Erin's Irish Leek & Swiss Pie with River Run Vintner's Cote D' Aromas

In Murder Before the Bell, Rick Podowski and the Hefty Trio fight to save their friend accused of murdering the school principal. The story begins when Rick arrives at Central High School and sees the administration building engulfed in flames. Later, the police discover the charred body of the principal and as the police start to gather evidence to frame the acting principal, Rick and the Hefty Trio start their own inquiry.

They discover that their friend and the principal are both involved in illegal activities with a South Vietnamese Colonel who runs a language school on the campus every Sunday. The community loves the Colonel and is unaware that he owns a house of prostitution in the neighborhood and employs a local Mexican gang for security. A rival gang wants part of the action and the excitement begins.

River Run Vintners

During the 1970s J.P. Pawloski was a professional river guide and was attracted to a bottle of River Run Zinfandel. In 1982 he purchased the defunct River Run Winery and now produces between 1,000 to 3,000 cases of Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Carignane, Malbec, Syrah, and Zinfandel per year.

Pawloski works part time as a respiratory therapist in the hospital and runs a one-man show in terms of the winery. He doesn't have a degree in viniculture and he doesn't have a staff.

His central belief is that you must start with good fruit to make a great wine. So, when it comes time to buy grapes, he hops into his truck to pick up the grapes from the growers' premises—not from a loading dock. For 28 years, he's been going right out into the fields and actually points to the precise grapes he wants picked. His wine making process is bigger on fruit than oak and he manipulates the fermentation and pressing processes to bring the fruit flavors to the senses.

Seven of his wines won silver medals at the 2009 Santa Cruz Mountains Commercial Wine Competition. They were: Rapid Red (Carignane, Grenache, Zinfandel and Cabernet), Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Negrette, Cote D'Aromas, and Viognier.

 Erin's Irish Leek and Swiss Pie with River Run Vintners Cote D' Aromas

Rick ordered two pieces of this delicious pie when he met with Candy at the Café du San Jose. The unique part of this dish is the taste of the creamy leek and cheese custard. At the bottom of the pie is the salty deviled ham. The flavors in the pie blend and are accented by the Cote D' Aromas which is a Rhone Blend. In this wine, the bold fleshy Syrah counterpoints the sweet tones of Grenache as the wine opens.

Rick only made one pie.  Since he loves leeks, he added the whole envelope of the leek soup and cut all of the other ingredients in half.

Serves 12

2 uncooked pie crusts, room temperature

1 envelope leek soup mix

3 cups milk

1 cup light cream

6 slightly beaten eggs

12 ounces Swiss cheese, shredded

2 teaspoons dry mustard

dash pepper

2 4.5 ounce cans deviled ham

12 teaspoons of sour cream (optional)

fresh parsley sprigs (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425F. Pierce crust bottom all over with a fork and bake until golden, about 10 minutes. Set aside. Reduce oven to 400F.

In a saucepan, combine soup mix and milk; cook and stir until mixture boils. Remove from heat; cool slightly. Stir in cream. Combine eggs, cheese, mustard, and pepper. Gradually add to the soup mixture, stirring until well blended.

Spread one can of the deviled ham in the bottom of each pie shell. Carefully pour soup mixture into each shell. Bake at 400F for 20 to 30 minutes, until center is firm.

Let stand about 10 minutes. Rick likes to take this dish to parties. He cuts each pie into six servings, puts a dab of sour cream on each piece and then puts a fresh parsley sprig on each dab of sour cream.

The Wineries and Wines In The Rick Podowski Series

The Santa Cruz Mountains Appellation

In 1981 the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms approved the Santa Cruz Mountains appellation. The first wine growing region to be defined by a mountain range, it runs from eight miles north of Woodside, near Half Moon Bay, to fifty miles south near Watsonville and includes parts of three counties.

Of the approximately 350,000 acres within the borders, most of the land consists of rugged steep terrain. The proximity to the Pacific Ocean and the San Francisco Bay, with the related fog, makes the Santa Cruz Mountains one of the coolest grape growing regions in the world and allows a long growing season.

The Santa Cruz Mountains have been recognized as a premium wine-producing region since the late 1800s. In 1891 the counties of Santa Cruz, Santa Clara and San Mateo together had nearly 14,000 acres of planted vineyards. The individual micro climates, marine influence, mountain terrain, distinctive soils and low crop levels all contribute to the production of intensely concentrated grapes with rich flavors. In the famous 1976 Paris tasting at which California wines proved their worth against the best the French could produce, two of the eleven wines chosen to represent California's best were from the Santa Cruz Mountains.

The Wineries 

Drinking wine is an experience that involves many factors. In addition to the color, the smell, and the taste, a little history about the winery and the winemaker adds to the enjoyment. The thirty-five wineries referred to in this series, each producing wine in the twenty to forty-dollar range, are located in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California.       

With the help of June Smith, one of the original owners of the Roudon-Smith winery, seven wineries were chosen for the first book. We included wineries that had small to medium production and owners who were colorful individuals.  So in Murder Before the Bell the owners had a variety of careers including a river guide, a hardware engineer, a golf  course developer, a grocery store owner, a communication technology specialist and as a lawyer.  This model has been  used to select the wineries for the remaining four books.  The information comes from talking with the owners, the winemakers, or knowledgeable employees at the wineries or when that is not possible, interviews at their tasting rooms

Before we list the wineries in the series, one final word about the selection of the wines for the food pairings is in order.  Carrie Bradshaw in a Sex and the City episode talks of the za-za-zoo. It is her opinion that relationships won't work without this magical quality and when it comes to wine, I agree. The experts look for hints of fruits and spices in the wine and analyze the balance and the body. Rick looks for the za-za-zoo. You don't need to analyze a great wine to just enjoy it.

The wines can be purchased from the winery websites or from the Vinocruz Website at www.vinocruz.com

The Wineries and the Wines featured in the Series

 Information about the wineries and the owners can be found at the end of each mystery.

Murder Before The Bell 

River Run Vintners Cote D' Aromas

Burrell School Syrah

Nicholson’s Pinot Noir

Naumann's Tre Rosso Cali

Downhill Winery’s Susannah’s Barbera

Villa del Monte's Cabernet Sauvignon

Loma Prieta Merlot                                                                                                                                            

        The Fishy Chips 

Santa Cruz Mountain Durif

Thomas Fogarty Pinot Noir

Salamandre Coyote Cuvée

Fernwood Mirepoix

Hunter Hill Zinfandel

Alfaro’s Billy K Merlot

Kathryn Kennedy Lateral

The Winning Certificate 

Travieso Winery's Amaranta

Hallcrest Pinot Noir

Soquel Vineyards Trinity

Vine Hill Zinfandel

Silver Mountain Winery's Alloy

Martin Ranch Grenache

Cooper-Garrod Cabernet Franc

Death In The Science Classroom 

Woodside Vineyards Kings Mountain Cabernet

Clos LaChance Syrah

Poetic Cellars Mourvedre

Roudon-Smith Duet

Big Basin's Pinot Noir

Roudon-Smith Claret

Zayante Merlot

Beauregard's Late Harvest Zinfandel

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Death of a Foster Child 

Pelican Ranch Cinsault

Windy Oaks Pinot Noir

Rexford's Pinot Gris

Odonata Malbec

Mun's Pinot Noir Rose

Myka Cellar's CFM

MJA Winery's Rose                                                                                                                                        

                                        

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Teresa's Italian Eggplant Involtini with Odonata Malbec

     Death of a Foster Child explores the guilt felt when the foster placement of a teenage girl in the home of Rick Podowski and his wife failed. To complicate matters, the foster child was brutally murdered and the authorities believe she was selling drugs on the school campus and by implication asserted that the foster parents allowed this behavior. Rick Podowski with the help of Leti Ramos, Erin McGinty and Teresa Spinelli, also know as The Hefty Trio investigate to learn the truth.

     In the process of investigating, they discover the world of drug sales on the high school campus, the underlying challenges facing students in a gang infested school, as well as the difficulties faced by special education students. The reader will experience the frustrations of foster parents when faced with a system that is designed to keep the children dependent. Suggestions to improve foster care and move the children towards independence are provided at the end of the book. 

From the Book

     Rick's first order of business was to order a bottle of Odonata Malbec a glass of which he sipped as he waited for Agent Kaz with whom he had developed a personal relationship. Rick had first met Kaz when he realized that the principal of the school where he worked was involved with a prostitution ring. When the local police wouldn't listen to him, Rick had gone to the FBI and sure enough Kaz had helped him and The Hefty Trio solve the crime. On another occasion, Kaz came to Rick when he realized that the Chinese military had recruited U.S. students to infiltrate the Intel plant and steal the chip being used in a top secret military program.

     As it happened, since the sister of one of the recruits was a student in Rick's class, working together, they were able to destroy the spy ring and to keep the chip out of the wrong hands. Their third case involved indicting a New Jersey mobster and a local lawyer because they had tried to take the farm of the birth mother of one of his students. All in all, Rick and Kaz had a long history of working together.

     When the familiar figure dressed in a brown suit wearing wingtip shoes walked through the gate, Rick poured his friend a glass of wine.

      "I never liked wine until I met you," Kaz said, lowering his lanky body into a chair. "Now it's really hard to go back to Bud Lite."

     "Thank goodness," Rick said, grimacing at the thought of beer. "It's my treat," he added as the waiter approached. "We'll have the bruschetta as an appetizer. Kaz, what do you want?"

     "This grilled chicken breast with roasted red bell pepper, bacon, Swiss cheese, lettuce and tomato on Kaiser roll looks great," Kaz mused, scanning the menu. "I'll have half a sandwich."

    "I need something more substantial than half a sandwich," Rick said. "I'll take the Baked Eggplant Involtini. Sure you don't want to reconsider, Kaz? The eggplant is rolled with angel hair pasta, marinara, and ricotta cheese and topped with smoked mozzarella. I've had it a couple of times, and it tastes as wonderful as it sounds."

     "It sounds fattening to me," Kaz said. "I have to keep in shape."

     "And so do I," Rick said as he patted his substantial belly. "Listen my friend, I really need your help. We had a foster child killed at school, a girl in special education who apparently didn't realize the dangers of selling marijuana on someone else's territory."

Odonata Wines

     Odonata the name selected for this new winery is an order of insects, which includes not only dragonflies and damselflies but also nearly 6,000 other species.

     Denis Hoey, the youngest winery owner and winemaker in the Santa Cruz Mountains, graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a degree in Business Management in 2004. Soon after that, he met Jeff Emery, owner and winemaker at Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard. Their relationship quickly turned into an Old World apprenticeship for Denis, who is currently the production manager for SCMV. This experience has been the foundation of Denis' education in the art of wine making.

     Denis made his first wine from the 2005 harvest, and has built his limited production Odonata Wines to 1,000 cases per year, blending old world methods with new world technique to produce nouveau-style wines that include Chardonnay, Grenache, Malbec, and Syrah. His second label, Damselfly Cellars produces Petit Syrah, Sangiovese and Rose.

Teresa's Italian Eggplant Involtini with Odonata Malbec

     After Rick told Teresa about his lunch with Kaz, she went to the restaurant and this is her version of this great dish.

2 eggplants (1 pound each)

olive oil

2 teaspoons kosher salt

3 cups of marinara sauce

1/2 pound of thin spaghetti

20 fresh basil leaves, chopped

8 ounces ricotta cheese

1/2 pound of smoked mozzarella cheese

     Slice the eggplants lengthwise into 3/8-inch thick slices. You should get 8 slices from each eggplant. Brush some olive oil on the eggplant slices and place under the broiler for 4-5 minutes per side.

     Bring the water for the pasta to a boil, add salt to taste, and cook the pasta until al dente. When the pasta is ready, drain, and toss with half of the tomato sauce and half of chopped basil, stirring until the pasta is well coated. Preheat the oven to 400 F.

     Coat the bottom of a baking dish with a thin layer of tomato sauce. Put a slice of the cooked eggplant on a plate. Place a few strands of spaghetti on top of the eggplant slice; the strands should drape over the slice on both sides.Add some ricotta cheese over the pasta and roll the eggplant slice around the pasta and cheese. Place the roll in the baking dish.

  

When all the rolls are in the baking dish pour a little of the sauce over them and sprinkle the remaining basil on top. Place a slice of smoked mozzarella on top of each roll. Dot the top of each roll with a little more sauce. Bake for 20 minutes until the cheese melts.
Serves 8