Drunken cheese

The fun part of working in an Italian restaurant is the use of as much authentic Italian food as possible. One of the garde manager menu items, that is common on most menus is a cheese plate. There are many varieties of cheese in the world as I'm sure most of us know, and it seems every time I'm around a cheese cooler in the store I'm finding another cheese I've never seen or eaten before. I was introduced to a wonderful Italian cheese the other day called Ubriacone cheese. It is translated in Italian to "drunken". When I first picked up the cheese I was curious because the color was a pale yellowish gold and it almost looked like Parmesan Reggiano by the texture. I was confused because it had a dark purple rind and smelled like wine. I took a bite and sure enough the first thing that came to my mind was this would go excellent with a glass of Pinot Noir. Ubriacone (Ubriaco) is from the province of Treviso in Italy and made from raw cows milk. This young cheese is soaked in local wine, both red and white then covered with crushed grape skins, seeds or stems left after from the wine making process (wine must) and then allowed to mature for six to ten months. The cheese is then pierced with tiny holes to let the flavor and aroma of the wine permeate the cheese. As mentioned above it is covered with grape leaves to keep mold from entering the holes of the cheese. Ubriacone has a hint of pineapple and a slight nutty taste. The texture is firm and slightly crumbly similar to Parmesan. If you are a wine lover like myself, this cheese would pair well with medium bodied wines and sweet or sparkling wines such as Prosecco. You can buy this cheese online at www.dibruno.com for $12.99 / 8oz.

Agua Fresca

One good thing about working in kitchens is the amount of diversity you come across with your co-workers. It is typical that in most kitchens there is someone of mexican discent working. since working at the Greenbrier, I have worked with many passionate and food driven chefs and I have never worked anywhere else where I have seen so much creativity. One of the chefs in our kitchen is crazy about making this fruit drink just about every day for our family meal. I finally went up to Armando and asked him what the deal is with him making these delicous and refreshing drinks. He told me that this melon water aka Agua Fresca is a very popular drink in Mexico. Traditionally when they drink water they add to it whatever seasonal fruit there is to it for a delicous flavor. I did some research on this tradition and according to the hawaiidiner.com, this beverage literally translated as "fresh water" is a drink made from what ever fruit is in season and usually has some sort of sweetner such as sugar added to it. You will find these drinks all over mexico on the street or in restaurant and the distinct fruitiness balances very well amongst Mexican cuisine. This beverage can also be see in the Phillipines.

I watched Armando prepared this tasty beverage one day and asked if it was okay to copy the recipe and add it to my blog.  You can use whatevery fruit you like, we prefer to use compressed melons such as watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew. We compressed them because the fruit we recieved this year was not as sweet as it should be so compressing it in simple syrup added great sweetness to it.

To make you:
-Add into a blender or vita prep any kind of fruit up to the top. For this recipe we used all three melons as mentioned above.
-Add in 1 cup lemon juice
-Add 4 oz simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water, cooked down)
-Add in small handful mint leaves (optional)
-Blend together
-Strain though a fine mesh strainer or chinoise
-Serve over ice and enjoy.

You can also add in berries if prefered for additional flavors. This is a very delicious and light refreshing beverage. Goes wonderful with hot/spicy foods, and great to enjoy on a hot summer day.

Pictured above is an example of how to start the beverage with adding everything into the blender prior to blending.

City of Charlottesville.

A little over a 2 hour drive from my home here in White Sulphur is the historic city of Charlottesville, Va.  Charlottesville is an independent city located at the foothills of the Blueridge mountains and has an incredible rich history that draws millions of visitors each year. This city is also the home to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, James Monroe's Ashlawn Highlands, James Madisons Montepelier, and lastly is a college town belonging to the University of Virginia. This was the first time I had been here and decided to take a day trip and stay the night. I was recommened a few of the bars and restaurants to check out while down there. After walking around the downtown mall area on a beautiful sunny afternoon I was amazed with all the outdoor seating each of the restaurants had. Many locals residents were all sitting in the center of the mall area having an ice cold beer or a glass of wine while snacking on some appetizers and enjoying the company of their friends. I had 2 hours to kill before my dinner reservations at Ten, a popular japanese sushi bar, So i stopped to grab a drink and an appertif at an elegant wine bar called Siips. Looking over the wine list I felt it was a little pricey for that they were offering but I stuck with getting an Italian wine and a baked brie appetizer. The brie appetizer had to be one of the best things I have eaten in a while. It was savory and accompanied by kalamata olives, wheat and plain crackers to spread the cheese on, roasted garlic, and lastly a small lightly seasoned arugula salad. Over all perfect pairing with my wine. After having a very delicious appetizer it was time for some sushi. The Japanese word ten can mean heaven or above and ten is both of these. Ten approaches traditional Japanese dishes as if they were works of art and the plates are crafted to please both the palate and the eye. The colors inside the restaurant were breathtaking with one side of the room being light and the other dark. It was a very classy place for sushi and I was in love as soon as I walked up the stairs. The menu was very complex and offered everything you could want from a Japanese style restaurant. Starting with a seaweed  salad which Ive never had before was blown away by the crunch and flavor. Next came the edamame which is always a must have when getting sushi. The only problem I had with this is it could've used more salt. The sushi roll I ordered was much bigger than I had expected but was by far the best sushi I have had. I eat a lot of sushi and after eating this roll, its going to make going anywhere else for sushi hard. Nothing can compare to the crunch, spice, flavor, and presentation that one roll gave me. To end the meal I had a tuna steak that was very tender and delicious. Over all rating for this restaurant is a ten out of ten. The only minor problem was our server who was very knowledgeable about the menu was not good at checking back when I needed him. Down the street from Ten is a small gelato place where I stopped in to get some dessert. There were so many flavors to choose from and while I have only had three kinds of gelato in my life I was very indecisive about which flavor to choose. I sampled a few and decided to get two kinds, a hazelnut chocolate and a lemon vanilla or something along those lines. I can quite remember the flavor but it was delicous and the fact that it is made there in the store makes it even better. This concludes my day trip in Charlottesville. I would love to go back soon to check out more restaurants and bars because my first time was excellent. Everything from the food, to shopping, to scenery, and hotel stay were exactly what I was looking for. I recommend this small town if you have not been, to check out. I am already looking forward to my next visit.

Just the beginning

This is my first time using a blog. Im not really sure how it works or what im supposed to do. Im going to look at this blog site as an opportunity to write about my everyday happenings in food. I have been cooking for 5 years now and love it. I have the passion to be a chef and food writer one day. Im going to start blogging about what i learned at work food wise, and blog about anything and everything im reading and watching food related. If anyone else has a passion for food and wants to give me advise on anything please feel free to do so. Thanks.