These Are A Few of My Favorite Things: 2011

I started doing an annual recap of my favorite annual eats a few years ago, and it's a blog entry I've always enjoyed writing. Like I said last year, it's like looking at a yearbook, but without the "See you next year! Never Change!" crap.

From sensational seafood to a providential pizza experience, and everything in between, the meals and bites have been amazing this year. As always, I've had the perfect, charming date in my husband, gerg, along with smart, zany friends and family who are usually willing to share bites with me. If you're reading this, and you were there, thank you.

Here are my 10 favorite edibles from 2011 in no particular order:

The once-in-a-lifetime treat - aerated foie gras with pickled beet, mashad plum, and brioche - at wd~50 in New York was dizzying and delectable. Gerg and I ate it, with a wide-eyed expression conveying, "Holy hell this is good." Read this for a technical BrEaKdOwN: "He makes a terrine, breaks it, re-emulsifies it, and then places it in a food saver type container with a one-way valve. The container goes in the cryovac machine, the pressure aerates the foie." - Global Chefs. Photo by in-nycsite.com

Taking in a cheese, sausage, pepperoni, onion, and garlic at Grimaldi's Pizza in Brooklyn before it closed in December 2011 proved to be providential. "For those of you keeping score at home, here's where we're at: the beloved coal-oven pizzeria in Brooklyn was supposed to have closed (their lease was up) and moved next door last month, so that the space's original pizzaiolo, Patsy Grimaldi, could start work on his new pizzeria in the old space. The new space, at 1 Front Street, has been subject to some Department of Buildings drama over Grimaldi's plan to install an illegal coal-fired brick oven, and there is currently a stop work order on the address. So, in short: Grimaldi's as we've known it appears to be closed for good, with no re-opening date in sight. Better head over to Queens if you want a taste of the not-quite-original coal brick-oven pizzeria." - from gotham.com

Pizza Night at the Stone Barn in Nelson, WI was scenic. Along the back roads of the Mississippi River there’s a charming pizza farm, and it serves on the weekends (unlike A to Z’s pizza night). If you’re planning a weekend autumn trip through the Mississippi River Valley, the Stone Barn in Nelson, Wisconsin, is a fun stop, especially via motorcycle. We ordered the Stone Farm supreme, and we liked their house-made, Italian, pork sausage. Bring a frisbee, or a deck of cards, and be prepared to hang out. It might take awhile to get your pie, but are you really rushing when you're eating at a pizza farm in rural Wisconsin?

Early in the 2011 season, I told gerg that I'd make a 6 foot submarine sandwich when the Packers made it to the Superbowl. I called at least ten bakeries in the Twin Cities before I found one that would bake a 6 foot loaf of bread. For $40, we secured our loaf, and constructed our "Raji's Rocket." Half club, half Italian, with plenty of pickles and olives on the side, the rocket sustained the whole gang (except the vegetarians) during the game and for several meals after the game. The Green Bay Packers won the that Superbowl, and hopefully I'll be making another one this year! Go Pack!


My 2011 birthday trip for lunch at Le Bernardin in New York was probably the edible highlight of the year. The crispy black bass with pickled cucumbers and a black garlic-persian lime sauce was flawless. So was the shrimp with mâche and wild mushroom salad, topped with shaved foie gras, and a light white balsamic vinaigrette. Oh, and I forgot to mention how delicious the baked Maine lobster with caramelized endive-pear "terrine", and whiskey-black peppercorn sauce was. My celebrity chef crush, Eric Ripert, wasn't available for a wink, but the coat check girl's decolletage was. Ohh la la! Photo by rolala loves.


When my husband asks me what I want for supper, the following usually comes to mind in any particular order: Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Korean. I like Korean food, and I like Sole Café in St Paul. Their kimchi jjigae with tofu is good—a hot and steamy bowl of stew made with their house-made kimchi, tender onions, and tofu. The thin, tangy, spicy, red pepper broth is balanced by a side of white rice which helps cool and recalibrate your palette after every three bites or so, as do the five small plates of seasoned vegetables (namul) that are placed at your table.

While in San Francisco for Dreamforce 2011, I dined solo at Ame. My meal was a tasting from the Sashimi Bar. A suave gentleman speaking Italian dropped the eye on me, but my meal was the star of the show. The seafood was slapping me with seaweed it was so fresh. My meal from the bottom left - clockwise: 1) sashimi of Santa Barbara sea urchin and spot prawn in aonori ocean gelee, 2) cuttlefish staff meal (center) with Santa Barbara Sea Urchin and trout roe, 3) tempura “poke” with ogo seaweed, hawaiian sea salt and green onions, 4) kaisen salad with Japanese cucumber, Hijiki, Tobiko caviar and yuzu soy vinaigrette, and 5) sea bass crudo with olive oil, lemon, and sea salt.

For our 3rd anniversary, gerg and I rode our Honda Nighthawk motorcycle to Niagara Falls. On our return trip, we swung by Bortell's Fisheries in Ludington, MI for some fried perch and cold beer. As we ate at a picnic table and watched the sunset, we thought, "this is the best thing ever," and we were right. "Jane and Michael Stern named the 110-year-old fish depot one of America's Top Ten Seafood Shacks, of the ilk of The Clam Shack in Kennebunkport, Maine, and the Swan Oyster Depot in San Francisco. Bortell's Fisheries seafood of choice is Great Lakes whitefish, but the menu also includes walleye, catfish, trout and smelt, all sold by the piece or pound." - from mynorth.com

This summer was all about food trucks in the Twin Cities. The truck that consistently satisfied and delighted, and the truck that had me daydreaming about griddled cornmeal dough patties overflowing with local meat, veggies, and spicy sauces was Hola Arepa. My favorite was the slow-roasted pork arepa stuffed with saucy shredded pork, black beans, and cotija cheese. While the sauces of the slow-cooked meats are bold and spicy, they’re not hot, unless you add one of their signature hot sauces. I like their mild Hola Sauce, made with mangoes, yellow peppers, and other “super secret” herbs and spices.

Pizzeria Lola in Minneapolis serves a Sunnyside pizza that is reminiscent of a Sunday brunch with crunchy toast, salty bacon, and sunny-side up eggs. The crunchy, chewy, wood-fired crust of the Sunnyside is baked with folds of La Quercia guanciale (unsmoked Italian bacon prepared with pig's jowl or cheeks), slivers of melted pecorino; a splash of cream; browned, buttery leeks; and framed in the middle, is a just-set egg. From southern Tuscany to Hoboken, especially on the Pizza alla Bismark, people enjoy rich egg yolk with crunchy pizza crust. Tear off the crust, and dip it in the egg yolk. You'll be b'eggin for more! -- Ok, sorry about that. That was a bad joke, but my dad would LOVE it.


Other notables:
- So many of Carrie's sweets, and learning how to make bahn zeo and really good papaya salad with both of the Vonos.
- The potted duck meat with fresh bread and mustard at Tilia
- My awesome chocolate, coffee, salted caramel birthday cake made by Sarah
- 6lbs of the illest sausages in a crockpot by Cohen
- Aimee and Jon's camp stove eggs n' salmon saving me from certain destruction due to Malört
- The popovers and honey butter at Bachelor Farmer
- The beef tenderloin at Ag in Niagara Falls

My past year's recaps can be found below:
These Are a Few of My Favorite Things: 2010
2009: A Few of My Favorite Edible Things

[where: Minnesota, Food, Minneapolis, Twin Cities, 55418]

Gingerbread Cut-Out Cookies Just Like Mom Used to Make

One of my most vivid holiday memories from childhood is decorating cookies. Now, just so you understand, decorating cookies was an epic event at our household. With 6 kids, all of whom needed to bring cookies to various events, my mom made a boatload of cut-out cookies - we're talking enough cookies to completely cover both the dining room and kitchen tables (both of which seat 8). It must have been at least 20 dozen.

After all that baking, my mom would gather the kids around the kitchen table with giant bowls of icing, sprinkles, and shredded coconut, and we would commence decorating all of those cookies. It would take several hours to complete, especially when each reindeer cookie had to have a red sprinkle on the nose, and every tree cookie had to have ornaments frosted on it. My personal favorite technique was using shredded coconut with white icing for Santa's beard.

My mom was so hilarious and awesome - we were not allowed to lick anything, and naturally we'd forget, so she was constantly supervising, sending us to wash our hands and replacing our frosting knives anytime we "sampled." I can just see her - hands on hips, laughing at our ridiculous designs - and us - crawling over each other to grab the blue frosting, or crawling under the table to head for the bathroom to wash our hands (yet again).

Naturally, at some point, we grew up and moved out, and mom grew tired of making all of those cookies by herself, and I gladly picked up the tradition baton. I'll say this much - cookies, especially gingerbread men , become rated R pretty quickly when friends, rather than children, are in charge of decorating. ANYhoo - here's my version of gingerbread cut-out cookies (adapted from a Good Housekeeping recipe):

Note: The molasses and ginger are the stars of this recipe, so don't skimp on those ingredients.

Yield: 6-1/2 dozen
Prep: 20 min. + chilling time (2 hours)
Bake: 10 min./batch

Ingredients
1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup dark molasses
2 teaspoons vanilla
5 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon fresh ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground clove
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
Frosting or confectioners' sugar, optional

Directions

In a large bowl, cream butter, vanilla, and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in molasses. Combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with water, beating well after each addition. Wrap and refrigerate the dough for 2 hours or until easy to handle.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with 2-1/2-in. cookie cutters dipped in flour. Place 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Refrigerate pan for 10 minutes.

Remove pan from refrigerator and bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until edges are firm. Remove to wire racks to cool. Frost or dust with confectioners' sugar if desired.



[where: Minnesota, Food, Minneapolis, Twin Cities, 55418]

Cheese That's Worth The Splurge

Cheese That's Worth The Splurge - Dara & Co. - November 2011 - Minnesota

Hear ye! Hear ye! The newest batch of Hook’s 15-year-old super-aged cheddar has made its way to the Twin Cities.

Overall, Hook’s 15-year-old cheddar has a balanced, intensely cheddar flavor. Like so many aged cheeses that I enjoy, the lactic acid has crystallized in the Hook’s 15-year-old cheddar forming a few crunchy bits of calcium lactate, the crystals ranging in color from darkish yellow to almost white.

While some aged cheddars take on an extremely bitter quality, most likely brought on by the temperature being raised during the aging process, the marginal bitterness of the Hook's 15-year is balanced with sourness and saltiness expected in cheddar cheese. It’s slightly crumbly, and best at room temperature. Savor the delectable cheddar chunks on their own, or perhaps with a few slices of apple.

If it sounds like the Hooks are cheese wizards, they very well might be. Nearly 40 years ago, Tony and Julie Hook started making cheese together. Julie Hook remains the only woman to win the World Championship Cheese Contest for her Colby cheese in 1982, and more recently the Hooks won a Silver Medal for their Gorgonzola at the 2010 World Championship Cheese Contest.

This year, Hook’s began selling their 15-year cheddar at their cheese factory in Mineral Point on Friday, November 4, and shipped it out to shops around Minnesota shortly thereafter. It’s currently available at France 44, Surdyk’s, and Lunds & Byerly’s while supplies last. Obviously prices vary, but you can expect to see it selling for about $60-$70/lb. At that price, I budget for it, forsaking other indulgences, and it’s always worth it.

[where: cheese, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Twin Cities, Minnesota]