Dinner started with a cocktail hour with heirloom tomato and sweet pepper crostini and pumpkin risotto fritters. The crostini was served with a smoked cheddar cheese and the flavors blended well with the sweetness of the tomatoes and peppers. And I always have an appreciation for risotto, since this is something I cannot make myself, but when its fried and paired with a Shocktop Pumpkin beer it's even better! During the cocktail hour, I had a chance to chat with the local beekeeper and learn about local honey. I'm not gonna lie, I am terrified of bees. However, since I have been researching farming, I have learned that honey bees are here to pollenate plants and make honey and not to sting me. Last night, I was reassured that the honey bees are here to make honey, where as yellow jackets are just mean! Hopefully next time I see a honey bee I won't freak out. Hive At Your Home will come to your house and set up a hive. All the bees are local (from Nashua), where most people will import the bees from other places. Find them on facebook or hiveatyourhome.wordpress.com
The first course was corn chowder from Kimball farm. This was a surprise to me since I did not know the restaurant was working with one of my favorite farmers market vendors! And who knew that later on in the evening, I would find out the owner was sitting at my table! This chowder was garnished with Maine Peekytoe Crab and crispy North Country Bacon and it hit the spot on this cool, fall evening.
Arugula and Red Leaf Salad was the second course, using greens and butternut squash croutons from Brookdale farm and Blue Cheese from Great Hill. This was topped with a peach vinaigrette and toasted almonds and served with cinnamon, pumpkin brioche from Great Harvest Bread Company. There were so many great fall tastes going on in this salad. The great part about this salad was the butternut squash croutons, a great substitution to traditional croutons, and paired well with the sweetness of the peach vinaigrette. The blue cheese gave it a nice kick and then topped with the crunchiness of the toasted almonds, perfection!
My belly is starting to get full and I haven't even had the main course yet. The main dish was Brookdale Cider Soaked Pork Medallions with Kimball farm sweet potato gratin and fresh watercress. It was so delicious it wasn't hard to force down. The cider sauce went perfect with the sweetness of the sweet potato. I really tried to eat it all, but I knew that Kimball farm apple crisp with chef made vanilla bourbon ice cream would be next. And it was outstanding!
After the dinner, I got to meet Carl Hills from Kimball farm and briefly talk about the farm and local food. He said that they have about 40 restaurants that they supply produce for which they obtained all by word of mouth. I told him about the delicious peach pie I had at Tempo last week. He said the staff from Tempo spent about two hours getting a tour of the farm last month and are continuing to buy produce from Kimballs.
Thank you to the Saffron Bistro for hosting such a great dinner. I hope that I have convinced my boston followers that it is worth a drive up route 3 to come to the restaurant for some good food and to meet great people!
Carl from Kimballs
Photo op with the chef!
The local bees and honey!
And you can find the other great photos on Facebook and twitter!!
It really was delicious!
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