Café Cyan

Annual FruitShare

2011-12-16T09:49:00.001-06:00

Look what arrived on our doorstep (our new doorstep may I add).

I get so excited every winter for our share of citrus. Just think: fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, citrus cocktails, candied orange peels and nice portable snacks.

I usually order the larger box, but since life is crazy right now, I ordered the smaller one this time. Plus, I can always reorder:). Get yours at http://www.fruitshare.com

P.S. This is the first time posting from my phone :)

Review: Alexia Sweet Potato Puffs

2011-11-28T08:00:00.000-06:00

Getting ready for a move is so extremely time consuming. We move later this week and our house is in a state of disarray as we organize and pack each room. As you can imagine, we barely have time for cooking or dishes so I've been opening my eyes to some convenience foods.

When Alexia Foods e-mailed me offering sample packages of their new Sweet Potato Puffs, I was pretty excited. Thoughts of tater tot hot dish and veggie burgers started swirling in my head. From the picture on the package, it looked similar to a tater tot, so I wondered why it wasn't called a tot.

When the package arrived, I looked a little closer and saw that it was shaped like a tater tot, but lacked the texture of a tater tot. Hence the name: sweet potato puffs. Unfortunately, it was not going to work well for a tater tot casserole, so I went for Plan B, a side dish for veggie burgers.

Tasting the puffs right out of the oven, the exterior was firm but not crispy and the interior tasted (and felt) like mashed sweet potatoes, similar to a giant sweet potato fry. Wanting to spice it up a little bit, I made a dipping sauce using 1 cup of light sour cream and 1 1/2 teaspoons of Exotic Blend from Sameh Wadi's Spice Trail.

Overall, I thought it was a fun and inventive product (and a very easy side dish…or appetizer), but it just wasn't the right convenience food for me. With over 14 ingredients, I'll stick to making my own sweet potato side dishes.

Disclaimer: Alexia Foods sent me Sweet Potato Puffs to sample at no cost. I was under no obligation to blog about it and of course, all opinions are my own.

Cranberry Wine Sauce

2011-11-23T09:18:00.001-06:00

Earlier this week, Ishared my new favorite leftover recipe on WCCO.com. If you're lucky enough tohave leftover pie, you have to try the Pumpkin Pie Parfait recipe. Mmm…so good!

I was recentlyreminded of a recipe I posted over on WCCO a couple Thanksgivings ago. Sincethey redid their website (my page included), it never got archived so I figuredit would be good to post again over here.

This sauce isabsolutely delicious. The sweetness fromthe sugar and tartness from the cranberries make an excellent pair. The Ratafia enhances the orange flavor andbrings out the spiciness from cloves, allspice and cinnamon, but you cancertainly use port instead as that's what the original recipe called for.

Have leftover cranberry sauce? Use it to top your oatmeal :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

RubyRatafia Cranberry Sauce

(adapted from LosAngeles Times)
Makes 2 cups

1 ½ cups AlexisBailly Ratafia (or port)

¾ cup sugar
3 cloves
½ stick cinnamon
3 allspice berries(or a dash of allspice)
4 black peppercorns
2-inch-by- ½ -inch strip of orange peel
1 (12 ounce) packagecranberries, washed

In a mediumsaucepan, combine the Ratafia and sugar. Tie the cloves, cinnamon stick,allspice and black peppercorns in a small piece of cheesecloth. Add the spicebundle to the saucepan. Add the orange peel. Bring the mixture to a simmer overmedium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer gently until the wine is reducedto 1 cup, about 4 minutes.

Add the cranberries to the wine. Return to a simmer overmedium-high heat then lower the heat and simmer until the cranberries pop,about 5-7 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour into a bowl. Let cool to warmthen remove the spice bundle and orange peel. Cover and refrigerate until readyto serve.

Hello Charlie!

2011-11-16T06:52:00.001-06:00

There's always something to do in this town and I love it! Not only am I hitting up the Kingfield Holiday Market, but I'm also going tothe Charlie Awards on Sunday, November 20th. The event wasorganized by someone I admire greatly, Sue Zelickson, who you might know from WCCO Radio or Minnesota Monthly magazine.

I've had the pleasure ofgetting to know Sue over the past three years through Women Who Really Cook (a wonderfulorganization of women doing great things in the world of food) and enjoyedwatching her connect and inspire others like me.

The Charlie Awardsis a brand new celebration for the food and restaurant community; highlightinglocal restaurants who create awesome dishes. Since it's the first one, I'm not entirely sure what to expect, but I do know there will be awards, entertainment, and several other activities for the day.

Everyone is invited - find moreinformation on their website by clicking here.

Chocolate Almond Milk Spelt Pancakes

2011-11-13T13:33:00.001-06:00

Ever have one ofthose mornings where you really want to make something good for breakfast, butrealize you lack most of the ingredients?

Yeah, that was methis morning. I got up early only to remember we were out of milk, eggs, soymilk, and all veggies except carrots and cabbage. Darn! We've just been so busylately (psst…we're moving; more on that later) that grocery shopping fell to thebottom of the list.

Luckily, this isexactly the kind of challenge I love: cooking with what you have. Plus, I'vecooked enough vegan breakfasts to know that milk and eggs aren't entirelynecessary. I started rummaging through the fridge and our cupboards and cameup with these:

Voila - ChocolateAlmond Milk Spelt Pancakes! I used a variation of Vegan Yum Yum's Easy Breakfast Pancakes (from her cookbook) and really enjoyed the end result. Ifonly I had chocolate chips...

Curried Pumpkin & Wild Rice Soup

2011-10-11T09:15:00.001-05:00

You know what'sawesome? Coming home from an after-work workout and inhaling the wonderfulscents of a meal already in progress.

Last night, Ryantook charge of dinner, saving us from another night of takeout. The main ingredientwas a pumpkin we picked up a few weeks back in La Crosse that had been sittingon a table in the corner of our kitchen begging to be used.

Since butternutsquash and pumpkin are pretty interchangeable (heck, most canned pumpkin isactually butternut squash), we made one of the winning recipes from FoodNirvana, the food competition at Minnesota Street Market that I judged. Wereduced the coconut milk, added a little lime juice and seasoned it up withsalt and pepper and enjoyed a delicious dinner.

CurriedPumpkin and Wild Rice Soup

Serves 6-8
Adapted from JJ and Lisa Torborg's recipe

1 cup uncooked wildrice
3 cups water
2 ½ pounds pumpkin
2 ½ cups vegetablebroth
½ cup orange juice
2 tbsp butter
1 medium onion,chopped,
1 clove garlic,finely chopped
1 ½ tsp curry powder
1 can coconut milk(we used 1/2 can)
1 ¼ tsp salt
½ tsp ground blackpepper
2 wedges lime,juiced

In a pot, bring thewild rice and water to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer 35 - 40min until kernels are tender and just begin to pop open.

Pre-heat the oven to350 degrees. Cut the pumpkin in half lengthwise, scrape the inside clean, andsave the seeds for future use. Lay the pumpkin face side down in a large bakingdish. Cook for 45-60 minutes or until tender, using a fork to check tenderness.When tender, scoop pumpkin away from skin, place in a bowl, and mash lightly.Once the pumpkin is lightly mashed, mix in the vegetable broth and orangejuice.

Melt the butter in askillet over medium heat and sauté the onion and the garlic until tender.Season with the curry powder. Reduce heat to low and continue cooking about 12minutes, stirring occasionally. Add to the pumpkin mixture and mix well.

Mix in the cookedwild rice and coconut milk (taste for sweetness) and cook until heated through.Season with salt, pepper, and lime juice and serve.

North Coast Nosh 2

2011-10-03T08:13:00.001-05:00

This weekend I attended the 2nd North Coast Nosh event at Peace Coffee Shop and XYandZGallery that was put on by Heavy Table and Peace Coffee. As soon as I walked by the food trucks prepping samples (World Street Kitchen, Vellee Deli, Hola Arepa, Saucy Burt's and Nate Dogs), I knew I was in for a good night of food.

We leisurely wandered from table to table, nibbling on blue cheese from the Caves of Faribault, brioche doughnuts from Bogart Loves, cupcakes from Sweets Bakeshop and continued the local love by drinking our way through the beverage offerings too. Harriet Brewing, Crispin, and Bittercube proved too hard to resist and it was nice to wind down with the most wonderful coffee creation ever. Behold, the Smokey Salted Caramel Cortado from Peace Coffee Shop:

This was the only photo I took from the evening; I guess I was too busy eating, drinking, and talking!

Food Nirvana at Minnesota Street Market

2011-09-25T18:59:00.000-05:00

If you've read this blog for awhile, you probably know I'm a fan of road trips. So, when I was asked to judge a cooking competition in St. Joseph, I jumped at the opportunity to check out a new city and spend time with our friends who live in St. Cloud.

Ryan and I drove about an hour and a half northwest to Minnesota Street Market, the new food and art co-op in St. Joseph.

With the grand opening of the market, there was live music, yarn spinning, food and art demos, and the main event (at least for me) was the cook-off, Food Nirvana, where each entry must use at least 3 co-op ingredients.

Darrel Halverson, Executive Chef at the College of St. Benedict and I were co-judges for the day.

We tasted and rated appetizers, entrees and desserts based on based on 4 criteria:

Taste and flavor
Use of co-op ingredients
Originality
Technical (did they follow the rules?)

Darrel and I scored similarly, so the winners of each category, as well as the overall winner, was pretty clear.

First Place Appetizer :: Pate Tempeh by Michael Willems

This appetizer was so flavorful and had a nice mouth feel. Plus, the way it was served was such a cute and creative idea.

First Place Entrée :: Curried Squash and Wild Rice Soup by Lisa and JJ Torborg

The curry and coconut flavors in this soup paired well with the nutty wild rice. It was something I could see myself making and is easy enough for a beginner cook to put together too.

First Place Dessert :: Three Ginger Cookies by Katie Ritger

The combination of fresh and crystallized ginger made for an impactful flavor and didn't overwhelm the subtle rustic taste of home-ground spelt flour.

Overall Grand Winner :: Greek Yogurt Panna Cotta with Honey, Peaches and Hazelnuts by Ellen Peterson

One word: delicious. The panna cotta was delicate and flecked with fresh vanilla seeds that complimented spicy cardamom flavors in the peach and honey topping and could easily be switched up to accommodate the seasonality of fresh fruit.

I could tell a lot of effort was put into each entry and I enjoyed every bite of fresh flavor. It was a fun job to taste all of the dishes and to meet folks in the local community of St. Joseph. With two college campuses nearby, I think Minnesota Street Market is a much needed neighbor.

Find more pictures from the Food Nirvana event on the Café Cyan Facebook page.

Winning recipes can be found on the Minnesota Street Market website.

New: Grape Chia Kombucha

2011-09-01T19:05:00.000-05:00

I'm a HUGE fan of kombucha, especially GT's Synergy brand. I've been following along on Facebook and keep hearing about their latest product, a chia kombucha. As you know, I love chia and have made several things using chia seeds, so I really wanted to try it.

Luckily, chia kombucha has recently made its way to Minnesota and I picked up a bottle to try. After pondering the flavor and texture, I'm still not sure if I like it or not. I really really missed the grape flavor (it was my favorite flavor back before it was pulled from the shelves), so I love that grape is being offered again, but the slightly gelatinous texture confuses my brain a little.

Have you tried the new chia kombuchas? What did you think?

Smoked Trout & Roasted Beet Salad

2011-08-31T19:05:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we took Ryan's grandma out to the Mill City Farmers Market and then to Spoonriver for brunch. It was a beautiful day and we had a wonderful time leisurely making our way to each destination, stopping to chat with friends along the way.

As much as we wanted to buy just about everything at the market, we reeled it in and bought only enough to get us through meals this week, not wanting anything to go to waste.

Last night we put together a salad that was oh-so-local!

I neglected to take a picture of it last night, but snapped one on my phone today at lunch. We roasted candy striped beets (Loon Organics) along with some small red onions and put them on a bed of spinach (Dehn's Garden) with chevre (Singing Hills Dairy) and smoked trout (Star Prairie). Yum!

Cauliflower, Cauliflower, Cauliflower

2011-08-22T14:29:00.001-05:00

Wow, what a fun weekend! I started Saturday morning bright and early to be a guest on the Fresh and Local Show. It's my third year doing the show and I love it more and more every time. It's crazy how fast an hour can pass when you're having fun with hosts like Susan Berkson and Bonnie Dehn.

Me and Bonnie Dehn of Dehn's Garden

They already have the audio posted on their website, broken up into 4 parts. I'm in the 3rd section, but feel free to listen to all segments for fun facts about cauliflower.

Sunday morning was another early one as we drove to the Minneapolis Farmers Market where I was doing a cooking demonstration on cauliflower, the market's featured ingredient this week.

Prepping for Cauliflower & Potato Curry

I demonstrated two dishes: Cauliflower with Blue Cheese Vinaigrette & Cauliflower and Potato Curry. Both recipes will be listed on the farmers market website and I'll put one on Bite of Minnesota (on Tuesday), so click over tomorrow for delicious dinner ideas.

I also showed some uses for spicy pickled cauliflower that, one of which I plan on using at my next dinner club :)

Be sure to listen to the Fresh and Local Show each Saturday at 8-9am on AM950 and then head over to the Minneapolis Farmers Market for a Market Talk cooking demo at 10:30am (both Saturday and Sunday). There are some great people coming up including my friend and fellow blogger, Bill Roehl of Lazy Lightning and Shaina Olmanson from Food for My Family.

The Food of the Big Island

2011-08-07T19:10:00.002-05:00

Ryan and I tend to be very food focused when we go on vacation, plotting out where we need to make reservations and where we can just drop in, highlighting key menu items, and planning our trip around meals.

This Hawaii trip was quite different - we didn't plan anything food related. That's right, no planning at all. We figured we'd just let it all happen and happen it did! Check out the delicious food we ate while on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Jackie Rey's: Kalua pork spring rolls (amazing), tuna poke with taro chips and salad with hummus and basil pesto vinaigrette. My friend just saw Alton Brown there.

Island Lava Java, a coffeehouse using locally produced ingredients. Sipped Kona coffee while overlooking the ocean.

Grilled ono salad at U-Top-It. We went for breakfast, but I was in the mood for lunch.

Ryan's farm vegetable crepe topped with gravy and 2 eggs at U-Top-It.

OUR spot for sushi in Kona. Owner Seiji Mizukami is the best!

All of this plus miso soup for under $10 at Seiji's Brew Garden in Kona.

Passionfruit Wheat & Coconut Porter? I'm in!

Awa, made from kava root - a drink to help you relax.
Doesn't taste too great and makes your mouth tingle.

Noshing at Kanaka Kava: Kalua pork, breadfruit, purple sweet potatoes,
poi, tuna poke and seared ahi.

The Beauty of the Big Island

2011-07-24T17:34:00.000-05:00

Travel is a funny thing for us and always seems to fall in our laps. Ryan and I used to travel several times per year for our jobs and it was rare for us to be in control of the destination. Work travel has taken us to many great places like Boston, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Orlando to name a few. We'd always add a day or two to the trip and make a mini-vacation out of it, hitting up as many sights and restaurants as we could.

Now that we're not doing any work travel, it's up to us to plan our vacations and lately, we've been fantasizing about tropical destinations. We've considered Mexico, the Caribbean, and even the coast of Spain, but nothing stuck out to us as "the place". Then, all of the sudden, we received an invite to stay with some family members/good friends on the Big Island of Hawaii.

It took about 2 days for us to pick the dates, find a flight, and plan the trip. We had never been to Hawaii (much less on a beach vacation), but we knew to pack light. After some marathon shopping for shorts, sandals, and swimsuits, we flew out for a week of relaxation.

We lazed around with the sea turtles.

Snorkeled for the first time ever...

...and swam among schools of beautiful fish.

We hiked over unstable lava rocks…

...to get to the most amazing hidden beach.

We rented a jeep and drove around the entire island,
watching the landscape change every few miles.

And stopped along the way to see beautiful waterfalls.

We hiked through a crater and saw a full rainbow.

And got to see an active volcano (from a safe distance, of course).

Simply put, the trip was amazing and just what I needed. I unplugged from technology (we even used walkie talkies to communicate instead of cell phones) and I had a really tough time getting back into doing the things I used to do, like blog. While I can't completely shun technology in my regular life, I love that the trip allowed me to take a step out of the daily grind and gain some perspective.

Strawberries Are Here!

2011-06-17T10:40:00.000-05:00

Read more on my WCCO blog, Bite of Minnesota.

Caramelized Onion and Blue Cheese Pizza

2011-06-06T08:25:00.000-05:00

Last time I made caramelized onion pizza, I loved the sweet flavor it gave to the normally savory pizza, but it was missing a little bite. Thinking blue cheese is the answer, I decided to try it out using Nu World cheese from the U of M dairy salesroom. Nu World can best be described as a white blue cheese as it lacks the signature blue vein, but still tastes just like blue cheese.

First, I caramelized a whole mess of onions.

Then I topped a homemade pizza crust with the caramelized onions and Nu World cheese crumbles. After baking, we couldn't wait to dig in.

As expected, the pizza was delicious and we had to hold ourselves back a little because we had to save room for a second pizza. Yep, we made two. The second one used U of M feta, mozzarella, artichokes, red onions, and black garlic.

Mmm…pizza...

Mini Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

2011-06-04T09:01:00.000-05:00

After splurging on cheese at the U of M dairy salesroom, I had to make sure I didn't let any of it go to waste. I was craving mini grilled cheese ever since the Muir Glen dinner at Corner Table and knew the creamy havarti would be perfect for it.

I managed to get a quick picture of the grilled cheeses before we inhaled them all - not the best photo, but you get the point.

I also made my favorite quick soup: tomato and basil.

Mini Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
(serves 4)
Print Recipe

1 long, thin baguette
6-8 oz. creamy havarti or smoked gouda
3 tbsp butter
Sea salt or kosher salt

Preheat a large pan or griddle over medium heat. Thinly slice the baguette (or have your bakery slice it for you) and thinly slice the cheese.

Melt butter in hot griddle and add half of the baguette slices. Top with cheese and second baguette slice. Cook until lightly browned and flip. Cook until second side is lightly browned, adding more butter if needed. Sprinkle with salt and serve.

U of M - Dairy Salesroom

2011-06-01T07:56:00.002-05:00

Visiting the dairy salesroom at the University of Minnesota was like visiting a candy store with the large variety of cheese and ice cream. Everything is made by students for classes and projects are for sale each Wednesday from 3pm - 5pm. I've been eager to visit ever since I first heard about it and finally made the trek with my food lover friend, Sarah.

When it comes to food, I sometimes go a little bit overboard in my purchases, especially when I feel like it might be my only time visiting. I mean, do I really need 6 kinds of cheese, 6 varieties of ice cream and 2 yogurts?

That Smoked Swiss Spread was amazing. Completely unhealthy, but totally awesome scooped up with pretzels and crackers. We used the other cheeses in some recipes which I'll share in future posts. The yogurts were good too (especially the peach flavor with big chunks of peaches), but I could tell they were loaded with sugar since we normally eat plain yogurt.

All of the ice cream flavors sounded so wonderful that I had a hard time deciding. In the end, I went with eggnog, whitehouse, pumpkin pie, apple pie crunch, mint chip, and blueberry cheesecake (which was gifted to my sister in law).

My favorite was the apple pie crunch with apples and cinnamon swirled in. The whitehouse was also quite good with bites of cherry and big chunks of chocolate. Both needed some tweaks (more apples and less chocolate), but I suppose that's the point of the salesroom - to get sell practice work.

If you happen to get off work early on a Wednesday, buzz over to the dairy salesroom to check out what's for sale. Ice cream flavors vary week by week, so get there early if you want first choice.

Food Science & Nutrition Dairy Salesroom
University of Minnesota - St. Paul Campus
1354 Eckles Avenue
612-624-7776

Open Wednesdays, 3pm - 5pm

Strib Taste 50: My Faves

2011-05-30T16:12:00.001-05:00

Woo hoo, the Taste 50 is out! For the sixth year in a row, the Star Tribune released its list of 50 people, places, products and ideas that reinforce our great Minnesota food culture. The list serves both as a reminder of what I already know to be great picks and as a resource for finding new things to explore.

Here are five of my favorites from the 2011 Taste 50:

Peace Coffee Shop at Wonderland Park
One of my favorite coffee shops because of the great coffee and open atmosphere. Plus, I had always wondered why Peace Coffee didn't have a shop of their own. Now they do! Here's my take from when they first opened.

Bittercube
Hello?! Did you read Ryan's post on the Bittercube class at Kitchen in the Market? Not only are the guys at Bittercube creative and fun, but they are helping everyday people transform everyday cocktails. Yum.

Smack Shack
I really like lobster, but rarely dine at restaurants that offer it. Smack Shack offers a convenient and delicious alternative straight out of a food truck in the form of their hard-to-resist lobster rolls.

Image Credit: Smude Enterprises

Smude's Natural Sunflower Oil
I discovered this product at the Homegrown Experience last year and love using it in salad dressings and slow-roasted vegetables as adds the nutty flavor of sunflower seeds.

Des Moines
It's so exciting that Des Moines made the list as I've been touting it as a foodie town and a great getaway for quite some time. In fact, check out my post from our last road trip to Des Moines. It was a blast!

Be sure to read the rest of the Taste 50 here. What are your favorites from the list?

Book Review: Cooking Up the Good Life

2011-05-22T22:27:00.000-05:00

I love cookbooks. I have a ton of them, mostly focused on vegan and vegetarian recipes. My collection is constantly growing and I recently added Cooking Up the Good Life by Jenny Breen & Susan Thurston. I've been aware of Jenny's dedication to nutritious meals over the past couple decades, so I was eager to see what great recipes the cookbook contained.

While I was a bit disappointed by the absence of pictures throughout the book, I did find quite a few vegetarian recipes that looked good based on ingredients. The Polenta with Tomato Jam combined with Lemony Olive Sauce with Grilled Vegetables went very well together. It took awhile to make, but the results were fantastic! The people at the University of Minnesota Press were nice enough to let me share the recipes with you.

Polenta with Tomato Jam
(makes about 2 dozen)
Excerpted from Cooking Up the Good Life, University of Minnesota Press
Print Recipe

Polenta:
3 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups polenta or coarse cornmeal

Tomato Jam:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-inch fresh ginger root, peeled and minced
2 jalapenos, seeded and minced
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup maple syrup or sugar
1 tsp salt
Chevre (optional)
Fresh thyme or microgreens (optional)

Bring the salted water to a boil, then slowly add the polenta, whisking regularly to remove lumps. Simmer mixture and continue stirring it for about 5 minutes. Remove the polenta from the heat, pour it into an oiled 9x13-inch pan, and spread it so it is about a half inch thick. Let the polenta cool. Then cut it into the desired shapes using a cookie cutter or the rim of a glass.

Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat and sauté the onion, garlic, ginger and jalapenos for about 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add the tomatoes, maples syrup, and salt and simmer on very low heat until quite thick, about 30 to 40 minutes. Let the jam cool for at least 2 hours or overnight in the refrigerator if possible. (I served it warm and it was great.)

When jam is cooled, spoon it onto the cut polenta. To dress up this dish, you can top each piece with a small dollop of chevre and a sprig of thyme or a pinch of microgreens.

Lemony Olive Sauce with Grilled Vegetables
(makes 8 to 12 serving)
Excerpted from Cooking Up the Good Life, University of Minnesota Press
Print Recipe

1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbsp honey
Juice of 2 lemons
Zested rind of one lemon
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp minced fresh fennel greens
6 cups seasonal vegetables such as beets, onions, green beans, and zucchini, peeled (if desired) and sliced in large, thin pieces (I used onion, zucchini, and green beans.)

Whisk together the olive oil, honey, and lemon juice, Stir in the lemon zest, garlic and fennel. Place the cut veggies in the sauce and marinate for up to 4 hours.

Remove the vegetables from the marinade and reserve the leftover marinade. Place the veggies on a hot, oiled grill and turn as needed. Using a grill basket or grill wok will make grilling easier. Top with the remaining sauce before serving.

Disclosure: This book was a review copy sent to be by the University of Minnesota Press.

Spargelfest is Back

2011-05-19T23:30:00.004-05:00

Can you believe it? Asparagus is finally here and Black Forest Inn is kicking off the season with their annual Spargelfest, a celebration of asparagus, which starts today and goes through May 29th. This year, Black Forest Inn will go through 300 pounds of asparagus during Spargelfest. That's a lot of asparagus!

Last year I sampled the Spargelfest menu and loved all of the dishes so I was eager to see what they had on the menu this time. I brought Ryan along as my second stomach.

We started with a crunchy snack: quick-pickled asparagus, mushrooms and carrots to boost our veggie intake.

Our "bar food" went well with the Royal Spargeltini, a combination of asparagus vodka, cocoa nib vodka, and Cointreau. Black Forest Inn makes the vodkas in house and they are quite tasty.

The puff pastry wrapped asparagus had a thin layer of Fischer Farms ham baked into the pastry. It was served with romesco sauce which was a mild yet warming partner.

Another healthy veggie-based dish is the spargel brown rice salad, dotted with sweet apricots and fragrant mint.

A traditional German meal is a thick slice of ham and sautéed asparagus spears with hollandaise sauce drizzled over the plate. Simple, but great.

Every dinner deserves a dessert and every Spargelfest dinner deserves a spargel dessert. The spargel and rhubarb strudel is a great match to the season and was surprisingly delicious. The asparagus added crunch while the rhubarb lent a bit of tartness.

It isn't often that a restaurant has a whole menu dedicated to asparagus, but I think it's really cool. They do a great job of balancing the menu and offer a bit for everyone…well, unless you don't like asparagus (there's always the regular menu).

Disclosure: Black Forest Inn provided a free preview dinner and I was not obligated to write about it. I just love asparagus and want you to love it too :)

Cooking Club: Grilled

2011-05-17T08:30:00.029-05:00

It's been a busy week filled with new things and I couldn't resist adding one more activity: cooking club. Yep, I joined a cooking club! It is something I've been wanting to do for quite some time, so when my friend, Steph, asked me if I was interested in joining, I had to say yes.
We had our first meeting/dinner on Saturday and it was a success! Our whole goal is to cook with friends and try new recipes in a casual environment. Once we choose a name, we'll start a blog for recipe sharing, so I'll let you know when that is set up.

Until then, check out our first dinner:

The spread

Karen's Corn, Pepper, Avocado Salad

Greg's Cheesy Breadsticks

Greg's Grilled Brussels Sprouts

My Broiled Parmesan Tomatoes

Randi's Bread Salad

Greg's Ginger Peanut Noodles

Dave's Amazing Grilled Rosemary Flatbread

Steph's Bloody Mary Flank Steak

Greg's Chocolate Pudding Cake with Mint Chip Ice Cream

I think we all did well for our first cooking club!

New WCCO Morning Show Segment

2011-05-15T19:18:00.000-05:00

Just in time for the farmers markets to start heating up, I partnered with WCCO-TV to show you what's fresh each week in a new morning show segment called Bite of Minnesota. The segment will air each Friday at 5:15am and 6:20am and will also be available online, handy for us late-risers.

I was really nervous to be in front of a camera as I'm usually behind a camera, but with a little help from the camera man, I worked through it. The first segment aired on Friday and I think it turned out pretty well. Check it out for yourself:

Hope you enjoyed my TV debut! Click over to my WCCO blog (also named Bite of Minnesota) for seasonal recipes and events.

Cocktails in the Market: Bittercube Bitters

2011-05-04T22:37:00.004-05:00

Hey there, Cafe Cyan readers! It's been a few years since Ryan (my husband) posted on this blog and I'm happy to say he is back for a guest post. I recently sent him to a cooking class armed with the camera.. I never imagined he'd have SUCH a great time. Check it out:

Ever since a visit to Town Talk Diner in the summer of 2009, I have appreciated a great cocktail. Crystal and I bellied up to the bar that day with limited cocktail knowledge and a good appetite. Lucky for us, Nick Kosevich was ready to expand our knowledge of all things cocktail related while Chef Tommy Begnaud had some very tasty food items on the menu.

Bittercube bitters: Bolivar is the most versatile for an introduction to bitters

I could tell that Nick had a strong passion for creating perfect cocktails as he took us through a journey of handmade specialty bitters and liqueurs. Each vial of elixir was carefully stacked and sorted behind the bar. The level of satisfaction was unexpected as we enjoyed amazing cocktails crafted and explained to us by Nick and fantastic food prepared Chef Tommy.

Town Talk may have closed earlier this year, but the great cocktails and fantastic food live on. Nick joined forces with Ira Koplowitz, formerly of the Violet Hour in Chicago, to form Bittercube Bitters.

Drink legacy: Check!

Chef Tommy Begnaud is now the executive chef at Prairie Ale House in Eden Prairie where the brat burger lives.

Food legacy: Check!

As luck would have it, last week I was able to relive the summer of 2009 Town Talk experience at Kitchen in the Market. Crystal signed me up for Cocktails in the Market with Bittercube Bitters and I was instantly looking forward to the event.

The following is a sampling of the photos I snapped during the event, visit the Cafe Cyan facebook page here:

Nick and Ira create the opening cocktail: a raw sugar cube with a few drops of cherry bark vanilla bitters, topped with champagne, and a drop of orange bitters to finish.

Hand-created bitters add many complexities to this seemingly simple opening drink.

Chef Begnaud and sous chef Brian, team up to produce our first course of Citrus Cured Salmon. This dish was prepared using Bittercube orange bitters and paired nicely with the “Windsor Forrest #2” that contained Rehorst gin (1.75 oz), green chartreuse (.25 oz), fresh lime juice (.75 oz), simple syrup (.75 oz), and Bittercube orange bitters (15 drops). Combine all and shake…mmm.

This the finished Citris Cured Salmon, a very refreshing bite. I don’t have a picture of the “Windsor Forrest #2,” but you can see the one taken by Joy, of Eating the Mineapple here.

The next dish was Smoked Mushroom and Goat Cheese Strudel topped with a poached egg. Oh, did I mention the poached egg was fried?

After digging into our final dish, I took a sip of the “Ms. Cromwell.” This drink contained Roaring Dan’s Rum (2 oz), Fennel Pollen Honey Syrup (.25 oz), Bolivar Bitters (15 drops), and a rinse of Amerique 1912 Absinthe Rouge. It was stirred with ice, strained into the chilled Absinthe-rinsed glass, and garnished with a small lemon shaving. A refreshing end to the evening.

Nick, Ira, and Tommy entertained, informed, and all in attendance appeared to leave satisfied. This was a great time and I couldn't leave without getting a pack of six Bittercube bitters. Time to experiment!

Book Club Fare

2011-05-03T08:45:00.011-05:00

Last week, I hosted book club. We read The Help, by Kathryn Stockett and I couldn't put it down.

I put together my book club menu and posted it on the chalkboard:

And set up a card table in the living room for easy food access:

Since the book was set in the south, I wanted to make pimento cheese sandwiches. After learning that Kitchen in the Market was fresh out of pimento cheese, I gave it a try on my own and loved the results.

I spruced up a couple containers of Holy Land hummus with a sprinkle of feta cheese and chopped pimentos.

LindaLicious' olive tapenade (found at Kitchen in the Market) accompanied an assortment of crackers.

If you've read the book, you know that a scandalous chocolate pie is made. I couldn't resist making a "surprise" chocolate pie, using banana slices to line the pie crust.

What do you serve at your book club meetings?

Happy 5 Years of Blogging!

2011-05-01T08:50:00.003-05:00

A surprise arrived in my mailbox last week, hidden inside this magazine:

Cafe Cyan is listed as one of the "75 People, Places & Trends To Get You in the Know" in the May issue of Minneapolis St. Paul Magazine. (On newsstands now.)

What a great present to celebrate 5 years of blogging! Cheers!

Peanut Crusted Tofu with Broccoli & Soba

2011-04-29T15:37:00.001-05:00

I've recently enjoyed a couple of weeks of vacation after wrapping up early on a contract assignment. It perfectly coincided with Ryan's busy season ending, so we've had fun tooling around the Twin Cities and enjoying our new found free time. It is just what I needed before starting my next job in a few short days.

While most evenings were packed with activities, we did get a couple nights to experiment with recipes.

At a WWRC (Women Who Really Cook) meeting, a member who works for Bergin Fruit and Nut Company brought a few samples of their peanut meal for others to sample for free.

I grabbed a bag and started thinking of what I could make. Immediately I thought of coating tofu pieces in peanut meal to serve with broccoli and noodles. To keep the tofu crunchy and broccoli fresh, I tossed the noodles with peanut sauce, adding moisture to the dish.

Peanut Crusted Tofu with Broccoli and Soba
(serves 4)
Print Recipe

1 block extra-firm tofu, water packed
3 tsp Ener-G egg replacer + 1/4 cup water (or 1 beaten egg white)
1 cup peanut meal
1/4 cup canola oil
1 lb. broccoli
1 package buckwheat soba noodles

Peanut Sauce
1/4 cup natural peanut butter (I use crunchy)
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp lime juice
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp sriracha sauce

Drain and press tofu for 1 hour. Meanwhile, set up the coating station with peanut meal on one plate and whisked Ener-G and water (or egg white) on another plate. Once tofu is pressed, cut into bite-sized pieces and heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add canola oil.

Dip tofu into Ener-G mixture and then into peanut meal. Carefully place in hot skillet and repeat with remaining pieces, turning occasionally to brown all sides. Once evenly browned, remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain. Keep warm.

Cook soba noodles according to package directions. While noodles are cooking, steam the broccoli using your preferred method and make the peanut sauce. Combine all sauce ingredients and whisk together in a small saucepan. Heat to a simmer over medium heat and continue stirring until thickened. Toss with drained noodles and transfer to a serving dish. Top with steamed broccoli and crusted tofu.

Hot Pot Night

2011-04-22T14:46:00.003-05:00

Have you ever had hot pot? Me neither.

I didn't even know what it was until I wandered into Spoon and saw the back of their menu advertising hot pot. From what I gathered, it looked similar to fondue, but with a lot more ingredients. Turns out, it has existed in China for over one thousand years unlike fondue which only dates back to the 1950's.

This past weekend I got to experience hot pot for myself and it was fantastic!

First, you need a pot (a hot pot, duh):

It has a divider in it and sits on a hot plate. One side is a mushroom herb broth and the other side was a spicy broth. As the night went on, we added various greens and additional liquid as the levels got low.

My friend and his wife prepared 30 different dishes to cook in the hot pot that included things like oyster mushrooms, cuttlefish, short ribs, and tofu. I tried a little of everything (except for the pigs blood, gizzards and tripe), and loved the shrimp and clams, which took such little time to cook.

It was a fun group event that brightened up an otherwise cold and gloomy day. We spent the evening chatting, drinking wine, and convincing ourselves that despite our bulging bellies, we could eat just one more bite (which led to several more bites, of course).

Spoon - Apple Valley

2011-04-09T08:02:00.002-05:00

When I saw that a new restaurant had opened in Apple Valley, I got a bit geeked out. I came across a takeout menu in a store and started highlighting all the things we'd likely eat, a habit of mine when it comes to new restaurants. I was so excited that I decided we had to try it that night.

Spoon, a Vietnamese restaurant, is a great fit for our takeout needs. The first time we ordered from there, we were awed by the Lemongrass Tofu. The tofu had a nice texture and the lemongrass sauce was refreshingly fragrant. I only wish I had taken a picture!

I also ordered taro bubble tea, which was made to order. I have a feeling I might be stopping for dessert more often.

The second time ordering from Spoon proved to be a tad less awesome. We tried an order of orange chicken and while good, the accompanying vegetables looked a little drab.

The tofu lo mein was insanely greasy. You can't see it in this picture, but there was a puddle of grease under the noodles. Bummer!

Two slightly underwhelming dishes isn't enough to make me swear off the place. I'm still eager to go back and get more melt-in-your-mouth wontons and try the Singapore Noodles or maybe some dim sum on the weekend.

Spoon Restaurant

14871 Granada Avenue

Apple Valley, MN 55124

(952) 891-2668

http://www.spoonfusioncuisine.com/

*warning, music plays on the site

Standby Snack: Chips and Guac

2011-04-07T07:41:00.000-05:00

Guacamole is typically my standby snack. Since I often have avocados on hand, all I have to do is brush a few corn tortillas with oil, cut them into triangles and bake for 12 minutes.

Voila, snack time.

Usually, I add a dash of Worcestershire sauce and green Tabasco to mashed avocados with diced shallot, cilantro, tomato, lime juice, and salt. It doesn't really matter if I'm missing many of these ingredients - avocados are great on their own too!

Black Cherry Balsamic Vinaigrette

2011-04-05T08:42:00.004-05:00

Since I've been working outside my home office for the last couple months, I've become more aware of how long meals take so I seek out quicker ones that still pack nutrients.

Ever since I first tried this Soy-Lime Tofu recipe from Eating Well , I've wanted to make it again and again. It is quite easy to make ahead of time and store in the fridge for later use. Since I marinated and baked the tofu on the weekend, we were able to throw together a quick salad using spinach, nectarines, dried cherries, and blue cheese crumbles. What made this salad especially awesome was the black cherry balsamic vinaigrette for a fruity and sweet dressing.

I picked up a bottle of black cherry balsamic vinegar from The Olive Grove in Mendota Heights and I just love it. Any flavor would work in this dressing, but black cherry is my flavor of the moment.

Black Cherry Balsamic Vinaigrette

(makes 1 cup)

1/4 cup black cherry balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

This also works as a side salad for a main dish, just omit the tofu.

Stone Beer Cheese Soup

2011-04-03T18:13:00.002-05:00

These weeks need to stop flying by! I suppose it's my own fault for cramming one activity or another into every hour of the day, but still, ugh. It seems like just yesterday that I made the beer cheese soup, but in reality, it was over a week ago. Luckily, time doesn't fade the deliciousness of gooey cheese mixed with a kick of beer.

At least there were 3 cups of vegetables (onion, celery and parsnip) pureed in the soup to combat the cheddar, blue cheese, and heavy cream.

Given that the Stone Ruination could have been too bitter and I preferred to drink as much of the smoked porter as I could, I decided that the Stone Cali-Belgique would be the best in the soup.

I've never made beer cheese soup before, so I got the recipe from a fellow blogger friend, Food for my Family, who got it from Emeril. The soup was quite easy to make, but did take an hour to simmer, which had me running late for dinner.

Popcorn makes the best topping in my opinion; make sure you serve it on the side and add just a few pieces at a time for a bit of crispiness. Everyone really liked the soup except for my 3 year old niece. Instead, she just filled up on popcorn, which wasn't much of a surprise. I'd make the soup again, but it really isn't the healthiest. I suppose l'll have to find a healthier way to cook with beer. Until then...enjoy this sinful soup:

Beer Cheese Soup
(serves 4-6)

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped parsnip
3 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups vegetable stock
12 ounces Stone Brewery Cali-Belgique IPA
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon cracked pepper
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar
3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
Freshly popped popcorn, for garnish

Heat oil over low heat in a large pot, add vegetables and cover. Cook vegetables for 10 minutes until soft, stirring occasionally so they don’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Add garlic and cook for one minute. Add flour slowly, stirring after each ¼ cup to remove any lumps. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Using a whisk, add vegetable stock and beer, bay leaf, cayenne pepper and cracked pepper.

Slowly bring to a boil, watching carefully. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, one hour. Remove bay leaf. Using an immersion blender or a regular blender in batches, puree the soup until smooth. Return to pot and stir in heavy cream. Slowly stir in cheese, allowing time in between additions for soup to come back up to temperature. Add salt and additional pepper to taste. Top with freshly popped popcorn.

Disclosure: The beer used in the soup was sent to me by Stone Brewing Company. I was not obligated to write a post.

Stone Brewing Company - The Brews

2011-03-28T08:17:00.000-05:00

I wouldn't call myself a big beer drinker because I don't settle for just any beer. Instead, I prefer craft or specialty brews and lucky for me, craft brews are all the rage right now. Ryan and I have tried many beers here at home and out at bars and restaurants and found that we both prefer dark beers such as porters and stouts.

Recently, I learned that a brewery from San Diego, Stone Brewing Company, planned to launch in the Minnesota marketplace. They sure know how to make a splash with over twenty events/tastings planned for this week, otherwise known as "Stone Week". I got my hands on three of their beers before the official launch and couldn't wait to try them with my beer brewing brother-in-law.

First, I got a beer cheese soup going on the stove using the Cali-Belgique IPA. Since it required an hour of simmering time, that gave us ample opportunity to sample the beers.

The Cali-Belgique IPA was sweet and light in the mouth providing citrus notes and a little bite. Since most of this bottle went into the soup, we only got mini tasting glasses and enjoyed our taste.

Next up was the Stone Ruination IPA. Considering the name and the IBUs (International Bitter Units) of over 100, we were slightly intimidated by the possible bitterness. Turns out we had nothing to worry about. While it is bitter, it is quite smooth with well balanced hops, perfect for hopheads according to my brother-in-law. With an alcohol content of 7.7%, it's sure to get your head buzzed quickly.

I was most thrilled for the Stone Smoked Porter because I love smoked beers and porters and this one exuded smokiness from the moment I cracked it open. Dark in color, but light in taste, it had a nice creaminess that left "legs" up and down my glass (either that or my glass wasn't squeaky clean).

The beers from Stone Brewing Company were fantastic and I can't wait to try some more varieties…I wonder if I can get my hands on the Kona Coffee, Macadamia Coconut Porter. The three I tasted are standard year round releases, making them quite accessible at the liquor store. Check out the events and get a taste for yourself.

Tomorrow I'll talk about the wonderful beer cheese soup I made using Stone Brewing beer.

Disclosure: The beers tasted here were sent to me by Stone Brewing Company. I was not obligated to write a post and all opinions are my own (with the help of my tasting partners, Ryan and Danny).

Work Snack: Popcorn

2011-03-23T13:19:00.000-05:00

One of the cool things about the company I'm working for right now is that they have a real popcorn maker.

That means no one is going around making stinky microwave popcorn. Instead the hall fills up with the aroma of freshly popped corn which starts the flow of employees to the break room.

At first, I wasn't really sure on the rules and had some questions. Was it only to be popped on certain days? Was there a designated "popcorn captain"?

Luckily, I ran into a couple people who work on the marketing team that gave me the scoop:

Popcorn can be popped any day at any time and while there aren't designated "popcorn captains", there are certain people especially skilled in popcorn making. One must take special care to not burn the kernels or else our nostrils pay the price for the rest of the day.

A good popcorn maker will make at least 3 batches as to not disappoint those who are late to detect the popcorn aroma (likely those furthest from the break room).

A coffee filter is an excellent vessel for carrying the maximum amount of popcorn back to your desk.

Considering my love of popcorn, this is a really nice perk to have at work, especially when a snack is needed in the mid-afternoon.

Think Pink!

2011-03-20T20:28:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we had a baby shower for my youngest sister, Amy, who will be adding the first girl baby to the family after a string of three boys. My other sister, Jill, handled pretty much all of the planning and did an excellent job.

Of course there was a lot of pink:

I was in charge of making a pink punch.

Which was a mixture of ginger ale, Hawaiian Punch, pineapple juice, and raspberry sherbet. Yum!

I also made fruit salad.

And per Amy's request: Chex mix.

The mom-to-be was very happy to be surrounded by friends and family.

I'm still in shock that my baby sister is having a baby of her own. Crazy how time flies!

Competition Pizza Bites

2011-03-10T08:38:00.004-06:00

So, I got schooled. Yep, my own husband outshined me in the art of making pizza bites, making his so dang good that I shouldn't ever try making them myself again. Sure, I made the dough, bought all the ingredients, and gave him the recipe, but still, he executed it so surprisingly well that I may have to rethink my role as pizza captain in our household.

Again, we used the recipe from Chaos in the Kitchen, but made our own dough with the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day method and stuffed the dough with little pearl mozzarella balls.

Let's check out the photo evidence of his great job.

His Pizza Bites - nice and golden and even in size.

My Pizza Bites - browned in spots and unevenly fit into the pan.

His with a nice crispy crust with gooey cheese inside.

Mine - a bit flat.

Mine were good, but a bit doughy and dense. His were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside with a pocket full of steamy melted cheese, just how pizza should be: crisp, hot and cheesy. I'll leave Ryan in charge in the future and use cake pans instead of pie plates.

Chow Fun with Hot & Smoky Tofu

2011-03-08T10:20:00.000-06:00

Last week I made a bunch of black bean burritos for quick meals (which worked out well, by the way) and I also made something else: an extra dinner. Knowing it would be good hot or cold, I stir-fried a big pan of Chow Fun with Hot and Smoky Tofu, another successful recipe from Very Vegetarian.

It's full of onions, mushrooms and carrots:

Along with baked tofu and broccolini florets:

To make for excellent leftovers:

I stole a few bites while I was making it and loved the sweet and salty combo from hoisin, ginger and soy, but felt it needed a little heat so I added sriracha to perfect the heat level.

Try making your favorite stir-fry on Sunday and package up leftovers for lunches throughout the week.

New Restaurant - The Herb Box

2011-03-06T13:58:00.000-06:00

The Eden Prairie crowd is getting another new eating establishment. First, Smashburger opened and then the more healthful Herb Box set up shop inside the doors of Lifetime Fitness, replacing Zahtar run by David Fhima.

I ate at The Herb Box last week and here are three things I liked:

I love mac & cheese and this smoked gouda mac & cheese had all the right elements of creamy and crunchy using toasted breadcrumbs scattered over the top for good contrast.

Red velvet pancakes with whipped mascarpone crème and gran marnier syrup won me over, but as a dessert since I’m not a fan of sweets for breakfast. They were light and fluffy and the fresh fruit, crème and syrup made them especially unique.

The Herb Box uses refreshing citrus flavors in a lot of the menu items, so it is no surprise that the apple and frisee slaw would be dressed with orange vinaigrette.

Open for brunch on weekends along with lunch and dinner every day. The Herb Box is too far from my house to visit on a regular basis, but those who frequent the Eden Prairie Lifetime Fitness are quite lucky to have easy access to it throughout the day.

Disclosure: I attended a blogger event at The Herb Box where they hosted a complimentary menu tasting.

Kitchen in the Market - Now Open!

2011-03-01T08:45:00.029-06:00

Being surrounded by creative people is really quite motivating. New ideas are around every corner and while some ideas just float on by, other ideas stick and yield fantastic results. Such is the case with Kitchen in the Market, a shared commercial kitchen space complete with a retail outlet and an area for cooking classes and demos housed in Midtown Global Market.

I swung by last week to check out the space during the VIP grand opening party and to support my friends (and Kitchen in the Market owners), Tracy Morgan and Molly Herrmann. First order of business? The cookie says it all:

The chefs who share the kitchen were on hand to provide food samples and answer questions about their products. Chef Beth Fisher and Caroline Glawe make up Two Food/Wine/Design and were sampling their organic egg salad topped with habanero jam (the jam can be purchased in the retail corner of the kitchen).

They also made this lovely buttermilk panna cotta with tangy blackberries.

Tastebud Tart chef and owner, Molly Herrmann, made fancy honey coated butternut squash coins, topping them with a spritz of goat cheese.

We also got to tour the kitchen space, drink a glass (or three) of champagne, and watch a gluten-free salmon cake demo put on by Jennifer Geisheker of Roving Dish.

Tracy Morgan & Jennifer Geisheker

I was really impressed by the new Kitchen in the Market space and can't wait to check out a class. They even have kids cooking classes, which would be fun for my nephew. Stop by and check it out for yourself - it's in the southeast corner of the market.

Read what others have to say about Kitchen in the Market here:

CityPages
Joel's Views
Simple Good & Tasty
Star Tribune

Black Bean Burritos with Mushroom & Onion

2011-02-27T16:35:00.001-06:00

The last week just flew by! I think it was because I had something going on every evening starting with the Best of the Best Party on Monday night, continuing with an awesome Morcheeba concert on Wednesday (thanks, Ryan, for winning tickets), and ending with the Kitchen in the Market party on Thursday.

This next week will be another busy one beginning with a dinner meeting at The Marsh, a menu sampling at The Herb Box and rounding out with several birthday celebrations for Ryan involving Restaurant Week at Barbette and D'Amico Date Night at Café Lurcat. Should be a fun time!

Since home cooking isn't too likely next week and I can't count on leftovers from my restaurant outings, I put together some black bean burritos for a quick grab and go option. I didn't do anything fancy, but here are some simple instructions.

Black Bean Burritos
(serves 6)

1 tsp olive oil
1 red onion , diced
8 oz. cremini (baby portobello) mushrooms, diced
1 15 oz. can Kueners Southwestern black beans with cumin & chili spices, undrained
6 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded
6 French Meadow sprouted grain tortillas

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add red onion and cremini mushrooms and saute until onion is translucent and mushrooms have released all their liquid. Add black beans and stir until heated through.

Spoon 1/2 cup black bean mixture onto the lower third of the tortilla. Add one ounce of shredded cheddar cheese. Fold in sides and bottom and roll tortilla into a burrito shape. Wrap in foil and store in refrigerator. When ready to eat, place in a 375° oven for 15-20 minutes or unwrap foil and heat in the microwave. Serve with sour cream and salsa.

Smashburger Sneak Peek in Eden Prairie

2011-02-14T19:26:00.000-06:00

Earlier this month, I was invited to a sneak peek of the new Smashburger in Eden Prairie. Now, you wouldn't expect that I'd get excited about a burger joint opening (especially with the explosion of burger places in the last year and my lack of burger eating), but I was excited for another reason - it is close to Ryan's work. Even though he brings his own lunch, it is nice to know what options exist for when he needs to escape the office.

Ryan and I met up at the new Eden Prairie location and were instructed to try everything, and we started with the black bean burger, which turned out to be Ryan's favorite. The black bean patty is made in house and can be served in any style, just like their other burgers. We went for the Baja style: pepperjack cheese, guacamole, fresh jalapenos, and chipotle mayo, which paired perfectly with the cumin seasoned patty.

My PR friend urged us to try the new grilled cheese sandwiches, so we chose Swiss, spinach and mushroom. The bread was nicely toasted and had a hint of salt on the outside, just how I make my grilled cheese sandwiches at home! Plus, the spinach and mushrooms were abundant so I didn't feel like it was just cheese and bread.

I got to sample all of the sides and would say the Smashfries coated with rosemary and garlic were certainly my favorite.

The best item of the night was the Sin City Burger. It's not on the menu, but ask and you shall receive a totally sinful burger topped with smoked bacon, grilled onions, cheese, Smashsauce and a fried egg. Nope, it's not good for you at all, which is probably why I couldn't put it down. Each city has their own signature burger and ours is the Twin Cities Burger, a take on a juicy lucy, but it just wasn't as delicious as the Sin City Burger.

I think I used up all my gluttony points on this visit, so next time I vow to stick with the black bean burger and a side salad :)

Disclosure: This was a sneak peek event in which the food is provided at no cost. While free food can't pay my mortgage, it can fill me up for dinner.

Tofu Florentine

2011-02-13T19:02:00.000-06:00

Can you believe this warm-up we're experiencing here in the Twin Cities? I ran some errands today wearing just the fleece inside of my winter coat - heck yeah! I know it's something that won't last, I mean, come on, we live in Minnesota, but, days like this give us some hope for spring.

On the home front, I prepped some food and planned out meals for next week. Since I recently started a short-term contract back in the corporate world, I found that I'll have to use my weekends wisely by squeezing in as much prep as possible. I made sun-dried tomato hummus, dough from Artisan Bread in 5, and cut up a bunch of veggies for snacks. I also tested recipes for a friend's cookbook, so I have some baked goods for breakfast and/or lunch.

One of my favorite meals to make when I have some extra time has to be Tofu Florentine from Veganomican. There are so many steps: press and broil tofu, boil and fry potatoes, steam spinach & whisk together cheesy sauce, but I think I have the process down so I can move quickly through the steps. It takes up a lot of pots and pans, but this dish is so worth it! If you like to cook vegan and don't have this cookbook, run out and get it now.

From the "diner fries" to the steamed spinach, every bite is delicious. I might have to start making a double batch of cheesy sauce (loaded with nutritional yeast) since I smother everything with it. Yum!

Have You Tried Opal Apples?

2011-02-08T17:51:00.000-06:00

I’m pretty tired of the apples I’ve been buying lately. It seems that either they are mushy or the core is rotted. Plus, apples aren’t cheap!

You can imagine my delight when I came across the Opal apple at Byerly’s. I almost didn’t buy it because it was $2.99 a pound and the apple itself was a good pound, but I’m not one to resist new foods regardless of price. In doing some research, I found that while it was discovered in Europe in the late 90’s, it was just released in the American market earlier this year.

At home, I cut it into slices and was amazed at the slight banana flavor of this apple – how unique! Plus, it was juicy and crispy, hitting the spot immediately.

Have you seen Opal apples at the store? Tried them? What did you think?

Fruitful Labor in Recipe Development

2011-02-07T11:02:00.001-06:00

Last spring when I was hiking (and eating) my way around Phoenix, I received a message from Betty Crocker that confirmed that I was on the right path in my food career. After being laid off from my corporate job (that I loved) in February 2009, I decided to take a break from my traditional career and venture into my passions: food and sharing with others.

Some people thought I was crazy, but the people who really know me thought it was the perfect choice. Despite being laid off, I never stopped working. Work just morphed into another form where I traded business casual wear for jeans and conference calls for networking lunches and restaurant openings.

Within a few weeks of being laid off, I started blogging for WCCO-TV (our local CBS affiliate) and then picked up projects as a recipe tester for Robin Asbell's vegan cookbook, a restaurant feature writer for Twin Cities Food Finds, and a blogger for the City Pages Hot Dish column. All the while, I kept trying to meet new people to become further immersed in food and media culture.

Photo Credit: General Mills website

One of my goals was to learn more about the recipe development and testing process. So, when I received a call from Betty Crocker asking me to develop recipes for an upcoming Bisquick magazine, I jumped at the chance. As soon as I returned from Phoenix, I got to work researching, developing, testing and tweaking recipes until the project was complete. Then I waited…and waited...until the magazine came out last month.

Finally, I can talk about Open-Face Egg Salad Sandwiches:

…and Pear and Cranberry Fruit Pizza:

…and a whole ton of other recipes like Chopped Vegetable Pancakes and Impossibly Easy Ravioli Pie! Grab a copy at the grocery store (near the checkout) or in the magazine racks of your local bookstore. Heck, I've even seen copies at CVS or Walgreens. It will be on shelves until February 15th.

It was a wonderful project and I'm so grateful for the opportunity. I can only hope more projects like this will be in my future; I can't wait to see what happens!

Four Courses at Haute Dish

2011-02-03T13:52:00.000-06:00

After my great dinner of lobster on Friday night, I headed over to The Inn (the former Subo restaurant in downtown Minneapolis) for a birthday hour. I was there for quite some time as I was served a hefty but delicious bourbon drink and needed some time to sip it.

The group I was with decided it was time to "break some stuff" to which I responded timidly, "but.. I don't like to break things". Turns out they were simply talking about keeping the party rolling by heading over to Haute Dish. Whew!

Since I was with a bunch of food lovers (including a chef, an author, and a food writer), the best way to explore the menu was by diving straight in, sampling all four courses. I only snapped a few pictures of the first course (with my little point and shoot), but let me assure you that we tried a good portion of the menu.

I was pretty surprised that a restaurant served a plate of cottage cheese, but it was certainly the best cottage cheese I've ever had. Topped with charred grapefruit segments, slices of fennel, and candied hazelnuts, I never knew cottage cheese could be so fancy.

Poached eggs are all the rage, heck, eggs in general are all the rage as evidenced in the poached egg salad, steak and eggs, and pigs in a blanket (served over scrambled eggs). Check out the fantastic photos on the Haute Dish website - mine hardly do the restaurant any justice.

I wasn't a big fan of the pigs in a blanket or the fried chicken (a bit too salty for me), but I did appreciate the fun twists Chef Landon Schoenefeld used in his creations. Crushed Cheetos served as a garnish on a tender veal dish and the Minnesota staple of tater tot hot dish was truly redefined as haute food.

The array of sorbets for the fourth course were also wonderful with my favorite being the passion fruit sorbet. Luckily, it went relatively untouched by the rest of the table, so I happily finished it off.

Most of the menu is pretty meat heavy, so between this dinner and the sneak peek of Smashburger (to be discussed in another post), I certainly exceeded my normal meat intake. Since I usually focus on healthier veggie based foods, I'm expecting my digestive system to repair itself quickly.

Have you been to Haute Dish? What did you try? Did you get a chance to check out the vegetarian tasting menu when it was offered?

Lobster Anyone?

2011-02-02T11:05:00.001-06:00

If I had updated my Facebook status on Friday night, it would have been one of those over-joyous and bordering-on-annoying updates, so instead I saved my excitement for the blog and went to bed.

Now, I should admit that I ate not one, but two dinners on Friday night. Indulgent? You bet! Especially because my evening started with lobster.

This fall I visited the Smack Shack with some girlfriends and we swooned over the lobster roll and shrimp po' boy, vowing to return when the food trucks hit the streets again. Check out that lovely sandwich would ya?

Well, I didn't have to wait until summer as Smack Shack has taken over the kitchen at the 1029 Bar in Northeast Minneapolis serving up succulent lobster creations Wednesday through Saturday. On this particular evening, they were putting on a lobster boil. Yep, a lobster boil in the middle of winter in Minnesota…and they had so much fun that they did it again the next night! For $20 you can get all of this:

I strapped on my bib (yes, bibs were provided) and pried open the lobster with some help from Josh Thoma, considering I had no clue where or how to start (apparently, aggressiveness is key). The lobster was extremely good on it's own, but I'm a total butter fan, so of course I dipped a few pieces in butter for good measure. Served alongside the lobster was a surprisingly fresh tasting ear of corn, a piece of sausage and some hearty red skinned mashed potatoes. Yum! I'm totally going back soon - can't wait!

Watch their Facebook page for notifications on events like this. Spots fill up quickly, so sign up right away if you can.

Coming soon…dinner #2.

Disclosure: I received my meal for free as part of the press, but was not required to write about the experience. I chose to because seriously, it's darn good lobster and I'll be back!

Corner Table's Vine Dining

2011-01-29T19:47:00.004-06:00

If you are into the local restaurant scene or follow the farm-to-table movement, chances are you've heard of Chef Scott Pampuch. As the owner and executive chef of Corner Table in South Minneapolis and founder of Tour de Farm, it's no surprise that Chef Pampuch looks to local farms for inspiration in his dishes.

I was lucky enough to be invited to a Muir Glen dinner event (thanks, Kate!) hosted by Corner Table and was thrilled to attend. I recall reading about Scott Pampuch's partnership with Muir Glen in Foodservice News a few months ago and thought his rationale was totally acceptable. Really, who am I to judge? I also recently partnered with General Mills on a project (more to come on that in a later post), but I still value eating fresh and local when possible.

Anyway, onto the fabulous dinner! The focus of the meal was to highlight special hand-harvested canned tomatoes by Muir Glen called Meridan Ruby and Chef Pampuch did it extremely well.

The evening started with plenty of wine along with a couple passed appetizers like fire-roasted tomato soup paired with mini grilled gouda sandwiches and tomato tarts topped with Northern Lites blue cheese. I'm a sucker for a good tomato soup and thought this one was the best that I've had. The added flavor of caramelized carrots and rutabagas combined with smoky fire-roasted tomatoes probably had a lot to do with the success.

The first course seemed simple, but of course, was quite complex. Tender pieces of pasta were stuffed with sofrito and served with Amatriciana pasta sauce offering little bites of pork and some kick from crushed peppers.

The second course was a take on the traditional hamburger, using lamb instead of beef, ditching the bun, and creating a tomato gastrique (think ketchup) out of the strained tomato juices. No waste here! I also enjoyed the housemade mustard, pickle relish, and tomato salt made from dehydrated tomatoes.

Creating a dessert using tomatoes can't be easy, but tomato sorbet was the right way to go. Full of tomato flavors and hit with a bit of salt, this light sorbet was a great match for the dense olive oil cake.

If Scott Pampuch can make canned tomatoes taste this good, I can only imagine what he can do with fresh produce. This dinner not only enticed me to try Meridian Ruby tomatoes on my own, but also enticed me to rush back to Corner Table to explore more of Chef Pampuch's creations.

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Disclosure: This dinner was a press/promotional event sponsored by Muir Glen. All thoughts are my own and I was not required to write anything about it.

Barley Minestrone Soup

2011-01-26T08:08:00.001-06:00

I ate dinner at a friend’s house recently and gasped when she threw away the end rind of parmesan cheese. As a responsible and savvy foodie, I told her that next time she should stick it in her freezer for future use in soups and stews. I’m sure she thought I was crazy, but it’s something that I swear adds a hint of saltiness and depth while the dish simmers.

See the Parmesan rind in there?

Take this minestrone soup for example. Sure, it’s chock-full of vegetables, beans, and barley, but since I didn’t use any bacon or pancetta, it can lack some saltiness that can’t be replaced with just kosher salt. To replace that depth, I throw in a rind of Parmesan while the soup simmers which improves the flavors immensely. I’ve been making this soup for years and it’s a great way to get a lot of veggies and fiber.

Barley Minestrone Soup
Adapted from Fine Cooking – Fresh 2006
(serves 4)

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cups green cabbage, roughly chopped
1 cup onion, diced
½ cup carrot, sliced into ¼-inch half moons
¼ cup celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 quart low-sodium vegetable broth
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2-inch piece of Parmesan cheese rind
½ cup quick cooking barley
1 cup kidney beans, rinsed and drained
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper

Heat the oil in a heavy 6-quart pot over medium heat. Add the cabbage, onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables begin to soften, about 10 minutes. Add broth, tomatoes with their juices, rosemary, Parmesan cheese rind, ½ tsp salt and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Add the quick-cooking barley and kidney beans; simmer an additional 10 minutes. Remove rosemary sprig and Parmesan rind. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve with slices of crusty bread.

Oatmeal Packets

2011-01-25T15:13:00.001-06:00

As if the dark days of winter could be any darker, the busy time at Ryan’s job (aka “busy season”) is upon us. That means he spends most of his day at work looking at spreadsheets, numbers, and complicated calculations. Ugh.

That also means it’s time for me to step it up in the food department and make sure he has plenty of healthy snacks and meals to keep his brain going until April. Instead of stocking his desk with crackers and cookies, I figured oatmeal packets would be a healthier and more substantial choice.

While I usually buy thick rolled oats, I had some free coupons for quick cooking oats that I put to use in these packets. First, I made oatmeal powder by putting 1 cup oats in my coffee grinder and blending until powdered, which help the oat mixture thicken when cooked.

Then, I put the following in sandwich bags:

¼ cup quick cooking oats
2 tbsp powdered oats
1 tbsp wheat germ or ground flaxseed
1 tbsp maple sugar or brown sugar
1 tbsp soy protein powder
2 tbsp dried fruit (mixed berries, raisins, pineapple, etc.)
1 tbsp nuts (walnuts, pecans, slivered almonds)
1 tbsp shredded unsweetened coconut (optional)
1/8 tsp cinnamon

Each bag has something slightly different. Some have shredded coconut, some don’t (but a pineapple, coconut, and pecan combo is quite tasty). Some have maple sugar, some have brown sugar. I really tried to mix it up.

Now, all he has to do is add ¾ cup boiling water, stir, and let sit for 2 minutes. Or, he can add 2/3 cup water (or milk) and microwave it for a minute or two.

Voila!

Pizza Bites

2011-01-11T15:37:00.000-06:00

I’ve posted about pizza numerous times, but that’s only because it is one of my favorite foods. If it didn’t make such an impact on my waistline, I’d eat pizza every single day. So, it’s no surprise that I am attracted to all forms of pizza; most recently pizza bites from the blog Chaos in the Kitchen.

These were really easy to make because I had a pound of Artisan Bread’s European peasant loaf (mix of whole wheat, rye and white flours) in the fridge. Next time I’d use white pizza dough to improve the flavor, but this dough worked well in a pinch.

I stuffed my bites with sautéed peppers and onions along with mozzarella (be sure to use the cubes – much easier to work with compared to shredded) and dipped them in a pre-made spaghetti sauce. They were so good that we ate almost the whole pan!

Since I’m still tweaking my recipe, hop on over to Chaos in the Kitchen for her recipe and enjoy this fun food as an appetizer or for dinner. I'm excited to make this with my nephews next time they visit.

Butternut Squash & Ricotta Pasta

2011-01-07T09:42:00.000-06:00

As the main cook and meal planner in our house, sometimes it gets a little overwhelming to have full responsibility of this portion of our life. Since most of our meals are homemade, it can mean a lot of planning and cooking. Don’t get me wrong – 99% of the time I LOVE it, but there are some days where I don’t want to pick the meal and I don’t want to make it. Ryan used to help out more, but having me stand over his shoulder telling him what he could do differently apparently wasn’t the best motivator (sorry, babe).

Lately, Ryan has decided to step back into the kitchen and has cranked out some wonderful meals, all while I stayed far, far away from the kitchen (well, as far away as you can in a townhouse). I had already picked out several dinners for this week, so Ryan weighed the options and decided upon this pasta dish from Urban Drivel. I loved his rationale too: it would make good leftovers for his lunch and the leftover ricotta we had was nearing its expiration date. Smart guy!

While I worked upstairs, I was treated to the great scents of the meal like crushed fresh rosemary, minced garlic and roasted butternut squash. Before I knew it, Ryan called out, “Ten minutes until dinner!”

And the meal? It was delicious! He also served a little arugula salad with vinaigrette on the side to add some green to the plate. I can’t wait to ask the question, “What’s for dinner?” again soon.

Pasta with Butternut Squash and Ricotta
Adapted from Weight Watchers via Urban Drivel
(serves 4)

1 ½ lbs. butternut squash, fresh, peeled and cubed
8 oz. uncooked whole-wheat pasta, penne or shells work well
1 ¼ cup skim milk
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tsp minced garlic
½ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp black pepper, freshly ground, or to taste
1 tbsp rosemary, fresh, chopped, divided
½ cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup chopped walnuts, toasted

Preheat oven to 375°. Coat a baking sheet and a 3-quart baking dish with cooking spray.

Place squash on prepared baking sheet; roast until tender, about 20 to 30 minutes. Place in a large bowl and mash.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. After squash has been roasting for about 10 minutes, cook pasta according to package directions; drain and return to pot.

In a medium saucepan, whisk together milk, flour, garlic, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking frequently; reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring often, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in mashed squash and 2 ½ teaspoons of rosemary. Add sauce to pasta; toss to mix and coat.

Transfer pasta mixture to prepared baking dish; dot with spoonfuls of ricotta and then sprinkle with Parmesan and walnuts. Bake until top is lightly browned in a few spots, about 15 to 20 minutes; remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining ½ teaspoon of rosemary.

Olive & Cheese Crackers - What Next?

2011-01-05T15:49:00.001-06:00

Not too long ago, I tweeted this in reference to a blog post I enjoyed:

Ask and you shall receive, right? Lucky me, I received 5 cookbooks for Christmas this year and couldn’t wait to dig in.

I was really excited about Gourmet Game Night, a finger-foods cookbook I came across in a friend’s wedding registry. Determined to make something before she could crack the cover, I scoured my kitchen and found the necessary ingredients for Olive and Cheese Crackers.

Since I often buy food items I don’t quite need (yet), it was pretty easy to find a jar of pimento-stuffed olives, 2 sticks of butter, sharp cheddar, cayenne, salt and flour. The crackers were really yummy (duh, they are filled with butter and cheese), but I feel like they need something else...

I still have a ton of dough to bake, so help a blogger out. Should I turn them into sandwich crackers with some sort of filling (maybe with jalapenos) or create a dip/spread to serve them with?

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T17:51:00.002-06:00

I’ve been enjoying a nice vacation for the past week and even had my computer turned OFF most of the time (which, judging by the heat level of my laptop, I don’t do often enough). Our Christmas was enjoyable, but a little off kilter due to a few family members being sick and not able to join us. Everything went by so quickly that I’m enjoying this much needed time off. Ryan also took a few days off, so we’ve been watching movies, playing Donkey Kong Country Returns (awesome game – get it!), and not really cooking at all (weird, I know).

As per usual, New Year’s Day will be spent listening to the Top 89 songs of 2010 on The Current. I turn on the radio starting at 10:00am and don’t turn it off until the #1 song has been played. Listeners pick their top 10 songs and here are mine in no particular order along with You Tube links for the songs.

The Chemical Brothers | Another World (Further)
Atmosphere | The Best Day (To All My Friends...: The Atmosphere EPs)
Vampire Weekend | Cousins (Contra)
Sleigh Bells | Crown On The Ground (Treats)
LCD Soundsystem | Dance Yrself Clean (This Is Happening)
The Dead Weather | Die By The Drop (Sea of Cowards)
Florence And The Machine | Dog Days Are Over (Lungs)
Phoenix | Lasso (Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix)
Solid Gold | One In A Million (Synchronize)
Malachai | Snowflake (Ugly Side Of Love)

It was really tough to pick only 10 songs, but I think this is a good representation of what songs really speak to me and get me moving.

Happy New Year!

*Every year the countdown has been a New Year’s Day treat. This year, The Current decided to play the countdown starting at 5pm on New Year’s Eve and REPLAY it on New Year’s Day. I’m still a bit irked about this change in tradition, so I’m ignoring the NYE countdown and pretending it only exists on New Year’s Day :)

Here We Snow Again!

2010-12-20T16:42:00.001-06:00

Since we’re facing yet another snow day, I figured it would be a good time to share my cooking endeavors from our last snow day (just over a week ago). I can’t say I made super healthy foods, but rather feel-good foods. I really need to work out after all these snow days…

Salted Pumpkin Seed Brittle

I’ve always wanted to make brittle, so after finding this recipe on The Kitchn, I decided to modify it by using toasted pumpkin seeds.

Press quickly into the pan!

Work quickly when pressing it into a pan and for an extra flavor component, press some sea salt on top too. This recipe made a lot of brittle, so we were able to share with friends at a family gathering.

Crostini with Roasted Grape Tomatoes and Goat Cheese

I really wanted to make some appetizers, so I picked up a baguette, puff pastry, cheese, and grape tomatoes from Trader Joe’s and went to work in the kitchen. Starting with the tomatoes, I made a nice bite-sized appetizer.

Crostini with Roasted Grape Tomatoes and Goat Cheese
(adapted from Food & Wine)

1 small baguette, sliced into ½-inch slices
4 oz. goat cheese, softened
2 pints grape tomatoes
3 garlic cloves, smashed
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus 1/3 cup
1 sprig rosemary
1 sprig oregano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400°. In a glass baking dish, combine grape tomatoes, smashed garlic, salt, and pepper with 1 tablespoon olive oil and toss well. Roast for 20 minutes or until skin starts to shrivel.

Meanwhile, combine 1/3 cup olive oil, rosemary, and oregano in a large bowl. Remove roasted tomatoes from oven and add to bowl. Stir gently and let stand 30 minutes.

Reduce oven to 350°. Arrange baguette slices on a cookie sheet and toast for 10 minutes or until crisp. To serve, spread goat cheese on baguette slices and top with tomatoes and infused oil.

Brie, mushrooms, and raspberry jam wrapped in puff pastry.

Next, I wrapped puff pastry around brie cheese, sautéed mushrooms and onions, and raspberry jam. It was baked at 400° until lightly browned on top and served with fresh fruit.

Chili Cheese & Mushroom Bites

I had one sheet of puff pastry left over so I made little appetizer cups filled with chiles, sautéed mushrooms, onions, cheddar, and Swiss.

Chocolate Pudding Pie

And I couldn’t help but make another dessert: chocolate pudding pie with a homemade pie crust.

Of course, there was plenty of champagne to go with all that food and make the day just a tad more enjoyable. Nom nom.

Holiday Wishes...with Coffee!

2010-12-14T19:53:00.001-06:00

The holiday cards have started to arrive. It began with my best friend’s mom sending us a card. A wave of panic swept through me as I thought about the status of our own holiday cards. I opened the envelope and my panic started to subside. I remember thinking, “Whew, it’s a Thanksgiving card, I still have PLENTY of time to make our holiday cards.”

Flash forward a few weeks and I have abandoned the thought of making our own cards, ruled out buying Hallmark type cards, and turned to the internet so I could create a card without hours of effort. I remembered a few invitations I received this summer were printed on cardstock and made by Shutterfly, so that was my first and only stop.

I also got thinking about what a Café Cyan holiday card would look like and since I cannot send you each a custom gift or a photo recipe calendar, I could put together a holiday card online!

So there you have it, my holiday wishes to you with a little side of coffee.

Disclaimer: I wrote about, mentioned, and linked to Shutterfly.com because of an awesome deal they offered to bloggers; in return I will receive 50 free Holiday cards. Plus, I got to create a cool card offering holiday wishes to all my fantastic readers (and since I’m no good with graphic design, it was a big help)!

FruitShare Time!

2010-12-14T15:15:00.001-06:00

Remember the lovely citrus FruitShare that I wrote about last year?

Well, it’s that time of year again and FruitShare is taking orders for its Holiday Citrus Pack. Sure, it’s a bit of a splurge, but the benefits are worth it. A box full of organic grapefruit, clementines, satsumas, and oranges are sure to keep you healthy and serve as an excellent day brightener as well. There's a smaller box available too if you just want to try it out.

I'm picking up my box on Friday (just ordered it today), so turnaround time is great. Looks like I'll be running errands on Friday as I also have to pick up some more cookies from the Black Forest Inn. Yum!

Biscuit Breakfast Sandwiches

2010-12-11T11:54:00.000-06:00

Well, hello from the snowy Midwest! Just last weekend we got a foot of snow and as I look out my window, it looks like another foot is in the midst of falling. I doubt the plows are going to touch our neighborhood until later today, so consider it a snow day!

Ryan and I plan to get some work done, watch a couple movies, and generally do nothing. Oh, and I happened to buy three bottles of champagne…you know, just in case we need it.

Of course we had to start our day with an indulgent breakfast:

Biscuits made from scratch topped with scrambled eggs cooked the Julia Child way (try it –it rocks for a quick egg), veggie bacon and cheese slices.

Seriously amazing sandwiches, all thanks to a little elbow grease (and a lot of butter) in those biscuits.

Try it yourself:

Biscuits
(from Joy of Cooking)

1 ¾ cup flour
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
6 tbsp chilled butter or shortening
¾ cup milk

Preheat oven to 450°. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Cut in butter using a pastry cutter or two knives until the dough resembles small peas.

Make a well in the center and add milk. Stir with a spoon until just combined, then turn out onto a floured surface and knead with your hands 8-10 times. Roll out with a lightly floured rolling pin to ¼-inch thickness. Using a cookie cutter (or a glass), cut dough into circles and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned and enjoy!

Cranberry Walnut Bread

2010-12-09T14:01:00.000-06:00

Are you down with the sickness? Based on status updates, tweets, and the general sniffling and sneezing of those around me, it seems that everyone has some sort of sickness hindering them from being 100%. Since I didn’t want to be one of “the sickies”, I invested in cartons of orange juice (the kind with REAL orange juice) and not only drank up, but also incorporated OJ into the foods I made, like cranberry walnut bread.

While my investment in orange juice didn’t prevent me from getting a cold, it (and plenty of sleep) may have helped me recover more quickly. After a full day in bed yesterday, I’m ready to tackle my to-do list which includes sharing this wonderful bread.

I’ve been making this bread for a few years now and found the recipe in Everyday Food back in 2004 that was sent in by a reader. I love how moist and tender the bread is with bursts of tart cranberry and crunchy walnuts. Plus, it’s so easy to make! I forgot to photograph it a few weeks ago, so I just had to make another loaf for photo purposes.

Cranberry-Walnut Bread
(serves 8)

2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp grated orange zest
1 cup fresh orange juice
1 cup fresh cranberries (frozen work fine too)
1 cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 325°. Butter and flour an 8 ½-by-4 ½-inch loaf pan; set aside. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.

With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until combined. Add egg, and beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, mixing until combined (dough will appear very dry). Reduce speed to low; beat in orange zest and juice. Fold in cranberries and walnuts.

Spread batter in prepared pan, smoothing top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 50 minutes to 1 hour (tent with foil if top is browning too quickly.) Cool in pan 10 minutes; run a knife around edges of loaf, and invert on a wire rack. Turn top side up; cool completely before slicing.

A Kid in the Kitchen

2010-12-01T12:44:00.001-06:00

Did you do any Black Friday shopping? I tried it one year and got a great deal on some fancy scissors at Michael’s and I think I got a free bag at Target too. It was fun, but I’m not really a morning person, so getting to stores at 4 or 5am just isn’t my thing. If you did go shopping, I hope you got some great deals!

We avoided any shopping craziness and had our nephew, Antonio, sleepover Thanksgiving evening. He was greeted with his own custom designed chalkboard menu and insisted on adding to it throughout the weekend.

The final chalkboard had plenty of doodles.

He helped make breakfast by whisking the eggs and flipping the blueberry bagel French toast.

After some holiday decorating, we made quesadillas for lunch. I chopped and sautéed veggies while
Antonio buttered the tortillas using a cheese spreader.

We had Antonio try some hummus, but he didn’t like it, so I made him a sour cream-ranch type dip for his veggies.

We also made some chocolate pudding and whipped cream (kids love to whisk and push buttons!).

After lunch, we went to purchase a Christmas tree and had planned on getting it from Valley Natural Foods. However, we first stopped at Home Depot to buy some more lights and ended up finding the perfect tree, a Noble Fir.

Turns out, it’s the best tree we’ve ever had, but it probably helps that we actually remembered to water it this year. After tree decorating and snowflake making, we went to eat at the Bad Waitress before grabbing second row seats at Robin Hood.

We’ve been to the Children’s Theatre plenty of times, but we’ve never seen a show on the Cargill Stage, a smaller stage without the moving parts of the main stage. It was great to be so close to the action and have the actors come right up to us, making the audience a part of the performance. Antonio loved the show and talked about the characters all the way home.

A great end to an enjoyable Thanksgiving weekend.

A Thanksgiving Treat

2010-11-29T12:25:00.000-06:00

I hope you had a great weekend! We did our first Thanksgiving meal with Ryan’s family and our second meal at my family’s house. Lots of food all around and I brought Candied Sweet Potato Casserole.

Sweet potato casserole is not something I grew up with and in fact, I don’t think I had a sweet potato until I was an adult. Three years ago I brought this dish to Thanksgiving and everyone seemed to like it, so I brought it again this year.

I baked both pans the night before until the sweet potatoes were slightly tender so I wouldn’t use up much oven time/space at the host houses. On Thanksgiving day, I warmed the potatoes up for about 10 minutes in the oven before adding the marshmallow topping and baking until browned (about 10 more minutes). I’m so glad I discovered this recipe to serve as a Thanksgiving treat.

Do you have a dish that you like to bring to holiday gatherings?

Dinner Menus - Now in Chalk!

2010-11-22T10:36:00.000-06:00

It’s pretty well known amongst my friends and family that I’d love to move closer to Minneapolis and get the heck out of the ‘burbs. While it may be a great time to buy, it’s also a horrible time to sell, so we’ll stay put for a little while longer. Instead, we’ve decided to rearrange our house and give it a good refresh.

I’ve always wanted a chalkboard in the kitchen and now I finally have it! Ryan painted this on a wall that goes from the kitchen to the living room. I’m hoping this will help answer the “what’s for dinner” question that Ryan always asks. Now I can simply point to the chalkboard instead of searching for my paper lists.

Ryan, the handyman in our house.

I hope to keep it updated (unlike the graph paper calendar I created that never progressed past October 2009). So, I ~~might~~ should take pictures and post it periodically to keep myself accountable.

Brioche Caramel Rolls

2010-11-18T16:18:00.000-06:00

Remember that bake-a-long that I was doing with Catherine and Victoria? The one where we pick recipes from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day and blog about our results…well, I haven’t exactly been baking along. Don’t get me wrong, I tried a few times, but failed. The problems started when I made Aunt Melissa’s Granola Bread and after 2 ½ hours, the dough barely rose. I baked it anyway and my house started to smell like burnt chemicals – perhaps something just didn’t go right.

I thought, “better luck next time”, and eagerly mixed up a batch of Sunflower Seed Breakfast Loaf, our next assignment. But, yet again, this loaf fell flat too.

The sunflower seed dough was tossed and I moved onto the Oatmeal Pumpkin Bread…flat again! Frustrated, but not ready to give up, I discussed my issue with Catherine who thought maybe my water was too hot, killing the yeast right away.

I bought new yeast and got into the brioche assignment; this time using my laser thermometer to make sure the water temperature didn’t go over 100°. While the dough didn’t rise as much as I had anticipated, it still seemed to be working better than my previous attempts, so I moved into making caramel rolls.

Success! The brioche made for sinful caramel rolls that I couldn’t stop eating. Yum! I’m glad I stuck with the project despite several failed attempts; caramel rolls were a great reward.

Not sure what we’re picking next, but I’m eager to keep baking!

Now Open: Peace Coffee Shop

2010-11-15T14:24:00.003-06:00

Woo hoo! I visited the new Peace Coffee Shop and it is so cool! I may be a bit biased because I happen to love Peace Coffee both for their amazing coffee and for their local involvement, so it comes as no surprise that I'm excited about the coffee shop.

Last week after the Free Arts Art Heals breakfast, I was running a bunch of errands that put me in the Longfellow neighborhood. As I was driving down Minnehaha, ready to head home, it struck me that the new Peace Coffee Shop was only a few blocks away and it was open!

I entered the coffee shop with a big grin on my face and was greeted with an equally big grin from coffee shop manager, Monika.

I already had my coffee for the day (darn!) and ate lunch (double darn!), but wanted a reason to linger and absorb the atmosphere, so I went for the soup of the day, African Peanut Soup and grabbed a seat.

Flavorful and warming African Peanut Soup.

After spotting CEO and Queen Bean, Lee Wallace, in the Brew Lab, we chatted for a bit about the new coffee shop and what the public can expect:

Be prepared for a great cup of coffee, however you like it.

Experienced baristas can pour a simple cup of coffee, make special recipe mochas and chai, or deliver the perfect pour over and French press.

Get ready to learn.

Peace Coffee wants you to learn how to do it yourself. Not only will a Brew Lab host trainings and workshops for the general public, but baristas are ready to share tips and tricks while preparing your coffee. Brew Lab events will be posted on the website as they are scheduled.

Local partnerships are oh-so-important.

Soups are brought in daily from The Wedge Co-op and chewy bagels come from Common Roots Cafe. I wouldn’t be surprised if more local partnerships crop up as Peace Coffee has a strong network to tap into.

While there are still some final touches to be done to the shop, like finishing the tile, inserting some tables, etc., I really like what I see so far and can’t wait to stop by again for the grand opening (TBA) to see the final product. Next time I’ll bring Ryan, my fellow Peace Coffee addict.

Peace Coffee Shop
3262 Minnehaha Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55406

612.877.7760
http://www.peacecoffeeshop.com/

Broccoli, Brown Rice & Cheddar Casserole

2010-11-11T11:26:00.001-06:00

Since I soon have to accept that it is cold out, I figured a casserole would be in order. I usually don’t make casseroles and just the word “casserole” brings back memories of mom’s elbow macaroni, ground beef and green bean concoction that we ate way too many times. (Sorry mom!) I’ve heard that casseroles and hot dishes are just a Midwestern thing, anyone know if this is true?

My friend, Kate, made this broccoli and rice casserole soon after we met last year and I’ve had it bookmarked ever since because it brought back some memories. Way back in the day, one of my favorite things to bring to lunch was a frozen vegetable side from Green Giant. Know which ones I’m talking about? The small frozen boxes of Green Bean Casserole, Cheesy Rice and Broccoli, Green Beans & Almonds, etc. One day, my taste buds noticed a significant jump in sodium content and since then, I haven’t been able to stomach them.

Luckily, Kate’s Homemade Brown Rice, Broccoli and Cheddar Casserole hit the spot and brought back my better memories of Cheesy Rice and Broccoli from Green Giant, only this time it had brown rice, organic cream of mushroom soup, and tons of fresh broccoli. It was so delicious and full of creamy cheesy goodness that I consciously had to put my fork down and stop eating.

This time I made the full recipe, which could have easily served eight. Ryan took it for lunch day after day, loving it as leftovers too. Next time I’ll have to make just half of the recipe.

Thanks for the great recipe, Kate!

Great Combinations: Brussels Sprouts & Apples

2010-11-04T11:27:00.000-05:00

Yay, another dinner at home! I had picked up Brussels sprouts from Ann Yin over at Local D’Lish and wanted to make the Shredded Brussels Sprouts and Apple Salad from 101 Cookbooks.

I started by marinating my own tofu using the Veganomican Italian marinade recipe and the leftover container I got from the Surdyk’s Flights event. It works so well for marinating because it has a flat bottom.

Reduce, reuse, recycle!

Then I baked the strips of tofu in a 400° oven for 25 minutes or until slightly crispy, skipping the whole pan-frying step. After the tofu had cooled a bit, I cut it into bite-sized pieces and started the garlic and maple syrup in a skillet, adding sliced apples and tofu at the end per the recipe. I substituted peanuts for pine nuts simply because pine nuts are outrageously expensive, so I rarely have them on hand anymore.

It was a delicious dinner and because it’s so good for you, I didn’t feel guilty eating a ton of it. It's also a pretty easy recipe - I just chose to complicate things a bit by combining recipes.

I might as well be participating in Vegan Mofo this month. Maybe I'll participate unofficially since I missed the sign up deadline.

Hearty Fall Dinner

2010-11-02T09:48:00.005-05:00

I survived Halloween and even stayed at home! Last year, Ryan and I read books at a coffee shop, ran errands and went out to eat, which was a great way to people watch. This year we had too many things to do around the house, so I made a last minute candy run and had about 10 groups of trick-or-treaters come to our door. I "forgot" to put out the mini Snickers, so it looks like I'll be making Snickers cookies soon.

While Ryan handled the trick-or-treaters, I took care of dinner. With three cookbooks open for inspiration, it made for a chaotic cooking session, something I haven’t done in awhile. In just about 1 hour, I made all of this:

Delicious and full of hearty fall flavors, this meal hit the spot. I really enjoyed the process of making the meal too. It may have been a lot of work, but I truly believe cooking is therapy (for me) and I needed some cooking therapy after working so hard on the other jobs in my life.

The chili roasted delicata squash was so simple: cut into rings, remove the seeds and chop into pieces. Toss with olive oil and chili powder and roast for 20 minutes in a 400° oven.

I steamed both parsnips and russet potatoes (in separate pots) before mashing them with a little milk and butter (soymilk and Earth Balance). The gravy is Golden Gravy from Real Food Daily and a favorite at our house. Full of rich nutritional yeast, whole wheat flour, onion and herbs, I could eat this with a spoon.

I’ve heard many other bloggers rave about the Veganomican’s Chickpea Cutlets and now I can rave too! Made of mashed chickpeas, vital wheat gluten, breadcrumbs and spices, these thin cutlets crisped up well when pan-fried and were delicious as leftovers too.

My goal is to make more meals like this in the next few months. With all the other food related activities in my life, I haven’t been able to focus on meal planning and cooking as of late. Guess I’ll have to practice saying “no” a little more often.

Cherry Berry Breakfast Smoothie

2010-10-31T15:20:00.002-05:00

After a week of eating out, Ryan and I both woke up craving something healthy and light for breakfast. Since we have plenty of fruit in the freezer, I pulled out some tart cherries and strawberries to put in the blender and made this:

It was based on a recipe from Shape magazine called Tangy Cherry-Berry Sipper. Here is my adaptation:

Cherry Berry Breakfast Smoothie
(serves 2)

1 cup frozen strawberries
1 cup pitted tart cherries
1 cup lowfat plain yogurt
1 tbsp wheat germ
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp vanilla
½ cup ice
½ cup cherry juice (or use cranberry juice)
½ cup water

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into two glasses and serve with a straw.

I love smoothies and it’s a good way to pack in fruits and/or veggies quickly any time of day.

The Best Popcorn!

2010-10-30T08:29:00.000-05:00

Another week has flown by. With work projects during the day and social engagements in the evening, I haven’t cooked much this week. Our fridge is bare and in dire need of replenishment which in turn means my blog is a little bare too. Sorry, friends! Luckily I have all weekend to get back into the cooking groove.

Earlier this week I attended a going away party for a friend in downtown Minneapolis (at Brit’s – yay!) and since the weather was so miserable (uber windy, cold and rainy), I decided to hop on the bus, stay for a couple hours and then ride back home. That way I didn’t have to sit in traffic, worry about being blown off the road, and best of all, I could read the newest issue of Bon Appétit.

I’m really digging Andrew Knowlton’s writing, so as a new subscriber, I’m eager to read more of his stuff. In the Bon Appétit Foodist column, he mentioned that some movie theaters use coconut oil to pop their kernels, which got me excited to try something new. I bookmarked the page and as soon as I got home, I made some popcorn.

Here’s my method of making popcorn.

1.) Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons oil (in this case, coconut oil)
2.) With the oil, add 2 kernels of popcorn and cover pan with a lid
3.) Once the kernels pop, add 1/3 cup of popcorn, cover again, and remove from heat for 30 seconds
4.) Return to heat and pop until popping slows down to 1 pop every couple seconds
5.) Add your favorite toppings and serve

I love salted butter on my popcorn along with a little salt and pepper. If I feel fancy, I’ll go with freshly grated parmesan cheese and/or nutritional yeast. This night, I pulled out the butter (to melt in the same pan after popping popcorn) and look what I found:

Mini sticks of butter! I was so excited that I must have let out a squeal because Ryan came running, wondering what was wrong. After he confirmed I was okay, he also got excited about these perfectly-sized sticks of butter. Love it! (Note: I don’t usually buy Land O’ Lakes butter, so forgive me if I’m way behind the times in this discovery.)

The popcorn made with coconut oil was completely awesome. There were only hints of coconut in the finished product and I kept muttering, “Oh my gosh this is so good, so good, so good!” I’m sure I said it at least 10 times. Another sign it was good? Ryan ate his entire bowl. Usually when I’m finished with mine, I start on the rest of his, but no luck this time.

Mmm…popcorn.

Salted Pumpkin Seed Trio

2010-10-22T09:48:00.000-05:00

I hope you are all had a chance to enjoy a pumpkin spice latte by now. I am currently obsessed, so until all my pumpkin puree is gone, I’m going to keep enjoying!

Since I roasted my pumpkin and used the flesh, you’re probably wondering, what about the seeds?!? I love making fun pumpkin seeds and experimenting with flavors. This year’s batch was the best – the seeds were evenly coated in salt and baked up perfectly.

After rinsing and air-drying the pumpkin seeds, I prepared the salt mixtures in three bowls. Using Bacon Salt (given to me by a friend), Smoked Sea Salt and Sel de Cuisine (both from Golden Fig), I stirred a couple pinches with a teaspoon or two of canola oil until the salt dissolved a bit. Dividing the seeds between the three bowls, each batch was tossed until coated and spread on a rimmed cookie sheet to bake at 400° for 10 minutes.

Bacon Salt

Smoked Sea Salt

Sel de Cuisine

Yum! Pumpkin seeds are a great snack and so easy to make. How do you dress up your pumpkin seeds?

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Lattes

2010-10-18T15:49:00.000-05:00

Mmm…coffee. It is weird to think that just a few years ago I didn’t consider myself a coffee drinker. I much preferred other sources of caffeine like Red Bull or Coca Cola if I needed an extra kick, but never thought it worked well for me. Instead of being perky and alert, I’d usually end up with a dizzy headache and vow to never drink caffeine again.

A few years ago, something changed. I started liking coffee in small amounts and the headaches subsided. I began to look forward to the seasonal times when I could order a pumpkin spice latte, a ho ho mocha and a fa la latte and discuss the merits of this year’s spice blend with colleagues as we walked back to our cubicles.

Gone are the days of spending $4-5 for a latte (did you hear we’re in a recession, people?) and since I now work from home, driving to a coffee shop each morning isn’t too appealing (plus, I’d have to get out of my pajamas before noon). Instead, I drink black coffee 3 times per week and make fancy coffees on the weekends.

This past weekend, I had the urge for a pumpkin spice latte and just happened to have leftover pumpkin puree from a baking project. I scoured the internet for a good recipe and was surprised that several recipes (from trusted sources) didn’t even include pumpkin in the ingredients. Say what?

Luckily, I found this recipe on The Kitchn (which, by the way, is the host for The Kitchen Cure, which I’ll be participating in) and it was outstanding! My version is similar to the original, but with some changes, which I included below. I brew my coffee in a French press using Peace Coffee. We usually get 3 cups of coffee per pot, which is plenty for the two of us.

Pumpkin Spice Latte
makes 2 servings

1 cup milk
1 tablespoon pumpkin puree (or canned pumpkin)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 cups strongly brewed coffee

Directions:
In a small saucepan combine milk, pumpkin and sugar and cook on medium heat, stirring, until steaming. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and pumpkin pie spice, transfer to a blender and process for 15 seconds until foamy. If you don’t have a blender, use a wire whisk or shake the mixture in a mason jar.

Divide the milk mixture between two mugs. Add hot coffee and enjoy!

Glorious Punjab!

2010-10-11T09:19:00.000-05:00

I had the most amazing meal over the weekend! A group of us went to Cooper in the West End (aka St. Louis Park) for Ryan’s sister’s birthday celebration. Since I had a gift certificate, it was a great restaurant to pick (thanks, Rachel!).

Cooper is pretty neat inside and similar to the new Kieran’s (same owner), it has thick curtains, dark woods and intricate wall decorations, making you think it’s an old-timey restaurant when really it was built in the last couple years. Bonus points for graciously serving a party of 16 without any problems.

Looking over the menu filled with Irish fare, one item jumped out at me as pretty unique, the Punjab Glory. It was a surprising discovery to find such a great vegetarian dish on the menu and we just had to try it.

Tender carrots, green beans and cauliflower were tossed in curry spices and coconut milk and served alongside tender black lentils and basmati rice with little bursts of golden raisins. Talk about awesome! Everything was cooked perfectly and the flavors were on point. If only Cooper were closer to my home, I’d order this for takeout on a regular basis. Guess I just have to try to recreate it at home.

Have you ever been to Cooper? What did you think?

Blogger Bowling

2010-10-07T09:03:00.000-05:00

It’s been a crazy few days, hence the lack of blogging. I still have so much to share, so let’s back up to the weekend – Friday to be specific.

I’ve known Catherine (of Food Snob fame) since I first started blogging. I’m sure you’ve heard me talk about her before. Her boyfriend, Dan, is a musician and I’ve wanted to see him play for quite some time, but haven’t been able to make it work until now. So, we had a little blogger meet-up at Memory Lanes for some bowling and music.

As you can see, Ryan is by far the best bowler of the group (it seems to come naturally to him – even left handed!), the rest of us are just happy to come close to 100.

Horrible picture, I know!

After bowling, we sat down with some “gourmet popcorn” and waited for the band to come on stage (which was located actually ON the bowling lanes).

Dan plays drums for Party of One and it was fun to see him play – finally!

Dan is the blurry one playing drums.

It was a fun, laid back kind of night which was just what I needed.

Lunch (and dessert) on the Town

2010-09-28T14:51:00.000-05:00

Most days, I eat lunch at home. I work at home, so it doesn’t make much sense for me to make lunch runs on a regular basis when I have everything at my fingertips. I usually reheat leftovers, make a quesadilla, or chop some veggies for tuna salad. It’s best to keep it simple so I can remain focused on my tasks for the day.

Today I decided to switch things up a bit and meet some friends for lunch in downtown Minneapolis at Lyon’s Pub. We had a wonderful lunch full of chatting and food (to be covered on Twin Cities Food Finds) and it got me out of the house for a little bit.

Afterwards, I wandered down to see how the new food truck, World Street Kitchen, was doing on 5th and Nicollet. Last time I was in Saffron, Saed (the co-owner with brother, Chef Sameh Wadi) gave me a little preview of what the food truck was going to offer, so it was really exciting to see a line five people deep waiting for Banh Mi sandwiches, lamb tortas, and the newest Yum Yum Rice Bowl.

Chef Sameh working the crowd

I know I came for the food, but I was really excited about the stickers!

If you’ve ever seen my planner, you know I love to collect stickers. Each year it’s like a mini statement piece, representing places I’ve traveled to or things I’ve done, so I was really excited when Saed told me to take more than 2 stickers. Score!

Since I already ate lunch, I went for dessert: the salted caramel ice cream sandwich.

Yum! The chocolate cookie was soft and the ice cream was firm, a sign of a fresh ice cream sandwich. While I’m not one for chocolate (maybe a coffee cookie next year?), I do enjoy salted caramel, especially in ice cream form. The dessert was easy to eat which was nice since I ran into some Twitter friends and didn't want ice cream dribbling down my shirt mid-sentence.

If you catch yourself in downtown around lunch time, check out the street food along Nicollet Mall and Hennepin Avenue. Heavy Table has a great guide here. You’ll be sure to find some good eats and in my case, some good company too.

Surdyk's Flights - Now Open at MSP

2010-09-22T18:51:00.001-05:00

Although I haven’t been on an airplane since April, I did hang out at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport last night to celebrate the opening of Surdyk’s Flights Wine Market & Bar.

I have to admit, it was pretty cool to go to the airport for a grand opening party and pass through special security. All the same rules applied (remove shoes, bag liquids, etc.), but since the airport was virtually empty, I sailed through security in record time. Finding my car afterwards…now that’s another story.

When I used to travel a lot, I always longed for better airport food options. I try to pack my own food to bring on the plane, but that doesn’t always happen. I remember how excited I was when French Meadow Bakery first opened at the airport – I’d actually pick up a healthy dinner on my way back into town so Ryan and I didn’t have to fuss with dinner after a long flight. Now I have another option with some of my favorites – wine and cheese!

Great wine selection!

Surdyk’s gourmet sandwiches are quite good too. Last night we were able to try quite a few of their offerings, both hot and cold.

The Ultimate Grilled Cheese & Surdyk's Panini

All food items are available to-go and I’m especially excited about the cheese platter. For $9, you get fresh fruit, baguette slices, 3 kinds of cheese and some nuts, all packaged in a little container for easy enjoyment. Forget those "snack packs" they sell on the plane full of processed junk!

Fresh items available for breakfast - yum!

I’m also quite excited about the local wine offerings. I scoured the shelves until I spotted it. They would make great gifts for out-of-towners.

I hope I can go on a trip soon because I know I'll be stopping here. I might even try getting to the airport early (rare for me) and hunker down on their patio to enjoy a glass of wine. Now I just need that plane ticket...

Disclaimer: I attended a media party where the food and beverages were free.

Black Garlic Shrimp

2010-09-20T11:02:00.000-05:00

So, football season has started. Our Sundays are planned around the Vikings game (usually smack dab in the middle of the day) and I lose my husband to 3 hours of indecipherable noises, table pounding, and smack talk. As tempting as it is to join him (and I say that sarcastically), I prefer to do other things during that time like napping (seriously, napping to football is awesome), crafting (as long as the table isn’t pounded too hard) and considering I keep mistakenly typing “foodball” instead of “football”, cooking is also something that will occupy my time while the game is on.

Although I may have had a breakdown or two over football season starting (and us losing our Sundays), I have emerged on the other side, seeing just how productive I’m going to be on Sundays. What a perfect time to brainstorm on using black garlic, right?

When I announced on Twitter that I had a bunch of black garlic, a website called Black Garlic Love encouraged me to check out their recipes. I just bought some shrimp* from Coastal Seafoods, so the Black Garlic Shrimp recipe seemed quite appropriate.

I made a few changes to the original recipe and served it over steamed green beans (from the Des Moines farmers market) instead of salad. Let me tell you, this recipe is an awesome use of black garlic! It reminded me of a black bean sauce: spicy, thick, and filled with umami. This sauce would also be great served over roasted tofu or as a vinaigrette (both of which I will be trying).

Black Garlic Shrimp with Steamed Green Beans
Adapted from Kavon William Langley for Black Garlic Love.com
Yields: 2 Portions

10 cloves black garlic
½ cup mirin (Japanese cooking wine)
1 tsp salt and pepper
1 tbsp fresh chopped ginger
1 tsp sriracha sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
10 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
½ lb fresh green beans, trimmed

In a food processor, blend the black garlic, mirin, salt and pepper, ginger, sriracha sauce and olive oil. Reserve 2 tablespoons of dressing in a small bowl for later use.

Place the shrimp in a zip-top bag or reusable container and pour black garlic dressing over the top. Marinate for 1 hour before removing shrimp to a plate to drain.

In a saucepan fitted with a steamer tray, boil water. Add green beans and cover; steam for 6 minutes or until beans are tender.

Meanwhile, preheat a grill pan over medium heat. Add shrimp and cook 2 minutes per side or until cooked.

Arrange green beans on a platter and top with cooked shrimp. Drizzle reserved sauce over top and serve.

*I know that shrimp are not vegetarian at all, but we have been introducing a little more fish and seafood into our diets, so vegetarian readers feel free to turn the page ;)

Ingredient: Black Garlic

2010-09-17T17:13:00.000-05:00

What an overwhelming response on my last post from wonderful Des Moines residents! Just goes to show that not only do they have a fun city, but it is filled with great people as well. Visit Des Moines!

After tomorrow night’s dinner, my birthday celebration will be officially over, but until then, I’ll keep talking about it :) In addition to a bunch of CDs (Rodrigo y Gabriela, DJ Nu-Mark, Phoenix, Florence + The Machine and The White Stripes), I received a couple food gifts, one of them being black garlic.

I’ve been curious about black garlic every since my friend, Kate, used it in a breakfast dish. It is a pretty unique ingredient; whole bulbs of garlic are heat fermented for a month or two resulting in a soft and slightly gummy black garlic clove.

Not only is black garlic good for you (it has twice the antioxidants of regular garlic), but it tastes good too. Ryan and I split a clove and found that it is sweet, slightly molasses-like with a hint of licorice. While it does have a little garlic flavor, it is nowhere near as pungent as regular garlic.

I have already started to brainstorm on ways to use black garlic, both in sweet and savory applications, which I’ll share here on the blog as I make them. I’m also open to suggestions. Have you used black garlic before? What do you suggest I use it for? I have 7 bulbs, so it should last me awhile – bring on the ideas!

Our Des Moines Getaway

2010-09-15T18:31:00.002-05:00

Des Moines is not often thought of as a great getaway destination, but trust me, it is.

Years ago, I was selected to work on a project to hire airport security screeners (the TSA) around the country. I was pretty excited for the project, but had one request: Don’t send me to North Dakota, South Dakota, Idaho, Wisconsin or Iowa. To my disappointment, I was sent to Des Moines, Iowa, but ended up having a blast. Despite working 80 hours a week, our team had fun exploring and getting to know the city. It was a home away from home.

So, as my birthday approached, Ryan and I considered our drivable options and determined that Des Moines would be the best place to spend my birthday weekend being that it was only 3 ½ hours away, it was affordable, and we already knew plenty of things to keep us busy.

We checked into our hotel (the Renaissance Savery in downtown Des Moines) and got our weekend started by heading to The Continental for drinks, specifically Pisco Sours, my favorite drink there.

Look at all those lemons -yes!

After a couple drinks (only $5 a piece!), we headed to Proof for dinner. Proof is only open for lunch, but on Friday evenings, they offer a 3-course farm fresh dinner using local ingredients. The entire meal was wonderful and surprisingly filling, but our favorites had to be the salad topped with peaches and the eggplant goat cheese bisque.

Mixed greens, toasted almonds, gorgonzola & peaches.

Roasted eggplant pureed with carrots, onion, celery and drizzled with goat cheese cream.

After dinner, we wandered through the sculpture garden right outside the restaurant and watched crazy college students hoot and holler for no good reason. Maybe they were actually excited about school starting?

On Saturday morning we woke up early to do yoga at Gray’s Lake. It was my first time doing an outdoor yoga class and I loved it. The instructor was great and there was even a flutist to really set an earthy vibe.

Last time we were in Des Moines (almost a year ago) we were amazed at how much the farmers market had grown. Back in 2002, it was pretty small with only a few farmers, some jelly producers and a couple crafters. Now, it’s a sprawling market with food vendors, activities, and many farmers from all over the state.

Ryan and I grabbed a freshly grilled mozzarella and basil sandwich, a beet-apple-blueberry smoothie, and stocked up on ingredients like mushrooms, squash, apples, pears and green beans for meals back home.

Grilled sandwiches, green bean "fries" and grilled sweet corn.

Fresh made juices and smoothies made at the market.

Chicken mushrooms.

Since we split everything at the market and it was already time for lunch, we parked ourselves at Court Avenue Brewery for beer, bloody marys and my favorite salad at Court Avenue, the Colossus Salad.

Falafel, pita, hummus, feta, olives & mixed greens.

After a lengthy nap, we found ourselves back at The Continental. This time our main objective this time was food – fried goat cheese, tapenade, tacos and crostini, but of course I ordered a couple more Pisco Sours and tried their flavored mojitos too. Yum!

I didn’t get pictures of everything (hey, I was on vacation!), but we did eat at a few more places like Fong’s Pizza (think Chinese food, but on a pizza), Gateway Market & Café (like our co-ops + a café with an array of sandwiches, salads, and entrees), Ritual Café (Horchata latte was the best!) and our new discovery: Django. If you are ever in Des Moines, you must try this place. They have a pretty extensive menu, but the mussels in blue cheese cream sauce really caught my eye and did not disappoint. They were the freshest mussels we have ever had and the blue cheese cream sauce was to die for. We also split a cheese flight (triple cream brie, creamy gorgonzola & marigold infused gouda) and got so full that we couldn’t finish it. They offered me a birthday dessert and I sadly had to decline!

We ended our trip at the High Life Lounge, a kitschy tribute to all things retro. Wood paneling, shag carpet and Miller High Life decorations all over the place; they don’t serve any beers made after the 1970’s.

High Life everything!

Ryan and I holed up in a booth, put quarters in the jukebox, and sipped on Tangermeisters. Yep, Tang + Jagermeister. It’s surprisingly good and while meant as a shot, I prefer to sip it.

As you can see Des Moines IS a great getaway destination, especially if you like to eat and drink (like we do!) and it is quite affordable and easy to navigate; a great break from the Twin Cities.

Have you ever been to Des Moines? What are your favorite things to do while on vacation?

Two Melons Walk Into a Bar

2010-08-30T12:47:00.000-05:00

As someone who likes to frequent farmers markets, I admit to being pretty deficient this summer. I’ve only been to the market 10 times this season and while that may seem like a lot, it is poor attendance for me. However, this last weekend, I felt back on track by getting to the market on Saturday AND Sunday. Yay!

First, I ventured out to the Minneapolis Farmers Market on Saturday. My neighbor and fellow South Metro blogger, Bill Roehl was doing a cooking demo on one of his favorite topics, peppers. For those of you who read his blog, you know he’s a big fan of hot and spicy, so his topic was quite appropriate.

After the demo, I shopped the stalls of the market for quite some time loading up on all kinds of goodies like Japanese eggplant, butternut squash, zucchini, onions, cherries, and watermelon. My most exciting find was this:

Sure it looks like a cantaloupe, but when you cut into it you’ll find green, not orange.

It’s not honeydew either, but it IS a crossbreed of the two, called the galia melon. The Gysland Brothers stall was offering samples and while others were gushing over the Crenshaw melons, this galia melon had me intrigued at its surprising banana aftertaste. I knew I made the right choice when Ryan gave his approval (he dislikes both cantaloupe and honeydew). Score!

On Sunday we were headed to the Uptown Market for a Foxy Falafel fix when I got a message from the Chef Shack telling me to swing by the Kingfield Market. Their wish was my command so we jetted to Kingfield and found out that Foxy Falafel was there too! It was almost like a celebrity sighting with Ryan tugging my shirtsleeve whispering, “she’s here…right over there…see her??” Ryan tried Foxy’s new beet falafel (thumbs up from us non-beet lovers) and I got the Sabich (eggplant, hard boiled eggs, cabbage and hummus) and loaded it with tangy Amba and spicy harissa sauce.

I have to admit that we never made it to the Uptown Market (since we were going for falafel anyway) and instead loaded up on pears, apples, corn, tomatoes and some local eggs from Kingfield.

It felt great to be back at the farmers market this weekend and now I have a ton of healthy produce to counteract the unhealthy state fair food I’ll be eating this week.

How often do you go to the market? Any great finds to share?

Swiss Chard Potsticker Succotash

2010-08-20T12:11:00.000-05:00

Wow, I had an awesome dinner at Saffron last night! Ever since I had my first visit back in 2007, I’ve wanted to go back for so many reasons. Finally, years later (has it really been that long?), I returned and now I want to go back again. Our table tried all of the desserts: goat’s milk cheese cake, crème brulee tart, and chocolate ganache cake, most of the mezzes: fried mussels and baba ghanoush were winners for me, and an entrée of mahi-mahi atop lobster orzo. I was impressed all around. Since I didn’t take any pictures, you’ll just have to go to Saffron and see for yourself!

Ok, now that I have shared last night’s dinner, let’s skip to a few nights earlier when I was actually home for dinner. It has been great to be active in the kitchen again so I picked up some Swiss chard at the farmers market and was eager to use it in a new recipe. Remember when I made this quick meal with potstickers and edamame?

Well, if you look closely, the potstickers have changed. Last time I bought pre-made potstickers and I just wasn’t satisfied so I decided to make my own using Swiss chard. If you don’t mind spending the extra time in the kitchen to assemble these, the recipe is posted below. If you’re more in need of quick meals, just buy some potstickers like I did last time and use a teaspoon of oil to heat them up. The recipe below is a combination of two recipes and can be found in their original forms here and here.

Swiss Chard Potstickers and Edamame Succotash
(4 servings)

Potstickers:
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
8 ounces Swiss chard, leaves coarsely chopped, stems discarded
4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and discarded, caps chopped
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce
Coarse salt and ground pepper
30 potsticker wrappers

Chili-Soy Dressing:
3 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tsp roasted red chile paste
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp chili oil

Succotash:
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 pkg. frozen shelled edamame
½ cup chopped pepper (red, yellow, or orange)
¼ cup chopped cilantro
2 green onions, chopped

To make potstickers, heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil over medium-high heat in a large nonstick skillet. Add chard, mushrooms, scallions, and garlic and cook until the chard has wilted and liquid has evaporated, 3 to 4 minutes. Squeeze excess liquid from chard. Transfer to a bowl; stir in vinegar, sesame oil, and soy sauce; season with salt and pepper. Wipe skillet dry and set aside.

Place 1 rounded teaspoon filling in the center of the potsticker wrapper. Moisten edges with water using your finger. Bring two edges together, forming a triangle and enclosing filling. Lightly press along the filling edges to push out extra air. Fold top point down and pinch a couple of small pleats along top layer of wrapper to seal. Place filling-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat. Keep dumplings and unused wrappers covered with damp paper towels while working.

Heat remaining tablespoon vegetable oil in reserved skillet over medium-high heat. Arrange dumplings in pan, tightly, filling-side down, and cook until deep golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add 1/2 cup of water. Return to heat. Cover and cook until heated through, all the water has evaporated, and bottoms are crisp, 7 to 10 minutes more (remove the lid for the last 30 seconds of cooking). Slide dumplings onto a plate and wipe out skillet.

To make Chili-Soy Dressing, whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

To make succotash, heat 1 teaspoon canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add frozen edamame and chopped pepper. Sauté vegetables for 5 minutes, or until crisp-tender. Remove pan from heat, and stir in cilantro, green onions, potstickers and Chili-Soy Dressing. Toss to combine and serve warm.

Finally - Blueberry Picking!

2010-08-16T14:56:00.002-05:00

Last week, Ryan and I finally made it down to Maiden Rock for some much needed blueberry picking. Since blueberry season arrived sooner than normal, we were afraid we had missed it! I frantically called John at Rush River Produce who assured me that I didn’t miss the season, but they were winding down. I was instructed to arrive by 8:00am on Thursday because those arriving after 8:45am wouldn’t have a chance at picking. Eek!

We woke up at 6:00am and hit the road by 6:30am not expecting the dense low-lying fog throughout our drive:

The view from up above.

Luckily, we made it shortly after 8:00am and got picking right away. The blueberries were abundant, but a little tart (fine with me!) Soon after, we felt the effects of the high humidity with sweat dripping off our noses and soaking our clothes. It was quite the sauna experience, but well worth it as we came away with 15 pounds of blueberries.

After a short nap (hey, I’m not used to getting up at 6:00am people!) I made the requisite blueberry pie. While I usually use flour as a thickener, the Joy of Cooking says to use cornstarch, so I tried it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t too happy with the results. The pie tastes awesome, but it feels a little more ~~congealed~~ gelled. I think I’ll go back to my flour method moving forward.

I also made Berry Goodness Muffins, which are my absolute favorite muffins. Full of goodies like oat, spelt and garbanzo bean flour, applesauce and nutmeg, they also have three kinds of berries: strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. Yum!

Most of the remaining berries will be frozen, distributed to friends/family, and eaten raw, but I’m still on the hunt for other uses. Let me know your favorites!