Category Archives: Wine

Extreme #buylocalchallenge

Posted on July 19, 2014 by AnnieRie

As is eating something local at every meal. Easy to do if most of your food comes from a CSA, a regional food service, and your garden.

I count my garden as supporting local farmers as most of the plants were purchased from local farms. I don’t buy plants from national chains like Lowe’s or Home Depot, but from local farms like Sharp’s or Greenway. Both Howard County farms.

Today was the first day of the challenge. Breakfast included toast with CSA raspberry jam, for me. And for my husband, cereal with CSA blueberries.

Lunch for him. Tuna salad with my onions. For me, cucumbers, tomatoes and carrots, dipped in a yogurt dressing. Yogurt from PA. Cucumbers and tomatoes, my garden. Carrots, CSA.

Peaches from the CSA for a snack.

Dinner tonight.

Local wine!

Big Cork, from Rohrersville MD. Ready to go to the table with some of my flowers from my front yard.

CSA chicken thighs being baked with CSA potatoes, my onions and Wayne Nell smoked bacon (Friends and Farms supplier from York PA). They buy from farms in the area surrounding York.

The salad.

Baywater Greens from Salisbury supplied the leaf lettuce. CSA spinach, beets, gouda, blueberries.

Oh, I forgot, there was corn on the cob, too. From the CSA.

Very little today that didn’t come locally. Off to a good start. On to Day Two tomorrow.

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Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Friends and Farms, Gardening, LFFC, Locavore, Wine and tagged buy local challenge, cooking, CSA, farms, Food, foodie, gardening, Locavore, MD Wine, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Ninety Eight Ounces

Posted on July 6, 2014 by AnnieRie

That would be how much zucchini I harvested Saturday morning.

I wrote the other day about zucchini recipes. Now, we need to add a new one to the list.

Zucchini Fritters. Recipe courtesy of Smitten Kitchen. Although I did modify it a bit. I used shallots and baby leeks instead of scallions.

I did make them as recommended in my cast iron skillet.

The recipe yielded a dozen tiny fritters. Perfect with kofta.

Topped with homemade tzatziki.

A completely local meal. Lamb from England Acres. Onions from my garden. Zucchini and shallots from the garden. Egg from Miller Farms in Clinton. Tzatziki from my cucumbers, mint, dill and Pequea Valley yogurt.

The wine.

One of Breaux’s stars. A 2007 Reserve Cabernet Franc. Lots of alcohol though. 16.4%. Big wine. Stood up to the kofta.

So far, I am beating those zucchini. But barely. I did put away two packages of shredded zucchini in the freezer. Saving for a cold winter’s day to make bread.

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Posted in Food, Gardening, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Wine and tagged Food, foodie, gardening, local businesses, Locavore, VA wine, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Linden Al Fresco

Posted on June 17, 2014 by AnnieRie

My favorite winery. A lazy, hazy Monday morning. The view, spectacular.

There’s lots going on down in the vineyards, and the tasting room, and in the vines. Let’s start with the vines.

The Chardonnay vines turn 30 this year. Original to the planting of the vineyard. Just outside the front entrance to the winery. There was a very informative article on the front page of the Washington Post food section last week, about the wine, the vines and the master of it all. Jim Law.

Jim also got a new building this year. There is a new barn you see as you drive up the steep entrance driveway.

Built to use for maintenance and storage of all the equipment and machinery needed to tend the vineyards. Unofficially called the man cave by a few of us.

Other changes.

Renovation of the second floor to include large windows to drink in the views. Front and back.

The back ones, on the left, are harder to see around the trees. This newly renovated space will be used for those specialty events now held in the small addition off the tasting room.

This room, used for meetings and library tastings, and other events is limited to ten people. The second floor will be a more open space, and we can’t wait to see what they will do up there.

Some other changes coming too. New doors and a new layout of the tasting counters will be coming soon.

All in all, it reflects that saying on their website. “Never content”. Always trying something new.

Monday we spent a lazy two hours there. Enjoying the view. Tasting the 2012 Chardonnay. Comparing the two versions of the vidal blanc and Riesling pairing. One sweet, one more acidic. We like the acidic one. Perfect for Asian foods.

Some Firefly Farms goat cheese. Smoked salmon. Baguettes. Wine.

Earthquake. The ash veined cheese from Everona. Lovely cheeses. And wine.

With this as the view out the doors.

Believe me, it is worth the 90 mile trip from here. Just to sit and savor and enjoy one of the best wines made on the East Coast (and even beyond).

#hocofood

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Posted in Adventures, Day Trips, Food, Locavore, Travel, Wine and tagged day trips, Food, foodie, Linden Vineyards, local businesses, Locavore, VA wine, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

To Honor Our Dads

Posted on June 15, 2014 by AnnieRie

Both of our dads loved to cook. I remember watching my father in law at the stove, frying up something special. And my dad, with his favorite foods. That he made the way he liked them.

Our dads are no longer with us. My FIL, 33 years ago. My dad, 11 years ago.

We still have memories. Pictures. Favorite moments.

Tonight we honored them by cooking things from their birthplaces, and using techniques they loved.

Like pan frying.

These are baby bella mushrooms from PA. My husband’s home state. The hanger steak. Also from PA.

I pan fried a hanger steak with red wine mushroom sauce.

I also made one of my dad’s specialties.

Cole slaw. A simple one. Cabbage. Carrots. A simple slaw dressing (I cheated and mine was from a bottle). My dad made his own.

The food tonight came from Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative, in PA. And, Friends and Farms, mostly sourcing items from PA and MD these days.

The salad. Baywater Greens. Strawberries from the community garden. Cheese from MD. A simple lemon vinaigrette.

The wine. Not local, but our dads were beer drinkers, and this steak begged for wine. My dad, Natty Boh. My FIL. Yuengling.

For us, though, a toast using a ten year old cabernet reserve from California.

Here’s to memories. Here’s to dad.

#hocofood

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Posted in Commentary, Family, Food, Friends and Farms, Gardening, Real Food, Wine and tagged commentary, cooking, Food, foodie, gardening, real food, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

A Triple Play

Posted on June 13, 2014 by AnnieRie

Putting together the garden, the CSA and the Friends and Farms foods.

Slow cooker short ribs with kale over polenta.

What came from where?

My garden:
Defrosted tomato sauce from last year’s harvest
Baby leeks
Scallions
Garlic Scapes

Lancaster Farm Fresh CSA:
Curly kale

Friends and Farms:
Short Ribs
Garlic (roasted first)
Polenta (from a long time ago)
Trickling Springs butter

First, I browned the short ribs.

I like cutting them into individual portions and browning them in olive oil.

In the crockpot:

All of that gorgeous kale. Three baby leeks. Two scallions. One pint of my basic tomato sauce made last September and frozen. Four cloves roasted garlic. Salt and pepper. The ribs were then placed on top with their pan sauces.

Cooked for eight hours on low. Falling apart ribs. Tangy kale.

I then made a quick polenta. 1 cup polenta whisked into three cups of water, that had 1/2 tablespoon of salt added. Whisk until creamy, then add two tablespoons unsalted butter.

Put the polenta on the plate. Cover in kale and short ribs. Open a good local red wine and you have a locavore meal.

#hocofood

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Posted in CSA, Food, Friends and Farms, Gardening, LFFC, Locavore, Real Food, Wine and tagged cooking, crock pot cooking, CSA, Food, foodie, gardening, Locavore, real food, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Fish On …

Posted on June 2, 2014 by AnnieRie

… the grill.

There is something about halibut. One of my favorite fish to grill. And we can’t go to Annapolis to visit family without stopping at Annapolis Seafood for something. It was a stop for shrimp but the halibut was calling my name.

The shrimp, also bought, was used today in a shrimp curry with Thai Spices Matsaman curry, fragrant with cumin and cardamom.

The halibut, grilled last night with some Friends and Farms vegetables.

Asparagus and red potatoes.

All seasoned with one of my pesto concoctions, defrosted from the freezer. This one was a mixed greens pesto, made last summer. Since it is almost garlic scape season, I need to finish off the last of the pesto containers from the basement freezer.

To complete that local flavor.

Maryland chardonnay, from Big Cork.

Here’s to many more locally inspired and small business supplied dinners. It’s grilling season, big time.

#hocofood

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Posted in Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Friends and Farms, Gardening, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Weather, Wine and tagged cooking, farmer's markets, Food, foodie, grilling, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, MD Wine, real food, weather, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Inspired By

Posted on June 1, 2014 by AnnieRie

The Ellicott City Farmers Market.

Just a simple salad. Baugher’s strawberries. Breezy Willow arugula. Shepherd’s Manor Ewe Cream Cheese. What you can do after a quick walk up Main St. on a Saturday morning.

What would you pay for a salad of this freshness at a restaurant? Not the small amount necessary to make this one.

We bought a quart of strawberries (OK, two quarts). They were $5 a quart if you bought two. The cheese.

$7.50 at the market. Sheep’s milk cheese. To. die. for.

Arugula. $2 for 1/4 pound. We bought half a pound because I love it.

Breezy Willow’s organic veggies are awesome, to say the least.

We added a simple cream dressing. This was Newman’s creamy Caesar.

You could make at least six salads with what we bought. $16.50 total in cost. We are greatly enjoying the bounty from the market.

As for dinner that night.

I grilled those Lancaster Farm Fresh wings and served them with that rhubarb sauce.

And the wine. From the Wine Bin.

How great to have wine right next to the market. The better to complete your meal choices.

I could get used to finding Saturday dinners at this market.

#hocofood

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Posted in Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Howard County, LFFC, Local Businesses, Locavore, Wine and tagged cooking, farmer's markets, farms, Food, foodie, Howard County, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Event Overload Again

Posted on May 14, 2014 by AnnieRie

The third weekend in May. Absolutely one of the most overbooked event weekends around here.

Wine in the Woods. Both days, Saturday and Sunday.

The Preakness. Saturday is the race in Baltimore, and the Balloon Festival at Turf Valley the 15th-17th if the weather permits it.

The Columbia Triathlon is Sunday morning. Our love/hate relationship with this event depends on whether we need to get anywhere by car that morning. We live right off the bike race route.

The EC Tasting Gallery Pop Up at Bistro Blanc is Sunday night.

There is a Family Open House at Belmont Saturday morning 10-12, with guided hikes and other goodies. The Howard County Conservancy is providing environmental educational programs at the Belmont site.

We are volunteering for Big Cork at Wine in the Woods.

Been fans of their wines since they opened the winery. Love the chardonnay, and really am looking forward to the release of their first red wines this fall. And, their new building out in Rohrersville.

As for that pop up dinner, we will be there. I can’t wait to see what the EC chefs and Chef Johnny at Bistro Blanc create in a culinary culture tour.

If I can drag myself out of bed Saturday morning to see the mass ascension at Oh-Dark=Thirty up at Turf Valley, I will be doing that too.

Belmont does interfere with Wine in the Woods. Darn. Van Wensil is leading two guided hikes which should be wonderful to do.

Sunday morning finds us cheering on the leaders in the triathlon as they pass the Royal Farms at the circle where Dayton and Glenelg meet. We like heading up there for coffee and bagels and to watch the world class athletes as they head out, and then back, from their loop out to Triadelphia.

And, can’t forget to sit out and watch the Preakness while sipping a Black Eyed Susan. Last year they changed the recipe for the cocktail. Sounds really interesting, if you have St. Germain around the house.

What are you doing this weekend? Are you guilty of event overload, too? I’ll need a week to recover from all this entertainment.

Oh, and the azaleas at Brighton Dam are still blooming. If the rain the next two days doesn’t mess them up.

#hocoblogs

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Posted in Adventures, Community, Food, Hobbies, Howard County, Real Food, Restaurants, Travel, Volunteering, Wine and tagged community, Food, foodie, hoco loco, Howard County, howard county conservancy, local businesses, Locavore, MD Wine, West HoCo, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Scones, Scallions and Spice

Posted on May 10, 2014 by AnnieRie

Busy week. Making scones for the first time. Harvesting spring onions in the garden, aka scallions. And, cooking with Indian spices tonight.

Let’s start with the scones. Made for the Mother’s Day event that was canceled. At least I only made the test batch before we got word that predicted heavy rains for today would make it potentially abysmal in the gardens. Turns out the rain was about an hour later than predicted, but we all know about those weather people. Not to be trusted, or believed. (Just kidding, it is hard around here to figure out the weather patterns).

As for those scones.

Blueberries and peaches mixed with peach yogurt. Good peach yogurt from Pequea Valley.

One cup yogurt and one cup fruit. I used defrosted blueberries and peaches, from my Larriland picking last summer. These were added to the other ingredients at the end. I started out with 3 cups AP flour, 1/2 cup cane sugar, 2 tbsp. baking powder and 1 teaspoon baking soda. One stick of very cold unsalted butter added to these and mixed until the texture of a cornmeal. Dump in fruit and yogurt. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Next, let’s talk about the garden, and the newly harvested scallions.

I was thinning the white onions today. Took out three scallions that will grace the dinner table tomorrow. My first items this year.

Finally, the spice. The Indian inspired dinner.

Spiced chicken with yogurt sauce. I started out with a recipe but didn’t really follow it at all.

Except sort of, for the yogurt sauce. Easy to make. Big on taste. 6 ounces plain full fat yogurt. One lemon, juiced and zested. One tbsp. cilantro, chopped. Couple of shakes of ground ginger. 1/2 tsp. garlic powder. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix together. Put on everything! This stuff is incredibly tasty.

I had leftover chicken breast, cut into cubes, or strips, or some of each. About 8-10 ounces of chicken. Made a dry rub. Tsp. of cumin. Tsp. of coriander. 1/2 tsp. of paprika. 1/8 tsp. of cinnamon. 1/4 tsp. ground cayenne. Two garlic cloves, minced. Lemon juice and zest. Salt and pepper. Mix with chicken, then cover in olive oil and bake for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees (if it was already cooked chicken). With raw chicken, this would need 20 or so minutes at 400 degrees.

Serve with whatever bread you have to sop it up. I used the olive bread from The Breadery.

Serve it also with a wine that can stand up to the heat of the cayenne. I used a Traminette from Big Cork.

Let’s see what sort of goodies I can make tomorrow with those chicken thighs in last week’s basket.

#hocofood

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Posted in Food, Friends and Farms, Locavore, Real Food, Wine and tagged cooking, Food, foodie, local businesses, Locavore, MD Wine, real food, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Out and About Again: Petit Louis Bistro

Posted on April 29, 2014 by AnnieRie

Not the one in Roland Park. The new one on the lake in Columbia.

Last Thursday we had the privilege of participating in the opening of the patio on the lake at PLB, as it is known for short. A really lovely addition to the community and to the people who already enjoy Cindy Wolf and Tony Foreman’s other restaurants in the area (like my favorite celebration restaurant, Charleston).

Exquisite tastings were offered.

Besides these beet and chevre bites, there were cheese pastries and a game bird terrine. Inside, four wines were being sampled.

My favorite was the rose from Provence. Probably the place on earth I would most like to live. If only my spoken French was better than it is.

Meet Will Napier. Will is the sommelier at PLB. Two seconds after meeting him, my husband found out he once worked at our favorite Virginia winery, Linden. Of course, the winery that makes wines in the French tradition. Small world, isn’t it?

And, Le Comptoir. That little side venue where you can indulge in brunch, or lunch, or maybe a petit dejeuner.

There will be a petit dejeuner in our future.

As it was, we made a reservation to stay and dine. Dinner, excellent. I did refrain from being geeky and taking pictures. Truite aux amandes was my choice. Saumon grille was my husband’s. Followed by a cheese plate, French press coffee and a pastis.

I almost felt that I was back in Provence.