By Colleen Gundlach

When Steve Archaski was young, he spent many happy hours at the home of his great-aunt and great-uncle on Doolittle Drive. Little did he know that he would eventually own the property and, beyond that, he would be the head baker/chef at nearby Husky Meadows Farm.

Many Norfolkians know Husky Meadows Farm for the wonderful, locally-grown fresh produce, flowers and canned goods they offer at the Norfolk Farmers Market. However, for the past two and a half years, prepared foods and tantalizing baked goods have also been a big part of the Husky Meadows experience, thanks to Archaski.

A commercial printer most of his life, Archaski decided in 2015 to accept the offer of Husky Meadows owners David Low and Dominique Lahaussois to come to work for them on the farm. He had always loved to cook and bake, and soon began to experiment with recipes that eventually became favorites of farmers market-goers in Norfolk and Winsted.

On Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thursdays, the farm rents the commercial kitchen at the Colebrook Community Center, where Archaski will be found baking such treats as lemon-almond cornmeal cakes (made with Roy’s Calais Flint Corn, an heirloom variety, grown right at Husky Meadows), polenta cake made with rum-soaked raisins, and his signature apple galette. All honey used in the baked goods is produced by the bees in the six hives maintained at the farm and all ingredients are organic and in season whenever possible. Right now, rhubarb cake is sure to be front and center.

Sweets aren’t the only thing on the menu at Husky Meadows, though. Archaski handcrafts some garden-fresh soups such as carrot fennel, lentil, and an asparagus cream, made with potatoes and no milk. “I wanted to avoid the heavy cream because some people have issues with dairy,” he says, “so I use potatoes as a thickener instead.”

Chili is a very popular dish at the farm, especially the meat chili, made with fresh local beef from Howling Flat Farms in North Canaan. Another favorite is the vegeterian chili, with a rich texture created by a combination of black walnuts grown right on the Husky Meadows property and lots of beans, bulgur and ground mushrooms. The soups are prepared in batches of 10 to 14 quarts at a time, while chili is done five quarts at a time.

Husky Meadows Farm itself is not open to the public, but these soups and baked goods can be purchased at the Norfolk and Winsted Farmers Markets, at Berkshire Country Store and on line at www.huskymeadowsfarms.com.

Photo, top, of Steve Archaski with a freshly baked tray of pistachio-cranberry biscotti, by Bruce Frisch.