clepro's Profile
I want to eat a whole fish
Saffron does. I had a whole roasted branzini with crispy grape leaves a week or so back.
What to order at Saffron?
The last time I was there was a week or so ago, and with five people we got to try a range of things. I'll just list everything we had, since there wasn't a dud in the bunch.
The slow cooked green beans. DO NOT miss these.
Octopus a la plancha
White anchovies
Fried cauliflower
Chicken & porcini croquettes
Bastirma
Romaine heart salad
Chicken bisteeya
Moroccan duck kefta
Shortribs tagine
Whole roasted branzini
For desert, we all shared the olive oil couscous cake with Earl Grey ice cream and poached apricots, and the kunafa. I also had their outstanding Turkish coffee.
There is a reason that Saffron is on my top three favorite restaurants list.
Breakfast places in Twin Cities
I've got a local spot that's really growing on me: Capitol View Cafe, on Smith Avenue.
Nothing delicate about it, but the toast always comes unbuttered like I ask, the eggs are always cooked just right, the piled hasbrowns are crisp, and the service is usually fast and always unassuming and friendly. It's the type of place where I can sit down to breakfast with a book for company and end up being more than entertained by the talking over and between tables of the customers and the cook. Seems like it's a also a place where lots of people knows each others' names...and each others' histories, kids, spouses, from way back. Always cheers me up and makes me feel downright neighborly, no little gift from a neighborhood breakfast spot. Even if their coffee does leave a lot to be desired.
Lately I've been getting the Cajun Breakfast (hashbrowns, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, two over easy, hollandaise) with andouille sausage on the side. Indelicate, highly caloric, voluminous. Just the thing when I'm in the mood. Past trends went along the lines of some excellent oatmeal, and the machaca. I've not ventured out to the pancakes yet.
Penninsula on Eat Street
I have the same take on penninsula. After some unpleasant meals, I'm careful with my order, and usually go for a tofu (especially Spicy Golden ) and roti canai. In general, I've found that if I stay away from the beef dishes, I have a good shot at happiness. I've liked the char kway teow and ginger scallion steamed fish. Am thinking that next time in I'll steel myself away from my tried and true tofus and try some of their duck. Or maybe the spicy lemon grass squid.
What's with the salt & pepper shakers and Sriracha at every table in MSP?
Could be! http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2006/09/05/thieves-like-us/
And since the comparison is to SF, there's this old thread: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/21099
December 2011 COTM: 150 Best American Recipes: Desserts
This cake was superb. I've been wanting to make it for awhile now, so went out all, using extra good quality butter and blanching, skinning and toasting the walnuts. Next time I think I'm going to cut the prunes a little more finely than I did, and dust them with a bit of flour to see if I can get a more even distribution in the batter.
I too made mine in a tube pan; I got a nice browned surface all around that looked lovely unmolded.
December 2011 COTM: 150 Best American Recipes: Desserts
Yes, I usually use rubber bands on the paper towel or wrapping tubes. Not my invention either; I learned it from my Aunt Naomi while watching her make her date swirl cookies almost 50 years ago now. We do it exactly as Goblin explains.
best butter for baking that can be purchased in MSP
Good to know, as LoL is always my first choice for baking, even if not for spreading.
December 2011 COTM: 150 Best American Recipes: Main Dishes
This is so interesting. Almost everything I've on the docket to make is made the night before by someone else. We're doing these tonight, so glad to hear you liked them.
December 2011 COTM: 150 Best American Recipes: Main Dishes
Darn. This was on my list. I was hoping for the swoon, and have been casing my options for sweet Italian sausage. I wonder if using the left over cream fraiche I have instead of the heavy cream would give it more punch.
December 2011 COTM: 150 Best American Recipes: Main Dishes
Yes, you definitely should. Have made this several times in the past, and the bread salad is what puts it over the top.
December 2011 COTM: 150 Best American Recipes: Desserts
On second thought (and based on my no-lemon-screwup with the pasta with arugula and cream fraiche recipe) I think I'll make half exactly as written, and half as roll cookies. Only way I'll be able to tell if the result approximates the original intent.
December 2011 COTM: 150 Best American Recipes: Main Dishes
Tagliatelle with Crème Fraiche and Arugula
This won't be a fair review, because 1) I used pumpkin fettuccine, and 2) I left out a main component, the lemon. Did that because I am apparently unable to keep a thought in my head for longer than 4 seconds, and so deciding to pass by the very expensive organic lemons at the co-op in favor of the not-so-expensive ones just ahead drove the whole lemon need right out of my head. Until I got home and began tearing apart the bags, looking for those two lemons I was sure I'd purchased.
Regardless, since I was serving it with highly seasoned pork chops adobo, I decided to proceed without the lemon.
Preparation. The night before I cleaned and de-stemed the arugula leaves with large stems, to get ~5 lightly packed cups' worth. Stored it in our now cold sunroom overnight with damp paper towels. No need to tear the leaves into smaller pieces.
The same night I also made the cream fraiche. Added 2 tablespoons of buttermilk to two cups of heavy cream in a Ball jar, and let it sit out (loosely covered) overnight and all the next day. It was nice and thick by the time I came home from work and was ready to start dinner.
From that point on, the preparation was super simple. Just boiled and drained the pasta in lightly salted water, and grated my one heaping cup of Parmesan while it was draining. I used half Parmesan Reggiano and half Eau Galle (WI) Private Reserve Parmesan. Which reminds me: has any one tried Sartori's SarVecchio Parmesan? I love others of Sartori's, so am curious about that one.
Tossed the hot pasta with the arugula till the leaves wilted, then added the grated Parmesan. All of it, even though the recipe said to hold back 1/2 to serve on the side. Then 1 cup of the cream fraiche, and a good dose of coarse ground pepper. It was one beautiful looking bowl of pasta, what with the cream, the mellow golden pasta, and the bright arugula.
Verdict: My husband and I both loved it and thought the richness of the cream coupled with the arugula was brilliant. My daughter absolutely despised it, but I suspect that's just because she doesn't much like arugula, and this is not a dish in which the arugula takes a backseat.
Since it's rich and caloric as heck, it's best served small plate style; we'll get at least another two meals out of it, I'm guessing. It's also not at all cheap, as 5+ cups worth of arugula is quite pricey if you're buying instead of growing. All in all, an excellent accompaniment to the more complex flavors of the pork. But next time I'm definitely not leaving out the lemon.
December 2011 COTM: 150 Best American Recipes: Soups and Salads
I made this too, with salted (and soaked, of course!) capers, and we quite liked it. We're a caper-loving household, so this one caught my eye immediately. Although it doesn't match my favorite way to prepare beets--a Turkish prep using yogurt, lots of crushed garlic, and olive oil (Yoğurtlu Pancar Salatası)-- it's a keeper.
And yes, the garlic is to laugh.
I used a mix of red, golden, and Chioggia beets, and also roasted the beets the night before.
December 2011 COTM: 150 Best American Recipes: Desserts
I'm planning to make the browned butter cookies soon. Am I imagining it, or did someone not post about about sprinkling some coarse salt on top of the cookies? I can't find the post I thought I'd seen...
Also, I noticed a comment on the linked recipe about this being similar to a..Italian, I think it was...refrigerator cookie. So I plan to try that out; to roll the dough and chill it, then slice and bake.
Brief but delicious return to MSP (Brasa, Pho Ca Dao and assorted odds and ends)
Ah, then you should definitely order the Brussels sprouts at Tilia
Tilia's Brussels Sprouts [Moved from Minneapolis-St. Paul Board]
Do a search using "brussel sprouts" and "lardons" and you should be able to piece it together from there. If not, swap out "lardons" for "pancetta."
Brief but delicious return to MSP (Brasa, Pho Ca Dao and assorted odds and ends)
Ha! I was there week before last and had the same. Our table ordered them as one of several appetizers, and immediately ordered another bowl as soon as we'd tasted them. They were delicious. I called Brasa the next day to get the components: they're mixed with sunflower seeds, dressed with lime juice, aromatic fish sauce, cilantro and salt, and topped with a little pickled ginger.
Seem to be a takeoff on the Ssäm Bar's Deep-Fried Brussel Sprouts.
The winner of the December 2011 Cookbook of the Month vote is The 150 Best American Recipes
Joining in this month, after a long hiatus. Caitlin, you're amazing! Thanks so much.
Rye Delicatessen - Minneapolis
Hugely disappointed to hear about the dry kugel.
Waiting now to hear from someone who has tried the whitefish.
Rye Delicatessen - Minneapolis
Went this morning at 10:30 with two other women, one whose family is LA Jewish, the other first generation Turkish-American. And me, the Pennslvanian Italian-Welsh. Which is to say: we arrived with a range of expectations.
We started off with toasted bialys, sharing one with plain cream cheese, one with lox cream cheese, one with chopped liver. The bialys themselves were just as they should be. Fresh, chewy but tender, oniony, and lightly toasted. The chopped liver was a disappointment. It tasted like good quality liver but where was the onion? The chopped egg? Verdict on the bialys: excellent. Verdict on the chopped liver; dry, needs more schmaltz, pump up the flavor.
From there we diverged. I had their Benedict: smoked meat (similar to a pastrami) on a toasted bialy, with poached egg. It was too light on the hollandaise, and the meat kind of skimpy and just a little over-crisp. But what really bummed me out were the eggs, cooked past the point they should have been. I find it hard to forgive over-poached poached eggs. That said, the overall flavor was fine, not great. I did, however, notice the same dish an hour or so later on a neighboring table that looked like it was done just right, and with a more lethal dose of hollandaise. So I'll give this one another go another time, Benedict fan that I am.
One friend had the egg and lox scramble, which she deemed tasty, but a little too greasy.
The other friend had the lox sandwich: bagel, lox, red onion, cream cheese and, I think, cucumber. She said the lox was excellent. It certainly looked good.
Then we split the kishka. Two of us loved it and the third thought it was tasty but should have been lighter. I disagree; I like the denseness. It was moist, no casing, quite a lot of carrot and onion, not cylinders but squares. Gravy was nice, not greasy as it can be.
And finally...we split an order of potato latkes (just called potato pancakes on the menu). Two of them, good sized. The person in our group who had never had latkes before thought they were great. I and my other friend had reservations. They were the version in which the potatoes are not grated finely, so they look like they're formed from spikey potato pickup sticks. Which is fine by me, but these were over-fried. I like my latkes to be crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. These were crisp nearly all the way through. And lacking in onion, again. Served with applesauce (I didn't taste that, but my friends though it was almost like an apple compote) and sour cream. Good, quality, but not a home run for me.
Service was excellent, and fast. Easy parking in the side lot, comfortable seating, and we all very much liked the interior redo. All in all, I'm definitely planning a return visit, next time for a sandwich and the noodle kugel. A great addition to Lowry Hill, and I'm wishing them enormous success.
Rye Delicatessen - Minneapolis
I'd missed this news! Thank you. I am going just as soon as possible--maybe even tonight. They're open 7 am till 2 am, 7 days a week.
It's actually a little pitiful, how excited I am.
Saigon Closed. Reopening "soon" - with new owners
Well. Gosh durn and golly gee drat, this calls for language not acceptable on the chowhound board. Consider it said anyway.
[old] Cookbooks you covet - which cookbooks are on your holiday wish-list this year? Which books are just too expensive to buy for yourself without feeling guilty?
No, I'm not, sorry to say. I liked her earlier ones, but this one just never grabbed me.
BTW, congratulations!!!! Big news; made me smile.
[old] Cookbooks you covet - which cookbooks are on your holiday wish-list this year? Which books are just too expensive to buy for yourself without feeling guilty?
When you do go back and have a look, check out a couple of recipes that have become standbys for us: an excellent crunchy coleslaw and the Moroccan Carrots.
Can't remember the exact name of the coleslaw recipe, and I'm not at home so can't check the book. But it was contributed by a woman who worked at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens...or maybe she was a winner in a cooking contest to benefit the Gardens. Something like that! Anyway, it's an oil-vinegar slaw, with carrots, red onions, and green peppers in addition to the cabbage. Easy as can be to make, holds well, and delicious.
[old] Cookbooks you covet - which cookbooks are on your holiday wish-list this year? Which books are just too expensive to buy for yourself without feeling guilty?
Have you read through it yet? You're more than welcome to borrow mine.
What's your fix when the Heat Index tops 95 degrees?
Third it. Had that with Ngon's sweet potato and shrimp croquettes on the day in question.
Potica Bread in the twin cities?
What you've seen at the coop is Andrej's, from Chisholm. http://poticawalnut.com
I like it very much--especially right around now, when it's selling briskly so is fresh-- but I see that some don't, and that Shoo bee doo (who sounds like a real potica expert) says it's not in her preferred Serbian style. I'll be on the lookout now for Serbian style potica.
