Dunill XO Brandy
Is it possible to get a quality XO brandy for $20? If this Dunill XO is any indication, the answer is no. (For just one comparison, Courvoisier XO costs $170. Most XOs cost at least $100, and go up from there.)
Pizza Margherita
Pizza Margherita
I have nine pizza cookbooks, and seven of them have a recipe for Pizza Margherita. In part this is because it is a classic, and in part because the story of its creation is clearly known and iconic. In 1889, the Italian royal couple King Umberto and Queen Margherita paid a visit to Naples. While there, local pizzaiolo Raffaele Esposito made three types of pizza for them: a marinara pizza with anchovies; a bianca (white) pizza with lard, provolone or caciocavallo cheese, and basil; and a pizza with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, featuring the red, white, and green of the Italian flag. The queen was particularly delighted by that last one, and when Esposito received a note of thanks from her, he dedicated the pizza to her.
Tuna pasta
Tuna Pasta, Japanese Style
My wife recently came home with a lovely seven-ounce tuna steak. Well, I love tuna, and because of this I thought, “this isn’t going to feed the two of us.” So I began to consider how to stretch it out. The answer? Tuna pasta, Japanese-style!
Garlic Olive Oil
Garlic Olive Oil
Garlic Olive Oil is a wonderful and versatile condiment. Sure, you can buy it, but it’s going to cost about $1.50 to $2.50 an ounce. For around 75 cents an ounce, you can easily make it yourself, and know exactly what goes into it as well. Most recipes for garlic olive oil roast the garlic in the oven. My method uses just the stovetop, which is more streamlined but delivers the same amount of flavor. Here’s how to do it:
- Pour 3 cups of extra virgin olive oil into a medium saucepan.
- Cut the tops off of 9 whole heads of garlic (Trust me on this. When I first started making this recipe, I began with 3 large heads. 9 are not too many.) Break the heads into individual cloves, and add all of the garlic to the oil.
- Add two stems of rosemary, as much fresh thyme as you want, and 2 tsp of toasted whole black peppercorns to the oil.
- Cover the saucepan, turn the heat on low, and simmer for 45 minutes.
- Remove from heat, uncover, and let sit for 1 hour to cool.
- Strain the oil into a bottle. A clean green wine bottle works great for this, but you’ll need the cork or some other closure. The oil will keep for at least a month, unrefrigerated.
- Discard the herbs and pepper. Squeeze the cooked garlic out of the skins and into a convenient container. Refrigerate until ready to use, like for spreading on home-made bread still warm from the oven. It can last about a month, but mine is usually gone in less than a week.
Based on a recipe from epicurious.com.
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Spaghetti Aglio e Olio
Spaghetti Aglio e Olio
If you are looking for an easy and delicious week-night meal, you can’t go wrong with Spaghetti Aglio e Olio, or literally Spaghetti Garlic and Oil.
Here’s how to make it:
Serves 4 to 6
1 lb. of spaghetti
3 tsp. salt
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup garlic (about one whole large head), sliced, chopped very fine, or run through a garlic press, depending on how you like it
2 2-oz. cans of anchovies*
2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 cup chopped parsley. (The stems are slightly bitter. Remove them if you don’t like that, include them if you do.) Flat-leaf Italian parsley is traditional, but curly parsley will work about as well.
Because this is a “peasant” dish, it is susceptible to many variations. With Italian sausage? Tuna? Shrimp? Broccoli? Except one: no cheese. Never any cheese.
1. Add salt to 4 to 6 quarts of water and bring to boiling. Add pasta, stirring occasionally during the first couple of minutes to prevent sticking. Total cooking time will be about 10 minutes, or according to package directions.
2. While the pasta is cooking, put the anchovies, olive oil, garlic, and pepper flakes in a large skillet (12″ is best) and turn on heat to medium low. Cook and stir the garlic until it becomes colored a pale gold. Do not let it become brown. Depending on your stove, this may take a very short time; monitor it constantly. Once done, remove from heat and add 1/3 cup of the pasta cooking water to the skillet to stop the cooking.
*Note: Don’t fear the anchovies! Personally, I love anchovies. They lend no fishiness to this pasta, but they do bring a big umami punch. To maximize this, I don’t drain the anchovies, adding the entire contents of the cans including the little fishes and the oil they are packed in. However, this may be too intense for younger or more sensitive eaters. If you like, drain before adding to the skillet, or if you are really nervous, drain, rinse, and pat dry before adding. You can omit them entirely, but you will miss out on a lot of flavor.
3. Using tongs, remove the pasta from the water and add to the skillet. (Or, if the pasta water has already been added to the aglio e olio in the skillet, drain in a colander if you prefer.) Turn the strands over and over in the skillet to coat them evenly until a slightly creamy texture forms. Add the chopped parsley, toss once again, and serve immediately.
Based on a recipe by Marcella Hazan in Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.
This pasta would go nicely with some of these wines:
winervana.com/lightning-ridge-cellars/
winervana.com/lachini-vineyards/
winervana.com/brutocao-cellars/
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Fajita Pizza
Fajita Pizza
Many people like fajitas. Many people like pizza. So, how about … a Fajita Pizza! Ole! Grazia!
Start marinade (see below) as early in the day as you like.
THE DOUGH
Start dough at 4p for dinner between 8p and 9p
1 cup warm water
2 tsp instant-rise yeast
3-1/4 cup bread flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil (extra virgin not necessary)
Combine ingredients and knead by hand for 10 minutes or machine
for 2 to 5 minutes. Coat dough ball in a thin film of olive oil, cover in plastic wrap and let rise in warm place.
THE PIZZA
About an hour before dinner time, turn the oven up as high as it will go.
Twenty to thirty minutes before dinner, roll dough out to 15” circle. [Or divide dough if you want to make two smaller pizzas.] Place on pizza screen if available, being careful not to press the dough into the mesh. Cover with plastic wrap.
2 Tbs chili powder
2 Tbs ground cumin
1 Tbs ground coriander
1 tsp crumbled dried oregano
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Ground cayenne to taste
1 pound beef skirt or flank steak, or chicken (thighs are best), cut into slices about 3 in. long and 1/4 in. thick. (I actually used duck, but My Lovely Wife wasn’t amused by the extravagance. And honestly, the nuance of the duck was lost in this pie.)
2 medium bell peppers. Any color will do, but I like red
1 medium onion, cut into thick slices
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup water
3 cups freshly shredded cheese: cheddar, Monterey Jack, mozzarella, fontina, whatever you like
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
1-1/2 cups chunky salsa, store bought is fine. I like Pace.
In a large zip-lock bag, combine all of the ingredients except the cheese, cilantro and salsa. Marinade for as long as you like.
While the dough is undergoing its final rise, place a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. When the oil is shimmering, pour the entire contents of the zip-lock bag into the skillet. Cook until the meat is done, the vegetables have softened, and the liquid has evaporated. Remove plastic wrap from dough and brush liberally with olive oil. Spread salsa evenly over dough. Spread contents of skillet evenly over salsa. Evenly spread the cheese over the pizza.
Bake in rippin’ hot oven until crust nicely browns, about 10
minutes. Remove pizza to a cutting board, sprinkle with cilantro, slice, and serve.
This would go nicely with a robust Italian or Spanish red wine or a good Mexican beer.
Serves 4 to 6.
Here are some wines to try with this pizza:
Two Unusual Wines from Italy, and One of My Original Pizza Recipes
This recipe was derived from James McNair’s excellent New Pizza. Don’t be discouraged by the one-star reviews on Amazon, they are bogus, imho. One dweeb complained that McNair didn’t cover such arcane techniques as cold fermentation. Geez. If you want a cold ferment, use room temperature water and let the dough rise in the refrigerator for 24 hours. But, you’re not going to have pizza tonight, and you won’t taste the subtleties a cold ferment brings to dough under all those toppings
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Chicken alla Joe
Chicken alla Joe
Gene & Georgetti is a legendary old-school Chicago steakhouse, founded in 1941, and still with us, happily. On November 1, 1987, the Chicago Tribune‘s food critic at the time, William Rice (excellent name for a food writer, no?), published a recipe for Chicken alla Joe. Like Spicy Grilled Tuna, this is one of the very few recipes I have made many times. (I have about 200 cookbooks and I don’t like to repeat.) Unlike that one, however, I have modified it somewhat, to make it a bit simpler and even more flavorful. (There is a link to Rice’s original recipe at the end of this post. ) And about ten years ago, I realized I almost always made this in January. So, now I must make it in January. Sometimes late, like January 31, 2020, and sometimes early, like January 1, 2021.
Chicken alla Joe is named for the man who invented it. Gene & Georgetti retains servers for years, if not decades. One of them was Joe Pacini, a native of Tuscany, who worked tables beside the bar in the restaurant’s front room. He had a regular customer, Morris Krumhorn, who liked spicy food. He would order broiled chicken and ask Pacini to have the chef, Mario Navarro, put red pepper on it. “One night I went to the chef and told him, ‘My customer is complaining that the chicken you make is not spicy enough,'” Pacini recalled. Chef Mario responded, “What can I do?” and Joe says, “He really likes it hot. Let’s put some hot pepperoncini with the chicken and green pepper and red pepper.” After serving the dish, Joe returned to the kitchen and said to Mario, “Mr. Krumhorn is a happy customer. He asks what you call this dish?” Mario answered, “It was your idea, not mine. I call it Chicken alla Joe.”
Chicken alla Joe
Serves 6 to 8
3-1/4 lbs. bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, or a mix of thighs and breasts
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
4 teaspoons dried oregano
1 or 2 teaspoons dried red-pepper flakes, depending on how hot you want it
9 tablespoons olive oil
1 red bell pepper and 1 yellow bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into broad strips or chunks, about 12 each
16 oz. jar of pepperoncini, drained, rinsed and left whole (but pierced once, so you don’t get a mouthful of vinegar when you bite into one)
3 – 4 russet potatoes, sliced into spears
2 lemons, cut in half
- Heat oven to 450 degrees.
- Mix the salt, pepper, oregano, red-pepper flakes, and 3 Tbls oil together. Rub the oil/seasoning mix under the skin of each piece.)
- In a large bowl, add the remaining 3 Tbls oil, salt and pepper to taste, potatoes, and bell peppers, and toss with your hands to evenly coat.
- Add 3 Tbls oil to an 18″ x 12″ roasting pan and coat the bottom. Add the chicken pieces skin side down to the center of the pan (just the thighs for now if you are using breasts also) and potatoes. Place pan in the oven and cook until the chicken pieces begin to brown, about 20 minutes. Remove roasting pan from oven. Turn chicken pieces (add breasts now if using) and add bell-pepper strips or chunks and pepperoncini. Return to oven and cook until chicken is tender and pepper strips are soft, an additional 20 minutes.
- Run under the broiler for a minute or two to crisp the skin.
- Remove pan from oven. Squeeze juice from lemon halves over the chicken pieces, then transfer them, the peppers, and pepperoncini to warm serving plates. Spoon pan juices over each portion.
Serve with a green vegetable such as spinach or a salad of your choice, and an Italian red wine, perhaps a Dolcetto.
William Rice’s original column and recipe are here: www.chicagotribune.com/1987/11/01/chicken-alla-joe
And if you are ever in Chicago, you can try Chicken alla Joe at Gene & Georgetti itself, where the dish remains quite popular to this day. geneandgeorgetti.com/
If you decide to make my modified recipe, or Rice’s original, I would love to hear about it in the comments below.
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Grilled Tuna Steaks
Grilled Tuna Steaks
If you don’t like fish, this is the fish recipe for you. If you do like fish, especially tuna, this is definitely the recipe for you. It was published by the great Pierre Franey (1921 – 1996) in the New York Times and Chicago Tribune in August of 1992. It may well be the greatest tuna recipe ever written. I have made it many times over the years, something I rarely do. Hell, I almost never make anything more than once.
Spicy Grilled Tuna Steaks
Serves 4
1/4 cup sesame seeds (toasted is better, but not necessary)
1 Tbls curry powder
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp anise seeds
Salt to taste
4 tuna steaks, about 1″ thick, 1-1/2 lbs. total, the fresher the better
olive oil
-
- Preheat a grill, or oven broiler. Mix sesame seeds, curry powder, black pepper, anise seeds, and salt in a small bowl.
- Lightly oil tuna with olive oil. Sprinkle steaks evenly on both sides with sesame mixture, and press down so mixture adheres well to steaks. Cover and let stand for 15 to 30 minutes at room temperature.
- Meanwhile, prepare Mixed Salad, below.
- Place steaks on hot grill or under broiler for two minutes per side for rare. (For greater doneness, you can cook a little longer, particularly if you are grilling outside in the winter, but otherwise I don’t recommend it. Trust me on this.)
Mixed Salad with Vinaigrette
6 cups mixed salad greens (readily available preboxed, for convenience)
2 Tbls each: Dijon mustard and red wine vinegar
2 tsp minced garlic
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
8 Tbls olive oil
-
- Wash and dry greens thoroughly in a salad spinner. If large, tear leaves with your hands; if you buy them in a bag or box they will probably be small enough that you can leave them whole.
- Put mustard, vinegar, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Stir well. Add oil in a steady stream, whisking constantly until well blended. Adjust vinegar to taste (I like my dressing with a little more zip).
- Add greens and toss well with vinaigrette.
To serve, place dressed mixed green salad in center of plate. Cut tuna into slices on the bias and place slices on top of greens.
Since the grill is already on, if you’d like more food, this goes really well with mixed vegetable kabobs (zucchini, onion, red bell pepper, mushroom, etc). Double the vinaigrette, and use half to marinate the veggies. They will need about five minutes per side to cook, so start them before the tuna. Alternatively, a side of plain white rice would work, also.
Serve with one of these Pinot Noirs. Yes, a red, not a white. Unless it is a sparkler.
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LVOV Vodka
LVOV Vodka
LVOV [Luh-voff] premium Polish vodka offers excellent value for the money. Crafted in the old tradition from potatoes (and thus gluten-free), it is distilled four times, then filtered four times through an activated carbon and candle process for smoothness. It features a hint of mineral taste with a touch of sweetness, and a slightly herbal aroma. This is a refined, mellow sip to add as part of your favorite cocktail or enjoyed on its own.
Because home freezers don’t get cold enough to freeze spirits, many people (us included) like to stash their vodka there for ready-to-go enjoyment.
–Spirits Contributor Neal Kotlarek
LVOV Smash
2 oz. LVOV Vodka
5 grapes
1 slice serrano pepper
1 lime wedge
1 sugar cube
Dash orange bitters
Directions: Muddle all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well and pour everything into a cocktail glass. Garnish with remaining serrano pepper and lime wedge.
LVOV Sparkling Sea Breeze
1½ oz. LVOV Vodka
1½ oz. cranberry juice
1½ oz. grapefruit juice
1½ cups ice cubes
1½ oz. sparkling water
1 lime wedge
Directions: Fill a cocktail shaker with vodka, juices, and ice cubes. Cover and shake. Fill a glass with sparkling water. Strain vodka mixture into sparkling water and garnish with lime wedge.
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Coq au Vin
Coq au Vin
Coq au Vin is a classic French dish of chicken in wine with onions, mushrooms, and bacon. It is usually made with red wine, but I think white wine makes for better color and flavor. In France, the only side is usually parsley potatoes, but you can add buttered green peas as well. This recipe comes from volume 1 of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
Serves 4 to 6
4 oz. bacon
Cut bacon into 1/4″ x 1″ rectangles. Simmer for 10 minutes in 2 quarts of water. Rinse and dry.
2 Tb butter
Saute the bacon in a large skillet on low heat in butter until very lightly browned
A cut-up frying chicken
Brown in the fat used to cook the bacon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
Season the chicken. Return bacon to skillet, cover and cook on low for 10 minutes. Turn chicken once.
1/4 cup brandy or cognac
Uncover, and pour in the brandy. Carefully ignite the brandy. Shake skillet for several seconds until the flames subside.
3 cups of dry white or rose wine
1 to 2 cups of chicken stock
1/2 Tb. tomato paste
4 cloves mashed garlic
thyme (I like to use about 2 Tbs. fresh)
1 bay leaf
Pour the wine into the skillet. Add just enough stock to cover the chicken. Stir in the tomato paste, garlic, and herbs. Cover and simmer on low for 25 to 30 minutes or until the chicken registers 165 degrees. Remove the chicken and keep warm.
While the chicken is cooking, prepare:
12 to 24 brown-braised onions
www.food.com/recipe/brown-braised-onions-julia-child-446699
1/2 lb. sauteed mushrooms
www.food.com/recipe/sauteed-mushrooms-julia-child-446721
Boil and reduce the liquid to about 2-1/4 cups. Salt and pepper to taste. Remove bay leaf.
3 Tb. flour
2 Tb. softened butter
Blend the butter and flour together into a smooth paste. Beat the paste into the hot liquid with a whisk. Simmer for a minute or two.
Arrange the chicken in the skillet, surround with onions and mushrooms, and baste with the sauce. Cover and simmer on low for 4 to 5 minutes to reheat the chicken and serve decorated with sprigs of parsley.
I based this recipe on the one in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking
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Camarena Tequila
Camarena Tequila
Winter is behind us for yet another year, and even under quarantine, thoughts turn to relaxed evenings on the deck or patio, steaks or shrimp sizzling on the Weber, and something cool and refreshing in the glass. A crisp Chardonnay or ice-cold beer are nice, of course, but it’s hard to beat a well-made Margarita (no sweet-and-sour mix!) when the weather gets pleasant. And, of course, Cinco de Mayo is just a couple of days away as I write this.
A good Margarita is only as good as the tequila it’s made from, and the best tequila is 100-percent blue agave. Blue agave is a smooth-leafed succulent plant (a cactus-type plant with no needles). The unique blue cast of the plant’s leaves gave it its English name. Agave is native to the central Mexican state of Jalisco; it was there in 1761 that the Spanish-immigrant Camarena family co-founded the town of Arandas (approximately 280 miles east of Puerto Vallarta). In 1860 the Camarenas began cultivating blue agave for tequila, becoming one of Mexico’s top growers. Today, the family grows more than three million agave plants, some at an altitude of 7,700 feet, in the Los Altos Highlands, the world’s highest agave fields. Here, the mineral-rich volcanic soil, low rainfall, and temperate climate support plants of greater flavor maturity.
In 1938, the Camarenas began making their own tequila. The process starts when the seven- to ten-year old plants are hand-harvested by the field workers, the jimadores. The jimadores use sharp spades called coas to remove the spiky leaves from the agave. What remains is a trimmed central piña, often weighing more than 100 pounds.
The piñas are then slow-roasted for two days in ovens made of volcanic sandstone, to convert the agave’s fructose to fermentable sugar. Next, the cooked agaves are passed through a shredding mill to separate the juice from the pulp. A special wine yeast is added to the juice, or wort, to create a mildly alcoholic liquid called mosto. The mosto is then distilled using traditional, small pot stills. Apparently, Camarena goes a step further. According to their Web site, “we use a proprietary method which blends traditional ovens and modern techniques. This allows us to consistently produce one of the smoothest and best-tasting tequilas around.” Indeed, both of Camarena’s tequilas are exceptionally smooth and appealing, and they are excellent values. (There is also an Anejo, which I didn’t have a chance to try.)
E.&J. Gallo (yes, that Gallo) inked an exclusive deal to distribute Camarena in the U.S. in 2010, which is why the brand appeared nearly everywhere seemingly instantly.
To help get your summer started, here’s my personal Killer Margarita recipe: combine 4 oz. tequila, 2 oz. triple sec, and 3 oz. Rose’s lime juice with 1 cup crushed ice. Stir or shake until ice is nearly melted. Pour into salted-rim (I like to use a mix of 3-parts kosher salt to 1-part tajin seasoning) glasses half filled with ice cubes. Garnish with a fresh lime slice.
Camarena 100% Agave Silver
Camarena 100% Blue Agave Silver Tequila rests for several months after distillation to integrate flavors before it is bottled at 40% alcohol. This unaged tequila is completely clear, and exhibits hints of sweet vanilla and black pepper. Substitute it for vodka in a Bloody Maria.
Camarena 100% Agave Reposado
Camarena 100% Blue Agave Reposado Tequila is aged for two months in American oak barrels. The wood aging imparts a golden color, and brings out additional roundness to the flavor, as well as the natural agave sweetness. Substitute it for bourbon in a Mexican Manhattan.
Cline Nancy’s Cuvee
Cline Nancy’s Cuvee
As you enter Sonoma county from the south on California 121, one of the first wineries you encounter is Cline Cellars, and there could hardly be a better introduction to the Carneros AVA.
Even as a young teenager, Fred Cline learned to make wine from his grandfather, Valeriano Jacuzzi (yes, he of the hydrotherapy tub, as well as many other innovations). With a $9000 inheritance from Valeriano, in 1981 Cline founded the eponymous Cline Cellars in Oakley, California.
North Wisconsin Brandy
North Wisconsin Brandy
At Milwaukee’s Miller Park, home of the Brewers, the official brandy served at the ballpark is Central Standard distillery’s North Wisconsin Brandy. Your day of baseball can include an iconic Wisconsin-style brandy Old Fashioned made with a spirit produced right there in town.
FOS Mastiha
FOS Mastiha Liqueur
The Mastiha tree is also known as the famous Crying Tree, since it “cries” teardrops of resin during the harvest period. It only grows and is cultivated on the small Mediterranean island of Chios. Nowhere else in the world has it been able to take root.
Bakon Vodka
Bakon Vodka
Whenever Homer Simpson wants to relax with something other than Duff beer, my guess is he turns to Bakon Vodka. Yes. Premium vodka infused with the aroma and taste of delicious smokehouse bacon.