Tag Archives: VA wine

Rocks Beneath Our Feet

Posted on October 26, 2014 by AnnieRie

Literally.

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You know what they say about vines struggling, and producing great wines? This is the epitome of that quote. The land under RdV vineyards. Before they built the winery.

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The caves are under the left wing of the building. The rooms with the vats and barrels, are to the right. The building itself, a work of art and architecture.

Rutger de Vink, a former Marine (pictured above on the left) wanted to show that Virginia can make world class wines. The kind that rivals Bordeaux. He now has close to 900 people who buy his wines on a subscription basis yearly. Because they are that good.

Release party for the 2011’s was yesterday. A beautiful day. We had great wine. And, goodies from some local food trucks.

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Crab and lobster salads. Awesome BBQ. Burritos made from scratch. All served up with Friends and Families.

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The quote does sum up how we feel about this small ambitious winery in the Shenandoah foothills. Thanks to Rutger and his team for giving us a little taste of Napa and Sonoma in our backyard.

Wines to save for anniversaries. And birthdays. Wines to put Virginia on the international map. This locavore/locapour loves them.

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Soup People

Posted on October 22, 2014 by AnnieRie

Some are. Some aren’t. We obviously are. Considering the number of times I have blogged about soup.

Particularly, a good quick soup.

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Like bean soup, without all the preparations I used for the one above.

This one was simple. Because. It is cold and rainy. I didn’t feel like roasting a chicken today as I was out of the house too much.

But, I have my trusty pantry.

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You know. You can pull a couple of cans of beans. Today I used the cannellini beans. Two cans. I had chicken breasts cooked.

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I always have chicken in the freezer, from my two sources. Every week I find a day to bake or poach chicken breasts. To have them ready for lunches or dinners. They get eaten quickly.

Then, a little flavor. Today it came from a box of Pacific condensed cream of mushroom soup. And, a couple of cubes of my latest pesto. Right out of the freezer.

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Dump it all in a crockpot. With a little bit of water. Dinner in a few hours, with no stirring or pot watching. I did tonight’s batch on a high setting. It was perfect after two hours in the pot. Served with some naan. And a salad. And, of course, a glass of Linden chardonnay.

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Butcher Shops

Posted on October 3, 2014 by AnnieRie

The place to find the best tastiest cuts of meat, to round out the other items in my freezer, and to make winter cooking so much easier.

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Like today. A perfect crock pot meal. From beef short ribs, purchased at Wayne Nell and Sons. We took a field trip this morning. To visit a new to us Amish market, for comparison. To hit an orchard or two. And, to check out the main supplier of meats to our Friends and Farms basket.

I was on a mission. For ham hocks. Lamb. And, kielbasa. I found two of the three at Wayne Nell. And, on the way home, at Mt. Airy Meat Locker. I found the lamb I wanted to use for a number of winter specialties.

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The Amish Market was our destination for lunch. After we checked out an orchard and the butcher. We found the market to be good, but not as large as the Shrewsbury market.

When I came home, I took the lamb and made six vacuum packs for the freezer. As for the short ribs that ended up in the crock pot, they just looked so good I had to buy them.

This was a simple crock pot meal. Put in the pot at 1 PM on high. Dinner at 6:30. One can black beans. One onion. A large bunch of spinach. Browned ribs and some dry rub. A little salt and garlic powder.

Go watch the Orioles beat Detroit. Sit down to a lovely meal. Served with a very impressive Delaplane Cellars meritage style wine.

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An interesting wine which includes tannat. Not a common grape grown in the area. Soft, elegant. A great complement to the beef and beans.

Between our chicken share from the CSA, the protein in the Friends and Farms baskets, and a few well spaced trips to family owned butcher shops, I can keep the freezer stocked without having to buy factory farmed meats.

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So Good …

Posted on September 28, 2014 by AnnieRie

… I almost forgot to take pictures.

But, then I remembered.

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This is my green tomato pasta. Revved up a bit. The original, from here. I have strayed far from this recipe. Yet I love the concept.

This is what I did.

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Created my tomato base. A half dozen green “yellow plums”. A large handful of underripe cherry tomatoes. Those two just less than ripe zebras from the Friends and Farms basket. Put into a hot, olive oil slicked sauté pan. With some scallions. And a large helping of stuff from Harris Teeter’s olive bar. Artichokes. Hot peppers. Sun dried tomatoes. Garlic. Mushrooms. All heated up to make one very awesome sauce.

I added a couple of cubes of this.

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My mixed greens pesto. Made with radish greens. Arugula. Carrot tops. African blue basil. Parmesan. Almonds. I never measured to make it. Just put in what looked good. Sometimes I think we need to cook by the seat of our pants. And not get hung up on measurements.

The pasta.

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Of course, it was Pappardelle’s, bought at Secolari in the mall. Cracked pepper this time. With a good bite. And just barely done. For that slightly chewy texture.

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Served with a lovely 2012 Chardonnay from Linden. Just the right touch to cut through the richness of the dish. A local wine. A locally sold pasta. My tomatoes. My homemade pesto.

Easy to make.

Doesn’t get better, and not that hard to do. Even while watching the football games.

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Home Grown Goodness

Posted on August 1, 2014 by AnnieRie

Tonight’s dinner traveled less than 100 miles, for the most part, to our table.

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I realized as I was cooking that most of the ingredients, except for oil and spices, were from our CSA, our Friends and Farms basket, my garden, or England Acres.

We got a few medallion steaks from England Acres. These were the last ones. I pan seared, then oven finished the steaks. Each was petite. Just the right size. About 4/10 of a pound each.

The vegetable mix was easily made, as well.

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It is so simple to pan fry a mix of fresh vegetables. Start with a good light olive oil. Get it really hot, but not smoking. Add the onions first. Then I added the specialty squash. Then the baby eggplant. Then the tomatoes. I sprinkled these with fresh thyme from the garden. A little salt and pepper. The best part. A small slab of unsalted butter.

The other component of this dinner was a microwaved potato. Covered in pan juices after taking the steak out of the pan.

You can eat locally all the time. Not just during the Buy Local Challenge. Oh, I forgot. The wine was local, too. But I didn’t remember to take pictures. It was a Glen Manor Petit Verdot. From Virginia.

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Ninety Eight Ounces

Posted on July 6, 2014 by AnnieRie

That would be how much zucchini I harvested Saturday morning.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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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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Linden Al Fresco

Posted on June 17, 2014 by AnnieRie

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

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

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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

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

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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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Looking for Local …

Posted on April 15, 2014 by AnnieRie

… in all the right places. And sometimes finding it. And sometimes not.

Case in point. Looking for local wine to take to my brother’s house for Easter. This year I am bringing deviled eggs. Local eggs from the Friends and Farms basket. I have been saving eggs to get them old enough to hard boil. Old eggs are easier to peel.

I am also bringing wine. Which I do for every holiday gathering. I almost always bring local wines. From MD and VA. This year no exception. We are having ham, so this is what I am bringing.

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Barboursville Brut Rose and Linden Rose. Ah, but here’s the twist.

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This sparkling wine is imported. I suppose I wasn’t paying much attention to those details on our visit to Barboursville in September.

I think I was too busy buying seeds from their selection of exotic vegetables, in order to expand my garden. Like these cardoons.

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The large leafed seedlings are the cardoons. I also bought Malabar spinach seeds. They will go in the ground once we ever get past the frost and freeze seasons around here.

So, are cardoons and Malabar spinach local? They are definitely not native to this area. But, if I grow them in my garden, they become local, at least to me.

The Malabar spinach intrigued me, in the kitchen garden at Barboursville. They maintain a garden to supply their restaurant.

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It grows up the trellis and takes over the area if you aren’t careful with it.

After all the discussion, it comes down to this. I try to think locally and regionally. But, I don’t get all obsessive about it. My mantra, everything in moderation. Besides, being a conflicted locavore/foodie makes for a more interesting life.

Crossing my fingers that the veggies turn out great, because those Virginia wines certainly are winners.

#hocofood

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Beef or Wine?

Posted on March 23, 2014 by AnnieRie

Trying to decide what was the star of tonight’s “mostly local” dinner. The fall apart tri-tip, or the fifteen year old VA wine.

I think it was the wine.

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That’s not to say the beef was underwhelming, because it certainly was a highlight of the meal. Slow cooked in the oven. With sliced onions and green peppers.

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I was going to do tacos, but we were in the midst of spring clean up and I needed a meal to cook all by its lonesome in the oven while we worked with the landscapers to get things all ready for springtime.

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Nice to be all mulched, weeded and swept up. In case spring every arrives here in Maryland.

I cooked the beef in a covered dish on a low (190 degree) setting in the oven. With a splash of red wine. A glug of olive oil. Peppers, onions, garlic. The peppers and onions and beef in baskets from Friends and Farms.

Late this afternoon I emptied a can of black beans into a small amount of beef broth, with about 4 ounces of corn (IQF, from Friends and Farms). Made a black bean and corn side dish. Microwaved a couple of potatoes.

Piled it all on a plate and served it with the local wine.

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Yes, this wine is fifteen years old. Yes, this wine is from Virginia. You wouldn’t know it though, if you tasted it blind. The equivalent in taste and nose, to a fine Bordeaux. Cherries all over the nose and the taste. No sense of age. No mustiness. Absolutely beautiful. Glad I have a couple more of these down there somewhere.

Jeff left Linden to head out on his own, years ago. Many of us love his wines at Glen Manor. Can’t beat something this special.

Who needs to go out and eat “meh” food at chain restaurants. Give me good food and good wines from around here and bring on springtime!

#hocofood

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Memories of the Navy … in Bean Soup

Posted on March 15, 2014 by AnnieRie

Every week at White Oak. Bean soup on the lunch menu. Really hearty. Full of flavor. Similar to what is served at the Senate. And in the Pentagon.

For me, that soup was a filling comforting bowl of warmth in the middle of winter. I have been working to perfect my own version of it.

Senate bean soup includes butter. Mine doesn’t.

Mine takes five ingredients plus salt and pepper. Beans. Scallions. Ham hock. Broth. Garlic.

Yesterday I soaked, then cooked the white beans from the Friends and Farms delivery. This morning I put them, and a pork hock and a pint of veggie broth in my crockpot. Added four cloves of garlic. A half dozen scallions.

Let it cook for eight hours. Pureed half of it (minus the pork). Shredded that pork about an hour before serving.

It came out like this.

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Enough for two meals. Dinner tonight and lunch later next week.

Tonight we served it with warm garlic naan and a 2012 Linden Avenius Sauvignon Blanc. A crisp flinty SB, to cut the creamy richness of the soup.

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Local meals. Yum!

#hocofood

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