Cheese Tasting: Session 6

We needed to expand our purchasing options so the cheeses in this tasting were purchased at Fresh Market instead of Whole Foods like usual.  Once again, the majority of descriptive commentary came from various internet sources, primarily the websites of the cheese producer.

Premoo: (Netherlands) is a cow’s milk cheese that is aged for twelve months. It is similar to Gouda having a firm texture and deep caramel color. It is made exclusively for Fresh Market and is perfect for slicing, grating and snacking.  This is a very, very good mild Gouda and has that nice nutty character.  It was in our top three favorites for this session.  This is going to be one of our go to cheeses going forward I think.

Delice de France Grand Camembert: (France) is a cow’s milk cheese made in the Normandy region of France. It is made with double cream that produces a very delicate, soft-ripened cheese with a mild salty taste. Recommended serving with banquettes, nuts, fruits and paired with Light to Medium Reds, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chenin Blanc. Best served at room temperature. We let this one sit out a good 30 minutes before tasting and it did not disappoint.  Very creamy, very buttery and a nice mild taste.  One of our top three favorites of the session.  Would definitely buy again.

Adam’s Reserve NY Extra Sharp White Cheddar: (U.S.) is a cow’s milk cheese naturally aged over twelve months. This cheddar is described as being sharp but smoother character than most cheddars. Definitely not a typical cheddar in terms of texture.  It was very creamy and not at all crumbly.  Also it wasn't as sharp as a typical extra sharp cheddar.  Very unusual but not unpleasant.  We may or may not buy this one again.  It doesn't really fit a particular crave category though so we will likely just buy a good classic Vermont or NY extra sharp cheddar instead.

Frico Old Dutch Master: (Holland) is a cow’s milk cheese aged for 40 weeks. Considered to be a premium matured Dutch (Gouda style) cheese, this hard cheese has a rich bold tangy flavor and crumbly texture that is ideally served as an appetizer with Cabernet Sauvignon or can be grated over pasta or pizza. An excellent aged Gouda and was our absolute favorite of the session.  Great smokey/nutty taste and wonderful texture.  This is definitely one to buy again.

Emmi Raclette Classique: (Switzerland) is a part-skim cow’s milk cheese aged over 60 days. It is a semi soft cheese with nutty flavor that is exceptionally creamy and smooth. This cheese melts extremely well so is traditionally served for the Raclette meal: melted under a hot grill and scraped over a combination of boiled potatoes, cornichons, salami slices, crusty bread and other tasty bite-sized treats. Is a great cheese for au gratin cooking. Because of buttery nature pairs well with many wine types. This was the stinky cheese of the grouping.  Nutty, on acidic side with a tanginess that was not too overwhelming.  Very creamy but the tang and stinkiness are not to our liking.  We probably would not buy this one again.

Random Beer Tasting Notes

So it is time for something new on this blog: a beer tasting. A couple of weekends back after a visit to the Flying Saucer we stopped into Peace Street Market to treat ourselves to some beer. We often stop in at Peace Street after a Saucer session in particular if we had a beer that we really liked and we want take home bottles or if we saw a beer we wanted that was too expensive at the Saucer. This time we agreed to buy large bottles and to share them. Considering the time of the year, many of our selections were fall beers: Oktoberfest, harvest ales, pumpkin, or cider. I specifically was looking for pumpkin ales but was disappointed to not find many to try. Many of these beers fall into the high alcohol content area so we broke our tastings up over several sessions with each of us getting to pick one or two beers to try.

Session 1

New Belgium: Hoptober Golden Ale (6%); Fort Collins, CO
Green tasting, not so much what you imagine fresh cut grass would taste like but in a way yes, kind of. This beer was also just mildly bitter. It is an acceptable beer representing typical golden/Oktoberfest type ales but as IPA fans we feel that if you are going to have some bitter do it full on. And for those that do not like bitter beers this one is probably still too bitter. In short we were not fans and would not purchase again.

Triangle Brewing: Golden Ale (8%); Durham, NC
This beer exhibited more typical pale ale characteristics probably owing to the higher alcohol content. Comparing it to the New Belgium we liked it better giving it a “not bad” rating which still ranks it as just an okay beer. Would not buy again but if was one of limited offerings on tap we would not turn it down but we would be cautious of the higher alcohol content.

Weyerbacher: Harvest Ale (6.2%); Easton, PA
This beer is much less bitter than the previous two beers which is interesting since this one is an IPA. For those who are not IPA fans this would be a good choice among the various fall beers to try. They indicate that the “bitterness is restrained to allow the fresh-hop aroma and flavor to shine through”. We rated it as very good drinking harvest ale and it was our favorite beer of this session. Would buy again and would consume if found on draft.

Red Brick: Vanilla Gorilla (7.5%); Atlanta, GA
Liquid smoke is the first thing that comes to mind upon sipping this beer. As in OMG that is VERY INTERESTING. You can certainly pick up on the bourbon barrel aging and it has a strong, rich, vanilla finish. This is definitely a strong porter and yes, completely in appropriate during this tasting session in terms of comparing it to the other beers but sometimes you just have to mix things up. This one is worth trying just to experience but it is not one we would buy again or feel the need to taste again.

Session 2

Newcastle: Winter IPA (<6%); Tadcaster, UK
First, finding the alcohol content of Newcastle beer is challenging, especially if you only buy a single bottle. Owing to NC label laws we do know that this has to be less than 6% if it is not labeled. There is a very pleasant caramel flavor in this beer and a nice mild IPA after bite. Subtle, too bitter if you don’t like IPA but not one of those that scream it is an IPA.

Lagunitas: Maxima’s IPA (8.2%); Petaluma, CA
Now this is a good classic bitter IPA. The greenness is at a good level, not overly grassy, lending to a nice bitter finish which the brewer describes as “raging mouthful of fresh hops”. Very nice beer and something we would buy, drink, repeat, and take a cab home. Obviously, this one was the clear favorite of the two.

Session 3

Ommegang: Aphrodite (8.9%); Copperstown, NY
The description is so intriguing I had to try it, not to mention this was one I saw at the Saucer but didn’t want to pay $22 for the large bottle there (was $12 at the store). It is described as “champagne-like carbonation” with “whispers of raspberry and pear, and hints of funk and tartness”. It does indeed have champagne like carbonation and you can pick up on the raspberry and pear flavors; the combination of which is well described as “funk”. It is beautiful in a glass with a pink beer head. It has a very pleasant tartness and drinks more like champagne than a beer but it is enough of a beer that non-beer champagne lovers may not like it. It was worth trying to experience but not something we would buy again.

Sierra Nevada: North Hemi Harvest (6.7%); Chico, CA
This beer is very similar to an IPA with a good level of grassiness but it is not as classically bitter. The brewery indicates that this beer started the “modern-day fresh hop ale phenomenon in America”. Again, it is probably too bitter for non-bitter beer drinkers. It was Brad’s favorite of this session and my second favorite. We would both buy again.

Hoppin Frog: Frogs Hollow Double Pumpkin Ale (8.4%); Akron, OH
Pumpkin pie spice flavors and aromas hit you immediately but not in an excessively bad way. The aromas are stronger than the flavor which makes it pleasant instead of overwhelming. You do have to like pumpkin ales to enjoy this beer which means I liked and rated it my favorite of this session while Brad would rate it as least favorite. You have to realize as a non-dessert eater, pumpkin pie is the only dessert I really, really like so I am a big fan of that combination of pumpkin, clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg in whatever form it comes in.

Session 4

Crispin Hard Cider: Honey Crisp (6.5%); Minneapolis, MN
So we were left with only the one bottle and when you drink cider it is hard to also taste beers so this offering was lumped into a session all on its own. In my opinion there are two major styles of cider: the light, very crisp, less apple-y kind (think Hornsby) and the very apple-y, extremely sweet kind (think Woodchuck). This cider was definitely the light, crisp, not overly sweet kind with very mild apple flavor. The subtle sweetness definitely comes from the use of honey instead of added sugar. I really liked this cider and I can be very picky about ciders. There is only one other cider I really like and I would rate this one as runner up to it: J.K.’s Scrumpy Cider. Scrumpy’s wins because to me it is a hybrid cider being light, not overly sweet but clearly apple-y. Scrumpy’s tastes like the old fashioned apple cider you get at the fair (and it comes in classic or Solstice which has cinnamon and maple syrup added). I would buy this one again but given the choice I would pick Scrumpy’s first. Brad did not care for this cider but he is a real fan of Scrumpy’s.

Cheese Tasting: Session Five

Educational comments about each cheese are taken from various authors and sites on the web and are not my own.

It has been a long time since we did a cheese tasting but thanks to a recent Groupon for Whole Foods we could not pass up on the opportunity to eat more cheese.  We are at the stage where I should keep a list of which cheeses we have tried so we can avoid repeats.  I did manage to find three that were new to our taste buds.   We kept things simple this time and had a good Old Vine Zinfandel (Gnarly Head), slices of Gala apple, crackers, toasted Italian loaf, and an olive oil, parmesean cheese, fresh ground pepper dip.

Grayson Meadow Creek Cheese: (Virginia) is a cow's milk cheese that is reminiscent of taleggio or livarot cheese.  It is described as having a semi-soft, fine texture with very rich, almost beefy flavor with sweet nutty overtones and pungent aroma.  This cheese can stand on its own but is also good when served with breads, dried fruit, and acidic items such as tomatoes or cornichons.  Pairs well with full bodied white wines but is strong enough to balance a medium red wine.  Excellent with beer. This is a pungent cheese which can be somewhat off-putting if you do not care for "stinky" cheeses.  I found that as the cheese warmed it became too pungent for my liking.  It does have a nice nutty/tangy flavor and had a good creamy mouth feel.  Brad described it as stout, stinky, good.  Of the three cheeses this was my second choice and Brad's third.

Hirtenkase: (Germany) is a cow's milk cheese made in the Allgua area of Southern Germany.  It is a golden colored, dense-body cheese that is typically aged for eight months and has a firm texture.  The flavors are rustic and savory with  an earthy aroma.  It is similar in flavor and texture to parmigiano reggiano and aged gouda.  It is aged long enough to develop the protein crystals like parmigiano but it is creamier and not as dry or crumbly.  There is a nutty sweetness of cooked milk, almost like that of caramel.  Pairings include gewurztraminer, full bodied reds, or wheat beers and it is good with whole grain breads, fresh and dried fruits, like apples and figs.  It is very similar to parmigiano reggiano but not as salty or crumbly and did have a slight give to the cheese when bitten into that could be described as creamy.  I did pick up on flavors that after reading the description I would associate with being like a gouda or a swiss cheese.  Brad agreed with the assessment and while it was my favorite of the three it was his second favorite.  I would buy this cheese for snacking on in addition to my go to cheddars and goudas.

Chapel Hill Creamery Farmer's Cheese: (Chapel Hill) is a cow's milk cheese that is unripened.  The cheese is soft but dry and crumbly with flavors close to that of cottage cheese that can be tangy depending on milk used.  The cheese can be used in a variety of ways including as stuffing for blintzes or pierogies.  Or slice it very thin and roll it with smoked meats.  Either lighter reds such as pinot noir or blush wines pair well. I thought this was the most pungent of the three cheeses and it was very tangy, almost sour tasting to me.  It does have a soft cream/crumble type texture almost as if it might be spreadable on a cracker.  This was Brad's favorite and my least favorite I think because it reminded me slightly of goat cheese.

How to Eat Well with Little Effort or Expense When Staying in a Vacation Home

So we managed to get in four beautiful days at Hatteras this year before the evacuation for Hurricane Irene. Knowing that end of August is high risk we always get travel insurance so while disappointed about the short time we consider ourselves lucky to be visitors let down versus natives still struggling to clean up.

Although we are industrious cooks we tend to pair things back significantly during our annual vacation because it is a vacation and I am not keen on spending lots of time in a strange kitchen, without my pots, pans, knives, etc. cooking. We have also learned that going out to eat on the part of the Island we stay is very limited in terms of options and a couple of places can be hit or miss in terms of quality. So instead of spending money on lunch and dinner out we tend to eat in a lot but try to avoid extensive cooking. We manage that by careful menu planning and prepping foods prior to our vacation week.

So for breakfast we alternate between homemade banana bread and yogurts which travel fine in cooler and frozen prepared breakfast biscuits like Jimmy Deans Sausage Egg and Cheese.

For lunch we alternate between homemade chicken salad in wheat tortilla wraps or pasta salad. By pasta salad I mean the layered salad of pasta, lettuce, fresh mushrooms, diced ham and turkey, shredded cheese, whatever else you want veggie wise and topped with a pasta salad dressing which is a mayonnaise/sour cream/spicy mustard mixture. You can layer the salad a day before travel and keep the dressing in a separate container and it will keep well for a week.

Dinners are either grilled or some easy to prepare ahead meal that travels well.  For example, lasagna, made with homemade pasta can be just as satisfying on vacation as it is at home if you make it ahead and freeze it before baking. Frozen lasagna travels well, thaws by the time you decide to fix it during your stay and provides a second night of leftovers. We do cheat and take along a box of garlic seasoned Texas toast to be heated in the oven versus traveling with fresh bread, butter, and seasonings. 

For one grill night we always take steaks, which we freeze with the marinade inside the ziplock so as it thaws it already marinating. Asparagus and potatoes travel well and require only olive oil and salt and pepper for seasoning when grilled. This meal has become Brad’s birthday dinner because he enjoys grilling steaks. Our other grill dinner consists of whatever we can buy fresh caught from one of the local seafood markets. This year we picked Harbor House Seafood Market run by Vicki Harrison. It is a family run business so I know that the flounder we purchased were caught by Vicki’s son Graham the night before. We also bought dry scallops of substantial size.  We seasoned the scallops with olive oil salt and pepper and the same for the flounder adding in a squeeze of fresh lime juice (limes travel well and are required for nightly gin and tonics on the balcony).  We served the fish and scallops with a prepared box of Near East Toasted Almond Rice Pilaf (which only requires water and olive oil to make). The flounder fillets were large and the resulting leftovers were pan seared to rewarm and then combined with lettuce and a spiked up version of our pasta salad dressing and wrapped in flour tortillas to make our own fish soft tacos for lunch one day.

So with this menu we manage to save money and eat really well with little effort once we arrive.  My other tip is make ahead daiquiris.  I start saving water bottles months ahead of the trip and then make up three or four batches of strawberry daiquiris and margaritas.  Pour into the bottles and pop into the freezer a week before travel and they serves as ice in your cooler.  Keep in the freezer once you arrive and they thaw to a good drinking consistency in about 45 minutes on the beach.  So you don't have to use funny tasting beach ice or buy the expensive bags of ice on vacation or worry whether the blender in the rental works.

Two Weeks in Liverpool Area

In May of 2006 I spent two weeks in Liverpool to attend a class on International Cotton Trading. It was essentially the last of the official hazing process for my new job. My boss told me I was the designated trouble maker since I was attending the class for experience but did not need to learn the details. He kept giving me questions that I could ask that would create quite a disturbance to the well-mannered organizers. As it turns out the trip was good for learning the delicate art of dodging politically sensitive questions.

This was one of the trips where I traveled by myself and was held captive the entire stay by a strict class schedule that included a lot of official dinners and activities over the weekend. Official dinners are not the way to experience local cuisines – hotel/banquet food is lacking in any country. There was an unfortunate theme for most of the meals I had in that every occasion they felt the need to present us with classic mutton dishes or the same Indian Chicken Korma. I had no occasion to sample much else.

Liverpool was all I expected: grey, misty, mix of old and older, a bit run down but not unappealing. The drive from Manchester airport was pleasant especially in the hilly, farm land areas which might as well have been Lancaster, PA or any other green pasture area you can think of with cows and horses. I stayed in a lackluster Holiday Inn where the class was taking place. I can sum up the accommodations as: non-working AC, dial-up internet access only, and disturbing noises inside the walls at night.

The first main dinner was at the Racquet Club and consisted of tomato and cheese stuffed into roasted red pepper for starters, then lamb with a café ole sauce (not New Orleans coffee but instead a rich brown meat sauce), roasted potatoes and other veggies, and mint jelly if you wanted it. The meat sauce, roasted veggies and potatoes were quite good. The lamb was a little over done and a bit fatty and gamey. Dessert was a sticky toffee pudding which was like a cross between ginger spice cake and bread pudding in terms of taste and similar to pound cake in texture. It was served with cream, not American whipped cream, but real double cream (10,000 times richer and tastes like a cross between real butter and whipped cream). It takes some getting used to. The cake part of the dessert was one of the best things I have ever eaten in terms of dessert, not too sweet but so yummy. 

Another night it was a medieval banquet at Ruthin Castle in North Wales. Everyone should go to the UK at some point and drive through Wales because I don’t think I can begin to describe it. It has to be one of the most beautiful sections of country side I will ever see. I have never seen fields so green. It is like a cross between the foothills and actually being on a mountain. And there were spring lambs everywhere in the fields and quaint cobblestone houses. The castle was neat but not as amazing to me as the country side.

So at the castle it was a lot like any of those themed medieval dinner places with everyone in costume. The main eating room consisted of long tables and everyone sat on benches. No eating utensils other than a knife and they came around and tied fabric bibs on all of us. We had both mead and red wine. The mead was interesting. I would have said pleasant except that after a few tastes and discussion about it someone said it reminded them of cough syrup so I will forever relate mead to non-menthol honey flavored cough drops because that truly is the closest taste to it. We started with a thick pureed soup made of veggies, cream and butter and we either dipped bread in it or drank from the bowl. They had season trays on the table which were long boards with carved out bowl areas with a variety of spices such as salt, thyme, red pepper, etc. After the soup it was leg of lamb with roasted potatoes. The leg of lamb was falling off the bone tender and had a fantastic flavor.   I ate it with my fingers and would have eaten more if available. Next we had chicken that had been coated with honey and wine and then roasted and it was the best tasting chicken I have ever had. I was really impressed with the food and never expected it to be so good at a place like that. Finally we had tart cherries topped with double cream. After clearing of the remains they performed a little show with the jester reading poetry, the wenches singing, etc. They sang some songs in Welsh and it was beautiful. 

For lunch one day we went to the Artists Club, your basic men’s only place with dark wood, pictures of lots of old men and all that. They served assorted salads on toast (chicken, tuna, shrimp, tomato), fried prawns on sticks, and curly fries.

Over the weekend they bused us to Chester, which was a roman town 2000 years ago. It is now a quaint town with cobblestone streets turned into shopping Mecca. We had a nice lunch at Café Uno which I highly recommend if you are ever in Chester. I had a coke with lemon and really good lasagna. We went into the cathedral which has been the Cathedral of the Diocese of Chester since 1541 but the site has been a church of some form for over 1000 years. Due to the weather we really didn’t get to explore the ancient roman ruins around the shopping area.

One night we had dinner in the Anglican Cathedral. The food was pretty good starting with a smoked salmon pate and salad, then grilled chicken in cream sauce with wild mushrooms and roasted potatoes and raspberry something like a flan for dessert. After dinner they gave us a one hour tour of the cathedral which was amazing. They started building the cathedral in 1904 and finished it in 1974. It was completed a phase at a time so that it could be used during the entire building process. During WWII all the stain glassed windows were blown out by a bomb detonating in the air near the building after it actually hit inside and bounced out! The building has the largest organ in UK and “largest functioning one in the world”.  

Our final dinner was at the Maritime Museum. We got to roam around the museum during the reception portion and it was interesting to see the various models and paintings of ships. They also had a special limited time section on cotton which was really neat. It showed the varied history, garments through the years, had interactive paintings of bad bugs on the floor such as the boll weevil and when you stepped on them they made cartoon dying bug noises. Dinner consisted of cream of mushroom soup, baked salmon, two kinds of potatoes (some roasted and some boiled), cooked carrots and an apple tart and cheese platter for dessert. The food was very good. One absolutely comical thing was the way they were pushing wine. I was at a table of people that don’t drink a lot if at all and it was ridiculous how often they either tried to pour wine into our glasses or asked if we wanted wine. Seriously, one waiter would just have walked away from asking and a second one would come over and ask. None of the waiters had any clue that we had already been asked. I must have said no thank you to wine a minimum of 30 times in a short period time. What made it even more humorous was that we could not get water refilled. We asked and they said it was on the way and then 4 more people would try to give us wine and when we asked for water again it was like we were impatient about it. Normally that kind of thing would make you kind of irritated but we were all so tired from two weeks of class and long dinners that we actually got the giggles about it and would crack up when we were asked if we wanted more wine. 

So that was my Liverpool experience if you can call it that. I did actually walk past the Cavern Club (Beatles fans rejoice) but never had time to actually go inside. Maybe next time.

The Exotic Life of a Business Traveler

I have decided I should really work on posting my travel notes from some of my international business trips. Thus begins this latest series. I will have to do some considerable condensing because my travel notes are essentially very detailed accounts of daily experiences when on the road. I traditionally do this as a means to stay connected to my friends and family as well as to pass the time which can drag on forever when you are away from everything you know for two weeks. These trips are typically very busy and if I don’t make notes of everything each day it soon all becomes a blur and I would not remember much.

My travel is sporadic. When I do travel overseas it is almost always for a minimum of two weeks. The classic thought process behind this is to make the most out of the effort. Thankfully I have never actually been on a three week international trip although that isn’t uncommon for our company. 

I also want to go on record as indicating that business travel, for us, it not the glamorous life one would imagine. Yes, I do get to stay in fabulous places and experience some nice perks but I am often in meetings all day long and too darn exhausted later to really sightsee. Often these trips encompass visits to multiple countries so that I can end up being on and off airplanes every couple of days. And it is rare that I actually get to travel with my coworkers so that tends to minimize the type of things I would do as a lone, foreign, female in a strange place. While I do not often travel with U.S. companions, I always have local contacts, usually our international staff or staff of one of our sister organizations. They are responsible for arranging the meetings, getting me to and from meetings, and often try to slip in some sightseeing, shopping or other culture when they can. I joke that they are my “fixers” but they are actually dedicated account managers eager to provide my technical services to their clients. I am for the most part on my own on for weekends which is when sightseeing might be possible except for being alone and beat down tired.

Some of the perks are that we do experience is that we travel business class for international travel and that means sometimes first class when in foreign countries. An 18 hour flight is no fun but certainly significantly more tolerable when you have room to stretch out. We fly U.S. carriers in and out of U.S. unless that is not an option but after we get to where we are going we fly the major airlines in that area. And for the most part, the world of air travel outside the U.S. is a flashback to the days of good customer service. I have had little Asian ladies smaller then me refuse to let me lift my own bag into overhead bins. Yes, I know part of it is being in first/business class but overall it is just better. It is a slap in the face to arrive back in the U.S. and make that last connection through Atlanta, Chicago, wherever and be brought back to the reality of U.S. travel.

Other perks include private cars to and from airport and hotels when in certain locations as a means of secure and safe transport. There are hotels in Asia where the check in process for the hotel actually takes place in your private car and you are then escorted directly to your room upon arrival.

Another perk is the caliber of toiletries in hotels in Asia and they are restocked often. My suitcase gets heavier each leg of the trip not so much from purchases but from stock piling fancy bath products.

And then there are the not so great things. In addition to being alone, lonely, and beat down tired you also suffer from the differences in food. I have learned it does not matter how careful I am, I will get sick. After avoiding all kinds of things and still getting sick on my first two trips I decided going forward to just eat whatever I wanted and I have enjoyed things a lot more. I still get sick but at least I have a larger variety of food to experience and I rely on my local contacts to expose me to things I would not think to order or try on my own. And almost always, at least where I have traveled, when you do finally get to where you cannot eat one more local ingredient you can find some chain food place or order the Americanized food off the room service menu for a taste closer to home. Regardless of that I send emails home several days prior to my return with my list of food demands for my arrival.

Clothing for trips can be very challenging. Trying to pack for two weeks, sometimes with extreme temperature ranges during your trip, when you may not be in one hotel long enough for laundry service can be an issue. And all those flights, having to lug large bags around in addition to your work laptop and supplies. Between food disagreeing with me and hiking daily with laptop backpacks I tend to lose 5 to 10 pounds every trip (unfortunately short term weight loss at best). Clothing for professional females is a challenge overall from the standpoint of what is or is not culturally accepted in addition to balancing professional look with shoes and garments that can withstand lots of walking and permit you to make use of international toilet facilities. International toilet facilities are another not so great thing. There is nothing better, when feeling poorly, to actually encounter the rare U.S. style toilet versus the much more common squat toliet (hole in the floor).

But all in all I am thrilled to be able to have what experiences I do have thanks to my work travel. I have become much more tolerant of travel and accepting that I cannot control everything. I have been delayed, stranded, bags not arrived, gotten sick and had to buy medicines locally, etc. enough that I don’t fret about it happening now.

Stay tuned for upcoming recaps of exotic places…

Aviator Brewery

Aviator Brewery

We had purchased a Living Social deal for a tour package at Aviator (tour for two, two beers, empty growler, and bumper sticker for $14 versus regular cost of $30).  If you are only interested in a tour then just pay for the cost of one beer which runs around $5 depending on which beer you order.  Aviator offers tours on Thursday and Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons but the coupon was only good for Saturday tours. They open at 3 PM on Saturday with tours starting at 4 PM.

We got there around 3:30 and the place was packed. A lot of people were just hanging out, a lot had the coupon deal and a lot of people were there for one of the “Shooting and Drinking” events. This is a package deal where you get to go shoot sporting clays then back to brewery for beer and bbq sampling. It was a bit chaotic in terms of not knowing what was going on but when in doubt make your way to the bar which is what we did. The bartender marked our coupon to show we had obtained our free beers and indicated that after the tour to just show the coupon again for our growler. We found a spot to sit to consume our beers while we waited for the 4 PM tour starting time. Right around 4 PM a large group of people made their way over to the large fermentation tanks and they were joined by an employee who proceeded to tell them about the brewery. We debated whether to join in – after all, seen one brewery seen them all, but did decide to work our way around and join the group. He went through the typical process of explaining ingredients, had open bags of hops and barley for people to touch and sniff, and explained the stages of brewing. Unfortunately, it was very hot inside and even hotter standing between the large fermentation tanks so we didn’t last the whole tour. I did learn something I did not know and that is that the flavors in wheat beers such as banana, clove, etc. actually come from the yeast and are not added. Once we opted not to finish the tour we resumed trying beers and hanging out with everyone else in the place.

Tour Time

Besides the main bar, there is a small seated bar area and a large round table and chairs, foosball table, and TV mounted on the wall. Further inside the building they have corn hole set up with multiple groups playing and another bar and tasting table for those involved in the Shooting and Drinking event. Out front they only had one small patio table but several groups were standing around hanging out in the sunshine. It was horribly warm inside the building but they had fans blowing in different locations. Was fine except for periods of time when it was so crowded the fans were being blocked by bodies. It is definitely a place worth checking out but if you are temperature sensitive I would recommend waiting for cooler weather. Or better yet, check out their Smokehouse and Taproom which is where we plan to go next time when we want our growler refilled.

Looking from seated bar towards back of building.

Beers we tasted:

• Mad Beach Wheat – half barley and half wheat, was very good in my opinion but Brad thought was too grassy tasting. I thought the spices were very mild making it a very pleasant beer to drink.
• Hogwild IPA – was a nice very extra hoppy IPA and Brad’s favorite of the day. This is what we decided to fill our growler with upon departure ($10 to fill growler).
• Devil’s Tripel – described as a tripel that finishes sweet which was very accurate. We did not care for that sweetness.
• Hotrod Red – “somewhat classic red” described again as having a malty sweetness. I thought it was interesting in a good way with a strong caramel flavor for a red ale. Brad did not like.
• Crazy Pils – we think, this was supposed to be our Hotrod Red but when Brad brought it to me it was obviously something else. Process of elimination leads me to think it was the Crazy Pils – Czech style pilsner with more body. It had a nice light hop character.

Looking across front towards doors, bar to the left.

West Jefferson Area Adventures: Part 3 Saturday Wine Tastings

These three wineries are in a nice cluster with very pretty driving through the mountains. You do need to pack some food if planning to visit all three in one trip because none of them offer food for sale and there are no obvious eating stops if you are going directly from one to the next. All have seating options if you do bring something to eat but the first two are the most scenic if you do want to picnic.  We ended up snacking on fruit I had picked up during the Hampton Inn complimentary breakfast.

First stop of the day was Chateau Laurinda in Sparta, NC. Our phone GPS provided the most direct and therefore the most adventuresome route. Things got interesting when the road we turned onto had a “bridge out/road closed in 0.7 miles” sign and our GPS said to go ¾ mile and turn right. Luckily the road was closed just past our turn point which happened to be a one lane dirt road deep in the woods (cue banjo from Deliverance). A mile later, after nerve racking meeting with a large truck coming in the opposite direction, we pop out onto a paved road at the winery, which very clearly has a much friendlier driving route heading into it opposite from the direction we came. My phone gives me the option to avoid highways, why can’t it give me the option to avoid dangerously scary, one lane, deep rutted, unpaved mountain roads? Once there we did find a very pretty tasting house on the top of the hill with a large sitting porch overlooking the vineyard.

This family has been making wines for 15 years but the recipes in the family go back over 100 years and are the German style of wine making - more dry than overly sweet. Kudos to the owners for offering a $2 tasting if you chose to use plastic cups versus $5 for the take home glass (after a while you simply have too many glasses and you can only go through one Christmas season giving them away to everyone you know). But while we could literally taste all of their 30 wines if we wanted to, she was very careful to barely pour drinkable portions for us. So my tasting notes come with a strong caution because it is very hard to actually taste in a single sip. Instead of providing actual tasting notes by wine I am going to list these by groups:

• White wine: only tasted the Niagra which was very light, dry, not overly sweet
• NC Native Grapes: tasted Noble, Muscadine, and Scuppernong – this grouping was dry, tart, and had lingering pucker power with the Noble being the most tart
• Red Wines: Cabernet Sauvignon was pale red and very light but tart, Sangria (blend) was excellent and lightly fruity, Alleghany Red (blend) was refreshingly light, Chandler was very tart but had a good fruit after taste.
• Fruit Wines: Blue Fox (blackberry) sweeter than most blackberry wines with very little fruit flavor, Plum was very good, Strawberry was lightly fruity, Appleberry (strawberry and apple) was very good and fruity, Raspberry had a pleasant sweet/tart like the fruit, Mango was too tart.

We ended up buying a bottle each of Sangria, Appleberry and Strawberry (Collecting NC Strawberry wines is something I apparently do now and one day will mix them all together into one large batch of sangria.)

View from the porch overlooking vineyard at Chateau Laurinda

Second stop of the day was easier to get to after we took the paved route away from the first winery:  Thistle Meadow in Laurel Springs, NC. This place was busy and they had a vibrant crew of pourers settling groups in as people arrived. There were tastings taking place on the porch and inside with multiple tiers of seating available in front of the bar. The same person may not help you throughout but someone will help you. We were provided with the tasting sheet and instructed to review and pick six to try with the explanation given that beyond six you really cannot truly evaluate the wines. A tasting costs $3 unless you end up buying at least one bottle of wine. There are 60 wines to choose from! Yes - 60 wines covering dry whites, Riesling styles, dry reds, Italian styles, blush wines, sweet/sour wines, and sweet whites. The winemaker is a former pharmacist and obviously still loves to formulate combinations. They gave us one wine glass and we purchased its mate for $5 because they are the nice large red wine style glasses that we like (and we are happy to see more places providing them). This winery ended up being our favorite stop of the day. The ladies doing the tastings were so very entertaining and gave the whole place a festive mood. Here are the ten wines we managed to taste between the two of us:

• Gewurztraminer Ice Wine (cost $2 more to taste this one but that was waived when we bought more than one bottle of wine) - good sweetness as needed for a pleasant dessert wine, very nice
• Glade Valley Red (70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot) – light oak, mild berries and very smooth
• North Fork Red (70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Shiraz) – tarter than Glade Valley, pick up on the Shiraz
• Pine Swamp Red (Cabernet Franc) – good body, nice tannins and oaky, very good
• Feather Bed Red (Cabernet Sauvignon) – sour cherry fruit, soft finish
• Bourgeron (Pinot Noir) – very light but not empty, good fruit
• Old Vine Zinfandel – tart with black pepper flavors (bought one bottle)
• Tom’s Special Blend (Barbara, aged 4 years by accident when they found two forgotten cases) – oaky, smoky, and very, very good (bought one bottle)
• Air Bellows Red (Sangiovese) – very nice strong acidity, lots of tannins, would go with spicy Italian food (bought two bottles)
• Horse Stomp Red (White Zinfandel) – very nice raspberry flavors and was fantastic with dark chocolate (bought one bottle)

Final stop of the day was New River in Lansing, NC and I am sorry to say it was a major disappointment after the fun we had at Thistle Meadow. In their defense they have not been open long and are very small scale. As a result of that many of the wines we would have liked to taste were unavailable – as in we ran out today and just need to bottle some more. They do have a very interesting location on an old school campus. The tasting bar is a fairly nice outdoor covered patio with plenty of picnic tables but not much of a view. They do have a demonstration vineyard and offer tours of the production facility. Of their 13 wines, six were available for tasting and two more were available for sale but not open to taste. In back calculating I think the tasting cost us $3 each and we did not get to keep the glasses.

• Seyval – similar to Chenin Blanc, very light, some herbal flavors, mild sour after taste
• Nathan’s Creek White (Niagra) – sweeter more like eastern NC style, good fruit flavor (bought one bottle)
• Big Laurel Blush (blend of Seyval and Baco Noir) – sweet with some tartness
• Baco Noir (French American Hybrid) – earthy, tart with some spice (bought one bottle)
• Sweet Bubba Noir (Baco Noir) – medium body, semi-sweet red
• Back Porch Blueberry (Blueberry) – vanilla and caramel flavors, very tart/dry (bought one bottle)

We did not get to taste the Hellbender but in discussing it with the host decided to take a chance. We drank the bottle in our hotel room that night. Some tartness/acidity with good body and was the best of the wines we had actually tasted at the winery.

Tasting of New River Hellbender along with Ashe County
Extra Sharp White Cheddar and assorted other snacks

West Jefferson Area Adventures: Part 2 West Jefferson Sleeps, Eats & Shops

We stayed at the Hampton Inn in town. The hotel was easy to get to and convenient to the small downtown area but not really within walking distance to anything. The hotel looked to be fairly new and was well decorated or maybe had been recently updated. The indoor pool and spa was a decent size and had beautiful views through large glass windows. Our only negative comment is that they had some of the worse pillows I have encountered in such an updated/new looking place. They were old feather pillows that had reverted to being very flat and compacted, i.e. hard. We asked for a couple of foam pillows and after an apparent search was informed that they could not locate any foam pillows in the hotel. Lesson learned is that we will definitely go back to traveling with our own pillows when we drive because even if every other Hilton brand hotel you have ever stayed at has nice fluffy pillows there will always be a location that has something different.

Two amusing moments did occur at the Hampton during our stay. First off, the gym and pool area require your room key.  We had just checked in and Brad wanted a quick swim but he neglected to take his key and had to ask the desk clerk who had just checked us in for a new one. Then on the second day he remembered to take his key but then locked himself out of the gym when he stepped out to do a lap around the building and left his key on the treadmill. I think the last official count was that the front desk provided a total of four room keys to Brad over a two day time period. Our other amusement was after dinner on Friday we get into the elevator to go to our room and a man with a brown bagged bottle gets on with us after he had exited a room nearby.  I ask him what floor and he says ground floor please – which is exactly the floor we were on.  I pause and say - I think we are on the ground floor (which causes Brad to bust out laughing) and the guy says thanks and gets off the elevator.

Dining options came as a bit of a disappointment only because I had really high expectations. I was expecting options like what we have experienced in Banner Elk and Blowing Rock and on the surface the listing of area restaurants I had glanced at online seemed to indicate that would be what we would find in West Jefferson, too. Maybe they are there but I did not find what I expected or had hoped for. Several restaurants on the online listing were closed or no longer there. Essentially in downtown West Jefferson we were left with a deli, coffee shop, restaurant/pub, a pizza place (which looked really good), an Italian place, bbq place (that seemed to stay very busy), and a bar. So at the recommendation of Hampton Inn staff we opted to try Frasers the first night (the restaurant/pub).

Frasers: The hotel staff indicated that the steak and Caesar salad was one of the best items to order. Once that idea is in your head that tends to be what you want. We arrived just after 7 PM to a very bustling restaurant. As we entered, the smell of seafood was very apparent, not in a bad fishy kind of way but enough to indicate that they were definitely serving seafood. Indeed a decent portion of the menu was devoted to that category and several items sounded really good. However, I don’t normally go to the mountains to order seafood unless it is something like mountain stream trout so we both opted for steaks. Brad had the special steak scampi which consisted of NY strip seasoned scampi style topped with shrimp. I had the tenderloin medallions served with a marsala mushroom sauce. The Caesar and house salads were both good, fresh, lots of dark greens and spinach in the house salad and good bleu cheese dressing. Our dinner rolls were hit and miss with one out of the four served tasting wonderful and the rest tasting stale. Brad’s steak was cooked perfectly but mine was closer to medium versus the medium rare I had ordered. We unfortunately waited a long time between salads and entrees - maybe they were actually baking the potatoes to order. Overall the flavors of the entrees were good but lacked a touch of salt (we are not heavy salt users but they were noticeably lacking this seasoning). We were thrilled to get a bottle of wine for half what it would have cost us in Raleigh so overall the price of the meal was reasonable for what we got. To be clear, the food was pretty good after application of seasoning but it wasn’t a place we would opt to return to time and time again just based on this one experience.

Since I have picked on Brad some pertaining to his room key issues I should reveal my own amusing moment on the way to dinner. We parked about a block away from the restaurant and as we walked across the street my heel gets stuck in a crack in the pavement and I step completely out of my shoe. I actually have to go back and pull my shoe out of the pavement then hop across the street as the light is changing. Carloads of people on both sides of the light appeared to thoroughly enjoy my performance.  I am happy to report there was no damage to my shoe but do caution against wearing kitten heel open back sandals on rough surface streets.

After exploring downtown and seeing the lack of significant other eating options we decided on Saturday night we would either eat at the pizza place or the local bar. We ended up at the bar: Black Jacks.  This is just a basic small bar but it had a very appealing menu of typical bar fair such as hot wings, burgers, etc. and they had a nice selection of beers on draft (Brad had Lagunitas IPA and I had Laughing Skull Amber Ale). We shared an order of hot wings, which Brad ordered hot and then found to be too hot for him to eat, but I thought they were fantastic. We then shared a burger and fries. The burger was cooked perfectly, dressed well and the fries were wonderful hand-cut skin on fries.  We were really having a nice time but ended up leaving sooner than we would have due to a drunk local, who was obviously loved by the local patrons, wanting to visit with every table in the place. We asked that he leave us alone and he did but it was bothering Brad to see him go from table to table and frankly it had changed the mood of the place for us. So we opted to spend the rest of our evening back at the bar at Frasers. The pub side of Frasers is a different world from the restaurant side we had visited the night before. It has a very masculine feel to it, nice long bar and a seating area. The bartender was friendly and interesting without being on top of us constantly and we had a very nice time hanging out and chatting with him and some others in the bar area.

We did have coffee late one morning at Bohemia. This is a really cool looking place with seating ranging from couches to bar stools and artwork on the walls. We popped in just before noon and it ended up taking forever to get to the register with only three ladies in front of us. Turns out the one up front placed an order for four very specific/intricate coffees and it was just the one girl behind the counter all by herself. She was very apologetic when we finally got to place our order. She also did a good job of warning us about the difference in their syrups versus Starbucks but apparently we didn’t get how different they really were and we ended up with two excruciatingly sweet drinks. So if you stop in and order a flavored latte keep in mind they use six to seven pumps of syrup and even cutting that in half is still too sweet.

Beyond food, the downtown area has a variety of small shops that make up about a three to four block stroll. The highlight of the area is the Ashe County Cheese. If you are lucky enough to be there when they are making cheese there is a viewing window into the factory. While they were not making cheese the day we were there, they were packaging cheese so we got to see that activity. Across the street is the store which is a wonderland of local wines, selection of interesting and unusual snack mixes, candies, jellies, etc. and then of course all the cheeses that they make. They were providing tastes of three options when we were there: the bacon cheddar which has a nice smoky flavor, the extra sharp white cheddar which was just absolutely perfect, and cheese curd. Brad had never had cheese curd and obviously was caught completely off guard by the texture. Cheese curds are fresh, un-aged cheddar cheese before being processed into blocks and aged. So they have a texture similar to silly putty, squeak when you bite into them, and taste nothing like aged cheddar. Watching Brad’s reaction I laughed so hard I cried. Maybe if you haven’t tried something before you should consider taking a smaller taste not a mouth full. I thought he was going to have to cough it up into the trash can right in the middle of the store. The amount of different kinds of cheese was totally overwhelming. I would have loved to have bought everything but our hotel room did not have a refrigerator and we only had a small cooler. In the end we purchased sweet potato butter, a package of A.B Vannoy ham, which is also produced in this area, the white extra sharp cheddar, a yellow cheddar aged five years, and their bleu cheese.

I would definitely go back for a day to visit the cheese shop again and I would spend time at Frasers pub. The food at Black Jacks would get me back in there as long as Mr. Super Social Drunk wasn’t around and I would try a couple of the other places to eat if we were there longer than a day. But honestly, West Jefferson was nice to visit once and convenient for visiting area wineries but isn’t a place we would return to for a weekend stay when there are options like Boone, Blowing Rock, and Banner Elk nearby.

West Jefferson Area Adventures: Part 1 Friday Tastings

This will be a three part piece to cover the five wineries we visited as well as where we ate and stayed in the town of West Jefferson, NC.

We headed out on Friday afternoon with plans to visit three wineries on our way up to West Jefferson. However, after looking at the details on our NC wine map I discovered that one of the three we had marked for Friday was listed as only being open Saturday and Sunday so that meant we would only get to visit two wineries. Now, in the past we have had a very clear plan in place with printed directions and information from each winery but with all the cool apps and features on our phones why bother. Long story short is that upon our return on Sunday when we started checking off the places we visited we discovered that we had actually gone to the winery that was supposed to be closed on Friday and then skipped a place that was scheduled to be open. This is what happens when trying to read map codes and then enter addresses into your cell phone after you have been tasting wine. Kudos to the owner at Carolina Heritage for never mentioning that they were officially closed and then providing what was one of our best wine tasting experiences to date. Please note that we were not the only unannounced visitors who were unaware of their hours because another gentleman also showed up at the same time we did.

First stop was Sanders Ridge in Boonville, NC. This is a beautiful location which not only has a nice tasting bar with a lodge-like ambiance but also a restaurant with deck overlooking the lake. They are also located right next to Big Woods Zipline if you need some additional excitement during your visit. We arrived around 2:30 in the afternoon and the restaurant looked to be packed which has to be a testament to it either being really good or just an extra interesting place to stop and hang out drinking on an early Friday afternoon. They offer two tasting options either twelve wines for $10 or six wines for $5. You do not get to keep the glasses as part of the tasting (with restaurant on-site they can appropriately clean and reuse). Since it was the beginning of our trek we decided on only tasting six wines but with our different picks we managed to taste a total of seven between us. The hostess was personable, knowledgeable and did a nice job of explaining the differences in the weather between 2007 and 2008. As a reminder 2007, in much of NC, was a very dry year resulting in some of the best wines. For bolder red wines they consider 2007 to be a benchmark year in terms of wine flavor profiles. When it came time for us to compare taste the 2007 and 2008 Big Woods wines we asked that she put both our taste pours for each wine into one single glass so we had one glass of 2007 and one of 2008 and passed them back and forth to taste them at the same time. That makes it much easier to compare versus tasting one then the other separately.

• Cabernet Franc – spicy, toasty, very earthy tasting with a nice finish, best Cab Franc I have tasted to date in NC (bought 2 bottles)
• Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve – vanilla, layers of plum and cherry, light spice, just a bit of oak, was light but not empty (bought one bottle)
• 2007 Big Woods (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Syrah) – Bordeaux style, rich cherry, light licorice and pepper, was the bolder tasting of the two Big Woods and would pair well with food (bought one bottle)
• 2008 Big Woods (same blend, same style as 2007) – warm pepper, currant and berry, drier finish, smoother tasting and would be drinkable without food (bought one bottle)
• Merlot Barrel Select – raspberry, currant, described rather well by their chef as being “Sassy with a silky finish”, had a nice mild finish with soft tannins
• Chambourcin – smoky, plum, a tad too acidic giving it a sour tasting finish
• Round Hill (Sryah) – blackberry, mild sweet/tart, soft and more like a pinot (bought one bottle)

Sanders Ridge

Our second stop was Carolina Heritage  in Elkin. This is the location that is only open for set hours on Saturday and Sunday unless you schedule an appointment, which we certainly did not do, but the owner, Pat Colwell, was very gracious in never mentioning that. This location is the first USDA-certified organic vineyard and winery in NC. Because they are all organic there are no European varieties in the vineyard because to grow in that area they would have to have treatments to resist mildew. The tasting building is a beautiful cabin with lots of seating and tables inside set up for playing a variety of table top games. It is $5 to taste six wines; however, she ended up pouring us all the wines so we tasted a total of eight and she opened all fresh bottles for us. You get to keep the glasses and they are really cute little cordial-style glasses. Pat told us that they specifically named their wines after the grapes because so often when they asked people what they like to drink they refer to a wine by some cute name but have no idea what grapes are in the wine. She also noted that a couple of their blends (Burch-Bleu and Carlos-Magnolia) actually originated from watching tasters trying to decide between two wines and then asking to mix them together. When they see something like that they begin to gradually offer that option as a taste and if enough people approve they create the blend officially. Overall this was one of the best wine tastings we have done with regards to the discussion and learning things from the owner. After visiting as many wineries as we have it is very interesting to learn something you did not already know.

• Traminette – good subtle tartness with light acidity, not overwhelmingly fruity, mild finish (bought one bottle)
• Chambourcin – smooth, mild tannins, very soft but not empty tasting (bought one bottle)
• Chambourcin-Cynthiana (Cynthiana is the same as the Norton grape) – dry, fruity/nutty flavors, mild sourness, really good with dark chocolate. Pat indicated that they use the Chambourcin to mellow out the Cynthiana flavor. (bought one bottle)
• Carlos (Muscadine) – mild tartness, good for sipping, liked a lot. They use very low amounts of sugar in their wines compared to the eastern NC way of making wines from muscadine where they use lots of sugar. So the wine actually tastes like the grape which is actually very good. 
• Carlos-Magnolia (Muscadines) – lighter than the Carlos alone, seemed more sour as a result of the blend
• Noble (Muscadine) – sangria like, light, mild, tangy. We learned that Noble grapes actually have colored pulp so even without fermenting with the skin they produce a light reddish color. (bought one bottle)
• Burch-Bleu (Chambourcin, blueberry) – lightly sweet, good blueberry flavor and the Chambourcin provides a nice finish versus the tartness of the blueberry. Wine labeling laws indicate you cannot use the name of fruit (which is actually classified differently than grapes in the world of wine) so they could not call this Chambourcin – Blueberry. (bought one bottle)
• Blueberry – This has highest sugar content of their wines but not done on purpose.  When the natural fermentation process stopped the wine still had high levels of sugar which made it a very good dessert style wine that still has a nice tartness from the blueberry fruit. (bought one bottle)

Yes - the sign clearly states the hours but we
just barged right in on a Friday unannounced!

Biaggi's Wine Dinner Coming Up on June 24th

We cannot attend this event but it occurred to me that the best way to share the menu with lots of people was via blog.  If you live in the area and want to try a wine dinner this has always been a pretty good event to go to and you cannot beat the price (I do note that this time it indicates that tax and gratuity are not included which is a change from previous events):

Biaggi's June Wine Dinner: Friday, June 24th

The evening will begin at 6:30pm and includes a six course meal prepared by Chef Tom Havrish to complement the featured wines.

Chilled Asparagus and Crab Soup
Chilled Asparagus Soup with Lump Crab and White Truffle
Featured Wine: Pascal Bouchard Petite Chablis, Burgundy

Insalata di Spinaci
Baby Spinach, Pancetta Ribbons, Gorgonzola and White Balsamic Vinaigrette
Featured Wine: Joel Gott Pinot Gris, Oregon

Duck Ravioli
Duck and Herb-Filled Ravioli with Truffle Herb Butter Sauce, Topped with Shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano
Featured Wine: DeLoach Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast

Citrus Seared Grouper
Iron Seared Fillet of Fresh Grouper Topped with Citrus Relish and Microgreens
Featured Wine: Ferrari-Carano Chardonnay, Sonoma County

Veal Tenderloin
Roasted Veal Tenderloin with a Sangiovese Wine Reduction Served over an Herb Risotto and Topped with Seasonal Vegetables
Featured Wine: Ornellaia Le Volte Super Tuscan, Tuscany

Peach and Prosecco Semi Freddo
Fresh Peach and Prosecco Semi Freddo with Raspberry Coulis and Toasted Pistacchios
Featured Wine: Folonari Moscato, Veneto


Reservations are required. The cost is $65 per person, plus tax and gratuity. For reservations or additional information please call 919.468.7229 and ask to speak with a manager; or via email contact Bruce Myers (bmyers@biaggis.com) or Lisa Phillips (lphillips@biaggis.com).

Crazy Good Stuff Pork Tenderloin vs. Delightful Light & Healthy Zucchini Tart

So it has been a slow month or two in terms of not going to wine dinners or visiting wineries.  That will change some this summer (stayed tuned).  For now I thought I would post some recipes we have tried recently that are worth passing along.


Mushroom Stuffed Pork Tenderloin (Food Network Magazine) Original Recipe

I followed this recipe exactly except we did just one tenderloin for the two of us.  It is very rich with the bacon and mushrooms inside the pork loin but the lemon zest "dressing" brightens it and helps to cut the fatty taste.  I am not sure that the extra salt is needed considering the amount of bacon being used so go light with that if you are salt sensitive.  There is a decent amount of prep time involved but it was nice to then kick back and let Brad handle the grilling portion of the recipe.  One of these days I am going to use that grill even if I have to sedate him.

2	Pork Tenderloins (2 – 2½ lb total)
5 Tbsp	Olive Oil
4	Slices Bacon – chopped
8 oz	Cremini Mushrooms – thinly sliced
1	Garlic Clove – minced
1 Tbsp	Breadcrumbs
½ cup	Fresh Parsley – chopped
½ tsp	Lemon Zest

 
Heat 2 Tbsp oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add bacon and cook till crisp, about 8 min. Add mushrooms, ½ tsp salt, pepper to taste, cook till mushrooms are soft, about 4 min. Add garlic and cook 1 min. Remove from heat and stir in breadcrumbs and all but 2 Tbsp parsley. Let cool. Soak 12 toothpicks in water. Butterfly pork loins, open like a book, cover with plastic wrap and pound to ½ inch thick. Spread mushroom mixture over each loin, roll up and secure with toothpicks. Coat each with olive oil, salt, pepper. Grill over medium-high for 25 – 30 min turning periodically till internal temp is 140F. Rest for 10 min before slicing. Mix remaining parsley with lemon zest in 3 Tbsp olive oil and drizzle on top of pork slices.

Ricotta and Zucchini Tomato Tart (Shape Magazine) Original Recipe

So after a rich, extra pork filled dish how about something for those wanting a meatless option?  This recipe was listed as a vegetarian entree but that doesn't work for Brad so I served it as a side dish.  I wasn't sure how the leftovers would be but after gently heating slightly in the microwave it was still good and the crust was still fairly crispy.  I used regular ricotta versus part skim version as listed in the original recipe and used one large regular tomato instead of two plum tomatoes.  Also I found that one zucchini (regular size so not large) was sufficient for the pan I used.  In looking back at the photo on the website I think they overlapped the zucchini more than I did so if you are wanting to use of all the zucchini your garden has produced then go ahead and layer away.

1 cup	Ricotta
2	Eggs – lightly beaten
½ tsp	Fennel Seeds – crushed
½ tsp	Salt
½ tsp	Lemon Zest
½ tsp	Ground Pepper
2	Medium Plum Tomatoes – thinly sliced
8	Sheets Phyllo Dough
2	Medium Zucchini – thinly sliced
2 TBSP	Grated Parmesan Cheese

 
Combine ricotta, eggs, fennel, lemon zest, and half of salt and pepper, set aside. Lay tomato slices on paper towel to remove excess moisture. Lightly mist 9 inch pie pan with non-stick spray. Place 1 sheet on phyllo on pie plate, mist with spray and repeat layering of all phyllo rotating slightly. Top with ricotta mixture, then a layer of zucchini and ring of tomato, sprinkle with parmesan and remaining salt and pepper. Roll overhanging phyllo into a neat border. Bake at 350F for 35 minutes till crust is golden brown and zucchini is tender. Let cool 20 minutes before serving.

Sunday Dinner at Buku

I realized that I don’t always write about restaurants we try for the first time unless I am just very impressed. Of course I say that because I am getting ready to write about a place that really impressed me but it has me thinking that I really should blog about all our new eating adventures: the good, the mediocre, and the bad. But then it usually isn’t fair to post things about a place based only on one experience so we will have to think about that. So as you read along keep in mind that these comments are based on one experience only and I am not a professional or even semi-professional food reviewer. If we enjoyed it and you did not or vice versa there is always the difference in time of week and level of cook in the kitchen that night, freshness of the ingredients relative to when the food order for the week was received, as well as differences in items of expertise across a menu (if you want a better understanding of that then read Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential). Bottom line, if I don’t like a place please don’t let that stop you from checking it out.

But I really liked Buku…

Buku promotes itself as Global Street Food. I was intrigued because of having traveled through Asia I was excited to see dishes I have enjoyed overseas all available in one place. A word of warning to anyone else who has traveled and goes expecting to get it just like they had it in X country. I am sorry but it probably won’t be all that but it will be pretty darn good version of that (at least for the few dishes we tried this one visit).

The majority of the menu consists of small plate portions so you are meant to try several different things similar to the tapas concept. If you are interested in a traditional entrée sized portion then the waiter will point you to the “In Off The Street” section of the menu. We selected items to order based on things I have enjoyed during my travels with an item or two thrown in that we knew would appeal to Brad. In fact, as we negotiated the menu trying to compromise on what to order I told Brad it would be easier for me to point out the one or two items I did not want to try.  The following lists what we ended up having, which ended up being too much food for the two of us.  We started with the first three items and then added the last two but should have stopped with having added only one more item.

Chinese Bao - steamed pork bun, egg, served with cucumber salad. I had Bao at a Dim Sum restaurant in Hong Kong. From my experience they were traditionally small portions, a couple of bites max in size and were very light but doughy like the texture of a yeast doughnut filled with all kinds of wonderful things from barbeque pork to sweet yellow custard like fillings. The one at Buku was large with the dough very similar to what I had in Hong Kong only a tad thicker with less filling to dough ratio. The filling consisted of something similar to a scotch egg with a hardboiled egg wrapped in sausage style meat. Upon doing a little “Googling” I found that this is similar if not identical to the Big Bao or Big Pau which is a mixture of pork, onion, mushrooms and Chinese seasonings along with the boiled egg inside the dough. It was very good.

Vietnamese Crepe - prawn, shiitake mushroom, bean sprout, Thai basil, with sweet vinegar dipping sauce. I actually had not had anything like this in my travels but the ingredient combinations sounded very similar to items I had tried in Vietnam. The crepe texture was more like the texture of a cornmeal tortilla versus that of an egg crepe. The prawns were cooked beautifully and the combination with the shiitake and sprouts was nice but it was the generous amount of cilantro and Thai basil served on top that added vibrancy to the dish that took it from pretty good to wonderful. Overall this was a very satisfying yet light dish that I would certainly order again. Google Vietnamese crepe and you will find Banh Xeo and the recipes I found show that the crepe is a mixture of rice and wheat flours and is meant to be somewhat crispy so it sounds like the cooks at Buku has this dish true to form.

Sunset Roll - eel, cream cheese, cucumber, masago, sesame, avocado, spicy mayo. This item was my attempt to be sure that we had something Brad would enjoy since we are both huge sushi fans. He loves eel so I allowed him to pick this roll over the tuna roll. It was actually very good and made me miss going to Sono on a regular basis. Since most people are familiar with the concept of special sushi rolls I won’t go into detail other than to say that it was well made, with fresh ingredients and this roll is a nice choice for someone afraid of raw seafood. Only warning is that it is very creamy and rich tasting with cream cheese, avocado and topped with the spicy mayo.

Korean BBQ - shaved prime sirloin, kimchi, sesame spinach, wasabi soy. This was the one dish I most wanted to have and although it was very good it was for me the most disappointing in terms of not being exactly like what I had experienced. I have had Korean BBQ in Seoul where you order the cuts of meat you want, ideally some nice wagyu beef, and they bring the raw meat to your table where you have a little grill set up for cooking the meat. I remember when I first had it being overwhelmed by the assorted condiments and before I could even ask what to do a young lady took my hand, slapped a lettuce leaf into it, topped with meat then kimchi and some other condiment. Then she had me roll it close and motioned for me to eat it. I knew we would not be grilling at the table but I had hoped for the lettuce wrap and condiment selection and instead it was served more like an entrée with the kimchi and cooked greens as sides. The meat was well marinated and nicely cooked so it was very tasty but if you do not know to combine your bites to have both the meat and the kimchi at the same time you completely miss the flavors you are meant to experience. Once I got Brad to eat them together he agreed it made all the difference. As for the kimchi, it was good but nowhere near the heat level of what I had in Korea but then Brad felt it was plenty hot for his enjoyment (wimp). To me it should be like the same punch in the sinuses you get from combining grated horseradish with prime rib and this wasn’t quite there.

Moules Frites – Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.) mussels, tomato, garlic, white wine, cream, served with hand cut fries. OMG!!! This was a very generous portion of very nice sized mussels cooked perfectly in the most ridiculously good broth I have ever had. They provided three good sized pieces of toasted bread that I just kept dipping into that broth until the bread was so soppy it was about to fall apart before I could get it to my mouth. This was hands down the best item of the night and I will be ordering that again on a future visit. 

So our first visit was obviously quite enjoyable. We had made reservations due to the various downtown festivals but could have easily walked in at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening (yes, it was early for us but timed for the ending of the matinee we attended). It was crowding up by the time we left.  The waiter was knowledgeable about the menu and attentive without being annoying. I do wonder if I had not been so vocal about my travels if he would have explained the servings and indicated recommended ways of eating the dishes. They have a nice beer selection and a good listing of wines including a decent list of wines under $30. Oh, and I should mention that the special of the night was Bibimbap, which is a very signature Korean dish of rice, egg, meat and veggies together in a bowl. I was tempted since I had really enjoyed it overseas but I wanted to try the smaller dishes instead, maybe next time.

Elkin Creek Vineyard

Elkin Creek

We visited this winery on our way to Blowing Rock last summer. We had actually planned to visit two locations on our route but the second one, Rendezvous Ridge in Purlear, NC, fell through as a result of a fire at the winery just days before we visited. Unfortunately, we did not know this and did go an hour out of our way only to find the gates locked without any apparent explanation. They did have it posted on their website so if we had only checked that the day of our trip we would have known. We will be sure to visit them on our next adventure in that area.

Elkin Creek is not surprisingly located in Elkin, NC and it is one of those really neat places to visit. There is an old, very narrow, one lane farm road leading to the main grounds and tasting room with comical handmade signage like “no passing” along the route. The kitchen/tasting room sits up on a hill overlooking the creek and the old mill which you pass by on your drive out. And then out in the middle of the “yard” is this tepee with no apparent explanation at all. Parked next to the building is an old truck painted bright yellow with the wineries logo on the side. Lots of character everywhere you look.

We arrived during a particularly warm afternoon and found the host and hostess collapsed on a couch in the tasting room. It was obvious they had been working hard and, sadly, the host initially came across as disinterested in our visit until I noticed the Tuscan cookbooks on the back counter and made a comment about cooking Italian food. It was the right thing to say to bring him back to life and we had a very pleasant conversation and enjoyable tasting experience after all. We tasted all seven wines that they offer.

• Chardonnay (no oak) – very light, crisp
• Mistela (Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Viognier) – sweeter wine but not too sweet
• Soft White (Niagara) – mild tart after taste, crisp
• Rossa (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah) – soft tannins, full body
• Cabernet – rather light but not empty, has a nice dryness
• Classico (Merlot, Sangiovese) – very nice wine, bought three bottles
• Family Reserve (Merlot, Syrah, Viognier) – really nice blend, listed as their best wine, bought two bottles