








Here is a quick meal to do with some fresh clams and scallops- this dish comes together in only a few minutes and is perfect in the summer.
Montepulciano: The City, The Grape… and Home to the Volturi.
I have spent a lot of time staying away from the Chianti-drunk of my youth, discovering new regions, grapes, sparklers, fortified wines, & the values that Italy has to offer. Eventually, the ole Chianti got shuffled to the side like those neon tight spandex bikers shorts worn in the 80’s. Okay, by worn I mean I wore them: wow, I just feel like I finished a 12 step program.
This was made the same time the Spiedini in Episode 168 - also we get a glimpse at Little Kahuna 2 in this episode. Again this was filmed on super hot day so it is a little laid back. If you want to skip ahead to see Little Kahuna 2 just go to minute 3.44 to catch a glimpse.
Here is an article I wrote for corkd.com about a recent visit to Mario & Lidia’s upscale new age Italian eatery Del Posto.
Del Posto: Mario Batali & Lidia Bastianich Pair New-Age Italian Cuisine with Classic Wines in NYC
Mario Batali and Lidia Bastianich are 2 heavyweights of Italian cuisine in New York City, both known throughout the U.S. for their Food Network and PBS cooking shows. When these 2 decided to get together, opening a multi-million dollar restaurant to garnish Michelin stars and award worthy wine lists, needless to say there was a huge anticipation. I consider Mario’s “Babbo” and Lidia’s “Felidia” to be a few of my favorite places so when they decided to open Del Posto a few years back, I could not wait to go. For various reasons, including the mixed press from critics, it has taken me awhile to get there. Yup, I was getting my crocs and shorts out and going Mario style! Okay, I dressed like a “big boy”, but I did bring my big Mario stomach with me… damn thing seems to follow me everywhere! READ MORE
This was one pain in the butt video to edit together – Anyway despite braving 900 degree heat my team managed to get this video done. I hope you enjoy it! Also the eggplant dish featured in this video will be posted as a separate episode.
Ok so I left a little piece out of this video – the potatoes used were just small yellow potatoes that I peeled down into an egg shape- I always have stayed away from doing any cooking that required things cut exactly the same size for presentation however with these potatoes I now understand why the French technique would be to peel them into similar sizes and that is cooking time- Yes I know that is the reason for cutting things in similar size but this is the first time I really came across a situation were a 10% difference in size made a fairly large difference it doneness(is that a word?). I like them crunchy so I got the bigger ones and the wife liked them a little softer so it worked out well.