Cook Here and Now

CH&N Pairings: Northern California artisan wine and cheese

Buongiorno,
I'm delighted to announce a new CH&N Pairings event.

When and where
Saturday, March 6 from 2 to 5 pm, in San Francisco

The plan
60 of us will gather, each bringing a sample of our favorite Northern California wine or Northern California artisan cheeses. Here's a list of artisan cheesemakers from the California Artisan Cheese Guild.
Some of us will make an accompanying dessert to enjoy along with our tasting.

This is a community event, open to all. We need to rent the space from the city, so there is a $5 donation per person. The PayPal link will be emailed to the participants tomorrow. Check your calendar before signing up, since donations are non-refundable.

To attend, post a comment on this blog. (Don't email me directly.)
Every person coming (including any guest you bring) will need to sign up for a slot, and contribute a wine, cheeses or homemade dessert.

Since participation is limited, please let us know at least 4 days before the event if you're not going to be able to make it, so we can invite someone else to join us. If you cancel 4 days before the event, you can't join us for the following 2 events. If you don't show at all, you can't join us for the next 3. Canceling on short notice (or none at all) is unfair to everyone, especially people who wanted to participate and couldn't because all the slots were taken.

We'll divide the slots among the participants this way:
24 slots for people bringing their favorite Northern California wine. (This should be an artisan wine, with thought to cheese pairings.) 2 SLOTS LEFT
24 slots for people bringing their favorite Northern California artisan cheeses -- either one pound of cheese or two 8 oz pieces of two cheeses, so that everyone can sample it 2 SLOTS LEFT
5 slots for people making a dessert (homemade please) ALL SLOTS TAKEN
2 slots for people bringing compostable plates, knives and napkins ALL SLOTS TAKEN
5 slots for people bringing us artisan or homemade bread (at least 4 loaves) or crackers (at least 4 packs, or equivalent homemade) 2 SLOTS LEFT

Please let me know who is coming by name. Once we reach 60 people confirmed and paid, I'll close the event and start another post for the waiting list. If the slots are full for what you'd like to bring, please choose something else instead.

So post a comment on the blog (do not email me directly) under the call-for-participation post letting me know the following:
First and last name
Email address
What you'll be bringing (bread, cheese, wine, etc.)

5 recommended pairings from Alison Bing (author of Lonely Planet's Napa & Sonoma Encounter, who'll be at the event - for more suggestions, contact her on  )

Vella Romanella: Hard cow’s milk cheese with the umami of Parmiggiano Romano from Vella Cheese, ideal with assertive Napa Cabernet Franc. (Available at Rainbow.)

Andante Acapella Ashed Round: Delicate goat’s milk in a volcanic, ashy rind - a velvet fist in an iron glove that pairs with like-minded Carneros bubbly. (Made by Sonoma’s Soyoung Scanlan and available at BiRite.)

Bellwether Carmody: Quintessentially NorCal – easygoing, a little nutty, and young for its age (6 weeks). Made by Cindy & Liam Callahan on the Sonoma coast and available at Boont Berry Farm; enjoy with Anderson Valley Rose/’ of Pinot Noir. (Available at Rainbow.)

Redwood Hill Farm California Crottin: pungent French-style goat cheese with California earthiness that amps up Dry Creek Syrahs. Made on America’s first certified Grade A Humane goat farm in Sebastopol by the eco-smart Bice family. (Available at Safeway & Rainbow.)

Pug’s Leap Buche: Soft goat cheese aromatic with lemongrass, made by Pascal Destandau and Eric Smith in a solar-powered Dry Creek dairy; devour sun-warmed with chilled Sonoma Coast Chardonnay. (Available at Rainbow.)

This is going to be great! So sign up before the spaces are gone.

A presto,
Marco Flavio

NorCal winners at the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest: Marin French Cheese Company

Buongiorno. Some days I feel extremely lucky to live in Northern California - usually when I'm eating local food. When something is truly extraordinary, I can't keep it to myself, because great food is even better when it's shared. The Marin French Cheese Company in Petaluma has been producing some very exciting cheeses: at the United States Championship Cheese Contest 10 days ago their Rouge et Noir Le Petite Chevre Bleu won Best of Class in Mold-Ripened Goat Cheese, and the Second Place Runner up was their Le Petit Chevre, so I promptly sent in my congratulations and organized a small group tasting.

I served eight cheeses, and these four were the runaway hits. See what you think - just remember to leave your cheeses out of the fridge for at least six hours before serving, because they need to be at room temperature for their flavors to bloom and soften up to the right creamy texture.

Rouge et Noir — Le Petite Chevre Bleu
An earthy, creamy blue goat's milk cheese with Roquefort blue veins. Essence of white truffle immediately sent me back for more, but everyone else had the same idea: it disappeared quickly. Pair it with that good bottle of Dry Creek Syrah you've been saving a special occasion: this is it.

Rouge et Noir — Le Petite Chevre
This Second Place Runner up is a milder goat's milk cheese for Brie eaters ready to make the transition but but fearing the jump. No blue veins here, but still the flavor hangs around in the nose a while, with just a light tang of goat's milk. The right cheese for a night in front of a fireplace, with comfortable slippers and a sleeping pet.

Rouge et Noir — Mélange Brie
No punches are held back for this goat and cow's milk multi-award winner: extremely ripe, bold, and slightly tangy, bang on the nose. The  woodsy finish hangs around awhile too, like rain in the forest. Slather a thin slice of bread with a hefty slab, insert in mouth, narrow the eyes, and exhale slowly through the nose. Whooo, watery eyes, great flavor.

Rouge et Noir — Mélange Camembert
This one's the mild-mannered, bookwormish sibling of the Mélange Brie - a Pinot Noir to the Brie's Cabernet. But don't be fooled: great rewards await those who take the time to discover its subtler walnut notes, very light tang, and a buttery texture that will have you wonder why anybody would badmouth fats. Shocking.

Enjoy! How could you not?

Marco Flavio

Follow Cook Here and Now on Twitter

Buongiorno. You can now follow regular updates from me and call-for-participation from Cook Here and Now on Twitter. I'll be covering local food and wine events, news from the group and local producers.
Follow me here.
Ciao!
Marco Flavio

San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition 2009: NorCal report

Buongiorno. This past Saturday I joined some very happy sold-out crowds at Fort Mason sampling the winners of the prestigious San Francisco Chronicle wine competition. I wanted to see how my favorite NorCal winemakers fared among the stiff competition: 4,235 wine entries from 1,500 US wineries judged blind by 55 industry experts. New releases and first-time discoveries made for a truly memorable event - you just can't find this level of quality across the board under one roof elsewhere. I have to tell you, if you enjoy wine, make sure to get your tickets at least two weeks early next year.

First of all, I want to thank the winemakers who master a tricky craft to create these wines, and a special thanks to the NorCal producers: you make my choice to drink only local vintages very easy. There are some excellent California and Italian varietals growing in Sonoma these days, so I don't mind waiting to drink Italian until my annual trips home. To my 9 favorite award-winning local vintages I say: Salute!

Enjoy!
Marco Flavio

Muscardini Cellars Sangiovese, Dry Creek Valley, 2006. This wine begs for food: cinnamon and raspberries, with a whiff of tobacco and very soft tannins that can stand up to a robust Italian first course without flinching. Plus, Michael is always so excited to talk about wine, he wins me over every time. We discovered this small-production Sangiovese visiting his new Kenwood tasting room a couple months ago and stocked up before the big win: nick of time! Grazie for this one, Michael.

Caliza Winery Syrah, Russell Family vineyards, 2006. A full-bodied, aromatic red that's like a roadside blackberry bush on an hot August day: ripe and ready. Only 200 cases were produced, and you can only get it from the winery. This one accompanies well-caramelized roasts or braises with wild mushrooms: a carnivore's favorite winter wine.

Canihan Family Cellars Exuberance Syrah, Sonoma Valley, 2006. Organically farmed and robust yet very silky, with raspberries and white pepper rounding out the aromas. A long finish reminds you who's in charge: hint hint, it's not the food.

Claudia Springs Zinfandel, Mendocino Ridge, Valenti Ranch, 2006 and signature Zinfandel, 2006. I have to say, I tried at least three different Zins from Claudia Springs, and each was completely different but highly worthwhile. They're produced in small batches and priced to sell out: : the 2006 Zin is $22. Buy directly from the winery while you can...

Quivira Vineyards Syrah, Dry Creek Valley, Wine Creek ranch, 2006. Only 244 cases of this inky, intense Demeter-certified biodynamic beauty were produced. This cedar- and violet-scented new release is available directly from the winery at $28 a bottle: such a steal.

Ottimino Vineyards Zinfandel, Von Weidlich Vineyard, 2005. A versatile Zin from Russian River, with a deep black cherry flavor perked up with a zing of white pepper. In Italian translation, the name has a double meaning: "the eighth," but also "the little exceptional one." I'll second that.

Claiborne & Churchill Pinot Gris, Central Coast. At the event, people were going for the reds and overlooking some exceptional whites. This well-structured, very dry Alsatian-style Pinot Gris is a welcome exception to the industrial-standard sweet white Zin. This would be ideal paired with the last Dungeness crab of the season, or a rich egg dish with Hollandaise sauce for Sunday brunch. The prices are better for whites too: this one goes for $12-18 a bottle, depending on where you buy it.

Amazon Ranch Viognier, Damiano Vineyard, 2008. Viognier is the perfect go-to white for weeknight dinners, and this one delivers strong mineral notes followed by orange and lemon zest. Enjoy it with a risotto, and use it in the recipe as well to balance the creaminess of risotto. Score it for $10.80 a bottle when you buy a case from the winery.

Dulcis in fundo (the sweetest comes last): Geyser Peak Winery Barrel Aged Tawny Port was a Sweepstakes winner: no small feat, since this honor is given to only six wines. Wellington Vineyards white port is still my favorite Port, but this balanced blast of butterscotch, vanilla and yes, bananas holds its own with salted caramels or chocolate or as dessert. Good for Geyser Peak: they're a major producer, but they're still trying daring new small-production wines. Try this port with dark chocolate gelato, and thank me later.

Oh, one last thing: for you pâté lovers, Marcel et Henri's South San Francisco offerings are a must-try. People were swarming around the pork with truffles, but I was just as impressed with the country-style pork with burgundy wine and the coarse-textured venison pâté with burgundy wine and juniper berries. My favorite? Coarse duck with cognac.

Enjoy and cin-cin!
Marco Flavio

So you want to host a Cook Here and Now event?

Buongiorno. Since the Food & Wine article about Cook Here and Now came out in the Thanksgiving issue, people from all over the US have been sending me enthusiastic emails asking how to start Cook Here and Now events in their town like the ones I'm organizing in San Francisco. To which I say: Fantastico! I started Cook Here and Now as a group open to all, free of charge, with a copyrighted model that's easy to reproduce whether you're in Chicago or Asheville. Just ask, and I'll be happy to grant permission to start Cook Here and Now chapters that meet these basic chapter requirements:

• The events must be free and open to everyone. I created this group because I feel there's a need for a place for people passionate about food to meet, cook together, exchange practical tips and find new inspiration for daily meals at home, without the exchange of money. Once money changes hands, it alters the social dynamic - expectations change, and some people who really love the idea of cooking with local ingredients could be left out because of the cost. Cook Here and Now brings people from all backgrounds together into a single kitchen, and the feasts we've made together prove that memorable meals don't have to be expensive - pure passion and good company is all you need. If you have to rent a community kitchen, you can divide the cost among the participants.

• Cook Here and Now is not a potluck nor a restaurant: We cook, eat, and clean together. We don't show up with finished dishes, though occasionally people prep ingredients for lengthy recipes at home. This is an opportunity to watch other people cook, lend a hand to your fellow cooks, and trade tips and stories about favorite dishes and new discoveries. Cooking and cleaning together also helps break the ice among repeat participants and newcomers who respond to the open call for participation.

• All Cook Here and Now events must be organized via Cook Here and Now blogs. I'll build you a localized CH&N blog for your chapter (see CH&N Austin for example) where you can post and organize your local events. Posting events online ensures that membership remains open to newcomers, and helps inspire cooks around the world to come up with their own event and recipe ideas. Designate from 1 to 5 authors for your chapter's blog, then contact me to get it started. There's no charge to the group to build a chapter blog, but I do ask for a $14/month contribution to cover basic hosting costs.

• The focus of the events must be on seasonal and local ingredients and sustainable meats and seafood. This leaves a lot of room for creative themes, like our February Lunar New year meal featuring dumplings stuffed with free-range pork and seasonal bok choy, or a winter squash event to explore the soup, salad, main, and dessert possibilities of those versatile vegetables. Whatever theme you choose, it should be tied to your local, seasonal harvest. I'm sure you already know the foodie credo: Cooking with local, seasonal, sustainable ingredients  is often cheaper, tastier and more nutritious than stuff flown in from far away and kept in cold storage forever. Plus, it connects you with wonderful local farmers and producers, and gives them incentive to keep growing the good stuff while protecting your natural environment. What's not to like?

• Cook Here and Now is a non-competitive group. There are no winners, prizes, or Iron Chef-like contests - so you should feel free to try out a new ingredient, or stay true to your grandmother's classic pie recipe. All kinds of cooking are welcome, and trust me: when your dish disappears and fellow cooks clamor for the recipe, that's the ultimate reward.

• Be prepared to share. Please be generous with your company and expertise at the events and post your recipes in the Forums, so we can all benefit from your presence and bring the  inspiration home.

• The most important part of the experience is the interaction we have with others, not the food. This is what I believe is most important, and why I chose to do this without charge on such a regular basis. You might already be able to cook a fabulous meal all by yourself, or at least order one at a restaurant - but how often do you get to cook and share an adventurous multi-course meal with so many people as passionate as you are about food? Occasionally someone might make a dish you don't like, or doesn't bring enough of a good thing. No big deal. Try something else, and enjoy yourself.

Got that covered? Great -- contact me and let me know you're ready to set up a Forum for your Cook Here and Now chapter. Meanwhile, if you want to start brainstorming your first Cook Here and Now event, here are a few pointers:

• Find a kitchen to host. Sometimes community centers or churches have them available. If you're doing it at home, start very small: 6-8 people. If you have a large range with 6-8 burners, you can host 18-20 people.
• Post the call-for-participation in your City blog. Close the post once you have the people you want (plus 20% to account for cancellations). Start a waiting list post. Send the details just to the participants.
• Each person contributes a dish or beverages - no guest, spouse, or hot date shows up empty-handed! - and everyone helps with clean-up.
• Keep a few spots open for newcomers. New faces and fresh ideas always make for a more exciting event.
• Ask people to put on name tags. It makes mingling easier for newcomers and saves face for regulars who forget names.
• Get cooks to label their dishes with key ingredients and their names, so that they can be showered with praise for their dishes and answer questions about how they did it. If a dish has meat or nuts in it, you might want to mention it on the label so that vegetarians and people with nut allergies don't get any unpleasant surprises.
• Have people label the local wines and spirits they bring with the name and location of the vintner/maker and a description of the flavor. Drinks should be chosen as thoughtfully as the food ingredients, and pair well with the featured local ingredients.
• For our events, we gather at 2:30, and appetizers go out at 3:30, while we're still cooking the main courses, sides and salads. At 5:30 we sit down for dinner. No snacking - this is a proper sit-down dinner. Once the main courses are done, we rotate seating for dessert, so we can enjoy the company of a new set of cooks. Our San Francisco events are usually 35-45 people, and we like to mix it up at tables of 6-8.

Ecco, there you go - I hope that sparks ideas to get your local chapter started. Please post comments or email me if you'd like more input, and grazie for sharing your excitement. You're making me hungry just thinking about all those upcoming seasonal dinners, from Austin to Miami ...
Buon appetito,
Marco Flavio

Ciao from Italy

Buongiorno. By now you may have noticed that we're featured in the November issue of Food & Wine magazine. To all the blog newcomers: Welcome and thank you for your emails. Be sure to subscribe using the form to your right or a blog aggregator. At the moment I am in Italy enjoying my favorite season in Rome and seafood in Venice. I'll be back around the end of the month and will catch up on emails then, but I'll organize our next event from here.
A presto,
Marco Flavio

Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Sushi guide

Sushi-lover alert: the Monterey Bay Aquarium is launching a sustainable sushi guide. From the same people that brought you the Seafood Watch list we've featured in several of our events.
The color-coded guide takes into consideration the sustainability of each specie, as well as whether the fish is caught or prepared in ways that harm the ocean or pose a health risk to people.

As a frequent sushi eater, I try to select fish that is sustainably caught, but that's not always easy. Finally, this list takes the guesswork out of it. Some of what you'll find out may not please you: some of your favorites may become off-limits (ARGH! No more monkfish liver), but as a sushi-lover, I'm sure you'll want to ensure we can enjoy it for a long time to come.
So download it, fold it, put it in your wallet and take it along on your next meal. We'll all be better off.

Download Monterey_Bay_Aquarium_sushi_guide.pdf

Enjoy!
Marco Flavio

 

Introducing: Foodie Trade

Buongiorno,
Now that summer travels are winding down and Slow Food Nation is over, I've been thinking about what's next, and here it is: Foodie Trade.

Most of us in this group spend more time in the kitchen in a week than most Americans do in a month, and we cook up a lot of food. I don't know about you, but I'm often left with a lot of extra jam or vanilla beans I bought bulk to get a good price. As tasty as it may be, it's more than we can eat, and I don't always have the time to invite people over to polish it off.

"Give it to me!" you're thinking. My thoughts exactly: I'm starting a section in our Forum where you can trade tasty stuff you've made for tasty stuff other people made. This way we can benefit from everybody's culinary skills, and not feel bad at the real possibility of the delicious food we produced going to waste.

Here's how it works: I just cased 30 sausages and I have 10 to spare, which need to be eaten within 2 months after they're frozen. So on the Forum I'll post in the Food Trade section that I have 10 sausages to trade. You can contact me in the Forum and tell me that you have a few jars of home-made tomato sauce to trade, and we'll swap sausages for tomatoes.

I will also post (and encourage you to do as well) ingredients that may be available in bulk, to see if others are interested in sharing the cost - not to mention being more eco-friendly by cutting down on shipping and packaging. For example: I've just been contacted by a woman who sells free-range lambs, but I can't buy even half  by myself. Where would I put it?! Maybe others may want to go in on it,so we can get the absolute best meat directly from the farmer, for a better deal where the producer gets more of the end price.

So let me be the first to start... go check out the Forum and see what I'm trading.
A presto!
Marco Flavio

Making sausages!

Warning: The following may not be suitable for vegetarian viewers.
Oh, and no, it's not porn.

OK, now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's get down to some meaty business.
Ah, sausages ... carnivores are especially fond of them. We like their spice-laced, succulent, savory meatiness anytime, any way: on warm, sunny days and cool, rainy evenings, solo on the end of a pier or at a ball park with thousands around, washed down with a mellow amber ale or a peppery zin.

So that much you meat-lovers already know -- but one thing you may not realize is that they're fairly easy to make. The variations range from venison to seafood, and once you know the basics, experimenting is easy. Also, they keep frozen really well for up to two months, and are always a hit at BBQs. Who can resist these homemade, custom-spiced pudgy bundles of delight? (That, fellow meat eaters, is a rhetorical question.)

Essential ingredients

The meat
You could go lean, but a little fat goes a long way for flavor, consistency, and that fantastic burst when you first bite into the sausage. For my pork sausages I like to use pork shoulder (also called pork butt), which is rich in flavor, tender, and quite affordable. Just don't eat six of them (burp).
I had a few misadventures trying to get free-range meat, even in San Francisco. A week back I bought some a vendor sold to me as free-range, but after a little online research I realized the claim was untrue -- and this was a very reputable store. I strongly advise you to get it from a reliable, knowledgeable butcher like Prather Ranch or Golden Gate Meats in the Ferry Building, or Avedano's on Cortland Avenue.

The casing
I like to use natural casing, made of pig intestine. Quit whining: if you're squeamish about natural casings, you probably won't enjoy making sausage. Most commercially-produced sausages are cased in artificial collagen casing, but natural casing gives a great snap to the sausage when you bite into it and  has a delicate savoriness that complements the meat beautifully. I buy mine salt-packed from the Syracuse Casing Company. A pack of casings is called a Hank (I'm not making that up) and it will last up to several months in the fridge.

How do I do it?
Here are some great recipes from Sausagemania and About.com. If you're serious about making sausages, I recommend Bruce Aidell's book. It's thorough and it has some excellent recipes and explanations of every step of the process, including smoking.

Once you've got your recipe and ingredients ready, start by pulling the casing out of its container. Each casing will be packed in salt, and wrapped around a plastic guide. One casing makes about forty sausages.

Soak your casing about ten minutes in cold water, without removing it from its pink plastic guide. You will use that guide to slide the casing onto the meat grinder feeding tube. After soaking, rinse your casing under running water for a minute to make sure there's no salt left on it.

While the casing is soaking, grind your free-range meat with the fat according to your recipe. Don't freak out if the recipe asks you to add fat: much of it will melt away in cooking, leaving just the flavor behind. Look at that beautiful red and white streakiness .... mmmm, marbling...

When the meat has been ground with the fat, prepare your spices. I like to grind my spices fresh whenever possible with a mortar and pestle for a stronger, fresher flavor ... plus I like to kick it old school style.

Add the spices to the meat, and when they're all in...

... you mix it all together by hand, making sure the spices are evenly distributed in the meat. This part is totally sexy.

Test-cook a few small pieces of sausage so you can adjust for spices and salt. If it seems a little strong, remember that after sitting in the fridge, the flavors will round out and make nice with each other. Needless to say, you don't need to add any grease to the pan.

Once the proportions are right, let the meat rest a few minutes while you prepare the stuffing tube. I use the Kitchen Aid attachment, which works pretty well. You can also use a hand-cranked meat grinder and sausage stuffer, though it's quite a workout.

Slide the pink plastic guide onto the tube, and push the casing onto the tube. While holding the casing firm, pull out the guide, leaving the casing ready for the stuffing. If you've done it right it should look like a Sharpei puppy's tail.

Tie the end of the casing, so the meat won't fall out once it starts being extruded from the tube.

With a fork, pinch a few small holes at the end of the casing, so that any air is pushed out of the casing. Otherwise, it will inflate like a balloon.

Hold the casing onto the tube with one hand, and stuff the meat into the grinder with the other hand. As the meat fills the casing, let it slowly inch forward and keep cramming meat into the grinder.

Make sure the casing is not stuffed too tightly. The stuffed casing should feel like a balloon that has lost some air, and gives 1/4 of an inch when you squeeze it. You'll need that latitude to divide the sausages, tie them off, and prevent bursting while cooking.

Once all the meat has been extruded, tie the other end of your casing. You should have one obscenely long sausage. Make sure you give yourself about an inch or two of casing extra at the end to leave room for adjustments.

Now you're ready to tie off your sausages. Begin where you started, at the end you stuffed first. Decide the length of your sausage, and gently slide the meat forward from that spot until you've formed an hourglass shape. Then give the sausage a turn where you want to tie it off, and at that spot, use food-quality string to tie two knots about 1/4 inch apart from each other. Later, you'll cut in between these two knots to divide your sausages into single servings.

Once they're tied, your sausages should be plump, but still give a little when you poke them. But before you eat or freeze them, they need to rest about 24 hours in the refrigerator so the flavors mellow and blend. (If you must have sausage NOW, go ahead -- I know the feeling. Otherwise, you can fry up a patty of the leftover meat filling.) Make sure to cover your sausages tightly with plastic wrap or place them inside a tight container, or the surface of your sausages will dry up and break.

The next day, you can either cook your sausages or freeze them in freezer bags. Usually I put one or two in a bag, so I can defrost only what I need for pasta sauce or lunch. Be sure to thaw them for 2 hours before you cook them, or put what you need in the refrigerator the night before you use them. In a defrosting pinch, the microwave does the trick on a low setting.

If you think these babies look good, wait until you smell them hit a hot pan. Enjoy!
Marco Flavio

 

Andalusian style gazpacho - from our August dinner

Buongiorno,
here's Lina's recipe for the gazpacho she made at our August group dinner. After receiving quite a few requests for it, she kindly wrote it down for us.
Thank you, Lina.
Enjoy,
Marco Flavio

Andalusian Style Gazpacho         

Makes four, 1 cup servings

2* cloves garlic, sliced (see note below)
1 large green or red bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped (I used a combination)
A piece of a red jalapeño chile, seeded (to taste)
1 and a 1/2 lbs. of very ripe, red tomatoes with thin skins; juicy salad tomatoes work best for gazpacho, cored and cut into large chunks. If you use thick-skinned tomatoes, blanch & peel them.
3 inch piece baguette sliced and allowed to dry out overnight (or you can dry bread in a 250º oven)
1/2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp sherry vinegar; more to taste
2 tsp. kosher salt; more to taste
A dash or two of Tabasco, to taste
Ground black pepper, optional (I did not add any)

Place garlic, peppers, tomatoes, bread, olive oil, sherry, and salt in a food processor. Pulse a few times until the bread breaks up, then process until the mixture is as smooth as possible, about 3 – 5 minutes. Taste, add Tabasco if desired, and possibly more vinegar, salt, or garlic. You may also add a little water. Chill thoroughly, or serve over ice cubes.

Garnish:
1 cup peeled, finely chopped Japanese cucumber or conventional cucumber, seeded and 1cup diced onion (sweet variety preferred)
Fresh ground black pepper
You can also garnish with fresh corn kernels, shrimp, crab, lobster…..

*It is easy to disrupt the balance of flavors by using too much raw garlic; you can always add more after tasting. Some people like to blanch or toast the garlic first.