Sonoma's Cornucopia: The Hyper-Local Diet

Eating “local” is becoming a national trend, but few places offer more opportunities to eat where you live than our beautiful little town of Sonoma. The bounty of our valley provides cooks with a variety of options for preparing healthy meals with the freshest of ingredients.

On nearly every block in Sonoma you can find small vegetable stands with the grower’s morning pick, fresh eggs and sun-ripened strawberries. A hearty soul can literally walk from one purveyor to the next and fill grocery bags with locally made cheese and real-churned butter, extra virgin olive oil, pasture-fed beef, lamb and pork, as well as free range chickens. Our farmers' markets on Tuesday nights and Friday mornings provide a wealth of locally produced, organic products and produce.

But, here's the real challenge: can all these local ingredients come together to create "the ultimate Sonoma meal," a menu created entirely with ingredients from our town?

To illustrate the point, here is a simple, yet wholesome, menu for a fabulous summer dinner for four. Nearly every ingredient was grown or produced right here in Sonoma.

Naples-style pizza with heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil and mozzarella

Heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil from the Tuesday night Farmer’s Market, Sonoma Plaza; cheese from Vella Cheese Factory on Second St. East

Grilled sausages with red bell peppers, buttered Yukon gold potatoes with fresh rosemary

Sausages from Victorian Farmhouse Meats, available at Friday’s Farmer’s Market, Depot Park, Sonoma; potatoes and peppers from on Second St. East, fresh rosemary from the Tuesday night Farmer’s Market, Sonoma; fresh churned butter from the on Second St. East

Field greens with strawberries and crumbled goat cheese with a raspberry champagne vinaigrette

Greens and goat cheese from Tuesday night Farmer’s Market; strawberries from the Watmaugh Rd strawberry patch; oil and vinegar from , Hwy 12

Olive Oil cake with dried fig compote

Olive oil from BR Cohn Winery, dried fig compote from The Girl & The Fig on W. Spain St.

Olive Oil Cake

2 cups flour

½ t. baking soda

1 ½ cups BR Cohn olive oil   

2 cups sugar

3 large eggs                

¼ cup orange juice                 

1¼ cup milk               

1 t. salt                                               

¼ cup Cointreau

1 T lemon zest                        

1 t. aniseeds   

½ t. baking powder                

2 t. rosemary, finely chopped plus sprig for decorating

¾ c. The Girl & The Fig dried fig compote

½ c. orange marmalade

Coat two round cake pans with olive oil. Sift together dry ingredients and set aside. Mix together eggs, sugar, oil, Cointreau, zest, aniseeds, rosemary and orange juice. Add the flour mixture. Pour batter in pans and bake in a 350 degree oven for one hour. Cool completely.

Spread fig compote in between the layers and then top with orange marmalade or powdered sugar. Garnish with a nice sprig of rosemary. This savory cake is not overly sweet, making it a perfect finish for any meal.

Naples Style Pizza

Dough:

2 cups King Arthur Bread Flour

1 T. BR Cohn Olive Oil

½ cup warm water

1/2 T. yeast

 1/2 T. salt

1/3 cup milk

Disolve yeast in warm water and add to flour, along with salt, milk and olive oil. Mix dough thoroughly and knead gently for about five minutes. Shape dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a dish towel and set aside. Allow the dough to rise for at least three hours, preferably five hours. Flour work surface and stretch dough into a round or rectangular shape (you can use a rolling pin or “throw” the dough until the dough is thin and elastic). Place a pizza stone in the oven or on your bbq and preheat to 450 degrees. Sprinkle cornmeal on a pizza paddle and place dough in center. Drizzle olive oil over dough and add desired ingredients, such as fresh tomatoes, cheese and herbs. Bake for approximately 10 minutes.

Strawberry Fields Salad

4 cups fresh salad greens

1 cup fresh sliced strawberries

½ cup crumbled goat cheese

½ cup BR Cohn olive oil

¼ cup BR Cohn Raspberry Champagne Vinegar

Toss fresh greens with sliced strawberries and crumbled goat cheese. Mix together oil and vinegar. Drizzle with dressing, season with salt and pepper.