My life turned upside-down in December.  Out of the blue, I found a job opportunity with a great company that is doing exciting things in solar energy.  The thing is, I had to relocate from Orlando to St. Louis.  My first day at my new company was January 31.  This probably doesn’t mean much to anyone who doesn’t live in St. Louis, but that was the day a “historic” blizzard hit town.  I’ve lived in California and Florida.  Snow and I don’t know how to deal with each other.  For me, this was nothing short of traumatic.

The other half of the trama was that my husband stayed in Celebration so his son could finish out his senior year of high school.  So I was in the snow, alone and without my treaure trove of kitchen toys.  I didn’t cook much and therefore the blog fell off my to do list.

What I did do was eat out.   And I have some thought I’d like to share.  I’ve found lots of things to love.  But in keeping with my style, First let me get this rant off of my chest.  While researching my move, I became very excited to try St. Louis style pizza.  I’ve tried several versions and ….  I miss California pizzas.

Death to Provel

If you are a St. Louis native you know about Provel, and it’s likely that I’m going to offend you in my next sentence.   St. Louis style pizza is an insult to Italians, an insult to cheese, and insult to people with taste buds.  This is all because of Provel.  Pizza is a personal thing.  There are so many ways to make it and enjoy it that I had to think long and hard about declaring a method to be wrong.  Who am I to say that an entire style of pizza is wrong? I am the blogger! And if you come visit me we’ll have lots of good food but I will not allow a guest of mine to be subjected to St. Louis style pizza.

For the lucky uninitiated reader, there are really two things that define St. Louis style pizza.  A thin crust and provel cheese.  I can accept thin crust though some of the versions I’ve had are so thin that they are almost like a tortilla.  At that point it’s no longer a pizza, it’s a distant cousin.  I prefer a thicker crust, not NY style and absolutely not Chicago style but thicker than a classic neapolitan crust.

If the crust were the only differentiator, I’d probably decide that St. Louis pizza and I aren’t friends, but I wouldn’t declare open blogger warfare.  Unfortunately the creators of St. Louis style pizza weren’t content with just ruining the crust, they also felt it necessary to mess with the cheese.  This is where it gets ugly.  Why would any rational human being swap out the delicious stringy milky goodness of mozzarella for a processed cheese?  Seriously, were they mad (you can read that as angry or insane, both definitions apply)?

Provel is to cheese as a hotdog is to sausage.  It pretends to be in the same family, but one quickly realizes that all of the quality has been stripped out and the only resemblance is visual.  Provel is a processed cheese made with cheddar, swiss and provolone.  It’s specific to this region and the name Provel is a trademark owned by Kraft.   Wikipedia pretty much sums it up by saying that “like all processed cheeses, it’s legally allowed to be calledcheese.  You can buy it in the grocery store, typically in the deli section next to exotic cheeses, it typically comes in a plastic tub and is extruded.  You can’t call it grated, it looks like a long wad of spaghetti noodles.  It clumps together.  It melts over the top of the pizza like an oil slick and feels like one in your mouth.  I’m pretty sure if you tried to feed this to Nona from the old country she’d slap you silly.  Provel is all that is wrong with the US food chain.  It’s not food, it’s cheap mass produced nutritionally devoid garbage.

People from St. Louis LOVE their pizza.  And I’m happy for them.  The comfort of food is as much about a memory as a taste.  But as for me, I think I’ll be making my pizza as long as I live here.

I’m not one to reprint press releases.  But I posted about my experience with Stage Left wines earlier this month.  Like my other favorite Artisan Family Wines — they are small, family run and produce quality wines.  You have to sign up to order from them, but it’s worth it!
It’s been a long, rainy winter in much of California. Thankfully. As strange as that sounds, the vineyards really needed the drink. And we’re guessing you’re feeling the same way. Good thing it’s time for the 2010 Spring Release. We have three new (and exciting) wines to share with you:

The Go Getter 2008: 63% Viognier, 32% Grenache Blanc, 5% Roussanne
Central Coast, 107 cases produced – $34

• Let’s face it, this wine is a mouthful. Not just in the rush of fruit or lush mouthfeel, mind you. The three varieties which make up this year’s white Rhone blend aren’t exactly the most widely known or easiest to say. Sure, Viognier (vee-ohn-yay)… read more

The Scenic Route 2007: 100% Syrah
Del Rio Vineyards, Rogue Valley, Oregon, 96 cases produced – $38

• We love Oregon Syrah. There, we said it. Yes, most Stage Left Syrah hails from California. But we have a soft spot for Syrah from up North. At least Syrah from the Del Rio Vineyard in the Rogue Valley. The 2007 vintage… read more

The Escape Artist 2007: 100% Syrah
Watch Hill Vineyards, Santa Barbara County, 76 cases produced – $38

• The fruit was amazing from the get-go. And once it was in barrel, we knew it was going to be a standout. So much so that we just had to bottle it on its own. As a matter of fact, it’s our first single vineyard Syrah from California. And it’s a wine full… read more

To order, log in using your email address here, or go to www.stageleftcellars.com and click on the “Allocation Sign In” link at the top of the page.

The deadline for placing orders is Saturday, April 10th and we’re fulfilling orders on a first come, first served basis. If you’d like to purchase more than your allocation, a request can be made through the “Wish List” section of the order form.

Ground shipping is FREE and your order will ship by April 13th or sooner (please call us if you need special arrangements or if there’s a special date you’re trying to hit). If you’d prefer to pick up the wine at our tasting room in Oakland, select “pick-up” under the shipping options and then swing by on Saturday, April 3rd during our normal hours 11am-5pm.

Enjoy the wines – we look forward to your feedback!

Cheers,

Stage Left Cellars
2102 Dennison Street
Oakland, CA 94606
p: 510-434-9930
www.stageleftcellars.com
twitter.com/stageleftist
facebook.com/stageleftcellars

SushiSamba is celebrating it’s 10th birthday on the Las Vegas Strip with “Muddle, Shake and Pour” the “Ultimate” cocktail competition. On Friday July 24 from 1 – 4 p.m. 20 contestants will compete and observers are welcome.  Looks like a fun event. The contestants will receive 10 standard bar ingredients plus one Leblon ingredient. Leblon makes Cachaca, a Brazilian sugar cane based spirit used in Caipirinha’s.  I’m not sure how SushiSamba is blending sushi with Latin culture, but if it can be done anywhere it can be done in Las Vegas.

In the first round contestants have 15 minutes to develop the best cocktail.  Judges will select the contestants that will proceed to round two where they will have 20 minutes to prepare a new cocktail.  The winner receives Glory! Fortune! (in the form of a $500 gift card to SushiSamba) and Fame! (their winning drink will be the official sambatini SushiSamba in August 2009). I’m told there will also be treats for the crowd too, but no specifics.

Sounds a lot like an Iron Chef.  I chose to write about it because I like the idea of a secret ingredient.  If I were going to be in Vegas I would absolutely check out this event, but alas, I’ll be at the Wine Bloggers Conference.  If you go, let me know, maybe you can be a guest blogger on whineaux!

If you want to compete or know more about attending  Call the restaurant (702)607-0700

SushiSamba is at 3327 Las Vegas Blvd.in the Shoppes at the Palazzo

I just saw a blog post on Fridge Full of Food, “This may make you queasy” that reminded me that eating at home not only allows me to control seasoning and ingredient quality ensuring I eat what I want, but … it also means that I’m not consuming stupid calories. She has listed the calorie and fat content of popular restaurant chain dishes.  For example, Chicken and Biscuits at the Cheesecake factory is a whopping 2500 calories!

I need to save some calories for wine — this is  very critical information to me!

Check out Glenna’s Blog.  She has some great recipes too.

Later tonight I’ll post about my latest foray into Paris Bistro Cooking, if the last meal (Coq au Vin) was a first class trip, this felt more like coach — wasn’t “bad”  just not running to make it again.

Salute!

I picked up a copy of Linda Dannenberg’s Paris Bistro Cooking at CDG airport on the way home from my most recent trip to Paris.  The book is a beautiful coffee table book with gorgeous photos and loving descriptions of Paris Bistros and their history.  It also includes their signature recipes.

I’ve decided that I’m going to cook my way through this book.  I truly love the simple hearty flavors of French Bistro cooking.  As you can see from the recipes I’ve posted so far I’m not a fan of fussy cooking.  Restaurants exist to create a food experience that I can’t reproduce at home.  I want to cook foods that warm my heart and are healthy (unprocessed).  Bistro’s started by feeding the local workers.  As Paris evolved and space was at a premium many of the apartments were so small they didn’t have kitchens.  The bistro became the place for a simple nightly meal.  People spent entire days at the Bistro working, writing, socializing.  Regular diners had a drawer for their cutlery and linens.

I’m not promising to cook every dish in the book, but once a week I plan to write about my experiences trying to create one of these recipes at home.  I’m working on the Coq au Vin Right now (p. 109).  I say “working on” because this isn’t a recipe you whip up in an afternoon.  I’ve seen many very good recipes that you can make in a couple hours but this particular recipe calls for marinading the chicken in a mixture of wine, boquet garni, onion and carrot.  Then there is three hours of cooking.

I actually made it yesterday and tonight it’s marinading more — which wasn’t in the plan but sometimes you have to roll with it.  Tomorrow we are going to have a French feast: pate, Camembert cheese, coq au vin and sauteed potatoes.  I’m pretty sure that I’m going to die and go to heaven.  The only way the night can be better is if the Pens win and I don’t have to see Detroit hoist the cup up again.

Check back to see how it turned out.  As for me, I’m going to get a glass of wine because it keeps me from whining!

Next time you are at a cocktail party you can spirng this little bit of knowledge, buckwheat is actually not a grain but rather an herb related to rhubarb and sorrel.  Sharing this gem is sure to get someone to offer to get you another drink!

The article focused on 10 foods with healthbenefits — that buckwheat is included is no surprise, nor is the appearance of watercress, leeks, anchovies and strawberries. No Paula Dean, I’m sorry, but butter was not on the list.   But there were two foods that thrilled and surprised me:   whole milk and bacon!

Before you run off clicking your heals and yelling there’s no place like home — the key is in moderation.

Bacon

It turns out that 45% of the fat in bacon is monounsaturated (the kind that can help lower bad cholesterol) oleic acid, the same fat found in olive oil.  Bacon is so flavorful that a few strips go a long way in adding flavor to a dish.  Nobody here (especially not me) is suggesting that you go out and cook a pound of bacon a day.  What I am saying is that you shouldn’t fear bacon or use that gruesom turkey bacon (which we know is not bacon and I’m not convinced that it’s turkey).

Whole Milk

I remember reading an article many years ago that doctors were starting to ask women of childbearing age to drink full fat milk because many of the vitamins in milk are absorbed by the body through fat (A and D) and absorbing vitamin D helps absorb calcium.  Duane asserts in his article that studies monitoring women who ate one serving of whole milk or cheese a day gain less weight than women who did not.

I’m not suggesting anyone throw caution to the wind when it comes to fat consumption.  You may want to rethink any recipe that starts with two sticks of butter (unless it serves 24 people) and bacon should be a flavoring just like olive oil.

I am suggesting that the fear of unprocessed whole foods (fat being a prime example) has been overblown by the media.  I’m more afraid of the health implications of eating boxed   “potato flakes” than the whole milk and butter which would go in them to make mashed potatoes.  In countries where processed foods are kept to a minimum people enjoy natural fat and even some sugar with out the health implications we have in the US.  Eating unprocessed whole foods doesn’t take much longer to prepare, is often less expensive and provides your body the nutrition it needs.