The trip to Elmwood Stock Farm takes about 25 minutes from the center of Lexington. It’s a forgettable drive if you take the interstate and even up to the very gates of the farm there is enough development to qualify the surrounding neighborhood as a “bedroom community”.
But within a stone’s throw of stacked condos there is tall grass, wire fences and old barns signaling that you’ve entered farming country, an unabashedly unkempt tuft of ground from which wonderful things grow.
We traveled up to Elmwood this week to participate in one of their farm tours, a bit of eco-tourism that has made some in-roads and some money in the entertainment cycle of Lexington. Not big, or gaudy in its presentation, it is a down to earth showcase of the farm, the products and the philosophy.
Elmwood proudly shows off its beauty and grace in little snippets of revelation, taking their guests on a simple tour of how a working farm operates. The Sage Rabbit was invited to cook a light meal for the guests with the theme being everything turkey.
It was an informal gathering around platters of organic produce and free range heritage turkey. But the real star was the farm itself and by association the people who work it. And oh how they work it, evidenced by the stacks of produce in the adjacent barn awaiting final processing (washing and sorting) before the trip to CSA’s or the many markets that Elmwood attends.
This is a multi-faceted farm with individual microcosms that represent local agriculture and its commitment to getting it right. For many years, Elmwood and other farms like this have been a source of sustainable and organic produce and free range beef, chicken and pork, and have been an anchor for two of my restaurants and others I’ve served as chef.
Events that feature time spent on-site are becoming almost a requirement for farmers wanting to expand, introduce new product or educate an interested public. It’s not enough for any farmer to just plant, cultivate, harvest and show up on market day. The farmer now is also the marketer, the marketed and a consummate showman or interesting personality.
Brand placement has found a new home in agriculture as family farms and big farming alike vie for a larger piece of the consumer pie. CFA’s, newsletters, farm tours, even festivals should be designed to sell and entertain first, educate after.
The place that can do it all becomes a player at market and in the local restaurant scene, but it comes at a cost of time, energy and money and takes an energetic optimist rather than the pragmatist that we often meet on the farm.
Buried beneath all of this is the food itself, baskets of tomatoes to be sorted, squash and potatoes to be washed and culled, garlic to be braided turkeys to process. The food after all is why we jump through the hoops. At some point that food should speak for itself.
The Sage Rabbit was happy and grateful to produce the food for this past event at Elmwood Stock Farm. Here are some notes about what we did with the seasonal product on hand:
White Chili with Turkey
This was a stripped down version of basic chili. I started with 2 cups each peppers, onion and garlic all diced medium size. I sweated those for about 15 minutes in clarified butter and added cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, chili flakes and canned tomato.
After sweating again for an additional 15 minutes I added 3 tablespoons of flour and stirred it completely in. The mix should be pasty until you add your hot chicken/ beef/pork or turkey stock to cover.
The flour acts as a thickening agent and as the chili cooks it will start to absorb moisture and create viscosity. The turkey is removed from the leg, thigh and breast, cubed and roasted in the oven with whole butter and salt, pepper and sage.
The white beans, which should always soak overnight, are cooked in water before you add them to the chili and bay leaf until soft but not mushy. Add enough cooked white beans to help with thickening and to make up some bulk.
When the beans are in the chili it’s time to simmer and taste, add the cooked turkey closer to the end, and adjust the flavor off the chili with salt, pepper, fresh oregano, fresh thyme and Cholula or tabasco.
This like many soups is bets made a day ahead so the flavors develop overnight. Serve with crisp tortillas and grated cheddar.
John Foster is an executive chef who heads the culinary program at Sullivan University’s Lexington campus. A New York native, Foster has been active in the Lexington culinary scene and a promoter of local and seasonal foods for more than 20 years. The French Culinary Institute-trained chef has been the executive chef of his former restaurant, Harvest, and now his Chevy Chase eatery, The Sage Rabbit, in Lexington.
To read more from Chef John Foster, including his recipes, click here.
