Pip's Plate

Can’t wait to pick up our Harmony Valley Farm CSA this week. Everything looks amazing, as usual.

Veggie Box

Carrots

Yellow Onions

Garlic

Zucchini or Summer Squash

Cucumber

Arugula or Saute Mix

Potatoes

Dill

Fennel

Amaranth

Melon or raspberries

Eggplant

Italia Pepper

Fruit Box

Blueberries

Champagne Grapes

Hass Avocado

Flavor King Pluots

O’Henry Peaches

Bartlett Pears

Summer Grand Nectarines

Don’t walk. RUN to Bewiched Deli! It’s located in the North Loop area just outside of downtown Minneapolis, MN. I’ve been meaning to get there since they opened. And I fiiiiinally got there the other weekend and have been back once since then. Hee.

Gourmet sandwiches. YUM.

I’ve only tried the Italian Hero so far and it is DE-LIC-IOUS. They put this tangy olive tapenade on it and a huge chunk of fresh mozz. Oh yes, fresh mozz. My favorite cheese.

Aside from that, they layer on the ham, salami, etc. Lettuce, tomato. It doesn’t get much better than that. And they serve it with this incredible olive-pepper relish. I must try to get that recipe. The roasted vegetable couscous served with it was just okay.

And to top it off, they serve some great sodas made with cane sugar. No high fructose corn syrup there! (Including the ever-so-loved Bubble Up)

I should also acknowledge that the staff there is really great too. Very accommodating as a first time visitor and extremely fast take out (how does 5 minutes sound?).

Get there now! And let me know what your favorite sandwiches are from there! (Photo coming soon…)

Bewiched Deli

800 Washington Ave. North

Minneapolis, MN 55401

Telephone: 612.767.4330

Fax: 612.338.2108

HOURS

M-F 8-8

SAT 10-6

SUN CLOSED

The creative department of the advertising agency I work for just took a trip up to northern Minnesota right by Lutsen and Tofte on Lake Superior at Bluefin Bay. Friday – Sun. It was a blast! It was great to experience the area I grew up in with people who had never been there before. The lucky folks in my car got the low down on the local news in the area.

But to top it off, I got to be part of the Cooking Team for the weekend. Holla! We ate like queens and kings. Feeding 23 people for an entire weekend is no small feat. Thankfully there were 4 of us taking care of everyone.

A rundown on the menu:

Friday Dinner

Grilled BBQ rubbed Pork Chops

Grilled BBQ Chicken Breasts

Grilled Chile Pineapple

Greek Salad

Roasted Baby Red Potatoes with Garlic and Rosemary

Strawberry Whipped Cream Cake (holy motherload this was delicious)

Saturday Dinner

Grilled Steak with Roasted garlic and thyme butter

Grilled Lemon Dill Salmon

Roasted Vegetables

Israeli Couscous with Roasted Tomatoes and Olives (YUM)

Peach Brown Betty

Friday & Saturday Breakfasts

Scrambled Eggs

Potato Hash with jalapeno, onion, and garlic

Bacon

Fruit

Yogurt

Granola

This is another recipe from the weekend menu for the Creative Retreat.

Grilled Chile Pineapple

serves 8

1 whole pineapple, peeled, cored, and sliced lengthwise into long sticks

1 T chili powder

1 T cayenne powder

Preheat grill to medium high.

Prepare pineapple by mixing the chili powder and cayenne together then rub onto pineapple. Grill for about 8-10 minutes, turning halfway through.

This is another recipe from the menu for the Creative Retreat. It’s easily doubled, just put in a 9 x 13 pan.

Peach Brown Betty

recipe from Simple Suppers, Moosewood Collective

serves 6-8

4 cups sliced peaches

1/4 cup butter

1 large egg

1/2 cup milk or cream

2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 loaf, or about 8 ounces, crusty bread, cut in 1/2-inch cubes (slightly stale Italian, French, cinnamon or challah are good choices)

Preheat oven to 400°. Lightly grease a two-quart baking dish. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add peaches and cook, stirring, until peaches are hot and beginning to give off juice. Remove from heat.

Beat egg in a large bowl, and then mix in milk, vanilla cinnamon and half of the brown sugar. Add the bread cubes and mix well. Stir in peaches with their juice and melted butter. Spread the mixture into the prepared pan and sprinkle with remaining sugar.

Bake uncovered about 20 minutes or until bubbling and golden brown. Note: A cup of fresh or frozen blueberries may be added with the peaches.

This might have been my favorite recipe out of the whole weekend of the Creative Retreat. It was SOOOO good. And no modifications needed from the original epicurious recipe. Even better.

Israeli Couscous with Roasted Tomatoes and Olives

from epicurious

serves 6

For roasted tomatoes and dressing

2 pt red grape or cherry tomatoes (1 1/2 lb)

3 large garlic cloves, left unpeeled

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup warm water

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

For couscous

2 3/4 cups chicken broth (use vegetable broth if making vegetarian)

2 1/4 cups pearl (Israeli) couscous

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup Kalamata or other brine-cured black olives, pitted and chopped

1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

Roast tomatoes and make dressing:

Preheat oven to 250°F.

Halve tomatoes through stem ends and arrange, cut sides up, in 1 layer in a large shallow (1-inch-deep) baking pan. Add garlic to pan and roast in middle of oven until tomatoes are slightly shriveled around edges, about 1 hour. Cool in pan on a rack 30 minutes.

Peel garlic and purée with oil, water, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and 1/2 cup roasted tomatoes in a blender until dressing is very smooth.

Make couscous:

Bring broth to a boil in a 3-quart heavy saucepan and stir in couscous, then simmer, uncovered, 6 minutes. Cover pan and remove from heat. Let stand 10 minutes.

Spread couscous in 1 layer on a baking sheet and cool 15 minutes.

Transfer couscous to a bowl and stir in remaining ingredients, dressing, roasted tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste.

Cooks’ note:

• Roasted tomatoes, dressing, and couscous can be made 1 day ahead and kept separately, covered and chilled. Bring to room temperature before proceeding.

This is another recipe from the weekend menu from the Creative Retreat.

Roasted Vegetables

serves 8

2 zucchini, medium sized

2 vidallia onions

2 red bell peppers

2 yellow bell peppers

2 T olive oil

2 t Herbes de Provence

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut all veggies into 1 inch pieces, roughly the same size so they cook the same. Toss in olive oil, herbes de provence, salt, and pepper.

Place in baking dish or on a jelly roll pan. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until tender.

This is another recipe from the weekend menu for the Creative Retreat.

Grilled Salmon with Lemon Dill Butter

serves 8

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1 T fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 T fresh chopped dill

salt & pepper

8 six-ounce salmon steaks (you can also do fillets of salmon if you don’t want to buy steaks, just figure about 6-8 oz per person)

Heat grill to medium high.

Prepare butter: if you desire, you can melt the butter in the microwave for 5-10 seconds. Add lemon juice, dill, salt, and pepper to butter and combine. Spread over salmon.

Lay out a large piece of aluminum foil and place the salmon on the foil. Fold the edge over to enclose the salmon. Grill in foil until desired doneness – this will depend entirely on the thickness of the salmon. I prefer my salmon medium, which takes about 5 minutes for a 1 1/2 inch piece of salmon.

This was quite possibly the best steak I’ve had. It was unbelievably good, and everyone wanted the recipe at the Creative Retreat.

Grilled Steak with Roasted Garlic + Thyme Butter

serves 8

1 head garlic

1 t olive oil

1 T chopped fresh thyme

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

8 six-ounce steaks (your choice of cut)

salt and pepper

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Slice off the top 1/4 inch of the head of garlic just so that you can see the cloves exposed. Place on a piece of aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil. Wrap foil around garlic and place in the oven to roast until it is soft – approximately 20-25 minutes. Roasted garlic is sweet and savory, not as sharp or spicy as raw garlic. It gives a nice rich flavor to the marinade.

Meanwhile, heat the grill to medium high and take the steaks out of the fridge to get to room temperature. When the garlic is done, take out of oven, let cool 5 minutes, then squeeze out the cloves into a small bowl. Add butter, thyme, salt and pepper to the mixture. (You can also put the butter in the microwave for 5-10 seconds if you want a runny marinade. Just be cafeful if the steaks are cold – it will solidify the butter when you put it on the steaks.) Mix until fully combined, then spread over each of the steaks. Cook steaks until desired doneness.

I wanted to do strawberry shortcake, but chow.com came out with this recipe as we were planning the menu. so to make things easier, we purchased pre-made angel food cake rectangles and sliced those in half. it worked beautifully and tasted wonderful. This is another recipe from the weekend menu for the Creative Retreat.

Strawberry Whipped Cream Cake

serves: 10-12

For the cake:

2 prepackaged angel food cakes (the rectangle ones work really well)

For the berries:

2 pints strawberries, rinsed and hulled (about 4 cups)

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 1/2 medium lemon)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

For the filling:

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

1/2 cup heavy cream

For the frosting:

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

6 tablespoons granulated sugar

3 cups heavy cream

Directions

For the berries:

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium nonreactive mixing bowl and toss to thoroughly coat strawberries. Let macerate at room temperature at least 20 minutes before using.
2. Strain macerated berries and reserve syrup separately.

For the filling:

1. Combine mascarpone cheese and heavy cream in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and whip until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

For the frosting:

1. Place the cleaned bowl of the stand mixer and the whip attachment in the freezer for 10 minutes. Combine vanilla extract, sugar, and heavy cream in the chilled bowl and whip at medium speed until medium peaks form, about 2 minutes.
2. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least one hour. (The frosting can be prepared up to 12 hours ahead.)

To assemble:

1. Using a long serrated knife, slice each of the cakes in half lengthwise (so you can fill the middle). Place cake rounds on a clean, dry surface and, using a pastry brush, brush 1/2 of the reserved strawberry syrup on the cut side of the first cake round; repeat on the cut side of the second cake round.
2. Evenly spread 1/4 of the mascarpone filling over the cut side of the bottom cake layer. Arrange strawberries standing upright, stem end down, over the mascarpone layer and trim as necessary to create an even layer. Cover berries with the remaining filling, being sure to fill in any empty space.
3. Place second cake layer over mascarpone and strawberries, cut side down, pressing gently to secure it. Using an offset spatula or a long, thin spatula, spread 3/4 cup of the frosting in a thin layer over the top and sides of the cake. Return remaining frosting and cake to the refrigerator until frosting on cake is set, about 15 minutes.
4. Spread the remaining frosting all over the top and sides of the cake. Let sit in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes before serving.