Some days, when it rains it pours . . .

Seth Bixby Daugherty has resigned from his exec chef position at Cosmos and the Graves 601 Hotel. December 14 he is cooking at the Beard House in NYC and then the following week will be his last behind the stoves in the kitchen that earned him a Food and Wine 10 Best New Chefs Award just two years ago. Seth leaves after four years, and will be working on his dream job and spending time with his wonderful family. After re-energizing his batteries, he will dive into his new project, Real Food Initiatives, a partnership with local health experts that teaches kids about food, wellness, and nutrition and will ultimately aim to help rework the local K-12 food programs in our schools.

So who will become the next chef at Cosmos? Stewart Woodman is available last I heard . .  . hmmmmmmmmm? Any thoughts, my little Chow-Chows, on who the Graves family should hire? Is there a local candidate worth considering, or would you look elsewhere to another city and import some really hot-stuff major-league talent to replace the major-league talent that is leaving?

Lenny Russo and I have traded e-mails and had a phone conversation after my open-ended blogging last week about the goings-on at Cue. For the record, he says:

“. . . When Bon Appetit negotiated the service contract (for Cue), the Guthrie asked for specific levels of service and food and beverage offerings in specific areas at specific times based upon their projected needs.  Obviously, no one knew what those needs would exactly be.  As we become better acquainted with these things, we are working with them to make adjustments so that we can evolve into a business plan that is workable for everyone involved.  We are still in that adjustment phase, and I anticipate that we will see more changes in the future.  Some of those changes may involve adding service, as we have already done in some ways that are not really worth mentioning here although late night is one such way, and some may involve scaling back things in order to optimize our efficiency.”

That’s chef-speak for “hey, we are making changes over here as we see fit so shut up Zimmern and stop throwing water balloons at us from your office window.”  Lenny is a smart and talented guy and I WANT TO HEAR from more chefs about their restaurants and plans when applicable . . . Especially when they disagree with me on one matter or another. Blogs are a great place to informally connect with very serious food fanatics. Lenny, you are a diplomat of the first order.

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My Knicks have only won a third (or less!) of their games. They are only one game out of first place in their division. What is up with East Coast hoops!?!?!?!?

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Joan Ida details as promised . . . straight from the flack's mouth . . .

“Executive chef Joan Ida will be taking a sabbatical from Tria Restaurant, Bar and Market during 2007 to open a new restaurant in Hong Kong. Ida will be the executive xhef of Watermark, a new restaurant located in the Star Ferry Building on the Hong Kong harbor.  The restaurant is scheduled to open in February 2007.  Ida will be responsible for creating the menu for the 200-seat restaurant, which is being defined as eclectic fine dining.

Watermark is being developed by a Hong Kong food and beverage management company that was founded in 1998 and now has more than twenty outlets.”

“This is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Joan and we totally support her going to Hong Kong,” said Len Ghilani, vice president, restaurants, for Morrissey Hospitality. “We will miss her talents at Tria and are searching for a replacement.”

So does this mean after a year abroad she will come back to Tria???? Hmmmmm. Very interesting . . . .

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And finally . . . the squash side dish at 112 Eatery is arguably the most addictive vegetable offering on any menu in the Twin Cities, the other contender being the same chef’s other hot seller, sautéed escarole with nutmeg and anchovy. I think Isaac is a genius when it comes to vegetables and he shared this recipe with me for my Thanksgiving with the Mack Family. Huge kudos to Carol Mack for essentially pulling off dinner for twelve with one arm tied behind her back, literally. Anyway, with thanks to Isaac for sharing his recipe outline, here is the adaptation for the home cook . . .

112 Eatery Squash
2 lbs. cubed pieces of peeled and seeded hard squash
2 T. olive oil
2 T. butter
1 c. blue cheese, crumbled. Use a dry and sturdy blue-veined Gorgonzola or Roquefort. You want something sharp, but not to creamy or ammoniated
2 T. chopped parsley
Several pinches hot chili flakes
1/2 c.  high-quality real maple syrup

In a large sauté pan over high heat, toss squash in oil and butter until just tender. Add cheese and toss briefly. Add the parsley and chili flakes. Toss and spill into a serving platter, pour syrup into pan to warm it for 20 seconds and pour over the squash. Season with sea salt and ground white pepper and serve.

Football fans rarely get to play in the Super Bowl, cinemaphiles never get to vote for their fave films at Oscar time, but foodaholics can have their cake and eat it too! Do you have a favorite chef in the Twin Cities? In the Midwest? Do you have an opinion on the quality of your favorite chef in the city you visit most on business? Have I got a deal for you—stand up, be heard, and register your nominations for the 2007 James Beard Awards. Anyone can participate in the first round of nominations.

Just go to JamesBeard.org, click on the Restaurant and Chef Awards entry forms (on the first segment on that page), and you can submit your suggestions in the seventeen categories listed, up to two in each category. Deadline for this first round is December 15 at 11:59 p.m . . That’s it. Winners will be announced May 7, so stay tuned.

How’s that for a cool project this coming Friday night with your buddies? Print out the award forms and fill ‘em out with your friends over drinks at the bar at 112. Better yet, pass this blog link on to all your friends who care about food and make a few side bets on who pegs the most regional chef award winners.

Big news . . . . I have been sitting on this for weeks, since I was sworn to secrecy, but Joan Ida, the legendary former pastry chef from Goodfellows, exec chef at Tria in North Oaks, is moving to Hong Kong on January 17 to open her own restaurant. Huge score! Joan has gone back and forth to HK for years and finally said ‘yes’ to her patrons on the other side of the globe. An American style restaurant of the type she is contemplating will be a huge success in that part of the world. Everyone in that market is obsessed with our culture from a food standpoint. Once Joan’s people send me the rest of the info on the restaurant, I will let you know the details.

Lots of blog readers have chimed in on Cue, the new restaurant in the Guthrie Theater run by super chef Lenny Russo. On Thursday, I’ll tell you all about Lenny’s take on his new restaurant . . . .

Looking for an easy stick-to-your-ribs meal that you can cook once and eat off of all week? This is it. And best of all, it freezes well! No—wait—best of all, there's no turkey in it!

Sausage and Lentil Stew

4 T. butter
18 oz. Polska kielbasa or other spiced, smoked sausage, sliced into 1/2-inch rings (I get a mix of several at Kramarczuk's)
1 c. each diced onion, carrot, celery
4 cloves minced garlic
1 T. dried tarragon
1 t. dried thyme
2 c. canned chopped tomatoes in their own juices
1-1/2 c. white wine
1 lb. dried lentils
5-1/2 c. chicken stock
16 oz.-package frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed to remove moisture

Place butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add sausage and brown, then add onion, carrot, celery, garlic, tarragon, and thyme. Sauté for 5 minutes until onions are glassy. Add tomatoes and wine and bring to a boil. Lower heat to maintain a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Add the lentils and stock. When mixture is simmering again, cook for 1 hour or until lentils are tender. Stir in the spinach and cook for 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve. Serves 6-8.

OK, kids, here is the one-step way to use up all the rest of your bird after you are done making soup with the frame and eating sandwiches all day Friday. And finally we can turn our attention away from the bird and look forward to what you are going to put under my menorah this year. I need socks.

Turkey Tetrazzini

1/4 t. ground nutmeg
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
1 t. dried thyme
3 T. butter
4 T. flour
1 c. minced onion
1 c. minced celery
1 c. peas
1 c. sliced mushrooms
1 c. sliced carrots
3 c. chicken stock
1 c. half-and-half
4 c. leftover diced turkey meat
12 oz. white aged cheddar cheese or hard cheese of your choice, grated
4 oz. Reggiano parmesan, grated
12 oz. dried pasta (macaroni, fusille, farfalle, penne all work great, cooked ‘al dente’)
3 c. fresh breadcrumbs, tossed in 3 T. melted butter and 3 T. ground parmesan

Place herbs and spices, butter, and flour into a very large skillet over medium heat. When cooked into a pale tan paste, add vegetables. Cook, stirring, for 7 minutes or so, and add the stock in thirds, while continuing stirring. As it simmers, add half-and-half. When it simmers and thickens, add turkey, cheddar, and Reggiano parmesan. Stir until melted. Toss with pasta in a large mixing bowl, season with salt and pepper, and spill into a greased ovenproof lasagna or casserole pan. Mix breadcrumbs as indicated in the ingredient listing and cover the casserole with the breadcrumb mixture. Bake at 350 until bubbling and hot, and top is crispy, about 45-50 minutes. Serves 6-8.

As a forty-five-year-old parent I don’t get out as much these days as I used to when I was creating the street cred that I once thought was so dang important. I got an e-mail from a Vegas night crawler last week asking me for some bar recommendations and I e-mailed back, explaining my dearth of local experience in that area. I offered to query my pal Alexis for him, since she is my one-stop shop for all things nocturnal. Since so many people are home for the holidays, or tend to hit the town on the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving, I thought it best to re-cap her awesome selections. Consider it a primer of sorts, or for the advanced set, a bar crawl of platinum proportions. These are not in ordered rank of any sort.

* Chambers Hotel

* Azia (Also see our listing in mspmag.com's Bars + Nightclubs Guide.)

* Cosmos

* Town Talk Diner

* Cue at the Guthrie 

* Nye's Polonaise (Also see our listing in mspmag.com's Bars + Nightclubs Guide. Plus, Nye's was recently voted Best Bar in America by Esquire Magazine.)

* The Bulldog Northeast 

So the question, kids, is this one: If you had a twenty-five-year-old cousin in from LA for the weekend, where is the one place you would send them, not already on the list?

Kudos:
Speaking of TTD, one of the more popular sips in the bar there is the "Kentucky Cousin" cocktail, which will be featured in Food & Wine's Best of 2006 issue. Congrats, fellas.

Koncerns:
Speaking of Cue, The paint isn’t even dry and already the folks at Cue are making changes, letting go of a significant portion of their staff—including their best player, pastry chef Carrie Summer, who has landed across the street at Spoonriver. Are things that rough over there? Is anyone eating there who doesn’t have a ticket stub in their hand? Or are they not getting enough theatergoers even to come early and stay late? Anyone have any thoughts on this? I have thought the food to be good for the size of the room, but no one seems to be going there. Is it on anyone’s radar screen, or are Minnesotans unwilling to venture over, thinking that it will be too crowded with pre-theater types and too tough to park? I went over there two weeks ago with my Dad and had an awful experience at the Guthrie—the restaurant seemed crowded, but then once the theater curtain rose it became a ghost town. And no one was at the Crudo Bar, which seemed a reach for me since day one.

All the recipes you need for Thanksgiving are just a click away, on mspmag.com's recipe database.

Oyster Stew
Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey, Stuffing, and Gravy
Puree of Peas and Watercress
Root Vegetable Pan Roast with Brown Butter Sauce
Sweet and Sour Beets with Pearl Onions
Steamed Green Beans with Toasted Almond-Mushroom Pesto
Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Tart

So why can't I get clothes as cute as the ones my wife finds for our son? It's killing me. If there was really a God, then all the goodies we love from Oilily (like Noah's puffy down monkey coat and sheriff's corduroy jacket) would come in a Men's XL.

The other thing I am having trouble understanding is why there is no good pastrami in this town—anyone have any suggestions for me?

Clearly I am I need of a distraction, so how about planning for the holiday snacking and hors d'oeuvre season? Do you need a few ideas on ordering some great foods, ones that will last for a while in the fridge, and can be easily rolled out whenever company calls?

Things I do know . . .
Many of the best New England farmstead cheese makers produce cheeses that are killer, but never make it this far west. While I love supporting our local cheesemakers, sometimes it's fun, especially as the season inches inexorably toward the holidays, to source some cheeses that most of your guests will NEVER have tried. Here are my faves:

+ Vermont Shepherd Cheese, made from sheep's milk in Putney, Vermont
+ York Hill Farms Capriano, made from goat's milk in New Sharon, Maine
+ Jasper Hill Farms Bayley Hazen Blue, made from cow's milk in Greensboro, Vermont
+ Smiling Hill Farms' Brie and Camembert, both made from cow's milk in Gorham, Maine

You can check them all out at  my pal Karen Horton's website.

The other great treat for holiday parties, one that you can buy, keep on hand throughout the season, and even freeze, is smoked fish. Now there is some good smoked fish in town, but no great smoked fish in town. I like Zabar's, Barney Greengrass, Harrod's, and all the other great shops as much as the next guy, but when I want to impress the in-laws, the must-go-to store is online at Browne Trading Company. Their smoked salmon is second to none, and their service is fantastic.

Need some chocolate to stash in the kitchen for when things get hectic? My local sins are satisfied at Legacy Chocolates on Marshall Avenue in St. Paul and B. T. McElrath, but when I want to make a real statement, I head to La Maison du Chocolat . . . I don't want to overstate the obvious, but when it comes to their cacao bean creations you won't be dissapointed with any of these three picks.

This coming Thursday is the day when Beaujolais Nouveau is officially released to the world. Roughly 30 million bottles of this young, plucky, French red wine leaves southern Burgundy and begins the long slog onward into the cups of wine lovers around the world. In a wine world where what’s older is most often better, this wine is younger than Joan Rivers' last face lift. Literally weeks before it arrives in the States, this wine was still Gamay grape clusters sitting in a collection bin awaiting their fate. Seemingly, all of the Beaujolais wine world hurries the harvest into the barn, and ferments and bottles the swill so that it can meet its release deadlines around the world. Selling it early is a no-no and in some countries will cost you a hefty fine. Originally the wine was simply consumed in Beaujolais as a way to commemorate the crush, until the fruity wine’s fame spread to the big cities of France, and by the mid-eighties, the wine had been made over into a marketing behemoth.

Some thoughts:

+ The BN quality for this year will not be an accurate way to measure the entire European vintage, despite what anyone tells you.

+ The reason most wine people around the region of Beaujolais are so fond of the Gamay grape is not because the BN is any good, it’s because the BN phenomenon is a huge cash cow. To knock it is to look a gift horse in the mouth. Think about it: the wine is sold immediately, no waiting around gathering dust in a cask for this juice.

+ Everyone loves the lack of pretense associated with the BN, but face it, BN is the country music of the wine world.

+ If you get a bottle, give it a chill, and drink it soon. The longer you wait, the faster the ‘fruit’ goes away, because BN is made using something off-puttingly called carbonic maceration. Rather than crushing grapes, fermenting them, etc., the whole grape bunch is fermented, making a wine with few tannins and long on fruit, but it doesn’t age well at all.

+ And most importantly, if this wine didn’t get you buzzed, no one would drink it. Thoughts on that hand grenade, anyone?

This is the ultimate party food! This recipe is one my father has served at every cocktail party he has ever had in his house. He serves them to couples before dinner or for crowds at some of his bigger swankier affairs. They always disappear fast, are delicious, and are addictively easy to make and serve. They  look complicated, but done once, you'll realize that the process is really easy—and the freeze and serve option is fantastic.

I also make these with pancetta and Taleggio, or with a blend of cheeses for my vegetarian pals.

My Dad’s Prosciutto and Fontina Gougeres
1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
6 large eggs
6 oz. thinly sliced imported Italian prosciutto di Parma, cut in fine julienne matchsticks
6 oz. imported Italian Fontina, grated coarse
2 T. finely minced chives
1 large egg with 1 T. milk, beaten to create a wash for the gougere

In saucepan, bring to boil 1-1/2 c. water with the butter over high heat, and reduce heat to low. Add flour all at once. Beat with a wooden spoon until it comes away from the sides of the pan and forms a ball. Then beat for 2 minutes.

Remove from stove and place dough in a bowl. With an electric mixer at high speed, beat in eggs one at a time. Beat well after each addition. Stir in 1 c. of prosciutto and 3/4 c. of the Fontina. Into 3 or 4 buttered 9-inch round cake pans, drop the dough in 8 large serving spoonfuls in a ring around the pan, leaving 1/4 inch between spoonfuls. Brush dough with egg wash, sprinkle with remaining prosciutto and Fontina, and bake in middle of a 425-degree oven for 45-50 minutes, until golden brown and puffed. Transfer to serving plate and serve immediately. (Or, cover with foil and freeze. When needed, uncover and put in 400-degree oven for 8-9 minutes. It works like a charm.)

I chatted with Wheelock Whitney for a while at the Retreat Gala at the Metropolitan on Saturday. He and I share a deep passion for all things Asian. Fourteen years ago he told me that Southeast Asia and China were for him the most exciting and vibrant travel spots in the world, and on Saturday he told me that he has taken his grandkids there recently because he feels if you want to understand the future of our world you have to understand China. He received the George Mann Spirit of Community Award for his work raising awareness and making a difference in the chemical dependency field, a place he has dedicated himself to for more than forty years. An amazing man.

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Grammy-, Golden Globe-, Emmy- and Oscar-winning composer/songwriter Paul Williams told me that he loves Southern food and that his fave po' boys in the world come from Domicelli’s in New Orleans, and that “Nashville is a great town because it’s the only place in the world where escargots come with gravy.” Nice one. He also told me that one of the greatest songs of the twentieth century song, "We’ve Only Just Begun," was originally penned with different lyrics as a bank jingle, then reworked into a song, and in his opinion not one of his best . . . then Karen Carpenter sang it and the rest was history.

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Speaking of Southern food, I sent Matt and Ted Lee to Levain on Friday night and they think Steven Brown is a genius. They’re right.

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I found out last week that there is in fact a bathroom on the ground floor of the Guthrie Theater. The uniformed and credentialed Guthrie staffer manning the front door—the one who sent my eighty-year-old father to the fourth floor bathroom, insisting that it was the nearest facility available to him—needs to get a lesson in personal relations. Do they have some sort of crazy policy that I don’t know about? Are those bathrooms only open at certain times, or only available to Cue patrons? We had just had a drink at the bar so I am guessing we count as customers.

Here we go, kids . . . the latest from the ebb and flow of the great tidal rumor mill . . . it was a busy couple of days.

Someone at the MSP Mag Holiday Entertains event told me that the Martini Blu folks (read LifeTime Fitness honcho Bahram Akradi) apparently have “bought” the rights to the Loto concept and they are going to remake MB into a Loto. The deal is apparently one in which Akradi gets the rights to all Loto's present and future, and David Fhima opens and manages all the new Loto restaurants for him. Fhima would still be in control of Fhima’s in St. Paul. Why does this make sense? Because Fhima is a great front man, and with all of Akradi’s real estate and built-in captive audience of club members, the Loto concept is a perfect fit. Why does it not make sense? Because MB could have transformed itself into anything it wanted to all on its own. Why go into business with anyone else when you could hire someone to do the job? Answer: because it costs you very little. Fhima gets out of a pickle, Akradi gets an in-house food guy, and everyone wins. Makes sense to me. Who knows how it will get spun when it’s announced.

Stuff like this fascinates me.

Anyone have an opinion on whether or not this will work?

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Michael Morse is opening a casual steakhouse-styled restaurant in the Normandy, the Best Western that sits on 8th Street. That’s what someone told me over the weekend. If it’s true, it would be a great coup for a natural-born raconteur who has longed for his own place for years—but why that concept in that spot? Sounds like a better idea for Woodbury or Eden Prairie, but who knows, I don’t want to measure the drapes before the house gets built.

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Jean George Vongerichten told me that he loves the food at Lucia’s, La Belle Vie, and 112 Eatery. This guy is genuinely jazzed about owning a restaurant in Minneapolis.

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Don’t forget to vote!

This is one of my favorite recipes for when the weather gets blustery. Everyone loves it and the Latin flavors are an incomparable addition to a dinner party. You should anticipate your family fighting over the ham hock, so be warned.

Chicken and Black Bean Stew
1 lb. black beans
3 T. olive oil
6 chicken legs
6 chicken thighs
2 smoked ham hocks
1 lb. andouille sausage, sliced into 1-inch chunks
1 large red bell pepper, in small dice
1 diced poblano pepper
2 diced yellow onions
2 diced celery ribs
2 hot peppers (jalapenos or Serranos), roasted over an open flame or broiled briefly
8 cloves sliced garlic
2 fresh bay leaves
4 T. minced cilantro
3 T. Ancho chili powder
3 T. ground cumin
2 t. dried oregano
2 c. diced tomatoes (canned is fine)
2 qt. chicken stock

Put beans in a tub of cool water and let sit overnight in the fridge. Drain well. Place oil in a large pot over medium heat. Brown chicken and reserve to the fridge. Add to the pot: ham hocks, sausage, peppers, onions, celery, hot peppers, and garlic. Saute until onions are translucent and add the fresh and dry herbs. Saute for a few minutes more. Place beans, tomatoes, and stock into pot. Bring to a simmer and cook for one hour. Add chicken. Continue to simmer beans until tender, for an hour or 90 minutes more, stirring frequently and adding more stock if needed—but remember, you are not making soup! Season with sea salt, a good splash of sherry, and fresh lime juice. Serve with steamed rice, tortillas, and avocado slices. Serves 6-8.

Question of the Day: Is David Fhima going to put a new concept into the Martini Blu Sushi and Grill space in the Grand Hotel? Let me know what you know . . .

OK, now to the topic at hand . . .

Everyone loves beef, and despite our best efforts there seems to be quite a divide these days between our goals (health, wellness, less fat in our diet, small portions, eating more grains and vegetables, etc.) and our reality (big portions, fat-laden foods, an addiction to beef, etc.).
Anecdotally, I think Minnesotans are eating more meats than at any other time I can remember and even the most popular new restaurants these days seem to all serve big portions, and mostly seem to be steakhouse-themed or feature meat-associated menus. And the trend is everywhere. Even the latest Zagat guide for NYC makes note of the fact that more steakhouses have opened in NYC over the last ten years than ever before. Wolfgang Puck has a new steakhouse in LA that I ate in recently that is fabulous, and David Burke’s new beefery in Chicago is the toast of the town—and worth a visit, by the way.

Famously, a few years ago even the fast food chains all came out with healthy menu options, and just as famously are now phasing them out. Hardee's or Wendy’s, I forget which one, even threw a flack out in front of the assembled media a few months ago when it debuted some new quadruple-stack burger and said, “The public asked for more healthy choices a few years ago, but apparently they were wrong,” referring to the menu flip-flops and responding to a question aimed at pinning down the rep on how they make menu choices in the first place. As my buddy Dan always says, “You can’t make this stuff up!”

Anyway, today on Slate, Mark Schatzker has a small piece on what beef tastes best and why, and his hands-down winner might surprise you. And while his taste test is just one man’s opinion, his essay provides answers to many of the questions we routinely field from readers about choosing and selecting beef for dinner. You should check it out. But he asks a rhetorical question that I find fascinating . . . and a statement that is ironically and vaguely untrue. He writes:

“Before you walk into your neighborhood butcher and say, 'Three rib-eye Angus steaks, please, pastured in the Rocky Mountain foothills, finished on barley, but with a hint of oats, and dry-aged for twenty-eight—no, make that twenty-nine—days,' keep in mind that as a consumer, such choice does not exist. That said, if you scour specialty butcher shops or Google "steak," you'll discover other options, including naturally raised, grain-fed, and grass-fed beef. Which leaves carnivores with the question: Which steak tastes the best?”

Well, the irony is that such a steak and such a choice does exist, in a sense . . . . At David Burke’s new Chi-town steak joint, called Primehouse (he is partnering with my old NYC boss Steve Hanson), you can order a steak that is essentially grown to order. Go to DavidBurke.com and click on Primehouse. Then click on the line at the bottom about the steer they bought to keep the restaurant rolling in steak—the same steak—for years to come. According to them,
“We bought a Black Angus senior herd sire Creekstone OB45/174 207L and named him Prime. Prime is the result of a planned mating between Summitcrest Scotch Cap OB 45 and one of Creekstone's most prized and proven donor cows—GAR Max 174.

"OB45 is a legendary sire of high marbling cattle and still ranks number three in the Angus breed for the carcass trait of marbling. At Creekstone, 'Prime' is being mated to daughters of Creekstone's Opportunity 8310. Creekstone lost Opportunity this past summer, but in the most recent sire evaluation, he is still ranked as the number one bull in the entire Angus breed for the trait of marbling.”

So now steakhouses control the genetic make-up of their beef source, allowing the customer to eat ‘the same steak” each time they dine at Primehouse. Wow! A tad Stepford-ish, but it does bring quality control to a whole new level. And Primehouse is worth the trip next time you hit Chicago for a weekend. And I guess cloned foods would be the next step—and trust me on this, it is being worked on right now.