Well, birthday 61 was rolling around, and I new exactly what I wanted to do., the cooking school at Farmer's Table in Livingston, hosted by Chef Conner Wolf. I've been following my little buddy Connor Wolf for years. I go way back with this kid, to the days with his Dad Tommy, on the soccer fields of Rankin County. Conner has been cooking ever since he was tall enough to reach a skillet on the back eye of the stove. I've been tempted to run over to his Momma Patty's house to get the last bite of his latest creations posted to FB, but I knew I'd be too late to even lick the plate!
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| Chef Conner Wolf |
Lately I've been celebrating more than just the day of my birth, more like the week of my coming out party! I went to the Farmer's Table web site and checked the menus for the week. Turns out, my special day was lobster roll day. Lobster in Mississippi???? Well, da boy is a chef, and he has been to one of them fancy cooking schools in Miami, and he's been sou cheffing at Walkers and Local 463 for several years, so he must know a thang or two, or three???!!! The menu consisted of : Fall Lettuce Salad, Old Bay Potato Chips and Smoked Comeback, Slow Butter Poached Lobster Rolls, and Almond Cookie with Lemon Ice Cream. Tickets were purchased and the calendar was set for 6:30 on Thursday.
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| Me and Chef Conner |
Farmer's Table is located at the end of highway 463 out from Madison. Several businesses have made a home there, and quite a few events are planned there throughout the year. There was not a lot of car traffic, being this was a Thursday night.
As we entered the school, we were greeted by the smell of oil at 325 degrees, with thinly sliced pieces potato coming out pot! Chef Conner was making us his version of potato chips, as an appetizer and also a side to the lobster rolls. He had also whipped up a smoked comeback sauce for dipping. Two ladies joined our motley crew, time to get this thing started! This cooking school is gonna be a breeze!
Chef started us off with baking Almond cookies. Being a cookie baker this was awesome, starting it off with dessert! This recipe didn't call for any flour, using almond paste and powdered sugar and a few other ingredients to pull it together. Chef Conner put us right to work, zesting a lemon, chopping almonds, and measuring out powdered sugar in a cup without measurement markings! After a few pluses of the food processor, they were ready for the oven!
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| I got to pulse! |
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| Chef Conner has the cleanest hands! |
The salad wasn't your typical romaine or iceberg. We had hand picked fall greens of a variety of plants I've never heard of. We were put to work prepping the onion, peeling and slicing pears, chopping garlic, and crumbling up some bleu cheese. I guess us beginners have to start somewhere, chop! chop! The dressing was a balsamic sherry vinaigrette, held together by a touch of Dijon mustard! It works! That salad dressing never separated!
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| Fall greens with pears and candied pecans |
While we were seated, enjoying our professionally plated salad, Chef Conner was busy at the stove prepping for our main course, lobster rolls! He had fresh lobster rolls from a local bakery, and our job was to toast the edges. He had heated up four pounds of butter to poach the lobster. Yes, I said four pounds! While he was working with the butter, we were busy prepping the ingredients for the dressing. Chef Conner loves his Dukes mayonnaise, and I had to give him a hard time about that since I'm married to a Blue Plate kinda gal. The two other ladies grew up on Miracle Whip! The lobster tails were poached to perfection and then sent to the freezer for a little cool down, while the Chef did his magic to the dressing. I did notice he has a tendency to add a pinch of cayenne to the ingredients!
The lobster rolls were plated, with a side of his old bay potato chips made earlier. The best part of the meal, was the conversations between the four of us "guest chefs" and our interactions with our host, Chef Conner Wolf. The meal was finished off with a serving of lemon ice cream and almond cookies. I was lucky enough to blow out two candles that came with my serving. No birthday wish here, my wish had already been granted with this wonderful evening!
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| toasted bun |
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| heaven on a plate |
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| food is love! |
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| birthday boy, lemon ice cream and almond cookies |
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| Kodiak moment by Chef Conner |
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| Me and the Spousal Unit! |
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| Wish was granted |
I highly recommend a visit to Farmer's Table in Livingston cooking school. Be sure to go online to check their calendar of events and get your tickets. You'll be glad you did!
