Call me a pessimist, but in spite of all the amazing advances being made in the realm of cold weather fruits I don’t think anybody’s ever going to grow citrus in Minnesota. So what’s the hard-core locavore fundamentalist zealot to do when he finds himself in the North country and craving a glass or two of sangria, the citrus-laden wine drink of Spain? Since moving to California — or better yet, Spain — isn’t necessarily a workable option, the drink would just have to be adapted to local circumstances. Time for Minnesota sangria.

The inspiration for this concoction was a visit Martha and I made recently to Delano, MN and the Woodland Hill winery. Besides producing surprisingly decent traditional red and white wines, Woodland Hill also makes some worthwhile fruit wines, including, most notably for me, wines made with rhubarb. In visits to wineries in Michigan and Minnesota over the years I have imbibed all kinds of different fruit wines — most of them terrible — but this was the first time I’d ever seen rhubarb wine. Juice is extracted from the stalks by first freezing them to break up the cells, then pressing them for all they’re worth through a wine press.

At the time of our visit they were sold out of last year’s straight rhubarb vintage but had plenty of Tickled Pink, a strawberry-rhubarb blend. Strawberry and rhubarb is a classic flavor combination — and far superior to the ubiquitous kiwi-strawberry, I might add. Lest you think cloying thoughts of strawberry-rhubarb pie, crisp, or what-have-you, I should say this wine was remarkably restrained for a fruit wine; relatively dry (for a fruit wine!) and with clear strawberry and rhubarb flavor.

Clear as these flavors may have been, there’s always room for a little improvement. With copious quantities of strawberries and rhubarb from the Midtown Farmers Market, as well as a bundle of mint — the official herb of summertime — from the Saint Paul Farmers Market, I mixed up a version of this Spanish summertime staple fit for the fields of Minnesota.

Minnesota Sangria

• 1 bottle (750 ml) strawberry-rhubarb wine (we used Tickled Pink from Woodland Hill)
• 1 ½ cups rhubarb, cut into large chunks
• 10 medium strawberries, sliced
• 1 generous handful mint (you can leave it on the stem)

Mix all the ingredients in a large pitcher. Chill and serve.

“OH MY GOD, A MOREL!” I cried, after having given up the search and nearly abandoning the woods. Tom, a more seasoned mushroomer, hissed for me to, ”Keep it down.” While it’s likely obvious, I have only been out looking for mushrooms, or mushrooming, once before (twice if you count our hike in Muir Woods outside San Francisco), and I’m not yet very well versed in the caginess of mushroom hunters. I will, however, not mention exactly where we went yesterday or reveal where our tip came from—even foragers-in-training have to protect the secrets of the woods.

After seeing morels for sale at the Midtown Farmers Market ($10/basket) and the Wedge Coop ($40/pound), I got an itch to go hunting for our own. It’s not that I didn’t want to spend the money: morels are expensive, but so is gas and fruitless hours spent wandering the woods. Yesterday’s adventure added up to two hours of driving time (there and back) and an additional two or more hours to find two ounces of mushrooms, which could have been had for a mere $5.

But all experiences should not be reduced to such crude economic calculations. An afternoon started with a good lunch of rye Real Bread, a package of Gardens of Eagan strawberries, hummus, and cheese followed by a ramble through the astonishingly green Minnesota woodlands cannot be so easily valued. For the most part we stuck to trails. Only two of our morels were found off the trail, while we spotted five (yes, that’s a total of seven) without leaving the trail at all.

All of our finds occurred after we’d completely given up (which we did four times) and insisted that the season was over, it was hopeless, and we might as well quit looking. Mushrooming is sort of like trying to remember something and focusing too hard, causing all memory to be blocked and much suffering from “It’s on the tip of my tongue” until several hours later, when you’ve completely forgotten about remembering and everyone else has gone home and the very thing comes to mind with ease.

Satisfied with our seven mushrooms in tow, and feeling a bit tired after a couple of hours staring intently to the left and right, we climbed into the car to head back to Minneapolis. Just as Tom, who offered to drive home, was pulling out of the parking area, a man walked by with what I insist was a football-sized morel in the crook of his arm. “OH MY GOD,” I yelled, out my open window. Tom, now thoroughly embarrassed, hushed me once more saying, “You can’t just yell ‘OH MY GOD’ at someone out the window!” and continued driving out of the lot. And so I have no picture, but perhaps that is best. We wouldn’t want to reveal too much.

We visited the Art Shanty Projects at Medicine Lake this afternoon with Hailey. Despite the rain and perhaps because today is the WARMEST DAY OF THE YEAR at thirty-six degrees, we enjoyed our first visit to the shanties. Having come prepared (thanks to Mel) with art to share, all three of us exchanged art at the Ice Art Swap Shanty. Tom took home an antler-themed picture frame, I found a set of notecards, and Hailey traded for a piece of pottery.

Our favorite was Tiny Shanty, the smallest three story mansion on the ice where visitors can create tiny art and enjoy tiny tea time courtesy of the tiny wood stove’s tiny log fire.

Thanks to Scott and Caly for welcoming us to their tiny home. Check out Tiny Shanty’s gallery for more pictures or the Projects’ flickr page.

Do It Green! Annual Green Gifts Fair

• Saturday, November 21st, 2009
• 10am to 5pm
• Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis on Lake St. & Chicago. Ave.
• FREE entrance (vendors accepting cash or check only, though, so come prepared!)

Do It Green! Minnesota’s Green Gifts Fair takes place this Saturday, conveniently before the crazed post-Thanksgiving shopping. Organizers envision the event as an introduction to green giving and low impact ideas to celebrate the holidays with over 70 vendors to explore. Shoppers are encouraged to bring their own bags and coffee mugs. If you plan to eat at Midtown while you shop, consider bringing silverware and a reusable napkin as well. Those who bike, bus, or carpool will receive a free gift at the event. More information doitgreen.org.

Gastro Non Grata: A Salute to Comfort Food and Cans

• Sunday, November 22, 2009
• Doors at 6pm
• 21+
• At the TRIPLE ROCK, 629 Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis
• $5 at the door, additional donations help Craig & Jeff break even.

Beer, food, and music! What more could you want? Northern Brewer will start the night with a Lambic tasting and chef Landon Schoenfeld will present three sample courses as the night goes on. The beer guest for the night is 21st Amendment Brewery. Music by Falcon Crest, Arctic Universe, School of Rock, Cadillac Kolstad, Cornbread Harris, and The Annandale Cardinals. As before, Clancey’s Meat and Fish will provide meat door prizes as only they can. More info at Gastro Non Grata’s blog.

Midtown Farmers’ Market‘s Thanksgiving Market

• Wednesday, November 25, 2009
• 1pm to 4pm
• Lake Street and 22nd Ave S near the Light Rail in Minneapolis

Meat, vegetables, apples, bread, chocolates, and canned goods will all be available. Weather permitting there may be crafts as well. Real Bread bread will be available by advanced order: contact Brett at brettlaidlaw (at) eckmeier (dot) com for options. Hilltop Pastures will be at the market as well. According to the market website, they have a waiting list for turkeys, but they’ll be dropping off orders and selling other products on Wednesday. Thanks to midtownfarmersmarket.org for the details!

No exclamation points were harmed in the writing of this post!

We ate a lot yesterday. The fair was fun, especially since we were able to meet up with a few great friends to, well, eat with. Below are photos of most of what we ate, as well as pricing and locations if you’re planning to make the trek yourself. $11 will get you an adult ticket (ages 13–64) at the gate. This is about the only place credit cards are accepted, so bring plenty of cash for the treats to be had inside.

After a shared $5 tray of Cheese Curds in the Food Building (sorry, no photo), Summit’s Beer on a Stick was our #2 item to try. Three 7 oz. cups sampling Extra Pale Ale, Oktoberfest, and Red Ale for $7.50, not bad. Get in line for your Beer on Stick at the International Bazaar on Underwood St. and Judson Ave.

Next it was the French Meadow to hunt down the Reuben Pretzel we’d read about in the Star Tribune. After asking around about the “old Schumacher space,” we found the French Meadow on the corner of Carnes Ave. and Underwood St. With a two $5 bills in hand, we ordered two; this was not meant for sharing.

Pictured above is the exterior of the Reuben Pretzel. Notice the sauerkraut on top.

And the inside, just in case you were curious.

Naturally, this was followed immediately by a trip to the Deep Fried Candy Bars stand. With a choice between deep fried Oreos, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Deep Fried Milky Ways, and Deep Fried Snickers all at $3.50, we went with the Snickers.

Covered in thick breading and plenty of powdered sugar, this was exactly how you might imagine it. I never need to eat this again. If you’d like to have your once-in-a-lifetime taste, keep walking down Carnes Ave. from the French Meadow.

Walking north toward the Eco Experience, we thought we would see what we would see along the way. A stand we spotted just north of Randall Ave. on Underwood St. led us somewhat off the path to our destination.

With ticket in hand, we waited patiently for what would be next.

For $7.75, Texas Tater Twisters was offering sausage (on a stick) surrounded by a fried potato spiral, aka the Taterdog. We could have gone with the potato twister alone, but Tom sprung for the combo and I wasn’t about to protest. A side of ranch, please!

A few bites in, the spiral came began to unravel.

At this point, we parted with the group and went looking for one of the items on my not-to-be-missed list: Stanly’s Sugarbush Maple Soda, $4. Sample the soda near the Eco Experience at the Countryside Market (located at the end of Cosgrove St.). Already there, and having eaten a number of things that might be described as awful, we decided to opt for a rare, healthy item along side the soda: a Caprese Salad on a Stick, $6. This $10 combination is well worth a try.

Not to be caught ending on a too-healthy note, we finished our visit with a tray of Tornado Potato Chips for $5.50 from Sonny’s in the Food Building. Served with a side of chipotle ranch and fresh from the frier, they demanded to be accompanied by a second helping of Summit on a Stick (refills for $6.50 if you save your stick).

After a couple of loops around the Food Building trying to locate fried green tomatoes for sale, we gave up a little disappointed. I’m sure it was right under my nose, but with the weather turning noticeably chilly and already full stomachs, we said goodnight to the fair.

Thanks again to our fellow-tasters at the Heavy Table. Their list helped us navigate the sprawling Minnesota State Fair for the first time. As we headed home, the folks at 89.3 the Current were doing a tasting of their own on the radio. Among the pickles and the cheese curds, they reminded us of what we’d missed: Peach Glazed Pig Cheeks from Famous Daves. Next time? We’ll have to take that up next year.

The Heavy Table has a great post today which combines all of the secrets from yesterday’s live tweets (follow @heavytable to keep in the loop) with photos to help your imagination along. For those of you who can’t make it, this post will give you a picture of the best-of eats on day one of the fair. If you’re like us, and you’ve LIVED IN MINNEAPOLIS FOR A YEAR AND A HALF WITHOUT GOING TO THE MN STATE FAIR, this post will convince you that you are CRAZY and that you should GO TODAY. Incidentally, we’ll be heading to St. Paul this evening, tomorrow evening, or both, and we’ll definitely keep this list of suggestions in mind (along with the google map, thanks guys!).

From what our friends at The Heavy Table shared, it’s the beverages I’m most excited about. I’m currently craving the $1 Cider Freeze, the trio of Summit beers on a stick ($7.50), and Stanly’s Sugarbush Maple soda ($4). The last of these looks to be the most promising. As The Heavy Table puts it, Stanly’s is

A local alternative to soda… not just “as good as a Coke” good, but “far, far better than a Coke” good. It’s got an almost creamy flavor, a maple kick, and a refreshing hit of carbonation.

Based on the prices shared here, it looks like we’ll need to carry plenty of $5s and $1s with us in preparation for this 4,000+ calorie snack-feast.

Image: Becca Dilley, The Heavy Table

As far as trendy foodie obsessions go, I am more of a pizza guy than a hamburger guy. I’m not as die-hard as some, but I have observed a number of the pizza-nerd pieties: I’ve eaten D.O.C. Pizza Margherita at Antica Pizzeria dell’Arte. I’ve waited two hours in line to try Roman pizza at Da Baffetto. During a short trip to New Haven, I ate at both Frank Pepe and Modern Apizza. I once walked across the Brooklyn Bridge in 100° weather and spent all the cash in my wallet to eat at Grimaldi’s. I have also spent a significant amount of time trying to perfect Neapolitan pizza in my home oven; some of these efforts are documented on this very blog.

Minneapolis, my home of one and a half years, is not known as a pizza city, but I have been pleasantly surprised by the pizza available here. First and foremost there is Punch Pizza, which makes the best pizza I have ever had outside of Italy—possibly even inside of Italy. I have eaten at Punch more times than anywhere else;we are very lucky in the Twin Cities to have not just one  great Neapolitan pizzeria, but a whole chain of them. I have also tried and enjoyed Galactic Pizza, which has the advantage of being close to my house and delivered in electric cars by superheroes.

My preferences in pizza run strongly Italian, but I’m definitely not one of those jerks who doesn’t consider deep-dish to be real pizza (in fact I strongly recommend the deep dish from Little Star in San Francisco). I like to keep an open mind; Dara’s pizza personality test classified me as ANCS-The Different Drummer. Apparently my  ideal Twin Cities pizza comes from Crescent Moon. I have yet to take the Afghan pizza plunge, I do like to try as many different kinds of pizza as I can. With that attitude of openness and thirst for discovery, this afternoon I tried for the first time what I have heard referred to as “Minnesota-style” pizza, courtesy of Red’s Savoy Pizza.

I’ll admit that my decision to try Red’s was largely a matter of convenience; I had been somewhat intrigued by the restaurant after reading a review on Slice, but it was not until they opened a location in the Golooney’s space only a few blocks from my apartment that I decided I would go and try it. I walked there, ordered a sausage pie (for control purposes, when tasting a new non-Neapolitan pizza I order sausage or pepproni, for Neapolitan pizzas Margherita) and after waiting a while I eagerly walked home with a piping hot pie.

Opening the box, I made two observations: one, this pizza was cut into squares. Apparently, that is a Minnesota thing—maybe they wanted make pizza more like bars. The problem with cutting a pizza into squares is that it creates awkward little corner pieces and a number of pieces that don’t have any crust to serve as a handle, necessitating the use of a fork. I was also surprised to see the giant brown spots in the center of the pizza; at first I thought they were some unrequested topping but then realized it was just huge swaths browned cheese.

Crust. If I had to compare the crust of Red’s Savoy’s pizza to any, I’d say it reminded me most of cheap frozen pizza crust. That is not a bad thing; I like cheap frozen pizza. And I’m not saying that it was actually frozen: I saw them tossing the fresh dough. Whatever is in that dough, it produces no puffy cornicione; rather, the crust is cracker thin and quite crispy and burnt on the edge. As one approaches the center, the crust becomes soggier, chewier and more cardboard-like.  Charring was limited to the edge, with the rest of the crust a pale brown. The crust was more of a vehicle for the toppings than an end in itself, but I did really enjoy the crispiness of the edges. I also thought it was overfloured, but I can forgive that because I am myself often guilty of using ample flour to ensure smooth separation of the dough from the peel. Still, raw flour isn’t especially tasty.

Sauce. This pizza is heavily sauced, so much so  that great pools of the stuff are visible on the edges and spill onto the pizza box. That’s okay since the sauce is delicious; very thick and meaty, like a red sauce you would eat on spaghetti rather than a pizza sauce. Its texture at times was almost squishy. It had good flavor: a little cooked-tasting but pleasantly spicy.

Cheese. The first thing to be said about cheese on this pizza is that there is a lot of it. I mean a lot of it. There is so much cheese that it bonds with the box and slips off of the crust as you try to pull a piece a way. There is so much cheese that it forms its own super-layer that is independent of the rest of the pizza. In fact, if there is one thing that seemed to distinguish this style of pizza it is the amount of cheese. As long as the cheese remained warm and gooey it was good and comforting but it became a bit disconcerting as it started to congeal. Must eat faster!

Sausage. The sausage was spicy and had the right amount of grease, which is to say plenty of grease. Red’s puts toppings on top of the sauce and covers the whole thing with cheese, rather than putting toppings on top of the cheese. I favor the latter approach since I think it actually binds the toppings in better (the cheese bubbles up around them). As it was, it was hard to keep the toppings and cheese on top of the crust without using a fork.

From the breakdown above you might get the idea that I didn’t like Red’s Savoy pizza, but actually I thought it was pretty good; definitely a case where the experience of eating it makes it more than the sum of its parts. Red’s Savoy probably won’t unseat Punch in terms of my favorite pizza in the Twin Cities, but I would eat it again. Particularly if I had been drinking. Based on this experience, my overall impression of ‘Minnesota’ pizza is: cracker thin crust, lots of sauce and even more cheese, and squares.

Happy Summer! This Saturday I enjoyed a trip to Alexis Bailly Vineyards of Hastings, MN with Julia and Hailey. The wine, well, doesn’t deserve much comment. My notes are short and range from “drinkable but really too sweet,” “cloyingly sweet,” to “nasty. zero body. all acid,” “sour. wouldn’t buy it.” Only their Voyageur was somewhat decent, but its $21.99 price tag made my mind wander to how much I love Trader Joe’s. That said, it was a great day. Alexis Bailly has a fantastic tasting room. It’s like being in a barn—all the doors open with the winds coming right in. Cheeses were stationed throughout the room for pairing with the wines (among them a very good blue) and the pours were unlimited, if not generous. There was even a group of musicians playing in one corner. I much enjoyed their rendition of “Cielito Lindo,” I may have sung along. Try Alexis Bailly for a fun afternoon. $10 gets you a glass and all the tastes you’d like, and if you bring your own glass, “BYOG,” it’s just $7.50 to get in the door.

Their 31st Annual Open House continues next weekend (June 5, 6, 7) in celebration of the release of ABV’s 2008 wines. Tastings are offered May through Thanksgiving on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 11 am to 5:30 pm. Hopefully Tom and I will have a chance to return… with a picnic to make a day of it.

***For more photos, see Hailey’s blog. 

At the risk of being un-of the moment, I’d like to share some pictures from our February weekend in Duluth, MN. Allow me to set the record straight… this was the site of our first first picnic, attempted on the shores of Lake Superior and finished with gloved hands inside of a state park shelter with beautiful views of the lake.

If not for the snow, doesn’t this look like a lovely day for a picnic?

I thought it was a nice enough spot, and there were picnic tables. Tom reluctantly unloaded the (unnecessary) cooler.

In the end we got a little too cold and sought refuge. But as I said, we still had a lovely view of the lake. And with our teeth not so chattery and our hands not so cold, we were able to enjoy Tom’s creations a little more: lamb liver and pork terrine, baguette, Trader Joe’s dijon (too dijon for me, just dijon enough for Tom), olive oil, and parsley sprigs. It’s true that I continued eating with my leather gloves on. Tom found his fleece gloves didn’t take well to dipping bread in olive oil; he went bare-handed and was rather cold.

Finally, here’s the view from the shelter along with a few pictures from our stay in Duluth, MN. All images from the picnic were taken at Gooseberry Falls State Park. I’d like to return to Gooseberry Falls in the summertime, if we have a chance, to see the falls in their unfrozen state. Despite the cold, if you like to walk or hike, Duluth and the surrounding areas are a great place to visit. I’m sure it’s even better above freezing.

Rarely do my sambo (read: sahm-boo) and I have corresponding days off. My work keeps me busy Thursday–Monday, sometimes Tuesday and Wednesday, sometimes evening hours, etc. while he enjoys a standard Monday–Friday, 8:30–5:00. This means that what would be three-day weekends become celebrated Mondays-only holidays for the two of us. This Martin Luther King, Jr. Day we were determined to seize the opportunity to go adventuring together despite the cold, the snow, and the limited time only! special offered by our employers.

We got started a little late as the day had to begin with a two-month late oil change. This meant we headed straight to the first food we saw upon reaching Red Wing’s Main Street. A straight shot from the 9-hr. free parking lot was a choice of a restaurant/bar in the basement of the city’s former Armory and Liberty’s. Tom’s only requirement after driving 1+ hour from the cities was “I need a beer,” and Liberty’s seemed to be able to live up to that requirement. We had sandwiches and indeed a beer each—I a short and Tom a very tall. And, of course, being so close to Wisconsin we started off with a basket of cheese curds with the liberty’s “special” lemon-peppercorn ranch.

My sandwich was a new item on the menu, the turkey-chipotle sandwich served on cranberry rye bread. The spicy/smokey chipotle flavors paired nicely with the occasional cranberry in the toasted bread. Tom discouraged my knee-jerk toward the burger list as he’s planning on making burgers tomorrow. Then, for some reason, he ordered a patty melt (Which is, IMO, a burger on toast.). We both upgraded ($1.25) to what Tom described as “Sysco-cut fries.”

Our conversation was fun and full of excitement about our new web page and my occasional laughter at the sight of Tom’s hair after removing his wool hat:

We finished, declined dessert, and moved on.

After lunch we wandered and found a number of shops closed, but I remained optimistic as I’d expected this. I expected this because it has happened before. That’s the trouble with taking daytrips on national holidays. We browsed the Scando-bric-a-brac at Uffda! and then found ourselves in an antique store. Either a good sign that he’s come around to shopping/antique gawking or a sign that the trip itself was uneventful and *maybe* a little boring, this was Tom’s favorite part of our visit. I purchased some antique Red Wing Pottery mugs in a lovely deep-blue as well as some long-forgotten lead type (an M and G specifically, $1 per!).

In the basement level we separated, poking around and picking up various items. I noticed some cookbooks at one point and was very excited to find a portion of the TimeLife set recently mentioned in Bon Appétit magazine. Not only did I find part of the set, but the exact volume (out of 25+) that Tom said was the only one worth owning when I read him the article last month—Terrines, Pâtés & Galantines, for the low price of $10 (see link). He was especially excited to find when we got home that the book references multiple Elizabeth David recipes—the subject of his senior thesis in the Michigan State history department.

Once through with the antique store, Tom wanted to sit down with his new find… so we headed to Lily’s for coffee and (I) found the pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting too good-looking to resist (I was a little too full to enjoy it, though). Also too full, Tom did not eat his entire half as he’d begun to feel a bit ill from the earlier cheesecurd/pattymelt/beer extravaganza, but he did mention it reminded him of his mom’s applesauce spice cake, which is a big compliment indeed. I insisted that we were both beginning to feel sick from just looking at the very very very vivid photography of pigs stuffed with turkeys stuffed with chickens stuffed with rabbits in the book, so I made him put it away.

Finished with coffee and water from a jug which Tom described as soft-tasting, it was time to head home. The drive was uneventful except for the shocking blackness that occurred once the twilight faded. Despite what the opthamologist said, I don’t think “bad night vision” is just something his patients make up. Coming in on I-94W was also reminiscent of our drive 1 year ago with all of our belongings in tow, and I commented to Tom how different it felt to be driving “in the city” this time. The fast pace seems natural now, even a bit slow. “I know,” he said, “you change lanes when you need to, you just signal, and you just go…”