Wisconsin Apple Wood Fired Strip Loin and June pasta primavera feast

Here is my 40th birthday feast! Opulent, seasonal, and delicious: herbaceous aperitif with crisp veggies, earthy cheeses, grass-fed charcuterie; June garden pasta primavera; opulent grilled steak on peppery arugula and fresh fennel; and a farm strawberry- rhubarb crisp paired with my favorite South African and California wines. This celebratory feast is best eaten outdoors in those early anticipatory days of summer.

The opening gathering

Wisconsin crudité, charcuterie, and cheese board

Fresh, raw farmer’s market vegetables, cured Wisconsin meats, and Wisconsin’s best artisan cheeses including Upland’s Pleasant Ridge Reserve, Satori’s BellaVitano, Bleu Mont Cave Aged Bandaged Cheddar.

Aperitif: The Jewel

This Amber-Green apertify’s core ingredients mirror glittering gems: gin for diamonds, sweet vermouth for rubies, and Chartreuse for emeralds.

The first course

June Pasta Primavera

Sugar snap pea and mint with gemelli pasta emulsified in lemon and ricotta, finished with cracked black pepper and a blend of Satori’s Parmesan and aged Reggiano.

Wine Pairing: South African Chenin Blanc

Bright, honeyed acidity with crisp orchard fruit notes.

The main event

Cates Family Farm’s Whole Grilled Strip Loin on a bed of arugula and fennel

Grass-fed Wisconsin beef, wood-fired over Wisconsin Apple Wood and charcoal. Sliced thin and served over a bed of lemon-dressed wild arugula and fennel with flakey sea salt.

Wine Pairing: Square Peg California Dry-Farmed Zinfandel

A bold, jammy red with dark berry notes and a peppercorn finish.

The finale

Strawberry & Rhubarb Oatmeal Crisp

Tart garden rhubarb and sun-ripened wild June strawberies baked under a buttery, salted oat crumble. Served warm with melting scoops of vanilla bean ice cream.

Digestif: Sort of Wisconsin Old Fashioned

Muddled orange and brandy with Angostura and Orange bitters and a splash of simple syrup instead of soda served with a Door County cocktail cherry.

Ingredients

• Board snacks

• Cheeses

• Meats

• Crackers

• Sliced veggies (snap peas etc from turners)

• First course

• 1.5 lbs Gemelli pasta

• 1 cup veggies (snap peas)

• 1 cup mint or herbs

• 2 lemons

• 5 cloves garlic / green garlic / etc

• 1 cup grated Parmesan and reggiano

• 1 cup unsalted butter

• 15oz Ricotta

• 1/2 cup chenin blanc

• Main course

• 8lbs strip loin

• Apple wood

• 12-14 cups arugula

• Two Lemons

• Olive oil

• Salt

• Thinly sliced fennel

• Dessert

• 4 cups rhubarb

• 4 cups strawberries

• 2/3 cups maple syrup

• 1/2 cup cornstarch

• 1 tbsp lemon juice

• 1 tsp vanilla bean

• 1.5 cups rolled oats

• 1.25 cups flour

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 1 stick + 4 tbsp unsalted butter

• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp flaky sea salt

Recipe

Friday

• Salt the strip loin and put on a wire rack in the fridge

Saturday

10:30 AM – The Salad & Ricotta Prep

• Shave the fennel and radishes; submerge them in ice water in the fridge.

• Whip the lemony ricotta in the food processor and chill.

• Wash and dry the 12–14 cups of wild arugula and the fennel.

11 AM – The Crisp Bake

• Toss the rhubarb, strawberries, maple syrup, lemon, vanilla, and 1/2 cup cornstarch.

• Top with the oat crumble and bake at 375 for 45–55 minutes.

2:30 PM – Cool & Set

• Pull the crisp out of the oven. Leave it on the counter to set into that perfect jam.

3:30 PM – The Meat & Cocktail Set

• Pull the 7–8 lb Cates Strip Loin out of the fridge. Leave it on the counter to hit room temp.

• Batch The Jewel cocktail in a pitcher and chill.

• Assemble the Lakeside Board; cover and keep cool.

4:00 PM – Guests Arrive

• Uncover the grazing board.

• Pour The Jewel cocktails over ice. Relax and catch up with everyone for the first half hour.

4:30 PM – Fire Up the Weber

• Slip out to the 26-inch Weber Kettle. Light one full chimney of charcoal.

4:45 PM – Steak On the Grill (Indirect)

• Dump the hot coals onto one side of the grill. Toss your apple wood chunks on the fire.

• Place the strip loin on the indirect (cool) side of the grate. Close the lid with the vents open directly over the meat. Go back to the party.

5:15 PM – The Steak Pull & Rest

• Check the internal temp of the loin. When it hits 115 degrees, pull it off the grill onto a carving board. Cover it loosely with foil. Leave the grill lid off or vents wide open so the remaining coals stoke up to a roaring heat for later.

• Put your massive pot of salted pasta water on the stove inside on high heat.

5:20 PM – Cook the Pasta

• Toss the arugula and fennel.

• The water should be boiling. Drop the Gemelli pasta.

• Build your lemon-butter-garlic base in your large skillet.

• Scoop out your starchy pasta water, drain the noodles, and toss vigorously with the butter and water to lock in the emulsion. Fold in the sugar snap peas.

5:30 PM – FIRST COURSE IS SERVED

• Bowl the pasta, drop the dollop of whipped ricotta in the center, and top with fresh mint.

• Pour the South African Chenin Blanc and sit down to eat with your guests right on time.

5:55 PM – The Flash Sear

• Head back out to the Weber. The coals will be white-hot. Drop the rested loin directly over the flames. Sear for 60 to 90 seconds per side (4 minutes total) to crisp the fat cap. Bring it inside.

• Turn your oven on to 250 and slide the finished Strawberry-Rhubarb crisp inside to warm up for dessert.

6:00 PM – THE MAIN EVENT IS SERVED

• Spin your iced fennel and radishes dry. Toss with the arugula, lemon, and olive oil, and lay them down on the platter.

• Slice the steak into 1/2 inch strips, lay them over the greens, and top with Maldon salt and fennel fronds.

• Pour the Square Peg Zinfandel and enjoy your birthday dinner.

6:45 PM – Dessert & Digestif

• Clear the dinner plates. Pull the warm crisp out of the oven.

• Scoop it into bowls with vanilla bean ice cream.

Green Garden feast

Welcome the start of the produce season in Wisconsin with this easy pasta using some of the first beautiful green veggies to pop in your garden. This is the perfect weeknight feast to enjoy on one of those first warm days where it stays light long enough to dine al fresco. While you could pair this pasta with spring lamb chops or meatballs, crispy chicken, steak, or fava beans, a pure vegetarian meal on weeknights can be just right.

Aperitif

The Jewel

Stir equal parts Gin, Sweet Vermouth, and Green Chartreuse, along with a dash of Orange Bitters, with ice. Strain into a coupe glass and serve with a lemon twist and a cocktail cherry.

First Course

Spring lettuce and radish salad

A simple and refreshing taste of the warming season and the return of sunshine. Fresh, beautiful, crisp lettuce with thinly sliced radishes, tossed in a light vinaigrette.

Main course

Asparagus Rigatoni Verde

Al dente rigatoni is coated in a brilliant green, emulsified sauce crafted from sweet blanched asparagus stalks, peppery garden arugula, and a premium blend of SarVecchio and Parmigiano-Reggiano. A quick sauté of fragrant green garlic and spring onion, deglazed with a splash of dry white wine, forms a savory base that perfectly complements the brightness of fresh lemon zest and juice. Finished with reserved, tender asparagus tips and an extra dusting of rich cheese, this dish is a beautifully balanced, luxurious tribute to early-season garden flavors.

Dessert

Vanilla ice cream with rhubarb compote

Fresh tart rhubarb is the perfect pairing for vanilla ice cream. In this feast, let your protein come from creamy ice cream to end your meal feeling perfectly satiated.

Ingredients

• Spring lettuce and radish salad

  • Small bowl of freshly washed lettuce from the garden

  • One bunch radishes, thinly sliced

  • Olive oil

  • Dijon

  • Lemon

  • Maldon salt

  • Freshly ground pepper

• Asparagus Rigatoni Verde:

  • 1 lb rigatoni, paccheri, or penne

  • 1 large bunch fresh asparagus (approx. 1 lb)

  • 2 packed cups fresh garden arugula, washed and dried

  • 1/2 cup high-quality extra-virgin olive oil (plus 2 tbsp for the pan)

  • 1/2 cup SarVecchio Parmesan and Parmigiano-Reggiano blend (plus more for serving)

  • 1 tablespoon green garlic, diced

  • 1 tablespoon spring onion diced

  • 1/2 lemon, zested and juiced

  • 1 splash dry white wine

  • Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

• Vanilla ice cream with rhubarb compote

  • Vanilla ice cream

  • ½ lb rhubarb, cut into one inch pieces

  • ¼ cup WI maple syrup

  • ½ tsp vanilla bean paste

  • ½ teaspoon ground cardamom

  • Maldon salt

Recipe

• Boil heavily salted water.

• Prep the veggies:

  • Chop asparagus into one inch chunks, preserving tops.

  • Wash and spin dry arugula

  • Dice spring onion and garlic

  • Zest and juice lemon

• When the water is boiling blanche the asparagus pieces for approximately two minutes. Use a pasta ladle to scoop out and asparagus pieces and put a plate with a paper towel to dry and cool. Separate asparagus heads from stalk pieces.

• Bring water back to a boil and add rigatoni. Boil until two minutes before the package recommends.

• Food process blanched asparagus stalk pieces, asparagus, cheese blend, olive oil, and a scoop of the pasta water for 60 seconds. It should be a relatively smooth beautifully green paste or quite thick sauce.

• With two minutes left in the cooking time, strain the pasta and preserve two cups of pasta water.

• In the pasta pot return heat to medium, add a splash of olive oil, and add the diced spring onion and green garlic. Heat for two to four minutes until soft but not browning.

• Deglaze with a splash of white wine.

• Then reduce heat to low and add the green garden veggie sauce and the strained pasta stirring constantly.

• Add lemon zest, juice, and a little pasta water at a time. Cook for another two to four minutes, adding splashes of the reserved pasta water as needed, until pasta is fully al dente and the sauce is emulsified and clinging to the rigatoni.

• Serve in pasta bowls with each bowl topped with a scattering of the blanched Asparagus heads and a small handful of the cheese blend.Spring lettuce and radish saladVanilla ice cream with rhubarb compote

Grilled Pork Feast

First Course

Spring Butter Lettuce Salad

Tender ribbons of spring butter lettuce tossed with crisp, snapped peas and pickled rhubarb. Dressed lightly in a bright white wine and Dijon vinaigrette sweetened with a touch of maple syrup, and finished with a delicate crunch of Maldon sea salt.

Main Course

Grilled Pasture-Raised Pork Loin Chops

Thick, bone-in pork chops seared over an open flame, pairing savory depth with a vibrant, sweet-and-tangy rhubarb compote infused with honey, red wine vinegar, and the subtle, aromatic warmth of young spring onion and green garlic.

Accompaniments

• Warm Lemony Potato & Asparagus Salad: Tender new potatoes and snapped asparagus spears, tossed in a bright, zesty lemon dressing.

• Artisanal Challah: Rich, braided challah bread served warm with unsalted butter to catch every remaining drop of the compote and pan juices.

Drink Pairing

Square Peg Pinot Noir

A beautifully structured, elegant coastal Pinot Noir. Its bright acidity and layered red fruit profiles balance the rich, flame-kissed pork while mirroring the tart, seasonal pop of the fresh rhubarb.

Ingredients

• Grilled pasture-raised pork loin chops with rhubarb compote

  • Two bone-in pork loin chops

  • Unsalted Butter

  • Basil

  • Salt and pepper

  • Olive oil

  • Rhubarb

  • Honey

  • Red Wine Vinegar

  • Spring onion

  • Green garlic

• Spring butter lettuce, snap pea, and blueberries with a white wine vinaigrette

  • One bunch whole butter lettuce

  • Pickled rhubarb (vinegar, sugar, maple syrup, peppercorns)

  • One bag of snap peas

  • Spring onion

  • Green garlic

  • Olive oil

  • White wine vinegar

  • Maple syrup

  • Maldon salt

  • Black Pepper

  • Dijon

• Lemony potato and asparagus salad

• Challah bread

• Square peg Pinot noir

Recipe

• 24 hours ahead of time

  • Vigorously salt and pepper the pork loin. Put on a wire rack uncovered in the fridge.

• Make the dressings for the salad in a mason jar

  • Green salad: Put ¼ olive oil, one tablespoon white wine vinegar, one tablespoon dijon, one tablespoon maple syrup, a handful of thinly sliced spring onions and green garlic, salt, and pepper into a mason jar. Shake vigorously to emulsify and then put it in fridge.

• Pickle the rhubarb

  • Chop 3 cups rhubarb into ½ piece chunks and add to a mason jar.

  • In a small sauce pan heat on medium-low one cup water, one cup vinegar, ¾ cup maple syrup, and one tablespoon peppercorns until the sugar and salt are dissolved.

  • Pour over the rhubarb chunks in the mason jars.

  • Let the rhubarb pickle for at least one hour.

  • Put rhubarb you don’t want for the salad into the fridge.

• Take the Pork Loin out of the fridge ~one hour before putting on the grill. Cut all white fat off the chop.

• Put the white pork fat, some oil, and some salt into a food processor. Process until smooth. Put in a sealable container.

• Prepare the salad and put into the fridge

  • Rip up the lettuce into medium sized tears

  • Cut snap peas into halves or thirds at a diagonal

  • Toss together with the pickled rhubarb

  • Leave it undressed

• Chop the rhubarb for the pork into one inch chunks.

• Open wine to let aerate.

• Start grill with one chute of hardwood charcoal using newspapers or paper towels soaked in vegetable oil

• Sautee the remaining spring onions and green garlic in a little of the pureed pork fat. Add the honey, Red Wine Vinegar, and Rhubarb chunks. Hit it with some twists of salt and pepper. Simmer on low.

• After charcoal is white on top spread over half of grill to leave one side with indirect heat.

• Use a butter knife to smear the pork chops with the pork fat.

• Put room temperature pork loin over indirect heat and set a timer for fifteen minutes. Check it to get it to 115 to 120 degrees.

• Once the temperature is reached sear on the direct heat for one to two minutes per side.

• Set on a wooden cutting board over a tablespoon of butter cut into fourths and ripped basil leaves. Cover and let rest for ten minutes.

• While the pork heats, put a cast iron skillet over direct heat. Add pork fat. Add the leftover potato and asparagus salad and stir regularly every two minutes for eight to ten minutes total.

• Toss the salad with the dressing, slice the pork chops and cover with a some rhubarb compote, serve the potato and asparagus salad in a bowl, slice challah bread.

• Pour decanted wine and feast.

Grilled Tenderloin Feast

First Course

Spring Green & Purple Radish Salad

A vibrant bed of crisp spring lettuce tossed with sweet snap peas and paper-thin slices of peppery purple radish. Dressed in a rich, velvety balsamic and Dijon vinaigrette lifted by local honey, and finished with a shower of fresh snipped chives and flaky Maldon sea salt.

Main Course

Grilled Whole Beef Tenderloin

A center-cut beef tenderloin, beautifully charred on the grill to lock in its buttery tenderness. Sliced and served with a deeply savory, rich reduction of Chianti Classico and caramelized yellow onions, enriched with salted butter and fresh garden herbs.

Accompaniment

Grilled New Potato & Asparagus Salad

Quartered new potatoes and tender asparagus spears, grilled to capture a touch of smoke, then tossed in a bright, punchy sauce of crushed garlic scapes, briny capers, Dijon, and fresh squeezed lemon.

Wine Pairing

Barolo

With its bold tannins, high acidity, and complex notes of dried rose, tar, and dark cherry, a well-structured Barolo cuts beautifully through the rich marbling of the beef tenderloin while seamlessly complementing the deep, savory notes of the Chianti-infused onion sauce.

Ingredients

• Grilled whole tenderloin with a red wine and onion sauce

  • One whole beef tenderloin (3.15 lbs)

  • 4 Tbsp salted butter

  • Two cups red wine (I used Chianti Classico)

  • One large yellow onion, thinly sliced

  • Fresh herbs

  • Salt and pepper

• Grilled new potato and asparagus salad with a lemon-caper-garlic scape sauce

  • 1.5 lbs new potatoes, quartered with skins on

  • Two lemons

  • One bunch asparagus, cut into thirds

  • Olive oil

  • Dijon mustard

  • One bunch garlic scapes

  • Capers

  • Salt and pepper

• Spring lettuce, snap pea, and purple radish salad

  • One bag spring lettuce

  • One bunch purple radishes, thinly sliced

  • One bag of snap peas

  • One bunch chives

  • Olive oil

  • Balsamic vinegar

  • Local honey

  • Maldon salt

  • Black Pepper

  • Dijon

• Wine

  • Two bottles of Barolo

Recipe

• 24 hours ahead of time

  • Vigorously salt and pepper the tenderloin. Put on a wire rack uncovered in the fridge.

• Make the dressings for the salads in Mason Jars

  • Potato salad: Put ½ cup olive oil, juice of one lemon, two tablespoons dijon, two tablespoons capers (one tablespoon smushed flat under a knife), salt and pepper into a mason jar. Shake vigorously to emulsify and then put in fridge.

  • Green salad: Put ¼ olive oil, one tablespoon balsamic, one tablespoon dijon, one tablespoon honey, salt, and pepper into a mason jar. Shake vigorously to emulsify and then put it in fridge.

• Take the tenderloin out of the fridge ~one hour before putting on the grill

• Prepare

  • Quarter potatoes

  • Slice asparagus into thirds (discarding woody stems)

  • Slice garlic scapes into one inch pieces

  • Thinly slice radishes

  • Cut snap peas into thirds at a diagonal

• Toss the lettuce, snap peas, and radishes in a salad bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a lid, and put into the fridge.

• Open wine to let aerate.

• Start grill with one chute of hardwood charcoal using newspapers or paper towels soaked in vegetable oil

• After charcoal is white on top spread over half of grill to leave one side with indirect heat. Put room temperature tenderloin over indirect heat and set a timer for twenty minutes.

• Boil a put of salted water. Parboil potatoes for about five minutes and drain. Let cool and then toss with asparagus and garlic scapes into a boil with a splash of olive oil, a light amount of salt, and ten twists of pepper.

• Rotate tenderloin at twenty minutes. Put thinly sliced onions with a little oil in a cast iron skillet over direct heat. Stir regularly. After ten minutes pour in red wine and add butter.

• After tenderloin has been over indirect heat for 40 minutes (tenderloin has been on for forty minutes total) put it over direct heat to sear on all sides (one minute per side for two to four minutes total). Move the onions and wine to indirect heat.

• Take tenderloin off the grill onto a wood cutting board with butter and fresh herbs. Let it rest, marinating in the butter and herbs, for ten minutes under tented tin foil.

• Put potatoes, asparagus, garlic scapes into a grill basket. Put on the grill over the direct heat while the tenderloin rests. Rotate veggies every two minutes for eight to ten minutes total.

• Put the hot veggies into a bowl and squeeze a lemon over them. Then toss with the caper dressing. Put on the table covered.

• Slice the tenderloin on the wooden cutting board. Pour onion and red wine sauce over it. Put on the table covered with tin foil.

• Toss the greens with the balsamic dressing. Put on the table.

• Uncover and feast.