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Hyper Local Cooking Class with Ann Swanson

Cook a hyper local lunch with trained chef and farmer, Chef Ann Swanson. The class menu highlights ingredients from various Central Illinois farms and by the end of class you will enjoy an elaborate and delicious meal made from scratch. The menu includes:

 

  • Baked and breaded Local Tilapia: Koss Family Farms tilapia coated with sour cream and Janie's Mill seasoned flour served with a homemade caper remoulade dipping sauce
  • Local Deviled Eggs: Six deviled eggs from Little Farm on the Prairie with mayonnaise and a pinch of sumac
  • Blueberry Wheatberry Salad: A delicious savory salad with local wheatberries, Prairie Fruits Farm goat cheese, onion, with fresh blueberries, mint, basil, and blueberry vinaigrette
  • Local Sweet Corn Ice Cream

 

What You'll Need:
  • Cutting board
  • Chef's knife
  • Mixing bowls
  • Colander
  • Baking sheet
  • Stock pots
  • Casserole pan
  • Blender or food processor
  • Ice
  • Ice cream machine for sweet corn ice cream
Ingredients
Local Deviled Eggs
Little Farm on the Prairie eggs
6
Duke's mayo
1/4 cup
Kosher salt
Pinch
Sumac
Pinch
Baking soda
2 teaspoons
Local Tilapia
Koss Family Farms tilapia filets
2
Sour cream
1/4 cup
Water
1 tablespoon
Breadcrumbs
1/2 cup
Cornstarch
1 tablespoon
Old Bay seasoning
1 teaspoon
Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon
Extra virgin olive oil
1 cup
Caper Remoulade
Duke's mayo
1 cup
Lemon, juice and zest
1
Capers, chopped
1 tablespoon
Green onion, thinly sliced
1 stalk
Whole grain mustard
1 teaspoon
Kosher salt
To taste
Local Wheatberry Salad
Janie's Mill wheat berries, rinsed and drained
1 cups
Local onion
1/2, chopped
Local garlic, minced
1/2 clove
Vegetable stock
4 cups
Water
4 cups
Fresh local blueberries, rinsed
1 cup
Prairie Fruits Farm everything bagel chevre
1/2 container
Green Pantry Nursery fresh mint, chiffonade
1 sprig
Green Pantry Nursery fresh Genovese basil, chiffonade
1 sprig
Local Blueberry Vinaigrette
Fresh local blueberries, rinsed
1 cup
Champagne vinegar
1/2 cup
Local honey
2 teaspoons
Extra virgin olive oil
1 cup
Local Sweet Corn Ice Cream
Heavy cream
1 1/2 quarts
Milk
1 1/2 quarts
Egg yolks
30
White sugar
30 ounces
Xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon
Local sweet corn
6 ears
Local fresh blueberries
6 ounces
Balsamic reduction
1 teaspoon
Ice cream salt
Local Deviled Eggs
  1. Fill water 3/4 of the way in a medium size sauce pot. Add 2 teaspoons of baking soda.
  2. Once water comes to a boil, carefully spoon in the eggs. Let the water gently boil for 10 minutes.
  3. Get a mixing bowl and fill it with ice and set aside. After the eggs gently boil for 10 minutes, turn off the stove and let them sit for 10 more minutes.
  4. Immediately transfer them to the ice bath (adding a little cold water to the ice bowl). Let sit 5-10 minutes until the eggs are cool.
  5. Peel the eggs and cut in half. Scoop out the inside and place in a small mixing bowl.
  6. Add the mayonnaise, salt, and sumac and mix well with a fork until there are no lumps.
  7. Put it in a ziplock bag and pipe it into the egg whites.

 

Local Tilapia with Caper Remoulade
  1. Mix the sour cream and water and put in a bowl.
  2. Mix the breadcrumbs, salt, and Old Bay seasoning in a separate bowl.
  3. Pat the fish dry on a cutting board. Dip the fish with one hand into the sour cream mixture, shaking off excess liquid.
  4. Transfer the fish to the bread crumb bowl and use your other hand (dry hand) to cover the filet with bread crumbs. Set aside.
  5. Add fish to a foil lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and bake at 375 degrees F until brown.
  6. Make the remoulade: put all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix together. Taste for seasoning.

 

Local Wheatberry Salad
  1. Rinse the wheat berries in a colander.
  2. In a medium size stock pot, saute onion and garlic until translucent. Add the wheat berries and mix.
  3. Add vegetable stock, making sure you scrape the caramelization off the bottom of the pot. That is the flavor! :)
  4. Cover the wheat berries until the liquid just covers the top. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally.
  5. Once the liquid has reduced by 3/4, check the taste of the wheat berries. If they are still crunchy to the taste, add a little water and continue to reduce the liquid until berries are al dente (not mush but not breaking your teeth).
  6. Pour wheat berries into a casserole pan and put in the fridge to cool. Once cool, you will add the remaining ingredients except for the goat cheese and toss with the blueberry vinaigrette. The goat cheese will go on top last.
  7. Make the vinaigrette:
    1. Combine the first two ingredients into a blender and spin until smooth.
    2. Slowly add the olive oil until it is emulsified into the liquid.
    3. Finish by adding the honey slowly to taste and finish with salt.
Local Sweet Corn Ice Cream
  1. In a large mixing bowl, add your egg yolks. Do not add the sugar to the egg yolks until the liquid in the next step is ready.
  2. Clean the corn and remove the kernels from the cob. Put the kernels and cob in a pot with the heavy cream and milk and bring to a slow boil but do not scorch! Make sure you are stirring all the way to the bottom of the pot while it is on the stove.
  3. Once the liquid comes to a boil, set aside and add the sugar into your egg yolks. Strain the sweet corn and cobs out of the liquid mixture.
  4. Slowly add the mixture into the bowl with the egg yolks and sugar. Do not add it too quickly because we do not want our eggs to cook.
  5. Add the xanthan gum, making sure to whisk really well. Put it in the fridge to cool down.
  6. Once the liquid is cool add it to your ice cream maker. Close the lid and add ice around the barrel. Once the barrel is spinning then you can add your rock salt to the ice. (If you add it before your ice cream barrel may get stuck and not spin.)
  7. Once the ice cream is thick, remove it from the maker and put it in a dish. Top with blueberries and a little balsamic glaze.
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