CT Farm-to-Chef Week

Farm-to-Chef Week Opening Day 2012

A kick-off event for the Farm-to-Chef Week, hosted by WNPR's Chion Wolf, was held from 11 to 2 on Sunday, September 18, 2011, at the Coventry Regional Farmers' Market in Coventry. Chefs made delicious dishes using ingredients found at the market and offered samples to attendees.

Click Here to see pictures of the kick-off event.

Click below to listen to the Chion Wolf penned FTC Week theme song which was unveiled at the event.

Farm_To_Chef_Week

Click the links below to view featured recipes from the kick-off event (PDFs).

Pan-Seared Flounder with Spicy Heirloom Cherry Tomato & Corn Salad
Drew McLachlan, Culinary Specialist/Local Forager, Whole Foods Market

Roasted Vegetable Salad with Farmers Cheese
Carlos Cassar, Executive Chef, Fresh Salt at Saybrook Point Inns

Fried Squash Blossoms with Herbed Goat Cheese Stuffing & Tomato Basil Salsa
Nick Pawlowski, District Executive Chef, Sodexo

Apple Pie Burger
Jorge Alfonso, Executive Chef, Plan B Burger Bar

Connecticut Department of Agriculture Reveals Farm-to-Chef Week Menus

Sample and savor the state's local flavor September 18-24

(HARTFORD, CONN.)  Descriptions and prices of menus being offered by participants during Farm-to-Chef Week, September 18-24, are now available on the Connecticut Department of Agriculture's website, www.CTGrown.gov (look under "Featured Links").

"Farm-to-Chef Week is a great opportunity for people to try a wide assortment of agricultural products grown and raised by Connecticut's finest farmers and prepared by some of the state's foremost chefs," said state Agriculture Commissioner Steven K. Reviczky.  "These special Farm-to-Chef menus feature Connecticut Grown ingredients in every dish and spotlight the farms that have produced those ingredients."

The seven-day celebration of Connecticut Grown cuisine is an initiative of the Department of Agriculture's Farm-to-Chef Program, which connects farmers and distributors of Connecticut Grown products with local chefs and other culinary professionals.  Seventy restaurants and other dining venues throughout the state have signed up to participate in this year's event.

Menus offered are as diverse as the state's nearly 5,000 farms.  Diners may opt for something as formal as a white-tablecloth, fixed-price, multicourse dinner featuring Connecticut clams and oysters, butternut squash bisque, Stonington seafood stew, and roasted pear and bourbon bread pudding, or more casual dining enjoying a-la-carte fare such as a gluten-free, vegan burger made with oats, cashews, and local organic fall squash, topped with Connecticut Grown organic greens and goat cheese, followed by a pumpkin-chocolate-chip cupcake featuring local organic pumpkin.

"There is something available for every taste, dietary preference, and budget," Commissioner Reviczky said. "This is an excellent opportunity for people to try new foods and to learn more about some of the many exceptional crops and products grown right here in Connecticut."

"While Connecticut's agricultural industry is not as large as that in California, Florida, or some of the Midwestern states, it is nonetheless very significant," he continued.  "Connecticut agriculture not only produces a wealth of high-quality, nutritional foods for our citizens, it also contributes $3.5 billion to our state's economy every year and employs some 20,000 people."

Farm-to-Chef Week will kick off Sunday, September 18, 2011, with a free special event from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Coventry Regional Farmers'
Market, 2299 South Street, Coventry.  Chefs from participating venues, including Fresh Salt at Saybrook Point, Plan B Burger Bar, Sodexo/Fairfield University, and Whole Foods Market, will perform cooking demonstrations using fresh Connecticut Grown items from the market.  WNPR's Chion Wolf will host the festivities, which also include live music and the market's popular annual Fiber Twist festival.  The event is free and open to all.

"We are very excited to be hosting this kick-off event for Farm-to-Chef Week," said Winter Caplanson, a volunteer organizer for the Coventry Farmers' Market.  "Our vendors love seeing talented chefs transform their products into delectable dishes, using the same love and care that the farmers put into growing the raw ingredients."

For more information about Farm-to-Chef Week or the Farm-to-Chef Program, please visit the Department of Agriculture's website, www.CTGrown.gov.


CONNECTICUT GROWN - The Local Flavor
www.CTGrown.gov
www.ct.gov/doag

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Connecticut Department of Agriculture Announces 2011 Farm-to-Chef Week September 18-24

Hartford, CT – The Connecticut Department of Agriculture announced today that this year’s Farm-to-Chef Week will run September 18-24, 2011. Open to all restaurants and foodservice businesses in the state, participants are invited to create and offer their own special Farm-to-Chef menu that showcases Connecticut Grown ingredients and wines.

The seven-day promotion is an initiative of the department’s Farm-to-Chef Program, which connects Connecticut farmers and distributors of Connecticut Grown products with chefs and other culinary professionals. Last year’s Farm-to-Chef week attracted over 80 restaurants, caterers, institutions, schools, farms, wineries, and various dining venues. Participants created unique, diverse menus that were offered at multi-course farm dinners, food-trucks, white-tablecloth restaurants, coffee and breakfast shops, school cafeterias, and ice cream parlors. Featured Connecticut Grown ingredients included fruits, vegetables, herbs, meats, seafood, dairy, maple, honey, and more.

“Many Farm-to-Chef members already serve locally grown and raised ingredients,” said Agriculture Commissioner Steven K. Reviczky. “What’s special about this week is that it inspires even greater creativity, brings attention to the cause on a state-wide level, and encourages businesses that are new to the program to give local products a try. It also gives the public a chance to sample and savor our state’s many local flavors and support restaurants and businesses that they may not have ever visited before,” he explained.

Restaurants and other food venues who are interested in participating can download the guidelines and registration forms from the Department of Agriculture’s website, www.CTGrown.gov (look under featured links). The deadline to register is June 30, 2011.

For more information, please contact Linda Piotrowicz at Linda.Piotrowicz@ct.gov or 860-713-2558.

The CT Farm-to-Chef Program helps connect Connecticut chefs and food service professionals with growers, producers, and distributors of CT grown products. It also helps the public to discover restaurants, institutions, and other dining facilities that serve foods prepared with CT grown ingredients. Please visit www.CTGrown.gov and click on “Programs and Services” for more information.

CONNECTICUT GROWN - The Local Flavor

www.CTGrown.gov www.ct.gov/doag

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FTC Week Kick-off Lip-Smacking Good!

 

The Market in Coventry this weekend was jump'n with activity with several thousand folks from all over celebrating the bounty of CTGrown. Farm-to-Chef Week kicked off with a successful cooking challenge featuring CT celebrity chefs,(view event photos) Carrie Landry of Zest in Tolland, Scott Miller of Max's Oyster Bar in West Hartford and Carlos Cassar of Saybrook Point Inn and Spa of Old Saybrook. And if that wasn't enough, emceeing the event was Connecticut's popular radio personality Chion Wolf of WNPR and the Colin McEnroe Show. Even Commissioner Perelli attended, showing off his own cooking talents assisting Chef Landry. The day was gorgeous and sunny, filled with live music courtesy of UCONN's acapella group and several acoustic vocalists. Folks lined up for the tastings of scrumptious food cooked fresh by the chefs that included: Stuffed Curried Eggplant served with a Basil Yogurt Cream Sauce, by Chef Carrie Landry; Butternut Squash Panna Cotta with local honey and yogurt drizzle, granola crunch and maple sugar candy by Chef Scott Miller; and finishing with a flourish we had Chef Carlos make a fall style salad with greens, apples, blue cheese served with a lemon poppy seed vinaigrette. That was just the beginning folks! Come out this week, until Oct. 2nd, to a restaurant, eatery or dining hall near you for more amazing dishes from Chefs around the state cooking with CTGrown food. View our map for participating locations. Bon Appetit!

A Variety of FTCWeek Special Events

The goal of CT Farm to Chef Week is to get folks excited about food grown right here in Connecticut. We have talented farmers and chefs in our state and why not get them together and bring their talents to the table so to speak? So, with this week-long celebration we're looking forward to seeing, and of course tasting, what these talented folks have to offer. Each chef is doing something different in their kitchen to showcase CTGrown; take a look at their menus listed here for an idea of what to expect. In the meantime, here's a few upcoming events to add to your calendar. The big one is the kick-off event, Sunday, September 26th at the Coventry Farmers Market with guest chefs from Zest, Max's Oyster Bar and Saybrook Point Inn entering into a "Cooking Fresh" challenge. They will be sourcing locally grown ingredients from the various stands at the market and transforming them into mouthwatering dishes, event begins at 11:00 a.m. and ends at 2:00 p.m. Another great event is happening Friday night before the kick-off at the Pond House on the Hartford/West Hartford line in support of Urban Oaks see attached poster for details. Colin McEnroe will be hosting and lots of great farm fare will be served. Then later in the week Skinny Pines has their all-local luncheon, see earlier post for details. As more news about other restaurant events, happening during the week, become known we'll post them here. Keep'm coming!

CT Fun Fact of The Week

As part of the celebration commemorating Connecticut's 375th Anniversary Governor Rell's office has been releasing fun facts of the State's history. 

Here's this week's: Did you know that in 1875 the first agricultural station in the United States was established in New Haven by the State of Connecticut?  In fact, one of the agricultural station’s most noteworthy accomplishments was its first attempt at “consumer protection” when a program was established for analyzing food for public consumption.

 

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Please Note:  Fun CT Facts, unless otherwise noted, come from “Connecticut Firsts” written by Wilson H. Faude and Joan W. Friedland – copyright  1996, 2000 – and  used with permission.  Mr. Faude is a member of Governor Rell’s 375 Anniversary Commission; www.ct375.co

WNPR's Chion Wolf MC's Cooking Kick-Off

September 26th marks the first day of the first ever CT Farm-to-Chef Harvest Celebration Week with a special cook-off event held from 11:00-2:00 p.m. at the Coventry Farmer's Market with Chefs Carrie Landry (Zest), Scott Miller (Max Group) and Carlos Cassar (Saybrook Point Inn). Plus, we have WNPR's Chion Wolf doing the MC honors. The Chefs will gather food from various farm stands at the market and cook something delicious and fresh right on the spot. If you come you might have a chance to taste the results. An event not to be missed. The Coventry Farmers Market is held on the grounds of the Nathan Hale Homestead in Coventry CT. The Homestead is lovingly cared for by the CT Landmarks Association.

Gov. Rell Formally Announces FTCWeek

In a press release issued yesterday, Governor Rell formally announces the first ever CT Farm-to-Chef Harvest Celebration Week proclaiming, "What better way to celebrate the bountiful harvest of Connecticut's farms and fields than with a unique dining experience across the state?" Read the full press release here.

Download SEP8farmtochef.pages

Farm-to-Chef Week in New York Times

Connecticut is finally getting some increased recognition as a state that supports locally grown food where other states like Vermont, California, Oregon and Maine have long embraced this growing trend. While New York Times writer Jan Ellen Speigel points out some of the serious issues restaurants and chefs in our state face in sourcing locally, the story also highlighted some exciting things happening in our state too. The talent and creativity Connecticut chefs are exhibiting as they become more and more inspired by local products is outstanding. Whole restaurant groups like Max Group and Plan B Burger and of course independently owned restaurants like River Tavern, Zinc, Claire's and a whole host of others are elevating the food experience by sourcing locally on the simple fact that fresh is best. Even places like the Connecticut Science Center includes local product on their menus identifying their menu items by the farms. The growing trend of chefs partnering with local farms is creating some of the best foods out there, during FTCWeek check it our for yourself. Here's the NYTimes article if you haven't seen it yet: Bringing the Bounty of the Fields to the Feast

A Delicious Week of Tasting the bounty of CTGrown

More and more Connecticut chefs are subscribing to sourcing locally grown food making the choice of where to eat more and more difficult. But during Connecticut's first ever CT Farm-to-Chef Harvest Celebration Week you'll have seven days to really taste the bounty. Look at the list of participants, the menus and chef profiles listed right here in this blog. We have over 80 participants and each one has some amazing CTGrown product they're showcasing. There's even a map to help you pick your spots. See how many places you can get to in a week. Let us know what you're planning email us at farm2chef at gmail dot com.