Virginia's Finest Products

Virginia made foods and beverages that have earned the Virginia's Finest trademark distinction of quality make tasteful and unique presents for personal and business occasions. Discover sauces, soups, baking mixes, fruit preserves, cakes and other gourmet foods and beverages all made in Virginia, plus classic favorites such as Virginia hams and Virginia peanuts. What is Virginia's Finest? The Virginia's Finest trademark signifies that agricultural and food products have met quality standards established by industries and approved by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Looking for Virginia gift baskets? The Virginia Marketplace has many to choose from filled with Virginia's Finest products. Some have received awards for gift packaging such as Blue Crab Bay's Nautical Gift Pack for their seafood soups. Some have been featured on Rachel Ray's Snack of the Day such as Feridies Salted Virginia Peanuts. Many Chincoteague Seafood Soups have been Awarded the American Taste Award of Excellence Certificate. We create our own unique gift baskets filled with Virginia products that make great gifts for clients, family members, friends or collegues!

Easter Recipes Using Virginia Foods

Easter is April 24 this year. In the United States, ham is a traditional Easter food. In the early days, meat was slaughtered in the fall. There was no refrigeration, and the fresh pork that wasn't consumed during the winter months before Lent was cured for spring. The curing process took a long time, and the first hams were ready around the time Easter rolled around. Thus, ham was a natural choice for the celebratory Easter dinner. Here's some tasty recipes to try.

Southern-Style Peach Honey Ham Bake is a great way to dress up Smithfield's Spiral Ham for a special occasion. 1 fully cooked, Smithfield Spiral Ham, 1 cup peach preserves, 2 tbsp. spicy mustard, 2 tbsp. peach nectar, 1 1/2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar, 1/4 cup honey. In a small saucepan combine all ingredients and bring to a simmer. Brush 1/3 of the mixture over the ham and bake uncovered for approximately 1 hour or until a meat thermometer reads 130 degrees F., brushing with the glaze every 20 minutes. Let the ham stand 10 minutes before carving. Serve with any remaining sauce.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Easter Eggs is a fun dessert the kids with love to help make and the adults will love to eat. 2 cups The Peanut Shop of Willamsburg Natural Creamy Peanut Butter, 3/4 cup butter, room temperature, 3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted 3 1/2 cups crispy rice cereal, 1 1/2 packages (18 ounces) dark chocolate chips, 2 tbsp. vegetable shortening, 1/2 bag (6 ounces), white chocoalte chips (optional) Coconut (optional). In the bowl of a standing mixer, combine peanut butter and butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sifted confectioner's sugar. Reduce the speed to low and add the crispy rice cereal just until combined. Cover and place the bowl in the refrigerator for about an hour (do not skip this step). Line a baking tray with wax paper. Remove the bowl from the refrigerator. Shape the mixture into egg shapes and place on the wax lined baking tray. Recipe makes approximately 20 eggs. Place baking tray in the freezer for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Spring is Here

Spring has arrived. Some spring vegetables we look forward to are peas and asparagus. Here are some recipes to try using these spring vegetables and Smithfield products. Spring Pea, Mint and Bacon Salad: This bright spring green salad of sugar snap peas and sweet green peas is loaded with crispy bacon and tossed in a lemony vinaigrette. Ingredients: 1 lb. Smithfield bacon, cooked until crisp an roughly chopped 2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen peas 1 lb. sugar snap peas, strings removed 2 tsp. sugar 2 tbsp. Champagne vinegar (can substitute white wine vinegar) 3 tbsp. olive oil Juice and zest from 1 lemon 1/4 cup fresh mint Steps: Prepare a medium bowl of ice water. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the mint to the peas and drizzle with the dressing. Toss to coat. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours. When ready to serve, add chopped bacon. Toss and arrange attractively on serving plates. Garnish with fresh mint. Serve with grilled pork or lamb.

Elegant Ham, Sausage and Asparagus Brunch Bake Ingredients: 12 oz. Paula Deen Ham Sausage 1/2 lb. fresh Asparagus 1- 1 1/2 cup seasoned croutons 2 tbsp. butter, melted 1/4 cup green onions, sliced 1- 1 1/2 cup sharp cheddar 2 tbsp. parsley, chopped 4 eggs, beaten 1 3/4 cup milk 1/2 tsp. dry mustard 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper Directions: Cook ham sausage according to package directions. Drain and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Set aside. Cut asparagus into 1-inch diagonal pieces. Cook in boilng salted water 2 minutes or until just tender. Drain and set aside. Grease a 13X9X2 inch baking pan. Place half of croutons in dish; drizzle with half of butter. Layer with half of the cooked ham sausage, asparagus, green onions, cheese and parsley. Repeat layers. Beat together remaining ingredients. Pour over casserole. Cover; refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Uncover casserole and bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown and set. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Trip to Puffenbarger's Sugar Orchard

Went to the Highland County Maple Festival this weekend to pick up jugs of maple syrup for our gift baskets and gift boxes and get my maple doughnut fix. We get our syrup at Puffenbargers Sugar Orchard on Route 637 (Maple Sugar Road) outside Monterey. The Puffenbarger's have rebuilt their sugar camp following a devastating fire in 2008.

The Puffenbarger's Sugar Orchard has been in continuous operation for over 100 years. When a fire destroyed the Puffenbarger's Sugar House on Feb. 26, 2008 they rebuilt with the help of family and friends. Ivan started helping his father when he was too little to do much. He tied him on a horse with his belt to keep him out of everyone's way. When Ivan's father, Melvin, operated the orchard he drilled trees with an auger operated by hand, collected the sugar water in buckets, and carried those buckets by horse to the sugar house. He would make about 10 gallons of syrup a day.

When Ivan bought the business from his father in 1959 and started to make changes. They began using a tractor ato tow barrels of sugar water back to the sugar house. They went from 250 buckets collected each day to more like 1000. This took about eight men most of the night to collect all the water. Ivan had an idea that would change his maple production. He began using plastic tubing rather than buckets to collect the maple ssugar water. The first year they connected about half the trees by plastic tubing and were able to see how well it worked. The following year they went to all plastic tubing and collected water by the flow of gravity. At that time, Ivan had only one evaporator but soon bought another. Ivan got a big idea to hook up the milking machine, used from the dairy, to the trees. Everyone made fun of him and thought he'd lost his mind. The milking machine would typically milk from four to eight cows at a time, but when he connected it to the trees it was effectively milking 800 trees at once. By the end of the year, he cut eight men from his labor force and upped the production by 25%. In 1980 they added another innovation, the reverse osmosis machine. It would help keep the concentrated sugar water and throw away the purified water. The machine took out about 35 gallons of water of the original 50 gallons of sugar water. That would save him time in cooking the water down. About 30 gallons of syrup is made per hour compared to 10 gallons made a day when his father made syrup many years ago. They soon outgrew the production of their own 800 trees and started leasing more trees from other farms. They tap over 2000 trees with over 11000 taps.

Depending on the sugar content, it usually takes about 50 gallons or more of sugar water to make one gallon of maple syrup. Ideal conditions for syrup production are nighttime temperatures below freezing and daytime temperatures rising between 40 or 50 degrees. The syrup producting season usually ends by the end of March.

St. Patrick's Day

When we think of St. Patrick's Day, we think of eating Corned Beef and Cabbage. Here is an interesting fact you may not know about Corned Beef and Cabbage. Corned Beef and Cabbage is the traditional meal enjoyed by many on St. Patrick's Day, but only half of it is truly Irish. Cabbage has long been a staple of the Irish diet, but it is traditionally served with Irish bacon, not corned beef. The corned beef was substituted for bacon by Irish immigrants to the Americas around the turn of the century who could not afford the real thing. They learned about the cheaper alternative from their Jewish neighbors.

How about trying something different like Country Ham and Cabbage - Smithfield Style!
2-3 chunks of Country Ham, cooked
1 quart of fresh water
2 Bay Leaves
1 teaspoon Black Peppercorns
2 slices Country Bacon, chopped
1 medium Onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon Mustard Seed, toasted
8 small red-skinned Potatoes, halved
2 tablespoons fresh Parsley, chopped
1 large head of Cabbage, quartered then halved
Directions:
Combine first four ingredients in a large heavy pot and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and add cabbage. Simmer for 3/4 to 1 hour. Saute bacon with onion, garlic, and mustard seed. Add to pot, along with potatoes. Continue to simmer for 30-45 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve with hot cornbread.

And for something else different, if you have leftovers, try this Corned Beef and Cabbage Casserole recipe using Blue Crab Sting Ray Bloody Mary Mixer. To make this, you need leftover sliced potatoes, and leftover sliced or shredded boiled cabbage. The quantity you make depends upon how much of these ingredients you have on hand. You need a Pyrex baking dish large enough to hold at least one layer of each of these leftovers.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat bottom of Pyrex dish lightly with olive oil. Arrange single layer of potatoes, followed by a layer of corned beef, followed by a layer of cabbage. Sprinkle 1/4 tsp. celeryt seed and 1/2 tsp. basil then add another layer of potatoes. Drizzle Sting Ray Mixer over the top of the top of the casserole and along the sides of the dish. Sprinkle the top with Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese. Cover with aluminum foilo and bake for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes.

Monticello Reserve Ale

Big news in Charlottesville's world of microbrews. The Thomas Jefferson Foundation and Starr Hill, a microbrewery that started in Charlottesville and has won 14 prestigous awards for its craft beers, have teamed up and here is the Feb.01,2011 Press Release from the Starrr Hill website:

Introducing Monticello's new microbrew, just in time for President's Day!

Monticello Reserve Ale will be sold in 750ml bottles at Monticello and Starr Hill's Tasting Room ONLY. It will be brewed and bottled locally at Starr Hill Brewery, in Crozet, Virginia, by Master Brewer Mark Thompson.

A revolution is brewing in the artisanal beer worlk, inspired by the taste of Thomas Jefferson and what was brewed historically at Monticello. The Thomas Jefferson Foundation, in collaboration with Starr Hill Brewery, announces the launch of Monticello Reserve Ale, the official beer of Monticello.The public is invited to a free tasting to celebrate the launch of Monticello Reserve Ale, Presidents' Day, Monday February 21, 12 p.m. - 3 p.m. -in the Thomas Jefferson Visitor Center Museum Shop at Monticello. The launch will include the tapping of the first keg. Free tastings will be provided.

Monticello Reserve Ale is inspired by what was produced and consumed regularly at Monticello. It is made from a combination of wheat and corn, lightly hopped. Brewing beer was an important plantation activity at Monticello. Beer, one of the "table liquors" served with meals, was a staple of the Jefferson household. Records go back to 1772, when Jefferson's wife Martha oversaw the periodic brewing operations, producing 15 gallon casks of small beer - beer with low alcohol content - about every two weeks.

In 1815, Jefferson writes in a letter to Joseph Coppinger (himself a brewer):"I am lately become become a brewer for family use, having had the benefit of instruction to one of my people by an Englishh brewer of the first order."

Large-scale brewing began with the appearanace of a British brewer detained in Albemarle County during the War of 1812. Captain Joseph Miller improved upon the quality and quantity of Monticello beer, introducing ale, stronger beer suited to storage. While at Monticello, Joseph Miller trained the enslaved Peter Hemings in the arts of malting and brewing. Hemings - a brother of Sally - carried on the brewing operations, making 100 gallons of ale every spring and fall.

Jefferson wrote in 1821 that he had "no receipt for brewing," doubting "if the operations of malting and brewing could be successfully performed from a receipt." Using ingredients grown on the Monticello plantation, Jefferson's brews varied based on the grains that were available at any given time, including barley, and larger quantities of corn and wheat. At Monticello, about three-quarters of a pound of hops were used for every bushel of malt.

Presidents' Day Tasting
Monday, February 21, noon to 3:00 p.m.
12:15 p.m. Tapping of the first keg
Free public tasting

Recipes for Entertaining With Virginia Country Ham Slices

Here are some ideas for entertaining with Virginia Genuine Smithfield or Country Ham Slices just in time for Super Bowl:
Fruit Picks: Wap thin ham slices around melon balls, fresh figs, or pear slices. Serve with picks.
Honey Blues: Spread softened Blue Cheese on baguette slices, top with ham slices, and drizzle with honey.
Party Rolls: Mix softened butter with brown sugar, Dijon mustard, ground cinnamon and ground cloves to taste. Spread on tiny yeast rolls and stuff with thinly sliced ham. Wrap in foil and heat until warm.
Country Ham & Sweet Potato Crescents: Add a spoonful of cooked sweet potato and a slice of country ham to a flat refrigerated crescent and roll before rolling into shape. Lightly sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar before baking.
Chicken Smithfield: Stuff boneless butterflied chicken breasts with ham slices and white cheese. Sprinkle with olive oil and chopped herbs, wrap with bacon and bake.
Caesar Salad Smithfield-Style: Just add strips of thinly sliced country ham to a savory Caesar Salad