July 10, 2002 Ask the Chef Article

July 10, 2002 ... Ask the Chef ... John Pisto

Readers: Well folks, I got a call the other day from my old friend Ernest Gallo. He said he was going to be in town and wanted me to cook him some fresh fish. When Ernest says fresh fish, he means from the water, to the pan, to the plate.

Ernest is 92 years young and he knows fresh fish. Several months ago he called me with the same request, so we had a shellfish tasting: Dungeness crab, Monterey bay prawns, live local abalone, clams and mussels, but no fish. He was asking, "where's the fish?" I kept saying, "it's coming". He never did get the fish; also he didn't bring any of his wine.

This time I promised I would have fresh fish for him but he had to bring the wine. He asked to invite a few friends, which was no problem, since they are also my friends: Ben & Myon Ichinosi, Vince & Millie DeDomenico, and Mel & Edie Tonkin. These things can be pretty demanding so I suggested we do it in our ultra-private dining facility.

For appetizers we had eggplant parmesan, Sicilian cracked olives, marinated squid salad, prosciutto with fresh figs, rapini with pine nuts & raisins and house-cured salmon - all washed down with that incredible 1983 Monterey sparkling wine.

I then prepared pasta with fresh uncooked tomatoes, tons of pressed garlic, fresh basil, hot pepper and my best olive oil, tossed well with hot linguini & finished with freshly grated Romano cheese. Folks, the smell of the hot pasta hitting the sweet tomatoes & raw garlic was unbelievable! Ernest said, "I never tasted anything like this before!" Everyone was smacking their lips. Oh, by the way, Ernest did bring 6 cases of his best wines. With this course, we had his 1989 Sonoma Zinfandel, a perfect wine for the garlic-rich pasta.

Next came the fish, three types, all with different accompaniments. My wholesaler, Sal Tringali at Monterey Fish Company, personally selected these from whatever was the freshest that day. Grilled Alaskan halibut over roasted potatoes and chopped leeks - folks, I spoiled everyone with this incredible fish. Grilled Monterey Bay salmon, caught that morning, over a small amount of roasted potatoes with tomatoes, garlic, olives and capers. And finally, fresh local sea bass over green beans and tomatoes. Paired with Gallo Chardonnay - fantastic!

In reserve were clams, mussels, whole rock cod and fresh whole petrale sole - just in case. We finished with pineapple sorbet in the pineapple shell, fresh cannoli, and Boston cream pie (brought by the DeDomenico's). At precisely 3:30 P.M., Ernest announced that he was leaving - after our 3 1/2 hour lunch.

What a day! The weather was great, we had nice Italian music in the background, great guests, great food, life is good - and the wine flowed generously. Most of you know that Ernest Gallo owns the largest winery in the world. Well, Vince is CEO of the Napa Wine Train & former CEO of Ghiradelli Chocolates, Golden Grain Pasta & Rice a Roni, and Ben & Myon are wine connoisseurs of world-class status. These folks are business giants in our country, but that's another story. On this day they were just hungry friends sharing a memorable afternoon.

Q: Dear Mr. Pisto, A while back, my family ate at a restaurant that served the best side dish. It was called white polenta. It was creamy, and was fat like rice. No one here has ever heard of it. The restaurant was called La Strada, in San Pablo, CA. Any chance you can bring it to Monterey? Or find out where I could buy some? Or even what it is? I've been on a quest ever since. Rina Tringali - Monterey

A: Great question Rita. By the way the Tringali family, in Monterey, are some of the nicest people in the world. I am quite familiar with white polenta. The better restaurants in the north of Italy use it because it is considered chic as compared to yellow. I will tell my distributor to get in touch with the recently rejuvenated Monte Vista Market (if you haven't been by yet, go check out their amazing new produce section) and ask them to stock it for you. Generally, it is sold in one or two pound packages and, best of all, it is instant and cooks in 5-7 minutes. My chef friends in Italy only use the instant.

Q: Hi Chef Pisto. Enjoy your weekly in the Herald and love your TV shows, which I watch whenever I can. Last week the eggplant. Mine didn't turn out so hot. How do you make the tomato sauce? H. Mirassou - Monterey, via-email

A: Any good bottled sauce that you like will work fine. If you want to try something special, here is my Pisto's Marinara Recipe from my first cookbook: Makes about one quart

8 garlic cloves

1 medium yellow onion

olive oil

1/2 bunch Italian flat leaf parsley

1/2 bunch fresh basil

2 28-ounce cans whole, peeled tomatoes

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper

2 tsp. sugar

salt and black pepper

Coarsely chop garlic and onion. Remember, the finer the chip, the more powerful the flavor. In a large skillet, lightly brown garlic and onion in olive oil. Remove stems from parsley and basil and chop coarsely. Add to skillet. Squeeze in tomatoes with juice. Add red pepper. Add sugar to balance the tomato acid. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer until sauce thickens, approximately 20-30 minutes.

Readers: Chestnut lovers - have you seen me using my Swiss chestnut roaster on TV? Well, a nice man by the name of Jim Kolendra, duplicated it exactly - I mean it's perfect! If you're interested, call me at 373-3778 to order one. This does a great job of roasting, it's easy and chestnuts are so good hot. It can be used on top of a gas stove, in your fireplace or over a campfire and is also great for roasting chilies.

chestnutroaster071002.jpg (10375 bytes)

For more info about John Pisto's fine restaurants

in Monterey, California, click here.

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