National Heirloom Exposition: 10 Things to Do

By biteclub

The Second Annual National Heirloom Exposition is a ripe and juicy peach of an event that brings together anyone and everyone in the food world to celebrate farms, chefs, gardeners and heritage produce.

Held over three days at the Sonoma County Fairground (Sept. 11, 12 and 13, 2012), it’s an event so massive in scale that you’ll likely need the time just to get to all of the speakers, demonstrations and vendors.

Hosted by the “pure food” movement folks behind the Baker Creek Seed Company, you’ll find local chef and homestead demonstrations, dozens of local whole foods vendors, historic livestock breeds, 100 speakers (from anti-GMO speaker Jeffrey Smith to Greenstring Farms’ Bob Cannard and Rancho Gordo’s Steve Sando), music and family-friendly activities.

There’s a clear political overtone against genetically modified foods and sustainability throughout, but delicious food, giant pumpkin displays, friendly farm vendors and live musical entertainment help keep the vibe inclusive and engaging.

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IF YOU GO:

– Head for the Double Decker BLT that’s about as perfect an end-of-summer sandwich as you can get at the Green Grocer stand. (Drooly pix below).

– Buy seeds. Lots of them.

– Take a picture in front of the giant pile of squashes and pumpkins

– Count how many different kinds of melons are there. Hint: It will keep the kids occupied for a LONG time.

– Watch a carving demonstration by Chef Ray Duey who makes incredible vegetable and fruit garnish art

– Get informed: The Expo has 100 speakers (!) throughout the two days. Learn about GMO’s, homesteading, whole foods, raising bees, composting or dozens of other topics. Full speaker list here: 

– Eat some popcorn at Comet Corn. They use real butter and natural flavors like coconut curry and Bloody Mary.

– Support a local. Among the sustainable Sonoma County businesses at the expo: Amy’s Kitchen, Bella Rosa Coffee, Backyard CSA, California Coops, Clover Stornetta, Cook’s Spices, Epicurean Connection, Felton Acres, Nana Mae Organics, SonomaValley Portworks, Sonoma Chocolatiers and many others.

– Learn to cook something yummy. Chef Jill Nussinow, Kendra Kolling, Sheana Davis and John Lyle will be doing demos in the Garrett Building

– Hear some music: Sourdough Slim, Beso Negro, Petaluma Pete and the Pickled Red Beets are among the entertainers.

Tickets are $10 per day, $25 for all three days, open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Tickets and info at theheirloomexpo.com.

 

 

EatLiveRun blogger at Copperfields

By biteclub

Jenna Webber, the author of the wildly successful food blog, EatLiveRun will be appearing at Copperfields in Santa Rosa on Sept. 7 at 7 p.m. to discuss her new book, White Jacket Required.

In White Jacket Required, Weber reveals a deeper side of her life and offers a behind-the-scenes look at what went on at culinary school and the year that followed. She writes with candor and warmth as she describes the intense application process along with nitty-gritty details about classes like Meat Fabrication and Breads 101. Follow along as Weber confronts the ups and downs of training, gets her first job, deals with a family tragedy, maintains a long-distance relationship, and enters an exciting new chapter in her life, complete with unpredictable twists and turns. Scattered throughout you’ll find dozens of her delicious recipes, including Golden Granola, Girls’ Night Turkey Burgers with Spicy Sweet Potato Fries, Croque Monsieur, Old-Fashioned Chocolate Walnut Torte, and Pumpkin Whoopee Pies.

Upon graduating from college, Weber enrolled in culinary school—not to become a chef, but to become a food writer. She started the extremely popular food blog EatLiveRun (www.eatliverun.com), where she could share her exciting experiences as a new culinary student. Today thousands of people love reading her blog regularly; it now focuses on delicious family-friendly recipes, gorgeous food photography, and tasty travel tales.

Friday, September 7, 2012

7:00 PM

Copperfield’s Santa Rosa

775 Village Court
Santa Rosa, CA 95405

Farm to Fermentation Festival’s Jennifer Harris

By biteclub

Jennifer Harris always seems to show up with a bottle or jar of something, well, curious inside. Sometimes fizzing, maybe a little slimy or with an earthy funk, but inevitably delicious. 

A self-described fermentation addict, Harris is pied piper of one of the most ancient forms of preservation known to mankind.  Smart as a whip, the bubbly blonde can break down the science behind of lacto-fermentation and explain the difference between various probiotic bacteria quicker than you can say pickle. She’s also the organizer of the first Farm to Fermentation Festival, which will be held on Sept. 16 at Tara Firma Farms in Petaluma.  

So why all the hubub about SCOBYs and kefirs? Harris and others advocate the health benefits of probiotics found in many fermented foods. Science and food manufacturers seem to be catching up, offering more and more probiotic choices on grocery shelves. But at-home fermentation is one of the oldest, most traditional ways of preserving food — it’s just that many of us have forgotten how.

Between brinings, she answered a few questions about how she got started in the fermentation game

Q. How did you start fermenting?
A. During my freshman year of college, I met someone who was brewing kombucha in her dorm room. Her roommates began to complain about the smell, and I didn’t live in the dorms and so she asked if she could keep it at my house. I agreed, and she told me that she would stop by once a week to “tend” to it. Over the next few months, it became clear that she didn’t really have any idea what this thing was, or what to do with it. I began doing research on the stuff, and learned how to bottle it in order to achieve a carbonated product. In the next few years, it became popular on the store shelves. I got to the point where I was bottling 120 bottles every week to barter or give away, and I realized that I should start looking into other fermentations. Along the first few batches of pickles and sauerkraut, I started to notice my metabolism changing as I incorporated more fermented foods into my diet. One of the biggest changes that I noticed in the first two years was the decrease in common colds that I would get.

Q: What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever fermented?

A: Along the kombucha learning path, I discovered Wild Fermentation by Sandor Elix Katz. This book is filled with recipes for many cultural ferments – things I had never heard of. It encouraged to try things that weren’t in the book. I was inspired by Katz’ renegade attitude towards bacteria – and – as someone who always enjoys a moment of rebelling, I was excited to start playing with my food in ways that I hadn’t been formally taught. One of my favorite things to do is to inoculate new mediums with the kombucha SCOBY or vinegar “mother”.  By introducing new bacteria (other than green tea leaves and their native bacteria) to a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast, you see the true life of the fermentation as it changes its ecosystem. A simple way to think about this is taking a vinegar mother from a white wine vinegar vessel and introducing it to blackberry wine, beer, or mead. It changes the living ecosystem into a rather different one than the white wine, but still allows the fermentation to make an enzymatic change to the medium. Banana vinegar? Russian Stout kombucha? I am most excited to start experimenting with the nukazuke pickle process next. This is a traditional Japanese process of fermentation involving inoculated rice bran as the medium for fermentation. I am waiting to start my Nuka pot until the week that the festival is over!

Q: How do you explain fermentation to people?

A: To me, Fermentation is a natural process that is happening all around us. Like most of the wonderful things in this world, it preceded humankind. It is essentially the breakdown of molecules through enzymatic conversion.  It’s a way to incorporate living foods into your body’s ecosystem, which diversifies our internal flora and aids us when we run into a pathogen or toxin. It’s also a way to play Creator, and control an environment full of living creatures.

Q: Who is your fermentation idol?A: My fermentation idol is actually someone that I’ve never met in person. Her name is Jane Campbell and she lives in St. Louis, MO. We have found each other through the internet, via Sandor Katz and web forums dedicated to home fermentation. She and I mentor each other with new ferments. She ferments mostly for experimentation and has a deep love of scientific process. I find that many people are more into either lactic acid fermentation (think kraut and pickles) or they are into alcoholic fermentation. Jane is equally interested in both, as I am, and it makes for lots of fun conversation.

Q: You often show off a massive Kombucha mother you call the SCOBY Hotel. What is it?

A: The SCOBY Hotel was an accidental discovery. I can’t admit to coining the phrase. I was reading Kombucha Kamp’s website one day and found that the author referred to one of her vessels as the “SCOBY Hotel.” I looked over at one of my kombucha vessels that was housing about 10 SCOBYs and I thought, “Oh, that’s what that is. A hotel.” In actuality, this is a great way to store the “veil” or “mother” in its favorite medium, so that if you want to experiment with other mediums, you’ll have some back up SCOBYs to throw at a crock of something new. It’s also a great way to store them until you meet someone who says, “I have always wanted to make that stuff! I need to find someone who will give me some of their mother.”

Q: How did you come up with the idea for the Farm to Fermentation Festival?

A: After coordinating the Freestone Fermentation Festival, I had a hunch that Sonoma County wanted something more. I wanted to offer an event for those who truly wanted to learn these processes to do at home. There are so many food festivals in California that allow you to show up, nibble all day, and go home stuffed. The only problem is, you have to wait until the next food festival to get that great food again! With Farm to Fermentation, you will learn that you can take farm fresh products and turn them into nutrient dense foods in your home. This event offers you the opportunity to sample the products made in small-batch fermentation, as well as attend a demonstration class on how to make salumi, sauerkraut, pickles, yogurts and more at home. The event also features a Fermenters Market, where high quality (and small-batch!) fermented foods are showcased for attendees to sample and learn about.

Q: What’s the best way to get involved in fermentation?

A: There are many ways to get involved! Finding out what you like best and starting with that is my best advice. Did you used to love your Grandmother’s pickles? Does hot-from-the-oven sourdough bread make you weak in the knees? Do your find yourself drooling at the local cheese counter? Find a fermented food that YOU are interested in making, and figure out how to make it. The process of fermentation is different for each fermented food/beverage, but similar in the way that you learn to help control the environment in order to proliferate the correct bacteria. With the first few batches of pickles and sauerkraut, I started to notice my metabolism changing as I incorporated more fermented foods into my diet. One of the biggest changes that I noticed in the first two years was the decrease in common colds that I would get.

Farm to Fermentation Festival: Tickets, $35 per person, Sept. 16, 2012, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tara Firma Farms, Petaluma.  Buy tickets at http://www.farmtofermentation.com/tickets/

Restaurant Watch: Healdsburg

By biteclub


Lots happening in Healdsburg this fall. Here are several restaurants to watch for…

– Taverna Sofia Greek and Mediterranean restaurant is slated to take over the former Bovolo space inside Copperfield’s Bookstore. A Sofia Lim, a Santa Rosa Junior College culinary grad, is reportedly planning to offer traditional foods of the region, including fresh baked goods. Opening is slated for late October.

– The Stark’s Bravas Bar (at the former Ravenous location at 420 Center) is looking like an EARLY OCTOBER opening.

– No sign of life yet at the Parish Cafe on Mill Street, a Louisiana-themed restaurant, but a fall opening is anticipated.

– Recently approved: Winemaker Pete Seghesio’s Healdsburg Meat Co., a salumeri and meat shop that’s slated for Spring 2014 in the old post office lot.

– Casa de Mole is slated to open late this year as a carniceria and mole spot from the owners of Agave.

– Rumor has it there may be expansion plans for certain downtown icon. But not official word yet.

– Affronti has closed. Cafe Lucia is slated to open later this fall in the space. 

– Pizzando opens Sept. 18

Ulia’s Deli

By biteclub


Ulia’s Deli is an oft-overlooked gem of a lunch spot just off Stony Point and Ninth Avenue in Santa Rosa. But things go Greek on Wednesday nights, when they serve up $5 gyros from 5 to 9p.m., exceptional spanikopita and homemade baklava. Worth a trip.

130 Stony Point Road, Santa Rosa, (707) 525-8542.

Old Redwood Brewing Company

By biteclub


The taps are flowing at Old Redwood Brewing Company, located on the Windsor Town Green. Modeled after wine tasting rooms, the brewery offers samples of their current batches of micro-brewed beer. So far, the response has been more than the four partners, Dominic Foppoli, Adam Derum, Mike Stewart and Bobby Anderson, had expected. In fact, they’ve sold out of several of the locally-inspired beers. But don’t worry, they’re busily brewing more, and members of the Brewing Club are entitled to first dibs when the new brew is released at the beginning of each month.

Current beers include “The Fulton” made with local honey, Windsor Wit, a raspberry wit beer, “The Highway” IPA and “The Colonel” a Belgian Triple. The tasting room hours are still a bit sporadic, but are typically Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 7p.m. But call ahead to be sure.

The expansive  9000 Windsor Road space will soon share a wine tasting room with Dom Whitney. More details at oldredwoodbrewing.com, (707) 836-3186.

Read more about the guys behind Old Redwood Brewing Company…

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Adam Parks of Victorian Farmstead Meats

By biteclub
Adam Parks of Victorian Farmstead Meats
Adam Parks of Victorian Farmstead Meats

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The slogan “Life’s too short to eat crappy meat” is written into the concrete in front of Adam Parks’ Sebastopol butcher shop. More than a clever saying, it’s become a mantra for the owner of Victorian Farmstead Meats. Written, essentially, in stone.

Parks’ mission: A direct, hoof-to-table connection between ranchers and meat consumers. Though the scale of his operation is small–just a few hundred pounds of local beef, pork, lamb and poultry sold each week, it’s part of a growing trend toward knowing just where our food comes from. In other words, Parks knows exactly how your steak got from the field to your plate.

Victorian Farmstead’s growing local meat CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program has more than 100 members who receive bi-weekly meat boxes filled with grass-fed steaks, lamb roasts, hams, bacon, sausage or chickens from his own ranch or those of his partners at Marin’s Stemple Creek, Petaluma’s Langley Farms and a few carefully chosen others.

“I strive to have a shop that specializes in local, all-natural meats as well as specialty and custom cuts you can’t get at the chain stores. Meat raised, slaughtered, and cut the right way, the way it used to be done,” explains Parks.

“Shop” may be a bit of a stretch to describe the 200-square-foot outbuilding the Sebastopol rancher has set up on his Gravenstein Highway farm. In addition to his own chickens, Parks sells sustainably grown meats from his nearby Stemple Creek and Langley Farms.

Tucked behind the stately blue Victorian house that once belonged to his grandparents, Parks slides open the barn doors of his Chop Shop to reveal a large freezer and a packed deli case. There’s just room to slip inside for a peek, but mostly you stand at the door and pick up your VF Subscription box or just order a la carte from what Parks has written on the chalkboards nailed to the door. It’s the antithesis of the carefully shrink-wrapped pieces of anonymous feedlot meat you find at a big-box store.

Rarely without his signature fedora, sunglasses and sly grin, Parks later this year hopes to open a second Chop Shop at the forthcoming Barlow Center. The culinary and retail space in downtown Sebastopol, still under construction, promotes itself on a corrugated-tin sign at the constructin site as “The Butcher, The Baker, The Candlestick Maker.”

“I want to be the Butcher,” says Parks.

But the path to becoming a sustainable-meat purveyor hasn’t been an easy one. A former PGA Tour director, Parks spent most of his life avoiding his family’s rural roots. In 2009, he and his wife took over operation of his family’s iconic Christmas tree farm, and began transforming the five-acre plot into a poultry farm. He currently raises chickens for eggs and meat, along with seasonal turkeys. Parks has an additional plot nearby where he pastures several hundred birds.

Walking the grounds, its apparent most of the birds live a pretty pastoral existence, fledging in an impeccably neat barn, then moving out to moveable “tractor” pens to pick and scratch at the pasture until they’re ready for processing. But that’s where things get a bit more complicated.

With the closure of the Fulton Farms processing plant, Sonoma County lost its last chicken slaughterhouse–the last USDA-approved plant to commercially slaughter chickens within 100 miles. So, to comply with federal standards, ranchers instead are required now to transport their animals to Stockton for slaughter, then bring the processed animals back to Sonoma County to sell. It’s something Parks says is not only unsustainable and against the idea of a local food movement, but puts the animals under unnecessary stress.

For awhile, Parks slaughtered about 150 chickens per week on his Sebastopol farm under what he claimed was a USDA exemption for slaughter on private land. The county balked, and shut down the slaughtering. He’s currently working with the county to resolve the dispute, and compliance could cost him up to $40,000. So instead, he trucks the birds to Stockton.

“Anyone can pick, wash and put up a vegetable stand. So why can’t I have a meat stand?” said Parks. “So much of this is just common sense. The last thing I’m going to do is make someone sick. I’d be out of business five minutes ago,” said Parks.

Parks’ chickens retails for up to $25, compared to $6-$12 for grocery store chickens. It’s a significant difference, but the cost of raising the birds sustainably, in addition to trucking them to slaughter, adds to the cost. The flavor, however, is unmistakable — less mushy, more “chicken-y.”

Whether at local farm markets or his own Sebastopol stand, Parks is a constant champion for locally-raised meat. “Life really is too short to eat crappy meat,” he says.

Want to join the CSA or find out more? Check out Parks’ site at vicfarmmeats.com

Staches and Spokes

By biteclub

 

Get your ‘stache waxed and your spokes shined for the September 8, 2012 celebration of facial hair and bicycling, appropriately named...’Staches and Spokes.

What do the two have in common? Ponder the mystery as you ride your bicycle to the event (natch), watch those crazy Whiskeydrunk cyclists whirl round the Whiskeydrome, check out art made by all sorts of clever local craftspersons and listen to the the happy tunes of Choque Diferente and Elephant.

Food & Drink: Gerard’s Paella, Lagunitas Beer.

No mustache-themed festival could be complete without a mustache contest featuring twirled, pulled, braided and coiffed facial hairs galore.

‘Staches & Spokes will be held the top floor of the D Street parking garage in downtown Santa Rosa, Sept. 8, 2012 from 3-8PM.

This event supports Artstart, a youth non-profit arts organization in Santa Rosa. This event is free and open to the public.

 

Sake Pairing Dinner at Hana Japanese

By biteclub

Hana Chef Ken Tominaga is a master of Japanese cuisine, and a chance to eat through one of his luxe tasting menus is an event in itself.  Paired with sakes from Shirataki Shuzo, makers of premium Jozen Mizunogotoshi sake, it’s a rare opportunity to really understand the subtleties of Eastern cuisine.

On Sept. 3, 2012, Hana hosts a six course sake pairing dinner with representatives from the Japanese brewery on hand to educate diners about the subtleties of the sakes.

 

Here’s the menu:

First Course

Happy Spoon

Kumamoto oysters with uni, house cured ikura, tobiko and ponzu creme fraiche

Paired with

Jozen Mizunogotoshi Junmai Daiginjo

 

Second Course

Carpaccio of Japanese scallop with strawberry vinaigrette

Paired with

Jozen Mizunogotoshi Junami Ginjo White

 

Third Course

Kanpachi aburi with yuzu kosho

Paired with

Jozen Mizunogotoshi Junmai Ginjo Pink

 

Fourth Course

Tempura of shrimp, asparagus, maitake mushroom and kisu

Paired with

Jozen Mizunogotoshi Junmai

 

Fifth Course

Pan sautéed yellowtail with Marsala yuu an sauce

Paired with

Autumn Jozen Nama Junmai Ginjo

 

Sixth Course

Fresh summer berries with mascarpone cheese and 20 years aged emiko’s plum wine

Paired with

Shingo no ippon Junmai Daiginjo

 

$110 per person. Reservations: 586-0270, 101 Golf Course Dr., Rohnert Park.

 

Name That Goat Cheese

By biteclub
The Yet-Unamed Goat Cheese

CONTEST CLOSED: BARBICHE WINS

The Yet-Unamed Goat Cheese
The Yet-Unamed Goat Cheese

 

Redwood Hill Farm has been busy crafting a new goat cheese, to be released as part of the Sebastopol dairy’s 45th anniversary. And they need your help naming it!

Think you’ve got a great idea? Here’s what you need to consider: It’s a new addition to their family of handmade, bloomy rind cheeses (think of Brie or Camembert). Similar to their award-winning ‘California Crottin’ and ‘Terra’ cheeses, there’s one major difference: Instead of the texture firming with age, it ripens soft and creamy. Descriptors: Robust, earthy, complex, long flavor profile.

Leave your suggestions for the new name in the comments below. I’ll choose my favorite for submission to the Redwood Hill, and that BiteClubber will win their choice of the “Cheeseboard” or “Traditional Favorites” from the Redwood Hill Dairy catalog of deliciousness. I can’t promise you’ll win the ultimate cheese-naming contest, but here’s to trying!