Krik's Picks

 I like to garden. For me, it's quite satisfying to walk into my backyard and pick something ripe and fresh to eat.  The trouble is, my yard is not very conducive to growing a prolific garden. My yard is blessed with an abundance of tall, leafy trees. But they cast so much shade that it stunts most garden plants that I'm trying to grow. Example: tomatoes. I can't resist trying to grow tomatoes. But because of the shade, the plants put all their energy into trying to grow tall, and I end up harvesting just a couple of handfuls of small tomatoes. If they didn't taste so good, I'd quit trying.  The other problem is wild animals. We have deer, raccoons, squirrels, and rabbits galore. They like to feast on my vegetables as much as I do.  So each summer, I plant a few tomatoes and other items and just hope to be able to harvest enough to make it worthwhile.  First batch of ripe serranoes There are a few things, however, that usually thrive in my yard. Herbs, for examp...

I quit studying French and Italian. My wife and I were planning a trip to France and Italy for this summer. As of today, we still haven't cancelled our reservations. But it seems highly unlikely that the coronavirus pandemic will subside enough for us to safely embark on that trip. We will still go. Just not this summer. Now I have some extra time on my hands. Hmmm. What to do? Ever since I retired (in 2013) I've thought about retrieving my trumpet from the basement and start playing again. I did play in the school band all through high school and at college in the University of Minnesota Football Marching Band! After the U, I played in an alumni pep band for a few years. But gradually work and family and other things took over my life, and I quit playing. Spoiler Alert: If you came to this post looking for the recipe, it's at the end. If you want to skip all the blather about my trumpet, just scroll down for the Nutty Oat Bar recipe. Playing my trumpet has always bee...

In my last post, I wistfully anticipated spring weather when I could get outside to do yard work or gardening or biking. So naturally today is cold and rainy with slushy snow predicted overnight. According to the Farmer's Almanac , spring is supposed to arrive tonight. But it's still March in Minnesota. The dismal weather today is distressing for two reasons. First, the weather adds to all the other bad news about the pandemic and the economy and just makes it worse. Second, no morning walk and no afternoon walk to get some fresh air. I spent the whole day reading and staring at my computer screen ... and I didn't see anything to cheer me up. In fact, mid-afternoon I began to feel dizzy and clammy and I worried that maybe I was coming down with the coronavirus. I took my temperature, and it's still normal. So I think it was just nerves. As I wrote in my last post, cooking provides a creative outlet for the tension and is helping keep me from getting totally stir-cra...

At first, I didn't think that " social distancing " would be difficult. After all, I'm retired. I don't really have any place I have to go. I've had a few meetings and events get cancelled. I thought it wouldn't be much different than daily life for me. It's only been three days since the CDC recommended that Americans practice social distancing for eight weeks. The goal is to slow down (and perhaps reduce) the spread of the coronavirus, also called COVID-19. But I'm already sensing this isn't going to be as easy as it sounds. Maybe it's the psychology of it. Knowing that I can't or shouldn't get in the car and drive to a store or to a bar or to a restaurant makes me feel restless. So far, my daily routine hasn't changed too much. Get up. Take a walk. Have breakfast and read the paper. Read some more. Have lunch. Read some more and/or work on my computer. Take an afternoon walk. Read some more. Make dinner. Watch TV. I...

One of the things my wife and I like about travel is tasting (discovering) new foods and food combinations. (Well, new to us anyway.) And it's always gratifying to be able to recreate those items in our kitchen when we return home. The back-story for this recipes starts in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. Earlier in June we were in the City for a few days. (More about our trip later.) One of our favorite things to do in SF is to walk through Haight-Ashbury. Sometimes we shop; sometimes we just enjoy people-watching. (Side note: Now that marijuana is legal in California, I half expected the Haight to be engulfed in a permanent haze of smoke. It wasn't. In fact, I think I smelled more marijuana on the streets before it was legal.) This time, we were there around lunch. So we kept an eye out for a nice place to eat. That's how we happened to wander in to the Sparrow Bar & Kitchen . It was friendly and clean. It had an attractive patio in back, and the...

When my wife and I spent a few days in Boulder in March, my favorite restaurant was Cafe Aion. We had great French food at Brasserie Ten Ten and great Italian at Via Perla . But the lunch we had at Aion was so delicious and memorable that I'd have to say it was my favorite. As I wrote in my original blog post about Aion (click here for the full post), I liked the vegetable tagine so much that I sent an email to the restaurant requesting instructions on how to replicate it. I got this quick reply: "Roast vegetables with a little olive oil and salt - high heat in the oven. (we use carrots, butternut squash & cauliflower) "Make the mix: sauté equal parts of chopped ginger & garlic in olive oil. when they are starting to turn golden add in ground cumin, coriander, cinnamon, chili, bay leaf & saffron, stir briefly to release aromatics Then add in canned tomatoes and let simmer until it has thickened a bit. Then add in cooked chickpeas, the roast veggies and ...

I always said that while Krik’s Picks is mostly about food, it also would include thoughts about other things, such as music and politics. (And lately, cars too.) But this post ties together several different strands. Kinda what makes life interesting. So let’s start with music – Edina Bands . You may know about Next Door , the online social network for neighborhoods across the nation? My neighborhood, Parkwood Knolls, participates in Next Door. One day in early August, I got an email alert from Next Door about a kid selling peaches as a fundraiser because he was going into the Edina Marching Band in the fall. Ok, as a band kid myself (Albert Lea High School band, 1968-70; University of Minnesota Marching Band, 1970-74) I was sympathetic to his appeal. My own children graduated from Edina High School, but they weren’t band kids. But the clincher (and segue to the next strand) – I saw that he’s the grandson of a former Member of Congress who I knew fairly well – David Minge . I had...

Well, it’s a rainy Sunday on Memorial Day Weekend. Perfect for baking. I improvised this recipe from a couple of different sources. First, the cake recipe is from the Beth El Women’s League “New Kosher Cookbook.” The recipe as printed is a Bundt cake. I’ve made the recipe many times, and it’s a favorite. I only made one modification to the recipe, but as you’ll see in the directions, this time I baked it in a loaf pan rather than a Bundt pan. My modification, I included some fresh lemon juice and lemon zest, simply because I had half a lemon in the fridge from another recipe. I’m not sure if the cookbook is available. My wife got it as a bridal shower present … that would be at least 41 years ago. The frosting is from Go Bold With Butter, a dairy industry web site to promote butter. The recipe was for Strawberry-Lemon Sandwich Cookies . I made a batch of those and had quite a lot of the strawberry frosting left over. So my plan was to make the cake and fill it and frost it with the ...

The outside temperature was 3 degrees and the wind chill was –14 as I started working on dinner this past week. But a little cold weather doesn’t stop me from firing up the Weber grill. Grilled salmon is our familiar favorite and we have it almost weekly. I use a charcoal grill. It takes a little extra prep time to get the coals burning. But my wife and I think the flavor of the charcoal is worth the trouble. For the salmon, I lightly sprinkle it with no-salt lemon pepper. It’s actually not an easy product to find. You can find lemon pepper at most supermarkets. But if you want no-salt added … that’s not so easy. I usually buy it in bulk at the Linden Hills Co-op . After the coals are hot, I arrange them toward the outside of the Weber kettle so that the fish roasts with indirect heat. Then I simply lay the seasoned fish on the grate, skin-side down. Then I put the cover on the grill and let it cook for about 20 minutes, a little longer if it’s a bigger piece or if the coals don’t...

After a visit to the Minneapolis Farmers Market , I came home intent on making gazpacho. Not just any gazpacho, however. I remembered making an amazing recipe for a dinner party … a few years ago. I couldn’t remember what year it was. But I was very sure the recipe was from Bon Appetit magazine. I remembered a couple of very distinctive things about the recipe. There was no bread to thicken the gazpacho. I remember pureeing the vegetables and then pressing them through a sieve, so that there was no pulp in the soup. But the most distinctive part was a ‘tower’ of crab salad, molded and placed in the center of the bowl with the gazpacho spooned around it. No problem, I thought. I’m sure I’ll find the recipe on Epicurious . Nope. Well, I thought, maybe it’s on the Bon Appetit web site. Nope. Now I was starting to doubt my recollection. I tried a general Google search. Lots of gazpacho recipes, but none with a tower of crab salad. I pretty much gave up on finding the recipe. I became ...

Sorry, I got distracted after writing two posts on using leftovers creatively instead of throwing them away. (Click here for #1 and here for #2 .) But this one is the one I’m most proud of. It started with a turkey. When I make turkey, I almost always grill it. After dinner, my wife and I strip the carcass of the remaining meat. Then I break down the carcass and freeze the bones, usually in two bags. I use the carcasses later to make turkey broth for any recipe that calls for chicken broth. I use this recipe from Bon Appetit/Epicurious as my starting point. (The recipe calls for roasting the bones. But since I grill my turkey over charcoal, I find that the carcass already has a nice smoky flavor and depth of flavor, so I skip that step.) After the broth was done simmering, I strained it into freezer containers (for future use). What remained were the bones, now pretty well bare of any meat, and the soggy celery, onions, and carrots. I did toss most of that stuff. But I decided to...

My wife and I typically have salmon once a week. I usually grill it. And she usually buys a piece big enough so that there’s some left over for me to eat for lunch later in the week. My usual practice is to simply warm it in the microwave along with leftover risotto or couscous (served with the salmon when I made it originally. Here’s our favorite risotto recipe, click here .) This week, however, we had some leftover bowtie pasta. We’d made it for our grandkids when they were over for dinner, and there were a few bowties left. So I put the pasta on a plate and flaked the salmon over it. Then I dressed it simply with olive oil, fresh-ground pepper, and a half teaspoon of capers. I also drizzled on a little red pepper sauce that I made from Serrano peppers that I grew in my garden last summer. Then I warmed the whole plate in the microwave. It was really good! I’d consider making this for dinner sometime.

My wife and I each grew up in homes that eschewed food waste. It’s a trait we inherited honestly, and one that we practice in our own home to this day. We’re the type of people who put a tablespoon of hummus in a container and save it until “someday one of us might want just a bite of hummus on a cracker.” Then, periodically, we come across a container of some unrecognizable leftover and ask “what is this?” Then throw it away as inedible. When my January Bon Appetit magazine arrived, there was a tempting photo and article on making candied grapefruit peel. (Click here to view it.) My wife had just bought a bag of grapefruit for my breakfast, and I had noticed that these grapefruit had nice, thick peels. It would be a shame to just throw away the peels after enjoying the fruit for breakfast. So the next day, I tried the technique portrayed in the magazine. They actually turned out quite well. The photos here are of the ones I made. They look nice, but not quite as appealing as t...

Since retiring in July, I’ve had to start planning things to have for lunch. When I was working, I’d either have a lunch meeting, or I’d eat in the cafeteria, or I’d skip lunch (especially if I’d had a good breakfast that day). I might still choose to skip lunch, but that would mean my wife would have to eat lunch alone, and she’d prefer not to. So I’ve been planning leftovers and other dishes that I can quickly heat up for lunch. Now that it’s October and the weather is getting chilly, soup is a logical choice. This week, I decided I wanted to make a cheese soup. I had an ulterior motive. I may have mentioned in a previous post that I had a particularly robust crop of Serrano peppers in my garden. They were ripening faster than I could use them. So I went looking for a recipe for homemade pepper sauce. I settled on the recipe I found on the Food Network web site from Emeril Lagasse. (Click here: Homemade Red Hot Sauce .) Here is a photo of my beautiful Serrano peppers. I followed ...

In yesterday’s post I commented that despite having a pretty good experience at Pig Ate My Pizza , my wife and I likely wouldn’t trek to Robbinsdale just for pizza. The main reason is because we like the pizzas we make at home better than any restaurant pizza. So for example, this photo is of a pizza that we made a few weeks ago. You can find pizza crust recipes basically anywhere. The recipe we use is from the New York Times Natural Foods Cookbook . I guess its out of print now. Our copy is copyright 1971. We probably got it as a wedding present in 1974. The pizza crust recipe is very basic, just flour, water, yeast, and olive oil. We like it because it produces a crisp crust that doesn’t interfere with the toppings we put on. We topped this particular pizza with fresh Roma tomatoes from the Minneapolis farmers market , fresh basil from our garden, and supermarket mozzarella cheese (from Cub ). We most often make pizza on Sunday nights. After a busy weekend, we usually just wa...

On the rare occasion when I’m alone at home for dinner, I like to make something new or different, and something that I don’t think my wife will like. So that’s what I did in August when my wife went out for dinner with girlfriends. The pepper plants in my garden have been particularly prolific this year. Two jalapeno plants have produced a lot of nice peppers, and my son gave me five Serrano plants that are absolutely prodigious. My wife doesn’t like hot spicy food. I do. So I set about to make a recipe using jalapenos. My personal specialty is risotto. I have a favorite recipe for risotto with tomatoes. I decided to adapt it by adding the jalapenos and creating a dish that I envisioned calling “Risotto Diablo,” intending it to be devilishly hot. I planned to eat it with some leftover grilled salmon and carrots. What I’ve done with most of the jalapenos that I’ve harvested so far this summer is put them whole on the grill. After roasting them until they’re soft, I cut them open,...

We usually grill fish at least once a week. Usually it’s salmon. But this week my wife bought a nice looking piece of mahi mahi. I had a little time this afternoon to peruse recipes on Epicurious and decide on a menu. I found two recipes that featured roasted tomatoes. In Minnesota, we haven’t yet reached the peak of tomato season. In fact, we have only harvested 3 cherry tomatoes off our tomato plants so far. But I have previously written about my sister’s method of roasting tomatoes and then freezing them for use throughout the year. So the fact is, I used some of the roasted tomatoes from my freezer rather than running to a market for fresh tomatoes tonight. The first recipe that piqued my interest was for Greek-Style Mahi Mahi . It all sounded interesting. But I’d already decided to grill the fish, and the recipe called for broiling it with feta, herbs, and mayo. Still, the recipe called for making a tomato relish that sounded like a nice accompaniment. So I made that part ...

When I started talking about my plans to retire, the most common question was – What are you going to do with your time? I assured everyone that I had a long list of things that I wanted to do in retirement. But the top 3 are read, travel, and cook. READ My last day at the office was July 2. On July 3 my wife took me to the Edina public library. Now, of course, I read a lot at work – e-mail, newsletters, periodicals, reports. But I can’t tell you the last novel I read. It had been so long that the library had deactivated my account, and Linda had to check out the book for me. The first book I read in retirement was The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo . After I finished the book (loved it) and got my library account updated, I took Linda’s advice and downloaded the Hennepin County Library app for my iPad/iPhone. I also downloaded Overdrive Digital Library so that I could download and read eBooks. I downloaded and now am reading the second book in The Girl series – The Girl Who Playe...

When my wife and I accepted an invitation to spend July 4 weekend at my sister-in-law’s cabin, we volunteered to help with cooking. Our assignment was dinner on Friday night. We decided on salmon as the main course. I went to the internet to find a recipe/menu that would be good and creative but relatively simple to make, recognizing that the kitchen at the cabin has some limitations. (And besides, we weren’t going there to spend the whole afternoon cooking.) Here’s what I came up with: Pan Roasted Salmon Steaks with Sherry Vinegar-Honey Glaze and Spicy Tomato Relish and Parsleyed Potatoes . It’s a Bobby Flay recipe that I found on Food Network web site. But, I made a few changes. 1. I decided to grill the salmon rather than pan roast it. But I mean really, Bobby Flay is known for his grilling technique. In fact, the show that this recipe came from was called “Hot off the Grill.” 2. My wife doesn’t like spicy food. So I left the red pepper flakes out of the Spicy Tomato Relish. ...