Cooking Wisdom and Inspiration From A Small Family Farm

The small family farmer is struggling in modern America as the influx of GMO farms encroach upon their way of life and terms like industrialization and agribusiness become household words. But there is hope for the small family farm as a growing number of people become aware of their plight and join in supporting their struggle. As concern grows for the small family farm, so too does a desire to incorporate some of their time honored cooking and preserving techniques into our own homes. You don’t have to live on a small family farm to practice many of the skills farmers use to live in harmony with the seasons. In this class we will explore some of these quick and easy techniques including churning cream into butter and its byproduct, buttermilk; making farmer’s cheese; and cooking creamy polenta from scratch. We will make quick and easy pickles and discuss techniques such as seed saving and foraging that you can incorporate into your own urban life. Ingredients you might not be familiar with that are mainstays on many small family farms such as cattails, nettles and apple blossoms will be used in fresh and creative ways. To end our class, each student will take home a jar of pickles to inspire you to adopt some of your newfound farmsteading skills into your own active life and connect you to one of the most critical members of our food system, the small family farmer. Jody Eddy is writing a cookbook in collaboration with a small family farm in Illinois and a Chicago-based chef where she is learning time-honored family farming techniques and learning to look deeper at the bounty of edible riches each season affords. This is class represents the wisdom and journey soon to be discovered in her book.
Recipes: Homemade Pickles, Roasted Beet Salad and Shaved Fennel with Maple Syrup-Buttermilk Vinaigrette; Creamy Nettle Soup with Pickled Cattails; Heirloom Corn Polenta with Wild Ramps and Fresh Farmer’s Cheese; Saut