I Still Cook!

This is a short and sweet entry, but I had to show you that I still whip a thing up here and there. This is one of my favorite summertime salads. If you don't like tomatoes, well, I'm sorry. I guess you'll have to wait until the next post!

Tomato & Mozzarella Salad

Fresh, ripe, tomatoes
Fresh mozzarella cheese (you can use the larger ball shaped version too)
Fresh basil, cut into ribbons
Balsamic vinegar
Salt & Pepper

Cut up the tomatoes and mozzarella into bite-sized pieces. Make sure there are equal parts tomato to mozzarella -- I sometimes will add a bit more tomato. Toss in a bowl and add the basil, vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. I like to let mine site for 10 minutes so the balsamic soaks into the tomatoes and cheese. Serve chilled or at room temperature. Yum!

Magic Bus Cafe Food Truck

While shopping at the Midtown Farmer's Market this weekend, I stumbled upon another local food truck that I've been hearing about. The Magic Bus Cafe - otherwise known as the big purple bus. Even though my tummy was full, I knew what I had to do. I had to eat there. So I could share with you. Now that's what I call commitment.

New to me, I quickly learned that the Magic Bus specializes in hot dogs. What I really liked about the cafe was that they gave you a choice with your hot dog - regular, grass fed, or tofu. That alone is enough to praise them for their work. However, as a friend of mine pointed out, we wondered if they cooked the tofu dogs on the same grill. Afterall, if it's cooked in the same grill, it sort of defeats the purpose. Not really in the mood for an extravagant dog (such as the curry dog), I went for the plain chili dog with a grass fed link.

Before I get to the food review, I have to comment on the service and the price. First impression, the personnel were lacking a bit of energy. It's not like anyone was rude, but the energy at the farmer's market didn't really match the woman that helped me. After I stood up on the platform (so I could reach the ordering window) I talked with her about recommendations and my interest with the mango relish. Even though I didn't order the dog with the mango relish, she was kind enough to get a sample for me on the side. Maybe it's just me, but for some reason I don't have the same expectations for service with the food trucks as I do restaurants...I suppose you should keep that in mind when I continue to review them. Now on the the price, the normal chili dog was $5, and for $0.50 more you could get a grass fed dog or tofu. I didn't think it was too bad (especially since I had just paid $6 for a breakfast sandwich a few feet away at the Dandelion Kitchen).

My thoughts on the chili dog were just so-so. I liked that the bun was whole grain, but it was a little dry or perhaps just too much bread. The dog had a good meaty texture and the chili was chili. Overall, it was just OK. A basic chili dog. Maybe I should have tried something more fancy, but I would still think that this standard would be one of their better combinations.

I give the Magic Bus Cafe 3 out of 5 stars.

Restaurant Club - Barbette!

Barbette was our first stop on my new Restaurant Club adventure. Being the food freak that I am, and having so many places in the cities that I still wanted to try, I decided to make a point out of going to some of them once per month with my friends. Hence, Restaurant club. You’ll have something to look forward to now if you live in the Twin Cities. Check back often to see where I’ve been going!

If you didn’t catch the hint from the name, Barbette is a French Restaurant located in Uptown. Let’s just say I wasn’t as organized as I wanted to be in scheduling our first night out, and only 3 of us made it out. In actuality, 3’s a pretty good number anyhow – no need for reservations and easy to try a few things and share! We made it in time for happy hour (just by the skins of our teeth) and ordered up 2 appetizers – or as Barbette called them “Amusements” – so cute. First on the menu was a cheese and fruit plate and pommes frites. If you’re going to go French, you must get French Fries (aka pomme frites – spoken “pom freet”). These were served with saffron aioli (think mayo dipping sauce) and were delicious. I couldn’t stop eating them. Then as for the cheese plate, it wasn’t anything extraordinary, but still better than if I made it. I think the trick to their cheese plate was A) the chef knew exactly what cheeses were the best when it came to brie and bleu cheese, and B) they were served at room temperature, which elevates the flavors so much more. The fruit, well, it was fruit. Still tasty between bites, oh and I should mention the cheese was meant to be eaten on slices of French bread – much better than crackers.

When it came to the main course, we decided to share 2 dishes since we were slightly full and were hesitant to spend $30 on a main course. Our choices were a slow-roasted pork shoulder served on a black truffle creamed corn confit with grilled spring onion and the second item was roasted kadejan chicken over succotash. I just googled "kadejan" and it's a local type of chicken in minnesota...good to know. As you can tell, we played it somewhat safe - my boy toy isn’t too adventurous when it comes to seafood, so we had limited choices when it came to dinner. Otherwise, I would have gone for the sole or steak. Funny enough, the chicken was highly recommended, but we ended up enjoying the pork the most. It was devilishly tender and the hint of truffle in the corn was ooh so yummy – I knew it was a luxury to have. The funny thing about going out and trying more and more restaurants is that I sit here and laugh at myself for the words I choose to use when describing food. Never in a million years would I have thought I’d be saying “devilishly,” “balanced,” or “elevated”. I’m sure I sound like a you-know-what, but suddenly my years of watching food network and top chef have slipped into my every day lingo. I can’t help it. And I’m doing it for you anyways. If it rubs off, I’m sorry. It’s not my intention to have you sound like a pain in the ass at your next social event. :) If you were hanging out with me, we’d be cool together.

The price for our meal at Barbette was a little high - it was good thing we got happy hour prices because the pork was $26 and the chicken was $24. With a few drinks, our bill for 3 was $80+. I have to say that you have to be up for an adventure and spending a little cash if you try out Barbette. Overall, I'd give it a 4 out of 5.

Minnesota State Fair - New Foods for 2011

The news just broke - there's a list floating around with all the new deliciously deep-fried goodness of the Minnesota State Fair. Check out Kare11.com for the full details

• Chocolate Covered Jalapeno Peppers
• Breakfast Lollipop (Sausage patty deep fried on-a-stick with a side of maple syrup)
• Crab Fritters (crab meat, veggies, Caribbean herbs and spices all rolled into a fritter and deep fried, served with southwest dipping sauce)
• Sweet Corn Ice Cream (vanilla ice cream with blended kernels of summer corn)
• Deep-Fried Cookie Dough (fresh cookie dough deep-fried in a sweet batter and coated with powdered sugar)
• Grilled Yankee Apple Pie and Chocolate Sandwich (brioche bread filled with apples and spices covered in a layer of chocolate, grilled and covered with powdered sugar)
• Mexican Horchata Beverage (cold drink made of rice, almonds, cinnamon, vanilla and sugar)
• Northwoods Salad (portable Caprese Salad)
• Coushari Rice with Lentil
• Pretzel Dog (hot dog wrapped in pretzel dough, served on-a-stick)
• Jamaican Jerk Fries
• Dirt Dessert (Oreo cookies, vanilla pudding, whipped cream, cream cheese and gummy worms, served State Fair style)
• Grilled Chicken Pita
• Teriyaki Chicken on-a-stick

Simply Steve’s Food Truck

I should do a little research – today I stumbled upon Simply Steve’s in downtown Minneapolis. This is one food truck I haven’t heard much about. I’ve seen it once or twice in passing, but today was my first stop. Mind you it was 95 degrees out and I still waited outside for a bean burger. I’m crazy, right?

Simply Steve’s appears to be a family run truck (hence when I ordered the girl said, “Dad, one black bean burger”) which I think is extra neat. If I had money and lots of free time, I could easily see myself running a food truck with my family. The menu was pretty interesting – not your average sandwich cart. The first menu item was the black bean burger, which made me think it was their specialty. In addition to that burger, they had a buffalo chicken wrap, Johnsonville brat, California burger, turkey burger, and a grilled portabella and mushroom sandwich. From the first time I saw the truck (and took the pictures) I can already see that the menu changes periodically – that’s one good way to get me coming back!

So the burger was pretty darn good. It reminded me slightly of a bean burrito, but it was so much more. The patty was soft in texture, and there was lettuce, tomato, sprouts, cucumber, and chipotle mayo to top it off. The flavor combination was unique and well balanced. I loved the sprouts and mayo. I might just have to say this is a diamond in the rough. I’ll be coming back for more!

P.S. the burger was $6 and was just a sandwich --- but well worth it!

Dandelion Kitchen - Food Truck Review

So you've heard about this food truck thing, right? I'm overly excited about it, and so far, everything I've tried has been delicious. It's not as quick as fast food, definitely not as cheap, but the quality is outstanding. Relative to a chain like Panera or Chipotle, I give these guys my money any day. I can't deny that I haven't pondered what my food truck business would be. Desserts? Pasta? Oh the options...

The trouble with getting to the food trucks around Minneapolis/St. Paul is that they typically are in prime form during the weekday lunch hour. Fortunately I work downtown Minneapolis from time to time so I have the luxury of stopping by. However, I've been hearing amazing things about food truck Wednesday in St. Paul that's making me itch to play hooky.

Today I stopped by Dandelion Kitchen. Their cart is always parked outside of the IDS center on Nicollet Mall. I've heard great things about their homemade sodas, but today's flavor was basil something and it didn't sound good to me...but I bet it was delicious! The menu was small (normal for food trucks) with a few sandwiches, a salad option, the soda of the day, and cookies. The tomato sandwich caught my eye, the lady working recommended the BLT, but I went with the Ham and Brie that I saw had been written up somewhere. It was very tasty. Not only is it near impossible to get brie on a sandwich anywhere in the city without going sit-down, but their ingredients are locally sourced whenever possible. They even had a sign that said where today's food came from. Overall, the sandwich was good, but I thought the price was a little steep. My sandwich was the size of a Wonder Bread sandwich and came with a price tag of $6.75 and that's without anything else. But hey, I support their work, and so I think you need to go check them out as well! Plus I tweeted about them and they responded back!

Art-A-Whirl Lobster Boil

Art-A-Whirl is a festival that takes place in Northeast Minneapolis each year. That's what I learned at least. Don't ask me why or where the art is. All I know is that all the local bars seem to have special events for this weekend and that was enough to draw me in.

I stumbled upon this event because I'm a Facebook fan of Smack Shack (see my previous post about their lobster rolls) and their event showed up in my news feed. The lobster boil event was a RSVP-only cookout of what else, lobster. For $25, each person got a 1.5 lb lobster, sausage, potatoes, corn, and milk bread. I just saw "1.5 lb. lobster" and was sold. Based on my experience (and now obsession) with their normal food truck, this had to be good!

When the day finally arrived, the weather was abysmal. If you live in Minnesota, you know that the month of May was a rainy one, and that it rained cats and dogs every weekend. Well, somehow the rain let up just as we were stopping by - perfect timing! My roommate and I still got ours to go since the weather didn't seem all that steady. Plus, if you're going to get messy, it's more fun to do so in the comforts of your own home. So back to the food...I guess the whole "Lobster Boil" literally meant that they'd be boiling the lobster. Each meal was contained in a large mesh bag (think the ones that onions come in) that had a lobster, sausage, potatoes, and corn. Once you paid your portion, they dropped it into a big vat of boiling water (think of a tin bathtub big enough to sit in). Ten minutes later our food was up and the head chef was helping us crack our lobster for us - which I have to say was a really great perk. At the end of the day, the food was great (as expected) and the event was unique and fun all in itself. Be sure to check them out on Facebook if you want to catch them at next months boil. They'll be holding them each month during the summer.

Happy Eating!

May Foodzie Tasting Box

I'm a little behind on my posts. Don't you worry though. Tonight I'm sitting down and getting everything updated and scheduled so that you have something to read ever few days or so. I know. You're welcome.

Lately I've been posting a lot about Foodzie and dinner parties. I promise I have not stopped cooking or exploring, so you will find many different posts coming up including my latest trip to NYC. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the posts.

This month's tasting has yet to be tasted...I've only dug into the cookies and the herb salt. I can only imagine how the rest of the items will taste...I'm betting that I'll like the pineapple and the tea. As for the seaweed...Well...

These were a little too dry and something else just wasn't right...So sad. They looked good.