Jeff on TV and Bees

My Honey, ZinFarmerChef Jeff (that is a long title, I know!) was on View from the Bay today. We have been busy promoting the Down Home:Downtown Cookbook from Healdsburg to New York to Mississippi with a couple of stops in San Francisco. It was quite exciting to see him filming and we are so pleased with the video.
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=7152079§ion=view_from_the_bay

If you would like to purchase the cookbook it is available on our website:


We are in the process of putting the garden to bed. It is always kind of sad, and a LOT of work. In the past couple of weeks we have also put the bees to bed.

I will do my best to explain "why" you have to manage the hives in the winter. Bees keep a constant temperature in the hive of 92 degrees, no matter the outside temperature. This means in the summer they cool the hive by getting droplets of water, deposit them in the front of the cells and then fan, creating air conditioning. In the fall they do what they can to keep the honey "stores" warm and fluid.

Once the temperatures really drop the bees don't leave the hive to forage because there is not much food available and because they need to stay warm. They begin to die off leaving only about 20% of the peak summer population. The die off leaves a small number of bees that really need to keep the hive alive by taking care of the brood/nursery. If left with more honey than they need (35# is the optimum amount)they will literally kill themselves trying to keep it warm!

We had to reduce the number of "supers" or boxes that comprise the hive. This is easier said than done because the bees are not ready to leave the frames of honey. In moving the bees off of the frames, we first had to lift the "supers" holding them to the top of the stack. We will go out tomorrow morning when it is cold and remove the supers before the bees go to the top of the hive as they do in the course of the day. Does any of this make sense? I hope so!

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!

House Calls and the Greenhouse Begins

Over the last few years of owning chickens, I guess I have become known as the person to call with chicken questions. Yes, I know, I should expect it, especially when I refer to myself as Chicken Mama!

Yesterday I received a call from a friend that was looking after her daughter's chicken flock and assorted menagerie, including cats, dogs, bunnies and goats. One of the red sex link hens had been attacked by something a few days ago and they had guessed one of the little pigmy goats had been overly rambunctious with it. My friend wanted me to come and see whether or not we should "send the hen to chicken heaven". She didn't have any idea exactly where the chicken was injured other than a gash to its face, but she knew it couldn't stand up on its own.

I was greeted at the house by one of the several dogs, a couple of friendly kitties and then the pale, little chirping sounds of the wounded hen. She was in a large chicken cage flopping around and looked quite pitiful! There was food in the cage as well as water, but she didn't look like she had been able to maneuver well enough to get any of it. I carefully reached into the cage, slipped my hand under her rib cage and put my other hand on her back, then lifted her out into the sunshine. There were no chairs or boxes to sit on in the immediate vicinity, so I plopped onto the ground and started examining her.

First I checked her feet, then legs, then hip joints, all the while trying to feel if something was broken. I am embarrassed to admit that my experience with the bone structure is really "kitchen" based,i.e., I am a chef and more accustomed to dealing with chickens ready for the pot, if you know what I mean...dead.

The search of her legs didn't reveal anything, so I began checking the top of her wings, once again reflecting on all of the chicken wings I have eaten...and then lifted up her wings and examined the bottom side. Eureka! I found it! The right "elbow" was scabbed over but she couldn't move it. If she can't move her wing, she can't balance herself and she can't stand up. Ah Ha!

Now that the mystery was solved I commenced giving her sustenance. My friend filled a cup of water to the brim and I tipped it up to the chicken, lifting it up until her beak dipped into it. For the next 10 minutes she continued to dip her beak, tilt back her head (all chickens do this when they drink) and then dip back into the water. Before I gave her water she could barely keep her eyes open. I think she was really dehydrated.

Once she had gotten her fill of water I put her into a cat carrier with a towel bunched like a cat nest and then a bath towel rolled up. Onto this I set the chicken. It allowed her to be upright, not have to balance, and now she could eat. She chirped at me in approval. We filled a little egg carton torn down to 4 squares, and filled it with the feed. She was furiously pecking away at the feed and did until I left, a few minutes later.

I talked to her "mom" today and found out that she was able to stand up a little today to eat and was "talking" up a storm. It is always nice to be able to help!

Eastside Farm Greenhouse Construction Begins!
Farmer Jeff has been dreaming of a greenhouse for several years. At first he thought he would place one near the front fence, then thought of putting one at the back of the yard. After walking back and forth from the garage, where our seedling come alive, to the back of the yard, the first location at the front made a lot more sense!

Over a year ago we bought "discarded" windows. Where do you buy these? At the city dump, of course! The scariest words that I ever hear from Farmer Jeff? "Guess what I bought at the dump"! Shudder...but I have to admit that he has never brought home something that we didn't use! Farmer Jeff has drawn up plans based on the windows he bought.

When the restaurant remodeled its "back area", the redwood fence paneling was pulled out and replaced with other fencing material. Farmer Jeff pounced on the redwood and brought it home in the truck before anyone else took it! We had talked about building a really nice dog house with redwood, but the greenhouse won out.

Today Farmer Jeff measured out the space, dug some foundation trenches and we went to buy the lumber. I felt very much like a cowboy/construction worker as I sashayed through the parking lot in my shorts, gardening hat, clogs and cell phone swinging from my hip ala six-shooter. I was tough. Let's add to this lovely outfit: gloves. Farmer Jeff had picked out a set of gloves for me to wear. They just happened to be thermal snow gloves. I really looked like a dork, but held on to the feeling that I looked cool. I just pray nobody snapped a picture!

More to come on the greenhouse!

Bragging Rights

I have to seize this moment to brag about my friend, Michele Gentile. Not only is she one of the coolest, prettiest, smartest, funniest...I could go on forever...she is also the most adventurous person I know. She has just left her last cooking assignment and has written an article published today in the Wall Street Journal. You need to take a look at it.


It is entitled: Cooking at the End of the World. As you will read, Michele has been cooking dishes adapted from the chef, Laurent Tourandel (NYC) while working as a sous chef at the U. S. research station on ...Antarctica. WOW...that girl is unbelievable!!!

Michele is the author of my favorite food blog, Harriett's Tomato. You also need to check that out. Now that her tour of Antarctica is over, she has traded in her parka and long underwear for shorts and a bathing suit. She is going to be cooking on Palmyra Atoll in the South Pacific. Talk about extremes!

Have a great time, Michele! You deserve it!

The picture above was taken just over a year ago in NYC when Zin Restaurant cooked at the James Beard House. Michele joined us in the kitchen for that event, making a special event even better! (Michele is the lovely one wearing the blue scarf!)

Busy Day!

Today Farmer Chef Jeff and I (and 10 helpers) catered a party for ...drum roll please...1,200 people. Yes, that is 12 with 2 zeros. As I write this, Farmer Jeff is snoring on the couch. He is TOTALLY exhausted. We worked until 11 pm last night, at which point we stopped to eat dinner and go to bed, and then he was so pumped up about the party he couldn't go to sleep until 2:30 am. At 4:30 am he popped up, wide awake, so he went ahead and went to work. We arrived on site at 9:30 and he got back to the restaurant at 5:30pm. He deserves his sleep and whatever else I can do for him.

This is when we need someone to come in and be our nanny. I want someone to draw my bath, warm my flannel jammies in the dryer, fix hot cocoa for me and read to me in bed. Sigh...

I don't have that, but I do have warm and fuzzy kitties (as well as the pups) and they are a great comfort. I came home to discover, for the first time I have ever seen, Ginger and Julian sleeping/snuggling together. I actually believe that Julian tried to hog Gingers spot on her perch and she was able to eek out a tiny space.

The event was held at the winery Bella Vineyards and Wine Caves, located in Dry Creek Valley/Healdsburg and, coincidentally, was featured on the same segment of Giada's Weekend Getaways Wine Country along with Zin Restaurant!

That is the segment in which our Zin "Gnarly Old Vine" Zinfandel Jelly made it's debut. By the way, it is now on sale at Zin Restaurant during business hours, at the Cheese Shop in Healdsburg and at Bella Vineyards! Before you even ask, yes, Farmer Jeff and I, along with his mom and brother helped us to pick the grapes, crush the grapes, press the grapes and then Farmer Chef Jeff and I made the jelly. Okay, Farmer Chef Jeff made most of it, but I was there for all of one day!

I leave you with pictures from the catering event. As you will see we had the most incredible view from our "kitchen" and that part of the event was held in a wine cave. VERY COOL.

Picking our Zinfandel Grapes

Proud Farmer Jeff and I picked our Zinfandel grapes on Sunday. We heard that it was going to rain this week, so we hoofed it out to pick. Farmer Jeff went up to the local market frequented by the pickers (and us!) to buy a harvesting knife named "Red Rooster". We thought that was fitting now that we have FIVE roosters! (Still haven't given Duchess/Duke away and just this morning Queen Sophia started crowing again, so she/he is on his way out the door!!!)

I love this picture of Farmer Jeff. It reminds me of the Slaying of the Gorgon, all the way down to the knife!

Farmer Jeff and I ended up picking many buckets of our Zin grapes. He hand crushed them, let them sit on the skin for 24 hours, and then we pressed and strained them to make jelly!

We ended up with 7 gallons of lovely Zinfandel Rose Grape Jelly. It is the color of a rose, but that is just fine with us!

We have friends with some leftover grapes on their Zin vines and I think we will be picking those any day. More Jelly!!! Zin needs more Zinfandel grape jelly so they can put their famous Warm Zinfandel Grape Jelly Donuts back on the menu. Yes, these are the very donuts that Giada ate while visiting Zin for her Giada's Weekend Getaway show!

Taste of Sonoma and the Steel Chef

This past weekend was the annual Taste of Sonoma showcase held at the beautiful McMurray Ranch (think Fred McMurray) in Healdsburg across the Russian River valley from our little farm. Farmer Chef Jeff was invited to present food from Zin Restaurant and Wine Bar (our restaurant!). I decorated with produce from the farm, eggs from our girls, homemade Santa Rosa plum jam and the infamous Zinfandel grape jelly that Farmer Chef Jeff uses to fill his warm jelly donuts at Zin.

Part of the entertainment was a cooking competition, "Sonoma Steel Chef". Farmer Chef Jeff was one of the contestants. Each chef was given a bag of mystery ingredients and a time limit of 20 minutes. CAN YOU IMAGINE???

For the first heat, Jeff made Shrimp and Grits. He went so far as to make his secret ingredient for the grits, corn stock. At least I think it is the secret to the best grits on earth! His second dish was Roasted Pork Loin with a Fig and Nectarine pan sauce.

During the second heat, he made Curry- Rubbed Grilled Rack of Lamb with grilled Belgian Endive and Mock Ratatouille with a Pinot Noir sauce. The other dish was a Grilled Lamb Loin with grilled Portobella mushrooms and roasted fingerling potatoes, served with a Santa Rosa Plum Port Wine Sauce. HEAVENS!!!

The Winner? Farmer Chef Jeff!!!! HOORAY!!!
(Farmer Chef Jeff declared winner by Clark Wolf, renowned restaurant consultant)

Not only did he win bragging rights, he also won a case of wine and a very nice gift certificate from Castino's Restaurant Supply in Rohnert Park.

Here are a couple of the recipes.

Grilled Lamb Loin with Santa Rosa Plum & Port Wine Sauce, Roasted Fingerling Potatoes & Grilled Portabella Mushrooms

(4 servings, cooks in 20 minutes or less)

1 boneless lamb loin, trimmed of silver skin
Olive oil
1 pound Ripe Santa Rosa Plums
½ cup port wine
4 portabella mushrooms
1 pound fingerling potatoes
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Prepare grill for grilling.
Preheat oven to 350.

1. Season lamb with salt, pepper and olive oil.
2. Season mushrooms with salt, pepper and olive oil.
3. Bring potatoes to a boil in lightly salted water and cook for 5 minutes.
4. Remove from water and slice in half and place in roasting pan with unsalted butter. Roast in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Season with salt & Pepper.
5. Grill mushrooms for 5 minutes, or until done, set aside.
6. Place plums in blender with port and puree. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
7. Grill lamb to desired temperature. Let rest 4 minutes then slice.
8. Slice mushrooms into strips.
To Plate: Spoon potatoes onto plate, then add mushrooms. Arrange sliced lamb around mushrooms & potatoes. Drizzle with Plum Port Sauce.

Serve with a Sonoma County Zinfandel or Syrah.

Shrimp & Grits
4 servings, cooks in 20 minutes or less

For Shrimp
24 gulf shrimp, peeled & cleaned
1 Andouille sausage
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 anaheim pepper cut small dice
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 ripe tomato chopped
1 clove garlic sliced
½ cup white wine
¼ cup catsup
½ cup heavy cream
½ bunch chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Split sausage lengthwise and cut into half moons ¼ inch thick.
2. Render sausage in oil in sauté pan until golden brown. Add shrimp, anaheim pepper, garlic and tomato. Saute over medium heat for 1 minute.
3. Deglaze with white wine. Add cream and catsup. Cook until shrimp are done and sauce has reduced a bit. Check seasoning and add parsley.

For Grits
1 cup coarse grain cornmeal
4 cups boiling water
2 ears sweet corn
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Shuck corn and drop in boiling water and cook for 1 minute. Remove from water and cut kernels off cob.
2. Add cobs back to the water and cook for 4 minutes to make a corn stock. Remove cobs from stock.
3. Add 3 cups of the corn stock to small pot with the cream, butter and 1 ½ tsp kosher salt and bring to a boil. Stir in the cornmeal.
4. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding more of the corn stock if it gets too thick. Stir in reserved corn kernels. Season to taste.
To Plate: Mound grits in center of plate and spoon shrimp and sausage mixture over the top. Serve with a Sonoma County Sauvignon Blanc.