Dolce Vita!

dol·ce  vi·ta:

noun, Italian

: A life of heedless pleasure and luxury.

A brief post today about a delicious meal with a perfect name that my husband and I make together  from one of my favorite local restaurants.... 

Donatello has been a landmark restaurant in the Tampa area for 25+ years and was one of the first places we dined when we moved here.  A beautiful menu, top notch service, old school Italian atmosphere, piano bar, plus every lady receives a rose before leaving after dinner each evening not to mention the food has been wonderful for us each visit.  As Jon Palmer Claridge wrote in his Creative Loafing review, "The place is kind of old-school Italian and a little gaudy, but then so is the Duomo in Siena."  His review is not the most kind, but it is fair and honest and with that I cannot argue with his view - although having visited the Duomo in Siena I think it is perfect.  Rommie Johnson wrote a much more decadent review from the Tampa Tribune a couple years ago - again citing the price as a main issue but how worthwhile it can be on occasion.  Thus - the reason I felt compelled to try to get the recipe for my latest favorite indulgence and save myself some dollars to spend on tea or wine (lol, inside joke for those who have read my previous posts).  :)

I had never tried veal before dining at Donatello but the dish sounded so good -described as Vitello Dolce Vita served with prosciutto, portobellos and black truffle shavings.  This was heaven on a plate -a perfectly rich white wine reduction and layers of flavor.

I enjoyed it so much that I signed up for their email newsletter a few years ago in which they shared recipes from time to time. I requested this particular recipe never dreaming they would share it- much less that I would ever delve into trying to make veal being so new to the dish and not sure what this glorious recipe might entail.  Lo and behold they did share it and I couldn't be happier!

Having made this last night together, I remember how simple it truly is to make- given the right ingredients on hand-this could be tweaked easily into a chicken dish as well.  I am happy to share it with you today.  I think you will find it extremely easy and undeniably worth the ingredients - be it a special occasion or the desire for something a little richer than usual for a Wednesday night  at home.   Of course you can tweak it to your liking and omit the truffle shavings, etc. as I will mention in my own tweaks below... no matter what you will enjoy it!

Ingredients for dinner for 2:
*try not to skimp on the olive oil, wine, etc. it makes a difference in this one.

• 4 slices veal scallopini (Fresh Market usually carries this thinly pounded veal)
• flour
• 2 T. olive oil
• 1 T chopped shallots
• 2 oz. dry white wine (I used half a bottle for extra sauce)
• 4 fresh sage leaves
• 2 oz. prosciutto (julienned/ cut into small slivers)
• 2 oz. portobello mushrooms (julienned) *easily omitted or replaced with another shroom
• 1 t. black truffle shaving *Having none on hand I used a splash of (gasp) truffle oil which worked fine, this too can be omitted if need be.
• 3/4 C. brown veal stock (*easily substituted but please make or use a low sodium broth)
• 1 oz. (half a stick) of chilled butter (use the real thing and ensure it is very cold)

Dust your veal with flour - don't over flour and no need to moisten it first- we are not frying it.  You may add some pepper to your flour but please don't add salt at this point- the sauce more than makes up for the need later on - trust me!

Julienne your prosciutto and your portobellos.  Also chop your shallots if you didn't buy them jarred.

Heat olive oil in a skillet and add veal cooking on medium for one minute on each side.

Do not over cook - this thin beef cooks quickly and could become tough if you let it linger.

Remove the veal and keep it warm/covered on the side.

In the same skillet, add shallots and cook for two minutes until transparent, then add the proscitto and cook it for a couple of minutes allowing some brown bits to gather a little on the bottom.  Add the mushrooms and the sage and cook for a couple more minutes.

 

Add the wine and let it reduce by half.... since I chose to add a half of a bottle for extra sauce this took a good 7 minutes or so.... by reducing the wine you allow the flavors to concentrate.  While it is reducing be sure to use a wooden spoon to scrape the browned bits of meat off the bottom of the pan adding to your depth of flavor.  Once reduced, add in the truffle shavings or truffle oil and then pour in your stock.  You may now place the veal back into the sauce.

 

Now is the time to check for seasonings- before you added the stock the sauce would be very salty so please hold back on your seasonings until this point and definitely use a low or no sodium stock - homemade of course is the best - chicken or beef stock work perfectly fine.

Place the chilled butter into the pan and cook for two more minutes.

Place the veal onto plates and cover with sauce.

We served ours with some brown rice but pasta is certainly a wonderful option as well - anything to soak in the rich reduction is perfect. I also found that adding some fontina at the end is a nice touch.

 

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My husband even surprised me with some roses before dinner just to make me smile.  This was way better than the after dinner roses and kiss they give you at Donatello's....

 

 

Buon Appetito!

-cathy@asavoryspoonful.com

Epic Day Awaiting Epicurean Delights

Tampa has a new hot spot that everyone is buzzing about and it is still 4 months away from its grand opening! 

The Epicurean Hotel is sure to be a tremendous hit not only for visitors but happily for local foodies, culinary students, roof top loungers, and particularly for wine enthusiasts.... oh and there is the whole  accommodations part lest we forget that is bound to be phenomenal hotel considering they won't even have a formal front desk to check into - versus a personal host for each guest. 

We were so lucky to have seen a contest on the Epicurean Hotel's Facebook Page to enter to win a day with their adorable "epic bicycles" to ride around Tampa and take some cool photos to upload to social media and to tag #epichotelbikes.  The grand prize was to be tickets to their Grand Opening Gala, overnight accommodations and dinner for two at Elevage.  My mouth was already drooling... I couldn't wait to enter the contest and told lots of friends about it as well. 

This is the only photo on this post not taken by us, this picture is from the facebook page of Epicurean Hotel for the contest.

Happily, my husband and I and seven other duos were picked from all of the entries to participate in the bike photo contest finals.  We were to tweet and post our pictures around town evoking the essence of Tampa by utilizing the bikes.  You can check out the hotel's twitter account here. 

Articles have popped up here, and here and here..... describing the fantastic venue which is slated to be open in December/January.  One of my favorite articles displaying samplings of what is to come was beautifully written by fellow blogger Katie on her blog Ruffles and Truffles which you can read here.  Some highlights to note are the hotel's main restaurant which will be called Elevage.  Diners will pass through a hall of wine showing off part of Bern's world-renowned private collection.  The highlight for beverage enthusiasts will be the Edge Social Drinkery located on the hotel's rooftop.  This boutique hotel will also have a culinary theater with tastings, seminars and classes offered to the public. 

I was so excited about the bike contest!!!  When we arrived at the adorable model hotel room that they setup earlier this year during construction to pick up the bikes, we were delighted to find a bottle of wine with a neat chiller bag and card welcoming us!

We were off on our adventures...  first stop was of course at Bern's Fine Wines and Spirits which is a partner with the hotel.  They will be relocating this fine shop across the street and into the hotel which will allow a great space for shopping and especially tasting! 

And aren't these bikes adorable?  Guests will be able to use them when staying at the hotel.

We made our way over to Mangroves for some brunch and relaxing on their outdoor cushiony patio overlooking the Soho area. 

 Riding around, enjoying the sites, tastes and friendly people of Tampa - we stopped off at The University of Tampa which has a  beautiful historic campus right on the Hillsborough River next to downtown.  A couple of students were nice enough to snap a picture of us resting in the shade. 

 

Suddenly, inspiration struck us!  My husband wanted to take some panoramic pictures with the bikes on the floating docks.

Then I had an idea ... I wished there had been an easy way to get one of these beautiful bikes onto a paddle board- but that was risky and might not look the way I had imagined it for a cool picture....so, how could I incorporate the water better....?

 

I wanted to reflect the beauty the skyline along with the Epic bikes.  Check out the neat wine bottle we brought with us for photo shooting- we had to get one with a bike on it of course (by the way it tasted pretty delicious too)!

 

I tested different angles....

 

Still not quite there yet....

 

Until I finally believed I had taken just the right picture.....encompassing just about everything I wanted it to..... and it was really cool!

 







THIS was the winning photo.... there was no Doubt in my mind!  I am by no means a photographer but this picture evoked Tampa and the Epicurean name to me in my heart.   We happily soldiered on to continue enjoying our day around Tampa with the vintage bikes....
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There were plenty of other pretty spaces for adorable photos throughout Tampa and we stopped, shopped, ate, drank and enjoyed the beautiful sunshine and scenery.

 

We had so much fun and cannot wait to get to experience the Grand Opening prize at this beautiful hotel.  With such genius marketing already in the works and the exciting restaurants and event spaces  - the Epicurean hotel will surely live up to its namesake -it should be Epic! 

 

 

A special thank you to ALL my friends & family and strangers who voted for my winning photo- I could not have done with without you!  :)   A very special thank you to my husband for spending that wonderful day with me and helping hold the bikes while I took the winning photo......

some Wine with my cheese, please!

People are always asking me, “What’s your favorite wine?”, and although I really have none, I gave up trying to explain that years ago, and nowadays I simply say “sparkling wine or champagne” and leave it at that.  Or I just say, "The next one..." lol.

 

Work hard, play hard- that's my motto..... why not!

Personally, my advice about wine is don't try to find people who "know more than you" about it to tell you what to drink or what to "like".

Of course, people who are wine collectors, sommeliers or knowledgeable in wine can help make recommendations, but my advice is to rely on your own palate. Remember, your palate is a very, very, very personal and unique thing that only you truly understand. And your palate will change- especially if you "practice". 

 

Nobody can tell you what you taste. There can be some basic generalizations for sure, but at the end of the day, you like what you like.  This is all (of course) in addition to the health benefits of "a glass of red a day"..... I am extremely healthy and ahead of myself on this one - I assure you...

The more wine you taste, the more your palate will change and develop.

 

After college, I started  drinking wine and preferred sweeter lighter wines and eventually moved on towards reds and bolder, drier varietals as the opportunities to try new things came upon me over the years.  This is the amazing thing about wine. Palates change, preferences come and go, explorations of taste and texture are there to be had. If you’re lucky, you have someone by your side – a family member, a wine club, a group of friends – to experience it with you and share in the excitement of discovering a new varietal or region or bottle.

You can do pairings at dinners and that is a good way to see how wines and foods pair and you can buy books about the same like this one that comes highly recommended online. -check it out on amazon - the reviews are great and I plan to read it, someday......

At the end of the day it all boils down to tasting and tasting....and tasting.  Also, please remember... tasting and drinking wine is supposed to be FUN. LOTS OF FUN. Don't make it work.

White on the Left, Red on the Right, RIGHT!

A "wine" ring pop for adults - genius!

Drink wine you like and enjoy it. The more you drink, the more your palate will evolve. It just happens. Let it.     If you really want to analyze wine, then take notes.

 

Think about what you taste in each wine. At the beginning you may not taste every subtle nuance. That will change. You will be able to tell differences in wines. Focus on that and your palate will sharpen.

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"Maybe I misjudged Stromberg. Any man who drinks Dom Perignon ´52 can´t be all bad."
-James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).

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 If someone around you is being a "wine snob" or suggests something that you don't agree with- let it go and walk away - life is too short to drink bad wine or to be around wine snobs. 

Me with a "small" bottle at Stirling Vineyards in Napa

Robert "experiencing" Round Pond Estate in Napa

Let your experiences, especially personal experiences, guide you. 




 

Enjoy the process! 

There is lots of fun to be had with wines in addition to just drinking it.....

Make champagne ice cubes for your orange juice.... or even better, make OJ cubes for your sparkling wine or Champagne!

 

Serve up a mimosa bar at your next party

 

Freeze fruits on small skewers and set them out for your guests to add to their sparkling wine!

Take glorious pictures seen through the eyes of your wine goggles!

I wrote an earlier blog piece about dinner parties that has some great wine notes, so if you have not yet read, check it out here: http://asavoryspoonful.blogspot.com/2013/05/dinner-parties.html

 

I love to incorporate wine or sparking wine into every celebratory occasion.

If you have never been on a hot air balloon ride, then DO IT!  It is so peaceful and amazing, and the best part (after the always-crash-landing-that they never tell you about- which apparently is the only way to land a balloon!!)  They always traditionally do a champagne toast at the end!  My favorite way to celebrate anything! 
 

Robert and I toasting our successful hot air balloon ride over the Sonoran Desert in Arizona

 

 

"Remember, gentlemen, it's not just France we are fighting for, it's Champagne!"
-Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain, (1874 - 1965).

 They have quite a few wineries here in Florida surprisingly.  The soil and climate are not ideal for many grape types except for the muscadine and our favorite wineries in Florida are sister-wineries who use the same vineyards.  You can pick up their wines at your local Publix supermarket if you don't make it out to St. Augustine or Clermont (northwest Orlando) to do a free tour and tasting.

 

 

We finally joined a wine club locally here in Tampa.  There is a great place called Coopers Hawk Winery and Restaurant and they have a great deal on some very nice wines. 

You should definitely check them out online and find on possibly in your area - they have extremely reasonable tasting flights which will help you decide what you want to purchase or just something to try with dinner and friends!
 

 

 

  A few years ago my husband and I got to go to Italy on vacation and that was his first "falling in love" experience with wine - Chianti to be specific.  With little to no nitrates and preservatives in the wine over there, you could drink heartily with your enormous and fulfilling meals and feel fantastic the next day ready for more walking, eating and Drinking!
 

 

Neat little side story here, this picture was taken at a very old little restaurant in Rome called
Scoglio Di Frisio
 where my father had visited eons ago when he was there in the army.  He loved it so much that he saved the menu.  He asked me to bring it with me and try to find the place- according to google it was still there!  Sure enough, we enjoyed a yummy dinner and a beautiful wine the owner picked out for us and shared with them the menu from 50 years ago!.  My oldest brother Joe also went there a couple years ago when he and his wife Robbin visited Italy too.  So fun to have this neat family tradition.  (p.s. I wrote about family traditions, especially food traditions in a previous blog post- you can check that one out here.)
 

 

We were also so fortunate to go to Napa and Sonoma Valleys in California for a business meeting and simply had to tack on a few extra days to see (oh who am I kidding)... to taste wine country!   Here are some of the wineries and amazing experiences we had.....

 

This is the kind of indulgent trip that everyone should have on their bucket list.... even if you do not drink vino - it is gorgeous, yummy and so serene!  SO much to see and do......

 

Our favorite meal was at Auberge Du Soleil in Napa. Not only an amazing hotel (which I would love to stay in one day) but the food was OUTSTANDING!  And the view.... was breathtaking!

The view from lunch at Auberge was unreal!

 

The wine and food was as great as the stars it has earned!

 

The hotel cabanas look so relaxing!

 

and the wine with that view..... oh the wine!

What an amazing lunch we had! 

corn chowder



halibut



A scrumptious cream puff dessert

 

 

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We stayed at a wonderful inn in Sonoma called the Olea Hotel.  Not only do they include a mimosa breakfast, but there was a glass of wine handed to us when we arrived and a wine tasting before we went to have dinner.... endless pours at their tiny little bar included in the room price  - and getting to know other guests and what wineries they visited that day made it so special. 

 

 

 

 The inn was just remodeled and had opened only a week before so we got an amazing deal and the rooms were like small cottages- beautifully appointed.  The outdoor deck area was perfect to relax in and they have a tiny spa too!  Here is a view of our room's porch.

 

I wanted to mention that Sonoma is very different from Napa even though it is only a short drive away.  It is less commercialized, quaint and the wineries are a little smaller and more family run than the larger Napa estates.  Both places are amazing and you really need to try to go to both - every winery and set of vineyards is completely different than the next with their own set of tastings, rules (e.g. by appointment only), and certainly the winemakers and their marketing teams not to mention landscapers compete with grace.

 

 

Without a doubt, our most favorite wine that we tasted, bought and now seek out here in Tampa is from Rutherford Hill Winery. 

 

They had a 2007 Merlot that knocked our socks off! 

 

You can get it here in Tampa and our favorite place to get it is at Ocean Prime on Sundays (when it is half price bottles so it sells at cost, around $22).  Try it - it is fantastical!

 

Another favorite winery was Round Pond!  OMG..... My friend Cindi from high school used to live in California and was a wine club member at Round Pond.  When she heard we were going there she generously offered us her tasting pass for not only the winery but also for their olive oil tasting.  I use the word "tasting" extremely lightly here, because we didn't need to eat the rest of the day! 
 

We toured the winery and had a delightful accompaniments to the wines from their gorgeous outdoor deck overlooking the vineyards.

This was the intimate olive oil tasting we got to do.... of course it also included wines.... and lots of passed plates and we learned so much!  Their oils and vinegars are mouth watering!

 

 

Honig was a delightful find as well.....

 

 

 

Frog's leap had a beautiful farm and some top rated wines that we loved!

 

Stirling Winery was very unique... .a huge tour with many rooms to taste in - and the neat part was the cable car ride you had to take to get to the winery over the vineyards. 

 

 

Not to forget that there were great restaurants at the wineries too! 
Fresh farm to fork meals and vine to bottle vinos!

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All in all, you could definitely say I LOVE wine... especially sparkling wines.... we affectionately call it my "happy juice".  And why not.... life is short.....

 

What's your favorite?  Simply the next one too......?  

 

Cheers!!!

 

cathy@asavoryspoonful.com