"Food news you can use" by Food Forum

Here is an ongoing compendium of area food events, as well as numerous kitchen tips and tricks that expand on information found in The Gazette’s Wednesday food section. Check back for additional postings and feel free to submit your own.

Reader comments are encouraged. Information should be sent to Gazette reporter Elysia Nest at nest@dailygazette.com.

Free classes for healthy living

Hannaford stores around the Capital Region will be offering a series of “Healthy Living Classes” throughout the month.
All classes will be taught by a certified and registered dietitian. Call to register. The schedule is as follows:

— "Healthy Heart Diet" — 2 to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 14, or 6 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, May 19, at the Clifton Park Hannaford, 9 Clifton Country Road.

— "Lower Your Cholesterol with Plant Sterols" — 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 14, at the Glenville Hannaford, 262 Saratoga Road, Route 50. Includes a free menu planner and recipes.

— "How to Plan a Healthy Diet" — 10:30 a.m. to noon Friday, May 16, at the Clifton Park Hannaford, 9 Clifton Country Road.

— "How to Get Started on a Gluten-Free Diet" — 2 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, May 17, or 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 28, at the Glenville Hannaford, 262 Saratoga Road, Route 50.

— "Cooking with Herbs" — 2 to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 21, or 10 to 11:30 a.m. Thursday, May 29, at the Clifton Park Hannaford, 9 Clifton Country Road. Includes a free herb giveaway, tips and recipes.

— "The DASH Diet: Eating to Lower Your Blood Pressure" — 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 21, at the Glenville Hannaford, 262 Saratoga Road, Route 50.

Wines around the world

An event called “Swirl: The Subtly Sophisticated Wine Tasting Extravaganza,” will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, June 11, in the Adirondack Room of the State Museum in Albany. In addition to wine from Italy, Argentina, California, New York and other locales, the evening will include a sommelier presentation, hors d’oeuvres, music and door prizes.

Swirl is sponsored by the local Beta Pi Lambda chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Tickets, at $40 per person before Saturday, May 17, and $45 thereafter, are available online or by sending a check to Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., P.O. Box 14692, Albany, NY 12212.

It’s ramp season

Ramps look like scallions and manage to out-garlic garlic in the smell department.

They’re a wild cousin of the onion, and appear in markets each spring. They make a wicked vinaigrette, they’re great sauteed in bacon fat and they make a funky, intense condiment when pickled.

They don’t have much of a shelf life once they’re picked. To keep them at their best, store them in the fridge, with their roots in a glass of water, for up to a couple of days. And you might want to keep them far away from butter, eggs and other easily impressionable foods — unless, of course, you don’t mind ramp-y butter.

Dandy dandelions

The bane of a perfect turf lawn is already sprouting this spring and sowing seeds for its progeny. Like rabbits, dandelions seem to multiply exponentially.

A better alternative to chemically eliminating the weeds is to eat them. Dig dandelions by hand with a long spike-like weeder. Be sure to get all the root or the plant will regrow. For tender assertive greens for salads, harvest the plant before it flowers. Wash the leaves and refrigerate for up to five days.

After flowers appear, the greens become bitter, but every part of the plant is edible. The flower can be tossed into a salad. Even the long tapered root is edible. Like any root vegetable, it can be roasted, boiled or steamed.

Nutritionally, dandelions are a good source of vitamin A, iron and calcium. Dandelion greens can be substituted for frisee in recipes. The leaves pair well with bacon dressings.

New farmers’ market

Another farmers market begins Wednesday, May 14, in Troy. The market is scheduled for 3 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through Oct. 8. The site is the historic marketplace in Troy’s Little Italy, situated on Hill Street between Washington and Liberty streets, one block east of Fourth Street.

Sponsored by Troy Little Italy and organized by Troy Neighborhood Markets, the new market will offer fresh produce, meats, poultry, eggs, bakery items, flowers, and other goods.

Wine & food event

The Hudson Valley Wine & Grape Association will hold a Hudson Valley Wine & Culinary Food Pairing on Friday, May 30, at St. Andrew’s Cafe at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park.

The winners of the five major wine categories from the fourth annual Hudson Valley Wine Competition held April 26 will be paired with haute cuisine prepared by award-winning chefs at the culinary institute. An awards ceremony will follow the dinner. Tickets are $75 per person and are available by e-mailing hvwgacce@gmail.com.

The competition held in Rhinebeck, New York was open to all commercial wineries in the Hudson Valley AVA using New York State fruit, but more exclusively, Hudson Valley fruit.

A total of 79 wines made in the Hudson Valley were entered in the competition. Overall the wines from the 18 wineries that entered scored higher than in the past three competitions, suggesting to all present, a continuing improvement in wine making for the area.

The winners of the 4th Annual Hudson Valley Wine Competition by class and variety are:

Sparkling:

Brotherhood Winery NV Blanc de Blanc — Silver Medal, Best Sparkling Wine

Clinton Vineyards NV Sparkling Seyval Peach — Bronze Medal

Applewood Winery Stonefence 2006 Hard Cider — Bronze Medal

White Hybrid:

Benmarl Winery 2006 SeyvalGold Medal, Best in Class and Best White Hybrid

Magnanini Winery 2006 Bianco Amable (Seyval) — Silver Medal

Brotherhood Winery 2006 Seyval Blanc — Bronze Medal

Bashakill Winery 2006 Whitetail (Cayuga) — Gold Medal, Best in Class

Brimstone Hill Vineyards 2007 Cayuga — Silver Medal

Adair Vineyards 2007 Cayuga — Bronze Medal

Whitecliff Vineyards 2007 Awosting White (Seyval/Vignoles)–Silver Medal, Best Hudson Heritage

Benmarl Winery 2007 Traminette — Bronze Medal

White Vinifera:

Millbrook Vineyards 2007 Tokai Fruilano — Gold Medal, Best in Class, Best White Vinifera

Millbrook Vineyards 2006 Chardonnay — Gold Medal

Benmarl Winery 2007 Riesling — Bronze Medal

Brotherhood Winery 2005 Riesling — Bronze Medal

Labrusca (Native) Grape:

Hudson-Chatham Lindenwald White Niagara/Diamond — Silver Medal, Best in Class

Red Hybrid:

Benmarl Winery 2006 Baco Noir — Gold Medal, Best Red Hybrid

Benmarl Winery 2006 Frontenac — Silver Medal

Bashakill Winery 2006 Blue Heron (Chancellor) — Bronze Medal

Red Vinifera:

Millbrook Vineyards 2005 Cabernet Franc — Gold Medal, Best in Class, Best in Show, Best HV Wine

Millbrook Vineyards 2006 Cabernet Franc Block 3 — Gold Medal

Applewood Winery 2006 Cabernet Franc — Bronze Medal

Oak Summit Vineyards 2006 Pinot Noir — Silver Medal, Best in Category

Millbrook Vineyards 2005 Pinot Noir — Silver Medal

Bashakill Winery 2006 Copperhead (Pinot Noir) — Bronze Medal

Brotherhood Winery 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon — Silver Medal

Hudson-Chatham 2005 Merlot — Silver Medal, Best in Category

Baldwin 2006 Merlot — Bronze Medal

Grape Sweet Wine:

Bashakill Winery 2007 Osprey (Vignoles) — Silver Medal, Best in Class

Bashakill Winery 2007 Whitetail (Cayuga) — Bronze Medal

Bashakill Winery 2006 Osprey (Vignoles) — Bronze Medal

Fruit Wine:

Brookview Station 2007 Pomona (Apple/Pear) — Gold Medal, Best in Category, Best in Class

Adair Vineyards 2007 Peche — Gold Medal, Best in Category

Dessert Wines:

Clinton Vineyards NV Cassis — Gold Medal, Best in Category, Best in Class, Best Dessert Wine

Warwick Valley Winery NV Pear Liquior — Gold Medal, Best in Category

Warwick Valley Winery NV Black Currant — Silver Medal

Palaia Winery NV Mead — Bronze Medal

Port:

Brotherhood Winery NV Ruby Port — Gold Medal, Best in Class

Hudson Chatham Winery Paperbirch Raspberry Port — Silver Medal