Minnesota Food Bloggers heated up a frigid, Minnesota morning by hosting our first educational event on Saturday, January 21, 2012, at Minnesota History Center. Bloggers, farmers, food advocates, chefs, journalists, and concerned eaters gathered to view the morning session of the live TEDxManhattan: Changing the Way We Eat webcast.
The morning session's focus was sustainability. After the viewing, Minnesota Valley Country Club executive chef, Tour de Farm founder, host of In Search of Food, and local food advocate Scott Pampuch spoke to the group about the evolution of his thoughts, menus, and purchasing decisions at his restaurant Corner Table. Scott then joined a panel discussion with Barth Anderson of Fair Food Fight, Debbie Morrison of Sapsucker Farms, and myself, moderated by Brett Olson of Renewing the Countryside, to continue the conversation as a group.
See the event summary on at Minnesota Food Bloggers. An overview video of the webcast, panel discussion, and reception is below.
TEDxManhattan: Changing the Way We Eat Viewing, Panel Discussion & Reception from Minnesota Food Bloggers on Vimeo.
OK yes, I realize that I'm posting yet another fried egg dish, but this one is just too good to not share. I had actually forgotten about it, which is rather amazing given how many times I've made the dish since Mark Bittman first wrote about it in the New York Times two years ago.
This is a Jean-Georges Vongerichten recipe, simple and elegant and exactly how I like to cook and eat. The fried rice itself has but three ingredients: oil, leeks, and rice. You wouldn't expect just rice and leeks to be so addictive, but they are, particularly when topped with a fried egg, particularly when topped with crispy ginger and garlic. A drizzle of soy sauce and sesame oil to finish makes the whole completely sublime.
If you make an effort to keep leeks around, count this as a perfect quick dinner when you invite someone over and forget to swing by the store to pick up ingredients. I don't often find myself with leftover rice, so I make a fresh batch and cool it on a baking sheet before continuing; works perfectly.
Given that everything is better fried - everything - it will come as no surpirse that root vegetables make utterly dreamy latkes. I like celery root in particular for its slightly sweet flavor.
These latkes are delicious as is, fresh out of the fat with a dab of sour cream, but my favorite way to eat them is topped with a poached egg. I know: Everything is Better Fried and Just Put an Egg On It, two of my favorite food credos, together in the same post? Out of control.
This same technique works nicely with zucchini as well. I particularly like a mix of zucchini and green pepper, in the summer when both are abundant, topped with Greek yogurt and scallions. Or a fresh tomato sauce. Or ooh, with Molly Herrmann's tomato jam! So lovely. We'll have to wait a few more months to play around with all that fun, however.
For now, fry your root vegetables and be very happy.
And then join the Minnesota Food Bloggers for a Saturday, January 21, viewing of TEDxManhattan: Changing the Way We Eat webcast, 9:00 am, at the Minnesota History Center. The webcast will be followed by a discussion and reception sponsored by Minnesota Monthly Magazine. The event is free of charge.
And join Jason DeRusha and me next Monday evening, January 23, as we assist Chef Scott Pampuch for Chef's Night Off cooking class at Kitchen in the Market. I hope that you can be there with us for food, hands-on cooking, wine, and FUN!
Recipe for Celery Root Latkes at Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly Magazine.
From Kitchen in the Market:
What do you get when you combine your favorite restaurant chefs in the Twin Cities, a fabulous non-profit, a bevy of fantastic “celebrity assistants” and a pretty kick-ass kitchen? Well, we like to call that Chef’s Night Off. And, we’re squealing like schoolgirls to tell you more.
Chef’s Night Off is a limited-attendance cooking class led by the best restaurant chefs in our fair cities. Up close and personal. So fill up your glass, put on your apron and be prepared to get busy. Because YOU’RE doing the cooking. The menu will be created the day of the event so Chef can take inspiration from the seasonal goodies and international flavors of our Midtown Global Market.
Amazing, feel-good side effect? Your participation will help fund a donation to Renewing the Countryside, a wonderful local nonprofit that helps connect and strengthen rural communities including farmers, artists, entrepreneurs, educators and activists. For more information on this amazing organization, please visit their website at www.renewingthecountryside.org.
How fun, right? So come and cook with Chef Scott Pampuch, assisted by Jason DeRusha and me, on Monday, January 23, at Kitchen in the Market. There will be food. And wine. And FUN. I hope to see you there! Register here.
TEDxManhattan: Changing the Way We Eat, is a full day of talks broken into three sessions—Issues, Impact, and Innovation—exploring the state of our food system and our progress toward sustainability.
Please join the Minnesota Food Bloggers for a webcast viewing of the morning session, live from New York City, on Saturday, January 21, 2012, followed by a discussion and reception sponsored by Minnesota Monthly Magazine.
Minnesota History Center Irvine Room
9:00- 9:30 am Registration
9:30-11:00 am TEDxManhattan morning session webcast
11:00 am -12:00 pm Talk/discussion with
Minnesota Valley Country Club Executive Chef,
host of In Search of Food (airing spring 2012), and
local food advocate Scott Pampuch
12:00 - 1:00 pm Reception
There is no charge for admission to the event. Parking is available in the Minnesota History Center lot for $5.00. REGISTER HERE. Hope to see you there!
Coconut milk and a cashew butter finish make this gorgeous stew irresistible. This is everything I want to eat right now, after the holidays, when it's biting cold outside.
Recipe for Brazilian Fish, Shrimp & Mussel Stew at Andrew Zimmern's Kitchen Adventures/Food & Wine Magazine.
Fun to make for a crowd - Super Bowl Sunday! - and utterly salty crispy addictive.
Recipe for Trinidad Salt Cod Fritters at Andrew Zimmern's Kitchen Adventures/Food & Wine Magazine.
I had the pleasure of being a guest on the Well Fed Guide to Life podcast last night with hosts Dave Bergen and Evan Pedersen. We ate, drank, laughed (at least I did, a lot!), and chatted at Muffaletta in St. Paul. We talked about food, vampires, hangovers, and Mexican food so bad it's good - FUN!
Thanks guys for inviting me. I'll have you over soon for peas!
These may look like ordinary white beans but they're actually the cool-girl beans in town, swooned over on Twitter, gossiped about on Facebook, photographed and copied and seriously in demand. I'd love to take credit for the fabulous recipe but no, these are via Chef Adam Vickerman of Cafe Levain, who now has the lady food bloggers in town batting their eyelashes over beans.
The flirtation began last spring, at a California Olive Ranch-sponsored dinner at Levain. As the beans were served, an audible murmur went through the room as the ladies realized that the delicious dish was not only vegetarian but vegan. I myself was inspired and without asking Adam for his recipe, made my own version of braised beans with rosemary and arugula when I wrote about the event.
When word got around that Adam was cooking for our lady food blogger gathering in December, requests showered in for the beans! And so he obliged, and then shared the recipe, which is beautifully simple and a perfect example of how coaxing maximum flavor from a few good ingredients is how we should all be cooking.
Adam Vickerman's recipe for Braised White Beans at Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly Magazine.
Note: The lovely bowl in the photo was made by Fred Yerich of Frogtown Pottery. The fork I snagged - with permission, of course! - from Corner Table.
This has absolutely nothing to do with food but everything to do with my other love - shoes! All summer long I adored perusing the blog Summer of Dresses (oh, I love clothes too, particularly dresses...) where ladies would snap a quick pic of the dress they had on, then post their pics via email.
Genius! Gorgeous!
I only showed up in one post, with Summer of Dresses co-founder Meghan Wilker, the day we both spoke at the Minnesota Blogger Conference. But so fun!
Here in Minnesota, we ladies embrace winter boots fiercely, given we're stuck wearing them from November through March. A blog called Winter of Boots, based on the Summer of Dresses concept, seemed like a fun way to share our love for boots with each other and with ladies (or gents!) from states less brutally cold than ours.
So here it is! Snap a pic with your phone and email it to winterofboots@posterous.com. Title your post in the subject line of the email and hit send. Done! We'll approve your post and up it will go. If you tweet your pic, hashtag it #winterofboots.
Have fun! Happy Winter! Happy Boots!
