Love Letter to the Twin Cities

Red Amaryllis, Como Park Conservatory, Sunken Garden

The Mall of America is not the alpha and the omega of the Twin Cities. Besides the “royalty” of the State Fair carved into butter busts, the TC has some spectacular art. Who would know that these Midwestern cities offer shelter to some world-class sights? And some pretty good food. I thought that I might take you on an artsy, foodie field trip! It’s my wistful little love letter to the Twin Cities, now that I’m on the West Coast. Join me!

Detail of “The Algerian,” by Cordier

Cherry Spoonbridge, Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

Sights

Whether you find yourself in Minneapolis on a sunny day, or a snowy day, you will enjoy Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. Walk beyond the tall, evergreen borders to become surrounded by art work and restful, peaceful plantings. It’s an oasis that seems beautifully matched to city life. When I visited it for the first time, I didn’t know anything about it. I won’t tell you anything more so that you can have that sense of discovery for yourself. Once there, you might as well walk across the street and enjoy the Walker Art Center’s free admission on Thursday evenings if you are a fan of contemporary art.

To see what people are creating and buying at this very moment, visiting galleries/stores in Uptown is a good bet. The tiny yet potent Moxie is a hair salon during the day, becoming a gallery at night. It’s actually rather striking to see paintings alongside huge mirrors, swivel chairs, and shampoo bottles. Across the street, Soo Vac acts as a community incubator for local artists. Next door, the very tiny Robot Love is perfect for a dose of pop design sensibility. Back across town, in downtown Minneapolis, the Rosalux gallery exhibits local art in the very lovely brick building of the Loft.

Despite my preference for modern art, my favorite museum in the Twin Cities, hands down, is the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Matchless, utterly matchless. (And admission is free, everyday!) It is world-class. It is large, occupying an entire city block. But there is no “fat” in it. It is no mere warehouse. Somehow, the curators are telling the story of humanity, binding each of us with each piece, each room, and every wall. And of course, the works are simply gorgeous!!! The Algerian, a detail of which is shown immediately above, belongs to its ancient art collection.

Also linking us to the past (albeit, less distant – the 1900s) in downtown Saint Paul is the Cathedral of Saint Paul. One of my friends told me that she did not need to take a photograph of the interior of the cathedral because it would be an image that would stay with her. I agree – there is no picture that could capture even the slightest semblance to the experience of walking within it. The stained glass, sculptures, and other aspects of the interior conspire to give you a sense of awe. I’ve included an image of the exterior, taken through a friend’s car window on a snowy day to give you a glimpse that Saint Paulites enjoy everyday. (An observant reader notes that this is a photo of…the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis!!! I’ve never been inside, but, I’m sure it’s potentially fabulous!!! And I’m working on finding a photo of the cathedral itself.) Update: 06.22.08 – someone has been kind enough to let me use his nighttime photo of the cathedral. Enjoy!

Basilica of Saint Mary’s, Minneapolis

Cathedral of Saint Paul, Saint Paul

North of downtown Saint Paul lies the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory in Como Park, to the side of the immensely serene Como Lake. It is entirely charming to walk through the conservatory’s various chambers to view tropical plants or perhaps flowering bulbs, when the snow remains packed tightly on the land outside. People picnic within the conservatory, taking advantage of its beauty, definitely enhancing their meals. I took the picture of the red amaryllis at the very beginning of this post in the Sunken Garden, (shown immediately below) sometime last spring.

Sunken Garden in the Como Park Conservatory

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Food

Usually, I try to focus my posts on recipes and making food myself, in order to learn about cooking as well as attempting to cultivate the frugality habit. But sometimes it is quite nice to go someplace, eat, and not have to wash dishes afterwards! These are some of the places I shared meals with friends.

Takeout box from Pizza Luce

Punch Salad, of Punch Pizza (including prosciutto and walnuts)

Toscano Pizza, at Punch Pizza

Firstly, it’s difficult to survive modern life without pizza. Give into it!!! One of my west coast friends was shocked when she tried a slice of the Garlic Mashed Potato pizza at Pizza Luce in Uptown – like nothing she had ever had, and it was so very good. Amazing texture. Bright, tart feta with tender…potatoes? Potatoes that contribute an earthiness that rounds off the brightness of the feta and the fresh, chopped tomatoes. Simply amazing. I succumbed to the temptation of their free delivery policy many times. Their pizzas are unconventional, and so delicious. Should you happen to be around Xerxes and 50th, very west of downtown Minneapolis, Michaelangelo’s Masterpizza’s is a lovely, lovely, teeny and tiny place to eat with friends. The pizza sauce is unapologetically thick, laden with good, mellow cheeses, on an exquisitely textured dough. It is one of those neighborhood joints that deserves to become a destination. The much-praised Punch Pizza earns its accolades by being the absolute, unequivocal best.

Al’s Breakfast of Minneapolis

Sausage Patty, Eggs, Light Rye Toast, homemade strawberry rhubarb jam, at Highland Park Cafe & Bakery

I love love love breakfast. I’ve expressed my passion for breakfast in previous posts regarding Minnesotan breakfast eateries: Jay’s Cafe, in the Saint Anthony neighborhood of Saint Paul, South Asian Foods in Fridley; my beloved Highland Park Cafe and Bakery in the Highland Park neighborhood of Saint Paul, and Al’s Breakfast, in Minneapolis’s Dinkytown (James Beard awardee). Besides breakfast, I found a few other places I enjoyed. Cecil’s Deli, in the heart of Highland Park, is quite the institution. I love their Reubens. They also make a lovely, lovely hammentashen in the bakery. One day a friend and I were trying to decide between two flavors of the hammentashen – we just ended up getting both. They were large, and simply fabulous. Kramarczuk’s, a Minneapolis landmark, serves a brilliant holubet. I always appreciated the curries at Chiang Mai Thai, nestled in the heart of Minneapolis’s Uptown. All of the food looked really good, but, I stuck to ordering curry because it was relatively inexpensive, and because, well, I LOVE curry!!! In Saint Paul’s Frogtown, Saigon Cafe serves a mean, mean banh mi (ranging from the budget-friendly $2.50 to $3.50). They make their own mayonnaise, pate, and and bake their own excellent bread for this amazing sandwich. And when I asked for extra pickled carrots and daikon – why, by golly, they gave it to me!!!

Reuben on Dark Rye, Cecil’s Delicatessen, Highland Park, Saint Paul

Parking Lot of Kramarczuk’s Delicatessen, in Minneapolis

Miscellaneously Fabulous:

Next to the Mississippi, the Riverview Theatre is a lovely place to see a movie (for only $3.00!!) in a gorgeous, gorgeous 1950’s setting. They also have the best, best popcorn and thoughtfully provide Cheddar powder to enhance it! The Willey House, in Minneapolis, is a teensy Frank Lloyd Wright example. The official website lets you tour virtually, as does a fan site.

Lobby of the Riverview Theatre, Minneapolis

Hot Buttered Popcorn, in the Riverview Theatre

Well, I hope you have enjoyed this mini-tour of the Twin Cities. I shall be going on blog-cation for a few weeks, but will try to stay on top of any comments and emails you might send my way. (You must know bloggers LIVE for comment luv.) I always thought the 46th Light Rail Station in Minneapolis was really pretty, and made commuting such a pleasure. And so I’ll close this post with that. Thanks for coming along!!!

46th Street Light Rail Station, Minneapolis

*********************** Rolling Credits ***********************

Here are the fellow flickr-ites who kindly permitted my use of their works:

• “Minneapolis Sculpture Garden,” by jpnuwat of www.fiveoclockstudio.com;
• “The Algerian,” by mamluke, from his Minneapolis Institute of Art set;
• “Cathedral of Saint Paul” by kodiax2, from his Saint Paul set;
• “Al’s Breakfast,” by m.papaya, from her Minneapolis set;
• “Kramarczuk,” by moncrief.
• Photos of the Riverview Theatre – “1956” and “Good Popcorn” by Y Entonces, visible here and here.

All others – Red Amaryllis at the Como Conservatory (first photo), the Pizza Luce takeout box, Punch Salad at Punch Pizza,Toscano Pizza at Punch Pizza, Reuben on Dark Rye from Cecil’s Deli, Fountain at the Como Conservatory, the Saint Paul Cathedral, and the 46th Avenue Light Rail Station in Minneapolis – by yours truly!

Brining Helped My Chicken Curry

Neighbor’s Red Poppy

I want a little more excitement in my chicken dishes. Maybe brining will come to my rescue? The way it surely saved my Thanksgiving a few years back – it was so amazingly moist and tasty – my first time roasting a turkey!!! Fourteen pounds of Butterball, I believe. I was very intimidated. I was cooking for 12 friends. I was making the foundational dishes: turkey, gravy, stuffing, pumpkin pie, cranberry salad, mashed potatoes and possibly even fried rice – just to be safe. Oh, no pressure or anything!

I used Emeril’s recipe (leaving out the thyme) for brine and it turned out great!!! I remember thinking, “They have no idea I how much I agonized over the gravy…and they love the turkey.” The bird turned out to be the easiest part!!! I kept asking my diners to sample the gravy because I worried they might not like it, but somebody finally said that it was not necessary because the turkey was actually good – not tough or dry. Oh, life’s not fair, but then again, nobody ASKED me to spend 90 minutes stirring the gravy like a maniac. Well, that’s enough reminiscing. I have poultry issues of the moment to dispatch.

It’s very common to brine for “big” occasions, like Thanksgiving or some dinner party when you are serving roasted poultry. But why not brine to fight off the blah of the everyday? My challenge: long, forgotten, freezer-burnt chicken quarters. Too much freezing dries out the chicken. I’m not sure they had much chicken-ness left. No harm in trying to coax it out, though!

So, I brined the chicken overnight.

Brining Solution (for 3 chicken quarters)

• 9 cups of water;
• 1/3 cup of sea salt (table salt is not recommended by the authoritative cooks and I won’t argue);
• 1/4 cup of “raw” sugar.

(If you are curious about the science of brining, Dave Scantland gives a great explanation of the science behind the miracle of salty water on eGullet.) And then of course, I made curry out of the chicken.

One Pot Madras Chicken*

• 2 cups of onion (1 large onion);
• 9 cloves of garlic;
• about 2.5 cubic inches of ginger;
• 2 lbs of potatoes (I sliced 6 smallish – medium Idahos in halves and quarters);
• 5 tablespoons of madras curry powder;**
• 3 glugs of ngouc mam (fish sauce) to taste; and
• 3 chicken quarters, each cut into 3 parts (about 4 lbs);
• dash of sugar;***
• vegetable oil; and
• a very large skillet.

Note that you might want to lower the amount of ginger. I LOVE ginger, and it was very very gingery. I would even wager to say that the ginger factor added quite a bit heat.

* I’ve previously posted instructions for Madras Chicken for the slow cooker, including approximate cost breakdowns, so mea culpas to those who might have read it already. Brown the chicken, about 4 minutes per side. Let the brown bits stuck to the pan stay (it will be your “fond”). Take the chicken pieces out of the pan. Then, brown the curry powder in a few tablespoons of vegetable oil (but not olive oil, because you won’t taste it – and it might burn). Then sweat the onions, garlic and ginger. Then add the curry powder. Then the ngouc mam and about two cups of water and scrape the bits from the bottom of the pan. Get it boiling. Add the potatoes and chicken. Add enough water to barely cover about 3/4 of the chicken height. Get it boiling hot. Simmer, simmer, simmer, on very very low for about 90 minutes. Your house will smell GOOD! And very strongly so. If you burn anything in the process, be sure to cut off the burnt parts and return the unburnt portions to the pan. Serve with rice. *** I didn’t add any sugar, but, I think I should have.

I think the brining helped a lot. The chicken was tender and moist – not dry at all – almost falling off the bone. The potatoes are silky smooth, with a little resistance still. Very nice, if I may say so myself!

* Suraj powder is quite inexpensive, if you can get your hands on it – about $1.59 for a POUND! Sold in Canadian supermarkets, I believe.

Highland Cafe & Bakery (blissful altar of breakfast post #4)

Fish and Chips

From the outside, it just looks like a normal restaurant. You expect (and you get) meatloaf, bacon and eggs, walleye, etc., your classic Midwestern Americana. And it’s good, solid stuff. It’s CONSISTENTLY good. The owner earned his chops at the behemoth of Twin Cities breakfasting, Keys Cafe. Oh, but it’s better than Keys.*

I love it. One by one, my friends succumb to my indoctrinations about the greatness of the Highland Park Cafe and Bakery. They also fall in love. We are usually ordering around dinnertime, but, I order “breakfast” dishes on countless occasions. And I become addicted to their homemade strawberry rhubarb jam. Oh yeah, it’s GOOD. I see a glimmer of brilliance. Hm…

Sausage, Egg, Toast Breakfast with homemade strawberry rhubarb jam

But wait a second…the soup is to die for. Should you ever get your hands on the clam chowder, well…your life will never be the same. No really, it won’t. It is absolutely MAGICAL. I grew up in a beach town, a FISHING town, with access to clam chowder of every kind – every child should know that there are “red” and “white” chowders by the age of 8. No, none, none of them could hold a candle to this unexpected jewel. How can seafood be better so far from the oceans!?!?! A mystery.

The clam chowder sells out so quickly, my friend tells me that I should call the place to make sure there are two bowls of it left. And yeah…I actually DO IT! My impulses have have been PTSD-related. You see, after one evening there because…well…there was only ONE bowl left. My memory is fuzzy, but, I like to think I was the bigger person and went without clam chowder that evening, so that my friend could partake.

And then, one day, visiting the restaurant, I see words like “kofte” and “lassi” stuck in the middle of a menu. My eye stops! What’s going on? Apparently, HPC&B serves some Nepalese dishes. I have tried the momos (both vegetarian and meat versions) and the curry – they are all DELICIOUS!!!

Chicken Curry

Momos, with spicy tomato dipping sauce

Dessert. Very very important. I’ve had chocolate cake of various sorts there. Berry pies. They are good. But one day, I try the bread pudding. Oh, it’s so good. The “secret” is simple: they use their own caramel rolls as the “bread” for the pudding. These caramel rolls. Oh, they are absolute genius. One of my indoctrinated friends used to buy rolls to take home to eat on the weekends for breakfast!!! They are DIVINE. Truly.

Bread pudding, with apples, ice cream, whipped cream, and caramel sauce

So, if you are ever in the Highland Park neighborhood of Saint Paul and want to be delighted, try it. You might just love it.

Highland Park Cafe & Bakery
1931 Ford Pky
St Paul, MN 55116
(651) 698-3400

(testimonials from chowhound)

* The caramel rolls, everything, even the liver and onions is better at HPC&B.

Part 4 in a series of my posts about establishments serving breakfast:

1. Jay’s Café of St. Paul, MN (blissful altar of breakfast #1)
2. Al’s Breakfast of Minneapolis, Minnesota: prosaic American breakfast as an art form (blissful altar of breakfast post #2)
3. South Asian Foods, giving you halwa puri, yes, in Fridley, MN (blissful altar of breakfast post #3)

You might also enjoy reading about poaching eggs: Luxurious, Lazy and Thrifty – Poached Eggs