Great Taste

What is an espressoholic? The tell-tale signs

Great Taste, aka Chef's Toque or Gourmanda Galore--that pompous writer on culinary wunderlust and Upper Midwest haut food cravings and crazes--is a "bad girl" when it comes to espresso. One might describe her habits as... "espressoholic."  

She doesn't look at the clock before drinking....

She drinks espresso in the morning. And at night. Of course there's the afternoon pick-me-up. Decaf? What's the point? 

Her motto: Have espresso machine, will travel. She takes her trusty Nespresso machine and capsules on the road. 

She drinks at home, often alone. Coffee shops and cafes? Nuh-uh.

Most people behind the counter do not know how to make espresso. They know how to steam milk. They take a shot of espresso and pour about 20 ounces of steamy milk on it and call it a cappucino or a latte. (In America, is there a difference?) It doesn't matter whether she is in Manhattan or in Minnesota.  (Though in Manhattan you may periodically luck out --but why chance it?) Italy is a good place for consistently great espresso--in cafes, ristorantes, and so on. Unless one plans to move there it's too far to go for espresso--but then again, ahem, how can one miss the upcoming Venice Biennale?  

She'll settle for less, out of necessity.  When in need, she will visit a coffee shop and ask for triple espresso straight up, with steamed milk on the side. Sometimes that request works out, as long as the beans and the espresso machine are good--which is less than 50 percent of the time. But she'll try to drink it if it is at all palatable.

If company calls, she'll immediately offer some espresso, in hopes they'll say yes and she can make a cup for herself as well. 

Espressoholics walk around and look just like everyone else. So it may be hard to identify one. But now Great Taste has confessed. You are reading the words of one who drinks a lot of espresso. And she isn't apologizing for it.....She'll keep her tin of mints handy, though.

Longing for a Viennese cafe in Minnesota

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viennese_caf%C3%A9

Know what we mean?  

 

 

This cappuccino elegantly completes holiday dinner

If you have an espresso machine with steam attachment and not too many guests, considering finishing your holiday meal with a flourish. Ingredient list is short--though potentially pricey.     Freshly ground Milano-style European Espresso beans from www.kofficoffee.com OR your fave freshly ground espresso beans A quality caramel sauce, made with all-natural ingredients One ounce extra bitter chocolate (preferably Valrhona), shaved Whole milk Express two to three shots espresso into cup. Stir in a teaspoon of caramel and some chocolate shavings. Pour at least a cup of milk into metal container and steam as frothy as possible. Place dollops of froth over espresso and add a few tablespoons of hot milk. Squeeze one to two tablespoons of syrup in swirls on top of froth. Sprinkle chocolate shavings over frothy top. Serve immediately.

Great Taste loves: Minnesota coffee companies

It's a pleasure to drink rich, fresh coffee that has been grown organically and marketed using Fair Trade practices. In the state of Minnesota, such a win-win experience is easy, owing to the plethora of hip coffee companies based here.

While the following businesses are not based in the immediate area, many of their products are sold and served in southeast Minnesota and all but Roastery 7* are available for purchase online. 

Peace Coffee, Minneapolis

Flamenco Organic Coffee Co., Minneapolis

The Coffee Fool, Minneapolis

Roastery 7, Brooklyn Center

Providence Coffee, Faribault

True Stone Coffee Roasters, St. Paul  (Has a full organic line in its inventory.)

Morning Star Coffee, Minneapolis

and....last but not least, Dunn Bros Coffee, Minneapolis, offers a few organic coffees.

Let Great Taste know if she missed any of your favorites. 

*Roastery 7 reports that in the near future its coffee will be available for online purchase through amazon.com.

Cappuccino 411

Slate recently rated cappuccino and coffee at Starbucks, McDonald's and Dunkin' Donuts: http://www.slate.com/id/2223965?obref=obinsite

And here is a recently-made movie about--what else? http://www.cappuccinomovie.com/?p=thefilm

Cappuccino in Rochester? Click here....

Yes, there is good, even terrific cappuccino to be had in southeast Minnesota. Here are our favorite haunts:

1. Sontes. Downtown Rochester tapas restaurant and bar creates one of the most authentic--creamy, strong but not bitter, and aromatic--cappuccinos anywhere in the state. Make it a double. Sontes is open late afternoon and for dinner six days a week. In the morning, see spots below.

2. Sopra Sotto. Located on the main floor of Centerplace Galleria (aka The Shops at University Square), the back of this upscale Italian store is a best place to hide out late morning or afternoon. Perch yourself at the wave-shaped bar and enjoy house-made crostata followed by ground-and-expressed to-order Illy cappuccino. Smiles all around. Bella, if you're in a hurry head to Starbucks.    

3. Are you holding your breath? Mind you, this is a Midwest American town with a population just over 100,000 souls. The cafe at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, downtown in the Chateau Theatre or in Apache Mall, can make decent cappuccinos. Great Taste can't fully explain it but the cappuccinos (made with Starbucks beans) tend to be better than at the Starbucks shops around town. (We think that when Starbucks gets too busy their machines start to run hot and the espresso tastes burnt. But this is just our little theory.) Ask the barista to give you the steamed milk on the side. (See note, below.) 

Note: If you are from a big city or if you are a serious coffee lover, chances are, in Rochester, you will want to order two or three shots of espresso and ask the server to bring you the steamed milk on the side. With very few exceptions, most servers will pour in two or three times the steamed milk a cappuccino should have. Also, ask for "extra foamy" milk or you will usually just get steamed-hot milk.        

Then of course one can always order Intelligentsia beans from Chicago (www.intelligentsiacoffee.com) and pull out the home machine.   

More roaming tastebud

Try a fried walleye sandwich at Rainbow Cafe & Catering, Pine Island. Best fried walleye we've ever tasted.....So good that we took the sandwich apart and savored the fish by itself. (We still ate the fragrant homemade bun and downed the tomato slices and lettuce.) 212 South Main Street, Pine Island, (507) 356-2929.

Can't get enough of salads at Pescara, Rochester. Best in town and competitive with uber salads most anywhere. Ideal meal: Fuji apple and Amablu cheese salad, BLT salad with lemon-basil vinaigrette, or roasted beet carpaccio with Laura Chenel goat cheese; lobster ravioli; and house-made chocolate-chocolate chip ice cream. 150 South Broadway (507) 280-6900/http://www.pescarafresh.com/

While we're on chocolate: Sontes, Rochester, works magic with edgy dessert chocolate combinations. Have a cappuccino too. (Question for Sontes: Would you open in the morning just for espresso drinks and coffee? Por favor?)  4 3rd Street SW (507) 292-1628/http://www.sontes.com/

Great Taste is ga-ga (okay, ba-ba) for Shepard's Way cheeses, made in Nerstrand. Shepard's Hope queso fresco, Hidden Falls, Big Woods Blue and Friesago are all distinctive and insanely flavorful. We like to think Shepard's Way will one day boost Southeast Minnesota's cheese status the way Cowgirl Creamery put klieg lights on cheesemaking in northern California. Available periodically at Culinary Market, Rochester (soon to be Zzest Culinary Market and Wine Cafe); also at Just Food Co-op, Northfield, The Cheese Cave, Faribault, and a number of locations in the Twin Cities. (Best to call ahead and ask if it's in stock.) http://www.shepherdswayfarms.com/

 

 
     

Report on Starbucks' new pastries

GT visited the Owatonna Starbucks shop to try some of its highly publicized new/improved baked goods.

Tasting Results

The "Outrageous Oatmeal" cookie tasted like a granola bar in the shape of a cookie. We didn't like it.

A mini rustic-style cherry pie had tangy sour cherry flavor but lifeless crust. 

Pecan toffee bar was delicious, but one needs to be in the mood for a very sweet, heavy, rich snack....Not so good for a boomer gently trying to limit calories.  

Conclusion

Ingredients may be of a higher quality, but there isn't a notable difference in taste or variety of goods featured for years. On a scale of 1 to 5 crusty, flaky, buttery French croissants (our favorite baked thing in the world) Starbucks' baked items get a 2.5.  

More scuttlebutt: http://starbucksgossip.typepad.com/  

Starbucks wakes up and smells the....pastries

Starbucks ran a full-page ad in today's New York Times. It announced:

"Starting today, we are introducing baked goods that are the perfect complement to our coffee. Real food, simply delicious. These are new start-from-scratch recipes using the kinds of ingredients you would use at home. Baked goods full of the things baked goods should be full of: organic Oregon blueberries, Michigan cherries, Washington apples, real bananas. But blissfully free of artificial trans fats, no artificial dyes or flavors and no high-fructose corn syrup."  

Cool, we thought.

A call to a local Starbucks helped to clarify that only corporate-owned shops will carry the new goods. This narrows things down a bit.....GT will make a trip to Owatonna Starbucks in the near future and give you a report.

 

Great Taste ... the first few bites

It wouldn’t be cool to start a diet the same day one starts a food blog, but uh, that’s exactly what I’m trying here. I confess I’m optimistic that I can do both at once, with no tell- tale rabbit tracks.

I hold the theory that people don’t genuinely think about food when they overeat; they are on autopilot, scarfing down Cheez Whiz-drenched nachos, or the giant cookie their child wanted but didn’t finish.

So — my theory continues — if I focus on extraordinary stuff I’ll think about food more but eat less. Example: If I get to nibble on hard Italian cheese with mostarda di pere, I’ll yield after several bites because it’s such a sublime sweet-savory reward.

Why else to launch this blog?

Food is a uniter — something we have in common with everybody on the planet. Why not celebrate this shared daily experience to the hilt? The focus is on Southeast Minnesota, with a global perspective — and Midwest sense. In deference to “foodies” who hit the Cities or points beyond — Madison, Wisconsin, Chicago, New York, etc. — in search of culinary experiences, I’ll offer food scene updates and hopefully some surprises.

I’ll assume that if you’re clicking here, you have more than a casual interest in what’s on your plate — whether you’re a gourmand flying into Rochester on your own jet or — to paraphrase the bumper sticker — if you strive to be a yokel who eats local.

It will be, candidly, no cake walk to reduce inches from my girth and simultaneously share juicy culinary details. But there are, I know, a lot of people who love to eat as much as I do.... (Insomniacs: If at 4 am you’re catching up on an issue of Food & Wine or paging through Charlie Trotter’s latest work, you are not alone. ) I invite you to join the party and share opinions and advice. If my theory holds out, we’ll eat really well and stay (or get) trim at the same time.

Ready?

Temps have climbed over 70 in recent weeks. Now where’s that cold press ice coffee?
For me, the best cold press is in Northfield — worth a detour if you’re heading to the Cities. James Gang Coffee House and Eatery, off Highway 3, near Dundas, uses fair-trade organic coffee beans from Roastery 7, Minneapolis, and doesn’t cut corners in the process: ground beans are steeped for 24 hours in cold water, with a high ratio of grounds to water.

The resulting concentrated, smooth, pure coffee flavor has virtually no bitterness. I order my drink on ice and with no extra water, then I add simple syrup (which James Gang offers as a free self-serve item), and half-and-half. “Some people add a pump of white chocolate,” notes owner Melanie Ewald. Iced beverages at James Gang are served in corn-based biogradable “plastic.” If you get jittery just thinking about cold press, the shop offers a decaf option.

Rochester’s Caribou Coffee and Dunn Bros Coffee shops also serve cold press brews. Between the two chains, I’d go for Dunn’s cold press, which is just the right strength. Caribou is fine in a pinch, but there’s a lingering Folgers Coffee-type aftertaste. (Starbucks Java Detour, and Barnes & Noble Cafe serve ice coffee but not from cold-press technique.)

Vintage Light Coffee & Tea House makes cold press but I haven’t tried it yet. Who makes your favorite cold press, coffee fans?