Today was a rambling adventure through the cities. We visited a coffee shop, a hardware store, lunch at a great Vietnamese restaurant. We then headed to a local neighborhood and visited a stationary store and found a very cool independent bookstore. Turns out it's owned by Garrison Keillor...yes Dad, we will take you there when you come to visit.
We stopped by a couple of art galleries. Visited an old record store - Electric Fetus - vinyl and cd's. From there we headed to a woodworker's store and then stopped at Moto-I.
Moto-I is a local sake brewery and restaurant. I am not as big a fan of sake, so I had a great beer - Lift Bridge Farm Girl from a Stillwater brewery. Steve had the sake. They had several TVs on - Japanese TV, TV Food Network, and of course the NCAA tourney.
Japanese TV became very interesting when the Sumo wrestling started. It was quite interesting to actually watch the matches. The wrestler's legs are actually quite muscular. One of the workers was very in to Sumo and was explaining the rules and her knowledge while we watched.
Quite the Saturday - Sumo and Sake.
We walked around the area a bit and visited a few independent stores and then headed home. All in all a great first full day of spring!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Truffle Oil.....Is it the answer to everything?
Someone in our house is a bit obsessed with all things truffle. And not the chocolate kind...although I would bet if there were any in the house they would be found and eaten.
We're talking the other truffles. According to wikipedia, "...a fungal fruiting body that develops underground and relies on mycophagy for spore dispersal." Usually found near trees. There are hundreds of species. Edible truffles are used in French and Italian cooking. In Europe, truffle hogs are used to sniff out the truffles. Dogs are beginning to be used in hunting for truffles as well. The advantage of the canine hunter is that they can be trained not to eat them when they find them. Guess pigs can't be trained...but they do have an innate ability to sniff out truffles.
Truffles are often high priced and because they have a strong taste they are often used sparingly in cooking. Truffle oil on the other hand is cheaper to use and produces the flavor and aroma of truffles. Although in researching this on wikipedia I found that truffle oil is typically just olive oil with a synthetic agent that smells like truffles.
Hmmm...anyway, the truffle oil brings me back to the point of this post. We recently visited a Food and Wine Expo in the cities and came away with our very own bottle of truffle oil. I'm not the huge fan of the truffle experience like some people are. But today we mixed it in our hamburgers before grilling them outside. I must say the burger was one of the best hamburgers I've had in quite some time. Nice flavor and such a moist burger. We even brushed them on the hamburger buns and grilled those too. I have to say I may be a fan. Now I don't know if it is the answer to everything or that I need EVERYTHING to taste like truffles, but I can see the value in it occasionally.
Now....if only we had the chocolate truffle variety around this house!
We're talking the other truffles. According to wikipedia, "...a fungal fruiting body that develops underground and relies on mycophagy for spore dispersal." Usually found near trees. There are hundreds of species. Edible truffles are used in French and Italian cooking. In Europe, truffle hogs are used to sniff out the truffles. Dogs are beginning to be used in hunting for truffles as well. The advantage of the canine hunter is that they can be trained not to eat them when they find them. Guess pigs can't be trained...but they do have an innate ability to sniff out truffles.
Truffles are often high priced and because they have a strong taste they are often used sparingly in cooking. Truffle oil on the other hand is cheaper to use and produces the flavor and aroma of truffles. Although in researching this on wikipedia I found that truffle oil is typically just olive oil with a synthetic agent that smells like truffles.
Hmmm...anyway, the truffle oil brings me back to the point of this post. We recently visited a Food and Wine Expo in the cities and came away with our very own bottle of truffle oil. I'm not the huge fan of the truffle experience like some people are. But today we mixed it in our hamburgers before grilling them outside. I must say the burger was one of the best hamburgers I've had in quite some time. Nice flavor and such a moist burger. We even brushed them on the hamburger buns and grilled those too. I have to say I may be a fan. Now I don't know if it is the answer to everything or that I need EVERYTHING to taste like truffles, but I can see the value in it occasionally.
Now....if only we had the chocolate truffle variety around this house!
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