Fresh Tart

Angharad Guy

If you love eating well while doing good, get thee to Share Our Strength's Annual Blogger Bake Sale, this coming Saturday at Midtown Global Market. You might not know it, but Minnesota has an incredibly talented, vibrant food blogger scene. We call ourselves Fortify: A Food Community, where we connect virtually and in person with the food industry and food lovers in any industry. We love to cook, and bake, and share recipes, and gather to help out where we can.

This year's event is coordinated once again by Delightfully Midwestern blogger Lisa Nguyen Gaulke. When we chatted about the upcoming event, I mentioned it would be fun to share a recipe from last year's sale with all of you. She said, "You have to ask Angharad for her lemon cake recipe, it was my favorite item and last year's best seller...partially because I bought six slices myself!" And so I did ask, therefore the gorgeous recipe below for Lemon-Drenched Lemon Cake, perhaps the best cake name ever. Angharad's blog is Eating for England and is chock full of perfect recipes, gorgeous photos, and bits and bobs of her travels home to England.

Angharad Guy

Lisa notes that the Kitchen in the Market space at Midtown Global Market is key to the success of the sale. "Bring the kids, walk around, grab lunch, then swing by the sale for dessert. Last year, there were 15 participants and we plan the same this year, with each blogger baking and donating anywhere from 2-4 different kinds of treats. There will be a variety of baked goods - cookies, granola bars, breads, gluten-free cupcakes, even honey and homemade jam!"

And when your treats are devoured: Make. This. Cake.

Recipe for Angharad Guy's Lemon-Drenched Lemon Cake at TC Taste/Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

Hello from my (ridiculously brief) summer vacation in East Hampton. The only reason I'm posting a recipe while on vacation is that the local produce out here is so astonishing that I'm inspired to cook here more than I am at home. As much as the area is known for spiffy homes, those homes are separated by farms and farm stands bursting with glorious peaches, grapes, melons, vegetables, tomatoes, and berries. The sweet corn in particular haunts my beachy dreams with its caviar-pop sweetness.

As an added bonus, the fish scene is as fresh as the fashion. Every summer, my father-in-law makes us his famous crab cakes, a recipe I've already shared, so this year I settled on making up a crab and sweet corn chowder. It's not difficult to put your hands on good lump crab meat in Minnesota (Coastal Seafoods sells it, for instance), and Lord knows we know good sweet corn right exactly now. Work in some of the fresh herbs overgrowing your garden, serve wearing high heels alongside a plate of perfectly ripe tomatoes, and call it August, Hamptons-in-Minnesota style.

Recipe for Crab & Sweet Corn Chowder at TC Taste/Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

And oh, congratulations chef Sameh Wadi (Saffron, World Street Kitchen) for his win at the Minneapolis Farmers Market Country Chef Challenge this past Saturday! He and chef Jack Riebel (Butcher and the Boar) faced off with fresh-and-fabulous items quickly gathered at the market. I was a lucky, lucky judge, along with Lee Dean, food editor at the Star Tribune, and Matt Brickman and Jamie Yuccas, weekend anchors at WCCO-TV.

Jack Riebel's luscious beer cheese soup with tomatoes, chiles, maple-glazed bacon, fried croutons.

Sameh Wadi's stunning tomato salad with smoked tomato vinaigrette and raspberries (top) and fragrant trout tagine with squash and sweet corn.

Not a bad way to kick off the weekend, ha! I went from the market to the airport. Whee! Nice.

Notice how both chefs featured the gorgeous tomatoes flooding the markets right now. If you're looking for new (as well as tried-and-true) ways to use the tomatoes in your garden or at the market (like the gorgeous tomato jam pictured!), join chef Scott Pampuch and me for the last class in our Provisions series at Kitchen in the Market. This Thursday night we will be talking and eating tomatoes and berries: Jams, syrups, freezing, sauces, preserving in oil, on and on and on. We'll share tasty cocktails and a delicious meal as we chat and learn. Join us!

If you're a fan of deli-style pickles, then you're a fan of salt-brine fermented pickles. I am too, I am too! In fact, I'll never forget the first time I had fat slices of salty fermented pickles at Upstairs Downstairs Deli in Madison, Wisconsin - bright green and uber-garlicky, I couldn't stop eating them. (What are these? Why are they different? Why are they so addictive? I pretty much drove my college roommates nuts with my constant food chatter and questions.) As much as I love the bite of a vinegar pickle, the milder sourness of fermented pickles does make them go down like buttah.

Bonus: They're incredibly easy to make! Fermented pickles require no vinegar - the tanginess is a by-product of fermentation, which happens with very little effort, right on your counter. Feel free to add any combination of your favorite pickling spices - coriander seeds, mustard seeds, chile flakes, cardamom pods, black peppercorns, allspice, fresh chiles, cloves - or keep them really simple with just dill and garlic. Some recipes suggest adding a few grape leaves, as their tannins help keep pickles crisp. I like the idea if you get around to sealing the jars for later eating, but honestly we devour them so quickly, it's never an issue.

I pretty much smell like a pickle lately, cranking out vinegary & fermented batches of pickled corn, beets, green beans, peaches, watermelon rind, radishes, cauliflower, and peppers, with my Kitchen in the Market Provisions class partner chef Scott Pampuch. In fact we're teaching a Pickling the Market class in just a couple of weeks, on Saturday, August 11. Join us for cocktails and brunch as we wander through the market grabbing what looks good and fresh and then...pickling it! You will leave stuffed with treats both sweet and savory, as well as with more than enough tips to get pickling at home. I hope to see you!

Until then, definitely set a batch of CSA or farmers' market pickles to fermenting...go!

Recipe for Fermented Cucumber Pickles at TC Taste/Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

I had The Best meeting last week, outside in the warm sun, sipping a gorgeous sangria made by my friend Tracy Morgan of Kitchen in the Market. We were chatting all sorts of very serious things - logos, web design, cooking classes, and shoes - with a rather long discussion regarding the merits of a sangria that doesn't need to be made a day ahead.

As Tracy noted when she emailed me the recipe: "So my general spiel on this is that it needs to be simple, quick and reasonably affordable. I have spent way too much time in the past dorking around with overwrought ingredients and infusing the bases overnight blah blah. I love fresh herbs as a way to add flavor quickly and I only need to run out to my garden to make it happen."

I can attest to the fact that this sangria hits the ground running and is the perfect balance of fruity and floral for a warm spring day.

And speaking of warm spring days...if you're captured by the idea of preserving a bit of the season's bounty to enjoy when Minnesota days are dark, grey, and dreary, sign up for the Provisions class I'm teaching with Chef Scott Pampuch at Kitchen in the Market. The first of three classes is this coming Thursday evening, where we'll be making pickles, flavored salts, and pestos. Join us for chatting preserving techniques and recipes for the whole growing season, as well as drinks and treats to taste and take home. We hope to see you there!

Also, for food lovers, food industry types, photographers, writers, PR & marketing professionals, growers, publishers, editors, wanna-be bloggers, occasional bloggers, full-time bloggers, on and on and on...join the Minnesota Food Bloggers for TECHmunch Conference, Saturday, June 2, at 514 Studios in Minneapolis. We'll spend the day talking food trends, social media, technology, and blogging as a business with the likes of Andrew Zimmern, Jason DeRusha, Daniel Klein, Zoe Francois, Stephanie March, and many other local favorites. With an evening reception at Fulton Beer to cap the festivities, the day promises to be packed with information, networking, deliciousness, and beer. We hope to see you there, too!

In the meantime, plan your questions while sipping this loveliness...

Recipe for Basil Blossom Sangria (Make-and-Sip) at TC Taste/Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

Friends with CSAs, gardens, or farmers market addictions...I'd love to see you at the Provisions class I'm teaching at Kitchen in the Market with chef Scott Pampuch. The focus will be on extending our too-short growing season's bounty with time-honored techniques, helpful restaurant tips, and translations to making great quality food at home.

Our first class is this coming Thursday, May 24! We're also gathering on June 14 and July 26 - sign up for all three classes for a discount, or take one or two.

We'll kick off this week by discussing the tips, tricks and tools that you'll want to consider as you move through spring and into summer. We'll talk about cooking as a lifestyle and a process, and guide you through translating your personal goals and needs into a plan of attack. With a bit of planning and structure in the spring, we can help you get your kitchen established with the equipment, ingredients, and techniques that will help you get through the seasons.

On the menu:

• storing & keeping foods - tips about treating your foods right so they can last throughout the year

• canning "outside of the cookbook" - basic recipes and inspired flavor combinations

• making flavored salts

• new twists on pesto

• to eat: antipasto platter featuring make, taste + take accompaniments and flatbread

If you have yet to take a class at Kitchen in the Market (KITM), you've been missing out on a delicious blast. Owned by chef Molly Herrman (Tastebud Catering) and Tracy Morgan (Segnavia Creative) KITM exists within Midtown Global Market and it is always hopping. With classes ranging from Food Porn photography to Chef's Night Off participation cooking to our Provisions class, there is learning, eating, and drinking for everyone.

We hope to see you there! Email me if you have questions.

As someone who spends a lot of time in grocery stores, it's hard to deny the primal thrill of foraging for edibles in the great outdoors. It's similar to the pleasure in picking tomatoes I've grown myself, except a bit more powerful. There is, in fact, a Hierarchy of Food-Gathering Satisfaction, which exists completely in my own mind, and goes something like this: Foraging (hunting, fishing), gardening, farm stands, farmers markets, co-ops, grocery stores. The thrill of the chase apparently persists even in the soul of a city girl.

Especially when you can forage right in the city! There are stinging nettles to be found in almost anyone's yard, which you well know if you've ever grabbed one to yank out of a flower bed (ouch). Next time you see them, put on some gloves, pull them up, then save them to make salt, an idea I'm stealing from my friends Kathy Yerich and Scott Pampuch, who both made and shared nettle salt in the last couple of weeks.

Nettle salt is easy to make and deliciously savory, with a slightly grassy flavor that is lovely with corn, eggs, butter, and bread. Kathy made hers by pulsing fresh nettle leaves with sea salt in a food processor, then spreading the mixture to dry on a baking sheet. Her salt was bright green and pungent, a gorgeous topping for the pizzas we Minnesota Food Bloggers made at our recent gathering at Kitchen in the Market with Zoe Francois. Scott made his by first drying the nettles before pulsing with coarse sea salt. His version had more texture and a softer flavor, which was amazing sprinkled on the popcorn tossed with brown butter he set out at his In Search of Food party at Fulton Beer.

Make it both ways! Recipe for Nettle Salt at TC Taste/Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

Back in January - which feels like a million years ago given this spring weather! - I had the pleasure of participating in a Chef's Night Off cooking class at Kitchen in the Market. Jason DeRusha and I assisted chef Scott Pampuch, along with 12 other students, in preparing a stunning, multi-course, wine-paired dinner. I can't think of a better way to spend a Monday night than cooking, drinking wine, and eating with a big group of my friends...while someone else cleans up. Yes!

All of the courses were creative and lovely, dessert in particular. Scott made a stout caramel sauce to swirl into brown butter ice cream and it sent everyone over the moon.

In honor of the warmest St. Patrick's Day I can remember, I asked him for the recipe to share with you. For a seriously dreamy, boozy treat, spoon it warm over homemade whiskey ice cream. I've been doing just that for two days and am feeling the luck of the Irish in spades.

A few notes:
1) I made David Lebovitz's perfect vanilla ice cream with 3 tablespoons of 2 Gingers Irish Whiskey added just before churning. Do this.
2) For another Guinness treat, see the recipe for Deep Chocolate Guinness Cakes on food writer and photographer Imen McDonnell's stunning blog, I Married An Irish Farmer. Swoon.
3) If you're interested in future Chef's Night Off cooking classes - they are held monthly - see the Kitchen in the Market website. I participated in a Chef Mike DeCamp class last night for another delicious blast. Classes raise money for Renewing the Countryside.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Chef Scott Pampuch's recipe for Guinness Caramel Sauce at TC Taste/Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

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.