Outstanding In The Field Honors Khouri's Goat Farm, Redland,Fla.

I am not a fan of goat cheese except for Hani Khouri’s. His is a fresh, raw goat’s milk variety that has no musky taste. When I heard that Khouri was having a dinner on his dairy goat farm in Redland, Florida, I ran to buy a ticket.

Gabriele Marewski (Paradise Farms) and Hani Khouri (goat
farmer) at Hani Khouri and Outstanding In The Field
farm-to-table dinner, Redland, Fla.

Outstanding In The Field (OITF), a California based, a travelling farm-dinner promoting group, and Chef Alejandro Pinero of Sustain Restaurant, Miami, organized the dinner.

100 plus seat table outside, set on driveway of Khouri's goat
farm at Hani Khouri and Outstanding In The Field's
farm-to-table dinner, Redland, Fla.

It was really cold when I arrived in Redland for dinner. I was surprised to see a really long table, set for over a hundred people, running the full length of Khouri’s outdoor driveway. It was set with white linens, silverware, and glasses of ice-water, brrr.

Smiling servers glided between guests offering tasty treats. I tried a steaming cup of Calabaza soup made with pumpkin. It was a sweet, spicy, creamy tummy warmer.

Leah Scafe and Jim Denevan of Outstanding In The Field at
Hani Khouri and Outstanding In The Field's farm-to-table
dinner, Redland, Fla.

Khouri and OITF organizers--Jim Denevan and Leah Scafe--gave a history of how each got started. Then everyone visited Khouri’s Nubian milk-goats before grabbing a plate and sitting down to eat.

Florida sourced 50-Mile Salad at Hani Khouri and
Outstanding In The Field's farm-to-table dinner,
Redland, Fla.

Fifty-mile salad was first, made with ingredients sourced within 50 miles of Khouri’s farm. The Paradise Farms crisp Brassica lettuce mixed well with Teena’s PrideCSA (now called Nana's Green CSA) sweet multi-colored heirloom tomatoes, crunchy watermelon radishes, and earthy roasted beets.

Florida sourced raw goat cheese stuffed squash blossoms at
Hani Khouri and Outstanding In The Field's
farm-to-table dinner, Redland, Fla.

Next came my favorite dish: breaded, deep fried, squash blossoms (from Paradise Farms), stuffed with raw goat milk fromage blanc (white cheese) and topped with a spicy, creamy sauce.

Sustain Restaurant staff serve beef shanks at Hani Khouri and
Outstanding In The Field's farm-to-table dinner, Redland, Fla.

Followed by the biggest meat-on-the-bone dish I have ever seen. It was steaming braised beef shanks (from Jackman Farms) the size of basketballs. The meat fell apart in savory, tender, juicy chunks. Corona Farms wax beans came on the side but they were stringy and tough.

Bone marrow and toasts plate at Hani Khouri and Outstanding
In The Field's farm-to-table dinner, Redland, Fla.

There was also a bone marrow side with crispy toast but due to an oven malfunction it came out as its own course.

Florida sourced strawberry cobbler with raw goat-milk
creme fresh, Hani Khouri and Outstanding In The Field's
 farm-to-table dinner,
Redland, Fla.

Dessert was a sweet, colorful strawberry (from Knaus Farm) cobbler topped with a green basil reduction drizzel and dollops of Khouri’s goat-milk crème fresh (similar to sour cream).

All the courses came with wines that perfectly accompanied them.

At $190 a person, it was the most expensive dinner I had ever been to but one of the most delicious.
UPDATED March 17, 2016