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Another Beef Recall............

well, here we go again. yet, another major beef recall in just two months. another 20,000 pounds recalled today due to concerns over salmonella contamination. before i forget, someone needs to do a quantifiable study of all of the beef recalls, and see if there is actually any economic efficiency being achieved here in the race to produce the cheapest beef to feed everyone in the country! when is this going to stop? if you read the article linked above on CNN, please note the tangled web described we know as the "distribution system." factory farmed beef leaves the processor, then goes to the packer which is then sent to another packer for re-packaging to then be shipped to more centers of distribution, then to wholesalers that in turn ship to retailers and or food service operations, and then you buy it or hopefully...don't buy it! 

in my mind, this only reinforces the fact that the shortest distance of travel, aka: from farm-to-table is the best. PERIOD. again, the premise here is "know where your food is coming from." know your source, where it is raised, by whom it was raised, what that environment is about, where it was slaughtered, what it was fed etc. the shortest distance from the farm to your table is best. ideally, it was just slaughtered and process and delivered to you. 

grass-fed vs. corn-fed beef. i started serving grass-fed beef from argentina back in 1999 at a restaurant that i consulted for in atlanta. a company based in washington, dc. called the "argentine beef company" was the supplier. at that time, there was nobody producing grass-fed beef domestically that i was aware of. this beef was incredibly good, the USDA placed a ban on beef from argentina. perhaps too much of a formidable threat to our own domestic big machine/industry. it did however open my eyes and my palate to the fact that you could actually have great flavor and texture with something that was raised truly in a natural way, not by force feeding it in concrete floor warehouse feedlots. by today's standards, another case against this product is the fact that it comes from along ways away, creating carbon footprint issues. now, we are able to get really good grass-fed beef from a number of domestic producers. little by little, step by step, there is increasing acceptance to the fact that beef raised in a natural and responsible manner, hopefully near where you live, is actually not only better, but it's the right thing to do if you are a carnivore. i have been very lucky to find or actually they found me, novy ranch from shasta county. Dr. Lowell Novy, a veterinarian and cattle rancher, raised red & black angus cattle. he is very passionate and concerned for the welfare of his animals. he sees not only the fact that cattle need to be raised in a pristine and humane environment, but how they are cared for and eventually slaughtered and processed done the correct way. he knows that this particular beef is not only tastier, but better for you too. it is so much easier to digest, you don't feel bloated and ill after you've eaten it. the flavor and texture is like no other grass-fed beef that I have cooked or eaten. 

i encourage you to really think before you make that next beef purchase, whether at a grocery store, restaurant or farmers market. 
 
Braised Novy Ranch Shortribs 

A great story in today's New York Times!

this one is very close to home, literally, and shows what can happen

when someone is on a serious mission! http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/magazine/29food-t-000.html?_r=1&ref=dining

The Good Life: Duck cook-off shows Sacramento's culinary sophistication - Sacramento Living - Sacramento Food and Wine, Home, Health | Sacramento Bee

The Good Life: Duck cook-off shows Sacramento's culinary sophistication - Sacramento Living - Sacramento Food and Wine, Home, Health | Sacramento Bee

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grass fed beef from Novy Ranch.......coming soon!

Foodbuzz Conference, Trip to Sonoma Artisan Foie Gras , Duck-Off!

well needless to say, it has been a busy week. my attempt at justifying my lack of posts for the past week or so. besides the normal business at Grange, I was invited to participate along with other chefs from my company, joie de vivre, in the first annual foodbuzz conference held in SF last weekend. being a foodbuzz member myself, i was curious and looking forward to the event. i conducted two extra virgin olive oil tastings featuring 6 distinct oils. they were from tuscany, sicily, provence, spain, and northern california which included olio nuovo from california olive ranch, and katz rockhill ranch. judging by the number of blog posts about the tasting and the event, i would say it was a success!

back to sacramento for a quick change then off to visit sonoma artisan foie gras to see first hand, the production of a product that i am quite fond of. there were other chefs on the tour including chris cosentino from incanto restaurant and elizabeth falkner of citizen cake & orson restaurants all in SF. i must say, it was so refreshing to see the amount of care that goes into how the ducks are raised. large spacious barns, every two weeks of their lives they are moved from one to another. at 6 weeks, they are moved to a large walnut orchard where they happily waddle with each other eating walnuts and grain until it is time for grivage, the fattening of the liver. even this process is pretty tame. they have had one of 3 staff members that I believe have worked with the company for 19+ years, they handle them with care. sonoma artisan is a small family operation run by the gonzalez family. they take great pride in how they operate and the relationships they have with their suppliers and chefs across the country. in my opinion, this is the best tasting foie gras in the world, it is no wonder now after seeing the care involved in how they are handled.

 

it was back to grange to get ready for the big "duck-off" event, an iron chef style cook off with local food writer, blogger, hunter extraordinaire, cook, angler hank shaw....i don't think there is anything food related this dude doesn't do! the event was staged to kick-off a 5 course duck dinner extravaganza benefitting the california waterfowl association, along with a new promotion we are running until january. local hunters can bring their wild game to us and we will prepare a custom 4 course menu for $75 with 48 hours advance notice. after all, not only is sacramento the state capitol, but i think it is the national capitol of duck hunters!

California Country Magazine

please enjoy these helpful tips for pairing wines with some tasty dishes! featured in; California Country Magazine.

Author & Forager Langdon Cook comes to Grange

Experience one man’s journey from Amazon.com editor to foraging expert, as author Langdon Cook signs his new book Fat of the Land at Grange Restaurant & Bar. As part of Grange’s ongoing book signing series, Cook discusses his new book Fat of the Land in celebration of Grange’s one-year anniversary. Inspired by his blog Fat of the Land, the book is structured around the seasons of the year. Each chapter focuses on a specific food type and concludes with a recipe featuring the author’s hard-won bounty, a savory stop to each adventure-filled morsel.

 

Cook left his role as senior book editor at Amazon.com in 2004, to pursue life in a cabin off the grid with his wife and son.  Now a freelance writer and editor, Lang has written for the San Francisco Bay Guardian, Outside, Gray’s Sporting Journal, Fly Fisherman, the Stranger, Seattle Metropolitan, and Conservation Magazine.  His expertise in all matters of foraging has been profiled in Bon Appétit and the Wall Street Journal.  He lives in Seattle, Wash.

 

 

 

WHO:               Langdon Cook

 

 

WHAT:             Book signing event to give patrons the opportunity to speak with Langdon Cook. A three-course prix-fixe menu, inspired by Fat of the Land and prepared by Executive Chef Michael Tuohy, is offered during the entire dinner hour as well. Autographed books are $25 sold during dinner hours.

 

 

WHEN:             Wednesday, November 4 from 6 p.m. until 7:30 p.m.

 

 

WHERE:           Grange Restaurant & Bar

                        926 J Street

                        Sacramento, CA 95814

 

 

new from California Olive Ranch

This is from the folks at California Olive Ranch after a little dinner that I did for them last night!

California Olive Ranch Website | Browse Our EVOO Products Online | Sign Up for California Olive Ranch eNews

Chef Michael Tuohy’s Menu for California Olive Ranch Retreat More Recent Articles Search California Olive Ranch EVOO – Chef news, info and recipes Chef Michael Tuohy’s Menu for California Olive Ranch Retreat  Chef Michael Tuohy’s Menu for California Olive Ranch Retreat I got into Sacramento early this afternoon to attend our annual Harvest Retreat. It’s a big event. We take a large group of chefs and wholesalers on a tour to see firsthand how we harvest and crush the olives into olive oil at one of our northern California mills. The weather in Sacramento is pleasantly mild. After I arrived, one of the first things I did was park myself at a table at the Grange Restaurant & Bar, a great farm-to-table restaurant at the Citizen Hotel in Sacramento. I met a few colleagues and went over the events of the next two days, which I’ll be writing about in coming blogs. I also got a chance to say hi to Grange chef Michael Tuohy, who was busy preparing a special menu for our group of about 100. The menu features our California Olive Ranch extra virgin olive oils in every course — from the olive oil marinated goat cheese to the Alaskan halibut crudo and orange-almond olive oil cake. The cake is topped with a crème anglaise made from our Miller’s Blend EVOO. Chef Tuohy was clearly pumped about tonight’s olive oil meal. “It’s one of my favorite ingredients to work with,” he said. He also kindly offered to take us on a tour of his kitchen a little later in the afternoon. When we caught up with him there, Chef Tuohy was chopping a beautiful pile of fresh lavender for our meal. He next mixed it in a big mixing bowl with our Arbequina EVOO and some fig balsamic vinegar. Chef Tuohy then proceeded to slather the mixture on several beautiful, locally sourced racks of lamb. “It’s going to permeate, especially during the cooking and after it’s cooked,” he said of the lavender, olive oil, vinegar combination. Chef Tuohy also showed us the crème anglaise he’d prepared for the olive oil cake. There’s funny story behind the crème anglaise. It started off as an olive oil ice cream made from our Miller’s Blend. But that was before the guest list for the dinner mushroomed to some 100 people from 40. Chef Tuohy realized he didn’t have an ice cream maker big enough for that many people. So he did some quick improvisation. He’d make the olive oil ice cream recipe, but not freeze the mixture. And the result: a delicious olive oil crème anglaise. “It works as a sauce,” he explained. “Sometimes you just have to adjust.” It’s now hours later. I’ve had a chance to enjoy Chef Tuohy’s dinner. It was exquisite. I now plan to catch a little shut-eye before Tuesday’s events. Bon appétit, Claude S. Weiller  Vice President of Sales & Marketing  California Olive Ranch • Email to a friend • Article Search • Related • View comments • Track comments •  • More Recent Articles Cannellini Beans with Sautéed Pumpkin and Olio Nuovo EVOO Chef Jason Wright's Ahi Tuna Salad with Meyer Lemon Aoli Health: Longer Life Tied to Olive Oil, Key Foods in Med. Diet Olive Oil Primer: Pairing EVOO with Food - Part III Chef Ray Garcia's Pumpkin Gnocchi with Parmesan & Sage

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Fall is Braising Season!

as the weather continues to cool, leaves turn, major league baseball playoffs are well underway, football season is almost midway through, i want to cook rich lusty hearty meat dishes that require long slow simmering. this type of cooking technique is called "braising." braising usually starts with a cut of meat that is comprised of stronger muscular & connective tissue like legs, shanks, shoulders, tails or necks. these particular cuts tend to have more collagen, gelatin & tendons. they require patience and attention to detail, but after 3 or 4 hours if handled correctly, there is a reward that is usually nothing short of sublime.

here is an overview of methodology without giving exacting quantities of ingredients, known as a recipe. first, select the cut of meat that you want to work with, here i will choose beef shortribs, one of my favorites. trim the backside around the bones of any connective tissue. then turn it over and do the same with topside leaving only fat but removing any tendons attached. season liberally with kosher salt and black pepper. i actually like to let the shortribs rest over night in the refrigerator, uncovered. this resting time allows the seasoning to completely penetrate the meat while drawing moisture inward. by leaving uncovered, the beef also air dries and a slight pelicle will form. this will enable you to get a nice even sear, or caramelization on the meat, a very important step. this is done by preheating your braising pan, i love to use a cast iron dutch oven at home, with olive oil or grapeseed oil, just before it begins to smoke, add your ribs, topside down first. after a couple of moments turn. you want to see a nice even browning on the top side, if not, turn again until nice and browned. remove the short ribs from the pan. add chopped mirepoix of celery, carrots, onion & garlic. you want to stir them around to ensure even browning and caramelization. after several minutes, deglaze with a rich red wine like an amador county zinfandel or syrah, scraping loose any fond or residue from the meat and vegetables. i then add some tomato paste and stir to coat the vegetables. i then add some canned san marzano or plum tomatoes, more red wine, add the ribs back to the pan, a couple of bay leaves, some fresh thyme, a little more liquid so that only the tops of the ribs remain exposed. bring this to a boil on top of the stove, remove and cover and i recommend finishing in a 300 degree oven. you can finish on top of the stove if you'd like but be sure that your heat is very low. resist the temptation to lift the lid before 3 1/2 hours. 

at Grange Restaurant, zinfandel braised shortribs became one of our signature dishes when we opened last december. we started the season this past weekend by reintroducing this wonderful dish again to our menu. we cook ours slowly for at least 15hours, at 185 degrees in a low temp holding oven. we usually will serve them with some sort of decadent creamy potato or vegetable puree underneath and a generous helping of the braising liquid for the sauce. i had to kick off the season the other evening by opening a delicious rich rhone style blend of grenache, mourvedre, syrah, called "Noir" from the 2000 vintage of Domaine de la Terra Rouge Winery in the nearby sierra foothils. this was a perfect match for a perfect cool fall night dish.

The Cheap Hamburger and it's path of destruction

yesterday's sunday new york times front page article is a good look at the trail of e. coli and exposes flaws found in the inspection system of ground beef. it also gives a disturbing look at a young women who is paralyzed after being stricken by e. coli in 2007. i think if you take the time to read the entire article, you will hopefully begin to understand how people put themselves and their families at risk when buying food products such as ground beef from unknown sources. there is risk on many levels in our food system, particularly the large mass producers and processors in the beef industry. while my intention here is not to get on a soap box and chastise the industry, i do however encourage you to really think before making that next food purchase whether it be at your local supermarket, big box retailer or local restaurant or farmers market. you have the right to choose by voting with your dollars. ask where they get their beef (product) from, how it was raised, what it was fed. if they can't tell you, you probably shouldn't buy it. even if they can tell you, you should consider the source. the beef industry is particularly deft at marketing, coming up with catchy phrases as "american chefs selection angus beef." as if this is approved by chefs that have made this their choice. it couldn't be further from the truth. they also add confusion by making you believe that if it is "certified Angus," that it is the best quality. this only refers to the breed, it has nothing to do with the conditions it was raised in or processed in. cheaper is not always better, more expensive is not always better. however, shouldn't what we buy to put into our bodies be a priority? beef shouldn't be so cheap that anyone and everyone can afford it.