De Mystify Wine

Is that all there is to it?? someone please correct me!

If it grows together it goes together.

If it's used in the cooking use it to drink with the meal.
(don't use cheap shit that you wouldn't drink.)

If you can't find either of the above ...find one that either 1) complements or 2) contrasts

and some other rules...

Skirt Steak Rotolo

Skirt Steak Rotolo. Damn this is good!

This recipe is my variation on Mario's Vitello Rotolo (prince of Napoli episode) I used pistachios instead of Pine Nuts and skirt steak instead veal, of course.


2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled (of course, dummy...and chop em while you're at it)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh spinach
1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley leaves
1 tablespoon fresh chopped cilantro (weird, yes, but I had fresh and it sounded good and it turned out to be a nice bright flavor amongst some of the other muted flavors)
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup pistachios
3/4 pound skirt Steak, in one piece, pounded thin by your butcher (or in this case, me!)
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 medium celery stalk, thinly sliced
1 medium carrot, thinly sliced
1 cup dry white wine
1 pound canned whole peeled plum tomatoes, crushed by hand, with their juices
Salt and freshly ground pepper Slice the hard-boiled eggs into rounds. In a large mixing bowl, combine the egg slices, spinach, parsley, cilantro, garlic, raisins and pistachios. Stir until well combined and season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Lay the steak flat on a clean work surface and cover with some of the egg mixture. Starting from the horizontal end nearest you, begin rolling the veal breast over the filling, rolling fairly tightly much as you would a burrito. Using kitchen twine, secure the rotolo

In a 12 to 14-inch saucepan, heat the oil over a medium-high flame until hot but not smoking. Brown the meat and remove from the pan. (i did two smaller rotoli)

Add the onion, celery, and carrot and cook until the onion begins to soften and turn a light golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and continue cooking until the wine evaporates. Add the tomatoes and the veal, then season with salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and let simmer gently for 1 hour. If necessary to keep the pan moist, add some water during the simmering process.

Remove the cooked rotolo from the pan, remove the twine and cut into equally sized slices. Serve immediately, topped with a generous spoonful of the pan sauce

Mario would be proud of me. This thing was soooooo dang good, I can't even tell you. You could taste everything, the color was right, the contrast was right, the textures were phenomenal, the just long enough lasting peppery taste on your tongue.

Damn, this is good!

Wok Hay

Wok Hay. let it sink in.

The essence of the wok. It's my new favorite tool. I can honestly say that I have never had food so genuine as right out of a proper wok, properly used. My attempts, while tasty and almost always edible are nowhere near what a master can do. A master that knows his wok hay. The search for the mysterious, genuine article and the mystery that comes out of it are underway.

Wok Hay. The essence. One has to know the essence of the wok. (And this applies to all of your tools, dummy) Knowing what it will do, how will it do it and what limits you can stretch out of it of paramount. The wok is at once, one of the simplest and most complex tools you can use in the kitchen. But you must know it. You must know your wok's essence. Masters of the wok talk about it's soul, it's fire and how that column of fire changes your food from ordinary to mystical. How only the right amount of heat and motion in the wok makes the food magical.

I'm not talking about those Calfalon, non-stick coated, wok-posers. It has to be a proper wok. I'm refering to a high carbon steel, hand shaped, seasoned wok. One that will tolerate super high heat and give back in such ways that you never imagined possible. The blacker the better.
I've added to my Seattle to-do list, find that end result of a master and his wok hay. and a proper wok itself. I say this about Seattle only because I've had the wok food here in the Fort and I think there is a much higher plane that I'm imagining. With the greater population from the east on our west coast, my chances should be greater, yes? The key will be to get some inside information.

I've tried wok cooking a number of times and usually with good results. Follow the rules and you'll almost always have a decent product (mis en place, everything cut so that it cooks at the same interval, searing your meat or seafood, etc) But they were not transcendent. I don't know my wok hay. Part of this is because even though I know that my Calfalon, non stick coated wok was created for amateurs and used by amateurs (me being one of them), it can only do so much under that wimpy flame of our gas stove. I should know my wok hay, but sadly, I do not. I am spending more time with it, but what I really want it a proper wok. I'll gladly donate the Calfalon to goodwill or give it to someone that will use it for what it is. But I really want a proper wok.

My search begins.