I’m leaving tomorrow for a trip to London, Berlin, and Prague, which means my blog will be on a two-week hiatus. This also means, though, that I will have plenty of food adventures to blog about when I return.
Cheers!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Grocery Bistro: New Favorite
Yesterday afternoon while browsing Metromix, I noticed that a two-week old restaurant called Grocery Bistro in the West Loop offering a $25 three course meal off from 5-7 pm Monday through Friday. The menu looked fantastic and - to top that off - they’re a BYOB. I was sold. I told my friend Katie (who never needs any convincing when it comes to trying a new restaurant) and she immediately called for a reservation.
There’s a conveniently located wine shop called Perman Wine Selections right next to Grocery, so we stopped in before dinner to pick up a bottle. They have a great selection of wines hand-picked by the owner and in all price ranges. The owner helped us pick a bottle and we were on our way.
We arrived at Grocery at 6:45 to a surprisingly packed house considering it was a Tuesday night and a brand new restaurant. The decor reminded me of what I missed about some of the family-owned BYOBs in Philadelphia that I love so much: simple but classy, homey, and personal. I loved it already.
Our waiter was nice enough, but he kind of analyzed our wine as we sat down. We couldn’t tell if he was just curious or being judgy (like he knew we only picked the $10 bottle of wine). He also went on for too long about how they charge a $5 corkage fee for the first bottle and $10 for each bottle thereafter. He told us about a situation they ran into last weekend where a large group brought too much wine and then sat around for too long while other people were waiting for their tables. I understand this, but it makes more sense to me to charge $5 for the first bottle for every two people and then $10 for the additional bottles rather than penalize parties larger than two. Oh well…I’m over it.
Let’s just say that the food more than made up for the odd introduction with the waiter. Although the restaurant is very reasonably priced to begin with, the $25 fixed price special is an amazing deal because you can pick any appetizer, entrée, and dessert from the entire menu. Katie and I shared our two appetizers:
Steak Tartare "Ceaser Style" with Toast
*Don’t worry - that is not runny egg white. The white around the egg yolk is a creamy Caesar sauce.
Oysters Rockefeller "Japanese Style"
The steak tartare was mixed with with garlic and capers, topped with a Caesar sauce and raw egg yolk (quail egg I’m assuming?) and served with crunchy toast. It was excellent. As for the oysters - oh. my. god. They were absolutely perfect. They were surrounded with a buttery panko mixture and served with some Sriracha and lemon on the side. I will be tempted to order these as my meal next time I go!
For entrées, I had the fish and Katie had the steak:
Pan-seared White Fish with an Herb-Bacon Crust and Lemon Butter Sauce
Grilled Ribeye "Filet Cut" with Baked Potato Mash and Red Wine Sauce
I don’t think the picture really does the fish justice as the presentation was a little lackluster, but it tasted phenomenal. It sat on top of a lemon beurre blanc and crisp haricot vert. The fish itself was pan-seared so it had a crisp exterior but was still nice and flaky in the inside. I had to try really hard to not devour the whole thing because I still had dessert coming.
The steak was equally delicious from the couple of bites I tried. The sauce looked like a simple red wine reduction, but actually had a very rich and distinct flavor. We asked the waiter what was in it and he told us it was just a reduction of red wine, veal stock, and thyme. I still think he was hiding something...
Another thing worth noting is that the waiter didn’t ask Katie how she wanted her steak cooked, which we both actually thought was smart. I like when chefs cook things to the doneness that they think is best. Not surprisingly, the steak was perfectly cooked.
We were pretty full after our appetizers and entrees, but desserts were included with our meal so we *had* to go for it. As with the appetizers, we both shared our two desserts:
Peanut Butter Mousse and Jelly Club Sandwich
Banana and Bacon Tiramisu
The peanut butter mousse and jelly sandwich was comfort food at its finest. The picture came out kind of dark, but the sandwich was golden brown on the outside and soft on the inside. It came with a creamy orange sauce for dipping and a shot of cold milk. The banana and bacon tiramisu was delicious as well. The crumbled bacon was mixed with crushed almonds, so it wasn’t overwhelmed by the bacon. Underneath the ladyfingers, there was a layer of dark chocolate sauce topped with a lighter chocolate mousse. It sounds like an odd combination, but it really worked.
I’m hoping they keep the fixed price special, but I have my doubts that they will continue it once they get a solid customer base. It certainly worked for me though; I will be back regardless of the special. I just hope they don’t raise their prices à la Bonsoiree, which opened with remarkably low prices and a similar fixed price weeknight dinner special but drastically raised prices when it got popular. However, I will stop being skeptical and just enjoy Grocery and it’s all its deliciousness. I might even be back again this week for those oysters…
There’s a conveniently located wine shop called Perman Wine Selections right next to Grocery, so we stopped in before dinner to pick up a bottle. They have a great selection of wines hand-picked by the owner and in all price ranges. The owner helped us pick a bottle and we were on our way.
We arrived at Grocery at 6:45 to a surprisingly packed house considering it was a Tuesday night and a brand new restaurant. The decor reminded me of what I missed about some of the family-owned BYOBs in Philadelphia that I love so much: simple but classy, homey, and personal. I loved it already.
Our waiter was nice enough, but he kind of analyzed our wine as we sat down. We couldn’t tell if he was just curious or being judgy (like he knew we only picked the $10 bottle of wine). He also went on for too long about how they charge a $5 corkage fee for the first bottle and $10 for each bottle thereafter. He told us about a situation they ran into last weekend where a large group brought too much wine and then sat around for too long while other people were waiting for their tables. I understand this, but it makes more sense to me to charge $5 for the first bottle for every two people and then $10 for the additional bottles rather than penalize parties larger than two. Oh well…I’m over it.
Let’s just say that the food more than made up for the odd introduction with the waiter. Although the restaurant is very reasonably priced to begin with, the $25 fixed price special is an amazing deal because you can pick any appetizer, entrée, and dessert from the entire menu. Katie and I shared our two appetizers:
The steak tartare was mixed with with garlic and capers, topped with a Caesar sauce and raw egg yolk (quail egg I’m assuming?) and served with crunchy toast. It was excellent. As for the oysters - oh. my. god. They were absolutely perfect. They were surrounded with a buttery panko mixture and served with some Sriracha and lemon on the side. I will be tempted to order these as my meal next time I go!
For entrées, I had the fish and Katie had the steak:
I don’t think the picture really does the fish justice as the presentation was a little lackluster, but it tasted phenomenal. It sat on top of a lemon beurre blanc and crisp haricot vert. The fish itself was pan-seared so it had a crisp exterior but was still nice and flaky in the inside. I had to try really hard to not devour the whole thing because I still had dessert coming.
The steak was equally delicious from the couple of bites I tried. The sauce looked like a simple red wine reduction, but actually had a very rich and distinct flavor. We asked the waiter what was in it and he told us it was just a reduction of red wine, veal stock, and thyme. I still think he was hiding something...
Another thing worth noting is that the waiter didn’t ask Katie how she wanted her steak cooked, which we both actually thought was smart. I like when chefs cook things to the doneness that they think is best. Not surprisingly, the steak was perfectly cooked.
We were pretty full after our appetizers and entrees, but desserts were included with our meal so we *had* to go for it. As with the appetizers, we both shared our two desserts:
The peanut butter mousse and jelly sandwich was comfort food at its finest. The picture came out kind of dark, but the sandwich was golden brown on the outside and soft on the inside. It came with a creamy orange sauce for dipping and a shot of cold milk. The banana and bacon tiramisu was delicious as well. The crumbled bacon was mixed with crushed almonds, so it wasn’t overwhelmed by the bacon. Underneath the ladyfingers, there was a layer of dark chocolate sauce topped with a lighter chocolate mousse. It sounds like an odd combination, but it really worked.
I’m hoping they keep the fixed price special, but I have my doubts that they will continue it once they get a solid customer base. It certainly worked for me though; I will be back regardless of the special. I just hope they don’t raise their prices à la Bonsoiree, which opened with remarkably low prices and a similar fixed price weeknight dinner special but drastically raised prices when it got popular. However, I will stop being skeptical and just enjoy Grocery and it’s all its deliciousness. I might even be back again this week for those oysters…
Monday, April 6, 2009
"Forgotten" Short Ribs
Meet my new dutch oven:
It goes at least as far back as my grandfather so, last week when I was home, I finally made the effort and lugged it back to Chicago with me. I might be a little too excited about it...
I also started to dig through my mom’s old recipe files while I was there and decided to kind of take it on as a project to sort through and document them. I grew up with many of these dishes, but some are actually new to me. Most are handwritten on index cards, so I certainly don’t want them to get lost.
Sidenote: One thing I learned was that savory jello molds were a “thing” at one time (a trend I pray never returns). One recipe, in particular, had lime jello, spinach, mayonnaise, and cottage cheese. Awful.
Despite that though, my grandmother really was a good cook and has a lot of wonderful recipes to show for it. I decided to make a short rib recipe last weekend since I was dying to try out my new dutch oven. This recipe actually comes from my mom’s aunt, which I had never tried before but my parents both raved about it. They’re named “forgotten” short ribs because they sit in the oven for a long period of time at such a low temperature that you can supposedly forget about them until they’re cooked. They made my apartment smell so good though that it was hard to not keep checking on them! They should also be made the night before you want to serve them so the fat rendered from the ribs can solidify and be skimmed off the top.
Forgotten Short Ribs
Ingredients
3 lbs beef shortribs
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 small onion, chopped
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
2 tbsp. molasses
2 tbsp. cider vinegar
1 tsp. Liquid smoke
Dash of hot sauce
Directions
1. Heat some vegetable oil in a dutch oven. Sprinkle salt and pepper on all sides of the short ribs and brown on both sides in the hot oil.
2. Remove the short ribs and take out most of the oil. Sauté the onion until soft in a small amount of the remaining oil. Add the tomato sauce, molasses, vinegar, liquid smoke, and hot sauce (to taste). Simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Add the short ribs back into the pot with the sauce. Cover and bake in a 275 degree oven for 3-4 hours, or until very tender.
4. When the ribs are done, remove them from the pot. Refrigerate the sauce in the pot and the short ribs separately.
5. The next day, carefully skim the solidified fat from the short ribs off the top of the sauce. Then, heat the sauce and add the short ribs back in.
6. Take the bones out (the meat should fall off the bone at this point). Lightly shred the meat with a fork.
I served this with grilled polenta rounds and some chopped parsley, but I’m sure it would be great with potatoes or even on a sandwich. The sauce is barbeque-y, so anything that would go well with barbeque would go well with these short ribs.
It goes at least as far back as my grandfather so, last week when I was home, I finally made the effort and lugged it back to Chicago with me. I might be a little too excited about it...
I also started to dig through my mom’s old recipe files while I was there and decided to kind of take it on as a project to sort through and document them. I grew up with many of these dishes, but some are actually new to me. Most are handwritten on index cards, so I certainly don’t want them to get lost.
Sidenote: One thing I learned was that savory jello molds were a “thing” at one time (a trend I pray never returns). One recipe, in particular, had lime jello, spinach, mayonnaise, and cottage cheese. Awful.
Despite that though, my grandmother really was a good cook and has a lot of wonderful recipes to show for it. I decided to make a short rib recipe last weekend since I was dying to try out my new dutch oven. This recipe actually comes from my mom’s aunt, which I had never tried before but my parents both raved about it. They’re named “forgotten” short ribs because they sit in the oven for a long period of time at such a low temperature that you can supposedly forget about them until they’re cooked. They made my apartment smell so good though that it was hard to not keep checking on them! They should also be made the night before you want to serve them so the fat rendered from the ribs can solidify and be skimmed off the top.
Forgotten Short Ribs
Ingredients
3 lbs beef shortribs
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 small onion, chopped
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
2 tbsp. molasses
2 tbsp. cider vinegar
1 tsp. Liquid smoke
Dash of hot sauce
Directions
1. Heat some vegetable oil in a dutch oven. Sprinkle salt and pepper on all sides of the short ribs and brown on both sides in the hot oil.
2. Remove the short ribs and take out most of the oil. Sauté the onion until soft in a small amount of the remaining oil. Add the tomato sauce, molasses, vinegar, liquid smoke, and hot sauce (to taste). Simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Add the short ribs back into the pot with the sauce. Cover and bake in a 275 degree oven for 3-4 hours, or until very tender.
4. When the ribs are done, remove them from the pot. Refrigerate the sauce in the pot and the short ribs separately.
5. The next day, carefully skim the solidified fat from the short ribs off the top of the sauce. Then, heat the sauce and add the short ribs back in.
6. Take the bones out (the meat should fall off the bone at this point). Lightly shred the meat with a fork.
I served this with grilled polenta rounds and some chopped parsley, but I’m sure it would be great with potatoes or even on a sandwich. The sauce is barbeque-y, so anything that would go well with barbeque would go well with these short ribs.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Sun Wah Bar-B-Q: Top of the Peking-Order when it comes to Duck
Get it???
In all seriousness though, if you've never had a traditional Peking duck before, I suggest you hop on the Red Line right now and make your way up to Argyle Street. There you will find the small storefront of Sun Wah Bar-B-Q with crispy, bronzed ducks hanging behind the window.
In my experience, Peking duck is carefully sliced tableside and served in several courses. The crispy skin is considered to be the actual delicacy and is usually separated from the duck meat. One of the courses always consists of this skin served with a steamed pancake of sorts along with a hoisin-type sauce and shredded carrot and scallion (read: the best “taco” you will ever have).
Shortly after moving to Chicago about a year and a half ago, I buckled down and did some research on a very important question: Where can I get the best Peking duck in this city?
Oddly enough, my research brought me to the Little Vietnam section of town rather than Chinatown. Plenty of restaurants in Chinatown serve Peking duck, but most require an advanced order. This did not help me when I was sitting at work intent upon having a duck feast within an hour or two. Sun Wah, however, has such a turnover that they can just cook their ducks ahead of time and know that people will buy them. I think that you can order ahead if you’d like, but I’ve never run into a problem getting one when I arrive.
Not only is it delicious, it’s an unbelievable bargain at $30 a duck. That’s right – not per person, per duck. Since the duck is served in four courses, you can definitely feed three or four people comfortably. It’s also cheap enough to go with just two and bring home lots of leftovers, which is exactly what I did last night.
After you sit down and order the “Beijing Duck Dinner,” the duck will be wheeled out to the table by a woman who I believe is the daughter of the restaurant owner. She is super nice and does a great job explaining to newcomers how they cook and serve their ducks. She talks about how the ducks that they use are slightly leaner than what is traditional, which I think is just a limitation of being in Illinois and not China. When she carves the meat, she actually slices off the skin with a little bit of the juicy meat attached instead of completely separating the skin and the meat.
She also explains that they serve buns to eat with the duck instead of the traditional steamed pancake because they’re not as messy to eat and much less filling. The buns are similar in texture to a Bao and are shaped like miniature taco shell - delicious and adorable!
After the duck is carved, these buns are brought out with a salad of pickled daikon radish and a side of raw shredded carrot and scallion. Sun Wah also makes a delicious sauce to go with the duck that is similar to a hoisin sauce, but just slightly thinner and lighter tasting. My friend Katie described it well – “I would stick my fist in there to taste this stuff if it weren’t entirely savage.”
To assemble the buns, you just put a little bit of duck skin and meat inside and top with the sauce vegetables. I think you’re actually supposed to eat the pickled daikon and carrot separate from the buns, but I just threw it all on there. It was yummy.
It’s easy to fill up on what I’ve just described, but there are three more courses to go! An enormous bowl of brothy duck soup with egg, scallions, and cilantro is brought out next. For a soup containing visible duck bone, it is surprisingly comforting.
Next arrives the piping hot platter of duck fried rice. I’m not usually one to order fried rice at a Chinese restaurant, but this is no ordinary fried rice. You can tell that this rice was stir-fried immediately before it arrives with the leftover duck that you just watched being carved.
The meal is finished off with some refreshing sorbet. The flavors change depending on the season, but they’re always great. Last night we were given Papaya and Pineapple-Coconut - perfect ending to a perfect meal.
Can’t forget the fortune cookie!
To be fair, I can't say that this is THE best Peking duck in Chicago simply because it’s the only one I've had. However, I know a good thing when I see it…and Sun Wah Bar-B-Q is pretty darn good.
In all seriousness though, if you've never had a traditional Peking duck before, I suggest you hop on the Red Line right now and make your way up to Argyle Street. There you will find the small storefront of Sun Wah Bar-B-Q with crispy, bronzed ducks hanging behind the window.
In my experience, Peking duck is carefully sliced tableside and served in several courses. The crispy skin is considered to be the actual delicacy and is usually separated from the duck meat. One of the courses always consists of this skin served with a steamed pancake of sorts along with a hoisin-type sauce and shredded carrot and scallion (read: the best “taco” you will ever have).
Shortly after moving to Chicago about a year and a half ago, I buckled down and did some research on a very important question: Where can I get the best Peking duck in this city?
Oddly enough, my research brought me to the Little Vietnam section of town rather than Chinatown. Plenty of restaurants in Chinatown serve Peking duck, but most require an advanced order. This did not help me when I was sitting at work intent upon having a duck feast within an hour or two. Sun Wah, however, has such a turnover that they can just cook their ducks ahead of time and know that people will buy them. I think that you can order ahead if you’d like, but I’ve never run into a problem getting one when I arrive.
Not only is it delicious, it’s an unbelievable bargain at $30 a duck. That’s right – not per person, per duck. Since the duck is served in four courses, you can definitely feed three or four people comfortably. It’s also cheap enough to go with just two and bring home lots of leftovers, which is exactly what I did last night.
After you sit down and order the “Beijing Duck Dinner,” the duck will be wheeled out to the table by a woman who I believe is the daughter of the restaurant owner. She is super nice and does a great job explaining to newcomers how they cook and serve their ducks. She talks about how the ducks that they use are slightly leaner than what is traditional, which I think is just a limitation of being in Illinois and not China. When she carves the meat, she actually slices off the skin with a little bit of the juicy meat attached instead of completely separating the skin and the meat.
She also explains that they serve buns to eat with the duck instead of the traditional steamed pancake because they’re not as messy to eat and much less filling. The buns are similar in texture to a Bao and are shaped like miniature taco shell - delicious and adorable!
After the duck is carved, these buns are brought out with a salad of pickled daikon radish and a side of raw shredded carrot and scallion. Sun Wah also makes a delicious sauce to go with the duck that is similar to a hoisin sauce, but just slightly thinner and lighter tasting. My friend Katie described it well – “I would stick my fist in there to taste this stuff if it weren’t entirely savage.”
To assemble the buns, you just put a little bit of duck skin and meat inside and top with the sauce vegetables. I think you’re actually supposed to eat the pickled daikon and carrot separate from the buns, but I just threw it all on there. It was yummy.
It’s easy to fill up on what I’ve just described, but there are three more courses to go! An enormous bowl of brothy duck soup with egg, scallions, and cilantro is brought out next. For a soup containing visible duck bone, it is surprisingly comforting.
Next arrives the piping hot platter of duck fried rice. I’m not usually one to order fried rice at a Chinese restaurant, but this is no ordinary fried rice. You can tell that this rice was stir-fried immediately before it arrives with the leftover duck that you just watched being carved.
The meal is finished off with some refreshing sorbet. The flavors change depending on the season, but they’re always great. Last night we were given Papaya and Pineapple-Coconut - perfect ending to a perfect meal.
Can’t forget the fortune cookie!
To be fair, I can't say that this is THE best Peking duck in Chicago simply because it’s the only one I've had. However, I know a good thing when I see it…and Sun Wah Bar-B-Q is pretty darn good.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Dinner with Mom
With my parents living in Boston and me living in Chicago, I don’t get home as often as I would like. I grew up watching my parents’ love of food and cooking, so there’s nothing I like more then spending time with them in the kitchen. When I do get home, we always make at least one nice meal together to celebrate. Last Friday, my mom and I had a relaxing night in with some cocktails, wine, and (of course) delicious food.
Let’s start with the pre-dinner cocktail…
Around the same time last year, my mom and I separately tried an Ice Wine martini for the first time. I had never heard of Ice Wine* before, but was feeling adventurous one night at Cru (which has since closed, sadly, but I’m sure that is in no way related to their martini-making skills). Not only did it sound really cool, it was absolutely delicious. When my mom tried it for the first time, she and her friends asked the bartender how to make it.
*Ice Wine can be expensive because it’s apparently very labor-intensive to produce, but my mom found a reasonably priced bottle made from Riesling grapes at Trader Joe’s.
Ice Wine Martini
Ingredients
One part vodka
One part Ice Wine
Frozen grape for garnish
Directions
Shake the vodka and Ice Wine with ice, strain, and drop in a frozen grape.
******************************
Next, we put together a simple Bresaola Platter with arugula, parmigiano-reggiano, and truffle oil. My aunt always puts out a platter of this on Christmas and it gets devoured everytime. The plating of it is similar to how a beef carpaccio is sometimes served: thin layer of beef topped with shavings of parmigiano-reggiano, drizzled with olive oil, and served with arugula. For this appetizer, the only differences are the use of bresaola (a lean, cured beef) instead of raw beef and truffle oil instead of olive oil. I also tossed the arugula in a little bit of lemon juice and olive oil and served it all with sliced baguette.
******************************
Time for the main course: Seared Scallops with Pappardelle and Saffron Sauce
Anyone who knows me well knows that I have an obsession with saffron. I blame this on eating my dad’s ridiculously-delicious Paella growing up. I’d put saffron in everything if I could, but I try to use it sparingly (you know, with it being the most expensive spice in the world and all). But hey, we already broke out the truffle oil – why not add some saffron?
I came up with this sauce awhile ago to put on some lobster ravioli and I think it pairs really well with shellfish, in general. This time, I made it with seared scallops and pappardelle. There’s an incredible fish market right down the street from my parents’ house called the New Deal that sells THE BEST dry sea scallops. When you buy sea scallops, it’s very important that you get *dry* scallops if you want to sear them. Otherwise, you will probably end up with a scallop that’s “plumped up” with water but will shrink and be rubbery when you cook it. Some markets will actually sell these soaked scallops as dry scallops, so you really have to talk to the fish monger and make sure you’re getting what you’re paying for. Believe me – it’s well worth it. Now I just have to find a fish store like New Deal in Chicago…
One more note on this recipe: I usually throw some chopped chives on top of this kind of dish for some color, but I recently had a similar sauce over ravioli at a restaurant and it was topped with some variety of microgreen. It made the dish look beautiful and the greens cut through the richness of the sauce really nicely. I thought it was a brilliant idea, so I stole it :). I’m not sure how difficult microgreens are to find because I had never actually looked for them before last weekend, but I found a pretty big selection of them at the small Whole Foods on Prospect St. in Cambridge. I went with the micro-arugula because it looked the freshest, but I think most varieties would work well.
Ingredients
1 medium-sized shallot, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, whole
2 tbsp. butter, room temperature
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. brandy
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 ½ c. seafood stock
¾ c. mascarpone cheese
Pinch of saffron
1 lb. dry sea scallops
½ lb. pappardelle
Micro-arugula
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
1. Heat ½ tbsp. each of the butter and the olive oil in saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the whole clove of garlic and sauté for a few minutes, but don’t let it burn. Remove the garlic clove so you’re left with a garlicky butter/oil mixture but with no visible garlic.
2. Turn up the heat to medium to medium-high and sauté the shallot until soft.
3. Add the brandy to the saucepan and let it cook for 30 seconds or so.
4. Add the tomato paste, the seafood stock, the saffron, and some salt and pepper (to taste). Let this mixture cook down for about 15 minutes until reduced a little bit.
5. Add the mascarpone cheese to thicken the sauce and make it creamy. I ended up using about ¾ c., but you can adjust the amount depending on how rich you want the sauce to be.
6. Cook the pappardelle according to package directions until al-dente and toss with the sauce.
7. Pat down the scallops with paper towels until they are as dry as you can get them. Season with a little bit of salt and pepper.
8. Heat a cast iron skillet to medium-high heat and add the remaining ½ tbsp. of olive oil and 1 ½ tbsp. of butter. Add the scallops and sear for about one minute on each side. They should be golden brown on the outside, and cooked to about medium on the inside.
9. To plate, I arranged the scallops around the edges of the pasta and put a small handful of the micro-arugula in the middle.
******************************
My mom and I aren’t huge dessert people, but we do like to have a small taste of something sweet at the end of a nice meal. Since we had some strawberries that needed using, I used them to top some vanilla frozen yogurt and made a sweet balsamic-basil syrup to drizzle on top. I’ve seen strawberry-basil desserts at restaurants a lot lately and I’ve seen people make balsamic dessert syrups on tv before, so I combined the two ideas into a simple but elegant dessert. My mom was skeptical about having vinegar in her dessert, but I talked her into trying it and she was very pleasantly surprised.
Vanilla Ice Cream with Strawberries and Balsamic-Basil Syrup
Ingredients
Vanilla ice cream (or frozen yogurt)
½ c. sugar
1 c. balsamic vinegar
5-10 fresh basil leaves
Sliced strawberries
Directions
1. Combine the vinegar and sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
2. When the sugar has dissolved, add 5-10 basil leaves (depending on how strong you want the syrup to be).
3. Reduce the syrup by about half, strain, and cool.
4. Drizzle the syrup over the strawberries and ice cream. Garnish with a basil leaf.
Enjoy!!
Let’s start with the pre-dinner cocktail…
Around the same time last year, my mom and I separately tried an Ice Wine martini for the first time. I had never heard of Ice Wine* before, but was feeling adventurous one night at Cru (which has since closed, sadly, but I’m sure that is in no way related to their martini-making skills). Not only did it sound really cool, it was absolutely delicious. When my mom tried it for the first time, she and her friends asked the bartender how to make it.
*Ice Wine can be expensive because it’s apparently very labor-intensive to produce, but my mom found a reasonably priced bottle made from Riesling grapes at Trader Joe’s.
Ice Wine Martini
Ingredients
One part vodka
One part Ice Wine
Frozen grape for garnish
Directions
Shake the vodka and Ice Wine with ice, strain, and drop in a frozen grape.
Next, we put together a simple Bresaola Platter with arugula, parmigiano-reggiano, and truffle oil. My aunt always puts out a platter of this on Christmas and it gets devoured everytime. The plating of it is similar to how a beef carpaccio is sometimes served: thin layer of beef topped with shavings of parmigiano-reggiano, drizzled with olive oil, and served with arugula. For this appetizer, the only differences are the use of bresaola (a lean, cured beef) instead of raw beef and truffle oil instead of olive oil. I also tossed the arugula in a little bit of lemon juice and olive oil and served it all with sliced baguette.
Time for the main course: Seared Scallops with Pappardelle and Saffron Sauce
Anyone who knows me well knows that I have an obsession with saffron. I blame this on eating my dad’s ridiculously-delicious Paella growing up. I’d put saffron in everything if I could, but I try to use it sparingly (you know, with it being the most expensive spice in the world and all). But hey, we already broke out the truffle oil – why not add some saffron?
I came up with this sauce awhile ago to put on some lobster ravioli and I think it pairs really well with shellfish, in general. This time, I made it with seared scallops and pappardelle. There’s an incredible fish market right down the street from my parents’ house called the New Deal that sells THE BEST dry sea scallops. When you buy sea scallops, it’s very important that you get *dry* scallops if you want to sear them. Otherwise, you will probably end up with a scallop that’s “plumped up” with water but will shrink and be rubbery when you cook it. Some markets will actually sell these soaked scallops as dry scallops, so you really have to talk to the fish monger and make sure you’re getting what you’re paying for. Believe me – it’s well worth it. Now I just have to find a fish store like New Deal in Chicago…
One more note on this recipe: I usually throw some chopped chives on top of this kind of dish for some color, but I recently had a similar sauce over ravioli at a restaurant and it was topped with some variety of microgreen. It made the dish look beautiful and the greens cut through the richness of the sauce really nicely. I thought it was a brilliant idea, so I stole it :). I’m not sure how difficult microgreens are to find because I had never actually looked for them before last weekend, but I found a pretty big selection of them at the small Whole Foods on Prospect St. in Cambridge. I went with the micro-arugula because it looked the freshest, but I think most varieties would work well.
Ingredients
1 medium-sized shallot, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, whole
2 tbsp. butter, room temperature
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. brandy
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 ½ c. seafood stock
¾ c. mascarpone cheese
Pinch of saffron
1 lb. dry sea scallops
½ lb. pappardelle
Micro-arugula
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
1. Heat ½ tbsp. each of the butter and the olive oil in saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the whole clove of garlic and sauté for a few minutes, but don’t let it burn. Remove the garlic clove so you’re left with a garlicky butter/oil mixture but with no visible garlic.
2. Turn up the heat to medium to medium-high and sauté the shallot until soft.
3. Add the brandy to the saucepan and let it cook for 30 seconds or so.
4. Add the tomato paste, the seafood stock, the saffron, and some salt and pepper (to taste). Let this mixture cook down for about 15 minutes until reduced a little bit.
5. Add the mascarpone cheese to thicken the sauce and make it creamy. I ended up using about ¾ c., but you can adjust the amount depending on how rich you want the sauce to be.
6. Cook the pappardelle according to package directions until al-dente and toss with the sauce.
7. Pat down the scallops with paper towels until they are as dry as you can get them. Season with a little bit of salt and pepper.
8. Heat a cast iron skillet to medium-high heat and add the remaining ½ tbsp. of olive oil and 1 ½ tbsp. of butter. Add the scallops and sear for about one minute on each side. They should be golden brown on the outside, and cooked to about medium on the inside.
9. To plate, I arranged the scallops around the edges of the pasta and put a small handful of the micro-arugula in the middle.
My mom and I aren’t huge dessert people, but we do like to have a small taste of something sweet at the end of a nice meal. Since we had some strawberries that needed using, I used them to top some vanilla frozen yogurt and made a sweet balsamic-basil syrup to drizzle on top. I’ve seen strawberry-basil desserts at restaurants a lot lately and I’ve seen people make balsamic dessert syrups on tv before, so I combined the two ideas into a simple but elegant dessert. My mom was skeptical about having vinegar in her dessert, but I talked her into trying it and she was very pleasantly surprised.
Vanilla Ice Cream with Strawberries and Balsamic-Basil Syrup
Ingredients
Vanilla ice cream (or frozen yogurt)
½ c. sugar
1 c. balsamic vinegar
5-10 fresh basil leaves
Sliced strawberries
Directions
1. Combine the vinegar and sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
2. When the sugar has dissolved, add 5-10 basil leaves (depending on how strong you want the syrup to be).
3. Reduce the syrup by about half, strain, and cool.
4. Drizzle the syrup over the strawberries and ice cream. Garnish with a basil leaf.
Enjoy!!
Monday, March 23, 2009
Greek Couscous Salad with Grilled Flank Steak
While it may not feel like it in Chicago quite yet, SPRING is officially here. Among other things, this means that it’s time to bring on the warm weather food!
I like to get a lot of my cooking for the week done on Sunday night because – despite what it might seem like – I don’t have that much time on my hands :). I usually try to make something somewhat-healthy that I can bring to work for lunch throughout the week. This week, in honor of the start of Spring, I made a simple Greek couscous salad with some grilled flank steak.
Ingredients:
Dressing/Steak Marinade
½ c. extra virgin olive oil
¾ c. red wine vinegar
Juice of 2 lemons
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
¼ of a small onion, grated
½ tsp. dried oregano
½ tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. honey
Salt and pepper, to taste
Salad
1 c. dry couscous (I used whole wheat, but regular would work too)
Chicken broth (~1 ½ c. to cook the couscous)
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
½ of a large cucumber, chopped
½ c. fresh mint leaves, chopped
½ c. crumbled feta cheese
½ - ¾ c. dressing (above)
Steak
1.5 lbs. flank steak
½ - ¾ c. steak marinade (above)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
1. Whisk together all of the dressing/marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
2. Marinade the steak in ½ - ¾ c. of the dressing for several hours or overnight.
3. Cook the couscous according to the package directions, but use chicken broth as the cooking liquid rather than water (tastes MUCH better).
4. When the couscous has cooled completely, toss it with the tomatoes, cucumber, mint, and feta. Add about ½ - ¾ c. of the dressing (to taste) and toss gently.
I like to get a lot of my cooking for the week done on Sunday night because – despite what it might seem like – I don’t have that much time on my hands :). I usually try to make something somewhat-healthy that I can bring to work for lunch throughout the week. This week, in honor of the start of Spring, I made a simple Greek couscous salad with some grilled flank steak.
Ingredients:
Dressing/Steak Marinade
½ c. extra virgin olive oil
¾ c. red wine vinegar
Juice of 2 lemons
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
¼ of a small onion, grated
½ tsp. dried oregano
½ tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. honey
Salt and pepper, to taste
Salad
1 c. dry couscous (I used whole wheat, but regular would work too)
Chicken broth (~1 ½ c. to cook the couscous)
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
½ of a large cucumber, chopped
½ c. fresh mint leaves, chopped
½ c. crumbled feta cheese
½ - ¾ c. dressing (above)
Steak
1.5 lbs. flank steak
½ - ¾ c. steak marinade (above)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
1. Whisk together all of the dressing/marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
2. Marinade the steak in ½ - ¾ c. of the dressing for several hours or overnight.
3. Cook the couscous according to the package directions, but use chicken broth as the cooking liquid rather than water (tastes MUCH better).
4. When the couscous has cooled completely, toss it with the tomatoes, cucumber, mint, and feta. Add about ½ - ¾ c. of the dressing (to taste) and toss gently.
5. Let the marinated steak sit out at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Then, take it out of the marinade and sprinkle it liberally with salt and pepper.
6. Grill the steak about 7 minutes on each side (depending on thickness) until medium-rare/medium. I used a grill pan, but I would definitely use an outdoor grill if I had one. As you can see, the indoor grill pan kind of smokes up my apartment...
7. Let the cooked steak rest for several minutes. Then, slice it thinly across the grain.
8. Serve the sliced steak over the couscous salad. 
Happy Spring!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Impulse Shopping
Like most girls, I am very prone to impulse buying. Food shopping is no exception; I usually have to be pulled away from the truffle section of Di Bruno, my favorite food store in Philadelphia, so I don’t make ridiculous purchases. I think I’ve actually saved a lot money since I moved from Philadelphia because I don’t have a Di Bruno-like store near me in Chicago. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), I recently discovered that I can order from them online. I’ve had my eye on this White Truffle Set, but have yet to justify it. Do I really need white truffle honey, or truffle anything for that matter? Hmm, yes – I think I do. Justified.
I did just order various Thai curry pastes and some Pad Thai ingredients online, which I think is a more reasonable purchase than the truffle set. I haven’t been very impressed with the take-out Thai restaurants around where I live, so I’m just going to have to start making my own!
I did just order various Thai curry pastes and some Pad Thai ingredients online, which I think is a more reasonable purchase than the truffle set. I haven’t been very impressed with the take-out Thai restaurants around where I live, so I’m just going to have to start making my own!
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