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Farm Flavor!

Around Osceola

Wednesday, 11 August 2010 00:00

By Peter Covino
Entertainment Editor
And you thought Florida was all about orange juice.
The state’s small farms produce everything from rice and organic coffee to grass-fed dairy milk and grape juice.
The culinary team at Osceola Heritage Park got a chance to put rice, potatoes, organic blueberries, orange blossom honey and much more together and create a bountiful harvest for lunch for the more than 800 members at the Florida Small Farms Conference last weekend.
Held at the exhibition building at Osceola Heritage Park, and hosted by the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, the two-day conference featured educational sessions and workshops on varied topics including everything from alternative energy and livestock to organic and sustainable farming and horticulture.
But probably the biggest highlight for all involved were those lunches, held both days during the conference.
The all-Florida lunch menu included courses such as spicy collard greens with a chili vinegar sauce; Florida succotash with black eyed peas, tomato, okra, corn and fresh mango; wild brown rice with tomato basil quinoa; Florida blueberry compote with fresh mint and lady finger cookies; fresh country smoked sausage; fresh roast pastured chicken with a mango peppercorn demi-glaze; roasted Florida table potatoes with fresh rosemary; and cedar pan pastured beef sirloin with fresh green onions and a soy wasabi glaze.
“It’s a great challenge,” said Tony Donnely, executive chef at Osceola Heritage Park, preparing a lunch, actually four lunches during the course of the weekend.
It’s a year-long process, he said, that involves farmers across the state preparing months ahead with special crops and livestock products for the conference.
“We try to see what we can do that will really knock the socks off,” the conference attendees, he said.
Some of the featured farms across the state include:
Gilchrist Brand Sausage in Marion County — The family owned company has been selling Gilchrist Brand Sausage since 1947. The humanely cared for hogs are antibiotic-free.
Sweetwater Organic Coffee Company, Alachua County — Sweetwater buys organic green coffee through a purchasing collective that helps conserve biodiversity using safe land-use practices.
Muscadine grape juice from Lakeridge Winery, Clermont — The winery has been growing grapes since 1988 with 80 acres of vineyards.
Organic blueberries, Bay Lake Blueberries, Marion County — The blueberry farm has been certified organic since 2005 and now has a you-pick operation as well.
Orange blossom honey, Marion County — John’s Honey has hives throughout the Marion County area producing orange blossom and wildflower honey. The company produces pure honey with no additives.
Black-eyed peas and okra, Bluefield Organic Farm, Okeechobie County — The 585-acre farm was revitalized in 2002, growing vegetables, cattle, citrus, blueberries and blackberries and certified organic.
Sem-Chi Rice, Okeechobee County — Rice products are grown in rotation with sugarcane and milled in South Florida.
Milk, Dakin Dairy Farm, Manatee County — Dakin Dairy Farm in Myakka City, has a long tradition of dairy farming, and markets milk, yogurt and cheese products under their own brand name.
The weekend of lunches also translates to more than 1,000 pounds of mangos, 400 pounds of grass-fed beef, 300 pounds of free-range chickens, 1,000 pounds of organic potatoes, 150 pounds of blueberries and 100 pounds of lamb, Donnely said.
“It’s all about timing,” said Brian Eggers, director of food and beverage for the Osceola complex.
The farmers and culinary team have to decide months ahead of time what will work for a menu in late July in Florida.
The end result turns out to be a fun challenge for both the farmers and culinary staff.
Eggers said the conference is also a great showcase to show what the staff at Osceola Heritage Park can do in their kitchen for the many catered events held at the complex.