Fahrenheit is a decade old restaurant, located in the Tremont section of Cleveland, that is noted for its contemporary American regional cuisine.  Another claim to fame for the restaurant is the chef.  Chef Rocco recently starred in the Food Network series, Fat Chef, and lost 130 pounds.  We were able to speak with him and learn more about Fahrenheit’s spring menu.

TT:  What do you like about spring, in terms of your restaurant?

CR:  It’s my favorite season.  I have the chance to utilize more local items:  ramps, wild mushrooms, English peas, fiddleheads, soft shell crabs, halibut.

TT:  Which is your favorite item on the spring menu?

CR:  I love the chicken tenderloin salad.  We marinate the chicken and served the salad with a yogurt dressing, which has honey and fresh herbs.  It is about two hundred calories and relates well to customers. Everyone likes chicken tenders.  If you grill the tenderloins nicely, you still get a chicken tender salad that is healthy.

TT:  Having lost 130 pounds, how have you seen changes in your cooking?

CR:  When I cook now, I don’t think of butter, cream, and salt. Instead I focus on citrus and spices.  My ideology of food has changed.  Vinaigrette can be made without a lot of oil.  More and more, I  have a light approach to the food, not messing with it too much.  I try to get under five ingredients in a dish.

TT:  Are there any other changes you’ve made?

CR:  I have added protein shakes to the dessert menu.  Made with peanut butter powder, coconut water, banana, and a few other ingredients, it is a 210 calorie treat.  With these flavors, it is a dessert option that’s very familiar and still healthy.

TT:  How many new items are on your spring menu?

CR:  There are about ten new items.

TT:  What makes your spring menu unique?

CR:  I just lost over 125 pounds, you’ll see that through my food and techniques.  If it wasn’t here a 1,000 years ago, I try not to use it.  I let the natural flavors of the food permeate with natural spices.  We still do the Fahrenheit classics, but the chef has a new drum to beat.  There are opportunities to be health conscious.  We make food that is satisfying to you at different caloric counts.  I give the diner options.

Our first Harvest Dinner is taking place this Sunday, September 25th, at 5:30 p.m. at the Lucky Bucket Brewery in La Vista, Nebraska, in conjunction with The Food Localmotion (Sierra Club Omaha, Green Omaha Coalition, and Slow Food Omaha).  Preparing the food for this event will be Chef/Owner Nick Strawhecker of Dante Pizzeria.  As a member of the Slow Food Association, which is an organization that advocates the use of local meats and produce, Chef Strawhecker is the perfect choice to prepare this meal.

Most of the dishes that Chef Strawhecker will be preparing will be pizzas; however, the variety of toppings is quite amazing.  The mozzarella for the pizzas will be sourced from Branched Oak Farm in Raymond.  Rhizosphere Farm in Waterloo will be supplying the produce for the event.  The list of items being supplied by Rhizosphere is overwhelming.  It includes:

hot peppers (jalapeno, serrano, banana), chives, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, La Ratte fingerlings, carrots, baby head lettuce, purple opal basil, Yellow of Parma onions, Ailsa Craig onions, sweet potatoes, Crimson Forest or He Shi Ko green onions, green peppers, Swiss Chard, parsley root, shallots, celeriac, thyme, oregano, sage, rosemary, dragoncello tarragon, lovage

Chef Strawhecker uses ingredients similar to these at Dante Pizzeria, a sophisticated, casual Italian restaurant and bar in Omaha.  The menu changes weekly, as only the freshest seasonal ingredients are featured.  In addition to sourcing local ingredients, Chef Strawhecker prepares his pizzas in a brick oven, in Neapolitan style using fresh mozzarella and dough that is made on premises daily.  In addition to pizza, you will find an array of Tuscan and Southern Italian entrées, small plates, and salads.

Explaining why he believes in the Slow Food movement, Chef Strawhecker explains, “I love working with local farmers. It is hard for me to describe how much better the product is compared to product shipped in from California or Mexico. I am a seasonal cook so I know what I get from the farmers is seasonal in Nebraska ¬which is the mantra of many Italian cooks as well¬ cook with what you can get your hands on locally.”

To partake in the Green Pizza and Beer Local Foods dinner, you will need to purchase a ticket.  The price of admission is twenty dollars and includes pizza, one 20-0unce beer, and a tour of the factory.  If you are interested in attending this events, you can find more information on the Sierra Club website.

TT:  Having watched Food Network Star, your food looked fabulous, especially your grown-up s’mores.  What is the best piece of cooking advice you can offer to home cooks who want to prepare meals that are as attractive and as tasty?

KC:  Thanks for the compliment!  I am going to share two pieces of advice!  Always make sure to keep things “artistic” in a dish, with height and color contrast.   Use the same products throughout a dish,  making all foods and garnishes relevant to one another.  For example In my Grown Up Smores I infused the chocolate ganache with orange zest and almond extract.  Then I added “drunken” orange segments, and caramelized almonds on top of my meringue topping.  Great color and height dimension, with reoccurring flavor components!  Just pretty and yummy!

TT:  Most of our readers aren’t trained chefs.  What cooking techniques should they learn in order to improve their cooking?

KC:  I think the most important thing are the gadgets that you have in your kitchen!  It will aid in your style of cooking, utilize the flavor of the foods better and help you save time!  For example, whenever I bake I always use a silicone mat in my cookie sheet because it helps make for beautiful bottomed meringues, cookies and scones that come right off my pan.  I love my food zester because it is a quick and easy way to add citrus zest to my whole wheat quinoa pancake mix or for finely shredding a sharp Parmesan on my mushroom risotto bites.  If there was one “technique” I would encourage to learn, it would be to make a roux.  That is the most basic way to make a sauce at home. It really does save you time and money, and you can get creative with the flavor additions and you are in charge of the salt additions.

TT:  As someone who focuses on food and fitness, are there certain foods that more home cooks need to use more often?

KC:  There are great lists of Super Foods that you can use as a reference for what to incorporate in your cooking.  I am trying to encourage others to add nutritious foods to what you are already cooking, so that it becomes a lifestyle change and not a controlled diet way of eating.  Super Foods include simple ingredients like apple cider vinegar, salmon, almonds and blueberries.  So I encourage people to use the vinegar for their salad dressings, use chopped salmon as the protein in their pasta salad and adding almonds and blueberries to their breakfast oatmeal.

TT:  Oppositely, are there foods, which home cooks should avoid?

KC:  I never fry food at home.  To make a dish that is fried perfectly takes a lot of oil and a perfect temperature.  For me, that is too much time, money and dirty work.  I save my fried food treats, like great truffle fries or a fabulous cheese filled squash blossom, for when I am out and don’t have to clean it up!

TT:  What dish has a lot of wow factor, yet isn’t high in calories, and could be mastered at home?

KC:  This is one of my favorites with the end of summer here!  I love it because it is nutritious, which should be what motivates us to eat!  It is my simple mix of  chopped cooked Lobster, Papaya and Avocado.  Squeeze some grapefruit and salt and pepper.  Makes a great appetizer on bamboo skewers or on a bed of mixed greens.  Simple ingredients, full of healthy benefits, and is packed with flavor!  Plus it has the “fancy factor” that makes it great to serve to friends, and makes you look, well, fancy!

TT:  Now a little bit about you: what are your future plans?  Will you return to your food and fitness work, write a cookbook?

KC:  I am teaching fabulous workshops that are geared towards healthy lifestyle living.   I have one geared toward women called Beautiful You, and one for girls called Just B-YOU!. ” Learning to be beautiful from the inside out!”   It’s great because I reach audiences from fancy food festivals to girl scout troops!  I teach cooking classes and workout classes as always, and am always training for fitness shows and road races!  Make sure to contact me at fitchefkaty.com or fitchefkaty@gmail.com to chat about something fun we can do in your area!  As for a book-  of course it’s in the works.  My problem is deciding if it should be about how to get really beautiful arm muscles or what healthy recipe to make for 3 picky kids!  I’m sure I will find a way to incorporate all of that!  Healthy choices. Healthy you!

TT:  What was the best part about your Food Network Star experience?

KC:  Getting to know all the other amazing chefs is a given, but I also appreciated the time away from my busy life.  It actually was nice for me to take a break from my 24-7 job of being an at home mom to focus on some of my passions and dreams and get a chance to define that more in my life.  Because of the advice from the celebrity  judges and the opportunities that I have had after the show, I have become more focused on my Fit Chef Katy brand, and love seeing how it impacts lives!  A big thank you to Food Network for giving me this opportunity!  Cheers!

TT:  As a chef, scientist and Food Network Star contestant, you have a vast amount of cooking knowledge and experience.  What is one simple food or cooking fact our readers should know that will improve their cooking?

JK:  One of my pet peeves that is EASILY avoidable is the overcooking of vegetables.  One can vastly improve their kitchen prowess by UNDER cooking our fibrous friends.  When cooking green veggies, heat them only to the point where they turn a bright green and then take off the heat.  This happens very fast, around one to three minutes, so BE ATTENTIVE.   Heartier vegetables like carrots and brussel sprouts, I like to blanch in salted water for 1-2 minutes, then add to whatever I’m making.

TT:  Working as a research chef, you are well educated about the food you work with.  Do you think home chefs should learn more about the foods they’re cooking with?

JK:  Most definitely.  Knowing HOW TO COOK is completely different from BEING ABLE TO COOK.  Any body can cook and do it well, knowing how to cook involves having an understanding of the properties (texture, season, taste, and even memories) of the ingredients we use.

TT:  Your cooking talent was obvious on Food Network Star.  Is there a cooking technique that a home cook could master to wow their dinner guests?

JK:  Two things that can a person can do instantly to wow guests is presentation and color contrast.  We eat with our eyes before our mouths, so how our food looks can greatly improve any dish. A dish that’s all one color or has similar colors can look boring, try to break things up a bit by using contrasting colors.  For example, if there’s a lot of green on the plate, I like to spice things up with red or orange.  When plating, presentation is KEY.  Remember LESS IS MORE.  Keep it simple, build height, keep all components tight and clean and don’t be afraid to experiment with plating concepts.

TT:  Conversely, is there a cooking technique that should be left to the restaurants?

JK:  THERE ARE NO COOKING TECHNIQUES THAT SHOULD BE LEFT TO RESTAURANTS!  EXPERIMENT. LEARN. STUDY. EXECUTE. DON’T BE INTIMIDATED.

TT:  Now a little bit about you: what are your future plans?  Will you return to your research chef job, write a cookbook?

JK:  Whatever I do in the future, I want to have creative expression.  I believe that we are all here for one another and would like to foster creative community and collaborate with other creative people.  If you have an idea for a collaboration of ANY kind, contact me at www.jubakali.com.  A partner and I are collaborating with artists and musicians every week at our pop-up restaurant The Burrito Juke Joint in New Orleans.  We have a stage where local musicians play, visual artists and filmmakers their display works, people come for great food, great environment, great people and are building community.  It’s AWESOME.

TT:  You made dishes that represented your hometown.  What is your favorite New Orleans dish?

JK:  Whenever I leave New Orleans, the thing I crave the most are beignets.  Having said that, I LOVE seafood and consider it a luxury to have great seafood virtually all year round.  One of my favorite pastimes here (New Orleans) is plopping up at a bar and ordering a good microbrew and a dozen oysters on the half shell.

TT:  What was the best part about your Food Network Star experience?

JK:  The CREW!  Having wardrobe, make up artists and wranglers (Moms) to do everything for you is pretty awesome.  If y’all are reading this, I miss you, please come back

TT:  As a caterer and Food Network Star contestant, you have a vast amount of cooking experience.  What is one simple thing our readers can do to improve their cooking?

JE:  Focus on one technique at a time and master it! Spend a week braising different cuts of meat and developing your own flavors, making the recipes your own. Maybe the next week grab some different types of fish and spend time learning to properly sauté, grill and roast them. Find ways to learn simple techniques that bring out the best flavors of the food.

TT:  What home-style dinner should every home cook be able to master?

JE:  A simple Pasta Pomodoro and Bread Pudding…staples in my house!

TT:  What bite-sized dish has a lot of wow factor but actually is easily mastered at home?

JE:  Any kind of slider! I do Shrimp Po’boy Sliders, Filet Mignon Sliders, Chicken Fried Steak on Buttermilk Biscuit Sliders, etc. Take your favorite burger or sandwich and just shrink it down….people are ALWAYS thrilled with them and they are easy to knock out.

TT:  Is there an appetizer that you think is better ordered at a restaurant than attempted at home?

JE:  I always order whatever fresh burrata appetizer is on the menu, because restaurants can always get the GOOD burrata, and I can NEVER find that yummy, goopy quality of mozzarella in a grocery store or specialty store.

TT:  Now a little bit about you: what are your future plans?  Will you return to catering, write a cookbook?

JE:  My cookbook is 90% done, and it’s all about my finger foods. My catering company (Jyllicious Bites) focuses on taking comfort foods and making them small and elegant, and I think there are a lot of people out there who would love to make Mini Chicken Pot Pies or Petite Lobster Rolls for their next occasion! Also, I really enjoyed being on camera on Food Network, so I am hoping to be able to do some tv spots and demos in the future. I also teach cooking classes.

TT:  Having watched Food Network Star, you showed both delicious home-style meals and bite-sized delights.  Which style of cooking do you prefer?

JE:  I consider myself a Finger Food Specialist, and that’s what I love to create. However, I am a midwest girl who loves cheesy comfort food style meals when I am cooking at home!

TT:  What was the best part about your Food Network Star experience?

JE:  The FN chefs I was able to meet (Ina Garten! Come on!) and the lifelong friends I made.

As of last night, the current season of Food Network Star, (apparently marketing decided to drop “Next”) has reduced its group of  contenders from fifteen to four.  Among the original group of fifteen was Justin Balmes, who has worked in almost every area of the food world, from line cook to executive chef to butcher to fishmonger.  Unfortunately, he was eliminated from the show on the fourth episode.

I was able to speak with Justin about his advice for home cooks and his plans for the future.

TT:  Having watched Food Network Star, your food was always prepared impeccably. What is the best piece of advice you can offer to home cooks who want to prepare meals as well?

JB:  Keep things simple. Be thoughtful in your ingredient selection and prepare them with respect.

TT:  Most of our readers aren’t trained chefs. What cooking techniques should they learn in order to improve their cooking?

JB:  I firmly believe that if readers are genuinely interested in cooking good food they need to research and practice. This could be as simple as paying attention to menu descriptions, then going home and researching said ingredients and cooking techniques. Example: Pan Roasted Scallops or Braised Short Ribs.  The information is out there and readily accessible; you just need to make the effort. Additionally, readers can seek out local cooking classes which more often than not offer a comprehensive basic skills class covering everything from various knife cuts, sauces, cooking techniques, etc.

TT:  As a butcher and fishmonger, are there certain fish and cuts of meat that are easier to prepare for a non-chef?

JB:  With regards to cuts/types of fish, I would say to have readers stick to Round Fish (example: Salmon/Grouper) fillets before branching out to Flat Fish (example: Sole/Flounder). Generally speaking, Round Fish fillets are a good bit heartier and can handle improper cooking far better than the often very delicate texture of Flat Fish fillets. In this case practice makes perfect. Whole Roasted Fish is for the most part a “safe” dish to prepare. Obviously when selecting a Whole Fish ask for a little input from the Monger as to which fish lend themselves well to this cooking method and make sure they properly clean/scale your selected fish. One of my personal favorites is a Small Striped Bass with a well salted/peppered skin and stuffed with Fennel, Shaved Garlic, Shallot, Lemon Slices, Flat Leaf Parsley and EVOO. Roast at 375 until done (cook time is relative to the size/weight of fish). Clearly there are some bones to navigate but well worth it in the end!

As far as Meats go… I generally prefer the “cheaper” cuts and for a few reasons: 1. They are cheaper! 2. They generally require a little more love with their respective cuts and cooking methods; a good Butcher should be able to provide a plethora of information on both. I personally enjoy the following (Grass Fed when available): Chuck Eye Steak, Flat Iron Steak, Short Ribs, Chuck Roast and Brisket as far as Beef goes. Though as a treat, I love a good crusted Iron Skillet seared Bone-In Grass Fed Ribeye!  Pork: Butt, Shoulder, Country Style Ribs, Bone In Loin (towards the neck), Sirloin, Belly, Jowls, Trotters, Ham/Picnic just to name a few! I also really appreciate high quality Lamb & Bison. There again, ask your Butcher. Also, as stated above there is a TON of information online Cuts/Recipes/Cooking Techniques and Pairings.

Just about anyone can pick up an expensive steak whether a Ribeye or the always popular Tenderloin (sadly, which I don’t personally care for due to cost and lack of flavor) and throw it on the grill with little worry or need of much skill. Get involved in your cooking and don’t just take the easy route! You will impress your guests far more by demonstrating skill and knowledge than some run of the mill steak.

TT:  What dish has a lot of wow factor but actually could be mastered at home?

JB:  I would say braised pork belly in a pressure cooker then crisped in a hot skillet and finished in the oven. Sounds complex but truthfully with practice it isn’t that difficult!  There are many flavor options as well as complementary pairings (sides/sauces/beverages) to go along with.

TT:  Now a little bit about you: What are your future plans? Will you return to chef work, write a cookbook?

JB:  I have just recently signed with the Lisa Ekus Group (www.lisaekus.com) and have begun working with Melissa Libby (www.melissalibbypr.com) for PR/promotion. That said, the sky is the limit! I am interested in teaching, charity/fundraising work, appearance/group presentation work, consulting: menu development/staff training/putting systems in place, etc., and I am absolutely going write/produce cookbooks through the help of Sally Ekus of the Ekus Group Literary Division.  I have a lot of wonderful and very tasty recipes for beautiful food, and I want to share them!

TT:  What was the best part about your Food Network Star experience?

JB:  Aside from the experience as a whole including everything from meeting and cooking for celebrities, especially the chefs, I love the exposure that the show got me, and I met some amazing people, both cast and production. I knew from the beginning that my life would never be the same (99% in a good way!)  I have been working toward and professionally preparing myself for just such an opportunity for many years, and I am now seeing my dreams come to life.  This is a very exciting time for me right now and through the help my new professional alliances, along with my own drive and ambition (and great need for a creative outlet!) I intend to make the absolute most of it!

Zynodoa has been open for four years with Chef James working as executive chef for the last two months, and as the sous chef for the year preceding that.  Chef James is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Institute of Culinary Arts and has been in the culinary industry for twelve years.  Beyond Zynodoa, he has worked at Inn at Washington and spent a year working as a butcher in Dallas.

One of the features that makes Zynodoa unique is its support of farms in their region.  In fact, you can find a list of these producers on their website.  I asked Chef James how he handles the logistics of trying to source food locally.  He explained, “Parts of it are tough.  Some stuff you have to get from produce companies, such as onions.  We can buy all the onions available locally, but it is not enough.  We go through fifty pounds of onions in two days.”

However, there are benefits to local sourcing.  “Using local vendors, we can’t just call and say what we want.  If they are out of something, we have to be creative.  The whole point of having a farm to table restaurant is to make the best food possible.  We get to keep things extremely fresh.”  He continued, “If it says it is local on our menu, it is local.”

Working with smaller farms, I asked how they handled transportation of the food.  Chef James referred to it as a hodgepodge of means.  Some farms need to have someone from Zynodoa pick up their items.  Several of the farmers have other restaurants near Zynodoa that they supply, so the farms do the deliveries.  Finally, their non-local produce company will make pick-ups from the smaller farms for a nominal fee.  (Interestingly, the delivery of other farms’ produce is the biggest use of the non-local produce company for Zynodoa.)

Having worked in several states, I asked Chef James what he found to be the advantages and disadvantages of that location.  The first advantage he named was the produce.  “You won’t find produce like this outside of California.  You’re not going to find this kind of food.  It is an eden, a cornucopia of good stuff.  Plus, Staunton looks like you dropped a Charles Dickens village in Virginia.  When it snows, it looks like a snowglobe.”  He found no disadvantages to this Mid-Atlantic location.

With a multitude of locally sourced food and a beautiful locale, Zynodoa seems to be a great destination.  Add to that the culinary talents of Chef James, and you can’t go wrong.

Think Tasty

Chef Aaron did not attend formal culinary school.  He started cooking in high school, and was excelling so fast he didn’t want to slow down to go to school.  As part of the learning process he has done internships at restaurants, such as Fat Duck and  Charlie Trotter’s.  In addition to internship, he has learned much through reading.  He also has earned certification as a sommelier, which has helped him with wine pairings and cooking.

Working at Joseph Decuis, he has learned the importance of working with fresh local foods.  At their farm, they raise Wagyu cattle, chickens, herbs, and vegetables.  In addition, they supplement with produce, meats, and dairy items from other local and similarly minded farms.  These other farms tend to be small farms, many of whom are producing heritage breeds.  Working with these local farms, they serve items only when they’re in season locally.  As Chef Aaron stated, “Indiana tomatoes are amazing, but when they’re gone, we don’t have them any more.  We don’t buy them from California or Mexico to keep them on the menu.”

Located in Indiana and having standards such as that, it may seem difficult to provide produce to their diners in the winter.  Chef Aaron did note, “We do have to source, some things can’t be grown locally.  Our citrus comes from Florida.  Arugula salad is grown north of Indianapolis, hydroponically, which keeps us in greens year round.”  In addition, this restaurant has formed a relationship with a local Amish family that should help solve the problem.  The family has built a greenhouse and will be growing items, such as collard greens and kale, for the restaurant’s use.

Discussing what he likes best on the menu, Chef Aaron indicated that the Wagyu beef was a favorite ingredient for cooking.  The farm has been raising these cattle for seven years, and within that time it’s changed what the chefs can do with the beef.  Instead of working with only the “good cuts”, such as filet, the chefs use all parts of the cow.  As he explained, “We can elevate mundane cuts.  When we are left with rounds, rump roasts, flank steak, and a ton of other cuts, we use cuts like that in a way that is up to our standard, which is always fun.”  In fact, next year they may try to butcher their own cattle to maximize the amount of cuts that they get.

Moving from food to customers, we discussed why Joseph Decuis has so many loyal patrons.  Chef Aaron attributed it to two factors, “The quality of food and quality of service. It is leaps and bounds above local restaurants.”  He continued, “People come to us for the honesty of our food.  Some people view it as a trend, but it is something we live by.  It is not trendy.  They know the eggs in the pasta are from 6 miles up the road.  The chicken is fresh, never frozen.  They know where the food is coming from.”

Working at Joseph Decuis with truly farm fresh ingredients and dedicated staff, Chef Aaron may be another one of the reasons why their patrons are so loyal.

Moving away from the river, we came to an area in which a different type of livestock is housed: pigs.  Steve is raising 7 pigs, though currently 3 are on loan, leaving just 4 at his farm.  The pigs are housed in a manner similar to the cattle.  They are kept within a moveable fence and are relocated on a regular basis like the cattle.  Unlike the cattle, the pigs are kept near the trees on the edge of the property.  This provides the pigs with many acorns, which they adore eating.

Again these animals are raised on grass, weeds, and the aforementioned acorns.  This natural diet provides them with the subsistence they need without having to add hormones or chemicals to their diets.  The pigs are able to roam their area and live healthy, normal lives that don’t involve tiny, enclosed pens or horrific conditions.  In fact, as we walked to their fenced area, the pigs ran to the fence like a dog would, excited to see their owner.  They were more than glad to stick their snouts up and request a little scratch.

Besides cattle and pigs, Steve raises chickens at his farm.  He recently butchered the broiler chickens that he raised.  He still has a large flock of laying chickens that recently produced their first eggs.  These chickens also are kept in a movable pen but do have a tent-like cover to protect them from inclement weather.

All of the animals raised on this farm are done so with the same thinking: keep their environment as natural as possible and give back to the earth instead of taking from it.  The animals feed off of the ground, and in return provide nutrients that will help the ground produce more food for them in coming months.  In addition to keep the earth and animals healthy, it also seems to keep the animals happy.  While I may not be an animal psychologist, none of the animals looked distressed or uncared for.  All of them seemed to be happy to graze, root, or peck at the ground.

To learn more about Normanton Farm and the excellent meats and eggs his animals produce, visit their website.

I kind of met a member of Normanton Farm this past spring.  About 10:00 pm on a weekday night I was driving home from a dinner meeting.  As I rounded a corner on a main road in town, I was surprised to discover a cow in the middle of the road.  While I knew I was driving in the suburbs and have seen numerous deer in the road, never before had I met a cow in the road.  Of course, when I met Steve Normanton, owner of the farm, this week, the cow encounter was the first thing I mentioned.  He remembered the night quite clearly, as he had to locate the runaway cow and return her to his farm.  As he explained, “She’s a teenager and was wandering.”

During this morning visit to Normanton Farm, Steve gave me a tour of his farm. Situated on Charles Bancroft Highway in Litchfield, New Hampshire, it covers 65 acres along the Merrimack River.  We started our tour with his group of cattle.  Steve has 38 head of cattle, with 32 of them being housed in Litchfield and the other 6 in Antrim.  Among his cattle, he has Scottish Highlands, Belted Calloways, Hereford, and Hereford-Angus.

These cattle are akin to nomads, as their grazing area changes frequently.  Steve has determined the exact frequency with which the cattle need to be moved:  5 days.  With five days per area, the cows are able to eat all of the growth that is available, tramp down the growth that they won’t eat, and leave an appropriate amount of manure.  Staying longer than that would result in new growth being eaten too soon, and staying less wouldn’t allow enough time to complete the needed work.  With this structure to the cattle moves, it takes approximately 180 days for the cattle to cover all of the land at the farm.

Maintaining the cattle in such a manner is a symbiotic process.  The cattle are able to graze and eat grass and weeds that are a normal part of their diet, which means there is no need for humans to mow that land.  Leaving manure in these areas eliminates the needs for fertilizer.  Also, this timespan helps decrease pests, such as biting flies.  By the time new flies have matured, the cattle have moved to a different area.  As Steve noted, “These animals are tools that help build the fertility of the soil.”

Feeding the cattle on grasses and weeds not only provides the cattle with the diet which with they were meant to be fed, it also produces meat that tastes better and is better for people to eat.  While maintaining the farm’s land, the cows are turning themselves into what will be delicious steaks and hamburgers.

An interesting fact about these cattle is that they have the ability to recognize which minerals they need.  On the farm there is a feeding trough divided into 16 sections, each of which contains a different mineral.  The cattle only eat the minerals they need.  Looking in the various bins, one can see that some minerals are needed more than others.

What does this farm have to do with Think Tasty?  A farm such as this produces the meats that many restaurants now seek.  Grass-fed beef is better on many levels.  Cattle raised on grass and without antibiotics and hormones tend to be healthier animals.  These animals then produce meat that is tastier and is not filled with chemicals. Obviously many people recognize these benefits, as Steve has sold out of beef for this year.

To learn more about Normanton Farm, visit Think Tasty on Wednesday.