Crinella Family Cookbook
Our Grandparents' Favorites
Anti Pasti
Soups
Salads
Pasta
Vegetables
Fish
Poultry
Meat
Wild Game
Sweets
Brunch or Luncheon Dishes
Odds & Ends
Sour Dough
Other Breads ETC
Entertaining Ideas
Table of Contents
People
Family Photos
|
| Entertaining Ideas
|
|
An Italian picnic
at Rancho Los
Lomas with Chef Jamie Gwen
Recently my brother Frank and I turned the
tables on celebrity chef
Jamie Gwen and cooked an Italian picnic lunch for her and several others at our friend Jeannie Lawrence's fabulous
estate in Orange County, Rancho Las Lomas.
Here I am with Lana Sills, Chef Jamie Gwen, and Jeannie
Lawrence, the owner of Rancho Los Lomas.
The table was set under two century old apple trees still bearing fruit.
The day was perfect, the company was extremely interesting and lunch lasted seven hours!! I don't think anyone who attended that picnic
will forget the charm of that afternoon anytime soon.
Our menu was simple and our goal was to prepare everything perfectly. Naturally, we did not want to get too complicated so we could relax and enjoy the party. As usual my brother and I split the cooking chores up, so it was an easy to prepare.
We started with melon wrapped with prosciutto, and tomato with mozzarella both skewered on vine cuttings. These were delicious and
easy to prepare ahead. I brought the vine cuttings down from our vineyard in Sonoma County. We gave the prosciutto and melon a refreshing twist with
lime juice.
Prosciutto with melon
1 melon, make sure the melon is fragrant and ripe.
3 or 4 limes, juiced
fresh mint, chopped
1/4 cup Crinella Sauvignon Blanc
8 slices prosciiutto, thinly sliced
skewers
Cut the melon into pieces about 1 inch wide. Place in a plastic bag, along with lime juice, wine and chopped mint. Marinate for several hours.
Dry the slices of melon with paper towels and wrap the prosciutto around the melon. Put the melon on skewers. Lay the skewers on a platter with a few sprigs of fresh mint.
My friend Patty
Azevedo made the prosciutto I brought with me from the
Crinella recipe on our web site. Patty and I cut it down from the rafter where it had been curing, waiting for just the perfect occasion. I whisked it off to Orange County wrapped in a plain brown paper bag, thanking my good fortune
to have a friend with a nice cellar. Of course, you can get prosciutto at any good delicatessen if you don't happen to have one that has been hanging for a year or so.
I also used vine cuttings under the prosciutto along with mint springs and limes and lemons for color.
If you don't have any grape vines around, try prunings from lime trees, or other citrus trees. Or even branches from rosemary plants.
We will also be glad to send you some from our vineyards if you email us.
I like the rustic look of the cuttings.
Tomato with mozzarella
Small round tomatoes
Mozzarella balls, fresh (boconncini) you can make these from our
mozzarella recipe and just make little balls of cheese
Fresh basil leaves
Place a tomato on a skewer, add a basil leaf and a mozzarella ball.
Dust with a tiny bit of sea salt.
The next course: Eggplant Sfmoratino
My brother Frank made these the night before and put them into little ramekins. Wrapped in foil, they heated up in the oven and were easy to serve.
Ingredients
2 medium large eggplants
6 large cloves of garlic
2 red or yellow bell peppers
6 large ripe Roma tomatoes
1/2 cup fresh sweet basil, finely minced
1/2 cup pine nuts, freshly roasted
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 lb Fontina cheese
Heat oven to 375 degrees
Cut eggplants in half, lengthwise, and slit the cut side of each half, lengthwise, to promote desiccation while roasting. Place eggplant in roasting pan, cut side up.
Cut peppers and Roma tomatoes in half, lengthwise, and place around eggplant in roasting pan, skin side up. Lightly brush tops of eggplant, peppers and tomatoes with extra virgin olive oil. Place garlic cloves, unpeeled, on tops of eggplant.
Roast for 1/2 hour, or until tops of peppers and tomatoes are browned.
In a separate pan (a pie tin is good), add a few drops of olive oil and pine nuts, and roast for about 10 minutes, or until nuts turn golden brown, then remove and set aside.
Remove peppers to zip-lock bag. After eggplants have cooled, scoop inside mixture into mixing bowl. Peel garlic cloves, mash thoroughly, and add to mixing bowl. Slide skin off of tomatoes, chop coarsely, and add to mixture. Slide skin off bell peppers, chop coarsely, and add to mixture. Add pine nuts, chopped basil, raisins. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix ingredients by hand.
Spoon mixture into ramekins, leaving a little room on top for the cheese. Place a slice or two of Fontina over the top. Return to oven for 15 minutes, or until the cheese has browned a bit.
Serves 8 as a primo piatto, with
Crinella
Glissando.
Next Frank served a wonderful pasta dish.
Pasta with Salmon Sauce
1 to 1 1/2 lbs silver salmon filet
1 cup Crinella 05 SB
1 tbs peppercorns
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 bayleafs
4 or 5 sprigs of fresh tarragon
Poach the salmon in the wine, seasoned with the above ingredients,
skin side down. After 5 minutes, turn salmon over and remove skin
while it continues to poach. Remove salmon shortly after it's skinned.
Strain poaching marinade and return to skillet and reduce over medium
flame.
Add:
1 stick of butter
2 Tablespoons capers
1 teaspoon of fresh lemon zest
2 Tablespoons fresh minced tarragon
Continue to sauté mixture over medium flame until wine has
almost evaporated. Then, stir in 1/2 cup of heavy cream, making sure
not to boil the mixture.
Crumble salmon into irregular chunks and add to the pan with
the mixture, until the salmon is reheated.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Meanwhile, boil some pasta and drain.
Mix salmon mixture with noodles, garnish with a little chopped Italian parsley, and serve.
With the pasta I served a simple platter of grilled vegetables dressed with Crinella wine vinegar.
Frank and Chef Jamie discuss Crinella Glissando, our late harvest wine.
The afternoon ended seven hours later but it seemed as though we had only just started. A perfect afternoon at Rancho Los Lomas.
|
|
|
|
|
