Flavors in Love

Maria Manetti Farrow…the name has a special ring to it…rolling off my tongue like a melody…and that is who she is…my friend…Maria…a melody…sensual…lilting…full of music.

I first met Maria in St. Barts many years ago and we became instant friends.  As we walked the beach together, she told me about her life…bringing Gucci to the United States in the early 80’s, working working working 24/7 for so many years to build the Gucci brand. Because of her incredible style and marketing abilities.. her hard work paid off!!

Today, she is a patron of the arts and travels the world. She built a phenomenal home on 60 acres in Oakville California/Napa and named it Ville Mille Rose, because she has roses growing everywhere on her property.  This estate is the essence of Italy where she was born and raised. There are vineyards on all sides ,flowers and fruit tress , lavender and sunflowers wherever you look.

I am so lucky to have had the privilege to stay with Maria in August for the last several years in a row…Every time I’ve gone out to visit her it’s been at the height of the season in the beautiful Napa Valley.

Maria loves to entertain. The first time I was invited to her home, she had a lunch on the lawn for me with Chef Gary Danko http://www.garydanko.com/ and some of her other dear friends. I was mesmerized by the beauty of the surroundings.  Everything was picked fresh from her garden… the tomatoes….the peaches… the fresh herbs.. Truly a heavenly place for a foodie like me.

Last summer I stayed with her for 3 days and every morning we walked in her
vineyards and picked ripe peaches and plums from her trees as we caught up on both of our lives.

Maria is a connector and loves to connect her friends together.  She never stops…she hardly sleeps…and is constantly in motion….we walk in the morning and have chicken soup for breakfast…I love this ritual.  Loi, her trusted Vietnamese housekeeper and chef., makes it fresh with all the vegetables from her garden and organic chicken.

Being the connector the she is, Maria entertains every weekend. She is meticulous about planning her menu with Loi and is involved with every detail. She does the table seating concentrating on where everyone will sit and then she writes our names on leaves with a gold pen.

What a brilliant and beautiful touch. She picks roses from her garden and throws the leaves on the table… so very Maria!  Don’t you love when you stay at somebody’s home and they inspire you with new ideas for your own entertaining?

She figured out how to make a classic Bellini with white peach juice from her own peach trees and Prosecco. She peels the peaches and then puts vitamin C powder and lemon juice on them to preserve them and she freezes them. Then she purees them in a blender and combines with the Proscecco.  This was the cold, refreshing bubby cocktail that she served on a hot summer day in Napa.

This lunch was to celebrate her very close friend and composer, Daniel Brewbaker who composed a piece that was being played at the Music in the Vineyard Festival.http://www.musicinthevineyards.org/.  Daniel had lived with Maria for 4 years and during lunch, he toasted her with a beautiful poem, and then her friend Margrit Mondavi spoke of the special friendship they have shared for 30 years.

I was honored and privileged to be at this extraordinary lunch with Maria and her closest friends to experience the hospitality, good cheer and ambiance of her home as well as the magnificent food and Napa Valley wine.  Some of the guests included  Bill Harlan from Harlan Estate http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/californias-cult-cabernet-visionary and Margrit Mondavi, the late Robert Mondavi’s wife. http://www.robertmondaviwinery.com/flash/index.html

The late Robert Mondavi said that Maria is the bubble in the champagne of life!

I agree.. perfectly said.!!!

Here’s to Maria!!

This has been an amazing and summer for me, mostly thanks to my circle of remarkable friends.  My friends have been so generous, and have taken me into their summer homes to share their kitchens throughout the whole summer.  Through staying with them, I have been able to fulfill my creative juices and fill their kitchens with the aromas of the delicious food that we have cooked together.  I have also very much enjoyed teaching them tricks and tips from my years of cooking and entertaining.

Last weekend I stayed with my dear friends Alan and Diane Lieberman at their summer home in Bridgehampton..  The Leibermans own many of the best boutique hotels in Miami. www.southbeachgroup.com, and Diane owns her own real estate company www.sbirealty.com, so as you can imagine, they have a  truly beautiful home with a large kitchen, built perfectly for
entertaining.  This past Sunday, Diane decided to have a few friends over for brunch and I volunteered to help of course!  While most friends would be at the pool or on the tennis courts, I am
happiest cooking.

The Liebermans have a very functional kitchen.  They usually have house guests every weekend and keep their two huge fridges packed with food. SO different from my tiny kitchen in NYC and so much easier to experiment and enjoy the process in.

For Brunch, Alan and Diane and I created a menu.  The last time I stayed with them on July 4th, they had a huge brunch with 200 guests and scrambled eggs to order.  This weekend I decided to make two different kinds of frittatas: one with shitaki, asparagus and goat cheese, and the other with zucchini, onions and cheddar.  Frittatas are elegant, can be made ahead of time and there are so many different varieties.  You can use your vegetable garden and fresh herbs and use up all of those left overs from the weekend.

I also poached two Salmons, using some amazing soy ginger glaze that Alan had bought and mixing it with red wine.  I cooked them at 500 degrees for 20 mins and they came out perfectly tender and still pink inside.

Diane made a beautiful fruit salad, her chocolate chip banana bread and cooked loads of turkey bacon, and Alan put together a Smoked Salmon platter with bagels and all the fixings.  There was a lot of food and some very happy guests…including myself.  

Though I am not a big dessert maker, I decided to top the brunch off with my classic recipe for warm peach, plum and blueberry Brown Betty.  This was, of course, the highlight for everybody with even an inkling of a sweet tooth, and because I love it so much, and hardly ever make desserts, I have attached a photo by photo recipe of how to make this fabulous desert because it is so versatile and easy to make…and is always such a big hit.

Please enjoy!

Brunch Menu

2 Frittatas:

Shitake, Asparagus and Goat Cheese

Zucchini, Onions and Cheddar

Poached Salmon with Ginger Soy Glaze

Cucumber, Dill and Red Onion Salad

Bagels, Locks and Cream Cheese

Sliced Watermelon and Canteloupe

Breads, Butter and Jams

Peach, Plum and Blueberry Brown Betty

With Vanilla ice Cream

Diane’s Chocolate Chip and Banana Bread

Recipe For Brown Betty!

Serves 8-12

6 medium ripe peaches

8 ripe plums

2 cups blueberries

6 tablespoons maple syrup

Juice of one lemon

2 teaspoons lemon zest

1 tablespoon all purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ teaspoon ground cinammon

Crunchy Oat Topping, chilled

2 pints vanilla ice cream

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees.

Cut the fruit into small sections and  place into an oven proof …… baking dish,

Toss the fruit with the maple syrup, lemon juice and zest.  Sprinkle on the all purpose flour and toss again.

Add the vanilla and the cinnamon.

With the tines of a fork, break up the largest lumps of topping.

Spoon the topping mixture evenly over the fruit,.using it all.

Set the dish in the oven and bake until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is browned

and crispy.. about 35 to 45 minutes.  Set on a rack for at least 10 minutes.

Serve hot, warm or cold with vanilla ice cream.

Crunchy Oat Topping

This all purpose topping can be prepared a day or two in advance and kept in the fridge till ready to use.  Or freeze for months and then let thaw in the fridge until ready to use.

1 1/3 cup golden brown sugar

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1 cup old fashioned( not quick cooking) rolled oats

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup walnut pieces

¼ teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons chilled  unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

In a food processor, combine the brown sugar, flour, rolled oats, cinnamon, walnuts and salt.  Pulse to blend. Scatter the butter over the oat mixture and process until a soft, crumbly and lumpy cookie like dough forms. Cover and refrigerate.  Use directly from the fridge.

Final Product:

Voila!

Despite my intense love of food, I would never consider myself a “glutton,”.  However there are 3 days a year when I truly allow myself to behave like one.  Those are the daysof the annual  ”Fancy Food Show” at the Jacob Javitz Center in  New York City. This year it was…June 28, 29^th and 30^th.

Holy mackerel-snapper-chocolate-coffee-cheese…I love the Fancy Food show!

I love the Fancy Food show not only because I get to eat unlimited small tastes of the finest and most delicious variety of foods, all in one building, but also because I love to check out the new trends of the year in food.  What’s hot?  What’s new?  What’s creative? What’s bizarre?  What works, and what missed the mark?

Here is my take:

My Prize for the strangest new product this year….(drum roll please!)

BLACK GARLIC

No additives or preservatives.. it’s aged for a month in a special fermentation process under high heat where it develops its darker color, softer texture and sweeter taste.  It looks bizarre…kind of like tar (that doesn’t sound very appetizing) but I tried it tonight on my roast chicken.  I combined it with olive oil and a Mexican spice mix and rubbed the mixture under the skin of the breast meat.

It had a smoky taste and was aromatic, sweet and delicious.  Apparently black garlic is loaded with twice as many antioxidants as raw garlic; and it contains a compound: S Allycysteine, which is a natural compound proven to be a factor in cancer prevention.  No bad breath either!  Who would have thought?

My Prize for the most Ubiquitous Ingredient of the Year:

CHOCOLATE!!!! (my favorite!)

Chocolate is in everything these days…especially organic chocolate, mixed with sometimes unique, sometimes very bizarre ingredients. There was Red Chili Hot Chocolate, Chili Pepper Chocolate Wafers and Chocolate Strawberry Tea.  The food show hosted chocolates from all over the world and of every origin and for a chocolate lover, it was close to heaven.

One of my favorites was the new Double Dark Chocolate Mate by The Republic of Tea.  South American, organic, roasted Yerba Mate blended with organic dark chocolate.  The tea has distinct chocolate overtones and is very rich and satisfying.

Another chocolate highlight was Anna Shea Chocolates.  These chocolates are so beautiful…works of art even…like jewels to savor. She makes 38 different flavors and all are hand crafted bon bons.

Combining the finest ingredients with the highest quality Swiss Couverture.
www.annasheachocolates.com

My Prize for the New Fad of 2008-2009….

WATER!

Yep!  Water.  But not just any kind of water.  FLAVORED water.  Naturally flavored, sugar free water is a rapidly expanding business these days. Actually, it’s probably one of the more successful businesses in the world at the moment.. Who could have imagined years ago that we would be paying money to drink nature’s most natural and most abundant resource?

The new ones I loved are called Ganic Waters and are enhanced with natural extracts and aromas.  Cranberry, Pearl, Smooth Ginger, Citric Lemongrass and Merry Cherry.. Sugar free. Now that’s the way to stay quenched—all naturally.

My Prize for Biggest Food Word of the Year

BIODYNAMIC

I didn’t even know what this meant until the food show and it was used very often throughout the show.  Biodynamic means “Beyond Organic.”  Wow…who thinks of these things?

For example a Biodynamic Tea would be grown and processed according to the highest sustainable agricultural and environmental canons, exceeding the standards of the U.S. National Organic Program.  Organic on steriods is another way to put it.

Check out Zhena’s Biodynamic Gypsy Tea

www.GypsyTea.com

Other highlights and fads include antioxidants, acai berry, salt, pestos and olives.

Just like chocolate, antioxidants are in everything this year.  And so is Acai Berry.  The Republic of Tea has a whole new line of superberry antioxidant teas for Women’s Health. Flavors are: Wholeberry, pomberry, cocoaberry, acaiberry and cherryberry.

Salt is also huge this year.. a continuing trend of the last few years.

Check out this photo of.. HimalaSalt.. the purest salt on earth.

I loved this display.

www.HimalaSalt.com

The company LeGrand also was a highlight for me. Check them out here at www.maisonlegrand.com.  Their pestos are so fresh and they are a leader in the production of cold-processed sauces all packaged in a plastic pouch.  My favorites were the 4 nuts and cheese pesto, the lemon confit, the pumpkin seed aromatic sauce and the spicy olive and sun-dried tomato tapenade… many different tastes and textures and all so fresh tasting.. especially for a packaged food product.

I would love to have them in my fridge to serve with fish or simply to use for an easy spread for company.

And then of course, let’s not forget the olives.

I adore olives and I have never seen so many kinds in one place.  Although there are so many olive importers, I loved FoodMatch Inc.  They specialize in olives and antipasti from the Mediterranean. www.foodmatch.com

“Except the vine, there is no plant which bears a fruit as great importance as the olive”

-Pliny (AD 12-79).  Still holds true today.  The olive is still considered one of natures most perfect creations and there is nothing quite as satisfying to the soul and senses as a welcoming bowl of olives.

To be honest, there was so much incredible food at this show that I could write forever on it.  However, after a hearty stomach ache…I would go back again tomorrow and do it all over again.. but alas, I have to wait for an entire year to pass before the Fancy Food Show comes back to NYC.

• Hello there!  My name is Pamela Morgan and I am in love with food and just about everything that entails.  Welcome to my blog “flavorsinlove.com.”  If you are like me, then you are always thinking about your next meal.   It could be because you are trying out a new recipe that you created, or maybe one that you found in a new cookbook that you are excited about.  Or, you are trying a brand new restaurant, or an old favorite. Either, way, if you are like me, you are looking forward to whatever tastes and sensations the “joy of eating” as I like to call it, holds in store. 

                          A quick bit about me. I am a NYC based chef, party planner, chocolate distributor and food consultant and I am blessed to live a dream life…filled with adventure, travel and of course,   different kinds of foods from all over the world…I love to entertain friends and family and do all things food related. I began my culinary journey many years ago when I took my first cooking class in a small French restaurant in the Village in NYC. I had moved to NYC to become a dancer/ actress and then after that first cooking class, I changed the whole direction of my life. 

                        After my initial love affair began with food, I worked for Sheila Lukins and Julie Rosso for many years at the renowned Silver Palate, and then opened my own catering business, Pamela Morgans’ Flavors. In 1994, I opened Flavors Catering and Carry-out.. the first gourmet organic salad bar in New York. I had my catering kitchen in the back of the store and my clients included names ranging from Martha Stewart to former President Clinton.  I designed events for ten to well over a thousand people and worked with corporations, private individuals and charities.

                       Then I wrote a cookbook, “Pamela Morgan’s Flavors” that was published by Viking in 1998.  This was probably one of the most exciting and challenging things I have ever done in my life. I was working full time with 35 employees and parties every night  testing recipes every week and raising a child.  Life was full and hectic.

• Cooking is one thing, but putting it all on paper so that other people can be successful at it is another. I wanted to help other people fall in love with cooking the way that I had. I felt that if I could successfully convey my love for cooking on paper, then I could help any home cook boost their creativity, their joy, and their interest in the art that is cooking and entertaining!!

•                     And….THAT’s what this blog is all about.  The internet is so amazing…I am still getting used to it and trying to comprehend it’s ability to reach people all over the world in mili-seconds.  With my cookbook, I really wanted to help people in both their ability to appreciate food and cook it themselves.  Now, with this blog, I feel like I have an even better platform to do it with  because it is an ongoing thing.  Needless to say, I’m very excited. 

                    This blog will function as a forum so to speak…for all those like me who love food, want to appreciate and read about food, and want to experiment with my recipes, both new and old as I am always thinking about new ways of doing things.. (…sometimes it works…sometimes it doesn’t)  I will also have a list of “Happenings” as I like to call them:  updates on the food world, reviews of new restaurants, conversations with New York City’s top chefs…and on and on.  Also, be sure to check out the “Chocolate Diaries”where I will be discussing all things chocolate, as well as the health benefits and also the money making possibilities of my favorite new healthy chocolate…(that’s right…healthy chocolate) “Xocai.”  So…let’s dive in shall we?