Northern Comfort – St. Paul Farmers Market
Written by: Beth DooleyPosted on | February 18, 2010 | No Comments
The weather is frightful, but baby, cold as it is, the St. Paul Farmers Market is the hottest place in town. Come Saturday mornings, it’s an all out happening, even in sub-zero temps. Conversations heat up over how best to cook free range chicken (braised and low and slow) and when the duck eggs will come in. (Yes, duck eggs … they’re remarkable … big, luminous and very “eggy” tasting.) And, when your teeth start to chatter, head in to Golden’s Deli, where the cheese, chocolate, apple and assorted farmers and small food producers sell amazing stuff. I am hooked on Martha’s Joy Pickles (jars of Brussels sprouts, asparagus, beans … you name it, she pickles it) — her range of varieties and vegetables, sweet and hot and sour is astonishing … Find Shepherd’s Way cheeses and the best damn lamb sausages … raw cider … Love Tree farmstead cheeses …. who says you can’t eat local in the middle of February around here? Swing through and buy something from everyone the enjoy through the week and when you get home, cook up that chicken Here’s how:
One Simple Recipe – Five Great Soups
Written by: Beth DooleyPosted on | February 2, 2010 | No Comments
With the wind howling and the snow pressing against the windows, it’s a good time to make soup. Don’t rush out to get ingredients. Use up what you have. Here’s how to get five great meals from one easy recipe.
How Rough Flavors Warm Food up
Written by: Beth DooleyPosted on | January 19, 2010 | No Comments
Vinegar is bold, rough stuff. Just the thing for snapping up a ho-hum sauces, sautes and roasts. It’s an ancient brew relied on the ages for its medicinal properties as well as its culinary uses. It’s got a main role in preserving and fermenting as well as seasoning foods, too. Without vinegar, there’s no vinaigrette.
Leatherwood Vinegary, in Long Prairie, Minnesota is the first (if not the only) one of its kind in the state. It’s vinegar is made from the fruit grown in the Leatherwood orchards and in near by gardens. Ron and Nancy Leasman have been making vinegar commercially for about 5 years now, but it’s safe to say, they’ve been at it most of their lives. Ron has always made his own wine; Nancy is an herbalist who understands how to infuse the vinegars with assorted garden flavors. To make their vinegars, Ron uses a “mother” he keeps “alive” batch after batch. Check out their website for the many different flavors — from pure apple cider to ginger orange; from raspberry to garlic and dill. And, try this simple recipe for Honey Mustard Vinaigrette. It’s terrific on salads and makes a wonderful basting sauce for chicken, too. www.leatherwoodvinegary.com
Why Shop Outside in the Winter?
Written by: Beth DooleyPosted on | January 11, 2010 | No Comments
Baby, it’s cold outside. But, even on a sub-zero Saturday morning, the St. Paul Farmer’s Market is the place to be. Meat people — those farmers selling chickens, beef, pork, lamb and fish — can just set their wares on the table without worrying about things over heating or spoiling. Get the beef for pot roast or chicken for soup or pork for chili. Go inside to warm up and taste artisan cheeses, old-fashioned chocolates, small batch salsa, and hand-rolled strudels. Stock up for the week and plan to settle in by the fire. Here’s a recipe for simple, humble roast chicken. It makes a fabulous Sunday dinner. Roast two at once and enjoy through the week.
How to feed the cold & hungry when you’re too busy to cook (and too crabby to think about it)
Written by: Beth DooleyPosted on | December 14, 2009 | 3 Comments
Come the snows I dream of France and those fabulous outdoor markets shown here . . . but, there’s hope. We have great butchers — like Clancy’s in Linden Hills — and we also have some of the best beef in the country.
How the ugliest ingredients make the most sublime dishes
Written by: Beth DooleyPosted on | December 3, 2009 | No Comments
These are hazelnuts. They grow on low, bushy trees like weeds throughout the Heartland. The nuts are small and tough to crack and reveal a sweet, dense and very flavorful meat that is high in protein and extremely delicious. They contain a lot of oil which, when pressed, has a mild nutty flavor and tastes terrific in vinaigrettes. Its smoke point is higher than olive oil, so it’s a good choice for stir-frying and sauteeing. I’d use it in everything if I could, but I don’t, because it is imported from France and extremely expensive.
Enjoying the remains of the day!
Written by: Beth DooleyPosted on | November 29, 2009 | Comments Off
The sun is setting on Thanksgiving!
It’s every cook’s holiday. OK. It’s not the big deal Christmas is with it’s prelude of cocktail parties, office hoopla, family gatherings and traditional fare. It lasts but one single meal, but it is, for many, a favorite, as there are no other agendas that get in the way. The only thing to really worry about is overcooking the turkey. Once the time to serve is determined, the sides are a cinch. Most often, I delegate those out to the other cooks who want to join me. The other nice thing is that every side matches as do most wines.
THANKSGIVING’S SERIOUS SIDE
Written by: Beth DooleyPosted on | November 21, 2009 | No Comments
Thanksgiving brings a riot of flavors and colors to the table; there’s no such thing as too much food. As much as I honor a big roast turkey, I also want my vegan friend and vegetarian niece to feel happy and well fed. So side dishes are serious stuff. I like to have a lot, which means making much in advance, and then simply heating things up or (even better) serving them at room temp.
Money
Written by: Beth DooleyPosted on | November 17, 2009 | No Comments
Fat green and crisp as a new dollar bill, cabbage is money. Hugely underrated, it’s the bane of those who just don’t know how to cook it – boiled or steamed into a swampy mass, it literally stinks. But you can do a much with these monstrous heads, stir-fry, shred, and, pan fry or roast. The trick is to get them to caramelize enough to sweeten the edges without burning the leaves. To make a quick coleslaw, simply shred along with onions and toss in a little great olive oil, salt and freshly ground pepper and just a teaspoon of honey to sweeten it up. To stir-fry, shred and toss with oil over heat along with garlic, add a shot of soy and a sprinkle of brown sugar. To pan fry, heat butter until it begins to turn light brown, add shredded cabbage, cover and steam about 2 or 3 minutes, then add a splash of apple cider and season to taste. To roast (this is my favorite), shred, toss shredded cabbage with olive oil and coarse salt, spread on a roasting pan and blast in at 375 degree oven turning once, for about 5 to 8 minutes total, until the edges are dark and crisped. Great with roast chicken or seared steak.
Garlic caper
Written by: Beth DooleyPosted on | November 12, 2009 | No Comments
It’s called red rose garlic for a good reason. The stuff is really pretty and it smells great. The cloves are big, succulent and mild. You can use it raw in salads and dressings, chop it into salsa, flash it in stir-fries and it won’t take over the dish. Of course, I love it roasted in an oven until it’s silky and sweet.
Find red rose garlic and an enormous array of these beautiful bulbs (several different varieties) at the St. Paul Farmers market. It’s a good time to think about growing your own. If there’s a variety you like, plant one of the cloves now, as you would a flower bulb, sunny spot, and next year you’ll be harvesting your own.
keep looking »