A Fall Evening

Sometimes, an impromptu, informal gathering knocks even the most well thought out party off it's feet.  Add grilled meat, vegetables, bread, wine and great friends, and it seems that the whole world is standing still, waiting for you to take the first bite.  As I walked up my friend's driveway, with a couple of bags of farmer's market vegetables, some sirloin steak, and various sausages, the smell of fall in the air made me love drunk.  The nights are getting shorter here in Minneapolis, the air was stinging my nose with the smell of falling leaves and the slight aroma of someone burning a fire in their back yard, the smells that bring you back to your childhood, playing outside for the last few times before it was too cold to bare.
I could already hear the staccato beats of laughter and silence that comes from a party whose life had taken on that of it's own.  The faint sounds of jazz music was playing over the radio as the light of the last sunbeams of the day danced across the now wilting garden that once flourished with another season's vegetables and herbs.  There were barely six of us foodies, but all were ready for an impromptu grilling session.
As I started the wood burning, readying the coals, I heard the sound of a cork pop.  It was a Spanish red night.  The deep, rich, almost jammy flavors of the wine, seemed to compliment the fire burning in the corner.  I marinated our steak in a simple olive oil, garlic and fennel frawn marinade.  I feel that simple, less complicated things always end up tasting better, then a fussed over dish that has fifty ingredients.  The simple and fresh flavors of garlic and fennel accentuate the grassy flavor of the beef.  Along with our beef, we grilled many fresh vegetables.  Eggplant, onions, zucchini, mushrooms, peppers, fennel and tomatoes to name a few, all fresh, and un-marinated.  "Not even olive oil?" you may ask?  No, olive oil must go on AFTER the vegetables are done, with the thought that people want to taste the fresh and fruity olive oil splashed over the crisp grilled veg, again keeping it simple.  Along with grilled bread, rubbed with a clove of garlic, this was the fall meal of the year.  Simplicity at it's best.  Sadly there are only a few more evenings left like this in Minneapolis.  Soon, we will all take to the indoors, and tuck into slow roasted meats and stews.  Maybe I am looking forward to that.  But being outside by a fire, eating an amazing meal with friends is hard to beat in my book of life.  My only regret?  Not bringing my camera...

Home made Dill Pickles - super easy way

Many people are intimidated by canning.  I certainly was, and then I dove into it and found it was pretty easy.  I went on a canning spree, I canned everything in sight.  I especially focused on pickles, as I have yet to meet a pickle I didn't like.  I did this for a few years, and found that I was giving away more jars of pickles than I was consuming myself.  This is all fine and dandy, until you are divorced and money gets tight.  So, the other night I tried doing a small batch of pickles and WOW, did they turn out great. 
The thing about canning pickles, is that you have to use a hot (boiling) water bath to actually "can" your product.  With pickles, this often results in a slightly mushy or flaccid cucumber.  I like my pickles crispy folks!  Screw the pickles that melt in your mouth and not in your hand bullshit.  And since I was only doing a few jars, I figured I would just keep them in my refrigerator anyways.  So here is my easy recipe for dill pickles.

You will need:
A few jars (I got mine from Ikea for less than $1 a jar)
Enough pickling cucumbers to fill the jars (you usually need more than you think)
5 cups of Vinegar
5 cups water
3/4  cup of pickling salt
1/4  cup sugar
10 minced garlic gloves (yes, I love garlic)
3 Tbsp of  whole yellow mustard seeds
5 Tbsp of dill weed
Fresh sprigs of dill (for each jar)

Combine vinegar, water, salt, sugar, garlic, mustard seeds and dill weed in a large (not stainless steal) pot and boil for 5 min.  There is your brine, yup that easy.
Pack your jars with cucumbers (however you want to cut them) with some dill and pour brine over cucumbers until full.  Put in refrigerator for a week, and start enjoying!

You could mix it up a bit depending on what you want to pickle, or play around with spices if you want.  Because these are pickled in the refrigerator, these babies come out crisp!  Let me know what you think.

 
 

My Mission

Hello food lovers!  Let me preface this blog with the fact that I LOVE food (and wine).  I don't just love it, I breath it.  When I was married, my wife at the time used to give me relentless grief that instead of reading books, like a normal human being, I would read cook books in bed as if they were fiction novels.  Instead of buying Sports Illustrated or Maxim Magazine, I would buy and devour Food and Wine or Bon Appetit Magazines.  I would taste something in a restaurant, and spend hours trying to recreate it at home, and then improve upon it.
Yes, I am one of those people that carry around a notebook and a camera, at the ready to write down recipes or food finds I come across in my daily life.

I am not writing these posts to prove anything.  I am not a chef, or want to be, I will leave that up to the creative geniuses that can taste something before it even hits their taste buds.  I am, however, a regular guy, leading a somewhat regular life, that wants to document my food experiences.  This blog is not here to serve the public as a one stop site, to find all the best food and restaurants in the Twin Cities MN.  This is a blog that will give you an inside look at recipes and places I try, welcoming comments and suggestions.  I am not trying to be the best, I am just me, Adam, a guy that lives in one of the most underrated foodie towns in the USA.  I am out to discover what the MSP (Minneaplis - St. Paul) has to offer, and maybe discovering a little about myself along the way.  I realize that there are many foodie blogs and sites out there, and maybe my narcissistic intentions with this blog is off putting to some, but I am always up for a challenge.  Please feel free to suggest anything to try!