Spending last weekend out of town was great fun for Martha and me, but it seriously interrupted our usual weekend meal planning and grocery shopping routine. When we returned home on Sunday night, I was scrambling for ideas for what to put on the table. Rather than spend a precious weeknight writing a menu and […]

Although ostensibly a day devoted to giving thanks, Thanksgiving for many descends into gluttony – or at the very least eating a bit too much food that is a bit too rich. Whatever effect this might have on one’s soul, it definitely takes a toll on the body, as the pending post-thanksgiving naps will attest. […]

As much as I love a good risotto, what I’m really hoping for when I serve one is that people won’t want to finish the whole dish. I wasn’t after a risotto lunch; I wanted to try an idea I’d had in mind for a while. Probably the best thing to do with day (or […]

Local food mega-site the Heavy Table recently stirred up controversy by deeming, after conducting a metro-wide tasting, the Bruegger’s bagel to be the best bagel in the Twin Cities. To have a giant national chain beat out all the local options was understandably upsetting to the many people whose culinary ethos is built around eating […]

Why is it always the smallest dishes that require the most work? Take these two-bite-sized steamed buns: for all the time I spent making them, I probably could have barbecued a whole cow. Twice. The work began two weeks ago when I started my kim chi, the Korean fermented cabbage pickle. Beyond ingredients I had […]

Maybe the economy has you down, the political climate depresses you, or you’re just sad because it’s Monday, there’s ample reason to feel a little blue these days. Now I would never prescribe liquor as a treatment for passing sadness (go do something fun instead!), a couple of drinks Martha and I have enjoyed lately […]

My taste in pizza runs strongly to the Neapolitan, and the pizza I make most often at home has a very thin, crisp crust. But I am by no means some kind of Neapolitan absolutist: I keep an open mind about the many styles of pizza in the world. Sometimes I even make a different […]

Some people have their broccoli-cheese casserole; I have this: penne with blue cheese and broccoli. It’s filled with the same comforting overload of starch and gooey cheese but has an added element of danger provided by tangy blue cheese and generously-applied red pepper flakes. I’ve been making this dish for years – I distinctly remember […]

Thanks to the magic of hoop houses, Gardens of Eagan has kept Midtown Farmers Market shoppers supplied with fresh tomatoes throughout October. Alas, all things must come to an end, and with the final market of the year a week ago, the tomato we ate on toast for breakfast this morning is surely the year’s […]

The absolute nadir of last year’s ill-conceived Five Days of Squash was my squash enchiladas. Coated in too little sauce and packed with tough greens (and their even tougher stems) that had no possibility of getting tender, the resulting squash enchiladas were bad enough to turn me off to the concept for at least a […]