An Elkstone Farm to Table Wedding!

Summer is wedding season and it’s no different here in Steamboat Springs!

This month, I catered my first big farm-to-table wedding and it was so much fun! As you know, I work and teach cooking classes at a small local farm called Elkstone Farm. This event was incredibly special because it was the owner of the farm’s daughter’s wedding! Of course, the menu was made up of delicious, local farm-to-table ingredients (with a few non-local exceptions, but hey!)

And did I mention that it was a vegan wedding?

So what did I make for this wedding? Here’s a run down of the spread:

Cocktail Hour Spread

Charred Tomato Salsa with local tomatoes, garlic, and chiles

Palisade peach salsa with local peaches

Guacamole

Smoky moutabal dip with local eggplant

White bean and pepita pesto dip with local basil and garlic

Local Carrot Hummus

Local Tortilla Chips

House Flatbread

Veggie Crudites


The ceremony was held in the aspen grove behind the farmhouse kitchen and the guests enjoyed appetizers on the shady wrap around porch. They also had the chance to meander around the farm to see the bounty of our summer vegetables! The reception was held at their property near Elkstone Farm. The setting was beautiful and we created a separate cocktail hour spread to welcome the guests as they were shuttled up.

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Reception Appetizers:

Local herb falafel bites with tahini dressing and diced local cucumber

Roasted marble potatoes with herby lemon dressing

Elkstone Heirloom tomato bruschetta with Elkstone garlic and basil on local baguette crostini


As the guests made their way up to the reception, we were busy getting everything set up for dinner. The guests started with family style salads and local bread at the table and moved to a choose your own adventure rice bowl bar! As a vegan wedding, this was one of the easiest ways to give everyone a lot of options for their meal.



Salads

Elkstone spicy greens blend with lemon cucumbers, purple carrots, chiogga beets, roasted oyster mushrooms, sun gold tomatoes, and edible flowers

Elkstone cabbage slaw with poblano peppers, sweet pea shoots, poblano peppers, and herbs

Sesame miso ginger dressing and Cilantro lime vinaigrette

Smell That Bread Bakery bread basket with baguette, sourdough, and ciabatta

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Rice Bowl Bar

Spanish Rice | Calrose Rice

Toppings:

Kimchee | Cucumber Salad | Soy Sesame Braised Mushrooms | Sesame Roasted Tofu | Miso Roasted Eggplant

Portabello Mushroom Asada | Green Chile Roasted Tofu | Black Beans with Poblano Peppers | “Colorado Succotash” | Avocado and Pineapple Pico

Sauces:

Elkstone Garlic Teriyaki | Miso Ginger Sauce | Guajillo Chile Sauce | Green Chile Sauce

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Creating a vegan menu was a challenge, but the amazing flavors of our local, seasonal produce made it easy to highlight these veggies! I am also fortunate to have an amazing crew of people who helped me prepare, cook, serve, and make this first big catering event a success!

Here are the local producers that I was so fortunate to work with:

Elkstone Farm

Kilt Farm

Davis Family Farm

Innovative Agriculture

Smell That Bread Bakery

Big Iron Coffee

As always, I love eating as locally and seasonally as possible! It’s never easy to create a meal for a large event, but I was so happy with how everything came out. Though not everything was completely local, we were able to highlight and incorporate as many of our small producers as we could for the menu that our bride and groom wanted. They were the most kind, genuine people and it was a pleasure to cook for them, their family, and friends!