3 sungold cherry tomatoes
Sliver of calabrian chili
½ basil leaf
¼ tsp prepared horseradish
Dash Worcestershire sauce
Fresh juice of ½ lemon
ice
1 ½ oz Stoli or well Vodka
4 oz tomato elixir
Sungold tomato garnish
In a pint glass, add the sungold tomatoes, chili, basil, horseradish, Worcestershire, lemon and a few ice cubes. Muddle the ingredients, being sure to smash the chili, add more ice to fill the pint glass, add the vodka and the tomato elixir. Cover and shake gently. Do not over shake or the drink will become foamy. Strain into a 12 oz tall colins glass filled with ice, garnish with one whole sungold tomato.
Elixer: Tomato Elixir
5# Assorted Heirloom tomatoes (choose very ripe juicy tomatoes, good recipe to use blemished overripe soft tomatoes, be sure to include some sungold cherry tomatoes for the sweetness)
3-4 medium calabrian chilis chopped
2 T salt
Cut all the tomatoes into large pieces to release the juice and place into a medium stainless bowl with the clabrian chilis and salt. Cover with plastic and allow to sit at room temperature for about 2 hours. Place the tomato mixture in a blender and process to a fine pulp. Place the pulp into a fine woven kitchen apron and hang to extract the elixir overnight. Place the elixir into a glass bottle and refrigerate. Do not use plastic, as the juice is very delicate and susceptible to off flavors.
Yes it’s a buzz word often accompanied by organic and or local, yes it’s important for reducing carbon footprint, and yes, often “seasonal” food tastes better – depends on the chef -but what does it mean exactly to use seasonal ingredients?In this day and age when you can get raspberries from Chile in December and citrus from Australia in June where does seasonality fit on the chef’s table?It’s more than following winter, spring, summer, fall it’s paying close attention to a window of time 2-6 weeks where the product is at its peak. This is determined by a number of factors including growing conditions, genetics, and locale.As an example Heirloom tomatoes are available in the Bay Area right now, but don’t reach their peak until mid August, in Seattle that peak will be several weeks later.The earth’s yearly pilgrimage around the sun results in a rhythm of cold, dark, warmer, bright, that has been part of us since the beginning– it’s what makes lamb special in the spring, and mushrooms great in the fall.As a chef, preparing a food when it’s calling to you, at its peak for a limited amount of time, is thrilling. I’ve got to believe people eating my food feel the same way - how exciting is it to eat the same thing year round?Eat it when it’s hot, get your fill, and then move on to your next (mini) season.For an idea of what’s in season right now in the bay area you can visit http://www.ferryplazafarmersmarket.com/seasonality/
There is passion for Italian cuisine and culture, and then there is eating, drinking and breathing it daily because you couldn’t imagine living any other way. With over 150 collective years of Italian culinary experience between our twelve chefs our Piatti Famiglia falls into the latter category. After too many recipe requests to count and the question “where do you buy your olive oil” becoming a daily occurrence I’ve decided to start an Italian Food blog to have dialogue about the things I love most – cooking, toasting to a great meal with friends and family, and Italy. As the concept of a blog is new to me write in and tell me what you think, share your Italian adventures, and most importantly Mangia! Mangia!