Cooking up homegrown heartiness at Beavertides Farm

FALLS VILLAGE — Tracy Hayhurst of Undermountain Pantry demonstrated how to make panzanella and tartine using fresh, organic ingredients and with a minimum of fuss at Beavertides Farm during a brief dry moment on an otherwise relentlessly rainy Thursday afternoon, Aug. 8.

The program was sponsored by the David M. Hunt Library.

When a reporter arrived, Hayhurst was grilling thick slices of her own double-spelt sourdough bread and chatting with library director Meg Sher.

When the group of six or eight participants was assembled, they all trooped down Undermountain Road to the greenhouse, half of which was given over to plants, and half to serious carpentry but temporarily repurposed as a demonstration area.

Hayhurst sent the group into the foliage in search of cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and basil.

Having assembled the ingredients for panzanella, she started by tearing the toasted bread into chunks and heaving it into a large bowl, followed by cut up vegetables.

When the bowl was full, she gave the whole thing a good shot of olive oil, tossed it and let it sit while she turned her attention to the tartine.

Hayhurst described this as “salad on toast.”

She spread a creamy ricotta cheese on a piece of toasted bread and piled on cucumber sliced in long, thin strips. Then she added whatever else was handy, a little dressing, and voila.

Throughout this process Hayhurst talked about organic farming and organic food. She recalled her years on the same property when it was Chubby Bunny Farm, a community-supported agriculture operation with 200 subscribers.

And the participants peppered her with questions. How do you slice such and such? What kind of kosher salt do you prefer?

There was wine and sparkling water, and everyone got busy sampling the results, which were singularly toothsome as well as easy to make.

And, miraculously, it didn’t rain.