Contact me at Food@2qrs d0t com
Champagne brunch at the Bellagio on the weekend...fabulous food and all you can drink champagne....about 30/person...typical breakfast fare, plus a variety of entrees & made to order items from different ethnic/cuisine categories....but also and extensive selection of anti-pasta, cheeses, fruit bar, whatever you might be in the mood for, they will probably have....bagel & lox, smoked meats & fish, desserts, and the list goes on....service is fantastic...and the other buffet menus for lunch and dinner are equally good....not cheap, but a great value....you get both quality and quantity!
Don't overlook the traditional street foods....currywurst & doner kabobs & other street fare...it's the german equivalent of grabbing a slice of pizza in new york or a vienna dog in chicago.....
Kaesespaetzle...
Off the broiler has the best video instructions on making it:
http://offthebroiler.wordpress.com/2006/09/19/making-kasespatzle-for-oktoberfest-the-video/
Here are some of our favorite BBQ places...but we live in Minneapolis, so they are all on this side of the river....
Market BBQ in DT Minneapolis
http://www.marketbbq.com/index1.html
Out of all the options, this is one of my favorite....
Famous Dave's...BUT...at calhoun square, don't go to the strip mall loacations...especially for their jazz brunch...
Rudolph's on Lyndale
If you want a Supper Club atmosphere, J.D. Hoyt's is fantastic for anytime, and they have some BBQ:
http://www.jdhoyts.com/OurMenu.aspx
Hope this helps...
The challenge I liked best was where they went to the Improv, and then had to cook a color-food-emotion multi course meal....per imdb they were:
Yellow love vanilla
Depressed purple bacon
Magenta drunk polish sausage
Green perplexed tofu
Orange turned-on asparagus
In hot &/or humid weather where overproofing can occur very quickly, I like to form the dough and then do the final rise in the refrigerator. This is similar to doing a cold ferment. It will take considerably longer for the 2nd rise to finish, but the process is much more forgiving. It is similar to doing a cold ferment of dough. The cold also firms up the dough.
It takes some practice, but you can eat your mistakes!
=)
Also....I have a tendency to cut the dough in 1/2 and do two small boules rather than a large loaf under such circumstances.
We've all been there!
I would offer a solution that is less than a perfect solution in the aesthetics department...but is very practical when you are dealing with extremely limited space: Milk Crates (or file folder crates, etc...)
A standard milk crate is roughly 1 square foot of space...and they are tall enough to accommodate glassware...are easily lifted, moved or rearranged as needed.
8 of them will stack up in a corner, taking up only 1 sq ft of space...put the least used items in the bottom....the most used items at the top...and you have about 8 square feet of storage space....and you can cover it with fabric or whatever to make it blend in more....or...if you have an unseen area just stick the "tower" in the corner...
again...not perfect, but is a practical solution if function is more important than form...
Good luck!
Other than Kramarczuk's Deli & Nye's, there isn't to my knowledge another restaurant that strictly meets your criteria....at least not in the Twin Cities Metro area.
If there is one, I'd love to know about it.
If you are simply looking for a similar cuisine, The St. Petersburg Restaurant in Robbinsdale (a first ring suburb about 10 minutes from DT Minneapolis) is a great russian restaurant. I love their vareniki...served with bacon, sour cream & fresh dill...which is exactly how I serve my pierogi when I make them. They also have a lot of other dishes that might meet your criteria
They also have a vodka bar, if that would be of interest.
Growing up kohlrabi grew really well in our garden....so we always had an abundant crop...we mainly ate it as crudite with a veggie dip.
I also like to make a slaw out of it (with whatever dressing you prefer), similar to making a slaw out of jicama.
I've had it cooked a couple of ways...even in soup....and I didn't care for it...raw kohlrabi has a texture and sweetness that needs little else to make it delicious...but that is just my preference.
I find this post typical of how Serious Eats has been trending.....not one person has made a comment based on personal experience....
My only comment on this product is that while it is not necessary...and there are lots of old school alternatives like a bowl and a scale which would serve the purpose just as well....this is not a useless gadget...
I've tested the calibration of both the volume markings and the digital weight output....and both are very accurate....so....I'm not sure where some get off saying that it does neither particularly well....since I've found it does both very accurately.
In short....It is scale...in the shape of a measuring cup...use it, don't use it, nobody cares....but....don't criticize this or any other featured gadget unless you have actually tested it.
Let me give some feedback based on actual use…with the admission that I was as skeptical as the next person when I received this as a christmas gift. But before I re-gifted it or threw it away, I wanted to give it a fair shot.
I have been pleasantly surprised at how useful it is for baking. The measuring cup design allows for familiar units to measure out ingredients, but with the built in scale...you can tweak the exact amount to the more accurate weight measurements.
e.g. I have a recipe that calls for 20.25 oz of flour (or 4.5 cups per the recipe). Depending upon brand, humidity and how it was packed, 20.25 oz isn't necessarily 4.5 cups, and could be anywhere from 4 cups to 5 cups of flour.
The point is this....weighing ingredients is far more accurate than volume measurements....and...you have to put the ingredients in something....and so building a scale into the base of that "something"....the container....simply removes a step in the process.
If you don't bake, you will probably think of this as a uni-tasker. If you do bake, you would quickly see how it is a nice convenience to be able to see both volume and weight simultaneously.
Is it necessary: NO!
Can you live without it: Yes!
But...if you bake on a regular basis this is nice tool to have in your kitchen. It isn't cheaply made, It is accurate and despite the comments, it can get wet & cleaned…just not submersed or put in the dishwasher.
I could live without it, as I have 2 other scales with the same functionality. The funny thing is…I never would have bought it, but now that I have it…I've stopped using my other scales.
I grew up with German/Austrian relatives and my mother and aunts always used a cutting board and knife to make spaetzle...I, however, like to use a potato ricer....just my own preference....
Here is a page (from off the broiler) with a video on how to make kasespaetzle. It is really a great tutorial and demonstrates how a multitasker will suffice....When my friends have asked for my spaetzle recipe, I simply point them to this site as it sums up the methodology better than I could ever describe....
http://offthebroiler.wordpress.com/2006/09/19/making-kasespatzle-for-oktoberfest-the-video/
Your post was quite a coincidence for me, as I was debating on making something very similar for an appetizer tonight...having a friend over for a pre-birthday party....he's turning 40 tomorrow.
Anyway, I make these all the time for parties.....there is no need to prebake the puff pastry. My methodology is such:
1. Cut thawed sheet of puff pastry into 16 squares
2. Arrange on a baking sheet with a liner or parchment paper
3. Brush each square with tomato paste or any thick red sauce
4. Place proscuitto, chevre, kalamatas, mozzarella, etc...in the middle.
5. Fold up corners and pinch together to form little purses.
6. Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes prior to serving
I have done upwards of 10 pans of these for parties with a variety of toppings to accommodate different tastes and interests....asparagus, grape tomatoes, mushrooms, zucchini, peppers, roasted garlic, etc..etc...use your imagination & put whatever topping you like....but the key is to not overload....keep it light and simple....
A few tricks that I've picked up:
1. Don't over mash the beans..leave some texture to it.
2. As other commenters have said, use egg as a binder.
3. Use Panko bread crumbs...they act with the egg as a binder but with the added benefit of actually improving the texture versus other options.
4. Get a hamburger press (I got mine at Target years ago for a few dollars) and use that to create a compact & even patty.
5. Bake them in the oven just enough to set the patty. They can then be frozen for future use. It also makes it easier to grill them.
Lots of good suggestions here....I would add:
Shaw's crab house....if you like seafood (and in particular oysters) there is nothing better than sitting int he blue crab lounge for a casual dinner or happy hour.
Gene & Georgetti is an old school steak house (if you ask for it blue, they know what you mean), I've had both the filet & t-bone...some of the best steaks I've ever had.
Rockit Bar & Grill is a cool & hip, but very casual place...I recommend it for brunch on sat/sun.
Gino's East if you want truly good chicago style pizza.
These are all in your general area...
RE: "Thin brick oven pizza" = "Neapolitan pizza."
That simply is not true....Neapolitan Pizza is something far more than that generic description....if scoozi served true Neapolitan pizza, I would have said that....but they don't, so I didn't....I don't know why a clarification was warranted?
Furthermore...let me clarify that if you go to Scoozi you will see that they do serve a thin crust pizza....baked as they claim in a brick oven....but in what is sometimes called the "roman style"...They bring out oblong pizzas on a board/peel....roughly/approx. 1.5 x .75 ft. It is close, but not exactly what is considered true Neapolitan Pizza.....
If you do want true Neapolitan Pizza in the windy city, then go to Spacca
If you don't own a pizza peel, simply use a large cutting board or the back side of a baking sheet....put a thin layer of corn meal or semolina flour down....then build the pizza on top....that will allow it to slide off onto the preheated pizza stone....
Lou Malnatti's is good & consistent...cannot go wrong there....
However, that being said...here are a few other suggestions that are less tourist spots, and more good local value....
My favorite deep dish is at Gino's East in DT...but I'd avoid the burbs.
If you want a good stuffed pizza, try the stuffed spinach pie at Edwardo's.
Scoozi has some really good thin brick oven pizza (and a killer antipasti bar)
These can all be found using google...and are located in DT....if you are out in the burbs, you may be near a gino's or edwardos remote location.
I personally would avoid due, uno or giordanos as the price & wait time just isn't worth it.
If you want to get into bread baking, I'd suggest any of the books by Peter Reinhart...the bread baker's apprentice is a good one to start with:
I am making deep fried bacon wrapped tater tots with some dipping sauces for the christmas day appetizer buffet at my in-laws.....
I too have experienced this....reported it at one point....sometimes it simply loads a blank page, even though the url indicates it should be the user profile....
Other times it simply downloads the cgi file and saves it in my download folder....
We do a combination of traditional & old favorites...with some new twists....I plan the menu and everybody gets assigned a dish...this is the plan:
brined turkey with sage butter under the skin (open roasted)
smoked turkey breast (brined & smoked on the grill)
pork tenderloin
mashed potatoes
gravy
sausage & cranberry dressing/stuffing
cornbread dressing
sage dressing
cranberry chutney
jellied cranberries
green bean casserole
roasted sweet potatoes with fried sage
crudites with a veggie dip
assorted pickles, olives, herring, etc...
dinner rolls
pumpkin pie
apple pie
french silk pie
And lots, and lots, of wine.....
The amount of unpeeled potatoes depends on how much your family likes mashed potatoes. I do 1 lb. per person. Between the 1:00 meal, the 7:00 dinner/reheat after football or a movie & the leftovers....I have only a couple servings leftover the next day.
I am old school, so I do Russets or Yukon Gold (my preference)...riced & mixed with butter & cream....S&P to taste....this produces a fluffy white mashed potato that soaks up the gravy.
If you have a cast iron dutch oven, that will help you retain the heat. Additionally, use a cooler (like they do on top chef) & towels or other insulation to keep the potatoes hot en route....
If you are not traveling far, make them ahead of time...otherwise...rice them hot & transport and add the butter/cream when you get there.
My partner makes an incredible roasted sweet potato recipe that he found in gourmet last year. Simple, savory & yes...Garlicky.
We brought 5lbs. of these to a harvest party this past weekend, and they were gone almost immediately.
Tips: Double the amount of garlic if you really like that flavor and Salt & Pepper to taste...without the salt especially, it is bit bland.
Today I picked up a $3.99 folding metal vegetable steamer at Target. It works perfect to hold woodchips on the grill when I want to smoke the food. It actually works better than the smoke boxes sold at dept. stores, crate & barrel or with the grills at Target. I am curious what other people have re-purposed as a better & cheaper alternative to high priced gadgets?
Super long story short, I'm trying to make the crust for traditional Cantonese egg tarts. First try was a flop, dough was too dense and not tender with flaky layers as it should have been. My mother was the one... More
Dry Cured Sausage and Goat Mozzarella Shredded and Rolled into Whole Wheat Pretzel Dough... More
"God gave us dominion over the animals. Okay? If we can get 50,000 of them in one spot, why shouldn't we?" —Stephen Colbert In Stephen Colbert's interview with Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation and co-producer of upcoming documentary Food, Inc., Schlosser lays down the problems with factory farming and genetically modified corn as Colbert tries to derail him by pointing out that "fecal material" is poop and thinking about the superpowers he could get from corn. And so much more! Watch the video after the jump.... More
Try a plain Chevre....I think you'll find the Tang + Earthiness compliments the flavor of crab (or shrimp or scallops) without overpowering them.