Farm-to-Table Dinner

     I have never been a part of a Farm-to-Table dinner before so when I was asked to run this, I jumped on the opportunity.  As I've discussed before, the use of locally sourced ingredients is on the rise.  A lot of chefs are using this as a marketing technique picking up on what people are consumed with right now.  That's how you survive in the food business, creating menus based off of what sells.  Regardless of their motives, they're still supporting our local farmers and ranchers.
     My inspiration for this style of menu comes from walking through farmers markets or pulling up the websites of local farms to see what's offered.  For example, I went to a farmer's market recently and the options were: beets, greens, squash, mushrooms, herbs, pumpkins, etc. etc.  There were a few other options but not as prominent as what I listed.  This is an excellent start to a menu.
     Now, the trick is to not look at cookbooks, magazines, or the Internet.  Understand the flavors of what you have in front of you and think about what you would like to eat.  The dinner that we're creating has four courses.  The process in creating this menu is a little painstaking since everything that goes onto those plates is supposed to be a reflection of us as chef's. 
     The first step is to decide on a particular style of cuisine.  As is typical for the menus that I've created in the past, I focus primarily on the ingredients themselves, not on a particular style.  That can take on a wide spectrum of ideas in that ingredients from all over the world may be used, as long as it makes sense on the plate and the evolution of the meal. 
     I'm going to post several entries going over the evolution of our farm-to-table themed dinner.  Everything that I'm going to use must come from the local farms and ranches, except for items such as salt, pepper, and oil.  Stick with me and I'll do my best to keep updating about this meal.