Krik's Picks

Okay, I’m sorry, but I’m doing 3 posts today. I know I ought to be more disciplined about posting more regularly, instead of doing them in bunches, but so far, I haven’t been able to do that. So the next 3 posts are some personal background, a garden ingredient, and a restaurant review. So where did ‘Krik’s Picks’ come from? I already told you that I work for Land O’Lakes , right? I do government relations. That means I’m our lobbyist. Land O'Lakes is a cooperative . That means we’re owned by the farmers who produce the milk and buy the feed, seed, and agronomy products that we sell. That also means our board is elected by the farmers. One of my jobs is to organize a board meeting in Washington, DC. I make arrangements for ag policy leaders to meet with the board, and I set up appointments for them to meet with their Senators and Representatives on Capitol Hill. In those meetings, they advocate for policies that benefit farmers and cooperatives. Several of our board members make re...

I enjoy trying new neighborhood restaurants. The best of them are unique dining experiences that reflect a harmonious blend of the chef/owner’s dedication to good food and the sensibilities of the people who live nearby. Last Saturday, my wife and I went with friends to Signature in the Prospect Park neighborhood of Minneapolis. It was a great restaurant. The food was wonderful. The ambiance was very relaxing. Though we ate inside, there was an inviting outdoor patio filled with people, we assumed residents of the neighborhood. Despite all of that, I have begun to wonder: Is it possible for a restaurant to be so idiosyncratic to the vision of the owner/chef and the neighborhood that it loses its appeal to a broader clientele? First, let me tell you about our dining experience. Inside the restaurant was very comfortable and casually decorated. The owner brought over a wine list with many distinctive, reasonably priced choices. We settled on Villa Rizzardi Pojega Valpolicella . It was p...

In May, I was in Washington, DC, on business and I stopped in to Equinox for lunch. I like that restaurant. I’ve eaten there a couple of times for dinner, but this was my first time there for lunch. Instead of an entrée, I ordered a salad and a first course. The salad was the mozzarella and baby spinach salad. The first course was the orecchiette with artichoke hearts. Both were delicious. I highly recommend either one. The salad had these cute little white flowers sprinkled over. I was intrigued, especially because the menu description didn’t mention them. After I had paid, and as I was leaving, I stopped to chat with the maitre d’. My server walked by, and I just asked her about the flowers. She said she thought they were chive flowers, but she’d send the chef out to tell me. In just a minute, the chef came out of the kitchen. He confirmed that they were, indeed, chive flowers. He said he had snipped them off of the chive plants at his home that morning. He hold me all you do is pic...

It’s been a busy summer. I’ve had some special projects at work, and I haven’t taken much time off to relax and enjoy our all-too-brief Minnesota summer. So on Friday, I took the day off and went with my wife to the Minnesota History Center and then to a mid-afternoon lunch. When Linda and I are traveling, we love going to the art and history museums in the cities we visit. (We don’t do that often enough in our home city.) And it often works out that if we arrive at the museum at mid-morning, we’re not out of there until well past our ‘non-tourist’ lunch time. On this particular Friday, we left the museum at 1:15 p.m. and drove to one of our favorite Uptown Minneapolis cafes – Barbette . We arrived just a little before 2 p.m. Barbette is a funky, fun, sort of counter-culture café. There’s a well-stocked bar, and at the end of the bar is a curlicue counter that adds a lot of interest to the interior. There are tables and booths. We sat at a cozy table for two in the middle of the resta...

Homemade Tomato Soup The original recipe called for chicken broth. But since it was a kosher cookbook, it called for using non-dairy creamer. Since I work for a dairy company, Land O'Lakes , using non-dairy creamer is a travesty. So I switched it around. My adaptation calls for using instant mock chicken broth and milk. My adaptation also is half the original quantity. In a soup pot, heat: 2 tablespoons butter 1 tablespoon olive oil Add: 1 medium onion, thinly sliced ¼ teaspoon thyme ¼ teaspoon dried basil ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper Cook until the onion wilts. Add: 2 tablespoons flour Blend well. Add: 3-4 medium size canned tomatoes with their liquid Simmer for 10 minutes. Add: 2 cups broth (I use vegetarian, mock chicken instant soup mix) Simmer for 10 minutes. Then transfer to a blender or use a hand blender and puree the soup. Return to soup pot. Add: ¾ cup milk Heat gently to desired temperature (don’t boil) and serve. In our home, fresh soup is a Sunday noon meal with fr...

Risotto w/ Tomatoes & Parmesan In Patricia Wells’ Trattoria, this recipe is called Risotto alla Cardinale. My adaptation below is half the quantity of the original. The original called for homemade chicken stock. Where I use garden herbs, the original calls for two bay leaves. I use whatever herbs are available – parsley, fresh oregano, basil; in the fall, sage is very good. I also substitute cooking onions for shallots if I don’t have shallots in the kitchen. 2 cups vegetable broth or instant, ‘mock’ chicken broth 1 cup whole canned tomatoes, crushed 1 tablespoon butter 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (divided) 1 minced shallot ¼ cup fresh garden herbs, minced 1 cup Arborio rice ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese Combine broth and tomatoes in a saucepan. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer. In a sauté pan, melt butter with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Cook shallots over medium heat until translucent, about 3 minutes, but don’t let them brown. Stir in the rice and cook for one ...

My mom and dad have a big garden. They always have done. When I was a kid growing up, the garden was an important part of our food supply. It was our source of most fresh vegetables through the summer and canned and frozen vegetables got us through most winters. When I grew up and left home, I still benefited from my parent’s garden. They always had plenty to send along with me to my own home, both when I was in college and later when I got married and started a family of my own. I’m the oldest of five, and we’re spread out, 17 years between me and my youngest brother. So Mom and Dad had a lot of kids at home even after I left. Now, actually, all five of us are out and on our own. But my parents have not significantly reduced the size of their garden. Keeping the garden is partly a habit, I guess, and partly a great hobby for a retired farm couple. I appreciate getting fresh vegetables from their garden during the summer. But there are two things that I rely on – apples from their tree...

I thought I’d get started by telling you a little about myself and what to expect in this blog. This blog is mostly about food. It will include restaurant reviews, recipes, as well as other posts related to food – food movies, food on television, food magazines, food in music – you get the idea. A lot of the major influences in my life relate to food. I grew up on a farm. When I was a kid (1950s and 60s), food preparation was handled by my Mom and to some extent my sister. Guys didn’t cook. But I did get involved, with my Dad and brothers, in food production. Our farm was a commercial grain operation in southern Minnesota. We produced mostly corn and soybeans. Dad also tried a few specialty crops (canning peas, for example). We also raised chickens and sold eggs for many years. And we always had a big garden. When I moved away from home to attend college ( University of Minnesota ), I lived two years in a dorm. But when I moved into an apartment, I had to begin food preparation for mys...