Traditionally

A long time tradition at the Round Barn Farm Inn is the Farm House Dinner. The Dinners were originally named Friday night dinners, as a welcome dinner to our guest as they arrived to Waitsfield for the weekend. Now, our guests come for the week, the weekend and everything in between. This past week the Farmhouse dinner took place on a Saturday, which was a nice opportunity for the guest to not only have dinner at the Inn, but avoid the busy, hectic restaurants, and rest for a night before a big day of skiing at Sugarbush, Mad River Glen or just snowshoeing around the farm . I won't bore you with this stuff, here's the menu (with some "pretty good" pictures of some of the night) and try and imagine Big Joe Burrell playing in the background...

1st course
Carrot Ginger Soup with Cashew Cream

The entree choices
Mustard and Herb Encrusted Sirloin of Lamb with Roasted Root Vegetables and a Rosemary Demi-Glace

Chicken Pot Pie
Misty Knoll Chicken with Roasted Vegetables, Fresh Herbs Under a Golden Dome of Puffed Pastry

Braised Kale and Chick Peas with Lemon, Garlic, Salt and Pepper Toast and Served with Jasmine Rice

There was dessert too
Vermont Cranberry Meringue Pie With Round Barn Ice Cream and Kumquat-Ginger Compote

Oh, I forgot something didn't I?
We actually started the night with an amuse bouche of Seared Ahi Tuna with Wasabi Mayonaise and Gingered Shoyu, just a taste to start the evening...

Perfect for warming the soul and body, carrot-ginger is always a crowd pleaser. Andrew is a young guy I have worked with for years now, he is my sous-chef and a constant source of knowledge and inspiration. Here is his interpretation of this traditional snowy evening soup.

Andrew's Carrot Ginger Soup

8 large Carrots, washed and chopped 1 inch chunks
1 small Butternut squash, cut in 1/2- remove seeds
1 Granny Smith Apple, cored sliced, peel on
1/4 cup Ginger, minced on Microplane
1 Large Onion, chopped roughly, but small
2 oz Canola Oil
3 oz Butter
1 quart Vegetable broth
2 cups Heavy Cream
Nutmeg
Salt and White Pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Oil the carrots and place on baking sheet. Oil the 2 halves of the squash and place those on a separate baking sheet open side face down with a small amount of water in the pan and place in the oven. After 30 minutes place carrots in the oven, roast about 20 minutes, the squash should be close to finished at this time as well, both squash and carrots should be very tender.

In a 6 quart or larger soup pot, one with a heavy bottom, over medium heat add butter to melt. Once butter is melted add onions and once the onions have cooked for a minute add the ginger (reserve a few pinches for adding at the end), add the apple. Once the onion is translucent and the apple has become soft, add the roasted carrots. Scoop the Butternut squash from it's skin and add the "meat", discard the skin. Mix well in the pot, add the broth, bring to simmer. Allow to simmer for 20 minutes (stirring often), add cream. Transfer to a blender (or use a hand-held immersion blender) puree till smooth. Adjust consistency with more cream if needed. Adjust the seasonings with salt, pepper and a few scrapes of nutmeg, and the couple of pinches of ginger if you like.

Andrew made an interesting garnish for the soup, which we might make again, and we'll talk more about it then, but it went something like cashews, water, and lemon...

Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you at the next Farmhouse Dinner at the Round Barn Farm!
for reservations: 802-496-2276 or Lodging@theroundbarn.com http://theroundbarn.com

And remember, Cook from your heart!