Bodacious Biscuits

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Best. Biscuits. Ever!

When flipping through a new cookbook, you spy a recipe called “Ginormous Biscuits.” You’re going to stop in your tracks completely breathless, aren’t you?

I mean, who wouldn’t with that temptress of a name?

The folks behind the new cookbook, “Tupelo Honey Cafe” (Andrews McMeel), sure knew what they were doing when they coined that name for these bountiful butter behemoths.

The book, of which I recently received a review copy, was written by Southern writer, Elizabeth Sims, and Brian Sonoskus, executive chef of the Tupelo Honey Cafe, which opened in downtown Asheville, NC in 2000 and now has a second location on the south side of the city.

I actually had the pleasure of dining at that adorable downtown cafe years ago, while touring the South after attending a journalism conference. Asheville is a thoroughly charming city. Like so many college towns,  (it’s home to the University of North Carolina at Asheville), it is imbued with youthful energy, culture and artistic spirit. It’s also got one of the best self-guided walking tours around with iconic sculptures marking each significant landmark. One of the most famous ones is the restored boarding house that was run by the mother of American literary giant, Thomas Wolfe, where you can sidle up to his bronzed size 13 shoes at the entrance.

After working up an appetite from all that walking, head to the popular Tupelo Honey Cafe for down-home Southern fare made with seasonal ingredients from Sonoskus’ farm, Sunshot Farm.

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Food Gal Giveaway of Organic California Olive Oil

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Luscious organic, local olive oil from Northern California by Sorelle Paradiso. (Photo courtesy of Daily Gourmet)

The Scianamblo family, who trace its roots to Puglia, Italy, has been farming in Northern California for 30 years. But it wasn’t until recently that their daughter, an integrative health practitioner and educator, convinced her parents to convert their 44-acre olive grove to all organic.

The family business, Sorelle Paradiso, now makes award-winning organic extra virgin olive oils pressed from their Mission, Sevillano, and Nevadillo Blanco olives.

The golden-hued Sorelle Paradiso Sevillano oil has a beguiling aroma of grass and pear, while the Mission Blend is all green apple, nuts and hay.

A 750ml bottle of the Mission Blend and a 375ml of the Pure Sevillano regularly sell for $75 plus $21 in shipping.

But through the end of this week, Daily Gourmet, is offering the duo for $62 plus free shipping (a $34 savings). The San Francisco-based company offers limited-time deals on gourmet products from around the country to its members. Becoming a member is as easy as signing up here.

Win these two bottles of organic olive oil (total value of $96). (Photo courtesy of Daily Gourmet)

Contest: I’m happy to be giving away one bottle each of the 750ml Mission Blend and the 375ml Pure Sevillano to one lucky Food Gal reader. Contest is open only to those in the continental United States. Entries will be accepted through noon PST July 21. Winner will be announced on July 22.

How to win?

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A Toast to Cin-Cin Wine Bar in Los Gatos

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Wild mushroom empanadas at Cin Cin Wine Bar.

At this convivial wine bar, where even on Monday nights you might have to wait more than an hour for an empty table, you’re sure to hear a lot of clinking of glasses and gregarious toasts of “cin-cin.”

Cin Cin Wine Bar in Los Gatos may be named for the Italian toast that means “to your health,” but the food by Executive Chef Chris Schloss goes beyond that with an eclectic global mix — from Korean tacos stuffed with bulgogi-style shaved rib-eye to South Carolina pulled pork sliders to three-cheese arancini fritters to soba noodle wraps.

The restaurant has attracted crowds since it was opened three years ago by long-time South Bay restaurateur Don Durante and former Google marketing professional-turned-sommelier, Lisa Rhorer, whom I had the pleasure of first meeting years ago, when we were both students in a wine class at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena.

It’s no surprise that the wines here take the spotlight as much as the food. The selections also span the world — from France to Italy to Spain to Argentina to California. They are offered by the 3-ounce or 6-ounce pour or by the bottle. Or best yet — in imaginative flights, which is what my friend Donna and I enjoyed when we dined here recently. Although we paid our tab, the chef sent out some extra treats on the house that he wanted us to try.

For a fun experience, try a wine flight -- and discover how different one varietal can taste and look.

On a warm evening, you can’t go wrong with the rosé flight ($12), a trio of dry yet fruity summer wines that included Unti Rosé of Grenache/Mouvedre, Sonoma County 2010; Castella di Ama Rosato, Tuscany 2010; and Villa Creek Rosé  of Grenache/Mourvedre/Carignan, Paso Robles 2010.

The boisterous dining rooms are outfitted with rattan chairs and green-hued, grasscloth-covered walls, lending a casual, almost tropical hideaway vibe. The menu is divided into “nibbles” ($4 to $7); “small plates” ($9 to $14)  and “large plates” ($13 to $27), making them ideal for sharing.

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Olallieberry Time

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Olallieberry pie -- as only Duarte's makes it.

With a lyrical name that’s just too much fun to say, olallieberries are black knobby berries with a sweet-tart, wine-y flavor that grow along the Central coast for a fleeting six weeks in summer.

Now’s the time to enjoy them fresh, especially at u-pick farms such as Phipps Country Store & Farm in Pescadero.

Perhaps no place has made olallieberries more famous, though, than Duarte’s Tavern in Pescadero.

The family-run business that started in 1934 is justly known for its artichoke soup, cioppino and other fresh seafood dishes. But it’s the hand-made ollalieberry pie that everyone saves room for. Enjoy it at this landmark restaurant for$6.50 a slice or $25 for a whole pie. Because Duarte’s freezes a huge supply of the ollalieberries each season, the pie is available year-round.

For the past few years, Duarte’s also has been selling ($14) unbaked, frozen whole olallieberry pies at select Bay Area stores, including Zanotto’s in San Jose and the Milk Pail in Mountain View.  Later this year, the frozen pies also will begin being sold at all Whole Foods in Northern California.

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