Page 579 – Sonoma Magazine

The Costco Report: Organic Beef

March 2011

By biteclub

I cooked this steak – with a simple red wine-honey reduction and a creamy parmigiano-peppercorn salad – in honor of one of my especially snarky fans, someone (you know who you are!) who objects strenuously every time I buy something from a supermarket for what I’ve billed as a “cooking locally” weblog: I’ll stipulate the point, insofar as the letter of the law is concerned, but to paraphrase Ralph Waldo, zealotry is the hobgoblin of small-minded cooks, and my money says I’m not the only parent in the County who’d like to serve their kids a decent, healthy steak for a few less bucks. But is it a decent, healthy steak?

The meat in question is sold under Costco’s Organic Ranchers brand and costs $12.99/lb for USDA choice-grade rib eye; different cuts vary in price. The ultimate supplier is Dakota Organic Beef, the largest certified-organic beef supplier in the country and a part of the Meyer Natural Foods Company. From the company website:

[We] never use hormones, antibiotics or harmful chemicals. Our cattle are born and raised on certified organic pastures in the heart of cattle country… They are vegetarian fed and finished on a diet of certified organic grains. We provide the most natural environment for our cattle including unrestricted outdoor access, humane handling and opportunities to engage in natural behaviors. [We have] made it our mission to maintain sustainable stewardship for the cattle and the environment to meet the needs of today and generations to come.

All of which are the right things to say, and I commend them for doing so, although the die-hard locavore may object to the implied road trips: the cattle are raised in Oregon, fed grain grown from the Midwest, and then processed in North Dakota, all before ending up back in Santa Rosa, where I bought my steak; the company also imports meat all the way from Australia for its ground beef. Personally, I tend to worry more about provenance than transportation, so I’d also like know whether the beasts finish out their lives on pasture, or subject to the indignities of the feedlot, but I couldn’t find the answer.

Dakota Beef depends on grain-finishing and, like many ranchers, make the case that feeding grain produces a more tender, marbled, and therefore superior product, but I have to disagree: the health benefits of 100% grass-fed beef are incontrovertible, and its flavors are cleaner, brighter, and more pronounced. In contrast, I find the softer and more densely marbled flesh of corn-fed cattle to be overly rich, flabby, and bland, and I suspect that the perception of the superiority of corn-fed beef has more to do with what we’ve been trained to expect than with any inherent quality in the meat itself.

Flavor-wise, the Costco steak occupies a middle ground on the grass-corn spectrum, with a considerably beefier flavor and less gratuitous fat than a typical supermarket cut, but lacking the clean, grassy flavors and firm texture that I look for in the 100% pasture-based, locally farmed beef from folks like the Owen Family Farm in Hopland (sorry, no website), the Black Sheep Farm (707-874-2152), Marin Sun Farms (widely available), Wyeth Acres, or Mac Magruder (available at Willowside Meat & Sausage Factory in Santa Rosa).

To be fair, most of these local alternatives are neither certified organic nor graded by the USDA, and they cost considerably more than the $12.99/lb I paid at Costco – ranging from a low of $14.95 for the same cut at Willowside, to more like $21 at most of the other farms – so most folks will want to take those factors into account, too. Ultimately, and at the risk of filing yet another post under “two-handed economist”, I still strongly prefer the local guys on the basis of sustainability and especially quality, but I have no objection to the Costco product, particularly at the price, and I wouldn’t hesitate to buy it again.

New direction for Santa Rosa’s Wednesday Night Market

March 2011

By biteclub

One of four new poster design for the Wednesday Night Market in Santa Rosa

Can new leadership bring renewed life to downtown’s Wednesday Night Market?

The downtown Santa Rosa street market, which opens May 11, 2011 and runs through September, has long been a vibrant mix of music, food, farmers and crafts but in recent years has seen flagging attendance, decreased funding, a muddling of vendors and frustration from downtown merchants.

New director Janet Ciel, with the help of seven new board members, hopes that a spruced up image, new events, more artisan purveyors and some bigger name musical acts can steer the summertime market in a new direction. Or maybe on old one.

“We want the market to get back to focusing on what makes Sonoma County great. We’re focusing on the community, good foods for all palate levels, wine, entertainment and music,” said downtown marketer and new board member Chris Denny. His Santa Rosa company, The Engine is Red, is creating a new branding and marketingfor the market.

“I have never enountered a more driven, excited, movtivated, creative and connected group of people,” said Ciel, who took over the helm in January. The Sebastopol resident (who lives part-time in Santa Rosa) is a 17-year veteran and organizer of the Bodega Seafood Art & Wine Festival. Board members hope her experience heading the festival and connections to the art, wine, dance and food world, will bring a new caliber of artisan vendors to the event.

The group is hinting at a wine component to the event, though they’re still mum on exactly what that might mean. Denny said that much of the food and farm component will remain consistent, but that the group is working hard to reach out to new purveyors. In addition, the market plans to add several larger-scale music acts, a guide map that will include downtown merchants and the possibility of a more-inclusive layout for downtown merchants. Business owners have complained that previous markets blocked sidewalks and entrances, and trash cans and other detritus of the event piled up in front of their storefronts.

“We really want everyone to feel that the market is of value to them and to welcome it,” said Ciel.

The event’s current evolution was sparked by the departure of former market director Tracy Pugh, who left in December after 13 years. She plans to work with her husband, Russ Pugh, at the Vineman Triathalon. Denny said that an organic shakeout occurred afterward, with several board longtime board members also offering up their seats to new members. New board members include Elisa Pedersen of Moss Adams, Cheryl Cruz of Summit State Bank, Denny, Nina Ferrando of Mama Roux, Dan Lanahan of Carle Mackie Power & Ross, LLP, Orhan Sarabi of Fusion Fitness and Laurence Becker of Community Builders Group. Returning board members are board president Terri Moore of Sterling Savings Bank, Ursula Anderson of Hottie Dogs, Riley Benedetti of Willie Birds, Art Horner of Santa Rosa High School, Bob Maddigan of Pedersens Furniture, Ty Marestein of Mary’s Pizza Shack, Valerie Silva and Gianni Messmer of Round Robin, Chrome Lotus and Kettle Corn.

The deadline for vendor applications for the weekly summertime market, which runs from May through October, is March 11. http://www.srdowntownmarket.com/

Fussy Cookies

March 2011

By biteclub

A guest post by Katie Githens. You can follow Ms. Githens on her own blog, Clary Sage, where she writes about the quirks and comforts of cooking and life on the West Coast.
Cooking with flowers has never thrilled me. Call me crazy, but not once have I thought, “You know what this salad needs? Nasturtiums!” I leave the blossoms in the garden and call it a day.

Then along came a lavender bush. This specimen is a lavender plant the way Andre the Giant was a human. To quote his character Fezzik from The Princess Bride: “It’s not my fault being the biggest and the strongest. I don’t even exercise!” Over the winter, the purple perfumed colossus began swallowing the back porch and encroaching on the flagstone pathway. So I did the only thing I could. I grabbed the pruning shears. And then a cookbook. By Sunday evening I had enough lavender satchels to outfit three-dozen bridal showers and a new cookie recipe to boot.

While the name—lavender fleur de sel shortbread—sounds like a fussy accoutrement for tea and crumpets (pinkies up, love), the dough came together easily, especially with the extra tablespoon of butter I added. It was a touch too crumbly otherwise. Little wonder that the wafer-thin shortbreads are buttery, flaky, and notably savory.

My husband even detected a hint of rosemary—perhaps the peppery musk of the rosemary bush that grew next to the lavender, or maybe the herbaceous essence of the fresh lavender plant itself. I don’t own any cookie cutters, but I found that the metal rim of a ¼-cup measuring tin is ideal for the task. I punched out a baker’s dozen of perfect silver-dollar shortbreads in no time flat. The only trick is budgeting enough time for chilling the batter and the cookies. My lavender-spiced pastry-making binge had its naysayers, however, namely the brigade of honeybees who usually attend to the flowers’ nectar. And my dog who usually attends to the bees. Despite my admonishments, she finds them as irresistible as Flamin’ Hot Cheetos—she must have acquired my husband’s love for spicy foods.

Aptly, these shortbread wafers are delicious with a drizzle of honey.

Lavender Fleur de Sel Shortbread Recipe courtesy of Leite’s Culinaria. If fresh lavender is unavailable, look for culinary lavender in gourmet stores. Christie Matheson of Leite’s Culinaria recommends the variety sold by Matanzas Creek Winery in Santa Rosa, California, online at matanzascreek.com.

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons chopped dried lavender blossoms (or 2 1/2 teaspoons fresh blossoms)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (plus 1 tablespoon if needed)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Fleur de sel

Sift the flour and fine sea salt together in a small bowl.
Combine the sugar and lavender in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix for 15 to 20 seconds to combine. Add the butter and mix until combined. Mix in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix on low speed until it forms a soft dough.
Shape the dough into a disk, wrap tightly in plastic, and refrigerate for 20 to 30 minutes.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thick and cut it into 1 1/2- to 2 1/2-inch shapes (circles, squares, or hearts) using a cookie cutter or knife. Place the shapes on the baking sheet, sprinkle with some fleur de sel, and place the baking sheet in the freezer for 15 minutes, until the dough is stiff.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Bake the lavender shortbread cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the edges turn golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes on the sheet, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. The shortbread keeps for up to 5 days in an airtight container.

Golden Dragon becoming Thai Time

March 2011

By biteclub

Golden Dragon, a small, family-run Chinese eatery that’s long been a PD lunchtime haunt has been sold. And while the food was never much to rave about, many a noontime meeting, secret rendezvous and gossip sessions were held at the dimly-lit 402 Mendocino Ave. location. The restaurant will become a Thai Time Bistro. Sound familiar? Owners closed a Cloverdale restaurant of the same name in 2009.

That makes for a total of four Thai eateries in dowtown SR (California Thai, Thai House and Khoom Lanna in RR Square) and three Chinese eateries (Ting Hau, King Buffet and Gary Chu’s). What’s your favorite?

One-Legged Cooks on Percocet

March 2011

By biteclub

I like to cook. I especially like to eat. Fortunately, I also enjoy riding bikes, because nothing beats back the Viagra-like midsection of middle age like a little exercise. Less fortunately, all that eating and riding must have disagreed with my left knee, seeing as how I’m writing to you today, post-operatively doped up, with slightly less tissue in my synovium – that’s the capsule encasing said unhappy knee joint – than I had the last time we spoke.

I met the surgeon’s knife on Tuesday. It began innocuously enough, sitting in the Barcalounger of a pre-op suite when I should have been having lunch, swaddled in a sack of crinkly pastel paper the size of a double-wide, and sporting an irritatingly itchy hair condom and silly purple socks, which for some reason had grippy stuff on both their tops and their bottoms. Can’t be too careful, I suppose.

It’s a funny thing, how time spent waiting in medical facilities seems to oscillate between tedium and terror, with virtually nothing in between… But eventually, after all the poking and the prodding, the low-level interrogations, and enough downtime to bring on the dull roar of symptomatic caffeine withdrawal, I grabbed my IV bags, said goodbye to my odd-looking companion over there in the corner, and shuffled off down the hall and into the OR.

If you’ve never been knocked out for surgery, let me tell you that the worst of the experience, by far, is the bit just before: lying flat on your back and very much alone in a cold, sterile room full of vaguely threatening machines, everyone around you dressed in hazmat suits and busily doing something or other that you can’t quite follow, all you can really think of is, Will I wake up? Will I know if I don’t?

The last thing I remember – and I cannot adequately express my gratitude for the implicit vote of confidence – is that my surgeon came to do battle in a black Harley Davidson bandanna, liberally festooned with a skull-and-crossbones motif, and that he had Don’t Get Fooled Again cranking, and I mean really cranking, over the official OR sound system:

[youtube Rp6-wG5LLqE]

And then you’re awake, and it’s over. I suspect we all remember some small, seemingly inconsequential detail at this point; for me, what I remember most, apart from the jolt of suddenly being somewhere else with a noticeable absence of dinosaur rock, is that my left foot had decided to nap like the dead, and that I had a frustrating inability to get my eyes, brain, and mouth to work in any kind of coordinated fashion. Someone hands me a paper cup of water, a soup cracker, an extra-large Percocet; I think I sign a few papers. My wife and kids are waiting, of course, and I’m home.

My wife takes great care of me, feeding me dinner, renting a stack of mindless movies, indulging my penchant for purple Gatorade and Pringles when I’m sick. But already I miss the kitchen, and that’s when it occurs to me: What am I going to cook when she goes back to work tomorrow, and I’m weaving around the kitchen on one leg like a drunken flamingo?

Please post suggestions in the comments. The best idea that I can replicate on prescription painkillers and a crutch will get cooked, photographed, and published, with full credit to the author.

Sonoma County Pastry Chefs

March 2011

By biteclub

Where to find great pastry chefs and bakers outside the bakeries? Sonoma County has a plethora. Here are some of my favorites…

At John Ash & Co.(4330 Barnes Road, Santa Rosa, 527-7687), Pastry Chef Casey Stone is in charge of sweet treats. One of his signature dishes: A fromage blank cheesecake that he gussies up with different seasonal fruits. Currently it’s a butterscotch flavored cheesecake with bourbon caramel poached apples, apple gelees and a walnut florentine cookie. Another recent favorite: Roast peanut chocolate mousse cake make with dark chocolate ganache, bittersweet chocolate mousse and chocolate covered peanuts. To dress up the plate, he adds chili-spiked peanut butter and milk chocolate gelato with dark chocolate sauce. Just want to satisfy your sweet tooth? Stone’s desserts are available in the Frontroom Lounge a la carte.

At the luxe Madrona Manor (1001 Westside Road, Healdsburg, (800) 258-4003), pastry chef Robert Nieto takes his cue from the molecular gastronomy focus of the restaurant’s executive chef Jesse Mallgren. Along with the always popular tableside ice cream, made with cream and liquid nitrogen, Nieto has six of his own desserts on the menu currently. They include a deconstructed lemon meringue pie, with toast meringue, honey sponge candy, pomegranate gel, wild sorrel, and lavender ice cream; a Gianduja bombe with bittersweet soft ganache, candied cocoa nibs, orange marmalade gel, chocolate soil, chocolate tuile, and orange-rosemary ice cream and a sour dough financier tart with white chocolate mousse, bread tuile, olive oil-caramel, estate meyer lemon gel, and pinenut ice cream.

Applewood Inn’s Executive Chef Bruce Freiseke handles the pastry program at his Guerneville Restaurant personally. One of his favorite desserts may be one of the simplest, chocolate French macarons. “They just come out magical,” he said. More complex is a chocolate tuile (a thin, waferlike cookie) filled with Earl Grey ganache, stewed fruits and mascarpone cream or rich semifreddo, an ultra-rich soft frozen mousse scooped out like ice cream.

More great desserts…

Veteran pastry chef Scott Noll spent years at John Ash & Co. and Barndiva before landing at Jackson’s Bar & Oven where he does triple duty as pastry chef and pizza dough maker for the Railroad Square eatery as well as bread-baking for neighboring Syrah. His signature: Beignets with three sauces. The crispy twists of fried dough are the restaurant’s most popular dessert, with the sauces changing seasonally. Currently they’re salted, hazelnut and orange caramel. Noll’s pizza dough, which has evolved into some of the area’s best, is based on a starter he first made 20 years ago in Alaska, says executive chef Josh Silvers. 135 4th Street
Santa Rosa, (707) 545-6900.

Impressive too are Addie Forbes’ desserts at Hot Box Grill (18350 Hwy 12, Sonoma, 939-8383), which include both simple comfort desserts (s’more tart with homemade graham crackers, coconut cream pie) as well as more complicated dishes (Gingerbread financier, chocolate peanut butter mousse brownie with Captain Crunch creme anglaise).

Two of my favorite desserts, chocolate budino and meyer lemon tarts, have recently been on the menu at Peter Lowell’s in Sebastopol. New chef Daniel Kedan, a Yountville alum has already upped the ante of the restaurant’s local, seasonal menu. But Kedan’s wife is a also a local pastry chef (she was responsible for the Alinea-inspired candy cap mushroom ice cream at P/30), so there’s no doubt she may be whispering a few sweet ideas into his ear. With citrus in season, Meyer lemons figure in prominently to tarts and cheesecakes. The rich chocolate budino, a sort of ultra creamy Italian pudding, is served with caramel whipped cream and Verona chocolate pearls.

With baking in his blood, Alain Pisan comes by his pastry skills naturally. Trained by his father in Provence, he honed his skilled in St. Tropez and Paris, bringing to Sonoma County his unforgettable Napoleons, St. Tropez tarts, eclairs and croissant. Tucked away in the Landmark Executive Center where many of the Sutter Medical offices reside (3883 Airway Drive, Santa Rosa 528-3095), it makes a trip to the doctor something to look forward to.

Viola Pastry Boutique owner Jennifer McMurry has her hands in all of her restaurant’s daily fare — from sandwiches to evening specials — but her true passion lies in pastry. Having started her business at local farmers’ markets selling cupcakes, cookies and delish desserts, her Montgomery Village Bistro always has a case brimming with cakes, cookies, pastries and seasonal fruit tarts. 709 Village Court, Santa Rosa, 544-8830,

Catherine Burgett runs the pastry program for the Santa Rosa Junior College Culinary program, a foundation school for many local chefs. At the retail bakery and cafe (7th and B St., Santa Rosa, 576-0279, open 7:30am to 2pm Wednesday through Friday), top picks include creative morning pastries, hearty breads and cakes made daily. Overseen by staff, the confections are basically schoolwork for the students — resulting in a wide variety of flavors, ingredients and techniques that change up daily.

Munch Mondays scrapped

March 2011

By biteclub

Hundreds in line | Photo John Burgess, PD

Munch Mondays have been scrapped. Special event permits granted by the city of Santa Rosa for mobile food trucks between January 10 and February 28, 2011 will not be renewed after a vocal outcry from downtown brick and mortar restaurants.

Following several weeks of heated discussion between the city’s Economic Development department, which initially granted the event temporary space at the parking lot on E Street between Second and Third Streets, downtown restaurateurs and owners of mobile vendors of the Eat Fleet, it was suggested that the event move to a more distant location on Sonoma and D Streets.

That, along with discussions to move the event to Railroad Square never materialized, leaving the event in temporary limbo until today’s decision by the city.
CalTrans and the Railroad Square Association Restaurants nixed hosting the mobile vendors saying that they would be invited to certain special events in Railroad Square including Summer Nights.

Why the turnaround? According to a press release from the city, as debate about the location grew, so did the concern that managing the issues would continue to be time-consuming. “This being only on e of our many economic development programs, the Munch Mondays discussion began to take up on inordinate amount of staff and restaurateur time,” said David Gouin, Economic Development and Housing Director.

The decision by the city wasn’t completely surprising to Street-Eatz and La Texanita mobile truck co-owner Jillian Dorman, but disappointing nonetheless. “Most of the customers I talked to today are really surprised it isn’t continuing because it was so successful,” she said. “I think its fair to say that we’re going to continue to do what we’re doing and we plan to continue to grow our business,” Dorman added.

As part of the Eat Fleet, a group of mostly local vendors participating in Munch Monday and Rohnert Park’s newly launched Tasty Tuesday, she said that the group continues to receive offers in other towns and locations including Sonoma, Healdsburg and will be at their usual spots around Santa Rosa the rest of the week. “People can check out our Facebook pages or websites to find where we are,” she said.

“It’s been so successful in other cities as an option for eating. I think in time it will be more accepted here,” Dorman concluded.

The Bacon Hall of Fame Top 5

March 2011

By biteclub

The Bacon Hall of Fame. I should stop right there, really. But if you caught Monday’s missive, then you already know how excited I am about the upcoming festivities at COCHON555, the concert tour for cooks and farmers and roving celebration of all things good and just about the noble swine, so hopefully you’ll bear with me for one more post.

That being said, nobody needs to hear me bang the table all over again about how much I love bacon – I mean, really, who doesn’t – so I thought I’d take a different tack and offer up my Top 5 Predictions for Sunday’s big hoo-ha, and invite you to do the same:

The PK Top 5 Predictions for COCHON555

1. There will be more tattoos than pigs at the chefs’ stations.

2. There will be bacon. Lots, and lots, of bacon.

3. Not all diners will appreciate whole-hog butchery.

4. There will be at least one beautiful vegetable. But probably not many more than one.

5. John and Duskie of Zazu, the sole Sonoma chefs in the competition, will represent their County big-time, and walk away with porcine gold.

Who else will I see on Sunday? And what do you think will happen?!

[All photos courtesy of COCHON555]

Windsor: Whirlwind of closures, openings

March 2011

By biteclub

Pizzeria DePaoli says farewell: Longtime town green pizzeria DePaoli’s plans to shutter March 15, 2011. According to an email sent to patrons from owner Fred Langley, who also also owned the former Langley’s on th Green, the difficult decision to close came after unsuccessful attempts to renegotiate their lease. Efforts to operate under a more viable scenario were unfruitful, he said in the letter. “I am thankful for all of your support over the years and want nothing more than the best for our community,” he added.

Truc Linh replaced by Namaste: Vietnamese restaurant Truc Linh, also on the Town Green shuttered at the end of January. Namaste Indian and Himalayan restaurant has opened in it’s space. BiteClubber Dena gives thumbs up on her first visit.

Also recently opened, Moxie’s Yogurt. More than just your average fro-yo shop, this is dessert with some tasty local cred. Owners Angie Boudro and Melissa Jinks want you to try taste combinations like Wine Country Cheesecake with local pomegranate balsamic vinegar or farm fresh tart with Handmade Pantry (you can find them at the farmer’s markets) granola. That’s not to say you won’t find Reeses Pieces, gummy worms and cookie dough, too. But along with all the usual suspects are nice surprises like lemon curd, fresh fruit (not the canned or defrosted stuff), chewy mochi bits and agave syrup. Classy. It’s all self-serve, so you can mix and match to you’re heart’s content, which you will undoubtedly do. Just don’t forget the cherry on top. 8930 Brooks Road South, Windsor. moxiesyogurt.com

Molecular Classes, Bizarre Food

March 2011

By biteclub

Ideas in Food: White Chocolate Sheet with crab apple, parsley and wild char roe

Are you molecular enough for this? Madrona Manor’s Executive Chef, Jesse Mallgren will host a five course dinner on March 16, 2011 with Aki Kamozawa and H. Alexander Talbot of Ideas in Food. The couple are heavy hitters in the molecular gastronomy world, consulting and teaching chefs how to work with things like Activa, liquid nitrogen and CO2, sous vide and powdered fats. Reservations required, $90 per person, $47 for wine pairings, 433-4231. Kamozawa and Talbot will also teach several classes on March 14 and 15 including a three hour session on transglutaminase, a protein to “restructure” meat an poultry; liquid nitrogen and the properties of cooking with eggs. More details and info…

That’s So Bizarre
Tonight’s Episode of Bizarre Foods includes a stop on the Sonoma Coast for, uh, raw abalone?