August 1 through 6, 2011, prepare to entice your taste buds with amazing Carytown dining during “Taste of Carytown” Restaurant Week.

Taste of Carytown Supports Richmond Public Schools Foundation

The week before the Watermelon Festival, participating Carytown restaurants are offering special pricing and menus to showcase their most popular dishes and raise funds for the Richmond Public Schools Education Foundation, to assist the organization in its goal to support the school system by seeking monetary donations and other resources that will enrich the learning experience of public school students by establishing an environment that prepares them for jobs that aren’t available yet, using technologies that haven’t been invented, in order to solve problems that we don’t event know exist.

During “Taste of Carytown” Restaurant Week, the neighborhood’s fine dining establishments will feature a one-time-only, $25 three-course prix fixe, while it’s more casual compatriots will offer special bargain menus of their own.  Some menus will include servings of watermelon gazpacho, a salad featuring watermelon,  or fried green tomatoes with watermelon! Each participating restaurant will donate 10% of the proceeds to the efforts of the Richmond Public Schools Education Foundation.  More Info and Sample menus.  This event is going to be a big draw, so make your reservations today!

To take your donations to the next level, there are two drop off points designated in Carytown for school supply collection. You can drop off  school supplies (pencils, notebooks, backpacks, rulers, etc.) at Pink or All Fired Up!

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!

What does a Francophile or a group of Francophiles do to celebrate Bastille Day in Richmond, Virginia? How about dinner at a French restaurant, perhaps Can Can Brasserie located in Carytown? Kick off the meal with a Kir Royale, shared appetizers of mussels, pate, and other delectable munchies. Switch beverages to rose (a summertime favorite) or to red wine and dinner of choice off the menu. Followed by sharing scrumptious desserts.

Dancing the can can at Can Can Brasserie on Bastille Day

At eight o’clock these delightful young women appear and  - it’s the can can danced on the bar!

Check out the video –  Viva La France!

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!

Keeping white wine chilled during evening wine service has always been an issue. Those clay bottle holders or ice-filled wine buckets just don’t do the trick – especially in the summer.  The correct serving temperature for white and rose wines is between 8 degrees C and 10 degrees C (46.4 degrees to 50 degrees).  Red wine is usually served between 16 degrees C and 18 degrees C (60.8 degrees and 65 degrees).  Wine stored at too high a temperature will ultimately develop an overwhelming alcohol content.

This chiller by SOWINE keeps wine for evening wine service at the appropriate temperature - preserving the tasting quality of both red and white wine for our guests

Several years ago, we discovered a one-bottle electric wine chiller that was perfect for maintaining the appropriate temperature for our white wines.  Two weeks ago, it stopped functioning.  We, here at Richmond’s premier bed and breakfast inn, are testing a new chiller.

This new chiller has multiple functionality!  It has two compartments that can hold one standard 75 cl wine bottle each. But it cannot accommodate champagne or other “fizzy” wine.  The compartments function independently, so it can be used for 1 bottle of red and one bottle of white, 2 bottles of white or red, 1 single bottle either opened or unopened.  These compartments will slowly bring wine to the proper temperature once it is selected with the control buttons on the top of each compartment.

Perhaps, even more interesting, this particular wine chiller protects wine from oxygen once the bottle is opened. The chiller has an oxygen extraction system to preserve the tasting qualities by drawing oxygen from the bottle and sealing it. To use the oxygen extraction system, place an opened bottle of wine in the compartment in the center of the compartment. Close the door to the compartment. Gently push the oxygen extraction plunger down until a click is audible. The vacuum system will trigger for a few seconds.

To remove the bottle from the  chiller to pour, simply open the door – if the oxygen extractor plunger is engaged – it will automatically lift to release the bottle.

Stay tuned for updates, or to see it in action, just make a reservation at the Fan District’s top rated bed and breakfast, enjoy our evening wine service, comfy beds, and hearty gourmet breakfasts!  And, our hydrangeas are in bloom!

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!

Here it comes again! For the fourth time, the annual “smorgasbord in the street” will feature small plates of signature dishes from area restaurants for $3 each on Sunday June 5! Broad Appetit also features music, chef’s demonstrations, farmers’ market, art, and activities to keep you busy all afternoon. It starts at 11 AM and runs until 5 PM on West Broad Street between Adams Street and Monroe Street.  Admission is FREE, but samples will cost $3 each.  Hosted by the Downtown Neighborhood Association, proceeds benefit the Central Virginia Food Bank and Meals on Wheels.

4th Anual Broad Appetit Info. This great street fair enables you to sample Richmond’s best cuisine, all in one place.  Bring your appetite and graze down Broad Street; this opportunity only comes once a year! Bring your re-usable shopping bag and fill it up with produce from local farmers and producers for the next week’s meals. There will be plenty of beverages available for sale!

It’s traditionally been a great day so wear a hat and sunscreen, as well as comfortable walking shoes so you can take it all in. You won’t want to miss a single vendor!

Here are some wine and chocolate pairing tips from Matt and Tim Gearhart of Gearharts Fine Chocolates, here in Richmond, Virginia.  Gearharts Fine Chocolates is the home of handcrafted confections of uncompromising quality made from premium chocolate, sweet cream and pure butter blended with top quality fruits, nuts, herbs, spices and liquors in their kitchen in Charlottesville, Virginia.  Matt Gearhart presented these tips during a seminar at the Virginia Wine Expo in April and agreed to share them with you.

Tips for Pairing wine and Chocolate

Basics: Wine and chocolate can be very complex individually, so keep it simple with these three basics:

1. select a wine that will be perceived as sweeter than the chocolate

2. chocolate coats your mouth when you eat it, so you’ll need a wine thath’s big enough to cut the richness

3. try to find flavors in both wine and chocolate that are similar to one another.

White Chocolate – though not a true chocolate (it has no cacao), white chocolate is a super-sweet blend of sugar, milk, and cocoa butter. Try it with a sec or demi-sec Champagne, or perhaps a Riesling or Gewurztraminer.

Milk Chocolate – containing a small amount of cacao, milk chocolate is the sweetest of the real chocolates with its high sugar content. Reference Rule One: choose a sweeter wine than the chocolate!

Semisweet Chocolate – containing between 50 to 70 percent cacao, semisweet chocolate is the sweetest of the dark chocolates. With tones that are nutty, spicy, or earthy semisweet dark chocolate has a balanced and less sweet aftertaste than milk or white chocolate. A Cabernet or Bordeaux will usually bring out fruity or peppery nuances in the chocolate; a ruby port is the classic pairing with semisweet chocolate.

Bittersweet Dark Chocolate – containing the least amount of sugar and the greatest amount of cacao ( anywhere from 71 to 100 %), bittersweet dark chocolate has a bitter, roasted flavoring so intense that it needs a strong red wine to balance the taste. Zinfandels are the go-to, but an Australian shiraz or a Spanish grenache might hit the spot! Since these wines are the least sweet, remembering Rule One, your choices can include ports and muscats.

Thanks to Matt and Tim for sharing their chocolate expertise with us. Richmond’s premier bed and breakfast inn in the historic Fan District offers guests a sample of Tim Gearhart’s chocolates on their welcome tray – just another detail that makes a stay a gourmet experience. As an extra added attraction, add an 8 or 16 piece box of Gearharts Fine Chocolates to your reservation and sample an assortment of delectable sweets from one of the best artisan chocolatiers.

Saints Constantine and Helen’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral proudly hosts this wonderful Richmond tradition, now in its 35th year. Legendary food, dancing, friends, and traditions are made each year at this festival which runs from Thursday through Sunday, which even provides a drive-through option to pick up dinner!

But driving through is not the best way to take part in the Greek Festival – residents and visitors alike flock to this event to try the food, watch the dancers and listen to the music, visit the vendors, tour the cathedral and sample Greek life.

The cathedral is located in the near west end neighborhood just at the edge of Richmond’s downtown. Directions.

This is one of Richmond’s best-kept secrets and an event not-to-be-missed.

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)