Get RIPE at the first Heritage Foods Festival / Heirloom Farmers Markets

Edible Baja Arizona • Posted 9/10/14

Come taste the bountiful fall harvest and experience the spectrum of talent in Tucson’s local food system, from fourth-generation farmers to world-class chefs.

HEIRLOOM FARMERS MARKETS will celebrate a new Heritage Foods Festival with their first Farm to Table fundraising dinner, RIPE: Regionally Inspired Plates for the Evening, sponsored in part by your very own Edible Baja Arizona. The inaugural dinner will be held September 17 and 18 from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. each evening at Zona 78 on River Road.

RIPE will feature chef Kevin Fink’s exquisite plates, pastry chef Tavel Bristol-Joseph’s mouthwatering desserts, and an assortment of craft beverages. The freshly harvested ingredients will be sourced from Tucson area farms selling at Heirloom Farmers Markets. The event will also feature a robust silent auction with a full spectrum of items for bidding. Net proceeds from the dinner and auction will directly benefit Heirloom Farmers Markets infrastructure development and education and outreach programs.

“We are just over a month away from raising the roof on Tucson’s first permanent farmers market pavilion at Rillito Park,” says Manish Shah, Heirloom Farmers Market Executive Director. “We are also planning improvements to our Oro Valley market to enhance the shopping experience. The proceeds from RIPE will help us complete these projects.”

Heirloom Farmers Markets is a newly minted 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that has been serving the greater Tucson area for more than a decade by creating a vibrant food system that supports local food producers and proprietors, in addition to educating and empowering the community. Heirloom Farmers Markets’ ability to expand their programming is due in large part to the generosity of supporters.

Come taste the bountiful fall harvest and experience the spectrum of talent in Tucson’s local food system, from fourth-generation farmers to world-class chefs. The Heritage Foods Festival will continue the celebration of locally grown foods through September 21 with in-season Sonoran Desert specialities featured at each of Heirloom’s three farmers markets. This time of year offers an abundance of popular native foods, including mesquite flour, prickly pear syrups and jams, cactus pads, cholla buds, chile, and more.

For more information on the Heritage Foods Festival, visit www.HeirloomFM.com.

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Dim Sum Dishes

Sourdough Doughnuts with Corn Powder and Tomato Hollandaise

Chirachua Pasture Raised Chicken Empanadas: Maggie’s Mushrooms, Roasted Chilis

Summer Squash and Goat Cheese Empanada: Squash from Sleeping Frog Farms and Fior di Capra Goat Cheese

Goat’s Milk Brioche: Sleeping Frog Farm’s Figs poached in Arizona Wine. Fior di Capra Chevre: Honeycomb

Indian Fry Bread, Sarah Farm’s Straciatella, Reduced Whey, Spices

Heirloom Verrine: Smoked Mozzarella Panna Cotta, Sleeping Frog Basil Jelee, Walking J Tomatoes, Mozzarella Foam, Garden Yarrow and Thai Basil Buds.

Roasted Corn, Tumaccori Chili Salt, Finished with Fresh Lardo

Farmer’s Chips: Sleeping Frog Black Tuscan Kale, Ajo Rojo Garlic, Beets, Sweet Potato, Salt, Desert Rosemary

Seared Summer Squash, Cold Vinegar Broth, Yarrow, Chili Leaf, Thai Basil

Foraged Mushrooms, Hayden Mills Polenta, Sleeping Frog Thyme and Blossoms

Hayden Mills Corn Fritters, Local Chilis, Serrano Dip

Small Plates to Order

Salad of Watercress and Local Greens, Dehydrated Strawberries, Lemon Cucumbers, Goat Cheese, Local Nuts, Pomegranate and Kombucha Dressing

Cascabel grown Asian Pear, Five Sons Ranch Lardo, Lemon Verbena, Burnt Honey and Pecan Brittle, Lemon Oil

Assortment of Local Melons, Zona 78 Prosciutto, Garden Mint and Flowers

Date and Squash Agnolotti, Cultured Brown Butter, Zona Grown Sage

Duck Egg Raviolo, Cultured Ricotta, Mizuna, Fior di Capra Butter, Petit Herbs

Five Sons Ranch Lamb Kofta, Walking J Burnt Aubergine, Sleeping Frog Poached Eggplant, Seared Kale Yogurt, Berry Brown Butter

Blue Beard Durum Chittara, Heritage Pork Polpettini, Jimmy Nardello Puree, Mustard Greens

San Rafael Beef Tartare, Sleeping Frog Russian Tarragon Puree, Maggie’s Watercress, Griddled Bread

Sleeping Frog Okra, E&R Pork 10 day-Bacon, Jimmy Nardello Peppers, Chili Broth

Toasted Chickpea “Cous Cous” Roasted Kale Puree, Curly Kale, Pistachio, Pickled Nardello Peppers, Lemon Cucumbers, Sprouted Mung Beans.

Roasted Cauliflower with fixings

Entrees

Pan Seared Pork Chop from E&R Pork or Five Sons Ranch, Squash Polenta, Crispy Leeks, Greens

Chicken Two Ways: The White Meat: Rubbed in Foraged Desert Herbs and Spices, paired withTwice Baked Potatoes with Housemade Crème Fraiche: The Dark Meat: Brined and Grilled Chicken Leg

Five Sons Ranch Rack or Saddle of Lamb: Confit and Seared Eggplant, Kale and Garlic Puree, Yogurt and Whey Sauce, 12-hour Tomato Paint

Story: http://ediblebajaarizona.com/get-ripe-at-the-first-heritage-foods-festival