06.24.08
Posted in 6. Reviews, 7. Other Fun at 8:59 am by Chef Matt
Last “weekend” (which is Monday-Tuesday for me) my parents finally cashed in on their Christmas present that my wife and I gave them. A nice day touring through Virginia to see some of the best wineries my home state has to offer. It’s long been one of my favorite ways to spend a day, and I figured why not share the fun with my parents as well?
My lovely wife, Caroline, was our designated driver - which makes sense seeing as how she doesn’t drink - and in return we took her to two of her favorite spots along the way. So what follows is a quick (completely unsolicited) review of the wineries and other spots we hit along the way, just so you know what to do if you ever find yourself traveling in this area. (Wow, I feel like Duncan Hines…)
First stop was a relatively new winery on the VA scene, Pearmund Cellars. Their selection was large, and the staff was welcoming and friendly. The wines were generally good with a slightly too acidic Sauvignon Blanc, a nice reserve Chardonnay, and a very interesting “Vin de Sol” which actually ages on the roof of the winery in the sun for two years before bottling and comes out like a sherry. I have been several times before, and I’m sure I will be back again.
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For the next haul, we drove down to a winery I have been past, but never in before, Burnley Vineyards. We were greeted by a very large dog as we walked in, and needless to say the smell of dog permeated everything we tried to enjoy about the wines. What a change in attitude this was for us as the lady pouring for us acted as if she couldn’t stand the fact that we were there to taste her wines! Add to that the fact that almost all of them were undrinkable, and well, we left there about as fast as was possible. In all fairness, the Rivanna White was quite nice, with a crisp front and dry finish that was enjoyable enough that we bought a bottle despite our other instincts.
If you can find a better bagel, tell me. |
Driving into Charlottesville, we stopped off at the first destination for my wife, Bodo’s Bagels. For those of you who are not alums of UVA, you might not know this secret, but these are the best bagels south of the Mason-Dixon Line, bar none. I have been to New York several times. I’ve had good bagels, I’ve had bad bagels, and I’ve had downright horrible bagels. Heck, I’ve ever tired to make bagels on a few occasions. These are the best I’ve ever had without a doubt. So even though we made it seem like a present for Caroline, who loves them as well, it was a fine break for all of us as well.
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Keswick Vineyards was the next stop on our tour and we were thrilled to once again be greeted by pleasant staff in the setting of a lovely tasting room and garden. A neat feature of this winery was how they had a wine that was called “Consensus” which was put together by the members of their own wine club. While this is a really cool feature that would make me want to be a part of that club, the wine itself tasted like something only a committee could come up with: uninspired and boring. The rest of the wines were nice, but a tad overpriced for their level of quality. I did however buy myself a waiter’s corkscrew there, as I have needed one at work for some time now since my last one broke.
Since I can’t find an image of their logo online, here is a picture of their cool main building - complete with turret! |
Through a rough rainstorm we proceeded on to a personal favorite winery of mine: Horton Vineyards. They have a Viognier (the 2006) that I feel is the best Viognier ever produced by any Virginia vineyard to date. (And I’ve been drinking them for quite a while now.) But that’s not all, as they had a remarkable Vidal Blanc, and their Stonecastle White was an incredible bargain at only $10/bottle. Throw in the fact that tastings are free, and this is a winery I always try to visit when I’m in the area. Just beware that they have so many wines to try, you’ll need a designated driver just after visiting this one alone! However, with the wide range of selection, incredible quality and fabulous values to their wines, I’m personally willing to dub Horton with the title: Best Winery in Virginia.
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Practically across the street from Horton (which is about all we could stumble at this point) is Barboursville Vineyard. A lovely vineyard with friendly staff and (I’ve heard) a wonderful restaurant, this vineyard is one of the most awarded in all of Virginia. Unfortunately, they are letting the awards go to their heads (like the likewise fabulous Chrysalis Vineyards in Middleburg, VA) and they are pricing their wines way too high as a result. Their whites are very good, their reds are mediocre. But to look at the price tag, you’d think you were buying Chateau Neuf de Pape. While always worth a visit, I rarely find their wines worth the price, so again I left without buying anything.
It was time to call it a day for us, but we couldn’t help but be thankful to Caroline for driving for us, so we took the lovely route 20 all the way to Fredericksburg where were stopped in at the best coffee shop in Virginia, Hyperion Espresso. Unlike the unpalatable burnt flavor that accompanies every cup of coffee in a Starbuck’s, Hyperion’s coffee is rich, smooth and well-crafted. I’ve never had anything short of an excellent cup of coffee there, and today was no exception.
So there you have it, a wide range of fun stops in Virginia’s heartland that will get you drunk, full and buzzed all in an afternoon! If you can tell me a better way to spend my day off, and to have fun with my family while doing it, I’d love to hear it!
Chef Matt
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06.17.08
Posted in 6. Reviews, 7. Other Fun at 10:43 am by Chef Matt
Walking into Grape & Bean on a night where it seemed as if the sky could unleash a summer evening shower at any moment, I was greeted with trays of the most unusual fare for a party. Lemon and lime wedges, under-ripe rhubarb, salt and vinegar potato chips and unsweetened cranberry juice were lined up on the counter for the enjoyment of the guests.
Not my idea of good party snacks. |
Any other night, and I probably would have had a few chips (love that flavor!) and excused myself quickly in search of a party that at least maybe offered something a tad more palatable. But in this instance, I dove right in to all these incredibly mouth-puckering foods since it was important for me to have a frame of reference.
Perhaps you need some reference as well at this point…
See, this was no ordinary social gathering. This was a “miracle fruit” tasting. This fruit, which is really called “miracle fruit” is a West African fruit that, when eaten, re-wires how your brain interprets sour flavors rendering them sweet for the next half hour or so. Supposedly you can eat lemons, drink black coffee, even shoot straight vinegar, and not notice the incredible sour/bitter flavors that normally accompany those foods.
Miracle fruits on the tree. They’re about the size of a large coffee bean. |
I had recently heard about this fruit from my good friend Mike who sent me the New York Times article all about this fruit, and in a coincidence worthy of the Celestine Prophecy, I was invited to this party for the little fruit just one week later.
So back to the frame of reference. Having tried all these incredibly tart foods, we all were given a single miracle fruit and were told to chew it up and let it sit in our mouth for about a minute. The fruit itself is actually quite bitter and had an alum-like effect that robbed my mouth of all saliva for a moment. But once the fruit was down, there seemed to be no residual unpleasant taste in my mouth. It seemed hard to believe that this would have any effect on these foods in front of me.
But with the first sip of coffee, I was a believer. The coffee’s strong flavors were instantly mellowed out making it smooth and sweet. As if I had added cream and sugar, but it was still black as tar. The lemons tasted like Country Time lemonade; the rhubarb was as sweet as the best of springtime pies, and the raspberries - which were already sweet to begin with - now tasted like cloyingly sweet candy. The truly amazing change were the salt and vinegar potato chips. My brain could smell the artificial vinegar smell and my mouth was prepared for the intense rush of sourness as a result. But the chip was sweet and salty instead - as if they had miraculously become sweet potato chips instead. It was hard to wrap my mind around the concept of what things should be tasting like, as compared to what was actually going on in my mouth.
Wanting the full experience, I decided to chug a shot of straight apple cider vinegar. This would indeed be the real “acid test”. It was only slightly harsh, but the overall taste was more similar to apple cider than what I would have expected if I drank straight vinegar at any other time.
If this fruit is so amazing, how come we haven’t heard of it before? Actually, the miracle fruit has been known to the Western world since the 1800’s, but back in the 1970’s, the FDA decided that the miracle fruit was unsafe as a food additive. (Was this political wrangling by the sugar lobby? Who knows?…) But the whole fruit has remained legal, and primarily grown in Florida here in the US. But getting your hands on them is difficult and relatively expensive.
“U-P-Y-O-U-R-S…. What a rude Ouija Board!” |
Is it a life-changing experience? No, not really. The effect wears off after about half an hour, and fortunately, the effects abate themselves slowly. (It would be a nasty wake-up call to suddenly down a shot of vinegar and realize you had lost your super-powers…) However, if you ever have the means, I totally recommend it as a fun way to spend an evening with some friends. Like the first time you use a Ouija Board, it is a curious oddity that is fun in a unique way. But then you go back to enjoying salt and vinegar potato chips the way they were meant to be had - in all their salty-sour glory.
Chef Matt
P.S. A word of warning though… After eating large quantities of nothing but sour (acidic) foods for half an hour without noticing it, the result on your stomach is predictably upsetting. Better have some milk, or some Tums on hand for afterwards.
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06.10.08
Posted in 7. Other Fun at 1:09 pm by Chef Matt
It seems like a fair deal to me. And it seems like a fair deal to my uncle as well. I think that’s the cornerstone of all good deals. Each side thinks that they’re cheating the other.
I honestly have no idea what these forms are for. Yet I feel that’s a good thing… |
Every year, my uncle does my taxes for me. I collect a folder full of documents that I feel are possibly important and hand them to him in no particular order. A few weeks later, he has a series of documents that look like tax forms that I’m told to sign and mail off. The IRS then sends off the refund check, and I sit back with some cold ones and wonder why people think tax time is such a pain.
However, the flip side of this deal is that I have to prepare a gourmet meal for my uncle in return for this service. No problem! It just so happens that I both enjoy cooking, and I happen to be pretty good at it. So while it may seem a bit like a busman’s holiday for me to spend a whole day cooking, when in fact I’m supposed to be recovering from cooking, I see it as an easy and enjoyable payment for avoiding what most people consider to be one of the most dreadful citizenly duty.
But in the interest of full disclosure, my uncle is in fact an accountant, and helps lots of people with their taxes, so it’s not that much more of a stretch for him to do one more set of 1040’s. Or W2’s… or whatever those things are…
Before the wine, and more in focus… |
Seeing as how this is a food blog though, and not a discussion of the merits of our system of taxation (we’ll get plenty of that later on seeing as how this is an election year), I’ll now go into a description of what I made for my uncle yesterday, seeing as how I spent all day yesterday making his special meal.
The opening course, a sort of amuse bouche, was clams poached in coriander, pepper and bay topped with prosciutto, corn salsa and basil. It was simple, clean and bursting with all sorts of complimentary flavors. And I have to say, it looked pretty cute on the plate as well.
The wine is flowing, and my ability to focus is going… |
The main course consisted of three dishes:
- Lamb chops with a salt and lavender crust
- Roasted red pepper, caramelized onion and goat cheese tart
- Asparagus with two sauces - Romesco and Bearnaise
This whole course was just superb as each of the pieces worked well on their own, and with each other. Yes, the tart shells were homemade, which is a rare thing for me since my pastry work has never been my strength. And yes, the bearnaise was a little thin, but it sat for a tad too long while we were enjoying the first course and each other’s company. (At least it didn’t break…)
Yet more wine, and I flat out forget to take a photo… |
And for dessert, the perfect end to a hot summer’s day, a red wine granita layered with fresh oranges and ruby red grapefruit. It was served in a tall pilsner glass so the fruit layering could be seen, and the rich red color of the granite could be enjoyed by all the diners. You’ll have to take my word for it, it was beautiful, delicious and wonderfully refreshing given how hot it is outside right now.
So I pose this question to you all, my readers:
Now please don’t vote based on what you think of this meal in particular. I don’t serve the same thing every year. In fact, I always present him with new recipes I’ve come up with rather than play it safe. So there is an element of chance involved seeing as how I don’t know how it’s going to turn out myself. But I just want to know who is getting the raw end of this deal.
Though I do already know who the real winner is: My wife. She gets her taxes done, and enjoys a meal with no work. Damn she’s lucky!
Chef Matt
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05.05.08
Posted in 3. Recipes, 7. Other Fun at 9:15 am by Chef Matt
Cold, lime-flavored, salt-rimmed glass… as God intended. |
There is nothing that says “Today is Cinco de Mayo,” to me as much as a nice, ice cold margarita. I prefer them on the rocks - to put that debate to bed early - though I will have one frozen too if that is all that is available. But as for flavor, I am all about the traditional lime. I mean really, what else is supposed to go with tequila but lime?
But until recently, a great margarita was something that was only available for me at Mexican restaurants and upscale bars. And even those were frequently disappointing. I’ve tried to make margaritas myself for several years now, and the road has been one fraught with many terrible attempts and nights that (thankfully) I’ll never remember. But with 9 years of persistence and a blending of so many recipes and techniques that I’ve come across, I have finally created what I consider to be the perfect margarita. So great, that I would even dare to call it a “Matt-arita”.
The first margarita I made was two parts tequila, one part triple sec, one part Rose’s sweetened lime juice and ice put into a cuisinart (I didn’t have a blender then…) blended into a bitter, nasty slush of thick chunks of ice with untempered tequila. It was about the worst thing I had ever created drink-wise, and this is coming from someone who has mixed Rumplemintz with Mr. Pibb…
But I was not defeated. I was determined to make my own perfect margarita. So much so that I bought my own giant vat of margarita salt and a set of decorative margarita glasses from a wine festival. Buying items like this when you have no ability to make a decent margarita is optimism in the highest form. Or perhaps it was motivation…
One thing I noticed as I was questing to see how others made margaritas was how other countries seem to use lemons instead of limes with tequila. In Australia - where I did a lot of drinking - it was impossible to purchase a shot of tequila with anything but a lemon wedge. But if you got a margarita, it was made with lime-flavored mix. There is not a large Mexican population in Australia, so we can forgive their lack of understanding on this point. Another country lacking in Mexican immigrants is Ukraine. I was there with a friend, and he said that we just HAD to try this “Mexican” restaurant there. The building was even topped with a glass “dome” shaped like a sombrero. The food was an interesting take on Mexican cuisine, so I had to see their take on a margarita as well. I went to the bar and ordered one, and was sure to watch him make it. Crushed ice, tequila, Cointreau, and the straight juice of a lemon.
Me (left) and my friend Shane in the Kiev Mexican restaurant. I am holding the worst margarita in the world, and I’m not smiling. I’m cringing. |
“Oh dear,” I thought to myself as I watched it being made.
“Oh dear GOD!” I said aloud after tasting it.
My earlier attempts at margarita making seemed delicious and professional compared to this foul slush I was trying to swallow. This was the worst margarita in creation. It also taught me a valuable lesson in approa
