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Don’t you love six degrees of separation?  I just had a classic experience of that. Friends of my sister-in-law’s in Florida (well, they are now friends of mine!) have a daughter who works in D.C. and has a job relating to “sustainability” (a passion of mine!).  So, I e-mailed this person just to say hello. Via subsequent e-mails, I learned that she was coming to Asheville soon for a conference.  Asheville is only 30 minutes from our farm.  Therefore, I asked her if I could take her out to dinner while she was in town.  Long story short, that came to pass two nights ago.

Since our dinner together, I have googled my dinner partner and learned that she is the Executive Director of NSAC (National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition), an alliance of grassroots organizations which advocates for federal policy reform to advance the sustainability of agriculture, food systems, natural resources, and rural communities. In a nutshell, that sums up my entire life’s focus.

When I met Susan, I was immediately impressed by her demeanor, her sincerity, definitely her wit, and her humility.  We chatted about her parents, both of whom I find charming, her siblings, with whom she is very close, about our shared passion for Local Foods, and about Asheville being the quintessential poster child for the Local Food Movement.  We enjoyed lots of local veggies and some local brew at Early Girl Eatery, and ultimately realized how connected we were to each other, in large part because of our common beliefs in how the food systems in this country need a serious overhaul.

When I got to the farm on Monday, I delved a little deeper into who Susan is and what she does.  I learned that, as ED of NSAC, she communicates directly with President Obama.  She cautions him about cuts in agricultural spending, she warns him of the threat from large agricultural businesses upon small farmers, and she forecasts the dilemma regarding the aging population of farmers.  She praises Secretary Vilsack, and his vision to increase the number of farmers, and she lauds CSP (Conservation Stewardship Program) for its superlative environmental standards.

My conclusion is this:

I randomly had dinner with a lady who represents me in Washington, D.C.  She talks to our President, she fights for the rights of the oldest profession in our country (well, maybe the second oldest profession), she is championing the values so close to my heart, and she is the daughter of some friends who certainly passed along all the right stuff.

~Sally Eason, CEO Sunburst Trout

WNC Chefs Challenge 2012 Heat #1

April 10th, 2012 was our first heat in this years WNC Magazine Wine and Food Festival Chefs Challenge. We competed against the Red Stag Grill from the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Asheville. It was quite an evening with amazing food and great competition. The secret ingredient was Crooked Creek Corn, a varietal that has been around since the 1800s, and is what makes Troy & Sons Moonshine (we were lucky enough to be able to use this in our dishes!). In the end Sunburst won by a narrow .04% margin! Our next heat is against the winner of the LAB vs The Magnetic Field on May 15th.

Here is a recap of the event…

Dish # 1 Vidalia Onion and Crab Bisque with a Cornmeal Cracker. Team Red Stag

Dish #2 Seafood Scrapple with Molasses Mustard and Pickled Cabbage. Team Sunburst

Dish #3 Shrimp Sausage and Pimento Cheese grits with Tasso Gravy. Team Red Stag and the #1 dish of the night.

Dish #4 Rosemary Roasted Venison Lion with Caramelized Onion and Mushroom Grits with Crispy Cornmeal Vegetables. Team Sunburst and the #4 dish of the night.

Dish #5 Moonshine Pie with Apples, Troy & Sons Moonshine, Sweet Bacon Grit Cream. Team Red Stag and the #3 dish of the night.

Dish #6 Cornmeal Stack Cake with Troy & Sons Moonshine Caramel. Team Sunburst and the #2 dish of the night.

Our Winning Team from Left to Right ~ Chef Charles Hudson, Chef Becky Gaddis and Chef Clay Hughes

See everyone May 15th!

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.

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