Rolling in Dough

Did You Just Grappa My Hand?

                               

 I attended a Grappa tasting last night. Jacopa Poli, grappa distiller extraordinaire from Bassano del Grappa, Italy at the base of Mt Grappa, was in town to promote his beautifully packaged, high quality Grappas. I just returned from Italy and had the "pleasure" of tasting a couple of Grappas while I was there. Wow! Fire water. Well, Jacopa's Grappas are no different. A bit smoother, perhaps, but clearly not for the faint of heart. 

A quick lesson in Grappas for those of you that aren't familar with this particular Italian digestif. Grappas are made from grape pomace, the skins that are left over after the grapes have been crushed for winemaking. The pomace is then distilled in a steam powered artisanal still for about three hours. The resulting Grappa is clear, strong and full of aromas and flavors. There are different varieties of Grappas, based on the wine grapes used in the distillation. LIke wine, Grappas have aromatic profiles. Florals, fruits, nuts, herbs, vanilla, wood, tobacco and coffee are all aromas that can be found in high quality Grappas. Not so long ago, Grappas were considered a peasant drink, made from leftovers, but a movement has been underway since the 60's to bring the quality of Grappas up on par with French Marc, and fine Grappas now sell for upwards of $100 per bottle.

                     

Back to the tasting. I took my place at the bar, the sommalier set a placemat down outlining the Grappas we would be tasting and began to pour a small amount in each of 5 tiny cups. Sarpa di Poli - made from Cabernet and Merlot grapes, Pinot Noir di Poli, Moscato di Poli, Torcolato - from Vespaiolo/Garanega grapes and Miele, a liquor flavored with Honey. I brought the first cup to my nose and took a large whiff, like you might to smell wine, and quickly learned that the correct way to smell the Grappa is to gently waft some aroma towards your nose. Rather than the harsh shot of alcohol I got the first time, when I wafted, I could smell of the subtler aromas start to surface. I began to taste each one. Again, WOW, Fire Water!. As I sipped and chatted with my fellow tasters, I began to feel warm all over. Grappa might be nice on a cold winter's night. There were differences in each of the Grappas, the pinot was a little sweeter and smoother than the others, the moscato was spicy, the Miele was sweet and fragrant. I could get used to this...

The strange liquor laws in Colorado prevented any of the people from Poli from actually touching any of their own Grappas, only the sommaliers could pour them, but that left lots of time for Jacopa and company to chat up the crowd. Jacopa mentioned to the gentleman standing next to me that they were hosting a tasting in Aspen this weekend, and the gentleman began a long and rather pompous conversation about the only hotels he considers worth staying in while in Aspen (like there are dumpy hotels in Aspen). I was finishing up and poured the remaining Grapppa from my cups into one to dump into the spit bucket - I had a long drive and didn't need to explain the Grappa tasting to the police. As I handed my Grappa cup to the sommalier, the gentleman who had been talking to Jacopa grabbed my cup out of the sommalier's hand and downed the whole thing. I was speechless - maybe the Grappa made him do it. 

Thanks to Jacopa Poli for sharing his Grappas and his decades of Grappa knowledge with me. It was a great experience. Now if I could only figure out the correct etiquette for drinking out of the spit bucket...

Frangelico Bostini Cream Pie

It is a sad state of affairs when this is the only post I’ve managed to get done this month. Because you know that if I’m not posting, it can only mean that I’m also not cooking. Alas, it’s true. I’ve been so wrapped up in a project that my poor family is subsisting on cereal and sandwiches, the latter being made with store bought bread. (At least I’ve been buying nice bread, it’s not like we are eating Wonder Bread. I may be busy, but I’ve still got standards.) But thanks to my friends, the Daring Bakers, I was lured back into the kitchen this weekend to tackle the monthly challenge, Bostini Cream Pie. I had read the recipe early in the month, a mouth wateringly elegant and delicious take on Boston Cream Pie – a pretty great dessert in its own right, and have spent many hours anticipating its creamy wonderfulness. I’m happy to tell you that when I finally set aside some time to make it for myself, it is as wonderful as it sounds.

For starters, anything that involves pastry cream is a winner in my book and this is a  particularly tasty one. It’s heavy on the heavy cream, but has none of the usual mouth coating heaviness that often accompanies cream. The vanilla bean gives it a soft, complex and fragrant flavor that melts in your mouth. But the real winner here is the chiffon cake. I took the opportunity to elaborate on the cake recipe, eliminating the orange juice and zest and replacing it with Frangelico liquor. Frangelico is one of my favorite flavors, and pairing it with chocolate is always a wonderful idea. Adding the pastry cream was a concept that seemed too delicious not to try. The batter was a little scary, the alcohol in the Frangelico was overwhelming, but after it was baked, it mellowed into a wonderfully moist and hazelnutty sponge, a perfect base to play off the cream and ganache.

Oh and the ganache! I had never made one that was simply equal parts butter and bittersweet chocolate. The most usual thing about it was when I took my first bite of the Bostini, I got such a nice whiff of butter, it almost made my mouth water.

I was enjoying my second helping of Bostini with tea Sunday afternoon, when Lovie trooped several of the neighborhood kids into my kitchen. When she saw what I was indulging in, she promptly sat down and began asking me to provide Bostinis for what seemed like the entire block. By the way, I am a generous soul, I love to cook for people and it warms my heart when I can watch someone enjoying something I’ve baked, but it’s not like I was eating animal crackers and I was not about to part with my treasured Bostini Cream Pie for a bunch of 5 year olds who could never appreciate the complexity of the flavor combination, the richness of the pastry cream or the subtle flavor of the chiffon cake. I mumbled something about peanut allergies and hustled them all out the door. Wicked witch I may be, but I did again get to enjoy Bostini Cream Pie with tea today and didn’t feel even a little bit guilty about it.

This wonderful confection was suggested by Mary of Alpineberry. Thanks so much for this month’s contribution to the Daring Bakers, a fun and intrepid group of adventurous cooks. Please check out the blogroll and discover a few new inspired variations on the Bostini Cream Pie.

English Toffee Inspiration Sundae

There are few flavors I love more than toffee. Elegant, creamy, warm and tasting of both vanilla and butterscotch, I love toffee in all of its forms, from the Hersey's Skor bar and Werther's hard candy to the coup' de grace of candy goodness, English Toffee. Crunchy and buttery with an interesting texture that sort of melts into your teeth, a delicious layer of chocolate sprinkled with salty nuts, English Toffee is truly a candy to fall in love with.

I attribute my love of toffee to my Grammie. As a kid, I spent a couple of weeks at her house in Iowa each summer. These were glorious times when indulgences like drinking RC Cola out of glass bottle on the front porch and cooking Totino's Pizzas in the basement because it was too hot to use the kitchen oven became special treats. We spent our days watching Grammie's soaps and The Price is Right and ended each night with a bowl of cereal during Johnny Carson. These were my first true vacations, where none of the rules from home applied and we got to eat things my Mom would never buy.

My Grammie's candy bowl was always full of Brach's mix, including those striped pink, brown and white coconut things (what are those, anyway?), Starlight mints, chewy toffees with flavored middles and my favorite, butterscotch disks wrapped in yellow cellophane. I also developed a taste for butterscotch pudding, it was Grammie's favorite. Never one for instant pudding, Grammie always made the stove kind, using the most unusual whisk I've ever seen. It was sort of a spring on a handle, not at all like the basket whisks I have today. Butterscotch became my flavor and back at home I remember trying to force this lovely brownish yellow dessert on my chocolate loving family, with mixed results. So out of summers spent at Grammie's, grew my love of toffee. But I don’t have it very often, so it's still special when someone offers me an irregularly shaped piece of English Toffee heaven. 

I was perusing the too-narrow aisles of the liquor mega mart, known to all in the area as Applejack, when I came across a colorful bottle of something called Dooley’s. A German toffee liqueur, made with vodka, toffee caramel and other “natural ingredients”. Although I had never heard of German toffee or vodka, it sounded delicious. An idea began to take shape as I rushed home to work on my masterpiece.

Starting with vanilla ice cream, I used the Dooley’s liqueur as a sauce, and finished my sundae with some shaved dark chocolate pieces and chopped pecans. What a great combination! Smooth, creamy and buttery, a perfect mix of vanilla-y toffee flavor simplicity and intriguing bits of chocolate and nut crunch. A perfect summer way to enjoy the buttery toffee flavors I love!

English Toffee Inspiration Sundae

Premium Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Dooley's Toffee Liqueur

Shaved Dark Chocolate

Chopped Pecans

Get out a beautiful dish and add two (or more) scoops of ice cream. Drizzle the Dooley's decoratively over the top. Sprinkle the chocolate and pecans on. Serve to toffee loving friends and family often.

Cheers!

This is my contribution to Yum Sugar's celebration of National Candy Month - dishes made of or inspired by the candy we love.