Foodies delight at farm-to-table dinner

The culinary landscape in the Mat-Su has broadened in recent years. No longer do local foodies have to travel to Anchorage to sate their desire for creative and delicious dinner fare. When a great dining experience can be had in a unique setting, the overall magic of the experience is heightened. The scenic grounds of Moonstone Farm, a third-generation Colony-era operation, recently provided the setting for a farm-to-table dinner that wowed diners and left all involved wanting more.

The four-course feast served up on Aug. 24 in Moonstone’s railcar tasting room featured farm produce and other Alaska-raised products brought together through a delicious collaboration between two chefs who have worked together since 2016. Stephanie Hoger – or Chef Steph, as she is known – is the owner-operator of the Anchorage-based catering company Cook With Passion. Her friend, business partner, and collaborator Carissa Pearce runs The Culinary Mixer AK. The two combined forces on the first Moonstone Farm dinner last year, and were eager to do it again this year. “When we get together, it’s pretty magical,” Hoger said. “I’ll have a wild idea and Carissa will add another layer. We get to be as creative as we want to be. That’s hard to do when you’re in a restaurant working for someone else.”

Pearce agreed.

“We work really well together,” she said. “We had to know what the farm would be producing before we could set our menu. We started spitballing ideas and came up with the menu in 10 minutes.”

The first course, which Hoger called an ode to her time studying cooking in southern France, was a fresh arugula, burrata, prosciutto, and cantaloupe salad dressed in lemon champagne vinaigrette. The course featured arugula harvested two hours before dinner. Hoger credited David and Michelle Church, Moonstone Farm’s proprietors, with helping to make the evening a success.

“There’s so much effort that the Church family puts into these dinners,” she said. “The energy between us is really positive.” Michelle Church shared that sentiment.

“We have been honored and utterly delighted with our partnership with both Chef Stephanie and Chef Carissa,” she said. “They love what they do, and it shows in their stunning culinary craft.”

The second course, executed by Pearce, started with colorful fresh-made beet tortellini filled with Moonstone Farm spinach, Alaska-grown mushrooms from Far North Fungi, and ricotta cheese. The tortellini was served in a delicate 10-hour vegetable broth composed of carrots, celery, zucchini, onion, garlic, rosemary, thyme, and oregano, all harvested from Moonstone’s fields.

“It’s so special to be able to harvest right from the farm,” Pearce said. “The color of the pasta was amazing. It was just so beautiful. And that broth was fire. I couldn’t have been happier.”

The main course – veal osso buco over truffle parmesan polenta – was next. The veal shanks were slow cooked for nine hours in a red wine braising sauce with bone broth, beef stock, and freshly harvested mirepoix – carrots, celery, and onions, the Holy Trinity of French cooking.

“It was so tender,” Hoger said. “People were licking the bones. Everybody was smiling and enjoying it.”

For dessert, Pearce constructed a whipped egg-white confection known as pavlova. The pavlova, topped with mint-infused cream, provided a delicious vessel for Moonstone Farm’s rhubarb and strawberries.

“My favorite part of the night was getting to take a bite of that,” Hoger said.

Pearce and Hoger also created a special cocktail just for the occasion. Using a simple syrup devised from butterfly tea flower, which gave the cocktail a blue hue, they added gin and prosecco, then topped it with cotton candy. Each drink was served with a shot glass of fresh lemon juice, which, when poured over the cotton candy, turned the concoction from blue to pink. “That was a highlight for me, watching the faces as the color changed,” Pearce said. “It was really really fun.”

With two successful farm-to-table dinners under their belts, and a growing list of interested future diners, the two chefs and Moonstone Farm look forward to doing a third dinner in the future.

“Everyone truly loved the food and creative cocktails from both dinners we have hosted,” Michelle Church said. “It’s just been super fun working with Stephanie and Carissa.”

Despite the challenges of cooking without a standard kitchen and devising a menu based solely on what’s available at the farm, the chefs are ready to do it again.

“It’s worth it to do something different. The relationship with Moonstone Farm is so special, and the products and produce they have are special,” Hoger said. “The thing I love about the way we cook is it’s fine dining but it’s not intimidating. We really want to bring a high level of cuisine to the Palmer and Anchorage area.”

FIND OUT MORE

www.cook-with-passion.com

https://www.facebook.com/thefermentedalaskan/

www.moonstonefarmak.com