A Meal Without Wine is Called Breakfast

"I cook with wine.  Sometimes I even add it to the food."  W.C. Fields

My soundtrack:  Scenes from an Italian Restaurant by Billy Joel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUz48xw_OiM

If you read my last blog about our trip to the Russian River Valley, then you know that we ate and drank our way across the area. My scales can attest to the fact that there was no shortage of delicious food. I came home, not only with wine and some extra pounds, but also with several recipes.

I want to share these recipes on my blog but thought I should test them out first.  For my guinea pigs, I lure some friends over on a couple of occasions with promises of alcohol if they will indulge me.  They have their reservations because I am notorious for my lack of culinary skills. Undaunted, I set a pretty table with flowers from my yard and commence to cooking.

The first recipe, Overnight Blueberry French Toast was served to my husband and me by our hosts on our last morning at the Santa Nella House Bed and Breakfast.  I was comatose after indulging in this syrupy breakfast dish and thought the world should know about this gastronomic delight.

My girlfriends, Kim and Sandy, are my test subjects on a warm Saturday morning.  As they take their first bites, their faces take on a strange look.  Initially I'm worried until Kim asks if it would be wrong to have a second helping.  I take that as a home run!  Serve with mimosas for a beautiful brunch.

Overnight Blueberry French Toast [from Allrecipes]

12 slices day old break, cut into 1 inch cubes

2 - 8 oz pkgs cream cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 cup fresh blueberries

12 eggs, beaten

2 cups milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup maple syrup

1 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup water

 1 cup fresh blueberries

1 tablespoon butter

1. Lightly grease 9x13 inch baking dish.  Arrange half the bread cubes in the dish, and top with cream cheese cubes.  Sprinkle 1 cup blueberries over the cream cheese and top with remaining bread cubes.
2. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, milk, vanilla extract, and syrup.  Pour over the bread cubes.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.
3. Remove the bread cube mixture from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
4. Cover and bake 30 minutes.  Uncover, and continue baking 25-30 minutes until center is firm and surface is lightly browned.
5. In a medium saucepan, mix the sugar, cornstarch, and water.  Bring to a boil.  Stirring constantly, cook 3-4 minutes.  Mix in the remaining 1 cup blueberries.  Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes until the blueberries burst.  Stir in the butter, and pour over the baked French toast.

The next two recipes came from the Twomey Winery.  

Shaved Zucchini Salad

8 oz green zucchini

8 oz yellow zucchini or squash

2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds, toasted

2 oz Parmesan cheese, grated

2 tablespoons basil leaves, torn

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Juice from 1 fresh lemon

1 teaspoon salt

Slice the green and yellow zucchini as thin as you can.  Place into a mixing bowl with the pumpkin seeds, Parmesan, basil, olive oil, lemon juice and salt.  Mix together and serve.

Garden Pesto Pizza

1 recipe Silver Oak Pizza Dough http://www.silveroak.com/food/recipes/silver-oak-pizza-dough/ 

or for the uninitiated, I used Pillsbury pizza crust

1 cup pesto

2 cups mozzarella

1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled

4 teaspoons preserved lemon, finely diced (can anyone enlighten me?)

1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, finely diced

I don't particularly care for Twomey's pesto recipe so I substitute a recipe from the Come on In cookbook by the Junior League of Jackson, MS.

Pesto

4 1/2 cups fresh basil, loosely packed

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup pine nuts

5 cloves garlic

2 teaspoons salt

4 oz freshly grated Parmesan cheese (1 cup)

1. Puree basil, olive oil, pine nuts, garlic, and salt in food processor until smooth.  Stir in freshly grated Parmesan cheese and refrigerate if not to be used immediately.
2. Prepare your wood oven (really?) or home oven and spin the pizza dough (ha!) to the desired thickness.  (If you're in my house, pop open that can of Pillsbury pizza dough and flatten it out onto a pizza pan.)  I actually baked the crust for about 5 minutes before adding any ingredients.
3. Spread a thin layer of pesto then sprinkle with mozzarella, goat cheese, preserved lemon and sundried tomatoes.  Bake for 10 minutes at 500 degrees and serve immediately.

I must admit I am a little worried when I pull the pizza out of the oven.  The oil from the pesto has pooled around the pan but is quickly absorbed after I let the pizza rest for a few minutes before serving.  I also think it will be a good idea to cook the pizza 5 minutes longer than the recipe calls since my oven is a little slow.  Wrong.  The crust is slightly overdone and the sundried tomatoes a bit charred but with assistance from my friend Sandy, we flip those tomatoes over and voila - the pizza looks beautiful!

My friends are skeptical when the smoke alarm goes off upon opening the oven door. That seems to happen a lot when I'm cooking pizza.  But their skepticism is laid to rest once we sit down to eat.  This pizza is downright palatable!

These recipes are so simple that my friends and family think I can actually cook.  I'm pretty sure I no longer have to ply them with alcohol to get them to sample my homemade dishes.  Speaking of . . try a good Sauvignon Blanc with the zucchini or pizza.  Buon Appetito!!