Outstanding!

We attended a local Outstanding in the Field event last night and, let me tell you, it was truly outstanding. We had a great time and I would highly encourage you to seek out an event local to you.

I had heard about the events before, but never thought one might come our way (there are 88 events this season around North America). I was reminded to check the schedule and when I saw that it was on Erik's birthday, it just seemed too good to be true and the PERFECT birthday present for a guy who is impossible to shop for. (One more KU t-shirt or grill tool? I'm over it).
To top it off, my good friend Shannon has a birthday the same day, so I persuaded her and her husband to join us. Yes!

We were all a bit concerned about the heat wave and sitting in the middle of a field in the direct sun, but we actually had the most pleasant day in weeks and were very thankful. We arrived to Fair Share Farm and they had "Blossom Time Cocktails" waiting for us - lemonade infused with thyme and locally sourced honeysuckle simple syrup with vodka. Yes, please. Thank you. We wandered around the farm a bit and listened to music and checked out the bus (from 1967) that they travel the country in. (Erik and Pat below. In typical fashion, I don't have any pictures of Erik and me together, or me and Shannon. Boo.)

There is a neat tradition of everyone bringing their own plate and sharing for dinner ...

And we checked out the table in advance - truly in a field, next to a tractor.

This is Jim Denevan, the founder of OiTF. He is a tall, lanky, tan, soft spoken guy and the best description I can come up with for him is the Bono of sustainable agriculture.

And then the owners of the farm, Tom and Rebecca, talked about their farm and farming methods. They both left white-collar jobs about 10 years ago to return to the midwest to farm on her family farm that she had grown up on. They seemed to be a very sweet couple and she even gave a demonstration of their converted 1948 electric tractor in her dress!

We were so lucky that the chef of the evening was Jonathan Justus of Justus Drugstore. He is a very acclaimed local chef that has done two previous events with OiTF that were highly praised. After researching OiTF events in general, it seems that the location and setting is always amazing, but that the meal and service can range from average to outstanding depending on the chef. I knew we would be in good, scratch that, great hands.

We sat down to eat about 30 minutes before the sun went down and it was honestly a delightful, 90 degree, evening. We were sitting for 3+ hours eating ... if you can imagine ...

(Pause for appetizers: passed appetizers of watermelon cubes drizzled with walnut oil and honeysuckle syrup and topped with lemon foam and a blueberry AND braised pork served on top of a rye crostini with house sauerkraut and wild berry sauce. Finger lickin' good.)

First course: (all served family style) Green Bean Lollipops - havarti cheese wrapped in bacon and stuffed with a green bean and deep fried, along side goat buttermilk dressing.

Second course: Spinach Cherry Limeade - spinach salad with cherry limeade dressing, black pepper local pecans, cherry basil rose sorbet and beets. SOOOO good.

And, please forgive the lack of photos of the rest. I got too hungry and then it got too dark. We were literally serving each other by candlelight.

Third course: Duck egg fettucini with goose confit, locally foraged chanterelle mushrooms and local roasted cherry tomatoes.

Palate cleanser: Vanilla Sumac sorbet with locally foraged sumac

Fourth course: Terrine of rabbit, eggplant, pork, zucchini, smoked tomatoes and goat cheese

Fifth course: Roasted Majinola Wagyu Rib Eye served with carrot gnocchi, roasted onions, arugula and roasted romaine harts with black raspberry dressing.

Dessert: Peach and Mixed Berry tart - buttery crust with corn pastry cream and homemade blackberry ginger ice cream.

It was all delightfully delicious and we almost licked our plates clean. We had full, happy bellies coming home and only hope we have the chance to do it again someday.