Chatterbox Pub Bloody Mary

In February of last year, we decided to stumble into Chatterbox Pub over in the Corcoran neighborhood of Minneapolis for a cold dreary late Saturday afternoon lunch.  We eschewed the board games and classic Atari play for some burgers and a towering good Bloody Mary at the bar with an antipasto-plate-on-a-stick shoved in it.  Given their BMs are 1/2 off from 2 - 5pm every day, it was a wise choice on our part, I would say.

Wine and Pizza Night

Since this was likely my last chance to hang out with my new fellow Southern buddy Josh before he moves back to DC, I decided to host an impromptu wine and pizza night. My neighbor and co-worker Ms. Goldberg is also temporarily widowed this week with her husband traveling on business, so I convinced her to bring a couple of cans of Pillsbury Pizza Crust and I'd make her dinner and the three gays would entertain her for the evening. Quite the deal for her.

Anyhoo - the pizzas were fabulous and the wine was equally tasty. The first pizza was amazing and consisted of the following:

1 Can Pillsbury Thin Crust Pizza Crust (it's new - try it! It's real good)
1/2 cup of 10 minute tomato sauce (spiked with minced garlic and lots of crushed red pepper - use Muir Glen fire roasted canned whole tomatoes to make the sauce smokier)
2 slices of thin-cut prosciutto - chopped
1/4 cup mixed gourmet sliced mushrooms (baby bella, shitake, oyster, etc)
2 cups shredded cheese (I used a blend of smoked mozzarella and provolone)
20 slices of Turkey Pepperoni

Spread the pizza crust on a 15 X 10 in rimmed baking sheet; spread evenly with slightly cooled tomato sauce; sprinkle with half of the prosciutto, half the mushrooms and about 12 slices of pepperoni.; Sprinkle with 2/3 of the cheese; Sprinkle on the remaining ingredients finishing with the cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, or until crust is golden brown around edges and cheese is bubbly.

I also made a second pizza (Josh was still hungry and demanded another round - how could I say no when the wine was only half-drunk) with regular Pillsbury pizza crust. This time, I subbed in about 4 oz of fresh grated smoked cheddar but kept the other ingredients constant. The crust was a similar depth, but not as flavorful. The new pizza was, however, more pronounced in smokey flavor as the smoked cheddar played up the smoky flavors in the sauce and pushed the cured proscuitto to the forefront.

So what about the wine - I'm still a little foggy on it, but both varieties we enjoyed were quite pleasant:

1) Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet - South Australia 2006 - slightly sweet, very drinkable and smooth table wine with a little oak, berry and cherry-chocolate - perfect for casual eating

2) Natura Syrah - Valle Colchuagua 2005 - a Chilean wine with a twist made from organically grown grapes - this one had a more adventurous dimension created by the vintner's attempt to capture and showcase the terroir of the region. Thick with a little mocha and subtle dark fruit undertones. I didn't enjoy it as much, but it gave some interesting challenges to the palate that I appreciated.

Mango Batida - Cachaça your fruit, folks.

Mango Batida, originally uploaded by Samer Farha.

Stumbled onto this through an image on TasteSpotting (gotta give props).

I love mango cocktails - especially sweet spicy one's like my beloved Mango Mariachi Margarita from Bar Abilene. This one (Mango Batida) looks good as well. If you don't stock Cachaça in your bar, you should.

Swedish Glögg - a drink that delights and then . . .

My buddy Joel sought to celebrate his Swedish heritage and the first big snow in the Twin Cities by having folks over for a Glögg party. Glögg (or glugg as it was pronounced by our host) is a traditional Swedish mulled wine loaded with spices, dried fruit, nuts, and if you are naughty enough, a healthy splash of vodka. We hear the test batch had a massive portion of vodka, per the recipe Joel had secured from his family (on a newspaper clipping). The guests, were served a safer reduced-vodka version along with a buffet of crackers, cheeses, sliced sausage and Swedish cookies.

The Glögg tasted like a dark old-world winter evening. Served hot - it's deep and rich with port and brandy, loaded with chopped almonds and raisins and heavy with the flavor of prunes. One sip, and any chill from the single digit weather outside immediately faded from my body. While I can't find a copy of the recipe online that mirrors what we were served (there are tons of options), my cup was full of plump raisins and I swear there were prunes in the recipe somewhere. In fact, this old-world drink (good as it was at the time) can get medieval on your ass after the fact, so I'll pass on adding it to my repertoire for a future holiday menu.

Luckily, the Glögg spell passed in time for us to enjoy the Nortec Collective at the Walker Art Center. A mixture of Norteño and techno (more progressive trance than ambient from what I could tell), their music was great stuff but hard to fully enjoy in a theater setting (several folks in the front row created a dance pit to better enjoy the performance). I was just glad my dancing at my seat was due to the music and not the Glögg.

Sweet Action in a Kettle of Fish

Steps away from the infamous Stonewall Inn in New York is a comfy neighborhood pub called Kettle of Fish. With low ceilings, dartboards, and a cluster of comfy worn in brown sofas, it's like hangin' in your buddy's basement rec room.

Tried a Sixpoint "Sweet Action" ale and it a was indeed a "sweet" experience. Slightly sweet and bitter with a good structure. This was listed on a beer menu written in marker on a sheet of paper taped to the bar, so I don't think it is broadly available.

Herkimer has got Gose

If you are in the twin cities, go to Herkimer and get the Gose. It is a cross between a Belgian Wit and a Berliner according to the menu. I'm not sure what that means, but it's good stuff and very distinctive. Maybe it was the orange slice garnish, but to me it's sort of like Blue Moon, if it went to the dark side.

Put that nutmeg in yo margarita

I love margaritas. On the rocks with no salt. I am enjoying this one at Innuendo in Saint Paul. With Patron Silver, it is a very good drink. With a little whole nutmeg, it is fabulous! I had to suffer through several Cher songs and a losing game of pool to experience it but the bar is cool so I will be back.

NYC(5of5) - The Room - a very dark place

thomas.jpg, originally uploaded by herman melville.

After a night of gorging and pool-playing with our agency partners on a recent trip to NYC, my boss and I were sidetracked from our route back to our hotel and lured by a colleague into a tight and lively little bar called "The Room". I am usually a bit suspicious about any place that goes by nondescript names or titles. In New York, however, I think minimal names signify, "Yeah, that's all there is to the name - shut up and appreciate how cool this is!" Okay, when in Rome . . .

The Room was terribly dark - darker than any place I ever expected to be with my boss, but the crowd had the right casual neighborhood vibe and there were a few stools at the far end of the bar so we got comfortable. They featured a broad selection of obscure beers written in chalk on the wall and dispensed from a series of taps protruding from a brick wall behind the bar. I fail to remember what beer I had there, but I'm sure it will not be on offer again if ever I return. Some things are best left to the moment and some menus are best if they are allowed to expire.

Whitey's and boobage

I got diverted from my normal Tuesday night hangout to a saloon called Whitey's in NE Minneapolis. Had a Blue Moon. Okay bar but I was shocked to witness the Minnesota breast enhancement society walk in and make a scene. I didn't realized gross boob jobs hung in threes!

NYC(4of5) Billiards y la cerveza Presidente

Happy hour before gym

This is a Blue Moon beer that I am enjoying at a happy hour at a resolutely non-chic watering hole called JJ's Clubhouse. Not something I recommend before working out but I didn't know it would be so big.

Gay Pride Party? Time for big thick juicy hot dogs?

It's GLBT Pride weekend in the Twin Cities and our neighborhood is host to the Uptown Pride Block Party sponsored by the Bryant Lake Bowl. Since the party is less than a block away, we invited 4 of our man-friends over (a very hot set we made roaming the party, I must say) for a little pre-gathering of grilled hot dogs, burgers and beer.

I went to the store looking for the thickest, juiciest, longest hot dogs I could find as that seemed to be appropriate fare for a group of hungry gay boys on Pride weekend. I found these Klement's Chicago Brand Beef Hot Dogs. They weren't as big as the mega dogs you find at the stadiums, but they were very satisfying and grilled up quite nicely.

I enjoy "slaw dogs" which I believe is a very southern treatment for hot dogs - just give me ketchup, spicy mustard and some creamy deli-made cole slaw and I'm happy. If we happened to also have some chili to put under that layer of slaw, I would have been in hog heaven - so to speak. We served these with some deli-made "picnic" style creamy potato salad, grilled zucchini and for the extra meat-hungry boys, some grilled Angus burgers for "dessert". Paired with a case of Summit IPA beer, we were well oiled for the sounds of Bob Mould and Tina Schlieske (of Tina and the B-Sides).

Art, Azia and a very stiff drink

Some friends of ours live at the semi-exclusive Minneapolis address of 801 Washington Ave, which is a massive loft conversion that was at the forefront of the conversion madness in that part of town that now has run amok. Nevertheless, the space is fabulous, the lofts gargantuan and the public areas are used as a gallery to display art. Once a quarter they host an art opening there for the public called, "Art at 801" so that the residents can show off the building to the community of envious gawkers and the art-i-nistas. After a couple of hours of people watching, it was after 10pm and we were peckish enough to brave Azia - a rather over-the-top pan-asian fusion place on "Eat Street" in Minneapolis.

We went with a happy-hour order of cranberry wontons and some fried calamari off the main menu. Calamari begs for salt - I don't know why, but anytime I've been disappointed with calamari, it was due to a lack of salt - this was no exception. The most interesting part of the dish was the sweet basil dipping sauce that I tried to capture in a photo. The color was akin to lime sherbet and looked terribly unnatural, but was quite tasty. They have a version of the calamari sauted with a sweet chili sauce so we'll try that next time.

The Cranberry wontons were $5 or $6 on the happy hour menu and made up for the calamari disappointment - they were crispy fried and stuffed with cream cheese. They made for the perfect companion for the Lychee-tini - a 14.5oz knock-your-socks-off monster of a cocktail made with lots of 3 vodka (it's apparently distilled from soy) and lychee-fruit puree. Be sure to hit this drink up at happy hour when it is 1/2 price - it's $14 during regular business hours. Given previous trips to Azia, I knew one of these would make me happy, two would create a personal disturbance. I stopped at one and was home watching TV by midnight.

Sangrita! A Bloody Good Way to Tequila!

While doing business in Mexico City a couple of years ago, I was introduced to Tequila y Sangrita by my Mexican colleagues. Apparently, a common way to drink Tequila in certain parts of Mexico is to accompany a good anejo or reposado with a sweet/savory/spicy chaser of tomato juice, citrus juices and spices. With some salt and limes on the side, it can make for a pleasantly mellow Sunday afternoon on the porch, or a weepy, messy night depending on how far you take it. Based on your taste (I like mine sweet and spicy), you can adjust the proportions, but here is what's in it generally:

1 Cup Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
2 Cups Tomato Juice
1/2 Cup Lime Juice
1 TBSP Finely Minced Onion
Several Dashes of Smoked Tabasco Sauce (or a hot sauce of your choosing)
A couple dashes of Worcestershire Sauce
Seasoned Salt and White Pepper to taste
A dash of baker's sugar if you'd like (which I do)

Mix and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight to let flavors blend. Some folks will strain it, but straining Tomato Juice doesn't always work so well, so I'll drink it chunks and all. Serve chilled in shot glasses with a good quality tequila and fresh lime wedges. The key here is to sip, not shoot! Good tequila is meant to be savored, not inhaled.

Vicodin, Ibuprofin, Cipro and Sondre Lerche

I've been fighting brain-crushing headaches with a mixture of about 1600 mg of ibuprofin, plus some Vicodin to help me sleep and some Cipro to kill what may be ailing me (the working theory centers around a malicious sinus infection). With those things swimming around in me (on top of numerous other drugs to treat my allergies and the acne that at age 31 will not leave me be) I decided to give up adult beverages until I'm well and I can retire the extra pills. In the midst of this, my buddy wanted to celebrate his birthday with dinner at Stella's Fish Cafe followed by a concert by Sondre Lerche and the Faces Down Quartet at the First Avenue 7th St. Entry.

The meal at Stella's was so unremarkable, I'm not going to write much about it. I never really liked the place from the first time I visited the men's room and was greeted by a 10-foot photo inside the door of a man naked from the waist-down lying in a pool of his own vomit on the floor of a public bathroom. Rumor has it that the picture is a photo of the owner's son. Anyway the pomegranate mint lemonade was refreshing though a bit on the chemical-tinged side. That place exists for it's rooftop deck with the gorgeous view of the city. Until that opens up, there's no reason to go, so check it out in July when we get past this bloody snow.

Sondre Lerche defied description. He's apparently big in his home country of Norway, but there's no shortage of Norwegians here in the twin cities who love his energetic blend of driving guitar, crooning vocals and explosive energetic flights of fantasy he managed to carry the audience through via his infectious hooks and quirky lyrics. The band spent a lot of time smiling at each other, so I wonder what they knew that we didn't. Anyway, when the band is having fun, so is the crowd, so I'll forgive them for making 2 curtain calls and leaving me breathless and sore feet from standing through the 2+ hour performance. He's better live than on CD, so catch him if he comes anywhere near you. Concert would have been better with a beer though . . .

Old fashion tipple

If you need to drink bourbon in the middle of the week, I strongly endorse the "Old Fashioned" route. Susan at JetSet hooks me up with a good one every so often.

One of these offers a touch of civility that my other perferred cocktail, the Manhattan, can suggest, but not match. The downside of this drink is the strange urges I get to start smoking cigars and referring to women as "broads" about halfway through it.

3 days of Mexican

This was not planned, but I've just completed a three day Mexican series - sort-of . . .

Friday:
After the Of Montreal concert at First Avenue, my companions and I dropped in at the Chevy's "Fresh Mex"; downtown for Margaritas and snacks before braving the "Y'all Come Back Saloon" - a local institution that never ceases to be popular with the boys. I had eaten dinner earlier in the evening, so I ordered the "Guac My Way" which was promised to be a table-side fresh preparation of Guacamole just as I wanted it. The cheerfully flirtatious server bounded over with a tray of fresh avocados and various accoutrements so that he could try to match my taste preferences. I asked for it chunky, spicy, a touch garlicky and a some salt for good measure. To my horror, his bowls contained garlic powder, very sad looking chopped tomotoes and no salt to speak of. In the end, it ended up bland and tasteless despite his best intentions. After sucking down the 12oz "Blue Agave" margarita, I decided to forgive him and Chevy's for their transgressions. It was just confirmation that if I want a good bowl of Guac - My way - I have to make it myself.

Saturday:
In preparation for my Sunday dinner, we decided to drop by the Midtown Global Market to pick up some things that I didn't trust my local grocery store to carry in good quality (ripe plantains, Mexican queso fresco, and fresh tomatillos). We were pleasantly surprised to see how busy the stalls and shops were on a Saturday night. We opted to cap off our shopping with dinner at "A la Salsa"; - one of the few sit-down establishments in the market that has been getting rave reviews. I started the meal with the first of my 2for1 Mojitos which tasted much like the kind I get when I'm in Mexico or the Caribbean - light on the lime, balanced on the mint and sugar, and just enough rum to make it worth the while. We moved on to the first course of Tostones con Camarones where they took thick fried planks of plantains and topped them with perfectly grilled shrimp topped with this delicious spicy mango salsa. My main course, a Pollo en Mole Poblano - a delicious quarter chicken covered in a rich, ever so slightly sweet mole sauce with two savory tamales on the side - was a delicious exercise in simple complexity. I love a good mole poblano that can balance out the sweet, the chocolate, and the various spices to make it a brain-tingling experience. The A la Salsa folks did not disappoint.

Sunday:
I cooked for us tonight and reached for my friend Rick Bayless for inspiration. I live and die by his "Mexican Everyday"; cookbook so I picked two recipes for this meal: Gulf Coast Rice Pilaf with black beans and plantains supporting Spinach/Mushroom Enchiladas in Salsa Verde. While the pilaf was very good, the enchiladas again stole the show. The sauce is a simple mixture of fresh tomatillos, garlic and jalapeno chilies reduced and then balanced with some stock and crème fraiche. Although the assembly is messy (you dip the tortillas in the sauce, roll in the filling and serve, rather than rolling in the fillings, saucing and baking before serving) the result is fresh, fragrant and intoxicating. I paired this meal with a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon that I opened yesterday, but kept fresh in my newly refurbished "Pek Supremo" wine preservation system. More on that in a future update.

Big beer

There is something criminal about drinking a Newcastle from a big ass bottle. Keep in mind that I have big hands so the size is understated, but trust me when I say this bottle of beer is huge!

I enjoyed this bad boy at a concert at 1st Avenue - a standing-room-only mega club in Minneapolis made famous by Prince in the movie "Purple Rain". The band was Of Montreal and it was a blast. I have really been digging their new album, "Hissing Fauna, Are you the Detroyer?"

I see a good live concert (or a sports event for that matter) as a good way to fully enjoy a big ass beer! Given the high diva factor the lead singer of "Of Montreal" brought to the stage, I felt that the classiness of a fine brew like Newcastle was appropriate.

Braised Salmon & Maragaret Cho

I'm a very bad gay . . .

While the rest of the world was watching the Oscars tonight, I was braising Salmon filets in a decadent mixture of Pinot Noir, bacon, mushrooms and butter (God bless the French) accompanied with a side of Broccoli Rabe wilted and seasoned with garlic, salt, pepper and red wine vinegar. I think the salmon recipe came from the quarterly magazine the local wine & liquor superstore sends out to incent hopeless foodies like me to make sure I come in and stock up on alcohol I certainly don't need. Nevertheless, the dish was heavenly, but I'll have to rely on my co-workers to tell me how "Little Miss Sunshine" fared with the Academy.

I had planned to at least watch the red carpet coverage, but I have been trying to get around to trying this recipe for months. I figure I'll get the full run down of the fashion cheers/jeers by watching some E! later in the week.

I tried to re-claim a little of my homo-pride by taking in a few minutes of "Notorious C.H.O" on Logo after dinner - I figured you burn calories when you laugh, and nothing is funnier than listening to Margaret Cho talk about getting a colonic - or is there . . .

Hastening spring with tequila

On Tuesdays I visit my favorite bar, Jetset for some much needed chill time with my favorite set of alcoholics and talking heads. Susan, the bartender and owner makes perfectly balanced cocktails and runs a tight ship.

This week we finally broke the 3 weeks of deep freeze so I took the occassion to enjoy a margarita on the rocks with no salt. I think a drink like this hastens the coming of warmer days and more occasions to drink tequila.