Wednesday Fun #128 - Moscow on the Hill Review

Well this is going to be the end. I've exhausted the TC restaurants I needed to mention... except for one. Moscow on the Hill is located in a great old neighborhood in St. Paul. The area (in driving and walking through it) really has the feel of an area you don't feel the need to leave to be entertained. However, I don't think I could live there because Moscow on the Hill would be the end of me... but what a great way to go!

I've only tried a few different dishes there because I can't stop getting the Czar's Medallions. These are so creamy and delicious... yum, yum, yum. I've also had the Beef Stroganoff which is also fabulous. I've really enjoyed everything I've had there though none of it is what I would call "light". Everything is rich and heavy and complex flavored. Great comfort/winter food.

One of the really cool things... They do Vodka Flights!!! I haven't had the chance to try one of these yet (no designated drive when I've gone) but I really want to. They are also one of the places I've heard about as a great Martini bar. Wow I want a drink.

The thing I think is coolest about Moscow on the Hill is the ability to make everything and everyone seem welcome and fun. I mentioned the Martini bar... well it has that hip feel... it also totally work for me to go to with my mom and a number of my friends (we would probably not be call hip in most groups). Of course I have also seen large families there, with three or four generations represented. The best recommendation I can give is that I've heard a number of older (grandma + aged) women speaking Russian (and drinking lots of vodka) and enjoying time at Moscow on the Hill.

Wednesday Fun #124 - Hell's Kitchen Review

Welcome to Hell...
Hell's Kitchen is an experience... You enter by descending the stairs under a chandelier made of knives and then are greeted by the friendly staff. That staff is as likely as not to have tats or piercings showing. All this while you are surrounded by Gonzo Art in a place that used to be a fine Italian restaurant but now has all kinds of interesting things written on the wall where the art doesn't hang.

I should probably mention the food eh? Think comfort food with an upscale twist... and they are not shy with the flavorings. You'll recognize many of the dishes but you probably haven't had them this way.

The breakfasts are the thing I first heard about them for and they didn't disappoint. The Huevos Rancheros are awesome and the Corned Beef Hash is really made up of big chunks of corned beef that was cooked in a big chunk in the back... yum. I've been told (not just by the menu) that the peanut butter they make in house is delicious but I haven't tried it yet.

When you order one of the lunch sandwiches that ask if you want fries or Sweet Potato Fries. These are so rich and intense I would say you can't eat that many but I've proven this to be untrue. They are really good. The Walleye Fish and Chips should be called Parmesan Walleye Fish and Chips... they had enough cheese for Pusher... The French Dip and Bison Burgers really worked for me.

I haven't done dinner there before but I really should... then maybe I could get a bit of use out of the huge old bar...

Wednesday Fun #123 - Irish Pubs are Everywhere

Look at me planning in advance for this one! :) I figured, since St. Patrick's Day was coming up, that a few of us might be planning to bend an elbow with a pint or two. And what better place to knock back a Guinness (or a Murphy's or a Beamish or a Smithwick's or a Bulmer's (or Magner's, as it's called around here)), than a good ol' Irish pub.

And Irish pubs are everywhere. I mean, really, everywhere. Now, I've not found anyplace that can complete with an off-the-beaten-track, peat-fire-burning, locals-wonder-who-you-are-when-you-walk-in, fresh-poured-pint-of-Murphy's REAL Irish pub in Ireland, but gosh, don't places try hard to get that atmosphere? In addition to the real deal throughout Ireland, I've been to "Irish pubs" in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Germany, and even Reykjavik, Iceland. (It was a really good one, too.)

So let's hear it from you...

What's your favorite Irish pub and/or most unusually located Irish pub you've been?

Wednesday Fun #120 - NALAPAK review

Nalapak vegetarian Indian Restaurant. This is the place I would recommend to anyone that claims vegetarian food is tasteless. They have great curries, breads, and everything else.

I really wanted to have their food again before I wrote this but I didn't make it... I'll have to correct that soon. I was trying to correct a health issue and couldn't eat much meat and boy was I glad to have Nalapak. Whenever I was craving rich and fulfilling food, this was the place to go... and I didn't have to feel guilty.

This isn't a place where I have one dish I go for, I've had lots of different things and they have all been good. The one thing I would always advise getting it the Channa Bhatura. This bread is great... puffed up and oily in a good clean way.

If you need some good tasty food this is a great place. Enough said.

Wednesday Fun 118 - Key's Review

First let me say there a number of Key's and I have not been to all of them. I have been to at least four of them and they all have some things in common. Though this review will be most accurate to my "local" one, the Spring Lake Park location.

Key's is comfort food to the max. Portions are big and tasty with not much concern for making the food "Healthy". Most of the meals ring in for under $15 and if you leave hungry you are a very special person. I'm very fond of the Biscuits and Garvy (for breakfast), Meatloaf, and Apple Pie. I have tried lots of other dishes though and they've all been quite good.

The biscuits and gravy have fresh biscuits, like all their baked goods, and a salty fatty sausage white gravy. Maybe it's just cause it's a bit tough to find here or maybe it's good sausage available but flavor is on the level of good quality from down south. I'm adding weight just thinking about it.

I should probably reiterate, Key's isn't the place to go if you are looking for elegance and refinement. The meatloaf is smothered in brown gravy, moist, tender, and with a hint of sweetness. The only thing that could be considered a drawback is the side vegatables are cooked old school style, till they turn mushy. I actually like this, it fits with the style of the place, but if you like your green beans crisp that won't happen here.

Apple pie, made fresh. Need any more? They also have great cinnamon and carmel rolls and other great pies and cakes. Dessert is not a problem.

I went twice this past weekend and I'm ready to go back.

Wednesday Fun 112- Boca Chica review

Well kiddies, Shonuff just recently turned 35 and when Pusher asked where I wanted to have the birthday dinner I picked Boca Chica. This is Mexican food without messing around. Family recipes carefully made and full of flavor. Presented in a more of a fine dining style than most Mexican food you can get. They give you soup or a salad with most meals and the decor while still being Mexican themed is like you might find at a nice resort.

What about the food makes me love Boca Chica? Well, let me explain how I normally get a sense of a Mexican restaurant. I've got it down to sort of a science (I've gone to a lot of Mexican places). There are three things I check for... Tamales, Chile Rellenos, and Mole sauce. Now if a place has all three of these dishes it's a good sign... but there are times when some or all are bad. If two out of three are good to great then the place is good just a bit limited. So I'm betting you know how Boca Chica did.

Tamales... these appear to be a simple thing but aren't. If you don't like corn meal then of course you aren't going to like them but the proper balance between the corn meal and pork is very tricky. Boca Chica nails the balance and actually presents the tamale in the husk of corn... a presentation I've noticed is done most places you get a great tamale. Boca Chica Tamales = excellent.

Chile Rellenos also sound kind of simple, stuff pepper batter and fry. Well this is a dish I love but is often done poorly. Not a problem at Boca Chica, you taste the pepper, you taste the filling and they all meld together to make the wonderful flavors this dish can create. Another win for Boca Chica.

Then there is Mole sauce. This like the previous two dishes is fairly labor intensive. The sauce at it's best is cooked for hours so the flavors can meld. Boca Chica's is done right and it shows, it's easily in the top 5 I've ever had. Their sauce is strong on the cocoa flavor with that bitterness showing through even while it is balanced nicely by the rich roasted pepper flavors.

I think I might have to go back soon...

Wednesday Fun 109- Kings review

Need Bibimbap, Sushi, and to sing some Karaoke? Well then you need King's. When Pusher and I got back from visiting Diplowhat and Wog in Korea we set out to find a good place in the cities to get Dolsot Bibimbap (Pusher was hooked). Well after some passable places we found King's... in a stripmall just off Central Avenue.

Now if you aren't familiar with Korean food it's largely grilled meats and stews... in Korea there are actually either gas ranges or a hole for a charcoal grill in the tables where you cook your own meat. They are rich and complex full dishes and on the side there is always a number of Kimchi. Traditional/basic Kimchi is cabbage based and fermented (like sourkraut) with red pepper, but there are all different kinds made with seaweed, sprouts, daikan, or even fish. King's doesn't let you cook your own meat at the table (I suspect the insurance here would be insane) but otherwise you get the experience quite well.

The servers were also quite impressed with Diplowhat and Wog speaking Korean.

King's also has Sushi, which I don't think is traditional but may be related to the long occupation of Korea by the Japanese (I understand this isn't a good light topic of conversation with Koreans as they, quite rightly, have some resentment about being occupied). We have other places that we go for Sushi so have only had it once or twice but it was very good.

Of course after 9pm it turns into a nightclub. From what I've heard it is one of the hip places to go for Karaoke. That's not really my scene but the set up looked impressive.

Then of course there is Dolsot Bibimbap, I'll let Pusher explain Bibimbap since she loves it so...

Wednesday Fun 105- Modern Cafe review

Pusher and I first went to The Modern Cafe picking it off a list for a charity event. We were both a bit familiar with it (she a bit more than I) but hadn't made it there. That was our mistake.

The food is tremendous! It's mostly dishes you know but with their own flavorful twist. Pot roast that melts in your mouth with a delicious creamy horseradish sauce, spicy pork with cous-cous, and meatloaf that only your French dream-mother would make. The menu seems to shift regularly so those that get bored with the relatively brief menu don't have to long to wait for a change.

The Modern also seems to draw an impressive mix of client. I've seen people doing family generational dinners, hip couple dinners (no that wasn't us... real hip people), teenagers hanging out, and older (retirement age) just getting a good meal. You have to do something right to get that mix.

I also need to mention the wine list. It's a list that shows someone there knows about wine. There isn't a bottle for over $40 (so $20 and under if you were getting them retail) and they stay away from household names. This means those who aren't adventurous might be a bit scared (though a large percentage of their list is available by the glass), but the advantage is the wines are world view that "wine nerds" would say are a great value. These are often the areas or grapes that haven't yet hit huge. The capper to the wine is that on Tuesdays they do half price bottles!

The last thing I need to discuss is the look. It's "Modern" as in modern art and has largely been restored in that vein (restored is relative as the booths are clearly of that time and haven't been restored). The building is from before plumbing so when you go to the basement to "rest" there are exposed pipes (all painted and clean). The place has character and I highly recommend you go... let me know when and maybe I can join you.

Wednesday Fun 102- Jax review

So if I'm reviewing TC restaurants I have to start with Jax. This is the place Pusher and I have gone for every anniversary since we found it... so I may not be a particularly unbiased judge. But since I plan on only reviewing restaurants I enjoy you won't get a lot of bashing in these posts... sorry any haters out there.

Jax is a steakhouse that lets me pretend I've escaped to a royal British lodge. Wood paneling surrounds the dining room and the servers are excellent. I've had things show up without realizing the server had been there. The steak is excellent and made to your actual request, not medium when you've ordered medium rare as seems to be the case with many restaurants.

The back garden is also a beautiful setting with a little shed with water wheel that spins in the trout stream. The prom dates in tuxes catching the trout for their meal is a fond memory. The seafood we've had has been quite tasty though we've never had the trout.

They also have a wonderful 30 foot long bar that you pass as you enter. If you sit out by the bar they have a small (and more like $15 and under price tag as opposed to the $15 and up for dining room entrees) menu with great Mac and Cheese and Steak bites. The wine list isn't huge but has a good range of stuff and some big famous wines if you want to drop the cash.

Jax is simply the best special occasion restaurant I've found in the TC.

Marinara Sauce & "Favors From The Home" Review

I got this recipe from a community ed cooking class* I took a few times quite long ago, adapted just a tad, mostly in timing. It's a delicious, versatile sauce for spaghetti, manicotti, lasagna, etc. Mr. Kluges loves it best over Italian sausages and garlic mashed potatoes. You can do it with canned or fresh tomatoes, but I'm not sure of the quantity if you do fresh, so just give it a try. I'll try to update it with an approximate quantity of fresh tomatoes next time I make it.

Note: This one is doubled from the original because it's no more work & you can freeze half of it for later. Or just eat a lot.

MARINARA SAUCE
Two 28 oz. cans Hunt's whole peeled tomatoes (or equivalent fresh tomatoes, peeled & seeded**) [9/5 - I made these starting with a bit more than 4 1/2 lbs. of fresh tomatoes. I wouldn't do less, but you could probably go between 5-6 lbs. pre-peeling/-seeding weight.]
6 Tbl. olive oil
3/4 - 1 c. diced red onion
6 large cloves minced garlic
1/2 c. chopped fresh basil OR 3 Tbl. Chef Jeff's frozen basil*** OR 3 Tbl. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dry oregano
1 tsp. sugar
salt & pepper to taste
dash of crushed red pepper flakes to taste (opt.)

1. Rough chop tomatoes in a blender or food processor and set aside. (If doing with fresh, peel and seed them first. **)

2. Place a large pan or stock pot or Dutch oven over high heat; add olive oil, onion and garlic; reduce heat to medium high and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly, or until mixture becomes pale golden in color (not brown).

3. Add tomatoes, oregano, red pepper, sugar, salt and pepper to the onion mixture. (Also basil if using dried.)

4. Bring sauce to boil; reduce to simmer for 30-45 minutes for better flavor.

5. Add (fresh) basil and cook for an additional 5 minutes or until desired consistency is reached; remove from heat (and eat, or set aside to cool to use in lasagna, or to freeze).



* Oh, look - the internet is a wonderful thing! It was "Flavors From the Home" with Chef Jeff, and looking at his website, I see that it looks like he's still doing classes around the TC area, maybe starting in September. They were FUN classes where you actually get to cook and eat the menu, and take the recipes home. All the ones I took started off relaxed, but the pace picked up as you went and I think every one finished late. But the food made it all worthwhile! Note: Even though you'll get to eat, it wasn't until the end of the class, so don't go hungry or you'll be starving before the end. Also, Chef Jeff is a hoot. Looking at the menus, I took Oriental Favorites I - Menu #1, Southern Italian Family Style I - Menu #2, Gourmet with a French Accent I - Menu #3, Southern Italian Family Style II - Menu #5, Traditional Southern Italian - Menu #7, Pasta! Pasta! Pasta! II - Menu #13, and Traditional French II - Menu #14. They were all wonderful fun and delicious to boot. I highly recommend them, but I think they filled up fast, so if you're interested, check out which ones are nearby and call the appropriate contact on the registration page.

**An easy way to peel and seed fresh tomatoes is to bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Cut an X in the skin at the bottom of the tomato, then drop it in the boiling water for like 20-30 seconds. Take it out, and you should be able to peel it easily, starting at the X. To seed them easily, cut them in half along the equator, NOT from bottom to top. Then you can just take a half in your hand and squeeze out most of the seeds with ease.

*** Chef Jeff recommended taking large quantities of fresh basil, washing & roughly chopping it, mixing it with a good amount of olive oil, then making long tubes/rolls/fat-thumb-thick-snakes of it in plastic wrap and freezing it. You can whack off a hunk of it and get great fresh flavor, even if it looks browner than it would when actually fresh.

Fish/seafood resource

There's a lot of debate about whether fish is good for you or toxic, whether eating fish is sustainable or not ecologically, whether you should look for farmed or wild-caught, which fish to avoid. So wow do I love this website: http://www.oceansalive.org

It lists most commercially available fish and seafood options and rates them on a best/okay/worst scale for your health and the health of the environment and fish populations. It breaks down how many servings a month of what type of fish are suitable for women/men/older kids/younger kids. There's a list to help you substitute eco-sustainable fish when your recipe calls for one that's not sustainable. There's even a recipe section, though I haven't tried any of them yet.

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

When Sewing Bee (aka Turtle, aka Pumpkin's godmother) was out visiting us, I was telling her all about (and feeding them bread from) this great cookbook my MIL gave me at Christmas, Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. She was very enthused, so we baked some up and mixed up a new batch for the frig so she got to see the whole procedure. I'd told her I meant to post it, but just hadn't gotten around to it, but lo and behold if I didn't find an email from her in my inbox today with it all typed up, including a YouTube link about it. So without further ado, here is:

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

In 5 qt. lidded plastic container: (Ice cream pail works great.)

Mix together – leave lidded on counter for 2 hours or up to 5 hours then refrigerate.

3 cups warm water
1 ½ Tbl. yeast
1 ½ Tbls coarse salt (1 generous Tbls fine salt)
6 ½ cups flour

Leave in the fridge for up to two weeks. Bake when you need bread or the night before it serves great the next day. Recipe says it can make 4 loaves. We tend to make 3 loaves per batch. [MHH - I agree. I only ever get three loaves, too.]

To Bake: Break off about 1/3 of dough with floured hands. Turn it to cloak it. (Turn it under at the sides all the way around to make a round loaf.) Sprinkle pizza peel (or flat [rimless] cookie sheet) with corn meal and lay bread on that area. Leave for 20 minutes then turn oven to 450 degrees and put a broiler pan and pizza stone in the oven. (Broiler pan or jelly roll works great.) [MHH - pizza stone on lowest possible rack.] Set timer for 20 more minutes while oven heats up and bread keeps rising.

Before you put it in the oven dust with flour and slash with a knife. When timer goes off slide bread in the oven off the peel and pour 1-1 ½ cups water into the hot broiler pan. Bake 35 minutes.

MHH - There are a ton of variations for this recipe in the cookbook, including foccacia (which I made today, but with grape tomatoes instead of onions). It really is super easy and convenient and the bread is FABULOUS with olive oil and vinegar.

Here's the YouTube video; it's an appearance by the authors on a MN morning show. It shows how easy it is to mix up and how to "cloak" the dough when making a loaf.

Hillshire Farm lunch meat comes in Gladware

When my parents were coming to visit, I picked up some lunch meat for an easy lunch of sandwiches. Looking at the various options, I ended up choosing some Hillshire Farm ham and turkey because they came packed in reusable Gladware. I liked the idea of being able to reuse the packaging instead of just throwing it away, plus I needed some more Gladware that size anyway. The price was right in line with all the rest of the lunch meat, as well.

So I went to the Hillshire Farm/Sara Lee website and sent them an email saying how I'd chosen their product because of the reusable packaging.

And today in the mail I got some coupons from them, including one for a free Hillshire Farm product (up to $3.99)! So, if you like this reusable packing deal, and/or you like good coupons, drop 'em a line. You won't even be out the cost of a stamp.

Review - Bertolli frozen meals

We picked up a couple different kinds of Bertolli frozen meals for easy suppers when we were moving and I was pleasantly surprised enough to want to let you all know that these are actually pretty tasty. We've had the Italian Sausage & Rigatoni (which is the one I've liked best so far), the Roasted Chicken & Linguini, and Chicken Parmigiana & Penne.

These are only 10 -15 minutes in the pan and they're done. No water to boil, no oven to preheat - just open the bag, throw it in a pan on the stove and stir a bit half-way through. Easy-peasy, and tasty besides!

Portion size is not overly generous; the bag says it serves two, but Mr. Kluges could polish it off himself if he was feeling hungry. Also, not especially healthy, especially with the fat and salt content!

But, if you want something tasty and easy and you're not going to rely on it very often, it's a handy thing to have in the freezer!


Here's an old article/review about them that I found on-line, too.

Cookbook Suggestion

I have a suggestion on a cookbook for those of you with only 2 in the house. It's Better Homes and Gardens "Great Cooking for Two". It's nice to have very nice, simple meals that are appropriately sized. Everything I've tried from it is yummy and easy.