Summer Outing with a Blissful Twist

The event started with everyone dividing into two teams and going over a list of clues that would set us out on a scavenger hunt throughout our beloved North Loop neighborhood. From Spy House to Free House to Haus Salon… a “house” theme emerged.

Our teams finally converged at a rooftop patio adorned with flowers and décor for a surprise “Bridal Bash for Beth” (and our “groom” of a guest, Jared)! The gathering was complete with fun, games, prizes, and an appetizing array of savory eats — we never miss an opportunity to create a beautiful food spread and test trending flavor combos.

 

IN-crafted dishes included street corn and chorizo flatbread (recipe below), dill pickle with prosciutto flat bread, smoked jalapeño & bacon poppers with hot honey peanut sauce, shrimp salsamole, spicy chicken chipotle dip, and mezcal margs!

Spread the Joy

MEATS

LORI • Kramarczuk’s Ukranian Smoked Sausage

LORI • Bacon Jam

DUSTIN • Prosciutto

MAGGIE • Doc’s Summer Sausage (Cross Plains, WI)

SAM • Uncured Salami

CHEESES

ANITA • Wood River Cheddar Gruyere Herbs de Provence

KELSEY • Wood River Truffle Merken Chile

BETSY • Saint André Triple Cream

LILY • Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog

NICOLE • Blue Vein Cheese

SPREADS

DUSTIN • Pepper Jelly

NICOLE • Whole Seed Mustard

ANITA • Divina Chili Fig Spread

NUTS

NICOLE • Garlic & Herb Marcona Almonds

FRUITS & VEGGIES

ALYSSA • Honey Crisp Apples

MAGGIE • Pickles

LORI • Blackberries

ANITA • Marinated Vegetables

CRACKERS & CROSTINI

LORI • Potter’s Caramelized Onion Crackers

TORI • Raincoast Crisps Crackers

GRACE • Trader Joe’s Fig & Olive Crisps

SAM • Simple Mills Gluten Free Crackers

ALYSSA • La Panzanella Rosemary Croccantini

MAGGIE • Rustica Baguette

Toast the New Year

with a BYOC (Bring Your Own Charcuterie) Party!

Have guests bring a favorite or two. Line a table or island with butcher paper and an array of wood and marble boards to create a robust spread to please every palate.

Our Local Loves

• Surdyk’s Cheese Shop
• France 44
• St. Paul Cheese Shop
• Grass Roots Gourmet
• Kowalski’s
• Whole Foods
• Kramarzcuk’s
• Lunds & Byerlys
• Lowry Hill Meats
• Red Table Meats
• Burnett Cheese Store
• The local farmers market

Budget boards

• Trader Joe’s
• Fresh Thyme Market
• Aldi
• Costco

Resources to devour

• The Best Types Of Meats And Cheeses For Your Charcuterie Board
• How to Build a Meat and Cheese Board
• How To Make The Best Holiday Charcuterie Board, According To Food Stylists
• Trader Joe’s Charcuterie Board

Make the Most of Your Oats

You’ve had your Oatmeal Month decorations out for weeks, packages full of oats are making their way cross-country for your loved ones, and you’ve been prepping your oatmeal costume since December. Turns out, our IN Food staff are big fans of the oaty grains year-round. 

Our Vice President Lori prides herself as a savant in the world of this easy-to-make breakfast. She’s eaten it every morning for 10 years! To get the best out of your batch, “start with quality whole oats, add plain Greek yogurt, frozen blueberries or fresh fruit. Then, add a generous sprinkle of cinnamon, and drizzle everything with real maple syrup or honey. Stir it up into ‘oatmush.’ On special days, I add a little crunch with granola. It’s a bowlful, I know!”

Her preferred brands of oats include:
One Degree Organic Foods: Sprouted Rolled Oats (Available at Whole Foods)
Bob’s Red Mill: Steel Cut Oats (Available at Target)

Joining the ranks of “oat-heads” (it’ll catch on, don’t worry) in our office is Alyssa.
When she’s in the office, she uses packets and adds cinnamon and peanut butter, but when she’s at home, she gets really fancy. “Sometimes I use butter to sauté apples and real milk to cook the oatmeal.” Can’t go wrong with adding dairy products to the mix!

Give yourself an easy resolution this year and add some health to your morning routine. There are possibilities abound! In the most unexpected of food trends, oatmeal has entered the spotlight these past few years. We’ve been living in a world well aware of the benefits of Overnight Oats since the trend arose well, overnight. Quaker Oats has insider tips and tricks on mastering this endeavor here. Others insisted that savory bowls are the way to go and stir in toppings such as eggs, mushrooms, or spinach! Here’s a list of 5 recipes in this vein from Food Network.

What’s your go-to oatmeal trick? Send it our way! All month long we’ll be showcasing the best home cooking ideas from fellow “oat-heads.” (See, I told you it would catch on)

How 2020 Changed Our Home Cooking

In the understatement of the century, this was a new kind of year for all of us. We’ll be happy if we never see the words “out of the abundance of caution” again; how about you? While life got more chaotic this year, the IN Food team retreated into the safety and satisfaction of our home kitchens. We asked our staff how the way they cook changed during 2020. 

Do you feel like 2020 has permanently changed the way you think of home cooking?

Maggie said her strategies for food waste and food prep have been sharpened over this past year, and Dustin says cooking came to play a more central role in his life. Now he is “more likely to consider cooking as a first option,” and with so much time at home he found the incentive he needed to “explore different types of dishes.”

What new dishes did you try to conquer? 

Dustin tried Charcoal Grilled Nachos. “We piled layers of nachos, cheese, black/pinto beans, ground beef, chicken and jalapeños in a cast iron pan and threw it on the grill until it was melty.” Ciara, with ingredients courtesy of Lori, made drunken noodles. “It was delicious!” 

What foods did you rely on for comfort? 

Our staff went hardcore into carbs during these stressful months, but spice and flavor weren’t shoved to the sidelines! 

Maggie explored “a really tasty and easy crock-pot chicken that inspired quite a few homemade Chipotle-inspired burrito bowls.” Abby echoed these Latin-American vibes and said Fajita chicken was her go-to. “I’d use it for fajitas, quesadillas and burrito bowls. Versatility is KEY when eating so many meals at home.”

For some of us, it was all about the equipment. Betsy gave her home some restaurant-quality flair by installing a pizza oven, while Dustin pulled out the old Dutch oven and made pot roast his signature classic. 

Anita sought comfort in the familiar with one of her favorite dishes, spaghetti squash au gratin, as well as a stew composed of white beans, kale and Italian sausage. Ciara relied on “up north” take-out for her nourishment. “When I had a short-lived stint living in Duluth, I got these things called Dough Dogs every week” What’s a Dough Dog you ask? They are a deep-fried dough sprinkled in garlic salt and served with a side of marinara, and they can be found at Bulldog Pizza & Grill. It’s suspected the bulldog on their logo isn’t actually the owner and chef of the establishment, but anything is possible in Duluth. 

Recipe of the Month: December

Cheers to showing 2020 the door! Raise a glass with our Blackberry Thyme Champagne Cocktail.

Recipe of the Month: November

Pumpkin Croissant French Toast Bake

Recipe from Life Made Simple Bakes (lifemadesimplebakes.com)

Makes 6-8 servings

INGREDIENTS

• 1 loaf brioche or challah bread or 6 large or 18 mini croissants, cubed
• 2 cups whole milk
• ½ cup heavy cream
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
• 8 eggs
• 15 ounces pumpkin purée
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp kosher sea salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Butter or spray a 9×13-inch baking dish or 4 qt. enamel cast iron, add cubed bread or croissants; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, cream, sugars, eggs, pumpkin, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, cloves, and cinnamon. Pour half of the mixture over the bread croissants. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 350° F.
4. Pour remaining batter over bread/croissants.
5. Place in oven and bake for 45 minutes to an hour (you may need to tent the top of the bake with a piece of foil during the last 15 minutes to prevent over-browning). Remove from the oven and allow to cool/set for 5 minutes before serving. Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar and maple syrup if desired.
6. OPTIONAL: Sprinkle with Toasted Chai Pepitas (Recipe below).

NOTES

1. Day-old bread works best.
2. If you don’t have time to let unbaked casserole to set overnight, allow it to rest in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Toasted Chai Pepitas 

Recipe from I Delicate (idelicate.com)

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups raw pepitas
• 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp ground cloves
• ¼ tsp ground allspice
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 200° F.
2. In a medium bowl, mix pepitas and maple syrup until well-coated. In a small bowl, combine salt and spices. Sprinkle the spice mixture over the syrup-coated pepitas and mix well until spices are evenly distributed.
3. Spread pepitas into a thin layer on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until aromatic and lightly crispy.

Recipe of the Month: October

Deconstructed Crab Cake Toasts

Crab Dip Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp. Olive oil
• 1/3 cup finely diced white onion
• 1/4 cup finely diced red bell pepper
• 1 tsp. garlic
• 1/2 cup corn kernels Salt & Pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup finely chopped scallions
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbsp. chipped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup dried breadcrumbs – unseasoned
• 1 lb. lump crab meat

Dip Topping:

• 1 1/2 cup panko crumbs
• 2 Tbsp. finely chopped scallions
• 3 Tbsp. butter, melted Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, corn, and salt and pepper and saute for 2 minutes.
3. Add the scallions and cook 30 seconds longer. Remove from heat, place in a bowl to cool completely.
4. Combine vegetable mixure with eggs, chiptole, mustard, mayonnaise and breadcrumbs. Stir well to combine.
5. Gently fold in crab meat and transfer into a buttered baking dish.
6. Place in oven and bake for 15 minutes.
7. While the dip is baking: Combine panko crumbs, melted butter, finely chopped scallions, salt and pepper.
8. After 15 minutes, remove dip from oven and top with prepared panko crumbs. Return to oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until topping is golden brown.

Cornbread Crackers

Adapted from taste.com.au

Ingredients

• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 cup instant polenta
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 1/3 cups buttermilk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
• Pinch of chili flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, extra

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Prepare the pan: grease a 6cm-deep, 9 cm x 19 cm (base) loaf pan. Line base and sides with baking paper, extending paper 2 cm above edges of pan on long sides.
3. Sift flour, baking powder, cumin and chili powder into a bowl. Add polenta, sugar and salt. Season with pepper. Stir to combine.
4. Make a well in the center. Add buttermilk, egg and oil. Stir to combine. Spoon into prepared pan. Smooth top.
5. Combine crushed coriander seeds, chili flakes and extra salt in a small bowl. Sprinkle over mixture in pan.
6. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of bread comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes. Turn, top-side up, onto a baking paper-lined wire rack to cool completely.
7. Preheat broiler.
8. Using a serrated knife, trim ends from loaf. Cut loaf into 2cm-thick slices. Place on prepared tray. Toast for 2 minutes each side or until lightly browned.

Get a year’s worth of recipes—check out our 2020 calendar.

Recipe of the Month: September

London Fog Cake made with Toasted Sugar

Recipe adapted from Serious Eats (seriouseats.com)

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 16 oz toasted sugar (about 2 1/4 cups; 455g)**
• 4 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp (8g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt
• 8 oz unsalted butter (16 Tbsp; 225g), soft but cool, about 60°F (16°C)
• 3 large eggs, brought to about 65°F (18°C)
• 1/2 oz vanilla extract (about 1 Tbsp; 15g)
• 16 oz whole milk (about 2 cups; 455g), brought to about 65°F (18°C)
• 3 bags of Earl Grey black tea
• 16 oz all-purpose flour (about 3 1/2 cups, spooned; 455g)

For the Swiss meringue buttercream:

• 6 oz egg whites (2/3 cup; 170g), from 5 to 6 large eggs
• 11 oz plain or toasted sugar (about 1 2/3 cups; 310g)
• 3/4 tsp (3g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• Scraped seeds from 1 split vanilla bean (optional)
• 20 oz unsalted butter (5 sticks; 565g), softened to about 65°F (18°C)
• 1 tsp (5ml) vanilla extract

For the lemon drip icing (optional):

• ½ cup heavy whipping cream
• ½ cup white chocolate, chopped
• 2 Tbsp Limoncello

Directions

For the cake:

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat to 350°F (180°C). Lightly grease 2 7-inch anodized aluminum cake pans and line with parchment. Lightly grease 1 6-cup bundt pan (recipe also works for 3 8-inch cake pans).
2. In a saucepan, heat milk on medium heat until it steams and just starts to bubble bu isn’t boiling. Remove from heat. Add tea bags and steep for 3 minutes. Remove tea bags and allow milk to cool to room temperature (or refrigerate if not using immediately).
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugar, baking powder, salt, and butter. Mix on low speed to roughly incorporate, then increase to medium and beat until fluffy and light, about 5 minutes. About halfway through, pause to scrape the bowl and beater with a flexible spatula.
4. With the mixer still running, add the eggs one at a time, letting each fully incorporate before adding the next, then dribble in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low and sprinkle in about 1/3 of the flour, then drizzle in 1/3 of the Earl Grey-infused milk. Repeat with remaining flour and milk, working in thirds as before.
5. Scrape the bowl and beater with a flexible spatula, and resume mixing on medium speed for about 3 seconds to ensure everything is well combined. The batter should look creamy and thick, registering between 65 and 68°F (18 and 20°C) on a digital thermometer. (Significant deviation indicates ingredients were too warm or too cold, which can lead to textural problems with the cake.)
6. Fold batter once or twice from the bottom up with a flexible spatula, then divide evenly between prepared cake pans (about 20 ounces or 565g if you have a scale). Stagger pans together on the oven rack, and bake until puffed, firm, and pale gold, about 32 minutes. If your oven has very uneven heat, pause to rotate the pans after about 20 minutes. Alternatively, bake two layers at once and finish the third when they’re done.
7. Cool cakes directly in their pans for 1 hour, then run a butter knife around the edges to loosen. Invert onto a wire rack, peel off the parchment, and return cakes right-side up (covered in plastic, the cakes can be left at room temperature for a few hours).
8. Prepare the buttercream.

For the buttercream:

1. Fill a wide pot with at least 1 1/2 inches of water, with a thick ring of crumpled tinfoil placed on the bottom to act as a “booster seat” that will prevent the bowl from touching the bottom of the pot. Place over high heat until steaming-hot, then adjust temperature to maintain a gentle simmer. Combine egg whites, sugar, salt, cream of tartar, and vanilla seeds (if using) in the bowl of a stand mixer. Set over steaming water, stirring and scraping constantly with a flexible spatula, until egg whites hold steady at 185°F (85°C). This should take only 10 to 12 minutes, so if mixture seems to be moving slowly, simply turn up the heat. Once ready, transfer to a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whip at high speed about 10 minutes, until meringue is glossy, stiff, and cool to the touch, around 90°F (32°C).
2. With mixer still running, add butter, 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time. Initially, the volume of the meringue will decrease dramatically; it may even seem soupy along the way, but as the cool butter is added, the mixture will begin to thicken and cool. In the end, buttercream should be thick, creamy, and soft but not runny, around 72°F (22°C). Mix in vanilla extract on low speed until well combined.
3. Use buttercream right away, or transfer to a large zipper-lock bag, press out the air, and seal. Buttercream can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks and frozen for up to several months. (The main issue with longer storage in the freezer is odor absorption, not spoilage.) Rewarm to 72°F and re-whip before using.
4. Troubleshooting: If warmer than 74°F (23°C), the buttercream will be soft and loose; pop it in the fridge for 15 minutes and re-whip to help it thicken and cool. If colder than 68°F (20°C), the buttercream will be firm and dense, making it difficult to spread over cakes and slow to melt on the tongue, creating a greasy mouthfeel; to warm, briefly set over a pan of steaming water, just until you see the edges melting slightly, then re-whip to help it soften and warm. Full troubleshooting guide and video here.

For the drip icing:

1. In a small pot, heat the cream until just warm.
2. Reduce the heat and add in the white chocolate. Mix until the chocolate is completely melted.
3. Remove from the heat and place in a container. Stir in limoncello.
4. Cool completely and cover.

Assembling the cake:

1. Using a serrated bread knife, trim the top of the two round cakes to make them even.
2. On a cake stand or plate, place a small amount of icing in the center (to keep the cake from moving around on the stand). Place the first cake layer on the stand and spread about 1 cup of the buttercream evenly on the top surface. Place the second layer and repeat.
3. With an offset spatula, spread an even layer around the outside of the cake, leaving some portions of the cake exposed. Play around with it until you get the look you would like. Place the top bundt layer and chill entire cake in the freezer for 15 minutes.
4. Take the cake out of the freezer and slowly start to spoon the drip icing over the top of the cake. It will start to run down the sides but will seize up due to the temperature of the cake.
5. Keep the cake refrigerated for up to two days. Take it out of the fridge at least 2 hours prior to serving.

**For the toasted sugar:

1. Adjust oven rack to center position and preheat oven to 300°F. Pour 4 pounds (9 cups; 1.8kg) granulated white sugar into a 9- by 13-inch glass or ceramic baking dish. Toast until the sugar turns ivory, about 1 hour.
2. Stir thoroughly and continue roasting, pausing to stir every 30 minutes. The sugar will produce steam as a byproduct of toasting, so it must be stirred well to allow that moisture to escape. Stirring should also help move hot sugar from the edges toward the center, and cool sugar from the center toward the edges, for even toasting. Continue toasting and stirring every 30 minutes until the sugar has darkened to the desired degree, from a light beige to the color of traditional brown sugar, between 2 and 4 hours more.
3. When the sugar has finished toasting, set aside and cool to room temperature, stirring from time to time to speed the process and allow for continued evaporation of steam. Alternatively, the cooling process can be sped along by pouring the sugar into a large, heat safe container. Once fully cool, transfer to an airtight container and store as you would plain white sugar. It can be used interchangeably, by weight or volume, in any recipe that calls for white sugar.
4. Troubleshooting: In an oven that runs hot, or when using a different volume of sugar, or a different size baking dish, or a metal dish, the sugar will heat more rapidly, and may begin to liquify much sooner than expected. If this happens, immediately pour the dry sugar into a large stainless steel bowl, leaving the melted caramel behind. If the sugar is not stirred thoroughly throughout the toasting process, it may clump severely along the way and as it cools; should this happen, grind the cooled sugar in a food processor until powdery and fine.

Enjoy!

Recipe of the Month: August

Toasted S’more Brownie Skillets

Yield: 8, 3½” skillets

Ingredients

• 1 cups graham crackers, crushed for crumbs
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted, first
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, second
• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips or toffee bits
• 1 1/2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided use
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 large marshmallows
• Pistachios, optional
• Chocolate Fudge Topping

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, mix together graham cracker crumbs and 1/3 cup melted butter.
2. Place a heaping tablespoon of crumbs in each skillet and press into bottom of each skillet.
3. In a large bowl over simmering water, melt butter, 4 ounces of chocolate chips, and unsweetened chocolate until smooth. Set aside and let cool for about 15 minutes.
4. In a large bowl, stir together the eggs, vanilla and sugar. Stir the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture until well combined. In a medium bowl, sift together 1/4 cup of flour, baking powder, and salt and add to the chocolate mixture, stirring until just combined.
5. In a medium bowl, toss together the remaining 1 cup of chocolate chips or toffee bits and 1 Tbsp. of flour and fold them into the chocolate mixture. Divide batter into eight 3 1/2 inch cast iron skillets and place them on a baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes, taking care not to overbake.
6. Top with marshmallows and broil to desired brownness. Drizzle with hot fudge and sprinkle with chopped pistachios.

Recipe of the Month: July

Classic Avocado Toast

Ingredients

• 1 piece thick cut grainy bread
• 1/2 large ripe avocado
• 1-2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice
• Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Directions

Toast the piece of bread until the bread is just golden brown, about 2-3 minutes depending on the thickness of the bread. For the halved avocado, remove the pit from the avocado and discard. Remove the avocado from the skin and place the avocado flesh into a medium bowl and mash it with a fork and a squeeze of the fresh lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper as needed. Slather the mashed avocado on top of the toast. Add more salt and pepper is desired and serve immediately.

Get creative with your avocado toast toppings like we did! Some of our favorite additional toppings include feta cheese, roasted tomatoes, corn, cayenne, and the list goes on!