The humidity hung around us like a wet blanket. It had rained for days, and more rain was predicted for later, but right now it was merely a threat – or promise, depending on how you looked at it. It was the kind of midsummer weather that makes you want to hang out with a big glass of iced tea (mostly ice) or escape indoors to air conditioning. But the setting was so lovely, and the smells drifting towards us from the barbeque and kitchen were so intoxicating, the heat and humidity didn’t matter. In fact, they seemed part of such a beautifully bucolic experience: Dinner on the Farm at Prairie Fruits Farm in Urbana.
Prairie Fruits Farm grows different kinds of berries, and has trees that will eventually bear fruit, but they’ve gained national attention for their artisanal cheeses, made from their own goats, beginning in 2005. Their cheeses can be found in an increasing number of top restaurants and cheese shops, as well as local farmers markets – sadly, not (yet) at Springfield’s – but occasionally some varieties are available at Schnucks.
Their Dinners on the Farm have received national attention as well, in the Jan. 2010 issue of Food and Wine Magazine. This will be the third year Prairie Fruits Farm has been offering such dinners. They don’t begin until May – I write about them now because they sell out quickly.
This spring, Prairie Fruits Farm is offering something new: Breakfasts on the Farm.
Every Saturday through April, from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. they’ll serve three to four differing breakfast items, such as house-made doughnuts or bagels (these are fantastic!) with eggs collected right on the farm, Triple S Farms bacon, and Prairie Fruit’s chèvre. Rolled oats oatmeal, maple syrup, roasted candied walnuts and more will be sourced from local growers. There will be fair trade coffee and house-made Mexican-style hot chocolate made with goat milk. Their goat cheeses and early season vegetables, such as greens, eggs, mushrooms and herbs from local farmers, will be sold.
It’s also a chance to see the baby goats and maybe even catch one of the does giving birth.
That humid midsummer evening was the first Prairie Fruits Dinner for my husband, Peter, and me. Some dinners are prepared by Prairie Fruits’ in-house chef-turned-cheesemaker, others by guest chefs. That night Paul Virant, chef/owner of Vie in Western Springs, was doing the cooking and manning the barbeque. (You can find out more about Virant, last year’s Hope School Benefit Celebrity Chef, in my 9/03/09 RealCuisine column at the IT Web site.) Weather permitting, meals are served outside, but that night we dined in the sweet-smelling hay barn. Midway through the incredibly scrumptious meal, Peter leaned over and asked, “Can we get a season pass next year?” Peter asked the same question at the second Farm Dinner we attended last year. That meal, “An Illinois Fish Tale,” featured local fish, both farmed and wild, including freshwater prawns raised in southern Illinois.
Chicago’s Sunday Dinner Club chefs Chris Cicowski and Joshua Kulp were cooking. The late summer evening had a hint of coolness, and we ate outside, a glorious sunset adding to our pleasure. A different experience, but also one to savor.
Although we weren’t able to get a season pass, we’re having dinner at Prairie Fruits this year as much as we’re able.
Prairie Fruits Farm is located at 4410 N. Lincoln in Urbana. Cost for the dinners ranges from $50-$100 per person. A fruit-based aperitif is offered; wine, beer, etc. is BYO. For more information or to make reservations, call 217- 643-2314 or visit their Web site, www.prairiefruits.com.
Contact Julianne Glatz @[email protected].
