Great Taste

112 Eatery and Zingerman's Roadhouse won James Beard chef awards: What's wrong with this picture?

Never mind that the James Beard people have that flyover mentality that you recognize when someone confuses Minnesota with Michigan or spells Minnepolis "Miniapolis." (Both examples have actually happened to this writer....with college grads who otherwise may have passed for intellectual elite.)

So.....just don't pay attention to lack-logic categories in which Minnesota and Wisconsin are not considered part of the "Great Lakes" states but are lumped with Nebraska and Kansas. 

Amid this geo-cultural ignorance there still must be culinary brilliance. Right? Maybe? Here's what happened earlier this month: A ROADHOUSE on the outskirts of Ann Arbor got the prize for Best Chef: Great Lakes. And Minneapolis's 112 Eatery--which is noisy, casual and, yes, has good food, but is nothing to dream about--received Best Chef award for the Midwest. 

Really?

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.

How's that diet going? Time for a Jenny Lind Bakery reward?

Your Great Taste blogger weighed in last night almost 9 pounds lighter than a few weeks back.

Time to start dreaming up a sweet little reward. Red Wing, perhaps? Did anyone just think--Jenny Lind Bakery? 

Drool over this: http://www.jennylindbakery.net/bakery_menu.html#half 

What do hungry Madison protesters eat most?

GG has never tried Ian's Pizza but she is ready to protest for a slice now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTMv6KyvDns

And she's particularly curious because Madison-based Ian's has an outpost on Clark Street in pizza-crazy Chicago.  

Here is Ian's very own blog: http://ianspizza.com/speakEasy/

 

Time to pitch the pfeffernusse

Seems like we ate ourselves into oblivion this holiday season. Only thing left is a half bag of pfeffernusse--German spice cookies. Pfeffernusse (which originated in Holland, where it's called pepernoten--for whatever it's worth) is a Christmas specialty and was given to Gourmanda in December by a Teutonic friend. 

But now it's auf wiedersehen pfeffernusse, so long decorated sugar cookies, bye-bye chocolates.* It's time to put away the krumkake baker, too, and say hello to salad, stir-fry and lots and lots of vegetables and high protein foods. It is time for the.....January diet.

FrankIy GG won't miss sweets as much as ample amounts of cheese, cream and butter. 

Won't you join her? This means, Jay, hold the taters and bread with that burger. No to creamy wild rice soup. Etc.  GG 

*But the clock has started ticking for Valentine's Day. JF already sent this writer a press release about chocolates from Chicago.

Does Rochester need Jamie Oliver?

Lately the chef has been in Huntington, West Virginia:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1263142/Burgers-big-dustbin-lids-coffins-need-cranes-obese-children-having-heart-attacks--supersized-US-town-causing-Jamie-Oliver-despair.html

Is fast food consumption a problem in Rochester, population 101,659?  Let us count the franchises within city limits. Also, how 'bout those slogans? Looks like five words or less "seals the deal."

KFC, 3 locations: "We do chicken right."

Arby's, 3 locations: "I'm thinking Arby's."

McDonald's, 6 locations: "I'm lovin' it."

Burger King, 3 locations: "Have it your way."

Taco Bell, 2 locations: "Think outside the bun."

Wendy's, 3 locations: "You know when it's real."

A & W, 1 location: "All American Food."

But poor dietary habits aren't just about trips to the "usual suspect" fast food chains.

How many different types/brands of chips are sold in the grocery store? More than Great Taste cares to count. How many different types/brands of sweetened beverages are out there?

Great Taste observes: It's not so much about the chocolate eggs tomorrow.....It's the day-to-day convenience consumption that's nasty. If you have time this holiday weekend, go online and follow the money in corporate America. Just type in the name of your favorite junk brand and see where it takes you.

How cute are advertising slogans when some people develop health problems such as diabetes by regularly consuming cheap, processed food?    

Jamie Oliver, America needs you, from sea to shining sea.

     

Wacko for White Castle

Amid the Is-White Castle-coming-to-Rochester? mania lies the overlooked fact that sliders are here in town.  

You can buy frozen White Castle burgers at places like Walgreens and Hy-Vee in Rochester. You have the option, today, to take them home, nuke them for 60 seconds and --voila--enjoy something surprisingly close in taste to what you would receive from an actual White Castle location. A box of six sliders, two each to a microwavable packet, should satisfy the need.  Add pickle slices and condiments if you desire.   

There must be more to this pining, this quest.

What holds the fascination of Rochester's denizens? The thrill of the chase? The packaging? Great Taste has heard from an aficionado that the mustard is quite special....But is mustard driving this train?

Or, is it the idea that WC (as some believers refer to it; apparently they haven't traveled to Europe, where WC means toilet) is as far from anything that smacks of "Chateau Blanc" as possible?

Burgers are probably more American than apple pie. Great Taste isn't too puritanical to admit that she has dispatched family members on brittle wintry nights to satisfy a Wendy's craving. She has savored a Big Mac or a Whopper with Cheese as much as any loyal Mickey D's or BK customer. In the West, In-N-Out Burger has been a destination. 

But White Castle? With its puny square of punctured meat in a puffy little bun?

Great Taste has tried in vain to figure out the brouhaha. She is fairly stumped about palpable suffering for lack of a physical White Castle site when frozen sliders are easy to come by.   

Readers, would you share the meaning of your special handshake?

Fun 'n' easy snack for Stuperbowl Sunday

Do you loathe football? When looking at the TV do you scratch your head and wonder as you gaze upon bunches of grown men running into each other and falling down?

Great Taste will keep your secret.  

Duck into the kitchen with the kids and have a roaring good time of your own making soft pretzels. No special ingredients required except perhaps yeast.

Soft Pretzels

One package dried or one cake yeast
One- and one-half cups warm water
Three-fourths teaspoon salt
One and one-half teaspoons sugar
Four cups all-purpose flour
One egg, beaten
Kosher salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In large bowl soften or hydrate yeast with warm water. Add salt and sugar. Blend in flour and shape into soft, smooth dough. Do not let rise. Cut away strips of dough, roll into pencil-thin ropes and twist into pretzel shapes.

Place on cookie sheet that has been dusted with flour. Brush pretzels with egg and sprinkle with salt. Bake about 15 minutes or until pretzels turn light brown. Serve immediately with a honey mustard dipping sauce or one of your favorite spicy-sweet concoctions.

Yield: Three dozen or more pretzels, depending on size

GG

The Thanksgiving Feast as interpreted by Nora Ephron

Which--ah hem--screenplay writer has the guts to do a movie about Julia Child and then recommend Thanksgiving stuffing with a bag mix (among other things strange about this essay....)

Speaking of guts, what do you do with the innards, Ms. Ephron? Say "eeewwwww!" as your cook removes them and you have her/him throw them away?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nora-ephron/the-third-annual-huffingt_b_353898.html

Bad food trends of the aughts!

Astute, if not amusing, observations.  Great Taste adds that trend number 4 should be baddest of all.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/dining/chi-091021-worst-dining-trends-pictures,0,5192606.photogallery