iPhone app: Vini d'Italia 2012 from Gambero Rosso

The respected Italian gastronomy review and publisher Gambero Rosso has a new iPhone app: Vini d’Italia 2012 del Gambero Rosso. 

OK, it is in Italian, but it’s free and even if you use just one element, it can be useful. After all, the names of the wines are the same in Italian and English. Go first to the button at the bottom labeled “I migliori” — the best. That’s where you’ll find a listing of this year’s wines that have won the review’s highest honor — Tre Bicchieri (three wineglasses). Consider it a crib sheet to the best wines in Italy at the moment. Note too prices are in euros, and will be different than U.S. wine shop prices.

You can also view a map of Italy and find wines by region and producers, very useful on a road trip through Tuscany or Piedmont. But if you want to know more about any particular region, you’ll have to buy the $1.99 package for that region.

I tried out the one for Campania, the region known for Greco di Tufo, Fiano di Avellino and Taurasi, among other wines. After purchasing that package, when I press the name of the producer, I get the address, email address, phone and website. It also tells me if you can buy directly from the winery — si or no — and gives me a listing of all the wines made at the estate. If you want to read further about the producer, though, you’ll need to get out your Italian dictionary.

Oh yes, you can also add your own tasting notes to the listing for each wine as well as make a list of favorites so you don’t have to go scrolling through the entire lineup in order to find a wine.

All in all, I would say the app is pretty handy at the wine shop or on a trip to Italian wine regions.

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Photos: A screenshot of Vini d'Italia del Gambero Rosso. Credit: Gambero Rosso

 

This week's Culinary SOS: Heilman's Key lime pie

This week's Culinary SOS comes to us from Tina Nelissen in Anaheim:

Bob Heilman's Beachcomber Restaurant in Clearwater Beach, Fla., has the most exquisite Key lime pie I have ever eaten. It isn't heavy — it is light but not airy like a mousse. The crust was not soggy on the bottom — almost like it was just made. Do you think they'd share the recipe?

Heilman's was happy to share its recipe for this classic pie. With just a few ingredients (egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, fresh Key lime juice and zest), the pie can be made in minutes. Just be sure to give it plenty of time to chill, then top as desired and serve to friends.

Enjoy, Tina! You can find the recipe here.

Click here for more Culinary SOS recipes.

If you have a favorite restaurant recipe you'd like to request, feel free to email me at noelle.carter@latimes.com.

I'll do my best to track it down!

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Photo: Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times

One-night Test Kitchen at Short Order on Feb. 25

The pop-up series Test Kitchen is back for one night at Short Order, the new upscale burger joint at the Original Farmers Market on 3rd Street. On Saturday, Feb. 25, five chefs, all Test Kitchen alumni, are coming up with five new burgers and four mixologists will create new cocktails. 

Kris Morningstar's Flavor Burger No. 6: beef, house-made mortadella bites, Moroccan beets with spiced pistachio crunch and yogurt and mint. Walter Manzke's Vietnamese Pork Burger: pork, pickled radish, spicy sauce (served with Taleggio beignets and vegetable crudites). Adam Horton's Korean BBQ Burger: galbi and kimchi aioli (served with quinoa croquettes and som tam slaw). Ori Menashe's Italian Burger: aged beef, porcini mustard, Parmesan aioli, wild arugula, crispy pancetta, oven-dried tomato (with crispy polenta fries). Christian Page's "Filet o' Fish": sand dab, tartar sauce, American cheese (with Scotch egg and spuds "poutine"). 

Guest mixologists joining Short Order's Julian Cox behind the bar are: Son of a Gun's Daniel Warrilow, Ray's & Stark Bar's Paul Sanguinetti  and Raphael's Chris Parke. 

Burgers are $14 to $18, and special sides are $5 to $12. 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Walk-ins are welcome, but reservations are suggested. For reservations email testkitchen@shortorderla.com, including requested reservation time, contact name and number, and number in the party.  
 
6333 W. 3rd St., No. 110, Los Angeles, (323) 761-7970, www.shortorder-la.com. 

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Photo: Short Order burger and spuds. Credit: Christina House/For The Times

Test Kitchen video tip: Clarifying butter

For many, clarified butter is the cooking fat of choice in the kitchen. It is butter from which the milk solids, water and whey proteins have been removed. The resulting butter is a beautifully clear golden liquid when melted, preferred in many recipes because it can be cooked at higher temperatures than standard butter. (The milk solids in standard butter can easily burn.)

Because it's clarified, this butter can also last longer -- the milk solids that can cause standard butter to go rancid so quickly have been removed. Of course, the milk solids also impart rich flavor, so clarified butter will not have the same depth of flavor as standard butter.

You can find clarified butter (or ghee, a type of Indian clarified butter) in many cooking stores and specialty markets, but it can be costly, and it's just as easily made at home.

To make your own clarified butter, gently melt the butter over low heat in a heavy-bottom saucepan (or slowly melt it in the microwave). As the butter melts, the milk solids will sink to the bottom and water and whey proteins will gently bubble to the top. After the water has evaporated, gently skim the whey (the dry foam) from the top of the clarified butter. Very gently pour the clarified butter into a separate container, making sure not to disturb the milk solids at the bottom. 1 cup (2 sticks) of standard butter should give you 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup clarified butter.

Cool the butter, then cover and refrigerate until needed. Voila!

If you have any kitchen tips or questions you'd like me to explore, leave a comment below or email me at noelle.carter@latimes.com.

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Video credit: Myung Chun / Los Angeles Times

Test Kitchen tips: Homemade pasta

That kids love pasta is one of those parenting truisms that begins as relief (it's easy, it's cheap), quickly graduates to fatigue, and usually culminates in parody. I still remember the Year of the Noodle, in which my daughter ate almost nothing but milk and buttered ziti.

Instead of fighting this (it won't work), try harnessing it. Ask, what would Marcella do? Marcella Hazan, that is, the go-to Italian food authority in my house.

Making your own pasta is fun, a lot easier than it sounds, and your children will probably love it too. What kid doesn't love playing with food?

Pasta-making is a bit like a kid's project anyway. Mix flour and eggs together into something that resembles Play-Doh. Then roll it out, cut it into funny shapes, boil it and eat it under a spoonful of sauce.

The above is from a great story on homemade pasta from former Food staff writer Amy Scattergood. If you've never tried it before, homemade pasta is amazingly simple. And easy. And fun! Oh, and it makes a great weekend cooking project. No worries, recipes are included:

• Basic pappardelle
• Pappardelle with pesto
• Apple walnut kugel

If you have any kitchen tips or questions you'd like me to explore, leave a comment below or shoot me an email at noelle.carter@latimes.com.

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Photo credit: Stephen Osman / Los Angeles Times

Today's Eat Beat: Palazzio's mac 'n' cheese

Recently, reader Cynthia Crass contacted us with a Culinary SOS request for mac and cheese pie:

I was in Santa Barbara recently for a little vacation and stopped at Palazzio. Loved everything we had there, but especially loved the mac and cheese pie. It was incredibly rich, but so delicious. I'm especially curious as to what technique they use to make it so dense. Any chance you could get their recipe? Thanks!

In this Eat Beat, Test Kitchen manager Noelle Carter demonstrates how to make Palazzio's take on this classic comfort food, folding in no less than three kinds of cheese as well as some prosciutto for a little extra love. You can find the recipe here.

Catch our televised recipe demonstrations on KTLA-TV, Channel 5 every Wednesday and Friday toward the end of the 1 p.m. news hour; you can also watch the videos on Food's homepage.

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Video credit: KTLA

La Condesa to open on La Brea in early 2013

Mexican restaurant La Condesa, with locations in Austin and Napa Valley, is planning to open a new outpost in Los Angeles on La Brea Avenue. The planned development at La Brea between 1st and 2nd streets called District La Brea, as reported earlier, is also the future home of Quinn and Karen Hatfield's Sycamore Kitchen. 

Co-owners Jesse Herman and Delfo Trombetta opened La Condesa Austin in 2009 and then the Napa Valley restaurant in St. Helena last year. The name's a reference to the artsy Mexico City neighborhood, and the restaurants -- headed by chef-partner Rene Ortiz and pastry chef Laura Sawicki -- serve a menu of contemporary Mexican food with traditional regional touches and very "now" ingredients. Dungeness crab huaraches, ceviches such as yellowtail with Thai chile and yuzu, Snake River Farms beef taquitos, quinoa-stuffed chile rellenos, and guava-glazed kurobuta pork ribs. Along with lots of tequila and specialty cocktails. Sawicki's desserts include Blue Bottle Coffee-caramel pot de creme and Redwood Hill chevre cheesecake. The L.A. La Condesa is expected to open early next year.  

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BBQ Bootcamp, the second annual edition

Grillmeister Frank Ostini of the Hitching Post II in Buellton, Calif., is hosting the second annual BBQ Bootcamp March 8-11 at Alisal Guest Ranch in Solvang. The four-day, three-night grilling weekend should teach you everything you want to know -- and possibly more -- about traditional Santa Maria-style barbecue.

Boot camp, though, seems hardly the concept, since plenty of free time is built into the schedule. Guests can roam the 10,000-acre dude ranch’s walking and horseback riding trails, or find relief from barbecue-induced aches and pains at the ranch spa. 

Beds in “deluxe cottages” promise to be soft, too, and all rooms have wood-burning fireplaces to keep everybody warm and cozy.

Morning classes are taught by Ostini with Alisal executive chef Pascal Godé. Afternoons are free for all of the above activities. And after dusk, Santa Ynez winemakers show up to pour their Pinots and Rhone-style reds. 

The first night, Thursday, features a Western-style welcome dinner. Friday night, Astini and Godé cook a meal to accompany Hitching Post II wines (made under the Hartley Ostini label). Saturday, students show what they've learned with a grill-your-own dinner, while local winemakers pair wines with each course. Sunday, breakfast at leisure, and when good and ready, head on back to L.A. with a leather-bound BBQ booklet in hand for future reference.

Sounds like fun. The only drawback? The price, which starts at $2,650 for four days and three nights, based on double occupancy. For more information, contact Alisal Guest Ranch and Resort at (800) 4-ALISAL or (805) 688-6411. More information at www.alisal.com.

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Photos: Frank Ostini explaining meat. Credit: Lisa Cohen

Eat Beat: Duck breasts on white beans with dandelion greens

Looking for a comforting dish for a cold evening? In this Eat Beat, Food editor Russ Parsons demonstrates how to make crisp duck breasts on creamy white beans with dandelion greens. You can find the recipe here.

Catch our televised recipe demonstrations on KTLA-TV Channel 5 every Wednesday and Friday toward the end of the 1 p.m. news hour; you can also watch the videos on Food's homepage.

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Pizzeria Mozza + Bianco DiNapoli tomatoes

It's hard to find Bianco DiNapoli tomatoes. The California canned organic tomatoes, a collaboration between famed pizzaiolo Chris Bianco in Phoenix and tomato processor Robert DiNapoli in Los Gatos, Calif., aren't widely available. There just aren't enough of them to go around, says DiNapoli, who began canning them in 2010 exclusively for Bianco. Last year the two started selling them to the food industry (but not retail), and this year they hope to double production.  

Meanwhile, Nancy Silverton has been putting them on a handful of her pizzas at Pizzeria Mozza. "They’re super-delicious and so sweet that we don’t cook the tomatoes, we just hand-crush those," Silverton says. "They're different from other tomatoes. We’re really excited about it." She says she uses the tomatoes in dishes that really highlight them, such as the pizza Margherita pictured below with mozzarella di bufala and Genovese basil. A small section of the menu is devoted to pizzas made with the Bianco DiNapoli tomatoes.

The tomatoes are a variety of plum tomatoes from seed adapted from the San Marzano variety for the soil and weather conditions of California. They're grown organically by farmer Cliff Fong of Yolo County and canned by DiNapoli, whose grandfather started the family tomato-canning business in 1939. Bianco's father and brother designed the label. 

DiNapoli says the tomatoes are organically farmed, hand-picked, washed and sorted. "Any tomato in the can was inspected before being placed in the can," he says. There are no chemicals, firming agents such as calcium chloride, or citric acid (usually used as a preservative). It's just tomatoes, sea salt and basil -- three basil leaves per can -- yes, exactly three.  

Pizzeria Mozza, 641 N. Highland Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 297-0101, www.mozza-la.com.

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Top photo: Bianco DiNapoli tomatoes. Credit: biancodinapoli.com. Bottom photo: Pizza at Pizzeria Mozza with Bianco DiNapoli tomatoes. Credit: Betty Hallock.