What a lovely Labor Day weekend!  I spent a very pleasant Saturday evening attending the Monthly Blooming Hill Farm dinner.  August and September are the two best months for a farm dinner because everything is in harvest – there are still peaches and corn, the tomatoes are starting to peak, and the weather is just right for an evening out in the field.

This month’s chefs came from a wonderful restaurant in Williamsburg called the Brooklyn Diner.  The chefs/owners previously spent the bulk of their careers in four star restaurants and decided that they wanted to serve the artist communities where they live.  They buy primarily local (often organic) ingredients, support local farms, and reduce unnecessary waste.  

My cousin Michele and I mingled with my friends and community acquaintances while we nibbled on the appetizers, each better than the next:  moist sweet cornbread topped with spicy chili-butter; sesame seed semolina crustini layered with the creamiest ricotta cheese and grilled summer squash, dabbed with honey; pumpernickel bread with dill-cucumber cream dip; homemade pizza margarita (in a wood –fired oven); fresh yellow and red watermelon; and cherry tomatoes.



We began our dinner with a kale and radish salad that they dressed with shaved parmesan cheese.



Next, we indulged in sweet, delicious heirloom tomatoes with fresh sweet onions.



The prelude to the main course consisted of the most amazing homemade pasta I have ever eaten.  They made a light sauce with cherry tomatoes, basil and butter.  It was sooooo good! 



As a main course, they served us a multi-bean soup that they made with fresh cranberry beans, cannellini beans, fava beans, and green beans.  They finished the soup with a poached egg that added unbelievable flavor and texture to the soup (something I will have to replicate at home).



Dessert was a shortbread topped with bourbon, grilled peaches and whipped cream.



By the end of the evening, we sat in front of the bonfire, talked, drank, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.