Chapman Street Market

One of my favorite shops in Ely is Chapman Street Market. I have a horrible, dark, cheese obsession and this shop caters to that sickness in me. I think in a former life I may have been a mouse. This weekend I decided to share that disease with our friends Chris and Abby and show them my secret, guilty place.

Chapman Street Market is more than a cheese shop, they do catering and lunches and all kinds of other foodie things. Here is their website: http://www.chapmanstreetmarket.com/ However, the main reason I go there is for the cheese and have been known to easily drop sixty dollars in this store just on cheese and baugettes.How can you not spend money in a place that holds almost every kind of cheese known to mankind? Although they didn't have my favorite cheese, which is sottocenre, a black truffle cheese. I will have to do an article strictly on that cheese.We bought a brie with mushrooms, a chunk of prima donna and taleggio and a warm, crusty baugette and wasted no time setting it all up with a couple of bottles of wine in the pontoon boat. We torn the baugette into pieces and topped them with chunks of rich cheese. The mushroom brie went well with the bottle of moscato I brought and the taleggio went well with the bottle of Root 1 that Chris brought. I love new things and Root 1 was something new to me. It was a red wine that wasn't real dry or sweet, but had a lots of berry and fruit flavors. It would be an excellent steak wine. Chris was dunking his bread and cheese into the wine and told me how his dad taught him to do that. He said his parents started giving the kids watered down wine when they were young and how his dad would walk around to each wine glass and grate a little Parmesan into it. It all winds up in your tummy anyway, he said. So I had to try a little piece of baugette and cheese dunked into Root 1 and while it was pretty good, I just don't like the texture of soggy bread. So I don't know if that would be something I could do all the time but the story was interesting! Chris' family is a large Irish-Italian family that loves each other to death, is very passionate, very into their food and wine and hugs everyone. They are fun people to hang around.The cheese was a wonderful treat and we put a pretty good dent in all the food. I loved how the prima donna Gouda cheese had these little pieces of crystallized salt in it. Chris said it wasn't salt, it was "coagulated enzymes" in the cheese. Well ok, I love coagulated enzymes!

I love picnics on the boat, I love cheese and I love spending a weekend with fun, real people! I hope we will have many more weekends with Chris and Abby!

Stony Ridge in Ely

Well, what can I say? It's been a busy summer and I have neglected my blog. So I'm sitting here very sorry and determined to make it up to the few readers I have left!

Kevin, Miss Chocoholic and I just got back from a week in Ely. One of the things that made that week special was the first weekend we were up there, our friends Chris and Abby shared a nice, long weekend with us. That is them on the first picture. Aren't they cute? They just got engaged! One of the things I love about them is that they are both so passionate about everything and they love food, wine and good coffee. So we went to a little resort cafe in Ely called Stony Ridge where they are famous for their mammoth stuffed hashbrowns. Here is their website: http://www.stonyridgeresort.com After a cup of Gene Hick's coffee, (Kevin's favorite, if you need an idea for a gift for him) we turned our attention to cleaning our plates like our mothers taught us.You know I love Vertin's stuffed hashbrowns and they are still the best in my opinion but only because it is like comparing an evening with a campfire and a bottle of wine to going to a Broadway play. The Broadway play is absolutely wonderful but you can't do that every night. But you can sure drink a bottle of wine around the campfire a couple of nights a week!This was my Broadway play and I finished everything except the toast. The menu item is actually called Killer Browns. It was delicious! Kevin and Abby opted for omelets and while they looked scrumptious, you just can't compare them to Killer Browns.This cafe is very quaint and homey. It does get busy sometimes so go early if you can. The breakfast is the best anyway!You can share your meal with the mosquitos on a nice day if you want and enjoy a view of the lake. Check this cafe in Ely out, you will be glad you did!

Shrimp and Couscous in Parchment Paper

It's been awhile since I've posted a yummy, cozy meal. Actually, with everything Miss Chocoholic has going on and since I have been working later, it's been awhile since I experimented with anything lately and it's about time! I decided to try a complete meal of couscous and shrimp cooked together in parchment paper. So I headed off to the store for a roll of parchment paper, hoping that it wouldn't burn in the oven!
The meal starts out by heating up 2/3 cup broth and adding a package of couscous to it, along with a chopped up bell pepper and shallot, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and salt and pepper. I stirred that and let it sit while thawed and peeled the shrimp. I combined some basil leaves and lemon juice in my mortar and ground them up. You could also use a basil or tomato pesto for this.I pulled off a foot long piece of parchment paper and folded it in half and then cut a half-circle in it, kind of like a crude heart shape. The couscous mixture went on there, then a handful of shrimp, then a couple of spoons of the basil mixture. It was smelling very fragrant before I even cooked it, I couldn't wait to smell it when it was cooked!The sides got folded up and flipped over into a preheated oven for fifteen minutes.The end result was the best home-cooked meal I have had in a long time. The bell peppers and the lemon juice gave the couscous a citrus taste that went well with the shrimp. This made five little packages and they all mysteriously disappeared that night! And the smell lingered in the kitchen long after the last I scraped the last bit of leftover's off Miss Chocoholic's plate into my own mouth!

My Top Ten Craveable Foods

I started a list with the top ten foods I-don't-know-if-I-could-live-if-I-could-never-have-them-again. I'm not done yet, I am still thinking. Come on, people! I want to hear your top ten or top five. Use the comments sections and let me hear what yours are! Make some noise!

Vertins, Ely, MN

Almost any weekend we can get away after the driveway starts to be driveable again, we start making our summer pilgramages to our happy spot in the wilderness. Kevin's family owns a cabin on Burntside Lake in Ely. Both his parents grew up in Ely and his grandfather who was a stubborn old Finn who worked in the iron mines in Ely, managed to get this lakeshore for a steal a long time ago. In the picture above, the little brown cabin is a sauna. It used to be a shoe shop in Ely and was drug out over the ice to sit where it sits today. Kevin's parents actually spent their honeymoon there. It is now a sauna and a dressing room and the cabin above it is the main cabin.What a view! There was still ice on the lake and patches of snow and it was the fourth of May!One of my all time favorite place to eat breakfast in Ely is Vertins Cafe. This would be considered your average hole-in-the-wall greasy spoon where the locals eat. Don't let that stop you from eating here. Although the menu is for the most part mediocore, there is one showstopper on there that is worth a trip. The Stuffed Hashbrowns. Greasy and flavorful with strings of gooey cheese. A heart attack on a plate. Everytime they set that plate in front of me I hear the halellujah chorus in the background. It's a beautiful thing. And it doesn't hurt that Vertins has their own local ghost. Kevin's uncle Mike (in the red and black plaid shirt above) told me that there have been employees that have quit because of Old Man Vertins ghost lurking around. He knows I looooove a good ghost story. I've never seen Old Man Vertin but I have consumed many plates of stuffed hashbrowns over the years.The end of the weekend always comes too fast. Last summer I painted a sign at the end of the drive that says "Brainerd 189 miles." Here are Miss Chocoholic and I pointing to the sign with our best pouty faces. But guess what? You will be hearing a lot more about Ely! It has a plethora of food stories!

Cream cheese mints

My brother is getting married in a couple of weeks and I volunteered to make the "mints" for the tables. These aren't actually mints, although you can add mint flavoring to them if you want. My brother's fiance is partial to almond flavoring so I enlisted Miss Chocoholic's help and we spend all afternoon one weekend cranking out about six hundred of these little guys.

The ingredients are simple...a bag of powdered sugar and a box of cream cheese. Mix it all together with whatever flavoring you desire and you can add food coloring if you like. You almost have to just get in there with your hands and actually dump this out on the counter and knead it like dough. It takes a little bit of work to get the "dough" ready to use.Grab a paper plate and pour it full of regular sugar. You will also need a cookie sheet (or six) covered with wax paper and whatever rubber molds you want to use. I used a rose, a heart and a butterfly.You take a marble-sized pinch of the dough, roll it in sugar and press it into the mold. Then you pop it out onto the cookie sheet to let it dry. Once they were dry, we stacked them in layers in a tupperware container and put them in the freezer.It was the perfect project for an April sixth snowstorm. I wondered if the outside wedding would really happen in a few weeks especially since we had a snowstorm again the next weekend.Not looking too good for an outside wedding! Thank God it is melted now!

My little wine collection

The blueberry wine is finally done! I get so excited when I bottle wine and stash it downstairs in my "wine cellar" which is slang for "under the bar in the basement." The blueberry wine was sweetened with molasses, brown sugar and honey and you can definitely taste all three. I know this because there was just a liiiittttle bit that wouldn't fit into the bottles! I pulled all of the bottles out of the "wine cellar" to take some pictures and brag a little. I love how they run the gammit of jewel-toned colors, from yellow to pinks to dark reds. I have blueberry, strawberry, crabapple and white peach. Now if I can just keep Kevin (and myself!) out of them for awhile!

Moscato and Malvasia

I have been promising to do an article on moscato so here it is, finally! Moscatos and malvasias are the ultimate girly wines. I haven't met a chick yet who doesn't love them. If you are not a big wine drinker, but you would like to start getting into more wine, moscato is the perfect wine to cut your eye teeth on.

Moscato is a sparkling, white, dessert wine and while it doesn't have as much fizz as a champagne, it is a quite a bit sweeter than champagne. The taste always reminds me of fig newton bars mixed with pear. Moscato is made from the Muscat grape and typically comes from Italy although muscat grapes are also grown in Spain, Chile, Australia and other countries and those countries produce their own versions of wine from them. Asti Spumante also comes from the muscat grape and is similiar to moscato with the exception of a little more fizz. My favorite high end moscato wine is the Bartenura brand. They make both a moscato and a malvasia. St. Supery also makes a great moscato. A bottle of this wine will run anywhere from twenty dollars to six dollars a bottle. The Barefoot brand of moscato is the lower end and that brand also has a good flavor. You can pick up a bottle of that for about five or six dollars. Try some moscato with some bleu cheese and put those taste buds to work! Malvasia wine is another dessert wine that tastes a lot like moscato. Sometimes this wine is white and other times it is a blush color. Bartenura makes the rose-colored malvasia. Malvasia wine comes from the malvasia grape that originated in Greece in the fourteenth century and was then called "malmsey" wine. The grapes were brought to Europe and the word was changed to "malvasia" which was the name of an Italian wine port city. In some cases, the grape is dried before they make the wine, which just makes the wine sweeter. I found a great malvasia at the liquor store for $6.99 a bottle called "Le Duca."Sweeter wines seem to be gaining popularity these days. I have never been a person who really enjoys a super dry glass of wine. I can appreciate the taste and the flavors but it is hard for me to really sit down and drink a whole bottle of merlot unless I am planning on sleeping very late the next morning! The nice thing about moscatos and malvasias are that they have a low alchohol content so if you are looking for a light party sipping wine, these are perfect.

Rachel's Bakery and Schaeffer's cheese

I woke up with a toothache this morning. After stumbled around the bathroom, I crawled shivering back into bed and curled myself around an industrial-sized bottle of advil. As I lay there hurting, I reminded myself that I would rather have a baby or do my taxes then have a toothache. At least you have something to show for it afterward.

I called in to work in pain and went to see my dentist that afternoon. Even though the pain was half-way managable with advil, I was still feeling pretty sorry for myself and down in the dumps as I schlumped out of the dentist's office and over to the pharmacy for some antibiotics. My dentist had told me the tooth had to come out and the only thing I hate worse then dental work is...well, I guess I can't think of anything worse. As I pulled into the pharmacy in Nisswa, I noticed a new, little bakery called Rachel's Bakery. That perked me up. I had read a newspaper article in the Brainerd Dispatch about how good their breads were and since I am not in Nisswa every day since Miss Chocoholic isn't going to school there anymore, I don't always see the new stores.

After throwing the prescription in the jeep and with my mood considerably lightened, I made my way into the bakery. The shop was quaint and cozy and the owner was extremely personable. He was full of suggestions and conversation and seemed like he was high on life. I told him I had seen the article in the paper and he suggested a few breads that I would like. I walked out with an onion dill loaf, a caraway rye loaf, a date-filled cookie and a pear-ginger tea bread that looked like a tiny, cute loaf of banana bread. I devoured the cookie and the tea bread on my way home and couldn't wait to dig into the actual bread. Here is their website: http://rachelsbakerymn.com/ Super nice, friendly people who seem passionate about what they do and very flavorful bread!

I figured what the heck, I have to have a tooth extracted, I should treat myself. So I stopped at Schaefer's Grocery store on the way home and got some honey ham, horseradish-chive havarti, bleu cheese, bleu cheese-stuffed green olives, a chunk of scallion-rosemary cheese and a chunk of garlic, chive and dill cheese. Unlike most of the grocery stores around here, Schaefer's has a good selection of gourmet cheeses. Here is their website: http://schaefersfoods.com/ The checkout boy laughed at me for spending six dollars for a chunk of cheese. "Six dollars for cheese?" he said to the checkout girl, She said to him, "It's probably better than the Kraft stuff you eat!" I just stood there and let them have their laughs and I pitied them. They will never understand the ecstasy of smooth, creamy, salty, quality cheese sliding down your throat. What would they say if they knew I spend twenty dollars a pound for sottocenre cheese when we go to Ely? Some things are just worth it.

I grabbed a bottle of moscato and brought it all home. The afternoon was beautiful so I sliced up the cheese and the bread, poured myself a glass of moscato and took it all out on the deck.
Each thing separately was extraordinary, but putting it together was a symphony in the mouth. Whoever thought of stuffing green olives with bleu cheese? They should be given a genius award. The salty acidity of the olives offset the pungency of the bleu cheese perfectly. Then you wash it all down with a gulp of sweet moscato and the sweetness of the wine enhances the saltiness of the cheese and the olives. The onion dill bread was the best bread I have had in a long time. It was the perfect consistency and the subtle onion flavors went well with the earthiness of the rosemary cheese. I put a hunk of the havarti on the bread and topped it off with the honey ham. You don't even need any kind of mayo or dressing when your lunch ingredients are this high quality. The moscato went well with everything. It is a great cheese wine. I'd take a bite of cheese, then a drink of wine, then a bite of cheese, and so on until the plate was empty.As I sat watching the squirrels in the backyard in a sleepy, dairy-induced stupor, I thought how bad can a tooth extraction be? It's so easy to forget about pain after a cheese picnic fit for a godess. Cheese, bread and wine will cheer this godess up anyday!

Minnesota State Chip

My brother and his fiance came over the other night for supper and we were sitting around eating mango salsa and "hint of lime" chips. My brother pulled out a chip, looked at me weird and said, "Maybe I shouldn't eat this one!"

Now if it just had a famous person's face on it, we would probably be able sell it on ebay!

Lucy's Kitchen, Akumal Mexico

I discovered a kindred spirit while we were in Akumal last week. Although I didn't have much time to talk to her while I was there due to the fact that she is running around serving people the most delicious shrimp tacos I have ever had in my life. Her name is Lucy James and I took the liberty of snooping on her through the internet before we went to Akumal. I had heard that she was from the northwest states and runs her own quaint little restaurant in Mexico for part of the year. I also heard that her food is to die for so of course I needed to check it out. And I was not disappointed. I love her attitude about food, new things, creativity and most of all, I loved the food! Here is a quote from her that I found on the internet:

"Lucy's Kitchen opened in early 2003. We served lunches for a short time, delighting (I think) locals and visitors to Akumal with selections such as Pad Thai, potstickers and sushi, among others. However we soon became known, and maybe a little famous, for our handmade ice cream. For me, cooking is an expression of creativity, and I love trying new things. I like to experiment with recipes and inspirations until they are 'just right'. At Lucy's Kitchen we're sticklers for authenticity, and if there's a shortcut to doing something, we generally don't take it!"

Kind of sounds like my mottos! I am sorry to say that I didn't try the homemade ice cream while I was there because I hear it is as good as the tacos. I tried the shrimp tacos, the baja taco, and another taco that had tempera battered salmon in it, I can't remember the name of it. We actually came back a second time for lunch because it was so good. I think she might put crack in those tacos to keep people coming back and dreaming about them when they are back in their own cold hometown. I am kidding about the crack but seriously, those tacos are so good they should be illegal. The chipolte mayo and the fresh pico de gallo go great with the steaming, hot, tempera battered shrimp. Once again, I have to curse myself for not bringing my digital camera. The disposal camera just doesn't do justice to these works of art.
In Mexico, tacos aren't the same thing as they are here in Minnesota. The word "taco" literally means "a wad of food" so you can put anything in a tortilla shell and call it a taco in Mexico. At home, we think of tacos as being the tacos we get from Taco Bell but those pale in comparison to anything I had in Mexico.

Not only does Lucy cook and manage the kitchen, she was outside waitressing both afternoons. She also seems to have a knack for languages as I heard her speaking Spanish, Italian (or was it French?) and English to different customers. She is definitely someone I could hang out with. Here is the Lucy's Kitchen website. If you are ever in Akumal, Mexico, don't miss out on this place!! Keep being a free spirit, Lucy! http://lucyskitchen.net/

Pico de Gallo in Mexico

Kevin and I just got back last week from our late honeymoon in Mexico. Yes, we have been married a year and a half now, however, we wanted to save up for our honeymoon. We went to the Riveria Maya area and stayed at the Akumal Beach Resort. It was the time of my life. You will have excuse the blurriness of some of the pictures since we didn't take our digital camera and so therefore all the pictures were taken with a disposal camera. I got a lot of strange looks when I took pictures of my plates of food, but I figured they probably thought I was just another strange American. Here is the picturesque view from our balcony. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort that had a buffet that wasn't the greatest but filled us up. There was one amazing thing on that buffet and that was the pico de gallo. Not once did I see what we call salsa anywhere, it was all the chunky, delicious, cilantro, addicting, pico de gallo and homemade chips. I lived off the pico de gallo and chips.Below is a picture of what Kevin lived off of. He quickly learned how to say "cervesa." The resort had a Mexican restaurant and an Italian restaurant. We ate at both and they were very good. I forgot to bring my camera to the Italian restaurant but here we are at the Mexican restaurant.I saw they had cerviche on the menu and I asked to try it as an appetizer. It was made with cooked grouper and had just enough sour and sweet in it. It was served with those awesome homemade chips which are nothing like Lay's tortilla chips. The picture doesn't do it justice, it was a very pretty, colorful dish.We both had the pulled pork and it was very tender. They served it to us with flour tortillas.The picture doesn't look too appetizing but it was very good and very filling. One other place we ate that was interesting and worth the trip was Senor Frog's in Playa del Carmen. I had said if I went to Mexico I would never eat at Senor Frog's because it was just a glorified American Mexican restaurant. Well, what do you do when you are given a free meal there? Because we bought two day trip tours, we were given a free meal. It was a very tasty meal and the location was beautiful. I wouldn't recommend going there normally but I have to admit the food and the drinks were good and it was well worth the day trip into Playa del Carmen.We both had beef tacos and they served it to us with little sides of cilantro and hot sauce. I had a frosty, green drink. I think it was called a "Frog." Lots of Midori in there. Yum!

I tried to make that addicting pico de gallo at home but I haven't succeeded yet. I will let you know when I do, because you know I will try until I do! It was a relaxing and interesting week. I love exploring and I love different cultures. We can't wait to go back!