Each Friday, this list will track five of the best things Heavy Table’s writers, editors, and photographers have recently bitten or sipped. Have a suggestion for the Hot Five? Email editor@heavytable.com.
The Hot Five is a weekly feature created by the Heavy Table and supported by Shepherd Song Farm.
Basque Scramble at Victor’s 1959 Café
The Basque Scramble at Victor’s 1959 Café is a great start to the day. Scrambled eggs topped with a hearty portion of sauteed peppers, chorizo, ham, and onions — robust and flavorful without any mouth-burning heat. Be sure to upgrade to the soft, chewy Cuban toast with guava jelly, and order a strong, smooth Cafe Cubano to wash it down.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by Amy Rea]
Locatelli Doughnut at Mucci’s Italian
This is a doughnut for the connoisseur and the curious alike. A lightly frosted, cakey ring is topped with a sprinkling of Locatelli Romano cheese, making it the first successful sweet-and-savory doughnut we’ve seen since the bacon-with-dessert craze was in full swing. This is also the “chef’s favorite,” and for $2.50 a go, it’s pretty hard to turn down. Get to Mucci’s early; donuts are sold on Saturdays and Sundays only, from 8 a.m., and they tend to be gone before noon.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by Ruthie Young]
The Rose Street Pastry at Rose Street Patisserie and Patisserie 46
John Kraus created a roselike confection to celebrate the opening of his Rose Street Patisserie in Linden Hills. Underneath a raspberry-jam glaze are layers of white chocolate mousse, raspberry gelée, hazelnut praline, and almond dacquoise, all resting on a sablé cookie base. The hemispherical pastry is ringed by a spiral of tinted white chocolate that evokes the flower, and a real rose petal rests at the North Pole.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by Jane Rosemarin]
Rhubarb Crisp from Rhubarb Renaissance
’Tis the season for harvesting the living daylights out of your garden’s rhubarb while it’s tender and plentiful. We chop and freeze a good eight to 12 cups of it every year to have on hand for pies (or whatever) and make crisps whenever the need arises. The recipe from Kim Ode’s Rhubarb Renaissance is our favorite: mix four cups of chopped rhubarb with a half cup of sugar and two tablespoons of flour in a baking dish. Then blend a stick of butter, a cup of flour, a packed cup of brown sugar, a cup of old-fashioned oats, and a pinch of salt, and add that topping to the fruit. Bake for 40-50 minutes at 350ºF, and you’re left with one of the best crisps imaginable: a buttery, crunchy exterior, tender fruit in balance with the topping, and a good sweet-tart balance.
[Last Week on the Hot Five: #4 | Submitted by James Norton]
Pasta Ingredients From the Mill City Farmers Market
What to do with bags of fresh produce from an early-spring farmers market? Make fresh tagliatelle with morels and hazelnuts. Our ingredient list included eggs from Sunshine Harvest, morels from Prairie Hollow, green garlic from Stone’s Throw, toasted hazelnuts from Hazelnut Valley, Burr Oak sheep cheese from Shepherd’s Way (and also foraged ramps and tarragon from our herb garden … and, we sheepishly admit, a little creme fraiche from Vermont).
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by Jane Rosemarin]