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rosati family winery

Wishing you a Memorial Day to Remember

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For this holiday we reunited with Joyce Goldstein. Four years ago when we first began marketing our wine, our 2003 vintage, we were introduced to Joyce. Our interest in meeting this renowned Chef was our eagerness to partner with someone who values the process of pairing fine wines with fine foods. Our belief is that there are few more satisfying times than bringing together family, friends, food and wine-especially Rosati wine!

Joyce first tasted our wine so that we were all certain our style of winemaking would meet her expectations. Fortunately, for us, her son is Evan Goldstein, MS; she shared those first two bottles with him. To our delight, they both appreciated our old world style of 100% estate grown Cabernet Sauvignon wine. Shortly thereafter, Joyce began creating recipes to pair with our wines.

Recently I had the opportunity to sit down with Joyce to learn more about her prolific career. Many years ago, long before the Rosati Family Wine project came about, I knew of Joyce. In 1978 I returned to the U.S. from living in Madrid, Spain-where I grew very accustomed to world-class wines and unique foods. My move was to San Francisco. There I often dined at Square One, the restaurant Joyce owned and actively operated for 12 years with Evan. She was one of the now long line of experts who created the San Francisco dining scene.

When Joyce was young, she traveled to Italy and fell in love with the country and its food. This passion led to her interest in other mostly undiscovered foods. Square One served foods from Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa. At the time,tapas, couscous, charmoula marinade, romesco sauce were new to the U.S. Her customers, as I was, were regulars. The restaurant garnered numerous prestigious industry awards for food, wine and service.

Before establishing her restaurant, she worked as the Chef of the Café at Chez Panisse alongside Evan. She also served as visiting Executive Chef of the Wine Spectator at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in the Napa Valley.

Joyce was the founder and director of the California Street Cooking School, San Francisco’s first international cooking school. Teaching cooking is an activity near to her heart; this is work she still carries out today at Draegers in San Mateo and at Ramekins in Sonoma. She has also taught kitchen design for the University of California’s Department of Architecture.

In 1985 she was elected to the Who’s Who in Food and voted San Francisco Focus Magazine’s Chef of the Year in 1992. She received the James Beard Award for Best Chef in California in 1993. In 2005 she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from Women Chefs and Restaurateurs.

I asked her which of the 26 cookbooks she has authored is her favorite. After a little prodding, she suggested The Mediterranean Kitchen, Savoring Spain and Portugal, Cucina Ebraica, Flavors of the Italian Jewish Kitchen, and Enoteca. One that I have not yet read and plan to is Back to Square One: Old World Food in a New World Kitchen which received both Julia Child and James Beard awards. She has written food and wine pairing articles for numerous newspapers, journals and magazines, among those, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Sommelier Journal.

Currently underway is a major research project on history of the California cuisine movement for University of California Press. She has interviewed nearly 200 people. Joyce confided that she loves research and writing. By the tone of her voice, it seems this should be one of her masterpieces.

Several weeks ago, we hosted an intimate dinner party at our home. We hunted for the perfect recipe and found Pork Stew with Sweet & Hot Peppers from the Abruzzo, this recipe had been created by Joyce. It was perfect as this is the region in which Mario's grandfather, Pasquale Rosati, had lived before coming to the U.S. in 1910. I think our guests would agree that it is a sumptuous recipe. When I asked Joyce if we could share this with The Rosati Family Winery supporters, she quickly agreed. She then reminded me that many of the famous chefs of Italy learned about cooking in this region.

This month we visited Abruzzo - one of our many sojourns. It is a remarkable verdant, steep and rocky region. We have been told it is the up and coming tourist destination.

Wherever you are this Memorial Day, we wish you Buona Festa!

Danelle and Mario


Pork Stew with Sweet & Hot Peppers from the Abruzzo

by Joyce Goldstein
Italian Slow and Savory

The Abruzzese of Italy love hot peppers and delight in food that has a bit of a kick. In this rich pork stew, called spezzatino di maiale all'abruzzese, red bell peppers add sweetness and balance the heat. Some versions of this recipe use chopped rosemary instead of fennel seed.

Yield: Serves 6

Ingredients
6 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra as needed
2 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup dry red wine
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon fennel seeds, toasted and crushed
1 fresh hot chile pepper (jalapeño or serrano), chopped, or 1/2 teaspoon chile pepper flakes, plus more as needed
One 28-ounce can crushed plum tomatoes with juice
2 large red bell peppers, cut into large dice
Red wine vinegar (optional)
preparation

In a skillet or large sauté pan, heat 4 tablespoons of the olive oil over high heat. Working in batches, brown the pork on all sides, adding more olive oil,l as needed and seasoning with salt and black pepper as you turn the meat. Each batch should take 8 to 10 minutes. When a batch is ready, use a slotted spoon to transfer the pieces to the tagine. Deglaze the pan with about one-half the wine and pour the juices over the meat.

In a skillet or sauté pan, warm the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat and add the onion. Sauté for about 10 minutes, until very soft. Add the garlic, fennel seeds, and chile pepper and cook for 3 minutes longer. Add the remaining wine and the tomatoes and simmer for a few minutes to blend the flavors. Transfer the sauce to the tagine along with the pork and its juices. Add the bell peppers, raise the heat to medium, and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until the pork is meltingly tender.

Taste the stew and adjust the seasoning. You can add a few spoonfuls of vinegar for balance.

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