Dinner on the Farm: Boston Brooklyn Mash

Blogging has given me the inside scoop on so many incredible events. If it wasn’t for this little food blog, there would be so many things I would have missed out on, and more importantly so many people. I would probably be about 20 pounds lighter too, without thinking about all of the delicious events I am going to attend and meals I am going to make, but hey, life is short and I would rather enjoy it to the fullest!

You may know that I am a country girl at heart. Despite living in the city for so many years, I am truly happiest in an open field, hands in the dirt, eating fresh local food, growing things, and seeing sky, plants, and animals. When I was invited to Dinner on the Farm at Verrill Farm, I was super excited to get out of the city for the day for some great beer and food and to relax on a gorgeous farm.

A little about Dinner on the Farm:

Dinner on the Farm creates unique local food experiences designed to celebrate farms, chefs, breweries, and food entrepreneurs dedicated to good, sustainable food. Through our roaming culinary events, we work to connect people back to the land and to the farmers and artisans who are making our communities a better place to live.

Our Dinner on the Farm happened to be at Verrill Farm in Concord during fall foliage and pumpkin season, which is pretty much the epitome of perfection. Beautiful leaves, pumpkins, and apples dotted our way to Concord, and Verrill Farm was full of fall flavor. It also happened to be a warm, sunny, perfectly blue sky day, ideal for eating outdoors.

This Dinner on the Farm Mash, as they’re called, was a Brooklyn Boston event, with Brooklyn Brewery as the featured brewer and a couple of local guests as well. Bantam Cider was on hand pouring their craft cider, and the chefs for the day were Carolyn Johnson from 80 Thoreau, a spot I am dying to visit and Andrew Gerson, Brooklyn Brewery’s very own.

The day included lots of fresh air and relaxing on the farm, in addition to some information and a tour from Verrill Farm’s owner, Stephen Verrill. I loved hearing the history of the farm and all about the crops they are growing. It was fun to see that their tomato crop is still thriving just like mine is and to hear their plans for the end of the season. While I am enjoying my tomato crop, I am also pretty excited about my compost heap and getting the beds ready for next season!

Dinner on the Farm included a farm tour with Mr. Verrill, who drove the hayride and also hopped off at several points to share information about the farm. You can see him in the green jacket and brown hat in the below photo.

We loved seeing the diversity in the crops at Verrill Farm; they have a huge strawberry patch as well as a ton of leeks, kale, and collards, and of course, pumpkins.

When the tour was over, it was time for a relaxed farm dinner with lots of fresh Brooklyn Brewery beer and live music. The beer from Brooklyn Brewery was amazing, and they were quite generous in their pours! Of course, I loved the rare beers  the most, the Weizenhammer and Ridgy-Didge, but their pumpkin beer is also killer, not sweet or overly potpourri spiced as some pumpkin beers can be.

  I tweeted that I was a happy girl, out in the country with great beer and Grateful Dead covers. Our musicians for the afternoon, Steve Roy and David Surrette, really set the scene for a relaxed country hoedown. They played a few Grateful Dead covers, and I had a smile on my face all afternoon long.

And finally, last, but certainly not least, there was the food. Grilled chicken was accompanied by a ton of phenomenal vegetable sides, all full of flavor and freshness. Aall made me want to eat piles of local, in season vegetables for every meal.

I’ve never seen my husband love kale salad before, but he chowed down on a pile of this one. There were also squash, cabbage, potato, and leek dishes.

The menu

Assorted potatoes, golden beets, roasted garlic emulsion & green sauce
Roasted winter squash, squash puree & smoked pepitas
Kale salad, white miso vinaigrette, shallots & raisins
Beer-braised cabbage, kohlrabi, onions & ginger
Braised leeks, hakurei turnips & mustard green emulsion
Grilled chicken

Eating farm-to-table cuisine feels SO good and tastes even better. The meal was one of the best I have had, and after having our fill of veggies and chicken (and homemade apple hand pies), we took a slow drive home, admiring the foliage and stopping a few times along the way for photos.

If you have an opportunity to attend a Dinner on the Farm event, I highly recommend it, especially if you love food and the outdoors as much as I do! I hope they come back to Massachusetts next season!

Dinner on the Farm generously hosted our dinner, however all opinions are my own.