Red Redemption

Last time, I made lamb neck rillettes that I tried to model after merguez sausage.  While the product was good, it wasn't as I intended it to be, oozing red goodness.  In hindsight, folding in harissa would have been a good idea, but I've been too eager to try my next idea, which is chorizo rillettes.  It sounds scary, but I really want to make a red, eye-catching product of infinite desirableness.

To achieve the color, I decided to develop the same kind of chile paste that is used for fresh, Mexican chorizo sausage.  Don't let the dried chiles be intimidating, they're already dead.

Click to read more ...

Bread Revival

Brunch is one of the most difficult meals to make, because it's often too sweet and carbatose.  The balance between sweet and salty is important, but it's important to work in proteins and other nutrition to wash away the previous night's discourse.

Pain perdu is a common overly sweet, dessert oriented brunch item that I struggle with because it's nothing but sugar, carbs, and often ice cream.  I would never eat it as an entree, but I feel it has the potential to be a good dessert course during a meal.  Today I decided to rework the classic 'lost bread' dish into a local, palatable dish to be proud of.

Click to read more ...

Sounds like...

I woke up this morning with a headache and a smile as seemingly distant memories of the previous night flooded back to my mind.  It was a night of rustic, locally-inspired dishes paired with great wine, great wine, and even better company.  All food came from a morning trip to one of the greatest farmer's markets in the country, Green City Market, and new premier local butcher, The Butcher and Larder. 

The evening started out with pork rillettes and a terrine of beef spotted with hidden treasures of liver accompanied by a savory blueberry mostarda.  The rich charcuterie was washed down with my favorite beer for such dishes, Monks Cafe Flemish Sour Red Ale.  Next, was a follow up salad course worthy of its own post, micro greens tossed with fresh shallots, wild mushroom conservas; tossed with a vinaigrette of the leftover mushroom oil, sherry vinegar, capers, dijon mustard, crack of pepper, and seasoned with truffle salt.  The entree was a highlight of the night as it was the first time anyone could notice the music that had been looping for the previous few hours; a whole chicken braised in a ragout of pork belly and trotters.  But my proudest achievement was dessert, scratch profiteroles.  

Click to read more ...

Baking Resolution

I've decided that 2011 will be a year of baking for me.  It's something I've often mentioned, but the time for talk has passed; now is the time for action.  To start, I'm making good meringue cookies.  I dabbled with whipped egg whites last year, but my arm tired, and they often tasted eggy (which is a bad thing).

The first time I ever made meringue cookies was actually in my high school senior foods class, where we snuck Hershey's kisses in the middle of the cookie.  I hate Hershey's kisses.  Nothing against Milton, but I don't like milk chocolate.

Now, I'm using a recipe from my girlfriend's mom.  Kind of.  I'm just using the sugar to egg ratio and baking technique--which are the two most important parts of meringue--since it's too cold outside to get cocoa powder, and tend to shy away from chocolate cookies with chocolate chips.  I feel that with a normal cookie laden with chocolate chips, each chip is a chocolatey oasis to look forward to; and that anticipation of contrast is lost otherwise.

Click to read more ...

Top 10 of '10

 Quality food journalism would be at a loss if not for end of the year lists.  Below are the top things I ate across the country, but mostly in Chicago, in no particular order.  The focus is on dishes of the year, not a dish that is always offered that I just happened to eat during 2010 (eg a steak at Primehouse).  The other rule is that every restaurant only gets one spot, otherwise this post would be dominated by various Alinea-spawns.  Here's the one list Longman and Eagle isn't on:

Click to read more ...