140 small space solutions, a blogger meat and greet and a do-it-yourself ice cream store

A host of home furnishings and accessories for cramped quarters, hanging out in a swell steakhouse with fellow food bloggers and an ice cream/frozen yogurt/sorbet store that lets you design your own flavors.

Okay, show of hands. Who out there doesn’t have square footage issues? The clever welcome mat above, available at Manhattan’s Tiny Living, says it all for most of us. And it’s one of nearly 150 different items chosen for space-challenged homes and apartments in a recent New York magazine online Shop•A•Matic. There are collapsible measuring cups and nesting measuring bowls for the kitchen; all sorts of storage boxes, units and racks; stackable and foldable chairs…everything designed with a small footprint in mind. And honestly, not everything is strictly speaking a spacesaver—I mean, throw pillows and curtains? But it’s all charming. And while some shops featured are solely New York stores, others like Urban Outfitters, Crate & Barrel, CB2 and Anthropologie can be found elsewhere. There are plenty of online shopping opportunities too. Continue reading “140 small space solutions, a blogger meat and greet and a do-it-yourself ice cream store” →

In like a lion, bring out the lamb: Lamb stew delivers comfort on a blustery night

Lamb, dark beer and root vegetables team up for a hearty, satisfying Lamb Stew. Recipe below.

THERE’S AN OLD SAYING ABOUT THE MONTH OF MARCH, “In like a lion, out like a lamb.” It is a transitional month, changing from winter to spring about halfway through. And if the first day of March wasn’t exactly a lion this year, it was no kitten, either. Here in Chicago, we woke to 17ºF and snow blowing sideways. Suddenly, lamb stew sounded like a great idea. Continue reading “In like a lion, bring out the lamb: Lamb stew delivers comfort on a blustery night” →

Breakfast: Mixing it up six ways from Sunday

A host of sources chimes in with ways to keep what is arguably the most important meal of the day interesting. Share your own thoughts on breakfast in the comments below.

Breakfast. Its very name says you should eat it. Literally, it means break the fast. For most of us, the time between our heads hitting the pillow at night and getting up in the morning is the longest time we go without food. And as we face the new day, it’s the time our bodies most need refueling. Studies show that eating a good breakfast helps you concentrate better at work or at school and that skipping breakfast because you’re dieting is a sure way to gain weight, not lose it.

We’re big on breakfast at Blue Kitchen. Not the farmhand affairs that provide enough fuel for you to go milk a dozen cows and plow forty acres, but something simple, quick and reasonably nutritious. During the week, a bowl of some fiberrific cereal, with lowfat milk and maybe some fresh fruit; or a single fried egg with some toast or one of these reduced-guilt English muffins; or in a pinch, even a PBJ sandwich on hearty, multi-grain bread. On weekends, we sometimes get a little fancier and more leisurely—omelets or maybe this French toast with fresh fruit and mint. It all helps to keep this important meal interesting.

So when cool breakfast ideas started popping up everywhere recently, I thought I’d round them up and share them here.

Continue reading “Breakfast: Mixing it up six ways from Sunday” →

Eternal City, quick meal: Pasta and Chickpeas

“One of Rome’s favorite humble dishes,” pasta e ceci, comes together quickly, deliciously with the aid of pancetta and garlic. Recipe below.

As with most national cuisines, the food of Italy is very much a collection of individual regional cuisines. Sure, there are national common threads, but there are also distinct differences. From Piedmont in the North, known for its cheeses, wines, white truffles and quality herbs to Sicily at the Southern tip, melding Arab and Northern techniques in dishes heavy on seafood and simple peasant ingredients [and a wonderful touch with rich sweets], to Tuscany in the middle, whose food has been described as being “of the earth”—wild game, cured meats, crusty breads and some of Italy’s best olives.

This Valentine’s Day, I was introduced to yet another Italian regional cuisine with a wonderful gift, an unfortunately out-of-print cookbook, Roma: Authentic Recipes from In and Around the Eternal City. I don’t know about you, but I’d never thought of a distinctly Roman cuisine before. Major capitals are such magnets for people from everywhere, each bringing and sharing their own foods, that it’s hard to imagine them having their own food personalities. Well, I’m happy to report that I’m wrong. Author Julia Della Croce and photographer Paolo Destefanis take us on a tour through the history of food in Rome and then sit us down at the table, serving up dish after delicious dish. Marion often says that if she gets one really good recipe from a cookbook, something she’ll make again and again, the book has earned its place on the bookshelf. If this simple, hearty dish is any indication, I think this book will earn its place many times over. Continue reading “Eternal City, quick meal: Pasta and Chickpeas” →

Stretching your food budget and a really sweet recipe contest

No doubt about it, these are scary financial times. I think the entire world is holding its collective breath to see how things will go in the weeks, months and years ahead. If there’s any silver lining to be found in this cloud, it’s that the mindless, self-indulgent spending spree is now officially over.

People aren’t only looking for ways to cut corners and spend less, they’re embracing the idea. You’re seeing this idea popping up all over in food blogs too—cost-cutting recipes, creative use of leftovers, even tricks for eating out on the cheap. Continue reading “Stretching your food budget and a really sweet recipe contest” →

Fowl-mouthed inspiration: Riffing on Gordon Ramsay’s Sticky Lemon Chicken

Lemons, garlic, honey and thyme bring a lively flavor to the table quickly, for a delicious weeknight dinner. Sticky Lemon Chicken recipe below.

When children are very young, their first experiences of playing with other children are actually playing next to other children. They don’t truly interact with one another, but for them, playing side-by-side is the beginning of their social lives. There’s a school of thought in cooking that mirrors this experience, the idea that putting ingredients next to one another actually achieves some meaningful interaction among them.

You know what I mean—recipes that include instructions like “lay sprigs of rosemary around the roast” or “place a whole peeled apple in the chicken cavity”… Or my favorite, recipes that instruct you to rub lamb chops, steaks, slices of baguette or anything with a cut clove of garlic. In my experience, this technique is a perfect way to waste a clove of garlic and five or so minutes of your life. It adds nothing to the flavor of anything, so far as I can tell. Ingredients have to fully commit to a dish and mix it up with the others to have an impact on the final taste.

So alarm bells should have been going off in my head when I read the Sticky Lemon Chicken recipe in Gordon Ramsay’s Fast Food. It called for putting sprigs of thyme, slices of lemon and a head of garlic cut in half into the pan along with the chicken. And for seasoning the chicken itself only with salt and pepper. But this was Gordon-bleeping-Ramsay, almost as famous for exquisite cooking as he is for his expletive-laced tirades at anyone unlucky enough to cross his path in the kitchen. I told myself it would be okay. Continue reading “Fowl-mouthed inspiration: Riffing on Gordon Ramsay’s Sticky Lemon Chicken” →

Mushrooms, Mardi Gras and spicing things up

A quick round-up of food-related stuff, including a lighter, quicker Red Beans and Rice recipe.

Turns out a healthy dose of spices is good for your health. In the March issue of Bon Appétit, Jack Turner reports on the health and weight loss benefits of spicing up our meals. He writes in “The Spice of Life” that flavor boosters that make dinner taste better also satisfy our hunger faster, so we eat less. And when you cook with plenty of spices, you need less fat to make food taste interesting.

Even more interesting, spices are proving beneficial in “the treatment and cure of a range of illnesses and chronic conditions.” Turmeric has been linked to slowing the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers have used ginger to kill ovarian cancer cells. And as Turner tells us, “In clinical trials around the world, spices such as ginger, pepper, cumin, and cinnamon have been credited with helping ailments as diverse as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, depression, and multiple sclerosis.” Continue reading “Mushrooms, Mardi Gras and spicing things up” →

Scallops, fresh mushrooms and wine: Romantic decadence for two

Sea scallops with Shiitake and Oyster Mushrooms is a slightly indulgent, slightly exotic dish that’s perfect for Valentine’s Day—or any special dinner. Recipe below.

As Saveur magazine so accurately puts it in their provocatively titled newsletter Saveur’s Entirely Aphrodisiac Menu, “Who doesn’t love sensual and tasty indulgences like caviar, chocolate, foie gras and truffles?”

And to that list I’d add slightly exotic [or at least slightly extravagant], slightly grown up ingredients like sweet-tasting sea scallops and fleshy, earthy, decidedly non-button mushrooms. Throw in some butter, a little dry white wine and fresh ginger and suddenly, it’s time for candlelight and knowing smiles. Continue reading “Scallops, fresh mushrooms and wine: Romantic decadence for two” →

Valentine’s Day Round-up: A book, a song and a contest for the love of food

Okay, let me just admit it right here. I’m a recovering packrat and an inveterate procrastinator. Neither has anything to do with Valentine’s Day—they’re not even particularly lovable personality traits in a mate. But as much as they occasionally cause me grief, they sometimes work out nicely. Like with this post, a nice little mix of items all loosely strung together around the notion of love—and all things gathered from here and there and just saved because, hey, you never know.

I’ll start with a book. Way back in August, Penguin Books offered to send me a copy of Kathleen Flinn’s charming The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears in Paris at the World’s Most Famous Cooking School. It was just coming out in paperback at the time, and I should have read it right away. I should have reported on it here, and copies of the book should have made their way into numerous Christmas stockings. Instead, it languished in the well-intentioned pile of stuff I mean to read. Well, now I’m telling you about it as a possible last-minute Valentine’s Day gift—or just a fun foodie read for yourself.

Flinn’s book has an unexpectedly [and unintentionally] timely element to it. The events that inspired it came about when she was downsized out of a software job in London. Although it was first published in January 2007, well before the current global economic crisis, her experience of staring down the “what next” question is all too familiar to far too many people right now. What she decides is next for her is attending the legendary Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Continue reading “Valentine’s Day Round-up: A book, a song and a contest for the love of food” →

Beyond green beans: Leeks with a lemon vinaigrette make an easy, impressive side

Break out of the green-beans-as-default-side-dish rut with quickly prepared Leeks with Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette. Recipe below.

APPARENTLY, IT’S WEEK TWO OF THE TOUR DE FRANCE HERE AT BLUE KITCHEN. Last week was a very creamy, very French carrot soup. This week, it’s a French side dish whose impressive looks belie its ease of preparation. The unlikely star? Leeks. Ubiquitous in French cuisine, these mild onions usually play a bit part, often ending up puréed beyond recognition. Here, they’re cooked and served practically whole, giving you a sense that you’re eating something only very recently brought from the farm. Continue reading “Beyond green beans: Leeks with a lemon vinaigrette make an easy, impressive side” →