Tuesday

Anthology - Review

Anthology - San Diego, California
"Tonia's Kitchen" Producer, Patrick Kane recently dined at Anthology in San Diego, California. This unique venue pairs excellent cuisine with live music. Marsha and Howard Berkson, draw crowds of all ages to experience world class entertainment and award-winning food and drinks. One of the only venues of its kind in San Diego, the intimate, 300-seat house has won numerous awards since opening in 2007.

Patrick notes, "there are three levels of intimate dining and there isn't a bad seat in the house. It's really such a fantastic place for dinner and show with a romantic date. I thought their menu is nothing short of brilliant with every dish composed with perfectly balanced sides. Their cocktail list was inventive and highlighted some cool stuff like cinnamon infused bourbon, pomegranate purée, and even carrot juice. The wine list was extensive but the beer list was lacking.

Photo - Patrick Kane

The golden beet carpaccio was perfectly paired with peppery greens and a goat cheese vinaigrette that was so good you could swim in it.








Photo - Patrick Kane

The steak entree was cooked perfectly with an amazing demi-glaze that highlighted the quality of the meat. Overall I would highly recommend this venue an intimate show, amazing food, creative cocktails and excellent service."

Monday

Kris Rudolph and Betty
Here's a great Mexican dish from author Kris Rudolph, her new book is called, "Eating Healthy: Mexican Light Cuisine for Today's Cook." Kris's recipe mixes pork with a wonderful mango salsa! "It's quick and simple," Kris says. "As you're browning the pork, all you have to do is chop up two mango, one chipotle chili, add about a quarter cup of green onions, a little bit of lime juice, and a little bit of cilantro - and that's it!" Besides being delicious, the normal serving is about 240 calories.


Pork with Mango Salsa

Pino Luongo
Pino Luongo visited "Tonia's Kitchen" today to tell us how he makes his veal meatballs. "Think about veal, which has been seasoned with the Parmesan cheese, egg yolks, lemon zest, little pepper, nutmeg, and then rolled in a small grape size. Quickly pan fried. Then sauteed with onions, peas, and mushrooms. Once they're softened, you put in a little veal or chicken stock. Throw some fresh pasta in it. And when it is all well coated, you can put in the fresh Parmesan cheese."






Fresh Pasta with Meatballs and Mushrooms
Ingredients

  • 8 ounces (228 grams) ground veal
  • 1⁄4 cup (1 ounce/28 grams) freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1⁄2 cup (30 grams) bread crumbs
  • 1 small garlic clove, minced
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (270 ml) olive oil, plus more for drizzling (optional)
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 12 ounces (342 grams) white button mushrooms, wiped clean, stems removed, and sliced 1⁄2 inch (1.3 cm) thick
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 1⁄2 cups (200 grams) fresh sweet peas or thawed tiny frozen peas
  • 1⁄2 cup (120 ml) vegetable stock or vegetable broth made with Knorr powdered bouillon
  • 6 fresh mint leaves
  • 1 1⁄2 pounds (680 grams) pasta alla chitarra or tagliolini made from Fresh Egg Pasta Dough (page 94)
  • 4 tablespoons (112 grams) unsalted butter
  • 1⁄4 cup (1 ounce/28 grams) freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Preparation
Place the meat in a large bowl, add the Parmigiano, egg yolk, bread crumbs, garlic and parsley, and season well with salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly but delicately so as not to compress the meat, which would toughen it.
Take a piece of the meat mixture about the size of a small grape and roll the mixture between the palms of your hands into a small ball. Place on a plate, and repeat with the remaining meat mixture.
Line a large shallow plate with paper towels. Set aside.
Heat 1 cup of the olive oil in a 10- to 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Place only as many meatballs in the pan as you can without crowding them and panfry until browned and crisp on one side, about 3 minutes. Flip and cook until the other side is browned and crisp, about 2 minutes more. Remove the meatballs from the pan with a spatula and place on the prepared plate to drain. Repeat with any remaining meatballs.
Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in another large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and sauté 5 minutes. Add the peas, toss, and cook until the mushrooms release their liquid, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the stock and mint and cook for another 5 minutes. Taste and, if necessary, adjust the seasoning. Add the meatballs, toss well, and set aside, covered, to keep warm.
Fill a 10-quart stockpot with 7 quarts (6.6 liters) of water. Add 2 tablespoons kosher salt and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente.
Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid, then drain the pasta and stir it into the sauce. Add the butter, the Parmigiano, and a few tablespoons of the reserved cooking water, and heat over very low heat. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then toss thoroughly, drizzling with more olive oil if desired.
Wine: A young sparkling Prosecco from the Veneto may seem an unusual selection for meatballs, but because these are made with veal, it’s the perfect choice here.

Serving Size
Serves 6
@SavageFoodie
Susan Simon, author of five cookbooks and the co-author of the James Beard award-winning, “Pasta Sfoglia”, a guidebook, “Shopping in Marrakech” and translator of “Italy Dish by Dish”, visited "Tonia's Kitchen" to share her recipe for Vegetable Crumble. It's "kinda like a ratatouille, it starts out with sauteing garlic and hot peppers in olive oil. Sauteed eggplant, zucchini, and cherry tomatoes in that spicy olive oil mixture and taking them out and put them in a bowl. And at the end, when everything is cooked, you add chopped basil and salt to that mixture and you can put that in a baking dish. Just before you cook it, make a topping of flour, dried bread crumbs, unsalted butter, Parmesan cheese, and some olive pasted. Work that together with your fingers like a crumbled mixture, sprinkle it over the top of your vegetable mix and bake it."

Vegetable Crumble

 
@roadfood123
Noted cookbook author, Michael Stern, shared a recipe for Whipping Cream Pound cake from his book "Two For The Road." This recipe comes from an old friend of Elvis Presley, who loved this dish as a boy. As Michael says, "it's just creamy Southern comfort. In my opinion it's the ultimate pound cake!"



Whipping Cream Pound Cake
Ingredients

  • 3 cups sugar
  • 1/2 lb butter, softened
  • 7 eggs, room temperature
  • 3 cups cake flour, sifted twice
  • 1 cup whipping cream (heavy cream)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions

1) Butter and flour a 10 inch tube or bundt pan.

2) Thoroughly cream together sugar and butter.

3) Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

4) Mix in half the flour, then the whipping cream, then the other half of the flour.

5) Add Vanilla.

6) Pour into prepared pan.

7) Set in COLD oven and turn heat to 350ºF.

8) Bake 1 hour to 70 minutes, until a sharp knife inserted in cake turns out clean.

9) Cool in pan 5 minutes.

10) Remove from pan and cool thoroughly.

11) Wrapped well, this cake will keep for several days. 
@davidgrotto
Author and dietician Dave Grotto shared an interesting recipe for bibimbap, a traditional Korean dish that combines vegetables, eggs, chicken or steak. "What's nice about it is it includes thing that you would think are not so helpful for you," Dave says with a smile. For example: "fried eggs but this is fried in a non-stick skillet." Dave points out that eggs contain lutein, "which is a vital chemical, a natural plant chemical, that helps fight macular degeneration; an eye disorder than a lot of us 'boomers' now are facing."


Bibimbap


Thursday

Salem's So Sweet Chocolate Festival

Get tickets here!


Jennifer Bell from Salem Main Streets joined Tonia to talk about the 10th Annual Downtown Salem, Salem's So Sweet Chocolate and Ice Festival. This event pairs wine and chocolate along with fifteen ice sculptures. The event kicks off with a wine and chocolate tasting at Hamilton Hall, "which is a beautiful, historic hall in Salem." Tickets are $25 and they hope to have some at the door, but it's suggested that you get yours now by phone at (978) 744-0004.



This week we celebrate New Hampshire Wine Week Winter Wine Spectacular! The SOLD OUT event is happening tonight at the Radisson Hotel Manchester.

Roland Maradino
Tonia spoke with Wine Ambassador, Roland Marandino, who represents the Cecchi and the Sartori di Verona families. What does Roland look forward to this year? "Over two thousand wines will be avaliable to sample... its a wonderful opportunity to taste (New Hampshire) wines and ask questions about them." Roland is very passionate about his wines. His enthusiasm is contagious as he describes not only the wines he represents but the role they can play in our lives. One of his recurring themes is that, for Italians, wine is food and consequently their wines are made not for judges but for the dinner table. They are intended to compliment a menu not to dominate it. Follow Roland on Twitter: @tablewineblog



George Sandeman
George Sandeman, Chairman of the House of Sandeman, is the eldest of the seventh generation of this family, linked to the Port Wine and Sherry businesses. He shared some knowledge on Port with Tonia, "Port is a special wine. True Port is made in Portugal. When the wine is made we do two things to maintain that richness: one is we always pick grapes when they're very ripe. And therefor very sweet. The second is we add brandy or wine alcohol to the fermentation... It's usually red red and very full bodied and has a very delicious, sweetness that is wonderful for the cold weather!" Sandeman Family Wine will showcase Tawny Ports tonight, stop by and taste the "significant difference."


Cannonball Wine Company
Yoav Gilat of Cannonball Wine Company recommends that you "come in, relax, and don't feel any pressure that you need to talk about the wines. Ask questions. Try the wines you like." He suggests starting with the whites, try the different regions, then move to the reds. "But don't try to drink fifty different wines, I would try to focus on things that you find good and that you like." Most importantly, "it doesn't matter what the score is." Tonight's event is a great opportunity to ask a chef about wine pairing and learning about different wines!



For those with tickets for tonight's event, thanks in advance for your donation to Easter Seals and enjoy your vino!