His name is Patrick Stapleton of Augusta, Ga. His entry, the Southern Peach ‘n’ Pulled Pork Pizza, won him the grand prize trip to Italy. This won’t be his first trip to Italy, either. Stapleton has studied there and his culinary experiences inspired him to try his hand at a southern twist on an Italian classic and enter the recipe into Bolla Wines’ national pizza contest. His winning recipe beat out hundreds of other hometown favorites in Bolla’s “Taste of Your Town” contest.

“I am very excited to win the Bolla pizza challenge and can’t wait to eat my way through Italy,” he said.

An avid cook, Stapleton focused on Georgia’s famous peaches, its popular Vidalia onion and the region’s succulent pulled pork for his recipe. He also drew inspiration from his mom, who believed in cooking pizza from scratch. “My mom always made homemade pizzas instead of takeout. When I cooked this recipe for my family and friends they were a little hesitant at first but found it surprisingly good,” he said.

Read the rest after the jump…

Contestants in Bolla’s “Taste of Your Town” pizza contest, launched in February 2008, were asked to submit a pizza recipe online that represented their state in the form of locally produced ingredients or a state’s signature dish. Five regions, including Stapleton’s, were selected and went head to head for a chance at the grand prize trip to visit Bolla’s winery in Verona and attend the World Pizza Championships.

The grand prize winner was determined via an online vote and a live taste testing with a panel of culinary and media judges. There were about 20 of us. To the right of me at my table were John White, Publisher of Food & Dining Magazine, the Louisville Edition, and Ron Mikulak, Assistant Food Editor at the Courier-Journal. Down at the other end were Jeff Ramsey and Kathi Lincoln from Lite 106.9.

The entry from the Southeast beat out finalists such as Chanterelle pizza with arugula-pumpkin seed pesto and chevre (Oregon/Far West), Chipotle Chicken Enchilada Pizza (Texas/Southwest), Cornhusker Pizza with roasted corn and bacon (Nebraska/Midwest), and Passionately Seafood Apizza with fresh clams and lemon juice (Connecticut/Northeast). The Southeast was one of five regions in this national pizza competition and included AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, VA and WV. Two entries from Kentucky did not make it to the finals.

Bolla, the “Official Wine of Pizza” and a sponsor of the U.S. Pizza Team, was introduced in the U.S. after GI’s returned from World War II, the same time pizza went mainstream. Bolla’s roots lay in the hillside of the acclaimed Veneto region in Northern Italy where Abele Bolla started handcrafting his wines at his small winery in 1883.

Today, Bolla’s winemakers hand harvest grapes from five regions in Italy: Veneto, Lombardia, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Tuscany and Romagna.

At the recent judging, each pizza was paired with a Bolla wine and panelists were asked to rate the match, as well as other criteria such as overall flavor, presentation and creativity. Courtesy of Brown-Forman, here is Stapleton’s winner. Check back during the next several days and I’ll post the other four finalist recipes and the two Kentucky entries.

Southern Peach ‘n’ Pulled Pork Pizza

By Patrick Stapleton

Paired with Bolla Bardolino

Pizza dough:

1 12-inch prepared pizza crust

1 (3-4 lb) pork shoulder roast or Boston butt

1 ½ cup Vidalia onion, sliced

1 1/2 cups water

1 pound frozen peaches (thawed)

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons jalapeño peppers, chopped

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1/3 cup bourbon (optional)

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

2 1/2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dry mustard

Salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

If making homemade pulled pork, it should be done day ahead and kept refrigerated. For an easier version, buy store bought prepared pulled pork.

Place half of the thinly sliced onions in bottom of a slow cooker. Add pork and water, along with remaining onion slices. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Shred pork with a fork and discard fat. Refrigerate if not used immediately.

Add oil to medium saucepan, cook onions and peppers over medium heat until softened, 5-8 minutes. Chop peaches and add them to pan leaving a small portion to the side. Add vinegar and bourbon (optional), heat for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, honey, mustard, brown sugar, and spices.

Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until peaches are very tender, about 30 minutes.  Let sauce cool and puree in blender.
In another medium saucepan add pulled pork and 1 cup of sauce, heat for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Spread sauce and pulled pork evenly over dough and half of mozzarella and cheddar cheeses.  Add slices of Vidalia onion and remaining chopped peaches.  Top with the remaining cheese. Cook pizza in 450 degree heat for 12-15 minutes until cheese is melted.  Slice and enjoy this Italian classic with a good ole’ southern twist!

Watch Patrick on YouTube.

by David Dominé, The Bluegrass Peasant

Why don’t you don an evening gown, tuxedo or a Victorian-inspired costume and join me for the 3rd Annual Spirit Ball on Saturday, October 25 at the Conrad-Caldwell House on lovely St. James Court? This will be the third year that I’ve served as the official greeter for this fall event, and it’s already turning out to be a highlight of the October social calendar in Louisville.

For the uninitiated, the Spirit Ball is a Victorian-inspired masquerade ball that celebrates the haunted past and bygone splendor of Old Louisville, one of the grandest historic preservation districts in the country. With the oppulent Conrad-Caldwell House as a backdrop, most people arrive in elegant masquerade or costumes that would have been en vogue during the Victorian and Edwardian eras – many come dressed as ghostly characters from my books GHOSTS OF OLD LOUISVILLE and PHANTOMS OF OLD LOUISVILLE. Lots of people come dressed as southern belles and Civil War soldiers as well. It’s a great way to celebrate Halloween the old-fashioned way.

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While enjoying a spirited evening of live music and dancing, party-goers can also bid on items at a silent auction or compete for prizes in the best costume contest. Admission includes an open bar with expertly mixed cocktails and food catered by Masterson’s.

Penny Brisson of Brown-Forman Corporation will be hosting a special vodka tasting featuring the Finlandia label, making a spooky cocktail she has fittingly named the ‘Finlandia Ectoplasm’  In the VIP Spirit Lounge, guests will also enjoy a premium bourbon tasting with exclusive treats that include a Mediterranean cheese tort with pita wedges, jumbo shrimp shots and all the Happy Balls (the official bourbon ball of Old Louisville) you can eat.

Tickets to the 2008 Spirit Ball cost $99 and VIP passes, which include exclusive access to the VIP Spirit Lounge in Haskins Hall, cost $149. For more information, check out the Spirit Ball web site. Proceeds for the neighborhood fundraiser go the Conrad-Caldwell House, an opulent mansion completed in 1895 for Theophilus Conrad. For more information about this Old Louisville landmark, go online.

If you can’t make it to this year’s Spirit Ball, try to make it to the Fifth Annual Victorian Ghost Walk, sponsored by the West St. Catherine Street Neighborhood Association. This annual jaunt through the haunted highlights of Old Louisville is, like the Spirit Ball, a part of the Gathering of the Spirits festival, a fall-themed celebration designed to draw attention to the great things going on in Old Louisville.

This year, costumed tour guides will walk groups of thrill seekers through the neighborhood on Friday, October 24, Saturday, October 25 and Sunday, October 26. Tours depart from the Old Louisville Information Center in Central Park every 15 minutes starting at 6:00 p.m. – the last group departs at 7:30 p.m. The tour takes anywhere from 90 minutes to two hours and tickets cost $20 in advance or $25 the day of the tour.

Along the way, costumed interpreters and spectral visitors from the netherworld will entertain participants with tales of true-life hauntings and intrigue from the neighborhood’s heyday. I’ll be leading the 6:00 group on the October 24 and the 26, so come and join me if you can. If you miss me, make sure to ask for Kelly – she dresses up as a southern belle and is a hoot. People keep coming back year after year to hear her telling her version of the stories. It’ll be a great time. Hope to see you down in Old Louisville this weekend!

by David Dominé, The Bluegrass Peasant

Hot Brown Praise – The cowboys at CMT love the Hot Brown, and who could blame them? While we don’t know if we’d go as far to call the Hot Brown a “luxurious sandwich,” there’s no denying the appeal of the Louisville original, served at the Brown Hotel.  The Nashville writer’s short piece gives a quick history of the sandwich and praises Bardstown’s “indie scene.” Cool. (CMT)

Breakfast at The Brown- You can also get a high-end breakfast at the Brown, especially if you sample the new breakfast menu at J. Graham’s Cafe. Vanilla Belgian Waffles, the Hot Brown Florentine, and the Smoked Salmon Omelet sound like reasons enough to pay the grand ol’ hotel a morning visit.

Party Like It’s 1933- Brown-Forman is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the repeal of prohibition. That’s something to celebrate, especially when you’re the only whiskey company in the U.S. that existed before, during and after Prohibition. Part of its six-month celebration is the recognition of establishments which survived the dry spell, and unveiling a special Old Forester gift pack. Old Forester was legally sold as medicine during Prohibition, and became many a grandpa’s cough syrup.

BBC Never a Let Down – We kicked off this past weekend at BBC in St. Matthews, where we were happy to discover the Raspberry Meade and an excellent spinach and artichoke pizza. The meade is tasty and kind of on the sweet side (it’s fermented honey!), so you don’t want to drink more than one. The pizza was just as good, with spinach, chicken and artichokes covered in cheese on a chewy crust. If you go, be sure to eat outside on the air conditioned beer garden.

All tips garnered by Williams, plus some proceeds from the event, scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 17 from 6 to 10 p.m., will go to SFB. Williams is a founding member of SFB, which works to promote healthy food resources in Kentucky.

Slow Food USA promotes a return to food cultivation that is respectful of natural resources. The non-profit organization campaigns for the preservation of endangered foods and food traditions.

Proof on Main’s charity bartender series will feature a local celebrity every other month. A portion of proceeds from the bar sales and all his or her tips are be donated to the select charity.  Upcoming charities include the Make a Wish foundation and the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

To make reservations for dinner, call 217-6360.