Choirgirl21

This Saturday there's a wine tasting in Baltimore that is a fundraiser for a local private school that helps inner city kids (more info about the school below). The event is from 4-7 pm at Loyola College. Last year I would say there were at least 100 wines being poured, some local MD wines, but mostly wines from around the world poured by local distributors. The main sponsor of the event and organizer of the wine portion is the owner of Grand Cru (also of Woodberry Grill for those of you into the Baltimore food scene). The event is going to be larger this year so I am hoping there will be even more wines to taste. There will also be snacks (cheese and crackers, etc.) and a large auction with a lot of great items. Tickets are $45 each and can be purchased online or at the door. Here's a link. The school, for those interested, is called Mother Seton Academy. It's a private middle school in Baltimore City that takes inner city low-income children who have potential to do really well in the right environment out of those schools and puts them into this school where they stay with the same until "graduation". The kids do really well there. The event is worth the money in and of itself imo - that the money goes to a good cause is a bonus.

Not sure if anyone has already posted about this, but in honor of their chef being selected for the show, Red Maple is throwing a Top Chef premier party. $35 gets you in, along with an assortment of the chef's small plates. I've always liked Red Maple, including the food, so it was a no-brainer for me when DBF asked me to go. http://www.baltfoodies.com/NewDesign/catal...products_id=150

The problem is the lactose, which is a sugar found in milk. Lactase, an enzyme which helps our body breakdown and assimilate lactose is naturally found in raw milk, but is not present in commercial milk due to the pasteurization process. Here's a little info on lactose intolerance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactose_intolerance Another health-related thing to consider - grass-fed cows and the milk from those cows has been proven to have higher levels of CLA, a substance known to have anti-cancer and antioxidant properties. Also suspected to aid in weight loss (added bonus). Unless you can find milk from actual grass-fed cows, your milk will not have high levels of this (same goes for healthy omega-3's in our meat, although I don't know if that passes through to the milk, it's at least an argument fore eating free-range meat). I am lucky enough to have a small market nearby that does sell organic, grass-fed milk (that is not raw) and that's my fall back when I haven't gotten my raw milk, but I would say that's rare to find in most stores.

I've been drinking only raw milk for months now. I appreciate that I know the farmer whose cows produce my milk (and butter, and the chickens who produce my eggs and well, chicken) and can talk freely with him about how he raises his animals if I choose to. I also appreciate that I am putting something natural, that has not been artificially processed into my body. I pay no more for my milk than I would for organic milk in the grocery store (and the cows are raised naturally, with full access to pasture, and given only organic feed as a supplement) and as an added bonus, I get enough real cream to use in my coffee from the 1/2 gallon I buy each week as well. Fears about raw milk are largely misguided these days. If raw milk were commercially produced and sold, then I would have concerns as I do about any commercially raised food. But as long as I can trace my milk back to a particular farm, with a farmer whose methods I am comfortable with (and whose cows' milk undergoes frequent testing for bacteria) I am a happy camper. There's no question that contamination issues aside, raw milk is better for us - in fact, many people who have lactose intolerance issues find they can drink raw milk without any of those same problems. It's not for everyone I suppose, but I think for people who are invested in learning about where their food comes from and eating whole foods that are ideal for your health, raw milk is worth investigation.

The results are in, as long as I have time (and why wouldn't I) I will always cook my steaks this way. I got a 2" thick, 1 1/2 lb strip steak from a local market that I cut into two pieces. The meat is naturally raised, grass-fed and finished on corn. It was in the oven for about 25 minutes total. I checked the temp at 20 minutes and it was at 90.5. I left it in the oven as I got the pan and then the oil hot for searing, so maybe another 5 minutes. I did not recheck the temp at that point. I then seared on all sides, including the actual sides, a minute or two each. We let the steaks rest on a plate loosely tented with foil about 10 min while we made a pan sauce. FYI, there were absolutely no juices to add to the pan sauce after the steak rested. The sear on the steaks was amazing, as was the lack of the gray part. All in all it was just absolutely delicious. My only complaint was that I probably would have liked the meat cooked a TEENY bit more. It was warm all the way through, but the center was pretty darn rare. I'm okay with rare as long as the meat isn't actually cold so I still thoroughly enjoyed it, but I think next time I will get up to 95 before I start heating the pan. I'll be interested to try this with my usual steak. I typically only eat totally grass-fed, free-range, organic beef, which cooks very differently. One question, does anyone think the steak would benefit from doing the usual seasoning and let the steak sit out for an hour before putting it in the oven? I realize the main purpose of that is so that cold meat isn't hitting the hot pan, which isn't an issue with this method, but it would allow more time for the salt to be absorbed, right? I wanted to try the method by the book this time, but I may try that in the future and just leave it in the oven less time. Has anyone done that?

I'm curious, and I'm not trying to be a dissenter b/c I've generally always been a fan of Sietsma (aside from the fact that I've become bored by his redundant Wednesday chats), but how could him being fawned over NOT affect his review. At the very least, he could not possibly accurately describe what the service is apt to be like for any given customer if he's been recognized and is being fawned over. The same thing could be said of the food, although in general I suppose it's easier to up the service on short notice than it is the food. I have never seen a note in any Sietsma review where he says he can't review the service because he was recognized. On the contrary, in his chats he often mentions the use of disguises and in general gives the impression that he goes unrecognized (which, now that I think about it, seems even less likely because how many tables go in and order a large number of dishes and pass everything around, but I digress). So while I think I get your point, that he wouldn't give a better review because he was fawned over, I don't see how being recognized couldn't affect his ability to review the location. So in these cases, what does he do? Again, I've never seen mention that he can't speak directly to the service b/c he thinks he was recognized. On the specific issue of the Commissary, a disclaimer would have been simple enough and imho, sufficient.

I'm new to the board and today is the first day I wandered into a section other than the restaurant reviews. Let me just tell you that I am thrilled (titillated even?)! I have plans with a friend (the one who introduced me to this board actually) to make steak and have some wine from a wine club we joined together while watching the election results roll in tomorrow night. I'm now planning to try this method, can't wait. Two questions though: 1) There was a recent mention of not piercing the steak, which makes sense, but how is everyone checking that the meat has reached the appropriate 90-95 degree temp in the oven? Or does it only matter that you don't pierce after you've seared the meat? I have a basic digital meat thermometer that will definitely make a hole in my steak if I pierce it. I've gotten pretty good about just gauging when a steak is done based on how I cook it and for how long, but I don't trust myself to know when the meat reaches 90-95 without using my thermometer. Thoughts? 2) Someone complained that after letting the steak rest for 10 minutes it wasn't really warm any more. I'm not sure how she let it rest, I usually just through mine on a rimmed plate to catch the drippings and cover with aluminum foil long enough for me to make a pan sauce if I'm making one, but I'm concerned about it not being hot. What's the highest oven temp anyone has let their steak reach before searing and not had an overdone steak? FYI, I have no grill or anything like that (condo rules, not allowed) so I'll just be searing in a cast iron pan. Oh, last question, perhaps idiotic - has anyone ever cooked a steak in their fireplace? Is that just totally insane? Thanks! Off to read more cooking threads!

Agreed. On my first trip, the head chef overheard my companion and I wondering what it was (we had a seat in front of the open kitchen) and informed us: it's malt ball flavored!

Cinghiale has become one of my favorite places to eat in Baltimore. We went initially because we're huge fans of Cindy Wolfe, and because it's such a short walk from BF's place, but we've been back repeatedly. The food isn't always 100% consistent, and they use a LOT of fat in their cooking, but it's inexpensive and there's always something tasty available (try the squid app, or any of their salumi plates). In addition, they change menu items relatively frequently and incorporate local/in season foods into the dishes. But the real draw for us is the wine. A huge list of wines offered by the full and half glass and the servers are more than willing to pour you a taste of something or offer their insight into what will pair well. We've gotten to know the sommelier a bit through our visits and she is always incredibly friendly and helpful (and always remembers us!). We have yet to have the pleasure of eating in the dining room, but based on the Enoteca alone, I would highly recommend it for a casual meal and a few tastes of really pleasing Italian wine. Plus the outdoor dining can't be beat in the nicer weather. Oh, I'm not sure that anyone else has mentioned it here, but they offer a $25 price fixe menu - one app, one entree and a dessert. At least it used to be $25, I can't find it on their site.

I'm new to the site and thought I'd get my feet wet posting. I'm wondering if anyone else has been to Woodberry Kitchen yet. It's been on my list since it opened, but my BF and I haven't made time to go there. I'm very committed to eating local/organic so the theme is right up my alley, and I've heard great things about the food to boot. Curious to hear from other posters.