Green Dirt Farm

Our friends Barb and Tam invited us to join them for a locavore's delight: dinner at a nearby farm featuring all local foods. We jumped at the chance and ventured to Green Dirt Farm in Weston, MO, about 45 minutes north of Kansas City.

According to their web page (www.greendirtfarm.com), "Green Dirt Farm is a small farm dedicated to bringing the best Farmstead Sheep's Milk Cheese and Grass-fed Lamb to Kansas City."

The event was billed as a "Farm Table Dinner", a 4-course meal planned and prepared by guest chefs Linda Duerr (currently at "Zest") and Julita Latimer ("Julita's Catering"). Ingredients came from Bad Seed Farmer's Market in Kansas City, MO, Bear Creek Farm in Osceola, MO, Community Farm of Kansas City, KS, Green Hills Harvest in Purvin, MO, and Blue Door Farm in Kansas City, KS. The owners, along with the resident cheese-maker joined the guests for dinner at a long farmer's table in a beautiful setting.

(I was going to bring my camera, but discovered the battery was dead too late to do anything about it. All I had was my iPhone to take pictures, so the quality is not that great - no flash and no zoom).

Here we're walking up to the barn where dinner will be served. That's Tam and Barb walking ahead of us.



Here's the view looking down the table and out the open door. Beautiful !



And now a view of the seated guests. The table was long enough for 12 people on each side. We met and chatted with several strangers, all with a common interest in locally-produced food.



Just outside the barn a tent was set up housing two tables, prep space, and a barbeque. This is where the chefs did their work prepping each course. That's Linda on the left and Julita on the right.



Here is Tony Glamcevski, who organized the event and hosted the evening. Each course was paired with a wine, and he told us about each wine and why it was chosen as a complement to the food.



Ok, on to the food. There was a cheese course when we first arrived - Jana Loflin is the cheesemaker at Green Dirt Farm. Two cheeses were featured. One was called "Tidbit" and one was called "Dirt Lover" but that's about all I remember. Such a gourmand! Both were soft, creamy cheeses, fairly mild, and I loved the "Dirt Lover". Had to restrain myself to leave enough for others. Got so wrapped up in the cheese I neglected to take any pictures. Next time...

For cocktails they served a drink of champagne and muddled parsley. Sounds strange, but was really nice and refreshing.

FIRST COURSE: salad composed of exotic greens, poached farm egg, sheep's milk kashkeval (cheese) and crispy lamb carnitas. Accompanying wine: Crios, Rose of Malbec, Argentina 2008.



SECOND COURSE: traditional vichycoisse made from potatoes, leeks, onions, and chives. Accompanying wine: Yulumba, Unwooded Cardonnay, Australia 2008.



THIRD COURSE: braised green cabbage filled with a ragu of lamb and risotto, labneh, and medley of fennel and baby beets. Accompanying wine: Mas de la Dame, Cuvee Gourmande Red, France 2008



FOURTH COURSE: early summer missouri berries & herbed biscuit. Accompanying wine: Errazuriz, Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc, Chile 2007



All in all it was a fabulous evening. The food was excellent - fresh and flavorful and not too fussy. Just like a farm meal should be. Our drive home was fun - got a little lost at first, but had Nuvi along so all was well. We did have to drive a few miles on gravel roads, up and down rolling hills, till we made it back to the highway, singing camp songs at the top of our lungs. Awesome !