This time to Southwest Minnesota

It wasn’t exactly a three hour tour, but a three hour drive down to Southwestern Minnesota to the farm of some friends called Prairie Marsh Farm. At close to 900 acres they have returned about 500 of it back to native prairie.

We hiked in the fields, with our hosts pointing out the many different native plant varieties and soil conditions that exist. After waiting out a rain shower, we harvested vegetables from their garden for a feast that we would prepare that evening.

Sitting in front of the potting shed, not far from the water pump, where he had washed the recently harvested vegetables, we enjoyed appetizers including cheeses from LoveTree Farm, purchased from the Saint Paul Farmer’s Market. As the sun was setting we decided we’d better get dinner started if we were going to eat before midnight.

We assembled a Tian using many of the vegetables from the garden and made the creamiest mashed potatoes using freshly dug fingerlings. A venison tenderloin, simply rubbed with fleur-de-sel and some freshly ground black pepper was grilled to perfection. The wines from the Chateau-neuf-du-pape region of France were the perfect beverage for this autumn menu. After a delightful meal, individual Rhubarb and Walnut Bundt cakes were served with vanilla ice cream.