On September 5th the Chicago area chefs were invited by our Testa produce rep Debbie Johnson to do a warehouse tour. The tour was very educational because we got to see first hand how this company operates to get us the finest produce available. Testa is industry leaders in innovation of renewable energy sources to name a few they have the only wind turbine in Chicago city limits which produces up to 30% of their electricity usage, they use rain water runoff in their bathroom plumbing, and their outdoor patio set is made of recycled milk bottles. I can say that they truly do live up to their motto of "Green by Nature, Greener by Choice"
There was nine of us that was able to make the day out and we had a great time touring the facility and learning a great deal on the local produce that is available to us right now. Debbie and Barbara from Testa provided us all with informational handouts on the nutritional values as well as the availability of local produce. Testa's goals are to increase partnerships with local farmers annually.
After the tour we had some play time with local fruits and vegetables. The chefs divided into groups of two and each group created a dish with either Ribeye Roast or Alaskan King Salmon using at least two local produce items.
The first dish was a collabaration from Jeff from Cantata and Mel from Lake Forest they did seared salmon with a peach and sweet potato puree, agave syrup and sirachi glaze and bacon braised greens.
The second dish was composed by Stephen from Felician Sisters and Pedro from Three Crown's Park they did grilled salmon with a fresh beet coulis and root vegetable slaw.
The third dish was created by Mark from Cardinal Stritch and Benny from Lake Forest they did a rosemary rubbed rib roast with marble duchess potatoes, heirloom tomato stuffed mushroom and pickled root vegetables.
The fourth dish was prepared by Fermin from Lieberman and Jose from Lake Forest they did Southwest marinated seared ribeye steak with grilled corn and grilled root vegetables
The food was plated on one dish for a bit of a competition and the rest was plated family style. The chefs did a great job with the food and we ate very well. We would like to thank Debbie, Barbara and all of the people from Testa for a fantastic day out and for their hospitality. We will be doing this tour annually in season with the peak of local produce.