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Newsletter for November 2004 Your source for what’s cooking at OBW
25 South Indian Alley Winchester VA, 22601 www.oneblockwest.com 540-662-1455 |
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Cooking with Herbs at Blandy Farm |
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It seems that I was just sitting here at my desk writing the October newsletter and now I am thinking about special menus for the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, not to mention New Years. It’s the time of year to be thinking about celebrating another year and being with friends and family.
It’s also the time of year to be thinking about members of our community who might need some assistance. The local Faith in Action chapter, sponsored by Valley Health, assists cancer patients with transportation and other basic needs. And now FIA needs some help to keep their office going. $3000 will keep their office going through the end of the year and to help raise that, I’m having a fundraiser at my house (details below). I would be grateful for your help.
Happy eating!
Ed Matthews, Chef/Owner
Dinner for Two Drawing: Once each quarter, we randomly draw the name of one of our Rewards members to receive a Dinner for Two gift certificate. Our congratulations to this quarter’s winner, Carl Purkapile, our pompano fishing friend from Alexandria, VA.
Exclusive Rewards Members Dinner Discount: On Saturday December the 18th, the beginning of our third year in business, we are doing a one-night only special menu of the most popular dishes of 2004. All Rewards members will receive a 20% discount upon presentation of their Rewards books.
Are you a Rewards Member? If you are not participating in the One Block West Rewards program, you should be. It’s a simple program: each time you eat with us, you get points. When you get enough points, we mail you a $50 gift certificate. And that’s it: no strings, no catches. (More details…)
Saturday November 20, “Cooking Fish” at Freight Station Farmers Market
From 10:00 until 1:00, I will demonstrate cooking fish at the Freight Station Farmers Market (near intersection of Boscawen and Stewart). Come see some fish magic, taste samples, and ask questions!
Sunday November 21, “Dazzling Holiday Appetizers” at Chef Ed’s House
If you want to see my home kitchen, here’s your chance! From 2-4pm, I will demonstrate Dazzling Holiday Appetizers, a fund-raiser for Faith in Action, a group of volunteers who assist cancer patients. The tax-deductible donation is $150 per person and includes food and beverage donated by me, as well as a hands-on cooking lesson, a great time, and a chance to feel good about helping your community. Space is limited and must be reserved in advance by check or credit card. Call the restaurant at 540-662-1455.
(View the full calendar including our holiday schedule…)
Cooking with Herbs at Blandy Farm
On Sunday, October the 10th, I did a mini seminar on cooking with herbs at Blandy Farm as part of the Foundation of the State Arboretum’s Arborfest event. It was a glorious and sunny afternoon, if a little breezy for my butane burner. The audience was wonderful and very engaged, asking lots and lots of really great questions. I hope that I get to reprise this performance next year. You should plan to attend.
More information and recipes for Veal Medallions with Prosciutto and Sage, Grilled Herb-Marinated Pork Tenderloin, Lemon-Dill Risotto, Thai Fried Rice with Roasted Pork, Corvina in Warm Vinaigrette aux Fines Herbes, and Apples with Thyme and Honey are on the web site.
Beer Dinner Benefit for Wayside Theatre
On the 20th of October, we held a benefit dinner for Wayside Theatre. One Block West supplied the food and Murphy Beverage supplied the beer from Dominion Brewing in Ashburn. Jerry Bailey of Dominion brought raw materials (grains and hops) and introduced each of his beers. All the attendees had a great time and I got to try my hand at pairing beer with something other than pizza!
This month, an essay on rice. I love rice, which is saying something for a carb freak who fiends for all manner of starches. Keep your chocolate. Give me bread, pasta, potatoes, polenta, grits, or especially rice.
When I was growing up, we ate a lot of rice, which is probably unusual for most Americans, but what do you put your rabbit gravy on? Back then, we had one kind of rice, white, and cooking instructions were immutable – 1 cup rice, 2 cups water, 1 t salt, bring to a boil, reduce flame to low and let sit for 15-20 minutes.
Now my pantry contains 10-15 kinds of rice and each year I discover more kinds with widely varying cooking methods. (Read more…)
Every now and then I stumble across some really good food links that are worth sharing (feel free to share back). Here are three that are worth a look:
While our wine list is fairly stable in size now, it keeps changing as wines come and go and as vintages change. Of note to many of our customers is that the new vintage of Shotfire Shiraz is back in and I bought ten cases. We have enough to last until the end of the year perhaps, when we’ll have to wait for the new vintage next fall. We’re moving a case a week, so come get it while it lasts.
Also, I am tasting more Virginia wines to beef up the list. I have recently tasted the portfolios of White Hall, Pearmund, Rappahannock, and Blenheim. Some of these wines will make it onto the list in the next week.
Finally, we’re offering mulled wine for the holiday season. This is red wine that has been heated with spices and fruits. Served in an Irish coffee mug, it’s a great companion for our pumpkin rolls.
A pasta that I am calling Flavors of Fall has taken off so fast that I decided to put it on the lunch menu. For lunch, we are using mushroom and ricotta filled ravioli.
Flavors of Fall Pasta
1 T extra virgin olive oil 8 medium shiitake, stems removed and sliced ½ t garlic, minced 2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves stripped 3 sage leaves ¼ c dried porcini, rehydrated in warm water to cover 1/3 c heavy cream ¼ lb dried pasta, cooked pinch of salt pinch of black pepper
Mince the thyme and sage together. Heat a small pan over high heat and film with the oil. Add the shiitake and sauté for a minute. Add the garlic and herbs and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook the garlic for a few seconds. Add the rehydrated porcini and a couple tablespoons of the porcini water. Let reduce slightly and then add the cream. Let reduce by half and then add the pasta to rewarm. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with sage and thyme. Serve immediately. Serves two as an appetizer or as a light dinner with a salad.
I have known about American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) for a long time, well, since they were conceived in the late 80s. They are geographically based appellations of origin, such as Napa Valley, for American wines. Looking at a bottle of Virginia wine with the Monticello designation caused me to wonder how a winery so far from Monticello could claim the designation and also to wonder what AVAs we have in Virginia.
Boy, did I open a can of worms. The best source of information seems to be the Wine Institute’s AVA site, if you are interested in further arcane and esoteric information. More consumer friendly information is at the Appellation America site.
AVAs are established and enforced by our dear friends at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) in the Treasury Department and are supposed to help the consumer have confidence in wine purchases. The AVA designation guarantees that the wine originates within the boundaries of the designated area. As a general rule, a wine must have 75% content from the designated area. (There are lots of exceptions; let’s just deal with the general rule.)
For example, a wine labeled Monticello must be 75% wine from the designated area around Charlottesville. By contrast, a wine labeled Virginia, must be 75% from Virginia. Generally, wineries choose the smallest designation that they can. Thus, they would prefer a Monticello designation to a Virginia designation, if possible. But, sometimes there aren’t enough grapes in the AVA to go around, those grapes are too expensive for the wine being produced, or the grapes are not good enough quality because of a bad growing season. And it happens that you see Virginia wineries using the America designation (or no designation). This happens in bad growing seasons like 2003 when the fruit quality is off or for grapes such as Syrah that aren’t grown in sufficient quantities yet.
ATF has accepted six AVAs in Virginia: North Fork of Roanoke, Shenandoah Valley, Monticello, Northern Neck-George Washington Birthplace, Rocky Knob, and Virginia’s Eastern Shore. In addition, I notice that Barboursville is using the Orange County designation within the Monticello AVA.
And as for that winery far from Monticello with the Monticello designation, there are two answers. One, the winery could have bought grapes, juice, or wine from the area. Or, as it turns out in this case, the dirty little secret of many AVAs is that they are huge areas. As a Charlottesville native, I would have thought that the Monticello appellation might have represented that area in Albemarle county east of VA 20 and south of I-64. But no, the AVA covers over 1250 square miles in four counties!
Each week I get emails asking me about various cooking techniques and/or using ingredients. Every month in the newsletter, I will publish one or two interesting topics. Feel free to send email if there is some technique or ingredient that you need help with.
Emma K. writes: “I see leeks in the grocery store and I would like to use them, but I have no idea what to do with them. Can you help me?”
Leeks are one of the forgotten onions, mild with a hint of garlic flavor. They are used both as aromatics and as vegetables in their own right. There are varying schools on how to handle leeks. If you are classically French trained, you use nothing but the white. If you are paying $4 for a bunch, you are using every bit that you can!
Remove any tough outer leaves, like peeling an onion. Then, starting from the outside leaves, tear the leaves off wherever they will break, much like snapping the base of an asparagus. The inner leaves are edible for almost their entire length. Let the fibers in the leaves guide you. No fibers is good. At this point, slit the leek from root end to leaf end, leaving the root intact. Turn the leek 90 degrees and slit it again.
Next, chop the leek and discard the root. Then place all the leek bits in a bowl of water and wash them well. Next, scoop the leeks out, change the water, and repeat until there is no sand or dirt left in the wash water. There are several other ways to do this, but this seems easiest.
A word about sesame seeds. We use a lot of black sesame seeds in our dishes, mainly for color contrast, and we receive a lot of questions about them. They are fairly rare on the retail market. Sesame seeds come in a variety of colors depending on the plant variety, including shades of brown, red, black, yellow, and most commonly, a pale grayish ivory.
Boo Snider, our guitarist and vocalist, is changing schedules now that our deck is closed. He will be playing Thursdays and Fridays from 6:30 – 9:00. Come see him!
If you are one of the many customers who sends One Block West gift certificates for the holidays, here’s a helping hand from us. Send us your list of customers and the amounts that you want to send, and we will generate the certificates and mail them for you, for no extra charge. No worries, no hassles.
Be safe this Thanksgiving. If you’re cooking a frozen turkey, please thaw it in the refrigerator. Plan on it taking three days to thaw. Please cook your stuffing separately from the bird. And be mindful of how long those dishes stay on the table. Two hours without heat or refrigeration is a safe limit. If you have any questions about food safety, call me or email me.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Ed
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Copyright © 2004 Shenandoah Food and Beverage Holdings, LLC |
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