Great Taste

Fiddlehead fancy

If you've ever enjoyed ostrich fern fiddleheads you know they are as special as morels and other springtime culinary delights. But fiddleheads don't show up at Minnesota farmers markets or produce stands like mushrooms and asparagus do.

Great Taste suggests planting ostrich ferns in your own garden or shaded plot in order to enjoy a gourmet experience in the future. For more information, here are links:

http://www.scotts.com/smg/learn/infoHowToArticle.jsp?detailId=14400008&subNavId=700034&navId=300030&parentId=100006   

http://www.gardenguides.com/74857-growing-fiddlehead-ferns.html

Note: Caution is frequently advised in fiddlehead preparation and consumption. Take time to read up before you decide to eat or serve them. 

Rochester's outdoor farmers market season starts Saturday

Are ya gonna be there?

http://rochesterdowntownfarmersmarket.org/

Culinary highlights include local rhubarb, morels and ramps. Maybe some asparagus will show up, too!

It's asparagus time!

Yes, local asparagus is here.

Check out what Lanesboro resident Peggy Hanson is doing with asparagus on her wonderful blog:

http://cookoutofthebox.blogspot.com/

Have to admit, Newt's burgers are inevitably good

As I tweeted yesterday, a high-ranking Rochester citizen told me yesterday that, counterintuitively, Michaels has the best burger in town. I'll check that out; a Twitter user responded, though, that Newt's would take exception to that, and I happened to be on my way to Newt's at that time.

Well, after refreshing my memory about how good Newt's burgers are, I can tell you the bar has been raised for Michaels or anywhere else. Todd's Burger will definitely be in the Four Stars winners circle in May...

Readers have been dishing up a lot of tips since yesterday:

Try TaCades in Chatfield. I recommend the Monkey burger (the sauce is named Monkey not the meat), though my son prefers the Fergburger cause it has peanut butter. Not a long trip and well worth it. Thanks for asking in your column. -- Dan T.

+++

Sometimes I envy your position, especially when it comes to sampling food around the region! Even better, you get to give yourself your own assignments. A true dream job ;)

Burgers are an especially sensitive subject for me. I love burgers, but the only place besides home where I have found a good one locally is Newts. My criteria for a great burger, besides being tasty, is deceivingly simple:

Juicy,
Medium-rare (although I will accept medium)
Home-made (style at least) bun.
Preferably  Char-broiled (but I allow for exceptional pan frying)
Toppings are a bonus but I am partial to blue cheese and bacon

Unfortunately many a server will tell you one of 3 things: 'It's against the law to make medium rare' (it's not); 'We only do medium well or well' (implying to me that they do not grind their own meat); or (except Newts) 'How would you like that done' (which is only to humor you while your burger is prepared medium well).

It has gotten to the point that I order chicken or appetizers rather than risking a scene with an over-done burger.

Frankly, I would be extremely disappointed in a burger survey that accepts 'Medium-well' as well made burger. There is no skill nor pride in medium-well. If you expect medium-well or well, then every fast food franchise in the country qualifies

My belief is that if you or I care to spend the time and money to sit down for a burger,  we should be able to demand that it be prepared as we ask, with fresh, wholesome ingredients (as wholesome as red-meat can be anyway ;)

You would be doing all of us burger-lovers a true service if you can find the places that actually serve medium-rare with pride instead of fear. If per-chance you personally have an aversion to anything pink in the middle, then I think your survey would be woefully incomplete, and if your tasting team lacks the necessary depth to suss out the sous I would be forced to volunteer my services to help you discern what a burger should be.

Gustatorally yours,
Dan F.

++++++

Hi Jay,
I really like the restaurant reviews you have been doing….a real step up for both the P-B and for Rochester!
 
We were recently surprised at Dish-it-Up across from the Chateau Theater.  We decided to try their offerings, and we both chose hamburgers.  They were just excellent, I think their flavor is somewhere in the “Newt’s” category.  I briefly commented very favorably to one of the owners(?), and she said that “…yes, they were changing some, and were really working at their burgers…”.  I love food--any ethnic cuisine—but this made it fun to go back to a good old burger.  I suggest you give it a try.
 
Regards,
Tom Brinkman

Fresh loose-meat and fresh seafood

Two things to look forward to on the Rochester food scene:

New Maid-Rite fast-food place to open in June, reportedly -- loose meat done right!

And watch Kiger's Notebook blog and Heard on the Street in print regarding a tip regarding a fresh seafood market coming to town.

JF

Is Alinea Restaurant in Chicago America's best?

It is, according to this news: 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-live-0427-top-50-alinea-20100427,0,6274069.column

But Great Taste is skeptical. She went to Alinea years ago.

Been there, done that, as they say!

Great Taste isn't as excited about Alinea as others are. Regarding Alinea, she asks if you might agree or disagree to the following questions:  

Do you like food that costs big $$$$? Food that looks so pretty it's easy to forget you're supposed to eat it?  Do you like to sit in a room at a table that's kinda close to other people sitting in the room at tables, speaking in library voices?  Do you like super-sleek understated ambiance? Do you like not recognizing your food because it's so minimalistic-ally decorative? Do you think of your food as something highly distilled from its origins? If you answered "yes" to many of these questions, you'll probably love Alinea!   

For more down-to-earth, superlative culinary experiences, try Corner Table in Minneapolis, and Heartland in St. Paul. Great Taste would return to these soulful restaurants over Alinea. She would also rather go to the top dozen restaurants in New Orleans any day of the week.

But it takes all kinds....

Among Great Taste's fave meals ever were lobster tacos at a simple beach spot in Huatulco, Mexico. Tortellini in cream sauce in Florence, Italy, 25 years ago. And a sliced-up perfectly ripe, large, thin-skinned beefsteak tomato grown in pitch-black garden soil in Illinois, with a dash of salt.  

There are subtleties and sensory experiences you just can't rank.

Cynthia Daube's favorite cake

Alfred Lord Tennyson observed, "In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love."

But what are the ladies thinking? Love? Or cake?*

Oprah Winfrey's O magazine's May issue features stunning cakes by some of the nation's top bakers for the occasion of O's 10th anniversary.

http://www.oprah.com/food/O-Magazines-10-Anniversary-Cakes-Dessert-Recipes

In southeast Minnesota, thoughts of fanciful cakes bring Cynthia Daube, of Daube's Bakery Inc., Rochester, instantly to mind.

Great Taste asked, "What is your favorite cake?"

"The Italian cream cake or any cake that has a denseness and chewiness to it. We do a burnt butter cream frosting in the Italian cream cake.  I love nuts. It has pecans and macaroon coconut--a finer coconut....which gives it a nice background texture and moistness. It's such a perfect cake."

But the owner of the dining and baking triumvirate noted: "It's a little bit hard....It's like choosing among children--you know, your own."

Here is Daube's wedding cake page online: http://www.daubesbakery.com/weddingcakes.html

*Great Taste's answer: Both of course. We're multi-taskers.

Four Stars of fabulous salads coming on Tuesday...

...and I'll tease you here with one of the winners: the sea scallop salad at City Cafe in Rochester. We'll be there today to shoot a pic.

Three more to be revealed in Tuesday's P-B.

-- JF

Upgrades at the Port of Red Wing

Good news for St. Jim's fans: The main dining room at the historic Red Wing hotel is getting a much-needed facelift, with a redesigned stairway and bar area, new carpet and lighting, and more. The Port is one of my favorite restaurants in the area, in part because of hostess Jan and waitress Rita, but it surely has needed reinvestment. My wife and I were there last night and the filet was fine, but the Guinness chocolate lava cake was the star of the show. Also try the creme brule with orange flower honey -- ask for it warm.

-- Jay Furst

The Earth Day challenge

Today, reader, would you keep track of everything you eat and then consider how it came to your plate/paper sack?

Feel free to leave a comment on this blog about your experience.

We're all in this together!