Red Meat: Keith Fedorko
Posted by Warren Rojas / Tuesday, August 16th, 2011
Being comfy in the kitchen is one thing. But chef Keith Fedorko is just as at home out in the fields:
The Willow Creek Farm toque treasures the 2-acre farm–featuring 21 planting beds that alternately support: tomatoes, French beans, peas, assorted hot and sweet peppers, rosemary, thyme, Swiss chard, escarole, potatoes, corn and, potentially, sunchokes–that rings his exurban restaurant, crediting it, and the seasonal bounty, with constantly challenging his natural curiosity and culinary showmanship. “It keeps us on our toes,” he said of the steady rotation of raw materials.
WR: Salt. Pepper. What other culinary elements could you not live without?
KF: Butter, pork, root vegetables, stocks (veal,chicken, fish) and flour
WR: What’s the very first dish you ever mastered? How long did it take? Do you still make it today?
KF: The first dish that I ever mastered was lightly dusted skate wing with brown butter sauce and capers. Having to butcher whole skate wing was what took the most time in preparing this dish. I still make this dish occasionally.
WR: What seasonal ingredient(s) get your creative juices flowing?
KF: For winter monkfish, for spring soft shell crab, for summer tomatoes and for fall duck
WR: My latest cookbook obsession is …
KF: I’ve always been and will be obsessed with Harold McGee On Food And Cooking, and all of James Peterson’s cookbooks
WR: What’s the most challenging dish you’ve ever attempted? Would you make it again?
KF: The most challenging dish I’ve ever made was coq au vin. I make this dish in late fall every year.
WR: If I could spend the day working alongside any local chef, I’d love to collaborate with …
KF: Chef Cathal Armstrong
WR: What’s the easiest/quickest–but still wholly satisfying–meal you make for yourself?
KF: Kabob koobide with rice, grilled tomato and summak
WR: In the next six months you won’t want to miss my …
KF: New fall entrees from my chef team at Willow Creek Farm
WR: It’s quitting time. I’m pouring myself …
KF: Pint of Guinness
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Skate wing in brown butter is one of our favorites, too. Can’t wait to try your version.
Come back next Tuesday for another helping of Red Meat.
–Warren
Tags: Ashburn, Broadlands, Cathal Armstrong, Clydes, cooking, farm-to-fork, food, Gut Check, Harold McGee, James Peterson, Keith Fedorko, Northern Virginia Magazine, NoVA, Red Meat, Restaurant Eve, Warren Rojas, Willow Creek Farm