Cooking with Peggy at Madison Creek Farms

Peggy Lynn Marchetti

Saturday morning cooking workshops at Madison Creek Farms are so much fun. Peggy Marchetti (Loretta Lynn’s daughter) and her husband Mark run this wonderful organic farm right here in Goodlettsville. Beds of brilliant dahlias, cosmos, sunflowers and zinnias add splashes of color to the dozens of raised beds filled with herbs and vegetables. The little outdoor Pavilion Market showcases Peggy’s fresh homemade blueberry and blackberry pies, home baked bread and a variety of preserves.

Blueberry & Plum Pie

During the summer Madison Creek Farms offers a series of cooking workshops in the Farmhouse Kitchen, and last weekend it was Cooking with Herbs. To an eager audience of around 20, Peggy held court in her delightfully spacious kitchen.

She began with making pesto, and into the blender went bundles of fresh cut basil, several cloves of garlic, toasted walnuts (pine nuts are a more expensive alternative), olive oil, parmesan cheese, and a generous squeeze of lemon. Folk soon lined up at her large wooden kitchen table to spoon the pesto on crackers and sample.



Several eggplants were sliced and placed on a baking tray to roast in the oven – destined for panini. While spaghetti boiled on the stove, Peggy sautéed several cloves of garlic and a small diced onion in a big skillet for the beginnings of a very flavorful tomato jam.

Heirloom Tomato Jam

She then added plump Brandywine heirloom tomatoes, jalapeno pepper, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, water, and fresh chopped basil, letting the mixture gradually reduce down to about half.

Love that apron!

Once the spaghetti was cooked and drained, Peggy added a generous spoonful of pesto, a drizzle of olive oil and a handful of halved cherry tomatoes – and voila! An absolutely delicious pasta dish.

Joel Arnold, Sous Chef for the Day

By this stage everyone’s mouths were watering, and the atmosphere had mellowed to that of friends visiting in a farmhouse kitchen. Exactly how Peggy liked it! This is the true ambiance of Madison Creek Farms. While we were in the kitchen learning how to cook up delectable dishes using their farm produce, Mark was taking care of customers to the farm market who had come to buy preserves, fresh baked bread and pies, organic vegetables and herbs, and pick their own cut flowers from beds flamboyant with color.

Panini ready to eat

Peggy is quite remarkable in her ability to multi-task and has the energy of a 20-year-old. Her vibrancy rubs off on everyone, and we are all keen to be rubbed in this same genie-juice. She whisks the roasted eggplant out of the oven and spreads the slices on crusty bread brushed with pesto. Adds shredded Italian cheese, a heaped spoonful of tomato jam straight from the skillet, and a handful of fresh arugula. We quickly lined up to sample the spoils of the morning’s gourmet cooking class. We shall definitely return!

Time to sample the spoils!

Peggy’s recipes are listed below. Visit her website at www.madisoncreekfarms.com for more details of this wonderful organic farm, and become a follower of her blog at www.thefemalefarmer.com



Heirloom Tomato Jam

2 tbs olive oil
1 diced small onion
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
3 tsp brown sugar
4 cups chopped tomatoes
2 minced garlic cloves
1 chopped jalapeno pepper
chopped fresh basil
¼ cup water


Pesto

1 bunch of fresh basil
½ cup toasted walnuts or pine nuts
3 cloves garlic
½ cup olive oil (approx)
¼ cup parmesan cheese