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Let's talk food, from restaurants and recipes to farmers markets, food issues and wine. Lee Svitak Dean, Rick Nelson, Kim Ode and Bill Ward will start the conversation.
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Posts about Minnesota newsmakers
Best-of-the-best holiday cookies
Posted by: Lee Svitak Dean Updated: November 20, 2012 - 12:39 PM
Photos by Lee Svitak Dean
The Taste section of the Star Tribune has held its annual holiday cookie contest for the past decade, resulting in 10 winning recipes that have pleased bakers and appeared on holiday cookie platters for years.
In celebration of our 10th contest, we thought it would be fun to put the top 10 recipes to the test by having four local experts -- pastry chefs -- offer their thoughts on the recipes.
Steve Horton of Rustica bakery, Adrienne Odom of Parasole Restaurants, Diane Yang of La Belle Vie and Stephanie Schwandt of D'Amico Kitchen, pictured above, did just that as staff photographer Tom Wallace, also pictured, recorded the occasion. Find out which were the top three cookies next week (Nov. 29) in the Taste section, along with the winning recipes from this year's contest.
All the winners and finalists from the past decade will be available in the NEW e-book from the Star Tribune. "The Cookie Book" will be available on amazon.com and iTunes (and more) on Nov. 29 for $2.99.
Charlie Awards winners announced
Posted by: Rick Nelson Updated: November 11, 2012 - 9:49 PM
The second-annual Charlie Awards, which recognize exceptional contributions of Twin Cities restaurants, chefs, bartenders, community leaders and other practitioners, was held at the Pantages Theatre in downtown Minneapolis on Sunday afternoon.
Congratulations to the winners, including:
Outstanding Restaurant: Tilia (pictured, above)
Outstanding Chef: Doug Flicker of Piccolo
Outstanding Pastry Chef: Michelle Gayer of the Salty Tart
Lifetime Achievement: Lenny Russo, chef/co-owner of Heartland Restaurant & Farm Direct Market
Community Hero: Brenda Langton, owner of Spoonriver
Emerging Food Professional: Birk Gruden and Christina Nguyen of Hola Arepa
Outstanding Bartender: Johnny Michaels of La Belle Vie
Outstanding Restaurant Service: Meritage
Outstanding Restaurant Design: The Bachelor Farmer (designed by Janet Gridley)
Local Do-Gooder: Randy Stanley of the Uptown Restaurant Taskforce
Outstanding Cup of Coffee: Moroccan Mocha from Cahoots Coffee Bar in St. Paul
Outstanding Local Craft Brew: Summit Saga IPA from Summit Brewing Co.
Outstanding Food Truck Item: Slow-roasted pork arepa from Hola Arepa
Outstanding Restaurant Item: Masu Roll from Masu Sushi & Robata
Winners in the individual and business categories are selected by a vote among participating restaurants, and winners in the food categories are selected by an online open-to-the-public vote and a panel of experts.
Find the 2011 winners here.
The awards are named after the Charlie’s Café Exceptionale. The landmark downtown Minneapolis restaurant closed in 1982 after a 49-year run.
The next James Beard Award winners
Posted by: Rick Nelson Updated: October 23, 2012 - 4:49 PM
The James Beard Foundation needs you. Well, your opinion anyway.
Winners of the foundation's annual restaurant and chef awards won't be announced until the evening of May 6, 2013, from the stage of Avery Fisher Hall in New York City's Lincoln Center. But now's the time to tell the foundation which restaurants and chefs should be up for consideration in 21 categories, including Outstanding Bar Program, Best New Restaurant, Rising Star Chef of the Year, Outstanding Pastry Chef and Best Chef: Midwest.
Go here and share your opinions. Registration is easy, requiring a name, ZIP code and email address. It's fast, and it's free. Deadline is Dec. 31st.
When the foundation's annual book awards winners are announced in New York City on May 3rd, e-books will be included in the same categories as print books, a first. "The James Beard Book Awards are designed to recognize excellence, and we'll be looking for it regardless of whether it comes on paper or on a screen," said book committee head Matt Sartwell.
In addition, the foundation's Restaurant Design award will now recognize two categories of entries: Restaurants of 75 seats and over, and restaurants of 75 seats and under. And for the first time, restaurants and chefs in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico will be eligible for consideration in the foundation's restaurant and chef awards.
Nominees in all book, journalism, design, broadcast media and restaurant and chef categories will be announced on March 18, 2013.
Taste section wins two writing awards
Posted by: Lee Svitak Dean Updated: September 10, 2012 - 2:43 PM
The Star Tribune's Taste section dominated the features category in the competition held by the Association of Food Journalists, which met in Washington, D.C., for its annual conference. (Read the tweets, with plenty of pictures, from many D.C. landmarks, including the Library of Congress, Julia Child's kitchen at the Smithsonian and the White House garden. Yes, indeed, we were there, as well as the Swedish Embassy.) The Taste section won two of the three top spots.
Editor Lee Svitak Dean won first place for her story on making popcorn the old-fashioned way.
Rick Nelson won third place for his story, "Wild Thing" on the Minnesota farmer who raises wild boars.
For a complete list of the national winners in the AFJ journalism competition, check out this roster.
Who is Master of the Market? Sameh Wadi wins the competition
Posted by: Lee Svitak Dean Updated: August 22, 2012 - 3:22 PM
It was a tough choice to make, to determine the best entry: a beautifully designed beer-cheese BLT soup by Jack Riebel of Butcher & the Boar, or a fragrant three-course meal of an heirloom tomato salad with charred-tomato vinaigrette, a trout and vegetable tagine, and a chilled melon soup for dessert from Sameh Wadi of Saffron. That was the decision the judges had to make Saturday during the Chef Challenge at the Minneapolis Farmers Market, an event held in multiple cities, sponsored by Country Financial and, here, the Minneapolis Farmers Market.
The chefs had 20 minutes to find their foods of choice at the market, and $50 to spend, followed with 30 minutes to prepare their dish. Jack and Sameh raced through the aisles of the very crowded market (or at least they tried to; it was tough to get customers to move out of the way), grabbing the tomatoes, cantaloupe, trout, bacon, bread and more to be used in the prep.
Jack, at right, relied on what he called "the three killer 'Bs' for his dish: beer, bacon and bread. Each chef was allowed to bring two ingredients to the event. Jack brought vinegar and beer; Sameh also turned to vinegar, as well as his own spice blend.
"This is more stressful than Iron Chef. It's Jack Riebel," said Sameh at the start of the competition. By 11 minutes from deadline, Jack noted, "Stress, stress, stress."
But neither seemed too stressed; they were calmly -- though hastily -- at work, focused on the end results.
I was one of the four judges, who included food blogger Stephanie Meyer and WCCO-TV weekend anchors Matt Brickman and Jamie Yuccas.
Take a look for yourself at the completed dishes. Jack cooked and plated a stunning soup in the very formal, elegant method of first presenting the soup ingredients without the broth, then at the table slowly pouring in the liquid. No matter how many times I've had soup presented this way, it makes me swoon. See the tomatoes, maple-glazed bacon and green onion? That's a slice of gouda atop the bacon and the mild beer-cheese broth also uses the cheese. It was a real stunner. Here's how the dish was initially served before the liquid was added, followed by a photo after the addition of the beer-cheese broth.
Deconstructed BLT Soup
Serves 4.
From Jack Riebel of Butcher & the Boar.
Serves 4.
From Jack Riebel of Butcher & the Boar.
Beer Cheese Soup:
• 2 tbsp. chopped garlic
• 1½ c. chopped onion
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. salt
• 48 oz.. (6 c.) beer
• 3 c. Gouda cheese, grated
• 3 c. Havarti, grated
Tomato and bacon garnish:
• 8 slices bacon (Riebel used Thielens)
• 1 c. diced bread
• 1 lb. heirloom tomatoes, blanched and cut into large pieces
• 2 tbsp. maple syrup, divided
• 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar, divided
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp. olive oil, or to taste
• 1 sprig fresh basil
• 1 green onion, sliced thin
• 1 jalapeno sliced thin
Directions
Sweat garlic, onion, olive oil and salt over low heat just until sizzling. Add beer and simmer 10 minutes.
Pour into blender and blend until smooth. Add cheese and blend until smooth. Pass through strainer; set aside.
Pour into blender and blend until smooth. Add cheese and blend until smooth. Pass through strainer; set aside.
Meanwhile, in a large sauté pan set over medium high heat, brown bacon until crisp. Remove bacon to paper towel and drain.
Reserving the fat in the pan, return pan to heat and add diced bread and cook until crisp but not burned. Add oil if necessary. Season with salt and pepper, and reserve.
Place tomatoes into a bowl ; stir in 1 tablespoon each of maple syrup and vinegar. Season with salt, pepper and olive oil to taste. Tear basil leaves and stir into tomatoes.
Place the remaining vinegar and maple syrup into the sauté pan. Return to heat. Add cooked bacon and stir, reducing liquid to a syrup. Season liberally with pepper and reserve.
To assemble: Divide tomatoes among 4 bowls. Garnish with bacon, croutons, green onions and sliced jalapenos. Pour beer-cheese soup around edges, and serve.
Sameh presented a three-course meal, starting with a salad of heirloom tomatoes with a charred-tomato vinaigrette. The fragrance was wonderful. The dressing was drizzled on the salad at the table. (Again, a swooning moment.)
Heirloom Tomato Salad With Tomato Vinaigrette
Serves 4.
• 5 heirloom tomatoes, (3 sliced thinly, plus 2 whole for vinaigrette), divided
• 1 tbsp. sherry vinegar
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 jalapeno (no seeds)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 pint (2 cups) raspberries
• A few fresh basil leaves
Directions
To make vinaigrette: Char 2 tomatoes over flame until mostly black. Do not rinse off the charred bits. In a blender, combine tomatoes with vinegar, olive oil, jalapeno, salt and pepper. Process until smooth. Pour over sliced tomatoes. Garnish with fresh basil leaves, raspberries, salt and pepper.
Second course from Sameh was a seafood tagine made with rainbow trout and vegetables (zucchini, patty-pan squash and corn in the mix), mixed with North African spices, a blend called ras el hanout. The dish was originally presented in a cobalt blue tagine, then dished up individually for the judges.
Trout Tagine with Ras El Hanout and Corn Broth
Serves 3.
Note: Tagine is a type of dish found in the North African cuisines of Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, which is named after the special pot in which it is cooked. They are slow-cooked stews braised at low temperatures, resulting in tender meat with aromatic vegetables and sauce. If you don’t have a tagine pot, this recipe could also be prepared in a covered baking dish. This is one of the winning recipes in the Chef Challenge from Sameh Wadi of Saffron restaurant. The recipe calls for a Moroccan spice blend called ras el hanout, which varies considerably depending on who makes it. Wadi uses his own blend of 29 spices that he sells at Saffron and online at saffronMPLS.com/spicetrail.html. Other blends can be used and would be available at Middle Eastern stores, as well as at Kitchen Window (3001 Hennepin Av., Minneapolis, 612-824-4417). The blend typically includes cardamom, clove, cinnamon, ground chili peppers, coriander, cumin, nutmeg and turmeric. If not using Wadi’s spice mix, adjust the amount to your taste.
• 2 c. corn stock (see directions below)
• 3 ( 5-oz.) pieces rainbow trout or similar fish
• 2 tbsp. ras el hanout (a Moroccan spice blend, see Note), divided
• 4 tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced thin
• 1 large onion, sliced thin
• 3 c. fresh corn kernels
• 6 baby zucchini, halved
• 12 baby patty-pan squash, whole
• 1 c. yellow wax beans, blanched and cut into 1-in. pieces
• Salt to taste
• 1/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
Directions
To make 2 cups corn stock: Simmer several corn cobs (from the fresh kernels you will use in this dish) with water, onions, garlic and salt for 30 to 45 minutes on medium. Strain and season with a pinch of salt.
To prepare fish: Marinate fish with a pinch of ras el hanout spice and a drizzle of olive oil for 15 minutes and reserve in the refridgerator.
Heat remaining oil in tagine or large pot. Add garlic, onion and corn; cook on low heat. Add zucchini, patty-pan squash and beans. Then season with salt and remaining ras el hanout spice. Add corn stock and reduce liquid by a quarter, with pot uncovered.
Season the fish with salt and place in the tagine with the fresh cilantro. Cook for 3 minutes on high with the cover on. Add the lemon juice and serve.
Third course from Sameh was a frothy muskmelon soup, that will definitely find a place on my summer menus.
Melon Soup
Serves 4.
Note:
• 1 muskmelon, peeled and cut in chunks
• 1/4 c. ice
• 1/4 c. water
• Juice from about 1 1/2 limes
• Honey, to taste
• 1/2 pint (2 c.) raspberries
• Freshly cracked black pepper
• Few sprigs of mint
Directions
Combine muskmelon, ice, water, lime juice and a bit of honey (amount will depend on how sweet the melon is) in blender. Purée on high; add more water for desired consistency, then taste (adjusting honey, if needed) and strain.
To serve, place soup in bowls and garnish with raspberries, a sprinkling of freshly cracked black pepper and mint leaves. Serve cold.
Stephanie Meyer, Lee Svitak Dean, Jamie Yuccas and Matt Brickman, hard at work judging the contest.
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