Food, Wine, Culture TV: Episode 4: Tuesday, August 19 2008- The Wine News Show Inaugural Episode!

Still working out sound with the new microphone and did this show solo (no cameraman!), but here’s the first episode of the Monday (a day late) Wine News Show! If you have news worthy you’d like to see broadcast, please send to Michael@foodandwineblog.com.

Enjoy

Food, Wine, Culture TV: Episode 3- Food, wine, culture TV- Wine News Show! This first episode features Michael Mohammadi of foodandwineblog.com giving an overview of many of the top headlines in the wine world over the last week. Unedited and unscripted, the once-per-week show will take on issues from wine politics and wine region weather to new restaurants and wine gossip. Tune in to this first (rough!) episode and please come back for more! Read more

Food, Wine, Culture TV: Episode 3- Scallops, Pork, Wine and Beer- Cooking and wine pairing!

Foodandwineblog.com’s Food, wine, culture TV Show! In this third episode, I make two simple yet delicious dishes (one is noblepig.com inspired!) and try a few different beverage pairings in our recently (and ongoing) renovated kitchen. Carlos L is back on guitar, the dogs are wandering around and dinner turned out great. So grab a glass of wine and join me for a night of cooking and wine!
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Beers of the Weekend (and the week, so far)

By: Greg B As you all might have guessed by now, I am a lover of many things, beer being one of them.  Since I’ve basically devoted the past 5 days to food and beer, I figured I should share with you the many bears beers of the world I’ve recently consumed, and something about them.

Starting on last Wednesday, My roommate and I went to Riptide, a new bar in Fells for a few beers.  I had a taste of some god-awful martini that was brightly colored (I was trying to talk with the girl who ordered the martini, but, after tasting it, I dont think I’d want to be associated with someone who drinks that junk.  It tasted like cotton candy).  My roommate and I ordered Dos Equis lager from the tap, which is always better than the bottle in this case.  The lager is not quite as good as the amber, but it’s a nice refreshing beer, with real mild hops. Afterwards, we wandered over to the 2nd floor of Slainte (pronounced slan-cha)                                        http://www.slainteirishpub.com/.

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My first Vietnamese food.

By: Greg B.

After helping Asa move his things to a place in Brooklyn (which, by the way, smells like Peru), we went out in search of lunch. Jessica and Asa knew of a top secret, second China town nearby, so we set out in search of a Vietnamese place called “Nha Trang Palace”. This econd china town was somewhere along 8th avenue, near 60th or 59th st for the restaurant. Having wanted desperately to go to Pho, in Baltimore the week prior, I found it fitting that I would be trying Vietnamese food elsewhere.

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NINJA! of New York

By: Greg B.

The Ninja. The name conjures up images of a remote island nation, people living in feudal society with warring samurai lords, engaged in constant battle for both supremacy and honor, but all the while, being assassinated in the dark by mysterious martial arts masters, cloaked in black. The Ninja. Master of Ninja physics, can do the Ninja double jump, a jump in the air, then, at the apex of height, perform another jump and propel himself forward. Running on water, scaling vertical walls seemingly with just their hands. The Ninja.

Now, in our time, Ninja are relegated to such things as Halloween costumes, bad movies involving pirates (I swear to you, in college we watched a movie that was Ninjas vs pirates.) and characters in video games. However, there is a restaurant in Tokyo called Ninja, a recreation of a feudal Japanese ninja castle, with excellent food and ninjas appearing from no where. The idea was to build a replica in NY city. The idea anyway. I expected Ninjas to fall from the ceiling, tumble through the hallways, surprise people from cracks in the wall, assassinate you while using the urinoirs, throw ninjas stars just past you head when you didn’t pay enough tip. Unfortunately, these were the crushed hopes and dreams of a man.

Ninja of New York (http://www.ninjanewyork.com/) was an attempt to both entertain people and bring them some high class, Japanese food. I have to say now, that despite Ninja having no Japanese Ninjas (unless maybe the cook who lit me lamb on fire was one?) the food was pretty good. There were six of us, Jessica, Asa, myself and three of Asa’s friends, Matt, Mike and Maria. We were seated in the dungeon area, no doubt to keep us away from the children and other, more civilized individuals. Upon sitting, we ordered a round of beer (Which I think was Asahi) and three large bottles of Sake (believe it was a Junmai, Hanzo, something apparently produced by NINJA). The beer was good and refreshing, as per usual for Japanese beers and the sake was plentiful.

For appetizers, we ordered for the table. Jessica ordered the Batto Jutsu, a very delicious sweet pepper, orangy duck combo, which came served on top of a yellow pepper with a short Katana through it. Upon removing the Katana, dry ice fell into the water on the bottom of the pepper, giving off vapor. Lots of dry ice was used on the dishes, no doubt to give everything a mysterious Ninja feeling. We also ordered the Floating Sashimi, sashimi suspended over a mixture of, dry ice and water. The presentation was very beautiful of all of these dishes and the taste was pretty good too. I ordered a Jalapeno star, sushi presented like a Ninja star. It was not as spicy as I had hoped….. or, perhaps all the sake was numbing me by this point, but it definitely tasted delicious and the fish was very fresh. There was one more appetizer, but I don’tsee it on the online menu. It was a very delicious beef, wrapped in rice just like a sushi roll. Very large too, each section should probably be split with another individual. Just as we were finishing up our appetizers, the main courses arrived.

I had ordered the Ninja Bonfire, which was a herb encrusted lamb. It was excellent, and when they served it, they put the ribs together, lit them on fire after chanting a Ninja saying and informing us that these were in fact, the bones of the Ninja server’s enemies. Little known fact is that Ninja hate Lamb. Matt and Mike split the Smokin Fluke, two large rolls of cabbage, fluke and other assorted goodies, which came under a thin glass cover, into which they had pumped smoke, so as to litterally smoke the food. Jessica and Asa ordered a series of sushi, which came beautifully arranged and once again, was very delicious (though, honestly, I still think Yamato sushi was the best. you were right, Mike!).

After dinner, I ordered the lone dessert to share with the table. Most people were pretty full by this point. I ordered the Ninja star, which the menu reads “the NINJA ultimate weapon”. It was indeed, pretty ultimate. a chocolate, almost tiramisu style cake with thin black chocolate ninja star shaped wafers on top. It was very delicious.

Before receiving the check, a ‘Ninja’ came downstairs to perform card and magic tricks, involving the “pick a card, any card” and handed people at the table and had them pick out page numbers and he would tell us what was on the page and page next to it. He performed a longer trick with me, continuously calling me “Craig”, where I cut a deck, picked up 9 cards (he said between 5 and 15) and he would tell me which cards I had. It was rather ‘impressive’. The check arrived next, and I have to take this point to thank Asa again, as he paid for myself and Jessica, both knowing that we make little income, and also knowing that the following day we were helping him move his lead weight collection down 5 flights of NYC loft stairs. Ninja, it turns out, also has take out. Whether actual Ninjas scale your building and surprise you in your home with your food, is unknown to me, I like to imagine they do. But it was a good deal, and I would recommend Ninja of New York to anyone who has a bunch of cool friends and is looking for a good time one night in NYC. However, you probably should be embarrassed if you’re a regular.

Food, Wine, Culture TV- Episode 2: WineBloggingWednesday 48 - Back to my wine “roots” in Detroit!

Today is WineBloggingWednesday (which I talk about in the video) and the theme is taking it back to you roots. My wine “roots” began in Detroit with some cheap “wine” and slowly progressed to high end California Cabernet. Join me (and special guest Carlos L) for a tasting, beginning where I began and ending where I was 5 years ago- Drinking big Cali Cabernet and Bordeaux Blends. (Links pertaining to this episode and truncated tasting notes are below the video)
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Food, Wine, Culture TV! - Episode 1: A cheap Malbec on the beaches of Block Island, RI

Well here it is, my journey into the world of video blogging. This first episode is a basic introduction into where I’d like to take the show and features a Malbec that’s perfect for the beach. My plan is to put out 2-3 shows per week as time permits. I’m going to do some cooking, food and wine pairings, use my science/research background to address issues pertaining to wine and health, and of course, I’ll be tasting a good amount of wine.  Another aspect of the show I’m excited for involves shooting “on location” at restaurants, wine bars and shops around Baltimore and around the world !
The resolution and sound in this episode aren’t great, yet, but I’m learning how to use the new software and hope to have the bugs worked out in a few weeks. Without further ado: Read more

Wine Tasting Etiquette

The following list is intended to be a guide those who are new to the world of wine and wine tastings. The guide is based on free wine tastings, which are common at local area wine shops and restaurants. This list is an excerpt from a full article I wrote which can be found at the online University of Maryland independent student newspaper. I’m most likely forgetting some important points and will update this if anything comes to me!

Tasting Etiquette

1. A 1 oz pour is traditional at these events, and is the state law maximum at free tastings. The premium tastings are usually more generous with pour volume.

2. You may ask to re-taste a wine, but don’t ask to try them all again, and again, and again! Also, only re-taste if you are serious about buying.
3. Keep in mind that the free tasting is designed to expose the customers to new wines with the hope they will purchase something. If you try a wine you really like, and it’s priced affordable, then support the tasting and buy a bottle. This way you’re getting a wine you know you like and the store has incentive for having more tastings.
4. A rinse in between pours is not necessary. Unless you are going from a red wine to a white wine or a red dinner wine to a dessert wine, there is no need to rinse your glass.
5. Ask questions. The person pouring the wine should know a lot about the particular wines on hand. If you like a wine, but it’s expensive, ask the staff to recommend something similar that is in a specific price range.

Where to practice your newly learned skills:

Calvert Wine and Spirits (www.calvertwine.com) – check website for details.
The Wine Source (www.the-wine-source.com) - Every Friday night, 4:30- 7:30 PM
Mt. Washington Wine Company - (www.mtwashingtonwine.com ) - Last Thursday of the month

Local Premium (not free!) Wine Tastings
Bin 604 (www.bin604.com), $29 for 8 wines, schedule varies
Chesapeake Wine Company (www.chesapeakewine.com), $25 every Tuesday 6:00 PM

A short hiatus: I direct your attention to these outstanding wine blogs and websites!

Things have been busy in Baltimore lately as I’m working on a publication in lab, traveling quite a bit, and trying to work things out for my new internet show. That said, my writing has suffered the most as I have very little free time to sit down and fire away at the keyboard. Though I have many articles planned, it’s going to be a week or so before I get anything published.

Therefore, I’d like to suggest a few wine blogs to check out in the meantime:

My affiliate site:
http://wineinterview.com/

Wine Cellar Tracking Software (free and amazing!):
http://www.cellartracker.com

Baltimore/Local:
http://www.diningdish.blogspot.com/
http://thebaltimorebabe.blogspot.com/
http://www.howchow.blogspot.com/
http://www.vinotrip.com/

Wine and Culture/Politics:
http://www.drvino.com/
http://www.fermentation.typepad.com/
http://thepour.blogs.nytimes.com/
http://www.vinography.com/
http://lennthompson.typepad.com/
http://www.israeli-wine.org/
http://germanwines.us/

Wine Reviews:
http://tv.winelibrary.com/
http://goodwineunder20.blogspot.com/
http://www.redwinebuzz.com/
http://www.wannabewino.com/

Recipes, Wines, Anything Else:
http://www.catavino.net/
http://noblepig.com/
http://www.figandcherry.com/
http://chefforfeng.wordpress.com/

Literature/Music:
http://apointofnoreturn.com/
My first video/podcast is expected to go up next weekend. Details on the show are to follow. I hope everyone is enjoying good health and sharing great food and wine with family and friends!