Even as someone who used to cook the pastry station at a Michelin-star restaurant, I will admit that baking can sometimes present a challenge. It requires practice and patience the same way that golf requires practice and patience; those who decide to bake cookies once a year will probably have about as much success as those who hit the links once a year. And just like those who have no shame when they totally whiff on their opening tee shot, I have seen many people who will bring sub-par sweets to office parties and to potlucks, accompanied by the disclaimer: “Um, some of these might be a little bit burnt on the bottom.” Um, gee, thanks for nothing, bucko.

For those who struggle with baking, I offer one simple solution: rice crispy treats. They are fast, easy, cheap, and always a hit (I don’t think that I have ever seen a plate of rice crispy treats not get devoured). But please, just keep them simple; do NOT add chocolate chips or M&Ms or anything that will confuse the texture and the taste. As far as I’m concerned, adding anything beyond the delicious trinity of marshmallows, rice crispies and butter is like putting a mustache on the Mona Lisa. So don’t try to shoehorn your own creative flair into this timeless and simple recipe, especially if you don’t even know how to bake anything else. I really can’t emphasize this caveat enough.

But for those who strive for a greater degree of difficulty in the kitchen, I will offer up my own personal oatmeal cookie recipe, which I am glad to share. It’s not my intention to discourage folks from baking or from trying to perfect their skills in the kitchen. However, I do request that all mistakes are dealt with properly. If you’ve burnt the cookies, cut your losses and throw them away or feed them to the dog. America is already plenty obese, and it’s just not worth it for most folks to ingest big calories without at least enjoying some level of quality. If you’re going to kill people with sugar and butter, at least kill them with some kindness and consideration.

• • •

They key to baking a proper cookie is knowing when to remove them from the oven, and this is where most people stumble and fall. The most important thing to remember is that the cookies pictured above did not look that way at the moment that they finished baking. A properly baked oatmeal cookie will initially look rather pale, slightly souffléd, and somewhat glossy — at that early moment, only the underside of the cookie will appear golden brown and delicious. However, as the cookies cool on the sheet pan, they will flatten, lose their sheen, and take on a darker shade. In the time it would actually require for the top side of a cookie to become golden brown in the oven, the underside will scorch and burn.

The recipe below assumes that folks have a stand mixer, a digital scale, and a #24 disher. Proper baking is serious business, and to quote Big Daddy Kane, there ain’t no half-stepping. If you don’t have the necessary tools, there is again no shame in making rice crispy treats. That said…

INGREDIENTS (makes about 30 cookies)

All purpose flour, 250g

Baking soda, 7g

Ground cinnamon, 6g

Ground allspice, 1g

Salt, 6g

Unsalted butter, 340g (three sticks)

White sugar, 135g

Brown sugar, 380g

Eggs, three each

Vanilla extract, 1 1/2t

Rolled oats, 450g

Dried fruit medley (any combination of raisins, cranberries, cherries, blueberries or diced apricots), 240g

• • •

METHOD

1. Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and salt. Add the oats, and toss the mixture to combine thoroughly.

2. In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars on medium speed with a paddle attachment. Once the mixture has become fluffy and light (about 10 minutes or so), blend in the eggs and the vanilla.

3. On low speed, add the dried fruits until combined, then slowly add the remaining dry ingredients. Mix the ingredients only until the dough has come together (always check the bottom of the mixing bowl for dry patches of unincorporated flour and oats).

4. Portion the cookie dough with a #24 disher, and allow the portioned dough to chill in the refrigerator for at LEAST one hour (this step is critical — if the dough is not cold when it goes into the oven, the cookies will spread too fast).

5. Preheat the oven to 375ºF and place five scoops of cookie dough on a regular sheet pan (no parchment paper necessary). Bake the cookies for 12-13 minutes, rotating the sheet pan halfway through (I tend to bake these cookies just one sheet pan at a time, ensuring much more consistent results than trying to bake two sheet pans at a time).

6. Remove cookies from the oven and allow them to cool for 10 minutes on the sheet pan. Carefully remove the cookies with a spatula and allow them to continue to cool on the counter (they will still be warm and extremely delicate at this point, but they will become easy to handle after cooling for 30 more minutes).

NOTE: In order to make any necessary adjustments in respect to baking time, it’s always wise to pay attention to the first batch out of the oven. As you transfer the cookies from the sheet pan to the counter, inspect the undersides to ensure that they are not being overcooked.

• • •

Because of my ongoing preparation for the Certified Wine Educator (CWE) exam, I haven’t been posting on this blog as much as I would like. As with the CSW, which I passed last August with relative ease, I plan on crushing the CWE, if that’s even possible. Earning this certification is my only real goal for 2010, aside from maybe winning the Napa Valley Vintners Battle of the Palates (having barely won last year, I plan on coming back even stronger this year, but we’ll see how it goes). Frankly, having goals like these is the only thing that gets me through the humdrum of the work week.

Certainly, passing the CWE will require substantially more effort than the introductory CSW, but I do love wine, and its academic nature has always been part of its appeal for me (that, and catching a nice Cabernet buzz by 10am). So I’m just beginning to gear up for the exam, and I will grind it out for as long as possible. Anyhow, since so many people have been discovering the Thirsty Reader through CSW-related googling, I’ve decided to post my own version of the CSW study guide, which can be downloaded below as a 55-page PDF document.

I need to acknowledge at the outset that some of the material in this document has been lifted verbatim from the actual CSW Study Guide. I created this document as a way of distilling 235 pages of information into some key bullet points that might be easier to digest. Therefore, I’m not claiming any originality in terms of thoughts, ideas, or authorship. Furthermore, nothing has been properly quoted or cited within. When I had originally developed this document back in August 2009, I had never intended to offer it publicly. Only later did it occur to me that it might help others.

It’s important to point out that — even as a condensed version of the CSW Study Guide — my stripped-down, bullet-point version still contains much more information than the CSW will ever cover (I wanted to make this document useful for the CWE as well). Although it was a rather tall order, I tried to minimize all typos, which included keeping all of the proper accent marks on all of the foreign words. I can say from an American perspective that the French language is a royal pain, and the German language is little better. Therefore, the file below is bound to contain a few typographical errors, although the facts themselves remain accurate.

If you download this document, my only request is that you share it with other folks by linking them back to this site. And finally, there is an advertisement to the left of this page that features a raffle to help fight cancer. Please pitch in a few bucks, if you can. It’s excellent karma.

• • • Click here to download the PDF • • •

The last time I had been to the Moscone Center was about 20 years ago, back when it was the site of one of the biggest sportscard conventions in the world. In those days, I was real heavy into baseball, and Moscone had it all; there were even a few tables that offered the infamous 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie card, which was worth about $50,000 back then (not sure what it could fetch now). At the same time, you could also buy a Jose Canseco rookie card for a cool $80 (that same card is worth about $10 these days, according to eBay). Anyhow, the look of the building itself was vaguely familiar two decades later.

The Fancy Food Show is beyond massive. It’s kind of like what I tell people about wine tasting here in the Napa Valley: You’ll never be able to sample everything, but it’s still fun to try. The international section was by far the best area to troll, with all of the cured meats and aged cheeses on hand. The photo above shows just two of the fifty-some-odd rows in the South Wing. And there were just as many booths in the North Wing.

• • •

Most people might not realize that dried mushrooms are expensive, so when you see this many in one place, it’s kind of eye-catching. Plus, these were just beautiful specimens of funghi.

• • •

Speaking of expensive, I don’t care who you are or where you may have cooked, one particular booth in the Italian section displayed an absurd amount of truffles, by anyone’s standards. It was by far the most tartufi I had ever seen in one place in my entire life. I came back later in the day and many of them had actually sold. Even from an arm’s distance, this display irradiated an unbelievable earthy funk.

• • •

While I’m on the subject, here is an ungodly amount of salt water taffy. I hadn’t been on a sugar bender like this since Halloween 1985. There was another salt water taffy purveyor as well, but the other display had dozens of different flavors sorted neatly into bins (I can appreciate either approach). Just being in that type of environment, there is such a culture of giddy sampling that many people seem to eat with abandon, myself included.

• • •

A top-of-the-line Berkel slicer is truly a thing of beauty: Ferrari-red finish, mirror-polished circular blade, so elegant even at rest. But its greatest attribute is its masterful engineering. Watching the Berkel in motion is like watching the inner workings of an old-fashioned pocket watch (search “berkel slicer” on YouTube). Plus, it produces slices of prosciutto that are tissue-thin. All surface area. The taste has nowhere to hide. I remember back at the CIA, they wouldn’t let anyone touch the Berkel that they displayed in the campus’s Ristorante Caterina de’ Medici. That was probably a good idea though, since some kids were still injuring themselves with electric mixers.

• • •

I continue to receive hundreds of searches per day regarding the Farmstead Restaurant, which is set to open in St. Helena next month. To that end, I’m working on scheduling an interview with proprietors Ted and Chris Hall very shortly, so hopefully I can uncover a few more details about this new project. In the meantime, here is an excerpt from Long Meadow Ranch’s press release from January 11:

Opening in February 2010, Farmstead restaurant showcases the seasonal, ingredient-driven American farmhouse cooking of executive chef/partner Sheamus Feeley, who most recently served as executive chef/research and development for Hillstone Restaurants at Napa Valley’s famed Rutherford Grill.  At Farmstead restaurant, Feeley has created an authentic farm-to-table menu of family-style and à la carte items that highlight local ingredients at their peak freshness, allowing the essence of the nutrient-rich, organic produce to shine.  The ingredients in Feeley’s kitchen are procured entirely from local sources and feature Long Meadow Ranch’s all-natural grass-fed beef and organic and sustainably produced eggs, fruits, vegetables, extra virgin olive oil, and honey – as well as ingredients from local artisan producers.

Possessing a substantial background in Southern cooking styles, Feeley emphasizes a wood-burning element for select dishes, including wood roasted grass fed marrow bones with beet and parsley salad; wood grilled Pacific Cod with house made sausage, clams and potatoes; and brick roasted Petaluma chicken with flagoulet beans, greens and lemon.  Feeley’s kitchen at Farmstead restaurant is also outfitted with a plancha, a cast-iron grill, ideal for searing Long Meadow Ranch’s healthy, tender, and flavorful grass-fed beef.

The wine program at Farmstead restaurant features Long Meadow Ranch’s elegant and balanced wines, as well as other domestic and international wines selected by Chris Hall to complement the restaurant’s American farmhouse cooking.  The appealing wine list is attractively priced over producers’ wholesale prices.  Similarly, there will be no corkage fee at Farmstead restaurant.

• • • For a March 2010 review of Farmstead, please click here • • •

During the heights of harvest and crush, I’ll often promote Calistoga as a potential refuge from the Napa Valley’s tourist congestion (of course, it requires a trip up to Mendocino wine country to truly leave everything behind). But even in the winter, when things around the entire valley go calm, Calistoga still has its merits. For one thing, I could argue that it’s the most scenic area in the valley this time of year. When the vines themselves don’t present much in terms of foliage, the gnarled and burly vineyards of Calistoga offer much more personality than the slight, naked Cabernet saplings down valley. Not that I don’t love a great Napa Cab.

But it’s also important to remember that although Cabernet may be king, it’s not the entire kingdom. Case in point: two of my favorite Calisotga wineries, Vincent Arroyo and Summers Estate. Aside from their remote northerly locale and their proximity to one another, the two wineries also share another interesting connection — both labels feature a wine that is listed on Slow Food’s Ark of Taste, a compilation of historical, once-popular food items that are now in danger of disappearing from America’s tables. To wit, Summers Estate produces a delicious Charbono, while Vincent Arroyo produces a Napa Gamay (also known as Valdigué).

• • •

Vincent Arroyo remains one of the most under-rated wineries in the Napa Valley, at least to my thinking. For the budget-minded, they currently offer the 2007 Vincent Arroyo Melange (the Napa Gamay blend) and the 2007 Vincent Arroyo J.J.’s Blend, two quaint yet approachable reds, for just $17 and $20, respectively. These are terrific everyday wines that don’t cut any corners and present some of the best values in the Napa Valley. But what really grabbed my attention today was  the 2007 Vincent Arroyo Cabernet Sauvignon, a wonderfully plush and complex wine with just under 13.8% alcohol. This latter detail is practically unheard of in this day and age, and a throwback to a more refined style. At just $36 per bottle, this wine is a true giant killer, and is easily the match of its $100 counterparts.

Of course, the main attraction at Vincent Arroyo is actually their Petite Sitrah program, which is the best in the valley. Their 2007 Estate Petite Sirah ($32) had a full flavor with just enough grip to make it noticeable, while the 2007 Vincent Arroyo Greenwood Ranch ($45) presented a more refined texture alongside delicious dark fruit. I knew I had to buy a bottle of the 2007 Cabernet, but I was torn between the two Petite Sirahs. Both wines are very fairly priced, but I decided upon the Greenwood Ranch bottling, just because it demonstrated such great winemaking. Vincent Arroyo’s other single-vineyard Petite Sirah, the 2007 Rattlesnake Acres, was sold out (as usual, although I’ve always preferred the Greenwood, to be honest).

Vincent Arroyo also had several other wines in the flight this afternoon, all sound values throughout, including the 2007 Vincent Arroyo Nameless and the 2007 Vincent Arroyo Bodega. The 2007 Vincent Arroyo Entrada ($65), which is the winery’s Syrah-based blend, was the only wine that did not scream value. And it’s not as if the Entrada is not a great value — I happen to think it’s worth its price — but when there’s also a terrific Cabernet for just $36 in the line-up, it skews the overall perspective. I suppose that Cabernet is king for a reason.

• • •

Summers Estate is one of the world’s last bastions of Charbono, and thankfully, plenty of wine enthusiasts have already picked up on this fact. The last Charbono I tasted was actually at Slow Food’s Third Annual Harvest Dinner at the Bale Grist Mill in Calistoga. That particular wine was the 2006 On the Edge Charbono, which was delightful, and according to my notes from that evening, very similar to the the 2007 Summers Estate Charbono. As a varietal, Charbono exhibits an inherent sweetness, driven not by sugar, but by vibrant dark fruit flavors. Aside from the Summers Charbono, my other favorite wine was the 2007 Summers Estate Zinfandel, which I might even rank alongside the great Zins of Biale (I’m due for a Biale visit to confirm this assumption, however).

One interesting thing that I learned about Summers Estate on this recent visit: They are recruiting a top-level, “name” winemaker to oversee production of their Diamond Mountain Cabernet program. I tried to extract the info, but it’s still very secretive. Could Heidi Barret possibly take on another consulting gig?

I was doing some research on Ridge, when I finally learned that Optima is the font that the winery has used as its brand for the last 40 years. I’ve always admired the look of Ridge’s packaging, and the wines themselves have delivered so much personality, they have remained a perennial favorite as well. In an age when a lot of frou-frou and slick packaging can be used to sell wine, Ridge retains a classic look, and offers a lesson in elegant simplicity.

In my recent interview with Aurajo winemaker Matt Taylor (also of Taylor Cellars), our discussion of the Eisele Vineyard led to the mention of the wine pictured to the left. This historic bottling by Ridge was the first to feature “Eisele” on a wine label, and was also one of the first vineyard-designated wines produced in California (even predating such legendary cult labels as Diamond Creek, which made its debut with the 1972 vintage). What really struck me about the look of this label, however, was the fact that it looks like every other Ridge label that I’ve ever seen.

And why shouldn’t it? I admire the fact that, stylistically, Ridge’s wine label has remained the same for all these years. There’s definitely something to be said about getting things right the first time. I’m not sure who was responsible for Ridge’s label design, but I can tell you that the font itself was designed by renowned typographer Hermann Zapf, who created Optima in 1958. To put this particular font into other familiar contexts, it’s the one used on the National Vietnam Memorial, and Estée Lauder has been using it for decades as well.

• • •

I was hoping that this warmish December weather would tease out a few late-season porcinis at Salt Point State Park this week, but I couldn’t find anything edible today. Mushrooms are often mysterious, but I suspect that once the first frost of winter occurs, porcinis may go dormant for the year (in which case, their off-switch had already been tripped at least two weeks ago). Either way, I was skunked at Salt Point for the first time in 2009, and it will be a long, patient wait before my next fresh porcini. Still, the weather was perfect this afternoon, and I was able to snap some photos of tafoni.

Tafoni is the name given to these reticulate patterns in sedimentary rock, and Salt Point State Park is one of the few places on earth where this phenomenon exists. Although geologists have not fully explained how this unique weathering pattern occurs, the influence of salt crystals is thought to be a factor. All three photos were taken in Gerstle Cove, just a bit south of Stump Beach (which, by the way, does not feature any tafoni).

Tacos la Plancha

I’ve mentioned La Morenita in this blog before, even the very items pictured above, although this picture had been missing from my original review. For me, these tacos la plancha continue to stand out, if for no other reason than they represent a taco that is fundamentally different than most other tacos found here in Napa, which are quaintly assembled upon small, coaster-sized, two-ply tortillas. Among its brick-and-mortar restaurants and the army of local taco trucks, the Napa Valley boasts a few noteworthy versions of this particular taco, my favorite being the carne asada tacos at Azteca Market in St. Helena, where they also have great chicharrones and ceviche (if you happen to visit during the weekends).

But, all things considered, these tacos la plancha remain in a class unto themselves. Reading my review of La Morenita from October 2008, I think I pretty much nailed the description way back when, and so I will lazily quote from that entry: “I like to order the #12 plate, which consists of three tacos a la plancha. These tacos — named for their preparation on a flat-top grill — are a welcome departure from the typical two-ply, three-bite tacos offered here in Napa. The tortillas themselves are thick and sturdy, dense with corn flavor, and spotted with char-marks the size of coins. The interior of each taco is reminiscent of a quesadilla: a morass of meat, melted jack cheese, salsa roja, chopped onions and cilantro, and a thin avocado wedge. The cheese that oozes onto the griddle during cooking makes for a deliciously crispy first bite.”

With everything in the Napa Valley finally slowing down to a winter’s pace, I caught up with Chris Pedemonte this morning to taste a couple upcoming releases of Pedemonte Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon. A relative newcomer compared to many of its neighbors in Rutherford, Pedemonte Cellars was founded with the 2004 vintage, and has already produced a string of noteworthy Rutherford Cabs. With an annual production that averages only about 300 cases, Pedemonte offers truly hand-crafted wines at an artisanal, almost Old-World scale.  Although the wines from Pedemonte Cellars may a bit difficult to locate in most markets, they can be found at several of the Bay Area’s top restaurants, and they are also available online.

In general, Pedemonte Cabernet represents a terrific expression of the Rutherford AVA, exhibiting the appellation’s trademark “dust” alongside plush, ripe fruit on the palate. Pedemonte cherry-picks his Cabernet grapes from Round Pond’s 350-acre Rutherford estate, where he has managed the vineyard for nearly two decades now. This unique relationship has allowed Pedemonte to harvest grapes from his favorite parcels each year, typically selecting the areas that feature the most favorable alluvial soil compositions.

• • •

As a few December showers passed through the upper valley, I began my visit with a barrel sample of the 2008 Pedemonte Cellars Rutherford Cab, which exhibited surprising drinkability for a wine that remains several months from bottling. For his barrel regimen, Pedemonte uses all French Oak, employing brand new barrels for slightly more than half of his production each year. Before that, Pedemonte ferments the Cabernet in modest 1-ton macrobins, opting for moderate extraction in an era that has grown rife with super-extracted Cabernets.

From the barrel we progressed to the bottle, beginning with the 2008 Pedemonte Adagio, a proprietary blend of 60% Sangiovese, 30% Syrah and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Despite the prevalence of Sangiovese in the blend, the Adagio actually bore more resemblance to a cool-climate Syrah, both in the glass and on the palate. The wine featured a pleasant balance between the two varietals, with the acidity of the Sangiovese lending some structure to the dark, opulent nature of the Syrah.

The final wine was the 2007 Pedemonte Rutherford Cabernet, which will await its official release sometime next year. Among my first impressions, minerality dominated the early nose of this wine, although the palate offered a vibrant burst of fruit. As the wine had an opportunity to develop in the glass, however, the aromas became more expansive, and I suspect that by the time this wine is officially released next year, the nose will have intensified to match the palate.

Close-up: One of the stained-glass windows at Terra Valentine.

I was at Terra Valentine the other night for an open-house event, drinking through the winery’s three delicious estate Cabernets. I had tasted these same wines several months ago, having also visited the winery during the summertime. Originally, it was the 2005 Yverdon Vineyard Cabernet that had lured me up Spring Mountain Road, although I think that their 2005 Wurtele Vineyard Cabernet ended up being my favorite of that day. For me, the key difference was that the Wurtele Cab exhibited a more subtle use of oak than the Yverdon Cab, but that both wines presented great values at $60 and $70, respectively. That was then.

Fast forward to the winery’s recent open house a couple weeks ago, and I’m revisiting the Wurtele and the Yverdon Cabernets, along with Terra Valentine’s 2005 Spring Mountain District Cabernet. Again, all three wines taste terrific, as I remember, and my recollections regarding the Wurtele and the Yverdon remain consistent. But the wine that I’m really enjoying the most (and drinking the most of) is actually the Spring Mountain Cabernet. I found that it was extremely approachable with mellow tannins and full fruit on the palate. It eventually dawned on me that, although I do appreciate the idea of Terra Valentine’s two single-vineyard Cabernets, this Spring Mountain blend was really stellar.

This morning, I was sifting through some of my tasting notes, and I happened to discover the price sheet that I took from Terra Valentine earlier this summer. I was surprised to learn something that I had not realized the other night, which was that the 2005 Terra Valentine Spring Mountain Cabernet — the wine that was my favorite of the three — was only $38 (I was also reminded that the wine was 95% Cabernet, 3% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc). Wow. It just underscores the idea that blind tastings always reveal the absolute truth. I rank this wine alongside the greatest values in the Napa Valley.