Prairie Dogs Hot Dogs & Handcrafted Sausage: tubesteak on the comeback trail

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It’s about time for the hot dog to make a comeback, and the opening of the new  Prairie Dogs Hot Dogs & Handcrafted Sausage at Lake and Lyndale is a promising sign. For the past 90 years or so, ever since the first White Castle opened its doors in 1921, the hamburger has dominated the American fast food scene, meat-in-a-bun category, miles ahead of hot dogs and everything else.Which is a shame, because, let’s face it, burgers are boring – just ground meat and fat, and the fat is the only thing that gives them flavor.  Sausages, by contrast, come almost in infinite variety, with seasonings and ingredients as diverse as their cultures of origin – from British bangers and Polish kielbasa to Filipino longganisa and Czech jitrnice. And now that craft beers are making a huge comeback, the time is right for hot dogs to rise again. Sausage is the natural companion to beer.The new restaurant in the former Gray house space  is a collaboration between chef Craig Johnson (Spill The Wine, etc.) and veteran restaurant consultant Tobie Nidetz (Ike’s, The Sample Room, Rye Delicatessen.) After doing a bunch of pop-ups around town last year, (and an appearance at the 2014 Twin Cities Daily Planet Sausage Fest), they finally opened last month.The basic hot dog on offer at Prairie Dog is a Vienna Beef all-beef hot dog in a natural casing, but it’s the preparations that earn the gourmet label: everything from the All-American, topped with crispy pork belly, morning potatoes, , sunny egg, sriracha aioli and cilantro ($7), to Pliny the Elder, which is fried in duck fat, and topped with a foie gras torchon and currant apple relish ($11). If you want to keep it simple, a naked dog costs $3.75, with toppings a la carte, and a classic dog with mustard, onions, relish, tomato, peppers and pickle is $4.50. My favorite so far is the banh mi Joy dog, topped with char siu pork, chicken liver pate, pickled carrot and daikon, jalapeno, shoyu mayo and cilantro ($8), but there are lots of variations that I haven’t tried yet.Beyond the gourmet dogs,  Prairie Dogs also offers a selection of handcrafted sausages, including a spicy merguez lamb sausage (two links in a natural lamb casing), topped with piquillo peppers, feta and mint aioli ($9), a basic backyard brat topped with bacon sauerkraut ($8), a bock-bockwurst (chicken, $9), and a smiked polish sausage with beef relish. Continue Reading

Shopping farmer’s markets with SNAP benefits gains steam

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Fresh fruits and vegetables grown right here in Minnesota are a staple of farmer’s markets, so allowing low-income consumers to use their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program vouchers to purchase fresh, healthy foods at the markets makes sense, according to Rep. Sarah Anderson (R-Plymouth).Anderson sponsors HF352, which would appropriate $2 million in the next biennium to create the “Healthy eating, here at home” grant program. Nonprofit organizations could apply for grants to work with Minnesota-based farmer’s markets to provide $10 vouchers to SNAP participants who use their electronic benefits transfer card to make healthy purchases.The bill was laid over by the House Health and Human Services Finance Committee Wednesday for possible omnibus bill inclusion. SF316, a companion sponsored by Sen. Jeff Hayden (DFL-Mpls), is scheduled for a March 18 hearing by the Senate Finance Committee.Grocery stores could also accept vouchers for the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables if a federal waiver is obtained from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.“This is something I strongly support,” said Rep. Rod Hamilton (R-Mountain Lake), chair of the House Agriculture Finance Committee.Pilot programs have proved successful and now it’s time to expand the program statewide, said Colleen Moriarity, executive director of Hunger Solutions Minnesota. The program could help up to 495,000 SNAP participants, Moriarity said.Shopping at farmer’s markets is a great way to socially engage in the community while supporting local agriculture, she added.[See originl piece here: http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/sessiondaily/SDView.aspx?StoryID=5582] Continue Reading

Becoming a Lao Restauranteur: Eric Virakhone Panya

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When I first moved to Fort Worth, Texas in July 2013, I was told that there was vibrant Lao community nearby. In fact, according to the U.S. Census, there are about 10,000 Laotian Americans in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex alone. Out of that 10,000, about 3,000 reside in the Fort Worth Area. I was excited; perhaps adjusting to life in Texas wouldn’t be too hard with a Lao community nearby and most of all, Lao comfort food readily available right around the corner.A quick Yelp! search led me to Sikhay Restaurant in Northeast Fort Worth. Continue Reading

TASTE OF WEST BROADWAY: Celebrating Northside business in style

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The West Broadway Business and Area Coalition is setting out to prove that its business district has everything one needs to throw a spectacular party. For the upcoming Taste of West Broadway fundraiser on Thursday, February 26th, food will be prepared and served by eight local chefs from Avenue Eatery, K’s Deli, Cookie Cart, WholeSoul, Pimento Kitchen, Louisiana Purchase Seafood, Broadway Pub and Grille and Breaking Bread Cafe. Event patrons will have the pleasure of enjoying a wine tasting hosted by Cliff ‘n Norm’s, Merwin Liquors and Broadway Liquor Outlet. Boom Island Brewing will serve beer samples and its nearby taproom will host the event’s After Party.Hopewell Music Cooperative North’s string quartet will perform, and an artist from the Capri Theater’s Legends series. Silent Auction items include Cookies for a Year from Cookie Cart, visual art, a backyard BBQ for 8 from a local grill master, as well as concert tickets and other eclectic pieces.The WBC chose the Mpls Photo Center, located just off West Broadway on North 2nd St, in one of the most beautiful historic buildings in all of Minneapolis. Mpls Photo Center has stunning views of downtown and guests can peruse two photography exhibits, Rock and Roll and Vivian Maier.”We are excited to host this unique experience for the community, exhibiting many of the great food and cultural offerings on the avenue. Continue Reading

Eating the Traditional Asian-American Diet is Healthy!

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[See original article here: http://biculturalhealth.apacommnet.org/?p=507]Asian Americans who grew up in the U.S. have been influenced over their lifetime of how to eat healthy. The American diet is shown in a food pyramid that doesn’t really represent or incorporate foods from other cultures. Many people choose to mix in both diet and switch other things. But did you know that many Asian cultures actually have a healthy diet too? Here’s an example of what many Asian foods consist of.So what are the main differences between the two diets?1. One difference between Western and Eastern diet is at the bottom of the pyramid. Continue Reading

Laomerican Cuisine: Laopherd’s Pie

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[You can read the original post here: http://littlelaosontheprairie.org/2015/02/11/laomerican-cuisine-laopherds-pie/] Recently, Little Laos on the Prairie’s Bryan Thao Worra coaxed acclaimed Northside blogger and community builder Jeff Skrenes into being the guinea pig for a new addition to Lao American cuisine with a concept he referred to as Laopherd’s Pie. Ever a good sport, Jeff Skrenes took him up on it and shared his after-action report with us. You can read the original at North by Northside: A recent Facebook conversation with my favorite former Minnesotan,Bryan Thao Worra, centered around cultural comfort foods and culinary fusion.  As more and more Southeast Asians (and other immigrants) locate in Minnesota, they will bring their comfort foods with them–laab meat, papaya salad, sticky rice, etc.  Here in the midwest, we’ve already got plenty of our own comfort foods, such as shepherd’s pie, the infamous hot dish, and various jello and fruit conglomerations.So we began to ask ourselves, what would happen if some of these Scandinavian and Southeast Asian foods were to be combined in some unholy culinary syncretism? Continue Reading

Are upscale Native American inspired foods the next food trend? North Coast Nosh brings in hundreds who think it is.

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If fry bread tacos are the only Native American food you’ve heard about, you may be in for a surprise. A new movement, to take traditional and native ingredients – pre-colonization ingredients like potatoes, corn, dandelion, fish and buffalo – and move them upscale is taking root in Minnesota. The North Coast Nosh, held at the Minnesota History Center on Feb. 19th, featured more than 20 regional food businesses, with food samples and chances to learn about the new take on an ancient style of food. Many Native American operations were represented, but all focused on traditionally inspired high quality local ingredients and healthy cooking. Chef Sean Sherman, owner of Sioux Chef catering, a featured host at North Coast Nosh, was handing out samples of a mixed bean stew with maple braised turkey legs, wild rice and micro amaranth greens. Sherman has been on a mission to educate people on cooking and eating haute native dishes since 2011, giving talks and holding pop-up restaurant events. At the most recent, held at the Astor, he served elegant versions of rabbit, duck, squash, and smoked whitefish, using all local ingredients. “I’ve been working in fine dining for years, so building composed plates is something I do,” he said. Continue Reading