Face mask in hand, plenty of open space to shop and a basket of individually wrapped banana breads for breakfast, Anne Milneck and I began our tour along with a dozen culinary enthusiasts!
We started our Open Air Farm, Food and Cooking Tour at The Red Stick Farmers Market in Downtown Baton Rouge on Main Street. We were lucky to have an abundance of vendors at this market. Local farmers were overflowing with Summer produce including mushrooms, peaches, handmade cheeses, fresh baked goods, spices and gelato.
The next stop on The Open Air Farm, Food & Cooking Tour was 3Tails Wine and Cheese Shop on Government Street. This vibrant shop is smart and elegant. We each enjoyed 3 wines while discovering all of the nuances of grape varieties, the aging process and food pairings. After selecting a few bottles to pair with our lunch we were off to our next stop, Iverstine’s Butcher Shop.
As we gathered in the parking lot of Iverstine’s Butcher Shop we were greeted by owner Galen Iverstine. Galen shared the importance of using pasture raised animals in our diets, and their meat comes directly from their farm in Kentwood, La. Iverstine’s offers Butcher Bundles each month which are a curated selection of beef, pork, and chicken delivered to your door. We enjoyed a tour of his facility and purchased the ground beef for one of our lunch recipes.
The final stop before our cooking class was Fullness Organic Farm, a local family farm, owned and operated by Allison and Grant Guidroz. Their mission speaks volumes and that is to grow the best food possible for their friends and family. They achieve this by planting high quality seed, growing the crops without the use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides, harvesting, washing and packing with care.
We met in the outdoor kitchen at Pointe Marie Village, a neighborhood development between River Road and Nicholson Drive. The cooking stations were set up and we all tied on our aprons and got to work to create a meal of Spiced Beef Meatballs with Tahini-Yogurt Sauce, Zucchini Baba Ghanoush, Zucchini and Corn Fritters, Peruvian Chicken with Creamy Cilantro Sauce, Summer Tomato Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette and Yogurt Cake with Peach Compote. It was an amazing day and we all left armed with valuable information and tried and true recipes.
Be sure and check out my upcoming cooking classes, so you can join in on the fun!
You can Click here to sign up for my next TWO Zoom Cooking Classes
