Farm Tour | Brenckles Farm and Greenhouses

By: Jamie Moore, Director of Sourcing and Sustainability at Eat’n Park Hospitality Group

On August 10^th I had an opportunity to take a few of our chefs out to one of our local farms that we support.   The chefs that attended were Dave DeCollo, One PNC; Dave Harris, PNC Eco Bistro and Terry Geracia, Medrad Global.  The farm that we visited has been a long standing partner of ours and last year they won Eat’n Park Hospitality Group’s “Supplier of the Year”.  They are great people and grow some unbelievable veggies; tomatoes, zucchini, squash, peppers, eggplant, cabbage and cucumbers.

Parkhurst Chefs Visiting Brenckles Farm

Hoop House

This year they decided to do something a little different.  They built a 5 acre hoophouse; a hoophouse is a structure that is used as a greenhouse or a season extender and is characterized by a half-round “hoop” shape. Hoop houses are typically constructed of lengths of pipe, which is both flexible and sturdy then it’s covered by heavy gauge plastic.  The biggest difference between a hoophouse and greenhouse is that hoophouses aren’t heated.   As you can see from the photo , they are still building the structure, but next year, they hope to have tomatoes by the first of July.

One of the primary reasons that we partner with these types of farmers is because of their innovation.  I was talking with Greg Brenckle during our visit and he said next year they are going to be watering their fields with ozonated water.  Ozone is an extremely powerful oxidant and disinfectant that kill bacteria, viruses, and Giardia.  I look forward to updating you on the progress on this very cool food safety initiative.

The hoophouse and the ozonated water are very exciting, but one of the best things about the Brenckle’s are the products that their growing.   It’s really great to see the smiles on our chefs when they see first hand the produce that they use in their kitchens.   We arrived at the farm at 2PM and by 2:30 we were in the fields.   The first field that we came to was the tomato field and we noticed all of the variety of tomatoes that were growing.  San Marzano’s were the ones that got the most interest.  You could hear Dave and Terry talking about the different things they could make with them.  San Marzano’s are a variety of plum tomatoes that are considered by many chefs to be the best sauce tomatoes in the world.

Chef DeCollo with a tomato, unfortunately it wasn’t a San Marzano.

Chef Harris also took advantage of getting into the field.

Chef Harris with a Japanese Eggplant

All of us were impressed with the variety of peppers that the Brenckles’s were growing.  They had over 10 varieties, some of them hot and others mild.  One of the peppers that really caught our attention was a sweet pepper that resembles a Jalapeño.  It was thick walled so it would be perfect for roasting.

Chef Geracia in field of peppers

Remember this is the time that local produce is at the height of the season.  Take advantage of the local produce while it lasts.  Also in early October I’ll be hosting another farm tour, but this one will be in the East.   Hope you can join me.

Fresh San Marzano Tomato Sauce

Ingredients
3 pounds fresh San Marzano tomatoes or a 28 ounce can of San Marzano tomatoes
1 sprig fresh basil
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
3 garlic cloves, smashed
1 teaspoon sea salt for the sugo
6 quarts of water
2 tablespoons of sea salt for the pasta water

Cooking Directions
1.  Wash the San Marzano tomatoes and take the stems off.
2.  When the water is boiling, put the tomatoes in the boiling water for 15-30 seconds, until the skin puckers or bursts.
3.  Take the tomatoes out of the water and let them cool on a large plate. When they are cool enough to handle, peel off the skin.
4.  Cut the tomatoes in half and then into about ½ strips. Remove any skin, stem from the inside, and seeds if you want. Coarsely chop the tomatoes.
5.  Put the olive oil and garlic in a cold pan over a high flame.  Saute the garlic in the oil to release its flavor. Don’t let the garlic brown. With the oil sizzling, put in all the tomatoes and 1 teaspoon of salt. Add the basil sprigs and stir them into the sauce.  They will wilt and release their flavor into the sauce. Cook over medium-high heat until the tomatoes have broken down and a chunky sauce has developed. Most of the tomato water should have evaporated. This should take about 15 minutes, if you a like a thicker sauce, simmer for an additional 15 – 20 minutes.  Stirring frequently. When the sauce is done cooking remove the basil and garlic.

Serve over your favorite pasta.

Pigs, Peaches, Potatoes and More!

By: Tim Fetter, Executive Chef at Highmark

Over the past couple of years, I have had the pleasure of touring some pretty interesting places and want to share what I was able to see. Here at Highmark, one of our vendors is Penn’s Corner Farm Alliance. They are a group of around 30 Farms that offer CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture) and they also supply restaurants. Neil Stauffer, the General Manager set up a tour for us to see a few of their locations.

First we met at Cunningham Meatsin Indiana, PA. This meat processor is run by Scott Cunningham and has been in his family for years. We started in the store front, where they sell all kinds of fresh, smoked, and cured meats, as well as a number of other grocery items. A number of their meats have even won local and national awards. Scott then toured us around the facility, from start to finish, so we could see how exactly everything is handled. First was the holding pen where the pigs or cows would be placed after being delivered to the facility. Then we went inside and saw the slaughter room, then on to the butchering rooms where two of his employees were in the process of skinning and breaking down about a 200 lb. pig. From there we saw the massive walk-in coolers where some of the meats, especially the beef would be held or aged. As we worked our way through, we could see the meats being broken down more and more, until the last few rooms where they were using a Frank-o-matic machine to make hot dogs, and the smoke rooms where they were smoking hams and bacon. It is always comforting when you can know where your products are coming from and how they are handled. Scott was a great host and was quick to answer any of our questions.

High Tunnel Green House at Kistaco's Farm

Next we left Cunningham’s and made our way to Apollo, PA to Kistaco’s Farm. The Kistaco’s were another bunch of great hosts. As soon as we arrived they have some homemade salsa and their delicious apple cider for us to try. They have a storefront where they offer all of the things that they produce as well as a huge selection of locally made jams, pickled items, and a whole lot more. We all loaded into a couple of trucks and they took us around their farm. We started going by the high tunnel green houses where they can get an early start on the growing season. Next we made our way to the peach orchards and then the apple orchards as you can see below. Lastly we stopped and saw the cider press and saw them making a vat of cider vinegar. After the tour we were able to go back to the storefront, where I purchased a few things, including the juiciest, most delicious peach I have ever had.

Peach Orchard

Apple Orchard

Last fall, I was also able to tour some major manufacturing facilities. I went on a trip with John Frick, Eat’n Park’s Executive Chef of Menu Development, to Wisconsin to two McCain Foods plants. First, we went to Plover, WI to a potato facility. Now that is a large plant. They started off the tour by taking us to one of their 13 potato storage buildings. These buildings are the size of a football field, including the end zones and have potatoes stacked 18 feet high! That means that each one holds around 30,000,000 lbs. of potatoes! If the plant was running at full capacity, they could empty out one of those buildings in about 13 days.  Next we moved inside the plant and walked us through from the cleaning of the potatoes to the sorting, peeling, cutting, cooking, freezing, and packaging portions, all in order of how it is set up in the plant. It is really a site to behold. I have included the best picture that I have, which is the top of 30 million lbs. of potatoes, but I was not allowed to take any pictures in the plant, because they don’t want any of their trade secrets getting out.

Potatoes in one of the 13 storage buildings at McCain Foods Plant in Plover, WI

The following day, we went to an appetizer facility in Appleton, WI. This was a much different set up, with eight different lines that can be changed and customized to whatever product they would be running. It was another sight to see and was amazing how fast these products are made.

So, to sum it all up, if you ever get a chance to tour a farm, processor, or manufacturing plant, I would suggest you do so. It will give you a new outlook and a new level of respect for the food that you use and consume every day.

Grass Fed Meat at Gwynedd Mercy

Koch’s Turkey Farm Located in Tamaqua, Pa

By: Sean Lockhard, Executive Chef at Gwynedd Mercy College

Have you ever wondered “how does anyone ever afford to purchase grain fed meat?’”

At Gwynedd Mercy College we believe we have figured it out, at least close enough that we can make do for a food service dining facility.  We have partnered with Common Market Co-op, a Co-op that pulls local farm’s products and offers delivery to our kitchen. Currently we are purchasing Bone in Turkey breasts from Koch’s Turkey Farm located in Tamaqua, Pa. The turkey is a Grain fed, antibiotic-free, all natural bird.

Chef Removing the Bones

In order to off-set the price and be able to offer such a superior product  we purchase the whole bone in breast, debone the two breasts ourselves, roast the turkey bones, then use the bones for poultry stock. Since we make all of our stocks from bones and vegetables this is a large cost savings as well as a huge flavor enhancement to our stock production. All of our soups and sauces at Gwynedd Mercy College contain some type of stock/stocks. The turkey breast meat is then used in many versatile applications; ranging from Roasted turkey in deli sandwiches, hot roast turkey Panini’s, turkey cutlets and carved turkey dinner. The options are endless.

Homemade Turkey Stock!

All truly passionate chefs will tell you that if you can offer your guests a superior product while preparing that product the “right way”, you not only owe to yourself as a chef but to your guests as well. Atleast, that is our perspective at Gwynedd Mercy College.

Fresh Vegetables and Public Schools

By Kevin Jones, Executive Chef at Maryland Institute College of Art

Recently I had the privilege to work with a local farmer and our public school system to enlighten our next generation of children about fresh vegetables and their benefits.

I had a candid conversation with one of our local elementary school administrators and they are starting a program similar to our FarmSource program.  In our conversation it was quite disturbing to hear that our next generation of college students really has not been introduced to the variety of fresh vegetables that are available locally to them.  One student grabbed a red apple and was asked if they had tried one of the green apples and she exclaimed, “No!  I am not going to eat one of those, they are not ripe yet.”  I thought this would be a great opportunity to demonstrate how good fresh vegetable can be.

We thought it would be a great experience for the children to see an action station utilizing fresh local vegetables.  I worked with a local farmer who provides the school with their fresh vegetables and we decided prepare a dish using fresh green beans.

I created a dish which I felt would be appealing to a young demographic, and basically made“green bean Parmesan” using fresh green beans, chopped tomatoes, garlic, fresh basil, and Parmesan cheese.  I blanched and shocked the green beans before service to speed up the cooking time, as I was doing the dish as a sautéed action station.  I sautéed the green beans with fresh chopped garlic, added the chopped tomatoes and finished the dish with fresh basil and grated Parmesan.  I was quite amazed at the response.  Most of the children had never even seen fresh green beans and were quite excited to see a chef in person – I kind of felt like a rock star.  The dish itself was quite the hit and many of the students returned for seconds, which I think speaks for itself in the fact that young people are often scared to try new things, much less eating their vegetables.

With the amount of recipe cards taken, hopefully we have enlightened at least a small group of youths and possibly their parents as well in the importance and deliciousness of fresh and local produce.

 

 

Homemade Potato Chips

By Mike Passanita, Executive Sous Chef at Saint Francis University

Part of the fun of homemade potato chips is you can use whatever potato variety you like: Yukon Gold, Yellow Finn, Russian Red Fingerling and even purple.  At Saint Francis we buy our potatoes from a local grower at Blue Goose Farm that grows potatoes specifically for the making of potato chips.  I make a variety of flavors.  Here is a list of some of the flavors:

• Cheddar Onion
• Ranch
• Cheddar Bacon Onion
• Homemade BBQ
• Vinegar and Salt
• Seasoned Salt
• Tomato Herb
• Italian
• Mayo
• Old Bay
• Sour Cream and Onion
• Taco
• Sour Cream and Cheddar
• Paprika
• Spicy Thai
• Mesquite
• Sweet Onion
• Lime
• Cajun Ranch
• Garlic
• Mild Garlic
• Butter and Garlic
• Rosemary Sea Salt
• Sweet Onion Ranch

I buy the sour cream powder, cheddar powder and the vinegar powder from Spice Barn.  To make the sweet onion chip I use salt to taste and equal parts of onion powder and sugar.  I actually use the regular table salt for my mixes because it makes a better blend and coats the chip more thoroughly.  The Italian chips I just use the Good Seasons Italian packets and the ranch chips I use a homemade ranch dressing recipe and just use the dry ingredients to dust the chips with. I have used the Hidden Valley Ranch dressing packets and this makes a great chip!

Here is what you do:

• Look for firm potatoes without any green spots or sprouting.
• Scrub the potatoes and peel if you like, slice the potatoes as thin as you like. I have used a mandolin, robot coup and a slicer depending on the potato being used.
• After slicing the potatoes, rinse the potatoes then soak them in cold water for about 30 minutes, this helps remove the excess starch.
• Drain the potato slices and dry thoroughly.
• When frying the potato chips do not over crowd the frying basket.

I have found that using a lower temperature to cook the chips helps when you are using a potato that has high starch content. I fry the potato chips at anywhere between 275 and 325 degrees.  When I make sweet potato chips I fry them at 275 degrees and they turn out wonderful.

• Drain the chips well, season immediately and enjoy!

You can make many kind of chips and they do not have to be from potatoes.  I have experimented with beets, jicama and parsnips. You can also use exotic things such as lotus root. Have fun and be creative!

Please feel free to contact me for any recipe you might need at Mdpassanita@francis.edu.

Composting at Bucknell University

By John Cummins, General Manager of Resident Dining at Bucknell University

Like most college and universities our summer guests are mostly participants in camps and conferences hosted by the institution.  Some meals we serve 700 guests and others just 30!

No matter how many guests we have we always focus on utilizing the freshest local fruits and vegetables we can.  This time of year we are typically blessed with a plentiful supply of both. This summer, however, the growing season started late here in Central Pennsylvania due to lots of rain in April and May.

Fresh Local Peaches

Now the first few harvests have come in and the fields here in the Susquehanna Valley are filling up again. Yesterday we offered our guests (and sampled ourselves) some of the best locally produced peaches I have ever had!  They are succulent and flavorful and I noted, as I ate one, that they have a particularly thick and furry skin.  I wondered if it means a hard winter is coming(?)

As well as serving a great assortment of fresh local fruit and produce, our summers here in Lewisburg are a time to put new programs in place.  One such program we are very invested in and proud of is our new Composting Initiative.

Jaime Moore, Parkhurst’s Director of Sourcing and Sustainability, has helped a good number of our accounts begin composting programs.  Many accounts both in Parkhurst and Cura are already composting and it is a great way to utilize post-consumer waste and to build relationships in our communities.

Here at Bucknell we have worked diligently at (creating) such a program.  This process begins in our dishroom.  We are fortunate enough to be at a University with the foresight to have installed a device called a ‘pulper’.  All of the plate scraps (except bones) and napkins off of our guest’s trays goes through a garbage disposal and then through the pulper which extrudes the water and expels a ground up mixture that is the perfect mulching protein matter.  It looks like this:

Compost after being run through the 'pulper'

Rob Rowse, our farmer partner in the Composting Program took the first load of 220 lbs of compost (and 20 gallons of coffee grounds) to his farm.  Rob’s business, Rowse Howse Farms, had to apply for and be awarded a permit to be a Vermicompost site (from the Pa. Dept of Agriculture) in order to begin the project.  This means Rob is feeding our tray waste to worms that then turn it in to a great fertilizer. Rob’s farm is a sustainable pig and chicken farm and the compost will act as a fertilizer on the crops he grows for his livestock.

Farmer Rob Rowse collecting the first 220 lbs. of compost

During the semester Bucknell’s Resident Dining program has been producing 850 lbs of post consumer compostable waste daily.  Rob is prepared to take as much of that as he can.  Since our first trip in June, we have supplied about 2300 lbs of waste to Rob.  We are still working out all the details, so it is  still a work in progress.

As I said earlier, we are very excited about this initiative and about keeping this compostable material out of the local landfill.

I hope you all have a great rest of the summer and of course you can compost at home, too! Check out the this site for more information to begin composting.