Eat Wild

Looking for clean, natural food right here in Alabama? Yes you have to look a little but it is out there.
Of course Waterberry Farm can take care of all your produce needs but what about grass fed beef, free range chickens and dariy products? Alabama has more and more farms going green visit the Eat Wild web site to find a farm close to you. http://www.eatwild.com/products/alabama.html

Support Local Food

Why Eat Wild?

Back to Pasture.
Since the late 1990s, a growing number of ranchers have stopped sending their animals to the feedlots to be fattened on grain, soy and other supplements. Instead, they are keeping their animals home on the range where they forage on pasture, their native diet. These new-age ranchers do not treat their livestock with hormones or feed them growth-promoting additives. As a result, the animals grow at a natural pace. For these reasons and more, grass-fed animals live low-stress lives and are so healthy there is no reason to treat them with antibiotics or other drugs.
More Nutritious.
A major benefit of raising animals on pasture is that their products are healthier for you. For example, compared with feedlot meat, meat from grass-fed beef, bison, lamb and goats has less total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and calories. It also has more vitamin E, beta-carotene, vitamin C, and a number of health-promoting fats, including omega-3 fatty acids and “conjugated linoleic acid,”

Farmer's Table

Summer Solstice Dinner

June 21, 2008

$60 per person

Social 5:30

Artesian Cheese Table

Prosciutto Wrapped Grilled Figs with Mint Creama

Dinner 6:30

Grilled Flank Steak with Portabella Mushrooms

Grilled Gulf Shrimp Skewers

Blue Cheese Potato Salad with Applewood Smoked Bacon

Grilled Corn on the Cob with Basil Butter

Summer Ratatouille Proviencale

Waterberry Farm Salad of Lettuces

Blue Ribbon Pie Table

assortment of summer pies or cobblers made by different bakers,

you vote for the winning pie!

*Seats limited reserve yours today!

call 886-2454 or e-mail

waterberryhydrofarms@yahoo.com

More from the Farmer's Table

It has been a few weeks since our first Farmer's Table but I still wanted to share some more pictures.

If you missed out on this dinner don't fret another one is coming up soon.
June 21 will be our Summer Solstice Barbecue, come back soon for more details and menu

We got our first snap peas of the year at the farm this week. I think the best way to eat these peas is to steam them until they turn bright green , about 3 minutes, then top with a sprinkle of sea salt. Sometime I'll put a little butter on the top and let it melt over the warm peas. That's also very good although the butter isn't really necessary. Cooking them isn't even necessary. These peas taste great raw. Just snap the top of the pea off, pull off string like part that holds the pod together, and eat!

Having eaten several meals with steamed peas, today I thought I'd give them a try in some pasta. I decided to make a spaghetti with peas, pesto, and toasted pine nuts.
Ingredients
Serves 6
1 pound of spaghetti
6 oz cleaned snap peas
one small clove garlic, chopped finely
1/3 cup pesto
2 TBS olive oil
toasted pine nut
freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
Bring a large pot (3 quart) of salted water to a boil. Drop the cleaned peas (snapped the tops off) in the pasta water and blanch them quickly. Take them out as soon as they turn bright green about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon remove peas from the boiling water and place in a bowl of ice water. This will stop the cooking process and keep the peas crisp. Place the spaghetti in the boiling water and cook according to the package. Reserve some of the pasta water. In a large skillet heat the olive oil, add the peas, pesto and garlic. Saute about 1 minute, them add the pasta and about a 1/4-1/2 cup of the pasta water. Cook until the water is mostly evaporated about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Top with the toasted pine nuts and the shredded Parmesan cheese.

First Farmer's Table

Saturday evening we hosted the first "Farmer's Table" dinner on the farm. The idea behind having dinners at the farm was to give people in our area a chance to make a connection with the food they eat. We intentionally kept the group fairly small for this first dinner. We ended up with 18 guests. It was the perfect size for our first event.
The evening started at 5pm with a tour of the strawberry greenhouse. Mom and Dad (Harold and Carol) gave the tour answering any questions about the farm and our growing methods.
The group made their way down the field to where we had the tables laid out. A variety of cheeses, bread, and olives awaited the guests, giving everyone a chance to meet and mingle.

Then it was time for dinner. Having a Culinary Institute of America trained chef in the family makes all this possible! Pamela, one of the five daughters, graduated from the CIA in 1996. During that time she did her externship under Frank Stitt at The Highlands Bar and Grill in Birmingham, Alabama. She created the menu for the evening around fresh, local ingredients using as much as possible from our farm.

Joe, picking the chef's brain.

The food was fantastic. As we were eating dinner, the sun set and the full moon rose over the greenhouse. We couldn't have ordered a more perfect evening. Thank-you to all of our guests for coming out and being a part of the first, of what we hope will be many more, Farmer's Table dinners.

The Farmer's Table Menu

Georgia Fresh Corn and Leek Soup
with Apple Wood Smoked Bacon Lardoons


Waterberry Farm Butter Head Lettuces
with Strawberries, Mandarin Oranges, and Spicy Pecans



Handmade Fettuccine
with Asparagus, Shitake Mushrooms, and Tarragon



Grilled Gulf Red Snapper
with Fava Bean, Pea Tendril, Rice Pilaf




Waterberry Farm Fresh Strawberries Three Ways

Chocolate Hazelnut Covered Strawberries
Toasted Pound Cake with Lemon Cream and Strawberries
Panna Cotta with Balsamic Glazed Strawberries

Time to go home, grab your lantern and walk back up the field!

In the news..

Our farm was featured in The Dothan Eagle, our local news paper, today. Check it out here.

Quick Strawberry Preserves

This is a quick old fashioned recipe for strawberry preserves that uses no pectin. Making preserves is a great way to use up extra, less than perfect, or even frozen berries. These preserves really capture the strawberry flavor without being overly sweet. They bear little resemblance to the high fructose corn syrup variety found in the supermarket. Once you try these preserves, you'll never want the grocery store preserves again!

This recipe only makes about three cups of preserves, so I skip the canning and just use it fresh. However, it does freeze well if you wanted to make more at one time.

Ingredients

3 1-pint baskets (about 6 cups) fresh strawberries, hulled. Frozen strawberries will also work.
2 cups sugar
Lemon juice from one lemon

Method

Place hulled strawberries in heavy large saucepan and mash coarsely. Cook strawberries over medium heat until beginning to thicken, stirring frequently, about 6 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Add 2 cups sugar and stir until dissolved. Increase heat to medium and boil gently until mixture thickens and mounds on spoon, stirring frequently, about 20 minutes.

Skim any foam that rises to the top. You can skip this step, but your preserves will be much nicer looking without the foam.

Remove saucepan from heat. Stir in the lemon juice. Cool. (Preserves can be prepared 1 week ahead. Refrigerate in airtight container.)Makes about 3 cups.

Serve the preserves over ice cream, on pancakes or muffins, spread between the layers of a cake, mixed into yogurt...