Where I’ve Been Getting Takeout of Late, Part 6

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A beauty of a prosciutto pizza at Vina Enoteca.
A beauty of a prosciutto pizza at Vina Enoteca.

Vina Enoteca, Palo Alto

Handmade pastas you can’t wait to twirl a fork into. Pizzas that make you lunge for a slice. An impressive Italian wine list. And creative cocktails that always put you in a peppy mood.

Vina Enoteca has long been one of my favorite Italian restaurants because it offers all of that with aplomb.

Ordering online is a breeze, as is parking when you pick up your order. These days, there’s plenty of open parking slots in the adjacent lot behind the Stanford Shopping Center. Walk up to the host stand outside to pick it all up.

A simple cacio e pepe, made more special with a Parmigiano crisp on top.
A simple cacio e pepe, made more special with a Parmigiano crisp on top.

My husband can never resist a pizza topped with prosciutto. The Pizza Emiliana ($22) is like the super-model version of that.

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August Means Ricotta and Olive Oil Muffins with Figs

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Moist and fluffy from ricotta and olive oil, these incredible muffins get crowned with a honey-drizzled fig half.
Moist and fluffy from ricotta and olive oil, these incredible muffins get crowned with a honey-drizzled fig half.

If you’re blessed with your own backyard fig tree, you never have this problem.

But for those of us who are left with buying fresh figs at the market or through grocery delivery services these days, figs can be a bit confounding. You want them squishy-ripe so they’re at their sweetest — yet that’s also when they’re prone to go moldy in a flash. If you happen to find yourself with ones that are not soft at all, you wait with bated breath, checking them each day, in hopes that they will finally yield to the push of a fingertip.

But you realize soon enough that’s all in vain because figs actually don’t ripen much once they are picked. And if they are picked too early, forget about it.

However, less than ideal figs can be salvaged by baking or roasting them. Their natural sugars, no matter how modest, will exude and caramelize in the heat of an oven, rendering them enjoyable after all.

That’s what prompted me to bake a batch of “Ricotta and Olive Oil Muffins with Figs.”

This wonderful recipe more than rescued my less-than-perfect figs. It’s from the cookbook, “365: A Year of Everyday Cooking and Baking” (Prestel, 2019) by James Beard Award-winning Meike Peters, a food writer who splits her time between Berlin and Malta.

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What I’ve Been Drinking of Late, Part 1

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This incredible Sauvignon Blanc not only is a sparkling wine, but comes in a can -- thanks to Maker.
This incredible Sauvignon Blanc not only is a sparkling wine, but comes in a can — thanks to Maker.

I had to chuckle when a friend told me that since mid-March her husband has been having a glass of wine nearly every night. And the man doesn’t normally even drink!

But that’s what the anxiety of a pandemic will do to you, especially when you’re holed up at home for days, weeks, er, months on end.

Recent studies have shown that we are indeed consuming more alcohol now.

I may not be enjoying any multiple wine pairings at restaurants right now, but I’m definitely sipping some interesting glasses at home at least a few times a week. Hey, it’s research, right? And I can relax, knowing I don’t have to drive anywhere afterward, either. Here’s what has tickled my taste buds of late:

Maker Canned Wines

If you typically turn up your nose at wines in a can, you are missing out. Because Maker’s canned wines are not only carefree fun, but serious enough to command attention, too.

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Going Goaty, Part II: Angel Biscuits

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Baking powder, baking soda, and yes, yeast, are incorporated into these airy biscuits that boast a deep flavor.
Baking powder, baking soda, and yes, yeast, are incorporated into these airy biscuits that boast a deep flavor.

Yeast in bread. Yeast in cinnamon rolls. Yeast in sticky buns.

But yeast in biscuits?

Yes, apparently so.

The unusual “Angel Biscuits” is from “Muffins & Biscuits: 50 Recipes to Start Your Day with a Smile” (Chronicle Books, 2017) by Heidi Gibson, owner of the American Grilled Cheese Kitchen in San Francisco.

These old-fashioned biscuits, Gibson writes in the book, used to be called “Bride’s Biscuits” — OK, yes, in a rather sexist way — because it was thought that not even just-married women new to cooking could screw them up.

That’s because these biscuits have not only baking powder and baking soda in them, but active dry yeast, as well. With three leaveners, it’s nearly guaranteed these puppies will indeed rise.

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Going Goaty, Part I: Strawberry Buttermilk (Or Kefir) Tart

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I swapped out raspberries for strawberries, and buttermilk for goat's milk kefir, to make this summery tart.
I swapped out raspberries for strawberries, and buttermilk for goat’s milk kefir, to make this summery tart.

2020 may very well be most remembered for the pandemic, but perhaps also for the Year of the Goat.

Maybe it was the early run on traditional baking and dairy supplies in March and April. Or maybe it’s the fact that with nowhere to go, people branched out in their tastes, longing for a taste of something new to combat the doldrums.

Whatever the case, the country’s two leading goat dairies are reporting a rise in sales. In fact, Meyenberg, the top producer of goat milk that sources from more than two dozen West Coast Dairies, saw its goat butter sales spike by 50 percent from last year. Its sales powdered goat milk also grew by 67 percent this year. Sonoma County’s Redwood Hill Farm also saw increases in sales of its goat yogurt and kefir.

Redwood Hill Farms goat milk kefir and yogurt.
Redwood Hill Farms goat milk kefir and yogurt.

I readily jumped on the goat milk bandwagon when Meyenberg and Redwood Hill Farms sent me some product samples to try.

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