what would August be without those beautiful, shiny, irregular homegrown tomatoes? I am lucky to live in a place that not only prides itself on its tomato crop, with many different heirloom varieties in all of the farmer's markets right now, but it seems that every single person in my neighborhood has a few tomato plants in the backyard. One cute elderly woman even sells hers on a folding table in her front yard. The sign reads "homegrown tomatoes for sale." Even if there is no garden to speak of, there are a few tomato plants in everyone's backyard off in a sunny corner, promising a tasty month of homegrown goodness.



We even have our very own Tomato Festival in East Nashville -- the premiere neighborhood event of the year. It's next weekend and I can't wait!



So what do I do with my tomatoes? I posted about the soup last time, but usually I do something much simpler that involves no cooking. A simple caprese salad if I can find fresh mozzarella, because together with the tomatoes, I have basil coming out of my ears right now.



Or, I boil some water, throw in some thin spaghetti and toss the hot pasta with roughly chopped fresh tomatoes, basil, two cloves of minced garlic, some capers and a few black olives if I have them, a splash of balsamic vinegar and the best olive oil I can find. It's my man's favorite use of tomatoes. I have to agree.



I can honestly say that if it weren't for Tennessee tomatoes, I would be rather blue this month. There is something missing in my life and that may be the student/teacher in me speaking. But, if I can't go back to school, I can at least get into the fun that August always brings and be grateful for the celebration of a perfect fruit.

So...tell us. What do you do with your tomatoes?

Slow Bake Sale

Our "Great American Bake Sale" sponsored by Slow Food Nashville and held last Saturday at the Nashville Farmer's Market was a sweet success! We raised almost $900 for Share Our Strength's campaign to fight childhood hunger.



Thanks to all of our local bakers and pastry chefs for contributing their delicious baked treats to our sale. So many beautiful items graced our checkered tablecloth, arriving throughout the day at the market for folks to drool over. And drool they did. But they also threw down and spent money, some even donating money on top of their purchase, giving me hope that people do care. And they also love sweets.

Who wouldn't love baked goods made by professionals using mostly local ingredients? Who wouldn't love these...


peach-almond tarts made by Tom Huber for Marmellata


fresh fruit tarts made by Bacon and Caviar Catering


peach danishes made by Provence


peach cupcakes with blackberries made by Martha Stamps


'chocolate sin cake' made by Zola, pecan tarts by Bacon and Caviar and buttercream cupcake by Sweet Honey

And so much more... coffee cake from F. Scott's, a local harvest cake and vegan beet muffins from Fido, beautiful little linzer cookies and chocolate-ginger cookies by Rebekah Turshen of the Union Station Hotel, cheesecakes by Nashville Cheescake, brioche from Patterson House, and 'crostata di marmellata' and peach-blackberry cobbler made by yours truly.

Thanks again to all who baked, helped and ate. I'm proud of our Slow Food Chapter, our local chefs and our community.