From The Winning Certificate
After the death of her adopted mother, Sylvia develops an insatiable desire to find her birth mother. She becomes a teenage gang member trapped in a life style of violence and hopelessness. Rick Podowski helps Sylvia through writing poetry and eventually Sylvia is able to leave the gang. In this scene Rick sits down to dinner with his girlfriend who coincidentally was the case worker that placed Sylvia.
After the death of her adopted mother, Sylvia develops an insatiable desire to find her birth mother. She becomes a teenage gang member trapped in a life style of violence and hopelessness. Rick Podowski helps Sylvia through writing poetry and eventually Sylvia is able to leave the gang. In this scene Rick sits down to dinner with his girlfriend who coincidentally was the case worker that placed Sylvia.
The wonderful smell of his favorite Italian dinner, chicken cacciatore embraced him the minute he stepped into his apartment. Elaine, wearing a white and brown stripped blouse and dark brown pants, that made the most of her still shapely body was in the kitchen, stirring something on the stove. She was wearing Rick's favorite apron, a fancy chef’s item that she had bought him at Williams Sonoma last Christmas.
"This smells wonderful," he said, brushing aside her long brownish-blond hair and kissing her on the cheek. "Besides my favorite chicken dish, what else are we having?"
"Well," Elaine said, beaming. "We’re having pasta, fresh green beans and a garden salad. Oh, and I bought some ciabatta bread from that great bakery down the street."
"Excellent," Rick said as he headed for the wine rack. "I don't have any Italian wines, but I do have a bottle of Cooper-Garrod Cabernet Franc which will go perfectly with the food. It's estate bottled so all of the grapes are from their property."
When they sat down to eat, Rick took a moment to appreciate the feast Elaine had prepared, “This is delicious,” Rick said. “The chicken is cooked so perfectly and it's so tender. I love the sauce because it's hunter's style and not cooked for too long. Some Italian sauces are cooked for several hours and I don't like that taste.”
"I love the wine," Elaine said as she finished taking a sip. "It's so mellow."
Cooper-Garrod Estate Vineyards
My job as a writer/researcher is really tough because in addition to writing the books and finding the recipes, I have to check out the wineries. So, on a Saturday morning I got into my car and headed for the Cooper-Garrod Vineyards which is a family run operation located on a farm that includes riding stables in the hills above Saratoga, California. My plan was to go horseback riding before I checked out the wines, but they had a 225 pound weight limitation, and I was stuck walking down to the wine tasting room where I met Doris Cooper and she told me about the history of the place.
In 1893 R.V. Garrod purchased land to grow fruit trees and hay. After George Cooper a NASA test pilot from 1941-1973 married R.V.'s daughter, Louise, he replaced the orchards with grapes, which thrive in this microclimate.
The vineyards cover twenty-eight acres with seven varietals from the four principal grape-growing regions of France: Bordeaux, Loire, Burgundy, and Rhone. They produce approximately 3,000 cases of wine each year including Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Viognier, Merlot, and Pinot Noir from grapes grown on the property. In 2009 the first of their five vineyards was certified organic and the rest of the vineyards received certification in 2011 and 2012.
The tasting room is in a building constructed over seventy-five years ago to store dried prunes and apricots. In the olden days the building was used as a social hall after the fruit was shipped.
Fresh Roma tomatoes for the sauce
Chicken Cacciatore with a Cooper-Garrod Cabernet Franc
After taking in the wonders of the tasting room and smelling the fragrance left by the horses, I headed home to make dinner. The cacciatore recipe is one typically found in Italian homes. Cooper-Garrod’s Cabernet Franc brings out the flavors in the sauce.
The first thing I did was to go into the garden and pick some fresh Roma tomatoes. For those novices out there, the best thing to do is to boil some water and put the tomatoes in it for a minute or two. The skins just slide off.
At this point you have to stop because it's too easy to lose track of time while you are cooking. Get the bottle opener out and go through the process so that the end product is a nice glass of wine. You need this to clear your head before cooking.
To make four servings of the cacciatore, have the following ingredients on hand.
One 3 1/2 pound chicken, cut into pieces
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 cup thinly sliced onions
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/3 cup red wine
2 cups peeled and chopped, firm ripe tomatoes (or canned plum tomatoes in their juice)
Rinse the chicken and pat dry. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat, add the onions and cook until translucent, stirring occasionally. Push the onions to the side. Add the garlic and chicken pieces, skin-side down. Cook until the chicken skin is golden brown, then turn pieces over and brown on the other side. I've used skinless chicken thighs and that works too.
Season the chicken with salt and pepper, on both sides. Add wine and simmer until reduced by half. Add the tomatoes, lower the heat and cover the skillet with the lid slightly ajar. About now your glass should be empty, so do your duty and fill it up again.
Cook the chicken in the simmering liquid, turning and basting from time to time. Cook until the thighs are very tender and the meat is almost falling off the bones, about 40 minutes. If the stew ever starts to dry out, add a couple tablespoons of water.
At about twenty minutes before the dish is ready, boil some water, add some spaghetti, and cook it al dente. When the spaghetti is finished, put it in a bowl, and cover it with the chicken, Serve with a good Italian cheese, fresh bread, and a nice garden salad. This dish is simple, but it tastes great.
Bon Appetit!