"Virginia" news and stories

A Virginia entrepreneur is marketing a product he's begun to describe as "like popcorn, only better." According to Dan Gadra, popped sorghum doesn't have any hulls, so snackers don't have to worry about anything getting stuck in their teeth. "It's smaller than corn so it's easier to eat," he adds. "It's nuttier-tasting, and it has a little bit more fiber."

Sorghum – also known as milo, millet and broomcorn -- is the grain of choice in hot, dry places where corn won't grow. But Americans have used the grain primarily for syrup and livestock feed since industrial producers started pushing wheat. "It's just one of those legacy grains that went out of style with Wonder Bread," Gadra says.

But sorghum didn't completely fade from the culinary scene: Gadra got his start in the popped sorghum business after hearing the grain was something every dedicated foodie had to try. He met plenty of fellow gourmands with the same marching orders, and was soon making "popghum" in flavors including berbere, curry, adobo and caramel sea salt. The varieties, he explains, were inspired by places where sorghum's a standard grain.

Image: BeerRun.com

A weekly look at the draft selection in beer-friendly bars across the country.

Central Virginia may not sound like the place to find a great beer bar. And as home of the University of Virginia, where thrifty college students are more apt to ask for inexpensive macrobrews, Charlottesville, Va., would seem to have two strikes against it for beer connoisseurs. Maybe that explains why Beer Run has stood out, earning national praise during the less than 2 years it's been open.

"The concept was originally just doing a bottle shop," says co-owner John Woodriff. But financial concerns led them to selling draft beer, which "opened a can of worms."

State laws required Beer Run to add food service and things quickly snowballed. "We were up early in the morning to make fresh bread for our sandwiches, so we morphed into an espresso bar and coffee shop," explains Woodriff. "Things got kinda wild."

Take a peek at the 14 beers Beer Run currently has on draft after the jump.

Chez Dolley and James Madison. Photo: Mark F. Levisay

There's no telling how Dolley Madison, celebrated for her exceedingly proper social graces, would have felt about folks sifting through her midden.

But that's just what the archaeologists at Montpelier -- the onetime Virginia home of former President James Madison -- have been doing since 2007, when they first uncovered the (very first) First Lady's trash heap. Their findings, many of which pertain to the Madisons' culinary habits, will likely be supplemented this summer by a new excavation of the estate's North Kitchen. According to spokeswoman Beth Morrill, interpreters at the historic site are planning to use their discoveries about how and what the Madisons ate to engage a new generation of hungry visitors.

"We're teaching children about recycling," Morrill says, pointing to a recently unveiled hands-on exhibit that teaches children about the Madisons' penchant for using every part of an animal (every part except, it seems, for the shell: Dolley Madison's midden was well-stocked with discarded oyster shells, the fruit of which likely paired nicely with the Champagne she served her guests.)

When President Obama took over the White House last month, the wine world was abuzz with, well, the buzzword of his administration: hope. Story after story declared him to be the savior, the messiah, of wine. He would rescue the White House from its teetotaling predecessor and bring the cellar back to its glory.

My two cents? Obama has bigger things to worry about. But 200 years ago, when the country was a lot smaller and depressions, world wars, and recessions were unimagined events of the future, Thomas Jefferson did not. After touring Europe, Jefferson returned home convinced that our county could produce wines on par with Europe's best. He imported vine cuttings form some of the best vineyards in Europe and planted them at his Virginia estate, Monticello.

Jefferson actually put wine on par with national issues, saying, "By making this wine vine known to the public, I have rendered my country as great a service as if I had enabled it to pay back the national debt."

More Wine of the Week after the jump.

Perhaps its the lingering after-effects of my mother's Jewish heritage, but every winter I get an uncontrollable urge to make chicken soup. However, having been raised in the South, this seasonal instinct is channeled into the production of a thicker, richer, and generally more transcendent food: Brunswick stew.

Virginia and Georgia both lay claim to the ubiquitous stew; personally, I favor Virginia's claim, but that's only because I grew up there. In both areas, it is a standard accompaniment to barbecue, although it often finds its way to the table as a stand-alone meal.

Recipes for Brunswick stew tend to be somewhat idiosyncratic. For example, many chefs use potatoes, and others use barbecue sauce to increase the richness of the broth. By that standard, my Brunswick stew (recipe below) will strike some people as blasphemous. I go heavy on the tomatoes, keep out the potatoes, use light olive oil and skinned chicken to keep the fat down, and hold off on the barbecue. Still, regardless of your personal tastes, this should be a pretty good starting point for your own recipe!