May Your Plastic Cup Runneth Over

This summer, businesses all over the country will be holding their company picnics. Due to insurance and liability issues, many of these events now have a one, or two drink limit for attendees. Well, as a public service I've posted the photo below, just in case you're given the assignment of buying the cups. Enjoy!

Scenes from California's Real Wine Country

These shots were taken by my Mother-in-law Peggy, who really captured the true essence of an authentic vineyard. If you're ever lucky enough to tour California's wine regions, be sure to get off the beaten paths and experience the look, smell and feel of real, family-run wineries. Sure, you may not get a free refrigerator magnet, like at those giant, soulless, corporate-owned wine factories, but you will be compensated with something even more attractive.

By the way, I'll be back tomorrow with a brand new video recipe! Enjoy!

Below you'll see: Bill Frick, wine maker extraordinaire; the beautiful vineyards and winery; Bill's son Michael's "seashell car"; Bill's home overlooking the vineyards; the world's second most famous leaning tower; and the last shot is the tasting room where we do all the food. (click to enlarge)

A Wonderful Wine-Soaked Weekend with Food and Friends at Frick

This weekend's food and wine pairing at the Frick Winery was a smashing success! We served a record 1,200 guests, and had a lot of fun doing it. I'm still catching up on a massive email backup and have some deadlines at About.com to meet, but I hope to do some video recipes of the items soon. For now you have to settle for a quick photo (click to enlarge) and description. By the way, special thanks to Bill, Dallas and the entire Frick family, as well as our incredible kitchen crew; Al, Peggy (this year's MVP), Julie, Merv, and my beautiful and talented wife Michele!

The first item was wild Ahi tuna seared and served rare on a wasabi rice chip. It was topped with a pink ginger dressing and a pinch of seaweed salad. It was probably the most popular bite we served. It was paired with Bill Frick's white wines; a Grenache Blanc, and Viognier.

The second item was ripe Cambazola cheese served on fig bread, with sweet organic strawberries on the side. This is called the "Cinsaut Classic" since we've served it with the Frick Cinsaut wines for the last 12 years! It's a perfect pairing, and while we change the food pairings every year, this bite remains a sweet, salty, and savory constant.

The next bite was a pistachio mortadella on olive bread with shaved grapes. This was paired with the Carignane. This idea was borrowed from Chef Tom Colicchio (head judge of Top Chef). He has a sandwich restaurant in San Francisco called "Wichcraft" and these ingredients made up a sandwich Michele enjoyed last year. The flavors worked so well together, we thought it would make a nice canapé.

Next came a mini-meatball sandwich. Olive oil and spicy tomato sauce were spread on some herbed focaccia, which was topped with a slice of meatball, Parmesan, and fresh mozzarella. A little garlic oil and Italian parsley finished this delicious bite. It was paired with a Merlot, and Frick's new Red/Red, which is a Cabernet/Syrah blend.

And last, but in no way least, was a wild boar sausage skewered with a black mission fig and watercress leaf. It was served on some crushed hazelnuts, and paired with Frick's magnificent Syrah. The sweet dried figs were quickly poached in the Syrah, sugar, and black pepper. This was probably my favorite bite, and a great combination of flavors and textures.

I will hopefully be caught up soon, and back with new videos and other assorted foodie fun. I hope you enjoy the photos and descriptions, and maybe even order some wine from the Frick winery. Cheers!

Hello and Goodbye

We're just about ready to leave for Sonoma, so I probably won't be posting until Monday or Tuesday. I will hopefully have some beautiful photos of our menu to show. Below I've reposted the only video I have of an actual Passport appetizer. We've served this one several times and it's a great bite to pair with red wine. Keep it in mind the next time you are entertaining.

This version uses cream cheese, but we've done it using Teleme, and Crescenza (you'll have to Google them unless you are a real cheese head). Anyway, keep an eye on the blog while I'm gone. Enjoy!

The following video was originally included in a post entitled: "Calabrese Lollipops – Antipasto on a stick!"