Pea Noir's before and after festive pig trotters braised in grape must vinegar called Mosto!
I wasn't going to blog about my own party (again) but a guest and wine cellar rat friend of my girlfriend, Andy found the event interesting enough to blog about it all on his wine blog called: Andy at Ramey: A Winery Grunts Journal
And if you are interested in organic extra virgin olive oil and where to get the good stuff (Figone's of California Oil Olive) and sustainable good pork products from The Fatted Calf
This annual party is becoming a community service event for the olive oil industry and to remind us all of the bizarre and brilliant rituals of community gatherings. It takes a lot of olives to make a gallon of oil. 246 pounds = about 4 gallons. No one ever complains again how much good organic extra virgin olive oil is again after spending the day picking and taking the fruit to the press. It also takes a lot of dark culinary arts for this feast as well as a well rounded group of foodies, farm to table types and of course winos.
Since this is a wine blog I must tell you, I did use wine grapes in the mosto (Italian grape must vinegar used for drizzling or braising pork dishes). I was lucky to be able to harvest some late cab grapes from a local vineyard here in Glen Ellen just before they turned too moldy in the rain. I also made from the A16 cookbook: Stuffed Pork Trotters, and Pork Shoulder braised in Olives and Chestnuts. That dish is usually the show stopper (and I swear people propose to me after tasting the broth). But this year I read John Barlow's "Everything But The Squeal" and was taken by the local villages food festivals. I especially was excited about pig bladders for making bread puddling. And I sourced the required pig bladders from Jordan Casing Company : (800) 349 3658. Jordan knows all about pig parts and is a real sweet heart to send me a pack of FDA approved bladders. He noted that during a recession, his sausage business increases because as he told me " when you buy a pound of sausage and cook a pound of sausage-you get a pound." These dried casings did just like the paragraph I read in the book. Hydrated then stuffed with bread pudding filling and boiled slowly for an hour or more made the most unique and moist Bread Pudding with Meyer Lemon Carmel sauce. It was the hand's down strange fruit of the day and a new staple in my pantry. Adds that touch of unexpected savory.
Judging by the full recycling bin, my wine cellar was cleaned out of the good, the bad and the ugly. It was like spring cleaning in fall. Best of sets included: Peay Scallop Shelf 2007, Linda Trotta brought her latest labors of love from Teresina Vintners and my friend Tessa's family vineyard called Vare Vineyards Ribolla Gialla 2007 is a beautiful food wine. That was all I got to taste and there was so much more. I think we even drank my sister's Hawaiian crush pad bulk wine made for her graduation a few years ago. Nothing was safe or beneath us at olive harvest. Check out Andy's wine blog for more images and get ready for next year.
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