michael tuohy's

beyond cochon 555 Napa

the fourth annual cochon 555 napa is one for the record books! while i did not bring home the trophy nor win the bragging rights, i am very pleased with the event. congratulations and a tip of the toque to Lars Kronmark, and his team from the CIA at Greystone. Lars and his team must have really brought it! because i know that we did and came up short. our menu consisted of:chorizo mac n cheese; moroccan spiced pork & chickpea stew; head & tummy with liver & kids/treviso marmellata; smoked ham biscuits/preserves/bourbon barrel sorghum; heart dog/house made condiments; porchetta/house made pickles.whew! it was a full week of intense preparations that began with the breakdown of a 200+ pound berkshire hog. then each day, step by step, preparations were made transorming this beautiful humanely raised hog, into the fantastic menu of dishes presented at the event.  

also, I would like to extend a heart felt congrats and thanks to my supper talented and friendly competitors, Duskie Estes & John Stewart of Zazu Restaurant + Farm, and Black Pig Meat Co (last years national cochon champs), Mark Dommen of One Market, and Chris L' Hommedieu of Michael Mina. thanks goes to all of the great farmers of: Walnut Keep, Grabish Farms, Hudson Ranch, Stone Valley Farm & Devils Gulch Ranch that provided the heritage breed pigs that we all got to work with and continue to work with in our culinary endeavors. thanks to the small family wineries: Elk Cove Vineyards, Scholium Project, Matthiasson, Wind Gap & Bherens Family Winery that provided the delicious drink for everyone's pleasure that I heard, really complimented the food! thanks to all who attended the event to make it a success. afterall, without you it would not be possible. special thanks goes to Brady Lowe & Taste Network, creators of the whole Cochon, you are truly helping to make a better world! thank you for letting me be a part of it!

 

Happy New Year!

i hope this finds you well thus far as we enter the new year. i don't know about you, but i am not one for making a list of new years "resolutions." i will say, when i put thoughts on paper at the beginning of the year about things that i would like to accomplish in the coming year, they tend to happen. maybe they are resolutions in disguise or just simply an outline of goals. without the risk of sounding too philisophical here since this blog is about food and food related topics, lets move in the direction of what to eat this year.

 

i believe in eating "good food." good food to me is not simply food that tastes good, although that is most always a benefit, but food that is real. food that is produced by people who truly care about what they do, whether that is a farmer, a craftsman, an artisan, a chef, a mother or father. it starts with a good source, such as responsibly raised meat such as beef, pork, lamb, goat, duck, chicken. responsibly caught fish, and responsibly grown vegetables. i believe a good diet comes from these places and should be varied and enjoyed, in moderation. i hear so many people say, "i need to go on a diet." what i believe they are really saying is that they need to change the way they are eating with the hopes of gaing some kind of benefit like perhaps losing weight and reducing their waistline. that is certainly an admirable goal for many, but too often that gets confused with, I can't eat real food and I need to eat diet food.

i am not a nutritionist, but am a chef by craft and a dedicated advocate for real food. food that is produced in a good, clean and fair way. i still subscribe to the concept that you can enjoy the things you like if they are not loaded with preservatives, too much sugar & sodium, and saturated fats. don't over eat at every meal and vary your diet to have balance. what is balance? if we vary our diet to include, fruits, vegetables, proteins and yes, some fat, we'll be generally ok. actually, quite good! you'll look good, feel good and won't be stressed out and feeling guilty about what you're supposed to have eaten.

so in 2012, let's all resolve to eat good food!

Catch me tonight @6pm on slow living radio with host Sally James!

http://www.crntalk.com/slowlivingradio

Happy Holidays!

Winter has come to napa valley. even though, today was 65 degrees, mostly sunny, & mustard is blooming in the vineyards. cool foggy mornings give moments of pause, while a walk through the vineyards says or shows that another season of growth has come to an end and it is time for rest, recuperation and anticipation of the next season to come. i can relate to this as another busy season nears an end. i love to think of what hearty dinner i will cook tonight, will it be be braised shortribs? a simple roasted chicken? or perhaps roasted squab with saffron fregola sarda enriched with aromatics, kale & medjool dates. one of these will certainly warm and nurture the soul, and I then ponder what wine will go best with it. 

as we head towards another new year, i would like to wish you a happy holiday season & a heathy and prosperous new year!

Fall in Napa Valley

fall in napa valley is spectacular! as the harvest and crush for grapes comes to an end, the leaves turn brilliant colors of gold and burnt orange and deep purple before they fall and vines are completely exposed. the last of the mission figs are ripening and the weather has yielded to sunny cool days and crisp nights.

as you drive through the valley, the alluring smell of grapes fermenting permeates the air and teases the senses of the upcoming vintage that will be released next spring or later. the cooler weather is perfect for the soulful complexity of braised dishes, beef shortribs, lamb shanks, and pork shoulder are just a few of the dishes that I begin to crave at this time of year. tonight will be, a more simple effort with chicken thighs braised with farro & chanterelles. i'm thinking some nice black mission figs with local honey for dessert might just do the trick.

I hope you will take the time over the next couple of weeks to come visit the Napa Valley and enjoy the beauty!

La Quercia Continued

it has been almost two weeks since I returned to my home in napa valley after my visit to La Quercia Artisan Meats in Norwalk, Iowa. my company Dean & Deluca, purchased 23 heritage breed hogs that were a cross breed of Chinese Meishan & Red Russian Boar. the Meishan, is a relatively uncommon breed here in the US. they have a distinct pug like face and have large bellies that are prized for their abundant fat. particularly noticeable was the thick back fat which we cured for lardo, and a remarkable quantity of leaf lard, found inside the belly below the the tenderloin, a perfectly creamy white fat prized by charcuterie afficionados for it's delicious qualities after it is rendered. 

exective chef of our original store in manhattan, Aaron Albrecht and I, met company food & beverage director Josh Hodapp, at the facility to decide how we would process the hogs and distribute them to all of our Dean & Deluca stores in the US. over the next few weeks, you can expect to see arrivals of the various cuts and the fennel sausage, no less than 400 pounds! available. with the help and guidance of La Quercia owners Herb & Kathy Eckhouse, and the spectacular team at La Quercia, we will see Prosciutto in a year or so, and in upcoming months, pancetta, lardo, coppa and other delicious goodies in our stores. Chef Aaron and I had a great time participating in the breakdown and making the sausage! 

i am still in awe at the scope and quality of this operation. in my opinion, La Quercia is the only true producer of prosciutto in america. they have raised the bar incredibly high for quality and quantity of heritage breed pork charcuterie. the respect they have for the tradition, as well as for the responsible farming of the hogs is to be admired. one of the coolest things that i wittnessed was the crew salting the hams that will become prosciutto, while in an almost zen like state, listening to La Traviata! this is sure to make the prosciutto more flavored...this is a trade secret;)

you can find their products in fine stores and restaurants throughout the US. please visit my photo stream by clicking the flickr badge on the left margin of the blog. Buon Appetito!

Trip to La Quercia

Greetings! I know, it's been way too long since I've posted. It's been a very busy harvest season in the napa valley! Finally, we had some heat spikes late September, that led to a flurry of activity in the vineyards. While there has been some unevenness of ripening, the cooler summer and early rains should prove to be beneficial to producing grapes with nice acidity and lower sugar content. Yields in some areas maybe down a bit but, there should be greater focus on quality over quantity in the 2011 vintage. In my neighborhood the Los Carneros, we are just wrapping things up. At Dean & Deluca in St. Helena, we have been quite busy feeding all of the local workers and visitors that pass through each day. Most notably, we have revamped the prepared foods counter offering more seasonal and local ingredients in our preparations. We hope you will come by and see what's new! In the meantime, I have landed in Des Moines, IA enroute to visiting La Quercia prosciutto and salumi artisan producers. Along with our chef from our store in Soho, Aaron Albrecht, we will embark on a 3 day venture of making some custom Salumi&Charcuterie for Dean & Deluca! I will be posting more soon from our trip

Late Summer in Northern California, first day of fall this week!

 

we are getting a storm of heirloom tomatoes finally, just as the grape harvest has begun here in napa valley. i always seem to regret the end of corn, summer squash and tomato season but, that means the days are getting shorter and a new season of ingredients will be upon us soon. i have been busy making san marzano tomato sauce today, after just finishing a nice batch of apple sauce & pear butter from our garden & preserving a basket of meyer lemons. i had a little extra time while waiting for the sauce to reduce, so i made some nice farro tagliatelle which will be part of tonight's dinner! it is hot here in napa right now, even in the los carneros where i live. the pinot noir grapes of robert sinskey vineyards in our front yard look as if they are ready to burst with ripeness as i would imagine, they will be harvested any day now. i can't wait to try some with a little mesquite grilled lamb shoulder chop with creamy polenta, swiss chard with preserved tomato, olives, capers & anchovy......

Napa Summer Nights

last night, i had the opportunity to cook for some of Napa's most esteemed winery owners and designers at the beautiful Edge Hill Estate. it was a beautiful evening with temperatures hovering around 85 degrees when we started. in the true napa tradition, at sunset the temps continued to drop to a very comfortable level with a slight chill in the air. not bad for august! i was re-aquainted with an old friend, cooking with a wood-burning grill and rotisserie. we fashioned a porchetta from a berkshire hog from stone valley farm, two legs of lamb from a local 4-H purchase, a tenderloin of beef from a red wagyu breed raised in texas, and a king salmon from off the coast of fort bragg. it was a delightful evening cooking with my new team from Dean & Deluca in St. Helena for some of Napa Valley's most noteable producers.

Post Heritage Cochon

Heritage Cochon was a success! Lot's of fun yesterday on a beautiful Napa kind of day. Krug Winery was a very nice venu for the event with the CIA at Greystone nestled above the vineyards to the west. i served king salmon from half moon bay, citurs cured, salt baked & wood grilled. whole fish on the bone is always the way to go! brentwood white corn with sungold tomatoes, roasted fennel, katz late harvest sauvignon blanc vinegar & meyer lemon oil for an accompaniment.....