Wild about Wilde Roast

Saturday night. Hungry. Really don't want to cook.

Aha! The Bulldog. I think I'll get that turkey and avocado sand...Crap. No parking nearby.

I know. How about Brasa? Well, their parking lot is full also, but it only fits 8 or so cars on a good day, and there are no meters on the streets around it. There's one! I think I'll get the braised pork and...Whoa! There are more people standing in line waiting for a table than there are actually seated.

OK - new plan. Wander the street until I find someplace that will feed me. As I headed down Central towards University, I passed Wilde Roast coffee shop. Thinking nothing of it, I just kept going until I passed the window and looked in to see that people were actually using silverware. And drinking wine. I may have found a coffee shop that I could frequent. I think I'll give it a try.

The first thing I notice when I walk in is the heavy curtain protecting the patrons from the outside air. While I have seen that done before, I haven't seen it done in a coffee shop before. Then, there was the large portrait of Oscar Wilde, the inspiration for the shop, above the bar. That, coupled with the nice fireplace and comfy-looking chairs made me really want to like this place.

The dinner that I ate there fell quite short of amazing. Actually, it was only a little bit above mediocre. Initially, I ordered the Pot Roast, only to find out that it had been removed from the menu a long time ago, they just haven't updated it in a while. So, I moved on to the turkey meatloaf ($12). It was a very moist meatloaf, and every couple of bites exploded with flavor. Unfortunately, every couple of bites is just not good enough. The garlic mashed potatoes really didn't have any flavor, and couple that with the bland mushroom gravy and it was a recipe for disaster. The plate did come with vegetables, which were cooked correctly. The best move of the night on my part was to get a slice of carrot cake to go. The cake was moist, and the frosting was delicious. It was worth the $6 that it cost.

As I mentioned, I really wanted to like the place, so I felt that I had to give it one more shot. Just maybe not at dinner time. So, when Jennifer mentioned that she had a class assignment to spend a couple of hours in a coffee shop and observe the atmosphere, I knew just where to go.

I got the Breakfast Burro with sausage ($8.50). Basically, as you may have guessed, a breakfast burrito with eggs, cheese, and sausage. It was quite tasty. However, I was not a huge fan of the salsa that they tried to serve with it. All of the components tasted good, but they were way too heavy-handed on the garlic. Raw garlic first thing in the morning is not something that I am a huge fan of. Jennifer ordered the waffle with blueberries ($5.00) and a hot chocolate. Both of which were top of the line. The waffle came with real maple syrup, not something straight out of squeeze bottle.

The crowd in Wilde Roast is quite diverse. They do seem to be quite popular in the GLBT community, with what looked like many write-ups in Lavender magazine. There were artists, business people, students, and many other random people, many of them working away on their laptops or catching up with old friends. It is a great place to go and just hang out. It did get a little bit noisy during the lunch rush.

In the end, Wilde Roast is a great place to hang out or study, or even drink coffee. If I were to go back during the evening, I would probably stick to the sandwich or pizza. But I can definitely recommend the breakfasts.

Overall: 2.5 out of 5

Ambience: 4 out of 5 (Did I mention the fireplace? And dark wood paneling.)

Noise: 3 out of 5 (5 being the loudest)

Service: 2 out of 5 (Order at the counter, like any coffee shop. Food is delivered tableside. Drinks can be picked up at the bar)

Website: www.wilderoastcafe.com

Address: 518 Hennepin Avenue East, Minneapolis, MN

Foie, Remade

Today I used the rest of the Foie Gras that Jennifer's parents sent back with us. I feel like I am on Top Chef in saying that the theory of it was good, but the execution was just lacking (however, I did kind of like the presentation piece as well). What I attempted was foie gras with polenta and a port wine reduction. I'll start with the high notes.

1. The port wine reduction was pretty good. I mean really, most of the time, when you take 1 cup of a tasty liquid, and then reduce it to 4 tablespoons, it is going to taste pretty good. So here is what I did. I took:

1 Cup Port

2 Tbls. Honey

Pinch of Thyme

2 Shallots

Following the pattern of Farallon's recipe, I minced the shallots, and then combined everything in a saucepan. I let this simmer for 20 minutes, and then strained out the solids and returned the liquids to the heat, reducing it to 1/4 - 1/8 of a cup.

2. Polenta is fun because it can take on any texture that you want. It can be runny and creamy if you want (in that case you do a 5-to-1 ratio of liquid to polenta), or, as in this case, it can be a bit more firm just a 3-to-1 ratio. I chose to do the firm polenta because I wanted a contrast in texture between the polenta and the foie gras. Foie gras has a texture that is smooth and buttery, and even though I seared it to give it a little crust, it still has a very velvety mouth-feel. Sorry...I digress.

1 Cup Polenta

3 Cups Water

.2 lbs Gruyere Cheese

1 1/2 Tbsp. Butter

Salt and Pepper to taste

To make the polenta, bring the desired amount of water to a boil, and add a large pinch of salt. Add the polenta to the boiling water, stirring the entire time. Actually, you want to stir the polenta until it has finished cooking, in this case, about 5 minutes. At this point, you can get creative with the polenta. I added about .2 pounds of gruyere cheese, 1 1/2 Tablespoons butter, and salt and pepper to taste. After cooking the polenta, I poured it into a baking dish and spread it to about 1-inch thick. Go ahead and put the dish in the oven to dry it out a little bit more (Jennifer had a stew in the oven, so I dropped the polenta in there with it). When it is dry enough for you (I left mine in for 10 minutes), I took it out and cut it into the desired shape.

3. Now, all you have to do is cook the foie gras as I mentioned in the last post, and you are all set.

Put a piece of the polenta down on the plate, top it with the foie gras, and drizzle with the port reduction. Bon Appetit

New Year, New Food

I spent this past weekend in Des Moines, celebrating the new year with Jennifer and her parents. And with the new year, came a new chance to cook with a new food. I had had foie gras many (OK, a few) times in the past, but even at the culinary academy, I never got the chance to cook with it.

A few days before we the New Year, Jennifer gave me a heads up that her parents ordered a lobe of foie gras and a rack of veal. Along with this news came a question. “You’ve made this before, right?” I quickly started going through all of my cookbooks and searching the internet for anything that might be good. What I settled on was from Farallon restaurant in San Francisco.

The recipe is for Seared Foie Gras with Apple Galettes, Watercress, and Calvados Syrup. The nice thing about this recipe is that almost all of the components can be made in advance. The order of our operations were as follows:

1. Create Apple Galettes – A galette is the name for any kind of freeform tart. These galettes were some of the easiest possible, as there was no crust needed. All that is needed is:

2 Tbls. Olive Oil

4 Large Apples, preferably Granny Smith – Cored, Peeled, and cut into thin slices

1 Tbl. Fresh Thyme (We had to substitute a pinch of dried thyme for each galette)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 425. Brush four 4-inch tartlet molds with the olive oil. Arrange the apple slices in concentric circles, like a tart, to about ¾ inch above the top edge of the molds (The galettes will shrink as they cook). Sprinkle the tops of the galettes with the thyme, salt, and pepper. Then drizzle with as much of the remaining olive oil as you want. Place them on a baking sheet, and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until tender when pierced with a knife. If they are not browned on the top, put them under the broiler to finish the browning.

2. Make the Syrup –

¾ C. Calvados (Apple Brandy) or Cognac

¼ C. Sugar

2 Tbls. Fresh Orange Juice

2 Tbls. Apple Cider Vinegar

2 Shallots, minced

2 Tsps. minced, peeled, fresh ginger

½ Tsp. ground Allspice

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Strain the sauce, and return it to medium heat. Reduce until there is about ¼ of a cup of syrup remaining. Keep the syrup warm until you are ready to use, or it can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.

3. Prepare the foie gras – All you need for this is 1 lobe of grade A foie gras, salt and pepper.

The foie gras I was working with was mail-ordered from dartagnan.com. We received 1 full lobe that had already been cleaned of any veins. All that I had to do was to cut it into ¾” slices using a hot knife.

Heat a pan until it is hot, but not smoking hot (you don’t even need to add any oil, since it is all fat). Lay the slices in the pan, and let them cook for 1 ½ - 2 minutes per side. You will start to see the color working its way up the side of the foie. That is ok. Flip each piece, and let it go for another minute or two.

To assemble the dish, lay down one of the galettes, place a piece of foie gras on top of it. Drizzle the syrup around the plate, and garnish with the watercress.

Enjoy!