Oliveto Community » -From the Kitchen

Chef Jonah At One Year

Maggie Blyth Klein — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 20:21:25 +0000

This Friday, December 16th will mark the 25th anniversary of Oliveto Cafe and Restaurant. More personally, we are celebrating Chef Jonah’s first year as Oliveto Executive Chef. We thought we’d take a moment to give you our impression on this past year.

What Chef Jonah Rhodehamel has accomplished in one year here at Oliveto doesn’t seem possible. Unless you consider: Jonah is the hardest working chef we’ve ever seen. Up until a few months ago (when he began taking a day off here and there), he worked seven days a week, many of them 16-hour days. And that work has been so well directed that every minute seemed productive. The focus and energy, complemented by Jonah’s skill, experience, curiosity, and innate creativity, brought a clarity of purpose and direction which transformed the kitchen and menu, as well as enlivening the Oliveto Café downstairs. And those characteristics have brought a quality that is utterly essential: consistency.

Chef Jonah has the ability to be creative and fresh while meeting (or exceeding) the expectations of guests (many of whom are returning after a several-year-long absence), and at the same time keeping within the general, albeit grandiose, Oliveto philosophy of food “based on the best seasonal local ingredients, cooked within the Italian idiom and Italian principles of cooking.” Even for Jonah, with his considerable internal drive, and whose experience is consistent with Oliveto’s demands, the job was a big one. But the results after one year have been quite remarkable. Some customers describe his cooking as “more delicate.” Others say the dishes sparkle with their pristine ingredients, while others feel that his cooking really gets at the essence of traditional Italian dishes such as agnolotti dal plin or walnut sformatino or vitello tonnato.

We are often perplexed and find ourselves wondering, “how did he do that? How could he know that? He’s only 28 years old”.
He continues to enlarge the Oliveto whole-animal project, maintaining and deepening relationships with sustainable ranchers, in particular with Mac Magruder of Mendocino County, who provides cattle from 26 to 30 months of age, boar, boar-domestic pig crosses, sheep, and lamb. Jonah has studiously observed what practices affect marbling, age-ability, texture, and flavor and has created a meat system around that knowledge. His unconventional approach to different cuts of meat appears frequently on the menu, as, for example, a choice among three cuts and ages of steak. He rethought the salumi-making process, improving mold casings, introducing a new proofing box for exact temperature control, making each salame type distinct and unique, and taking particular interest in cured whole cuts. (Lately he’s liked his bresaola and coppa.)

He took on the job of perfecting our pastas, introducing more Community Grains whole wheat varieties and blending them for flavor and texture with conventional flours, becoming adept at making them all himself––extruded and laminated, with and without egg (and with yolks only).

By phone, Jonah stays in touch with many of our farmers several times a week to discuss what’s growing best, and what the farmer anticipates peaking within the next few days or weeks. During problematic growing periods, he goes to the farmers’ market himself to make selections. He introduced us to Fred Hempel of Baia Nicchia Farm in Sunol, and with two assistants fed 140 persons at Fred’s Outstanding In the Field event.

Local Mushroom Boom Continues

Catherine Meng — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 22:58:13 +0000

from left to right: chanterelle, porcini, black hedgehog, hedgehog

Those unusual black hedgehogs will be in an appetizer that screams late autumn:

Pan-roasted pigeon with Acorn squash purée and black hedgehog mushrooms

Tastes Like California Wheat

Catherine Meng — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 22:09:43 +0000

When we first got involved with locally grown grains over four years ago, one of our long term goals was the pursuit of identity preserved wheat. By this we mean a particular variety grown by a farmer we know and trust, and milled into flour without being blended with other varieties or wheats from other farms.

That goal became a reality last spring when we were approached by Front Porch Farms, a 112 acre organic/biodynamic farm in Healdsburg, CA. Owner Peter Buckley and farmer Matt Taylor were eager to start growing grain but wanted to do some smaller trials of different varieties to figure out what would perform best in their area. We (under the auspices of Community Grains) helped them select three varieties we were curious about and provided seed for a fourth. And lo & behold, just last week we received very small quantities of our first four identity preserved wheat flours: Bolero, Espresso, and Cristallo – all soft winter wheats, and Desert King, an amber durum variety.

The next step, which we are just now beginning, is to define each variety’s individual flavor components and create a language to talk about those components. We had an initial tasting with some of our best palates: Executive Chef Jonah Rhodehamel, Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon Vineyards, and Lance and Ellie Winters of St. George Spirits. We intend to do a more in-depth assessment of characteristics over the next few weeks. And of course, we’d love to hear what our diners think.

So starting next week, we will be offering these unique pastas on our dinner menu.
We are excited about the potential of this first small harvest as it helps to bring us closer to the idea of a small-scale regional grain economy, which we believe is the best option for the health of our communities, our farmers, our food, and our selves. This is a rare and celebratory opportunity to taste identity preserved organic wheat grown and milled right here in northern California. Please join us.

Spit-Roasted Goat – This Friday, October 14th

Catherine Meng — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 21:47:24 +0000

Fourteen family farms and 70 restaurants, including Oliveto, have committed to participation in No Goat Left Behind, a new program developed by Heritage Foods USA (HFUSA), a meat distribution company dedicated to preserving endangered breeds. The company has pledged to their farmers that they will sell 500 bucklings to restaurants and their mail order base during the month of October, the prime season for goat.

In order to produce milk, a female goat has to have babies. The result is goat dairies with an excess of male goats. Without an end market the majority of male dairy goats are sold into the commodity market or killed at birth. Dairy farms are always struggling: with feed prices, with milk prices, and with weather. Goats usually have twins or triplets and for every female who will become a milker, there is a male buckling who will become a financial drain. It makes no sense that these males are sold into the commodity market or put to death when the United States imports almost 50 percent of its annual goat supply (17,000,000 pounds so far this year).

Goat is the most popular protein in the world. It is a lean, nutritious source of meat and has a lower carbon footprint than beef, pork or lamb. It makes environmental and dietary sense to utilize this readily available protein source in the United States.

As part of the No Goat Left Behind campaign, Chef Jonah will be spit-roasting two young goats, a traditional preparation commonly seen throughout Italy around this time of year. They will be on the menu starting Friday and through Saturday. this Friday for ONE NIGHT ONLY. Please join us to help support this worthy cause.

Bean Season

Catherine Meng — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 20:17:14 +0000

Some real beauties arrived from Martin this week. Fresh picked Borlotti, Cannellini, and some of the biggest Gigante we’ve ever seen.

Chef Jonah’s been doing a lovely salad that will be on the menu throughout the week:

Marinated pole and bush beans with Lipstick peppers, watercress, and sherry vinaigrette

It’s Beef Season

Bob Klein — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 19:35:54 +0000

UPDATE: See the revised schedule

It is late spring and this is the time to be eating beef. The steers have been eating plentiful amounts of green grass (from our plentiful rains) and several important ranchers have presented us with offers too good to turn down.

First, Mac Magruder’s 8-month-old veal came in a couple of weeks ago. Then, the huge and delicious 4-year-old steer from Jack Monroe in Covelo. And next week Moira Burke, of Agricola: flora et fauna in Dixon, CA, will send us half of a 22-month Angus. These are all grass fed and grass finished animals.

Three Angus animals: 8-mos, 22-mos., 48-mos. We are first to admit, that’s a lot of meat! But we thought we could do some pretty neat things with them. The animals will all be hanging in our meat locker, aging, and at the appropriate time, Chef Jonah will prepare them for the menu over the next month. Here’s a schedule of these extraordinary (seriously though, this is some exceptionally tasty beef) offerings and events over the next few weeks:

Friday, June 17
48-mos.
Short Ribs
We wanted to get into these without too much aging. Such a fatty cut doesn’t benefit from a lot of age and can end up tasting a bit stale. We are salting these for twelve hours before braising them.

Friday, June 24
22-mos.
Flank Steak & Carne Crudo/Carpaccio – three animals
This will be a rare opportunity to taste the same cut/preparation of three similarly raised and fed animals from the same breed, but different in age. This should be an interesting demonstration on what characteristics are associated with the age of an animal.

Sunday, June 26
22- and 48-mos.
Osso Bucco
Our first of two classics from Milan. With three animals, we’ve got quit a few shanks on hand. These will be cut and braised in the classic preparation.

Wednesday, June 29
22-mos.
Cotoletta
Our second dish from Milan. Tender ribeyes pounded paper-thin, breaded, then fried.

Thursday, June 30
22-mos.
New York Top Loin

Friday, July 1
48-mos.
Bollito
This is THE way to eat mature beef in Italy. All the cuts you’ve been wondering about, in one bowl.

Saturday, July 2
48-mos.
Bollito
Because a good thing deserves repeating

Thursday, July 7
22-mos.
Rib Eye
No explanation required.

Saturday, July 9
48 mos.
Prime Rib
The 48-month steer has a huge rib section. We’ll take the rack and slow roast it (12 hours) and carve prime rib in the dining room, for as long is it lasts.

We’ve got lots of other cuts, so you’ll be seeing corned beef, beef braises, meat balls, pepperoni and other cured meats. We expect you’ll do you’re part.

The Steer Is Here

Catherine Meng — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 22:07:03 +0000

Last friday, the Oliveto kitchen received delivery of one side of a magnificent four-year-old Black Angus steer raised by Jack Monroe, the owner of Monroe Ranch & Hay Farm in Covelo, CA.

This delivery was noteworthy on many levels but to start, we needed a forklift to get it off the truck. The animal’s live weight was close to 2,100 pounds, and it dressed-out at 1,237 pounds. At present, we have two 300 pound quarters aging in our meat locker.

The size of the animal and sheer amount of energy and care that has been put into producing such a beautiful animal is reminiscent of the great fattened oxen fairs found in Piedmont. With that in mind, Chef Jonah has some special preparations in mind. He will be pit cooking (buried in the ground) a whole leg for his Outstanding In the Field dinner coming up in a few weeks. We are putting together a schedule of some beef-centric events at Oliveto that will be happening in next 5-6 weeks and we will be sharing that with you shortly. At present we’ve got a few of the smaller cuts available on the menu such as:

Charcoal-grilled skirt steak of bua with di Diccio broccoli, new potatoes, and walnut pesto

Located located 28 miles east of Highway 101, on the Eel River Jack’s herd winter in the coastal mountains of Mendocino County, and summer in the valley. Jack says, “Home on the range, we still have cowboys and Indians here. We herd our cattle on horseback- our way of life is natural and sweet, and we think that comes out in the flavor of the beef. Support wildlife- keep cowboys in the saddle!”

The animals are always on pasture, grass-fed and grass-finished producing meat that is well-marbled with great flavor. This is honestly some of the best beef we’ve tasted.

Porcinis In The House

Catherine Meng — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 20:28:42 +0000

They’ve arrived. Foraged by the foraging legend herself, Connie Green, we just received some gorgeous porcini gathered recently in the Shasta area. Morels are still appearing as well, so the current menu should interest you fungi-enthusiasts:

Salad of shaved porcini mushrooms with celery leaves, and Parmesan cheese

Roasted lardo-wrapped morels stuffed with pigeon breast farce

Tajarin with sauteed porcini mushrooms

Currently on the menu: California Salmon

Catherine Meng — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 22:40:17 +0000

Summer Solstice is right around the corner, and California salmon season is reaching its end…until it starts up again in July. The quality of this year’s salmon has been exceptional, with deep color and great flavor. Add a little citrus, fennel, and chervil and you’ve got one of those classic late spring/summer all-star combos that knocks it right out of the park.

You want to get in on this:

Slow-roasted Monterey king salmon with fennel, chervil, Yellow Finn potatoes,
and navel orange sauce

Toasted Durum Wheat Pasta

Bob Klein — Wed, 18 May 2011 21:34:08 +0000

If it’s true that some of the best Italian food is the food of the poor, then toasted wheat pasta has to be a supreme cucina povera dish.

The predominant explanation for toasted pasta from Puglia, is that after the wheat fields are harvested and burned to remove the chaff and weeds, gleaners would come and pick through the ashes for the remaining charred kernels of wheat, which they would then mill and make into pasta. Chef Jonah found a reference on the internet for burnt Puglian pasta, and started an experiment. It is hard to imagine a more labor intensive food, but as it turns out the effort is well worth it, as the results are truly delicious.

For me, this is particularly exciting because it is the first dividend from the Oliveto Grain Project (now Community Grains) begun 4 years ago. Initially, we hoped that by creating associations with grain farmers, millers, bakers and chefs we could create innovations similar to the ones that have come from associations with all our great meat ranchers and vegetable farmers. It worked.

We have toasted whole grain Hard Amber Durum pasta on the menu now, and for at least the next couple of months.