A classic makeover: Ripe summer peaches freshen up Caprese Salad

For a colorful twist on the Italian classic, peaches stand in for tomatoes in this Peach Caprese Salad; a bed of mixed greens adds extra depth. Recipe below.

AS MUCH AS I LIKE TO PLAY WITH MY FOOD, when it comes to salads, I usually prefer to keep them simple. More often than not, some mixed greens with a garlicky French vinaigrette or sherry Dijon vinaigrette sounds perfect to me. A friend of ours calls these stripped down efforts honeymoon salads—”Lettuce alone.” Continue reading “A classic makeover: Ripe summer peaches freshen up Caprese Salad” →

East meets cornfields: Grilled steak, exotic flavors and honest food in an Iowa cafe

Chinese noodles, flavored with sesame oil, sesame seeds and cilantro and fired up with crushed red pepper, are topped with tender strips of grilled flank steak seasoned with cumin, chili powder and garlic. Recipe below.

When people speak of the exotic flavors of the East, they aren’t generally referring to Eastern Iowa. But when we made a recent road trip there, we found just that.

Not exotic in an over-the-top-trend-of-the-moment sort of way (no Kobe beef sliders topped with shaved truffles, for instance). The approach we found more than once—and appreciated thoroughly each time we did—was starting with quality (and often local) ingredients and doing something fresh and unexpected with them.

Nowhere was this more evident than at the Lincoln Cafe. Located on the main drag of the tiny one-stoplight town of Mount Vernon, Continue reading “East meets cornfields: Grilled steak, exotic flavors and honest food in an Iowa cafe” →

Move over, mesquite: Tea-smoking infuses grilled chicken with delicate Asian flavors

Black tea, orange zest and a host of aromatics give Tea-smoked Grilled Chicken with Star Anise & Orange a satisfyingly complex taste. Recipe below.

MY FEW EXPERIMENTS WITH WOOD CHIPS ON THE GRILL have met with decidedly mixed results. For one thing, no matter how long I’ve soaked them beforehand, they love to catch fire. And the subtle difference the wood smoke has made, at least when I was doing the grilling, has frankly left me underwhelmed.

Tea-smoking, however, is a whole other matter. This ancient Chinese cooking technique infuses foods with delicate, complex flavors as varied as the tea-smoking ingredients you choose. Tea-smoking has been used in Western home kitchens for a while too. Unfortunately, it’s usually practiced pretty much the same way it is in Chinese kitchens. Continue reading “Move over, mesquite: Tea-smoking infuses grilled chicken with delicate Asian flavors” →

Big flavor drives Cuban seafood dish, not big heat

Cuban-inspired Fish Fillets and Tomatoes rely on garlic, cumin, cilantro and capers to deliver big flavor; crushed red pepper flakes add just a touch of heat. Recipe below.

When a Cuban-inspired seafood dish caught my eye recently, I was intrigued as much by what wasn’t there as what was. Where were the chiles? Where was the heat? Sure, the recipe called for red pepper flakes, but a mere 1/8-teaspoonful. That wouldn’t even register on our heat-loving palates.

But then I thought about the Cuban sandwich place near my office. The sandwiches I’ve had there all aim for savory flavors, with little or no heat. The salsas they bring to the table alongside follow this pattern too—only one of the two is at all spicy, and even then, not in the sinus-opening way salsas found in Mexican restaurants can be.

So I did a little research. It seems that fiery heat just isn’t part of the Cuban culinary vocabulary. Continue reading “Big flavor drives Cuban seafood dish, not big heat” →

Bastille Day a perfect excuse for mussels, frites and all things French

A pair of simple, delicious French recipes this week—Mussels steamed in wine with shallots, garlic and lots of parsley and oven-fried pommes frites flavored with herbes de Provence.

Lafayette, we are here.” Those famous words, marking our returning the favor to France in World War I for their vital assistance in our Revolutionary War, were undoubtedly followed by the less well known, “Now, when do we eat?”

Because in addition to contributing to American independence, the French are rightly far more known for their contributions to food and cooking. And not just for their stellar, elaborate concoctions. It’s more their understanding of how a few well-chosen ingredients perfectly combined can become something wonderful—and their daily celebration of food in even the simplest dishes. So when I saw that this week’s post would go up on Bastille Day, that was all the excuse I needed to feed my inner Francophile in the kitchen. Continue reading “Bastille Day a perfect excuse for mussels, frites and all things French” →

Give basil the night off: Cilantro-Parsley Pesto takes pasta in a lively new direction

Surprising cilantro-parsley pesto needs only some tomatoes, onion and feta to make a quick, delicious pasta dinner that won’t overheat your kitchen. Recipe below.

I would make a terrible farmer. Once something’s planted in the ground, I want to be harvesting it. Now. This spring, we (and by we, I mean Marion) planted some tomatoes and a few herbs in the yard. The other day, wanting some pesto, I went outside to glare at our tiny basil plants, hoping it might hurry them along. It didn’t. Not sure why I thought it would work—that same impatient fatherly glare has never had much effect on our kids either.

So I tromped back inside, still wanting pesto and not wanting to resort to store-bought. Then I picked up the current issue of Food & Wine. There, tucked into a catchall piece of various chefs giving tips for being frugal, Chicago’s own Rick Bayless was talking about using leftover cilantro and parsley to make a pesto. Ha! Screw you, little weenie basil plants. I just met some cuter, cooler herbs. (Not really—I do love basil. But the idea of a pesto change-up had definitely caught my eye.) Continue reading “Give basil the night off: Cilantro-Parsley Pesto takes pasta in a lively new direction” →

Rosemary, garlic and onions make grilled steaks healthier—and really, really tasty

The rosemary, garlic and onions in a red wine marinade make grilled New York strip steaks very flavorful—and healthier for you too. Recipe below.

Red meat lovers, rejoice! A pair of recent reports are giving it a cleaner bill of health than it has been enjoying lately.

The first was an article in the Wall Street Journal that opens with this bit of encouragement: “Maybe that juicy steak you ordered isn’t a heart-attack-on-a-plate after all.” In his article “A Guilt-Free Hamburger,” Ron Winslow reports on a new study by the Harvard School of Public Health that suggests that the heart risk long associated with eating red meat comes mostly from processed meats. So while bacon, hot dogs, sausages and cold cuts are unfortunately still bad for you, burgers and steaks may not be. Continue reading “Rosemary, garlic and onions make grilled steaks healthier—and really, really tasty” →

Hold the mayo, not the flavor: Grilled Lamb Feta Burgers get boost from Light Rémoulade Sauce

Grilled Lamb Feta Burgers are made even more flavorful with a lightened rémoulade sauce that substitutes Greek yogurt and olive oil for mayonnaise. Recipes below.

I remember feeling all grown up and adventurous the first time I ate feta cheese. Of course, I was in college at the time, and just about everything that didn’t make me feel idiotic, overwhelmed and scared made me feel grown up and adventurous.

If anything, my first experience with feta made me feel all of those things at once. This cheese didn’t come wrapped in individual slices, and it was decidedly not what was, to my then culinarily naive ears, comfortingly called ‘American.’ Most daunting of all, you couldn’t find it in the supermarket (at least not the ones of my college days). When a friend announced she was going to try a recipe that required the exotic substance, I was assigned the challenge of finding some. Continue reading “Hold the mayo, not the flavor: Grilled Lamb Feta Burgers get boost from Light Rémoulade Sauce” →

Watercress. It’s not just for tea time anymore: Flank Steak with Watercress Salad

Peppery watercress, tossed with a Dijon vinaigrette, serves as a lively bed for quickly pan-grilled flank steak topped with sautéed shallots. Recipe below.

Somehow watercress has picked up a genteel reputation, the stuff of crustless, triangular sandwiches nibbled on by ladies who lunch, preferably with tea. But this lively green has a peppery kick that probably made it the most exciting thing about those polite sandwiches; these days, it’s often used to spice up salads of more mild-mannered greens. And when tossed with a mustardy vinaigrette, it can even stand up to pan-grilled steak. Continue reading “Watercress. It’s not just for tea time anymore: Flank Steak with Watercress Salad” →

Deconstructed Italian potato salad, reconstructed

With heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil, capers, red onion and garlic-infused olive oil, this colorful layered Italian Potato Salad tastes like the promise of summer. Recipe below.

The latest challenge to deep dish pizza’s reign in Chicago just opened in our Logan Square neighborhood. Ciao Napoli Pizzeria. We had lunch there last weekend.

The pizza was wonderful. The crust crisp and cracker thin, the toppings delicious. The space was lovely too—clean, airy and contemporary, with two walls of windows. But what really wowed us was a potato salad.

Specifically, their Neapolitan-style potato salad made with a handful of ingredients and beautifully arranged on a bright white plate, called simply “Old School Insalata.” Continue reading “Deconstructed Italian potato salad, reconstructed” →