Coppola Winery chef shares recipes for a poolside picnic

These dog days of summer are meant for lounging — next to the nearest body of water and for as long as possible. And while peanut butter and jelly or tuna fish sandwiches with a side of flaming hot Cheetos may suffice every now and then, it’s nice to pack your cooler with food that has more pizzazz.

Someone who knows a thing or two about putting together perfect poolside menus is Tim Bodell, executive chef at Coppola Winery in Geyserville. The winery has one of the most enviable poolside perches in Sonoma County and an easygoing, finger-food-driven menu distinct from its more upscale restaurant, Rustic.

“I love the idea of handheld poolside (food), because eating with your hands, to me, is a fun experience,” Bodell said. “When you’re out enjoying the pool on a beautiful day, I don’t want to fuss with a knife and fork.”

As the father of an 11-year-old who loves the pool and the beach, Bodell has given plenty of thought to easy, make-ahead, family-friendly finger foods that pack easily into a cooler and let him enjoy a leisurely casual day.

Bodell cut his teeth, culinarily speaking, working as a teenager in cheese steak and pizza shops where he grew up, in the Philadelphia area.

“My mom instilled a love of cooking in me from a very young age. I had a really wide-open palate,” he said. “(But) we didn’t eat out much at all. I didn’t really have a window into the profession of being a chef.”

That changed when he was 18 and began working for a trained chef who took him under his wing.

“Very shortly into my relationship with him, I knew that that’s what I wanted to do, and I hit the ground running,” he said.

Bodell enrolled at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, and earned a degree in culinary arts. After, he moved to the West Coast and spent several years in and around Bend, Oregon, before making Sonoma County his home about 14 years ago.

He ran his own catering company and worked at a handful of local restaurants for a couple of years when the job at Coppola came open. He already knew it was somewhere he wanted to work.

“It was the first winery I actually visited when I moved to this area,” he said. ”We loved the wines and loved the vibe of the place. Shortly after that, we came up for dinner and just sort of further fell in love with the property and the story of the property.”

Not many chefs can say they were mentored by a legendary Hollywood filmmaker, but Bodell can.

“I’ve been just so, so fortunate to have built and forged a close relationship with Mr. (Francis Ford) Coppola over the years. You know, he’s been a role model and a grandfatherly figure to me over the years,” said Bodell, noting the relationship went beyond purely professional after he lost his home in the 2017 Tubbs Fire. “After the fires, he was incredibly generous to my family.”

The “Godfather” director also helped shape his culinary philosophy, Bodell said.

“(Coppola) likes seasonal food. He likes family recipes, and he’s an incredible storyteller at his core. The power of food to tell a story, I think, is certainly something that I’ve picked up from him,” he said.

Bodell takes pride in the property’s culinary garden, tended by Pat McKenna. The garden lies just beyond the terrace of Rustic on a small triangle of land that was once planted with old-vine zinfandel grapes.

He pitched the idea of a culinary garden to Coppola in an email, and the one word reply came minutes later.

“Sure.”

As winery visitors arrived at the pool on a recent day to claim their cabanas and lounge chairs under striped umbrellas, it seemed reasonable to wonder if the chef ever has pool envy.

“Having been a chef for so long, I came to grips long ago that when everybody else is enjoying themselves, more than likely I’m working very, very hard,” Bodell said. “I have hospitality in my heart. Making people feel good is just part of my DNA. It brings me incredible pleasure to have people here enjoying all the hard work.”

On days off, Bodell and his family love spending time near the water, whether at the pool with friends or at their happy place, Doran Beach, where they recently spent an entire day that included breakfast, lunch and dinner on the sand.

Wherever they are, he said, he wants his cooler packed with fun, easy-to-eat finger foods.

“My wife really loves cold fried chicken and has requested it many times over the years for a day at the pool or beach. And it’s something that has a bit of nostalgia,” he said.

Not only is it a family-friendly food, his recipe is also gluten-free, meaning just about anyone can enjoy it.

Bodell prefers boneless, skinless chicken thighs because the cut cooks quickly in a cast-iron skillet and tends not to dry out, like breast meat can if it’s cooked a little too long. It’s an ideal make-ahead dish that can be cooked a night or two before an outing.

After it cooks, he cools it quickly in the refrigerator. He recommends cooling it uncovered so it doesn’t lose its crunch from any steam. Once thoroughly cooled, it can be packed into a container ready to pop into a cooler.

For the grown-up palates in the crowd, Bodell suggested adding a bit of flourish to this finger food.

“If you want to splurge, have a little tin of sturgeon caviar or some trout roe, and maybe the adults treat themselves with a little dollop on there, for some surf and turf,” he said.

On a hot day or sultry evening, Bodell enjoys the ease of a make-ahead shrimp-topped gazpacho, a dish he considers a hybrid of the chilled Spanish soup and Mexican ceviche.

“I love gazpacho because it tastes like liquid summer. And I love the Mexican shrimp cocktail dish, which is so refreshing and so interesting, texturally,” he said. “I love eating chilled dishes poolside because it helps keep my temperature down.”

A keen kayak fisherman, Bodell loves the thrill of reeling in lingcod or rock fish, which he said are in season right now and plentiful.

“When I bring home the harvest, I have to figure out how I’m going to feed my family in a way that they like. I’ve done a lot of dishes using that fish. from ceviche to tacos to a fish-stick-kind of preparation,” he said.

Bodell is familiar with the post-pool day dinnertime dilemma when everyone is tired, sun-soaked and ravenously hungry. Fish cakes are something he can make a day or two in advance, then pull out of the refrigerator and fry in minutes. He serves them with a simple slaw, also made ahead of time.

Aside from plenty of great food, Bodell’s must-haves for a perfect day by the water include sunscreen and a portable speaker with some good tunes.

“You’d be crazy not to have a little ‘yacht rock’ going on,” he said — that genre of soft rock from the ’70s and ’80s. “Everybody’s going to enjoy a little Hall & Oates. It’s just like fried chicken — I think it’s meant for the masses.”

Makes 4 servings

This make-ahead dish will take some stress out of leaving the house on a pool day. Bodell makes the chicken the day before and packs it in a cooler for a meal the whole family can enjoy. Serve with your favorite caviar for the adults, lemon wedges and dipping sauce for the kids or just as is. Feel free to season the chicken any way you’d like with a favorite spice blend or marinade. Pre-marinated chicken from your local market works great for this, too.

1½ - 2 pounds chicken thighs, boneless and skinless, cut in half

Salt and pepper, to taste

2 cups buttermilk, plus more as needed

1 cup cornstarch, plus more as needed

2 cups gluten-free flour, plus more as needed

1 cup olive oil, for frying

1 cup vegetable oil, for frying

Lemon wedges

Dipping sauce (optional)

1 ounce trout roe or sturgeon caviar (optional)

Liberally season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper. Put the buttermilk in a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl or on a plate, combine cornstarch and gluten-free flour. Bread the chicken thigh pieces by putting the chicken into the buttermilk and shaking the excess before placing into the flour mix. Pat gently for the flour to adhere to the chicken, then set aside.

Add the olive oil and vegetable oil to a 10-inch cast-iron skillet, and heat to 340 degrees.

Once the oil is hot, add the chicken pieces to the skillet and cook until the crust is dark gold and the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees. You can finish the chicken in a 350-degree oven if it doesn’t fully cook in the skillet. In that case, place the fried chicken on a rack over a sheet tray and cook until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.

Season the chicken with salt when done cooking. Cool completely. Serve with lemon wedges, your favorite dipping sauces and, for added indulgence, an ounce of trout roe or caviar.

Pairing suggestion: Sofia Blanc de Blancs

Makes 4 servings

This soup is cold, refreshing and a little bit spicy; it’s best enjoyed on a hot summer day. The soup can be made ahead and stored in a cooler to be easily assembled when your group gets hungry. You can grill the shrimp or buy your favorite cooked shrimp.

2 pounds plum tomatoes, roughly chopped (about 7 or 8 tomatoes)

1 guajillo chile, seeds removed

1 fresno chile, halved, seeds removed

¼ red onion, roughly chopped

1 cucumber, peeled, cut lengthwise, seeds removed

Pinch of chile flakes (if you want it a little spicier)

1 teaspoon sherry vinegar

1 tablespoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for garnish

16 - 24 shrimp (about 1 - 1½ pounds), cooked

Cilantro leaves, for garnish

Add all ingredients except for the shrimp and cilantro to a blender and puree until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer and adjust seasoning by adding more salt, chile flakes or vinegar to your liking. Chill the soup. When ready to serve, place shrimp in a soup bowl (or plastic cup if by the pool) and pour the soup around it. Garnish the soup with cilantro and olive oil.

Pairing suggestion: Sofia Brut Rosé

Makes 4 servings

You can make these fish cakes a day ahead so they’ll be ready to cook after a day at the pool. As a fisherman, Tim Bodell tries to get creative to develop dishes his son will enjoy. This is a great dish to stretch the amount of fish you have by using all the other ingredients in these tasty fish cakes.

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

Kosher or sea salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 pound cod or other flaky white fish

¼ yellow onion, diced small

¼ red bell pepper, diced small

1 egg

¼ cup mayonnaise

Zest of 1 lemon

½ cup breadcrumbs

1 teaspoon tarragon, chopped

To bread the fish cakes

½ cup flour

1 egg, beaten

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

Vegetable oil, to cook

Lemon wedge, for garnish

For the slaw

3 leaves napa cabbage, sliced thin

1 cup thinly sliced onion

½ cup thinly sliced carrot

½ cup thinly sliced jicama

½ cup sliced banana peppers

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Rub the fish all over with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and season generously with salt and pepper. Place on a sheet pan or baking dish and bake for 10 minutes or until fully cooked, so it flakes with a fork. Transfer the fish to a large bowl.

While the fish cooks, in a small saute pan set over medium heat, add the other tablespoon of olive oil, the onion and bell peppers, along with a pinch of salt. Cook several minutes, until soft. Place the sauteed vegetables in the bowl with the fish and refrigerate to cool.

Once the fish is cold, flake it into small pieces and add the egg, mayonnaise, lemon zest, breadcrumbs and tarragon. Form the fish mixture into four to eight patties, depending on what size you would like them, and set aside.

Next, set up a breading procedure with one dish of flour, one dish of whisked egg and one dish with panko breadcrumbs. Dip the fish cakes into the flour, shake off the excess, then dip into the egg and let any excess drip off. Finally, dip cakes into the breadcrumbs.

Set the cakes aside until ready to cook. They can be refrigerated overnight and up to a couple of days at this point.

To make the slaw, combine all the slaw vegetables in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the rice wine vinegar and olive oil with salt and pepper to taste. Pour this mixture over the vegetables and toss lightly. Set aside in the refrigerator for at least two hours and up to a day.

When you are ready to cook the fish cakes, place a wide-bottom pan over medium heat and add enough vegetable oil to cover the entire bottom of the pan. Once the oil is hot, add the fish cakes and cook on both sides until golden brown and hot throughout. Drain the cakes on paper towels. Season with a sprinkle of sea salt or kosher salt, and serve the cakes with the slaw and a lemon wedge.

Pairing suggestion: Francis Ford Coppola Diamond Collection Sauvignon Blanc, Sonoma County.

You can reach Staff Writer Jennifer Graue at 707-521-5262 or [email protected]. On Twitter @JenInOz.