Meet The Team / Deidre Woollard

I'd been itching to try this recipe since it came out in October's Gourmet . I am a sucker for alchemy cuisine, anything that rises or changes color or shape and turns into something else, so the idea of purple wine-soaked spaghetti thrilled me. This recipe is basically a version of my favorite broccoli and ziti standby, only with the addition of red wine. I had assumed before reading the recipe that the noodles would be boiled in the wine but it was actually a process that involved parboiling both the pasta and the broccoli.

The wine is added to the partially-cooked pasta. The fun part is watching it slowly change color as you boil it. The recipe calls for a red zinfandel, and you could probably use any red, but I think a heavier wine like a zinfandel or a cabernet sauvignon adds a nice purple hue. I was curious to see if it would taste wine-heavy. It definitely had a wine taste although it wasn't overpowering.

Overall I'm not sure if it added enough bang for my buck to cook pasta this way again, but it was fun for novelty's sake. One caveat to those who are making this recipe is to have extra wine on hand if you want to recreate the deep purple shown in the Gourmet article. It's definitely festive for the holidays.

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I make chocolate-dipped coconut macaroons each year for the holidays but in honor of today's event I decided to perform a few boozy experiments. I am a firm believer that anything can be made better with a little booze. I think every cook who has experimented with cooking with liquor probably has a few bottles of half-finished liqueurs around the house. My recipe uses the same proportions as this one only I use almond instead of vanilla extract. In order to get the maximum flavor for my experiments, I upped the flour a bit so that I could include more liqueur. The results were mixed.

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• It's the season for holiday parties. Russ Parsons shows us how to throw an elegant holiday party without going completely insane. The menu includes a tart of mixed greens, Dungeness crab salad with avocado and bitter greens, carrots with smoky pimentón-orange glaze, and roast tenderloin of beef with horseradish crème fraîche. The menu serves twelve and is a buffet so you can spend maximum time with your guests.
• It's not a party without dessert. Susan LaTempa breaks out recipes for espresso angel food cake with a pourable ganache, the rich and intricate chocolate Rigo squares, and a lime curd tart.
• And of course there has to be booze. Corie Brown takes on what to serve (wines and a house drink) and what to serve it in. Reidel's stemless wineglasses have made old-fashioned glasses suitable for wine serving. The recipe for a Golden Pomme (equal parts apple juice and bourbon, flavored with Amaretto di Saronno and fresh lemon juice) sounds a bit deadly and hangover-inducing.

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• Little oysters, big flavor - Russ Parsons covers the population rise of the Olympia oyster. Finally some good news about the state of seafood. I've seen so many articles lately about the depletion of various ocean resources; it's nice to know that there is some hope out there.

• Because this season wasn't fattening enough, Donna Deane takes on fritto misto, delicious Italian fried veggies and seafood. So tempting, just don't glance at the calorie info at the bottom of the recipes.

• Stop eating your lunch hunched over your desk. Leslee Komaiko declares that deluxe lunch is back. It's certainly a cheaper way to enjoy some of L.A.'s hottest restaurants including Dakota and Providence.

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The latest flavor mutation is Cinnabon flavored canned coffee. Coca-Cola Consolidated will be selling the new premium coffee drink to consumers in the Southeast. The coffee is available in three flavors:  Cinnamon Vanilla Latte, Caramel Nut Latte and Espresso & Cream. The new drink will be on sale at convenience stores, grocery stores and restaurants throughout the South and may expand into other markets eventually. So the canned coffee business hasn't really taken off in this country (except of course for Starbuck's) so it will be intriguing to see if people are interested in the Cinnabon brand.

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