Foodie File

The Feast: Sides

November 10, 2009

The countdown has begun. It's just over two weeks to Thanksgiving and you've got creamed corn on the brain, dontcha? Let's face it, turkey shmurkey,... The countdown has begun. It's just over two weeks to Thanksgiving and you've got creamed corn on the brain, dontcha? Let's face it, turkey shmurkey, it's all about the sides.

First, let's say this: the bird is important and you should be wrangling one of Pat's from Wild Acres if you know what's what. But past that, everyone expects the bird. With a few flavor, texture, and moisture factors in play, it's the same thing. It's turkey. Let's move on.

Where you can really shine, where the pretty meets the plate, are the dishes that dance around the table. They are your medium of expression, they are your generational contribution, they are (like a good can of Cream o' Mushroom soup) a binder for the table. The perfect offering of sides will be constructed with a zen approach—balancing bowls of innovation that keep it exciting, against bowls of nostalgia that nurture the roots.

This is how I'll spend my free time for the next two weeks, pulling recipes and positioning bowls, substituting veg, quantifying potatoes, and questioning comfort zones. There is no sense even glancing at the creamed corn, it is an inalienable right. Mashed potatoes will be present, but will they contain goat cheese? Last year's fennel slaw was a hit. Wasn't it? Will there be a greater acceptance of the Brussels sprouts with more bacon? The cranberries grace two out of the 20 eaters' plates, will there be outrage if they're omitted? This is the year to tackle turnips, I'm sure of it.

I've been cruising through the glossies and internets for inspiration. Just remember that popcorn, toast, and jellybeans don't count.

Food & Wine has a gratin slideshow. The cauliflower gratin with manchego and almond sauce looks good.

Gourmet (sigh) has put up an Editors' Picks slideshow, my pick is the roasted Japanese sweet potato with scallion butter.

Martha Stewart, though putting up 53 side recipes, didn't trip too many triggers. Perhaps the chestnuts in soy caramel.

Loved the Bon Appetit menu plan generator. I can see doing a version of the thyme roasted apples and onions.

Thank you Saveur for the Ultimate Guide. Yes, I think I will hash some turnips.

Food Network gives us 50 mashed potatoes. Shut up, you know there will be applause for bacon cheddar mashed po.

CHOW goes from "beginners" to "Charlie Palmer" and gives over his cornbread and oyster stuffing.

And clearly to be served on-high at my table, the Oceanaire creamed corn.

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F3: Focus

November 6, 2009

What I could use this Fresh Forkin' Friday is a little deluge of rain. Just a smidgen of cold badness would be better than the awfully...]]> What I could use this Fresh Forkin' Friday is a little deluge of rain. Just a smidgen of cold badness would be better than the awfully bucolic sunny warmth we're being offered up. See, I have a giant stack of November food magazines, and I have to get through them and start assembling ideas and inspirations for The Feast. This is best done with slippers and a hot toddy and no feeling of guilt that I should be putting the kid on the bike one last time before we shut in. Brussels sprouts or creamed corn? Whole wheat rolls or herbed ciabatta? These decisions are best made when there's no chance of a walk in the woods. Focus. Focus.

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OPEN

Finally, the GDC is open for dinner. The new neon on the outside reads: Good Day Cafe and Bad Day Bar. Adding drinks and dinner dishes to the menu, they are hoping to get in on all the West End action. Additions include a hot turkey sandwich, the Baron BBQ burger, a pork chop with rye bread crumbs, and the Original Tchoupitoula: cajun chicken on creole ham hash with bearnaise. Now if they can only get a website ...

Sugar Sugar is the super sweet shop that opened up in south Minneapolis. The stylish room is stacked with big jars brimming with colorful candies. A good afternoon this weekend might include a snack at Grand Cafe across the street followed by a high-quality Bit-O-Honey binge, no?

CLOSING

Cafe Agri will soon close while it transforms into Doug Flicker's newest deal, Piccolo. The small plates, small room restaurant sounds like a interesting idea and we, the food freaks, will wait with baited breath.

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Next week (on Wed/Thurs) Broders' Pasta Bar is celebrating the Feast of San Martino in style. The Italian tradition is usually held in celebration of the release of young wines. Broders' version will include lentil and chestnut soup (lentils are so hot right now) and grilled quail with asiago, sage, and truffle. The $45 price tag also includes a half-carafe of young sangiovese, plus music and laughter.

If you're looking for a more intimate connection to Italy, you might want to check out Molly Broders Food Tour discussion. Far from a dusty, stuffy slideshow with endless pictures of cats, it promises to be a sipping and grazing chat about her lateset tour through Italy. The Saturday afternoon event (Nov. 21) will let you sample some of her found products and even provide a few recipes for your own inspiration. Contact Cucina to register, $20 in advance or $25 at the door.

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Celebrate the LOCAL wine harvest (yes, there is one) this weekend at Alexis Bailly's annual open house in honor of the 2009 Nouveau. Trip down to Hastings for a tasting from 11 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

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OY, the Woodmans are turning the high holidays up a notch. Stuart and Heidi, of Heidi's fame, are teaching modern Jewish cooking classes at Adath Jeshurun Synagogue. Gefilte fish gets deconstructed (Nov. 16), liver finds it's way out of the "Bubbie Chop" into pate (Nov. 30), and flavor is celebrated with a class on full-fat foods (Dec. 14). Classes are $65 a piece, and you get a $20 gift card to Heidi's, but size is limited to 12 participants so hurry, contact ninas@adath.net for registration.

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If you haven't thought about the upcoming season of fest, you might want to check out the Perfect Parties soiree this weekend. Even of the word "tablescaping" is foreign to you, there are plenty of tricks and tips that will help make your hosting duties seem effortless.

Cognac and Fall Menu

November 2, 2009

Bache-Gabrielsen (pronounced BAKA) has been making Cognac for more than 100 years. Yet, until recently, it has never been available in the United States.... Bache-Gabrielsen (pronounced BAKA) has been making Cognac for more than 100 years. Yet, until recently, it has never been available in the United States. It is, however, the most purchased brand of Cognac in Norway…of all places. Norwegians buy about three million bottles annually (Norway has a population of 4.5 million), and for that reason the folks at the distillery decided to focus on Minnesota as a prime area for its U.S. release. I guess they assumed we are all Norwegian or at least some version thereof.

The Cognac is really superb. I had a chance to taste the whole line and was thoroughly impressed. There are actually two lines—the Natur & Eleganse line with a V.S.O.P. and an X.O., as well as the traditional line, which includes a fine, V.S.O.P., an X.O. and Hors D’age Grande Champagne. The Natur & Eleganse line was created for the Norwegian government to meet its desire for a Cognac of high quality without any additives, including sugar, caramel, color, or oak chips. While these are not cheap, they are not expensive and have a flavor akin to small batch bourbons. The Cognacs in the more traditional line are superb, culminating in the $250 per bottle Hors D’age Grande Champagne with the oldest components dating to 1917 and the youngest to 1960. Surdyk’s has been offering sampling for shoppers on certain Fridays, and I recommend tasting it for yourself and then getting a bottle for what is sure to be the long Cognac season we have coming up.

New Menu Time

One of my favorite neighborhood dining spots has launched a new fall menu. Grand Café Chef John Radle is featuring a mushroom tart with frisee salad, Laughing Bird shrimp with cheesy grits, warm beet salad with arugula and pear, Fischer Farms pork two ways, and tons of other local autumn goodness.

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F3: All Hallows Eve

October 30, 2009

You know what's perplexing me this Fresh Forkin' Friday? The "left-over candy" recipes. Are there really households in this world that have left-over Halloween candy, I...]]>

You know what's perplexing me this Fresh Forkin' Friday? The "left-over candy" recipes. Are there really households in this world that have left-over Halloween candy, I mean besides the sad collection of Almond Joys or hard candies left at the bottom of the bowl? Some of these recipes call for chopped up candy bars like Snickers or Butterfinger! Really? In what world are there Snickers left after November 1st?

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OPEN

Manitou Station is finally open up White Bear Lake way. The restaurant, which has been in the works for almost two years, is going for a pub vibe with both British and American comfort food.

Has anybody even heard of the R. Burger Bar? The build-your-own joint opened this summer in the MOA attached to the House of Comedy on level four. Besides an annoying and habitual use of the letter R as a substitution for "are" and "our," the mall joint offers a full bar (with spiked milkshakes), snacky starters, build-to-suit burgers, and specialties such as a Blue Lucy, a Kobe burger, and a sea burger made of battered walleye. Shoppers, on your mark ...

CLOSING

This is the last weekend in the long life of the Uptown Bar and Cafe. While many people will wax rhapsodic over fuzzy memories of great music shows, I will be toasting the bar's memory with my collection of scratched and faded Uptown pint glasses which once held the bloody marys that sustained my 20s.

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Wild fans may have a reason to be happy after all. If you dine at Meritage before the game, and purchase at least two entrees, you can score free valet parking! Not only do you get hassle free car service, you get seriously great pre-game sustenance (you know those club-level nachos always disappoint).

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I know you have to get through this weekend before thinking about the next holiday, but you should be aware that you can order Wild Acres turkeys from the Mill City Farmers Market. But don't dawdle, supplies are limited and the deadline is Nov. 13.

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Doing something good for your city while noshing on treats from Barrio, Masa, Solera, and others sounds like a hot way to spend the evening, no? The Starlight Gala on November 14, benefits People Serving People and focuses on homeless children in our towns. The evening starts with tapas and ends with a dinner and Latin-influenced dancing. Jason DeRusha is hosting and I'll be there to sass about.

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Supper of the Souls

October 27, 2009

Those with milder intentions for the weekend might want to hold a different kind of celebration. Why not honor the Day of the Dead and...

The witching hour is close at hand. And because Halloween falls on a weekend this year, you can bet there'll be all manner of mayhem and ballyhoo. If you haven't already begun carving the oh-so-hilarious puking pumpkin or started searching for the best hoochie-mama costume, you better get cracking.

Those with milder intentions for the weekend might want to hold a different kind of celebration. Why not honor the Day of the Dead and hold a Dia de los Muertos Feast? Traditionally celebrated on All Souls Day and All Saints Day (Nov. 1-2) the ancient tradition marks the return of those passed with a welcome party featuring a bounty of skeletons, food, and music.

Customarily, a supper of the souls features spice-laden foods, the aromas from which are used to draw the departed home. Imagine a spread of tamales, carnitas, beef empanadas, mole con pollo, or costillas en salsa verde with all the earthy, spicy richness wafting to the heavens. You couldn't forget the pan de muerto, the bread of the dead, which is a traditional sweet loaf sometimes molded into figures representing someone special.

To make it easy on yourself, all of these foods can be ordered from El Burrito Mercado, including a custom pan de muerto with the honoree's name. EBM will be celebrating themselves on Nov. 1-2 with samplings, specials in the cafe, and sales on sugar skulls and other traditional art.

Because vices as well as virtues are remembered during the celebration, it might be the perfect time to pour some tequila. But let's leave the licky-sucky to the slutty nurses and cavemen and choose a libation that appeals to the wisdom that comes with time spent off the bar floor.

Patron Citronage Cafe Cream

1 oz. Patron Citronage
1/2 oz. Patron XO Cafe
1/2 oz. white creme de cacoa
1/2 oz. half & half
Orange twist for garnish

Shake with ice, pour into cocoa rimmed martini glass. Garnish with orange.

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