The Harvest Festival

The Harvest Festival was held last night at the Ag Hall. It was a community pot luck where the only rule was you had to bring a dish made with local ingredients.

My contribution was a Local American Chop Suey made with local ground beef and an all local tomato, pepper, onion and garlic sauce.

Before hand we had free Tomahawk oysters from the local aquaculture enterprise of the Aquinnah Wampanoags. Wine was provided by our local Chicama Vineyards and I enjoyed a Chenin Blanc and a Summer Island Red. There was also a big block of what we used to call “store cheese” here in New England. Every General Store would have a block of cheddar ready for slicing at the checkout counter. Our Morning Glory Farm still does. This particular cheddar one was from Cabot Cheese in Vermont. There was also a generous helping of fresh chevre from Christiantown Farm. I have some in the fridge right now (thanks to Mary Beth), and I find it goes particularly well with the autumn olive jam.

We ate well, visited with friends and danced off most of what we ate to a swing band. A great way to celebrate the harvest!

Recipe for Local American Chop Suey

From the Farm Institute

1lb ground beef

From Whipporwill Farm

1 onion chopped
1 red pepper chopped
1 yellow pepper chopped
3 tomatoes

From my garden

6 cloves garlic
7 tomatoes
Basil
Parsley

Other Ingredients

3 cups elbow macaroni
1 cup Classico Fire Roasted Tomato Garlic Sauce
By the Sea salt à Chilmark

Brown the ground beef. Set aside. Make a sauce from peeled seeded tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic, herbs and the one cup prepared sauce. Season with Salt by the Sea to taste.

Prepare macaroni and drain well. Combine all the ingredients. Warm in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes before serving.