No two journies through life are identical. Finding two chefs that took the same paths is equally as uncommon. Listening to Ian Knauer‘s story of how he got to this point in his culinary career, you might be hard pressed to find anyone whose tale resembles Ian’s. From playing in the home kitchen of a New York food critic that he worked for to being recipe developer for Gourmet Magazine, his unorthodox approach to learning the craft has led to creating a cooking school and his book, The Farm Cooking School.

The Farm Cooking School was born out of wanting to help people make mistakes in the kitchen. His passion for cooking is what got him his first real job as a recipe tester. They wanted him to trip over the obstacles most home cooks would make so that they could perfect their process and language. Now he shares that expertise with anyone who takes a class at the Tullamore Farm or in the pages of the book.

Butter makes everything better, right? Why should oysters be any different? Utilizing a compound butter made with housemade harissa, Ian put the half shells into the oven just enough to melt the flavorful mixture on the still raw Sweet Amalias. The resulting bite was equal parts briny, smokey and delicious.

I am going to guess that not many Italians use daikon. It’s a radish widely used in Japan; on the boot peninsula, not so much. When your farmer wife produces 500 pounds of it and needs to get rid of it, you find innovative ways to incorporate it. The purple flesh offers both a clean flavor profile and beautiful color that can play well with many of the rich, dense dishes you’ll find there. Paired with butternut squash and a la minute pasta for Tuesday’s second course, we were treated to a combination that is bound to be the start of the next fusion craze.

If I could eat pork belly every day for every meal and not incur severe health issues, I would. I evoke the spirit of Bubba and will eat it in a variety of ways. I don’t think I’ve had a bad iteration. Ian’s recipe is one that I will not soon forget. Braised then finished in the broiler, the meat presented as both tender and crispy. Cooked in apple cider, which we learned is both a great braising liquid and perfect for using as a reduction, the liquid helped bridge the gap to the miso-carrot puree. For as much as I love belly, it does need a little brightness and acidity to cut through the fatty richness. That we got from a matchstick watermelon radish and daikon slaw that Ian used as an opportunity to display and teach some knife skills.

Considering that Ian and his wife Jeanmarie own the farm that much of their produce comes from, you can expect seasonality from start to finish of a meal. Small dices of apple, caramel, ginger and puff pastry made up the tarte tatin that was crowned with a dollop of loose maple whipped cream, bringing the evening to a wonderful and seasonally appropriate ending.

Be sure to stop by COOK to pick up your copy of the book!