Big City Greens | Blind Horse Winery – Transcript

– This week on Wisconsin Foodie:

– Brian: Microgreens are small versions of normal sized vegetables. They’re just that much more nutrient dense. Anybody can grow ’em. We’re walking into our woods right now to try and find some wild edibles. Like you see all those ferns right there? Those are the fiddleheads, but they’re all unwrapped. There’s like two or three in there, like perfect.

– Tom: Well, what we wanted it to be was Napa Valley in the middle of Kohler, Wisconsin. That was kind of a marketing slogan, but people actually walk through the doors and say that all the time.

– Cheers to that my friend.

– Cheers.

Kyle: This is beautiful spread. This is all Big City Greens, I’m guessing?

– This is all from Brian, Big City Greens. Just dropped ’em off not too long ago, and we’re about to do a tomato carpaccio.

– This right here is one of those: This is my last meal on earth. I would like to have this as my first course. I mean, it’s that good.

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[crowd cheering]

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– Also, with support of the Friends of Wisconsin Public Television.

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[car passes]

[chickens cackling]

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[chopping vegetables]

[fruit popping]

[meat sizzling]

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– I’m Brian De Stefanis. Me and my fiance, Deborah Diaz, we own Big City Greens. Big city Greens started as an indoor farm in Milwaukee, and we started working with a lot of chefs down there, and then we ended up buying this property about two years into the venture.

Microgreens are small versions of normal sized vegetables. Why do we use microgreens? Why do we like microgreens? Why do other people like microgreens? ‘Cause they’re just that much more nutrient dense. They’re that quick to grow, anybody can grow ’em. The flavor is more than the full-grown vegetable.

This is our wasabi, really spicy little microgreen. People at the Sherwood Market love this one. We always grow about 300 trays a week, and clipping ’em, packaging ’em, watering ’em, you know, it’s an everyday thing, but we’ve got it down to the point where we know how much time we have to spend on it.

We grow about 20 varieties of microgreens. We grow an amaranth, which is the red one. We have radishes here. We’ve got dill, basil, cilantro, more radishes, pea shoots, kale, sunflowers, arugula. This is our first season that we’re able to have our full production garden of all of our rare and heirloom vegetables. We don’t use any fertilizers. We only use water, ’cause the seed carries enough nutrients for the plant to grow to that stage two or three weeks later. When we plant the radishes, we plant ’em and it takes about seven days for ’em to sprout and grow to the point where we’re going to clip ’em and bring ’em to a chef to put ’em on their plate. Luckily my partner, my fiance, handles most of the Big City Greens microgreens stuff now, and I’m able to get out in the woods and forage some of these more unique things for some of our chefs.

– Yeah, we met in California a little over five years ago.

It’s been kind of a whirlwind since then. If somebody had told me 10 years ago that I’d be living in Wisconsin growing microgreens, living on a farm, like, I would’ve probably told ’em it was crazy. I didn’t think I’d ever leave California, but I love it here.

– Before we moved to Wisconsin, we lived in Northern California, Mendocino, California to be exact. My farming was a different kind of farming. We grew medical marijuana for patients that needed that out in California. When we moved to Wisconsin, Wisconsin isn’t quite on that, on the board with that yet. So we decided to take it to a new level. We decided to grow rare and unique vegetables for chefs. Gosh, the experience I took from California is what allowed me to do all of this. The care, the attention to detail with everything, the quality of everything. So it just kind of transferred over to a new area. I miss California, but California’s somewhere you can go visit whenever you want to, and Wisconsin is home.

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[birds chirping]

What are you doing? You got your ball?

We’re walking into our woods right now to try and find some wild edibles. Ramps, fiddleheads, mushrooms.

The foraging side of our business, it’s kind of became more of the larger side of our business. We work with some chefs in Milwaukee and the surrounding areas that are really into the wild food and the unique ingredients that we bring them. We go out in the woods as often as we can. The seasons keeps changing from spring all the way until winter, so we’re always harvesting different things, different mushrooms, different greens. There’s just, there’s wild stuff everywhere. A lot of these flowers are edible. Obviously dandelions are, but we won’t do that. But like those are wild violets, which is actually I just found out the state flower, but those are edible also. The sumac trees right there, that’s all edible. The lilac flowers, that’s all edible.

The best time to forage, it’s all year long, but the seasons change, so every time the weather changes a little bit, then it’s a new thing that we’ll we foraging. Oh, here’s some up here. These are all wild ramps right here. Best way to dig ramps is dig ’em up kind of by the roots, loosen the soil up a little bit.

This is what we’re looking for, these bulbs. Clean ’em off a little bit, and to do this sustainably and make sure that your ramps come back every year. I’m going to break these crowns off the bottoms, which are just like asparagus crowns. Then we’re going to plant those back in the ground. So we can come back to these same spots next year, and the year after, and the year after, and harvest the same ramps. People are getting more excited to be able to go out into the woods or go out into their own yard or property and get their food and cook a meal for their family off of their own land, instead of running out to a supermarket or buying something that they don’t have any connection to. It gives you a connection between the food, and the land, and yourself. Oh, this is a pheasant back mushroom. These mushrooms you want to find when they’re small and tender like this.

[knife blade opening]

Slice ’em off back here by the base.

And as you can see underneath, there’s pores, there’s not gills. That’s how you know this is a pheasant back. It looks like a pheasant when it’s down against the wood. Oh, it’s got a fresh watermelon smell to it. I’ll cook that up for lunch. If you’re going to start foraging, you should go with an experienced forager, that’s the only way. There’s lots of books and magazines, and articles and stuff on foraging, but if you want to be safe and do the right thing, go with somebody who’s experienced and learn from them. Like you see all those ferns right there? Those are the fiddleheads, but they’re all unwrapped. There’s like two or three in there like perfect. The fiddlehead, it’s an ostrich fern, and you know the ostrich fern by, it’s got a stalk like a celery stem. You want to get ’em before the tops unravel completely. So these are the fiddleheads. These are what you’re looking for, before they, while they’re nice and tight and small, before they unwrap.

It’s best to only harvest a few off of each plant, just for the plant’s good. That’s what we’re looking for right now.

We try and find a wild asparagus whenever we can, just ’cause it’s untreated, it’s natural. It’s what asparagus should taste like.

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We get excited about dinner here. Dinner’s the only meal we kind of take seriously, and before dinner, it’s kind of a mad rush. You know, what can we pull together from the property? You run over there and get some apple blossoms, and I’ll go over there and get some asparagus, and those are the things that inspire us to do the cooking, and to run out and grab it last minute.

– We are going to whip up some venison burgers. Brian got a nice buck. The weather was perfect, the temperature was perfect, so we let it hang and age for about five days. It’s been like the most amazing venison we’ve had.

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– It’s a pretty epic looking grill right now.

[laughing]

We’ve got fresh ramps we just harvested. We’ve got white, green, purple asparagus. We’ve got fresh Wisconsin morels harvested yesterday. We’ve got a funky, funky blue cheese on top of venison burgers that we harvested from the land here.

Alright Deb, we need a plate to put everything on.

– Got it.

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All right, high five.

– That worked.

[Deborah laughs]

Pretty good.

– Nice job, chef.

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– Usually on an average Tuesday and Thursday, I’m on the road in the van for about 14 hours a day. Our first stop is Blind Horse Winery in Kohler. I think we’ve been working with The Blind Horse for about three years, three and a half years. Well, about as long as we’ve been open. Chef Brent reached out to us and asked me if I’d be able to stop by, and asked me if I had a delivery route that way. It just so happens that our farm is passed The Blind Horse, and our route to Milwaukee, we’re able to pass him every Tuesday and Thursday.

– Brian, what’s going on man?

– Hey chef.

– Come on in.

All right, what do we have?

– Oh, we got a whole spread for you today. You’ve got heirloom tomatoes, a few different kinds.

– Now these are really nice and pretty. These are like tie-dye ones?

– Yep.

– The tie-dyeds, very pretty, very nice. We know they’re in season when they smell so nice and rich.

– Brian: Fantastic. We got some beautiful French carrots.

– Parisian is nice.

– Some hot, hot heirloom peppers. One of your favorites, ground cherries.

– Brent: Of course.

– We got mouse melons. I was able to hit some spots on the way down and find you some mushrooms.

– Trumpets already.

– Brian: Lobsters and black trumpets. We’ve got our microgreens, some edible flowers for you, and some green coriander.

– Brent: Beautiful.

– Brian: And then of course the maple and the honey.

– Nice. This is awesome. I really appreciate that.

– Sounds good to me. We appreciate it, too. I’ll see you next week, Brent.

– All right Brian.

– Take care, bud.

– Take care, man.

[door squeaks]

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– Kyle: A visit to a Wisconsin vineyard is not a rare occasion in this state, we’ve got many, but Blind Horse Winery in Sheboygan has something that so many of them don’t. Great food to pair with their terrific wines. I’m here to meet Tom Nye who is the vintner for this winery, and explore some of the cuisine with ingredients from Big City Greens. Terrific microgreens, things foraged from the region, all coming together on the plate to be paired with great wines.

Hey Tom.

– Kyle.

– Of The Blind Horse Winery.

– How are you? Nice to see you.

– Explain to me what I’m standing in the epicenter of.

– Well, what we wanted it to be was Napa Valley in the middle of Kohler, Wisconsin. That was kind of a marketing slogan, but people actually walk through the doors and say that all the time. All of the wine is made right here in this building, and it’s an exciting property to be in.

– Like literally through the windows in those barrels.

– Right in that room, yes. We look at ourselves really as a micro winery, like a micro distillery or microbrew. We try to source the best products. Sometimes that means getting Cabernet grapes from Napa. But we did want to find grapes that can be grown here locally that we can make wonderful wines from, and we’re really focusing on two different styles that we think are going to be really big in Wisconsin.

– Okay, so what are they? I’m excited.

– Our first one is our ice wine, and we just released that last year. It won a double gold in the Finger Lakes International Competition. We’re really happy about that. The grapes come from Plymouth, Wisconsin. And then the second style that we’re really excited about that I think is going to be the big, big wine out of Wisconsin is sparkling wine. ‘Cause there are two, you need two characteristics to make great sparkling wine. You need low tannins and you need high acid. Guess what? That’s exactly how Wisconsin grapes come in naturally.

– Oh cool.

– So, it’s a very natural process. We don’t have to do any manipulation to be able to get them exactly in the style that we want to make sparkling wine.

– So you could have Champagne, and pernay, and Rmy, and then Sheboygan.

– Exactly.

[laughs]

– And we could rock their world on that, Sheboygan Kohler. So speaking of, can we get into the barrel room?

– We sure can.

– Oh, that’s not forboden, good.

– Oh no, no, come on in.

– Okay, cool.

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Tom, I love a room full of barrels of wine.

– Yes, welcome to my home.

[laughing]

– This is your office.

– It is. So we make about 17 different wines here.

[Kyle whistles]

Yes, all kinds of different styles, but one of the neatest jobs of being a winemaker is kind of crafting the type of oak you’re going to actually age this wine in. We’re a small winery, we’re a craft winery. We can really customize every single style and type of wine that we want to do, and we’re small enough that we can actually control the process. So that’s the art part of winemaking that makes it so exciting.

– Whenever I’m in a room like this, I’m hoping that there’s a wine thief and the winemaker will give me a little preview of things to come.

– Absolutely. I have a perfect wine for you that I’m excited about. We call it our Rome blend, and it’s a blend of Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvdre. I’m really excited about this. This won’t be released for another year or two, but right now you’re going to notice a lot of fruit, and now this long-term aging in oak will really give it some of the character and spice that we’re going to look for in the future.

– So, this is like the preview. When you go to the movies and it’s going to be a big blockbuster in two years. This is the preview of the teaser.

– This is the first teaser.

– Yeah.

– Absolutely.

– Oh wow, that’s nice. Especially on the back of the tongue as it opens up.

– Tom: It is very dark cherries is what I see. On the nose and on the finish on this wine, and there is a big acidic balance, or you’re getting kind of an acidic hit in here. What I’m looking for with the long-term aging in the oak here is to soften that out and that’s where this is really going to take off. It’s really interesting to taste wine at this stage. It’s a baby. It’s nowhere close to what it’s going to be, but through tasting wine through a lot of years, I can see where’s it’s heading and this to me excites me.

– Cheers to that, my friend.

– Cheers.

Thomas, this singular experience is delightful, but I’m prone to food and wine together because great pairings have just, they can change your day.

– You know, I love wine, but paired with the right food, it is an experience. I think of wine as food in many cases. I have it with dinner and it’s part of dinner.

– Yeah.

– Tom: Why don’t we enjoy some of that with what Brent has cooking up for us.

– Kyle: Great.

Hey chef.

– Hey guys.

– How you doing? Good to see you. How are you?

– Good.

– Good, good.

– Tom.

– Chef.

– Long time, no see.

– This is a beautiful spread.

– Yes.

– This is all Big City Greens, I’m guessing?

– This is all from Brian, Big City Greens. Just dropped ’em off not too long ago. We’re about to do a tomato carpaccio, and we’ll probably do a little bit with all the heirlooms. I really like the cucamelons and the mouse melons. We’ll do those in there as well, and the ground cherries. We’ll finish it off with a bunch of petit greens. We’ll use it with some of the pea tendrils, some of the radish greens, and some of the fresh coriander. We’ll also top it off with a little bit of flowers that we’ll eat with a little bit of tarragon vinegar.

– Sweet, well we expect great things and we know they’ll be coming out.

– Yeah, I’m just starting to cut up the tomatoes now.

– Okay, we’ll get out of your kitchen.

– I have a seat for us out there, so we can let the chef prepare.

– Terrific, and you probably know your way around some wines to pair with this.

– I have some ideas.

– I love my day, I love my day. Good to see you, chef.

– Yeah, nice seeing you. So carpaccio is typically shaved paper-thin beef, but for this case, this is actually going to be a vegetarian dish. Usually shaved paper thin, served with bread. For this instance, we’re going to serve it with some toasted brioche. It’s just letting the tomatoes speak for themselves.

There you go…

And that’s tomato carpaccio.

– Kyle: So you’ve composed a lovely plate for us. Mr. Vintner, what would we pair?

– Well you know, when I see tomatoes, I instantly think of Pinot Grigio, the perfect kind of acidic balance. So I think this is a good complement of all the acid that might be in the tomatoes, and all the freshness of this dish, with the crisp acidity of a Pinot Grigio.

– You could drink this all day.

– You really can. The perfect summer drink.

– Yeah, you know what? I’m going to pop some brioche right on top, ’cause that’s, let’s get the whole thing.

Dude, that’s amazing.

– Thank you.

– Chef, I’m not just saying this. That’s fantastic.

– Good.

– There’s 14 flavors working in concert right now in my mouth. Do I know how hard that is, do you know how hard that is? This right here is one of those, this is my last meal on earth. I would like to have this as my first course. I mean, it’s that good.

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– So the dumplings are kind of a play at soup dumplings. Farm 45 lamb, out of Jackson, Wisconsin. Terry Groth does a great job with raising lamb. What we do is we actually braise it and we ground up some of the lamb that we have, mix it in with some lemongrass and gingers and scallions. We form that into a ball. I mean everyone loves lamb chops, but you know, with 45- to 60-pound lamb, there’s really not that many on there. So what can we do with the shoulders? What can we do with the actual ground scraps? So what we decided to do is make dumplings with them.

So I’ll put the sauce down first. First we have our chili glaze, our sambal aioli, and our kabayaki sauce.

– Kabayaki?

– Kabayaki, so it’s traditionally served with grilled eel, but for this instance we’re doing it with lamb. A nice sweet soy sauce on there.

– That’s kind of a record.

– From 180, from one side to the other, so…

– With all the different flavors happening here, especially with your sauces, I don’t want to overwhelm any of this with the wine. So I’m looking more for a background kind of wine that’s not going to take away from everything that’s happening here.

– This is our Zinfandel. It’s our old vine Zin. I think it’s going to be a great– It’s fruit forward, yet there’s some spice on there, but it’s not overwhelming. It’s a great everyday wine.

– So this is the?

– Kabayaki.

– Kabayaki.

– Yep.

– Mm-hmm. Again, that’s delicious.

– Thank you.

– That’s so wicked wrong right. I’ve never had lamb inside a dumpling. It probably shouldn’t be there, but it works really, really well. Well, you’re on a roll, so keep ’em coming.

– All right.

– I hate to keep sending you back in the kitchen, but I really want to keep sending you back into the kitchen.

– I’m going to go back there and make our walleye for you.

– Love it.

– All right.

– Thanks, this was so great. Thank you, chef.

All right, so for the next dish we have a Superior Lake walleye. So I’m going to season the fish first, salt, white pepper. We’re going to go on to the potatoes. These are just a medley of three different potatoes. We’re going to hard sear ’em. At this point we’re going to add a little bit of butter in here after we got rid of the excess oil. I’m just going to baste it. So these are adobo cashews.

[sizzling pan]

We just toast those with some adobo chili. Then we’re just going to finish it off with the spinach. So we got some Andouille sausage. It’s from Usinger out of Milwaukee.

Just going to finish it with some of those microgreens, some radish to kick it up a little bit, then parsley oil, and that’s our walleye dish.

– Kyle: Well, there can only be one wine left.

– Tom: Yes.

– To pair with this, and it is?

– Pinot Noir, surprisingly. So I thought we’d go completely unconventional.

– I love it.

– I have become a huge fan of matching red wine to fish. Something like this, which is so complex, and the sausage that is in here. Well, you know what? We can play off of those flavors and the complexity of this dish and bring in a lighter red.

– Mm, I haven’t even had that yet, but it’s going to go great with the sausage. I mean, that was the right call. Oh yeah, that’s really great.

– Thank you.

– Great pairing, my friend.

– Thank you, this was fun.

– And thank you, chef.

– Thank you for coming.

– Really great.

– Thank you.

– I mean, so good.

– I’m blessed.

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[upbeat music]

So I got to get behind the name. A Blind Horse Winery, it’s not exactly a warm fuzzy.

– One of the stories that came out of all this research that we did on this property, was of this blind horse named “Bertie,” and the horse was the lead workhorse on the property even though it was blind. There are pictures of the horse with the kids on them, taking him to school. It was just a very, you know, this horse was special to this family. And when we researched and saw the pictures, and they’re hanging up in our restaurant, it was special for us as well.

– So it’s like the “Seabiscuit” of farm horses, like can’t stop, won’t stop.

– Exactly.

– And okay, I love it. Now your vineyard, or winery rather, is named after this animal.

– Wisconsin Foodie would like to thank the following underwriters for their support.

– The Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin are proud to underwrite Wisconsin Foodie and remind you that in Wisconsin we dream in cheese.

[crowd cheering]

Just look for our badge, it’s on everything we make.

Employee-owned New Glarus Brewing Company has been brewing and bottling beer for their friends, only in Wisconsin, since 1993. Just a short drive from Madison, come visit Swissconsin and see where your beer is made.

Milwaukee’s landmark art deco hotel offers luxury accommodations, legendary hospitality, and world-class dining. Paired with the hotel’s roaring ’20s vibe makes The Ambassador a must experience destination.

From production to processing right down to our plates, there are over 15,000 employers in Wisconsin with career opportunities to fulfill your dreams and feed the world. Hungry for more? Shape your career with these companies… and others at FabWisconsin.com.

– Society Insurance. Small details. Big difference.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

– The Central Wisconsin Craft Collective. Something Special from Wisconsin. Illing Company.

Edible Milwaukee magazine.

– Also, with support of the Friends of Wisconsin Public Television.

– For more information about upcoming Wisconsin Foodie special events, dinners and tours, please go to WisconsinFoodie.com. There you can sign up for our mailing list to be the first to know about our events and offerings. Also, get connected with us through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

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