It’s Been a Whirlwind

It’s been a few weeks since I have posted a blog, but it has been a whirlwind! Here is a recap of all that has been going on and what’s upcoming so you don’t miss anything.

On October 28th we had our Grand Opening Celebration for the Sunburst Market on Montgomery.

The celebration was such a great success we decided to have a monthly gathering with samples, wine and good company. Come in to sign up for our weekly Market newsletter to find out about our monthly gatherings. The newsletter will tell you about lunch that we started serving at the Market on November 2nd. The first week it was Trout Pasta Salad and Trout Chowder with an Annie’s Bakery Roll, Yum!

To keep the momentum going for the new store we also had our ribbon cutting with the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce on November 10th.

The Farm has also been busy. We were a part over the weekend of the Highlands Culinary Weekend where we had a live trout demonstration with Chef Johannes from Old Edwards Inn.

We have even more going on as the Holidays draw near. Be sure to like us on our Sunburst Trout Farms Facebook page as well as our Sunburst Market on Montgomery Facebook page to keep up to date on all our exciting happenings, Holiday specials, and next Market gathering.

Sunburst Market on Montgomery

It is amazing what you can do in less than a week. At Sunburst we opened a retail store in Downtown Waynesville! On Friday October 7th we got the call that we were the new lessee’s of a retail space on Montgomery St in Waynesville, North Carolina. Waynesville is where most of the Sunburst Family calls home and only 15 minutes and 10 miles from the Farm.

The space is great, but with many spaces that have not been used for a while it needed a little Sunburst Love.

Everyone pitched in to paint and clean and rearrange.

By Thursday October 13th things were really coming together. We had picked up our coffee, which will be the Sunburst Market Blend made by Smoky Mountain Roasters in Waynesville. We had also found out Sunburst Beef will be bringing grass and grain fed beef starting October 25th and we also have a candle made by Hazelwood Soap Company being created especially for the Sunburst Market coming in the next week or so.

Then on October 14th we opened!

Our First Customer!

We want the Sunburst Market on Montgomery to be a place to not only get your favorite Trout, but to also be a community space where you can come and get a cup of coffee, read a paper and chat a bit.

Our Shop Girl Katie!

Come shop with us Monday-Saturday 10am-6pm and be sure to like us on the Market’s own Facebook Page.

Join us for our Grand Opening Celebration October 27th from 3:30-6pm and then again November 10 at 11am for our ribbon cutting with the Chamber of Commerce!

Creating Local Love

Saturday September 10th the benefit for Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) happened at our Sister Restaurant Canyon Kitchen in Cashiers, NC. A week or so ago I did a post leading up to the event, and now that the event has happened here is a recap.

We started our night being welcomed into the beautiful setting of Lonesome Valley. Lonesome Valley was a working farm from the 1940s until the mid 1980s. It was of course the birthplace of Sunburst Trout in 1948. The weather was perfect and so was the venue of a previous farm and eating dinner in the Jennings Barn that is Canyon Kitchen.

As everyone gathered over a, now legal, truly Southern cocktail, Troy and Sons Moonshine and Cheerwine. Called Moonwine Sparkler. We all got to know each other a little better. It was a truly intimate evening.

It was then time to be seated, and everyone had assigned seating so you could get to know someone new. I was fortunate enough to sit with the Haye’s, Ashley and Chef Adam from the Red Stagg Grill.

When we sat down at the table we were served family style, as Canyon Kitchen likes to do, our Snacks. Goat Cheese Gnudi Lobster Mushrooms and Sage Brown Butter, the mushrooms were foraged by one of the kitchen staff in Highlands. Berber Pizza with Fig Relish, Caramelized Onions and Benton’s 25 Month Prosciutto. Double Deviled Eggs, and Nana’s Corn-Pickled Okra.

We then had three Entrees. The first was the Lime-Fennel Pollen Cured Sunburst Trout with Heirloom Tomatoes and Sorrel Wood Roasted Tomato Essence.

The next course was Rhubarb Glazed Lamb Belly with Butternut Squash and Judion Bean Ragout and Collard Green Kim Chee. A side note the Rhubarb is an heirloom variety grown by the operation manager at Sunburst Trout.

The last Entree was a Cocoa Nib-Porcini Rubbed Carolina Bison Rib Eye with Lyonnaise Creamer Potatoes, Short Rib Sauce and Chili Braised Tuscan Kale.

The last course was dessert and it did not disappoint. Spiced Raspberry Shortcake with raspberries from a local berry farm in Waynesville, NC, with Vanilla Creme Fraiche. Almond Chocolate Bar Crunch. As well as Pack Square Cheese with Honey Crisp, Black Walnut and Tulip Poplar Honey from Busy Bees Honey.

The meal was amazing, the Chef was amazing, the company was amazing and the organization we were celebrating is AMAZING!

Join us this Thursday September 15th from 3-6pm at Ingles Brevard to see ASAP at work. With a cooking demonstration with Sunburst, Appalachian Ratatouille.

Appalachian Ratatouille

A Taste of Local Event

We are yet again partnering with Ingles Markets and other local farmers to bring you a Taste of Local Event. This time we will be at the Ingles in Brevard cooking an Appalachian Ratatouille.

Sunburst will be sampling dip with Annie’s Natural Breads and jam from Imladris Farm. CL Henderson Apples will be  providing the apples for the Ratatouille, and Empire Distributing will be serving up wine to compliment the dish. We love being a part of these cooking demonstrations throughout the year, they really give a true sense of how to shop and cook local.

We hope you can join us for this fun event Thursday, September 15th from 3-6pm. We will sample dip, bread and jam from 3-4pm then do a cooking demonstration from 4-4:45pm. We will sample again after the demonstration until 6pm.

Appalachian Ratatouille

by Chef Charles Hudson
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 Medium Yellow Onion (0.5#), Peeled & Diced

6 Cloves Garlic, Peeled & Diced

2 Small Eggplant (0.5#) Peeled & Diced

1 Large Tomato (0.8#), Peeled & Diced

1 tsp. Kosher salt

1 Cup Cool Water

2 Tbls. Olive Oil

1 tsp. Dried Thyme

1 Med. Zucchini (0.35#) Seeded & Diced

1 Med Y. Squash (0.35#) Seeded & Diced

1 Small R. Bell Pepper (0.25#) Seeded & Diced

1 Small G. Bell Pepper (0.25#) Seeded & Diced

1 Gala Apple (0.35#), Cored & Diced

1 Golden Delicious Apple (0.35#), Cored & Diced

2 Tbls. Olive Oil

1 tsp. Kosher salt

¼ tsp. Ground Cloves

¼ tsp. Ground Cinnamon

1/8 tsp. Ground Nutmeg

Fresh Ground Pepper

Procedure:

This is a 2 pan procedure

Combine 1 tsp salt with water

Soak Eggplant in water for approx. 20 Min

Drain & pat dry on clean towels

Heat 2 Tbls. Olive Oil in heavy bottom sauce pan over medium heat.

Add Onion & Garlic & cook until soft & slightly brown (5-7 min)

Add eggplant & cook for approx 5 min

Add tomato & thyme, cook for another 8-11 min.

After the tomato & eggplant mixture has cooked for about 5 minutes begin cooking the zucchini mixture.

In a large sauté pan heat the remaining 2 Tbls. Olive Oil over medium high Heat.

Add Zucchini & squash, cook for about 2 min.

Add Apples, Peppers, & remaining Dry Spices

Continue to cook until apples are fork tender (about 4 min.)

Combine apple mixture with eggplant mixture.

Lime Basil Grilled Trout Fillets

Serves 4

Ingredients:
4 Sunburst Trout Fillets
Juice of 1 lime
One Handful of Fresh Basil Leaves (about 1 oz)
2 Cloves Garlic Chopped
¼ Cup Olive Oil
1 tsp. Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
1 tsp. Fresh Ground Pepper

Procedure:

Make Marinade: Chop basil & mince garlic, Combine with lime Juice, Olive oil, Salt & Pepper
Add marinade to fresh trout fillets
Marinate Fillets for at least an hour before grilling

To Grill Trout:
Preheat Grill to medium high to high heat. Remove fillets from Marinade, & place on a well oiled pre-heated grill.
Start flesh side down for about 3 minutes then flip to skin side down & cook 2-3 minutes.

Local Love in Lonesome

Local Love in Lonesome a dinner to benefit ASAP.

Every year there are a few special dinners held to benefit the organization that benefits so many, Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project or ASAP. The last of the these dinners was held at Knife and Fork in Spruce Pine, NC was from all accounts a spectacular event! Our sister Restaurant Canyon Kitchen located in the breath taking setting of Lonesome Valley is to hold the next dinner on September 10th to support ASAP.

It is such an honor to be a part of Sunburst, Canyon Kitchen, and Lonesome Valley and therefore able to help to benefit ASAP. ASAP’s mission from their website is to “create and expand local food markets that will preserve our agricultural heritage, give everyone access to fresh, healthy food, and keep our farmers farming. Our mission is to help local farms thrive, link farmers to markets and supporters, and build healthy communities through connections to local food.” Sunburst is a direct benefactor from all that ASAP does, from the Asheville City Market to conferences to local food events where Sunburst is very often spot lighted, even a Family Farm Tour to teach our children where their food comes from.

The next dinner to benefit ASAP will be held at Canyon Kitchen at Lonesome Valley and the theme is Local Love in Lonesome. The invitations are being sent out and yes I took the pictures and yes that is my daughter on the front(4th generation of Sunburst)! Chef Fleer has even given me a teaser for the dinner, here is an excerpt from it….

This is a celebration of intersections.  We’ll find ourselves at the crossroads of growing seasons, as summer wanes and cool fall nights begin to set in.  We can still expect to see an abundance of tomatoes and late season sweet corn.  But we can also expect to see those heady fall mushrooms like lobsters, black trumpets and boletes all foraged here in the Highlands.

The dinner at Canyon Kitchen will also represent an intersection of the Highlands-Cashiers agricultural community and the greater Western North Carolina community that ASAP supports.  You can expect to see Canyon Kitchen’s immediate agricultural community of Jackson and Macon counties represented as well as representation from our broader locale.

 Additionally, with a more global sustainability stroke, we are enlisting support for this benefit dinner from several of the best producers from Canyon Kitchen’s “all organic, sustainable or biodynamic” wine program.

I know I am ready for the September 10th dinner!

Tickets are $100 per person and can be purchased by calling 828-743-7967 or email kristen@lonesomevalley.com

A Taste of Local

This week (August 5th-7th) we have quite a few Demos going on. Friday through Sunday we are helping to open the newest Earth Fare in Huntersville, NC. But the big Demo this week is the one we are doing with the Ingles in Waynesville.  What started as a nice idea to try and promote Sunburst and cook a little with ingredients that can be found in Ingles has turned into a huge Taste of Local event. Not only are we cooking a very tasty trout recipe we are partnering with Annie’s Bakery in Asheville to serve our Trout Dip with their bread and partnering with a local tomato grower for our Fillets.

Here is the recipe we will be making, and it is our Recipe of the Month!

Recipes Courtesy of Charles Hudson

Sunburst Trout Farms

Lime Basil Grilled Trout Fillets

Serves 4

Ingredients:
4 Sunburst Trout Fillets
Juice of 1 lime
One Handful of Fresh Basil Leaves (about 1 oz)
2 Cloves Garlic Chopped
¼ Cup Olive Oil
1 tsp. Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
1 tsp. Fresh Ground Pepper

Procedure:
Make Marinade: Chop basil and mince garlic, Combine with lime Juice, Olive oil, Salt and Pepper
Add marinade to fresh trout fillets
Marinate Fillets for at least an hour before grilling

To Grill Trout:
Preheat Grill to medium high to high heat Remove fillets from Marinade, and place on a well oiled pre-heated grill.
Start flesh side down for about 3 minutes then flip to skin side down and cook 2-3 minutes.

Marinated Tomato Salad with Kalamata Olives and Cheese.

Serves 4

Ingredients:
3 Medium tomatoes (about 2#) diced
¾  Cup Kalamata Olives sliced length wise
2 Tbl. Balsamic vinegar
1 Tbl. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 oz Block of hard Cheese such as Parmesan or Romano, Shaved
Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper
Procedure:
Combine all ingredients except cheese and stir lightly.
Add shaved cheese in and stir lightly.
Stir before serving.

The Demo begins at 3:30pm where we will be handing out the Trout Dip and Annie’s Bakery Bread, then at 4pm and again at 5:30pm Chef Charles will be showing us how to cook the recipe above.

Fresher Than Fresh

It makes a difference not only in where your fish comes from, but also how fresh it is. At Sunburst we are meticulous about our trout being the freshest around. All fillets are cut to order so our local customers and even our customers who are within a days shipping can serve trout that is less than 24 hours old. Restaurants love being able to say the trout on the customers plate was swimming that morning!

Here is our process each day:

Time from pond to cooler: 55 minutes

Fillets 8:00 am:
First we capture trout. Small amounts are netted by hand (never more than 1,000 pounds) put into an ice slurry to start the cooling process, and taken to the processing plant only steps away.

8:20 am: 
Our trout are allowed to quietly cool until they are still, and then transported 200 pounds at a time into the splitting pan where they are prepared by machine designed and built by Sunburst. They are now ready for the Swiss built filleter.

8:30 am:
Once the trout pass through the filleter, the meticulous work of  trimming is done by hand. We believe that no machine can replace the skilled hands needed to reach our exacting specifications at this stage of processing.

8:40 am: 
Following a thorough wash, the fillets are moved to the sorting, grading station. It is here that the fillets are selected by size, color and uniformity and the few fillets which are deemed to be inferior are culled. If the fillet is to have the pin bones removed, they then are moved to the station where this task is done by a U.S. built machine which we adapted to our process. Each fillet is then examined, and any pin bones missed are removed by hand.

8:55 am: 
On to the weighing station where the fillets are bagged for each customer and immediately put into the 10 degree cooling room. The secret is to finish what the ice has started and get these beauties to 36 degrees as fast as possible. Time from pond to cooler: 55 minutes

We then repeat the process again as needed throughout the day. In the Summer and Fall months when we are the busiest we can repeat this process three to four times a day. That is why when you purchase Sunburst Trout it truly is fresher than fresh!

The New Age Farmer

Today’s farmer is not your typical overalls and dirt covered gentleman who works from sun up to sundown as a labor of love. While most farmers tell you they do work from sun up to sundown as a labor of love, creating a product to go from our farm to your plate. It is also now doing the books, self promotion through demos, participating in tailgate markets, and figuring out how to use your marketing dollars to the best of your ability, whether it is through traditional outlets or by using all the free social media tools to create business.

Sunburst has definitely shown that Social Media can be an amazing tool to drive business. It is part of an overall package a business needs to thrive in today’s ever changing world of business. With a slow economy social media is a free way to reach a broader audience and drive customers either into your store or to your website where you then must create a sale. It has also been a great tool for customer service, showing off your products and community involvement.

As I look around me when I participate in conferences and/or just paying attention on Facebook or Twitter I am constantly seeing new farmers popping up and helping today’s consumer learn about where their food comes from. Consumers are becoming more savvy and knowledgeable so we must too.

In addition to using technology to promote business Farmers are also becoming super stars in their own right, it is no longer uncool to be a farmer. It actually can be seen as glamorous. In the Asheville area you are even more likely to see a Farmer or Chef who promotes sustainability and local farmers on the cover of a local magazine.

As Josh Crawford from the Cashiers Farmers Market say “It’s all about who you know and what you grow!”

Vacation, Family Owned Business Style

Left to Right Anna(your author), Ben, Binsi(Sally's Sister), Steve, Sally, Katie, and Wes

Each year most families go on vacation. Whether that vacation involves a couple newly in love, family of three or more, family and extended family, family reunion, or any definition you have of family, we as Americans love vacations. Each year the Eason family(Sunbursts owners) have taken a weeks vacation together. In the 1980′s when the third generation was young it was easy, the farm was not as big as it is today and to take a week off was no big deal, the first generation Dick Jennings could run things for a week.

But now in the fast paced world we live in and with two of the three third generation Easons working at the farm, family vacations have become a little more intricate.  Four years ago when it became apparent we could not all go on vacation to Pawleys Island (the vacation destination for 20 years) together at the same time a plan was devised to go for 2 weeks, each third generation being able to take a week. This worked ok, but we all missed being together for more than 2 days. So the next year when economy started going down and it was obvious that 2 weeks at the beach was no longer a feasible option we decided to be like the rest of the Nation and have a staycation. We are truly fortunate to have a second home in Cashiers, NC (where Sunburst was started) so it was decided that is where we should go. Since it is only an hour away we could actually all be together for most of the week without putting a strain on the business. We work a 4 day week with Wednesdays off so each son takes two days off, it works like a dream. We actually get to have a family vacation!

One of our favorite traditions on vacation is all cooking together. It is a time for us to stretch our culinary prowess and create fun and tantalizing meals for everyone.  Usually someone takes a night and cooks something either they are comfortable with or something new and uncomfortable to see if they can pull it off. We of course always cook trout one night, but there are other meals to be made as well. One year we did an entire meal based around apples and it did not disappoint! This year I picked raspberries from the garden, added blackberries and made my best cobbler yet!

With Summer in full swing take this time to think about your favorite traditions on vacation and what truly makes a vacation special.

Rain, Rain, please be here to stay!

Rain, it is a four letter word in the Summer. Unless you are a trout farmer, or any farmer really. I remember as a child being so sad when it rained and wishing I could be outside at the pool, riding bikes, or just laying in the sunshine. Now that I am part of a Third Generation trout farm and my children are the Fourth Generation my outlook has changed.

Trout need the water to be cool and full of oxygen to survive, anything above 72 degrees and it is sure death. That is why the rain is so important, it cools the water while also helping to churn it up releasing toxins and creating more oxygen. The past few years with the drought conditions in our area it has been tough. The water, if we had any, due to lack of rain has been hot and stagnant making it near impossible to swim fish at the farm. We are fortunate enough to have sister farms higher up in elevation that have the same water, just cooler, and use our feed.

But now things are looking up for us. We have had nice rains so far this year and we have built a system that churns and cools the water before it hits the farm. This system has made the water that comes into the farm 5-10 degrees cooler than the water going straight into the river, and it creates oxygen so we are not having to put it in the water ourselves. With a little luck we will be able to swim our fish here all summer from now on.

  

So next time it rains remember your favorite trout farm and all the other farms that need the rain to bring you the freshest products to your local grocer or tailgate market. Because nothing beats local and fresh products.