You learn something new every day, and Saturday was no exception.
Thanks to chef Paul Midgley and his cooking demo at the Pride of New York Harvest Festival at the state fairgrounds in Geddes, I learned I like cabbage, a vegetable I have loathed my entire lifetime.
Chef Paul's take on cabbage this time of year is to braise it slowly in butter until it is wilted and caramelized, which renders it sweet -- and not at all stinky. He pairs it on a plate with pumpkin risotto and tops it with seared scallops dusted with cabbage seeds.
Pumpkin Risotto with Caramelized Cabbage and Seared Scallops.
Chef Paul Midgley samples his creation in the Wegmans kitchen of the Art and Home Center.
Chef Paul operated two Pride of New York restaurants at this year's edition of the New York State Fair and plans to make use of as much locally grown produce, locally raised meats and other local ingredients at Cuento, a "gastro pub'' he is on track to open in Manlius before year's end.
Besides the cabbage revelation, another surprise at the chef's cooking demo was his pairing of a red wine, a Cabernet Franc from Hosmer Winery on Cayuga Lake, with his seafood dish.
The Harvest Fest, on the whole, was all about surprises. The event marked the first time the state Department of Agriculture and Markets held the event in Central New York. About 45 food producers from across the state shared space with about 45 wineries, most of them from the Finger Lakes region, and a handful of regional breweries.
By the time I left in the early afternoon to visit the Junior League's annual Holiday Shoppes shopping extravaganza at the Center of Progress building, a line of people eager to gain access, secure their wrist bands and complimentary wine glasses and begin sipping and tasting snaked outside the Horticulture Building.
Here's a taste of some of the vendors and what they had to offer:
Split peas as a snack food, from Womb of Nature, a company in Baldwin.
Sauces, dressings and marinades in abundance, including Pa's Pistols Sweet Hickory Sauce, made in Salem. Use it for basting and barbecuing, or as a condiment.
At Keuka Lake Coffee Roasters, coffee beans show up in sauces and marinades...
... and in a full line of Java-Gourmet Rubs.
Soup and chili mixes from Healthy Sisters' Soup and Bean Works, in Rochester, are delicious and support a worthy cause: a program that helps women who have never worked before move from dependence to independence.
The New York Beef Industry Council, based in Westmoreland, served samples of Veal Chili ...
... and presented the chili it in a very elegant way.
Cheese was all over the place, from River Rat Cheeses, made in the Thousand Islands...
... to McCadam Empire Pepper Jack, also made in the North Country...
...to a tasty bite of salad topped with goat cheese, from Side Hill Acres, in Candor.
Pleasing to the palate and a refreshing change from wine were the tart cherry and Concord grape juices served by Growers' Co-operative Grape Juice Co., in Western New York.
Those craving sweet treats had plenty of choices, from DipStix pretzel barks and chocolate-dipped pretzels, made in Cazenovia. ...
... to the no-bake cheesecake mixes in a multitude of flavors from DeeDee Desserts.
For me, the best bites of the event were the wine ice creams -- Red Raspberry Chardonnay and Chocolate Cabernet -- made by Mercer's Dairy, of Boonville. This ice cream contains 5 percent alcohol, so it's not to be served as kiddie cones.
You might not think ice cream and alcohol don't go together, but trust me, the two make a delicious match. The wine flavor is subtle, but sublime.
Maybe Chef Paul can be persuaded to have Mercer's wine ice cream on the dessert menu at his new restaurant when it opens.
