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As anyone who knows me can tell you, when given the choice of savory or sweet I almost always yield to the siren call of savory.  I have, on more than one occasion, enjoyed oysters, foie gras, or french fries as my dinner companions muddle their way through somethin’ sweet.  Still from, time to time, I run across a honeyed creation that peaks my attention.

I picked-up this Chua chocolate bar as a I grabbed a few Friday treats for the office.  Only on my first bite did I realize awesomeness of the fun little gem I stumbled across.

This guy clocks in with 60% cacao (the stuff that gives dark chocolate its great bitter flavor)  I recommend holding a small piece in your mouth an letting it melt.  At first the flavor is mild.  But as the melting starts you get a wave of cacao, then you feel a warmth and get a little smoke from the chipotle, all the while the salt lends a savory depth.    AND THEN THE FUN STARTS.  Suddenly you feel the little prickles on your tongue and soon the feeling fills your mouth and the popping sound fills you head.  I was a little kid, visiting my grandparents, and eating poprocks for the first time.

Whether you’re a chocolate snob or high end chocolate bar skeptic, this bar is a must try.

Today I finally made it out of the office before 7:30 and naturally made a beeline for the cheese aisle at Union Market. (Okay, so I stopped by to pick up the makings of dinner, but I couldn’t keep myself away from the cheese.)

After a few minutes of browsing I found my self holding a little bundle labeled Kunik and described as a “white mold-ripened cheese made from goats milk with Jersey cream.”  Never heard of Kunik?  Neither had I.  Apparently it’s a triple crème cheese hailing from Nettle Meadow (a New York farm and cheese maker that often shows up on the shelves at Union Market).  It’s a soft cheese, like a brei, to which I’ll mostly be comparing.

The first thing I noticed as I cut in was it’s thick, but relatively soft, rind.   The creamy inside is thick and holds it’s form well after being cut.

The flavor is rich and creamy–much more so than a brie.  There is background flavor of goat cheese in there somewhere, but I don’t think that I would have been able to identify it if I didn’t have advanced notice of its addition.   While delicious, the cheese is heavy and hard to eat much of at once, perhaps making it an ideal addition to a cheese plate for several people.

This cheese is amazing.  I’m almost at a loss for hyperboles.  When I took my first bite, all I could think was “oh my god, this is what cheese should be.”  I know, I know, there are lots of different kinds of cheese that have their own qualities, but for the moment I’m in love.

The initial flavor is a wave of savory.  After a few moments, and maybe a few pieces,  I realized that taste was a play of nuttiness, salt , and sweetness.  The flavor fills your mouth making you want more.  I have not idea what you should eat this with, I just ate it by the piece.

It’s a hard cheese with little granuals.

The cheese is made with raw cow’s milk.  Normally, Gruyere is aged 5 months.  This bad boy is aged at least a year and every day of it seemed to only improve the flavor.

If the crisp chill in the air didn’t full alert me to the coming of fall, this evening’s stroll past the beer cooler at the corner store confirmed that the season has changed.  I was looking for a cold one to sip while watching Monday Night Football and saw a pumpkin ale.  And, as sure as oktoberfests, the coming of the pumpkin ales warn of amber colored leaves.

This was the first I’ve seen of a Dogfish Head Punkin Ale, but I trust the Dogfish Head brewery to turn out a great brew. The ale was good.  It’s actually an ale with balanced pumpkin pie flavor and not just a nutmeg bomb.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I’m going to need find at least one nutmeg bomb before the season is over.

The Details:

ABV: 7.0 IBU: 28

Appearance:  It would be cliché to say that it has a pumpkin color–and somewhat untrue as it has an orangish rust color.

Smell:  Nutmeg, pumpkin pie, and molasses.  It’s smells like a kitchen the morning after baking a pumpkin pie–a lot of light balanced smells.

Taste:  To be sure, the flagship flavor is nutmeg, but it doesn’t dominate the drink as with most other pumpkin beers. Under the nutmeg is sweet and pumpkin with a hint of hops that builds as you sip.

Mouth: Creamy.  Light carbonation.

Overall:  A great fall drink.  Even if you aren’t normally a fan pumpkin of beers you should give this one a try and let it change your mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bps-xbo8wnA&feature=related

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I just remembered this and laughed out loud a little.  My inner 8th grader is very happy right now.

Ten cool points for the person that can name the source of this flawless graphic.

The NFL won't be the same without you, Randy.

Welcome, my friends, to the show that never ends! Well, actually it ends every spring. And this offseason it almost ended for a full year thanks to greedy owners. BUT IT’S BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER! I think every year I become more of a football fan. Back in the mid-90’s I followed the vikings very casually. In the late 90’s and early 2000’s I became a rabid Vikings fan (even after the gut wrenching 98 NFC championship and the 41-doughnut debacle against the giants just 3 years later). In the mid to late 2000’s I started to get interested in the other NFL games not featuring the Vikes and now that I started fantasy football last year I am an unabashed football addict. Between the months of September and January, nothing can get me down because I always have Sunday and Monday to look forward to. And in a couple of years, when the NFL starts selling Thursday night games to non-premium channels, we’ll have that too. And there will be much rejoicing.

And now that football is back, we’re going to resurrect the on-again-off-again Football Food series. This week: Beer Cheese Dip. I tried this for the first time at a work potluck (love my job), and it was incredibly addictive. It’s a nice combination of tangy beer, sharp cheddar and onion flavor, and creamy cheesy goodness.

Combine in a bowl: 2 bricks of cream cheese, softened; 2 cups of shredded cheddar; 3/4 cup of beer, I used Summit EPA because a) it’s my Minnesota beer of choice and b) I wanted something with enough flavor to shine through all the cheesyness; 1 packet of ranch seasoning; 1 bunch of green onions, chopped. Reserve a bit of cheddar and green onions to sprinkle over the top when you’re done mixing.

Eventually I would like to work out a version of this dip that uses fresh garlic and herbs in place of the ranch seasoning packet, but in the meantime this is a tasty addition to your sunday football buffet. As for your dipping item, I think this would taste pretty good with plain ol’ potato chips but the dip is probably too thick to maintain chip integrity. Stick with pretzels or veggies. Also, this makes enough dip for 6-7 people. If it’s only you and Brundage watching football, you might want to cut the recipe in half.

Football Predictions:

I don’t know that we’re going to keep up the Vikings weekly football prediction segment we  had going last year, but here are some general predictions for the NFL season which we’ll re-visit at the end of the season.

• Barring injury, Adrian Peterson will rush for 2,000 yards this year. While we don’t have the greatest O-line Minnesota has ever seen, the reports are that we have abandoned the zone-blocking crap which plagued us in the Childress era.
• The Colts will be in contention for the first overall draft pick by the end of the season. This team is GARBAGE without Manning. He ran the whole offense and he elevated a team that has drafted crap the last several years. (Sub-prediction: this will create endless ESPN contaversy about whether Peyton will allow them to draft Andrew Luck) UPDATE: Houston leads Indy 34-0 at halftime. I like this prediction.
• The Houston Texans will finally make the playoffs. I mean, they kind of have to. Jacksonville and Indianapolis will be terrible, and I just don’t think the Hasselbeck-led Titans will steal the division away from them.
• The Lions will still fail to hit the .500 mark. I know everyone is in love with them and they have certainly created a monster d-line, but Stafford is made of porceline and I still think they need another season to wipe out the stink of 0-16.
• Lastly, the GB Packers will fail to make the Superbowl this year. Because they’re evil. Superbowl pick: New England over Philly.

Saveé Sea - Pinot Noir 2009

Yesterday, Nick texted me to let me know that he was planning on  cooking a great dinner (pork chops with a peach salsa, mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob).  I had one job, grab a bottle of wine.

I went to the store fully intending to ask someone for help.  (Wine pairing is not my strong suit.)  But some where on the way I got fixated on the idea of a pinot noir.  And while in the store this particular wine called out to me.  Maybe it was the palm tree on the bottle, creating images of a Hawaiian lohou, making think it could go well with pork and peach.  Or maybe it was that this boozy grape juice hails from New Zealand and I don’t think that I’ve had a pinot from New Zealand before.

So how was the wine?

I really liked it.  The color was a rusty red.  It had a very fruit forward nose (in other words it smelled like fruit).  I think that Nick’s girlfriend, Becca, perfectly summed up the flavor: fruit basket.  I got some plum and pineapple.  But it wasn’t overly sweet–the essence of fruit with out all the sweetness.  The fruit flavors faded a lot after a few bites of buttery corn and mashed potatoes but the wine remained very enjoyable.  All-in-all: it was good with dinner and it would be nice to have a glass on it’s own.

Price: $15.99 at Slope Cellars (a bit more than I usually spend, but I’ve been really good and brought my lunch this week and made my own coffee in the mornings).

The past few days have been an amazing food and beer fueled whirlwind.  So much awesomeness and so little time to write.  I’m going to focus on the Minnesota State Fair Day (MNSFD) and try not to stray into other topics that deserve their own post including Beer Table (a good restaurant with great beer), Fonda (the best Mexican food I’ve ever eaten), an insane Latvian bar in the Lower East Side (LSE), and Bento Burger (a Japanese styled burger place).  Yeah, like said, it’s been busy, but pretty awesome.  And, as much as I hate to admit it, it’s been great to leave the comfort of Brooklyn and find some adventures in the city.

MNSFD – “The Great Minnesota Get-Together [in New York].”

The 2011 MNSFD, held on Saturday August 20, was a great success.  Over 120 Minnesotans and Minnesota-lovers took to the streets of Manhattan to recreate the Minnesota State Fair.

Before I go on, since people not from Minnesota seem to get confused, I should explain the Fair.  If you’re Minnesotan, just skip this paragraph, you’ve been going to the Fair at least once a year since before you could walk.   First and foremost, there is the food.  On these 12 days leading-up and including labor day, you can find corn dogs, fried cheese on a stick, fried cheese curds, pork chop on a stick, corn on the cob, Sweet Martha’s Cookies, deep fried candy bars, deep fried pickles, mini doughnuts…. you get the idea: if you can deep fry it and/or put it on a stick  you can find it at the fair.  (Eating food of a stick is kind of a big part of the experience.)  And while, for many of us, the Fair is about walking from food stand to food stand there are actually are things to see and do.  The animal barns showcase every barnyard animal imaginable.   Scattered throughout the Fairgrounds are various stages with a range of music playing.  There are the arts and crafts buildings displaying Minnesota made seed art, jams, quilts, and paintings.  The Midway has all the games-you-can-never win and brightly lit death trap looking rides you could hope for.  And, of course, there are the horticultural displays showcasing some really big fruits and vegetables born out Minnesota’s fertile soil–many a blue ribbon is handed out.

Okay, back to MNSFD.  In 2008, a few Minnesota ex-pats put on their fanny packs and set out into the city to recreate the food of the Fair.  Each year since, the project has grown and evolved.  This year’s set-up took a pub crawl meets choose your adventure book approach, with 5 main bars and various optional side-trips including corn dogs, funnel cakes, and corn on the cob.  (See map and details below.)

For the first time, tickets were sold for the event with the funds purchasing 40 lbs of Sweet Martha’s Cookie dough and real cheese curds from the same dairy the actual Fair draws on.  The City Tavern served-up the famous chocolate chip cookies with an endless supply of cold milk.  While it might never be the same as grabbing a bucket of Sweet Martha’s and getting a glass of unlimited milk from the Dairy Barn it was a delicious approximation.  Woody McHale‘s opened their hearts, deep fries, and beer kegs to the group.  In addition to deep frying the cheese curds, Woody’s had Leinenkugel (a Wisconsin beer) on tap and gave each ticket holder a glass on the house.  While delicious, my one source of sadness was that I couldn’t enjoy my cheese curds with a cold Summit beer–I’m waiting with baited breath for the day this great Minnesota brewery starts distributing in New York.  On the route, the planned culinary detours warmed my Minnesotan soul (while raising my cholesterol and increasing my waistline).

But more than the food, it was a blast to meet an endless stream of fellow MN-ex pats.  Some who have lived in New York for years, others for only a few weeks.  I’m looking forward to seeing some of these faces again at the next MN happy hour here in the Big Apple.

Finally a shout-out to the event organizers who pulled it all together:  Laura Carter, Nina Panda, Jen Wise, Kieley Taylor, Sam Willems, and Shannon Robinson. Thanks guys for making this another awesome State Fair Day!