http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/19/AR2009051900868.html

Koch’s hospitality, however, won’t prevent the inevitable. Perhaps as early as this year, and most likely by the end of the next, his fellow craft brewers no longer will regard him as one of their own. He’ll be allowed to remain in the Brewers Association, the small-brewers’ trade group, as an associate member, but his barrelage will be expunged from its statistics.

It’s nothing personal.

The association defines a “craft brewery” as one that’s small, independent and traditional, and “small” specifically means “annual production of beer less than 2 million barrels.” Boston Beer shipped 1.992 million barrels last year.

Week 1 from Fredericksburg Athenaeum on Vimeo.

Donate to the Rappahannock Independent Film Festival and get a chance to win a FREE 4 course dinner with wine for 10 people at Kybecca ($1,000 cash value) PLUS two all access passes to RIFF 2009 events.

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I have come to believe that Pho is about as perfect a dish as can be. Warm broth made from beef bones and other good-for-you spices served with rice noodles, scallions, thai basil, bean sprouts, cilantro, hoisin sauce, lime wedges, and sriracha sauce (if you like a little spiciness, which I do). Why bother to make Pho when it is cheap and good at most Vietnamese restaurants? Good question as I still go out to eat for Pho fairly often. The answer is because what I made at home was so much better, and most likely more nutritious. I used fresh rice noodles, and the best ingredients I could find. The result was spectacular. I even ate it for breakfast.

For all you vegetarians I hate to disappoint you because I do love veggie dishes, but great broth comes from bones, and Pho’s essential ingredient is great broth. Also bone broths are really good for you.

They key to Pho is the broth and there lies most of the work. It has to simmer for at least 3 hours with the bones, spices, onions, lemongrass and ginger. Most of these I found at the Asian market, and the bones I picked from Cibola Farms in Culpepper as we get the meat for our bison sliders at the wine bar there. Technically I used bison bones, but no matter the result was just as good and they pasture raise their animals which is really important to me for health and environmental reasons.

The recipe I use is basically this one except for one key difference. I roasted the bones (20 minutes at 450 degrees), ginger and onions before simmering them for the broth. I can say without a doubt this lent an added richness that made the extra step worth it. I also use 1 tablespoon raw sugar (to the overall pot of broth) which like salt, helps to bring out the flavor of the spices. Going to the Asian supermarket will get you all the ingredients you need including the fresh noodles.

Wine pairing: 2008 Linden Vidal/Riesling.
Here is a great example of where it is OK to break the white wine with fish, red wine with meat rule. This ever so lightly sweet white with high acidity was the perfect complement to the beefy , spicy broth and greens in the Pho.

Sent from my iPhone

Chef Richard Sandoval remembers walking through the outdoor markets of Mexico City as a child, begging his parents for change to buy warm sopes cooking over fire pits.

Today, Sandoval makes the same corn-based sopes for his restaurants, Maya in New York, Tamayo in Denver and Ketsi at the Four Seasons Resort in Punta Mita, Mexico. But instead of filling them with shredded chicken or beef, he uses decadent toppings like duck confit and huitlacoche (a mushroom grown on corn, considered a Mexican delicacy).

Go to any major metropolitan city and you will see loads of options for street food. Sometimes it is just a humble hot dog cart, but increasingly it is so much more. Some of my favorites have been falafel in New York and carne asada in PG County, MD. Street food is for the people, by the people and I love that. Now many chefs are reinterpreting street food for their restaurants. Click here for the USA Today article.

Virginia Wine Lover’s Magazine has just done a great little piece about the Enomatic Wine Stations featuring our little wine bar on the front page of the article. Click here for access and check out the pictures.

The Enomatics keep generating quite a buzz and for good reason, there is no other way I know of to be able to open and make available to patrons the special, high-end or limited production wines we keep in our Enomatics. The machines allow us great flexibility and volume. 32 wines by the glass, sample or half-glass would be impossible without this technology. Further it allows us to keep the quality of the wines very high since spoilage is a non-issue. The Enomatics allow us to offer great value for the caliber of wine being poured. We love ’em.

As many of you know wine is my area of expertise. For the most part I leave the beer to Matt and Kyle who do a great job of sifting through what’s out there and bringing in only the best. I enjoy beer, and understand the legions who are devoted to craft beer, but I like having a beverage I don’t have to think about too much. Wine is my thing.

However I have found a beer I really love (other than the Eggenberg Pilsner, which is my everyday beer), the Belgian brewed Biere De Miel which translates to beer of honey. It is made by Dupont who many of you will recognize as an excellent producer of Saison. The title is a little misleading because I think people may assume the beer is sweet, far from it. It is brewed with organic Belgian honey, but fermented until dry. The result is medium-bodied amber with floral and honey aromas. The hops are present, but not off-putting. I love it, it has turned into my go-to beer for pairing with a nice dinner, mostly medium weight fare like chicken on grilled salmon.

That is one delicious-sounding title, and my dinner tonight. Our newest addition to the food menu at our wine bar is the curried mussels, a lightly spicy Asian-style broth with plenty of richness. We use the Floris Wit bier to make it and serve it with crusty baguette.

Now that Bell’s has come out with the Hop Slam we have the perfect beer pairing. There is a touch of sweetness to balance the hops in this beer, and most likely one of the reasons it is so well liked. That bit of citrus, hops and sweetness makes a perfect pairing with the curry and Asian spices we use.