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Event Report: Pasta and POUR Decisions

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Crafted by Hand & Paired by Cellar

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“Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.”

George Bernard Shaw

Omaha Performing Arts Tasting with Master Sommelier George Miliotes

Omaha Performing Arts (OPA) presented Master Sommelier George Miliotes at the new Tenaska Center on May 14th. The president of OPA had encountered George at his restaurant in Florida, went to one of his tasting events and asked him to come to Omaha. George is a gifted communicator and lively speaker. There were probably about 75 attendees, with room for more. A nice charcuterie and cheeseboard was provided for every two people, with high end meats like Heart of the Ham and Coppa Espana. After telling us how he got into wine, and what the Master Somm vetting process was like, we worked out way through 6 high end wines. Audience participation was highly encouraged. Most of the attendees were novices to wine, but George brought a wealth of information even for more learned palates. All wines were tasted blind.

There were three white and three red wines to study. Every wine was analyzed in an attempt to identify the grape varietal, country of origin, and vintage date. Every clue was analyzed: acid levels, tannin levels, color (even on white wines). He explored thick-skinned grapes (Rioja, Shiraz, Syrah, Zinfandel, Cabernets Sauvignon & Franc, Malbec, Merlot) and thin-skinned reds (Nebbiolo, Pinot Noir, Gamay, Sangiovese & Grenache). The kind of oak is an important clue. American Oak, for example, has a cocoanut, dill, and soy sauce flavor. The kind of tannin you were tasting was also discussed: harsh or smooth, as well as the alcohol level in the glass. The wine label was revealed before moving to the next wine. This was a challenging exercise.

All in all, it was an enjoyable evening. George is returning two more times to Omaha: July 19th and September 19th. Use the code IWFS2026 to get a 20% discount. Go to ticketomaha.com to get your tickets.

Event Report: Pasta and POUR Decisions – Crafted

by Hand & Paired by Cellar

Story by Tom Murnan

Now for something completely different, as they say on Monty Python. We were going to Chef Around the Block culinary endeavors at their new digs: 12221 Mary Plaza. The space is much larger than the other locations. Dan Bengino was our chef and guide to culinary topics such as the proper way to use a knife, how to cut tomatoes, garlic, basil and onions, not to mention how to make pasta. We would supply the labor, and Chef Dan the wisdom and technique.

Proper Knife Technique

I learned some surprising things about using a knife. We all know that old saw that a dull knife is a dangerous knife, but I never thought of using an Asian cleaver as my chef’s knife. He has 42 knives, but this is Bengino’s go-to knife for routine slicing and dicing. It is light weight and easy to sharpen. One of the main reasons for his choice is that it keeps his knuckles off the cutting board and out of the way of the blade. He says with a clever he has better control. It allows him to relax his grip and let the knife do the work as he cuts from front to back. No need for an index finger atop the blade (common with amateurs wielding a chef’s knife), which changes the balance point. With the cleaver’s wide blade, the index fingertip is bent at the knuckle and is used to guide the blade. Dan uses a wood cutting board rather than plastic. To keep the board from moving around, put a wet towel under the board. Use Mineral Oil to season the cutting board. Our Chef also has a plan for every cutting which he puts in the following expression: FROM SOMETHING (like a bowl) ON SOMETHING (cutting board), INTO SOMETHING (storage bowl or trash bowl). The cleaver makes it easy to sweep cuttings or debris into a bowl below tabletop level. You don’t place the bowl above the cutting surface as

Photos by Tom Murnan

that is harder to manage than taking a knife edge and sweeping it into the bowl. Rather, put the collection bowl at or below the table edge so you can just sweep your cuttings into the bowl with the knife edge rather than pick them up.

Making Pasta

For convenience and to save time for this group of 25, the dough had already been made, wrapped and was waiting for us when we arrived, wrapped in plastic. We practiced the art of rolling it out thin enough to fit into the pasta maker, and cutting it into fettuccine sized strips. Ordinarily, the next step would be to dry it, but we used it immediately. Not drying it saves cooking time, only 4 minutes instead of 10 to 12 minutes for dried pasta.

Manga

We cut and assembled the ingredients for the Marinara Sauce and Seasonal vegetables, and prepared the chicken for the Scallopini by cutting the breasts into 3 slices, then pounding them on the flat side of the mallet to tenderize, next dipping them into egg batter, flour, and seasoned breadcrumbs. Due to the large number of people and to speed things up, it was deep fat fried.

Grazie

Dinner was quite nice, if I do say so myself. The Italian dinner wines made a good match to the cuisine. Many thanks to Susan Rauth & Brent Rasmussen for this fun event idea. The staff were helpful and had already prepped many things, like cleaning the vegetables, for example. Chef Bengino gave an entertaining and insightful presentation. If nothing else, we learned what hard work it is to put on a dinner banquet, and how knowledgeable your culinary artist must be to get it right.