Italian Night in an American’s Household
So, Mike has tasted the finer things of Italy, the good proscuitto and he has rated and drank many fine Italian wines and even toured the countryside finding delicious things to eat or drink. For now, however, I am home bound. However I do sometimes get caught up in the good, simple foods from Italy, and last night I made two of them: Chicken cutlets and Risotto. Below are my basic recipes for simple Italian goodness (with my own twists).
Food, Wine, Culture TV - Episode 7: Blind Prosciutto Tasting and Italian White Wines
August 26, 2008 by michael · 6 Comments
No news show this week! It was lost in the taping some how…so here’s an early Episode 7! (main page image: wikipedia.com wiki commons)
Episode 7: In what Michael refers to as episode 8, is really episode 7 (an episode was lost to the MiniDV Tape Gods!). Today we’re blind tasting three prosciuttos, and then tasting three Italian white wines. Join Michael to find out your best value Prosciutto and what wines to pair with it! Tune in to the next episode when we bring the wines back and pair it with two perfect seafood dishes!
First-time visitors guide to Montalcino
August 25, 2008 by michael · Leave a Comment
This past November Kim and I spent nine days dining and wine tasting in one of the most highly acclaimed wine regions in the world. On our trip to Montalcino, we abandoned the guide books that helped us in Florence, Siena and Bologna and decided that we would just find places that looked good and take our chances. The result was quite surprising: two of the more highly recommended establishments were let downs while many of the smaller, lesser known restaurants gave us great food, outstanding service and overall incredible dining experiences. This short guide will hopefully give you an idea on where to eat, drink and stay if you don’t have time to try every place out for yourself. For those of you who aren’t traveling to this beautiful hilltop town, you’re missing out on some of the best food and wine the world has to offer.
Related links:
Homemade Catawba Wine
August 22, 2008 by Greg · Leave a Comment
By Greg B: Well, it happened earlier than I had planned. I got the chance to produce my own wine. I amazingly, Jessica’s backyard had enough nutrients to allow my vines to grow and produce enough grapes to make 1 gallon of wine! Below, I’ll take you on a step by step method by which I made what will surely be an interesting wine. I notice that Mike doesn’t have a section on Catawba wines… the wine that started people thinking “hey, yeah, we CAN actually grow grape vines in America and produce wine over there!”. So, hopefully I won’t mess this wine up!
Food, Wine, Culture TV- Episode 6: Cooking show- Mike’s Mama’s Schnitzel & Rieslings!
Wow…already at episode 6! If you missed the first five, click on the FWB-TV link above (or here!). Today we’re back in our “still being renovated” kitchen where I prepare my Mama’s schnitzel with pommes frites and a few Rieslings. Carlos L. is back this time with his electric guitar to provide music and expert food tasting skills. The schnitzel turned out great, the wines are good and Carlos keeps the music rocking. (Main image credit: wikipedia.com)
Baltimore Iced Treats
By Greg B. Summer is coming to a close, and I’m doing what any good, respectable male will do every few months… cleaning out the large quantity of business cards that collect in the wallet. In doing so, I came across two businesses which I had forgotten, but will mention now (so I can throw out the cards!). One is an ice cream company and another is a gelato…. place? gelateria? Whatever, a place that sells gelato. One ranks high on my list and the other ranks low.
Food, Wine, Culture TV: Episode 5: German (and one Austrian) wines under $12 with Carlos L!
Food, wine, culture - TV: Episode 5: German Riesling! Michael Mohammadi of Foodandwineblog.com gives an overview of German wines and tastes a few Rieslings. An Austrian red wine is slipped into the mix to please the palate of guitarist and friend of foodandwineblog.com Carlos L. In this 5th episode, 2 of the Rieslings are good values, one is an OK value and the Zweigelt is a big pass. This show sets the stage for Episode 6 which features Michael’s mamas recipe for Schnitzel mit Pommes Frites and a pairing with German bier and wine!
Beers of the Weekend (and the week, so far)
August 14, 2008 by Greg · Leave a Comment
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/.
My first Vietnamese food.
August 14, 2008 by Greg · 3 Comments
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.
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.
Food, Wine, Culture TV- Episode 2: WineBloggingWednesday 48 - Back to my wine “roots” in Detroit!
August 13, 2008 by michael · Leave a Comment
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
August 10, 2008 by michael · 7 Comments
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
Good wine tastes even better when made by great people: An interview with Paul Romero of Stefania Wine
July 24, 2008 by michael · 3 Comments
One of life’s simplest pleasures is a well made glass of wine. A single glass of wine exemplifies the hard work put into the vineyard and winery, as well as the personality and passion of its winemaker. When it comes to making good wines that express love and appreciation of both the vineyard and the wine, not many folks do it as good as Paul (and Stefani) Romero of Stefania Wine. Read more
Tasting Report: 7 Wines of the Loire Valley paired with Sushi
July 23, 2008 by michael · 2 Comments
What wines go well with $360 worth of sushi? Well, for the 9 of us in attendance on Sunday at the Wine Club gathering (at Yamato Sushi- review to come), I think we’d agree that something from the Loire Valley (France)would work quite nicely.
Overall we had a great time working through the 7 wines (tough work but someone has to do it!). The only sparkling wine in the group came from Louis de Grenelle, a large estate in Saumur (home of some great red wines). We worked through 4 Vouvray’s and two other Loire whites, ending with my favorite wine from the Loire Valley, a red wine from Chinon (100% Cabernet Franc). There wasn’t a bad wine in the bunch, with two being great (89 pts!) and all being wines I’d gladly drink again. Read more
Foreign beer and Smoked meat: Part 1
As usual, the weekend affords me plenty of time to not do my research or other work associated with the research and to cook. Seeing as how it is summer time, it seems only fitting that one should make proper use of the grill whenever possible. So two nights ago as I was putting a glass into the freezer to get a nice chill before I poured a beer into it (it was a miller lite… I know what you’re gonna, but someone has to drink the leftover beer!) and I noticed a bag of ribs I had bought from the butcher. Unsure how I had forgotten about a large quantity of spare ribs, I defrosted them in the fridge over night.
Korean food: Jong Kak and Wong Gal Bi
July 18, 2008 by Greg · 7 Comments
by Greg B.
If anyone is ever in the mood to go stuff themselves silly on good food with a bunch of friends, Korean restaurants are the place to go. I had never had Korean food until this past winter, but since then it has become at least a monthly event. And, if you have never eaten it, it certainly is an event. I listed two restaurants because these are the only two I have been to, and both are excellent. Read more
Free Advice To Restaurants: How to sell more wine and keep your customers coming back for more.
July 16, 2008 by michael · Leave a Comment
Two months back I was asked by a friend and restaurant manager who I’ve known for years for advice on her wine list. She asked how her restaurant (a mid-range restaurant in a nice area of suburban Detroit) could increase their wine sales and revenue since it had slowly been decreasing as the economy worsened. This was a great question and one that I feel is relevant for many fine dining restaurants in Baltimore and elsewhere in the US. In a time when the economy has many people eating at home and spending less on food and wine, how does a middle to high class restaurant survive? Here I offer advice some pretty simple advice for restaurants that either do not have a dedicated wine manager, or who could use a few ideas on how to sell more wine and make more money. Read more
Sushi Sono: Best Sushi in the Baltimore area - by Greg B.
July 12, 2008 by Greg · 3 Comments
Author: Greg B
Everyone is picky about their sushi restaurants and we all have our favorites. And why not? We are, after all, eating raw seafood. It’s only natural for an organism to return to the same feeding places where they have successfully eaten and not gotten sick… or worse. After dating a girl in college who took me out to sushi one Friday afternoon (lunch special at Sushi Hana in Towson = excellent), my life changed. Fridays became known as “sushi Fridays”, and it drew a crowd of people from across campus. Once it started, it kept going. Sushi Friday continued even after friends of ours and even we, graduated. Sushi Hana was an excellent place to learn about sushi, and while it is still one of my favorite sushi places to eat at in Baltimore, it has been surpassed.
The first time I ate at Sushi Sono was when my boss took the entire lab out in celebration for getting a very large grant. I cant be sure exactly how much sushi was there, but saying over 200 pieces would certainly not be an overstatement. However since then I just don’t drive very often, and it is extremely rare to see my down in the Columbia, MD area. But this Saturday my roommate and I just so happened to be down there, and with 3 hours to kill around lunchtime. The scene was set for some delicious sushi.
We walked into the restaurant and were immediately greeted by a very polite older woman. Asking if we wanted to sit at a table or the bar, we chose the bar. I like to sit there and watch the sushi be assembled and the fish get sliced and arranged, it’s very interesting work. Once we sat down, a very pleasant young woman dressed in traditional Japanese kimono asked for our drink orders. My roommate got the usual (Asahi) beer, and I decided to get cold sake instead of warm (perhaps the 90 degree temp had something to do with it?). I ordered a bottle of OzekiYam Nishi for $22, thinking I would have plenty of time to drink the bottle before it would be time to go. However, this lunch was governed by extreme efficiency, and just after I drank my first glass, we ordered.
I ordered the vegetarian box A from the lunch special ($10.95) which came with vegetable tempura, rice, a spinach roll and a shittake mushroom with asparagus sushi roll. I also ordered two pieces of Massago (smelt roe, for $4) and two pieces of White Tune ($4.50) since I had never had either of these. My roommates ordered a lunch special Chicken Tempura box ($9.95) with chicken tempura, tempura veggies and rice, along with a Spicy Tuna roll ($5.50). Within minutes, the Miso arrived.
In all honesty, Miso soup is miso soup. It is very rare I get Miso soup I don’t like, and most places taste almost exactly the same. Except again, the waitress was extremely polite and friendly. Halfway through the Miso, one of the men behind the bar placed a wooden tray with my Massago and Tuna over the fridge compartment and onto the bar. It was then that I knew I probably had to drink up with the sake! I finished my Miso and a few more drinks of the sake when our pleasant waitress returned with my meal and my roommate’s spicy tuna roll.
Sake goes great with Japanese food. There is no other way to say it. Drinking sake for it’s own sake (I couldn’t resist) is not something I do unless it is wintertime and the sake is warm. This particular sake brand was not one I had consumed before, and it was very mellow, which went well for a summer afternoon. The vegetable tempura was excellent, along with the little bit of spiced radish we got to place into our digging sauce. I had never had the spinach roll or shittake mushroom roll before, and the spinach roll was pretty good. It was served cold, with a slight touch of rice vinegar. The shittake roll was very good also, as the texture of the mushrooms and the asparagus nicely opposed each other for an interesting bite. The smelt roe was good, but not too surprising, however the white Tuna was not something I had eaten before and was excited to try. It was like butter, soft, cool and delicious. You did not even have to bite to eat it, it was so soft. Definitely a new favorite sushi dish of mine.
As my roommate got a call from the Sears guy saying he didn’t have the 4 tires in stock he thought he had, and we could get the car back anytime, I hurried up my sake consumption. The waitress returned, and took the rest of our plates (they had been floating around during the meal, and as soon as any piece of plateware or lid or anything was finished, they would remove them from the table almost instantly. Definitely made me feel like I was at a fancier establishment than my tee shirt and shorts I was wearing indicated). We paid our bill and received our Japanese fruit flavored gum in a box, you all know the kind. We walked out and I made a mental note to return more often. Hopefully, this is one restaurant I will keep good on my promise.
Belgian Ale Night
July 11, 2008 by Greg · 2 Comments
It was a day like any other day. Trying to graduate school and squeeze in time to do experiments between all kinda of administrative nonsense and mountains of useless paperwork, but at least the evening held the promise of something delicious. Dr. Didier Depireux, a Belgian, had his parents bring a few bottles of beer over when they visited recently and it just so happened one of the bottles is Jim’s french-canadian roommate’s favorite beer: Forbidden fruit. This beer was the reason for the occasion. Brewed by Hoegaarden and known as ‘verboden vrucht’, the bottle had a crown top metal cap (unusual for Belgian beers, I think).
Jim acquired a rather large bottle of Chimay red to use as a baseline comparison. The bottle of Forbidden fruit was smaller, and the bottle had a substantial quantity of sediment in it, something I dont mind too much (also, it’s high in vitamins!) especially since all my homebrew also has it. We opened both, pouring each a sample of the Chimary red and the Forbidden fruit, cheersed to Didier and his family, and took a drink of the Forbidden fruit.
I have to say, despite the fact that I am not the world’s largest fan of Belgian style beers, this one was not too shabby. What it lacked in body it made up for in flavor AND, very importantly, it did not have an overwhelmingly strong alcohol taste/smell to it. For me, this is a big issue, as I usually tend to drink a substantial quantity of beer when I do drink, and I could see myself downing a few of these beers in a night, rather than just a few and waking up the following day unable to look at sun light. The beer gave off a rather small quantity of head, something made up for by the Chimary. The size of the head is important for a beer, as it traps in some of the aroma and maintains some of the carbonation. However, Forbidden fruit had a very nice carbontaion style. The bubbles were very very small, almost champagne style, which made the Chimary’s bubbles seem very large by comparisson. You could actually feel the difference between the two while drinking. I do feel that Forbidden fruit would have lost a good deal of its carbonation within a few minutes, so you’d be doing yourself a favor by drinking up.
I was a bit surprised by tasting this beer, since I head some quick reviews online and the tastings were all over the place. A lot of people tasted a bitter beer with alcohol finish, others had a sweet beer with no alcohol, or sweet with alcohol, etc. In the end, I’d have to say the beer had sweet malty taste, without a big alcohol taste, and had a dry finish. You could smell some overtones of fruit… but not citrus, though I’d need another beer to be able to better detect the fruit. Not a bad beer, and in the lineup, I’d put it above Chimary Red as far as categorizing beers based on goodness goes. Maybe next time we can compare it to Chimary Blue!
Recommended pairings: A strong cheese… I’m thinking bleu and a real sharp cheddar (NY aged, of course). You might be able to get away with the classic mussels dish, but it should be a very strongly seasoned and flavorful dish to match the flavors in the beer.
Restaurant Review: Mannequin Pis Restaurant (Olney, MD) -A night of Belgian respect with Chris and Dana
Outstanding Belgian food, bier and hospitality! Read more
