A month of loving lamb: Lamb Chops with Cherry Marsala Sauce

Lamb chops topped with a sauce of dried tart cherries, Marsala wine, shallots, rosemary and garlic are a perfect way to celebrate Lamb Lovers Month. Recipe below.

THERE ARE LOTS OF REASONS TO LOVE LAMB. So many, in fact, that the American Lamb Board has proclaimed the entire month of February Lamb Lovers Month. All month long, you’ll find recipes, lamb trivia and more on their website. You can even enter a recipe contest and win Date Night Dinner Packages of lamb (of course) and paired wines. Continue reading “A month of loving lamb: Lamb Chops with Cherry Marsala Sauce” →

For Valentine’s Day, a pair of birds you’ll love

Cornish hens roasted on a bed of leeks, olives and Meyer lemons are an impressive, elegant dinner, sure to win hearts on Valentine’s Day. Recipe below.

Marion cooked for me on our first date. I cooked for her on our second date (which was the next night—was I moving too fast?). We only learned much later that cooking for someone this early in a relationship (is it even a relationship on the second date?) can be pitted with minefields. Somehow we survived. Thousands of home cooked meals later, when we want a romantic dinner, home cooking often wins out over restaurants. For this Valentine’s Day dinner, I’m turning the kitchen over to Marion.

When you are thinking about a romantic dinner, presentation is as important as taste. You want to create something that is delicious, but that also honors the beauty of the occasion. And it helps to have something that is easy to assemble, and that you can put together beforehand—no sense fussing around in the kitchen when you could be with your guest, opening the champagne. Continue reading “For Valentine’s Day, a pair of birds you’ll love” →

Harlem enjoys a restaurant renaissance

This week, the USA Character Approved Blog honors Black History Month with a series of posts celebrating African-American history, culture and contributions in many fields. For my post, I took a look at a restaurant renaissance going on in Harlem.

The Great Migration in the early 20th century brought an influx of African-Americans to Harlem from the South. This set the stage for the Harlem Renaissance, a blossoming of African-American culture that resonated not only through the New York neighborhood, but across America. Harlem’s new residents also brought their rich history of Southern cuisine with them. Continue reading “Harlem enjoys a restaurant renaissance” →

Celebrating Meat Week: Grilled Pork Roast with Mustard and Fresh Herbs

Marinating boneless pork shoulder with Dijon mustard, garlic and a fresh herb mix adds extra depth to the smoky flavor of this grilled roast. Recipe below.

Meat Week is a great time to know a butcher. Yes, it’s a real holiday, as the official website’s URL somewhat defensively states: meatweekisreal.com. Started in January 2005 by two bored guys in Florida, Meat Week is now observed in 18 cities across the US and, randomly enough, in London. Meat Week is a celebration of all things BBQ. Its primary focus is restaurants that serve BBQ (I’m guessing the two bored founders also aren’t much on cooking). Revelers are encouraged to enjoy eight straight nights of eating BBQ in a specific list of restaurants in each city, in order.

For me, though, learning about Meat Week gave me an excuse to haul my charcoal grill out into the snow and fire it up. Continue reading “Celebrating Meat Week: Grilled Pork Roast with Mustard and Fresh Herbs” →

Small Bites: Bring-your-own-pan lasagna in Brooklyn and some tasty Chicago food events

In my latest USA Character Approved Blog post, Brooklyn restaurant Brucie offers BYOP lasagna service. And in Chicago, a Valentine’s weekend pastry market, frank talk about the birds and the bees and Provenance turns five.

In New York, even restaurant chefs have tiny kitchens at home. A recent New York Times article reported as much. Still, even with minuscule kitchens and more than 20,000 restaurants to choose from, New Yorkers don’t want to eat out every night. If you live in Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill neighborhood, now you can have the best of both worlds—home cooked lasagna without cooking at home.

Brucie, a friendly Italian-American restaurant and market, offers bring-your-own-pan Lasagna Service. Drop off a lasagna pan and pick it up filled with one of three lasagnas. Continue reading “Small Bites: Bring-your-own-pan lasagna in Brooklyn and some tasty Chicago food events” →

Another reason to thank a bartender: White Bean Escarole Soup with Turkey Meatballs

White Bean Escarole Soup with Turkey Meatballs is a healthy, hearty, flavorful meal—perfect for a cold winter’s evening. Recipe below.

Never underestimate the power of a bored bartender. In January 2009, Chicago editor and writer Martha Bayne was tending bar at the Hideout, a comfortably divey music venue in an industrial corner of the city. Her midweek shifts meant small crowds and smaller tips, so the bored and broke Ms. Bayne came up with an idea to liven things up and do some good.

What she, fellow staffers and regulars cooked up was Soup and Bread. It’s a weekly free dinner of homemade soups cooked by the aforementioned staff and regulars as well as local musicians, writers, artists and professional cooks. Other treats include fresh bread and the occasional muffins, pie or cookies. While the dinners are nominally free, a donation is suggested. In the two years Soup and Bread has been going, it has raised more than $10,000 for Continue reading “Another reason to thank a bartender: White Bean Escarole Soup with Turkey Meatballs” →

Rick Bayless brings Mexican food with street cred to the streets of Chicago

Mexican street food as celebrated by America’s authority on Mexican cuisine is the subject of my latest USA Character Approved Blog post.

Street food is enjoying a moment. Whether it’s food taking to the streets in gourmet food trucks or street fare from the world’s street corners and marketplaces moving indoors, the street is increasingly becoming the source of some of the most exciting food these days.

One direction street food has taken is fusion mash-ups. I recently wrote about Korean tacos, for instance. They first showed up in LA on the Kogi Korean BBQ Truck. Now they’ve gone bricks and mortar at Chicago’s Del Seoul. Celebrity chef and Mexican food authority Rick Bayless’s cuisine is the exact opposite of fusion. Continue reading “Rick Bayless brings Mexican food with street cred to the streets of Chicago” →

Osso Buco: Italian “Bone with a hole” packs a whole lot of flavor

There are many versions of the classic Northern Italian favorite, osso buco. This one uses slow oven braising to make the meat flavorful, fork tender and moist. Recipe below.

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT USING KITCHEN TWINE that makes me feel like a chef and connects me to the past. Trussing up pork tenderloins or rolled roasts with string says you’re getting serious in the kitchen, in a comfortingly old school way. It was something Julia did. Continue reading “Osso Buco: Italian “Bone with a hole” packs a whole lot of flavor” →

Chicago’s Longman & Eagle: A 21st century update for ye olde inn

In the eighth grade, my class went on a field trip to New Salem, Illinois, the reconstructed village where a young Abraham Lincoln lived for a while. It was here he had worked in a store and famously walked miles to return three cents to a customer he had accidentally overcharged. It was here he had been postmaster. But the building that made the biggest impression on me was the Rutledge Tavern.

Our tour guide conjured up images of stagecoaches pulling up outside and disgorging tired, dusty passengers. In the tavern, they would be fed a meal cooked in the fireplace and served something stronger than the sodas we eighth graders were able to buy Continue reading “Chicago’s Longman & Eagle: A 21st century update for ye olde inn” →

As seen on TV: Marion’s Creamy Mac and Cheese with Tarragon

Macaroni and cheese is one of the ultimate comfort foods. This no-bake version delivers that comfort quickly, with a creamy finish and a slight kick. Recipe below.

Marion’s in the kitchen again this week—and not just ours, but at Chicago TV station WCIU. They recently featured three home cooks making mac and cheese on their morning show, You & Me This Morning, and Marion was one of them! I’ll let her tell you about her creamy mac and cheese—and her TV appearance!

I was already having a very nice birthday when Terry got an email from WCIU saying, we like your blog and we are doing a segment on local cooks’ macaroni and cheese recipes and will your wife be on our morning show? Continue reading “As seen on TV: Marion’s Creamy Mac and Cheese with Tarragon” →