Camacho Watcho

This Fall we headed to Grecco’s on the St. Croix for dinner. Grecco’s is located in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin (across the river from Taylors Falls), so it is a bit of a drive. But as we have always enjoyed a bit of an adventure for a good meal, going an hour out of our way wasn’t an issue.

Grecco’s is located right on the main strip in St. Croix Falls. You enter a large building that feels quite commercialized (a hair salon is in the front of the building), however after winding back to the restaurant, you find yourself in a cozy little spot with a roaring fireplace.

The regular menu changes frequently and is very inspired. I also love that they have tasting menus every night, your choice of four courses for $35 ($50 with wine), six courses for $50 ($70 with wine) or nine courses for $85 ($115 with wine). The best part is that the menus are chef’s choice, so you don’t get to know what you’re eating until it arrives at the table.

We decided on four courses with the wine pairing, pictured as follows. *There are two desserts pictured, as they served each of us a different one to try and share – I love that!

Just when you thought you had your Thanksgiving meal set, I put this post out there about my friend Kate’s Pumpkin Praline Pie. She describes it as one of the more involved pies she’s baked, but that it’s delicious and, perhaps, deserving to be called her new favorite.

Kate has a passion for baking pies. Her initial inspiration came from the movie Waitress. If you haven’t seen it, in the movie Keri Russell’s character is constantly baking pies. Since watching that movie, Kate is always trying new recipes. She regularly sends me photos (she lives in Atlanta so I have to be satisfied with eye candy only) and tells me about all the pies she’s tried. The photo above is courtesy of Kate.

Since I don’t do much baking, I thought I would share some of her kitchen adventures with you and have Kate guest-blog occasionally. In this post, she references a homemade crust, but we don’t get into it this time. Perhaps we’ll have to touch on that subject in an upcoming post. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Praline Pie

Fall is my favorite time of year to cozy up and bake pies so I was thrilled when Katie asked me to guest blog on her site. I started on this endeavor of learning the art of pie-making a few years ago when my son was born. My sister bought me a used copy of Pie by Ken Haedrich. I never would have imagined the number of pies that I would make from this bible for pie-makers. Haedrich has an amazing approach that makes even the most complex pie feel like something you can master in your own kitchen. The recipes are tried and tested and many of them are even tweaked from the original owner. The real gem of this book, however, comes from the pages and pages of techniques and ingredient secrets.

With my mother-in-law’s birthday approaching, I asked her for her pie request. She immediately said that pumpkin pie was her favorite. So I thought about that and made a few decisions right from the start. 1. I would make it with real sugar pumpkins and 2. I would have to find something that was special…no regular pumpkin pie that you whip up last minute before Thanksgiving.

I opened up my favorite Pie book in search of the perfect pumpkin pie and, I dare say, I might have found it in Diane’s Pumpkin Praline Pie. Haedrich took this particular recipe from a cook and cookbook author in California named Diane Rossen Worthington. In introducing it, he was quick to point out that there are two kinds of pumpkin pie. The kind for pumpkin pie purists “bereft of fanfare and flourishes” and the kind that really wow a crowd because they are so over-the-top. I’m guessing you know which category this pie falls into.

I spent the first day preparing my crust – a basic flaky pie crust that I have made dozens of times and could do in my sleep. Next it was time to learn how to roast my adorable little sugar pumpkins that I picked up from Berry Patch Farms, my local pumpkin patch. It is amazing how simple it is to create fresh pumpkin puree for pie-making. Simply place the clean halves of the pumpkins facing up or down and roast them at 375 degrees with a little water in the bottom of the pan. After 50 minutes you will have soft fleshy pumpkin that is falling from the skin. A good tip is to wait and let it cool before scooping it out.

Day two of the Pumpkin Praline Pie was to roll out my crust and create this beautiful pie. This is really a three part pie, so as someone who loves the art and process of pie – making it is a fun project. It involves pre-baking the crust, baking the pumpkin pie and broiling the praline as the finishing touch. After a long day in the kitchen I sat and looked at my pie hoping that perhaps this pumpkin pie would change my mind about pumpkin pie, which I usually do not prefer…it did not disappoint.

Diane’s Pumpkin Praline Pie
From Pie by Ken Haedrich

1 single pie crust (homemade please!)

Filling
3 large eggs at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 ¾ cup fresh pumpkin puree or 15oz of canned puree
¼ cup light cream or half and half
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
3 Tbsp bourbon or 1 tsp vanilla extract

Praline Topping
1 ¼ cups chopped pecans
¾ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
¼ cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 Tbsp heavy or whipping cream
¼ tsp ground cinnamon

Garnish
Fresh Whipped Cream (I added 2 tsp of pumpkin spice for every ½ cup of whipped cream and it was the perfect addition to this pie)

Prepare pastry and refrigerate for 1 hour before rolling it out.

Roll out pastry into 13 inch circle on a lightly floured piece of wax paper. Invert over a 9 ½ inch deep dish pie pan. Carefully pull off the wax paper and tuck the pastry into the pan. With your hands form an upstanding ridge. Place in freezer for 15 minutes.

Prebake your pie crust by placing a piece of foil over the crust and tuck it in so that it is a second shell but leave top of foil like wings so that you can easily grab them. Fill the foil with dried beans or pie beads (if you are fancy!) Place in preheated 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Slide rack out and remove foil with beans. Prick the crust with a fork all over and twist slightly to enlarge the holes. Lower oven temp to 375 degrees and continue baking 10-12 minutes. The crust might pull a little or bubble. Prick the bubbles with fork and use back of spoon to push the crust gently back to the pie pan. Let cool. Lower oven temp to 350 degree.

Combine eggs and sugar in large bowl. Using mixer beat on high speed until light and lemon colored, about 3 minutes. Add the pumpkin, light cream, salt, spices and bourbon. Blend on low speed until evenly mixed. Pour filling into cooled pie shell.

Place pie on center oven rack for 20 minutes. Make sure you rotate the pie 180 degrees then continue to bake 40-45 minutes until filling is set. When done, the perimeter of the pie will have puffed slightly. Also the center will look a little glossy. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely.

Preheat broiler and adjust one of the oven racks so that it is 6-8 inches away from the broiler. Combine all praline toppings and scrape over cooled pie evenly. Place pie on the oven rack and let bake until melted and bubbly. This whole process will take about a minute and you should rotate the pie as it is broiling. Do NOT walk away! Transfer to wire rack and let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with fresh whipped cream (see note above). You can also add some pecan halves for show as a finishing touch on top. Just press into the warm praline.

Minnesota weather is very unpredictable. One day you’re outside in short sleeves…the next day you need to pull out the wool sweaters. You have to learn to just go with the flow. Although I think I’m pretty good at this, I have to say it was a bit confusing last week when we were hit with an afternoon of slushy snow. I am definitely not ready for winter, but I have to admit that it was a beautiful snowfall, especially the way the huge white flakes contrasted with the bright fall colors.

On a day like this there is only one thing to do – curl up in a coffee shop with a latte…which is exactly what I did.

Any suggestions on what to do with this enormous head of red cabbage from our CSA? Make sauerkraut? Braise it? Soup? I’d love some suggestions!

PS – The sweet Heavy Table pint glasses can be ordered via the site.

Last week’s CSA share was another lush assortment of greens – spinach, swiss chard, lettuce – as well as a zucchini, sugar snap peas and broccoli. A beautiful share it was, but unfortunately I do not have a photo to share. (I know I took one, but as I write this I’m on the Oregon coast and can’t seem to find it).

I did make several great meals with my share, but I am most interested to talk about the swiss chard.

The previous week, I loved my kale so much that I was very excited to try a quick sautee of the chard to serve with another pork dish. I had consulted my sister, a chard enthusiast, and she confirmed her love for the greens sauteed in olive oil and garlic with a light sprucing of red pepper flakes and lemon juice. But, to me…the leaves were just too bitter.

I had made a swiss chard gratin in the winter, chard greens and stems in a creamy sauce with gruyere, that was fantastically good. But with my remaining chard, I wanted to make something lighter than the previous deliciously, heavy dish. After another consultation with my sister, we decided I should go back to my staple…and create a meal a creamy egg dish.

The result was, perhaps, the best omelet I’ve ever eaten. I started by caramelizing a quarter of an onion and then adding the chard leaves to wilt. In another pan, I crisped up two slices of bacon that had been cut into small pieces. These pieces were added to the onion and chard to await the filling on my omelet.

The omelet was cooked until the top was just barely set and then the filling added, as well as feta crumbles. The creamy eggs, salty bacon, and sweet onions were a perfect balance for the bitter greens. And the feta…well, everything tastes better with feta.

Bread, Coffee and Cake is a small West St. Paul bakery that bakes amazingly delicious bread made from scratch every morning.

I visited the bakery and sampled several varieties last week, and it did not disappoint. My favorite is pictured below, tres queso y chorizo bread, which I took home with me, toasted and served with a poached egg on top. Oh yeah, that’s right…three cheeses and chorizo sausage baked inside a loaf of bread…with an egg on top. Such a perfect way to start a Sunday.

For a full review and more images of Bread, Coffee and Cake, visit Twin Cities Metromix Restaurants page.

I know, I know…I tend to fall in love with food quickly and easily. Recently my love affairs have been with these cherries, this soup, this bacon, these momos and these tacos…what can I say? I’m a romantic!

But never fear, there is room in my heart to fall in love all over again with a particular sandwich. Layers of thinly sliced steak, ham, cheese, egg, roasted red peppers, olives, pickles…and the list goes on and on…piled high on a fresh deli roll. Oh. My. God.

The chivito originated in Uruguay, which is where I first experienced one and fell in love. I made it my personal quest to find the best chivito in all of Montevideo (the capital of Uruguay) and at my best (or worst, some my say), I ate 4 chivitos in one weekend. Hey! It was all in the name of research! I determined that the best chivito, which is also preferred by locals, is at Chivitos Marcos, a chivito chain found throughout towns in Uruguay. I wrote about my chivito eating here and here, and if pictures can say a thousand words, I don’t think I need to speak again.

But don’t just take my word for it…listen to Anthony Bourdain. He and his brother Chris visited Uruguay last February (sadly, only 1 1/2 months after I left) and they also tried the chivito…at Chivitos Marcos. It is safe to say that the chivito blew the grungy socks off of Anthony Bourdain.

So last night we decided to create the mighty chivito ourselves…but instead of locally sourced from Uruguay, we went locally sourced from Minnesota. With very few exceptions (mustard, pickles (WI), and olive oil to make the mayo (Italy, where else), all our ingredients were from local farms. It was a double challenge, and I will say that we rose to the occasion. We even made the mayo ourselves, used roasted red peppers that I had bought last summer at the farmers market and preserved, and bought all the meat, eggs, and bread locally. All this local goodness went into our sandwiches, which were even better than I had remembered. A side of homemade sweet potato fries and I do believe we all were in heaven.

So, as I said…I’m in love with a sandwich. And now you can understand why.

As a quick update to what I’ve been up to lately, I’ve started writing restaurant reviews for Metromix Twin Cities. Visit Metromix Twin Cities Restaurants and Dining for my latest review on Forepaugh’s in St. Paul.

Beef Wellington at Forepaugh’s in St. Paul

For a little more information about Camacho Watcho, check out the “Five Questions For…” interview posted yesterday on the City Pages food blog, Twin Cities Eater.

I am a sucker for buffalo sauce. Put it on wings or a chicken sandwich…put it on anything, actually, and I’m sure I’d love it. I’m drawn to the spice, the grease, the salty-sweet combo…I simply love it.

Buffalo sauce takes me back to junior high, to a restaurant in my hometown of Morton, IL called Schooners. Schooners, when I used to frequent it as a youngster, was the type of place that was filled with smoke, the only way of life back then. It was the kind of place that served pork tenderloin sandwiches with the flattened, breaded pork measuring a good 8 inches in diameter and the soft bun measuring in at 3 inches across. This was the kind of place where I would beg my parents for a few quarters to try to win the prize at the crane game and to play darts with my siblings, even though none of us knew how to keep score. This was the kind of the place, the only place really, in a town of 15,000 people for adults to get a drink after work and to eat a greasy meal.

Going to Schooners as an awkward junior high kid with my parents, my order was always twelve buffalo wings; each wing and leg I would savor, dipping it in the cool ranch dressing. I knew it was an odd order at the time, but I also knew that I loved the flavor, and that was something special.

I eventually moved to Minneapolis and making new friends here, we quickly found a common love for buffalo sauce. In fact, there was a time when a certain group of us met weekly for wings, catching up on each others’ lives and sharing a tasty meal. During this time we tried many places in the Twin Cities – Sweeney’s, Maxwell’s, Tiffany’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Big Ten, Champps, just to name a few restaurants. There are many good places for wings in Minneapolis, but one we kept going back to was Jake’s Sports Cafe.

Jake’s, while not being much to look at or to marvel about for their service, has fantastic wings. They are known for their Jake’s wings, which are Caribbean style spicy-sweet wings. However, their buffalo sauce is nothing shy of perfection. Regardless of the flavor of wing, they are plump and have just the perfect amount of grease to be considered good, but without the guilt of some wing joints.

This group of friends does not gather weekly anymore, but we do stay in touch and enjoy an order of wings a time or two each year. When deciding where to go, there is usually little hesitation before Jake’s is mentioned and we all agree. Over a stein of Summit and some wings, we share news of our lives and inquire about jobs, babies, travels, weddings and boyfriends. No time has been lost…the friends are the same, the conversations flow and the wings never disappoint to bring back the memories of our former weekly wing haunts throughout the Twin Cities.