Cooking

It’s deer-hunting season, and Minnesota’s hunters are doing what people have done around here for millennia. This Ojibwe hunter chased his deer on snowshoes in about 1870. Samuel Pond, a missionary to the Dakota who wrote Dakota Life in the Upper Midwest, went hunting with a Dakota band in 1834 and was deeply impressed. “Few were willing to be left behind, the deer-hunt with all its hardships had strong attractions for young and old, and all were wanted . . . After the hunters went out in the morning, the children in the camp watched for their return with game. When a deer was brought in, they all shouted Oo-koo-hoo! Oo-koo-hoo! making the camp ring.”

And what have this region’s families been doing, once they’ve got their deer? The earliest recorded accounts of Ojibwe people tell of the cook fire where a single large birch-bark container held stew of some kind. This recipe for venison stew, recorded in 1985, is from The Minnesota Ethnic Food Book by Anne R. Kaplan, Marjorie A. Hoover, and Willard B. Moore.

Venison Stew

2 tablespoons lard

1 1/2 pounds venison, cut in 1-inch pieces

1/4 cup flour

1 can beef bouillon

1 can water

1 1/2 cups onion pieces

1 cup carrot pieces

1/3 cup uncooked wild rice

2 medium potatoes, cut in 2-inch chunks

2 stalks celery, cut in 2-inch pieces

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1. Melt lard in Dutch oven or heavy 4- to 5-quart pan. Pat venison pieces with absorbent paper to dry. Dust meat with flour and brown in hot lard. Do not crowd pan. For best browning, do meat pieces in 2 batches.

2. Add bouillon and water. Cover pan. Simmer for 1 hour, 15 minutes. Add onions, carrots, wild rice, and more water, if necessary. Cover and simmer for additional 1/2 hour.

3. Add potatoes, celery, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer until potatoes and celery are tender. Test meat for tenderness. May need to cook an additional 15 minutes.

4. Gravy is usually of right consistency for serving. Can thicken if desired.

VARIATIONS: Vegetables can vary as to amounts and kinds. Also, some cooks use more wild rice, while others use more liquid and call the combination soup.

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November marks the season of winter baking and holiday meal planning–food is on our minds these short days. Mark your calendar now for the “Hungry Planet Exhibit: What the World Eats,” opening this Wednesday, November 11, and running through May 2010, at the University of Minnesota’s Bell Museum of Natural History.

The grocery lists and dining tables of people around the globe are the subject of this provocative exhibit based on the national, best-selling book by Peter Menzel and Faith D’Aluisio. “Hungry Planet” combines mesmerizing photos with hands-on displays that explore issues of food in the 21st century–what people eat and where it comes from, as well as how different cultures approach the growing and processing of food.

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“Tis the season of holiday entertaining and cooking. If you’re looking for ideas on how to make your parties and food spectacular this year, check out The Affair, a culinary extravaganza at the Minneapolis Convention Center this weekend.  The event features experts on food, wine, cheeses, chocolates, table settings, and more. Meet the Star Tribune’s Taste editor and author of Come One, Come All: Easy Entertaining with Seasonal Menus, Lee Svitak Dean, at 11:45 both days as she shares her entertaining tips. Kim Ode, also of the Star Tribune and author of Baking with the St. Paul Bread Club, will lead a demo on holiday cookies at 12:45 on Saturday and Sunday. Bon appétit!

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Mitch Omer, the celebrated chef at Hell’s Kitchen restaurant in downtown Minneapolis, will share his tips on making the famous Lemon-Ricotta Hotcakes in the Mill City Muesum Baking Lab this Saturday Oct. 10. at 1, 2, and 3 pm. Join us at the event for fantastic samples! The recipe is in Damn Good Food: 157 Recipes from Hell’s Kitchen. This event is free with museum admission.

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Mayor R.T. Rybak proclaimed this past Wednesday Taste Day in Minneapolis to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Star Tribune’s Taste section. Join Taste editor Lee Svitak Dean, author of Come One, Come All: Easy Entertaining with Seasonal Menus with over 150 recipes from the Star Tribune Taste section, for birthday cake at Mill City Farmers Market Saturday Oct. 3 to celebrate.

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The folks over at Hell’s Kitchen have put together this hysterical infomercial pushing their new book Damn Good Food: 157 Recipes from Hell’s Kitchen. Only $27.95!  Plus shipping and handling.

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Mitch Omer’s Mahnomin Porridge received two rave reviews this week from Minnesota Senator Al Franken and British pianist Stephen Hough, who is in town playing with the Minnesota Orchestra. Make it, and find out what the fuss is all about!

From Mitch Omer’s brand new book,  Damn Good Food: 157 Recipes from Hell’s Kitchen:

“I first got the idea for this recipe more than twenty years ago, while reading transcrips of journals kept by fur traders traveling across Canada in the 1800s. There was a meal served by Cree Indians that consisted of wild rice with nuts and berries and sweetened with maple syrup. But I decided it needed more fat, so I added heavy cream.” –Mitch Omer

4 cups cooked wild rice
1/2 cup roasted, cracked hazelnuts
1/2 cup dried blueberries
1/4 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 cup heavy whipping cream

In a heavy nonstick saucepan, add cooked wild rice, hazelnuts, blueberries, cranberries, and maple syrup and cook over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes. Add heavy cream and heat through, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Ladle into bowls and serve immediately. Serves 4.

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The folks at Hell’s Kitchen in Minneapolis and Duluth invite you to a publication celebration for Damn Good Food: 157 Recipes from Hell’s Kitchen by Mitch Omer and Ann Bauer on Wednesday, September 30 from 8:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. at the Hell’s Kitchen Minneapolis and Saturday October 3 from 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.

The celebration will include live music as well as a fantastic 7 course tasting tour of Hell’s Kitchen favorites. The best part? Mitch Omer and co-author Ann Bauer on stage between music sets to regale us with some crazy stories in the cookbook.

Ticket price: Only $25 per person + tax/gratuity. Autographed cookbooks will be available for purchase. Cash bar (with drink specials!) 80 S. 9th Street, downtown Minneapolis.

Don’t wait . . . They anticipate a very fast sellout!
For reservations, send an email to Cookbook800@HellsKitchenInc.com and let them know how many in your party. All requests processed on a first come/first served basis.

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The wildly popular Hell’s Kitchen restaurant in Minneapolis was recently named by Esquire magazine as one of the best breakfasts in America. This October Borealis Books will release Damn Good Food: 157 Recipes from Hell’s Kitchen by Mitch Omer and Ann Bauer. Mitch, the founder and chef, is famous for creating his own condiments for the restaraunt, including their sinfully tasty homemade peanut butter! The Hell’s Kitchen staff reveal that the secret is in the roasting of the peanuts. To find out the recipe to make this at home, you’ll have to wait and buy the book!

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Kim Fernandez, co-host of Martha Stewart’s Morning Living, puts Klecko’s dog biscuit recipes to the test for her canine companions, Dusty and Speckles. Klecko was an in-studio guest last week in New York City to talk about his book, K-9 Nation Biscuit Book.

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