Mountain Views News          Saturday, March 17, 2012

9

GOOD FOOD & DRINK

Mountain Views-News Saturday, March 17, 2012 


For Us That Love Wine…

A Tasting Triple Header

Let’s start off with a little bubbly. Pop Champagne Bar in Old Pasadena is famous for their 
selection of Sparklers, Champagne and pretty much anything that fizzes. Come celebrate 
150 Years of Shramsberg Sparkling Wine with owner and Vintner Hugh Davies. He will 
be on hand to discuss and participate in this exclusive tasting of six wines and an extensive 
buffet of Pops favorites appetizers. 

Fun starts at 7 PM and goes to 10 PM. The cost is $60 per person. Please call Pop Dessert 
and Champagne Bar for additional details. Wednesday, 
March 21st. 

Pop Dessert and Champagne Bar 33 E. Union St. 
Pasadena (626) 795-1295

The following night at Il Fornaio Restaurant in Old 
Pasadena I will be on hand with Chef Lalo Talomantes 
for a night of Wine Tasting and top notch Italian food 
grazing. This event starts at 4 PM in the bar area for 
an extended happy hour with J LOHR Vineyards 
and Winery. You are invited to stay for dinner at 7 
pm. Il Fornaio is located at the corner of Fair Oaks 
and Colorado in Old Pasadena. Reservations for the 
dinner portion are a must. Please call (626) 683-9797.

Save the Date !!! Santa Anita Uncorked… Sunday, 
March 25th.. 12 Noon to 4 PM. Paddock Area. $60 ….. 
Call (626) 574-race. Arcadia, CA…Includes program.

Join me for all three!!!!

Peter Dills’ radio show is this Sunday Night at 8 PM KABC Talk Radio AM 790. 
thechefknows@yahoo.com

DUBLIN CODDLE - IRISH 
SAUSAGE, BACON, ONION 
AND POTATO HOTPOT


ABOUT THIS RECIPE

"This traditional supper dish of sausages, bacon, 
onions and potatoes dates back at least as far as 
the early eighteenth century. It seems to be more 
of a city dish than a rural one: it was a favourite 
of Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver's Travels and 
dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin. In 
Dublin itself, coddle retains its reputation as a dish 
that can be prepared ahead of time and left in a 
very slow oven while the people who're going to eat 
it have to be out of the house for a while - making it 
an excellent dish for very busy people! The name of 
the dish is probably descended from the older word 
caudle, derived from a French word meaning "to 
boil gently, parboil, or stew". The more recent version 
of the verb, "coddle," is still applied to gently 
cooked eggs, "Coddled Eggs". Please note, the sausages 
used should be the best quality 100% pork 
sausages you can get your hands on! This recipe 
would also work VERY well if cooked in a crock-
pot, reduce the liquid by about half if cooking the 
coddle this way. Serve with Guinness and Irish 
soda bread. Although this is an easy to prepare one 
pot meal and its simplicity belies its amazing taste 
and flavour - comfort food at its best! Sláinte." 

-- French Tart

TABLE FOR TWO by Peter Dills

thechefknows@yahoo.com

INGREDIENTS 

4 1/2 lbs potatoes 

2 large onions, peeled and sliced thickly 

1 lb good quality pork sausages 

1 lb bacon, piece thick cut 

2 cups water 

1 ham stock cube or 1 beef or 1 chicken stock cubes, if ham stock isn't 
available 

 3 -4 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped 

 salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Peel the potatoes. Cut large ones into three or four pieces: leave smaller ones whole. Finely 
chop the parsley. Boil the water and in it dissolve the bouillon cube. 

Grill or broil the sausages and bacon long enough to colour them. Be careful not to dry them 
out! Drain briefly on paper towels. When drained, chop the bacon into one-inch pieces. 
If you like, chop the sausages into large pieces as well. (Some people prefer to leave them 
whole.). 

Preheat the oven to 300F / 150°C In a large flameproof heavy pot with a tight lid, start layering 
the ingredients: onions, bacon, sausages or sausage pieces, potatoes. Season each layer 
liberally with fresh-ground pepper and the chopped fresh parsley. Continue until the ingredients 
are used up. Pour the bouillon mixture over the top. On the stove, bring the liquid to 
a boil. Immediately turn the heat down and cover the pot. (You may like to additionally put 
a layer of foil underneath the pot lid to help seal it.). 

Put the covered pot in the oven and cook for at least three hours. (Four or five hours won't 
hurt it.) At the two-hour point, check the pot and add more water if necessary. There should 
be about an inch of liquid at the bottom of the pot at all times. 

To Serve. Guinness, bottled or draft, goes extremely well with this dish (indeed, adding a little 
to the pot toward the end of the process wouldn't hurt anything). Another good accompaniment 
is fresh soda bread, used to mop up the gravy!


(NAPSI)—Myths, false information and folklore 
have created confusion about things that affect 
decisions in our daily lives. One thing that is true, 
however, is that fruits and vegetables are healthful 
foods. Here are the top five myths about fruits 
and vegetables and the facts that can help you 
stay healthy.

Myth 1: Fresh is best.

Fact: Unless you eat them, you don’t get the benefits 
of fruits and vegetables, so try what fits best 
into your lifestyle: fresh, frozen, canned, dried or 
100 percent juice. If you’re going to cook them 
anyway or want them fast, think of canned and 
frozen.

Myth 2: Organic is more nutritious.

Fact: Organic fruits and vegetables have not been 
proven to be more nutritious than traditionally 
harvested fruits and vegetables.

Myth 3: Potatoes and other starchy vegetables are 
fattening.

Fact: A plain medium potato, with no fattening 
toppings, may actually aide in weight loss and 
maintenance. Potatoes are an excellent source of 
vitamin C, a good source of fiber and are one of 
the largest sources of potassium, per serving, of 
all fruits and vegetables. 

Myth 4: Dietary supplements are necessary for 
health.

Fact: Fruits and vegetables have hundreds of active 
compounds with a long list of health benefits, 
which haven’t been able to be replicated with supplements. 
Antioxidants in fruits and vegetables 
are most beneficial when acquired through whole 
food consumption.

Myth 5: Fruits and vegetables are expensive.

Fact: Fruits and vegetables can be included in a 
healthy diet, even on a budget. According to the 
USDA, most adults can meet the fruit and vegetable 
recommendation at an average price of $2 
to $2.50 per day.

For more recipes and tips from the experts at Produce 
for Better Health Foundation, visit www.
FruitsAndVeggiesMoreMatters.org.

 

DON’T BE MYTHED... GET THE FACTS 


COFFEE AND 
CHOCOLATE 
PASSIONS REVEALED!

PASADENA – New chocolate shop in South 
Lake Arcade gains an avid coffee following. 
Authentic Italian caffe’ comes to Pasadena.

While lovers of fine hand crafted chocolates 
are finding their way to Pasadena’s newest 
chocolate boutique and check the website to 
learn of new taste creations in fresh truffles 
which arrive weekly, coffee lovers are also 
coming by to have something a little different.

“I’m Italian and I needed a convenient place 
to get authentic Italian caffe’ in Pasadena,” 
says Ms Fabbri who has owned Contessa 
Italian Home Collection, a home décor and 
gift shop in the same arcade for 15 years. So 
she installed an espresso machine and trained 
the baristas to make a variety of Italian coffee 
beverages - names may be familiar, but just 
like the truffles she displays, the focus is on 
quality and not quantity. The small size yet 
incredibly high quality may be something 
you have not experienced outside of Italy. 
Espresso shots served in lovely porcelain to 
down at the coffee bar like an Italian on the 
way to an assignation, a cappuccino using 
organic high quality milk, foamed at low 
temperature to bring out the sweetness which 
matches so well with the quality espresso 
blends, a latte is all about the milk, served in 
a tall double walled glass, just as beautiful to 
look at and hold as to taste – no syrups or 
a lot of sweeteners needed to mask a bitter 
taste, just top quality ingredients done in the 
style which Italy has perfected over the past 
century.

“Like so many things American, Howard 
Schultz and other travelers came to Italy 
and experienced and saw a tradition- and 
brought it back to the US markets with a few 
changes and made it their own…. When I 
came to the US in the late 1970’s I could not 
find a beverage I considered coffee, but now, 
there are many interesting drinks available 
on every corner in which I find the roots of 
my Country’s tradition of caffe’, but like so 
many things, America enjoys what she learns 
from other parts of the world, but tends to 
change things a little to make it Her own….”

The name of the little shop is Contessa 
Chocolate Collection, and the focus remains 
on chocolate; hand crafted dark chocolate 
bars, fresh truffles, decadent chocolate 
desserts and baked goods. But while 
chocolate and coffee do go so well together, 
the coffee on it’s own is worth trying just in 
case your calendar does not have time for a 
visit to Italy any time soon.

Contact: Maria Luisa Fabbri

luisa@contessachocolates.com

626-793-7761

380 South Lake #111

Pasadena CA 91101