Classic cocktail remix: Basil Lemon Gin and Tonic

Gin and tonic, a quintessential summer cocktail, gets refreshed with basil, lemon juice and St-Germain elderflower liqueur. Recipe below.

The artisan cocktail movement has turned happy hour into an adventure—part grownup playdate, part science fair. Bartenders are now alchemists, creating inventive, flavorful drinks from small-batch craft spirits, housemade bitters and all manner of herbs, fruits, vegetables and more. We embrace this trend. These days, we’re as likely to ask for a cocktail menu as we are a wine list, in a bar or even out for dinner. An imaginative, well-mixed cocktail just seems to amp up the fun and the elegance.

At home, this cocktail renaissance has us taking a fresh look at our classic go-to drinks. What is more summery than a gin and tonic? The original, made with gin, tonic water, lime and ice, is bracing and fresh, driven by gin’s signature juniper berry taste. But on a recent evening when I thought of gin and tonics, another archetypal taste of summer popped into my head. Basil. Continue reading “Classic cocktail remix: Basil Lemon Gin and Tonic” →

Change up your summer salads: Brussels Sprouts Salad with Blue Cheese

A fresh, flavorful take on the ubiquitous summer salad. Shaved Brussels sprouts are dressed with lemon juice and olive oil, then tossed with pistachios, thyme and blue cheese. Recipe below.

Leave it to us to find vegetarian inspiration in a hot dog joint. Not that Chicago-based Franks ‘n’ Dawgs is your typical joint. Their housemade artisan sausages (lamb, spicy beef, jerk goat, turkey & date, bay scallop…) are topped with everything from pickled green papaya to duck confit, giardiniera, Mako shark bacon and kimchi.

Besides delicious, inventive dogs, they serve up sublime sides. Lyonnaise fries (with braised pig cheek and poached egg). Truffle mac ‘n’ cheese. Creole red beans with blackened shrimp and jalapeño cornbread. And the subtle, citrusy Brussels sprouts salad that inspired this one. Continue reading “Change up your summer salads: Brussels Sprouts Salad with Blue Cheese” →

A winter superfood gets a summer makeover: Kale Lemon Pesto with Fettuccine

Kale, lemon juice and zest, pistachios, garlic and Parmesan cheese make a quick, no-cook vegetarian pasta sauce—or spread for crostini. Recipe below.

I rarely find myself ahead of the curve on trends, but we cooked with kale when it was just good for you. In fact, it first appeared in a recipe here about five and a half years ago. Kale’s coolness factor has soared in the last few years, with it showing up on upscale restaurant menus everywhere. Its mere appearance there bestows instant hipness. In May, kale salads received breathless praise in the New York Times, not in the Dining section, but in Fashion & Style. And Zazzle.com even sells a t-shirt proclaiming “Kale is the new black.”

Of course, part of fashion is being attuned to the season. And what could be more summery than pesto? Usually made with basil, this no-cook sauce is a staple of Italian summers. It can be tossed with pasta for a meal (our favorite use) or slathered on crostini for an appetizer. Here, kale sheds its winter greens identity and shows basil a thing or two. Continue reading “A winter superfood gets a summer makeover: Kale Lemon Pesto with Fettuccine” →

Six peachy (and apricot-y) recipes for summer

Peaches and apricots each play parts in six breakfast, lunch and dinner recipes that run from sweet to savory and first course through dessert. Recipes below.

Summer is under way, and stone fruits are filling produce shelves. Peaches, apricots and numerous varieties of plums beckon with their rich colors and heady aromas. Sure, they’re delicious to eat out of hand, their juices running down your chin. But they’re also great to cook with. Here are a half dozen recipes from the Blue Kitchen archives that do just that. Continue reading “Six peachy (and apricot-y) recipes for summer” →

More umami, less meat: Mushroom Lamb Burger

Mushrooms marinated in soy sauce, brandy, garlic and Chinese five-spice powder replace half the lamb in these burgers, for a healthier, umami-rich and satisfyingly meaty meal (and yes, you can substitute ground beef for lamb). Recipe below.

Tom Robbins advises us to “Breathe properly. Stay curious. And eat your beets.” I’m not sure if I do the first and I’ve only in the last few years started doing the last, but I nail the one in the middle. Sports and actuarial tables aside, pretty much everything interests me, and I want to know more. I have what I call a magpie eye, always ready to latch on to some shiny new thing.

Which leads me to another quote—one of my favorites—by one of my favorite photographers, Walker Evans: “Stare. It is the way to educate your eye, and more. Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long.” I’ve said here before that I’m not a great cook. But curiosity makes my good cooking better than it might otherwise be. Continue reading “More umami, less meat: Mushroom Lamb Burger” →

A simple, authentic taste of Venice: Fettuccine with Shrimp and Radicchio

Sautéing radicchio tames its bitter bite in this Venetian pasta dish. Shrimp, garlic, saffron and wine all add their flavor notes. Recipe below.

It’s another bookish week here at Blue Kitchen. This time, we’re looking at a pair of books on regional Italian cuisines, one covering Venice, the other Sicily. Most books on national, regional or ethnic cuisines aim for authenticity. These books immediately up the ante—they’re published in Italian with English translations.

The books in question are review copies we received of Venezia in cucina/The flavours of Venice and Sicilia in cucina/The flavours of Sicily, published by Sime Books. The Venice book is edited by Cinzia Armanini and Alberta Magris and filled with sumptuous, atmospheric photographs by Laurent Grandadam. William Dello Russo is the editor of the Sicilian book; Nino Bartuccio and Alessandro Saffo supply the gorgeous images. Continue reading “A simple, authentic taste of Venice: Fettuccine with Shrimp and Radicchio” →

White Bean and Tomato Salad: I’ll have what the kitchen’s having

Adapted from a restaurant staff meal recipe, cannellini beans, tomatoes, shallots and basil combine to create a side dish that’s almost too robust to be called a salad. Recipe below.

A handful of well-chosen ingredients, simply, perfectly put together. For me, this is cooking at its truest and best. Sure, there have been culinary high wire acts as long as there has been royalty and, later, haute cuisine restaurants. Molecular gastronomy is the latest version of designed-to-dazzle cooking. But put that up against what happens every day in a French or Italian farm kitchen—or indeed, traditional kitchens around the world—and it’s no contest.

This simple salad is a perfect example. White beans, tomatoes, shallots, basil, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper—toasted bread crumbs if you feel like it. Let the shallots marinate in the vinegar while you pull the other parts of the meal together and assemble the rest at the end. Continue reading “White Bean and Tomato Salad: I’ll have what the kitchen’s having” →

If you can’t stand the heat, no problem: non-fiery Grilled Cumin Salmon with Mango Tomato Salsa

Cumin, paprika and a mango and tomato salsa give grilled salmon plenty of flavor with no spicy heat. Recipes below.

[su_dropcap style=”flat”]O[/su_dropcap]kay, here’s something just about every cook occasionally faces. Guests’ food restrictions. One of our friends who joined us for Memorial Day dinner can’t eat spicy food; the other simply doesn’t. Now, I know as menu limitations go, this is pretty minimal. But I was in the mood to be cooking, serving and tasting the kinds of big flavors often accompanied by a spicy kick.

We happily cook and eat plenty of non-spicy meals here. We embrace subtle dishes—watercress vichyssoise, coq au Riesling, green tea shortbread cookies… But we’re equally big fans of powerful tastes that pack heat. So when thinking about what to make for our heat-averse guests, I challenged myself to bring the flavor without the fire. Turns out it was easy. Continue reading “If you can’t stand the heat, no problem: non-fiery Grilled Cumin Salmon with Mango Tomato Salsa” →

Earth and smoke: Grilled Pork Tenderloin stuffed with Mushrooms and Pear

A butterflied pork tenderloin is stuffed with sautéed mushrooms, pear, shallots and sage, then grilled both indirectly and directly. Recipe below.

We’re experiencing the season’s first real bout of don’t-heat-up-the-kitchen weather here in Chicago. So this weekend, I fired up the grill. For my inaugural grilled meat meal of the year, I turned to a recipe inspired by one of our favorite vegetarians. You may remember the recent vegetarian pasta dish based on a side served by our friend Laura. Well, even though she doesn’t eat meat, she knows how to cook it.

Two elemental flavors come together beautifully in this recipe. With two cups of chopped mushrooms, the filling delivers a delicious, earthy taste. And a combination of indirect and direct grilling adds plenty of smokiness to the pork tenderloin. Continue reading “Earth and smoke: Grilled Pork Tenderloin stuffed with Mushrooms and Pear” →

An argument for immigration: Bengali-inspired Sautéed Cauliflower with Chili Sauce

Inspired by Gobi (Cauliflower) Manchurian Dry, a popular Indo-Chinese appetizer we sampled at a Bengali restaurant, this lighter version skips the breading and deep frying, but not the flavor. Recipe below.

So this is the third consecutive post that starts by talking about a recent road trip. Last weekend found us in the Motor City. We saw some stellar art—at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, at the Detroit Institute of Arts and on the city streets. Detroit is home to a talented, lively graffiti art scene.

We also ate some amazing food—some of it definitively American, but most of it brought to the city by immigrants. We’re always happy to eat at Señor Lopez, on the edge of Mexican Town. The food is delicious, authentic, plentiful and cheap, and the service is unfailingly friendly. But what really captured our culinary hearts this visit was a pair of Bengali meals. Continue reading “An argument for immigration: Bengali-inspired Sautéed Cauliflower with Chili Sauce” →