Tags
Food, Henry David Thoreau, Manchester, Mark French, pie, postaweek2012, Silver Fork Restaurant, Vermont, Walden Pond
In 1856, Thoreau wrote in his journal: “My themes shall not be far-fetched. I will tell of homely everyday phenomena and adventures. Friends! Society! It seems to me that I have an abundance of it, there is so much that I rejoice.”
Thoreau appreciated what is truly important in life ~ food, shelter, clothing, fuel and a few simple tools. He borrowed an an ax to build his cabin. He grew beans for fun and barter. He whittled pencils. And he lived about fifteen minutes away from his mother.
It’s a Walden Pond tradition to leave a rock near Thoreau’s hut. But I think this visitor really gets it.
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Thoreau’s intention during his time at Walden Pond was to strip away all superfluous luxuries and live a simple life. I’m all for that. But good food, like a teeny pie, is not a superfluous luxury.
Thoreau thought a lot about his diet. He only spent about twenty-seven cents a week on food, frugal for even the 1850′s ~ rye, cornmeal, potatoes, rice, beans, a bit of salt pork, molasses, and salt. He mostly ate grains and vegetables and flat bread, some fish… and once, a pesky woodchuck.
But Thoreau left the woods quite regularly to dine out with friends. He was known to dash across the fields anytime the Emerson’s rang their dinner bell. Rumor has it that Henry would even steal pies from his neighbor’s windowsills. I think the Teeny Pies blogger, saving the world one pie at a time, is onto something.
For me, going to the Vermont woods is a simple pleasure. And when the dinner bell sounds, I make a beeline for the village of Manchester, a place “as refreshing in its way as the rustle of leaves.” Straight to the Silver Fork.
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The Sliver Fork is an intimate six-table restaurant owned by award-winning chef Mark French and his wife Melody. It’s got an insanely friendly vibe. The masterful chef, who has received many Silver Fork Awards, comes into the dining room to chat, his wife works the bar and his daughter serves the tables. You truly feel like a guest in their home. The menu is inspired ~ impossibly stellar plates prepared with an abundance of fresh local ingredients. Thoreau would rejoice. It’s opulence on a fork.
So save room for pie. And this.
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The Silver Fork should pay you for this perfect PR piece. If I were up in Vermont, I sure would make a bee-line for your Silver Fork.
By the way, that pesty woodchuck had it coming. What red-blooded woodsman/writer could have resisted putting it in the pot.
Ronnie
Ronnie, You’re onto something. Maybe we’ll start a Wild Game Wednesday
There’s been an outpouring of requests from our carnivourous readers. Watch out, bunnies.
So here it is ~Woodchuck au Vin.
The gardener who created this dish notes that the herbs and vegetables in this recipe are available fresh from the garden because they have not been eaten by the dish’s main ingredient.
Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
1 woodchuck, dressed and cleaned of scent glands, boned and cut into strips or bite-size chunks (see note)
2 shallots, chopped
2 large carrots, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup beef stock or water
2 cups dry red wine
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons white vermouth
2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 fresh or dried bay leaf
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 1/2 cups pitted Cerignola olives, very coarsely chopped
2 to 3 tablespoons flour
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Salt.
1. Place a Dutch oven over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add olive oil. When the oil is hot, add woodchuck meat and sauté until lightly browned on all sides. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
2. Add shallots and carrots to pan and sauté until lightly browned. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add stock or water, red wine and 3/4 cup of vermouth. Stir with a wooden spoon, scraping bottom of the pan. Return meat to pan, and add pepper, thyme, bay leaf, and 1 tablespoon of the rosemary. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Add olives and remaining 1 tablespoon rosemary. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until meat is tender, about 45 minutes.
4. Discard bay leaf. Raise heat and boil uncovered until liquid is slightly reduced. In a small bowl, mix remaining 2 tablespoons vermouth with enough flour to make a soupy paste. Thicken sauce to taste by adding paste a tablespoon at a time, simmering for a minute after each addition; all of the paste may not be needed. Stir in parsley, and season with salt if needed. If desired, serve over rice or egg noodles, or with boiled potatoes.
Yield: 3 to 6 servings, depending on size of woodchuck and squeamishness of guests.
Note: A woodchuck has small scent glands under the forearms and in the small of the back that must be removed. The insulating fat under the skin should also be removed. A dressed woodchuck does not require soaking, though many people recommend soaking overnight in salted water. As with all game, the meat of older animals is tougher and has a stronger, gamier flavor than a young animal. This recipe may also be made with the boned meat of one large or two small rabbits.
Hold the Woodchuck au vin, but share the chocolat avec creme. Mon dieu! The picture makes my silver fork spin!
Sue
Sue,
I can make that in my trusty blender. I was not leaving the Silver Fork until I got the specifics. Insanely simple, sit-down-and-brace-yourself amazing.
Toni
Cleaned of scent glands? Surely, you jest! Okay all you wood chucks, you are free to roam without a care in the world… no one will clean your scent glands today.
Ronnie