A Satisfied Crowd Feasted on the Bounty of the Fall Harvest for a Good Cause

OPEN IMAGE GALLERY

Stortini – Fall Beans & Greens topped w/local Goat Cheese

The annual Green Corn Project benefit on the grounds of Boggy Creek Farm is always one of my favorite tasting events on the Austin charity calendar. This year, the fall weather was marvelous and the new arrangement of vendor booths and dining tables really improved the overall traffic flow around the farm house. The higher number of food vendors and stellar quality of the seasonally-focused food made for a very satisfying afternoon for the crowd. Kudos to new organizer Lisa Fox and the hard-working all-volunteer staff of the Green Corn Project. My only suggestion to participating chefs would be in the area of portion control. Although this is a tasting event, many of the chefs were serving overly generous portions during the first hour, causing food to run low as early as 2:30pm when the event was not scheduled to end until 4pm. Organizers working the gate wisely cut prices to folks who bought tickets after the food began to wane, but guests who had purchased advance tickets and arrived towards the end of the afternoon found the pickings pretty slim. There are two solutions to this problem (1)encourage chefs to begin the day serving smaller portions and (2)limit the running time of the event from noon to 3pm rather than 4pm. After the jump is a list of some of the great food we tasted as we made our way around the front yard of the farm.

Forest Berry Gelato - a cool, sweet little scoop from Teo Gelato
Fall Beans & Greens topped w/local Goat Cheese - simple and very satisfying comfort food from Stortini.
Bison Bleu Cheese Burgers - these little wonders were the absolute perfect tasting party size, providing a couple of great bites from Quincy Erickson's Fete Accompli
Grilled Corn Soup - the folks from Starlite dished up just enough soup to make us want more.
Rocket Salad topped with Grilled Bison Loin - tangy Boggy Creek Farm baby arugula dressed in a light vinaigrette, topped with the tastiest piece of meat of the day by the Alamo Drafthouse kitchen.
Green Bean Soup - Boggy Creek's green beans were in evidence at more than one booth and they were put to good use here in a lovely, pale green soup from Blue Star Cafeteria that ran out far too early in the day.
Paella - chefs from FINO wowed the crowd with three varieties of this Spanish national dish: sausage and chicken, seafood, and wild game.
Green Bean Salad - Boggy Creek beans were back again in this simply dressed salad lightly sprinkled with local feta cheese from Asti.
Lavendar Madeleine Sandwiches filled with Green Tea Mousse and Pork Rilettes en Gaufrette - Proust would have swooned over these soft, delicate Madeleines from the new pastry chef at SoCo's Cissi's Market and chef Deegan McClung's classic rilettes were equally as good.
Salad of Fall Greens, Shaved Fennel, Ruby Red Grapefruit sections and Shaved Pecorino cheese - the bright flavors of this lovely salad made by La Traviata chef/owner Marion Gilchrist were a perfect palate cleanser.
Deviled Eggs -Olivia's devilish delights were the first things we ate upon arrival and the filling made with Boggy Creek Farm Smoke-dried Tomatoes in a rich garlic aioli made us go back for more.
Chocolate Bread & Butter Pudding -Sticky Toffee Pudding company owner Tracy Claros was on hand sampling a potential new product for her line of award-winning desserts and we heartily approved.