Allrecipes.com "What's Cooking?" Minneapolis, Minnesota

Allrecipes.com "What's Cooking?" - Minneapolis, MN

This week finds us in Minneapolis, Minnesota, nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City". Minneapolis is located on both banks of the Mississippi River and with four distinct seasons and dozens of international culinary traditions, Minneapolis offers numerous farm-to-table experiences you won't find anywhere else. And it's about more than just eating deliciously fresh and nutritious food. It's also about sustainability. We start this week's webisode at the Mill City Farmers Market and you know it's going to be good!

The Recipe(s)

This week, we're making Tapas. Perhaps you might ask, "Why?" Simply because we're in the Minneapolis / St. Paul area and Twin City Tapas sounded really cool. You don't really need to look any deeper than that. In the Mediterranean diet it is typical to start the food with succulent starters to open up the appetite, either in complete portions or in half rations.

We started with Raelee's Creamy Goat Cheese and Honey. A simple tapa to create, creamy goat cheese is lightly dusted with crushed pecans, honey, and rosemary. They were delicious, light, and melt-in-your-mouth good. We followed that up with Easier Cranberry Puffs in which we substituted raspberries we purchased directly across the street at the Mill City Farmers Market. Simply said, these were delicious raspberry and cream cheese filled wontons that, with the added jalapeno and red curry powder, had just the right amount of kick! For the final tapa, Raelee and I created Butterfly Chili Lime Prawn Spedini with Raspberry Dipping Sauce, beautifully butterflied prawns with a fun citrus and spice twist.

Tips & Tricks

Creamy Goat Cheese and Honey
• Not a fan of goat cheese? Substitute cream cheese for the goat cheese, yummy!
• If you warm the honey for a few seconds in a microwave or in a hot water bath (while still in its container) this will make the drizzling step easier.

Easier Cranberry Puffs
• Be sure to seal the edges of the wonton wrappers well to prevent the filling from coming out during cooking. If you dip your finger tips in a little water and press the edges together that should do it!
• It is important to not get your oil too hot. We recommend a temp of 375 degrees F, or overcrowd the pan or pot with too many wontons while cooking to ensure even cooking and browning for each one.

Butterfly Chili Lime Prawn Spedini with Raspberry Dipping Sauce
• Scallops make a wonderful substitution for the prawns.
• Turn this Tapa into a main dish! Skip the skewers, broil the prawns and serve on a bed of spinach dressed with the raspberry dipping sauce and a little olive oil.

Similar Recipes

Avocado and Tuna Tapas
This is a light, healthy tapa that goes best with crisp white wines and crunchy bread.

Titaina
A very interesting spice blend makes this an amazing tapa. What a nice spin on canned tuna!

Fig and Olive Tapenade
An easy gourmet appetizer. Goat cheese may also be used in place of the cream cheese and serve with slices of French bread or crackers.

Raelee, Allrecipes.com Raelee is a young mom balancing work and her family. She has been an Allrecipes member since 2005 and rates herself an expert. Her confidence shines through in this week's webisode. Working in restaurants since she was 16 years old, her cooking style is self-admittedly, adventurous.

"If I were a food, I would be a jalapeno pepper!", she proclaims. "You can put it in almost anything and make it taste soooo good. I have even heard that there is an ice cream shop in California that makes ice cream with jalapeno and raspberries. I love that little kick!"

Raelee is the "Shower planner" for all her friends. Any kind of a shower; she is the party throwing queen. When someone is getting married, having a baby, or a birthday party, she is the go-to hostess because they know that she will not only fill their stomachs, but fill them with delicious, memorable food! She loves to prepare "Tapa" style food, small dishes, and Norwegian food from the region.

When discussing Minneapolis and Minnesota, Raelee had nothing but praise. "What I don't like is the freezing cold in the Winter! Other than that, Minnesota is beautiful. Summer here is my favorite. A Minnesota Summer makes the Winter seem worthwhile. We have so many lakes, everyone eats outside, and the weather is so wonderful. I also love the people here. If you've ever heard the expression "Minnesota Nice", it's so true. I love how people constantly go out of their way to be nice to you. I had a father have his sons bag my groceries the other day, 'just because'. I gave my opinion to a man the other day on a pack of gum, so he bought me one too, 'just because'. Very kind people. I live in downtown Minneapolis in the Mill City district. Our backyard is the Guthrie Theatre and Mill City Museum. Next to the museum on Saturday mornings we have a farmers market, which is awesome right outside our door. In addition we have lots of delicious restaurants right nearby. Out my front window I have a full view of the Metrodome where the Minnesota Vikings play. It's a wonderful city full of life, and color, and kind people!"

In closing, Raelee proclaims that, "Just like the movie Ratatouille, anyone can cook! Everything we ate growing up was very basic. My parents didn't cook anything fancy. I started working in restaurants when I was 16 and fell in love with food. I wanted to learn all about it. I studied it in my spare time and learned how to do it. Now, after years of practice, I am still learning and loving it. I try new recipes all the time and I just keep getting better and better. Also, don't give up if you mess up and something tastes horrible. My cakes still taste like the cardboard box they came out of, but I'll never stop trying!"

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Michael's Notes & Quotes (Over a Cup O' Joe)

""Appetizers are those little bits you eat until you lose your appetite."
~ Anonymous

The word "tapas" is derived from the Spanish verb tapar, "to cover". According to legend, the tapas tradition began when King Alfonso X of Castile recovered from an illness by drinking wine with small dishes between meals. After regaining his health, the King ordered that taverns would not be allowed to serve wine to customers unless it was accompanied by a small snack or "tapa." According to The Joy of Cooking, the original tapas were the slices of bread or meat which sherry drinkers in Andalusian taverns used to cover their glasses between sips. This was a practical measure meant to prevent fruit flies from hovering over the sweet sherry. The meat used to cover the sherry was normally ham or chorizo, which are both very salty and activate thirst. Because of this, bartenders and restaurant owners began creating a variety of snacks to serve with sherry, thus increasing their alcohol sales. The tapas eventually became as important as the sherry.

Whatever the true origin of tapas, prepare one or several, then enjoy them like the Spanish do – with a glass of wine and a relaxed attitude. After starting the day on a roller coaster at the Great Mall of America, we headed back to Raelee's place and this is exactly what we did! Stopping at the Mill City Farmers Market right across the street from Raelee's home, we picked up the jalapenos and raspberries needed and then got down to making some delicious tapas. Amazingly, they were all quite simple to make and it is easy to see the allure in making multiple tapas to enjoy, rather than a large meal. And why not? When you begin to see the sheer range of flavours available you will, I'm sure, want to find out more about 'the small plate with the BIG flavour'. Tapas means sociability, friends, and family and Allrecipes' cook, Raelee, has it mastered!