food { Cafe Presto's coffeehouse to open Wednesday Jan 20

Cafe Presto's owner Pete felt the same way I did, there was no place in Rochester to get a good cup of espresso. Yeah there are a dozen chains like Dunn Bros, Starbucks, and Caribou, but with the closing of Cyber Cafe and Double Click the options for coffee from a locally owned placed dropped to "Bravo Espresso". "Bravo Espresso" makes good coffee don't get me wrong. But they are located in the Malls and subject to mall hours. Pete's new project "Cafe Di Milano" will be a coffee bar and sandwich shop. Nerdwife and I had breakfast in Cafe Presto this morning and Pete and his nephew Stefan treated us to a cup of coffee from their new place. It was good. He also gave us a tour of the place. Its modern, cozy and he purchased some top of the line espresso makers. They are doing a soft opening this weekend to work out the kinks and they are scheduled to go live on Jan 20. CDM is two doors down from Cafe Presto and right across from St Mary's hospital. I recommend checking them out and supporting a local shop. His beans are roasted special order from a place in LaCenter and it was good.

P.S. He is also excited because they will be offering Chicago style hotdogs...real Chicago style. I'm looking forward to it!

food { global food security

This Ministry of Agriculture film from Japan has many, many elements that can apply to America. We face many of the same issues as other nations do and it would not hurt us to look at what others are doing to help fix our problems.

food { the farmers market: good, quality eats dirt cheap

Nerdwife and I have been going to farmer's markets for years. We started about a year after we were married. The St. Paul Farmer's Market is one of the best I've experienced. It features only produce and meats from farms within 75 miles of the City. It was huge and had an amazing selection. Homemade breads, meats, honey, and a large selection of vegetables. Everyone there were owner/operators which is a fancy way of saying they were from family farms or co-ops. $20 could buy you two canvas bags full of fresh, minimally handled, beautiful, tasty food. It was great for people on budgets to get produce as $20 in the grocery store could probably buy you as much, but the quality would not be as good.

The market always has a certain energy to it as well. Musicians come and play. Artists sell their wares (the St Paul Farmer's Market is in the heart of Lower Town, where the artistic collectives were located).

We were excited when we moved to Rochester and heard they had a farmer's market. We were sad though, the first year there were only a handful of vendors. But that has changed. Every year it keeps getting bigger. Its now coming on par with the St Paul one, just on a smaller scale. Musicians are there now. A great florist provides a weekly source of beautiful things for our house. I always buy the radishes because I'm a sucker for radishes.

We use the farmers market to supplement our CSA share. I'm in heaven when the tomatoes are in season.

I recommend Farmer's Markets if you area has them. Especially if you are on a budget, it may prove to be a great, local source of high quality produce that won't break your wallet. Its also a great way to meet the people who grow your food. Hear good music. Be outside.

Check it out:

ROCHESTER DOWNTOWN FARMERS MARKET
SATURDAY MAY 3RD THROUGH SATURDAY OCTOBER 25TH
4TH ST SE & 4TH AVE SE, ROCHESTER, MN
7:30 AM UNTIL NOON
http://rochesterdowntownfarmersmarket.org/


St Paul Farmer's Market
http://www.stpaulfarmersmarket.com/

economy { American Retailers rationing food?

Interesting. I don't have TV, so I'm curious if our media is covering this or not?

food { Organic...Agri-Corps

Know which brand owns your favorite Organic brand. We buy from local producers as much as possible and directly from the farmer (via CSA or Farmer's Market) when in season, but I know the realities of economics. In a way this makes organic foods more available. In another way, it dilutes the meaning of the word organic. I doubt highly these corporations maintain high organic standards, and cut corners to maximize profits wherever possible, if not even pressure via lobbying to change the criteria for becoming organic certified to suit their needs. Choose your evil.

(originally encountered on boingboing.net)

eat_club { Mushroom Gnocchi

I cooked mushroom gnocchi for the first time last night. This is a dish Nerdwife can make in her sleep. I had a bit of guidance from her, but here is the recipe:

Items you will need:
1large saucepans
1 pot large enough to boil 2 packages of gnocchi in
1 knife
1 strainer
2 packages of potato Gnocchi
1 bottle of white wine
a little rosemary
1 small onion (red)
1 small head of fresh garlic (but dried will work too)
1 cup of vegetable broth
some pepper
some salt
some olive oil
1 bunch of large spinach (or chard, any tough green that can been cooked)
copious numbers of crimini (baby portabella) mushrooms, I used ~25, sliced

What you do:

Put some oil into a large saucepan with some salt and pepper, dice up the onion and garlic and add as well as all the mushrooms. Do not go overboard with the oil, as the mushrooms will absorb it rather readily. Cook this for some time, until the mushrooms are hot and soft, maybe even slightly rubbery, but not crisp. While the mushrooms are cooking, boil water with a little sea salt (or regular salt) and add the gnocchi. Boil until the gnocchi float to the top. When this is ready remove the gnocchi from the water.

Once the mushrooms have achieved the desired tenderness (and some stuff should also have blackened to the bottom of the pan), quickly dump in 1 glass of white wine and the cup of vegetable broth and stir. This should deglazed the goodness off the bottom of the pan and into the liquid. Boil this mixture on high heat until about 50% of the liquid has evaporated off. At this point add the spinach and cook until the spinach wilts (only a few minutes). Once the spinach has wilted, add the gnocchi in and stir and mix until hot. Serve immediately with Parmesan cheese grated over the top and the rest of the bottle of wine. Enjoy!

Other ingredients recommended to mix things up:

red pepper for a kick
red wine instead of white wine
broccoli or carrots instead of spinach
bok choy, ginger, orange and soy sauce

You can basically experiment the hell out of this recipe. Note though this is a vegetarian recipe (we use vegan vegetable broth) so if you decide to meat it up, you will need to watch the olive oil.