Camacho Watcho

A friend asked me recently where I “go” when I close my eyes and lean my head back as I write about food. I had to laugh, because I didn’t realize that I do this. But thinking about it further, I realized that I am drawing on my memory of the meal; many times I can still taste it.

Some meals I have to strain to recall, but others stay with me and I can recall the flavors as if I was eating the dish all over again. A recent example of this, is the Orange and Cauliflower Gnocchi I ate at Bar La Grassa. As I type this, the fragrant orange and caramelized cauliflower flavors come rushing back and I can almost feel the gnocchi melting on my tongue.

Another recent memorable bite for me is the Billi Bi soup from the amusement menu at Meritage in St. Paul. I have to admit – so many of my recent food memories come from Meritage. Chef Klein serves such amazing food!

The soup arrived at our table served in the cutest little tureen along with the tiniest spoon. But despite the small presentation, the flavor was huge – a richly infused flavor of mussels, cream and white wine. And as if the creamy soup isn’t enough, floating inside was a huge mussel with just the right amount of chew and saturated in the creamy soup’s flavors.

Our Mexican themed cooking club took place a few weeks ago – just in time to catch the final days of summer. Katie and RJ hosted, choosing a delicious menu of guacamole, quesadillas, fish tacos and stuffed poblanos. Dessert was a repeat of the Toasted Coconut Caramel Ice Cream Sundaes – yum!. I honestly can’t pick my favorite dish, as they were all fantastic.

While Vickie (left) and Katie (right) finished some kitchen prep, Chad acquainted us with his friend, Mr. Patron. Classic shaken margaritas were the perfect start to this Mexican fiesta!

We had two starters – smoked gouda and caramelized onion quesadillas and charred tomatillo guacamole.

Dinner was the fried fish tacos – large chunks of fish beer battered and crispy fried served with tortillas and a fresh pico de gallo – rice, and poblanos stuffed with goat cheese and shrimp.

We were in charge of the poblanos so we had a lot of leftover roasted red pepper sauce. (I used it to make a delicious pasta sauce by mixing it with an equal portion of tomato puree and added browned Italian sausage from Seward. It was finished with some red pepper flakes and mild seasonings to taste.) The stuffed poblanos and roasted red pepper sauce comes from Bon Appetit December 2002.

Smoked Gouda and Caramelized Onion Quesadillas
Bon Appetit September 1995

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon golden brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon white wine vinegar

1 1/2 cups grated smoked Gouda cheese
4 10-inch-diameter flour tortillas
2 ounces sliced prosciutto, chopped
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion, brown sugar and vinegar; sauté until onion is golden brown, stirring frequently, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Sprinkle cheese over half of each tortilla, dividing equally. Sprinkle prosciutto and sautéed onion over cheese. Season with pepper. Fold other half of each tortilla over cheese mixture. Brush tortilla with some of melted butter.

Brush heavy large skillet with some of melted butter. Place over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook quesadillas just until brown spots appear, brushing skillet with butter between batches, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer quesadillas to heavy large baking sheet.

Bake until tortillas are golden and cheese melts, about 5 minutes. Transfer quesadillas to work surface. Cut each into 6 triangles. Arrange on platter and serve hot.

Fried Fish Tacos
courtesy of Katie and RJ’s friends

1 quart vegetable oil
12 to 16 corn tortillas
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup beer (not dark)
1 pound cod fillet, cut into 3- by 1-inch strips

Optional accompaniments: shredded lettuce, sour cream, avocado slices, chopped or sliced radish, red or green salsa, and lime wedges

Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat 1 inch oil in a 10-inch heavy pot (2 to 3 inches deep) over moderate heat until a deep-fat thermometer registers 360°F.

Meanwhile, separate tortillas and make 2 stacks of 6 to 8. Wrap each stack in foil and heat in oven 12 to 15 minutes.

While tortillas warm, stir together flour and salt in a large bowl, then stir in beer (batter will be thick). Gently stir fish into batter to coat. Lift each piece of fish out of batter, wiping any excess off on side of bowl, and fry fish in batches, turning once or twice, until golden, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

Increase oil temperature to 375°F and refry fish in batches, turning once or twice, until golden brown and crisp, about 1 minute. Drain on paper towels.

Assemble tacos with warm tortillas, fish, and accompaniments.

I finally made it to Smashburger, the Golden Valley location, a little bit ago. It seemed that everyone and their brother has been there… so I thought I was due to try it out.

I have to say, I really liked Smashburger. I went with the Classic Smashburger – American cheese and veggie fixings, topped with smash sauce. The burger was well-cooked…that said, don’t expect a gourmet burger experience. The burgers here are smashed and the edges or cooked to crispy (similar style to Steak ‘n Shake…Minnesotans might not be as familiar), but the toppings are fresh – tomatoes and lettuce are crisp and the pickles have a nice crunch. The bun is also great – soft potato bun – just how I like them.

We tried two sides – the smashfries (tossed with rosemary, olive oil and garlic) and the haystack onions (crispy fried, thinly-sliced onions). The fries were good, crisp and well-seasoned, but the onions were my favorite. Sliced so thin and lightly fried – they practically melt in your mouth.

For $4.99 for a 1/3 pound burger and $1.99 to add on the haystack onions, Smashburger was a great deal for lunch. Plenty of food and plenty of flavor.

Labor Day was an adventure for me…four days in the Boundary Waters. My first time up there and I absolutely loved it! Portages was hard and my back was sore from all the canoeing but for the views and solitude that venturing in a ways gets you, it’s worth it.

Hungry Jack Outfitters helped plan our trip, which started off the Gunflint Trail at entry point #47. The first day was a grueling trek of about six miles in four hours with all our gear until we found a campsite on Gaskin that was free. We stayed there two nights and spent the second day on the water without gear managing an eight mile loop along Winchell and back around. Day three we travelled back toward the entrance and camped another night at an amazing spot that afforded us water access right from our camp fire. At this spot we also had an encounter with a few bald eagles that were interested in devouring the remains from the fish we filleted. Absolutely amazing creatures!

We planned our own meals and opted for fresh foods, rather than the dehydrated stuff. We managed steaks and couscous the first night (although we ate in the dark from our long journey), pasta with corn, feta and cilantro the second night and a walleye feast for the third night. Breakfasts were eggs and hashbrowns, oatmeal and granola bars (for a quick exit that last day). For lunch we made shredded beef and potato burritos and deli meat and cheese wraps (with fresh lettuce…oh how fresh veggies taste good in the wilderness)!

More photos on flickr.

It was tough…but we managed through it – shot photos of all the new foods at the fair for Metromix. A big thanks to Sarah for taking on this whirlwind tour of the fair with me! Check out the rest of the photos here.

Yesterday was a frenzy of eating for us at Heavy Table. That’s right – we hit the Minnesota State Fair. You can read about our day at the Heavy Table.

I have plans to be back at the fair a few more times over the next week, so I’ll share as I go along. So far, my favorites are the Sunnies in a Boat and the Krumkake. Of course, Summit on a Stick was also a welcome afternoon treat.

I’ve eaten out a lot lately…

First of all, Sea Change is an amazing addition to the neighborhood. I have eaten there several times and everything has been perfect. The mussels in green curry (don’t forget to spoon up all that tasty broth) and braised short ribs are foods to dream about. I also recently checked out L’Ecosse, the new Scottish restaurant at 48th and Chicago – solid comfort food and creative dishes from a former White House chef. I even tried haggis…and liked it! Then this past week I tried Volnay Bistro in Wayzata, which was…well, not the best of dining experiences. I hope to see a turnaround from a restaurant with such an idyllic setting.

With all this eating out – I was looking forward to cooking a few meals at home. But to be honest, I’ve tried a few recipes recently that just haven’t been up to snuff. The corn risotto with seared scallops underwhelmed me. However, the leftover risotto, amped up with some additional seasonings and veggies, was pretty tasty stuffed into green bell peppers a few days later. Even pasta dishes that I normally love, just haven’t been as tasty. I blame the weather.

This all changed when I made the Herbed Ribeye with Mustard Sauce, which I topped it with crispy fried sweet onions and served on a bed of roasted green beans and onions. Oh, yeah…that satisfied.

Herbed Ribeye with Mustard Sauce
adapted from The Best of Food and Wine 1986 Collection
serves 2

1/4 c dijon mustard
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 small garlic clove, minced
1 TBSP creme fraiche
1/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp rosemary, crumbled
1/4 tsp tarragon
1/8 tsp coarsely ground pepper
2 6-8 oz ribeye steaks

1. Combine the mustard, Worchestershire, ginger and clove in a small bowl. Cover and set aside.
2. Mix all the herbs in a bowl – basil through pepper – then press mixture evenly onto both sides of steak. Grill or broil steaks as desired. Allow to rest 5 minutes, tented with foil.
3. Stir creme fraiche into mustard sauce, along with any meat juices that have accumulated on the platter. Serve sauce on top of steak.

The roasted green beans and onions were tossed in olive oil with salt and pepper at 375 for 20-25 minutes and the fried onions were thinly sliced and fried in vegetable oil (without any batter) until crisp. Drain onions on paper towel then serve on top of steak.

This summer has been a complete whirlwind. I honestly don’t know where the time has gone. In particular, the last month has gone by really fast. I recall a trip up north to a friend’s cabin recently, but beyond that I am at a loss to account for most of my weekends.

The one thing that I do recall from this summer is an abundance of vegetables. We started the summer off slowly, splitting a CSA share with another couple that resulted in just the right amount of produce to keep me cooking healthy fresh meals at home without being overwhelmed. In fact, there was a couple weeks when I lived off this salad - I can’t get enough of it! Maybe I should whip up another batch today…

Then the garden started producing – we certainly have gotten some nice cucumbers and tomatoes. I missed the first harvest (where the cucumbers were much straighter – next year, we’ll need to use a cage), but was home to catch the second. There are a ton more tomatoes on the vine right now too and we also have a few green peppers, eggplant, watermelon, brussel sprouts and cabbage on the way. All in all – the garden has been a success!

Right now I am up to my ears in veggies, as the couple who we share our CSA with is out of town for two weeks. Pictured is the full share we got last week. I’ve managed to use about half of it and I’m due to pick up another full share on Thursday. Whew!

But having a CSA has been fantastic! I’ve rediscovered how much I love beets! Roasting them and tossing them in a salad with toasted walnuts, cheese (blue, goat or feta…whatever I have on hand) and balsamic vinaigrette is my favorite way to eat them. I adore, let me repeat ADORE, the sungold cherry tomatoes that we’ve received in the last four CSA deliveries. I eat them like candy – so sweet and tasty!

I still struggle with using my chard. In fact, I have a bunch right now that I need to do use up. Perhaps I’ll have to do a repeat of the best omelet of all time! And a surprise to me is how indifferent I am to yellow squash. Since I like zucchini so much I would think that I would also like the yellow variety, but it really doesn’t hold my fancy. I’ll have to research some recipes to see if I can fix that.

Also on the subject of veggies, last weekend I spent time with Tammy Wong of Rainbow Chinese. I tagged along as she toured the farmers market with a few of her Facebook fans and then spent time in the kitchen with her as she created a few recipes from the veggies at the market. Talk about another addiction – the Salt and Peppers recipe is so simple and ridiculously good.

As if that wasn’t enough, I spent the better part of day yesterday pickling and canning – cucumbers (spicy, dill and caraway) and peppers (jalapenos and banana peppers). I’m really not sure why I felt possessed to do this, but it was fun…really! I have a few more jalapenos that are begging for me to try my hand at making jalapeno jelly…but I’ll leave that for another day.

On our way home from Sauk Center last weekend, we decided to stop for breakfast at Charlie’s Cafe, located right off I-94 in Freeport. We had never heard of it, although it is apparently well-known for its Garrison Keillor affiliation. (Later we read that years ago Keillor spent a lot of time in Freeport and at the cafe which led him to base his Lake Wobegon on Freeport and, some say, to model the Chatterbox Cafe after Charlie’s Cafe.)

Regardless, friends had told us that it’s an iconic Minnesota spot and that we should check it out. Enough said for a Sunday morning – we were there.

Driving up, I loved the huge sign outside that marked the spot “Charlie’s Cafe”. Given that there really isn’t much else around, and certainly no other competing signs, the sign screams at visitors with its bright yellow and red lettering. Walking inside I was instantly in love. From the booths to the display cases and the knick-knacks to the wallpaper, it was a true step back in time.

We took a seat in a small middle booth and immediately ordered coffee and one of their famous caramel rolls. The caramel roll arrived and we dug in – it was gooey, rich and tooth-achingly sweet. Seconds later, it was gone.

Our breakfasts arrived a short while later, the usual for me and a breakfast sandwich with sausage, egg and cheese for Kyle. A little disappointing, as overall it was pretty average fare on both accounts.

Perhaps not for their full breakfast menu, but when in the area again, Charlie’s Cafe’s throw back charm and caramel rolls might be just the thing to draw me back in for a stop.

While I like to have a good time, I have to admit that bachelorette parties get a little much for me nowadays. So when I got the invite for a friend’s bachelorette party at Spill the Wine for a five-course dinner with wine pairings, I was ecstatic! Food, wine, friends…perfect!

The group of fifteen of us gathered there a few Saturdays ago, seated on the wine bar side as the restaurant was full with a wedding reception. *What a great idea for a wedding reception location!* Individual menus printed with both the courses and the wines sat waiting for us, which of course I loved!

The first course was a salad with radishes and a mango vinaigrette paired with a Radcliffe sauvignon blanc. The salad was good, perhaps a little too much vinaigrette on mine, but it paired well with the light sauvignon blanc. *You may notice the hefty wine pours from the previous picture…I wasn’t complaining!

The next course was a beautiful piece of salmon (a generous portion in my opinion) with warm peaches and balsamic vinegar. I loved the salmon, but wasn’t crazy about the Valley of the Moon chardonnay it was paired with – it had absolutely no flavor.

The third course was my favorite. Perhaps this was because it was comfort food and I had had two glasses of wine by this time, but I loved the wild mushroom croquette with cream sauce. The table was buzzing about how good this dish was, which I equated to a scoop of hot dish with a lightly crisp exterior. Yum! And the wine – Luzon monastrell/syrah was a very nice pairing.

Unfortunately the next course, grilled beef tenderloin kabobs with red onion and peppers, was a flop. Overcooked, dry and absolutely no seasoning sums up this course. The Root 1 cabernet sauvignon was good, but not good enough to save the dish.

Last, but definitely not least, we were served dessert. Vanilla bean ice cream with a triple berry coulis (the menu only listed raspberry so the additional berries were a yummy bonus)! Paired with a sweet dessert wine, I was in heaven. There is something so simple and tasty about ice cream and berries.

I’ve always really liked Spill the Wine. They have a nice wine menu and good wine specials – $15 bottles of wine during happy hour and 1/2 priced bottles on Mondays. The food is good – the salads are consistently great.

And our wine dinner?

Overall it was good. It had its highs and it had its lows. However, for the bargain price of $35 for five-courses plus wine, I thought it was a great deal and a fantastic idea for a bachelorette party.