Our friends from North Carolina joined us again recently for
a weekend in Birmingham, mainly to eat at Frank Stitt’s restaurants. We were not disappointed with Highlands or
Bottega. We started with the Highlands Martini and it was delicious and perfect
with slivers of ice and a shaker that produces really two martinis. We had wonderful oysters on the half-shell,
veal tenderloin with sweetbreads, and a beautiful tempura style soft-shell crab
for our appetizer. Bottega was our
Saturday lunch place, and by 11:30 AM it was already full so we got a table
outside. We started with a Negroni, which is fast becoming one of my favorite
drinks. Bottega serves the best pizza so that was our choice. My white pizza
with sausage and fennel was delicious and I immediately came home to recreate
it.
One day I am going to try the Hot and Hot Fish Club in
Birmingham, which I hear is excellent, but I just cannot get away from the
Highlands Bar and Grill when I am in town. If you have not made your visit to
these restaurants, you should put them on your list of things to do. Highland’s
is not open on Sunday or Monday, but Bottega is open these days. Another restaurant
Fon Fon is not open for Saturday lunch. Just check on the days for each of
these before you go.
From Frank Stitt’s Southern
Table
The Highlands Martini
Serves 1
3 ½ ounces Bombay gin (not Sapphire---the alcohol percentage
is too high), chilled (A true martini is made with gin and not vodka. This is
according to Frank.)
3 juicy drops of dry white vermouth, such as Cinzano or
Martini & Rossi, chilled
A strip of lemon zest
2 green olives, preferably Picholine
Fill a cocktail shaker half full with ice cubes. Add the gin
and vermouth and, with a wooden pestle or spoon, muddle vigorously for about 10
seconds, giving it at least 10 strokes. Strain into a chilled martini glass.
Twist a lemon strip over the glass before dropping it in.
Toss in the olives. There should be the slightest suggestion of a glacier of
ice forming on the surface. Inhale deeply and take a big sip.
These recipes are taken from the other Frank Stitt cookbook,
Bottega Favorita.
In the 1920s, Gasparé Campari invented a cocktail of sweet
vermouth, soda, and Campari---his own trademarked alcoholic blend of sixty-plus
bitter herbs and aromatics. It was so popular with American patrons that it
became known as an Americano. Legend has it that a few years later an Italian
count named Camillo Negroni asked a Florentine bartender to substitute a slash
of gin for the soda in his Americano, and, with that, the Negroni was born.
Classic Negroni
Makes 1 cocktail
1 ounce Campari
1 ounce gin (Bottega has a new twist----they used Bourbon
for ours that day.)
1 ounce sweet vermouth
Twist of orange peel
Fill an old-fashioned glass with ice. Add all ingredients
except the orange peel. Give a stir. Garnish with the orange twist.
Bottega, as I have said before really produces good pizzas.
To replicate this at home you need a really hot oven, I get mine to 500ᴼ. I
have a pizza stone which I preheat for 30 minutes before putting in the pizza.
This works well and I get a thin crust pizza with a puffy golden edge. I use
this recipe from Bottega and it works well.
Basic Pizza Dough
Makes three 7-ounce portions of dough, for three 10-inch pizzas
1 ¼ cups warm water (105ᴼ to 115ᴼF)
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
¼ cup olive oil
Cornmeal for dusting (optional)
Pour the warm water into a small bowl, stir in the honey,
and sprinkle the yeast over the top. Set aside to proof until foamy, about 10
minutes.
Combine the flours and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer
fitted with the paddle attachment (or use a large bowl and a sturdy hand
mixer). Add the yeast mixture and olive oil and mix on low speed until the
dough forms a mass on the paddle and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, 4-5
minutes.
Remove the dough and divide it into 3 equal portions. Put on
a flour-dusted baking sheet with plastic wrap, and set aside in a warm place to
rise for 30 minutes, or until almost doubled. (You can make the dough ahead and
refrigerate it overnight if necessary; allow it to come to room temperature
before continuing.)
The dough is ready to be rolled out and baked. You can hold
the rolled dough at room temperature for a short while on a sheet of parchment
paper that has been dusted with a little cornmeal.
Toppings are unending, but I used some Fontina cheese, some
fennel seeds and some sausage scented with fennel to use on my pizza at home
and cooked it for 15 minutes and it was wonderful. Here are some other
possibilities: wild mushrooms, butternut
squash and wilted greens with tomato sauce, and Fontina; grilled chicken,
pesto, mozzarella and aged provolone; smoked salmon with red onions, capers,
and mascarpone; red potatoes, rosemary and Parmesan cheese; spinach, red onions
and goat cheese.
Just use your imagination for toppings!
