David Scheidt to speak at Fresno State Enology Society

Talk about great!

I will be the featured speaker and pouring wine at the CSU, Fresno Enology Society on Thursday, March 15 at 6:30pm in the main Enology Building. I'll be pouring my current line-up of 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon's and SOON TO BE RELEASED 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon's. It's open to the public for $10, so drop in if you want to get a sneak peak on an upcoming release.

It's sort of funny (and a bit strange) that 20 years ago I graduated from CSU, Fresno with a degree in Finance and I'm being asked to speak about wine. But maybe it's not so strange. While chemistry is obviously a big part of winemaking, so is the business of winemaking. 

Since I was first asked to speak, I've had a hard time deciding what it is I'm going to speak about. Sure, we'll try all the wines and I'll answer questions about the wine technicals, but making wine to me was only part of why Mastro Scheidt Cellars was formed. It's such an honor to speak, luckily I have a couple weeks to think about.

Go Dogs!

Enology Department Website

Allesina Barolo Salumi

I've been down in Bakersfield more in the last few weeks than I have in the last few years. Good thing too, there's some good quality food in the the Southern San Joaquin Valley.

Luigi's Deli has been providing high-quality products to the people of Bakersfield for over a century. One of many products they carry is Allesina Salumi from San Luis Obispo. 

After my drive back to Fresno, I sliced right into this little jewel. The smell of the outside is classic salumi, a bit gamey, moldy, yeasty...old world, old school. The inside has a wonderful combination of flavor of fat, meat and spice. All balanced. Really wonderful product.

I've been eating Creminelli products recently and they are equally as good. But the real test will be to eat them side-by-side. I'm looking forward to the challenge.

Just Outstanding IPA

The Kern River Brewing Company has a nice little operation up in the hills outside of Bakersfield. 

I was lucky, and I do say lucky, enough to purchase some of their beer at Imbibe a Bakersfield fine wine, beer and spirits store. Legend has it, Kern River beer sells out in a matter of hours upon delivery.

As I'm an IPA fan, I took a few pints home with me and decided to treat both myself and the beer to a proper sandwich and one of my favorites, The Reuben. I'd say the beer and the sandwich were Just Outstanding.

8 Guests, 8 Courses, 8 Wines

It was such a pleasure to get into the kitchen with Chef Tommy Chavez again. It was a fun night, but certainly not an easy one. Everything was cooked to order and from scratch. I even baked fresh fennel bread for the event. Chef Tommy and I were challenged by the glass cook top (not induction), but it was 10 times easier to clean up after than a gas range. Otherwise, things moved quickly and smoothly.

Long-time friend John Marihart made sure our eight special guests always had their glasses filled, their plates cleared, stemware polished and of course, gave the kitchen feedback on how the evening was progressing. Special thanks to Falina Marihart for taking all the pictures that night, cleaning dishes, utencils, stemware, and tasting all of our food before it was sent out. Non-stop for everyone and everyone did their part to make sure our guests had a great evening.

For your viewing pleasure, we've attached a slide show below, a brief history of the evening in the kitchen.

We would like to thank everyone who was a part of a wonderful night of food, wine, and celebration. Here's the menu and the wines for the event (And yes, I favored some Dry Creek Valley reds that night, but I'm biased). The Gruet, the only non-California wine, was served because one of our guests has a special connection to New Mexico. I have links to all of the wines and the wineries in the menu below, just hover over the wine for the link.

CRAB CAKES

CREOLE MUSTARD BUTTER SAUCE, DRESSED GREENS

Gruet, New Mexico Blanc de Noirs NV

 

 ESCARGOT MAITRE’ D

GARLIC HERB BUTTER, GRILLED CROSTINI

Caymus 2010 Conundrum White

 

 BLACKENED BEEF

WHITE GRITS, TOMATILLO SALSA, FRESH LIME, CILANTRO

Caymus 2009 Conundrum Red

 

SPINACH SALAD

CANDIED PECANS, GOAT CHEESE, STRAWBERRIES, RUM VINAIGRETTE

Pine Ridge 2010 Chenin Blanc/Viognier

 

HAND-MADE RAVIOLI

RICOTTA, PROSCUITTO, PINE NUTS, GRANA, OLIVE OIL/BUTTER

Lago di Merlo 2009 Dry Creek Valley Sangiovese

 

CREOLE BBQ SALMON

SWEET POTATO PUREE, HOUSE MADE CREOLE BBQ SAUCE, GREEN BEANS

A. Rafanelli 2004 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel

 

FILET DIANE

COGNAC MUSHROOM SAUCE, BACON ROASTED POTATOES, CREAMED SPINACH

Mastro Scheidt 2007 Proprietor’s Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

 

TOMMY’S SIGNATURE BREAD PUDDING

WARM PRALINE SAUCE, BOURBON WHIPPED CREAM

Windwalker 2001 Orange Muscat

 

 

General Spice Blend

I know a lot of hard-core foodies will tell you to throw out your pre-ground spices every 6-months or change them all out with the coming of daily light savings time or something.

Whatever.

I recently took several forgotten about spice racks from 2 family members and consolidated everything from dried marjoram to ground sage into one big container of General Spice Mix #1 Med/Ital/Greekish combination.

No one seemed to complain when I seasoned and then grilled chicken on the BBQ with this concoction.

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!