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April 16, 2002          ...           Ask the Chef            ...          John Pisto
A little pizza feedback:  Hi John, Just wanted to thank you for mentioning Gianni's in your column. We read it every week and enjoy your recipes and make quite a few of them ourselves. You cook just like my mother. My daughter-in-law loved the pork sandwiches we had in Memphis and the shredded pork recipe in (last week's) column sounds too good not to try. Thanks again, we look forward to more great columns and recipes.

Ginger and Chris Costa - Gianni's Pizza

Hi Ginger,  I've heard this thing about cooking like people's mothers. Yes, my mom is a fabulous cook - probably like most Italian moms. This reminds me of an old friend of mine, Hank Laskin, who grew up in New Jersey. It seems his mother was a terrible cook. He thought pasta with red sauce was supposed to be soft, mushy pasta with hot catsup. Poor guy. Actually, Hank became a very good cook - I wonder why?
Readers:   As promised, here's this week's free parking update (week #7). As reported here last week, the Wharf Association parking committee held a meeting to plan their proposal for the city parking staff. It is customary to work through the staff in order to establish the best proposal before presenting to the city council. The Wharf board feels confident that the resulting increase in business revenue to the city would not only offset any lost parking revenue, but surpass it. Good luck to the Wharf with their next meeting with Jo Lyons of the city parking division and her boss, Carl Anderson, public facilities director. In "phase II" the Wharf will address the need for a shuttle from the parking lot similar to the one that has run successfully for years at the Community Hospital.
Hot Wine Tip:   Good news for Monterey County grapes. Nineteen years ago, M. Edward Maudiere, a master Champagne and sparkling wine maker, wanted to prove to the Napa Valley wine snobs that great grapes exist outside their valley. In 1983, using Monterey fruit, he produced 400 cases in magnums of sparkling wine that is without a doubt one of the finest anyone has ever tasted. I'm talking about a 19 year old wine that still tastes youthful, with a lot of elegance and tiny, tiny bubbles. M. Maudiere has made Champagne and sparkling wines throughout the world for 40 years. His quote about this particular wine is, "I can say I have never tasted a better example of French Champagne or California sparkling wine." He named it "Millennium." I hope to get him on Monterey's Cookin' Pisto Style sometime. Way to go Monterey! That's the good news, the bad news is that it was never released. I have just enough left to give tastings to my winemaker friends.

 

Well folks, guess who came to dinner?  Behind every great man (Dr. Clark) there is an even greater woman (Mrs. Clark). She is the master of organization. Last week she asked if my wife and I would like to join them for dinner. I accepted graciously. Their dinner guest however was a vegetarian and she wondered which restaurant would do the best. All of my restaurants have vegetarian dishes, but when she said their guest was the singer Michael Bolton, who comes to town to visit them and play golf at Pebble Beach with the Doc, well I suggested we go to my house instead because I would love to cook for them.

Dinner was set for 7:30, until Mrs. Clark called at 5:00 to say the boys were still on the links.
She called back at 6:30, they're still out - 7:25, still out - which is fine, I understand about these things. Well 8:30 and they finally show.

The fireplace is roaring, the food is set out buffet style; my niece, Mika, is standing tall and my GM, Kevin, has his corkscrew at the ready. I thought for a moment before that I hope it wasn't going to be like that movie "The Big Night." Folks, I may love my steaks, but let me tell you, I love cooking vegetarian. All it really is, is typical Mediterranean style food.

We had sautéed Swiss chard, spinach with raisins and pine nuts, caponata (eggplant relish), cannellini, grilled eggplant, green beans with fresh mint and exotic

oils, eggplant parmigiana (my style), fresh fiddlehead ferns, giant fresh morel mushrooms, roasted jumbo asparagus, braised artichokes, roasted tomatoes and bell peppers, a very simple pasta with tomato sauce and pecorino cheese, a couple of olives and some fresh Monterey Spot Prawns, supplied by Robby Aliotti (thanks, pal), on standby.

We followed with my favorite, the after dinner cheese course. I was happy to introduce everyone to the combination of fine cheeses with fig jam, dried pineapple, nuts and crackers. By the way, Mike (Carmel Cheese Shop), thanks for the real special cheese that we served with a spoon. Not only did it stink up the room and keep us laughing, but I still can't get the smell off of my hands. That cheese is dangerous.

 

Enough about food, on to my guests. It was one of the best evenings I have ever had. Michael and his lovely lady were fantastic. Charming, polite and complimentary, they seemed genuinely appreciative. What a guy!

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He brought out his new CD, which will be released later this month and is called "Only a woman like you." It is a sure winner. What a pleasure to meet such a fine gentleman and listen to his stories of Italy and singing with the greatest tenors in the world - Pavarotti, Domingo and Caralas.  Incidentally, his new album will also be released in Spanish, French and Italian - all sung by Michael in perfect pronunciation.

He is set to tour the circuit of TV and radio programs introducing his album, but you heard about it here first. Folks, this man works very hard. For more info, log on to michaelbolton.com.

 
By the way, he promised to appear on my cooking show the next time he's in town. Thank you Dr. and Mrs. Clark for the intro to a fabulous guy and a tremendous talent. I am a fan!

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