-=> Ruth Haffly wrote to Dave Drum <=-

 RH> Radio gathering was at a pizza place down in Cary. Steve and I had
 RH> afterward--bland. Sauce didn't seem to have any spicing in it, no red

 DD> One of my favourite pizza places has been sold and is currently being
 DD> renovated for re-opening. Bill Pope, the guy who bought Charlie
 DD> Parker's Diner (featured on Crazy Fieri's Diners, Dives etc.) and
 DD> listed as one of to best diners in the US .... bought Gabatoni's from
 DD> its original owner.

 RH> Hopefully he will be able to get it back on its feet and do well.

Bill is quite the entrepeneur. Whern he took over Charlie Parker's he
had a diner, off the beatren track, in a quonset hut. It had already
been featured on the Food Network and won a national cooking/recipe 
competition. To top that Bill got them on the Best Diner's in USA listing.

 DD> Gabby's quit all but drive-thru during the covid crisis and never went
 DD> back to inside service. They used to have the best thin-crust pizza in
 DD> the area. But, they changed the recipe and their unbroken string of
 DD> "Best Of" awards stopped when they did so. Bill tells me e has the old
 DD> recipe for their sauce and has hired one of the guys who ran the
 DD> kitchen during the hey-day to supervise and train staff. Hopefully the
 DD> quality
 DD> of the pizza will return and a coupl of my groups which met monthly at
 DD> Gabby's can come back and enjoy life again.

 RH> Sounds like he's got a good game plan. This radio group had met at
 RH> another pizza place, south of Raleigh. Pizza there had a thin, not
 RH> quite cracker, crust, better seasoning but we prefer a thicker crust.
 RH> Steve and I usually split a 10" with traditional toppings there.

Gabatoni's won the Best Pizza category every year in both the State Journal
and the Illinois Times newspapers. Until the pandemic and the change in the
recipe. Part of the deal was the "original" recipe and contact with one of
the kitchen supervisors who ran the kitchen pre-pandemic. He'll do well.

 DD>      88

 DD> Fortunately my local Sav-A-Lot maintains a pretty decent produce
 DD> section and was on my way home.   Bv)=

 RH> Handy; we have both Wegman's and Lidl "around the corner" from us, plus
 RH> fresh basil in the raised bed outside. (G)

 DD> I got the evergreens out from the front of the house. But the raised
 DD> beds (three 4' X 8' X 30" tall) aren't in - and won't be until
 DD> (probably) next February.

 RH> We put them in a couple of years ago, concentrating on herbs but last
 RH> spring did sugar snap peas also.

Bingo. I had not thought of them. But, now .......

 DD> I foresee a bounty of tomatoes, chilies, bell peppers and icicle
 DD> radishes (which I never see in stores).

 RH> We got some in a mixed bag of radishes at the local farmer's market a
 RH> few times.

 DD> I'll likely never make this as written - but I may look into cutting
 DD> it down to use just one rack of lamb. And find a substitute for the 
 DD> wine. 
 
 DD> I'm not against wine in cooking. But I don't stock, nor drink it.

 RH> We buy small boxes for cooking only, usually a red and a white. Don't
 RH> use a lot at a time, just enough for a background note.

My nearby Walgreen's has a bin of small (150 mL?) bottles of reds and 
whites suitable for cooking. Those are the ones I use. 

 DD>       Title: Roasted Rack of Lamb w/Icicle Radishes
 DD>  Categories: Lamb/mutton, Vegetable, Herbs, Wine, Citrus
 DD>       Yield: 11 servings

Here's one that calls for wine. I've made it with and without wine and
the quality/taste does not suffer.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06
 
      Title: Classic Beef Stew
 Categories: Beef, Vegetables, Wine, Stews
      Yield: 9 Servings
 
      4 lb Stew beef, trimmed, in 2"
           - pieces
      1 c  All-purpose flour
    1/3 c  Olive oil; more if needed
      2 lg Onions; diced
      6 oz Can tomato paste
      1 c  Dry red wine *
      1 lb Potatoes; in 2" pieces
    1/2 lb Baby carrots
      2 c  Beef broth
      1 tb Salt
      1 ts Dried thyme leaves
      1    California bay leaf
      1 c  Peas; fresh or frozen

  * may substitute unsweetened cranberry juice - UDD
 
  Coat the beef in the flour. Heat a few tablespoons of
  the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown
  the meat, a few pieces at a time, adding more oil as
  necessary. Transfer to a 4 to 6 qt thick crockery pot.
  
  Add the onions to the skillet and cook over medium heat
  until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste
  and coat the onions; transfer to the pot.
  
  Pour the wine into the skillet and scrape up any browned
  bits; add to the cooker. Stir in the potatoes, carrots,
  broth, salt, thyme, and bay leaf.
  
  Cover and cook on top of heating stove for 7 1/2 hours.
  Add the peas and heat through.
  
  From: http://www.realsimple.com
  
  Uncle Dirty Dave's Kitchen
 
MMMMM


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