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Che? Syrah? Wine is sunlight captured in water" - Galileo Galelei

Their story's actually not all that uncommon on the surface. A couple of Silicon Valley technical types searching for a deeper meaning bag the cubicle jungle to pursue a passion for viticulture. But the Ciolinos' story -- as they told it during a cozy winemaker dinner at Nibblers -- their story captured my heart as surely as their Syrah had captured my attention.

Perhaps it's a feeling of kinship with Vincent, whose family came from the old country to Chicago seeking opportunity for their children. When he speaks of Dago Red with Sunday dinner, conversations half in Italian, half in English and summer afternoons spent at Wrigley Field rooting for the Cubs, I can relate (although my Colonial American mother was the baseball fan in the family). And I admire the way he and his family incorporate traditional old-world values into their new-world wines.

Perhaps it's Lise, and the way she's channeled the very thirst for knowledge and drive to excel that likely built her successful Silicon Valley career into creating some of the most unique wines to come out of California's Dry Creek Valley, and marketing them to like minded restaurants and wine shops across the country.

Perhaps it's the shared Ciolinos' commitment to producing world-class wines while respecting the land from which it's produced, to live their lives and run their business as good stewards of that land, using organic and biodynamic principles to produce wine with character while protecting the environment in which the grapes grow.

Perhaps it's Paolo, who has his mother's eyes, his father's smile, and an insatiable curiosity -- a wide eyed wonder and sweet intensity that's also present in the wine that shares his name...

Regardless, your heroine's made room between the steady stock of Zinfandel and Merlot in her wine collection for a sensational new world wine produced old-world style: Montemaggiore's 2003 Paolo's Vineyard Syrah. A worthy contribution to this month's Wine Blogging Wednesday hosted by WineCast celebrating New World Syrah/Shiraz.

Paolo's Vineyard Syrah brings new meaning to the phrase food-friendly -- this wine truly plays well with others. Its complex, velvet fruitiness pairs beautifully with red meats and poultry -- and works equally well with buttery salmon and sablefish. Strong hints of blackberry and chocolate give way to subtle vanilla undertones, making it an excellent accompaniment to hearty winter vegetables, extravagant chocolate desserts, perfect with a loaf of bread and a hunk of artisan cheese.

Montemaggiore Winery
2355 West Dry Creek Rd., Healdsburg, CA 95448 | 707.433.9499

Technorati Tags: Wine | Organic Wine | Biodynamic Wine | California Wine | Syrah | Wine Blogging Wednesday

Posted by Dolores at 1/29/2007 02:17:00 PM 2 comments Links to this post


Celebrating Nutella! Nutella and I share a very special relationship*.

No. No. NO! it's different from my relationships with Ben & Jerry, Jose and the others.

It's a deeper connection than the burning desire to bury a spoon deep within the jar, spin it around, extract it slowly and lose myself in the velvety luxury of a naked dollop of rich chocolatey goodness. It's more significant than that Zen feeling of spreading its smooth silkiness across the freshest bakery croissant, savoring the moment the two blend into rich buttery chocolate heaven across my tongue.*

You see, Dear Reader, Nutella and I share a similar genealogy, the same last name. In 1946, my immigrant grandfather had left the coal mines behind, spending most of his adult life employed by the Illinois Central Railroad. A half world away in the town of Alba Italy, my grandfather's namesake (and given the geography, likely a distant cousin, though we've never taken the time to prove it) invented a bread-spread of cocoa and hazelnut and then built a company to produce and market it. Sixty years later, Pietro Ferrero's grandchildren remain at the helm of an international organization employing over 16,000 people and still espousing his founding principles: using the highest quality ingredients and state-of-the-art technology to create unique confections and make them accessible to consumers.

Nutella debuted in the United States in the early 1960's; I came on the scene a few years later. We've kind of grown up together.

So when a couple of creative Italian bloggers declared Tuesday February 6 as World Nutella Day, there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to participate.

So I pulled a jar of Nutella from my pantry. (There is ALWAYS a jar of Nutella in my pantry.) A bottle of frangelico. A couple of sheets of puff pastry from the freezer (I still have a bit of leftover puff pastry). A block of cream cheese from the refrigerator. The bananas and pears that arrived in this week's CSA box. And I began to experiment. I'm actually pretty proud of myself -- the product of my mish-mash of ingredients definitely doesn't suck.* Banana Hazelnut Tarts

4 bananas, sliced crosswise into 1/4 - 1/2" disks
1/4 cup frangelico
4 oz (give or take) block cream cheese
1/2 cup (give or take) Nutella

Combine butter and brown sugar in a skillet, stirring over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Add banana slices, and saute until they begin to soften and brown. Carefully add the frangelico. Continue to cook until frangelico warms and sauce thickens slightly. Remove from heat and set aside.


In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese and Nutella, blending until smooth (I used a hand mixer.)

Coat a twelve-cup muffin tin with your lubricant of choice* (I used nonstick cooking spray, canola oil or butter would also work)

Roll out puff pastry and cut into 4 inch squares. Spread 1 to 1.5 tablespoons Nutella mixture in the center of each square. Carefully move squares to muffin tin. Top Nutella mixture with a spoon or two of the bananas. (Since I've been feeling guilty about the mini tart shells I bought last fall and have only used once, I used them instead of the muffin tins. Either would work fine.)

Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes or until puff pastry "puffs" and browns slightly. (when making this again I'll probably blind bake the shells first).

Cool for a few minutes before plating. Serve with frangelico sauce drizzled over the pastry.

*I can't WAIT to see the Google searches that land people on THIS post.

Technorati Tags: Food Blog Event | Meme | World Nutella Day | Nutella

Posted by Dolores at 1/28/2007 01:12:00 PM 6 comments Links to this post



Searching for an old friend... ...we made a new one.

You could say John and I have an obsession with sushi. And you really wouldn't be exaggerating. It's probably the one pilgrimage we make MORE often than Nibblers.

John's fixation started before we met. Mine began early in our relationship with my first visit to Koji's. A four-table hole in the wall off the beaten path on the San Francisco peninsula, Koji's was a true neighborhood find -- and the perfect place to discover a new food addiction.

Over the years we've probably sampled hundreds of sushi bars and found a few favorites along the way. But because John was one of Koji's first customers and Koji was my first real sushi experience, we managed to make our way back to 37th Avenue no matter from wherever we were in the bay.

Since Koji closed his doors in 2004, a dedicated group of his customers have kept in touch and we've followed him around the bay to the very best of our ability. So before he celebrates his first anniversary with Hiro Steak and Sushi in Brentwood we decided to visit and check out his newest digs.

A little Internet research reveals that Hiro's is the brainchild of owner Mark Bradford and executive chef Hiro Ogawa, that it will take us a little longer than an hour to get there, that for a Japanese restaurant the wine list is impressive, and that the descriptions of the menu items have us salivating over the keyboard.

I find the ambiance at Hiro's fascinating. A lot of restaurants try to offer something for everyone -- and lose their own identity in the process. Part piano lounge, part sushi bar, part robata grill, part 5-star restaurant -- Hiros' manages to do it all, and do it well. From our seats at one end of the sushi bar, we're close enough to the lounge to observe the quiet and friendly efficiency of the bar staff and enjoy the young Michael Bolton lookalike and his unique style on the piano before turning our attention to the menu before us. It's immediately clear that we've missed Koji -- but quickly becomes equally clear that he's made a mark on the menu. Hiro himself offers us an amuse of seared tuna in a creamy wasabi sauce before taking our order. We enjoy ocean-fresh nigiri, a crisp-tender tempura roll (with just a bit too much greenery for John), and a creamy California roll that evoked memories of late nights on 37th Avenue for both of us. One of the most interesting dishes we chose was the edamame -- prepared "three ways" -- some simply sprinkled with salt, some seasoned with garlic, and a third section in an sweet sesame dressing. Fascinating in it's complex simplicity, I'm convinced this preparation would convert many soy-phobes to the other side. One of the things that turns a good sushi bar experience into a great one for us is our interaction with the sushi chef, our host for the evening. No matter how fresh the fish, the experience lacks luster if we can't find a connection with the chef. Hiro was the consummate host -- attentive and friendly without hovering or 'up-selling.' He let us set the pace, paid attention to our selections and our reaction to his creations, offering an occasional recommendation based on his observations. When John ordered uni to finish, we explained that while I appreciate good uni, I usually find a whole nigiri overwhelmingly rich. In response, Hiro offered me the smallest of spoonfuls to sample.

In the end, John mustered the courage to ask after Koji. Sadly, we managed to visit on the last Friday of Koji's vacation in Japan -- he's scheduled to return on Monday and Hiro promised to tell him we'd stopped in. So we'll need to make the drive out Vasco Road again in February to reconnect with an old friend and a new one.

Hiro's Steak & Sushi - 613 First St., Brentwood - 925.634.3129

Technorati Tags: Restaurants | Sushi | Restaurant Reviews

Posted by Dolores at 1/27/2007 12:21:00 PM 2 comments Links to this post



Butterfly Effect - the Written Word

Bet you all figured I'd given up on this whole Butterfly Effect meme, huh?

Ye of little faith.

Part four sends me to explore my culinary bookshelf in search of the volume that changed everything...

Flash back to 1989. Your heroine is a twenty-something soon-to-be-senior in college. She's survived a year of dorm food without donning the famous freshman fifteen. She's spent the last few years as a pampered sorority girl, with an on-site chef, houseboys to serve Monday night formal dinners -- her only foray into the kitchen a once-a-month obligation to empty the dishwasher and refill the milk dispensers.

It's a bright late September afternoon (especially by central Oregon standards) full of the promise of things to come. Your heroine's unloaded the car, hung the curtains, made the bed, stocked the bathroom with enough haircare products to open a salon and rearranged the furniture in the small sitting room. She now stands with her roommate Susie surveying no-mans-land, the large-by-campus-apartment-standards kitchen they'll share for the next 9 months.

Susie owns a set of ginsu knives her grandmother bought on late-night-TV. Your heroine's a little better off -- she's got a toaster oven and a popcorn popper from the dorm days and a set of mis-matched fraternity-labeled beer steins, souvenirs from a sampling from a series of invitations to that social rite of passage in the collegiate Greek community: the barn dance.


Houston, we have a problem. Neither our budgets nor our waistlines are going to withstand a semester of Track Town delivery or burgers and beer at Rennie's Landing.

Solution? Pick up the phone and call dad. In less than a week, his food loving friends have outfitted our apartment with an eclectic collection of hand-me-downs. A 1950's vintage "Mix Master" mixer. Two mix-and-match collections of cookware: a 6 piece nonstick set and 4 copper-bottom sauce pots. Dented but functional cookie sheets and muffin tins.

But I digress. The purpose of this side-trip to kitchens past is to divulge the cookbook that most influenced my culinary journey. That cookbook arrived two weeks after my desperate call for help: a housewarming gift from my godparents. The package was heavier than its packaging would indicate. I eagerly tore the tape off the box, scattering Styrofoam peanuts along the counter to reveal a book wrapped in Ruth's trademark wrapping: the Sunday comics. "Julia Child," the cover pronounced. "The Way to Cook."

"Julia Child?" I pondered? "That funny French chef from PBS"? I set the book aside for later; I had more textbooks than I could handle without one for the kitchen.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before I found myself wanting to impress another young man with food. Our typical fare of ramen noodles with a side salad wouldn't cut it. Neither would hamburgers on the hand-me-down hibachi. And I'd already done the chocolate chip cookie thing.

I wanted something adult, something unforgettable. {Get your mind out of the gutter}

I was thinking ... steak. With some kind of sauce. Real vegetables on the side. The kind that came from the produce aisle, not the freezer. Like a restaurant. As I pondered the menu, I knew I was in over my head. But wait. Where's that Julia book? She's got to have a recipe...

As I paged through the meat section, I found myself transfixed, and transformed. Julia had more than a recipe. She had advice. How to purchase good quality meat. How to work with various cuts. Which was best sauteed, roasted, grilled. And why. Questions to ask the butcher. A couple of "master recipes" with dozens of variations. In the span of a half dozen pages, this woman told me what to do, showed me how to do it, and offered me the inspiration and the courage to stray from the printed recipe, making the menu truly my own.


In that moment and over the course of the next several years, Julia changed the way I approached food preparation. Rather than heading to the grocery with a rigid list, I started shopping for the freshest ingredients and those that appealed to me in the moment. I began using recipes as guidelines rather than commandments. With a stocked pantry (which Julia taught me how to do), I was confident I'd find a way to put interesting meals together. I usually succeeded. And when I failed, I learned something in the process. When I wanted to try something new there was Julia, ready to show me the way. Puff pastry. Pie crust. Exotic seafood and vegetables.

Thanks Julia. We've come a long way together. And I've eaten well along the journey.

Technorati Tags: Food Blog Events

Posted by Dolores at 1/26/2007 12:51:00 PM 2 comments Links to this post



Coming back up for air...

What is it with this winter cold/flu that just won't let up? I've been sick so long, I'd forgotten what 'well' felt like! The irony that I started this coughing-sneezing-stuffy head journey three days after I got my flu shot is not lost on me.

But enough with the whining. Hang in there, my friends. I'm on the road to recovery and I'll be back soon with tales of recipes and restaurants and a fabulous field trip to San Francisco's Fancy Food Fair...

Posted by Dolores at 1/25/2007 10:47:00 AM 2 comments Links to this post



Thirteen sheets of leftover puff pastry Those of you who've been around a while remember our open house in November. A pre-Thanksgiving Saturday afternoon we turn off the heat, fire up the grill, the oven, and virtually every other heat-producing appliance in the kitchen and prepare a finger-food feast for nearly 100 of our closest friends.

In our sixth year, we've worked most of the kinks out of the menu and found ourselves a rhythm that works for us. This year we worked with our contacts in the restaurant business to procure some of the staples. Cheeses. Mini phyllo shells. Puff pastry. In restaurant sized packages. Which brings us to my second edition of the Thursday thirteen: Thirteen creative uses for leftover puff pastry...

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

1. (leave your link in comments, I'll add you here!)



Technorati Tags: Food | Leftovers | Puff Pastry | Recipes | Thursday Thirteen

Posted by Dolores at 1/10/2007 09:34:00 PM 8 comments Links to this post

Labels: Links, Memories Reflections and Traditions, Thursday 13


Coaxing you out of your comfort zone It's come to my attention that January 8-12 is "De-Lurking Week." Devised by Stephanie of Paper Napkin and now in its third year, this is is your golden opportunity to let me know you're out there.

How? Leave a comment. Let me know a little something about you. Where you're from. What brought you here. Or for the dozen or so of you who are semi-regular readers, what brings you back.

Come on, I don't bite.

(unless you know the code word and the secret handshake.)

Posted by Dolores at 1/08/2007 06:39:00 PM 5 comments Links to this post

January 06, 2007

On creating a monster... We haven't packed the pasta roller up from Monday's adventures yet. (And yes, I *do* intend to tell the story behind Monday's adventure... as soon as I'm through with this round of system testing at work).

And we're trying to limit "mindless takeout" this year -- opening the refrigerator rather than the phone book or the drive-through -- and redeploying that portion of our food budget to the newly created vacation fund.

So when John suggested he'd make fresh pasta for dinner after a Saturday of non-stop errand-running, I didn't need a lot of convincing.

Because pesto appealed to both of us we made a quick stop at the grocery store, figuring we'd pick something up out of the deli case.

Hmm. $7.50 for half a cup of pesto. And that's the store brand.

A quick trip down the produce aisle reveals we can get a bunch of fresh basil for $1.59. I've got leftover pine nuts from my holiday baking. And what self-respecting Italian American doesn't have garlic or olive oil in her pantry?!?!

When we got home, John made the pasta. While the dough rested, he whipped up the pesto. My sole contributions to dinner were helping with the pasta roller (a three-hand job) and grilling up a bit of sausage.

Yeah, I could get used to this.


Posted by Dolores at 1/06/2007 10:35:00 PM 2 comments Links to this post



I discovered this Thursday 13 thing through the Holidailies Portal and I thought I'd try it out this week. Who knows, it may end up being a regular weekly feature... You can learn a lot about a person from what they eat. So my introductory contribution to Thursday Thirteen centers around thirteen things I tasted this week. Gourmet things. Homemade things. Extravagant things. Simple things. Good things. And now for the Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Take the time to follow the links below... you might discover some great new blogs!


Technorati Tags: Food | Cooking | Recipes | Dining Out | Memes | Thursday Thirteen

Posted by Dolores at 1/03/2007 12:35:00 PM 21 comments Links to this post


January 02, 2007

Flour & Eggs, Chard & Ricotta... Look how WE spent New Years Day!

Technorati Tags: Food | Italian Food | Recipes | Food Memories | Holiday Traditions

Posted by Dolores at 1/02/2007 10:03:00 PM 4 comments Links to this post


 Wishing all my blog friends best wishes for a happy, healthy and tasty 2007!

Posted by Dolores at 1/01/2007 08:49:00 PM 1 comments Links to this post

