Karl Gerstenberger's Profile
MSP-Bone Marrow
Marrow bones have an exterior lining - technically i don't know what it's called, but probably some type of connective tissue. When roasted the lining turns a dark color. Scraping it off after a brief blanching is a cosmetic improvement and leaves the bone a beautiful stark white after final roasting.
duck fat in the twin cities
Clancey's in Linden Hills likely has it.
Unrendered aka whole birds also available.
SF restaurant with a view?
type in: "with a view" san francisco
and you'll get 166 replies, some very pertinent to your query
A great view is to be had at Greens in Fort Mason - zen atmosphere, produce from Green Gulch, vegetarian, view of the GG Bridge through a Marina (twinkling lights are everywhere, why not a "wonder of the world" view?). Personally I'd sacrifice a lot for a solid meal followed by a stroll rather than trying to aggregate the whole thang....
Is 14,000 BTU enough?
Optimizing the range depends on your style. Authoring a cookbook would indicate that you have a particular bend on food. Is this a book about searing scallops, producing easy to prepare family meals, eating healthfully prepared foods? I actually think that a home style range - not pseudo commercial - is the best for testing recipes for a home cooking cook book. Think about what your reader will be using - average equipment, average pots, etc.. Working around inherent strengths and weaknesses of any given range is part of the process. I've cooked on AGA, Wolf, Viking, Thermador, Jade, Montrachet, Dynasty, Happy Chef, blah, blah, blah. If your stove boils water, you're out of gates. If you're old rig has chronic problems, what are they? What are you trying to fix? Keep in mind that a high output range (21,000 btu) is going to make your kitchen (possibly entire house) into a giant particulate trap unless you have a powerful hood and engineered air handling. Stay small. Yes 14K is plenty for a home set up. My home range is probably 12K at best, and doesn't sear well at all, but if you work it with pan heat you can get some very credible results.
Minneapolis: Sounds As If We Have a World Class Salad Bar At Last!! (moved from Midwest)
Fogo is a chain. There is a board for discussion of chains.
The memory of the salad bar at Winfield Potter's at St, Anthony Main is a distant echo....
S.F.City Hall Wedding Dinning w/ baby.....ideas?
Suppenkuche in Hayes Valley is more casual than Zuni, offers German influenced food, and has a loud enough din to make any baby vocalizations sound normal....
Lucia's MSP - Sublime Trout - Espresso to forget
Perfectly cooked fins on presentation of Rainbow trout from Star Prairie WI. New potatoes and tasty summer vegetables.
Sausage Gumbo soup perfectly delicate and delicious.
The espresso had no crema and tasted like the grind was off, or was it the measurement, or compaction?
MSP - Yum! on Excelsior Blvd
"same type of food" Lucia's cooks with carefully sourced ingredients often from local farms
YUM is stylish, wins a lot of customer's over based on their pretty store and current image. The food is basic, with some extra points for finger sized items
Counter style joints often have some awkwardness, at least on first visit. Yum concept with multiple locations to interact with staff people was initially confusing.
Other counter joints with local/sustainable sourcing: BW (birchwood), Common Roots
Dopo Dopo, I won't go back
I've never experienced the "oily" phenomenon at Dopo. That said, olive oil and Italian cookery are inseparable. A limited number of choices on a menu is indicative of focus. The menu changes frequently, and thus offers variety for regular patrons. The ingredients at Dopo are carefully sourced and food of this caliber is more expensive elsewhere. Too much reggiano on your pasta - this is the king of cheeses.
Seafood in Minneapolis
Calamaretti - junior squid - are delicious fried. The bigger the squid, the less delicious fried generally.
"Scoring" calamaretti would be difficult. I think the squid on Capri might have been medium sized or even large. I've had "scored" squid steak, and it was a larger creature. The scoring is a way to speed the saute process so that the outer surfaces cook more evenly with the whole - allows the heat/oil to penetrate and delivers a more tender product. Scoring fish skin in some species has the same effect - more even cooking and a more tender product. Chilean Sea Bass - now off the menu in restaurants that care about sustainable fisheries - has a high oil content and can be cooked by the least attentive cook in the world and still come out somewhat edible. Blah, blah, blah.... Eating the Patagonian Toothfish (aka Chilean Sea Bass) is a bit like having California Condor egg omelets. Umhh, tastey and increasingly rare.
Surly Brewing Company [MSP]
Regardless of packaging, freshness is Surly's big advantage. They have hit it with great marketing and a ground swell of support which keeps their beer moving off the shelves no matter where it's served/sold. They also have a very tight can line - good equipment and high quality process.
Another brewery which seems to be on fire with great quality and freshness is Bells out of Comstock Michigan. Beer travels about as well as any other fresh product - the less travel the better the flavor, but it's all about starting points isn't it?
best use for heavy cream
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/113/Making-Butter
rather than re-engineer....
MSP restaurants that source local ingredients
Rehashing with a transplanted perspective:
"Sourcing" means purchasing with special regard to the origin or source of the product. It doesn't inherently have to do with the distance the food travels, but rather specific knowledge about where it's from and who grew it. It also has nothing inherently to do with specific growing methods, or husbandry techniques.
"Local Sourcing" means locally grown.
"Organic" means USDA labeled, or other organic governing agency labeling. Certification is a big extra step for small producers, so many have opted out of organic labeling.
"Sustainable" is a broadly defined term that means caring for the land is paramount, which amounts to a reinvestment in the soil with compost and other amendments other than chemical fertilizers, and also techniques for reducing the environmental load on the land.
"Locally Grown" does not specify use of herbicides, fungicides, pesticides. Ask the grower if you're at the farmer's market.
It's important to realize that local, organic, sustainable sourcing is not an end in itself. The skill of the cook is the critical link. The higher ethics equate to higher price, but personal health and environmental health are in the balance.
WHERE TO BUY LIVE MUSSELS IN MSP
Farmed mussels grow on ropes hanging from floats and not in the sand or mud like a clam/oyster. They need to be "bearded" which means removing the sinew like filament that anchors them to terra firma. I wonder where they got them?
Cue at the Guthrie-better with the new chef?
Reviews have been on balance positive. The "new" chef was part of the opening team. His name is Michael Delcombre and he's very competent. It's definiitely worth a try. Please post your opinion.
WHERE TO BUY LIVE MUSSELS IN MSP
Coastal Seafoods. Scallops on the shell could be ordered.
Where can I buy Duck Breast in MSP
Wild Acres Processing
Pequot Lakes - CROW WING County
(218) 568-5748, (218) 820-1257
Hours: Call for hours.
Featured Products & Services: Chicken, Duck, Game Birds (see also Duck, Pheasant, Quail...), Goose (see also Game Birds), Mail/Online Order Available
We are a family owned farm that was established in 1969. We have been supplying "five star" restaurants and hotels since 1978, in Minnesota and throughout the United States.
Recommendations for Twin Cities Personal Chef
I would suggest posting your requirements in a blind ad on craigslist. The more specific you can be about operating parameters, likes and dislikes, and your budget the better.
A private chef is an hourly or salaried employee ($25 - $100 per hour for high quality) as opposed to a service contractor (personal chef). Private chef food is provided at cost, and the bottom line is heavily influenced by the style of food required (as prepartion and service time varies widely with menu). A personal chef generally has multiple flat fee clients, plans several meals, cooks on site, leaves wrapped and labeled food behind, cleans up completely and thus avoids the cost of operating and maintaining a licensed kitchen. The difference between fresh and reheated food is the compromise. Bootleg operators, cooking out of their own home kitchens and dropping off meals should generally be avoided, unless they have a food handling certificate and are aware of the liability they are risking.
Perhaps Dad needs cooking lessons.....
White Rye Flour - MSP
King Arthur in Norwich Vermont will ship you a quanity, but I'd call the Wedge or ask at any of the other co-ops. They're a lot more responsive than your average grocery store and have the capacity to leverage their buying power.
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/landing.jsp?go=DetailDefault&ref=ti&id=3471&gclid=CJjnhfy30YsCFQstWAoduXSyHg
MSP - Mid Month Update - Post a Review of places you've dined at in MARCH 2007!
Rainbow on Nicollet. Terrible service. Not much finesse on the plate either. Had a big bowl, pork, octo, concoction that ate like a train wreck.
Server refused to acknowledge that we'd asked for a booster seat for our well behaved four year old on three occasions. Finally the host came through when asked once.
BEST cup of coffee in the Twin Cities??
Cup of coffee could connote (aliteration) a plain old brewed cup. There's french press, various pour over brewing apparati, fancy schmancy one cup at a time brewing equipment (Kopplins has Clover equipment - a Seattle based company), cold extraction, and espresso.
Having been known to go off the deep end on this topic, I'd say Coffee and Tea in Linden Hills, and Kopplin have the highest quality approaches, but they're quite different. Both emphasize really carefully sourced beans. Jim at CAT roasts his own since the 70's. Andrew at KOP sources his roasted product off site. CAT does pour over brewing single cups, and they've got a big espresso rig. KOP has a couple Clover machines, and a Synesso. CAT is old school. KOP is state of the art. Hands down the milk handling at KOP is the best in the TC's, although Black Sheep in South St. Paul (also Synesso equipped) does some pretty beautiful milk work.
Pour over and Clover coffee tastes different and IMO better because it's fresh, and you get the whole brew in a single cup as opposed to pulling off the bottom of a big old urn of sludge.
Espresso is tastier for the same reason (freshness and whole pour), but can easily be screwed up by an unskilled barrista. The grind has to be adjusted daily and by the bean batch to yield the best product. Measurement and compaction have to be completely standardized to yield a consistant product. Milk handling is everything in terms of delivering the crema to your palate. Frequently the steam pitcher is not used to the extent that it can be to yield ultra fine foam, and silky smoothness (regardless of milk fat percentage). Most coffee places including franchise operations and natiional chains remain clueless when it comes to this part of the espresso trade. A big bubbled pile of foam tastes inferior to the real product - the Italian way where the machine and methods were invented. Adding flavoring elements and other blech is untrue to form, but this is the land of the brave. There's also the service element and cleanliness factors. The core truth is that if you get used to enjoying your drink (while sitting down) in a ceramic cup, all you'll ever taste out of a paper cup is paper.
In the U.S. more people dose their way through the day as a substitute for decent sleep and nutrition than in other cultures. This is from the perspective of a recently tapered coffee addict. I brew one or two small espresso drinks a day using CAT beans and a lever action home machine/burr grinder combo. Gone are the days of 4 - 6 drinks. On to green tea....
View restaurant, Sausalito or other?
Greens (Ft. Mason) with a window table is unsurpassed. Lots of great vegetarian food as well.
The French Laundry
The search function has 661 references (now 662) to the French Laundry. You'll find the conversations about reservations a bit boring for the most part. The conversations about the food are greatly positive. It's almost a necessity to write about your experience there, so it's further etched in your memory, and your post purchase satisfaction to guilt/gloat ratio is expanded.
I've eaten there once, and worked/staged in the kitchen once. The whole experience is as professional as you'll find, and very much worth the price if you have enough cash to suspend your gut dropping sensation when the check arrives. You should bring $300 a head and take some home with you without batting an eye. If you're a vinophile, you're upper end is to the moon, but you already know that...
I've been to Disneyland once, and wouldn't return. I would return to the French Laundry, but once is enough. If you're assembling a list of 100 things to do before your final clock out, this should make it onto most culinarian's lists.
Place to eat near Muir Woods
Sitting in a restaurant on a beautiful day is not going to stack up to a picnic. I'm going to take a swing at a specific action plan:
1. Stop by Greens at Fort Mason for a pastry and coffee - sit in the beautiful dining room at the cost of a cup of joe - it's the best dining room view in the city.
2. If you're there on a Thursday or a Sunday, 9 - 1pm, stop by the Marin Civic Center - a Frank Lloyd Wright project - and shop for some food at the farmers market. The bread, fruit, and cheese you'll find here beats most restaurant fare by a mile - and there's prepared food too. http://www.marincountyfarmersmarkets.org
3. Stopping at a grocery store, or a place like Moilnari Delicatessen and filling a backpack with delectables - now you're talking.....
Best Pancakes MSP
The Best Cakes category would go to Bette's Oceanview in Berkeley. On the local front stay away from the Stack of Three at the Grandview Cafe, unless you have the metabolism to handle a truckload. Zumbro does a very credible cake.
Good coffee is about cleanliness and consistancy in addition to quality roast. What's laughable is that years ago my father changed the coffee program at a local hospital system thinking that the brown water could easily be improved upon. He put in the quality ingredients and method and what came out on the other end was an insurrection. The hospital wanted their lousy coffee back immediately.
MSP - Auriga Closing
10 years is a helluva run. This is a business of the heart. Basic economics have to be there, but the financial rewards seldom begin to meet the physical/mental/emotional requirement. Auriga was relatively recently joined by the forces of La Belle Vie, 20.21, and Lurcat. Could have been the start of a dining district, but might have led to a few too many seats (on the high end) for the neighborhood.
All this angst about the TC's greater food culture is a puzzle. This market is coming to maturity in an interesting age. The food media, cult of celebrity etc. has created a set of values and expectations which are new and sometimes unrealisitc. Essentially you (the dining public) have to put your money where your mouth is. What options do you want to have? National chains, high end concepts managed by groups from afar, the local restaurant groups, or a smattering of local chef driven concepts? Ownership and leadership are factors which need to be more widely understood. It's not so much a matter of strengthening the local economy as it is a matter of supporting the local culinary brain trust. What's distinctive about a city are it's one of a kind, chef driven establishments. We've just lost one which I felt had a place. There are other losses which represent hubris or lousy management, not Auriga.
