The career advisor from my school hired me for a catering gig yesterday. Going into it all I knew was that it was going to be a nine hour shift, I needed to bring my knives, my Chef jacket, and it was a private party. When I got there it was a very nice home with a little farm on it. 120+ people were going to attend this party and the theme was a toast to the end of the summer with the highlight being corn grown by the homeowner.
I walked up and met the other three people I would be working with, all three of them were AIS graduates. I was a little intimidated by that but once we got to work all of that went away. There was a fair bit of chopping, shucking, and prepping so we all got to work on that. I shucked all the ears of corn, grilled tomatoes, made smoothies, grilled shrimp, opened bottles of wine, and washed a ton of dishes. I was left to do the not so glamorous work but that’s ok, we got the job done and worked with precision the entire evening. After everything was said and done I had a great time and had lots of fun cooking in the sun.
What’s the plan for today? Well, Mindy works during the day and I have class at night…yeah. Tomorrow we’re going to eat at the Dahlia Lounge (click). Anyway, we kick ass.
Every month Foodbuzz.com has a 24, 24, 24, event where 24 bloggers have 24 food events in 24 hours. There are approximately 2,600 Featured Publishers and over 18,000 members of Foodbuzz and out of those 24 are chosen each month to have a 24, 24, 24 dinner party so being picked is an exciting event, being picked twice in four months is like winning the lottery.
The last time I was picked for a 24, 24, 24 event I submitted the idea of doing 24 different Tapas in one evening for 13 people and cooked from 3:30pm until 10:30 PM. It was an awesome experience that I don’t think will ever happen again unless I’m in a professional kitchen with a staff of people because doing that many insane newly created recipes wiped me out for a few days after…..just kidding, I was ready to do it again after I was done. (click here for the last event)
At the beginning of this month I submitted my idea to visit The Herbfarm to Foodbuzz and I was originally going to visit them for their Basil themed dinner but I missed the cut off. The Herbfarm changes the theme of their dinners throughout the year and I didn’t realize how often those changes happened. When I made my reservation I was told it would be a 100 mile dinner consisting of food items grown within a 100 mile radius from their restaurant in Woodinville, WA.
I was extremely excited about this idea because if you have checked out this blog before you have known that when I was working at the Farmers Markets I was meeting a lot of food producers in Washington so I was interested to see which ones made it on the menu. Also, I was interested to see how The Herbfarm was going to source some of the main ingredients in cooking………salt, pepper, and butter.
Eric, slow down……What is The Herbfarm?
In 1974 Bill and Lola Zimmerman purchased some rural farmland in Fall City, WA. Lola began to sell chives roadside which became popular and it forced them to sell extra herbs and within a few years they were up to 300 different varieties of herbs. Years later Ron, their son, sold his business and his wife Carrie joined The Herbfarm. They remodeled the farm house and built a small restaurant off the side. It was a 6 course meal and Ron was the Chef and his wife was the host.
The excellent reviews were coming in so of course, instead of sitting around and being happy with that Ron and Carrie found Jerry Traunfeld to head the kitchen in 1990.
This brought more excellent reviews as well as heavy hitting awards from The James Beard Foundation for Best New Chef, the Mobil Travel Guide’s highest 4 star award, AAA 5 star award, and the list goes on. If there is a culinary award to win then The Herbfarm has probably won it and if they haven’t won it then those people responsible for providing an award simply haven’t eaten there.
I’m a culinary student so going to The Herbfarm was an easy choice. I wanted to see food given all the respect it deserves and with this 100 mile dinner theme I wanted to see the best the Northwest has to offer.
I was told to be there at 6:15PM and the dinner would last for approximately 5 hours. Sit back, relax, eat, greet, meet, and enjoy. I was told I was going to be sitting at the European table since I was going solo for this event, I would have taken Mindy but the wallet would not allow this at this time…..culinary student!
I arrived at the The Herbfarm and when I walked in I was greeted by name……..they knew who I was already. “You must be Mr. Rivera, the culinary student”. I had a 5 minute conversation with someone at the The Herbfarm when I first made the reservation so they must have been taking notes on what I was saying……it gets better. I walked in the door and they handed me a glass of punch!
What a bowl of punch looks like. Yes, I took a lot of pictures!
I was told that I could go upstairs and check out the Chef’s library and I could also go downstairs and go through the wine cellar and meet Ron Zimmerman, the owner. Chef’s library???? Oh yeah, I’m going upstairs!
The Chef’s library overlooks the kitchen and dining area so I had my first peek at where I would be spending the next 5 hours eating, laughing, and enjoying the company of others.
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After drooling on all the books I went downstairs to meet Ron Zimmerman. Again, I was greeted with “you must be Mr. Rivera, the culinary student”. I wasn’t wearing my student I.D. or anything so the communication level on this whole me being a culinary student is incredible. Ron is an awesome guy and it took every ounce of energy not to do a Wayne’s World, I’m not worthy tribute (Click here). There are over 22,000 bottles of wine at the The Herbfarm so I had a chance to see most, if not all of them down in the wine cellar.
I’m not worthy!!!!
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After meeting Ron I went upstairs and went outside for a tour of the herb garden. I say herb garden because the actual farm is a few miles away. The farm is 5 acres and houses most of the food used at the restaurant. The garden is used by the Chefs for the preparation of the day’s food.
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Ok ok ok, enough set up get to the food! I will keep this simple. Lots of pictures, and very little explanation. The food speaks for itself so there is no need for me to keep narrating. The only thing you need to do is visit Herbfarm for yourself.
The Menu
Three Soups: Garden to Sea
Dilly Cotta
Clam and Eggs……notice my name on the place card…..awesome
Lummi Island Reef Netted Salmon………Please more of this!
Seashored Beef
Goat’s Milk “Truffles”
Bowl Of Cherries
A 36-Mile Dessert
A Selection of Small Treats
There you have it, my dining experience at the The Herbfarm. I left a few things out and there are lots of pictures, videos, and other details I left out of this post, I want you to go there for yourself, it is worth every single penny and every minute of time you spend there (5 1/2 hours).
After this experience I will look at food, restaurants, and my own cooking techniques in a different way. This place is at the top of their game and I can only hope that one day I can achieve this type of execution. I’m just starting my professional culinary journey so it’s nice to learn from the best.
Thank you The Herbfarm, Foodbuzz, and the other diners sharing the experience with me at the table. I will do my best to repay all of you one day, I am humbled and happy.
Thank you,
Eric
Maybe one day they will welcome me as a Chef in their restaurant……….I’ll keep working, practicing, and studying.
My team rocked it last night. We were one person down and we cranked out this meal about 30 minutes earlier than everyone else in class, I was pretty damn happy about that. The presentation needs work but the flavor was all there. I would have liked the pork to be a little less done but we have to follow those crazy health department rules, oh well.
What you see on the plate is a cumin, paprika, oregano, salt, and pepper rubbed pork loin with pan gravy. Asparagus Hollandaise, Pommes Anna, and Tourne Butternut Le Etuve.
F’ing rocked it.
Eric
Side note: If you ever want to have some awesome pork then ask a Puerto Rican to cook it for you.
We had a substitute Chef in class yesterday because our normal Chef was flying off to a Kitchen-Aid Food and Wine Festival in Michigan so were in full French cooking mode. Our substitute Chef is French and is super high energy like me so it was nice injection of energy into the class. We made this as well as another dish I will post shortly and if it wasn’t for the pork I marinaded it would have been the first entirely French meal I’ve ever had….so close. I love culinary school.
Equipment:
Small roasting pan
Saute pan
Mixing bowl lined with paper towel
Ingredients:
Roma Tomatoes, seeds removed
5-6 mushrooms, washed very quickly in water then minced
1 shallot, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste. Herbs are optional
Procedure:
Heat up olive oil in saute pan then add garlic, shallot, salt and pepper
Once the oil is infused add the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms release a little color into the oil
Remove from heat then place entire mixture in mixing bowl lined with paper towel.
Heat oven to 375F then stuff tomatoes and cook for 10-15 minutes
Why yes, I do have control issues. Chicken was awesome (Rosemary, Thyme, and Sage between the skin and stuffed in the carcass) but I messed up the gravy…….a gravy that I’ve done a million times……..oh well, that’s the last time I’ll mess it up. I bought 3 whole chickens for the weekend, I’ll get it right and never look back.
The elusive picture of Eric….. My wife took these pictures while I was getting dessert ready, peaches with a reduced balsamic. Some of the pictures are a little fuzzy because I move so freaking fast! The end result was a great black on black syrupy balsamic with a touch of baker’s sugar and some grilled peaches. Awesome
We made this in class last week and I was looking for a way to make it my own. Normally, this potato would be cooked with a roast but I have a few friends that are vegetarian so I wanted them to partake in the meal so I roasted this potato with a mirepoix towards the end of cooking the potato. This process takes a little over an hour and involves cutting the potato into a large tourner cut. I needed to practice this cut so ta-da, you get tourner cut potatoes!
Heat up the cast iron pan on the top of the stove then pour in some clarified butter
Place the potatoes in the pan and fry each side until golden brown
Place the entire pan in the oven and cook for 45 minutes to an hour at 350F
20 minutes before being done place in the mirepoix in the pan with some salt and pepper
The potatoes are done when you poke the potato with a knife and it goes through easily. The potato will have a nice crispy crust on the outside and on the inside it will have the texture of a mashed potato.
What a bowl of punch looks like. Yes, I took a lot of pictures!
I’m not worthy!!!!
The Menu
Three Soups: Garden to Sea
Dilly Cotta
Clam and Eggs……notice my name on the place card…..awesome 
Lummi Island Reef Netted Salmon………Please more of this!
Seashored Beef
Goat’s Milk “Truffles”
Bowl Of Cherries
A 36-Mile Dessert
A Selection of Small Treats
There’s the cut that I want to punch in the face……still practicing!
Roasted Chicken with a Lavender Gravy 
