The RECAP dinner was put on by the Rock County Sheriff’s Office RECAP Garden and Community Garden Outreach Program on September 15, 2021. Bill and Dori MacFarlane along with Sarah Pope represented MacFarlane Pheasants at the event. They were so impressed with the hard work of everyone who produced the vegetables, designed the menu, and helped to prepare and serve the food that they want to give a shout-out to everyone who made this event possible! To properly thank everyone for this outstanding event, we wanted to share just what a RECAP dinner looks like and what’s involved in having this yearly event.
RECAP stands for Rock County Criminal Addiction Program. It is a five-month program to help inmates work through the “criminal thought process” and “drug and alcohol addiction” through community service. The Rock County Education and Criminal Addictions Program rehabilitates inmates through multiple steps, including counseling, obtaining a GED, classes in employment, parenting, anger management, and more.
Depending on the inmates’ charges, they can petition for the Huber program at the end of the RECAP program, and in some cases get an early release. The RECAP program started 20 years ago and has been a very successful program. Sheriff’s office Sgt. Jay Williams oversees the program. “They (the inmates) do absolutely everything. They prepare it in the spring, they plant, maintain it during the growing season, harvest and then put it to bed in the fall,” he said.
Jason O’Connor, the site supervisor for the RECAP garden, spoke with pride about Volunteers Deb Grams and Helen Tijerina, who are the lead volunteers for the gardens and work with the inmates in the one- and 1/2-acre garden. Inmates are each required to put in 85 hours of community service in five months, but this translates into thousands of hours in the garden each year. Last year, RECAP gardeners produced, and the department donated, about 9000 pounds of vegetable to Rock County area food pantries. Vegetables from the garden are also used for the yearly RECAP dinner. Inmates assist in preparation of the annual dinner, and serving and cleaning up afterward.
Chef Tyler Sailsbery is the executive chef and owner of The Black Sheep Restaurant in Whitewater, WI. His specialty is farm to table foods and so he was the perfect person to select the menu and oversee the preparation of the five-course RECAP dinner. He toured the gardens and let the produce be his guide to the menu. Since MacFarlane Pheasant was donated for the event, it became part of the main dish, and made us quite proud to see how a top-notch chef would prepare our pheasant with the beautiful garden vegetables. We were not disappointed.
The Menu:
Rice and Mint Dolma Served in a shot Glass with Yogurt Sauce
Sushi Salad – Sushi Rice – Edamame, Radish, Cucumbers, Mustard and Horseradish greens Green Onion, Cilantro, Cabbage, Smoked Salmon, Toasted sesame seeds, Roasted Marinated beets
Squash soup topped with roasted eggplant and yogurt tahini with Little Red Peppers and pomegranate grape molasses
MacFarlane Pheasant Farm and Leek Curry Pot Pie
Roasted Turkish Squash with Toasted Candied and walnuts, and chai whipped cream
The cost of the dinner was $65 per person and limited to 125 participants. Music was provided by the Jason Thomas Band of Fort Atkinson. It was worth every penny to be a part of this event. MacFarlane Pheasant congratulates all of the participants for their outstanding success in the gardens and at the dinner. Thank you.