Nights In Italy At The Saltbox Café.

Hi.
Pretend it's Thursday, December 1, 2016,
and you're going to one of The Saltbox Café's
wine-paired dinner series.

 I am anticipating this event.

I'm ready. 
I'm good to go.


Really, I was good to go,
looking forward to having wonderful eats,
and writing about this event.
But I tried for 12 days and couldn't do it.
I couldn't write and get it right,

So this is about ME.

Yes.
Me.
I'm writing about a dinner event I went to
and I'm writing about ME. 

Let's make up a story.


Once upon a time,
Mama Hawthorne died on November 30, 2009.

Then there was December 1.
Of any year.
It is always an emotionally difficult day for me.

 
 And then, 
second upon a time,
on December 2, 1987,
there was born a Little Thunderstorm.
This child's 22nd birthday 
was marked by Mama's graveside event.




So for reasons unbeknownst to me,
December 1 is a hard day, personally,
petty as that may be.

It's an in-between day.
In between death and life. 

Thankfully, on December 1, 2016,
the Hawthornes had a lovely wine/dinner event to attend.

I always write down what the wine guy, Kerry, and Chef Randolph say. but I'd rather just show you the pictures, give you the courses and paired wines, and let it go at that.  For me, it's December 1.  Of any year.

 

 Here's our wine lineup for tonight.

Rosie, later.
Just kidding...

 

Our first course is poached halibut with potatoes in parsley gremolata, 

paired with Sommariva Prosecco di Congeliano-Valbobbiadene Superiore.

Rosie's Ramblings:  Well, roll me in sugar, sprinkle me with cinnamon,  dip half of me in chocolate, and call me a doughnut!  Chef Randolph overcooked my halibut!!    We shall not speak of this again.

Loved the potatoes with the greenery and the sauce.

As for the wine, Mr. Hawthorne sipped  and announced, "This wine just probed me!"
Rosie:  "Excuse me?"
Mr. H.:  "I was probed by the wine."
Rosie:  "Are you sure you weren't prodded?' "
Mr. H.:  "No, It was definitely a probe."
Rosie:  "Sprites are dancing on my tongue.  Who do you have to probe to buy a bottle of this wine around here?"

I bought a bottle and I'm saving it for a favorite niece for Christmas who SOMEBODY at Saltbox Café thinks is my DAUGHTER.  I was an aunt at a very young age and she was a niece in her later years.

I see gremolated-potatoes and a zabaione sauce in my very near future.

Pick me!  Pick me!

Loved the flavors.

Our second course is a roasted artichoke pizza bianca with pancetta and spinach with Rivera Castel del Monte DOC Preludio No. 1 Chardonnay.


Rosie's Ramblings:  I would have expected a bitter combination between the artichokes and the Chardonnay, but there was none and  I enjoyed the saltiness from the pancetta and feta.

The wine is my new Bestie!  Best drunk from a paper bag on a curb, if there were a curb in Colington, on a Friday or Saturday night, shared with a partner in crime.

I loved this.  Whenever I want to go home and try and recreate a dish I've had, then you know it's a successful offering at a restaurant - a winner in my book.
Because, you know, I have impeccable taste.

As I write this, it's been 10 days since this particular dinner.  I've already made one big dough, separated it into 6 balls, refrigerated them, and I made one type of pizza one day and Mr. Hawthorne made a totally different pizza the next.  These pizza offerings will be up soon on
 KitchensAreMonkeyBusiness.com .

And between us, we have four balls left.  

That's a drizzling of a balsamic sauce around the outside.

One must appreciate this pizza from all sides.

Our third course is braised veal tortellacci in a veal reduction with toasted pumpkin seeds and sundried tomatoes, paired with Vignamaggio "Terre di Prenzano" Chianti Classico DOCG.

 Vignamaggio is the producer, a century old estate in Tuscany, and Terre di Prenzano is a traditional Chianti Classico made exclusively from Sangiovese grapes.  It's very dry and it has beautiful fruit flavors to it - strawberry, raspberry, and cherry.  And more interesting, the Vignamaggio estate was at one time NEAR the home of Da Vinci's Mona Lisa.  Villa Vignamaggio likes to claim the estate as the birthplace of Mona Lisa, but it ain't so.  She may have walked the woods around there, but that's as far as it goes.

Chef Randolph:  We decided to go with a veal tortellacci with this Chianti.  Basically, a tortellacci is a giant tortellini.  The veal was braised and the braising liquid reduced.

 Rosie's Ramblings:  What, Chef Randolph?  No liver or fava beans with the Chianti?

 Did you know that Dr. Hannibal Lecter was making a medical joke here in Silence of the Lambs?  Being a bit of a psycho, the good Doctor may have been treated with antidepressants called MAOIs - monoamine oxidase inhibitors.  People taking MAOIs have certain diet restrictions.  They should avoid foods or beverages containing tyramine, else they may suffer a potentially fatal hypertensive crisis.  Liver, beans, and alcoholic beverages contain considerable amounts of tyramine, so in essence, Dr. Lecter is making a joke saying that he's off his meds.  Now, in the book, Lecter said Amarone, not Chianti, the Amarone being a better wine to pair with liver, thus showing off both his wine sophistication and his psycho-ness.  Movie executives switched out Amarone to a wine everyone had heard of.

I think this might have been my favorite course, as in plate-lickablygood.

One suggestion:  Serve this with some bruschetta or a seared polenta cake or something so I can sop up every bit of that divine sauce.  I get disapproving looks from your customers when I have to lick the plate.  This is another dish I will be recreating.

As for the wine, I enjoyed the Chianti, although now I'll have to lay off  beans, liver, fermented foods, cheeses, chocolate, and a bunch of other stuff.  Dang it all!

Our fourth course is lamb and Italian hot sausage meatballs over roasted tomato basil crudo.  This was paired with Pietradolce "Archineri" Etna Rosso DOC.

Action shot!

Rosie's Ramblings:  Rosie is a people-watcher.  So I'm a-lookin' around the room and a find a couple of "Super Swirlers."  They've got their red wine and they are intense.  They're looking at the wine this way and that way.  And then they start swirling their glasses.  We're talking violent swirling.  No inside surface of that wine glass was not coated with grape juice.  The wine was so expertly swirled that there were freakin' wave tubes in their glasses.  To put a barrel in a glass commands some kind of talent.  Seriously, I was impressed.  It must be all in the wrist.  If I tried this, the crisp, white tablecloth would look like a crime scene.

Our fifth course is Tuscan roasted tenderloin with Sicilian Caponata  served with Fantino Barbera d'Alba.

Rosie's Ramblings:  OK.  Here's the thing.  Rosie loves red meat.  Eggplant?  Not so much.  I loved the meat. Period.  The caponata I could do without.  It's a personal thing.  I don't like eggplant except in Mama Hawthorne's Eggplant Casserole which has a sleeve of Ritz crackers and a ton of cheddar cheese so you know it's good.  AS in DOG-gone good.  Winkwink.

As for the wine, I could guzzle this all day and be a happy camper.

Is that truffle oil?

Our sixth and final course is a lemon and olive oil cake with lemon curd and mascarpone, buttercream frosting topped with a tart berry jam, served with fresh ricotta cheese and orange blossom honey, paired with Moretto Pignoletto del'Emilia Bianco Firzzante Secco.

Dessert is always my favorite.

All butter and fat in the cake

were replaced by olive oil.

This was amazing.

 Thank you, extraordinary Saltbox Crew,

for yet another wonderful dining experience.

For a recap of our wonderful on-going dining experiences at The Saltbox Café, 

please click on the links:

October 2014, we visited Spain.
November 2014, we visited Argentina.
December 2014, we visited Paris.
February 2015, we visited Chocolate. (Why yes, Chocolate is a country.)
March 2015, we visited Italy.
October 2015, we visited Germany.
December 2015, we visited Japan.

Also in December 2015, we enjoyed a Réveillon Feast.

And again in December 2015, we visited France.

February 2016, we took a road trip to California.

Also in February 2016, we visited Italy. 

March 9, 2016, we had a lovely visit to Chile.

March 29, 2016, we visited the Pacific Northwest.

April 20, 2016, we explored the vineyards of Oregon. 

September 2016, we enjoyed South Africa. 

October 2016, we experienced Madrid. 

October 2016, we traveled the Loire Region in France. 

November 3, 2016, we got to Fall In Love With Wine.

November 14, 2016, we enjoyed a Taste of Northern Italy.

The menu is the creation of Chefs Amanda and Randolph Sprinkle.

Special Guest Chef Josh Naser was on hand to assist.

Kerry, of Tryon Wine Distributing, introduced our wines,always advising us to enjoy the many facades of wine, with and without the food to see how the flavors meld and marry. 

Our servers were the extraordinary DinkleWolf Team, Mike and April.

And please check out Saltbox's website for these special events.  Reservations only and seats are limited.  252-255-5994.   I know I've had to tackle a few old ladies who were coming in to get MY SPOT.  And I'm an old lady myself.  Oh, I take that back.  Nobody ever accused me of being a lady.

Oyster Preparation. Lucky Twelve Oysters!

 Years ago, at one of the Taste of the Beach events,
Mr. Hawthorne and I went to The Lucky Twelve Tavern's
It's All About Oysters Special.
















For about 18 - 24 oysters:


1 TB paprika
1 TB sugar
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted


Mix paprika, sugar, and cheese and sprinkle over top of oysters.
Pour butter over top.
Place oysters under 450° broiler for about 5 minutes.  Time depends on distance of oyster to heat source.  Watch it.

Remember, you can never under cook an oyster.  You can, sadly, over cook an oyster.  Don't do it.

These are best on the grill, but sometimes one must just improvise.

Oysters. Oh MY! Broiled OYSTERS!! OH MY GOODNESS!!!

Get ready for some of the best flavors and textures you've ever had the pleasure to feast upon.

Rosie's got another bag of oysters and she's coming up with another new way to make them extraordinary.

Rosie's Oysters
2 dozen oysters
1 TB unsalted butter
1/2 TB oil 
1 large mushroom, small chop
3 oz. mixed greens - I used kale, spinach, and chard.
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 bulb fennel, charred and chopped
1/2 apple, small chop
3-4 TB cream, enough to bind
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
fresh grating of nutmeg
2 TB pumpkin seeds
Chèvre cheese
1/2 leftover homemade breakfast biscuit, toasted
Plugra unsalted butter

Melt butter with oil, add in mushrooms and cook about 2 minutes over medium heat.  Add in greens and cook, stirring for about a minute.  Add in garlic, fennel, and apple.  Turn off heat.  In a minute or two, add in cream, season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and stir in pumpkin seeds.

Top each oyster with greens mixture, crumble some Chèvre, sprinkle the toasted biscuit crumbs over, and dot with a pat of butter.

450° for 6-7 minutes, turning halfway through. 

Douse the fennel in extra virgin olive oil and char over an open flame.

Chop a large mushroom and the charred fennel

and mince the garlic.

Add in the baby greens to melted butter and a little oil.

2-3 minutes until wilted.

Add in garlic, fennel, and apple.

Then the cream, seasoning, and pumpkin seeds.

Top oysters with greens mixture.

Then some Chèvre.

And some crumbled homemade biscuits.

Under the broiler until nicely browned.

I love the flavor of Chèvre and apples together.

And the texture of the pumpkin seeds???

Perfect!

Rosie Makes Waffles.

I found Fannie Farmer's recipe for the classic waffle.

This is the ONLY waffle I will ever make from now on.

 

This waffle is magnificent.

It's not just any waffle, mind you.
It's an overnight yeast-raised batter waffle.

Would you just look at that waffle,

all decked out,

with Plugra butter and pure maple syrup and strawberries.

Crunchy pockets of sweetness and goodness.

This is a perfect breakfast.

I thought I'd hit the breakfast jackpot

a week or so back,

what with the toasted, Plugra'd pumpernickel,

the orange marmalade,

the perfect poached egg,

and the bacon, first boiled, then babied

to the absolute perfect texture.

But Fannie's waffles rate right up there.

Let me start at the beginning.
It was a dark and stormy Friday night.
Rosie was antsy.
What to do?
What to do?
Well, she started thinkin'.
Which can either be a good thing or a bad thing.
In this case it was a good thing.
I remembered reading somewhere
about Fannie Farmer's overnight yeast waffles.
And right then and there on that Friday night,
I decided what I was having for Saturday morning breakfast.

Rosie'sAdapted Recipe for Saturday Morning Waffles

since she never has whole milk,

but always has skim and heavy cream.

1 package yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1 stick unsalted butter

1 cup skim milk

1 cup heavy cream

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp sugar

2 cups flour

2 eggs

 1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

Sprinkle yeast over the water with a pinch of sugar.

Stir to dissolve. 

While yeast is "proofing"

(It's proving it's alive by eating

and emitting carbon dioxide and getting foamy.),

melt butter and add in milk and cream.

Warm it a bit (not hot)

then whisk into yeast.

Add flour, sugar, and salt to liquid mixture
and whisk until smooth.

 Cover bowl and let stand at room temperature overnight.

In the morning,

beat in baking soda,beaten eggs, and vanilla.

Heat up the waffle machine.
For the first waffle, I use butter.
None for the rest.
Pour in about 1/2 cup batter into the iron
and if your instructions that come with the machine
say cook 3-4 minutes, then try 5-6 minutes.
If your machine has a light that goes off,
keep the waffles in a bit longer.
Crisp is good.

We like to put these in the toaster oven before serving,
 to crisp them up and make 'em even better.


Serve with ...  oh so many different things!
Whatever fruit you want -
strawberry, blackberry, blueberries come to mind.
Let sweet butter melt into the little squares.
Drizzle pure maple syrup over the ridges.
It's ALL up to you.
Choose wisely!

Now, follow the pictures.

My yeast has "proofed."

Here's my dough mixture the next morning.

My finger is pointing to where the level was

the night before.

That's how much it's risen.

Covered, overnight, room temperature.

Puffy, yeasty batter.

There's my little electric waffle maker.

And my first two buttered waffles.

Here's the first batch of waffles

and my cup of coffee.

This is when I decided to take the waffles up a notch.

Add some butter and pure maple syrup.

I had some strawberries.

These waffles are extraordinary.

I put the rest in storage bags and refrigerated them.

I happened to have some orange syrup 

and caramelized orange peel in the fridge

I'd made for some oysters. 

I pulled off an end of a cold waffle

and swirled it in the cold syrup.

Then I scooped up some caramelized orange peel pieces

and popped the whole in my gaping maw,

licking my fingers and relishing every bit.

 It was divine.

I have no shame.

The next morning when I came out of the shower,

I smelled coffee and yeast.

Mr. Hawthorne had made coffee and put a few waffles

in the toaster oven to heat them up.

I could smell the yeast from the waffles.

Breakfast was bliss.

Once you make these waffles,

there's no turning back.

None whatsoever.

Make a batch for this weekend.
Put extras in storage bag and refrigerate.
Pop into toaster oven for a quick breakfast
the rest of the week.

And try different toppings -
blueberry sauce,
strawberries, blackberries, blueberries,
caramelized orange, orange syrup,
pure maple syrup, and butterbutterbutter.

You will thank me.