The Hot Dish Preview: 8/29/08

Filed under: Hot Dish Preview

In tomorrow's edition of The Hot Dish, changes on Eat Street, great Italian bread, a new Jucy Lucy contender and a sneak peek at next week's City Pages food reviews.

Also, The Hot Dish talks to Chef Tim McKee of the newly opened Barrio Tequila Bar and Cafe at 925 Nicollet Avenue. Barrio offers a new twist on tequila-sipping: The compadre, a flavored companion chaser or side that accompanies the straight liquor.

"To our knowledge, no one else is doing this," says McKee. "There's the obvious lime and salt or the sangrita, but we've expanded that. We've got a tamarind cola that works well, spicy grapefruit juice, and cantaloupe which is quite excellent."

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Posted by James Norton at August 28, 2008 1:10 AM | Comments (0)

 

The best thing I ate at the fair

Yep, that'd be the chocolate covered bacon served at the Famous Dave's booth near the Grandstand. They're calling them "Pig Lickers" and damn are they good. Usually, new foods at the fair strike me as ill-thought-out gimmicks, but this one had me wishing I had thought of it myself.

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Posted by Rachel Hutton at August 27, 2008 8:49 AM | Comments (1)

 

Barrio opens tonight

Filed under: Restaurants

The guys behind La Belle Vie, Solera, and Smalley's Caribbean BBQ have partnered with local real-estate developers Tim Rooney and Ryan Burnet to open a new eatery on Nicollet Mall.

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Posted by Rachel Hutton at August 26, 2008 5:57 AM | Comments (6)

 

The Recipe File: Coastal Pasta

Filed under: Recipes

Coastal Seafoods does a consistently fine job of keeping us poor middle-of-the-country suckers stocked up on the kind of sea-dwelling goodies that we wouldn't, in a less enlightened age, probably get to taste — let alone cook with on a regular basis.

Therefore it was to Coastal Seafoods I reported in an effort to recreate one of my favorite improvised cooking experiences. About a year ago I'd slaved over the orange-saffron butter sea scallops from Ana Sortun's book "Spice," with positive but not dazzling results. The next day, I threw the left over scallops into a pasta with cream sauce, bacon and sun-dried tomatoes — pure gastronomic poetry, and about 1/4th the effort.

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Posted by James Norton at August 26, 2008 1:09 AM | Comments (0)

 

Meat-on-a-stick matchup

Filed under: Food

Don't make the mistake of thinking the state fair's generically labeled corn dogs and the heavily branded Pronto Pups are the same. Here's a side-by-side comparison:

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Posted by Rachel Hutton at August 25, 2008 3:41 PM | Comments (1)

 

Eww!

I've never seen any food I wouldn't at least try at the state fair, until I came across this in the Creative Activities building...

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Posted by Rachel Hutton at August 25, 2008 12:33 PM | Comments (5)

 

Can bakers be sellouts?

Filed under: Events

Browsing the Creative Activities building at the state fair, I was surprised to see so many packaged food products being promoted among the winning cakes, cookies, pies, and unidentifiable food objects. In some cases, you could hardly see the baked goods between the bags and boxes.

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Posted by Rachel Hutton at August 25, 2008 8:53 AM | Comments (2)

 

I Can't Believe It's Not Paint Thinner Vol. 10

Filed under: I Can't Believe It's Not Paint Thinner

Popov vodka shares the same sob story other bottom-shelf drinks we've samples: A mega-corporation owns a bunch of classy, world-famous brands that the companies are more than happy to claim as their own. Meanwhile, the cheap stuff is neglected profitable dynamo that keeps the whole company afloat. That stuff doesn't even get its own Web site, or even a mention on their corporate master's site. Popov is one of these beverage industry's orphans.

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Posted by Ben Palosaari at August 22, 2008 3:43 PM | Comments (0)

 

Drink of the Week: The Bacon Manhattan

Filed under: Drink of the Week

The Bacon Manhattan
Town Talk Diner

Hi there, dear reader! I know what you must be thinking; those crazy dudes at the Town Talk Diner must have read my mind. There are many fine drinks in town, but not enough of them are made with bacon! Well, fret no more.

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Posted by Michelle Leon at August 22, 2008 5:30 AM | Comments (0)

 

The Cylon Tea Was Created By Man

Filed under: Shopping

The clerk at Holy Land Deli said they carried another 11 varieties of Cylon tea... but I was only able to find 10 of them on the shelves.

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Posted by James Norton at August 21, 2008 1:34 AM | Comments (2)

 

Pig Roast

Filed under: Food

Sometimes special occasions--birthdays, graduations, anniversaries--call for going whole hog, and when that's the case, roasting a pig is my favorite way to feed a carnivorous crowd.

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Posted by Rachel Hutton at August 20, 2008 6:42 PM | Comments (3)

 

Big E shares a secret weapon

Filed under: Recipes

Eric Austin's Sweet Potato Corn Muffins can help tide your soul food cravings until you make it to Bourbon Street Steakhouse...

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Posted by Rachel Hutton at August 19, 2008 4:00 PM | Comments (1)

 

Boxed wine rebrands itself

Filed under: Brews, Etc.

Ten years ago, you may have been mortified to see your family members toting their own boxes of Franzia blush to wedding receptions so they wouldn't have to buy drinks at the cash bar. These days, they can probably get away with it by telling people they're being conscientious of their carbon footprint.

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Posted by Rachel Hutton at August 18, 2008 10:04 AM | Comments (1)

 

I can't believe it's not paint thinner: Volume 9

Filed under: I Can't Believe It's Not Paint Thinner

The information available on André is sparse. My first search yielded a link to André Champagne Productions, makers of some truly awesome looking movies. I also stumbled upon a yahoo.com forum where some puzzled boozer appears mystified as to why André Champagne gives him a headache the next day (most common answer: it’s a crappy drink and you drank too much). Eventually, I discovered that Ernest & Gallo are actually the makers of the mighty André, a $3 champagne often used for wedding toasts, budget New Year’s Parties, and college students trying to be classy.

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Posted by Jessica Armbruster at August 15, 2008 5:33 PM | Comments (4)

 

Drink of the Week: Point Beer's Nude Beach

Filed under: Drink of the Week

Wisconsinites may know Stevens Point Brewery for its Point Special brand, a mainstream lager known as "The Blue Bullet." And while Chippewa Falls-based Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co. produces roughly 10 times the volume, Point's century-old company is now under new ownership, and rapidly growing sales and increasing distribution with its moderately priced craft brews. (They've been making four James Page brands since the company went out of business in 2005, in case you were wondering.)

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Posted by Rachel Hutton at August 15, 2008 9:28 AM | Comments (2)