BBQ Fare

Barbeque season has officially begun and I couldn’t be happier about it. My friend Matty had a Memorial Day BBQ last weekend and it was the perfect opportunity to make some awesome side dishes. My roommate Katie and I decided to make grilled balsamic vegetables and cold sesame noodles.

Sesame Noodles
This recipe is slightly adapted from the Uncommon Gourmet, an extremely reliable cookbook that my family has been using for a long, long time. I found that the noodles need a little more sauce than the recipe calls for and I added some sriracha for some spice. I also put in some snap peas for some color and crunch.

Ingredients
2 lbs. linguini
¾ c. sesame oil
¾ c. soy sauce
4 ½ tsp. sugar
¾ tsp. pepper
2 cloves of garlic, minced
¾ c. chopped scallions
4 tbsp. sesame seeds, toasted
Sriracha, to taste
1 c. snap peas


Directions
1. Cut the snap peas in half and very briefly blanch for about 30 seconds.
2. Combine the sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, pepper, garlic, scallions, and sesame seeds in a large bowl.
3. Cook and drain the pasta.
4. Pour the hot pasta over the sauce and toss well. Add Sriracha to taste.
5. Refrigerate and add the snap peas.


Grilled Balsamic Vegetables
I make this balsamic vinaigrette fairly often for salads, so I thought it would be delicious if I brushed it on some vegetables and grilled them. Since the BBQ was at a friend’s house, we just grilled the veggies at home and ate them at room temperature at the BBQ.

Ingredients
2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. honey
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 small shallot, minced
½ tsp. dried oregano
¼ c. balsamic vinegar
¾ c. extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Assorted vegetables – we used 2 small yellow squashes, 2 small zucchinis, 2 small eggplants, 2 portabella mushrooms, and a bunch of asparagus.


Directions
1. Combine the Dijon, honey, garlic, shallot, and oregano in a medium bowl.
2. Stir in the balsamic and then slowly whisk in the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.


3. Cut the vegetables into ¼- ½ inch slices and brush with the vinaigrette.
4. Grill on medium-high until the vegetables are cooked.

Note: We also had some leftover watermelon that needed using, so we threw it on the grill and added it to our platter.


Both sides were huge hits; at first, we thought that we had brought too much food, but everything got devoured!

Thai Red Curry: Lightened Up

I absolutely love Thai red curry and, for long time, I assumed that it was really complicated to make. When I lived in Philadelphia a few years ago, my friends and I finally asked the owner of our favorite Thai restaurant, Smile Café, how they make their curry. He told us that they basically mix a canned curry paste that you can find at most Asian supermarkets with coconut milk. I always thought that using curry paste would be “cheating,” but I thought: If it’s good enough for Smile, than it’s good enough for me! I’ve experimented with a few brands of curry paste, but have found Maesri to be my favorite.


Since I don’t have an Asian supermarket nearby, I order it online at Importfood.com. Whatever you do, don’t use the Americanized red curry paste that is sold at grocery stores like Whole Foods; it’s expensive and tasteless.

Last night, I made a lighter version of this curry to bring for lunch this week. It’s just as flavorful but uses light coconut milk and chicken broth rather than just regular coconut milk. I also loaded it with fresh, green vegetables that I lightly steamed instead of stir frying. To avoid having to stir fry the chicken, I thinly sliced it and added it to the simmering sauce to poach it. Although it’s not traditional, I love adding fresh cilantro to my curry at the end. Thai basil would be delicious as well, but it’s more difficult to find.

Lightened Up Thai Red Curry

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts, very thinly sliced and seasoned with salt
Lots of veggies (sorry, didn't measure) - I used fresh asparagus and broccoli as well as some defrosted shelled edamame
1 small onion, chopped
1 tbsp. peanut oil (or other neutral flavored oil)
2 tbsp. curry paste – Use more or less depending on how spicy you want it
1 can (13 ½ oz) light coconut milk
¾ cup chicken broth
1 tsp. fish sauce
1 tbsp. palm sugar - I ordered some online with the curry paste, but you can substitute with brown sugar
Juice of ½ a lime
Handful of bean sprouts
¼ c. chopped fresh cilantro


Directions
1. Lightly steam the vegetables and set aside.

2. Sauté the onion in a tablespoon of peanut oil in a wok until soft. Add the curry paste and sauté until very fragrant (about a minute).

3. Turn down the heat and add the coconut milk, chicken broth, and fish sauce. Bring to a simmer. Add the palm sugar and stir until it dissolves.

4. Cook down the sauce until it reduces slightly to your desired thickness. Reduce to a low simmer.

5. Add the raw, sliced chicken to the simmering sauce and gently stir until the chicken is cooked through.

6. Add the steamed vegetables into the wok along with the fresh lime juice. Stir until everything is heated through.

7. Stir in the cilantro and bean sprouts. Enjoy!

I serve it with brown rice and a wedge of lime.

London – Berlin – Prague: “Fails”

Of course, not everything on our Europe trip was perfect; because of our new found obsession with Failblog, we starting calling these things “fails.”

- Mushy peas in London: I tried them and hated them. That’s all there is to it.

- Currywurst in Berlin: I will probably get a lot of backlash from this (even if just from Katie) but I tried currywurst in Berlin and didn’t really like it. It’s basically sliced, fried sausage smothered in curry ketchup with fries. It wasn’t bad, but didn’t live up to the hype.


- Noodle Shop in Berlin: We were excited to try this supposedly wonderful noodle restaurant in Berlin that we had read about. After we had sat down, we realized that there were only two fixed price menus and no a la carte menu. This didn’t sound like the restaurant we had read about, but we sucked it up and chose the option with the fewest number of courses. We kept waiting for the noodles to make their appearance in our dinner but were only served meat and vegetables, which, in hindsight, was probably why no one else was in the restaurant. I guess we didn’t get the memo.


- Iced coffee in Berlin: We tried to order an iced coffee at lunch in Berlin but were instead served coffee with ice cream in it. It was actually quite good, but we must have looked ridiculous.


- Enormous portions in Prague: The pictures below are of a couple of dishes that are meant for one person but are embarrassingly large. Some people might enjoy it, but I think it’s daunting…


- Chips in Prague: I was intrigued when I saw kebob flavored chips at the grocery store in Prague. Unfortunately, they tasted like what I would imagine Pupperoni tastes like.


- Absinthe in Prague: We did the cliché thing and decided we should try absinthe while in Prague. I know that the “hallucinogenic” quality is kind of a myth, but we wanted to see for ourselves. From what I had read, you are supposed to mix the absinthe with some sugar and water. We weren’t able to find sugar at the store, so we thought Sprite might be an acceptable substitute. Fail.

The New York Times actually just did an article on different absinthes and, it turns out, absinthe can taste good. I guess we did it wrong.

Prague Trip Highlights

We went from Berlin to Prague to spend the next five days of our trip. We wound up doing Prague a little bit differently than Berlin and London; we didn’t love the food there (and, I promise, we went with an open mind), so we really put in effort to seek out the nice restaurants and make sure we had good food experiences.

- Despite not loving Czech food as a whole, I did love the fact that they put cabbage in almost everything. If you’ve read my brussels sprout post, you know how I feel about cabbage. Not every execution of cabbage was great in Prague, but I particularly liked this creamy cabbage soup I had at a restaurant called Olympia. The creaminess made it comforting, but it had a wonderful tang from the cabbage and the dollop sour cream on top. As with most things in Prague, it was served in an enormous portion, but it took a lot of will power to not eat the entire bowl! I was saving room for my roasted pork, which was, of course, stuffed with cabbage.


- Since we didn’t love the restaurants around where we were staying and love to explore grocery stores in foreign cities, we chose to spend a couple of afternoons picnicking in a beautiful park overlooking the city called Letná. For our first picnic, we got some assorted meats and cheeses along with some fresh baked bread, fruit, and vegetables. We got some smoked salmon, cream cheese, cucumber, lemon, and bread for our second picnic. It was all absolutely delicious, and the best thing about it all was that we could legally enjoy our wine outside in the park!


- We were really craving something different after a couple of days of heavy Czech fare, so we found a great French restaurant called Brasserie M. We had read that they received a Michelin “Bib Gourmand”, which is not a star but rather recognition that they have “good food at moderate prices.” I got the salmon filet with dill butter over sautéed zucchini and risotto (left). Dill is the one thing that I have never really liked, but I actually loved it in this dish. Katie got the duck breast roasted and stuffed with figs with spinach and potatoes. Duck is definitely typical Czech food, but it was nice to finally see some properly cooked (i.e. not overcooked) duck!


- We tried a great restaurant called Mozaiki that was described as Czech but with French and Asian influences. I don’t know how I’d describe it exactly, but it was definitely memorable. I’m a sucker for any restaurant that serves an amuse bouche. They served a small piece of polenta with a perfectly rich Bolognese sauce. They knew how to make a good impression. Next, Katie and I split the homemade spinach raviolis topped with butter, toasted pine nuts, parmesan, and arugula.


- My entrée was the highlight for me; I had the duck breast with black pepper mashed potatoes and a red wine and cherry sauce. The skin was crispy, the meat was tender, and the sauce had a perfect balance of sweet and savory. I would have even asked how they made those potatoes if there hadn’t been a language barrier. I always thought I could make a good mashed potato, but these were like nothing I have ever had. Katie chose the lamb chop baked with rosemary and served with tomato sauce and spinach raviolis (the same that were in the appetizer, but they were so good that she was happy to have more of them). Her meal was also wonderful. If you are ever in Prague, you have got to try this restaurant.


- I had to save the best for last. We had our most memorable meal of our entire Europe trip at an Italian restaurant called Aromi. Aromi is the kind of place that thrives on simple preparations of top-notch ingredients. The server brought around a platter of the fresh fish of the day and “introduced” us to each one. Then, he must have realized how to really seduce us. He brought a basket of fresh black truffles over to our table that he had us smell while he told us about the dishes they offered with them. At the time, I was too worried about how much a dish with shaved truffles on top might cost so I chose something else. I was kicking myself afterwards for not going for it. After all, how often are you presented with a basket of fresh truffles??

We couldn’t decide between an order of the mussels or gratinéed razor clams to begin with, so the server suggested we get a half order of each. The razor clams were simply baked with breadcrumbs and the mussels were steamed in white wine and lemon. Again, it was all very simple but the quality of the shellfish was extraordinary.


For a palate cleanser, we were given what I think was a mixture of prosecco, limoncello, and a little bit of vanilla ice cream. I need to experiment with this because it was such an impressive and tasty twist on the standard sorbet.


I got the seafood “soup” and Katie got the seared tuna over a panzanella salad for entrees. My dish wasn’t really a soup, but more of an assortment of steamed seafood with an intense seafood tomato sauce. It was all very clean, fresh, and beautifully presented.


We opted for a cheese course in lieu of dessert. It was a tasting of five Italian cheeses with homemade flakey flatbread and fruit jam.


The only thing I wasn’t pleased about was that Aromi was in Prague and not Chicago!

Berlin Trip Highlights

After a couple of days in London, we headed to Berlin to spend the next four days.

- One of the things we were most looking forward to in Berlin was having some delicious, authentic Turkish food. It probably seems odd to want to go to Berlin for Turkish food, but Germany actually has the largest Turkish population outside of Turkey. Katie and I did some research and found a wonderful Turkish restaurant called Hasir. We started off with some Turkish flatbread accompanied with butter, yogurt sauce, feta, and a pepper relish. We also had two other appetizers (not pictured): grilled eggplant in a tomato and garlic sauce and fried spinach.

I had the lamb kebob for my entrée, which was served over pieces of bread and with a side of yogurt sauce. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that it was the best lamb kebob I’ve ever had. We were too stuffed to try dessert, but our server gave us some complimentary Turkish tea at the end of our meal.

In fact, all of the servers were awfully chatty the whole time. We thought they were just being nice and trying to welcome us to Berlin, but we realized they had other intentions when we found this note folded up with our bill…


- It’s a little embarrassing to admit, but Katie and I ended up at a McDonalds ordering chicken nuggets one night in Berlin. Granted, this was after our noodle mishap and before, we anticipated, a long night at the club. We were hungry and decided to see what it was like. We were happily surprised to see that the German McDonalds offers a curry dipping sauce!



- We spent one afternoon at KaDaWe, an enormous, upscale department store with a gourmet food hall on the top floor. I came here with the intention of trying head cheese (pictured below), but my stomach was feeling a little queasy (having nothing to do with the prospect of trying head cheese) so I had to pass. However, I have promised myself that I will try it sometime in the near future.




Aside from the head cheese, I was fascinated with the selection of meats available at KaDaWe. The picture below on the left is of chicken stomachs, hearts, and livers. I think the picture on the right is of whole rabbits. I need to find a place in Chicago where I can find rabbit like that!

- We had some great schnitzel at a restaurant next to KaDaWe. I had the wiener schnitzel (left) and Katie had chicken schnitzel with a mushroom cream sauce (right).

- In true Berlin fashion, Katie and I enjoyed a late night (well, early morning) doner sandwich. I know that pretty much anything would have tasted amazing at that hour, but I’m confident in saying that this would have tasted amazing at any time of day. It was a fabulous end to a fabulous night in Berlin.

London Trip Highlights

My friend Katie and I started and ended our recent Europe trip in London. Here are some of our trip highlights, in no particular order.

- Our friend Sarah, who we were visiting in London, had us meet her at a restaurant called The Only Running Footman after she got out of work on our first night. This actually turned out to be our best meal in London, in my opinion. I had one of the night’s specials: poached smoked haddock with colcannon mash, a poached egg, and hollandaise. Now, if I can only find some smoked haddock around here to try making this myself…

- It was apparent to us right away that the Brits love their “crisps,” and I was fascinated with the variety of flavors available. The patatas bravas and prawn cocktail flavors were winners in my book. I never got around to trying the Cajun squirrel chips. That’s right – squirrel chips. I even have a picture to prove it:

- Whenever Katie and I go to a foreign country, one of the first things we try to do is take a trip to the local grocery store. It never fails to entertain. Below are some items we found at Tesco in London. I left wondering “what about the tongue makes it lunch tongue?” I was also thinking that it’s a good thing that my grocery store doesn’t sell jars of duck fat. Too tempting.
- Everyone in London seems to know how to make a good sandwich…even starbucks (below). Everywhere had an endless variety delicious pre-made sandwiches. They weren’t soggy, weren’t overstuffed, and were very cheap! A different, but related thing I liked about London was the presence of rocket (arugula), particularly in sandwiches. I think everyone in the states should start calling it rocket, too. It sounds more awesome that way.


- Chicken Korma on a kid’s menu! Okay – maybe this wasn’t a “highlight,” but worth mentioning I think. I hate dumbed-down children’s menus, so I was impressed.


- Whole Foods recently opened its first store in London and it happened to be down the street from Sarah’s flat. Katie and I were skeptical when she told us we should stop by. After all, there are plenty of Whole Foods stores in Chicago. Well, this Whole Foods really is a destination. The picture below is of the champagne and oyster bar to give you an idea. The trip was worth it even if only for the truffled brie I bought in the temperature controlled cheese section. I forgot to take a picture of it, but – wow – it was tasty.


- I had some of the best drinks I have ever had at a restaurant/lounge called Sketch. My favorite was the rosemary martini (middle) made with rosemary infused vodka, basil, vanilla syrup, sugar, salt, pepper, pineapple juice, and apple juice. It sounds like a strange combination, but the result was unbelievable. Sarah had a cucumber martini (left) and Katie had a drink called “Duvel In Me. It had grapefruit juice, cointreau, and club soda and was topped with Duvel beer. Maybe I should get more into mixology?