Category: meat (Page 4 of 5)

Birthday Kibbe

September 30, 2012 / / 0 Comments

The other week, it was my birthday.

We met some friends at Mezzaluna where we enjoyed their $7 happy hour plates.

Delightfully non-greasy, fried fish served with flavorful mushy peas, spicy seared tuna, an overflowing cheese platter, and the best burger I have tasted since I don’t know when.  Jake thinks it’s as good as HoDo Lounge’s Bison Burger, but I think it’s better.

We returned to the Twin Cities the following weekend.  Between appointments, I stopped at one of my favorite NE Minneapolis haunts, Emily’s Lebanese Deli, and savored my own plate of raw kibbe nayyeh.

Kibbe is an elusive food for me.

In college, my roommate occasionally treated us to tastes of her family’s triangles of baked kibbe and pungent garlic sauce.  Once, she invited us to taste little packets of both raw kibbe and vegetarian kibbe made with potatoes.  This was my first taste of raw meat and I liked it.

Kibbe brings to mind an afternoon soon after my college graduation where I spent much of a day trying to replicate her family’s baked kibbe in my tiny, studio kitchen on Dupont Ave.  It was a time-consuming version of kibbe of which I stuffed raw layers of meat with a cooked filling before baking.  Unfortunately, it did not turn out well.  A few steps above terrible.

My last taste of raw kibbe was at Beirut in West St. Paul, where I shared a small dish with friends.  I tried to be as polite as possible by taking gentle, unhurried bites, in order to hide my intense craving for it.

But not this time.

For lunch, I chose a half order of kibbe nayyeh along with sides of tabouli, flat bread, and garlic dressing which totaled about $10 including tax and tip.

The half portion was more than substantial.  For once, I took my time and enjoyed my very own plate of kibbe nayyeh.  I read a book and watched people stroll the farmers market across the street while I used flat bread to scoop olive oil-drenched dabs of kibbe and swipe them through garlic dip.  The kibbe had a buttery texture and clean flavor.  It was nicely salted and tasted of onion, parsley and cumin.  And I liked how it contrasted with the tart tabouli.

This was my happy birthday present to myself.  Not only the whole plate of kibbe, but also the realization that I can just go order my own plate of kibbe nayyeh when the craving strikes.

Fargo Beer Festival 2012: Pacifico & Roasted Pork

September 17, 2012 / / 6 Comments

This weekend, a few of us attended the Fargo Beer Festival held in the Civic Center.  The event’s website boasted samples of “over 120 premium craft beers from around the world,” as well as food options including a pig roast for $23/ticket.

I’m more of a wine girl that a beer girl, but thought the event would be a fun opportunity to try new beers and check out the food.

We arrived at the beginning and waited in a relatively short line for the doors to open.  Wrist banded and tickets in hand, we stopped to review the Fargo Beer Festival Program.  I was very surprised to see that a large percentage of the beers were not those I would have considered “premium craft beers.”  They were varieties I commonly see but wouldn’t go to an event just to taste.  Some examples included seven varieties of Leinenkugel’s, Summit, Crispin Cider, Boulevard, Becks, Blue Moon, Dos Equis, Heineken, Sam Adams, Killian’s, Red Stripe, Corona & Corona Light, Amstel Light, and Pacifico.

The first room we explored contained the craft beers we were unfamiliar with.  Vendors sat at tables that lined the rooms’ perimeters and poured samples from bottles into tasting cups.  The lines for beer samples were never very long, except for about two tables sampling the most unique craft beers.  Although there were a couple of police offers stationed in each room, the crowd seemed to remain laid back and well-behaved, even though attendees could return to tables for multiple samples.

After I consumed about five samples, I felt a little bit drunk and quite full.  I warily eyed the enormous, foodless room and refrained from eating a young woman’s homemade pretzel necklace.  Three more samples later, we called it quits and searched for food.  The roasted pig wasn’t available yet, so I settled for Civic Center nachos with goopy cheese sauce, $2.50.  Maybe it was the beer food goggles, but the nacho cheese sauce hit the spot.  Ideally, I wold have loved to see snacks provided in the beer halls as well as additional food vendors, but props to the convention center for not inflating their food prices.

We indulged in a few more samples until the roasted pig was served.

The roasted pig was provided by One on One Professional Catering, connected with the Garden Pavilion Restaurant and Banquet Facility.  
We thoroughly enjoyed these roasted pork sandwiches, $6, and beer cheese soup, $4.  
  

The pork was tender and succulent (who got the crispy skin?) and we heaped the sandwiches with barbecue sauce and grated horseradish.  The beer cheese soup was also tasty.  Slightly spicy and sweet with beer, although it had that viscous Cheez Whiz texture.  Bertrosa’s, located in Downtown Fargo, makes my favorite beer cheese soup ever.  It’s the spiciest version I’ve ever tasted and the only one that doesn’t have a shiny Cheez Whiz texture.  That being said, One to One’s was one of the better versions I’ve tasted.

Besides One To One and the Civic Center food stand, the only other food option was a local company at a table selling beef sticks.  You could buy 2 for $2 or a box for $25.  Jake bought a couple, though I passed since I thought they were too dry.

After dinner, I felt more than beered out.  The boys indulged in a few more samples while I sobered up and people-watched.  I was impressed with Night Owl Driving, who was stationed outside the Civic Center to offer attendees free rides home.

Closing thoughts. . . 
I’ve come to the conclusion that I just might not like beer.  Cheap beer or craft beer, I’m just not that into it.  Just give me a light Mexican beer with lime or Sapporo.

The event was generally fun and I didn’t see one person getting sick or rowdy.

The lines were short, except for those sampling legitimate craft beers like abbey ales and other brews not available in every liquor store (event organizers should take this hint).

We enjoyed trying some of the newer or more unusual craft beer varieties, however, I wasn’t that impressed with much of the beer selection.  Especially considering that the event advertised, “over 120 premium craft beers.”  I should have probably taken a look at event website’s beer list beforehand.  Jake adds that if you can easily buy certain beers in Midwestern grocery stores or gas stations, they probably shouldn’t be advertised as premium craft beers.  I actually like Corona Light, but the fact that it was sampled at this event made me giggle.  Scratch some of the series of beers ordered by the pitchers at Midwestern bars everywhere, and replace them with craft brews that we’re not all entirely familiar with.

My favorite part of the event was the roasted pork and beer cheese soup.  I know the focus of the event is beer, but beer really needs food.  A few more vendors or conveniently located snacks might have made it easier to sample beers, sober, and also attracted a greater number of people who may like beer and love food.

Would we go again?  Probably not.

Once was fun.  Once was enough.

Minnesota State Fair Visit 2012: Great Balls Of Fire!

September 2, 2012 / / 0 Comments

I look forward to going to the Minnesota State Fair like I look forward to Christmas.  Possibly more.

Like many other Minnesotans, I grew up making my annual pilgrimage to this Great Minnesota Get-Together.

The fair reminds me of an old high school romance who took me to ride the Sky Ride cable and read me a poem asking me to be his girlfriend.  It rhymed and was illustrated with stick-figures that depicted us holding hands.  The fair brings to mind my first taste of cheese curds.  And it makes me think of my mom’s last visit to the fair, during her last summer on earth.  She managed to rally for an hour, so we could push her around in a wheelchair and collect some of her favorite foods. These usually included a cream puff, skin-on french fries, a pronto pup, and cheese curds, of course.

For years, my running favorite treat were Australian Battered Potatoes doused in both ranch and cheese sauces.  One year, my mom and I ended a fair outing with these potato planks which inundated us with enough grease to result in horrible stomach aches.  I remember curling up in bed and praying for daylight.  And thus, I never ate Australian Battered Potatoes again.

As an adult, my visits to the fair are brief, but no less anticipated.  The crowds and the heat drive me batty.  Now that we live out of town, a weeknight jaunt was no longer an option so we gritted our teeth and visited on the last Saturday of this year’s run.  The day hot and the sun relentlessly beat down on us as we ran between un-air conditioned buildings and scouted for spots of sidewalk shade.  We bumped into the people who randomly stopped mid-step, avoided collisions with massive strollers, and waited in lines for bathrooms.

During our 2012 State Fair visit, we shared a couple of old favorites and a few new foods, referencing Heavy Table’s definitive 2012 MN State Fair Food Tour.

By 10 a.m. we had already laid a base of coffee within our stomachs and added $5 cheese curds from the Mouth Trap in the food building.

I’ve had the curds from the Mouth Trap and I’ve had curds from the stand on Dan Patch.  Personally, I choose to just go to the Mouth Trap.  There’s nothing significant that I can add to the MN State Fair cheese curd conversation so I will end by saying I like these.  I always like these, and I don’t visit the state fair without these.

Next, we stopped at My Sausage Sister & Me, a vendor also located in the food building.  I have never visited them before, but read many positive reviews of their Great Balls Of Fire, $5.50, a new offering.

These meatballs were by and far, the best thing we tasted at the 2012 fair, if not at any fair.  They were notably juicy and compellingly spiced.  Not quite like traditional sausage, not quite like jerk, and pleasantly spicy.  They brought to mind Spoonriver’s flavorful lamb burger.  My Sausage Sister & Me offers a variety of squirt bottles of sauces.  We chose the creamy cucumber sauce which jived well with the strong flavors.

We tried another frequently mentioned new food, Famous Dave’s Ragin’ Ankles, $6.

The pork was tender and moist, and cleanly fell off the bone.  They were fatty in a pleasant way and we enjoyed the sauce which was slightly spicy and sweet without being too sweet.  Overall, we enjoyed the BBQ ankles, but thought the meatballs were better.  I wished the ankles had a little crust or crunchiness.

Saturday’s beverage breaks included Lift Bridge’s Hop Dish, $4.50, from the Ballpark Cafe.  Jake thought Hop Dish tasted a lot like Bell’s elusive Hopslam, his favorite beer, adding that it had a “similar start with a smoother finish.”  He enjoyed it so much that he tried to find it in the stores that evening only to learn it’s not available, yet, in bottles.

We shared a refreshingly cold Black Cherry Soda, $3, from the Spring Grove Soda Pop stand.  We both thought it was pretty tasty with no complaints.  I was satisfied with a few sips since it was so sweet my lips were sticky.

The third new food we tried was a cannoli from Ole’s Cannoli.  Cannoli’s happen to be one of Jake’s favorite desserts.

Jake ordered a plain cannoli with its ends dipped in chocolate chips, $4.50.  The cannoli was generously sized.  Its shell was crispy and the filling was thick and slightly tart, reminding me of cheesecake.  Jake had no complaints.  As an individual who doesn’t routinely seek out desserts, I found two bites enough.  I have a low threshold for desserts that are rich and sweet.

My last bite at the fair was a fried onion blossom.  Ever since Fargo’s Ribfest debacle in June, I’ve had a hankering for an onion blossom.  I forked over $8 for this large monstrosity.

The batter was crispy in a mouth-puncturing way and tasted like it was seasoned with nothing in particular.  The ranch dip tasted cheap and at least one, heaping tablespoon of grease pooled on the bottom of the plate.  The only redeeming qualities of this onion blossom were that it was fried, the onion was tender and sweet, and it wasn’t the $1 shrimp cocktail.

And with this terrible onion, our brief 2012 Minnesota State Fair visit came to a close with little nausea, stomach discomfort, or ailment that couldn’t be cured with a good nap.

Our closing words of wisdom are to go for the balls, my friends.  Go for the balls.

Our Detroit Lakes Weekend Part II: Hotel Shoreham & Fireside Restaurant

June 29, 2012 / / 0 Comments

After spending a lazy morning lounging around The Lodge on Lake Detroit, I shook Jake from his video game trance and summoned him to lunch.

I chose Hotel Shoreham, a small restaurant mostly known for its pizza, located on Lake Sallie.  Still feeling “za’d” out from the previous evening at Zorbaz, we opted for nothing that included a “Z.”

Jake ordered a fruity beverage that ended up costing $9 and I ordered a bottle of St. Pauli Girl, $4.75, having no clue that it did not contain any alcohol.  My beer connoisseur fiance laughed at me.

We started with a basket of beer batter fried shrimp, $9.95, which arrived scalding hot and nearly grease-free.

Salads came with our entrees.  The greens were fresh and crisp and I dipped them in the house dill dressing, that reminded me of that bread bowl party dip.

The $11 crab cake was about the size of my palm.  It’s crispy exterior was drizzled with a garlicky mayonnaise sauce.  The interior revealed some breading, flakes of crab along, and a few small lumps of meat.  Overall, we enjoyed its flavor, but felt it was pricey considering its size.  Oceanaire may charge about $15 per crab cake, but they are larger and made exclusively with jumbo lumps bound together with little more than sorcery.  Not quite the case at Hotel Shoreham, but not bad.

We split the walleye sandwich, $11.95

The fish fillet’s batter was crispy and greaseless, and the flesh was delicate and sweet.  We rejoiced at the toasted bun.

After lunch, we drove around Lake Sallie, hoping to find some sort of beach or dock from which we could dangle our feet.  We chased deceptive signs that pointed us towards nonexistent beaches.  We circled around luxurious lake homes and wooded lots sheltering what we imaged were the cabins of kings.  Lake Sallie must be an exclusive lake, as we could not find even a strip of publicly accessible land.  Finally, we finally found a public dock that reached into water covered in green matter so thick that birds traveled across it by foot.  We passed.

When we returned to The Lodge, I took a nap and slept off that St. Pauli Girl.

For dinner, we chose the Fireside Restaurant located a few blocks from The Lodge.  By 8 p.m., it calmly buzzed with customers and we sat on the screened porch overlooking the lake.  We felt like we’d been transported to a sleepy veranda on the deep south.  Diners leaned into their chairs and lingered over their dinners as servers gracefully allowed everyone to bask in the sunset.

I ordered a mojito for $6.50.

Despite the mojito’s whimsical swizzle sticks, it tasted a little off. Jake fared better with a glass of red wine.

We snacked on a complimentary plate of “no-frills” vegetables and dip.

And picked out the buttery garlic toasts from the breadbasket (also complimentary).

For an entree, I ordered a Caesar salad with anchovies, $6, and the Surf &Turf Skewers appetizer, $11, that consisted of bacon-wrapped beef and scallops in a “tangy honey-mustard sauce.”  Jake ordered the 10 oz. prime rib special. $23, offered with his choice of two sides.  He selected grilled asparagus and garlic mashed potatoes.

The Caesar salad greens were fresh and dotted with croutons coated in something cheesy and a little bit spicy.  Kudos for offering anchovies.

I began to feel full and gingerly tasted the skewers.

The beef was cooked to about medium and was tender.  Although the large scallops were fresh and buttery, mine contained some grit.  Jake ate the second and deemed it grit-free, pushing aside the soggy bacon which I happily ate.  He prefers bacon cooked ultra crispy while I like mine with some give.  I’d hardly describe the sauce as tasting like honey mustard.  Its sweetness tasted much more subtle and melded with the grilled meats.

Jake delicately carved bites of his prime rib and dunked them in au jus and horseradish sauce.  The meat was tender and cooked medium rare as requested.

The side of asparagus was carefully grilled (ends trimmed) and garnished with a hollandaise-like sauce and lemon wedge.

Since it was the end of our vacation, we split creme brulee.

At first glance, I was disappointed the sugar topping wasn’t more caramelized.  But after I dug below the surface, I was too hooked to care.  The smooth chocolate custard tasted exactly like the essence of a chocolate brownie.  Jake began to reminisce about the brownies his late, Norwegian Grandma used to make.

We were stunned when our bill was almost equivalent to our lunch at the Shoreham Hotel.  Fireside is known as the pricier option in Detroit Lakes, but served a better-than-average meal for lower prices than what we’d find in Fargo-Moorhead and the Twin Cities.

I really appreciate the juxtaposition of Fireside’s stunning lake view and unpretentious service/atmosphere.  While the staff is down to earth, occasional customers may be more high maintenance.  I laughed as I overheard a conversation that mirrored this Portlandia sketch.  We had practically finished two courses by the time they placed their order.

Hopefully, we’ll return to Detroit Lakes this summer.  Where do you like to eat and do you have a favorite dive-bar?

Fried Rice Seasoned With Gochujang & Miso

June 22, 2012 / / 0 Comments

“Dang it”

I realized I had no soy sauce.  I had just chopped a mound of vegetables and de-frosted meat, only to discover an empty soy sauce bottle in my fridge.
With two takeout boxes of leftover steamed rice and a half hour of prep work done, there was no way I was not going to make fried rice.  I reached further into my fridge and pulled out a jar of Korean gouchujang and my trusty tub of year-old miso paste.
Then I proceeded like normal.  I stir fried my vegetables with a little Chinese sausage, chicken breast, and leftover rice.  Then, I flavored the fried rice with a mix of gochujang and miso paste, diluted with water for easier incorporation.  I found Chinese sausage at the Asian & American Market in Fargo.  It provided a subtle sweetness that balanced the miso’s saltiness and gochujang’s heat.
We were satisfied with the result.  So much so, that we polished off the skillet of fried rice.  If you also just own a standard skillet, you might not achieve any smokey char, but your fried rice will still be a respectable home variation.
My method of cooking fried rice is not an exact science.  Once I choose my vegetables and proteins, it’s basically a process of sauteing and tasting.  You could use soy sauce instead of miso and add additional seasonings like hot peppers and ginger.
Mantra: Homemade fried rice is easy.  Homemade fried rice is an efficient way to use up leftover meat and veggies.  Homemade fried rice puts extra takeout rice to work.
Ingredients
Vegetable oil
Chinese sausage, finely diced
Chopped vegetables (I used lots of onion, green onions, swiss chard stems and greens, and carrots)
Proteins of choice and/or scrambled egg
Leftover rice
1 clove of minced garlic
Miso paste and gochujang, diluted with some water
White pepper
Cracked black pepper
Directions
In a dab of vegetable oil, begin sauteing the Chinese sausage.  When it renders a bit, add the vegetables and stir until softened but al dente.  I add the vegetables that take longer to cook first, such as carrot and onion.  Then, I add the softer vegetables like chard leaves, green onion, and garlic.
As the vegetables are cooking, prepare any additional protein or scrambled egg in a separate pan.  Add a little more oil to the vegetables and then stir in the rice.  As the rice is cooking, flavor with diluted miso paste and gochujang, black pepper, and white pepper.
Add the scrambled egg and/or other cooked meat and combine.  Taste and adjust for seasoning (I used a lot of miso and gochujang).
Cook to your liking.  I prefer my fried rice to develop some crusty bits.
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