No-Cook

This is one of our deli’s best-selling items in the summer. Two cups may seem like a lot of oil, but the soup really doesn’t have the same rich flavor with any less (we’ve tried). You can, of course, reduce the amount if you like. You can also use any combination of Roma and heirloom tomatoes.

When tomatoes are abundant and cucumbers fat and crisp, this salad begs to be made. It’s based on a salad my mother makes, and I consider it a summer classic. This recipe is a template for multiple variations: use white beans instead of the chickpeas, cilantro instead of the basil, or whatever strikes your fancy.

Don’t limit yourself to basil in pesto. You can use just about any tender green herb—even baby arugula or spinach, or a combination of herbs. It’s a great way to use up whatever lingers in the bottom of your fridge. This flavorful sauce is perfect for a simple pasta dish. The nuts are optional, but they add a nice viscosity and flavor. Without them, you get a cleaner flavor and more of the true essence of the herbs. On the other hand, a nut-free version is looser and the oils don’t incorporate quite as well. Pesto definitely tastes best as soon as it’s made, but it also freezes incredibly well. Freeze in an ice cube tray and then transfer to a zip-top bag. The cubes are the perfect size for a single portion of pasta, veggies, or a sandwich.

This salad demonstrates how fresh winter can taste. The raw fennel is clean, aromatic, and crisp, the citrus sweet and a touch bitter, and the avocado rich and smooth. You can substitute other citrus with similar success or even use several types. To really take this salad over the top, I love to top it with fresh plucked Dungeness crab meat (another winter wonder); about 8 ounces is perfect for four servings.

This salad is inspired by the incredible version I had at New York City’s Il Buco restaurant. One bite will convince you that compared to romaine, kale is a better match for assertive Caesar dressing. You can omit the egg yolk if you want to play it safe, but don’t try this without anchovy; it makes the dish. This version is crouton-less; if you add them, make a bit more dressing.

This unique combination of ice cream, citrus-infused olive oil, and salt is one of the Creamery’s best-selling sundaes; it was even featured on the Food Network’s show The Best Thing I Ever Ate. It may seem strange, but believe me, it’s really good. The oil congeals as it cools and creates a luscious mouthfeel, while the salt brightens the flavors and provides an interesting crunchy texture. The whipped cream is optional but really balances out the richness of the sundae. Our friend Giuseppe Cagnoni, an artisan food producer in Umbria, inspired this dessert when I tasted his Eturia brand oil infused with bergamot (which gives Earl Grey tea its distinctive taste). You can also try other intensely flavored oils, including orange or lemon oil, citrus-infused olive oil, or even toasted sesame oil.

Good hummus is hard to find; I find that most lack the acid needed to balance the nutty richness of tahini and olive oil, making it fall flat on your tongue. A little extra lemon juice completely transforms hummus to something much brighter in flavor. That’s why the best hummus is homemade—besides, nothing could be simpler or more satisfying. I firmly believe that my mother’s hummus is the benchmark for all other hummus out there. She personally taught our chef Eddy how to make it, and he in turn has trained all of our crew to make exceptionally delicious hummus. I keep a blend of ground toasted cumin and coriander in my spice set; it’s a great addition to Middle Eastern and Mexican dishes. I usually toast 2 tablespoons each of the whole spices in a sauté pan on low heat until aromatic and lightly toasted, about 2 minutes. Once cooled, I grind in a coffee grinder reserved for spices; a mortar and pestle also works.

You can make this dough entirely with all-purpose flour, but using part durum flour produces a more satisfyingly chewy crust. Look for durum flour at natural foods stores and online (opposite page). Although many yeast-dough recipes call for proofing the yeast first, Brian doesn’t bother, and the dough never fails to rise.

Napa spice merchant Shuli Madmone has introduced many fascinating seasonings to our kitchen, including the dried rose petals we use in this sorbet. His shop, Whole Spice (see page 126), is a playground for adventuresome cooks, and in recent years, he has brought a collection of exotic seasonings to the Workshop. We grind the dried rose petals fine with sugar, then use that fragrant mixture to sweeten a sparkling wine sorbet.

At the 2001 Workshop, Chef Ken Vedrinski astonished guests with a “consommé” made from the strained juice of tomatoes and watermelon. Preparing the dish involved hanging the pureed fruits in a muslin bag overnight to collect the clear, sweet juices—a procedure that might deter many home cooks. Riffing on Chef Vedrinski’s idea, Brian created an easier gazpacho that blends tomato, watermelon, and other summer vegetables so seamlessly that you can’t decipher the contents. The result is a refreshing and original adaptation of the familiar Spanish soup.

Chef Alan Greeley, who attended the 1997 Workshop, introduced us to this luscious salad dressing. Inspired by the creamy “ranch dressing” that originated on a dude ranch in Santa Barbara, Alan’s version incorporates avocado for an even silkier texture. He pairs the dressing with steamed artichokes and asparagus; we love it on tender leaves of butter lettuce with a shower of fresh spring herbs from our garden.

At the winery, we are always looking for enticing finger foods that our guests can enjoy comfortably with a glass of wine in hand. This hors d’oeuvre from Memphis chef Wally Joe, devised at the 2004 Workshop, passes that test. Piped or spooned onto endive leaves, the mousse makes an easily passed hors d’oeuvre. The mousse’s creamy texture and smoky notes find an echo in our Napa Valley Chardonnay, and the apple garnish provides another aromatic link.

A professor of wine and spirits at the Culinary Institute of America, Michael Weiss is part of our Workshop “faculty.” He teaches a wine and food pairing seminar for the participants every year and selects appropriate Cakebread Cellars wines for the evening meals. That’s no small challenge given how complex many of the chefs’ creations are, but we give Michael carte blanche in the cellar. When entertaining at home, he and his wife, Jenny, often serve their own gravlax as a first course. In place of the fresh dill that perfumes traditional gravlax, the Weisses season the fish with coriander seed, fennel seed, and lemon. The method works beautifully on farmed Arctic char, a more sustainable choice than farmed salmon. You can serve the translucent slices with toast and condiments, as described here, or on cucumber slices with a dab of crème fraîche.

A light, bright, citrusy hors d’oeuvre for a warm summer night, this tartare requires impeccably fresh tuna. Keep the fish on ice as you prepare it and serve it immediately for the most vivid flavor. To preserve the tuna’s plum-red color, don’t add the salt or soy sauce until the last moment. You can present the tartare in lettuce cups, if you prefer, instead of on fried wontons or crackers.

This is a great dessert to vary, according to your cravings and mood, with different flavors of ice cream and sauces. I love the uncomplicated taste of vanilla bean ice cream with brownies, but go for any of your favorite flavors. The Caramel Sauce adds another dimension of flavor and color to the chocolate and vanilla, but many other traditional ice cream sauces will also work. I like to spoon a little of the sauce between the brownies and ice cream to prevent the brownie layer from tasting too dry. The sauce helps pack it together with a nice gooey consistency, so that it’s not too much of a textural contrast from the ice cream.

Twenty years ago this icing was more commonly made with vegetable shortening than with butter. Even now, some grocery stores and lower-end bakeries still use shortening to save money. When the frosting is made with shortening, the sugar is really the only flavor you taste. To enhance the flavors, and because of an overall avoidance of trans fats (which are common in shortening), today at high-end bakeries and at home, butter is more commonly used for the base of this icing. The secret to this simple-to-make butter icing is beating it in a mixer for a good 5 to 8 minutes total, so that it is light and fluffy. Our recipe differs from others out there because it uses far less sugar, but this is still inherently a very sweet icing. In addition, using less sugar results in a naturally more yellow color, so if you want to get a bright white or if you’re planning to tint it a different color, beat the icing in a standing mixer until it is colorless—the more air you incorporate, the whiter it will be. To make our “Sassy” Cinnamon Icing, which pairs well with all of the cakes in the Banana Cake chapter (page 125), just add one tablespoon of ground cinnamon and mix until combined.

In this icing, the acidity of the citrus enhances the tanginess of the cream cheese. Orange, lemon, and lime all work well. Although the orange icing is my favorite, lemon is especially flavorful with fruity vanilla cakes, such as the Blueberry “Cheesecake” (page 123), and the lime icing spread over a vanilla cupcake and sprinkled with graham cracker crumbs, or sandwiched between two homemade graham crackers (see Graham Cracker Dough, page 86), can evoke a Key lime pie.

Typically, I don’t add food coloring to my icings unless a customer (or my daughter) requests it, but for this icing I make an exception. Just a drop or two of green food coloring makes the icing a nice shade of pale green and hints at the mint flavoring. It looks so festive atop a chocolate cupcake or mini cupcake, garnished with green sparkling sugar, that it is a natural choice for St. Patrick’s Day or other springtime celebrations. The cream cheese subdues the mint essence a little, creating a softer, rather than spicy, mint flavor. Whereas the Peppermint variation on the Swiss buttercream (page 156) is more of a seasonal option, this mint icing is popular all year long.

Admittedly, the depth of flavor of the Chocolate Icing can overwhelm some cakes. Cutting that intensity with the Cream Cheese Icing helps balance the cake and icing without compromising the flavor of the chocolate. I find the need for balance especially true with the Banana Cake (page 126). When you serve it with this Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing, you have the subtle chocolate taste, but you still get to showcase the banana.

Swiss Buttercream is a little more time consuming to make than many of the other icings in this book because it requires a few more steps, but it is still quite simple. The slight sheen and smooth texture make it a beautiful icing to use for more formal cakes, and a bubbly, dry champagne pairs well with this icing, making it just the thing for celebratory occasions. While useful, a candy thermometer is not required. When you are heating the egg whites, just make sure that the sugar has dissolved entirely and the mixture feels hot to the touch before you whip the egg whites to a meringue. For best results in rebeating cold Swiss Buttercream, take about one-quarter of the icing and microwave it for 1 minute, until melted. Pour the melted icing over the cold icing, then beat it in a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment at high speed until it is smooth and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes.