Scenes from the MN State Fair 2013

Thanks to dreadfully hot weather, we almost didn't make it out to the State Fair this year. Luckily, the last two days the temps dropped into the 70's, perfect weather for looking at livestock and eating fried food. After a lot of bad reviews on Heavy Table, we didn't bother to try all the new foods this year. Some we wanted to try had crazy long lines (the day we went broke the all time attendance record). So, we had a nice mix of new items, classic foods and a few new to use things.

Breakfast was for the classics, Tom Thumb mini donuts, fried cheese curds, and just to make it a little more breakfasty, a latte.

We topped that off with a Double from Harry Singh's, fried bread sandwiching curried chickpeas and chutney. This was taste and a break from fried foods.

My Goldy Gopher mittens were on display, but I didn't take home a ribbon this year.

Matt need a Prono Pup with mustard. I still don't get the appeal of these, it just tastes like a hotdog covered in dough cornbread to me.

I was skeptical, but the Luminarium was actually really cool. Bet it was the place to be during the hot days since they use cold air to keep it inflated.

Comet corn was fun and tasty. Carmel puffcorn is coated in PCP (parmesan, cheddar and pretzels) and then dipped in liquid nitrogen. It's a cold treat, but it's popcorn and it's smoking.

We'd never tried Ollie's Cannoli's before, but had heard they were really good. This year they offered one with candied bacon which both of us tried. This is a really good cannoli, crunchy and sweet. Not sure the bacon added than much and next time I might just go more traditional.

Loved the Hawaiian dog, pizza dough wrapped around ham and pineapple and cooked golden brown. Perfect with a side of mustard.

A little break from eating to watch some women's barrel racing and visit the Miracle of Birth barn.

Then we found Izzy's Mini Donut Batter Crunch Ice Cream. Izzy's is our neighborhood ice cream parlor and we love their ice cream. This one was good, but I'm not sure I would have known it was mini donut without being told. I mainly tasted cinnamon. Of course it came with an Izzy's scoop on top, so we paired it with Salted Caramel.

Then we headed for a glass of Lift Bridge's Mini Donut Beer. Guess we shouldn't have waited until 2:30 since they were already sold out for the day! Ah well, we just contented ourselves with looking at the unusual chickens and headed home.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted. © 2007-2013 Kathy Lewinski

Dim Sum on a Stick

We are in the midst of a record breaking heatwave here in Minneapolis. Temps in the 90's with high humidity have not made going to the State Fair very attractive. But, but we need our food on a stick! Luckily, one of our local restaurants, Haute Dish, is offering a food on a stick menu served dim sum style until August 29th in air conditioned comfort.

Fourteen incredible bites on a stick all under $5 (cheaper than most food at the Fair actually), we had to try all of them! Each table was given a serving dish with holes in it for the sticks to stand in. Servers circled the restaurant with the different dishes throughout the evening. (Please excuse the bad, low light cell phone pics.)

Matt flashed the broken finger sign behind our first three dishes, tomatoes & melon, chicken liver bon bons and spicy scallop handrolls. (In case you are wondering, he caught his finger in the door of the car.) That was followed by a mini gyro (good, but maybe the weakest of the dishes of the night).

The next two dishes were amazing! Caesar Salad on a stick was a fried piece of brioche with melted cheese in the middle topped with a chicken drumette and a pickled anchovy. The richness paired with the pickling was perfect. Then it was the Carrot Corndog, a sous vide carrot coated in classic corndog breading with sweet peppers and a sriracha sauce. If we hadn't been told it was a carrot, we would have sworn it was a hot dog, the texture was perfect!

The servers called the next dish the most unusual, a foie gras lollypop edged with pop rocks. A fun pairing of rich and sweet with the special pop. The egg in gelee had a great texture and flavor especially for fans of head cheese like me. That baby corn done elote with a cheese, salty sauce was so good we ordered another round.

The chili and cornbread was a surprise. How they got real saucy chili into a fried square of cornbread crust I'll never know. Then came what Matt called the star of the whole meal, the BBQ Octopus. The Asian glaze with sesame seeds coated super tender octopus. We were told the octopus was sous vided for 12 hours before it went on the grill. If we weren't so full, we would have had another round of this.

A mini oyster po-boy was done very classically with perfectly fried, cornbread crusted oysters. The mix of textured in this one was great. Our last dish was a classic steak tartar topped with grated egg and rolled in cucumber (one of our favorites for their regular menu).

Everything ended with an ice cream sandwich on a stick, banana walnut ice cream between two chocolate cookies topped with a chocolate covered banana slice and a little peanut butter powder. I love frozen chocolate covered bananas and this sandwich tasted like just like a perfectly ripe banana dipped in dark chocolate.

Matt and I had such a great time trying all the different dishes and enjoying our "fair food" without the crowds and heat. (Ok, we'll probably still go to the fair before it ends Labor Day.) If you are in the Twin Cities area we highly recommend you get your yearly dose of food on a stick at Haute Dish.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted. © 2007-2013 Kathy Lewinski

Paulette Bakery

As I mentioned in my last post, we are in the midst of selling our house and moving into a loft downtown. The process of selling with showings and inspections has us in and out of the house at all hours. And the process of setting up a new place has us sitting around a practically empty space waiting for deliveries. This morning we had to be at the new place for an early morning mattress delivery and then stay out of the old house until afternoon while the prospective new owner looks at buying some of our furniture. I have to say it is all getting a little old and it was a struggle to get up at 6am this morning to head out. Luckily, the site of the Paulette Bakery truck in our new neighborhood made my day.

Oh yes, fresh baked French pastries and hot Peace coffee waiting for me on the corner! I think I practically ran to it.

I deserve to forget the diet for one morning and sink my teeth into this beautiful chocolate croissant. It was so light and SO buttery. You can really taste the quality of the butter used. Two soft, dark ribbons of chocolate run through the inside making it even more decadent. Best of all, she is in our neighborhood twice a week, plenty of time for us to try the almond and savory versions.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted. © 2007-2013 Kathy Lewinski

Curry Turkey Pasta Salad and an Update

Where oh, where have we been? Well, we have been continuing our diets, which doesn't always lead to the most exciting of menus. That said, the diet has been going well, Matt is down 34 pounds and I am down 23. I'm not saying we don't still eat well, just not as many fun things to share.

On top of that, we have just gone into contract on a new kitchen...

Ok, not just a kitchen, but the whole loft around it. We are selling our house and moving into Minneapolis's downtown North Loop neighborhood. We are looking forward to being in a walkable neighborhood surrounded by restaurants like Sapor, Borough, Bachelor Farmer, Smack Shack, Black Sheep Pizza, 112 Eatery, Bar La Grassa, and Be'wiched, just to name a few. Uh oh, there goes that diet!

With getting the house cleaned up, preparing for a garage sale and finding a new place to buy, we are looking for quick, satisfying meals these days. Over the weekend we roasted a turkey with friends, so we decided to turn the leftovers into a pasta salad. (You could easily do this with chicken too.) Curry powder gives this salad lots of flavor, carrots and celery add a crunch and golden raisins provide a perfect touch of sweetness. We use light mayo and non-fat yogurt to keep the calories low.

Curry Turkey Pasta Salad

4oz pasta
1 t cider vinegar
4 oz roasted turkey, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1/4 c chopped red onion
2 T golden raisins
2 T plain non-fat yogurt
3 T light mayonaise
2 T skim milk
1 T mild curry powder
salt

Cook the pasta according to directions. Drain and rinse with cold water. Put into a bowl and stir in vinegar. Let sit a few minutes to cool an absorb vinegar.

Mix everything but the salt into the pasta. Taste and add salt as needed.

Chill covered for at least an hour.

2 servings
About 430 calories per serving

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted. © 2007-2013 Kathy Lewinski

Spanish Chorizo Fried Rice

The other night Matt had a meeting leaving me on my own for dinner. I was craving some rice, so I went looking through the fridge and freezer to find things to add to it. What I came up with was this mix of Spanish and Asian flavors.

I have to tell you this really worked. The smoked paprika flavor of the sausage worked so well with the sweetness of the peas. I kept the sauce simple, just some salty soy and sweet/hot chili sauce. The sausage also a nice chewy texture. I can't want to make this for Matt now.

Spanish Chorizo Fried Rice
Make sure to get a Spanish and not Mexican chorizo for this dish. The Spanish version is a hard sausage link.

1/4 dry white rice, like jasmine or basmati
1 t olive oil
1 oz Spanish chorizo, cut into small pieces
1 c frozen sugar snap peas
1/2 t soy sauce
1 t sweet chili sauce
1 large egg

Cook the rice and let it sit in the open air for a little bit to dry out. You don't have to do this, but it gives it a nice texture in the finished dish.

In a skillet or wok, heat the olive oil over high heat. Add the chorizo and sauté for about a minute. Add the peas and cooked rice. Cook until the the peas are warmed through, stirring occasionally. Stir in the soy sauce and chili sauce. Move the rice mixture to the side and crack the egg in the middle of the pan. Stir, breaking the yoke and blending. As the egg set stir into the rest of the dish.

1 serving
Approximately 486 calories

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted. © 2007-2013 Kathy Lewinski