local food writing round-up

A memoir—and farewell—from Dara. Can't wait to follow her next chapter.

The Star Tribune has a short piece on the Egyptian spice blend, dukkah. My sis recently sent me a package of dukkah that she picked up at the Oakland farmers market but I’ve been thinking about making my own and the recipe for the dukkah with pistachios and cocoa nibs especially appealing.

GFCO and KITK

Consider this a joint venture between The Great Freezer Clean Out and Kids in the Kitchen: bangers and mash.

The package of lamb sausage from Clancey's was the first candidate from the freezer for consumption. These aren't just any ol' lamb sausages either. Rich and meaty, they get a little earthiness from pine nuts and a complementary sweet bite of blueberry to cut the lamb's richness. While the sausages were roasting in the oven, Alpha treated us all to mashed potatoes.


















Following the directions in his Williams-Sonoma Kids's Cookbook, he selected enough small Yukon Gold potatoes to fill the bottom of a large saucepan. We covered the potatoes with water, threw in some salt, and set them the boil. About fifteen minutes later, Alpha stuck a knife tip into the largest potato and claimed them done. I drained the potatoes (heavy, hot pan), then turned Apha loose to mash and add half a stick of butter and Cedar Summit Dairy organic half-and-half—to his preference. Which is to say, I turned a blind eye. The potatoes were some of the best I've had in a long time—really rich and creamy. You can make these any time you want!

The Great Freezer Clean-Out of 2008

When I was a kid, my family had a deep freeze in the garage. During the fall and winter hunting seasons, my father did his part to keep the freezer filled with pheasant, duck, grouse, goose, deer, and elk. In the summer, walleye from the lake we lived on found its way into the freezer. A family friend would often keep us fed with half a cow. My mother maintained an incredible garden, and the freezer held the green beans, corn, and peas she’d bag. She'd also keep tins of cookies and other goodies around the holidays, and frozen treats (popsicles, ice cream bars, and the like) during the summer. I can see the virtue of a deep freeze, especially if you have a large family or if you "put things away," but I really don’t have need for one.

Except for the summer when the farmers market is in full swing, my shopping style is to stop at the grocery store frequently, daily if necessary, and pick up the freshest ingredients I can for dinner in an effort not to horde or stockpile food. I'm also not big on thawing meat or fish. In my limited experience, when I follow the safe thawing method in the fridge, I tend to underestimate the length of time it takes so I'm often left with still-frozen items when I'm ready to cook. Yes, I know there are ways to overcome this deficiency, but I prefer to cook my meat and fish the day I bring it home from the store.

Our side-by-side refrigerator and freezer, which came with the house, is less than optimal for a family with two growing boys. Both components are just too narrow, cramped, and claustrophobic, but the freezer especially so. It's impossible to store much in here, and unless the item comes in a box, most packages end up being a little awkward to fit. Inevitably, something frozen, solid, and toe-crushing falls off a shelf each time the door is opened. Plus, the water dispenser sucks up a bit of room that could be given over to a stash of nuts or more pints of ice cream.

But, it looks jam-packed, you say? In the past six months, the freezer has filled itself with food—and I'm not quite sure how it happened. Perhaps our sausage love from the summer of 2007 had something to do with it. We started hording packages. Friends who knew of our passion would bring us sausages from their travels to far-flung Minnesota towns that still boast meat lockers. I cannot complain about that measure of generosity.

Perhaps the full freezer has something to do with access to locally raised meat. I have a coworker whose brothers are raising grass-fed, organic beef and veal, and I have a hard time resisting the regular e-mail notifying me of his inventory. A friend's sister raises free-range, organic chicken, and we like to order one whenever she has birds ready. My father and brothers hunt and provide us with pheasant and deer.

My freezer holds some gems. To whit:

~ one smoked pheasant
~ a few packages of venison cuts
~ one pound Buescher Brothers' ground veal
~ one pound Buescher Brothers' ground beef (one pound)
~ two Buescher Brothers' T-bone steaks (one pound each)
~ three packages of sausage from Schmidt’s (Nicollet, MN)—jalapeno brats, Cajun brats, wieners
~ two packages of sausage from Clancey’s Meat and Fish (Mpls)—lamb-dried blueberries-pinenut, pork with jerk spices
~ two packages of meat from St. Joseph Meat Market (St. Joseph, MN)—(hot) fresh andouille brats, Swedish-style meat balls
~ one free-range chicken from a friend’s sister who raises them (6 pounds)
~ one pound lamb chops
~ two pounds shrimp
~ packages of frozen strawberries and blueberries for smoothies
~ assorted white boxes of frozen Indian food

I know there may be a few more things kicking around that I’ll unearth and salvage as I can. And, I'd like to find a new home for or a way to organize the nonedibles—the ice packs and the drum to the ice-cream maker, ready to be pressed into action whenever the urge for homemade ice cream strikes—seemingly necessary, but taking up prime real estate.

So, yes, perhaps I could use a deep freeze. However, I will resist and, instead, set a challenge. My immediate goal for the beginning of this new year is to clean out the freezer. No new items until the list above is dwindled. Okay, true confession, I just purchased a pint of vanilla ice cream and a pint of mango sorbet, but don't worry, neither will last long.

Up first: Clancey's lamb-dried blueberries-pine nut sausage

local food writing round-up

Ever since November, when Russell Klein's new French brasserie-style restaurant, Meritage, opened in downtown St. Paul, I have been looking forward to eating there. Patiently I wait to hear something favorable about it. Kathie Jenkins at the Pioneer Press reports mixed results (but—I'm scratching my head over this—still gives the restaurant 3 of 4 stars). Has anyone eaten a good meal at Meritage?

One more column from Dara. What a treat! This week she gives a predictably gushing review to Stewart Woodman's new restaurant, Heidi's: It has only 40 seats, but Heidi's is interesting enough for a lifetime.

And at the Strib, Rick Nelson urges readers to break out the bundt pan—a Minnesota invention—and bake. Nelson also reviews a trio of new Asian restaurants. Obento-Ya Japanese Bistro makes my list of restaurants for '08.

local food writing round-up

In what must be one of her final columns at City Pages, Dara Moskowitz looks at a Mpls restaurant that offers Mexican street food: I'm never going to be able to cross the threshold of Los Ocampo without ordering some antojito or other, and my advice is that if you only learn one new word in 2008, let this be it.

The Pioneer Press offers has the list of forthcoming Twin Cities restaurant openings that any foodie with a pulse should covet. It should come as no surprise that I'm looking forward to Steve Brown's new place, Porter and Frye. Red Stag Supper Club, where we've already had a reservation that we had to cancel, is finally starting to get some mention. St. Paul locations of Pop! (picadillo empanadas) and Salut (I love a good brasserie for mussels or steak frites and bearnaise and oyster towers) will be convenient for H&S's family outings.

But, I think the opening I'm most excited about is Senor Wong's, a neighborhood Vietnamese restaurant/Polynesian cocktail place by the Truong family. Opening February 4. In downtown St. Paul. Two blocks from my office. Described in the Press article as a place where people can go everyday. And, I will if it's even half as good as today's lunch at Ngon.

kids in the kitchen: breakfast

My kids love to help in the kitchen. They like to scoop flour into measuring cups or baking powder into measuring spoons and dump the ingredients into a bowl. They can crack eggs pretty neatly on the counter or the edge of a mixing bowl. Alpha, who is eight, can even separate egg yolks from the whites. They know that, typically, when we bake, you mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and you mix the wet ingredients in another bowl, and then add the wet to the dry and incorporate.

Together we have made countless batches of cookies, cakes, and brownies. But breakfast foods motivate both boys to pull themselves away from cartoons on weekend mornings. They grab their stools, belly up to the kitchen counter, and help with pancakes, waffles, muffins, French toast. And, Alpha makes perfectly soft scrambled eggs. Julia Child would be so proud.

This morning, Beta rolled up his sleeves to help me with the French toast. I measured the milk; he poured it into a bowl. Together we added eggs, a pinch of salt, a splash of vanilla, a hint of cinnamon. I sliced the day-old baguette; he placed the slices into the custard. I turned on the burner, heated the cast-iron skillet, and melted butter; he carefully plopped the custardy baguette slices into the pan and counted aloud while we waited for the first side to brown. Then he added more bread slices to the custard to soak while the previous batch finished. We piled all the slices on a plate and kept them warm in the oven.


After I cleaned the custard bowl, Alpha cracked eggs into it. He beat the eggs with a whisk, then seasoned with salt and pepper and grated in manchego cheese. Another quick stir. I turned on the stove for him, setting the flame low-ish. Alpha did the rest. I should watch and learn as his scrambled eggs are made with the patience and love I have never been able to give them. I’m thrilled.

Cooking is an activity I enjoy, clearly, and I am pleased that we can share it. The boys are learning to be a little self-sufficient. Cooking for one’s self or for others is a great life skill. There are great teachable moments too—measuring and math, chemistry, and vocabulary. But, the best part is the pride they have in the end product, as well as the pleasure they take in enjoying a delicious meal.

I look forward to doing more cooking with the boys in 2008. There are many recipes to try in the Williams-Sonoma kids’ cookbook that my friend Krista sent the boys. I’d like to try baking bread and making gnocchi and pasta. Alpha has a goal to make every known cookie and has “invented” [his word] a recipe for mac-and-cheese that I’d like to help him execute. Beta has a thing for tapioca pudding so I’d like to find a good recipe to make with him. And, there will be ample opportunities for them to help with our theme—to be revealed shortly—for 2008.

local food writing round-up

In the City Pages, Dara Moskowitz reviews her favorite 2007 cookbooks: If you buy only two this year, let it be these.

On a more gossipy note, the City Pages is running an article about a St. Paul resident who also happens to have a popular Travel Channel program and happens to be involved in a food fight.

At the [St. Paul] Pioneer Press, Kathie Jenkins’ cover article proclaims, We think you'll flip over the tasty variety of ethnic pancakes available morning, noon and night. I have had a jones to make bahn xeo, crispy Vietnamese crepes, for a few years now. Three or four recipes torn from the NYT and Food and Wine wait in my clippings folder, and I always have mung dal on hand for kitchari. One of these days...

2007 in review

Happy New Year! Hambone and Spice ate so well in 2007. We enjoyed many fantastic and memorable meals in restaurants, in our friends’ homes, and in our own home. We had a blast cooking with our kids—both love to help measure ingredients, dump them into a bowl, and stir.

Here are some highlights from our year in food and drink:

~drinks
Hambone and Spice have been fans of the cocktail since before we were of legal drinking age. So it was pretty exciting to watch a resurgence in the cocktail’s popularity. Gin and tonic, vodka gimlets, scotch and soda—all had ample play in our home. In New Orleans, Spice developed an unquenchable thirst for Sazeracs and French 75s.

~sourcing
Sunday morning visits to the St. Paul Farmers Market continue to be a balm. The boys really look forward to visiting their friends the Bison Guy (at Big Woods Bison) and Ly Vang at Hmong Handicrafts. We don’t have favorite vendors as we shop for whichever produce looks best, and it can vary from week to week. In addition to locally grown produce, we’re buying locally raised meat. Our chicken comes from friend Lisa M’s sister, who raises free-range birds, and Spice’s coworker, Lee, has hooked her up with some outstanding beef and veal (ground, steaks, summer sausage, beef sticks, and more) that his brothers raise. And, Spice’s father and brothers continue to provide game birds and fish from South Dakota.

~sausage
Unwittingly, 2007 was the Year of the Sausage. The obsession started with a trip to Clancey’s Meat and Fish in Linden Hills, where we discovered a freezer full of exquisite house-made sausage. Links of traditional garlic pork, turkey-dried apricot, stunning duck-five spice, and an incomparable lamb-dried blueberry-pine nut. A few trip to St. Joseph, Minnesota, which still has a meat locker where townsfolk can drop off their deer for processing, unearthed a deep freeze with a bounty of brats—cherry bombs (dried cherries and jalapeno), steak and cheese, and funeral hotdish (noodles and cream of mushroom soup). We enjoyed many sausage fests with friends, which involves grilling sausage and brats, roasting small red potatoes, and pulling out of the refrigerator as many mustard jars as we can carry to the table.

~regional foods
South Dakota: pheasant, wild turkey
New Orleans: pheasant-andouille gumbo, beignets, softshell crab, crayfish boil, and more

~tinkering
For nine months of the year, Sundays afternoons are all about trying new, involved meals, usually something that allows a meditation over peeling, chopping, sweating, browning, braising. You know, recipes that allow for hours of preparation and cooking, provide a warm and nourishing meal, as well as tasty leftovers for mid-workweek lunches. In this way, we’ve made chili, goulash, Bolognese sauce, and coq au vin, to name a few.

~wine
Spice and friend Tracy A. took a fantastic four-part wine class at France 44, which featured an overview, a session on whites and one on reds, and a culminating session on pairing food and wine, where Spice learned to appreciate Riesling, especially with a fatty, spicy chorizo. Chuck at Solo Vino turned us on to Iberian wines—a few spectacular crianzas, including one that is very inexpensive, as well as a Portuguese tinto, Quinta de San Francisco, which we buy by the case. We also treated ourselves to a ’99 Karl Lawrence—and shared with friends—after drinking a more recent rendition in No Cal.

~favorite things made at home
Judy Rodgers’ spicy cauliflower pasta from the Zuni Café Cookbook, Martha Stewart’s easy jambalaya, arctic char with pistachios, polpetti, coq au vin, Mediterranean fish stew

~best things eaten this year
Hot Brown Sugar ice cream at Izzy’s (St. Paul), Vosges Chocolate’s Barcelona bar, France 44’s fruit compote, tres leche cake at 112 Eatery (Minneapolis), Grayson’s taleggio-style cheese (procured from Surdyk’s), cornbread panzanella at Red Cat (NYC), cornmeal poundcake at Lucia’s (Minneapolis), lamb shoulder with stewed chickpeas with lamb bacon and tomatoes at Saffron (Minneapolis), salmon-tartare “ice cream cone” at The French Laundry (Yountville, CA), pimento cheese, rosemary cashews, Juicy Lucys at the Groveland Tap, South Dakota rumaki (pheasant hearts and water chestnuts wrapped with bacon, pan-fried, and set in a pool of maple syrup)

~best restaurant meal
French Laundry

~restaurant honorable mentions
Chez Panisse, Cochon (New Orleans), Alma and 112 Eatery (Minneapolis), Red Cat and Raoul’s (NYC)

~restaurant discovery of the year: Sea Salt
We had a fun time eating at Sea Salt, the fish and seafood restaurant located in Minnehaha Falls park. Sea Salt is open only for six months of the year (April through October) as most of the seating is outside. But, what a treat it is to eat oysters from oil pans and softshell crab sandwiches and calamari and more, en plein air, while listening to the falls gently roar. I remain optimistic that April will arrive soon.

so long

Pretty much everyone has reported that Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl is leaving the City Pages, taking her food column to Minnesota Monthly. I first read the news here and found it a little devastating. I'm pretty sure there's no longer any good reason to read CP. And, even though MM is glossy, I, for one, don’t really see this move as bigger and better. The magazine is very ad-directory-driven publication, and it’s very regional, but it’s bound to improve with Dara at the helm.

Check out Dara’s round-up of the best restaurant dishes from 2007. In a highly predictable move, she's slathered praise on Mission, with Doug Flicker in the kitchen, and on La Belle Vie and Heidi's, which is Stewart Woodman's new place. I was happy to see Brasa's roast pork on the list, as it should be. Meltingly soft and perfectly smoky, it was one of the best things I ate, anywhere, in 2007. And, the entries for Tea House 2 and Ngon Bistro have made an impression upon me. Both restaurants are on my radar.

cheers to the last day of the year

Another holiday season has come and, nearly, gone. It was a busy season, and I didn’t do as much baking as I would have liked. However, I had a memorable day in the kitchen where I made a fantastic batch of gingerbread dough, replete with blackstrap molasses, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and fresh-ground black pepper. Alpha and Beta then helped me roll out the dough and stamp out traditional holiday shapes—bells, trees, stockings—as well as gingerbread boys and girls (with skirts!), football helmets, and the boys’ initials (S and W, btw).


Later, I tried my hand at making candy—fleur de sel caramels, which skipped right past the soft stage on the candy thermometer, catapulting all the way to hard-crack. The result was one of the largest, and loveliest, batches of toffee I could ever have hoped for.

As you know, Hambone, Spice, and little boys were in Princeton, NJ, with Hambone’s family for a few days on either side of Christmas. On Sunday night (a week ago, yikes how time flies) we made dinner for eight adults and six children. First, I made “Thomas Jefferson-style” macaroni and cheese, which is what Alpha and Beta call the homemade version of this dish (as opposed to Annie’s brand mac-and-cheese-in-a-box). I can pretty much knock out this recipe— Marion Cunningham’s from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook—in my sleep. While the mac-and-cheese was doing in the oven, I made an easy paella, with chicken sausage, shrimp, rice, tomatoes, and peas, followed by romaine lettuce tossed with Fuji apple chunks, dates, caramelized walnuts, and a balsamic vinaigrette.


On Christmas Eve, the Stockholm (Sweden) Shepards—Hambone’s brother Will and his wife Helena—carried out their tradition of preparing a Julbord. In addition to the Jansson’s Temptation (julienned potato, sliced onions, and anchovies baked in cream), this year’s spread included sil (herring) in various sauces (wine, cream, mustard), matjes herring, smoked salmon, meatballs in gravy, boiled potatoes, spiral-cut ham, and little wieners that had been pan-fried. With the meal, we drank a 1997 Chateau Chasse-Spleen Bordeaux.


Hambone and I worked in the night kitchen making the potato roll dough, ending around 1:30 a.m. so we weren’t much help to the crew cooking the Christmas dinner. Fortunately, we were able to devour the “snacks” that had been laid out to fuel the preparations: caviar with accoutrements (scallions, chopped hard-boiled eggs, cream cheese), cheese (taleggio and some sort of blue), and a fois gras de canard from Gascony, as well as champagne. Traditionally, we’ve had the caviar, fois gras, and champagne as we open presents. Yes, it’s a truly decadent way to start the day, but it’s also very festive and special. Champagne glasses on end tables don’t mix well with babies or toddlers or older kids testing RC Air Hogs so we enjoy our treat at lunchtime. Beta decided he loves caviar, though we couldn't get him to try the Champagne.

Christmas dinner was beautiful: a golden-roasted kosher turkey accompanied by gravy, cornbread stuffing, bourbon yams from the New Orleans Cookbook, buttery steamed haricot verts, cranberry sauce, and fluffy potato rolls. Each item was delicious, but I could have been happy with nothing other than the cornbread stuffing, which was perfectly savory and moist. With the meal, we drank a complex 1990 Chateau Palmer.


On Boxing Day, after an invigorating, appetite-inducing walk on campus, we made short work of leftover turkey, which was a fine stand-in for chicken in an old-school curry. The boys didn’t even ask what we were eating, opting to load up on condiments—coconut, bacon, peanuts, bananas, tomatoes, diced hard-boiled eggs, and mango chutney. Sure, turkey sandwiches are fine, but this mildly spicy curry is my favorite way to eat leftover turkey.

I’m working on a short year-in-review, which I hope to have posted before long. Please check back, but in the mean time, have a safe and happy New Year’s celebration!

Happy Holidays to all!

It’s Merry Chaos here in Princeton. In a pleasant role reversal, the children are quietly entertaining themselves with newfound Christmas booty, while the adults are indulging in much deserved champagne, caviar, and foie gras de canard (from the Gascony Mothership, no less) while the turkey cooks.

No matter where you are and what you believe, I hope that your day is filled with peace and glad tidings!

new favorite blog

Just in time for the holidays—well, really, is there a bad time for candy?

taking a stab: fish

Time for true confessions: I have a few cooking fears. These are the sorts of things that can be fussy or require time and special attention to make just right. Things that are rumored to be difficult to make. Things for which cookbooks and culinary magazines offer "fool proof" recipes. Even a half-wit could make pie crusts, yeast bread, fish, steak. From time to time I try to face one of these food items head on, which is why you don’t see big haunches of meat, roasted or braised, on this list any more.

Cooking fish intimidates me. I order fish as often as I can when I'm eating out because I just don't feel like messing with its skin or bone at home. Not to mention that I've never—neither broiling nor sauteeing—had fish turn out with that wonderful caramelization that restaurant chefs do so well.

Inspired by a recent restaurant meal, where Hambone had a luscious piece of arctic char, I decided to take another stab at fish. A quick phone call to Coastal Seafood, our local fishmonger, confirmed that one last, sizable arctic char fillet could be mine (though I could easily have picked up halibut or marlin, which my guy said looked good).

This recipe, ripped from the pages of Gourmet, was unflinchingly easy, involving the kind of hands-off broiling that gives you time to also whip up a salad or steam a vegetable for the side. The crunchy, salty, earthy pistachios balanced the bright citrus vinaigrette and the rich char. We served the fish with buttered orzo and sauteed sugar snap peas. Wine was a mineral-crisp Schloss Gobelsburg 2004 "Gobelsburger" Gruner Veltliner.

Alpha and Beta resoundingly complimented the cook. Beta said, “This is the best fish I’ve ever had.” Alpha said, “Yeah, this is better than Gpa’s fish [walleye from the lake on which Spice’s parents live].” All of which makes this a gem for the family recipe binder.

Arctic Char with Pistachio Orange Vinaigrette
Gourmet (October 2007)

4 (6 oz.) pieces arctic char fillet with skin
3 tablespoons pistachio or pecan oil, divided
1 navel orange
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste
1 scallion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped pistachio or pecans

Preheat broiler. Put fish, skin side down, on foil-lined rack of a broiler pan. Sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper (total), then brush with 1 tablespoon nut oil.

Broil 4 to 5 inches from heat until just cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, grate zest, orange juice, lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper, then add remaining 2 tablespoons nut oil in a slow stream, whisking. Stir in scallions.

Transfer fillets (without skin; it will be stuck to foil) with a metal spatula to plates, then drizzle with some of vinaigrette and sprinkle with nuts. Serve remaining vinaigrette on the side.

links of Thursday

The City Pages' Dara Moskowitz profiles local cheese in the first of a two-part series. Hambone and Spice have been buying LoveTree cheese at the St. Paul Farmer's Market, one of only two places you can buy this award-winning cheese, for five or six years. We love Mary Falk. Her tomme-style Trade Lake Cedar (sheep's milk) is Spice's favorite, while Hambone leans toward the Fish Bait, about which Moskowitz obliquely reveals

is only to be fed to wild fish while you are fishing, and is never to be fed to human cheese connoisseurs because, in America, only fish are allowed to eat cheese that has been aged less than 60 days. Get it? Good.

Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

I am thrilled to learn that, starting in December, my once- or twice-a-week lunch place—Golden's Deli—will be selling LoveTree cheese so I might satisfy my Funky Old Goat curiosity soon.

This week's Dining Out section in the NYT is devoted to spirits, which I respect. Eric Asimov looks at bourbon and Steven Kurutz features a "tropical drink evangelist," taking me back twenty years to my JYA in London where I drank zombies regularly (two-for-one Tuesdays—I was in college) at the Long Island Iced Tea Shop.

In the Star Tribune, a squib about the reopening of 128 Cafe, under new ownership, but the section lead story rounds up the winners of the Strib's fifth-annual holiday cookie contest.

old standby: chicken-corn chowder

Overnight, the weather in Minnesota took a turn for the worse. The temperature has dropped and a wind chill has developed. It’s very bleeping cold here, and, after pulling out the bin of winter gear—hats, mittens, scarves—there’s only one thing to be done: eat soup.

During lunch, I rekindled my love affair with Tanpopo, the Lowertown noodle shop. A bowl of beef udon with unctuous, rich beef stock, beef slices, crisp scallions, bright spinach, and slippery, fat noodles warms and nourishes.

Okay, so there are two things to be done in response to frigid weather. The other is make soup. Tonight after dinner and clean up, I stayed in the kitchen to resume cooking. A serviceable rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, red potatoes, leeks, and corn went into a Hambone and Spice standby, chicken-corn chowder. I don't have a picture as it's not a very photogenic dish. Fortunately, the flavor and comfort more than make up for that. Here is my recipe:

Chicken-Corn Chowder
3 bacon strips, cut in lardons (I like mine thick cut and unsmoked, but Nueske’s applewood-smoked is good, too)
1 medium onion, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
salt and pepper
red pepper flakes
thyme, fresh or dried
2 cups diced red potatoes (we’ve also used Yukon Golds and fingerlings to good effect)
1 quart chicken stock, homemade or high-quality store bought
cooked chicken, shredded (I use an entire cooked chicken whenever I can, otherwise, I’ll adjust ingredients down)
1 cup frozen corn kernels
half-and-half

In a Dutch oven or stock pot, saute bacon over medium-high heat until crisp. Place bits on a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Pour off all but 1 to 2 tablespoons bacon fat. Add diced onions and celery to pot and sauté until onions are translucent. Season with salt and pepper, red pepper flakes, and thyme. Add potatoes to pot, followed by stock to cover with room for chicken. Bring to boil, then simmer until potatoes are cooked, about 15 minutes. Add chicken and corn kernels; warm through, about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings (I find that I don’t usually need to use more salt if I’ve used a rotisserie chicken) before adding half-and-half to your personal preference (I use about a quarter cup). Give it another 5 minutes for the cream to heat through, then serve.

Thanksgiving post mortem

A quick photo essay recapping Thanksgiving:


Wild turkey, shot by one of the menfolk in Spice's family, emerging from the deep fryer.


The deep-fried wild turkey in the foreground. Behind it, a smoked wild turkey lies in repose.


Wild turkey, two ways, intermingle on a festive fall platter.

Because my family reads this blog, it's somewhat difficult to admit that the wild turkey—either way—was really tough and lacking flavor. But, every Thanksgiving we try something new and learn from our experiments. Brining would have contributed so much to the wild birds, and I would strongly suggest that method if faced with wild birds again.

Although not pictured, I have to mention a couple specialties—when in the pheasant capital of the world, and all. First, my brother Nik carved up a few pheasants he had smoked whole—one over cherrywood and the other over applewood. I had a hard time discerning which pheasant had been smoked with which wood chip, but it hardly matters as both were delicious and confirmed that smoking is the best way to treat this lean game bird. Nik also whipped up a wholly original twist on rumaki whereby he nestled a pheasant heart alongside a water chestnut, wrapped both in a piece of thick-sliced bacon, and pan-fried until the bacon was crispy. The morsels were tossed in maple syrup. They were totally addictive. I'd love to serve these beak-to-tail snacks to my snooty foodie friends.

over the river and through the woods

Without a doubt, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love that the day is all about food, specifically a big meal that takes hours to prepare.

Bird is necessary. Except for my junior year of college, when I was living in London, I’ve always eaten turkey. Since Hambone and Spice don’t make turkey at any other time of the year, it’s our preference. We don’t brine, though I do think brining brings out the best in what can be a dry bird. One year we grilled a turkey, which was very good, but left us without pan juices for gravy, not to mention that our traditional leftover dish—turkey curry—tasted funny with smoked meat.

Potatoes can be fixed any way. I love potatoes and am rather indifferent to how they’re prepared. For the first Thanksgiving Hambone and Spice prepared, we made an outstanding potato gratin with white cheddar and mustard. We’ve made our share of mashed potatoes. One year a guest brought potato croquettes, which were good in and of themselves, if not a little awkward in the Thanksgiving pantheon. Last year, sister-in-law Caroline and I made Julia Childs’ potatoes gratin, with thin sliced potatoes simmered on the stovetop in cream before being baked in the oven with a layer of gruyere. It’s all good.

Stuffing is essential. Roughly 75 percent of my Thanksgiving folder consists of stuffing recipes torn from culinary magazines, just waiting for an occasion. My mother-in-law makes an outstanding cornbread stuffing and an ethereal oyster stuffing. When Hambone and I cook Thanksgiving, we sauté sausage and apple slices, which we then stuff in the turkey cavity to keep the beast moist, but discard before serving. We also make a mean chestnut-bacon-leek stuffing from a Gourmet recipe, circa 1996.

Sweet potatoes. The best are baked in their jackets, then mashed with butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar, before being topped with marshmallows and baked again. All you foodies are likely aware that even Julia condones. They’re a kid pleaser, and consequently, have a nostalgic quality for adults. My mother-in-law and my friend Kathleen S. both make the extraordinary bourbon sweet potatoes from the New Orleans Cookbook.

Rolls. My favorite rolls are from Hambone’s family—Grandma Illges’ potato rolls, which are soft with a slightly sweet crumb, like Parker House rolls. But, I’m going to declare a heresy—I can leave the rolls in favor of potatoes and stuffing.

This year we’re going to Winner, South Dakota, pheasant capital of the world and scene of nearly every Thanksgiving from my childhood. My mother and I have been planning the menu for a few weeks. We’re fixing a wild turkey, courtesy of my hunter-gatherer father. Sides will include garlic mashed potatoes, which my brother Nik is adept at preparing; cornbread stuffing with dried apples, sage, and pecans, which is a new recipe for us; twice-baked sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows, another new recipe; green beans; rolls; and, for dessert, two pies—pecan and pumpkin. Hambone and I are bring champagne and wine, including an O’Reilly’s pinot noir from Oregon that we enjoyed recently.

Since Winner is in a somewhat remote location, a wi-fi connection may not be readily available. I’ll check in if I can, but don’t hesitate, in the meantime, to have a happy Thanksgiving!

As a bonus, a spicy mix of music to cook by:
1. Ana NG (They Might Be Giants)
2. Give Me Flowers While I’m Living (The Knitters)
3. Ring of Fire (Johnny Cash)
4. The Dap Dip (Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings)
5. Suzannah’s Still Alive (The Kinks)
6. Wilderness (Sleater Kinney)
7. Demolition Man (The Police)
8. Thanks for the Night (The Damned)
9. Wings of a Dove (Madness)
10. Apple Tree (Wolfmother)
11. Hollywood [Africa] (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
12. I Can’t Stand It (Velvet Underground)
13. Goin’ Out West (Tom Waits)
14. London’s Burning (The Clash)
15. Beautiful Day (U2)
16. Everybody Ona Move (Michael Franti)
17. Boyz (M.I.A.)
18. Magnolia (Apollo Sunshine)

NYC restaurant round-up

In addition to the sightseeing (the Guggenheim), the theater (Spring Awakening), and shopping (ABC Home, Fish’s Eddy, The Strand, countless shops in the West Village), food was a major highlight of this long weekend in New York City. Not pictured is a fantastic pizza at John’s on Bleeker.

Katz’s Deli outside


Katz's Deli inside


pastrami on rye

pickle platter (sours, half sours, and green tomatoes; the half sours were a revelation)

The Red Cat for dinner on Friday night (be prepared for a dose of Johnny Cash when you click on the link)

starter: pumpkin and cornbread panzanella with parmesan, arugula and pomegranate vinaigrette (Nothing about this incredibly flavorful salad resembled panzanella—here, the bread was but a garnish. To me, panzanella is one of those rewards of leftovers and high-quality ingredients from the garden—stale bread and ripe, juicy tomatoes. Each ingredient in the pumpkin-cornbread version was outstanding, the pomegranates especially were surprising. I just wish the kitchen would call it something else.)


main: grilled double cut pork chop with wilted romaine, dates, feta, gigantes and pumpkin seed pesto (somewhere in this tangle of perfectly grilled pork chop, warm greens, and creamy beans was one lonely date—would have loved at least one more)


side: light tempura of green beans with sweet hot mustard (I'm serving these at book group in January)

wine note: Benegas 2005 malbec

Raoul’s in Soho for dinner—still one of my favorite NYC restaurants. I love everything from the menu written in French to the occasional indifferent French waitstaff (our server looked down his snooty nose and asked me if I wanted gin in my Negroni. As opposed to what? Apparently some New Yorkers order Negronis with vodka. I'd like to see our server's withering glance at that.)


starter: pate maison with baby spinach, walnuts, and olives


main: cassoulet with confit duck, garlic saucisson, lamb, and tarbais beans (I thought I'd died and gone to wherever you go)


dessert: warm chocolate cake with hazelnut ice cream and salted caramel, profiterole with ice cream and chocolate sauce, and a plate of little cookies (the profiteroles were classicly elegant; the salted caramel with the molten chocolate cake was perfection)

Brunch at Prune
I was glad to finally have an opportunity to eat at Gabrielle Hamilton's jewel box of a restaurant. Since the restaurant doesn't take reservations for brunch, we stood in the line that had formed before the doors even opened so that we might get one of the first tables. We didn't make the cut, but only had to wait—with a New York Times—for about 45 minutes. And, the wait was well worth it.


starter: merveilles (Our server compared them to beignets so I was expecting something pillowy soft. These merveilles were fried dough, but that's where the comparison ends. They were crisp, not too sweet, and utterly delicious.)

main: soft-scrambled eggs, smoked bacon, potatoes rosti, and English muffins (Looks like something I could make at home, but tastes so much better. The rosti consisted of dainty potato shreds, cooked until crisp on the outside, tender and ethereal on the inside.)


side, shared with table: housemade lamb sausage

Tasty Combo Platter

My friend Tracy sent me a link today, one with which I was previously unfamiliar—Homer's Food Blog. Homer is the drummer in the Dap Kings, Sharon Jones’s awesome backing band, and he’s blogging about the food he’s eating while on tour.

I like Homer's friendly writing style—he's utterly unpretentious, which is pretty refreshing. And, I love the blog's banner photo of Homer surveying the rooftops of Paris. Since Jones seems to be on tour almost every day of the year, Homer should have plenty of material for some time to come, and I look forward to it.

Hambone and I are going to see Homer (and Sharon Jones—110 pounds of soul excitement) tomorrow night at First Ave. Can't wait.

long weekend

In a few hours, I'm leaving, with some girlfriends, for New York City—shopping, eating, sightseeing, gabbing.

Here are a few tidbits until I return:

Dara Moskowitz revisits Mission American Kitchen where acclaimed local chef Doug Flicker has finally rolled out his own menus.

The New York Times has a great, timely piece on heritage turkeys and an article on Michael Hebberoy, whom I've been following since he and his ex-wife were getting buzz for throwing underground dinner parties in their Portland, OR, home.

Hambone and Spice friend Tim Teichgraber offers a "hot tip for a good sip" in the Star Tribune: Sicily's climate has long produced great grapes; now winemakers are turning out great wines to prove it.