• New building plan moving forward

    We signed a contract a few days ago on a new building and if all goes well, we close in February. I knew I would get a good deal on a building in these economic times, but I didn’t imagine just HOW good of a deal. We just happened to find a seller that was equally motivated to sell as we were to buy.

    Where others have seen so much negativity this past year, I have continually found opportunities. Yes, it’s a down market, but thanks to solid planning and a very slow but steady build of our business, we were in the right place at the right time to take advantage of the current economic market. It’s scary and exciting at the same time, but we’ve looked this thing over forwards and backwards and just can’t see the negatives in this deal. Best part is, we’ll have additional room left over if some Producers and Editors want to share the space. More details as I can share them.

    It’s going to be an exciting 2010!

     
  • Christmas Eve Recipes

    So way back on December 10th I said I was going to add some of the recipes for our Christmas Eve dinner and then of course the Holiday rush just sort of took over here. Sorry about that, but you know how it is when family starts showing up and you’re pushing to get the year end deadlines done and things fall through the cracks…. Well, here are the recipes which you can enjoy any time of the year!

    But first, some background history on the meal we serve here, The Feast of the Seven Fishes:

    Southern Italians around the world celebrate Christmas Eve with a Feast of the Seven Fishes, also known as La Vigilia (Italian: “the vigil”).
    It is a meal that typically consists of seven different seafood dishes. Some Italian families have been known to celebrate with 9, 11 or 13 different seafood dishes. This celebration is a commemoration of the wait, Vigilia di Natale, for the midnight birth of the baby Jesus.

    The tradition of eating seafood on Christmas Eve dates from the medieval Catholic tradition of abstinence-in this case, refraining from the consumption of meat or milk products-on Fridays and specific holy days. As no meat or butter could be used, observant Catholics would instead eat fish, typically fried in oil.
    There are many hypotheses for what the number “7″ relates to, one being the number of Sacraments in the Roman Catholic Church. Another theory is that seven is a number representing perfection: the traditional Biblical number for divinity is three, and for Earth is four, and the combination of these numbers, seven, represents God on Earth, or Jesus Christ.

    Brought to this country by my grandfather, Louis Biscardi, Sr., I’ve never known another way to celebrate Christmas Eve. Good food, good friends and family gathered to celebrate a joyous season. What more could anyone want?

    Mama’s Christmas Eve Fish Sauce

    1/2 bushel Littleneck Clams
    3 lbs Mussels
    2 Lobster Tails
    2 lbs Shrimp
    2 lbs Fresh Fish (Talapia, Sole, Catfish, etc….)
    1 lb Calamari sliced
    Garlic in Oil
    1 full can of white clam sauce (Progresso’s)
    1 can of clams strained from the white clam sauce (Progresso’s)
    1 – 105oz Can of Crushed Tomatoes
    1 – 14 oz Can of Diced Tomatoes
    1-2 tablespoons of sugar
    Fresh Basil
    Crushed Hot Pepper

    Clean all of the seafood, including scrubbing the shells of the clams and mussels.
    De-vein the shrimp.
    Set all of the seafood aside in the refrigerator.

    Steam the clams and mussels in garlic, wine, butter.
    Strain the juices from the clams and mussels and add to the sauce.
    Fry the calamari just before adding and pour in with the oil.
    Put the clams and mussels aside.

    Lightly brown the garlic in oil.
    Add the full can of white clam sauce.
    Add the strained clams.
    Bring to a light boil.
    Add all of the Tomatoes and the Sugar, turn the heat down to medium low.
    Add fresh basil to taste
    Add Crushed Hot Pepper to taste.
    Let simmer at least 2 hours over low to medium heat.

    One hour before serving – Lobster Tails
    30 minutes before serving – add the Calamari
    15 minutes before serving – add the steamed clams and mussels
    10 minutes before serving – add the Shrimp and Fresh Fish.

    Serve over 2 – 3 pounds of fresh linguine.
    Wally’s Marinara Sauce

    3 – 6 cloves garlic, chopped
    Olive oil, enough to cover bottom of pot
    2 Cans of Crushed Tomatoes
    1 can of Diced Tomatoes
    1 teaspoon Sugar
    Fresh Basil, chopped
    Dried or fresh Oregano
    Crushed Hot Pepper

    Lightly brown the garlic in oil.
    Add all of the tomatoes and sugar.
    Add all of the spices.
    Bring to a light boil, then lower the heat and let simmer for at least one hour.

    Fried Calamari

    You can make this up to 3 hours in advance. After frying, leave the calamari at room temperature uncovered. When ready to serve, broil in a baking pan for 2 to 3 minutes to flash re-heat the calamari.

    Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
    1 pound clean squid with tentacles, bodies cut into 1/3- to 1/2-inch-thick rings
    2 cups all-purpose flour
    2 tablespoons dried parsley
    Salt and freshly ground black pepper
    2 lemons, cut into wedges
    1 cup simple tomato sauce, recipe follows or jarred marinara sauce, warmed

    Pour enough oil into a heavy large saucepan or deep fryer to reach the depth of 3 inches. Heat over medium heat to 350 degrees F. Mix the flour, parsley, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Working in small batches, toss the squid into the flour mixture to coat. Carefully add the squid to the oil and fry until crisp and very pale golden, about 1 minute per batch. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, transfer the fried calamari to a paper-towel lined plate to drain.
    Place the fried calamari and lemon wedges on a clean plate. Sprinkle with salt. Serve with marinara or aoili sauce.

    Yield: 6 cups

    Steamed Clams & Mussels in Wine, Garlic and Butter

    I steam the clams a mussels a day in advance and then save them and their resulting broth to add to the fish sauce the next day.

    Littleneck Clams, any number from a dozen to several bushels.
    Water
    White Wine or Sherry
    Garlic to taste
    1/2 – 2 sticks of butter

    Place a pot big enough to hold the clams on the stove over medium high heat, the pot must have a cover.
    Place approx. 1 inch of water in the bottom of the pan.
    Add 1 – 4 tablespoons of the Wine/Sherry depending on the number of clams
    Add Garlic to taste
    Add 1/2 – 2 sticks of butter depending on the number of clams.
    Bring all to a boil, add the clams and cover.
    Stir occasionally until all of the clams open up, 2 – 6 minutes depending on the number of clams.

    Cool and place in ziplocs with some of the broth to be used in the sauce the next day, or if you’re hungry now….

    Put clams into a large serving bowl and pour the juices over the clams. Pour a glass of wine to make it even better!

    Wally’s Steamed & Broiled Lobster Tails

    Up to 12 Lobster Tails
    White wine, enough for bottom of pot
    1/2 – 1 stick of butter depending on how many tails
    1/4 – 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
    2 – 6 cloves of garlic sliced.
    1/4 cup additional chopped fresh basil

    Clean the tails thoroughly.

    Remove the meat from the shells, discard shells.
    Bring wine, butter and garlic to a boil and add lobster tails.
    Cook for 8 minutes.
    Allow the tails to cool immediately in a bowl sitting on ice.

    When ready to serve with the meal…

    Set the Oven to Broil.
    Place the tails in a shallow oven pan.
    Place a pat of butter and two slices of garlic on each tail.
    Broil for 3 minutes or until done.
    Transfer to a chafing pan for serving and sprinkle fresh basil across the tails.
    Randall’s Ordinary Scallops

    2 bunches scallions, minced
    2 cloves garlic, minced
    Paprika
    Pinch Salt
    Pinch pepper
    2 ounces (1/2 stick) butter (maybe use less to make them drier)
    2 pounds scallops
    Seasoned breadcrumbs to coat

    Mix scallions, garlic, paprika, salt and pepper together.
    In a sauté pan, melt butter. When butter is melted, add sauté scallion mixture.

    In a separate bowl, coat the scallops with bread crumbs. Add the coated scallops to the sauté mixture. Stir and cook about 2 – 4 minutes.


    Alton Brown Shrimp Cocktail
    (from my days working on “Good Eats” for the Food Network)

    You can broil / grill the shrimp the day before you serve if you’d like. Simply drop the shrimp from the oven / grill into a chilled bowl that’s sitting on ice. Then put them in a ziploc bag (shells still on) in the fridge overnight. Peel the shells off just before serving.

    While the recipe calls for broiling the shrimp, I use the gas grill outside to cook these. Set the grill to medium heat and allow to warm up for about 5 minutes, and just cook straight on the grill without the need for the sheet pan.

    32 shell-on (21 to 25 count) tiger shrimp

    For the brine:
    1/4 cup kosher salt
    1/4 cup sugar
    1 cup water
    2 cups ice

    For the cocktail sauce:
    1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
    1/2 cup prepared chili sauce
    4 tablespoons prepared horseradish
    1 teaspoon sugar
    Few grinds fresh black pepper
    1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

    1 tablespoon olive oil
    Sprinkle Old Bay seasoning

    Using a pair of scissors or a serrated knife, make an incision down the backside of the shrimp, following the intestinal track. Eviscerate shrimp and rinse under cool water leaving shells intact.

    Place cleaned shrimp into a bowl with brine and refrigerate mixture for 20 to 25 minutes. While shrimp are brining, place tomatoes, chili sauce, horseradish, sugar, pepper, and salt in food processor and blend until smooth. Refrigerate cocktail sauce until ready to serve.

    Place a baking sheet or broiler pan under oven broiler and preheat for 5 minutes OR turn on your gas grill to medium heat.

    Remove shrimp from brine and drain thoroughly. Rinse the shrimp under cold water and dry on paper towels. In a large bowl, toss shrimp with olive oil and sprinkle with Old Bay seasoning, if desired.

    Place shrimp onto a sizzling sheet pan and return to broiler immediately, or if you’re using your grill, simply lay the shrimp right onto the grill. After 2 minutes, turn the shrimp with a pair of tongs.

    Return the shrimp to broiler for 1 minute. Transfer to a cold cookie sheet. Refrigerate immediately.

    Once shrimp have chilled, arrange with cocktail sauce in a martini glass or as desired.

    In the summer time, I prepare grilled shrimp using this same recipe.

    Baked Clams on the Half Shell ala Wally

    Prep Time: 20 minutes + 20 minute rest
    Cook Time: 2-4 minutes
    Yield: 20 – 30 baked clams

    16 Large Clams like Qhahog or Top Neck
    White Wine for steaming
    1 Stick of butter
    3 Cloves garlic sliced
    1.5 cups seasoned breadcrumbs
    1/4 cup fresh basil chopped
    1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
    4 cloves finely chopped garlic
    Pinch of grated cheese
    1/2 cup olive oil
    3 Lemons cut into wedges

    Scrub the clams under cold running water.

    In a large pot, place enough white wine to cover the bottom and up to 1/2” up along with the stick of butter and the 3 cloves of sliced garlic. Bring to a boil

    When boiling, add all the clams, cover and cook until all the clams open, about 5 minutes or less.

    Remove the clams and let cool. You can either save the clam juice for a seafood sauce or dump.

    Remove the steamed clams, but save the shells. Chopped the steamed clams.

    In a small bowl, toss together the chopped clams, bread crumbs, fresh basil, parsley, garlic and grated cheese.

    Use a fork to stir the olive oil into this mixture. It should be moist but not oily. Set aside to chill for at least 20 minutes.

    While the mixture chills, break open the shells completely and clean thoroughly.

    Brush each shell with vegetable or olive oil.

    Fill each clam with a portion of the topping mixture, spreading it evenly over the clam to the edge of the shell. Pat down gently, but do not press it tight.

    Turn on the broiler in your oven.

    Spritz or brush olive oil lightly onto the top of each clam.

    Place the clams under the broiler and cook until golden brown, about 2 - 4 minutes.
    Serve immediately with lemon wedges.
    Grilled Tuna with Basil Pesto

    2 (2-inch thick) tuna steaks (about 1 pound each)
    Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
    1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

    PESTO SAUCE – Just buy a high quality pesto sauce from Costco, Fresh Market, Whole Foods, etc..

    Preheat grill to 400 degrees F.
    Wash and pat dry the tuna steaks. Season with salt and pepper and brush both sides with olive oil. Place tuna on hot grill and sear each side for 2 minutes for rare. If you prefer well done, cook the tuna an additional 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove from skillet and let it rest.

    Slice the tuna across the grain and on a bias into 1/2-inch thick slices. Place the slices on a serving plate and drizzle with lemon juice. Sauce tuna with pesto.


    Roasted Red Pepper Salad with Garlic & Basil

    Make at least one day in advance to allow the flavors to blend. Rule Number One: You can’t have too much garlic…..

    6 Red Peppers
    Paper Bag big enough to hold the 6 peppers
    1 head of garlic, minced
    Fresh Basil, chopped
    Dried Oregano to taste
    Pepper to taste
    Airtight container approx 8” x 3” and 3” deep (like Tupperware)

    Place a rack approx. 6 inches from the top of the oven, set oven to Broil (OR Cook out on a gas grill like I do)
    Wash and place the whole peppers on a baking sheet and place under the broiler, be sure to leave the oven door open a crack.
    Turn the peppers as needed until they are just about completely blacked on all sides. Should take from 10 – 20 minutes.
    Put the peppers into a paper bag and seal the bag, let rest at least 10 minutes.
    peel the skin off the peppers and discard.
    Slice the peppers open and discard the seeds and the stem.
    Slice the peppers vertically in 1/4 – 1/2” strips.

    Place a layer of pepper strips in the bottom of the container
    Sprinkle basil, garlic, oregano and pepper on the peppers
    Repeat this process until all of the peppers are used, should be 3 – 4 layers depending on the size of the container.
    Place the container in the refrigerator overnight.
    Remove from the refrigerator and place onto a serving plate to serve.

    Hot Stuffed Cherry Peppers (or use Sweet peppers)

    You like the way these ingredients are described? Yep, that’s how my Mom gave me the recipe. You just make it up as you go. Too dry? Add some olive oil or another egg. Too wet? Add more breadcrumbs. Not enough flavor? Add more spices. You get the idea. Just have fun with it!

    Whole Cherry Peppers
    Bread Crumbs
    Parsley (fresh or dried)
    Basil (fresh or dried)
    Garlic Powder
    Eggs
    Fresh Mozzarella cheese
    Large pinch Grated Cheese

    Cut top of pepper off and clean out seeds.
    Mix bread crumbs, cheese, parsley, basil and garlic powder together.
    Beat eggs and add to bread crumb mixture to make a paste
    Cut the Mozzarella Cheese into small cubes that will fit inside the bottom of the peppers.
    Push a cube of Mozzarella into the bottom of the pepper.
    Add stuffing until the pepper is full.
    Place the peppers into a jar and cover with Olive Oil until serving time

    Breaded Cauliflower

    2 heads of Cauliflower, chopped
    4 – 6 eggs for dipping
    Seasoned Breadcrumbs for dipping

    Pre-heat the Deep Fryer to 375 degrees.

    Dip into egg, and then into breadcrumbs. Be sure to coat fully.

    Fry in batches for 2 minutes each.

    If you make these in advance of your dinner, simply leave them out at room temperature uncovered. If you put them in the fridge or cover them, they will get soggy. When you’re ready to serve, simply place on a baking pan under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes. This will flash heat them back up and keep them dry at the same time.

    Sausage-Stuffed Mushrooms – makes approx. 53 mushrooms

    For extra flavor we actually make these one or two days in advance. We have found that the flavors mix even more after they sit overnight. Reheat before serving.

    Olive Oil to cover the bottom of the pan
    1 chorizo (cured spicy pork sausage, available at Hispanic markets and some specialty foods chops) or pepperoni, skinned and chopped fine*
    We replace with Vegetarian Chorizo or 2 – 10oz packages of Boca Italian Sausage links (8 pieces)
    1 cup minced onion
    3 garlic cloves, minced
    2 - 40oz containers, large mushrooms, stems removed carefully and chopped fine
    6 tablespoons medium-dry Sherry
    1 1/2 cup coarse fresh bread crumbs, toasted lightly
    3 large egg yolk, beaten lightly
    6 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves

    In a skillet heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over moderate heat until it is hot and in it saute the chorizo for 1 minute. Add the onion and cook the mixture, stirring, until the onion is softened. Add the garlic and cook the mixture, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the mushroom stems and salt and pepper to taste and cook the mixture, stirring, until the liquid the mushrooms give off is evaporated. Add the Sherry and boil it until it is evaporated. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the bread crumbs. Let the mixture cook and blend in the egg yolk, the parsley, and salt and pepper to taste.

    Brush the outside of each mushroom cap with some of the oil. Divide the filling among the caps, mounding it, arrange the stuffed mushrooms in a lightly oiled baking dish just large enough to hold them in one layer, and bake them in a preheated 400 degree F. oven for 10-12 minutes, or until they are golden. Serve the mushrooms warm or at room temperature.

    Cippiolinis and Potatoes

    2 lbs of Cippiolinis, cleaned and halved (Can substitute Pearl Onions)
    6 med-large Red Potatoes, cleaned and sliced
    1/4 – 1/2 cup Olive Oil
    3 Garlic Cloves, sliced
    Salt to taste
    Crushed Red Pepper to taste
    Paprika to taste

    Fry the onions in the oil over medium heat
    Add the sliced Potatoes and cook for a few minutes covered.
    Add the Garlic and Salt.
    Add the Red Pepper and Paprika.

    Stir often Cook approx. 10 minutes depending on the depth of the pan. Keep the cover on during the entire cooking process.

    Could take a little longer, could take a little less. You just never can tell with the cooking utensils, stoves, gas vs. electric, the humidity today, El Nino, a bad hair day, altitude, all the usual suspects. Just can’t get good cooking help these days, eh?

    Escarole with Pine Nuts

    1 tablespoon olive oil
    1/4 cup thinly sliced shallots
    3 cloves garlic, minced
    1 head of escarole (about 1 pound), washed, dried and coarsely chopped
    1/2 cup vegetable broth
    1/4 teaspoon chili flakes
    2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
    Salt and freshly ground pepper
    1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted in a dry skillet for 2 minutes until fragrant and golden brown

    Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring, until shallots are soft, about 2 minutes.

    Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.

    Add the escarole and cook, stirring, until it has wilted, about 5 minutes.

    Add the broth, and chili flakes. Bring simmer and cook over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, another 3 minutes.

    Add the vinegar and cook for 2 minutes more.

    Season with salt and pepper. Stir in pine nuts just before serving.

    Biscuit Tortoni (Italian Ice Cream)

    Nifty trick, before dividing the mixture into the 4 ounce paper cups, run this through an ice cream maker for about 20 minutes to add air and make it more like an ice cream / gelatto. The air makes the frozen product softer and more creamy.

    1/4 cup almonds, sliced
    2 cups heavy cream
    1 1/4 cups macaroon crumbs
    1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
    2 tablespoons dark rum
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    8 candied cherries (optional)

    Spread out almonds on a cookie sheet and place in a preheated 325 degree oven for 3 minutes. Turn tray around, toss nuts with a metal spatula and toast for another 3 minutes.

    In a large bowl, mix together 1 cup of cream, the macaroon crumbs and confectioners’ sugar. Chill for 30 minutes. Mix in the rum and vanilla and chill for another 30 minutes. Whip the remaining 1 cup of cream to soft peaks and fold into the macaroon mixture.

    Divide the mixture among eight 4-ounce paper cups. Top with the almonds and cherries, if desired. Freeze for 4 hours or until firm.

    Almond Biscotti with Brushed Chocolate
    Makes 10 – 20 depending on how thick they are sliced.
    1 cup Flour
    1/2 cup Sugar
    1/2 tsp. Baking soda
    Pinch salt
    2 medium eggs
    1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract
    1/2 tsp almond extract
    1 cup toasted almonds
    1/2 cup Chocolate Chips, melted

    Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees

    In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, soda, and salt.

    In another bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla and almond extract; stir into the dry ingredients, then add almonds.

    Divide dough in half or thirds, on a well-floured surface, shape into logs.

    Transfer logs to a lightly sprayed baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes or until firm and lightly browned.

    Cool on a rack for at least 5 minutes.

    Cut logs on the diagonal into 3/4 inch slices.

    Return slices to baking sheet and continue baking for another 15 minutes.

    Cool completely on rack.

    Brush melted chocolate onto one side of the cooled Biscotti.

    Make a nice cup of espresso and pretend you’re sitting in an Italian café.

    Struffoli

    You can actually make and fry the dough balls up to 4 days in advance and then add the honey either the day before or the day you will be serving them.

    6 medium to large eggs
    1 cup granulated sugar
    1/2 pound butter
    4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
    4 vanilla beans or 5 teaspoons of vanilla bean paste.
    2 tablespoon baking powder
    1 gallon vegetable oil
    1 pound honey
    1 small jar candy sprinkles

    Break the eggs and whisk. Put eggs through a strainer to make sure they are mixed properly. Add sugar to eggs and mix immediately to prevent sugar from burning eggs.

    In a separate bowl, mix flour and baking powder.

    Bring butter to room temperature. Flake butter into the flour.

    Split vanilla beans and scrape out the seeds and add them to the sugar/egg mixture.

    Put mixture into a mixer and mix (using dough hook) and slowly add the flour. Let dough rest in a cool dry place.

    Turn on your oil to 350 – 375 Degrees.

    You may need to knead in up to another 1 Cup of flour to get the dough so it is not sticking to your hands.

    Roll out the dough into small ropes, like cavatelli. Cut dough into 1/2-inch pieces. Place the pieces onto a paper plate dusted with flour.

    Put vegetable oil into a large pot and bring to 350 degrees. Fry small quantities of the dough squares in the oil and when golden brown, about 2 minutes.

    Place onto a baking pan lined with paper towels to absorb excess oil. When all dough is fried, let cool to room temperature.

    In a saucepan, heat the honey (not to a boil) and add small quantities of the fried dough to the pan. Stir lightly with a large slotted spoon. Remove from saucepan and place onto a serving plate and sprinkle with candy sprinkles as you go.

    NOTE: I use a Fry Daddy type of fryer set at 375 Degrees and I set it to 2 minutes for each batch of dough.

    Nut Butter Balls
    (From Good Housekeeping “Book of Cookies”, 1958)

    1 Cup soft butter or margarine
    1/4 to 1/2 cup granulated, powdered or confectioner’s sugar. Amt. depends on taste.
    1/2 tsp. Salt
    1 tsp. Almond extract or 1 tsp. Vanilla extract
    2 cups sifted All-Purpose Flour
    1 to 2 cups finely chopped or ground walnuts, pecans, almonds, black walnuts, brazil nuts or filberts.

    Mix butter with sugar until creamy.

    Add salt, extract, flour nuts; mix well.

    Refrigerate until easy to handle.

    Heat oven to 350 degrees.

    Using fingers, shape dough into 1” balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet.

    Bake 10-12 minutes or until light brown.

    While cookies are warm, roll in sugar.

    Makes 4 – 5 doz.

    One of my favorites from the holidays and really easy to make.

    Mama’s Peanut Blossom Cookies

    48 Hershey Kisses
    1 3/4 cup flour
    1 tsp. baking soda
    1/2 tsp. salt
    1/2 cup sugar
    1/2 cup brown suger
    1/2 cup margarine / butter
    1/2 cup peanut butter
    1 egg
    2 tbsp. Milk
    1 tsp. vanilla

    Preheat oven to 375 degrees

    Combine everything except kisses in a large bowl, mix on low speed.
    Make 48 dough balls (EXACTLY 48!!! Not 45, not 46, not 49. 48 or you’ll screw it all up!!!!!!)

    Place on ungreased cookie sheet

    Bake 10 to 12 minutes

    IMMEDIATELY push kiss down into center of cookie or all will be lost and you’ll have to get 48 more kisses and make 48 more dough balls and start the whole process over again which will probably take you right up to the new year and you don’t want that to happen do you?

    Cool on cooling rack. Placing them on a warming rack would just be silly.


    Mama’s Chow Mein Cookies

    2 – 6 ounce packages Butterscotch morsels
    1 – 5 ounce can of chow mein noodles
    1 cup salted peanuts

    Melt the morsels in a double boiler

    Remove it from the heat

    Stir in the noodles and nuts.

    Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper.

    These are so incredibly easy, yet incredibly evil at the same time. You can eat these like potato chips….

    Nonni’s Bow Knots

    This is Walter’s absolute favorite holiday recipe and the one thing that brings him back home with each bite. To properly make these, you really should have a hand crank pasta machine as the dough needs to be incredibly thin to work properly.

    6 Eggs (3 whole, 3 just whites)
    3 tbs. sugar
    3 cups flour
    1 tsp vanilla
    1 tsp Kirsch or other liquor such as Cognac or Grand Marnier.
    1 tsp rum flavoring or almond extract
    1/4 tsp. salt
    2 Tbs melted butter
    Vegetable / Canola oil for frying

    Put flower in bowl and make a well in the flour.

    Add eggs, flavoring, salt and melted butter.

    Mix well until dough is smoother. Refrigerate for about 1/2 hour.

    Heat canola / vegetable oil in a pot or Deep Fryer to 350 degrees

    Roll paper thin. As noted above, I recommend a hand crank pasta machine to do this step. Start at a thickness of 7, then 5, then 3, then 2. Lightly dust the dough with flour at each step. You may need to fold the sheets of dough and run them through a second time at certain stages if the dough tears. This is normal in my experience.

    Cut strips about 6″ long, 1-2” wide. Make a slit about 1/3 the way up one side and then fold the other end through the slit. You should end up with something that looks like a ribbon or bow.

    Fry in the oil until light brown, about 30 seconds. I turn them over after about 15 seconds.

    Dust with confectioner’s sugar.

    Store in an airtight container or under foil after they have cooled completely.

    Or, just grab some coffee, hot chocolate and some children and have them disappear pretty much immediately.

     
  • Documentary takes a new turn

    We’ve been working on “Foul Water, Fiery Serpent” in Post since March of ‘09. We have a very good 1 hour, 23 minute documentary. But we know it can be better.

    After two weeks of screening we’re going to take a new turn and re-organize the doc based on feedback. It’s funny how watching it four times over two days will change even my perspective on the show. I could see a lot of what the folks were talking about, especially on the last running of the film.

    The changes are not earth shattering. We have all the elements, they just need to be finessed more to make the film that much more enjoyable for the audience. Even after all this time editing and massaging, we’re not offended, we’re taking the notes we agree with and working to make this thing the absolute best film we can create.

    More soon!

     
  • Apple Mac Pro 2.93 Octo a lemon?

    Apple quietly updated their Mac Pro lineup last Friday and the Octo Core 2.93 is now absent. (SEE UPDATES BELOW) This is the machine I purchased in July 2009 that has been pretty much nothing but trouble since it was installed.

    As I’ve noted on this blog recently, there is a bad issue with the Intel Hartwell chip that runs the ethernet ports that causes the Mac Pro to disconnect from our ethernet SAN multiple times per day. We also have difficulties reconnecting to the SAN multiple times per day. Our other 5 workstations don’t have these issues with the SAN and none of them are the 2.93.

    We’re also getting multiple AJA Video Output Plug-In errors with Final Cut Pro just disappearing multiple times per day on this machine. Our other 5 workstations are not showing this issue.

    Now Apple has discontinued the product after a short run, but the other two Mac Pros are still there, but they have been updated with new specs I was told by one of my vendors. It’s circumstantial but this leads me to believe the 2.93 was a true lemon and Apple needed to get it off the market. Not sure where that leaves me but I’m going to be making some phone calls tomorrow.

    UPDATE 12/11/09

    The 2.93 is still available as an optional upgrade. Still making phone calls today…..


    UPDATE 2 12/11/09

    Ok further update.

    As noted earlier, the 2.93 is still available.

    Apple has added a 3.33 option.

    The Intel Hartwell Chip that was introduced with the Octo 2.93 machine to drive the on-board Ethernet ports is now EOL. This is the chip that is causing the bulk of the problems for us in the edit suite. More information as it becomes available.

    UPDATE 3 12/12/09

    Ok, one more update. Some bad information from one vendor. The “hartwell” chip is not EOL. “hartwell” was the development name of the chip for Intel and it now has a new name, something with a bunch of numbers and letters. According to another vendor the chip itself is oustanding, but obviously Apple has really screwed up the driver for OS 10.5.8. A fixed driver is in the works for OS 10.6, no word on a fix for 10.5.8.

    Small Tree Electronics came up with the idea to pre-format a hard drive with OS 10.5.8, Install FCP 7.0.1 on it and test it in their lab with my exact same setup and including their Peg1D ethernet card. It all operated perfectly in their lab so they pulled the drive out and shipped it to me. Lo and behold, starting up from their drive my system works. I can now use the SAN on the Octo 2.93 by using the Small Tree $99 ethernet card because the ethernet ports I paid around $8,000 to use from Apple don’t work with high speed data transfer. I am shipping my original Mac HD back to Small Tree to they can figure out whether my drive is corrupted or there might be some sort of weird driver / hardware conflict going on with what’s installed on that drive.

    I’ll say it again, the guys at Small Tree Electronics are just incredible and I can’t recommend them enough. They will be a part of my networking solutions for a long time to come.

    UPDATE 12/14/2009

    LONG weekend installing the rest of our software and testing the system to ensure it works properly with the Octo 2.93. All tests point to a success. I think we’re finally going to be able to use the Mac Pro Octo 2.93 as a stable machine for the first time since we purchased it back in July. Definitely will NOT be purchasing any top of the line Macs for a long time to come. We’ll just stick with the middle range and save our money. Who knows what Apple will break moving forward.

     
  • New TV Series Test project successful

    So one of the best things about owning my own production company is the ability to just say “let’s do it” when someone comes to me with a great idea about a television project. It’s even better when it’s a great friend and it involves someone you’ve enjoyed on TV for years.

    Almost 4 years ago a colleague and great friend Cheryl Collins came to me with a new idea for a series. At the time I was too busy working on other projects to really do anything with it, but I kept that idea in the back of my mind. Three months ago I had the “light bulb” moment during a lunch with one of my editors and a Producer on a series we Post at BCM. During the course of lunch I had to ask her why Bobby Rivers was on her Facebook page. Turns out they go way back to local news days and were very good friends. On the spot I suggested he might be perfect for this series idea.

    The very next day my friend and I are talking about the series, the day after that I start calling in folks to join us on the project and within a matter of weeks we have a kickoff dinner meeting to get the ball rolling. Three months later, we’re all meeting together to do a test shoot right here in the Atlanta area.

    Bobby Rivers, Marsha Walton, Cheryl Collins, Walter Biscardi, and Widdi Turner

    I’ve been a huge fan of Bobby Rivers for years because he’s just so darn funny and always seemed like the kind of guy I’ve love to hang out with for dinner. Well he is. Just the nicest and most pleasant guy you could hope to work with. Fortunately for me, I already knew an incredible Atlanta actress to pair up with him, Widdi Turner. Those of you who are “Good Eats” fans will recognize her from the many appearances on the show as multiple characters.

    Now another VERY important person to bring on board is the Producer Coordinator. Understand that when you start your very own enterprise, you absolutely CANNOT do it alone. I don’t care how good you are or how good of a concept you have, if you try to do everything yourself, you will either burn out or just not get everything accomplished to the fullest it can be. To that end, we’re incredibly fortunate to have Jeanna Thomas involved with this project. She is a Production Coordinator extraordinaire working the phones, text and emails to get all the info we need. And best of all? She’s incredibly fun too!

    There’s another key for all of you starting a new venture, work with people who are fun. You’re gonna be with them for a long time so you’ll might as well enjoy each other’s company! Post Producer Marsha Walton has already proven that not only can she whip a story into shape in the edit suite, but she can laugh all day long while in the field when asked to hold a boom mic for a test. Producer, Writer AND boom operator all in one.

    Bobby Rivers, Cheryl Collins, Marsha Walton, Widdi Turner and Jeanna Thomas

    Marsha Walton's Arm, Cheryl Collins, Widdi Turner, Bobby Rivers, Lynn Bowman

    So we saw just how fun this group is on the test shoot. The day was spent laughing, shooting, laughing, shooting some more and even more laughing. The chemistry of Widdi and Bobby was even better than I had hoped. Cheryl shows that even Executive Producers can wield a mean camera. She was awesome running the brand new Panasonic 300 camera fresh out of the box. (Thank you David Strupp and WH Platts!.) The HVX 200 was also used as a secondary camera and also in a small location. We shot the whole thing 720 / 24 using both AVC-Intra and DVCPro HD codecs.

    If you’ve read my blog you’ll know that I was involved with another pilot test project last year. That was a great experience too, but nothing I’ve done for television compares to this project so far. This group really does believe in the concept that we are all in this together and to succeed, we need each other. All of us have strengths we bring to the table and together we’re much better than any single person. It’s refreshing to work with a group like that in today’s world of “me, me, me.” Too many people, especially in television and film production, seem to forget that you can’t do anything successful by yourself. You need to surround yourself with a great team.

    So thank you Cheryl, Bobby, Widdi, Marsha and Jeanna for an incredible start to a successful venture. With interest already out there for the series, I can’t see how we can lose.

    Stay tuned for more updates on the series and production schedule in the coming months. Who knows, we may come to a town near you soon! Well, as soon as we get out of jail…..

    Widdi Turner, Walter Biscardi, Jeanna Thoma, Cheryl Collins, Bobby Rivers, Marsha Walton

     
  • Christmas Eve Tradition Part 1

    Ok, this has absolutely nothing to do with video production, but some of you already know about my family tradition. Every Christmas Eve we celebrate the Feast of the Seven Fishes. A traditional southern Italian meal that is the highlight of the Christmas season. I started doing the traditional meal down here around 2000 and it has turned into quite the gathering in our house now. The menu is a bit larger than what I grew up to accommodate my wife being a vegetarian.

    So I thought I would share with all you the menu and all the recipes that go into it. I’ll add all the recipes over the next week so you have all of them in time for Christmas Eve in case you want to try this yourself at home.

    So here’s the Menu:

    Christmas Eve Dinner, Sunday Dec. 24, 2009
    This is a traditional Italian seafood celebration. Each person must sample at least 13 items…. One for each of the Apostles and one for Jesus.

    1 Shrimp Cocktail. Served at the table
    2 Baked Clams on the Half Shell. Served at the table
    3 Bruschetta. Served at the table.

    4 Pasta with Fish Sauce
    5 Clams
    6 Mussels
    7 Fish (Flounder / Sole / Catfish / Perch)
    8 Shrimp
    Calamari tentacles

    9 Wally’s Steamed Lobster Tails
    10 Randall’s Ordinary Scallops
    11 Fried Calamari
    12 Fried Catfish
    13 Grilled Tuna with Pesto Sauce

    14 Pasta with Marinara Sauce
    15 Escarole with Pine Nuts
    16 Breaded Cauliflower
    17 Spicy Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms
    18 Cippolinis & Potatoes

    19 Italian Meat and Cheese platters. Mix of Italian meats, hard Italian cheese and Prosciutto & Mozzarella slices. Served at the table.
    20 Roasted Red Peppers with Fresh Mozzarella & Basil Served at the table
    22 Stuffed Hot Cherry Peppers Served at the table
    23 Olive Salad Served at the table

    25 Coffee
    26 Almond Biscotti brushed with Chocolate
    27 Struffoli
    28 Tortoni
    29 Frittelle Ricotta, Uvetta E Cioccolato
    30 Assorted traditional Biscardi family cookies.

     
  • First screening of “Foul Water” yesterday

    So yesterday we had our first screening of the feature doc “Foul Water, Fiery Serpent.” It was held at The Carter Center in downtown Atlanta before a small audience of the directors of health programs and the Guinea Worm Eradication Campaign for the Center. No matter how many times you watch something on your professional monitors and plasma screens in the office, it always looks quite a bit different the first time you put it up on a large screen, in our case a 10 foot projection screen.


    Overall a very favorable review with tons of great feedback. It’s funny how you can work on something for 8 months and a shot that seems so simple to you can have a completely different meaning for others. One of the main reasons why Guinea worm has the potential of eradication is because it can only live in humans. It cannot survive in animal. At one point we have a quick shot of a cattleman and his son picking at something on a goat’s neck. It’s literally a 5 second or shorter shot. But it comes right after some narration about removing the worm. So it’s almost implied that the cattleman is trying to pull a worm out of the goat’s neck. As soon as they said it, it was pretty obvious that could be miscontrued.


    Now the documentary is not being produced by the Carter Center, but as the story revolves around President Carter’s campaign to eradicate the disease, Producer Gary Strieker (Cielo Productions) has been working very closely with the Center to ensure accuracy of the information. We’ll be tweaking out some of the changes over the next week and moving full on into sound design and color enhancement shortly thereafter. We’re well on track for a first quarter 2010 release.

     
  • One of those days….

    Today’s just been one of those days where the Final Share SAN isn’t working right, the AJA Kona 3 isn’t working right and FCP isn’t working right either. Just as we’re about to finish our first feature documentary.

    It’s one of those days where you wonder if you should just switch over to something else….

     
  • First “real project” with Tangent Wave

    Did a 10 minute short feature yesterday with the Wave and really enjoyed it. Was all thumbs at first as I forced myself to stay away from the tablet as much as possible. By the end of the four hours, I was only using the tablet to work the Hue / Sat curves in the secondaries.


    I even programmed some buttons to switch between the Secondary Rooms. The Wave Mapping software worked perfectly, I even kept reprogramming as I was in Color to see if I could crash it and it never did. Every time I hit “Save” in the Mapping Software, the panel would blink and then reflect the changes I just saved.

    Now the one thing I did do was remove the rubber padding that was included with the Panel. It’s kind of a wrist rest but it wraps up around the track balls. I found my hands getting “stopped” for lack of a better term by the high edges of the padding so I could not smoothly move my hands around. So I removed the padding and it was much better that way. I spoke to Tangent about just making it a flat pad across the back or something like that.


    I have to say if I was a full time colorist doing this all day, every day, I can see where the extra buttons on the Eclipse are nice so you don’t have to quite so deep into menus to get to features. In the Secondaries I kept going past the Softness control on the Vignette so I would have to back around the horn to get to it.


    Small issue and I would not pay the extra money for our needs for the Eclipse. Operation of the Wave was just great and now I know why so many people were trying to get me to move off a tablet. Solid solid performer and a new degree of fun!

     
  • Avoid latest Mac Pro if you use networking

    As we have discovered with worsening problems over the past 6 months, Apple has a very serious problem with their latest Mac Pro machines running the Intel “hartwell” chip on the ethernet ports. With bi-directional traffic to / from our ethernet based SAN, we can predict that our latest Mac Pro, the 2.93 Nehelam quad core machine, will disconnect from our SAN 8 times out of 10. The problem has been worsening and so far Apple has zero answers to the problem. Even Snow Leopard does not address this issue.

    If you have any machine prior to the 2.93 Quad Core machine, you should be ok. We have three other Macs that all run on the SAN with no issues. It’s only this machine and I have been told the problem is being repeated on other Mac Pros with this same “Hartwell” chip.

    So if you’re a heavy user of ethernet networking and especially looking at / using ethernet based SAN like we do, check with your networking folks before you purchase any new Mac Pros. To say we’re disappointed with Apple right now is an understatement. Pay $6,000 for a new machine and find out it won’t perform to the same specs as 2 and 3 year old computers.