From our small, abundant garden: Japanese Eggplant with Miso Sherry Sauce

Miso paste, sesame oil and soy sauce turn slender Japanese eggplant into an umami-rich side. Recipe below.

Our tiny garden is going gangbusters. We have one shishito pepper plant, and it is giving us enough peppers for a very ample side for four at least once a week. We have three Sun Gold tomato plants, and they are giving us a couple of generous handfuls of tomatoes every day. The basil, the beets, the beans—all crazy. Continue reading “From our small, abundant garden: Japanese Eggplant with Miso Sherry Sauce” →

Arroz verde peruano: Peruvian Green Rice

A traditional Peruvian dish, green rice gets its green from cilantro and its plentiful flavor from onions, carrots, peas, garlic, cumin and chicken stock. Recipe below.

Since moving into our new old house a little over a year ago, we often talk here about how much we love our neighborhood, Pilsen. And we do. But Marion and I also both fell hard for our first Chicago neighborhood, now called Lakeview, but back then, New Town (and less officially but more permanently, Boystown). So we’re always up for an excuse to visit our old nabe. This time, our excuse was a new fast casual Peruvian chicken restaurant, Chopo Chicken. Continue reading “Arroz verde peruano: Peruvian Green Rice” →

The taste of summer: six potato salad recipes

With summer in full swing, potato salads are showing up at picnics, family barbecues—anywhere people get together and eat. Here are six potato salad recipes to get you through the season, from the traditional classic to the decidedly non-traditional. Continue reading “The taste of summer: six potato salad recipes” →

Appreciating an icon: Pimento Cheese

Pimento cheese, a versatile, easy-to-make appetizer/spread/sandwich filling/burger topping/etcetera, is rightly enjoying a moment. One taste and you’ll see why. Recipe below.

People talk about pimento cheese like it’s always been around—as if it’s been a fixture of Southern life since time immemorial. Not so. The “caviar of the South” actually originated in New York state around 1910. Continue reading “Appreciating an icon: Pimento Cheese” →

Six recipes for eating, drinking merrier

This week, we’re featuring six recipes/ideas from the Blue Kitchen archives for entertaining, celebrating and just feeling festive.

The holidays are upon us. Time for parties, family get-togethers, intimate dinners and even being indulgent on your own. Food—and drink—play a big part in all of it. Let’s start with something to drink. Continue reading “Six recipes for eating, drinking merrier” →

A winter root vegetable gets a holiday-rich creamy makeover: Puréed Parsnips

Naturally sweet parsnips turn lusciously silky when cooked in cream, milk and butter. Perfect for holiday dinners—or everyday indulgence. Recipe below.

A few weeks ago, Terry wrote about his duck-filled dinners in Omaha. Well, while he was eating all sorts of duck, I was delving into some of my own favorites—not least, wonderful offal. My first Omaha dinner at La Buvette? Lamb kidneys on a bed of puréed parsnips. I just loved the whole thing—the intense, meaty chunks of kidney, the fluffy bed of parsnips. The dark sauce pooling around the white purée and a hearty big red wine alongside. It was a great meal for an autumn evening after a day on the road. And the parsnips were a marvel: at once sweet and savory and silky and faintly earthy. They were just wonderful, and we knew that when we got home, we would have to make some. Continue reading “A winter root vegetable gets a holiday-rich creamy makeover: Puréed Parsnips” →

Sunday kitchen improv: Fried Polenta with Caramelized Onions, Mozzarella and Jam

Fried rounds of store-bought polenta are topped with fresh mozzarella, caramelized onions and apricot jam for lunch on a busy Sunday. Recipe of sorts below.

Sunday was yet another of our patented too-busy days. Marion spent much of it digging in the garden of our new old house. As Marion tells it, most of what she is doing now isn’t gardening, but getting ready to garden. Digging up and hauling away tons of debris from the demolition and rehab of the house—nails, shards of glass, wire, chunks of wood and plaster. She’s also unearthed countless marbles, coins of various denominations and vintages (including an Indian Head nickel too ruined to reveal its age), a small (and unfortunately broken) glass bottle shaped like an automobile. And this literate little fellow. Continue reading “Sunday kitchen improv: Fried Polenta with Caramelized Onions, Mozzarella and Jam” →

Salsa cruda minus the pasta: Tuna Artichoke Potato Salad

Potatoes stand in for pasta as the only cooked ingredient in this dish, warming the Italian tuna, artichoke hearts, capers, red onion, lemon and parsley. Recipe below.

This was going to be a salsa cruda pasta, one I make several times every summer. A salsa cruda (uncooked sauce) is perfect for warm weather cooking, because all that gets cooked is the pasta. It warms the other ingredients, causing their fragrances and flavors to blossom. The other ingredients, in turn, cool the pasta a bit. Your meal is warm, but not hot—perfect for warm weather dining. And your kitchen doesn’t overheat either, since you’re only cooking the pasta. Continue reading “Salsa cruda minus the pasta: Tuna Artichoke Potato Salad” →

Cheesy, tangy, glorious: Cauliflower Kale Gratin

Steamed cauliflower and kale are tossed with a béchamel sauce and two cheeses, topped with panko and baked into a rich, tangy gratin. Recipe below.

This is what comes of reading a cookbook while riding around town hungry. On Saturday, we had an errand-filled day, hunting hither and yon for everything from geraniums to major appliances. On the way out the door, I grabbed the wonderful cookbook Off the Menu, which we’ve already written about here. Maybe reading cookbooks while hungry is not the brightest decision on the planet, and maybe it made me kind of hangry, but it also inspired this recipe. Like so many things on Blue Kitchen, it’s a mashup—in this case, a collision of two dishes from this fun, welcoming book. Continue reading “Cheesy, tangy, glorious: Cauliflower Kale Gratin” →

Coleslaw gets a lively makeover with giardiniera and bacon

Giardiniera Slaw with Bacon packs some heat and some surprises, including olive brine. Recipe below.

Johnny’s Grill, an old school diner in our Logan Square neighborhood, closed some time ago. In our nine or so years of living here, it had never seemed to be what you’d call hopping. For that matter, it had never enticed us in. Recently, it has reopened with a gently hipsterish makeover. Same formica counter and red vinyl stools, but the menu, still diner-ish and still reasonably priced, has gotten some cheflike loving. Continue reading “Coleslaw gets a lively makeover with giardiniera and bacon” →