Driftless Appetite

On February 14th, Chef Steven Shoemaker and Cari Stebbins will be preparing a 4-course dinner at Brewery Creek Inn in Mineral Point.  Steven and Cari are ardent supporters of the local food culture and love to showcase the bounty of this land.  They will have seatings at 6 & 8 o’clock.  Show your support for local food producers (and local chefs) and make your reservations now!  Check the link above for further information.

MENU

Pear and Parsnip Soup

Sweet Onion Tart with Spinach Salad,
Toasted Hickory Nuts, Chevre, Beet Vinaigrette

Pan Seared Rushing Waters Trout
Root Vegetable Mashers, Roasted Celeriac

Grilled Lamb Chops
Roasted Winter Squash Puree
Wine Soaked Cherry and Shallot Sauce

*

Desserts

Chocolate Pot de Creme

Wine Poached Pears

Producers/Growers of Ingredients

Hidden Valley Mushrooms
New Century Farms
Harmony Valley Farm
Two Onion Farm
Tipi Produce
Ridgeland Harvest
Rushing Waters Trout Farm
Future Fruit
Monte Chevre
KeyWaydin Organics
Green and Green
Elegant Foods

In Platteville last week, we noticed this coffee shop, Badger Brothers.  We knew the name as the brand of coffee served at the  Old Royal Inn in Mineral Point.  We stopped in a got a cup of their coffee of the day (Ethiopian Yergacheffe).  The coffee was wonderful, and not even Leslie getting lipstick all over the cup could ruin my enjoyment.  The inside of the shop was really cozy and the staff were very friendly– even when it took me 2 minutes to decide what size coffee I wanted.  We did a little research once we got home and it’s clear that the owners take their coffee very seriously.  They, of course, offer Fair Trade & Rainforest Alliance coffees (both prerequisites for independent coffee shops I believe).  Beyond that, though, they seem to be passionate about quality.  And even more importantly, it appears they follow through on this passion because I’ve had quite a few cups of their coffee without ever getting a bad roast (I can’t say that of too many coffee roasters).  Besides, their Sivetz Single Pass Fluid Bed roaster is a thing of beauty.  I love it because 1) it was clearly designed by an engineer with no thought to aesthetics and 2) fluid bed roasters are the best way to produce the sweet, lighter bodied cup I prefer.

Continue reading Badger Brothers Coffee

Punxsutawney Phil predicted 6 more weeks of winter.  But Jimmy X in Sun Prairie says it will be an early spring.  See, another reason local is better!  Just in case Jimmy’s got this one wrong, we decided to make some warm weather for ourselves.  We turned the thermostat up 10 degrees and made pork tacos and pomegranate martinis.

Continue reading “Ground” Hog Tacos with Butternut Squash

Last Saturday I picked up a bag of red potatoes from  King’s Hill Farm and some walleye fillet from Supreme Seafoods at the Mineral Point Winter Farmer’s Market (at the Old Royal).  As I was cutting up the potatoes for dinner one night, I was taken aback by the interesting red pattern inside. I hadn’t seen a potato that looked like this before.  At first I thought there was something wrong but every piece looked the same and they were just beautiful so they could not possibly be bad for me

Isn’t it gorgeous?  The next day, I emailed Jai, one of the owners of King’s Hill Farm to asked about this special potato.  It’s called a French Fingerling which is  funny because they are not at all the size of little fingers.   Do French people have big fingers?  Kidding!  (On a side note, King’s Hill Farm also have the largest carrots I have ever seen.  Will post about it later.)    I think these potatoes would be perfect for a German potato salad, but so far I’ve just used them in a one pan meal with  the walleye fillets and some other vegetables I had around.

Continue reading Baked Walleye & the Coolest Potato I’ve Ever Seen

One of my favorite desserts, this is something you must try.  (I know I know I’ve started quite a few posts this way but I have many fond memories pertaining to food when I lived in the Philippines–did I mention I was a very fat child?).  Growing up on my grandparents farm we had several avocado trees.  My grandmother used to mash the ripened avocados with sweetened condensed milk, chill it, and serve it as a dessert.  When I had just moved to the States I tried guacamole and thought it was the most vile thing you could do to an avocado.  I have since developed a liking for it especially atop delicious freshly made soft tacos.  Back to my grandma’s dessert.  She left her mashed avocado quite chunky in texture which I did not like as much as the creamy green stuff that separated from the pieces.  So I’ve decided to put everything in the blender to create this new version of her dessert.

Sweet Avocado Cream Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 of a medium sized avocado
• 3/4 c. whole milk or 2% (from Organic Valley)
  
• 1 T. sugar (adjust to taste)
• 1 t. ground flax seeds
• 3 pieces of ice cube
  

Blend everything until smooth.  I decided to add the flax seeds because it’s good for you and I think the nutty taste complements the avocado cream nicely.

Last Friday we went to Steve’s Pizza Palace in Platteville.  Steve’s makes a nice pie, with plenty of tasty cheese, a nice chewy crust and (in our case) homemade sausage.  Now this not at all like my ideal pizza (which you can read about here) but it’s pretty typical American thin crust.  But well executed.  We also had a Greek salad that was refreshingly mild (I usually find Greek salads way to acidic).  Unfortunately it was snowy and we were tired and in a rush, so we only got these two lousy pictures.

I know, I know, the pictures aren’t going to convince you to go.  But I really liked Steve’s.  What you don’t see here is that it seems to be the “local joint” in Platteville.  While we sat there, there was a constant stream on regulars in and out; stopping to chat with their friends and treating the place like it was home.  The other thing you can’t see here is that Steve’s is a little bit crazy.  Go to their website and look at the Cove to see one of their “theme rooms”.  Cosy + crazy is a keeper in my book.  Plus they are open until 130AM on the weekends which is pretty rare out here.

This spot could easily be a dominos or pizza hut.  It’s not though, and Platteville is much better off for it.  Steve’s has character– you know where you are when you’re there.  And that means a lot, at least to me.  This is, of course,  an outsiders view (believe me, we’re outsiders in Platteville).  I’d love to hear from people that know the place better that us, what do you think?

*Their website shows there are other Steve’s Pizza locations in Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota all owned by different family members.  Thinking about it, I may have eaten at the Northfield location in the past…

Happy New Year everyone!  Cheers to a new beginning and new adventures.  Do you have any resolutions?  Last year I was going to run a half marathon by the end of the year.  That didn’t happen because I ran too much too soon so I got plantar fasciitis on both feet.  This year, I’m gonna start slow.  The plan is to do a 5K every month or two.  In fact, I’ve already signed up for one on January 23rd.  Wish me luck and best wishes on your resolutions.

Continue reading Happy New Year & A Dinner Party

Belated Happy Christmas everyone.  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas celebration and were able to see a lot of family and friends.  Keith and I ended up driving all the way to Cooperstown, NY to visit his family.  We had a wonderful time cooking, eating, drinking, and just being together.  Oh, and if you did not know already Cooperstown has the National Baseball Hall of Fame Museum so it was a requirement to go.  I did not know anything about baseball and I still don’t.  I did love seeing every picture perfect corner of Cooperstown.

Christmas Dinner

Appetizer:  sausage rolls, Christmas cookies

Meats:  Rib Roast & Ham

Sides:  bacon walnut Brussels sprouts, roasted potatoes, carrots, and turnips, Yorkie pudding (popovers made with roast drippings), green bean casserole

Sauces:  gravy, horseradish cream, Coleman’s mustard

Dessert:  Christmas pudding with custard sauce

Christmas with Keith’s family is a little different affair than what I was used to growing up.  He has an American mother and a British father.  They do a couple of quirky things that I enjoy.  Before dinner everyone

Continue reading Belated Happy Christmas

Okay, so Leslie usually does the recipes, but I’ll take a whack at this one.  This is a perfect soup for a cold winter night when you don’t want to cook but you want warm comfort food.  Because it’s so quick to make, it’s also great for when guests come over.

Continue reading Onion Soup with Brie + Leftovers

In the Philippines we ate seafood several times a week.  My grandfather’s favorite dish to make was called “Jumping Salad”.  It was fresh shrimp (still jumping around) with oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.  I thought that was gross but then again my brother and I would fight over who would get to eat the eyeballs from whatever fish was prepared.  I sometimes envy people who live in coastal areas because of the easy access to fresh seafood.  I could easily go to Whole Foods to purchase some but I think I should explore what Wisconsin has to offer.  Trout, walleye, and perch are locally found here and are extremely popular for Friday Fish Fry’s.  A week ago we bought some yellow perch from Coolwater Farms at the farmer’s market (Lois from Marr’s Valley View Farms has recently started carrying yellow perch).  Sadly, it was already deboned, filleted, and fresh frozen.  No eyeballs.  Aquaculture is a growing sector of the economy here in Wisconsin.  Coolwater Farms is the closest fishery from where I live as far as I know.  It is in Deerfield which is only about an hour and a half away.

Last year, we went to Tian Jin, a Chinese restaurant in Chanhassen, MN.  I had something called “Boiled Fish” and it was just spectacular unlike it’s name.  Our plan was to try to recreate the dish using the yellow perch.

Continue reading Chili Braised Yellow Perch