Black Truffles, 2005 Chateau Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon ...the makings of a great dinner...the prime dry aged Filet Mignons are resting comfortably off camera.

Outstanding meal. You can never go wrong with wrapping a filet mignon and copious amounts of sliced black truffles in puff pastry. Roasted to medium rare and served with Sauce Perigueux.

The Montelena was classic. Deep ruby red color with red raspberry on the front opening to cherry and clove on the finish. Very Bordeaux-like. Complex with good structure.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

Panettone

The first time I tasted Panettone was when living in NYC. I was fortunate enough to have lived in the South Murray Hill section of Manhattan (some people call it curry hill because of all the Indian restaurants on 28th) where an outstanding food shop named Todaro Brothers is located on 2nd ave. between 30th and 31st. What a great place. Packed with mostly Italian delicacies: Cheeses, meats, pasta, cookies, pastry, coffee and all the then hard to find cooking essentials like dried mushrooms and imported pistachio and tomato paste. The list is endless. The great thing abut Todaro Brothers is, it was and is a neighborhood shop. Much smaller than the eponymous Balduccis over in the village, but every bit has sophisticated in its offerings.

Which leads me to the Panettone. Around Christmas time, boxed Panettone appeared in grocery stores around the city. Now, they are even available in Southern California markets. I never knew what a Panettone was until a few culinary school classmates and I were in Todaro Brothers shopping for a dinner party. FYI: When three culinary students decide to have a dinner party around Christmas, it can get a bit out of hand. NYC apartments aren't exactly equipped with enough ventilation and storage space to do ten courses for eight people not to mention all the wine, but it was fun. Back to the Panettone. My classmates described it as a Christmas bread with dried fruit baked into it. Well, being from the south, that sounded like a fruitcake. And to me a fruitcake had dual use: either as a doorstop or a cake some family and friends somehow enjoyed. Maybe the bourbon laced eggnog common on the southern holiday table had something to do with it? Anyhow, I was skeptical. But wow was I wrong. Buttery almost Brioche-like in texture and richness with dried orange and raisins bursting with flavor. Panettone is a must around the holidays. Served toasted plain or with a little jam and a cup of strong coffee it is a great way to start the day.

Far from Todaro Brothers these days, we recently ordered a Panettone Milanese from Emporio Rulli located in Larkspur California. It is outstanding. Chef Rulli and his staff prepare each one adhering to traditional techniques and utilizing only natural ingredients. You won't find any ingredients that require a chemistry degree to pronounce; just egg yolks, butter, wheat flour, candied orange peel and golden raisins. Order early, they have been known to shut down the kitchen if they are inundated with orders.

On this rainy cool morning; life is pretty good.

Red Wine Braised Chicken

When the weather is cool and a braise seems perfect, try this.

Serves two - four depending on the weight of the chicken.

1. 2 bone-in chicken breasts. Or, 4 thighs.

2. Half bottle of red wine

3. 1 cup of chicken stock

4. 1 Tbls tomato paste.

5. 2 bay leafs

6. 4 sprigs of thyme

7. 1 cup of mirepoix (equal parts chopped carrot, celery, onion)

8. 1 Tbls flour

9. Pancetta or bacon. Cut into 1/4 inch slices

10. 3 Tbls olive oil

In a pan just large enough to place the chicken side by side (no stacking) heat olive oil over med heat and add the Pancetta. Cook until crispy. Remove the pancetta and drain on paper towel.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add to pan skin side down. Cook until golden brown. Turn and brown. Remove chicken from pan.

Add the mirepoix cook until soft.

Add the tomato paste, stir to incorporate.

Add the flour, stir to incorporate

Add wine. Increase temp to hi and reduce by half.

Add the chicken back to the pan (skin side up) and add chicken stock, bay leaf and thyme.

Cover and reduce heat to allow liquid to simmer (not boil).

After 10 minutes turn chicken pieces over, re-cover and cook until internal temp of chicken reads 155.

Remove chicken, strain sauce into a pan over med-hi heat and reduce to desired consistence. It should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low.

De-bone the chicken and add it back into the sauce to keep warm.

Serve with frisee salad with the pancetta. Goes well with rice, potato or parsley- buttered fettuccine.

Wine: Red Burgundy, Cru Beaujolais.

THE SEASON

Since the madness of Thanksgiving is over, we can now enjoy the food, drink and celebration season of the year. All the great cities of the world are decking the halls, lighting the candles and pulling corks.

In my restaurant days, the period from Thanksgiving to New Years Day was the busiest, craziest and most fun time of the year. Every night was a new adventure. The guests were out to indulge their every whim and we were there to stretch our culinary muscles. Truffles, foie gras, oysters, venison, duck, goose, caviar, racks of veal, morels, chestnuts, wild boar, sauce poivrade, sauce perigourdine, squab, quail eggs, chocolate souffle, Champagne granita... I loved it all. Our menus were complex and labor intensive. Every real cook loves every minute of it.

The glow of the December dining room was unique. Regular guests, dressed to the hilt, stopped by en route to parties to share a glass and set plans for dinners to come. Familiar faces with out of town guests filled our room wanting, demanding to be wowed. Every city I cooked in had her own style but the electricity was universal. New York, San Diego, Atlanta and Joigny France were all great spots to play in and practice the craft of holiday gastronomy. I was lucky.

We've started our season and I hope all of you have as well.

Cheers!

Thanksgiving

Good luck to everyone cooking at home today.

Remember

When in doubt ...add butter

Always keep some chicken stock on hand to moisten any dried out dishes

Neither Michelin, AAA nor Mobile travel guide inspectors will be stopping by to dissect your menu today.

And

Two fingers of Makers Mark, a few ice cubes and a splash of soda cures most ills.

Happy Thanksgiving

Cheese, Fromage, Formaggio, Queso

Cheese is wonderful. Alive like wine. The flavor and texture are the result of the passion and skill of the cheesemaker, the quality of the milk and the diet and geographic home of the cow, sheep and or goat. The best thing is, cheese can be served anytime and for any course. It goes well in salads, melted on top of soup, in pasta, on a hamburger, in an omelet, as a pre-pastry course in a formal menu or for desert. I once worked for a Chef who served a lamb chop with a melted disk of goat cheese on it and a quenelle of tapenade on the side. I was skeptical. Yea...try it.

Finally, after many years of living in a vacuum in the United States, we have joined the rest of the cheese loving world and are importing and producing great artisan cheeses. Thanks in large part to Steven Jenkins. With his 1996 book, Cheese Primer, the demand for local and chain food markets in the US to offer real cheese, not the industrialized orange plastic that was sold here under the lie: cheese, has skyrocketed. I had the pleasure of working with Mr. Jenkins as an assistant during one of his cheese classes in NYC. I've been a devotee of fine cheese ever since. In his classes, the group had the opportunity to taste many outstanding offerings. The most important aspect I took away from the experience though, was advocacy. He empowered and motivated us to DEMAND quality artisan cheese from our local markets. It worked. I was in a large corporate grocery store recently and there was a cheese counter that contained the likes of Roquefort, Gruyere and Morbier. This was unheard of twenty years ago. From the local cheese shops well stocked with once unattainable offerings, up scale food shops to chain grocery stores, we are now able to enjoy one of the great foods of the world.

The next time you have some quiet time on a Saturday afternoon, tear off a hunk of baguette, slice it open, smear some demi-sel butter on it, place a healthy slice of Comte or Emmental in it, pour a glass of Cotes-du-Rhone, flip on Dave Brubeck's Take Five and enjoy. You'll understand.