Pip's Plate

Have you heard of the 100 Mile Challenge? In 2005, Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon began a one-year experiment in local eating. Think about that: everything they ate had to come from within a 100-mile radius from where they lived. That morning cup of coffee you have every morning? Unless those beans are grown within 100 miles of you, forget it. It doesn’t matter that they might be roasted 100 miles from you; if they didn’t grow 100 miles from you, then it’s off the table.

The 100 Mile Challenge gained in popularity and members of their local community participated in their own version for 100 days. There is currently a documentary on The Discover Channel following these community members. More about the 100 Mile Challenge tv show here.

You can take the pledge and do your own research, but how about starting with answering the question “What is my 100 mile radius?”

Here’s mine:

And you can find yours here

What would be difficult to live without? How would you find what you’re looking for? This really makes you think about where your food comes from.

I know I wouldn’t have a problem getting wine

I have heard soooo many things about Sea Salt at Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis, MN. This is a perfect place for many things: enjoying nature in a city, listening to live music, book club, playing bocce ball….all while eating a fantastic meal!

Sea Salt gets their fish from local seafood store Coastal Seafood (the best place in Minneapolis to purchase seafood and fish). Sea Salt’s menu features an array of tacos, ‘po boys, appetizers, fresh oysters, etc. And everything is fantastic.

I had the calamari tacos with cole slaw. These tacos were on corn tortillas with fresh, homemade salsa. The calamari was fried perfectly, too. I wish the sauce had been really garlicky, but otherwise I would order these again in a heartbeat. The coleslaw was also quite good.

The last time I was there, I tried the tilapia tacos – also YUMMY. But this time I had it with a side of grilled corn on the cob…my favorite. I threw some lime juice, salt and tabasco sauce on it and it was quite good.

The oysters are extremely fresh and delicious, and you can also order beer and wine there.

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

After the brilliant success of our first Gourmet Club meeting back in January, I immediately went home and started scavenging the internet for braised short rib recipes – because it doesn’t get much better than that. And man oh man….it doesn’t.

Nicole and I were serving the main course this time, which also meant we would be hosting it at my house. I first thought an Asian inspired short rib recipe would be exactly what I was looking for. Until I found this recipe: Brasato al Barolo (Braised Short Ribs with Pumpkin Orzo and Horseradish Gremolata). YUM.

Then I thought…wait a second, this is from Mario Batali’s restaurant Babbo cookbook…hmmm…why does that sound familiar? Then it dawned on me! I finished a book at the end of November titled “Heat” – which is now one of my favorite books – about Bill Buford working for Mario Batali and traveling through Italy. Well, this dish is mentioned in great detail. I looked it up, laughed at the descriptions (it’s violently vulgar), and said “sign me up! this is the dish!”

I read some more about the region this dish comes from – Emilia Romagna in northern Italy and discovered this from wikipedia:

The city of Bologna is famous for its superb cuisine. Perhaps less well known is the fact that it lies at the heart of Emilia Romagna, a region celebrated both in Italy and abroad for the range and quality of its culinary delights. From the Adriatic coast of Ravenna and Forlì to the inland plains and river vallleys of Parma, Piacenza, and Modena, Emila Romagna is richly blessed with prime produce and ingenious cooks.

We preordered short ribs (not flank style but the cut with one bone per rib) and picked them up early that Saturday along with all the other ingredients, then went back to my place to get everything prepped. Have you ever grated fresh horseradish? It is STRONG. And it’s fleshy and weird – it kind of creeped me out a bit.

Either way, the dish was hands down the best dish I’ve ever made. It was simple enough to do again, although somewhat time intensive as it requires a long time in the oven. Although the recipe says to braise at 375 for 2 hours, the next time I would braise at 350 for 3 hours.

The table setting had an Italian theme with reds, greens, and yellows.

Here is the menu:

First Course

Antipasto platter of assorted meats, cheeses, olives, and breads

Paired with: Tommasi Poggio al Tufo Rompicollo, Maremma Tuscana, 2004

Second Course

Tagliatelle with Mussels, Clams and Pesto

Paired with: Tamellini Soave, 2005 (excellent wine)

Third Course

Braised Short Ribs with Pumpkin Orzo and Horseradish Gremolata

Paired with: Josetta Saffirio Barolo, 2002

*A special note about the wine: there is this fellow who suggests wine at the place I love to go (Hennepin Lake Liquors in Uptown – their selection and prices are unbeatable) who, in the past, has had a very low success rate at suggesting wines for me. My strategy for Sat? Avoid him AT ALL COSTS. Well…that unfortunately didn’t happen as another worker pointed me directly to him and there was no one else in the store. F*****ck. He ended up suggesting this wine and it was excellent. Thank god. It was $40/bottle and we bought 2. Josetta Saffirio learned how to make wine from her mom and dad, who are both professors of winemaking in Italy. This is her second or third vintage and only makes 3,000 cases a year.

Fourth Course

Various Cheeses: Taleggio served with honeycomb, Pecorino ginepro served with balsamic reduction and olive oil, Sottocenere al Tartufo, Blu del Moncenisio with fig pear spread, Valsesia Toma with fig pear spread, La Tur with honeycomb

Paired with: Ruvei Barbera d’Alba, 2005

Fifth Course

Panna Cotta with fresh strawberries and blackberries

Paired with: Felsina vin Santo Chianti Classico, 1999

recipes after the jump

Read the rest of this entry »

Mashed potatoes to me have always seemed to be a fun, easy and versatile side dish. I’ve often made them with garlic, fresh herbs, cream cheese, a different kind of cheese, wasabi, etc.

But the other night, I made the most incredible mashed potatoes and they were so simple. I discovered the next day when talking to a friend at pre-thanksgiving dinner that the unforgettable taste of those potatoes came from the actual potato I used: buttercream.

I bought them on a whim. Maybe I was nostalgic and thinking back to 2 years ago when my best friend got married and everything, and I mean everything, was buttercream. Buttercream bridesmaids dresses, buttercream purses, buttercream frosting…you get the idea.

So I thought buttercream potatoes ought to be worth a try. Whoa – it’s going to be hard to go back to any other kind after those mashed potatoes!

When I was talking with my friend about the potatoes and told her how delicious they were yet how simple, I was still incredulous over them. Once I mentioned I used buttercream potatoes, her eyes lit up and she exclaimed, “Oooooooh….buttercream potatoes!”

Needless to say, she said they’re great boiled just on their own. Oops. I guess the extra butter, milk and sour cream I added was unnecessary? I think not.

Oh Glorious Mashed Potatoes

2# bag of buttercream potatoes

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1 t salt

1/3 c sour cream

2 T butter

1/4 c milk

To prepare the potatoes you really have to do nothing other than wash them. However, I wasn’t really paying attention, so I peeled half of them and quartered all of them – this is unnecessary.

Place the potatoes and garlic in a pot with 3 quarts of water and bring to a boil. When the water starts to boil, check the potatoes to see if they’re done. Simply stick a fork or knife through one of them and if it slides in easy – you got it, like butter – then they’re done. They may need a couple minutes at a soft boil.

Drain then place back in pot. Add sour cream, butter, milk and salt and pepper to taste. Mash it all up and serve.

Who would’ve thought that Nashville, TN, is full of fantastic food discoveries? Well…I guess not me. But I’m here visiting a friend, and man oh man, we’ve been eating real good.

My sister and I are here visiting a friend, but she didn’t know I was coming. My sister cleverly booked my flight to arrive the same time as hers came in from Syracuse. When Jen came to pick us up Friday morning, we were sure we’d spilled the beans at least 4 times. Somehow, she had no idea and hadn’t picked up on our slips. The look on her face when she saw me was priceless! Have you ever had a surprise party thrown for you? It looked a little like that followed with a lingering of “I can’t believe you’re here!”

Thankfully, Jen understands the love of food. Our first mission? Drive out to the Loveless Cafe.

This cafe used to be a motel that also served food to travelers. The motel is now a series of little shops, but the cafe is still there and still rocking their delicious trademark biscuits.

Ahhh…..Southern hospitality. We sat down at our table and wahlah! biscuits with homemade jams arrived at our table with our server’s friendly smile.

These biscuits are tender, flaky, warm and a little bit crispy on the tops and bottoms. They’re clearly made with lots and lots of butter – but how else would they get so delicious? Fat is flavor! But the best part of these biscuits is the taste – they have a hint of that cakey buttermilk pancake flavor. Unbelievably good.

The second best part of these biscuits is the homemade jams that come with them. (Note: this picture is our second plate of biscuits – hence the partially eaten jams.) Strawberry, Blackberry, and Peach jams – it’s a toss up for my favorite but if someone put a gun to my head and made me choose, it would be the peach. Little chunks of fresh peach swim in syrupy jamminess. But the blackberry is really good too – it’s easy to forget the seeds in this jam because it’s packed full of ripe berriness.

And then the food – I ordered the BBQ Pulled Pork and Eggs. I looooove BBQ pulled pork, but this was out of this world good. Pork and eggs? What an easy way to redo steak and eggs!

The pulled pork was so tender and moist. It had a slight smoky flavor and the sweetness of the BBQ sauce made it taste like a little slice of heaven. I almost forgot where I was when I first took a bite. And mixing it was the eggs? Also delicious. The right way to have breakfast.

I almost titled this post ‘getting kids to eat right’ but thought better of it, because really what is eating right? I think all the diet and food fads clearly point out that eating “right” is always changing meaning.

Regardless, I want to comment on  kids eating today. It’s been coming up in a lot of conversations I’ve had in the past couple of days.

What I’ve heard/learned:

Over on ReubenMiller, they’re talking about a Stanford University study that found out kids would determine anything in McDonald’s packing must taste good, regardless of what the food actually was.

Jerry Seinfeld’s wife Jessica was on Oprah the other day talking about pureeing vegetables and adding them to everything she makes in order to get her kids to eat nutritiously. However ethical this may seem (she doesn’t tell them), at least they’re eating something. more here

I f&*#ing love hamachi. I had dinner at Sushi Tango last night (in Calhoun Square). I swear, everytime I go there I’m more than pleased with the quality of their fish.

But last night? I’m pretty sure that was the best hamachi I’ve had. When I picked up the first piece of sashimi, it was a nice pink and it practically fell apart – revealing the tasty fat that I was about to consume.

And the fat…it’s the kind of fat that spreads out over your tongue and fills your mouth with flavor. Good fat. Really good fat. It was overwhelmingly satisfyingly fresh and delicious…and at the same time I was sad that it was over so soon.

Oh, hamachi. I will never get enough of you.

This place was a last minute switch-up and I am soooo glad we changed plans. Sushi Groove, located on Union St at Hyde in Russian Hill, was excellent – some of the best sushi I’ve had.

We also had an excellent server- Robin. Ask for him if you go. I think he was a little surprised how much food we ordered, but he did want to sit down with us and eat…we must have good taste.

We ordered a hella sushi. It might’ve had something to do with our lack of eating for a cool 6 or 7 hours. Jamba Juice doesn’t cut it, but it does get you through.

We started with Yaegaki Junmai “Black Bottle” sake – it was dry, smooth, light, delicate and a little floral. It was excellent. I will definitely be looking for this again. Also tried an unfiltered sake which was also good. As Robin put it, “it’s like sake from a cow.” Ew…

As for sushi, we had quite the array, as you can see:

The hamachi was outstanding. I feel better about the quality of hamachi on this trip versus the one last year. Sushi Groove also had an excellent selection of specials, including Hawaiian butterfish – Walu. It was soooo good. This is why I feel like sushi is like a drug – whenever I have it, I have to have more. It is addicting to eat something as good as that walu. It was melt in your mouth delicious.

Also, the ivory salmon was outstanding. We had it nigiri style and I sure felt the burn on that one- the surprise of extra wasabi was quite unexpected but welcome. We also had the aji sashimi (that would be the fish in the picture). It was pretty good with the mashed ginger they served with it.

We tried a few rolls and they were pretty good too- dynamite (which they put dollops of Sri Racha on – LOVED it), eric’s maki (scallops with tobiko and avocado I think), gari saba (ginger and mackerel), and kamikaze (yellowtail, avocado and tobiko). Yummo.

Overall, it was a lot of fun and we enjoyed all of the sushi.

Sushi Groove

1916 Hyde Street

San Francisco, CA

415-440-1905

They are also on open table for reservations.

I made this the other night for a friend (on an electric stove no less- yikes!) and it was a huge success and quite tasty. I think this could be a contender for the menu for my someday restaurant. There is enough sauce for 4 servings. I served this with Spicy Green Beans and coconut rice w/cilantro (just cook the rice with coconut milk instead of water and add chopped cilantro at the end = yummy).

A friend recently turned me on to a new Spanish white wine- Albarino. We had that with this dinner and I thought it went quite well together. Although, I think a Gewurtzeminer would work too.

Roasted Halibut with Pineapple Ginger Sauce

1/3 c dry white wine

1/3 c orange juice

2 T tamari

1# halibut fillet

*mix the first 3 ingredients and marinate the halibut for 30min – 2hours. reserve the marinade

1/3c dry white wine

1T sesame oil

1T rice wine vinegar

2T tamari

1/3c orange juice

1 jalapeno, minced

2T minced fresh ginger

zest from 1 orange

zest from 2 limes

1 small red onion, sliced

2 cups diced pineapple

1 red bell pepper, julienned

2T chopped cilantro

2T sesame seeds

*preheat the oven to 400. heat a large skillet over high heat with a little bit of oil. when the pan is very hot, add the halibut. sear each side of the halibut for about 1-2 minutes. (this will help keep the fish moist and tender.) put the halibut in a roasting pan with a little bit of marinade (about 1/3) and place in the oven. the halibut will take about 20 minutes to cook – make sure you cook halibut all the way through.

*NOTE: if you’re making rice, this is a good time to get it started if you’re making Thai jasmine which takes about 15-20 minutes. brown rice takes about 40 minutes so make sure you allow plenty of time. (Joy of Cooking is always an excellent resource for cooking time for all the varieties of rice)

*in the same skillet, add the remaining marinade, the additional wine, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, tamari, orange juice, jalapeno, ginger and zest. let this gently boil for about 5 minutes then add the red onion. the sauce should start to reduce. once it gets thicker, add the pineapple and bell pepper.

*NOTE: the Spicy Green Beans take about 8-10 minutes so start these just before the fish is done.

*when the halibut is done, remove from the oven. place rice and beans on a plate, place the halibut on top, then put some of the pineapple ginger sauce over the fish. garnish with fresh cilantro and sesame seeds.