New tastes, old favorites

Now that I have a minute or two to sit down, collect my breath, kick my feet up, watch some Glee with the roomie and enjoy a free bottle of Caymus, I can reflect on what I've been doing, and more importantly eating, for the last couple of weeks.  In the midst of unlimited college finals, 5 shifts a week at my new job (in the restaurant biz :) ) and trying to prepare for the holiday season and everything that comes with that, I've been able to try new foods, new places and enjoy various familiarities.  And since it's the end of the year, I feel it appropriate to make a list.  So, you ask, what have I been eating?

          1. New tastes. My roomie talked me into an impromptu lunch/late breakfast at Victor's 1959 and I was excited to try their Cuban cuisine.  Yum.  A nice twist on your normal egg/breakfast dish.  Nice kick to start the day.  If nothing else, the food is as colorful as the brightly painted and graffiti-signed walls. 

Ranchero Cubano

My roommate ordered the Ranchero Cubano because she loves anything and everything cheesy with eggs and any kind of beans.  I ordered the hash because of my love of potatoes at all times of the day and in this dish, learned my new-found love of plantains, specifically fried plantains.  Other than the questionable liquid on the plate from the beef, it was a delicious breakfast.



Cuban Hash

2. New tastes. Blackbird Cafe. So excited about this place.  Beautiful decor, and a menu that literally spoke to me and said, "What's up Lauren? Hungry?"  My mom and I found time on a busy day of Christmas shopping to stop in a new neighborhood place that is replacing its original burned down location.  Spicy peanut noodles, bahn mi and french fries at the same place?  Sold.  When the waitress told me the sous chef was Vietnamese, I decided on the bahn mi and didn't regret it.  The fries came with a delicious rosemary mayo that was really unexpected and delish.  My mom got the celery brie soup.  Surprisingly light and delicious.





3. New gifts. It was a cooking themed Christmas, just as I had hoped.  My boyfriend got me a rice cooker, a cook book and a bottle of wine; my roommate got me new wine glasses and my family gave me a new cutting board and more cookbooks.  I've got lots of reading to do.






I wanted this for obvious reasons.






Molly Wizenberg, food blogger turned Bon Appetit writer, aka who-I-want-to-be






Again, obvious reasons.






Seasonal, Minnesotan recipes from the Junior League.









My boyfriend had a cooking Christmas as well with the "beginners kit" I made him including kitchen shears, spices and a skillet.



4.  Old favorites. Grand Cafe. I've said it before and I'll say it again, one of my favorite restaurants in Minneapolis.  Warm, comforting and just my kind of food.  Minus a small mishap on my boyfriend's order, he enjoyed his Cuban-esque sandwich and I enjoyed my familiar eggs in cocotte.  His, confit pork with ham and a spicy/sweet dijon aioli.  Mine, poached eggs, truffle cream and puff pastry.  So creamy, cheesy, comforting and delicious.  I have to admit, anytime I drive down 38th I have to talk myself out of pulling over and grabbing a quick bite.






5. New tastes.  Renewing my license for my upcoming 21st birthday (!) was a good enough excuse as any for a trip to the Midtown Global Market.  While Manny's Tortas is my usual go-to, I decided to try Taqueria Los Ocampos because of all the good things I've heard.  I'm usually not a fan of corn-made products, such as corn tortillas or corn muffins, but this quesadilla sounded good.  It was so good.  They have a lot of traditional Mexican dishes (menudo, hourache, sincronizada) and of course tacos, burritos and my personal favorite, quesadillas.  I chose marinated pork and devoured every bite of this crunchy, cheesy, refreshing, warm and satisfying quesadilla.  With Spanish rice and refried beans on the side, it was the perfect lunch after waiting in line at the DMV.



 6. While I am aware a list consisting of six items is strange and makes no sense, I really want to add that throughout the past couple of months, when I have had spare time for what I like to call ReadingIdon'thavetoreadforschool, I have finished Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential.  For those of you who have read it, you know what I mean when I say this book is a must read for anyone who thinks they know anything about the restaurant industry.  My glamorous new job has kept me for numerous hours in the restaurant's coat "room" (more of a tiny, hot, smelly closet with too many innocent, yet soft animals on coat hangers.)  I had ample opportunities to read this book, which became particularly interesting as I read it while actually being in a restaurant similar to the ones Bourdain writes about.  I really enjoyed the book and Bourdain's style of writing and am hungry for more Bourdain books, but particularly, food books.







So there it is.  Six small bites of what I'm been up to for the last couple weeks.  Not to mention my numerous over-welcomed training meals at my new job.  And now, I ask you..what have you been eating?



Training meal...

Szchuan Spice

Ordered Szechuan Spice as my first Chinese delivery to my new (September...) apartment.  When better than on a cold/snowed in night of studying for finals and watching football.

Kind of expensive, but well worth it and I highly recommend.  Especially the Szechuan cold noodles.  Skip the cream cheese wontons.


City Page's review: Szechuan Spice takes over the Zen space in LynLake

Dakota's Brie & Apple Soup

Minnesota Brie & Apple soup.  I've tried to make it myself, but it didn't come close to the Dakota's original version.  My mom used to get it all the time when it was first served when the Dakota was in Bandana Square, and we were so sad when it was discontiuned on the menu.

We were so excited to learn they were bringing it back for a week to celebrate 25 years of the Dakota, and luckily we made it by the last night it was being served.

It was just as good as we remembered, and even had the added additions of bread crumbs, apples and applesauce.  It was also poured table side, which was a nice touch.

We licked up every last drop (it wasn't nearly enough).

A trip down memory lane! Hopefully the Dakota can bring back this soup regularly..

I also got to test my new phone's camera. So, so...

Ode to Figlio's Tortellini

I'd just like to thank Il Gatto for featuring a section on their new menu at their newly revamped-cat/Italian themed, black walled restaurant titled, "Can't Get Over Figlio?"  The answer is no, we cannot.  And by "we" I'm referring to my friend and myself who have loved Figlio's "Tortellini Baronessa" for years now.  And, apparently we are not alone due to the fact it has been one of seven menu items to be carried over from a previously extensive Figlio's menu.

Now, this is a simple dish.  Creamy, tender little tortellini presents of goodness filled with cheese, salty/chewy shavings of prosciutto, little al dente green peas, and of course, plenty of creamy/buttery goodness with tons of bread on the side to soak up all the extra sauce (and please, no mushrooms).

It's reminiscent of a dish my mom makes after ever Thanksgiving (like I've said, we have ham, not Turkey) called "noodles and ham"with linguine, chunks of honey baked ham, peas and a wonderful cream sauce with lots of shredded Parmesan on top.

Although, I believe it is overpriced/under-served, it is rich, filling, comforting, and reliably delicious.

So, once again, thank you Il Gatto for providing us with this Figlio treat.

For the love of curry

I love curry because it can have the perfect balance of sweet and savory.  I was craving to cook, try some kind of pineapple curry and craving to try my new sweet yellow curry powder from Penzey's.  I stopped at The Wedge on my way home from class and picked up some fresh veggies I thought would be delicious in a curry and also some Thai basil, which I have never tried but new would be perfect for a curry.  I couldn't find a decent recipe for yellow curry that used yellow curry powder, so I pretty much just went with what I had, and what sounded like it would work.

I sauteed the veggies (carrots, red bell pepper, canned pineapple, canned tomatoes, onion) in some oil, and once they were softened, but not totally cooked, I added some coconut milk, the Thai basil and a lot of the curry powder along with some cayenne for added heat.  I covered the pan and let the curry simmer to let all the flavors marry and develop.

 

 I used chopped Thai basil and scallions as garnish.

I served the curry over white rice made in chicken broth (my fav way to make rice fluffy). It was an experiment, for sure, but it turned out really delicious.  I was in love with the sweetness the coconut milk provided and the tartness from the pineapple, although in the future I'd add more cayenne for more spice.  The basil was fragrant similar to Italian basil, but in a different way I can't really explain.  I got to try new ingredients and I'm excited to try this dish many more times, assuming I made mistakes.  I'd love to learn more recipes using sweet yellow curry so I can really, truly learn to make curry, so please share any you may have!

It was also delicious today when I served the leftovers over quinoa!

P.s. I'm trying to find a place in my house that has proper lighting for food..the pictures I have been taking don't do the food justice.

Best Thanksgiving. Ever.

I could go into great detail about how wonderful the white balsamic was with the roasted carrots and parsnips, or how the roasted sweet potato wedges were perfect with the sour cream chile sauce, or how rosemary added subtle fragrance to almost every dish, but I feel that would bore just about anyone but myself.  I know we all had wonderful, beautiful, exquisite, delicious Thanksgivings in our own unique ways, so I feel the best way to share my own is through pictures.  And when it comes down to it, what do we remember about Thanksgiving..the new cooking techniques and flavors, or the great conversation had while eating?

My Thanksgiving consisted of me, my mom, dad and our new kitty. The thing is, for me, the new recipes and techniques are the most exciting part because my family I should be catching up with and exchanging stories with is all in Wisconsin.  And while we had great conversation, my mom and I had too much fun cooking for five hours and testing Bon Appétit recipes I'm sure will be at Thanksgivings to come.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving 2.0 with more traditional fair including turkey and mashed potatoes.  Today, we tried four new Bon Appétit recipes along with a couple traditional ones.  We have always had ham growing up because my mom claims we never liked turkey, so today we made ham.  I hope your Thanksgivings were as memorable, warm, comforting and of course, delicious as mine.

I felt, that this year we had the most delicious Thanksgiving ever.  Everything from scratch (except Pillsbury crescent roll, which are so perfect I don't even want to attempt making biscuits) and everything included fresh produce, fresh herbs and simple ingredients.  I knew we were in for a good Thanksgiving when our shopping list was more than predominantly fresh produce.  It was perfect.  Our menu consisted of:

• Sweet Potato Wedges with Smoked Chile Cream
• Sage Sausage and Apple Dressing my absolute favorite dressing of all time, I wait 364 days for it
• Celery and Pear Bisque a new favorite- very light, subtle but delicious
• Roasted Cranberry Sauce with Herbed Candied Walnuts 
• Roasted Carrots and Parsnips with White Balsamic
• Bone-in smoked ham from Everett's with a homemade apple/butter glaze
• Of course, Pillsbury crescent rolls

Glazing the ham

White Thanksgiving

Takes muscle to mix dressing

Unlimited chopping, peeling, mincing

Mom got a crack at her new immersion blender!

mmmmmm....ham

I'd love to hear your Thanksgiving stories and recipes, so please comment!

Our new unnamed kitty says happy Thanksgiving!

Late Night at Corner Table

I was lucky enough to attend a late night dinner at Scott Pampuch's Corner Table put on by KBEM's restaurantour.  It was a pre-set dinner with a Belgium theme paired with Belgium beer.  Although I could not participate in the beer tasting, I enjoyed their housemade soda: cranberry ginger-ale with rosemary; both seasonal and refreshing.

Pampuch made it known exactly whose restaurant it was when he alerted a customer that it is not a good idea to stand on a chair and unscrew a light bulb, no matter how glaring the light may be.  Apparently, the team at Corner Table has more than succeeded at creating a "home-y" feel to their restaurant because it was obvious this customer felt he was at home.  Needless to say I think it is a good idea to leave the housekeeping to the staff.  Despite this minor stresser, the team was able to produce 40 meals without a hitch.

Pampuch is well known in the city for being a leader and active advocate of local food and local farm support.  This was more than evident in his food that night with local rabbit (no, not ones running down Nicollet, but a farm) local vegetables and cream and butter like I've never tasted.  I could not stop slathering that butter over the perfect bread offered, which I assume was baked at Rustica.  Pampuch also noted the simplicity of "just cream" which was featured on his dessert.  No extra stuff like honey and sugar, but delicious pure whipped cream.

Thousand Hills cattle grassfed beef and fried potatoes "steak frites"

Rabbit terrine with braised rabbit and vegetables in an apple cider

Belgium waffle with Belgium chocolate, cookie and cream

I like the irony of celebrating and using local ingredients and farms to create Belgium cuisine.  From the couple sips I stole from my Mother's beer, I could see the why the beers were paired with the food.  None of the beers were too heavy or overly powerful and offered complementary flavors.

It was a warm evening on a very cold night.  One that ended with me spending 20 minutes thawing my Mom's car and chipping at the inch of ice that accumulated during dinner.  Nonetheless, it was a night filled with delicious food, new flavors (I didn't know I liked brussel sprouts and rabbit) and great conversation (other then when everyone told their own rabbit story..not so appetizing while eating one)