Chefs conjure up dishes, smiles

By Doug Carder, dcarder@miconews.com

Patrick Poetter, chef at Beethoven’s No. 9 restaurant in Paola, prepares an emu pasta dish Sunday at Louisburg Cider Mill. Patrick and his mom, Ulrike Poetter, were preparing dishes made from locally grown products from the stops on the Miami County Farm Tour. (Doug Carder / dcarder@miconews.com)

Sisters Josie and Julia oohed as chef Patrick Poetter cracked open a softball-sized emu egg and poured its contents into a sizzling skillet. The Spring Hill girls pressed their matching pink sweatshirts against the cooking table to get a closer look at the yellowish yolk that nearly filled the pan.

Jenny Becker smiled as she watched her girls, ages 5 and 3, enjoying chef Patrick and his mom, Ulrike Poetter, stirring and mixing ingredients in a rustic corner of the Louisburg Cider Mill’s general store. The Poetters interacted with the small crowd forming around their makeshift cooking station as they prepared candied pecans, an emu omelette and emu pasta for the curious onlookers to sample.

“We are used to working in an open kitchen, and we like interacting with the customers,” Ulrike said of the family’s Paola restaurant, Beethoven’s No. 9.

On Sunday, the Poetters were the guest chefs preparing dishes made from sites on the Miami County Farm Tour. The emu egg for the omelette and ground emu for the pasta dish were provided by 4 D Acres, rural Louisburg. Prothe’s Pecans of rural Paola supplied the pecans. Brisket made from beef at Silver Lining Herefords, Louisburg, also was available to sample. Slowfood Kansas City, a branch of an international group that encourages people to eat locally grown products, sponsored the cooking demonstration.

“We are trying to promote what Miami County has to offer. We want to promote tourism, and we also want to attract people to live in Miami County,” Ulrike said.

Becker said Josie and Julia had just come from the 4 D acres emu farm, and now they had the chance to see what the inside of those giant green eggs looked like.

“We’re having lots of fun,” Becker said. “The girls picked out emu lip balm.”

Mike Martin, owner of 4 D Acres and one of the organizers of the annual farm tour, said the free samples prepared by local chefs were driving traffic to the tour sites.

“This is the first year we’ve had the cooking demonstrations, and it’s worked out well,” Martin said. “I know we’ve had several people stop (at 4 D Acres) who said they came over after eating the emu samples at the Cider Mill.”

While Ulrike and Patrick Poetter were enjoying their time cooking together on Mother’s Day, several of the families who sampled their fare said they decided to get Mom out of the house and enjoy a day on the farm.

“We thought this would be a perfect way to celebrate Mother’s Day. We wanted to get out of the city,” said Marc Paulson of Olathe, who was joined by his wife, Trish, and their sons, Jacob and Luke. “I wanted the boys to get back to their heritage. I grew up on a small farm in Minnesota.”

The Paulsons looked on as Patrick Poetter, who received his formal chef training at Johnson County Community College’s culinary school, chopped onions and other seasonings with a deft touch as he prepared the emu pasta dish.

“I’ve been cooking for about 11 years, since I was 17,” said the young chef, clad in a blue shirt and bright yellow and green John Deere stocking cap. “I’ve always enjoyed cooking.”

Patrick learned some of the secrets of the trade form his mom, Ulrike, who received her training from her late mother and grandmother when she was a girl in Hamburg, Germany.

She said the family loves being in the restaurant business. She joked with Alex Whitney and Troy Swangstu of rural Osawatomie as she mixed brown sugar and pecans in another pan.

“We bought 20 acres south of Osawatomie a year ago, and we wanted to go on the tour to see what some of the farms are like,” said Whitney as she took a dainty bite of the brisket. “We were thinking about getting a couple of cows and maybe planting a few things.”

The couple, both artists, said they are enjoying living in Miami County after moving from downtown Kansas City, Mo.

“We needed the change,” Whitney said.

She sheepishly asked Patrick Poetter if she could have the giant emu eggshell.

Patrick looked at his mother and shrugged his shoulders.

“Sure, why not?”

Whitney beamed. “It’s just so cool.”