In Season Kickstarter Campaign

As many of you know, in addition to running the Foster Harris House and Tour d’Epicure, we’ve developed a TV show called In Season, hosted by our very own John MacPherson. In each 30-minute episode, John goes into the field to meet and work with the folks who grow, produce and harvest beautiful --and sometimes unusual-- foods when they are at their peak of flavor. Then, he takes those ingredients back into the kitchen to prepare a simple meal that highlights nature's seasonal bounty. We’re thrilled that PBS has enthusiastically committed to distributing a full season (13 episodes) as soon as it’s produced.

In order to help fund production, we’ve partnered with Kickstarter.com, a secure online funding site that perfectly suits the grassroots spirit of our project. Depending on the pledge level, supporters receive various rewards: In Season t-shirts, autographed pilot episode DVDs, opportunities to be on the set during production, Schmidt Brothers knives, and much more. For larger pledge amounts, we even offer overnight accommodations at the Foster Harris House, a five-course private dinner prepared by John, and even a special dinner guest: Marian Burros, world-renowned author and New York Times Food columnist.

We have 45 days to meet our funding goal of $125,000. If we succeed in meeting our funding goal, you’ll receive the reward at your pledge level and our deepest gratitude for helping us make a significant leap toward getting In Season on the air. If you’re among those who actively seek out extraordinary ingredients, if you celebrate the fleeting splendor of seasonal foods, and if you want to honor those artisans whose skill and patience make those foods possible, then we invite you to join our grassroots effort to produce the show. Please visit Kickstarter.com if you’d like to be a part of helping In Season bring a new type of food programming to the table. Thanks so much for your continued support of the Foster Harris House, Tour d’Epicure and in Season.

All the best, John and Diane

Foster Harris House Youtube Channel

The new Foster Harris House Youtube channel is up and running! We'll post videos of John cooking from the Foster Harris House cookbook as well as simple seasonal dishes. We'd love for you to subscribe and follow along!
Cheers,
John and Diane

http://www.youtube.com/user/FreshPlateProds?feature=mhee

FreshPlateProds's Channel - YouTube

A Rappahannock New Year

December 31^st here in Rappahannock County Virginia and I’m reminded again of how special this place is. We are spoiled by a warm, breezy day with dramatic clouds and sharp shadows. What a great way to finish this year… out on my bike, riding one of my favorite routes. 25 miles of scenery any artist would kill to have in his backyard. We had a year of wonderful guests, great meals, beautiful rides and new adventures. We’re looking forward 2012 and all it has in store. We hope 2012 spoils you.

Winter Solstice Sweets

Winter Solstice Sweets

While the chill of winter has not yet completely set in, our kitchens are filled with the warmth of holiday celebrations.

Here at the Foster Harris House, we’re big on celebrating with family, neighbors, friends and guests. It might be an “everybody pitch in” cooking party, or the Christmas gathering for the residents of Little Washington – December is all about making merry.

Right now, I’m planning the menu for the visit of a group of loyal guests who return to the inn annually for a winter celebration.

For this season of celebrating, tradition takes center stage. To round out a savory December menu that features loin of venison, we’ll be serving a full array of sweets for the solstice, including fig panna cotta…

Figgy pudding…

And, a vision of sugar plums for a sweet finish to the meal.

Cheers and Happy Holidays,

John MacPherson

The New Garden room

In the bed and breakfast industry the rule of thumb is to update each guest room once every five years. Well this year we got a bit carried away and updated two rooms one right after the other. The thing is, once you've updated your oldest room the next oldest one instantly becomes the oldest room... and you want to update it! So Diane and I remodeled the Mary Ellen Jenkins room in September and then immediately set out to update the Garden room. The end result was better than we imagined! New paint, furnishings, and artwork have transformed the Garden room into a stylish and comfortable space to relax and recharge. We hope you like it and get to visit soon.

Cheers,
John

Whatever Makes You Thankful

The American Thanksgiving holiday is the ultimate expression of culinary democracy. You can go traditional, serve a range of family favorites or try something radically contemporary. Anything goes, as long as it makes you thankful.

This year our menu has something for everyone. Some of our family is choosing to eat vegan. I’m pretty strict about my diet, too, as long as I can have beef, pork, fish or fowl along with the vegetables.

So, for Thanksgiving dinner, I’ll make a number of beautiful vegetable dishes for the table, but for me, I’ll be having duck confit, which is always best prepared in advance.

The process of preparing duck confit is enough to inspire a healthy and thankful appetite. I start with a whole duck and divide it into two breasts, two legs, and two wings. The extra fat is added to a stockpot. The breasts are set aside for pan roasting later.

The legs and wings, plus a couple more I have in the freezer are set in salt, garlic, shallots, thyme, rosemary and pepper to rest in the fridge for 24 hours before I cook them in the rendered duck fat. Here, I’m rendering all the extra fat over low heat:

Then, the solids are strained:

The result is beautiful, clean, pure duck fat ready to use in the confit:

It’s also perfectly tasty for frying potatoes, sautéing mushrooms, preparing rillettes or sautéing kale.

Cheers,

John MacPherson

The Colors of Summer

There are many pleasures associated with cooking in season, but perhaps most exciting is the new burst of color that transforms the landscape -- and our plate -- as the year unfolds. The bright greens of spring are young and delicate while the oranges of autumn inspire a sense of comfort around the family table.

Summer produce is like a brilliant display of fireworks, signaling endless possibilities in the kitchen. Our CSA, The Farm at Sunnyside, explodes with beautiful colors and a bold energy that invigorates our menu. Purple graffiti eggplant becomes a lively eggplant Parmesan topped with a simple sauce of tomatoes and garlic from the farm.

Purple and green okra, saturated with pigment, demands to be served fresh so the colors and the bite are crisp.

The okra becomes part of the visual palette for a stunning summer salad:

How fortunate that summer tomatoes are no longer one-note red. For the salad, giant heirloom tomatoes are sliced and arranged with green zebras, multi-colored cherry tomatoes, pickled beets, peaches, purple and green okra, Sleepyhollow Farm eggs, haloumi grilled cheese, and sweet and cinnamon basil. The arrangement is dressed with beet juice-infused apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. It’s a visual feast that’s simply prepared with the best colors and ingredients summer has to offer.

Cheers,

John MacPherson