My boyfriend and I decided to take living in sin to the next level, so two weeks ago we bought our first house together. This has been a two year process, in which my dad, our realtor, calls every few months and says, "Now I'm not trying to pressure you, but I just toured this house on the West Side that you've got to see." We've written 5 different purchase agreements, been through two inspections, backed out of one deal, and now finally, we've got what we want. A great big old house, with cool woodwork, 4 bedrooms, a huge pantry, and a whole third floor to house my cookbook collection. After living in an 850 square foot apartment for almost 3 years, the collection was busting. I had culled out all the old Bon Appetits and cookbooks I rarely used, but it damn near killed me every time I took another box to Half Price Books. God, why didn't I save them?
So we're starting fresh in a new home, and in the two and a half weeks since we've been here we've been eating a lot better. Lot's of grilling, lots of veggies, some amazing ribeyes. I was kind of worried that after living on Cathedral Hill, our new neighborhood wasn't going to do it for me culinarily speaking. On Selby we had Mississippi Market, Solo Vino, Moscow on the Hill, and the best bar in the whole wide world, W.A. Frost. Our tradition is to go to Frost's during huge blizzards when it's empty. We always get mussels, and my boyfriend has developed a talent for always ordering the scotch that they just ran out of. The bartenders there are the best because they always give him a huge pour of a more expensive one, and more than once we've been the receipients of extra wine, the dessert a server ordered by mistake, or the Organic Costa Rican French press coffee that the next table decided they didn't need.
Selby was great, but our new neighborhood has three of my favorite things all within 3 blocks of our home, a coffee shop, a library, and an outpost of the St. Paul Farmer's Market. I grew up in this town, and didn't appreciate it as a kid, but I don't think there was much to appreciate as far as food went back then. But today I came home from the farmer's market with a ton of herbs to plant, and a fridge full of fresh locally grown food to cook, and I'm giddy. I love our house. I love the new garden I just planted on the hottest day of the year. I love the food we've made here already.
Tomorrow for dinner I'm making grilled Gerber chicken breasts, (bone in and skin on) with a sweet corn relish. I used the relish in a grilling class I taught recently at Kitchen Party in Blaine, and served it on grilled wild rice brats that I bought at Kramarczuk's in Northeast Minneaplis. They were amazing! It's also great on pork, burgers, and steak. I'm thinking I'll try it on tacos, or salmon next week, too.
Grilled Sweet Corn Relish
8 ears corn, husked, and silk removed
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced small
1 green pepper, seeded and diced small
½ of one small red onion, peeled and diced small
¼ cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon dry mustard 2 teaspoons turmeric
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
Place the corn around the edges of a hot fire, where the heat is lower, so it is just barely over the coals. Grill the corn, rolling it around until evenly browned, about 3 minutes. As soon as the ears are cool enough to handle, slice the kernels from the cobs into a small bowl. Combine with the peppers and red onion. I save the cobs and use them to make stock for corn chowder.
In a small saucepan, combine the cider vinegar and brown sugar. Bring to a boil and remove from the heat when the sugar has dissolved. Whisk in the olive oil, dry mustard, turmeric and garlic. Stir the vinegar mixture into the corn and peppers, and refrigerate for 1 hour. Add the parsley just before serving, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
So we're starting fresh in a new home, and in the two and a half weeks since we've been here we've been eating a lot better. Lot's of grilling, lots of veggies, some amazing ribeyes. I was kind of worried that after living on Cathedral Hill, our new neighborhood wasn't going to do it for me culinarily speaking. On Selby we had Mississippi Market, Solo Vino, Moscow on the Hill, and the best bar in the whole wide world, W.A. Frost. Our tradition is to go to Frost's during huge blizzards when it's empty. We always get mussels, and my boyfriend has developed a talent for always ordering the scotch that they just ran out of. The bartenders there are the best because they always give him a huge pour of a more expensive one, and more than once we've been the receipients of extra wine, the dessert a server ordered by mistake, or the Organic Costa Rican French press coffee that the next table decided they didn't need.
Selby was great, but our new neighborhood has three of my favorite things all within 3 blocks of our home, a coffee shop, a library, and an outpost of the St. Paul Farmer's Market. I grew up in this town, and didn't appreciate it as a kid, but I don't think there was much to appreciate as far as food went back then. But today I came home from the farmer's market with a ton of herbs to plant, and a fridge full of fresh locally grown food to cook, and I'm giddy. I love our house. I love the new garden I just planted on the hottest day of the year. I love the food we've made here already.
Tomorrow for dinner I'm making grilled Gerber chicken breasts, (bone in and skin on) with a sweet corn relish. I used the relish in a grilling class I taught recently at Kitchen Party in Blaine, and served it on grilled wild rice brats that I bought at Kramarczuk's in Northeast Minneaplis. They were amazing! It's also great on pork, burgers, and steak. I'm thinking I'll try it on tacos, or salmon next week, too.
Grilled Sweet Corn Relish
8 ears corn, husked, and silk removed
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced small
1 green pepper, seeded and diced small
½ of one small red onion, peeled and diced small
¼ cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon dry mustard 2 teaspoons turmeric
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
Place the corn around the edges of a hot fire, where the heat is lower, so it is just barely over the coals. Grill the corn, rolling it around until evenly browned, about 3 minutes. As soon as the ears are cool enough to handle, slice the kernels from the cobs into a small bowl. Combine with the peppers and red onion. I save the cobs and use them to make stock for corn chowder.
In a small saucepan, combine the cider vinegar and brown sugar. Bring to a boil and remove from the heat when the sugar has dissolved. Whisk in the olive oil, dry mustard, turmeric and garlic. Stir the vinegar mixture into the corn and peppers, and refrigerate for 1 hour. Add the parsley just before serving, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
