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My brother and I were very happy to participate in the Children's Hospital Fund Raiser at a well known Animation Studio in Emeryville (they're touchy about security) last Thursday. It's also flattering to have people give us praise for our wines when they're tasting well-known Napa Cabs at the table next to us.
We poured all of our 2009 new releases as well as a barrel sample from 2011.
We'd personally like to thank everyone involved in the event, ESPECIALLY our event sponsor!
Italian Olive Oil Cake recipe from the kitchen of David Scheidt, Mastro Scheidt Cellars
Ingredients
3 cups of flour (preferred Vero Lucano from Italy)
4 Eggs
1 Cup of cane sugar
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil plus 2 tablespoons
2/3 cup of whole milk
4 tablespoons of Limoncello (preferred Ventura Limoncello)
1 tablespoon baking powder
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees farenheit. Use 2 tablespoons of olive oil to grease a 9 inch metal cakepan or cast iron skillet.
Combine eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk for about a minute. Add the olive oil and incorporate with whisk. Then add the flour, baking powder, and limoncello to your bowl and incorporate thoroughly with a rubber spatula until the consistency is smooth, roughly 2 minutes of mixing time.
Take cake mixture and add it to you cakepan or cast iron skillet until roughly 2/3 full. There may be left over cake batter. If so, you may use a small ramekin for the excess batter.
Decrease oven temperature to 325 degrees and place your cake batter filled cakepan or skillet in the oven. Depending upon the heat within your oven (I have a pizza stone in mine), the cake will be finished in roughly 20 - 40 minutes.
In my oven, my cake is done in 20 minutes. 15 minutes on the stone, 5 minutes on the top rack.
Use a wooden toothpick to check your olive oil cake for doneness. I cut my cake in half and spread a zabiglione cream throughout the cake and dusted it with powdered sugar.
I love summer. I love tomatoes. I love bread.
Cial'edd is one of my favorite dishes to assemble. I didn't say cook, because there is nothing to cook. One of the most simple preparations around.
Cut fresh, garden ripe tomatoes. Tear a handful of fresh basil. Use day-old bread and rip it into pieces. Add a hint of salt, a copious amount of olive oil, a dash of red wine vinegar, a few slices of Pecorino and toss the whole thing through. Wait about 10 minutes for the flavors to meld together and serve.
Welcome to summer!
Only two wines were featured at an exclusive dinner party of 100 guests; Mastro Scheidt Proprietor's Reserve 2007 and Hostage Wines Sauvignon Blanc 2011.
Personally, I was pleased with being able to recommend the Sauvignon Blanc from Hostage. I only met Jeremiah and Elizabeth about a year ago at a blind wine tasting group in Healdsburg. Jeremiah's no-nonsense style of evaluating the wines he was tasting was similar to mine, up-front and blunt. Elizabeth's evaluation was deeper, less given to whim or her "first sip".
So when I finally tasted their 2011 Sauvignon Blanc, my initial reaction was one of delight. This is really tasty! But it was more than that. This is the style and type of Sauvignon Blanc I remember drinking years ago, before we were inundated with Kiwi Blanc. I'd almost forgotten how good a Sauvignon Blanc from California could taste on a 90 degree day. How complementary it could be with food, rather than just a pre-dinner wine.
The Hostage Sauvignon Blanc was an expression of both the up-front, no-nonsense style from Jeremiah and the complexity from Elizabeth.
It got me thinking about Sauvignon Blanc again and that's why I recommend it.
Here is a little background on the wine. Paraphrasing a bit from their website, Jeremiah and Elizabeth purchased a unique clone of Sauvignon Blanc, called Sauvignon Musqué, from a vineyard in the Russian River Valley Appellation. This particular clone has to be picked at optimal maturity in order to capture its incredible tropical aromas and flavors. On a cold morning, right before a storm rolled in, we harvested the fruit and put it straight into the press. From there, we racked the juice into neutral French oak barrels to ferment. It remained in barrel until bottling last February.
From deeply flavored beef cheek ravioli to tuna conserva salad with strong red wine vinegar (we make our own vinegar) to an olive oil cake, we put the Ricchiuti Enzo olive oil through its paces in the Mastro Scheidt kitchens. I purchased my Enzo Olive Oil from Sam's Deli in Fresno. Thanks Nick for carrying the product.
The beef cheeks were one of the first dishes I made with the Enzo. Beef cheeks have a lot of flavor and I seasoned them with probably 30 fresh sage leaves and a full fist of fresh thyme. While I didn’t add any olive oil to the searing process before braising, I used grapeseed oil, I did finish my beef cheek stuffed ravioli with a drizzle of fresh, uncooked Enzo oil. The results were solid. The flavor of the oil is still present and not simply masked as background fat. Part of that result is from not overstuffing the ravioli with meat, but rather allowing the pasta dough to show through and adding olive oil and fresh grana as condiments or complements to the dish. (Pictured:Beef cheek before being stuffed into pasta)
In a dish that is more reliant upon the flavor of the oil, the tuna and white bean salad with pickled red onions, the flavor of the oil needs to be more pronounced and the Enzo shows through with a slightly peppery back palate. The Enzo helped round out the dish, bringing the flavors together. As I did not pepper the dish, I expected the Enzo to give me the black pepper finish, that "bite" one expects from fresh press, extra virgin olive oil. I believe proper cooking is about balance, not a singular, over-the-top flavor showing through. Although parmigiano reggiano by itself is pretty damn good.
A third test was the use of the Enzo in an olive oil cake. I’ve never made olive oil cake before; I’m not a huge baker. However, olive oil cake was pretty straightforward. As long as baking reminds me that making cornbread is technically baking, I can usually handle it. I did have a couple aces up my sleeve, my special Vero Lucaro baking flour and Ventura Limoncello.
I used over ¾ cup of olive oil for the recipe. I’m a regular butter user, rather than olive oil so I was a bit worried about the outcome honestly. So rather than eat an entire olive oil cake by myself, I brought it over to my aunt’s house, where my mother, grandmother, and great-aunt could also try the cake. The cake went over as a big success.
I know, I know, having your 100% Italian mother and relatives judge a food product is like stacking the deck. I can assure you that if the product wasn’t prepared right, I would have heard things like, “this is nice Dave”. Since I didn’t hear any talking, only eating and my aunt making more coffee to eat with this sweet olive oil cake, I figured I’d cooked it properly.
The only comment I heard was, “This cake is really yellow and rich. How much butter and egg did you use?” So I took that as, olive oil cake doesn’t have an olive or worse yet, greasy flavor. After explaining how much olive oil was put in the cake, my grandma and great-aunt took over the conversation, saying that when they grew up in Fresno (think 1920’s here), their parents used olive oil for all the baking. As long as the olive oil was of “good quality, it should taste good”. So don’t take my word for it, take Grandma and my Aunt’s word for it…they’ve been cooking longer than I have.
And finally in a simple taste test of local oils, Bari (not pictured), 13 Acres, Casa Rosa, and The Ricchiuti Enzo my impromptu panel commented that the Enzo had a broad range of flavor from initially smooth to a peppery finish. The 13 Vines was clearly the most buttery of the oils, while Casa Rosa by far the most peppery. Bari rated as a solid overall oil, not too strong, not too light; sort of Goldilocks in character.
Taking a product through its paces, like the Enzo from Ricchiuti, was a lot of fun. I am generally using between 3-5 olive oils at one time. I like the flavors, the differences, the seasonal changes. Regional Italian cuisine deserves, it demands, different styles of olive oil. The Central Valley of California just as Italy, has many different local and regional characteristics. From the pure “butter-like” flavor of 13 Acres to the more diverse range of flavors with the Enzo, the oil one uses should complement the dish.
I’m pleased to have the Ricchiuti Family Enzo olive oil in my kitchen at all times…I just need them to sell the old-school 3 liter tin!
Thanks to everyone who purchased our 2007 Double Barrel Cabernet Sauvignon aka The Black Label. The wine sold out in roughly 6 months, so we're really happy about that.
Rest assured, we have the next vintage just about ready to release. The next Double Barrel offering will be coming from Lencioni Vineyard (they're next to Ridge's Lytton Springs Vineyard in Healdsburg). The flavor is intense blackberry fruit with a nice balance of tannin and mouthfeel.
In addition, we're down to about 15 cases of our Proprietor's Reserve aka The Red Label from Doug Rafanelli Vineyard. You won't see Rafanelli's vineyard again until the 2011 release. I've tasted through the 2011's and the flavors are developing nicely. We blended new French and American oak in the 2011 along with our standard barreling program of neutral oak.
Thanks again for your support.
One of the premier, if not THE premier event in Healdsburg, is Charlie Palmer's Pigs & Pinot. Local chefs and several guest chefs participate in the event each year. I was fortunate enough to attend this year and brought home some of the food in pictures.
Zin Restaurant and Jeff Mall's Ham
Diavola and Dino Bugica's Blood Sausage
Over a month ago, I was up in Portland, Oregon. A couple highlights of the trip included Cana's Feast and Archery Summit.
The Archery Summit tasting was fantastic. In addition to the wines included in the picture, we tasted some library wines as well. The 2000 Red Hills Estate showed the longevity of this fabulous Oregon estate. After a full day of drinking Pinot, the Archery Summit wines really stood out as, dare I say, the best.
Another standout was Cana's Feast. I've spoken about Cana's before, specifically their Chinato. I haven't checked luggage domestically for 10 years. I checked 3 bottles back home to California. It's that good.
I'd like to express my appreciation to the Enology Department, the students, and the Enology Society for hosting me at CSU, Fresno. It was a pleasure to participate as a wine maker and alumni. On a personal note, I'd like to thank Kerry Fitzgerald for setting everything up for me and the personal tour around the Enology Department.
I've attached a few pictures from the evening both here in the blog post and in our Gallery on the website. Thanks to Cousin Marco for taking pictures at the event and T.L. for showing his support and our new Mastro Scheidt Hats (ask me if you want one, they come in different colors).
Let's get something clear...I hate yard work.
Mowing the lawn, raking leaves, raking the other neighbor's leaves and pine needles pretty much all sucks. The smell of freshly cut grass does nothing for me because I can't smell it over the lawn mower exhaust to begin with. If I want to smell freshly cut grass, I'll open a bottle of Sav Blanc.
However, I'm willing to put in good labor for fruit. Makes sense, I make wine. So I'm willing to put in whatever effort it takes to have great tomatoes all summer long. I'm reasonably hard-core about NOT buying tomatoes in December or any other month in California other than the summer months. Canned tomatoes are just fine for sauces and stews in the winter anyway.
So planting 18 tomato plants this season, along with 4 basil plants, should allow me to get my fix in for the season. For those that care, I have included a diagram of the plantings as well as a picture of the garden area. The other two trees on the right are Apricot and Orange. The Apricot tree has bloomed and I will take measures to eliminate any bird/critter threats to my plants and trees.
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!
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.
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.
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
BLACKENED BEEF
WHITE GRITS, TOMATILLO SALSA, FRESH LIME, CILANTRO
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
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.
Rolling, Rolling, Rolling, keep those taralli's rolling.
We're still working on perfection here. These things are tough to do and there seems to be a difference in the recipe and technique between Fresno and Healdsburg. I can't quite explain it yet, but we'll figure it out.
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.
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.
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 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.
