Black Risotto with Peas, Asparagus & Mushrooms By Andrew Zimmern This black rice boasts an intense fragrance, with a chewy texture and roasted, nutty flavor that pairs beautifully with fresh spring vegetables.
Alma: Cafe, Hotel & Restaurant After a major overhaul and grand re-opening, Alma is as gorgeous as ever, filling a hole we didn’t know we had in the Twin Cities dining scene. What was once solely a fantastic restaurant, owned and operated by James Beard award-winning chef Alex Roberts, is now an elegant, design-driven hotel,… Read More →
Mexican-Inspired Recipes The breadth and depth of Mexico’s culinary traditions are unrivaled. If you are looking for some Mexican-inspired recipes check out this guide with some of my favorite ones! Frozen Margaritas You can easily make these party drinks non-alcoholic, just omit the tequila and Grand Marnier and add a little extra sugar. Get… Read More →
Stir Up a Classic Cocktail The Derby Day cocktail of choice for nearly a century, the mint julep is steeped in Southern tradition. Each year, nearly 120,000 mint juleps are served during the two-day race at Kentucky’s Churchill Downs Racetrack. Here, we use a mint simple syrup for a more concentrated mint flavor. Packed with… 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 →
Lake Superior Shore Lunch By Andrew Zimmern Shore lunches and fish fries are classic Midwestern fare. Staying true to this recipe’s roots, I use Ritz Cracker bread crumbs to coat fresh filets of whitefish from the Great Lakes. Be sure to serve alongside my homemade tartar sauce and a heaping pile of classic coleslaw inspired by… Read More →
Easy Salmon Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Salmon takes well to almost every cooking technique imaginable—grilling, broiling, sautéing, steaming and poaching… even raw, the fish is buttery and oceanic. Here are eight ways to prepare this healthy menu star, from a classic poached salmon served hot or cold, to a throw-back tomato and salmon… Read More →
Brasa Rotisserie For years, Brasa Rotisserie has been the go-to for Creole-style rotisserie chicken and Southern-inspired sides. From the mind of James Beard award-winning chef Alex Roberts, Brasa is a casual, convivial spot where meals are best had family style. They’re known for a mash-up of Southern-Caribbean-Mexican-Creole dishes, like slow roasted pork doused with fresh… Read More →
Chicken Fried Steak with Cream Gravy By Andrew Zimmern Stretching from Chicago to Los Angeles, Route 66 is the most historic road in the country, an emblem of the American Dream. Last year I drove a section of the famed highway in Oklahoma and stopped at Clanton’s, world famous for their chicken fried steak. Once I tasted their… Read More →
Thai Coconut Salmon Soup By Andrew Zimmern While following in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark in Oregon, I spent a day filming and fishing with Brigette McConville, who is lovingly referred to as the salmon queen along the Columbia River. I was inspired to create this recipe that uses parts of the salmon that… Read More →
Authentic Vietnamese Food at Quang Home to a vibrant Vietnamese community, the Twin Cities are a pho-lover’s paradise. Quang Restaurant is family owned-and-operated, always packed and serves some of the best traditional Vietnamese beef noodle soup in America. Don’t let the line out the door scare you away—even at their peak hour, the wait will… Read More →
Johnson’s Boucanière Pork Butt By Matt Moore Johnson’s Boucanière • Lafayette, Louisiana Greg’s custom smokers impart the most smoke flavor in the first six or seven hours. From there, he places the butts in shallow tins with some water, covers them with foil, and places the “tin-ed” butts back on the smoker for an additional… Read More →
Easter Recipe Round-Up Here are a few of my favorite recipes for the spring holiday, from brunch classics like quiche Lorraine to a make-ahead orange and caramel flan for dessert. Need to feed a crowd of hungry relatives? Try the ham with Madeira-cider glaze or rack of pork loin with mustard and apricots—both make for… Read More →
Mucci’s Italian Owned by local restaurateur Tim Niver, Mucci’s Italian is one of the best new restaurants to come to the Twin Cities. In a tiny, unmarked brick building in St. Paul, you’ll find incredible food and service in a beautiful, yet unpretentious setting. With lacquered wood tabletops, black leather banquettes and chairs, the cozy… Read More →
Herb-Cured Salmon By Andrew Zimmern Inspired by classic Scandinavian gravlax, this salmon is cured for two days with dill, parsley, juniper berries, sugar and salt. The salt and sugar draw out the liquid from the fish, so the texture and flavor are superb without having to weigh it down to expel the moisture. While it… Read More →
Hola Arepa One of the most popular Latin American restaurants in the Twin Cities, Hola Arepa started out as a food truck, slinging their take on the satisfying Venezuelan sandwiches on the streets of Minneapolis. For those unfamiliar with their eponymous arepas, think hefty griddled cornmeal cakes stuffed with all sorts of ingredients, from Argentinian-style… Read More →
Passover Recipes Here are a few of my best recipes for Passover, from the ultimate matzoh ball soup and my grandmother’s chopped chicken liver to roasted lamb and flourless chocolate desserts. Just a warning: I don’t keep kosher in my house, so not all of these recipes are kosher-friendly. Matzoh Ball Soup This is… Read More →
Lamb & Beef Kefta with Herb Yogurt Sauce By Andrew Zimmern An ubiquitous street food in Morocco and the Middle East, kefta are flavorful meatballs that are simple to prepare at home. I make my version with a mix of ground lamb and beef, and tons of herbs and aromatics. Pan-fry the patties and toss them… Read More →
Punch Pizza There are plenty of great pizza places in the Twin Cities, but Punch will always have a special place in my heart. Now with eight locations across the metro, their first location, which opened back in 1996 in St. Paul’s Highland Park, is my favorite. Co-founders John Soranno, who grew up in Milan,… Read More →
Modern Scandinavian-Influenced Fare Located in a historic 19th-century brick-and-timber warehouse in Minneapolis’ North Loop neighborhood, The Bachelor Farmer celebrates Nordic-inspired cuisine made with ingredients sourced from local farmers or grown on the rooftop garden. They created small masterpieces on top of a humble piece of toast before it became a culinary craze, so order a few toasts as an… Read More →
Guinness-Braised Lamb Shanks By Andrew Zimmern Serve these tender, braised lamb shanks with mashed potatoes or steamed quartered new potatoes seasoned with butter, parsley, chives and sea salt.
9 Ways to Celebrate Pi(e) Pi Day is 3/14, and while this made-up holiday has nothing in common with our favorite dessert, we have no problem dedicating a whole day to baking and eating pie. Here are nine sweet and savory ways to indulge. Lattice-Top Blueberry Pie As far as pie fillings go, this one… Read More →
Chicken “Al Mattone” By Andrew Zimmern This baby chicken dish from Rome can be made using poussin or cornish hens. Cooking under a heavy weight, such as a foil-wrapped brick in this case, has been practiced for centuries. It ensures a crispy skin and a moist interior.
Heyday A Food & Wine Best New Chef in 2015, chef Jim Christiansen’s thoughtful food is hyper-seasonal (often foraged) and speaks to his stint at Noma, with dishes such as grilled lamb with winter radish and stewed local oats, and hake with cauliflower, smoked cod roe emulsion and herbs (pictured above). Christiansen skillfully balances flavor, texture,… Read More →
Linguine with Clam Sauce By Andrew Zimmern Linguine with clam sauce is elegant enough to impress, yet incredibly easy to throw together. Resist the urge to fussy up this classic pasta dish. The beauty of this recipe is in the simplicity of the garlicky white wine sauce, which allows the briny, oceanic shellfish to shine.
Spoon and Stable After rising to chef stardom working for Daniel Boulud in NYC, Gavin Kaysen returned home in 2014 to open his first restaurant Spoon and Stable. Located in a beautifully renovated stable in the North Loop, it was the local restaurant opening of the decade. The hometown hero is one of the best… Read More →
11 Ways to Cook Everyone’s Favorite Crustacean Shrimp are easy to prepare, cook quickly and pair well with many different flavors. From Vietnamese spring rolls and Japanese tempura, to spicy barbecue shrimp and spring paella, the possibilities are endless. Grilled, fried, sautéed, baked and poached, here are my favorite ways to cook the beloved seafood. Shrimp… Read More →
San Francisco’s In Situ By Bob & Sue By offering the signature recipes of many of the world’s greatest chefs, Michelin 3-star chef Corey Lee of Benu and his executive chef Brandon Rodgers have made In Situ, located in the renovated Museum of Modern Art, one of the most unique dining experiences in the world. The… Read More →
Great Food Paired with Great Beer The folks behind Surly Brewing Co. are geniuses. Their new-ish destination brewery is an architectural stunner, with a wood and metal adorned taproom, glass-enclosed brewing facility, and a massive patio with fire pits and the occasional live music act. If I drank, I would be there all the time.… Read More →
Shrimp & Blue Grits with Andouille Sausage By Andrew Zimmern Recipes for this classic Southern dish vary greatly—some have sausage or bacon, some are loaded with mushrooms, some have a tomato-based gravy, while others have no gravy at all. Use this recipe as a good base, and feel free to experiment from there. The recipe… Read More →
