Devoted to the Art of Preservation One of Chicago’s most celebrated chefs, Paul Virant has been pickling and preserving produce at his award-winning restaurant Vie since 2004, expanding the program to his second restaurant, Perennial Virant, when he took the reigns in 2011. In his new cookbook, The Preservation Kitchen, Paul shares his wisdom and… Read More →
Devoted to the Art of Preservation One of Chicago’s most celebrated chefs, Paul Virant has been pickling and preserving produce at his award-winning restaurant Vie since 2004, expanding the program to his second restaurant, Perennial Virant, when he took the reigns in 2011. In his new cookbook, The Preservation Kitchen, Paul shares his wisdom and… Read More →
Like so many other food professionals, I’ve been cooking since I was a little kid tugging at my grandmother’s apron strings. I learned food prep basics sitting in her teeny West End Avenue apartment kitchen on weekends as a young boy. I cooked with my mom and dad every chance I could, and I treasured… Read More →
Lowry Hill Meats When Erik Sather opened Lowry Hill Meats in the fall of 2015, let’s just say I was excited. There are less than a handful of great, old-world butcher shops in the Twin Cities, and LHM’s standard for every product they sell—from meat to eggs, cheese, spices and coffee—is exceptionally high. I always… Read More →
Tomato Flavor Bombs By Andrew Zimmern Here’s one irresistible way to use up and preserve that bucket of tomatoes you bought at the farmers’ market last weekend. Roasting the tomatoes at a low temp for several hours intensifies the flavor. Put these oven-dried tomatoes in salads or sautés; puree for homemade tomato paste and sauces;… Read More →
The Best Thing I Ate Last Week By Andrew Zimmern The best thing I ate last week was dinner on Saturday night. Tomato and feta salad, crispy twice-cooked potatoes with thyme from the garden, and these amazing grass-fed, corn finished 2-inch thick ribeye steaks from Peterson Farms cows. Peterson’s raise Limousin cattle exclusively on their… Read More →
Flank Steak with Thai Salad By Floyd Cardoz Peter’s and Justin’s eyes light up every time I make this dish; it’s one of their favorites. For my part, I especially like it during the summer because the flank steak doesn’t have to be served hot to be delicious. I love beef, but I believe that… Read More →
What Not to Miss in Austin The co-owner of Salt & Time, Ben Runkle is Austin’s leading meat purveyor. What was born from Runkle’s passion for Old World charcuterie, turned into the city’s first whole carcass butcher shop and salumeria when a partnership with Bryan Butler developed in 2010. The pair are committed to sourcing animals… Read More →
Last week I was asked to share some ideas about why Presidential Candidates aren’t talking about FOOD. After all what we eat, how we grow and raise it, how we distribute it and what we do with the leftovers influences our environment, public health, national security, class issues, social justice issues like hunger, education, and… Read More →
The Good Acre Food Hub Open House Friday, October 30th The mission of The Good Acre is to enhance how food is grown and shared in the Twin Cities region, to improve marketplace opportunities for diverse independent farmers, and to increase access for all consumers to healthy, locally-grown fresh produce. The acre of land next… Read More →
Devour Rome One of the cradles of Western civilization, Rome is a city full of globally influential art, culture and architecture. Over 4 million tourists flock to the Italian capital every year, visiting ancient Roman ruins, hoping to catch a glimpse of the pope in Vatican City, and, often times, binging on Italian gelato, pizza… Read More →
Summer Tomato Sorbet By Andrew Zimmern This is the best and most interesting way you’ve never utilized your favorite tomatoes from your market or garden. I make this recipe all summer long with everything from orange sunburst cherry tomatoes to Valencias to German Striped: the bigger the acidity and sweetness of the tomatoes, the better.… Read More →
Last week I spoke at the 75th annual American Public Gardens Association Conference, hosted by the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and Como Park Zoo & Conservatory. Before the event, I sat down with Lisa Marchand of Minnesota Monthly to chat about our broken food system and the state’s farming potential. Read the article here. When… Read More →
Pickled Golden Chanterelles & Morels By Andrew Zimmern Marinovannye Griby are pickled mushrooms in Russian, and until I spent time in St. Petersburg a few years ago, I never would have told you to pickle chanterelles and morels, but I’m telling you…do it. These days, with access to farmers’ markets and foragers these mushrooms are… Read More →
Salade de Poireaux, Sauce Moutarde By Denise Lurton Moullé Leeks are a staple in France. All vegetable gardens have leeks planted and French farmers’ markets offer beautiful, tall, firm leeks throughout the fall and winter. As common and as inexpensive as potatoes, leeks are used throughout the long French winters to make soup (the sentimental… Read More →
Heritage Hog Renaissance As the founder of the pork-centric culinary competition Cochon 555, Brady Lowe is on a mission to remind us what true pork tastes like. In each of the 10 cities on the annual tour, Cochon 555 showcases five chefs, five heritage breed pigs and five winemakers to promote breed diversity and whole animal… Read More →
A Quintessential Early Summer Ingredient Some call rhubarb a fruit, others call it a vegetable (which it technically is). Sunset’s New Western Garden Book calls it an uncommon vegetable used as a fruit in sauces and pies. The Joy of Cooking calls it a reasonable facsimile of fruit. Ouch! Here in the hardy zone of the… Read More →
Madtown Recommendations By Molly Mogren Wisconsin’s capital city is also its biggest college town. While Badgers are known to party hard, this hippy-dippy town also offers up amazing ethnic restaurants, classic German bars and locally-driven fine dining. Without further ado… The Classics Tornado Steak House An old-school steak house serving up classic cuts (T-bones, ribeyes… Read More →
John McKenna’s Top Picks Ireland’s leading food critic and one of the country’s most authoritative voices in food journalism, John McKenna has been writing about the burgeoning Irish food scene for 25 years. Before your next trip to Ireland, be sure to check out McKennas’ Guides, a series of guide books by John and his longtime… Read More →
Take a break from the standard kale salad. By Andrew Zimmern I tasted a kale salad made by a monastic order in Detroit once. They were selling it at the farmers’ market there, which seemed better than a bake sale if you ask me. The miso dressing was so perfect that I made the salad… Read More →
Waste Not, Want Not By Andrew Zimmern You have to check out a group I am working with out of Boston called Lovin’ Spoonfuls. Founded by my pal Ashley Stanley just a few years ago, this food-rescue operation has grown to a “fleet” of three vehicles. It just won Toyota’s 100 Cars for Good contest and… Read More →
Living the Sweet Life in Paris A veteran pastry chef who spent 13 years working for Alice Waters at Berkley’s famed Chez Panisse, David Lebovitz has written six cookbooks including the best-selling The Perfect Scoop and The Sweet Life in Paris (stay tuned for the upcoming My Paris Kitchen, due out in 2014). After choosing the expat life in Paris… Read More →
Deconstructed BLT By Andrew Zimmern This is one of my favorite salads. It hits the spot any time of year, but is especially appealing when local tomatoes are in season. The sweet-savory candied bacon and ripe cherry tomatoes offer a great flavor contrast to the bitter frisee and tart vinaigrette. Everyone should have this classic… Read More →
Indian Cooking in a Midwestern Kitchen Raghavan Iyer’s new cookbook, Indian Cuisine Unfolded, opens up the world of Indian cuisine for the American home cook by recreating some of his favorite dishes with ingredients found in the typical American grocery store. The Bombay native also narrated a Twin Cities Public Television documentary called Asian Flavors based on… Read More →
Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook Hank Shaw’s James Beard award-winning blog, Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, documents his adventures hunting, gathering and cooking with editorials and recipes that expound his admirable, back-to-nature philosophy – we need to take ownership of the food we eat by buying, hunting, foraging and consuming honest ingredients. The former line cook and… Read More →
Breaking New Ground When husband-and-wife team Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski opened State Bird Provisions at the end of 2011, they instantly garnered national recognition for their unique dim-sum-style service and outstanding globally-influenced cuisine. Since the restaurant’s debut, Bon Appetit chose it as America’s Best New Restaurant, Food & Wine magazine added chef Brioza to their… Read More →
Inventing Better Tasting Pork Support Carl Blake’s Indiegogo campaign here. Last month Bizarre Foods America profiled Carl Blake, one of the best guys on the planet. He’s the pig farmer who is trying to build a better hog from the ground up. He is also resuscitating the family-farm concept, remaking the diet of his animals… Read More →
Inventing Better Tasting Pork Support Carl Blake’s Indiegogo campaign here. Last month Bizarre Foods America profiled Carl Blake, one of the best guys on the planet. He’s the pig farmer who is trying to build a better hog from the ground up. He is also resuscitating the family-farm concept, remaking the diet of his animals… Read More →
A Tastemaker with Southern Sensibility Leading a group of chefs changing the country’s perception of Southern cuisine is Chris Hastings, chef/owner of Hot and Hot Fish Club in Birmingham (one of the best restaurants in the South, if not the whole country). Chris and his wife Idie have been serving modern Southern/French cuisine that celebrates Alabama’s… Read More →
A Tastemaker with Southern Sensibility Leading a group of chefs changing the country’s perception of Southern cuisine is Chris Hastings, chef/owner of Hot and Hot Fish Club in Birmingham (one of the best restaurants in the South, if not the whole country). Chris and his wife Idie have been serving modern Southern/French cuisine that celebrates Alabama’s… Read More →
