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Dane County Farmers’ Market Cook Off
#DCFMHunt

The stars of the show: Wisconsin Maple Syrup, Dill, and Asparagus

Apparently it’s been 5 long years since my last blog entry, and the DCFM scavenger hunt seemed like a perfect excuse for a new entry. I’m passionate about my brunches (and cooking shows), so I was inspired to come up with a meal that paid homage to brunch featuring a predetermined set of ingredients. I used the second list of ingredients (asparagus, maple syrup, and dill), although I inadvertently ended up using all of the ingredients from the third list as well. Almost all of the ingredients were purchased at the DCFM or at Willy St. Coop. I’ve recently been brewing beer and pickling vegetables, which gave me the idea to incorporate some of these techniques into the meal. I tried to use the ingredients in different aspects of the dish; for example, I used the dill to infuse the vodka and pickle the vegetables. I also used the maple syrup as part of the chicken gravy, in the waffle batter, and in the vodka infusion. This meal was intended for one person (although I ended up with enough for two), so measurements are approximate. I generally like to taste a lot as I go, adjusting seasonings as needed, and fortunately it paid off as this meal was delicious!

Dill and Maple Syrup-Infused Vodka

Ingredients:

• ½ bunch fresh dill
• ½ t. Wisconsin maple syrup (I used home made)
  

  Dill and Maple Syrup-Infused Vodka

• 325 mL Vodka (Death’s Door)

Directions:

1. Place dill and maple syrup in a mason jar.
2. Add vodka and let sit for about a week. It will be stronger the longer you let it sit.
3. Enjoy with your favorite Bloody Mary recipe!

Dane County Farmers’ Market Bloody Mary

Ingredients:

• ½ lime, juiced
• Dash of celery salt
• ½ T horseradish
• 1 pint tomato juice (I like Don’s Produce)
• ½ T Worcestershire sauce
• A few dashes of hot sauce, depending on how spicy you like it
• 2 oz. (depending on how tipsy you want to get) of Dill and Maple Syrup-Infused Vodka
• Garnish (I made home made dill pickled asparagus, cukes, carrots, green onions, and garlic – recipe to follow; also added Marieke Aged Gouda and Hook’s 20 year cheddar and maple syrup candied bacon)

Directions:

1. Add lime juice, celery salt, and horseradish into a glass. Muddle to blend.
2. Pour the tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce into the mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine and pour into a glass filled with ice and infused vodka.
3. Garnish with veggies, cheese, bacon, and whatever else suits your mood!

Quick Pickled Veggies

Ingredients:

• 5 cloves of garlic, peeled
• ½ onion, sliced
• 1 cup Champagne vinegar
• 3 t. salt
• ½ bunch fresh dill
• A dash each of celery seeds, coriander seeds, and mustard seeds.
• 1 t. peppercorns
• Whatever veggies you want to pickle! (I used asparagus, cucumber, carrots, green onions, and garlic)

Pickled Farmers’ Market Veggies

Directions:

1. Boil about 2 cups of water in a saucepan, and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the garlic and onion and cook for a few minutes.
2. Add vinegar and salt, increasing the heat to a boil to dissolve the salt. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
3. Prepare a jar by adding the dill, seeds, and peppercorns. Add the veggies and pour the brine over the vegetables, ensuring that they are completely covered. Let sit for a few hours or more, and enjoy with your bloody!

Chicken and Waffles

Fried Chicken and Maple Syrup Gravy Ingredients:

• Sunflower oil, for frying
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 T. hot sauce (more or less depending on how spicy you like it)
• 3 chicken tenders (I used about ½ lb)
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 t. salt
• ½ t. pepper
• ½ t. paprika
• 1 t. garlic powder
• 2 T unsalted butter
• 1 green onion, sliced, plus more for garnish
• ¾ c. chicken broth (I used low sodium)
• Maple syrup (about 1 to 2 T to taste), plus more for serving if desired

Fried Chicken and Maple Syrup Gravy Directions:

Fried Chicken and Waffles with Maple Gravy

1. Add about ½ inch of oil into a large skillet over high heat.
2. Whisk the hot sauce and egg in a bowl, then coat the chicken in the egg mixture.
3. Combine flour, salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder (add spices to taste) and reserve a T of the mixture for later. Then coat the chicken in the seasoned flour, shaking off any excess flour.
4. Put the chicken in the hot oil and fry until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes per side, until the chicken is cooked through.
5. Once chicken is cooked, put on a plate with paper towel to cool slightly and discard the extra oil.
6. Melt the butter into the same skillet that you cooked the chicken in and add the reserved flour to thicken. Add the scallions, stirring with a whisk, then slowly add the broth. Allow the gravy to simmer, whisking until it is smooth. Add a couple drops of maple syrup, to taste. In the meantime, cook those waffles!

Maple Waffle Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1 c. flour
• ¾ c. + 4 T milk
• ¼ c. vegetable oil
• ½ T Wisconsin maple syrup
• 2 t. baking powder
• Dash salt
• ¼ t. vanilla

Maple Waffle Directions:

1. Preheat your waffle iron.
2. Beat your egg with a hand mixer, and then add the rest of your ingredients, beating until smooth.
3. Spray the waffle iron with a nonstick cooking spray or butter it.
4. Pour the waffle mix into the iron and cook until golden brown.
5. Top with chicken, gravy, and more maple syrup as desired. Serve with Dill and Maple Syrup-Infused Bloody Mary!

The final products!

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Taste of Madison… one of my favorite foodie events in Madison (others include Restaurant Week, Food and Wine Show, and Taste of the Midwest). Over 80 restaurants and caterers come together around the Capitol to raise money for Cerebral Palsy – what a great way to support the cause! There’s also beer and wine along with three stages for performers.

I don’t even know where to begin this blog, with over 200 menu items it was so hard to choose! Unfortunately, I neglected to take pictures of all the food I tried on Saturday, but I can still remember many of the dishes. Here are some of dishes I sampled over the weekend: squash curry from Bahn Thai, jerk chicken nachos from Bluephies, chicken tikka masala from Taj Indian Restaurant, hand-battered halibut and coconut shrimp from Joey’s Seafood and Grill, steak de burgo from Johnny’s Italian Steakhouse, fruit kabobs from The Melting Pot, and fried Wisconsin cheese curds from The Old Fashioned. In case you were wondering, I shared with friends 😉

I’m personally a sucker for steak, so I loved the steak de burgo, which is a tenderloin steak smothered in a garlic, herb, and butter sauce with a side of mashed potatoes. It won first place in the American foods category. I also really enjoyed the squash curry and the chicken tikka masala with naan. Although I didn’t try the curry chicken or Dorowot from Buraka (East African cuisine) since I eat there fairly regularly anyways, I was happy to see they won 2nd and 3rd place in the Ethnic category, respectively. I would highly recommend checking out their booth or restaurant on State St, but more about that later. I’m a little upset I missed out on the opor ayam (marinated chicken breast, potato, bamboo shoots, and lemon grass in a coconut broth) at Bandung Indonesian Restaurant, but all the more reason to try it later on. Check out my slideshow for pictures of food/vendors!

If you missed Taste this year, make sure you check it out next year! Feel free to share your favorite dishes from the Taste!

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Sorry about the lack of blog posts lately! Just starting out my third semester for my master’s program so it’s kind of hard to keep up with blogs and home cooked meals when I’m doing homework all the time 😦

Anyways, today’s blog post is dedicated to home made pizza! I’m not much of a baker, but one of my sous chefs suggested that we make a home made pizza dough. Since I don’t have much experience in this department, I looked up a few recipes for a good dough. I used a basic pizza dough recipe from Emeril that I found on Food Network.

Here goes:

Basic Pizza Dough Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup warm water (105 to 115 F)
• 1 (1/4 oz) envelope active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• yellow cornmeal for sprinkling the baking sheet

Directions:

• In a large bowl, combine water, yeast, honey, and 1 tablespoon EVOO. Stir to combine and let sit until mixture is foamy (about 5 min)
• Add 1.5 cups flour and the salt, mixing by hand until it’s all incorporated and the mixture is smooth
• Continue adding flour, 1/4 cup at a time, working the dough after each addition until dough is smooth but still slightly sticky (you may not need all the flour – I used about 2.5 cups)
• Turn the dough out onto a slightly floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth but still slightly tacky (3-5 min)
• Oil a large mixing bowl with the remaining EVOO, place dough in the bowl and turn to coat with the oil
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in a warm place until dough doubles in size (about 1.5 hours)

The dough recipe itself is pretty easy and the website also provides variations to the dough (parmesan pizza dough and oregano pizza dough), but I just used the original recipe.

Interestingly, there were no directions for after the dough rises so I had to figure that part out by myself. Based on suggestions from the review, I decided to precook the dough for about 7 minutes (give or take a couple minutes) at 425F to get a crisper crust and avoid a doughy center. Don’t forget to add the cornmeal to the bottom of the pizza pan prior to cooking!

Next it was time for toppings, the best part! We decided to do a white alfredo sauce instead of a traditional red pizza sauce – just bought some from the store to keep it simple. Other toppings included a blend of Italian cheeses, chopped heirloom tomatoes, plenty of garlic, chopped canned artichokes, and chicken. I  cut up the chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces, seasoned them with garlic and Italian seasoning, then fried them in a pan with olive oil and some more garlic. Once the dough was precooked, I added the alfredo, cheese, chicken, garlic, tomatoes, and artichokes. I baked it in the oven for about 20 minutes, until the cheese was melted and the crust looked nice and crispy. Cooking time is dependent on toppings! The pizza turned out wonderfully – the tomatoes balanced out the white sauce, the garlic was amazing, and I just love the taste of artichokes on pizza and in pasta! Hope you enjoyed, I am off to the Taste of Madison so stay tuned for upcoming blog posts!

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Who didn’t love that stupid boxed macaroni and cheese as a kid? I know I did, but it got progressively worse as I got older… Even more than the boxed macaroni, I loved when my mom made home-made macaroni and cheese. After trying lots of recipes and tweaking them, I’ve come up with a couple that I really like. Tonight I made one of them.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb elbow macaroni, elbow macaroni twists, or whatever kind of pasta you like with your cheese
• 2 cups shredded gruyere cheese (or you can substitute swiss for a cheaper version)
• 1 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
• 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/4 cup flour
• pinch of nutmeg
• salt and pepper
• plain or Italian style breadcrumbs (enough to sprinkle on top)
• 1.5 cups broccoli florets (optional)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 F
• Boil a large pot of salted water for the macaroni noodles (you can add a little olive oil too to prevent stickiness)
• Cook pasta according to package directions (maybe take out a minute or two early while the pasta is still firm – it will finish cooking in the oven)
• Meanwhile, add the 2 cups of milk into a small saucepan and heat on medium-low (don’t boil!!!)
• In another large saucepan, melt the 3 tablespoons of butter
• Once the butter melts, add the 1/4 c flour and whisk
• Continue to whisk and slowly add the warm milk
• When all the milk is added, heat for a couple more minutes until the mixture is thickened and smooth
• Remove from heat and add the cheese, stirring to melt it
• Add a pinch of nutmeg, then add salt and pepper to taste, stirring into the cheese mixture
• Add the broccoli florets and the pasta to the cheese mixture and stir well to coat the pasta
• Pour the mixture into a baking dish, sprinkle bread crumbs on top, and bake for about 20-25 minutes, until hot and bubbly

Since both gruyere and sharp cheddar go well with Sauvignon Blanc, I paired that with my mac and cheese. Delicious. Happy eating!

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“The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook.” ~ Julia Child

Julia was spot on with this quote!

In honor of Anthony Bourdain’s upcoming 100th episode of No Reservations, I had to cook a good meal. It might not be Tony’s favorite meal, but I sure do love a filet mignon paired with some beautifully cooked veggies!

Prior to enjoying my succulent steak, I took Julia’s advice and went with some “diet food.” In this case, my favorite go-to salad. I picked up some fresh red leaf lettuce at the farmer’s market the other day so I couldn’t let it go to waste. I don’t measure any of the ingredients in my salad dressing, I just make it to taste based on how many I’m serving. The most important part is to make sure you have a good extra virgin olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar. I use a small mixing dish and add some balsamic vinegar. Next I add a clove of minced garlic, a small half teaspoon of sugar, followed by a few dashes of light soy sauce (gives it a little zing). Finally, I top it all off with the EVOO and mix well. I know most dressings usually call for 1 part balsamic to 2 parts EVOO, but I prefer to do 1.5 parts EVOO to 2 parts balsamic (I like the bite). However, like I said, I usually make this dressing to taste so it’s up to you how much balsamic and EVOO to add. I finish up the salad by adding some croutons and a few small pieces of gouda cheese. I frequently get requests for this dressing recipe, and this is as close as I’ll come to telling you how to make it. 🙂

Meanwhile, I peeled and rinsed some fresh carrots that I got from the farmer’s market the other day. I mixed them with some olive oil, brown sugar, and a dash of salt, then roasted them in a baking dish at 400 F for about 20 minutes, until tender. Gotta love that sweet taste of brown sugar with the carrots!

I also purchased some bacon-wrapped filet mignons from Jacobson’s Deli and seasoned them with freshly ground sea salt and pepper. Then I grilled them to medium rare, about 6 minutes per side.While the carrots were cooking I covered the steaks up to finish cooking and stay warm. They turned out perfectly and tasted amazing! Perfect with a nice glass of cabernet sauvignon. Well, time to go catch No Reservations Beruit! Hope you all enjoyed, and feel free to comment with your own favorite steak recipes or go-to meals!

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“He was a wise man who invented beer.” ~ Plato

Ahhh beer. What a great way to end the day and a short two-week summer vacation before the fall semester starts up again. But that’s not how the day started. I had a couple free passes for Mt. Olympus in Wisconsin Dells, so why not use them?! Although I’ve been to the Dells countless times, I’ve never been to Mt. Olympus, so thought I’d check it out today. I had a great time, but probably wouldn’t pay to go there. Our passes only included the water park area so we didn’t get to see the theme park, although we did have to walk all the way through the theme park to get to the water park. Lucky for us, the lines were short so it was easy to do everything in a few hours. The water rides were mediocre in size and thrill, but it was great to spend the day outdoors and in the water.

Next it was off to Pirate’s Cove Adventure Golf for a quick round of mini golf before dinner. I’ve always loved going to this mini golf course where you can play up to 5 18-hole courses, some more difficult than others. Obviously, I chose the Pirates Challenge, which is the hardest course. I didn’t quite shoot par (some of those par 3’s really catch you off-guard!), but I was pretty proud of my hole-in-one on the 17th hole.

After a long day of water slides and mini golf, it was time for dinner. We decided to visit Moose Jaw Pizza and Brewing Company to sample some beer and pizza. Moose Jaw offers 6 year-round microbrews along with 4 seasonals. What better way to enjoy a pizza than with samples of all the microbrews?! The 10-pointer includes Apple Ale, Dells Chief Amber Ale, Dells Pilsner, Golden Lager, Honey Ale, Kilbourn Hop Ale, Milk Stout, Pale Tourist Ale, Raspberry Creme Ale, and Summer Wheat. The Honey Ale and Golden Lager were relatively light, and somewhat lacking in flavor. My boyfriend enjoyed the Apple Ale and the Raspberry Creme Ale the most. I found these to be very interesting, but I do not prefer fruity beers. I like em hoppy so I found myself taking larger samples of the Dells Chief Amber Ale, Dells Pilsner, Kilbourn Hop Ale, and Pale Tourist Ale. Among these, my favorite was the Pale Tourist Ale, which was similar to an IPA and had a higher alcohol content. These beer samplers perfectly complemented our personal pizzas. I ordered a mini canadian bacon and pineapple pizza and my boyfriend tried a taco pizza. The crusts were much thicker than I expected and they were good, but I prefer a thinner crust on my pizza. Guess we should’ve gone half and half on a larger pizza. There were plenty of pineapples, but I was a little disappointed with the amount of canadian bacon on the pizza. The taco pizza was prepared with taco meat covered with melted cheddar and mozzarella topped with tomatoes, lettuce, and taco chips (which were strikingly similar to Doritos… hmmm…), served with a side of taco sauce and sour cream. Like my pizza, the taco pizza was also lacking in the meat department and the Doritos were a bit excessive. Nonetheless, the pizza and beer were a great end to an amazing day and we left the restaurant happy and satiated.

After all is said and done, I would recommend Noah’s Ark to anyone who is paying to go to a water park. Although the lines can be much longer, it’s not much more expensive than Mt. Olympus, and there’s a greater variety of rides to accommodate those who prefer a more laid-back day and those seeking a thrill. You can also check their website for deals that make it less expensive. I would definitely go to Moose Jaw again and enjoy a couple beers and pizza, but I’d probably go with a larger, thinner crust next time. Feel free to post any water park/dining/mini golfing experiences in the comments, I’d love to hear other opinions!

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Last night I had the pleasure of dining at a Himalayan restaurant on State St. My good friend Megan, who now lives in Barcelona, frequented the restaurant Chautara and always bragged about the delicious food. Chautara is self described as a combination of Indian, Tibetan, and Nepalese cuisine with a great selection of meat and vegetarian entrees. The restaurant was decorated beautifully and included an upstairs and downstairs dining area with an open kitchen downstairs. I went with 3 other friends and we began our meal with two appetizers – Samosa and Momocha. Samosa is a pastry stuffed with a mixture of potatoes and peas that came with some sauce to drizzle on top. Momocha is a Tibetan steamed vegetable dumpling that was also served with a sauce. They were both simple, inexpensive, and delicious. I ordered the Chicken Secuwa, while the others ordered Khasi Ko Masu, Roti Tarkari, and Matar Paneer.

The Chicken Secuwa consisted of char-grilled chicken breast marinated in ginger, garlic, and lemon, served alongside jasmine rice and mixed veggies. The chicken was cooked perfectly and the marinade gave it a great flavor. The rice was a nice accompaniment to the chicken and the veggies tasted fresh.

Entrees also included a choice of dal (soup) or salad. I got a salad, which was complemented nicely with a sesame-honey vinaigrette. The others ordered dal, which is a bean-based soup that is a mainstay in the Himalayan region.

Khasi Ko Masu is another popular Himalayan dish that was prepared with bone-in Wisconsin farm-raised goat meat marinated in a curry sauce with tomato and cilantro, with curried veggies on the side. Prior to Chautara, I had never eaten goat meat and assumed it would have a gamey flavor. I was wrong. The goat tasted very similar to roast beef, with a nice kick to it from the curry. My other dining companions selected vegetarian entrees. Roti Tarkari is a beautiful display of flatbread and veggies in a flavorful sauce. I regret not taking a picture, but everyone sampled the flatbread immediately upon its arrival to the table. Matar Paneer consists of homemade Indian soft cheese prepared in a flavorful tomato-coriander sauce with peas. The Indian cheese was soft and had a texture similar to tofu. Overall, everyone was delighted with their entrees and I will definitely return to Chautara in the future. Before this experience I had never had Himalayan cuisine, and I was impressed with the simplicity and great flavors in all the dishes.

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“If you want a subject, look to pork!” ~ Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

What a perfect quote for a foodie blog about pork! I know many of you don’t eat/don’t like pork, but I love it. I love pork tacos, pork tenderloin, pork belly… you name it! Anyways, I’m always looking for new and creative ways to prepare pork. I’ve got a whole pork tenderloin in the freezer from Pecatonica Valley Farms that I got at the farmer’s market a couple weeks ago. Just waiting for the right occasion to cook it up, so if anyone’s got any great marinades let me know!

In other pork news, a few weeks ago I made a delicious pork dish. I love watching Giada on Food Network, and her Italian flair on pork is amazing!!!! The recipe is extremely easy and tastes

delicious. I paired it with a California Sauvignon Blanc (sorry I don’t remember the winery!), some garlic mashed potatoes, corn, and a red leaf lettuce salad with homemade balsamic vinaigrette. The recipe says 6 minutes per side, but mine took a little longer because they were pretty thick.

Otherwise, the parmesan crust is wonderful and the lemon adds a refreshing flavor to the pork. I regret not taking a picture BEFORE I started eating, but it just looked so good I had to gobble it up right away!

Here’s another picture from Food Network. This one isn’t half eaten so it probably looks a little more appetizing…

Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops:

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup dried Italian-style bread crumbs
• 3/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan
• 4 (1/2 to 3/4-inch thick) center-cut pork loin chops (each about 10 to 12 ounces)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• Lemon wedges, for serving

Directions:

Whisk the eggs in a pie plate to blend. Place the bread crumbs in another pie plate. Place the cheese in a third pie plate. Sprinkle the pork chops generously with salt and pepper. Coat the chops completely with the cheese, patting to adhere. Dip the chops into the eggs, then coat completely with the bread crumbs, patting to adhere.

Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a very large skillet over medium heat. Add pork chops, in batches if necessary, and cook until golden brown and the center reaches 150 degrees, about 6 minutes per side. Transfer the chops to plates and serve with lemon wedges.

Now that I shared that awesome recipe, I wanted to make something a bit simpler tonight using pork tenderloins. If I don’t get the meat from the farmer’s market, I like to check out my local butcher. Shout out to Jacobson Bros Deli on Sherman Ave for having a great assortment of high quality steaks, chicken, pork, cheese, and other deli items. Prior to going to the deli I wasn’t sure what I wanted, but the butterflied pork tenderloins looked the best when I got there. I also grabbed some rice and asparagus to accompany the pork.

Since I haven’t been to my apartment in Madison for a week, I wanted to do something quick and simple. I also wanted to avoid using my oven for long periods of time, which is why I decided to grill

the pork chops. I love using McCormick Grill Mates on my meat so I used the pork dry rub for this dish then grilled the chops to about medium. Meanwhile, I preheated the oven to 425 F and washed the asparagus and broke off the ends. I lined it up on a baking sheet, drizzled with a bit of olive oil and sprinkled with some freshly chopped garlic, along with a little salt and pepper. I baked the asparagus for about 15 minutes, turning them a couple times while cooking. Once it was done I squeezed some fresh lemon juice over the asparagus to give it a little zing. Looked great and tasted amazing for a quick and easy weeknight meal!

The finished product:

Well that’s all for now, gotta go watch Anthony Bourdain take on Rome!

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“If it looks good, eat it!” Ah, one of my favorite foodie quotes from Bizarre World’s Andrew Zimmern. Although I probably wouldn’t eat most of the things Andrew does, I still love watching him enjoy creepy crawly critters, bull’s balls, and grilled rat, among other bizarre foods. I find it funny that things that look disgusting to most Americans are commonplace in other countries throughout the world. Where we tend to waste many parts of the animal, other countries find a use for most animal parts. Even though I don’t even have access to many of these culinary delights (or a stomach that can handle them), I try to experience new foods from other cultures several times a month. Madison is fortunate to be the home of a plethora of restaurants from around the world. Featured cuisines include Mediterranean, Indonesian, African, American, Brazilian, Cajun, Mexican, Indian, Middle Eastern, French, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Greek, South American, and Irish, among others. I am a long way from trying dishes from all of these cuisines, but this blog will follow my adventures to try new foods in Madison or wherever I travel. Future blogs will include pictures, descriptions, relevant information, and stories. Until then, check out Madison Magazine for information and reviews of Madison restaurants.

Upcoming blog topics:

• A Visit to Wollersheim Winery
• Restaurant Week
• Graze
• State Street Vendors
• Dane County Farmer’s Market
• Home Cooked Meals

As with any blog I write, please feel free to post comments, reviews, recipes, tips, and stories!

P.S. New No Reservations episode tonight at 10/9 C!! Anthony is going to Rome to sample some classic Italian dishes. Can’t wait!