Serenbe Style and Soul » The Farmhouse

Blueberries and Serenbe in Print

Marie Nygren — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 13:35:00 +0000

Access Atlanta recently published a story, “In season – blueberries,” about this luscious berry and featured two of my recipes for using this glorious fruit.

Though our local growers may have sold out their crop for the season of pick-your-own blueberries, you can still find them in the grocery stores. Berries – all varieties – seem like the ultimate summer fruit.

As you know, the weekly menu at my restaurant, The Farmhouse features local and fresh produce grown in our garden at The Farmhouse, the Serenbe Farms’ fields, or from other local farms. When summer berries are at their peak, we feature them in sweet and savory dishes. I like the versatility of berries.

Picking blueberries on a summer morning.

My berry cobbler recipe in the Access Atlanta story (and below) can be modified to use any berry; I’ve used them all with success and encourage you to do the same.

The Farmhouse Blueberry Cobbler

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 pint (2 cups) fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Put butter into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and place in oven while oven is preheating. Remove when butter has melted; this may take up to 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk in milk until batter is smooth. Pour into melted butter in baking dish. Scatter fruit across the top. Bake cobbler 30 minutes or until cobbler is cooked through and top begins to brown. Serve hot or warm with ice cream.

Serves: 8

The Farmhouse Blueberry Rum Cocktail

For each serving, puree 1/4 cup fresh blueberries with a tablespoon of brown sugar and some fresh lemon juice. The puree can be strained before it’s mixed with a jigger or two of rum and topped off with a half cup of ginger ale and served on the rocks in a tall glass. Please enjoy this refreshing libation responsibly.

Creating a Weekly Menu – The Farmhouse Way

Marie Nygren — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 00:36:00 +0000

If you’ve been to the website for my farm-to-table restaurant in Serenbe, or better yet, dined with us, you know we create a weekly menu for our guests at The Farmhouse. We’re open for dinner Thursdays through Saturdays. Menu development for that week’s offerings takes place on the Friday prior. Before the team begins cooking for dinner, we take a walk in the restaurant’s garden to determine what produce will be at its peak, and we consult the Serenbe Farms’ list to see what is coming off the farm in the coming week. Serenbe’s fresh, organic produce inspires the menu.

We then sit down, pen and paper in hand, and discuss what we want to do with the produce we’ll feature. On alternating weeks, we offer fish and beef or pork and chicken. We seldom consult cookbooks, instead relying on inspiration, tried-and-true preparations, and intuition. In under an hour, we have a completed menu. Due to our location in the “country,” unlike restaurants in the city that might receive daily deliveries, we are locked in to our menu, with not much room to wander from it, since orders must be placed early in the week.

On the following Thursday afternoon, we prepare that weekend’s menu for our servers before the doors open at 6:00 p.m. On Thursday afternoon, look for photos of that week’s meal on our Facebook page.

This week, tomatoes figure prominently because right now they are spectacular, always healthy, and terrifically versatile. For all of these reasons, we gave tomatoes top billing for the “Starters” course at The Farmhouse, and they can be enjoyed in our featured salad, gazpacho, or tomato plate. This week’s menu, like each week’s, features local and regional specialties.

The Farmhouse Menu – August 23-25

Starters

Mixed Lettuces with Farmhouse Garden Tomatoes, Vidalia Onions, Bleu Cheese and Vinaigrette – or – Farmhouse Garden Gazpacho – or – Serenbe Farms Heirloom Tomato Plate

Entrées

Chicken Paillards with Green Tomato Chutney and Corn, Okra and Farmhouse Tomato Salad – or – Pork Tenderloin with Pickled Mustard Seed, Farmhouse Garden Collards and Black-eyed Pea Sauté

Dessert

Farmhouse Garden Apple Turnovers with Honey and Vanilla Ice Cream – or – Chocolate Pecan Bourbon Pie

Join us at The Farmhousefor dinner Thursdays through Saturdays between 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. or for a Southern fried chicken lunch Saturdays and Sundays, 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Visit us online or call 770 463 2622 to make a reservation.

This Weekend’s Dinner Menu at The Farmhouse

Marie Nygren — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 22:11:00 +0000

August 9 – August 11

Dinner Thursday – Saturday, 6pm-9pm

Starters

Mixed greens with almonds, red onion, fennel, and peach mint vinaigrette – or – sweet corn soup – or – Serenbe Farm heirloom tomato plate

$5.95

Entrees

Roasted pork loin with Farmhouse garden fig compote, Serenbe Farm green beans, and stoneground grits – or – seared chicken breast with Serenbe Farm smoked tomatoes, corn, okra, and butter peas.

$18.95

Dessert

Turtle pie – or – Boe’s blueberry cobbler

$4.95

Beverages, tax, and gratuity not included

Please visit The Farmhouse to make your reservation or call us at 770 463 2622.

Southern Chefs Potluck Nets Big Dollars for Georgians

Marie Nygren — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 15:20:00 +0000

Last Sunday’s Southern Chefs Potluck, benefitting Wholesome Wave Georgia, boosted the agency’s coffers when 150 patrons and 20 of the Atlanta area’s top chefs converged on Serenbe to provide a bountiful smorgasbord of the finest food our region offers.

For the main course, The Farmhouse at Serenbe provided its famous fried chicken, recently touted the best fried chicken in the August 2012 issue of Martha Stewart Living, and Jim N’ Nick’s B-B-Q offered up White Oak Pastures meats and their own hot links. The participating chefs provided Sunday supper sides along with homemade pickles, relishes, and desserts.

Patrons dined family style with the chefs while being entertained by local talent Christ, Lord!, Lily and the Tigers, and Under White Pines. Once sated, the talented auctioneer Will Harris worked the crowd to raise money for Wholesome Wave Georgia.

Four one-of-a-kind chefs packages were on the auction block. Patrons bid high and bid often, raising more than $53,000 for the agency from the auction and ticket sales. This figure represents more than $106,000 in local, fresh food purchased by Georgia nutrition assistance recipients at farmers markets as well as in excess of $106,000 in business for small, local and family farms.

Thank you Georgia residents for attending the Southern Chefs Potluck and, more importantly, for supporting the good work of Wholesome Wave Georgia. Together, we make a difference!