Monthly Archives: March 2021

Food! Glorious Food!

How to Save at the Grocery Store
Food is pleasure and connection for most of us. Staying within your budget can bring peace of mind and keep your overall spending on track.
By LEANNE BROWN

Can’t Take the Heat? A Taste for Spicy Foods Can Be Learned.
If you feel left out, here are tips for enjoying (or at least tolerating) the burn.
By DANIEL VICTOR

The 20 best cheese recipes


‘We have Marcella Hazan’s definitive parmesan risotto and Kitty Travers’s ricotta ice-cream. Plus, of course, the ultimate toastie.’
By Allan Jenkins

Where to Order Last Minute Easter Feasts for Every Mood Around the Twin Cities
From ham dinners to hearty brunch and hot cross buns in between, there’s still time to take out


Fancy up that Easter basket with sweet treats from Rose Street Patisserie/Patisserie 46
by Joy Summers and Alicia Banaszewski

New Luxury Hotel Taps Minneapolis’ Top Fine Dining Chef to Run Its Restaurants
Gavin Kaysen will oversee the Four Seasons fine dining and cafe restaurants


Gavin Kaysen is having a few friends over for dinner.
by Joy Summers

COOKING CLASS
From Zac Posen, a Rich and Briny Pasta for Spring
Having long found inspiration in the kitchen, the designer shares a recipe for uni spaghetti that he perfected after a trip to Sardinia.
By IMAN STEVENSON

MVP Chicken
Colu Henry’s sheet-pan recipe, with shallot and grapes, is sweet, savory and abundantly simple.


By EMILY WEINSTEIN

5 Fast Spring Lunches to Make at Home
Spring is here, and, with it, seasonal vegetables like asparagus, radishes and snap peas.
By KRYSTEN CHAMBROT

EAT
Is Baked Alaska the Secret to a Long Life?
A 117-year-old nun in France made me think it might be.


Birthday baked alaska.
By DORIE GREENSPAN

How can I get an appointment in Minnesota to get the vaccine? — Shamelessly Stolen from MinnPost

How can I get an appointment to get the vaccine?

There are several ways: You can sign up with the state’s Vaccine Connector website. After filling out some information about yourself, the state can send you information about potential vaccine appointments. The state also runs its own vaccine clinics and selects people through the vaccine connector to get inoculated. If chosen, you will be contacted via text, email or phone.

You can also sign up for a vaccine appointment online at the pharmacy chains Walgreens, Hy-Vee, Thrifty White, Walmart and Sam’s Club. You can check websites of those pharmacies directly, or you can scour several vaccine locator sites, run by the state, federal government or third parties.

The Minnesota COVID-19 Vaccine Spotter collects open appointments with frequent updates and includes links to sign up for shots. The Twitter account Minnesota Vaccine alerts (@mnvaccinealerts) automatically tweets when new openings are available in the state.

Your health care provider may also contact you to schedule an appointment as they move through patients based on COVID-19 risk and vaccination guidelines. And if you’re an essential worker, your employer may also reach out to you with a vaccine opportunity.

Link

NYT Critic’s Pick Movie(s)

Miracle Fishing: Kidnapped Abroad
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary | Directed by Miles Hargrove, Christopher Birge
The documentary is a unique record of the abduction that inspired the Hollywood thriller “Proof of Life.”


Miles Hargrove in the documentary “Miracle Fishing: Kidnapped Abroad.”
By BEN KENIGSBERG

Tina
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary, Biography, Music | Directed by Daniel Lindsay, T.J. Martin
The documentary about Tina Turner, who is now in her 80s, is not just a summing up of her life, but a kind of farewell.


Tina Turner in 1973 in a scene from the documentary “Tina.”
By GLENN KENNY

Nina Wu
NYT Critic’s Pick | Unrated | Drama | Directed by Midi Z
An actress loses her mind in this haunting portrait of exploitation in the film industry from the Taiwanese director Midi Z.


Wu Ke-Xi in “Nina Wu.”
By BEATRICE LOAYZA

Violation
NYT Critic’s Pick | Drama, Horror | Directed by Dusty Mancinelli, Madeleine Sims-Fewer
In this thriller, a woman exacts revenge against those who betrayed her and soon discovers the cost of answering violence with more violence.


Madeleine Sims-Fewer in “Violation.”
By LENA WILSON

— Of Possible Interest —

Retaliation review – Orlando Bloom gives it his all in lacerating sexual-abuse drama
Retaliation is released on 26 March on digital platforms.

By Cath Clarke

Food! Glorious Food! The Madness of Mid March Edition

Foods From Afar Hope to Catch the Eye of American Shoppers
Immigrant entrepreneurs are working with designers and brand strategists to create packaging that appeals to a wider range of consumers.

Yolélé offers products made of fonio, a cereal grain from West Africa, and they are now available at Whole Foods.
Yolélé offers products made of fonio, a cereal grain from West Africa, and they are now available at Whole Foods.
By Nina Roberts

Metal or glass for baking? Let’s clear a few things up.


By Becky Krystal

Yes, Ham Can Be a Surprisingly East Spring Project
A holiday ham, made at home, is within reach. You just need a bit of time, some wood smoke and a shoulder ham or pork loin.

This honey-cured, hickory-smoked shoulder ham is a stunning addition to your spring table.
This honey-cured, hickory-smoked shoulder ham is a stunning addition to your spring table
By Steven Raichlen

EAT
The Joy of Cooking With a Donabe
The Japanese clay vessel is perfect for hot pots like this chicken-meatball nabe.


By TEJAL RAO

A Stew That Captures the Essence of the Sea
A vibrant seafood stew, moqueca invigorates holiday menus and everyday meals alike.


A version of moqueca with large prawns and cod, served with rice.
By YEWANDE KOMOLAFE

FRONT BURNER
An Italian Prosciutto Makes Its American Debut
Culatta is made south of Parma, from a boneless thigh, the same cut used for culatello.


Tanara Culatta, three ounces, sliced ($16), murrayscheese.com.
By FLORENCE FABRICANT

ONE GOOD MEAL
A Lamb Tagine, Sweetened With Dates, for the First Days of Spring
The woodworker Sophie Sellu brings the same patience and care with which she makes her wares to this cherished recipe.


The finished dish is somehow both refined and rustic — much like Sellu’s woodworking.
By NICK MARINO

Von Diaz’s Essential Puerto Rican Recipes
The journalist and cookbook author, who grew up traveling between Atlanta and Puerto Rico, collects dishes that tell stories about life on the island, and the flavors that bring her back to it.

Von Diaz stirs a pot of sancocho, a stew found all over the Caribbean, as it simmers over an open fire at her home in North Carolina.
Von Diaz stirs a pot of sancocho, a stew found all over the Caribbean, as it simmers over an open fire at her home in North Carolina.
By Von Diaz

Delight In the Seasonal Green of Asparagus
Spring starts with “A” for asparagus, one of the most versatile of vegetables. (Apologies to artichokes.)


By FLORENCE FABRICANT

A GOOD APPETITE
These Lemony Pudding Cakes Are Magic in a Ramekin
Sweet and tangy, these easy desserts yield two textures — puffy and custardy — from one straightforward batter.

An airy sponge cake tops a creamy lemon curd in these simple treats.
An airy sponge cake tops a creamy lemon curd in these simple treats.
By Melissa Clark

FRONT BURNER
Delightful Neat or on the Rocks
Jaisalmer India Craft Gin, newly available in the United States, is pleasant alone, or mingling with mixers.


Jaisalmer Indian Craft Gin, $49.99 for 750 milliliters, winechateau.com.
By FLORENCE FABRICANT

Sours That Walk the Line
The drink has countless variations, but a simple spirit-citrus-sweetener formula is at the heart of all of them.


By REBEKAH PEPPLER

Remembering Steven Spurrier, Whose Contest Shook the Wine World
His legacy will always be the Judgment of Paris tasting of 1976, but less well known was his advocacy for unheralded wines from all over the world.

Steven Spurrier was an author, educator, amusing public speaker and leader of wine tastings..
Steven Spurrier was an author, educator, amusing public speaker and leader of wine tastings..
By Eric Asimov

Kent Taylor, Texas Roadhouse Founder and C.E.O., Dies at 65
Mr. Taylor died by suicide after suffering from post-Covid-19 symptoms, including severe tinnitus, the company said.

Kent Taylor, the founder and chief executive of the Texas Roadhouse restaurant chain, died on Thursday. He was turned down more than 80 times as he initially tried to find investors.
Kent Taylor, the founder and chief executive of the Texas Roadhouse restaurant chain, died on Thursday. He was turned down more than 80 times as he initially tried to find investors.
By Bryan Pietsch

NYT Critic’s Pick Movie(s)

Wojnarowicz
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary | Directed by Chris McKim
A documentary on the artist David Wojnarowicz shows the ways that the rebel was a prophet, and honors him appropriately.


A still from “Wojnarowicz,” a documentary from Chris McKim.
Watch on Kino Marquee.
By GLENN KENNY

Before the Dying of the Light
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary | Directed by Ali Essafi
This Ali Essafi documentary presents an inspiring view of the roiling visual-arts scene in 1970s Morocco.


A still from “Before the Dying of the Light,” a documentary from Ali Essafi.
Watch through MoMA’s Virtual Cinema.
By GLENN KENNY

The Fever
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Drama, Mystery, Thriller | Directed by Maya Da-Rin
Maya Da-Rin’s extraordinary film details the intimate life of an Indigenous family in the Brazilian city of Manaus.


Regis Myrupu in “The Fever.”
In virtual cinemas, including Film at Lincoln Center.
By DEVIKA GIRISH

Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal
NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Documentary, Crime, Drama | Directed by Chris Smith
Chris Smith’s gripping documentary looks deeper into the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal.


William Singer, a central figure in the college admissions scandal that is the subject of “Operation Varsity Blues.”
Watch on Netflix.
By AMY NICHOLSON

— Of Possible Interest —

LUZ
Crime, Drama, Romance | Directed by Jon Garcia
In this romantic drama from Jon Garcia, two men find love in prison, then try to make it work on the outside.


Jesse Tayeh and Ernesto Reyes in “Luz.”
In theaters and on Laemmle’s Virtual Cinema.
By TEO BUGBEE

Zack Snyder’s Justice League
R | Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi | Directed by Zack Snyder
Snyder’s marathon cut of his film for HBO Max doesn’t add much to be happy about.


From left, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher and Ezra Miller in “Zack Snyder’s Justice League.”
Watch on HBO Max starting March 18.
By MAYA PHILLIPS

Food! Glorious Food! — The Green Edition

Korean TV’s Unlikely Star: Subway Sandwiches
The sandwich chain’s aggressive use of product placement has made it a ubiquitous presence on the country’s television shows.
By SETH BERKMAN

Cook Without a Script
Embrace no-recipe recipes, or set yourself up for a big meal for St. Patrick’s Day.
By SAM SIFTON

A GOOD APPETITE
Getting the Best Out of Thick Asparagus
Wondering what to do with those stalks? Roast them with sweet slivered leeks and salty capers.

Thick and thin asparagus have their places in the kitchen, and the fat spears’ may just be in the oven.
Thick and thin asparagus have their places in the kitchen, and the fat spears’ may just be in the oven.
By Melissa Clark

This Passover Recipe Tells the Story of a Family Tree
A wide-reaching family’s interpretations of a Moroccan Jewish recipe reflects their history.


By Joan Nathan

In Favor of a More Casual, More Forgiving Polenta
Well into the pandemic, Yotam Ottolenghi has allowed himself to relax in the kitchen. This comforting dish shows how good a thing that can be.

This recipe takes instant polenta to new heights.
This recipe takes instant polenta to new heights.
By Yotam Ottolenghi

EAT
A Luscious Peanut-Butter Wafer Cake That Won’t Give You a Toothache
All the pleasure of the Nutty Buddy without the sugar overload.

Sturdy and silken: peanut-butter wafer cake.
Sturdy and silken: peanut-butter wafer cake.
By GABRIELLE HAMILTON

FRONT BURNER
A Greek Olive Oil Cake in Time for Easter
Kosterina’s new cake is festive for spring, covered with a layer of confectioners’ sugar or gussied up with sorbet.


Kosterina Extra Virgin Olive Oil Cake, $38, kosterina.com.
By FLORENCE FABRICANT

FRONT BURNER
This Mixer Adds Zip to Summer Coolers
A sparkling water flavored with lime and yuzu is a nice change of pace from tonic in a mixed drink.


Fever-Tree Sparkling Lime & Yuzu, four-pack of 6.8-ounce bottles about $5, fever-tree.com.
By FLORENCE FABRICANT

FRONT BURNER
Old World Wines Are Savored in ‘Noble Rot’
Dan Keeling and Mark Andrew’s new book covers old territory in a fresh way.


“The Noble Rot Book: Wine From Another Galaxy” by Dan Keeling and Mark Andrew (Quadrille, $45).
By FLORENCE FABRICANT

THE POUR
Does Wine Lose Its Spirit When the Alcohol Is Removed?
Nonalcoholic wines fill a need for the sober and occasionally abstinent, and the new generation of alcohol-free wines is promising.


Eins-Zwei-Zero is a series of alcohol-free wines from Leitz, a riesling specialist in the Rheingau region of Germany.
By Eric Asimov

Steven Spurrier, Who Upended Wine World With a Tasting, Dies at 79
In what came to be called the Judgment of Paris, he arranged for California and French wines to be compared in a blind tasting. The verdict was a shocker.

Steven Spurrier in his Paris wine shop in 1978, several years after he rocked the wine world with a blind tasting of California vs. French wines.
Steven Spurrier in his Paris wine shop in 1978, several years after he rocked the wine world with a blind tasting of California vs. French wines.
By Eric Asimov

NYT Critic’s Pick Movie(s)

Quo vadis, Aida?
NYT Critic’s Pick | Approved | Drama, History, War | Directed by Jasmila Zbanic
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Oscar entry is the harrowing and rigorous story of a U.N. translator’s fight to save her family from slaughter.


Jasna Djuricic is Aida, a high school teacher turned U.N. translator, in Jasmila Zbanic’s “Quo Vadis, Aida?”
By A.O. SCOTT

The Inheritance
NYT Critic’s Pick | Drama | Directed by Ephraim Asili
In this feature, a Black collective becomes a site of robust intellectual exchange, inspired artistry, joy and humor.


From left, Chris Jarrell, Nozipho Mclean and Eric Lockley in “The Inheritance.”
By LOVIA GYARKYE

On-Gaku: Our Sound
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Animation, Drama, Musical | Directed by Kenji Iwaisawa
The anime film, which took seven years to produce, combines groovy musical vibes with delightfully deadpan humor.


“On-Gaku: Our Sound” is a quirky homage to classic animation and 1960s-70s rock.
By MAYA PHILLIPS

Food! Glorious Food!

UNHITCHED
A Former Culinary Couple Now Thrives as a Blended Family
For Gale Gand and Rick Tramonto, both chefs, their passion for food always came first. After their divorce, they’ve learned to prioritize family.
By LOUISE RAFKIN

The Virus Spread Where Restaurants Reopened or Mask Mandates Were Absent
C.D.C. researchers found that coronavirus infections and death rates rose in U.S. counties permitting in-person dining or not requiring masks.
By RONI CARYN RABIN

FRONT BURNER
An Ode to Irish Classics, in Chocolate
L.A. Burdick’s holiday collection riffs on Irish breakfast tea, whiskey and even stew, with some white chocolate sheep, too.


Irish Chocolate Assortment, $45 for one-half pound, $78 for one pound, burdickchocolate.com.
By FLORENCE FABRICANT

For Perfectly Light Schnitzel, Do This
J. Kenji López-Alt was looking for the secret to an evenly golden, puffed schnitzel. He found it, and his recipe puts a new spin on an Austrian technique.


In this schnitzel, steam inflates the breading layer, which separates from the cutlet and puffs before it fully crisps.
By J. KENJI LÓPEZ-ALT

FIVE WEEKNIGHT DISHES
These Eggs Live Up to the Hype
J. Kenji López-Alt’s scrambled eggs are a superb light supper, and so springy.

  1. Extra-Creamy Scrambled Eggs
  2. Skillet Hot Honey Chicken With Hearty Greens
  3. Vegan Coconut-Ginger Black Beans
  4. Pasta With Green Puttanesca
  5. Shrimp Étouffée
    By EMILY WEINSTEIN

A GOOD APPETITE
Your Morning Granola Just Got an Upgrade
Filled with coconut and dried cherries, these breakfast treats from Frenchette Bakery are wholesome enough for breakfast, and sweet enough for dessert.

These breakfast bars won’t disappoint.
These breakfast bars won’t disappoint.
By Melissa Clark

Also from BMTN’s Turtinen: “A Minneapolis bagel shop has made Food & Wine’s list of Best Bagels in America. Rise Bagel Co., at 530 N 3rd St. in Minneapolis’ North Loop, made the magazine’s list of ‘nearly 50’ best bagels (it didn’t rank the bagels), which was published March 5. Food & Wine says 20 years ago, a list like this would probably have been New York-centric, but in the years since quality bagel makers have popped up all around the country, making ‘the kind of bagels you take home by the dozen, hot and fresh.”

FRONT BURNER
A New Aperitif With Cherry Flavor
Haus’s latest aperitif is a spiced cherry that would be well suited to a manhattan.


Haus is mostly sold online, $35 a bottle (750 milliliters) or $40 for four 200 milliliter (6.76 ounce) samplers.

Haus Apéritifs, drink.haus.
By FLORENCE FABRICANT

THOSE WE’VE LOST
Anna Majani, Grande Dame of Fine Chocolate, Dies at 85
She turned chocolates from her family company, founded in the 18th century, into design objects. She died of Covid-19.


Anna Majani was 18 when she started working at her family’s chocolate company. Over the years she became its creative heart.
When Anna Majani first stepped into her family’s factory in Bologna, Italy, to begin work among the cocoa toasters, marble tables and molds for chocolates eaten by kings and poets, nobody took her seriously.

It was 1954. She was a woman. She was all of 18. And she had caused a scandal in town, becoming pregnant by a soccer player at 15.

But Ms. Majani stayed on, rose to vice president and became the company’s creative heart, earning credit for turning her family’s chocolates into design objects and imbuing the brand with her charisma.
By EMMA BUBOLA

David Mintz, Whose Tofutti Made Bean Curd Cool, Dies at 89
He set out to create an ice cream substitute for people who keep kosher. He created a phenomenon, also loved by vegans, diabetics and people with milk allergies.


David Mintz, chairman and chief executive of Tofutti Brands, in 1984. His company went from distributing pint containers of its signature frozen vanilla soy-based dessert to developing some 35 plant-based products.
Late in the 1970s he had to close Mintz’s Buffet, his restaurant on Third Avenue, because the block was being razed to build Trump Plaza. When he was offered the option to transplant his restaurant to the Upper West Side, he sought Rabbi Schneerson’s guidance. The rabbi’s secretary, Rabbi Leibel Groner, called him back, Mr. Mintz recalled, and said: “Get a pencil and paper and write it down. This is very important.”

“I was very excited,” Mr. Mintz said. “This was the answer I was waiting for. Then he dictated to me, ‘The rebbe says, “Absolutely not.” The rebbe says you should continue with your experiments with the pareve ice cream and God will help you to be very successful.’”
By SAM ROBERTS

It was just a year ago today

On March 6, 2020, I got on a plane in Bangkok for one of those long days that stretch across the dateline and the Pacific. We switched planes in Narita, and thought we had time to hit the lounge, but headed for the gate and that ate up the available time. We got asked twenty questions by a rather irritating official before we were allowed down the elevator to the gate. We had been traveling since the end of January through airports and border stations in Seoul, Bangkok, Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia without hitting quite that level of questioning. They also only questioned me, and I’m not great at responding to COVID-19 questions. Let’s just say that Bangkok was a model of decorum compared to Japan. We thought we were fleeing from close to the epicenter of the pandemic — little did we know that we were flying into the heart of it instead.

The flight was nonstop from Tokyo to Minneapolis, but getting off the plane in Minneapolis was like time had warped somewhere over the Pacific. Signs warning about COVID-19 had vanished. Temperature checks had gone too. My traveling companion had to report for jury duty on the Monday after we arrived from S.E. Asia. After Someone picked us up at the airport, we wondered if we’d left the frying pan for the fire. It turns out, we had.

NYT Critic’s Pick Movie(s)

The Truffle Hunters
NYT Critic’s Pick | PG-13 | Documentary | Directed by Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw
An enchanting documentary about men and their best friends combing the northern Italian forests for an unlikely delicacy.


Aurelio Conterno and Birba in Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw’s documentary “The Truffle Hunters.”
By A.O. SCOTT

Lost Course
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary | Directed by Jill Li
A 2011 revolt in Wukan, China, is the subject of a sobering, sprawling documentary.


A protest in the documentary “Lost Course.”
By BEN KENIGSBERG

— Of Possible Interest —

Coming 2 America
PG-13 | Comedy | Directed by Craig Brewer
More than 30 years later, Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall reunite for a return trip from Zamunda to New York.


Eddie Murphy returns as Akeem in the genial sequel “Coming 2 America.”
By A.O. SCOTT

Raya and the Last Dragon
PG | Animation, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy | Directed by Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada, Paul Briggs, John Ripa
A new Disney princess from Southeast Asia battles factionalism and her own trust issues.


A scene from “Raya and the Last Dragon.”
By BEATRICE LOAYZA

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run
PG | Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family | Directed by Tim Hill
This new franchise installment, “Sponge on the Run,” wants to be clever in nodding toward genre conventions. But its execution is poor.


SpongeBob (voiced by Tom Kenny) in “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run.”
By MAYA PHILLIPS

Chaos Walking
PG-13 | Adventure, Sci-Fi | Directed by Doug Liman
Daisy Ridley plays the only woman to arrive on a planet full of men, whose thoughts are visibly on display, in this sci-fi thriller.


Daisy Ridley, Tom Holland and his thoughts in “Chaos Walking.”
By GLENN KENNY

Boss Level
Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller | Directed by Joe Carnahan
Frank Grillo gets to die another day — again and again and again — in the time-loop action comedy.


Frank Grillo and Naomi Watts in “Boss Level.”
By ELISABETH VINCENTELLI