Biscotti Recipe

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Anise extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs

 

Whisk the flour and baking powder in a bowl to blend. By hand or with a mixer, beat the sugar, butter, vanilla and anise extract, and salt in a large bowl to blend. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and beat just until blended. 

Form the dough into foot long, 3-inch wide logs on a prepared baking sheet. Bake until light golden, 30- 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Cool for 30 minutes.

Place the log on the cutting board. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the log on a diagonal into 1/2 inch-thick slices. Arrange the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake the biscotti until they are pale golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a rack and cool completely.

 

Temecula to Santa Barbara Snacks

After spending a good half-day in Temecula talking about wine, I had to high-tail it to Santa Barbara to see a long-time friend and his family. My only sustenance? Coconut macaroons and tadalli. LA traffic is the worst, I've never regretted moving from LA. Never.

These Jennies Macaroons are actually quite good. They stay really fresh even after they've been opened for a couple months. I stash them in the car in case of hunger.

Pork Belly, Eggs and Brioche with Country Gravy

I was so impressed with my recent visit to the restaurant Searsucker in San Diego, I wanted to recreate one of the dishes, Bacon + Eggs on Toast.

I'm pleased with the results from the pork belly, as this is the first time I've cooked it in this style. Caramelized pork belly fat is a true love of mine.

While my first-run re-creation wasn't perfect, the elements I chose are close to the original. A country gravy that was more cream-based bechamel than American greasy-spoon-diner paste. I didn't poach the egg in water, I slowed poached it in butter (I know how to poach an egg!). I used arugula instead of frisee', so my dish had more pepper flavor than the bitterness of frisee'. And I did have brioche on-hand (thankfully). 

It's critical that a country gravy is made. As I mentioned, I made a bechamel sauce for this dish. The gravy brings all the elements together and carries the flavor of the entire dish. Without the gravy, the dish falls a little flat.

Cooking recipe notes: The basis for cooking the pork belly was taken from Gordon Ramsay's F Word series on BBC. Otherwise, there are no recipes to follow. Toast bread. Make Bechamel. Fry or Poach Egg. Arrange Lettuce. This is so simple, it's beautiful. But to make it great, each element has to be near-perfect for the dish to really come together.

Tadalli's, Trial and Error Version One

Tadalli or Taralli or Italian Pretzels, whatever the name, they're difficult to make. A staple item from the region of Puglia but difficult to find homemade in California. The base for this "recipe" was one of the many index cards I've found in my Mom's recipe drawer.

I'm considering each of the recipes I'm featuring an ancient map to buried treasure. Not all maps are accurate, in fact, I think some maps were used to intentionally mislead the treasure hunter. Italian mothers and grandmothers held treasure in these ancient recipes, treasure that was protected by the map makers.

Below are my notes on the "map" that I found and the resulting treasure that I collected. If you like a cracker like consistency and you really, really like to roll a difficult dough, this recipe is for you.

5 cups of flour

2 tablespoons of salt

1 Cup of olive oil, perhaps a bit more

¾ cup of white wine

¼ cup of water

3 tablespoons of fennel seed

I found the dough to be more of a olive oil dough, rather than anything sticky or needing flour. Nothing resembling a pizza dough or bread dough

The dough was almost stringy, like string cheese unless I compressed it with my hands. It could be from the amount of oil I used

I might want to use a sweet wine instead of Chardonnay or add sugar to the dough

Boiling was without incident, with my only note being to more rapidly pull out the taralli as they rise to the top. The longer they stay in, the fatter they get with water and the less good looking they are.

Also, I tried various temperatures in the oven.

DO NOT put any oil in the sheet pan. It is un-necessary.

DO NOT oil the taralli prior to putting in the oven

Started the oven at 415F and wasn’t getting any “Sheen” on the taralli at all, almost a burnt flavor inside

Then moved it down to 370F on the top rack and they took at least 30 minutes, perhaps longer. Each oven will cook them differently. But this was the sweet spot.

Barrel Down and Wait

The 2011 Harvest is in the barrel and it's time to wait. I'm happy with the results so far in what was a challenging harvest.  I've got more wine to work with in 2011 because of quality farming practices. 

Patience has its advantages in the wine business. We won't be bottling this 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon from Doug Rafanelli's Vineyard for a couple years. Continue to develop and age gracefully please.

Pasta Dough version 1

Ingredients

  •  1 ½ cups “00” Flour (or All-Purpose Flour)
  • ½ cup Semolina Flour
  • 4 Eggs

Instructions

Mix all ingredients together until smooth and the dough is soft. That basically means you’re going to knead the dough for a solid 10 minutes. Then set the dough aside for 30 minutes before you begin to roll out your particular pasta shape.

Depending upon your skill level, the equipment used, and the pasta shape desired, forming shapes could take between another 10-30 minutes. Hand cut 6” long, 3/4” wide papparadelle strips for the Bolognese Sauce.

Photos Courtesy of James Collier and Taste Fresno

Bolognese Sauce

Ingredients

  • ½ pound ground lamb
  • ½ pound ground beef
  • 1 medium white or yellow onion,
    finely minced
  • ¼ cup tomato sauce
  • 10 leaves of fresh sage
  • 4 cups of beef or vegetable stock
  • ½ cup of olive oil, ¼ for cooking
    and ¼ for finishing
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Freshly grated or ribbon sliced
    Parmigiano Reggiano to finish

Instructions

Heat up a 3 quart pot on medium heat and add olive oil and all of your ground beef and lamb. Once all of the beef and lamb are browned, remove from the pot and add the onions, lowering the temperature to Low and sweat the onions for about 5 minutes.

Return all of the beef and lamb to the pot. Add tomato sauce and allow to cook on medium to low heat for 5-8 minutes, reducing the tomato sauce in order to concentrate the flavors. Don’t scorch the bottom of the pan, as the sugars in the tomato sauce can begin to caramelize quickly. If there is a crust on the bottom of the pan from all of the sautéing, you may add a little of your vegetable stock to prevent it from burning. Scrape the bits of caramelized meat, onions and tomato from the bottom of the pan.

Turn the heat back up to high and pour all of the vegetable stock into the pot and bring up to a boil. When boil is reached, turn the heat down to low. You may add the sage leaves. Partially cover the pot and allow the sauce to reduce until nearly all of the liquid had been evaporated. If one thinks of this dish as a slow braise, rather than a rapidly made sauce, the cooking time of 2 hours makes more sense, which is how long it will take on Low Heat to reduce all of the liquid.

Test for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. When the taste is satisfactory and liquid has been almost completely reduced, turn off the burner and add the remaining olive oil to the pot.

Scoop a moderate portion of Bolognese Sauce over your Pappardelle (do not over sauce) into a warm bowl. Add a dusting or several ribbons of Parmigiano to the top of the pasta. Serve.

Photo: Courtesy of James Collier and Taste Fresno

Cousin Marco curing Olives

Fresno and Healdsburg have slightly different weather patterns. Fresno is a little ahead in terms of grape and olive harvesting. Cousin Marco was hard at work in Fresno curing olives; an annual tradition. Meanwhile, Cousin David was harvesting grapes in Healdsburg for the 2011 Cabernet Vintage. Lots of harvesting going on. 

I've posted Marco's pictures of his olive curing in the Gallery and Facebook.

Harvest 2011 at Doug Rafanelli Vineyard

An exciting two days in the vineyard above Dry Creek Valley with Doug Rafanelli. Tons and tons of grapes were picked, sorted and hauled for processing down in the Valley.

I was fortunate enough to take part in the entire two-day process. I learned a tremendous amount and was actively driving a pickup with a gondola attached to it most of the day. It's too bad it takes at least 24 more months for these wine grapes to be released into a finished product some time in 2014.

Here's to more patience and looking to the future.

Chiaroscuro and La Folie in One Night

I’ve already talked about how good I think Chiaroscuro is on The Cured Ham a couple of times.  I'm amazed how little coverage Chiaroscuro gets from the Bay Area food scene, especially for how authentic and consistent it is. I have a special place in my heart for pasta and I feel confident that Chef Alessandro will cook better pasta than I can most nights. I’m sure Chef has off nights, but my birthday dinner was not one of them. And considering Chef's Mother was also in the kitchen, everything had to be good.

I’ve attached the meal as presented that evening. On the cheese plate, a cherry leaf wrapped goat cheese from Basilicata was the standout. A house cured lamb prosciutto had a punch of pepper to it that was unexpected. The desserts that evening were a raisin gelato (that had absolutely no chewy raisins in it), strawberry shortcake, and profiteroles. The profiteroles a.k.a. cream puffs, had nearly the same density, texture, and softness as my Italian Grandmother’s. And yes, both pasta dishes were outstanding. The rigatoni was challenging to the palate with one secret ingredient (which we had to ask Chef about. He was being sneaky about that addition and no I'm not divulging it here).

 

What I didn’t plan for that evening was a special look inside La Folie. One of my cousins is close to Chef Passot. I was allowed to view kitchen operations at the height of service. Basically a step away from the pass, as I watched Chef inspect and arrange nearly every dish. The kitchen is small, efficient, and very busy. No room for idle chit chat, only communication about their stations and timing. What a delight to watch.

After service was over, Chef sat with my cousin, a good friend, and me for nearly 45 minutes. We talked about food of course, but also family, travel, and living in the Bay Area. Chef suddenly became another friend at the table. Way cool. Chef Passot was extremely generous with his time.

I couldn’t have had a better birthday. Welcome to 40 years on Planet Earth.

Pizza Fritte

Pizza dough, simple enough right? Roughly:

4 cups Flour

2 cups warm Water

2 tablespoons Yeast

4 tablespoons Olive Oil and a little salt, mix it together and let it rise.

Then take that dough and FRY IT!

Till it's Golden Brown...

And top it with a little sugar or honey. And Old School Italian Classic!

In the field with a Central Valley Icon

I was fortunate enough to spend a little time in the vineyard with long-time family friends and two men dedicated to the vineyard and wine business, Frank and Mike Saviez. The Saviez Family has been managing vineyards and making wine for several generations in Napa Valley and the San Joaquin Valley. I was able to hook up with them in Fresno while they harvested some Albarino, Pinot Grigio, and a hot weather clone of Pinot Noir they're working with.

The pictures below are of Frank and a scene that sums up the less glamourous side of winemaking; a small truck (that kicks up tons of dust), some brightly colored trays, a new clone to taste, clear skies and 88 degree heat at 8:30am. Of course, all just another day to Frank Saviez, the sage of the San Joaquin.

The Day in Pictures, Bottling the 2007

What a busy week for us at Mastro Scheidt Wines!

We are all very pleased with how things turned out on Monday for our first bottling. Everyone was armed with a camera to get pictures of the first bottling line we've run. Total evolvement too, from Marco pressing prototype labels onto the bottles for the line, Tom (T.L.) working the hand-corking machine for magnums, to John showing the "Feats of Strength" tossing used barrels into the pickup (and making a much needed lunch of sandwiches).

 

 


This day was also a reminder to the generations before us, both Italian and German that tradition is all around us and binds the galaxy together (wait that's The Force). Seriously, tradition is what keeps us in touch with those around us, both young and old; and allows a common thread for us to each weave into our daily lives. Days like today each of us will carry for the rest of our lives and hopefully on to another generation.

 

Maestro Schietz? No, Mastro Scheidt!

Lots of emotion, time, expense, and manpower went into yesterday's bottling efforts. When we arrived on site, one of the first things everyone noticed was our stack of Claret bottles, a couple palates worth. On top of the palates we were shocked to see a new winery name, Maestro Schietz.

Scheidt. Right, I get it. My Dad gets it. My brother gets it. Scheidt is not an easy name to say or spell and is often shouted in vain. But Mastro? Maybe it's the old Seinfeld reference to "The Maestro", who knows, but I thought Mastro was 10 times easier to spell than Scheidt. 

This one spelling error was the only glitch in yesterday's bottling. We'd personally like to thank the bottling crew at Mill Creek and of course, David and Fabian for their help (and driving the forklift)

We Bottle Monday!

The whole gang will be in Healdsburg on Monday to bottle all of the 2007 Cabernet. Everything is ready for a official release of the wines Labor Day Weekend in Fresno. We have a few details to work out as to venue and food, but rest assured, Mastro-Scheidt Double Barrel Cabernet will be poured September 1 during dinner on opening day of Dove season.