Tomato Time

Today is the first day of the last part of summer. Above is a photo of
my first tomato harvest of the season. Heirloom goodness.

Our Slots Are Looser

This is my favorite kind of slot machine - spin and you'll find a restaurant that you might have overlooked.

Twin Cities restaurants on Urbanspoon

Longfellow EPA

Here's my English Pale Ale, hand crafted using a combination of raw grain and extract home brewing techniques. This was my last bottle out the five gallons I made this winter. Initially it was suspected of giving me a four day fever but later this proved to be unfounded. Thanks to then-pregnant Alewife for living smell of the boiled malt extract and hops on brewing day. I love that smell, the aroma of accomplishment. Once you get past that first day, the effort require to home brew is non-smelly and totally manageable (this was pre-Sig).

Here's my beer geek review:

Appearance
Burnt orange color (Hook 'Em Horns!). The head develops fine off white bubbles that quickly dissipate.

Nose
Citrus smell from the Cascade hops (similar to Sierra Nevada Pale Ale). Smells good!

Mouth
Smoother and less spicy than Sierra Nevada. Hoppy and crisp, slightly sweet, light malt, thirst quenching. Slight yeast, more so as the bottles aged and at the bottom of the glass.

Body
Thin. This is a session brew. Two 22 oz bottles causes a warm tingling sensation in extremities and temperal region (5.4% ABV).

Improvements
Enhance head retention and creaminess. Rough up the round edges for a greater hop bite and finish without going overboard.

Next brew: Hopefully I can birth an IPA of West Coast Pale Ale in June. Next winter I'd like to make a Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale clone and my first lager.

Funny: Miller Lite commercial touting it's superior taste because it's hopped 3x.

Puff Daddy

I found this recipe last night in my surprisingly reliable BH&G cookbook I received as a wedding gift two years. For some reason I haven't been able to master the craft of pancake making. That's why the Oven Puffed Pancake seemed so appealing - let the oven do the work, taking my judgement out of the equation. I didn't realize it until it came out, but I just made a Duth Pancake. Now when I'm in Holland Minneapolis I eat the pannekoeken!

Next time I'll let it brown a bit more, but I was under pressure from a very pregnant woman to produce food ASAP.

Spatchcock in Your Mouth

This is my new favorite way to enjoy chicken. It was excellent but the cabernet and not seeing my own breath while grilling likely enhanced the entire experience.

This came from a Steve Raichlen book called BBQ USA. It involved spatchcocking, hickory smoke, and mopping (basting). Good times.

spatch·cock (spchkk)

n.

A dressed and split chicken for roasting or broiling on a spit.

tr.v. spatch·cocked, spatch·cock·ing, spatch·cocks

1. To prepare (a dressed chicken) for grilling by splitting open.

2. To introduce or interpose, especially in a labored or unsuitable manner: "Some excerpts from a Renaissance mass are spatchcocked into Gluck's pallid Don Juan music" Alan Rich.

Heart Attack Man

Ever heard of Poutine? It's a Canadian thing.

Since Minnesota has longer winters than much of Canada, I put together an homage to the heart stopping combination of fried potatoes, beef grazy, and cheese to wonderful results (my option, Meg did not sample).

Gravy Cheese Oven Fries with Roasted Garlic

Be sure to cut your fries nice and fat, or they may break during turning. To prevent sticking, toss them carefully in the olive oil, leaving no fry uncovered.

- serves 2 -
Ingredients

3 large russet potatoes (about 1 3/4 pounds), peeled or scrubbed, cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch-wide planks, each plank cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch-wide strips
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
2 bulbs (heads) garlic, intact
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
16 ounces low-sodium beef, chicken, or vegetable stock
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces Gruyère cheese, grated (Cheddar will work too)
Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Place potato batons in a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil and toss to coat thoroughly.

2. Remove papery, outermost skin from garlic, but keep the bulb intact. Slice off top 1/2 inch of bulb, exposing each clove; discard trimmings. Drizzle each bulb with 1/2 teaspoon olive oil and rub with fingers to ensure top is evenly coated. Wrap and seal each bulb in aluminum foil.

3. Roast potatoes and garlic parcels on top rack of oven. After 20 minutes, turn potatoes with spatula. Roast until potatoes are tender and golden around the edges and garlic cloves are soft when pressed, about 20 minutes more. Sprinkle fries and garlic with kosher salt.

4. While potatoes and garlic are roasting, prepare gravy. In a saucepan, over medium heat, combine flour and butter. Stir until incorporated and cook, stirring frequently, until mixture is the color of peanut butter, about 3 minutes. Add the stock in small increments, whisking to incorporate after each addition. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until mixture has thickened, 15 to 20 minutes. Season well with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and keep warm.

5. Pile fries on a rimmed plate and top with grated Gruyère cheese and hot gravy (reheat if necessary). Place one bulb of roasted garlic on each plate. To eat, squeeze the cloves from their skins and smear onto fries.

Does Cooking It Cost Extra?

View from the Passenger Side

[photo of raw t- bone]
20 oz Porterhouse Steak
$12.99
PETROL PUMPER billboard near Madison

Hot Dog!

Hot Dog!
Originally uploaded by Ghostface CRZA

This is the time of year when beisbol is actually interesting. The wiener won the race over my boy Italian Sausage in the big race tonight at Miller Park in Milwaukee. Coach also saw the Brewers retain first place with a 3-2, 2 out grand slam in the bottom of the 11th. The Twins also took 1st place with a comeback win over the Suck Sox.

United States of Wisconsin

United States of Wisconsin
Originally uploaded by Ghostface CRZA

Sconny is a whole different world. That's probably why I love it so. Take a close look at the "heathy" food in this Wisconsin manufacturing plant cafeteria. Items include local favorites such as buffalo wings and cheese curds. This and New Glarus Brewing Company makes me want to move back.

United States of Wisconsin

United States of Wisconsin
Originally uploaded by Ghostface CRZA

Sconny is a whole different world. That's probably why I love it so. Take a close look at the "heathy" food in this Wisconsin manufacturing plant cafeteria. Items include local favorites such as buffalo wings and cheese curds. This and New Glarus Brewing Company makes me want to move back.

Minnesota State Fair Food

Carl's Gizmo sandwich: seasoned loose ground beef & pork in a hoagie bun, covered with red sauce and melted mozzarella cheese. The stand is on Cooper, between Murphy and Lee.

Marlboro Chew

Team, you need to be aware of these new performance enhancing products for next season. Don't be afraid to overindulge. It worked for Barry and also for this guy.

Enlarge
Camel Snus and Philip Morris' Taboka are two types of smokeless, spitless tobacco products.

By Wendy Koch, USA TODAY

The Marlboro Man, that cigarette-smoking icon of the tobacco industry, is more than a half-century old.

If he were conceived today, there might not be just a cigarette dangling from his mouth. He might also have, tucked into his pocket, a cellphone-size container holding a dozen pouches of snus.

Snus?

It rhymes with "goose," (cynics might say "noose"), and is a Swedish type of smokeless tobacco that's not your grandfather's dip or chew. Snus comes in teabag-like pouches that a user sticks between the upper lip and gum, leaves there for up to 30 minutes and discards without spitting.

As no-smoking laws sweep the nation and cigarette sales continue to fall, Big Tobacco is alarming the public health community by devising other ways to try to make tobacco appealing. With smokeless products representing the only booming part of the U.S. tobacco market, snus is an effort to boost sales with a product that — unlike most smokeless ones — doesn't require users to spit out the residue.

Snus also represents something more: an attempt to move smokeless tobacco beyond stereotypical users such as baseball players and rodeo cowboys, and into offices or restaurants where people want a nicotine fix but can't light up.

"This is a growth strategy for us," says Bill Phelps, spokesman for Philip Morris USA, the nation's biggest tobacco company and maker of Marlboro, the top-selling cigarette. In Dallas this month, Philip Morris is launching its first smokeless product with a cigarette brand name: Marlboro Snus.

R.J. Reynolds, second in U.S. tobacco sales, is expanding tests of its Camel Snus from two cities to eight, which will include Dallas this month. Its ads have a "pleasure for wherever" tagline and a playful tone. Its "abridged guide to snusing" says, "Picture yourself stuck in the center seat 44B of an airplane: You can mope, or you can Snus."

Public health advocates aren't smiling.

Although some say smokeless tobacco poses fewer health risks than cigarettes, they note that it has been linked to various types of cancer and warn against using any tobacco product.

"What on the surface looks promising could turn out to be a public health disaster," says Gregory Connolly, director of tobacco control research at Harvard School of Public Health.

He says the products are still addictive, and unless the Food and Drug Administration can regulate tobacco, consumers won't know what's truly in snus. A bill that would give the FDA such authority passed a U.S. Senate panel Wednesday and is gaining co-sponsors in the U.S. House.

Under laws in every state, snus and other tobacco products may not be sold to anyone younger than 18. But many health advocates see the new smokeless alternatives as an attempt to create a new generation of tobacco users.

Snus will "increase the number of people who use tobacco," says Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "It's market protection. This way, the big companies win no matter what tobacco products people use."

'It's the smoke, stupid'

Cigarette sales in the USA have fallen steadily for two decades as tobacco taxes have risen, studies have warned of health risks and laws have expanded smoke-free zones from indoor spaces to outdoor areas such as parks.

Government figures indicate 44.5 million Americans smoke, down from a peak of 53.5 million in 1983.

The only part of the tobacco market in which sales are soaring is "moist snuff" such as Skoal and Copenhagen, which are placed between the lower lip and gum but not chewed. Other types of smokeless tobacco, including chewing tobacco and "dry snuff," have fallen in popularity. Snus is most akin to moist snuff.

Sales of moist snuff in the USA more than doubled in volume from 1986 to 2005, according to a report this year by the Federal Trade Commission. Tobacco companies' spending on promoting such products rose more than five-fold.

Nik Modi, a tobacco industry analyst at UBS, a financial services firm, projects that the sales volume of moist snuff will rise 6% to 8% a year through 2010.

"It's becoming more socially acceptable," says Dan Butler, president of the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco, the nation's biggest seller of smokeless products including Skoal and Copenhagen.

He says 6.1 million Americans used moist snuff in 2006, up from 4.7 million in 2001. He says most of the new users are smokers, some of whom still light up.

The new smokeless, spit-free products are "an effort to create a different tobacco category in the United States," says Tommy Payne, executive vice president for public affairs of Reynolds American, parent company of R.J. Reynolds.

He thinks snus will gain acceptance because it's convenient and discreet. Payne adds that scientific studies show that smokeless products pose fewer health risks than cigarettes, largely because the tobacco is not burned and inhaled into the lungs.

"It's the smoke, stupid," he says.

A debate over the risks

Even so, the major tobacco companies are careful not to make any advertising claims that their smokeless products have fewer health risks.

Snus containers carry one of three required warning labels that say the product is either "not a safe alternative to cigarettes," "may cause mouth cancer" or "may cause gum disease and tooth loss."

The American Cancer Society, in a study of 116,000 men published in February, says male smokers who gave up cigarettes for smokeless tobacco still had higher death rates from lung cancer, heart disease and strokes than men who quit all tobacco or never smoked.

Several studies that compare smokeless tobacco to cigarettes, however, find smokeless less harmful. A study published in May in The Lancet, a British medical journal, tracked nearly 280,000 Swedish construction workers from 1978-1992 and found that smokers were at least 10 times more likely to get lung cancer than snus users.

The study, done by an international team of public health researchers, and funded by the Swedish Cancer Society, said snus users were not at increased risk for oral cancer. It found that they were twice as likely to get pancreatic cancer as those who never used tobacco but their risks were lower than those for smokers.

Smokers should be encouraged to quit tobacco entirely, but they also should be told that smokeless products have fewer risks than cigarettes, says Jonathan Foulds, director of the tobacco dependence program at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

Foulds says Swedes' widespread use of snus has helped lower the adult male smoking rate there to among the lowest in Europe. Snus, though legal in Sweden, has been banned in most of Europe as cancer-causing and a gateway to smoking for young people. Cigarettes, however, are legal.

Snus use alone did not cause Sweden's smoking rate to fall, says Harvard's Connolly. He says high cigarette prices along with bans on cigarette advertising and indoor smoking played a greater role.

"All forms of tobacco are bad," he says, adding that the new smokeless products won't help American smokers kick the habit. "It's like setting up a methadone program next to a drug house and keeping your fingers crossed and hoping it all works out."

Snus products have varying levels of nicotine. Connolly says Taboka, Philip Morris' first smokeless offering, actually creates a craving for a cigarette.

Foulds says Taboka delivers almost no nicotine. He likens it to Ford or GM building a car with four wheels but no gas. In Sweden, he says snus products have enough nicotine to help smokers get off cigarettes.

Philip Morris' Phelps says a pouch of Taboka contains slightly more nicotine than a pouch of any of the four flavors of Marlboro Snus. He says he cannot compare the nicotine of a snus packet to that of a cigarette because nicotine is measured differently in the products.

Bonnie Herzog, a tobacco industry analyst at Citigroup, says in a July survey of tobacco wholesalers and retailers that most respondents do not believe snus will prompt smokers to quit. Instead, they say smokers will use snus in addition to cigarettes.

A marketing challenge

Health concerns aside, such products could be a tough sell for tobacco companies.

"There's such a stigma attached to smokeless products," says Kylie Meiner, tobacco prevention coordinator for the health department in Multnomah County, which includes Portland, Ore., a test market for Camel Snus. She says such products generally do not appeal to well-educated people.

The challenge is getting a smoker "to create a new behavior," says Butler of U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. He says its first spit-free product, Revel, was launched in two markets several years ago and "failed to achieve a breakthrough."

Other new smokeless products also have struggled or failed.

"It has been slow going," says Sara Troy Machir, a spokeswoman for Star Scientific, a small Virginia company that makes dissolvable tobacco lozenges known as Arriva and Stonewall. She says awareness of the products is increasing, however.

"It's going to take some time for these products to take off," says Modi, the tobacco industry analyst. For that to happen, he says, they have to work. In other words, they have to give people a nicotine buzz.

So far, Taboka hasn't been "lighting the world on fire, no pun intended," Modi says.

A USA TODAY visit to a dozen convenience, tobacco and Wal-Mart stores in Indianapolis found Taboka widely available, often in a dispensers displayed near Marlboro cigarettes and priced at $1.20 to $3.80 per pack. Retailers say consumers have shown little interest.

"I haven't sold any at all," says Pat Bowman at The Tobacco Shop. He says even people who had coupons for free samples didn't want Taboka once they knew what it was. "I couldn't give it away."

R.J. Reynolds' Payne says one pouch of Camel Snus offers about as much nicotine as a cigarette.

In Wake County, N.C., where Camel Snus was launched last month, several smokers gave it a thumbs-down, says Gibbie Harris, the county's health director. Ten smokers in her agency tried it. She says "the women didn't like it at all," partly because they found it wasn't entirely spit-free.

Payne says if used correctly — placed between the upper lip and gum, not the lower lip — snus should not require spitting, because there's less saliva in the upper lip.

The marketing savvy of big tobacco companies worries public-health advocates such as Harvard's Connolly. "If anyone can get the taste and nicotine right, it's Philip Morris," he says, noting the allure of the Marlboro brand name.

Connolly says the health community should play no part in helping the industry expand tobacco sales share by acknowledging snus as a safer product.

"We shouldn't be out there promoting harm," Connolly says, "even reduced harm."

Find this article at: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-08-06-snus_N.htm

Sore jaw plagues hot dog eating champ

So sad. I love Kobayashi. Now the door is wide open for Joey Chestnut. I am convinced that Kobayashi

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Sore jaw plagues hot dog eating champ

Six-time winner of Coney Island's 4th of July competition may not compete

The Associated Press

TOKYO - The competitive eating world is already chewing on this bit of breaking news: The champ may not be able to chomp.

Takeru Kobayashi of Japan, the six-time champion of the annual Fourth of July hot dog eating contest, may be sidelined for next week's event by an arthritic jaw.

Last year, the 165-pound Kobayashi won his sixth straight Yellow Mustard Belt at the Independence Day competition in Coney Island, N.Y., by devouring a then-world record 53¾ frankfurters in 12 minutes.

That mark was smashed earlier this month by Joey Chestnut of San Jose, Calif., who gobbled up 59½ hot dogs and buns at the Southwest Regional Hot Dog Eating Championship at the Arizona Mills Mall in suburban Tempe, Ariz., — one of the qualifying events for Coney Island.

Chestnut nearly beat Kobayashi in 2006, downing 52 hot dogs and buns at the contest, which is sponsored by Nathan's Famous Inc.

But Kobayashi, 29, may not be able to defend his title. Earlier this week, he said on his Web site that his "jaw has abandoned the frontline" during his training.

"Already I can't open my jaws more than just a little bit," he wrote. "There's no pain only if I open my mouth about enough for one finger. More than that is painful and I can't open it."

A specialist diagnosed him with arthritis of the jaw, he wrote.

"To tell the truth, I'm desperate about healing completely before the July 4 contest," he said, adding that he had begun receiving treatment at a hospital and from a chiropractor.

On Tuesday, his United Food Fighters Organization said on his Web site that Kobayashi has found a doctor he can trust and was "creating an environment in which he can dedicate himself to healing."

"The contest is coming up soon, and we'd happy if everyone kept him in their thoughts," the group wrote.

© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19436969/

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MSN Privacy . Legal

© 2007 MSNBC.com

On This Run, Way More Bandits Than Smokeys (but No Beer) - New York Times

A.J. Mueller

Making time on the Bandit Run.

By DAVE KINNEY

Published: May 27, 2007 - Atlanta

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Eastbound and Down

TODAY is the 30th anniversary of the release of the movie “Smokey and the Bandit,” a Burt Reynolds romp that the actor once described as “a little like eating Chinese food — about an hour after you see the movie, you may want to go see another one.”

But for many people, the real star of the movie was the car he drove: a 1977 black Pontiac Firebird Trans Am with gold striping and a “thunder chicken” graphic on the hood. With plenty of Hollywood stunts and trick driving, the Trans Am left an impression.

To commemorate the anniversary of the movie, a driving event called the Bandit Run 2007 was held from May 15 to May 17, with about 200 participants in 85 cars traveling the 660 miles from Texarkana, Tex., to Atlanta, the route traveled in the movie. The event was open to anyone; owning a Trans Am was not required.

The movie is about a trucker, nicknamed Snowman and played by Jerry Reed, and his decoy and lookout man, Bandit, played by Mr. Reynolds, who agree to transport 400 cases of Coors beer from Texarkana to Atlanta. It is Bandit’s job to occupy the police — nicknamed Smokey — so the tractor-trailer of beer can make it to Atlanta without being discovered.

Thirty years ago, Coors beer was not sold in states east of the Mississippi River. In the south, Texas was the cut-off line.

The idea for the Bandit Run was a collaboration of David Hershey of Keller, Tex., and Dave Hall, the owner of Restore a Muscle Car, a restoration shop in Lincoln, Neb., who said they thought it would be fun to recreate the road trip from the movie on its 30th anniversary. Mr. Hall’s shop had restored Mr. Hershey’s 1977 black Pontiac Trans Am SE, or special edition, which replicated the paint scheme of the Trans Am used in the movie. Mr. Hall and Mr. Hershey promoted the event on Motortopia, a motor enthusiast’s Web site. More than 300 joined the Bandit Run group, many posting photos and videos of their cars. Bandit Run participants came to Texarkana from all over the United States.

I wanted to attend, but I also wanted to arrive in the right car, so on April 20 I bought a black 1979 Trans Am with almost 100,000 miles for about $10,000 at a collector-car auction in Branson, Mo. I had always wanted a black Trans Am and this was my excuse to finally fulfill my dream. I bought one like the car in the movie.

Multimedia

Audio Slide Show

Jim Cox, who, along with his wife, Kathy, owns the collector-car auction, found a mechanic to prepare the car for the trip. The air-conditioning was repaired, new front springs were installed, and the tires, brakes and shocks were inspected, adjusted and, in some cases, replaced. The foam was also replaced on the two front seats.

The Bandit Run group gathered with their cars May 15 at the Tex-Ark Antique Auto Museum. The mayors of Texarkana, Tex., and Texarkana, Ark., welcomed us. Pontiac Firebird Trans Ams from most model years were among the 25 or so cars there for the start. More cars, including many Trans Ams, dropped in and out of the run along the route.

Talking with the participants, one theme appeared continually: most were fascinated by the car in the movie and most first saw “Smokey and the Bandit” when they were much younger. Jed Morgan of Call, Tex., said he was “born in 1977, the same year as the movie.”

“I watched the movie likely since I was 3,” he said.

Mr. Morgan, 29, a nursing student, was traveling with his brother, R.J., 18, in a black 1977 Trans Am. Jed Morgan bought his car last year on eBay and is already devoted to it.

“I’ve already made arrangements that my brother will drive it in my funeral procession, if he survives me,” Jed Morgan said. “It will be in front of the hearse.”

We left Texarkana on that Tuesday morning with a police escort. In many of the small towns we drove through, police cars had pulled over with officers standing beside their cars like an informal honor guard. Most officers waved as we passed.

The first leg of our journey, and the longest drive, was on the first day. The 382 miles from Texarkana to Tupelo, Miss., was mostly on rural two-lane roads. We had good weather for most of the trip, with the exception of a cloudburst that happily coincided with a lunch stop.

If the first day had included a hard-luck trophy, our car would have won. About two hours into the trip, we noticed a strong smell of burning rubber. We looked under the hood and discovered that our air-conditioner compressor had seized. The compressor belt was destroying itself trying to turn on an unmovable bracket.

With a cut from a razor blade, we solved one problem only to have another appear. I thought that by removing the tension from one belt, I had changed the dynamic of the others, so I assumed the alternator belt was slipping. Tightening the other belts at our lunch stop did not help.

The problem was diagnosed as a broken fan clutch, a serious problem, but not one that had to be fixed immediately.

We soon stopped at an auto parts store in Greenville, Miss. Five minutes and $30 later, we were on our way with a new fan clutch ready to be installed.

Just outside of Itta Bena, Miss., our car had what could have been a trip-ending breakdown. The driver’s side rear wheel worked its way loose, and by the time we pulled over, three lug studs had sheared off and a third was bent, leaving the wheel attached with just one lug nut.

Had we traveled an additional few feet, the wheel would probably have come off. Our situation seemed pretty hopeless until Mr. Hall, the event organizer, appeared with some spare lug nuts. After scavenging one lug stud and lug nut from the opposite side of our car, we had enough parts to continue to Tupelo, our first overnight stop.

A morning car show in the parking lot of the Tupelo Automobile Museum gave us time to find some parts and fix the car. We were soon on the road, but about two and a half hours later we stopped just outside of Birmingham, Ala., so we could enter the city in a group. While we were waiting for the stragglers, many of the truckers who had been running with us for the last hour gave us a blast of their horns while some passing motorists flashed thumbs up. By now, our group included about 50 cars, the overwhelming majority of them Trans Ams.

Steve Clark, a club D.J., had traveled to the event from Sheffield, England. Mr. Clark, who said he was on his fourth car-related trip to the United States, owns a 1978 Trans Am, but he did not bring it along; he was a passenger in a friend’s 1969 Dodge Charger. Mr. Clark is planning to rent a car and end up in Nashville for the Dukesfest, an event related to “The Dukes of Hazzard” television show.

A lunch stop on the third day at the Talladega Superspeedway, the Nascar track, brought the group together for one last time before reaching Atlanta, about a two-hour drive east. Most of the participants were staying in Atlanta to participate in the Year One Experience, an open house run by Year One, one of the largest suppliers of restoration parts for muscle cars like Trans Ams.

Year One is offering a series of cars that are built using original Trans Ams as their starting point. A fully updated version with supercar performance, the Burt Reynolds Edition BAN II and BAN III, which was shown to the Bandit Run group, still retains much of the exterior look of the original cars. Engines are available up to a 650-horsepower 8.8-liter aluminum block. Fully restored and heavily modified, prices for the BAN II start at $129,900.

On the trip home, I wondered if the owner of a BAN II would have 12 times the fun that I had in my admittedly slower $10,000 original that was so prone to breakdowns.

Somehow, I don’t think that is possible.

BULLDOG N.E. RESTAURANT & BAR

Belly up to the barfood and you won't be disappointed.

By Rick Nelson, Star Tribune

The Junk

Steve Rice, Steve Rice

Landon Schoenefel

BULLDOG N.E. RESTAURANT & BAR

Location: 401 E. Hennepin Av., Minneapolis, 612-378-2855. • Hours: Kitchen open 11 a.m. to midnight Monday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday; bar open to 2 a.m. daily. • Atmosphere: The swell mix of historic and contemporary, a holdover from the space's last tenants, Boom! and Oddfellows, has been diluted but not deleted. • Service: Cheery, informal. • Sound level: Not an issue. • Recommended dishes: Burgers, pickle plate, chili, cold cuts, fries, green goddess salad, chicken and waffles. • Wine list: The exceptional beer list emphasizes Belgian brews and includes several dozen pint, 10-oz. and 25-oz. pours. • Price range: Very little north of $10.

Talk about on-the-job training. After working at Restaurant Alma, 112 Eatery, Cafe Barbette and other top Twin Cities kitchens, Landon Schoenefeld has put his sweat-equity education to very good use at his new gig. As chef at the new-ish Bulldog N.E., he's borrowed his former employers' cooking principles -- Grade A ingredients, strong technique, creative thinking -- and applied them to traditional neighborhood pub genre. Although the results are far from fancy, Schoenefeld's next-generation bar food exudes obvious smarts and attention to detail. Oh, yeah -- it tastes good, too.

It's difficult to imagine a better burger. Schoenefeld starts by trimming fat from Kobe-style chuck, curing the meat overnight with salt, thyme, garlic and peppercorns, and then cranking it through a meat grinder twice. The highly seasoned beef is then formed into thick patties, grilled to sizzling, juicy perfection and slipped into some of the best buns in the business, baked at the New French Bakery. Purists can stop there, but Schoenefeld soldiers on, offering his customers a few tantalizing variations, constructed with well-sourced building blocks: pungent Stilton, a slab of smoky Minnesota-raised ham, thick bacon from that same Waseca farm, earthy truffle oil, a mustard brimming with fresh horseradish, a snappy house-made aioli.

He has fries down, too: long and runway-model skinny, double-fried to just the right crispy snap, and finished with a liberal shake of Sicilian sea salt. Naturally, Schoenefeld tinkers with the genre. One version dusts 'em with fennel, a tarragon aioli subbing for ketchup; the most over-the-top variation fuses mellow Grana Padano and a splash of truffle oil to fries as they come out of the fryer. One bite and you'll be hooked; two, and you'll be stuffed.

The pickle plate -- a primo partner to the Bulldog's exceptional beer roster -- is also a beaut. It starts with some rockin' sausages (from a Wisconsin family farm) before moving on to an array of nicely conceived house-made snacks. Herring has a subtle coriander kiss. Beets have a faint cinnamon chaser. Miso puts an edge on turnips, and a few chiles give carrots a wicked one-two punch.

Ditto a fine (and affordably priced) assembly of cured meats, cheeses and spreads, particularly Schoenefeld's ruddy chicken-pork terrine and flavorful liver pâté paired with sweet-tart Wisconsin cherries. Brisket -- tender, richly flavored -- is another highlight, whether it's folded into a mountainous plate of nachos flecked with queso fresco or made a centerpiece of an exceptional chili. Its smoldering heat, emanating from fresh and dried fresno and poblano chiles, is cleverly cooled by a cilantro-infused crème frâiche. And you have to love a basket of Tater Tots, hot bite-size treats dunked into a harissa-laced mayo.

Overscaled salads (the kitchen makes a wonderfully creamy green goddess dressing), fancified hot dogs (get the chili dog, a Vienna Beef topped with that amazing chili) and a half-dozen nicely composed and overstuffed sandwiches round out the menu. A few larger entrees get the blue plate special treatment: big portions of stick-to-your-ribs fare. Best is a classic chicken-and-waffles combo, with a pair of light, yeasty waffles topped by an abundantly meaty, crispy-skinned fried chicken, all drizzled in maple syrup blended with bits of that seriously delicious bacon.

There's a weekly special, too; last week it was a spin on a Gopher State hot dish standard: Tater Tots, roasted Brussels sprouts and fork-tender short ribs, all tied together with a savory mushroom béchamel sauce that stood in nicely for cream of mushroom soup.

No dessert, although Schoenefeld is looking into the prospect of a few simple sweets in the not-so-distant future. For now, Schoenefeld's menu is available only at Bulldog N.E., not at its older sibling establishment in south Minneapolis. But who knows? If the ownership is smart, they'll take Schoenefeld's cooking on the road.

Rick Nelson • rdnelson@startribune.com

Say Goodbye to Smut & Eggs

Another piece of my youth is gone. Where am I going to go now when I need to watch hardcore porn when nursing a hangover with screwdrivers and sunny side up eggs? - Coach


Bennett's RIP.
The Capital Times

By Doug Moe

LAST WEEK on the Badger Nation fan Web site, a forum topic that veered away from UW athletics brought a spirited exchange.

Somebody posed the question: Which lost Madison bar do you miss the most?

There were dozens of responses, and reading them was like taking an 80-proof stroll down memory lane. Among the mourned establishments: the 602 Club; Bob and Gene's; the Pinckney Street Hide-Away; the Flamingo Bar in the Grotto on State Street; the Fess; Pino's at Regent and Park (a personal favorite, as it was where I had my first underage beer); the Barber's Closet; and many, many more. It was 16 pages when I printed it out.

If the forum had been next month instead of last week, a place sure to garner more than a few sentimental votes would be Bennett's on the Park, which will have its last day of operation Feb. 24.

Rich Bennett

That's right - or wrong, depending on your point of view. Proprietor Rich Bennett is pulling the plug on the legendary Park Street home of "Smut & Eggs," where on weekend mornings since 1990 you could get your eggs over easy and your porn overtly hard.

National magazines wrote about the unusual breakfast fare, which was initiated by Bennett's older brother, Gene Bennett, at his bar near Verona and Raymond roads. The brothers both have adult entertainment licenses, but perhaps because Rich's place was close to campus (and you know how young people like to gossip), the Park Street locale became more associated with "Smut & Eggs."

On Tuesday morning, a sign behind the bar in Bennett's on the Park advertised X-rated movies for sale, DVD or VHS.

"Got to make it any way I can," Rich Bennett was saying. He was not completely successful in keeping the bitterness out of his voice.

According to Bennett, the cause of his bar's demise is simple: The smoking ban in taverns did him in.

"I was doing fine," Bennett said. "It just killed me."

The decline started slowly, Bennett said, because the ban was enacted in the summer of 2005. His smoking customers had no problem ducking outside in July to grab a smoke. By December, they were less enthusiastic. Today, 19 months into the ban, his business is just about gone.

"There are nights when I will have one customer," Bennett said. "Those same nights, in the past, I needed two bartenders."

Bennett doesn't own the building at 416 S. Park, and his current lease is up this month. When the landlord announced a rent increase, Bennett knew he was done. "I can't pay the rent as it is," he said.

There are people in Madison who will not be sorry to see a working-class tavern with unusual weekend television offerings go away. Bennett thinks it's symptomatic of a kind of elitism in the city. It can be hard to be a shot and a beer guy in a wine and cheese town. But when the former are gone, Bennett said, they'll leave a hole.

"You're losing the guys with personality and humor," Bennett said. "You go downtown to those fern bars and the bartenders charge you $5 for a drink and walk away."

Bennett, 59, is a Madison native, and a 1966 Madison Central High School graduate. For the past several years he has sponsored all-class reunions for Central at the VFW Club on Lakeside. (He has another, this Sunday, from noon-6.) He enjoys the reunions but is enough of a contrarian to insist that all attendees have been Central students - in other words, no spouses. It hasn't hurt attendance. "Seven hundred at the last one," Bennett said.

Bennett boxed Golden Gloves as a kid, and later in the Navy. He has a photo of himself at Guantanamo Bay in 1968, standing with several other winners of a service boxing tournament. He played semi-pro football with the Madison Mustangs. (It was "semi," all right. Bennett was paid $18 for home games and $20 for road games.) He spent nine years all told in the armed service of his country, a fact that crossed his mind as he waited all night and was given four minutes to speak at the City Council meeting that effectively destroyed his business.

Bennett opened his bar in 1990, buying what was previously Frankie's. Bennett added food, and over the years it scored some fine reviews. "The Sloppy Joe," a State Journal reviewer noted, "tasted like the best Mom ever made. ...We were also bowled over by the deluxe burger: a half-pounder topped with two slices of bacon and served with pickles and chips."

Rich Bennett ran a good business. He paid his taxes. In over a decade and a half he didn't have a dozen police calls to his bar. Now it is all gone and you will forgive him if he's bitter - and leaving town.

"I can't wait to get out," he said Tuesday.

"Where are you going?" he was asked.

"Portage, probably. Anywhere. But February 25th is my last day in Madison."

"You're sure?"

"I'm positive."

Heard something Moe should know? Call 252-6446, write PO Box 8060, Madison, WI 53708, or e-mail dmoe@madison.com.
Published: February 7, 2007

New Co-Head Coach - Introducing Meg

Howsit bragh?

We are back from O'ahu and Maui and I'm unhappy to report that the honeymoon's over. We went to Waikiki for a night followed by a Pearl Harbor tour and Aloha Bowl Swap Meet visit. Later that day we flew to Maui for a condo stay just north of Ka'anapali near Lahaina.

We met up with our Karl(o) & Rachel in Maui for dinner and we drove them to the airport in our fancy Chrysler 300 rental car. During our team meeting we decided that the direction of the team needs to change and that we need more whiteboard.

I tried to get into local culture learning pidgeon Hawaiian English and eating local food favorite.

Okole = butt/ass, Squeeza = squeezer
Okole squeeza = a close call
Littah = litter

Sound like a local by removing "er" form words and replace with "ah." Also end sentences with "yeah?" Use similar to how some Canadians use "Eh?"







Check out our G Rated photo albums:
Hawai'i Pt. I of II
Hawai'i Pt. II of II

Bulldog Update

We almost won the last game. We lost by 1 or 2. Closest yet. Switch buddies seems to be working. All of this without use of the whiteboard.

We found a new pitcher - Ryan of Leah and Ryan fame is almost a pro. That's how good he is.

I forgot to bring a marker for the whiteboard. Someone bring a backup for me.

Ideas

Sell antiMOMAR goods on Café Press - how about a MOMARS c*m rag?

Picture day - let's have it soon. Probably after a 7:15 game so we still have good natural light. We'll have a couple of shoots so more people are included. Post game photoshoot with Bulldog waitresses.

Ginger - bring my mustache

Pre-game BBQ. Unknown date. I have a mini grill. Someone would have to bring some food. I would bring drinks too.

Bribe the ump with drinks.

I'm having a pinata party in a couple of weeks. I stuff it with beef jerky, mini bottles of booze, and random sundries. My chocolate puddy stuff idea was nixed once again.

Our game is at 8:15 again this week.