The Craig

Cioppino di Craig

Let me start off by saying, (since this is the first recipe of mine that you’re reading) that this is my interpretation of a classic recipe. I like to experiment. One of the best things about cooking is taking a dish from your favorite restaurant and making it your own.  I would challenge all of you to use the CC recipes as an outline for a signature dish. It’s all about having a glass of vino and some fun (with a little classical technique) . . . and please send me your creations!

The first dish is Cioppino. It’s an Italian seafood stew invented by hungry, gifted fishermen in the City by the Bay. As when it was conceived, there is no specific blend of seafood required to prepare this delicious concoction; use a mixture of whatever seafood you can get fresh or in reasonable shape. There are a couple of sea-dwellers that are required in my opinion — but I'll give you some favorites and you can take the line.

Enjoy!

Bryan Craig

Wine to serve:  Robert Craig 2007 Durell Vineyard Chardonnay of course!

Cioppino di Craig

1 1/2 lbs Clams (Manila or Littleneck) required
1 lb Mussels
1 lb Red Snapper Filets (or Halibut, Flounder or other mild white fish)
1 lb Medium Shrimp (with shells)
2 Whole Cooked, Cleaned and Cracked Crabs (Blue, Dungeness) required – but Lump Meat or King Crab Legs will work.  Have the store clean/crack the crab if possible, or do this at home.
1 lb Squid (Calamari sliced raw or whole – see note below*)

Seafood prep:
Sort Clams and Mussels – discard if the shells are noticeably open, clean Clams and Mussels with brush or cloth under cold, running water to remove any leftover grit; dry with a towel.

Cut Snapper Filets into 1-1/2 in cubes and check for bones.

Peel and de-vein Shrimp; save the Shrimp shells if making your own seafood broth – see note below.* 

Pick out the Crab meat from the body and claws; set aside the legs and large shell pieces (body) for stock.

If you can’t get sliced, raw Squid and can only get whole — see note below.*

Other items:
1 1/2 cup White Wine
4 cups Seafood Stock (make it yourself or store-bought) – see note below.*
1 cup Chicken Stock
1 Orange
1 large (28 oz.) can Whole Peeled Tomatoes (San Marzano if possible – Whole Foods Markets has it)
1/4 cup fresh Basil
4 cloves Garlic
1 medium White or Sweet Onion
3/4 cup Olive Oil
2 Bay Leaves
2 French or Sourdough Baguettes for dipping

Making a great tomato sauce is a key to this Cioppino and it's very easy. Start with a medium sauce pan containing 1/2 cup Olive Oil and the Onion and Garlic (roughly chopped) over med. heat. When the vegetables become translucent, add the Tomatoes (crush with your hands – it’s the Italian way!). Add fresh Basil (whole) along with 1-1/2 tsp. Salt and 1 tsp. Black Pepper (I like more S&P but start with this). Simmer on med. for 20 min. Put aside and let cool. Blend in a food processor or blender until smooth and put 1 cup aside as a dip for bread while cooking.

The Clam/Mussel Broth starts with a deep sauté pan containing 1/4 cup Olive Oil over med-high heat. When the Oil starts to smoke, carefully drop in the Clams and Mussels.  Sauté for 1 min., then pour in 3/4 cup White Wine and cover. The Mussels will open much faster than Clams, so check after 1 minute. Remove Mussels (leave in shell) once they are wide open, place the lid back on and wait another 30 sec. to 1-1/2 min. for the Clams to open. Remove Clams (leave in shell) and discard any Clams or Mussels that did not fully open.  If the broth has grit from the shell fish, strain through cheesecloth and return to pan.

To the Clam/Mussel broth add the Seafood and Chicken Stock with Tomato Sauce and remaining White Wine. Add 1/4 tsp. Orange zest, Bay Leaves and the legs and large shell pieces of Crab. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low and cover – let simmer for 30 min. Remove cover and raise heat to med. – med./high and continue to simmer until the broth color turns from bright orange to a dark orange (approx. 20 min.). Remove Bay Leaves, Crab shells and legs (set legs aside for garnish). Reduce heat back to low and add the claw and body Crab meat, Snapper and Shrimp. Simmer on low for 5 min. Add Clams, Mussels and Squid and simmer for another 3 min.

Ladle into large bowls and garnish with Crab legs and a slice of Orange.

Serves 2-6 depending on the appetites involved.  Serve with green salad and sliced Baguettes for dipping.

*Note: FOR THE EXTREME VERSION

Make your own Seafood Stock and clean those squiggly Calamari (squid) for ultimate freshness!  If you would like to have my recipe for the stock and instructions for cleaning the squid, please send in your request and I'll get back to you.

Bottling 101: Capturing wine essence in a bottle

We recently completed a week of bottling at the beautiful Robert Craig Winery high up on Howell Mountain.

During bottling, the morning starts very early in order to get the wine ready and the equipment sterilized. The days are long as the wine moves through the filler into bottles, followed by cork and foil application, then labeling and finally packing into case boxes. Thousands of bottles are filled each day and every step has to work smoothly unless we want to hear the sound of breaking glass or tumbling boxes!

 

Our 2007 Howell Mountain Zinfandel comes off the mobile
bottling truck and into six-packs to be readied for release later this summer.

Some winemakers will tell you that bottling is their least favorite part of the job. For me, I really enjoy the process.

Bottling signifies an important time in the life of a wine and its maker. All the years of work in the vineyard and cellar – the cultivation, nurturing and hand-wringing, the tasting and blending decisions - are finally complete.

The wine has achieved the optimal stage for moving on to the next phase in its journey from vine to table  – in the bottle where it will begin a more gradual evolution to greatness that was envisioned back when there were only grapes on the vine.

Bottling is not only the culmination of years of work in handcrafting the wine, but also months of planning, scheduling and coordinating the logistics of all packaging supplies, bottling truck, labor, and shipping and receiving details. Everything must be lined up well in advance for a smooth and uneventful bottling run.

It is inevitable that not everything will go as planned. A delivery glitch or equipment breakdown can have us scrambling to resolve the problem. When bottles are not moving – we are losing time and money. So it was very gratifying, during this most recent bottling, to have no major problems and to simply enjoy the continuous and hypnotic rhythm of a successful bottling run.

Realizing that we have captured the essence and beauty of the 2007 vintage of Affinity, Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, and Howell Mountain Zinfandel and the 2008 Durell Vineyard Chardonnay is definitely reason to celebrate!

Cheers,

Stephen Tebb, Winemaker

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

After 20 years in the wine business and hundreds of tastings and events, I had begun to suspect that nothing new would appear under the sun.

No new questions. . ."How long should I cellar this?" "What percentage of new oak?"  "Can I still get some 04 Affinity?". . .etc., etc., etc.

No new answers.

No new outfits.  Miami, New Jersey and Los Angeles are the clear winners here, but once you host an event, the shock value wears down for each consecutive visit to the market.  No hat is too high; no dress is too low.

No new "wine-loving-couples" at an auction.  A five-decade age difference is a common thread with the big bidders.  Ho hum.

Then the lightning bolt of true refreshment and surprise arrived at a retail store event in late March in Dallas.  While I was pouring the Craig at a Sigel's wine shop, one of our long-time friends of the winery, a Dallas local, stopped by.

Ann Baum is a lovely, petite lady with a fondness for Craig Cabernets.  She and her husband Jim had come out to our Cabernet Club Valentine's Candlelight Dinner on Howell Mountain in February, where Jim managed to have a good time despite a bout with food poisoning from the day before.  Not only are the Baums great friends, they are tough Texans!

Ann handed over a photograph of her infant son for me to take back to Bob, Lynn and the Craig team in Napa.  I filled her glass with the dark, fragrant elixir of Mt. Veeder while glancing at the photo. . .what a beautiful, cherubic young lad!

The wine tasting event was packed to capacity, so I was filling glasses as fast as I could.  I thanked Ann for the photo and filled another round of thrust-forward glasses.  When the seas parted momentarily, I looked down more carefully at the photograph and finally noticed the name inscribed below the smiling face of Ann and Jim Baum's baby boy.

Robert Craig Baum.

 

So, Robert Craigheads, the gauntlet as been thrown down by Ann and Jim!  Bob, Lynn and the rest of us here at the winery are way excited to follow the progress of little Robert Craig Baum.  This will put a spring in my step for at least another decade of wine tastings, thanks to Ann and Jim.

That's it from the road, Elton