SF&G. FOUR SEASONS

SOUTHERN

FARM&GARDEN PREMIER ISSUE | 2015

Celebrating the best of the South . . . from the ground up!

™

SOUTHERN

FARM &GARDEN™ Southern Farm & Garden celebrates our passion for local farms, cooking, wine, music, hand-crafted products, art and the farmstyle way of living.

Nancy Suttles - Co-Founder Publisher | Creative Director

Abby Jackson - Co-Founder Marketing | Branding Director

Southern Farm & Garden is published two times a year, in June and January, by Homegrown Publishing , LLC, a Georgia-based media company.

P. O. Box 1916 • Clarkesville, Georgia 30523 USA © Copyright 2015 by Homegrown Publishing , LLC. All rights reserved.

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Nancy Suttles (706) 769-0419 • southernfarm.gaarden@gmail.com Abby Jackson: (706) 947-3474 • abbyj@windstream.net facebook.com: southernfarmandgarden

southernfarmandgarden.com Cover Photo > Wade Collins > Heirloom tomatoes

© Copyright 2015 by Homegrown Publishing, LLC. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means including digital, electronic, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written consent of Homegrown Publishing, LLC.. All images and materials are protected by © copyright and all rights are reserved in any medium and any form of reproduction worldwide.

Any reproduction or use of these materials without the prior written consent of Homegrown Publishing, LLC is strictly prohibited. Other images and/ or product names mentioned or depicted herein may be protected by copyright or trademark and are the property of their respective rights holder. > Southern Farm & Garden / Homegrown Publishing, LLC has not independently tested any services or products that are featured on “branded” pages herein and has verified no claims made by these companies and or individuals regarding those services or products.

SOUTHERN

FARM &GARDEN™

Created with heart and soul!

“The farm to table movement is giving Georgia agriculture a shot in the arm by connecting fresh, Georgia produce with consumers in the places where they live and work. Agriculture remains our number one industry, and these efforts promote both healthy eating habits and our economy.” ~ Governor Nathan Deal ~ State of Georgia

I

t all began with a simple idea—create an innovative publication dedicated to showcasing farmers, chefs, agriculture and healthy food. Our journey has spanned more than eight months, and we are proud to present our premier issue. Every page was created with heart and soul.

Along the way, we discovered rich soil to nurture and grow this concept.

From our exclusive interviews and casual conversations, we learned that the topic of food and where it originates is on everyone’s mind. We also realized the need for a publication like Southern Farm & Garden—where we can connect like-minded people to network, share ideas and benefit from each other.

We were reminded of days past when farming was closely tied to the hearts and souls of many Americans. A time when growing your own food was essential to survival. We hope our straightforward content and beautiful photography will inspire you to unplug from the digital world . . . get outside, breathe fresh air, eat farm fresh food and enjoy some good ol’ Southern hospitality.

Welcome to Southern Farm & Garden!

Nancy Suttles Co-Founder ~ Publisher

Abby Jackson Co-Founder ~ Marketing Director

f

WHERE

THERE’S SMOKE . . .

T

here will be smiles . . .

It’s the joy of knowing that your food cooked on the Big Green Egg will be delicious!

STORY > SHELLEY A. LEE PHOTOGRAPHY > WADE COLLINS 36 >> Southern Southern Farm Farm & & Garden Garden

Cooking on the EGG brings family and friends together for good times and great food!

The Big Green Egg is widely known as The Ultimate Cooking Experience by legions of home cooks and grilling aficionados and it is quickly becoming an invaluable “tool of the trade” for top chefs in some of the most acclaimed restaurants around the world.

Award-winning chefs are enhancing their customers’ culinary experiences and expanding their menus by adding the unique versatility of the Big Green Egg to the lineup in their restaurants … and in many cases, the EGGs are prominently positioned in the main kitchen as a perfect companion to their commercial cooktops.

We are proud to highlight two Big Green Egg Culinary Partners in this exclusive feature story.

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SF&G EXCLUSIVE

GARDEN TABLE Chef Robert Gerstenecker and his culinary team share their passion for farming and cooking in an up-close-and-personal way

I

fell in love with the Big Green

Egg the first time I cooked on it, although I made plenty of mistakes at first. You have to understand how the EGG works to really get your technique down, but there’s almost nothing that you can’t cook on an EGG— and make it better. I like to grill the lamb first, then add some hay from my farm and make it “hay basket lamb.” The snapper is dressed with lemon slices inside and tea leaves outside before we give it a salt crust and cook it on the EGG, and then serve it in a beautiful coconut broth.

I use the mini EGG for rosemary pull-

“I have great memories growing

apart bread. All of the dishes for our al fresco

up on the farm, the youngest of

Garden Table experience, on the fifth-floor

four boys, and being happy in the kitchen or garden with my mother.” ~ Robert Gerstenecker ~ Executive Chef, Park 75 at theFour Seasons Hotel Midtown Atlanta

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rooftop, are done on the EGG cookers and use produce right from the rooftop garden.

Garden Table is a party in an edible garden, with food cooking on the EGG and the herbs and vegetables I need just a few steps away. Short of taking guests to my own small farm, it’s the best way I know to share my own and my team’s passion for farming and for fresh, just-picked ingredients in the food I’m putting in front of them.

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“Southern cooking . . . it’s about love and stories and putting your hands in the dirt.

I can relate to that, since that’s how I grew up, so in that sense, I suppose I cook Southern.”

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R

“Caraway, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger. Too many people don’t cook regularly with these spices. You might think that growing up on a farm, we would have eaten simple ‘unadorned’ food. But my parents came from Bavaria, in southern Germany, and I grew up eating dishes with a lot of spices and deep flavor—goulash, for example. I tend to hire people who love and can cook very flavorful food. We cook dishes that are Indian, Somalian, Jamaican, Russian. I think I’d get bored cooking in a restaurant that had just one 40 ‘style.’” > Southern Farm & Garden

obert Gerstenecker, executive chef at Park 75 at the Four Seasons Hotel in midtown Atlanta, says he’s old enough now to laugh about the story that seems to follow him everywhere— his first cooking was done on an Easy-Bake Oven at age six, in his parents’ house on a farm outside Toronto. “I think I’ve advanced enough to live that down—but to enjoy the memory,” he says. “It’s just one memory of many great ones growing up on a farm, the youngest of four boys, and being happy in the kitchen or garden with my mother.”

His journey from farm to college to professional cooking is almost a comical country-boy-goes-tothe-big-city story. When he and his two suitcases arrived in Toronto, he was so naïve that he didn’t know you had to pay for the streetcar. His dad hugged him and left. The adventure began.

After receiving his diploma in culinary arts from George Brown College, Gerstenecker got a coveted internship with the Four Seasons in Toronto, starting his career baking on the nighttime shift, later moving into pastry duties.

“The hotel was the absolute best place for me,” says Gerstenecker. “It was community for me, a place I felt a sense of belonging, much more so than if I’d gone straight to a restaurant. I loved seeing how the hotel took care of its guests and its employees, the excellence they demanded and the opportunities they gave people like me.”

He’s been with the Four Seasons for 26 years now, in Toronto, Palm Beach, New York, and Hong Kong, arriving at Park 75 in the Atlanta Four Seasons in 2000, departing in 2004 but returning in 2007.

Because he was raised on a working farm outside Toronto—“I can guarantee you I know about birthing animals”—Gerstenecker is amazed and somewhat disappointed that people just don’t think about where food comes from.

Milk? “Hint: it isn’t from a plastic jug! Few people know what milk straight from the cow tastes like—thick, rich, luscious, animal-y. It’s nothing like the glass of milk you drink with a meal—it is a meal.” And he’s still trying to figure out what “Southern” cooking really is. “I do know that it’s not just about fried chicken and grits. It’s about

Hay Bakest Lamb

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Sometimes the local produce shows up by somebody knocking on the kitchen’s back door with a big box of mushrooms. love and stories and putting your hands in the dirt. I can relate to that, since that’s how I grew up, so in that sense, I suppose I cook ‘Southern.’”

After seven years, he’s still thrilled by the quality of the local produce he gets, using his ability to spend 20 percent of his purchasing budget outside of the Four Seasons’ national contracts. Sometimes the local produce shows up by somebody knocking on the kitchen’s back door with a big box of mushrooms. “That’s how I first got introduced to Honey Creek Mushrooms in Conyers, recently approved as a Certified Naturally Grown producer. Another chef here in town sent them over—that’s how you get connected to the best small producers.”

Some of his other favorites are Crystal Organic Farm (one of the founders of the Morningside Farmers Market in Atlanta), Lane Southern Orchards and, for his meat, Southeast Family Farms in Alabama. Gerstenecker is always impressed with Georgia’s “best anywhere” blueberries, peaches, strawberries, and squashes, autumn ones in particular.

“We’ve got some great small farmers markets here in Atlanta and although many people in Georgia have been a bit late to really understanding what the farm-to-fork movement is about—it’s not a marketing theme—things are changing with more awareness and education. Even some of my kitchen staff didn’t really know where a pepper came from until we planted some on the rooftop garden. Remember: no farm, no food.” > Chef Gerstenecker brought his beekeeping hobby to life with the installation of a bee apiary on the fifth-floor Terrace Garden. To date, the bee apiary has produced hundreds of pounds (hundreds of kilograms) of honey that have been used in everything from menu items in Park 75 to treatments at The Spa.

Shelley A. Lee is a writer and marketing communications consultant based in Atlanta and owner of Ashworth-Lee Communications (www.ashworth-lee.com).

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Salt Encrusted Snapper

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Southern Farm & Garden >

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Chef Robert’s first fresh strawberry and radish of the season . . . from his fifth floor rooftop garden.

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Southern Farm & Garden >

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GRILL | ROAST | SMOKE | BAKE

Indulge No other outdoor cooker can match the quality and versatility of a Big Green Egg – it truly is The Ultimate Cooking Experience!

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