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Food Lovers Filled Their Plates at County Bounty Event

CHATHAM - Over 300 lovers of fine food showed up for the annual Taste of Columbia County Bounty Dinner and fundraiser held last Monday evening at the Fairgrounds in Chatham. A celebration of the great local foods produced here in the county, supporters had a wide variety of excellent dishes to choose from.

Red Barn gave out bags of their “Wicked Good” Potato chips, along with Corn Ratatouille and Grilled Chicken. Farm donations for them included Staron Farm, Miller’s Crossing, Atwater’s, Goose Island, Holmquest and Pigasso. Provencal Vegetable Terrine with Goat Cheese filled plates at the Stissing House table (donations from Coach Farm and Sol Flower Farm),  and Holmquest Farm had their own table and served Salsa Corn Relish, Beet Salad and Eggplant Surprise.
Several new restaurants this year included Number 9 located in Millerton, Ca’ Mea, using fish from Local Ocean in their offering, Carpacio of Dorado, and  American Glory, who served up pork sliders with homemade coleslaw using donations from Punsit Valley , Old Saw Mill,  Cool Whisper and Hand Hollow Farms.  Gigi Hudson Valley, another new addition, gave out portions of Tuscan Kale Tart and Tomato-Goat Cheese Gratin using donations from Mink’s, Migliorelli’s and Coach Farms.
 
The county’s finest youth organizations had tables of their own, where they brought a variety of recipes they had selected and cooked themselves. Among their offerings were Baba Ganoush, Fresh Green Bean Salad, Grated Cucumber Salsa, and Polenta Topped with Ratatouille.

This is the first year the event has been held since the unexpected death of co-founder Vicki Simons and a large poster was displayed in her memory. Preserving agriculture in the county was a cause close to her heart and her family has continued her efforts. A new award recognizing outstanding vision and accomplishment in expanding the availability, quantity, quality or distribution of local foods reaching local mouths has been established in her name. The Victoria A. Simons Locavore Award will be presented this year during the Columbia County Fair. The family also took part in this year’s dinner, serving up foods at the Carlucci Catering table. It was a fitting tribute to the good work of Simons.

Another tribute, this time, to the Bounty dinner itself, arrived in the form of the Red Lion Inn’s participation.  Executive Chef Brian Alberg had attended the Taste of… dinner its past two years. This year he called and asked if he could participate. “I’ve had so much fun coming as a patron,” he explained, “that I want to have a table here and serve food.”  And so he was yet another new addition to the roster of restaurants. Chilled BBQ Chicken w/ Smoked Heirloom Tomato Puree, Greek Style Honey Yogurt, and Sun Gold Tomato and String Bean Salad will probably show up on the Red Lion menu – based on the raves they got at the dinner. Punsit Valley, Millers Crossing, Ronnybrook, Markristo and Hand Hollow Farms provided produce to Alberg’s selections.

Folks who had room scooped up the home made  peach and red raspberry ice cream from Micosta, Hudson, feasted on the Peach Melba wedding cake from Verdigris, or sampled a variety of fruit tarts from Dutch Desserts of Kinderhook.

There was wine from the Hudson-Chatham Winery and from Brookview Station and beer from Chatham Brewing. Great music played in the back ground by Kid Kurt and the Gentlemen of the Night, and terrific floral arrangements graced every table provided by Peter Frank with flowers and herbs provided by local growers.

An end-of-night raffle brought in substantially more donations – this time from farms that didn’t participate in the dinner itself – as well as other local businesses. Each of 20 baskets contained foods and food related items from several of the towns in the county – all for a good cause.

The Taste of Columbia County Bounty dinner is an organization that brings together great food and great chefs – all for the good of agriculture in the region. It is hoped that participants will have the opportunity to welcome additional business from guests and supporters and that this additional business will keep open lands firmly established in the county. With all the food lovers in evidence at Monday’s dinner, agriculture in Columbia County is guaranteed to grow stronger. 

Columbia County Bounty is supported by Ginsberg’s, Lofgren/Brad Peck/Hermon Huntley Insurance Agencies, Hudson-Catskill Newspapers, Columbia Economic Development Corporation, General Roll Leaf, Hudson River Bank and Trust Foundation, Karp, Ackerman, Skabowski & Hogan, CPA, Keil Equipment, Ed Herrington, Inc. and Kinderhook Bank. In addition, Hudson Valley Agribusiness Development Corporation, Columbia County Chamber, the Columbia Land Conservancy and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Columbia County lend their support.

Bounty Membership

Individual Membership $25.00 Couple's Membership $40.00 Farm Membership $50.00 Chef/Restaurant Membership $50.00 Organization Membership $50.00