Bed and Breakfast owners, who are members of the Bed and Breakfast Association of Virginia, share their favorite mouthwatering recipes in their new “Virginia Bed & Breakfast Cookbook.”

One of the recipes from the William Miller House included in the 2011 Virginia Bed and Breakfast Cookbook

This collection of recipes includes inn’s signature dishes; breads, muffins, biscuits & biscotti; coffee cakes, scones, granola & parfaits; pancakes and waffles; french toast and bread puddings; breakfast entrees; appetizers & side dishes; soups and salads; luncheon and dinner entrees; fruit  specialties, and desserts!

Chef Mike, from Richmond’s premier bed and breakfast, submitted his recipe for crepes with ham and fontina cheese (a recipe picked up by an on-line blogger a few months ago), his Gluten-free cherry bread (created for guests whose diet was gluten free and who were delighted to have a “bread” option again), cinnamon scones (inspired by a trip to Lancaster County PA), French onion and bacon tart (a treat that is perfect for lunch as well as breakfast), and sunshine yogurt surprise (a first course here at the William Miller House Bed & Breakfast but great for dessert as well).  But, perhaps Mike’s best, most popular, and well-received breakfast recipe is the seared grits cake with poached eggs and chipolte cream sauce that appears on page 237. Mike serves it with sides like bacon or sausage and other accompaniments to round out a hearty gourmet breakfast.  A photo of one of our dishes appears on the cover of the cookbook: poached eggs on asparagus with a boursin sauce, a recipe that appeared in the last edition of the cookbook.

William Miller House Most-Requested recipe: Seared Grits Cakes with Poached Eggs topped with Chipolte Cream Sauce

Even if you have previous editions of the Bed and Breakfast Association of Virginia’s Cookbooks, you need to add this one (2011) to your collection.  Whether you purchase it for yourself or as a gift, you’ll find that the recipes are new and updated, the categories have been expanded, and 65 of Virginia’s bed and breakfast inns from country retreats to historic city homes, like the William Miller House Bed and Breakfast, share their secrets. Order from Bed and Breakfast Association of Virginia! Or better yet, make a reservation,  visit the William Miller House Bed and Breakfast to purchase a copy. Mike will be happy to sign your cookbook and include at no additional cost his recipe photographed on the cover.

And, if you make a reservation for a stay in one of our fabulous guest rooms, you’ll be treated to our hearty gourmet breakfast featuring fresh, local ingredients in great recipes that bring the flavors of Virginia to your tastebuds!

Maureen of Real Richmond: Food Tours and More led a private group recently on a “VCU:Alternative Eats” tour featuring the architecture, culture, and food of the historic Fan District bordering on Virginia Commonwealth University’s Monroe Park campus . The tour’s next to the last stop was Richmond’s – and the Fan’s – premier bed and breakfast. Evidently, it was a big hit!

Think of it! Lavender Panna Cotta drizzled with honey and topped with fresh berries

According to Maureen: “What is so impressive is how everything – the house, the gardens, the 3 courses! of food – were perfect, but the perfection isn’t a bit stuffy or off-putting. On the contrary, your warm, comfortable way included us in the fantasy that living this well could be ours, too!”

Now about the food…..Mike had been working in the kitchen and produced three tastes for tour ticket holders.  After a quick tour of the inn built in 1869 and a little bit of history linking the inn to Hollywood Cemetery, the first taste broke the ice with a small puff pastry basket filled with yummy pastry cream and fresh, local, very sweet peaches. Recipes at the inn focus on fresh, seasonal, local ingredients sourced from family farms and farmers’ markets in Richmond.

Second course was a traditional French crepe with ham and cheese topped with a basil cream sauce. This course took advantage of our local fresh eggs that get delivered every Friday from New Kent and the fresh basil from our garden. The eggs really do taste different from those you get in the store and our guests agree!

Next up, was a recipe for a first course that is still in progress: Lavender Panna Cotta drizzled with honey and fresh berries. Stay tuned, Mike will post the recipe to our website when he’s finished tweaking it!

Thanks Real Richmond: Food Tours and More for including us in your tour! We love meeting Richmond’s visitors and residents who love Richmond’s history, culture, architecture and most of all – the food scene.

Summertime and its blistering heat always brings the desire for ice cream or gelato to cool down your insides.  What do you do if you’re lactose-intolerant or allergic to milk products?  We tried a new recipe here at our bed and breakfast this morning for a guest who had that exact issue.  We had planned on our signature lavender panna cotta as our first course – well, that wouldn’t work very well.

So Saturday, Mike came up with a sherbet/granitas-like concoction using watermelon.

Refreshing watermelon makes a cool treat for breakfast's first course! Try the recipe!

Here are the ingredients:
2 cups of cubed and seeded watermelon
1/2 cup sugar
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/3 cup cranberry juice

First, place watermelon cubes in a food processor, or a blender. Cover, process or blend until smooth. You should end up with about 3 cups of pureed watermelon.

Stir in sugar.

Then combine the gelatin and cranberry juice in a small saucepan.  Let it stand for 5 minutes. Stir  the cranberry juice and gelatin mixture over low heat until the gelatin is dissolved.

Pour dissolved gelatin into the pureed melon and stir.  Then, pour entire mixture into an 8X8X2-inch baking pan. Cover and freeze two hours until firm.

After two hours, break up frozen mixture and place in a chilled mixing bowl. Beat with a mixer on medium to high speed until it is fluffy. Return it to the pan. Cover and freeze about 6 more hours until firm.

To serve, let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes and scoop into serving dishes. We made this the night before and, for our first course, served it in a sherbet dish with a triangle of watermelon on the side.

Makes 8 1/2 cup servings.

Here at Richmond’s premier bed and breakfast, we incorporate our guests dietary restrictions into our menus to create hearty gourmet breakfasts that everyone can enjoy. We focus on seasonal items available from local producers to bring the best flavors and regional favorites to our guests’ plates. If you’re looking for a very special treat, make a reservation for a getaway soon!

Breakfast is the biggest part of the name bed and breakfast, so it is no surprise that Richmond’s premier bed and breakfast was asked to participate in the Real Richmond Food Tour of the historic Fan District on Saturday July 9. So, what did Mike prepare for the tour ticketholders?

Lilly P's for the Real Richmond Food Tour from the William Miller House Bed and Breakfast

First, a tasting sample of one of his newest first courses: the Lilly P.  The Lilly P is a creamy, layered, not too sweet starter consisting of one layer of fresh strawberries combined with Greek yogurt (the pink part) topped with a layer of basil white chocolate mousse (the green part), garnished with flavored whipped cream and chopped pistachios. Recipe.

Second, a tasting sample of one of his entrees an ebel skiever stuffed with marinated fresh peaches with maple syrup on the side.  Ebel Skievers, small stuffed Danish pancakes, require a special pan – one of the many tools in Mike’s closet.  They can be stuffed with jams, preserves, fresh fruit, cheese – and, yes, even chocolate!

Sample of Ebel Skiever stuffed with fresh peaches for the Food Tour

The wonderful aspect of these tours hosted by Maureen Egan and Susan Winecki is that you get a taste of culture, a taste of history, and a taste of Richmond’s best food! Tour Info. Future tours will visit Shockoe (the Bottom or the Slip), the Museum District, both sides of Broad, and other little explored parts of Richmond. Add these tours to your list; you won’t be disappointed!

Tour comment: “When can I move in?” But, you don’t have to move in, simply make a reservation for an overnight stay and a hearty gourmet breakfast awaits you in the morning! Enjoy!

Every Friday evening, a tap at the kitchen door means that farm fresh eggs have arrived at the historic Fan District bed and breakfast known for its hearty gourmet breakfasts.  Mike, the creator of each morning’s breakfast, continually seeks the freshest and finest ingredients to include on the menu.

Farm-fresh eggs arrive at the inn every Friday

Previously our eggs came from Keenbell Farms, the third generation family run farm , just outside Richmond, that produces our breakfast meats.  Their primary focus on pastured animals meant that when they lost one generator, they chose to protect their pigs and cows – and the fox got the hens before the generator could be repaired!  So – no more eggs.

The eggs, pictured here and delivered every Friday, are from New Kent, just to the east of Richmond. Linn and his wife, Marianne, have an assortment of chickens, including the Araucana hens. Araucanas are known for feather ear tufts, muffs and beards, a reduced size comb, and lay those beautiful blue-green eggs! The breed is said to have originated in Chile.

But about those eggs! While the Araucana eggs are not more nutritious than other eggs, these farm fresh eggs from New Kent taste really fresh and fulfill our commitment to buying the freshest and best ingredients for our guests. And, they’re local…..from a military family in neighboring New Kent.

When your travels bring you to Richmond Virginia, make a reservation at Richmond’s premiere bed and breakfast to skip that big box hotel chain experience.  You’ll be treated to a hearty gourmet breakfast of locally grown and raised products – the best central Virginia has to offer!

I’m always thinking about food, at least new items for breakfast here a the William Miller House Bed and Breakfast.  Last week I was out planting some vegetables and herbs for the season and while planting the basil it occurred to me that I always plant too much basil.  While I do use some for pesto for our vegan guests I rarely make it for Pat and myself, mostly because Pat does not really care for it.

So what to do this summer when the basil is in full swing?  How about a new first course, so with the basil I have on hand, store bought, I embark on a crazy idea, making a basil mousse, now I do not think the idea of making mousse from herbs is new, but it is for me and our guests as well.  The dish is actually a Basil white-chocolate mousse over a layer of strawberry (did I mention that its strawberry season here in Virginia) greek yogurt.  After they finished the dish and licked the glasses I suggested that they have the honor or coming up with a name and the name they chose was a “June Bug”, sort of a play on a grasshopper, the cocktail made with creme de menthe.

Basil white-chocolate mousse layered over strawberry yogurt (June Bug)

The process. Because I knew that this would not be something to whip up in the morning I decided to make it the night before.  Besides the gelatin in the mousse really needed time to set up.

The first step was to puree some of the fresh strawberries that we had picked at the local berry farm.  I always lean towards fresh local ingredients if at all possible and it is the beginning of the strawberry season here in Virginia. Following the pureeing of the berries I grabbed some of my favorite Greek Yogurt and added some of the pureed strawberry to the yogurt and stirred it to combine and placed it in the bottom of 4 - 9.25 ounce martini glasses. I then place the glasses in to the fridge.

The next step was to make the mousse.  I grabbed a pot and put some heavy cream into the pot and then brought it up to a slight simmer and added the basil leaves and removed it from the heat.  I allowed the mixture to steep for 10-minutes, then pureed in my Vita-prep.  I got mine several years ago when Jimmy Snead of the restaurant The Frog and the Redneck closed his restaurant and was selling of his equipment.

I then strained through a fine china-cap and returned to the heat, brought it up to a boil and poured the mixture over some Callebaut White-Chocolate and let it melt and then made the mousse (see actual recipe). I tasted the the mousse and it was a bit strong, but it was still warm so I was confident that chilling would make the basil a bit more subtle, which it did.

The results are 4 happy guests with expanded palettes and one chef with a new knife in his drawer.  If you make the recipe please comment on this blog so it can be shared with our guests.

For the Basil Mousse:

284 ml heavy cream or about 9.6 oz
30g or 1-oz basil, leaves only
150g or 5-oz white chocolate, broken into pieces
2 leaves of gelatin
100 ml water or 3 1/2 oz
1 medium egg plus 1 egg yolk

1. Warm cream gently to about 100 degrees, add the basil leaves and stir to ensure they are submerged. Remove from heat and let leaves steep for 10-minutes. Puree the mixture in a blender and strain.
2. Place white chocolate in a bowl and reheat strained cream to just boiling and then pour over white chocolate and let sit for about 5-minutes, after about 5-minutes whisk mixture until creamy.
3. Break up the gelatin into a small bowl with 100 ml of warm water and let it soften.
4. Put the egg and egg yolk in a medium bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk until thick and creamy, this should only take a few minutes.  Add the softened gelatin, and the white chocolate and basil creme mixture and stir well.  Strain the final mixture again and pour in to 4 prepared martini glass with the strawberry greek yogurt.

For the Strawberry Yogurt

10 oz greek yogurt
118 ml or 1/2 cup

1. Fold the strawberry puree into the greek yogurt. and divide equally into the 4 9.25 oz martini glasses.

Note: This could be converted to a dessert by adding a bit of sugar to the strawberry puree.

Mike Rohde
Chef and Co-owner of the William Miller House
Richmond, VA

Most everyone has heard of Julia Child (1912-2004). It was in Paris that Julia met two French women, Simca Beck and Louisette Bertholle, who were writing a cookbook aimed at an American audience. They needed an American collaborator. Julia was perfectly suited for the job. She began testing recipes. For nearly ten years, she devoted herself to writing, testing and re-writing. She confided to her sister-in-law: “Really, the more I cook the more I like to cook. To think it has taken me 40 yrs. To find my true passion (cat and husband excepted).”

She was invited to appear on a television program called “I’ve Been Reading”, produced by WGBH, Boston’s public television station. The host of the show was reluctant to take time for a subject as trivial as cooking. But Julia was undeterred. She arrived with a hot plate, giant whisk and eggs, and made an omelet. Twenty-seven viewers wrote to the station, wanting to see more. The station produced three pilots, then launched into production of The French Chef. Produced and directed by Russ Morash, the series broadcast a total of 199 programs, produced between 1963 and 1966.By the end of 1965,

The French Chef was carried by 96 PBS stations. Sales of Mastering the Art of  Cooking” were picking up speed – 200,000 copies sold. In 1965, Julia won a Peabody. In 1966, she won an Emmy. Time put her on the cover in a feature article on American food – “Everyone’s in the Kitchen.”

But this series is not about Julia, although America will miss her, it about Romaine Chatard Champion, the author of of the book “The Art of Cooking Omelettes” published in 1963.

Madame Romaine was born in Lyon and grew up working in her parents’ restaurant. She learned everything from her mother who was ‘an instructive cuisinère, and saw to it that I learned in proper order: first principles; then recipes; and, finally, style.’ Madame Romaine lived in Lyon until she married, at a very young age, and moved to New York City with her new husband. She spoke no English whatsoever when she arrived in the US and took a bit of time building up confidence to do so. While still very young, her husband tragically suffered a heart-attack and died. Madame Romaine was then left wondering what to do and eventually opened a Salon de Thé in Manhattan. Her eventual location was at 156 East 56th Street, which is now an Antiques shop.

Beginning in May Mike the Chef and co-owner of the William Miller House will begin preparing one of the 500 different style omelettes from Madame Romaine’s book.  We will begin with the cheese omelettes, and on to tomato, if the timing is right and so on.  I promise you each will be a delight and we will ask that our guests leave comments here on the blog so that you may draw you own conclusions as to whether or not to try a particular omelette.  We promise to alert you if the omelettes are falling into one of the less well know culinary areas of liver, kidney, sweetbreads, etc.  I figure with 500 omelettes it will take over 8-years to complete the effort as this should not be a problem.  In the case of the more obtuse items Mike and Pat may choose to have those for dinner on Monday night and invite the neighbors, should they be so brave.

Here is the beginning of the journey:

Cheese Omelettes (Omelettes au Fromage) NOTE:The cheese will always be swiss cheese in keeping with the recipes

GUIGNOL (onion, cheese)
PARMENTIER (potatoes, cheese)
CHAMBERY (potatoes, onions, cheese)
LAURENTIENNE (fines herbes, cheese)
DAUPHINIOSE (potatoes in cream sauce, cheese)
VALENCIENNES (onions, peas, croutons, cheese)
AELEGEOISE ( onions, spinach, rice, cheese)
CHOISY (peas, onions, rice, parsley, cheese)
ARGENTEUIL (asparagus, parsley, cheese)
FONTAINEBLEAU (eggplant, garlic, fines herbes, cheese)
MORNEY (tomatoes, croutons, fines herbes, cheese)
BRESSANE (croutons, CREAM SAUCE, cheese)
LORRAINE (chives, bacon fines herbes, cheese)
LIMOUSINE (potatoes, bacon, fines herbes, cheese)
BEAUVILLIER (bacon, crouton olive, cheese)
FRANCHE-COMTOISE ( asparagus tips, bacon, parsley, cheese)
DAUPHIN (bacon, spinach, croutons, cheese)
ROCHAMBEAU (sausage, spinach, mushrooms, cheese)
BAMBOCHE (chicory (curly endive), croutons, bacon, garlic, cheese)
DUMONTEIL (carrots, onions, bacon, fines herbes, cheese)
CHAMPENOISE (oyster plant, rice, parsley, CREAM SAUCE, cheese)
AURILLIC (oyster plant (salsify), bacon, croutons, noodles, cheese)
MONTPELLIER (cauliflower in CREAM SAUCE, croutons, cheese)
COLMAR ( cauliflower, bacon, croutions, cheese)
FANTASIO (apples, croutons, walnuts, cheese)
MARGOT (truffles and cheese)

Breakfast is a big part of being a bed and breakfast and, for us, breakfast is a big deal. Here at Richmond’s premier bed and breakfast inn we strive to serve our guests the very best hearty gourmet breakfast, including local, farm-fresh ingredients and organic products that meet our standards of quality and taste.

A Mighty Leaf Tea Pouch: handcrafted quality to maximize the tea experience

We have now selected Mighty Leaf Tea Company’s artisan teas as our house tea.   Tea connoisseurs know that freshly brewed tea with whole tea leaves has the richest character and Mighty Leaf has created a tea pouch filled with the world’s finest whole tea leaves, herbs, fruits and flavor too big for ordinary tea bags. The pouches themselves are a work of art: handcrafted, silken and biodegradable – stitched with unbleached cotton, no glue or staples.

From the wide selection of wonderfully full and nuanced flavors, we have selected Organic Breakfast, Organic Earl Grey, Organic Spring Jasmine, Chamomile Citrus, Organic Mint Melange and Organic African Nectar.  Organic Breakfast is a unique blend of rich teas from renowned estates in India and Ceylon with a hearty yet smooth flavor that is great black or combined with milk and honey or sugar.  Organic Earl Grey’s high-grown black teas are combined with the smoky citrus notes of bergamot fruit to produce an elegant, balanced and full-flavored cup.  Organic Spring Jasmine is a green tea with light caffeine, Japanese toasted bancha, a mixture of leaves and stems pan-fired to impart a nutty flavor similar to roasted grain.  Chamomile Citrus is a caffeine-free, herbal infusion made from Egyptian chamomile, citrus slices, lemongrass, rose hips, hibiscus, and mint – delicately fruity and an excellent source of vitamin C. Organic Mint Melange is another caffeine free herbal infusion of peppermint and spearmint gathered from the Middle Atlas Mountain range of Morocco yielding a soothing infusion that lingers like a fine wine.  Organic African Nectar is crafted from African rooibos or red bush blended with hibiscus and exotic fruits.  This herbal infusion is rich in antioxidants and promotes calm and relaxation – perfect for a peaceful state of mind.

This is just one more way that your innkeepers at the William Miller House Bed and Breakfast in Richmond’s historic Fan District strive to make your experience the best! Rediscover and experience tea – the magic of Mighty Leaf.  Come share with us!

Mighty Leaf Teas: Meticulously Crafted, Signature Blends, Full-Flavored

What do you do with all that orange rind all winter?  At our historic Fan District Bed and Breakfast, we carefully remove the zest, making sure that we do not take any of the bitter white pith, chop it up and store it in the freezer.  On a hot spring or summer day, we treat our guests to a chilled fruit first course that is so good, guests have been know to sneak the opportunity to lick their bowl.

Delightful morning first course is in high demand at the William Miller House Bed and Breakfast

We’ve uploaded the recipe to our website and it’s downloadable for your use.  It even makes a wonderful dessert! Its ingredients consist of Greek Yogurt, orange juice, orange zest, and honey, chill well. Then just before serving top with fresh fruit, like strawberries and kiwi, and toasted almonds, or berries, or any other topping that suits your fancy.  Another great option is sprinkling granola over the yogurt mixture to add that great crunch.  Here at our inn, home of the “killer” breakfast, we use Zaydie’s Granola, each batch hand tossed, and naturally delicious, not too sweet.

Zaydie’s Granola is another locally produced product that furthers our commitment to give our guests the best in regional fare.  Zaydies Ladies, producers of Zaydie’s Granola, were featured in Richmond’s skirt! monthly magazine and offer their granola in two flavors: Almond Blueberry and Walnut Cranberry.

Our Richmond inn is happy to share recipes and kitchen secrets with our friends and guests. So make a reservation for a stay in one of our fab guest rooms now to enjoy a scrumptious breakfast with regional Richmond ingredients in the morning.

Big news here at the premier bed and breakfast in Richmond, Virginia – home of the “killer” breakfast – is that we have just restocked with breakfast meat products (sausage and bacon) from Keenbell Farm in Rockville, Virginia.  Keenbell Farm  is a third generation farm focusing on producing grass-fed beef and pastured pork raised beyond organic standards, on pasture and stress-free.  Bacon and sausage from Keenbell Farm is great-tasting, of highest quality,  and fresh.  The Isbells of Keenbell Farm strive to bring back the small, family-run farm as an integral part of the community and operate in accordance with environmentally friendly practices – showing pride in their land and their products.

Now operated by its third generation, Keenbell Farm started out as 175 acres in 1951. Migrating through a myriad of changes, steps began in 2005 to resurrect the farm from  the previous years’ toll and adjust its focus to pasturing natural meat operations in line with certified natural/organic standards to create a lean, healthy product unlike anything you might have tasted. The Isbells practice management intensive grazing, moving animals from one pasture to another in fast rotation giving the grass and land long rest periods – less impact on the land, extending the growing season, facilitating stockpiling of grasses for winter grazing.  Once stockpiled grasses are consumed, the Isbells feed hay produced on their farm land without synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides. They do not use hormones, routine antibiotics,  or steroids – they believe in taking good care of their animals, as the animals do for them.

The Isbells and Keenbell Farm provide the best.  And our inn is proud to serve their products to our guests every morning for breakfast.  We strongly believe in supporting small, family-run operations, that contribute to our local economy, that reduce our impact on the environment, and more importantly, provide high-quality, great-tasting food. It may cost a bit more than grocery store foodstuffs, but our guests deserve the best we can find.  So make a reservation at our historic Fan district inn, enjoy  our “to-die-for” breakfast, and taste a bit of local Virginia fare. You won’t be disappointed.