Wednesday, September 30, 2015

How to Make Italian Frittata

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Zucchini Frittata

Frittata

   Frittata, they’re quite a wonder. Italian Flat Omelets that are tasty, versatile and easy to make. I’ve been making them for years. They’re one of my favorites. Frittata are quite versatile. You can fill them with a endless variety of ingredients, both fresh made or leftover, and this is one of the great uses and attributes of this Italian wonder, The Frittata. Americans are just recently learning about them. Italian Americans have known of, made, and have been eating Frittata in many forms for years. In the past several years you see them popping up in cafes, delis, and restaurants as the rest of American is now catching on to what Italian-Americans have known for years.    There are several different ways to eat and use Frittata. You can make a small one with two or three eggs and what ever filling you choose like Spinach and Parmigiano or Mushrooms and eat the whole Frittata for one person for lunch or dinner, with or without a green salad on the side.    The best and most useful use of Frittata is to make a large one using 8 to 12 eggs and whatever filling you choose. My favorites are Sausage & Pepper, Broccoli with Goat Cheese or Fontina, and the Spaghetti Frittata that has a cute little story behind it with me and my Aunt Fran. Anyway, when you make one of these large Frittata, the great thing is that you let it cool down, serve it at room temperature, cutting the frittata into wedges and eating it this way. A wedge of frittata can be a antipasto item on its own, part of a mixed antipasti misti, or my favorite, pulling a already made frittata out of the refrigerator and just cutting off a wedged shape piece and eating a piece any time day or night when you are hungry and need a little snack.    Frittata are great items to include in a picnic, at a barbecue, and are especially goo if you’re on a long road trip in the car, in a bus, train, or plane, a piece or two of frittata is great to bring along. If you’re on a plane, get hungry, and you have a wedge or two of frittata with you, you’ll be happy as heck that you brought it along. Yes they make great travel food, The Frittata. They’re also great as part of a buffet or to pass around little pieces as Hors D’Oeuvres at a cocktail party.    CLICK HERE For The RECIPE Excerpted From SUNDAY SAUCE by daniel Bellino Zwicke f6425-mrnewyorkny2b252822529 

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Scavino Barolo Pizza Wine Dinner

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Paolo Scavino Barolo
Rocche Dell Annunziata 1990


There was another great winemaker dinner at La Pizza Fresca in New York last night.     La Pizza Fresca is located on 13 East 20th Street in New York 's Gramercy Park .. The place has quite a uniqueness about it .. It's a restaurant that's makes some of the best Pizza in all of New York .. Or is it a Pizzeria? Well let's just say it's a Pizzeria / Restaurant, OK? Yes that's what it is. And the Pizza, this restaurant is one of the few that's certified as Vera Pizza Npolteana which is an organization that grades and certifies Pizzerias that meet the high standards of the best porperly made Naapoletan Pizza. La Pizza Fresca is one of only 1,000 Pizzerias in the world to be Vera Pizza Napoletan certified, nad just 1 of 100 in the United States ..




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  Well, anyway la Pizza Fresca makes some great Pizza. They also have a full menu of Antipasti, Pasta, Meat, Fish, and Poultry and they have one great wine list. Besides the great Pizza, La Pizza Fesca is realy into wine, and is in fact one of the top Italian Wine focused restaurants in New York. They have a great wine list that is very extensive and world class. And like they did last night that have many great wine dinners each year. The wine dinner I attended this night was hosted by Elisa Scavino who is one of Enrico Scavino 's two daughters working with him in the family wine business in Peidmont. Well the dinner was awesome, we started with Beef Carpacio, followed by some awesome Pizza, Pizza Funghi (Mushrooms) and Pizza Bianco with Fontina Cheese, Black truffles, and Prosciutto. The Pizza was amazing. We drank Paolo Scavino Barbera and Nebbiolo Langhe with the Carpacio, and ewere quite fortunate to have a couple of Paolo Scavino 's fabulous Barolo with the Pizza .. Yes, with the Pizza we drank Scavino's Barolo Carobric 2000 . This wine was phenominal. It was in perfect balance, full of great fruit and earthy flavors of Truffle and Mushrooms. You couldn't ask more from a great Barolo from one of the great Barolo vintages of all-time in the 2000 .. Lucky we were at the dinner to follow this great Barolo with Scavino's Barolo Bric del Fiasc 1998, 2000, and 2010 . Needless to say, they were all great, and drinking quite nicely. 




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  We were then treated to an amaing line-up of an amazing 3 Vintage Vertical Tatsing of Paolo Scavino 's Barolo Reserva Rocche dell' Annunziata. The vintages we had were 3 of the greatest Barolo vintages of all-time in the 1990, 2000, and 2001 ... Wow what a treat? It was a great night of socializing, drinking great Barolo accompanied with the awesome Pizza, Pasta, and Bue al Barolo (Beef Briased in Barolo Wine) and our gracious host Alisa Scavino talking about all the great winew we were drinking and of the histroy of the family's winery founded by her grandfather Lorenzo Scavino . Bravo Elisa !!!!


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Alisa Scavino with Author Daniel Bellino-Zwicke






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The Scavino Family



Paolo Scavino is an historical winery in the Barolo region. It was founded in 1921 in Castiglione Falletto from Lorenzo Scavino and his son Paolo. Farming has always been a family tradition and passion. Enrico Scavino together with the daughters Enrica and Elisa, fourth generation, run the family Estate. He started to work full time in the winery in 1951 when he was 10 years old. A young winemaker who inherited the passion and devotion for the land he belongs to. Through over 60 years of experience his focus has been to invest on important cru of Nebbiolo to show the uniqueness of each terroir. Their work is inspired by the love and respect they have for their territory and they pursue purity of expression, complexity and elegance for their wines from the three local grapes Dolcetto, Barbera and Nebbiolo. These values and culture have been carried on and never changed.







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Tuesday, September 15, 2015

BIG DOGS of ITALIAN WINE in NEW YORK

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Winemaker of Sassicaia & Punica Wines SEBASTIANO ROSA
with Author Daniel Bellino Zwicke and Roberta Morrel of Morrel WInes
Get Toegther for a lillte Wine and Chat at Kobrand Italian Portfolio Tasting
at The Bowery Hotel, New York, New York



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Alberto Chiarlo with Author Daniel Bellino-Zwicke
Alberto Chiarlo the proprietor of Michele Chiarlo  Wines 
of Piedmonte got together for a tasting of Alberto's latest vingtages
of wine, including Barbera Le Orme, Barolo Tortoniano 2010,
Michele Chairlo Barbaresco 2011, Barolo Cerequio 2010,
and Barolo Canubi Michele Chairlo 2007 & 2001 Vintgaes ..
Daniel said the whole line-up of wines was absolutely Amazing! everything was in perfect balance, full of flavor and a joy to drink.



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Emelia Nardi with Daniel Bellino-Zwicke
Tatsing some Great Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino




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The 1999 Il PARETO From Nozzole Was ROCKING !!!
I normally don't go crazy for non-native Italian Varietals when drinking Italian Wine. That said, I absolutely loved the 1999 Vintage of Tenuta Nozzole's "Il PARETO" a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon based wine that was amazing. It was full of flavor,perfecting and a absolute Joy to Drink. I loved It!
The WINES From MASI Where Also AMAZING !!!


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Masi Agricola
I loved all of the Amarone 's that Masi was showing at the Italian Portfolio Tasting ..
The were showing Amarone Mazano 2007 which was really nic and heavy on the prune flavors.
The 2007 Amarone Campolong was awesome as was the Amarone Costera 2009 ..
My favorite Amarone of the day was Seregho Aligheri 2008 which is one of the few wines in the world aged in large Cherry Wood Cask .. The wine was AMAZING !!!
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mrnewyorkny_grandma
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The RAGU BOLOGNESE COOKBOOK
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GRANDMA BELLINO'S ITALIAN COOKBOOK
Recipes From My Sicilian Grandmother
by Daniel Bellino Zwicke
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SUNDAY SAUCE
When Italian-Americans Cook
by Daniel Bellino-Zwicke