Great Taste

2009: Year of the foodie in Southeast Minnesota

Can 2009 be the best year ever for dining and gourmet food in Southeast Minnesota?

Great Taste thinks so....Let us count the ways.

1. Opening of Zzest Culinary Market & Wine Cafe, Rochester

2. Opening of Pescara, Rochester

3. Opening of The Cheese Cave, Faribault

4. Sontes, Rochester, burnishes its culinary reputation by intensely focusing on local sourcing.

5. More than ever, the Rochester Downtown Farmers Market, along with Thursdays on First (in season), bring gourmet produce and a diversity of mostly local specialty foods to the populace.

6. Midwest cheese. The following cheese makers produce some of the best artisan cheeses in the country:

http://shepherdswayfarms.com/ourcheese/

http://www.cravecheese.com/farmsteadClassics/index.php

http://www.prairiefruits.com/content/1044

Most of the listed cheeses are available in Southeast Minnesota.

7. Southern Minnesota Amish food products. Except for making it fresh from the field yourself, little rivals the flavors in small-batch, straight-from-the-garden canned goods. Moreover the Amish use simple but excellent recipes. Some fave items: tomato juice, hot pepper butter, pickles, and sauerkraut that will change your mind about sauerkraut. The Amish did the locavore thing all along and still do it as well or much better than the modern movement.

8. While we're on canned goods: Is Southeast Minnesota one of the home-canning meccas in the United States? (Visit GT's posts on canned goods from earlier this year.)  

9. Great Taste started this food blog in 2009. We are not alone. More outstanding Minnesota food blogs surface all the time. Check out Great Taste's "Weblogs" category.  

10. The Post Bulletin Company, Rochester, launched research and began preparations for an exciting new publication, Radish, to debut in spring 2010. (More to follow.)   

What are your thoughts about 2009, foodies?

GG

New Year's Day nosh

Here is a recipe for terrific Reuben sandwiches, courtesy of the fab Zingerman's Deli, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/the-best-of/zingermans-reuben-sandwich-recipe/index.html

Champagne with.....elderflower liqueur, gin, lemon juice?

New and highly original ideas for toasting in the New Year....

http://www.boston.com/thingstodo/special/firstnight/champagnedrinks/<br>

Usher in the New Year with--North Shore herring!

You can still put out that spinach artichoke dip but why not give them something to talk about?

Dockside Fish Market is still open: http://docksidefishmarket.dreamhosters.com/index.shtml

More on herring: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/488277 

And a recipe: http://www.sallybernstein.com/food/cuisines/germany/c.htm

(Scroll down to the second recipe)

What to do with leftover holiday turkey

Do you have a lot of leftover turkey in the fridge right now?

Below is the recipe for Great Taste's hands-down favorite use of turkey. It's the secret reason why we choose to make turkey with gravy for dinner in the first place. Merry Christmas!

Marshall Field's Special Sandwich

One fresh, crispy head iceberg lettuce
Three to five thin slices of freshly roasted turkey breast (white meat only), room temperature
Three-fourths cup thousand island dressing (recipe to follow)
One thin slice of aged Swiss cheese
One fresh slice of Jewish or other mild (but flavorful) rye bread
One to two teaspoons butter, softened
Two slices of your favorite bacon
Slice of hard-boiled egg
Slice of tomato
Olive and parsley garnish

Butter rye bread and place on a large cold serving plate. Cover bread with Swiss cheese slice, followed by one or two slices of turkey. Take a nice large outer lettuce leaf from the head of iceberg and set aside. Slice the iceberg lettuce in a few large sections and arrange a section on top of the turkey and Swiss cheese.

Cover the open-face "sandwich" with big lettuce leaf. Top with several slices of turkey. Pour a very ample amount of dressing over the lettuce, allowing it to puddle slightly all around the plate. Place a slice of bacon and an olive on either side of sandwich mound. Place tomato slice and egg slice atop mound with parsley sprig. Serve immediately.

Yield: one special sandwich
 
Thousand Island Dressing

One cup real mayonnaise
One-half cup Heinz chili sauce
Two tablespoons sweet pickle relish
Two large green olives, pitted and finely chopped
One-half teaspoon dried tarragon
Dash Tabasco
Dash Worcestershire sauce
One hard-boiled egg, finely chopped (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Serve.

Yield: One and three-fourths cups dressing

Background: In the 1970s Great Taste learned to make "Field's Specials" at a part-time job in the kitchen of a Marshall Field's store near Chicago. These "sandwiches" are in fact mountainous, delightful salads and were a popular menu item for the dyed-in-the-wool Field's customer.  The Thousand Island dressing is GT's personal recipe.

GG

 

While we're sitting out the snow storm....soup's on

GT made a delightful celery root soup. Try it using all chicken broth and no water. It's relatively easy to prepare this soup and it will impress your holiday guests--who may be staying longer than you expected! 

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Celery-Root-Soup-with-Bacon-and-Green-Apple-233784

And...speaking of soup, here are GT's four favorite spots for fresh soup in southeast Minnesota.

Zzest Culinary Market & Wine Cafe, Rochester

The Cheese Cave, Faribault

Back Room Deli, Rochester

Daube's Down-Under, Rochester

GG

Last minute shopping? Here's something unexpected...and made in Minnesota!

Still shopping for presents?  

Great Taste adores AUNT ELSE'S 9-HOLE CAST IRON AEBLESKIVER PAN, which comes with its own Aebleskiver mix.

Aebleskiver, a Danish stovetop pastry, is a big hit with Great Taste's family--not only because it's fun to make together in the kitchen but because it's scrumptious.

We like to stuff the little doughnut hole-like aebleskiver with ultra-creamy ricotta cheese from Zzest Culinary Market & Wine Cafe and a little bit of Michigan tart cherry preserve. Luscious.  Aunt Else's aebleskiver mix is made from organic, regional ingredients, including Minnesota-grown wheat; results taste fresh and full-flavored.   

In Denmark aebleskiver is popular during Advent. It is typically served with glogg, also known as mulled wine. 

Aebleskiver kits are available at Uffda Shop, Red Wing, The Cheese Cave, Faribault, and other Minnesota locations. 

For more information: http://auntelse.com/default.aspx 

GG

Fab blog about Minnesota food life

Check this out for local, exceptional finds and foodie culture: http://simplegoodandtasty.com/

Ham for the holiday? Here's a family recipe for great sauce

From mother's files....A sweet-sour delight which is sure to have relatives and friends asking for more, so you may want to double the recipe. (But be aware that you'll need extra ham juice.)

Raisin Sauce for Baked Ham

One to two tablespoons medium to dry red wine

Three-quarters of one cup brown sugar

One tablespoon cornstarch

One- and one-half cups juice from a baked ham

One teaspoon distilled white or rice vinegar

One-quarter teaspoon ground cloves

One-half cup light or dark raisins

In a saucepan over low heat combine red wine, ham juice, vinegar, raisins and cloves. Simmer together for 10 minutes. Mix in brown sugar, then slowly dissolve cornstarch until sauce slightly thickens. Serve hot over slices of baked ham.

Note: This sauce is particularly delicious when ham is accompanied by potatoes au gratin.       

GG

Zzest Culinary Market & Wine Cafe: Viva Zubays!

Answer: Jerry and LeeAnn Zubay

Question: What husband and wife team are transforming the Rochester food scene in a matter of weeks?

Great Taste is trying to think of excuses to tell her family so that she and one or more family members may return to Zzest and have another cup of soup and panini sandwich.

Soup and sandwich? "Is that all?" you ask.

Yes, because the ubiquitous combination is quite possibly the best we've had anywhere in the area--or in the Midwest, including Chicago. 

This is also a place to see and be seen. Find fashionably-outfitted women of a certain age who set the cultural tone of the city, and men who aren't afraid of showing their artful side. 

The service? Ask a sales associate about cheese, whether it's from Illinois, Vermont, Texas or France, and there's an informed answer. Even in the holiday rush, help is there.

To say we're impressed is Great Taste's Understatement of 2009. 

GG