Day 2 in the Big Apple

Tuesday, October 20

This is the first day the chefs have to prepare a meal for guests and these aren't just any guests...they are "the press". There are folks from magazines, print media and bloggers. Cooking in the kitchen are Jeff (Mall), Josh (Silvers), me, Josh's wife, Regina Silvers and our God-send, Noah Senitz. Noah has worked with us on the farm, has worked catering jobs with us, now lives in San Diego (my home town) and paid his way to fly to NYC to cook with us. He kept laughing as we thanked him, and as he laughed he shook his head and told us he couldn't believe we were thanking him for crashing our gig! Guess it is all the way you look at it!

The site of the event is the Astor Center. It is the most amazing event space with state of the art equipment, great dishes, a well stocked kitchen and all very new! That is saying a lot for a kitchen! We had to do a little shopping before we got there and arrived with Noah outside the venue waiting for us!

The theme of the event was, of course, the cookbook, Down Home: Downtown - Seasonal Recipes from Two Sonoma Wine Country Restaurants. The chefs each prepared items which were reflective of their personal styles. Here is the menu: (Jeff is Down Home, Josh is Downtown)

Tray Passed Items
Down Home - Fried Green Tomatoes topped with El Rancho Dressing (we picked, and packed our very own green tomatoes!)
Downtown - Potato Latkes topped with an Apple Fennel Slaw
Paired with Rodney Strong Chardonnay

First Course
Down Home - Mixed Greens with Bellwether Farms Pepato Cheese, Pickled Onions and Candied Pecans
Downtown - Simple Green Salad that is wrapped in a cucumber with goat cheese and enoki mushrooms and flower petals
Paired with Rodney Strong Sauvignon Blanc

Second Course
Down Home - New Orlean's-style Red Beans and Duck Cassoulet
Downtown - Deconstructed Cassoulet
Paired with Rodney Strong Symmetry (Rhone-style blend) and Syrah

Dessert
Down Home - Apple Upside-Down Cake with Salty Caramel Sauce
Downtown - Buttery Apple Cake with Mascarpone Ice Cream

I didn't get any pictures of the food because I was too busy helping to shop and cook! I was able to get pictures of diners, and of the chefs and guests. Here they are:





*Photographer Alan Campbell is standing to the left in this photo

The "fun" part of cooking at the Astor Center, the chefs are reminded that they are mortal. This my way of saying that they can't skate out of there...they have to help clean up! Here is proof:


The next posting: The Big Event at the James Beard House!

Down Home: Downtown Cooking Demo

Yes, folks, the new cookbook is OUT! We were lucky to have Rodney Strong Vineyards, Josh Silvers of Syrah Bistro, and Alan Campbell, photographer, as partners in this venture.

The wizard behind it all, Robert Larsen, of Rodney Strong, took this little video clip of Jeff (Mall) and Josh giving a cooking demo at the Windsor Farmers Market.



I hope you enjoy the clip! The cookbooks are available online at Zin Restaurant

Earth Day Farmers Market in Windsor

This past Sunday was the official Earth Day Farmers' Market in Windsor. We luckily had some chard, broccoli, cauliflower, herbs and eggs for sale. The chard has held on since last year! It is "Bright Lights" chard and it is "decorticated". I had to look up that word...it means that the ribs are soft enough to be eaten. It also means "de-boned" but that doesn't apply to vegetables, does it?

I have finally given in to recognize that folks don't know our connection to the restaurant, Zin, so now it is officially on the sign. "Zin Restaurant's Eastside Farm".
One of the things I love about Farmers Market is that it slows you down. As a vendor, you don't always have customers right in front of you and this gives you an opportunity to talk to your neighboring vendor or catch up with friends wandering down the aisles with their kids. We were lucky enough to have our friends, owners of Syrah Bistro in Santa Rosa, stop by to visit. I consider their son to be part of our family! You can see why!
Happy Earth Day! Go plant something! We are now planting only food crops or plants that feed the bees. The bees like some VERY pretty flowers!