Pip's Plate

Spinach is one of my favorite foods. It’s extremely versatile, but my favorite way to prepare it is sauteed. There are many ways I prepare it, but here are 2 of my favorites:

Lemon Garlic Spinach

1 bunch spinach, cleaned and trimmed

2 cloves garlic

extra virgin olive oil

1/2 lemon

Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat. Sautee garlic till fragrant – about 1-2 minutes. Add spinach – using tongs – flip the spinach from underneath over on top to distribute the garlic and olive oil. The spinach does not take long and you don’t want to over cook it. Saute it till bright green – about 1 min then juice the 1/2 lemon over the spinach and saute 1-2 more minutes.

Serves 2-3

Sesame Soy Spinach

1 bunch spinach, cleaned and trimmed

extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic

1T sesame seeds

2T tamari (or soy sauce)

Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat. Sautee garlic till fragrant – about 1-2 minutes. Add sesame seeds and sautee another 1-2 minutes. Add spinach – using tongs – flip the spinach from underneath over on top to distribute the garlic, sesame seeds adn olive oil. Saute for about 1 minute then add tamari. Saute another 1-2 minutes. Serve.

Serves 2-3

This salad is so good we take it camping with us every year and it’s usually the first thing to go. It’s a great dish to entertain with all summer long – especially with fresh cucumbers from your garden or your local farmers’ gardens. Remember, the measurements are in my head, so play around with this recipe to make it yours.

Greek Cucumber Salad

3 cucumbers, peeled, halved lengthwise and sliced

8 oz goat feta cheese, crumbled

1/3 c kalamata olives, chopped

1/2 red onion, sliced

2T fresh mint, basil, or oregano (or a mixture of the 3), chopped

fresh lemon juice

extra virgin olive oil

herbes de provence

grape tomatoes (optional – I don’t really care for tomatoes, but if you like them they work well in this salad)

Combine cucumbers through to fresh herbs. For the salad dressing, mix together equal parts fresh lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil; add herbes de provence to complete the dressing (if using 3 T lemon juice and 3 T olive oil, approximately 1 T herbes de provence should be good). Add S&P to taste.

For other variations, try using fresh fennel, garlic, and grapefruit.

This classic cocktail is light, fruity and crisp all at the same time. It’s perfect for starting a night of celebration.

1 sugar cube

bitters

champagne

lemon twist

Place the sugar cube in the bottom of a champagne flute. Dash 5-7 drops of bitters on the sugar cube – just enough to soak the cube. Top off the glass with champagne and garnish with the lemon twist.

I made the tasty hors d’oeuvre for a party this Saturday night. My friend and I just made it up and it turned out to be excellent. It has the right balance of salt and sweet. It’s extremely easy to make, and you can make up the crostini the night before to save time.

Proscuitto, Gorgonzola & Fig Crostini

1 French baguette

2 garlic cloves, crushed

extra virgin olive oil

8 oz high quality blue cheese (Stilton, Gorgonzola, etc.)

1 package fresh figs (we used black mission figs)

6 oz proscuitto

Preheat oven to 350. Slice the baguette into 1/4″-1/2″ slices on the diagonal. With the crushed garlic, rub each of the pieces of bread. Place on a baking sheet and brush each side with olive oil. Bake for about 6-8 minutes just until lightly toasted (these will go back in the oven, so the longer they cook now, the crispier they will become). Cool and place in ziplock back if making a day ahead, or set aside if continuing directly.

Preheat the broiler.

Slice the blue cheese and place slices on each piece of crostini. Slice the figs into thin slices (cut off the top stem, then slice lengthwise – discard the ends and keep the beautiful fleshy middle pieces). Place the figs (1-2) on each piece of crostini. Place a small piece of proscuitto on top – just enough to cover the top.

Broil for 5 minutes until the proscuitto is crispy but not browned.

Enjoy! This hors d’oeuvre goes very well with the classic Champagne Cocktail.

There are many ways to enjoy tzatziki: served over dolmades, on hot dogs with grilled onions, but tzatziki is especially good with warmed pita bread.

Tzatziki

2 medium cucumbers, peeled

4 garlic cloves

1/4 c fresh dill (you can add fresh mint too if you like)

2 cups yogurt (the best kind of yogurt to use is Labna which I get at Hold Land Deli & Bakery – the thicker, yogurt-like spread is the best; it makes the tzatziki very thick and easy to dip)

Puree all the ingredients together and chill. This tzatziki recipe is always better at least 1 day after you make it so the flavors can meld together. To serve, heat a saute pan with olive oil over med-low heat. Place a pita bread in the pan and warm on both sides. When the pita starts to brown and bubble up, it’s ready to go.

Wow. Go to El Meson. It’s not only a great restaurant, but it has such a wonderful energy. It’s been close to a year since I’ve been there, but it’s still as good as before. They’ve added a tapas menu since my last visit, but we didn’t try any this time.

The empanadas are classic Spanish food. Spicy, yet edible and tasty. We recently tried the Peras appetizer as well: roasted pear with brie and Spanish pancetta. Hmmm…Spanish pancetta…I have to ponder that. I’ll get back to you on that. However, the appetizer was good, but not great. The pancetta was much too thick. It overpowered the rest of the dish and created too much of a chewy texture (making it difficult to eat).

The Pescata was AMAZING. The fish was cooked perfectly: tender, flaky, and flavorful. The sauce was a ginger curry. Typically, a fish + curry dish = mush. But El Meson managed to pull it off. The fish was excellent, but the flavor was right on. Mild, yet spicy; tender and juicy, yet firm coconut risotto; salty, yet fruit-sweet.

I would order the Pescata any time. We also had the pork with grilled pineapple. I really wanted this dish to be as good as it sounded. Unfortunately, the pork was cut so thin it didn’t have a chance. It was incredibly tough and chewy with no flavor. The grilled pineapple was okay, but it was cut as thin as carpaccio which made grilling it obviously difficult (the bottoms were a little charred). A little thicker cut for both pork and pineapple would have made the plate pleasing.

For dessert, we were surprised by ordering the lemon “curd” phyllo tart and the chocolate cake. I’m not sure what “curd” means in Spanish, but it certainly does not mean ’scented’ whipped cream. We actually sent the dish back thinking it was the wrong dessert. However, we were wrong. It was the dish we ordered. We didn’t feel silly for sending back what we ordered; instead, we felt slightly irritated about the description. Curd does not equal whipped cream.

I love lemon curd. It’s thick, a little creamy, and very citrusy. And VERY easy to make. On the other hand, the chocolate cake was very good with a syrupy orange sauce.

Overall, the meal was satisfying. Next time we’ll know to ask before we order dessert. I’ll keep going back to this restaurant because I enjoy the atmosphere and the food. The energy makes you feel energized.

Now, if you’ve read this far, I’ll tell you about the crappy service we got in the very beginning. The reason I leave it to the end of this review is because this shouldn’t cloud your judgement.

We made a reservation via Open Table. It was honored 30 minutes after our reservation time, then we waited 15 minutes for our server to show up to our table. I even went to the host stand and the hostess said *before I could say anything*: “Your serer will be right with you.” That’s pretty much how it went the rest of the night. The server was too busy to acknowlege us for longer than 20 seconds. As a server, 20 seconds is a long time to spend at a table if you’re not taking an order. However, it really irks me when a server is at my table and all they do is look around with a look of panic – there’s no way I feel like I’m getting close to half of their attention.

Go to El Meson. It’s an excellent restaurant; the management just fu**ed up tonight and sent staff home early. Shit happens.

Ales are beer and lagers are beer, but they are quite different from each other. Ales tend to be darker, richer and hoppier; lagers tend to be lighter in color, taste and body.

The difference between ales and lagers tends to be defined by the fermentation process.

Ales are brewed with top-fermentation yeasts and are fermented at higher temperatures (60 and 75F) which makes the beer ferment much faster.

Fermenting at this high temperature allows the beer to develop flavors and aromas that are more fruity and rich than lagers, which tend to be drier and lighter.

Lagers are made with bottom-fermented yeasts and tend to go through 2 fermentation phases. The first phase ferments between 45 and 55F, while the second phase ferments between 30 and 40F.  It’s the second phase that gives the lager a lighter, clearer color.

I tend to be a fan of ales over lagers. I prefer the richer, more intense flavor an ale has to offer. IPA’s (India Pale Ales) are a favorite of mine due to the very bitter, and hoppiness of the beer. However, if I’m not interested in such a strong beer (IPAs can get up to 9% alcohol, so watch out), I’ll always settle for a good weiss.

I don’t understand what is up with the people in Minneapolis and the reader polls that our magazines/publications put out. Namely: MlpsSt.Paul Magazine and Minnesota Monthly.

Somehow, Kincaid’s restaurant is always at the top of lists. If it’s not number 1, then it’s at least in the top 5. Come on, people! Seriously! It’s been done so many times before. There are so many better restaurants with better service, better food, more original and creative food, better atmosphere and simply better everything.

For example, if you like seafood, try JP American Bistro. The fish is always good. Or try Lucia’s, which features a different menu each week. I’m always impressed with Auriga’s scallops and visually pleasing plating.

If you like creative food, try Five in Uptown or Cue at the new Guthrie (currently featuring elk).

Somehow Kincaid’s always ends up in the “Most Romantic” category. I’m not quite sure how that happens – the restaurants are (1) a chain, and (2) so much like a hotel. Instead, try the “kissing booth” at Amore Victoria. Or visit the Loring Pasta Bar in Dinkytown for a truly luxurious atmosphere (I love the jewel tones, organic Art Nouveau metal work, and plush fabrics), but make sure to ask for a quite table. You can even stay for the burlesque show for something a little more exciting.

If you’re interested in something more ethnic, go to Gardens of Salonica for a fantastic Greek experience. The art adorning the restaurant is enough to make me want to go back. If you’re looking to throw a dinner party, they do a fantastic tasting menu with wine pairings for an astonishingly low price. El Meson is an excellent choice as well. I haven’t tried the paella, but I hope to get to that soon. Sushi Tango has the best sushi in town in my opinion. Try the Tai and DON’T miss the Hamachi sashimi (California’s hamachi didn’t even come close to comparison).

I’ve given up reading any Minneapolis and St. Paul reader polls of restaurants. They inevitably are answered by minivan-driving suburbanites who frequent Perkins for a night out because going into the city might be too much excitement.

If you’re uncertain about which restaurants in Minneapolis and St. Paul are worth visiting, here are a couple sites that might help you out: Dining for Sport and Crappy Table.

Even though I visited Healdsburg, CA, almost 3 months ago, I’m still very inspired from that trip. It was one of the best trips I’ve been on.

The pictures are always hilarious after several wine tastings. I’m pretty sure this was what was happening as we raced to Stryker at 4:58pm. Thankfully I wasn’t driving. And we did make it; which was great because I discovered that I actually love syrah. I think that wine was one of the best ones we had the whole week.

Either way, this picture pretty much sums up the experience of wine tasting on River Road in Russian River Valley:

I recently took a trip to Sonoma County in California with a friend of mine. We stayed with relatives who live in Healdsburg. They happen to have a pretty slick wine storage system:

These cabinets pull out from underneath the stairs. As you can see, you can fit quite a few bottles of wine in one “drawer.” The inside is made of plastic tubes just big enough to hold a bottle of wine snug.

One drawback to this wine storage unit is that you can’t control the storage conditions. No temperature or humidity gauges. That would be the next step up for this storage unit. Living in wine country definitely requires some sort of mass wine storage. Unless you can afford a cellar, this is a great space saving option. Just be careful when you get a lot of wine bottles in one of the drawers. It gets really heavy and can potentially scratch your floors. So keep it light: drink wine often.