Riverbend Farm

We went to Riverbend Farm in Delano, MN last week. Our Guest Chefs were Scott Pampuch, Corner Table and Mike Phillips, The Craftsman. Riverbend Farm is located about 30 miles west of Minneapolis on the North Fork of the Crow River just west of Delano, Minnesota.Vegetables are produced on 30 acres that are in a four-year rotation. Their main crops are tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, salad and cooking greens, radishes, onions, winter squash, and potatoes. Their focus is on high quality, good tasting produce. They are committed to sustainable practices and organic methods. They have been certified organic since 1994.

Chef Scott Pampuch with Corner Table and Mike Phillips with The Craftsman Restaurant in Minneapolis were our guest chefs. Chef Scott Pampuch was named as a James Beard Award semi-finalist for Best Chef; Midwest. Both chefs cook with regional and organic ingredients.

What a memorable dinner! The past few dinners we have encountered some rain. Rain never stops a farm dinner- we just have to plan accordingly. Jim has a doppler application on his iphone- which we use to track it. During this dinner we soon realized that rain was approaching around 8:00 p.m. We pushed on the dinner and the guests enjoyed a meal in the breezy warm summer storm weather as they watched a storm come in over the farm. We were able to get through all of the main courses and moved the dessert to the greenhouse.

We set up candles along the walls of the greenhouse – and huddled together as a storm rolled in and ate cheesecake and drank II Follo Prosecco.. The mix of the rain hitting the roof and the thunderstorm- gave a very unique dinner. Everyone was so excited to experience a dinner in the field and the storm in the greenhouse.

Menu:
Sampling of Charcuterie: Headcheese, Coppa Salami, Ham, Nilette, Mortadella, Pickles, Mustard.
Farmers Salad: Carrots, Beets, Potatoes, Sheep's Milk Ricotta, Pheasant Eggs, Salad Grees, Shallot Vinaigrette.
Cured Star Prairie Trout with Cucumber, Breakfast Radish, Cabbage Cole Slaw.
Fischer Farm Fennel Sausage with Riverbend Farm Grits, Braised Greens and Honey Gastrique.
Mark Simon Veal with Riverbend Swiss Chard and Cornmeal Tamale0 Sweet Corn & Black Turtle Bean Succotash.
Veal Demi.
Riverbend Cornmeal & Star Thrower Farm Sheeps Milk Cheesecake.