My Favorite Minnesota Ice Cream Treats

My Favorite Minnesota Ice Cream Treats - Dara & Co. - June 2011 - Minnesota

This is likely my last blog post celebrating Dairy Month, and while I’ve already covered some of my favorite cheeses and yogurt, there are several remaining dairy products that I wanted to brag about. But since it’s summer, and there are so many great options, I selected some of my favorite Minnesota ice cream treats for this post.

Izzy's Guatemalan Coffee Ice Cream

I am an Izzy’s girl for many reasons: the ice cream shop was close to home when I lived in South Minneapolis, they consider the environment by using solar power to offset the power they use to make and chill their ice cream, and they have a nice location with seating—but most of all, Izzy’s concocts fantastic flavors.

Coffee, cream, and sugar are a traditional and timeless balance of flavors, but hot coffee takes a back seat in summer. For their Guatemalan coffee ice cream, Izzy’s steeps their ice cream in Dark Roast Guatemalan Coffee Beans from Peace Coffee. They remove the beans, so what’s left is sweet and smooth coffee-flavored ice cream.

Izzy's Dark Chocolate Zin

Izzy’s Guatemalan coffee ice cream is good, but concocted with bittersweet dark chocolate ice cream, Italian balsamic vinegar, and red zinfandel wine, the dark chocolate zin is my favorite Izzy’s flavor. My advice for enjoying it: buy a pint, take it home, and top it with warm dollops of Legacy Chocolates’ Potion #9 chocolate sauce for a chocolaty experience that’ll make you swoon and maybe make your eyes cross.

Grand Ole Creamery's Butter Brickle in a waffle cone

Izzy’s ice cream is great in a bowl, but when I’m in the mood for a waffle cone, only Grand Ole Creamery will do. The aroma of their homemade malted waffle cones wafts through the air and sends your appetite into total overdrive long before you enter the parlor. The slightly salty and buttery flavor of their creamy butter brickle ice cream plays well with the sugary crispiness of their waffle cone. I like to do a little window shopping along Grand Avenue while I eat my waffle cone, since the crowd in the shop can be a bit overwhelming at times.

Salty Tart's Peaches and Cream Parfait

The MN State Fair chatter has already started, and that reminded me that I had to mention two of my State Fair ice cream favorites: the peaches and cream parfait from Salty Tart, and the honey sunflower ice cream at the U of MN Horticulture Building.

For the peaches and cream parfait introduced last year, Salty Tart owner and a 2010 James Beard Foundation nominee Michelle Gayer layered soft serve made with Greek yogurt, coconut water, and vanilla beans with peaches sautéed with sugar and lemon zest. She topped it all with crumbled ginger snaps. The result? A break from the cacophony of deep fried wonderment—the parfait was simple, sweet, luscious, and refreshing.

Honey Sunflower Ice Cream at the State Fair

As for the honey sunflower ice cream (right), it’s a staple for many at the fair. It’s a cherished tradition for a reason: the MN Honey Producers Association takes vanilla ice cream, swirl ribbons of honey through it, and mixes in sunflower seeds. They sell it with chocolate ice cream as well, but I like how the delicate spiciness of the vanilla pairs with the floral sweetness of the honey.

Awhile back I mentioned that whipped cream is my favorite food of all time, so much so that it inspired a debate with my husband. I like my whipped cream made with Cedar Summit heavy cream, so it stands to reason that whipping up my own ice cream at home with Cedar Summit heavy cream could be a blast. I haven’t done it yet, but Dara & Co. blogger Stephanie Meyer made her own ice cream last summer, and I intend on replicating her effort this summer.

So now you know some of my favorite ice cream treats, but I’d like to know yours. Where do you go in Minnesota to get your ice cream fix?

[where: Sustainable Food, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Twin Cities, Minnesota]

Reetsy Reviews: Amici, Growing Better With Age

Not too long ago I noticed something about Amici Pizza and Bistro in Northeast Minneapolis. They added something to their menu since the first time I visited back when they opened: “Amici Pizza and Bistro proudly supports and uses local products including: Fischer Farms Pork, Midwest Salad, Living Water Gardens, Larry Schultz – Chicken and Eggs, and Izzy’s Ice Cream.”

I’ll admit that when Amici opened, I had hoped for a friendly, hopping, neighborhood joint with a commitment to sustainability. Instead, we got a relaxed neighborhood restaurant serving good mussels. On a more recent visit, I was pleased with the improvements they’ve made to their service and their menu, including some of the ingredients they’re sourcing.

The tender, thinly sliced beets on their warm beet salad were served with greens and a smooth, nutty puree made with cannellini beans and goat cheese. That cannellini bean puree was immediately added to my craveable list, along with the mussels, which were still good. The heaping pile of mussels, nestled in broth flavored with sweet red peppers and tomato, served with crusty bread on the side, should be enough for two people, yet my husband and I always have to thumb wrestle for the last one. The seasonal pulled pork pizza was made a regular on the menu. It featured Fischer Farms pulled pork, smoked mozzarella, arugula, and pickled onions (Northeasters can have that Fischer Farms pulled pork pizza delivered, along with most other items on their menu). They finally offered beer and wine as well, including Summit and Summit Seasonal (ask).

While I agree with Dara that there’s no reason for foodies in Orono to start making treks to Amici yet, neighborhood folks who haven’t visited Amici yet, or haven’t visited Amici in a good, long while might consider a visit to what, in my opinion, is an improved Amici.

[where: Sustainable Food, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Twin Cities, Minnesota]

It's Dairy Month: My Minnesota Cheese Roundup

Honoring My Favorite Food Group - Dara & Co. - June 2011 - Minnesota

June is Dairy Month! My favorite food group is being recognized for a whole 30 days, and I am looking forward to writing about all things Minnesota and dairy all month long. For my blog post this week, I wanted to summarize just a handful of my favorite local cheese nibbles from the past year. Whether creamy and blue or tangy and crumbly, this week, I’m giving a nod to Minnesota cheese. (And yes, some of these cheeses —marked by italics—may seem familiar, because I've written about them before! But they're so good, I had to mention them again.)

I’ve been crazy about a couple cheeses from PastureLand in Southeast Minn., especially their Farmdog Raw Milk Blue and Meadowlark Clothbound Cheddar. Pastureland uses 100% grass-fed organic milk to craft their cheeses, and the complex, grass-fed flavors are truly something special from Minnesota.

Farmdog Raw Milk Blue
PastureLand’s Farmdog Raw Milk Blue Cheese is aged for 75 days in the caves in Faribault, Minn. It’s pungent, slightly yellow, creamy, and chock full of blue veining. I let the Farmdog warm to room temperature, and it became smooth and easy to spread on a piece of fresh baguette with a dollop of honey. Pair it with a glass of Riesling for an after-dinner treat.

Meadowlark Clothbound Cheddar
Pictured above, PastureLand’s Meadowlark Cheddar is pasteurized and also aged in the caves at Faribault. The fact that it’s clothbound means the cheese releases more moisture and develops a different concentration of flavor than other cheddars wrapped in wax or plastic. It’s slightly sweet, a bit tangy, and has an earthiness to it. It’s dense and fares well on a cheese board with crisp apple slices.

A couple of Faribault Dairy’s cheeses have graced my cheese plate regularly this year. Faribault Dairy in Faribault, Minn. is using raw cow's milk from seven local dairies and producing tasty blue cheeses that are giving more expensive European blues a run for their money.

Oktoberfest Blau
Faribault Dairy took it upon themselves to bathe St. Pete’s Select blue cheese in Summit Brewing’s Company’s OktoberFest Beer. Beer bathing in caves might sound a bit strange, but it’s not much of a stretch, considering the sandstone caves at Faribault were used as beer cellars once upon a time. The washed rind does impart a stronger aroma than Faribault’s other blue cheeses, so it’s best to let it come to room temperature under glass, but even the wine-toting mamas in my monthly book club made short work of this creamy, pungent, beer-bathed blue.

Amablu Gorgonzola
Faribault Dairy's Amablu Gorgonzola recently won Best of Class at the World Championship Cheese Contest, proving that cheese-making isn't a skill that the Old World has a lock on. I like Amablu Gorgonzola with a dollop of local honey. It provides a perfect foil for the sharp, pungent, slightly sweet, and salty cheese.

Of course, I can’t forget Alemar Cheese in Mankato, Minn. Their smooth, soft-ripened Bent River cheese is crafted using whole milk from Cedar Summit Farm to produce some of the most delicate Camembert-style cheese produced in the U.S.

Bent River
Bent River Camembert is a domestic, Camembert-style cheese called Bent River by Alemar Cheese. Alemar Cheese Company is located about 70 miles southwest of the Twin Cities in Mankato, Minn. There, Keith Adams is using organic whole milk from Cedar Summit Farm to produce some of the most soft, smooth, delicate Camembert-style cheese produced in the U.S.

Let’s not forget sheep’s and goat’s milk cheeses! Both Big Woods Blue and Donnay Dairy Chévre bring classic flavors to the table with their handcrafted cheeses.

Big Woods Blue
In 1994, Steven Read and Jodi Ohlsen Read established Shepherd’s Way Farms in rural Carver County with their flock of sheep. Currently located outside Northfield, Minn., Shepherd’s Way Farms is handcrafting cheese on their farm. The cheeses are made in small batches and many are national award-winners, including Big Woods Blue, a creamy sheep’s milk blue cheese.

Donnay Dairy Chévre
Donnay Dairy, located in Kimball, Minn., produces two certified-organic goat cheeses, fresh chévre, and cave-aged Granite Ridge. Light and tangy, Donnay Dairy Chévre is a great option served either chilled or cooked. It crumbles when chilled, spreads easily at room temperature, but also softens nicely when exposed to heat (as on a pizza).

With so many cheeses and so little time to celebrate Dairy Month, it’s time to hightail it to the nearest cheese shop and check all the tasty options that Minnesota cheesemakers have to offer. And by all means, if you discover something wonderful, be sure to share!

[where: Minnesota, Food, Minneapolis, Twin Cities, 55418]