We're Going Hog Wild and Pig Crazy!

Sold Out! Visit us often to find out about more delicious events. Sycamore and Slow Food Katy Trail are going hog wild and pig crazy on Sunday, January 24 at Sycamore. At 5 p.m. that evening, we will begin our feast of the nine-course "whole-hog" dinner prepared by chef/owner Mike Odette (see menu below to start salivating). This special fundraiser for Slow Food Katy Trail's Farm-to-School program will feature the incomparably delicious heritage Berkshire pork from Newman Farm in Myrtle, Missouri (way south in the Ozarks). Odette, who first was introduced to Newman Farm pork when cooking for Slow Food Katy Trail's "Dinner in the Vineyard" last June, says it tastes the way pork used to taste a long time ago. "It's so flavorful that I hardly need to season it." "Newman Farm pork is the best pork in the USA," says Patrick Martins, founder of Slow Food USA and more recently, Heritage Foods USA (an independent company that connects some of the finest restaurants in the country with small breeders of non-commodity meats). "By respecting nature's way and allowing the pigs to range freely, and because they are fed nothing artificial, the pigs acquire excellent marbling that this country's greatest chefs swear by." It's a special honor that Newman Farm owners, Mark and Rita Newman, will be joining us at the event. They're proud to have their pork on the menus of the nation's finest restaurants, from New York to San Francisco and at many spots in between. (http://www.missourilife.com/Missouri-Life/October-November-2009/Hog-Heaven/) The $85 per-ticket price includes wine, locally brewed beer, tax and tip. Tickets are available ONLY online at: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/93185

Sycamore and Slow Food Katy Trail Whole-Hog Dinner

Menu for the Feast
January 24, 2010 at 5 p.m.

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Pate campagne with pork liver and pistachios
Grilled fennel sausages
Hickory-smoked baby back ribs
Crispy fried pigs’ ears
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Terrine of shanks and trotters
sherry gastrique and parsley
•
Braised belly
molasses and smoky navy beans
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Mixed green salad
local lettuces, pancetta and poached farm egg
•
Scallopine alla Milanese
lemon and fried capers, Swiss chard
•
Pork tenderloin wrapped in peppered bacon
creamed spinach with fennel
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Braised shoulder sugo
guanciale, preserved local tomatoes, rosemary pappardelle
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Celery sorbet
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Warm apple tart
crème fraîche

Holiday potluck brunch shows off local food

Slow Food Katy Trail members Sarah
and Hew McElroy hosted a holiday

potluck brunch at their home on

Sunday, December 13 for more than
30 SFKT guests. As you can see, the food was beautiful, bountiful and chock-full of delicious local ingredients.

Wonderful winter greens starred in a variety of salads; eggs and cream did the strata, quiche and frittata mighty proud; pumpkins, squash, apples and pecans showed up in all kinds of dishes; and persimmon mousse snuggled in between layers of gingerbread and whipped cream in a trifle.

A deep bow to our hosts for sharing their beautiful and festive home with us!

The Purpose Prize

We just learned about the Purpose Prize and one of its 2009 recipients, a man named Tim Will. Mr. Will was recently awarded $100,000 to help bring broadband to his Appalachian county and linking local farmers to chefs in Charlotte through an online farmer’s market, bringing laid-off factory workers back to farming. The Purpose Prize provides five $100,000 and five $50,000 awards to U.S. residents over 60 who are creating innovation solutions to address society’s most pressing problems—domestically and abroad. If you know anyone who is putting their passion to work for the greater good, visit the web site to learn about the 2010 nomination process.

http://www.encore.org/prize