1 lb of Fresh Sole or Flounder
3 – Shallots, peeled and sliced thin
1⁄4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Cup Of Dry, Light, White Table Wine Like Pinot Grigio, Pinot Blanc or similar wine. (Used Graziano Tocai Friulano)
1⁄4 Cup Minced, Fresh, Italian Flat-Leaf Parsley
Salt & Pepper To Taste

Heat a stainless steel frying pan over medium heat and add extra virgin olive oil. Add thinly sliced shallot and sauté until the shallots are wilted and just starting to caramelize. Add 1 cup of dry, white table wine, preferably, the wine you would drink with the dish. Reduce the wine until it is almost gone. Lay the fish in a single layer, give a grind or two of cracked, black pepper and cover. Cook on medium heat for 4 minutes and be careful not to use too much heat and burn the fish. After 4 minutes is up, remove pan from heat, leave covered and undisturbed for 2 additional minutes.

Serve on a plate and spoon some of the sauce over the fish. Top with some of the minced parsley, something to soak up the sauce with and the wine you used to make the dish.

1 pound chicken tenders
3 cups sweet corn
4 cups arugula
1/2 cup shaved Parmigiano
1/2 cup diced roasted red peppers (peeled)
1/4 cup Consorzio Pepper and Lemon Marinade
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Devein the chicken tenders and marinate in Consorzio Pepper and Lemon Marinade for 10 minutes. Grill or roast at 375¡ for 10-12 minutes.
Combine the corn with 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Then roast in the oven at 350¡ for 10 minutes.

Combine the chicken, arugula, pepper, corn, marinade and olive oil. Sprinkle with the shaved Parmigiano and serve with a slice of fresh Italian bread.

1 lb of Sirloin Tips Or Strips
1 Large, Sweet or Vidalia Onion, Sliced Thinly
8 oz of Good Beef Broth
3 Tbls Butter
1 Cup Of Hearty, Red Wine
2 Tbls Grape Seed Or Peanut Oil
Salt & Pepper To Taste

Slice and sauté the Vidalia onion until it starts to caramelize. Take off heat after the onions are caramelized and set aside.

In a well heated, stainless steel pan, heat oil and gently lay in the salted and peppered sirloin tips. When one side of the tips is well browned, turn to another side, continuing until all 4 sides are nice and brown. You should also have some of those nice, “crusties” in the bottom of the pan we discussed. Pour in your cup of hearty red wine and reduce to a thick, bubbly sauce coating the pan at the bottom. Add in the beef broth and reduce in half, now whisk in the butter. And allow to simmer. Slice the beef into 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 inch slivers, arrange on a platter and top with sauce and onions. Serve and enjoy!

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 lamb shanks
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3/4 pound mixed mushrooms (morels, shiitake, chanterelles, domestic), roughly chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup 1/4-inch diced onion
1/2 cup 1/4-inch diced carrot
1/2 cup 1/4-inch diced celery
2 cups dry red wine
1 bay leaf
3 cups chicken stock or low-salt canned chicken broth
3 cups peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned, depending on season)
1/2 pound dried orecchiette pasta
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh oregano

Serves 4.   Delicious paired with Graziano Zinfandel.

Preheat oven to 300°F. In a large, deep, oven-going pot, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat until hot. Season shanks with salt and pepper and brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Remove to a plate.

Raise heat to medium-high, add mushrooms and do not move them until they begin to brown on undersides, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper, and sauté until browned all over, about 5 minutes. Remove to another plate.

Reduce heat to medium, add remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil to pot and heat until hot. Add garlic and sauté quickly until light brown. Add onion, carrot and celery, season with salt and pepper, and sauté until lightly browned, about 8 minutes.

Add wine and bay leaf, bring to a boil and cook until reduced by half. Add stock and chopped tomatoes and bring to a boil again. Season with salt and pepper. Return meat to pot, cover, and place in oven to braise until meat is fork tender, about 4 hours.
Let meat cool in liquid. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt. Add pasta and cook until al dente, about 12 minutes. Drain.

Pour braising liquids into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer about 10 minutes, skimming liquids all the while. Add basil and oregano.

To serve the shanks whole, return them to the sauce and simmer gently just until reheated, then remove and keep warm. Add mushrooms and pasta to sauce and heat gently until warm through. pour onto a large, deep platter or divide between plates and top with shanks.

Chef's Notes: It is perfectly acceptable to do this dish a day ahead or even let it cook while you sleep. The meat can braise overnight, for example from midnight to 6:00 AM at 250°F. You can also cook the whole dish on the stove top in a covered pot. There is a caramelization of flavors in oven braising that stove top cooking does not replicate. If the shanks are cracked--cut through the bone in the middle--they will cook through to tenderness more rapidly.

Variation: If serving meat off the bone (which turns it into a pasta dish rather than meat on a bed of pasta), tear meat into big chunks and return it to the sauce with the mushrooms. Cook just until reheated. Add pasta and stir. Heat through. Taste for seasoning and serve immediately.

2 cleaned, whole bass, about 1 1/2 pounds each
4 stalks fresh lemongrass
4 large garlic cloves
3 tablespoons peanut oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons julienned ginger
2 green onions, julienned or thinly cut on the diagonal
1 tablespoon soy sauce, or to taste

Serves 4.

Set up a large steamer that will hold the fish on a platter or a round, 8-inch baking pan. You want to catch the steaming juices.

Trim the dried tips and outer leaves off the lemongrass. Cut the stalk into 3-inch pieces, then again in half lengthwise. Using the flat of your knife, crush the lemongrass. Set aside. Cut the garlic into thin slices.

Rinse the fish and make shallow, diagonal cuts on both sides. Stuff the lemongrass and garlic into the body cavity then place on the platter. Steam for about 8-10 minutes until the flesh becomes opaque. Remove the still- covered steamer from the heat.

Place the fish on a warmed serving platter, and garnish with the julienned ginger and green onions. A few minutes before serving, heat the peanut oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until it begins to shimmer. Add the sesame oil and remove from the heat. Pour the soy sauce over the garnish and fish, then pour the hot oil over. Serve immediately.

1 lb. fettuccine pasta
1⁄4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 – 3 tablespoons minced garlic
1⁄2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest 2 cups dry white wine 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 lb. fresh or frozen Dungeness crab leg and body meat
2 cups asparagus, cut in 2 inch diagonal strips, lightly steamed
4 tblsps mixed chopped fresh herbs such as chives, basil, marjoram, parsley & tarragon
salt & pepper to taste
1 - 1 1⁄4 cups freshly shredded Parmesan cheese lemon wedges and herb sprigs (optional)

Serves 4.

In very large saucepan or stockpot, bring large amount of salted water to a boil and cook the fettuccine until al dente; drain

Meanwhile, in another large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and cook the garlic, red pepper flakes and lemon zest, stirring often, for about 3 – 4 minutes or until garlic is translucent. Add the white wine and lemon juice, bring to low boil, and cook to reduce the liquid volume by half.

Add the drained cooked pasta, crab, asparagus, and chopped fresh herbs to the pan. Cook, stirring gently, until the ingredients are just heated through, about 3 – 4 minutes. Add salt and pepper, if necessary.

Serve immediately, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and garnish with lemon wedges and herb sprigs, if desired.

1 – large flank steak (1 3⁄4 lbs.)
3⁄4 lb. fresh spinach, stemmed
4 – Italian sausage 2 Tbsp olive oil
6 oz. – sliced Swiss cheese
2 - 14 oz. cans tomato sauce
1⁄4 cup Barbera or other dry red wine
2 large portabello mushrooms, chopped
1⁄2 of head of garlic (whole cloves peeled) Italian seasoning to taste
1 lb. dried spaghetti pasta
1 cup of Parmesan cheese, grated

Serves 4 - 6.

Unroll & discard fat from flank steak. Cut flank steak lengthwise halfway down through the middle. Starting at the middle cut, slice out toward each edge leaving about 1⁄2 inch to hold the meat together in one piece. Lay steak flat and pound with mallet to tenderize.

Rinse spinach. Sauté in frying pan until spinach leaves are wilted.

Skin sausages and brown on all sides in approximately 1 Tbsp of olive oil. Discard all but 2 Tbsp of drippings.

Place cooked spinach evenly over meat, and then lay Swiss cheese evenly over the spinach. Starting at edge of the meat place sausages in 2 rows and roll meat around them. Tie the roll with string. In a 5 – 6 quart pan brown meat roll on all sides in 2 tablespoons of drippings for approximately 10 minutes. Remove meat and combine tomato sauce, wine, mushrooms, garlic cloves and Italian seasoning. Place meat in sauce seam side up and simmer for 2 hours. Just before meat is finished, cook pasta according to package directions and drain. Slice meat roll about 1 to 1 1⁄2 inches thick and with the tomato sauce serve over pasta on each plate. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Chef's Notes: It is recommended to assemble sauce in advance so flavors can more fully integrate.