Big flavor in a hurry: Asian Turkey Burgers with Sriracha Mayonnaise

Weeknight quick to make, turkey burgers get a flavor boost from hoisin sauce, green onions, ginger, garlic, soy sauce and a topping of Sriracha mayonnaise. Recipe below.

There are Sundays that lend themselves to giving in to indolence, lounging about and doing nothing more ambitious than occasionally stirring a pot that cooks for hours. This past Sunday was not one of those. We spent much of the day hiking around the National Restaurant Association Show in the cavernous McCormick Place (motto: “You’ll love our 2.6 million square feet of hard concrete floors”). Then, because we apparently hadn’t walked enough, we did a little more hiking along Chicago’s lakefront.

After a day of walking and grazing on various delicious, mostly fatty foods (more about the restaurant show next week), we wanted a dinner that wasn’t a fat bomb, but still delivered big taste. And personally, I didn’t want to spend a lot of time on my feet in front of the stove. These Asian turkey burgers were just what we needed. Continue reading “Big flavor in a hurry: Asian Turkey Burgers with Sriracha Mayonnaise” →

Beef and Pork Ragù: A hearty, meaty meal for yet another chilly weekend

Ground beef and chunks of pork are slow cooked with tomatoes, peppers, carrots, mushrooms and paprika to create a hearty, rustic ragù. Recipe below.

IT IS FLAT-OUT REFUSING TO STAY WARM HERE. We have these occasional days that are, frankly, just hot, where after days of unseasonable cold it suddenly, spitefully, turns 85 for like one day. The warm weather comes on too abruptly to be any fun at all. We are inevitably at the office wearing too much, too thick clothing. We get home and the apartment is stuffy and hot. The cats stagger around, collapsing randomly here and there and glaring at us: I can go no farther—you did this to me. Then within a few hours huge storms wash through and the weather turns crazy cold again and just. stays. that. way. Tomato planting? Forget it. Continue reading “Beef and Pork Ragù: A hearty, meaty meal for yet another chilly weekend” →

The delicious taste of sustainable success: Sautéed Walleye Fillets with Tarragon

Incredibly fresh, sustainably caught walleye fillets from the Red Lake Chippewa reservation require little more than salt, pepper and tarragon, then a quick sauté in butter to be delicious. Recipe below.

Fish are the last wild food. Well, they’re the last wild caught food humans eat on a large scale. And unfortunately, we’ve been eating them on too large a scale—according to the World Health Organization, we’ve doubled our per capita fish consumption in the last 50 years. Many species are in serious decline, and the fishing industry as a whole faces major challenges.

In his book Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food, Paul Greenberg says this growing appetite for fish cannot be sustainably satisfied by wild fish alone and that fish farming or aquaculture will actually overtake wild catch in the next few years. Aquaculture is not without its own problems—efforts must be made to greatly reduce its environmental footprint. That’s why the success of the Red Lake Fishery’s wild caught walleyes is particularly heartening. Continue reading “The delicious taste of sustainable success: Sautéed Walleye Fillets with Tarragon” →

“Go east, young man”: Fragrant, flavorful Chinese Duck Pasta with Mushrooms

Steaming duck legs with ginger, garlic, star anise and Chinese five-spice powder before roasting them infuses the meat with flavor and moisture for this Chinese pasta dish. Recipe below.

“Marco!” “Polo!” Before becoming an annoying swimming pool pastime, Marco Polo was an Italian merchant and explorer who, as popular myth has it, brought pasta back from China in 1295. Unfortunately, pesky facts have long ago proven otherwise. But since the journey for the creation of this dish went in the opposite direction—from Italy to China—for the sake of symmetry, I’m going to pretend that Signor Polo did indeed introduce the noodle to Italy.

The journey began as many of my food adventures do, with an offhand comment. This time it was on Grub Street New York: “…chef Jonathon Sawyer (who, by the way, makes a mean duck pasta)…” Continue reading ““Go east, young man”: Fragrant, flavorful Chinese Duck Pasta with Mushrooms” →

Globe-trotting whole cumin seeds bring a whole lot of flavor to Lamb with Cumin

Whole cumin seeds, jalapeño and red bell peppers, garlic and onions all deliver big taste in this lively Chinese dish. Recipe below.

Cumin gets around. Originally cultivated around the Mediterranean and the Middle East—and in fact found at archeological sites in Babylonia and Egypt—it’s now found in cuisines throughout Asia, Africa, the Americas and parts of Europe.

One of our favorite places to find it is in a lamb with cumin dish served at Lao Beijing, one of Tony Hu’s authentically regional restaurants in Chicago’s Chinatown. Lamb with Cumin is a traditional dish of Mongolia and the neighboring Xinjiang region of western China, but variations have made their way across much of China. Continue reading “Globe-trotting whole cumin seeds bring a whole lot of flavor to Lamb with Cumin” →

Globally inspired: Grilled Tahini-marinated Chicken Tacos

Inspiration and ingredients from Asia, the Middle East, Mexico and possibly even Bakersfield come together in tacos stuffed with grilled chicken marinated in tahini, gin, lemon juice, soy sauce, cumin, garlic and ginger. Recipe below.

One of the benefits (and pitfalls) of writing about food is that everything you put in your mouth is also food for thought. Marion and I don’t go all foodie obsessive and kidnap restaurant conversation with a play-by-play (or bite-by-bite) analysis. But we do store all sorts of information away—new flavor combinations, interesting techniques or ingredients—ever ready to call them up and mash them together into something new.

Which is precisely how these tacos came about. First, tacos are definitely enjoying a moment—I wrote about this delicious phenomenon for the USA Character Blog. Among the more interesting iterations are the Korean tacos at Chicago’s tiny, bustling Del Seoul. Since the first bite, we’ve not gotten these tacos out of our heads. Continue reading “Globally inspired: Grilled Tahini-marinated Chicken Tacos” →

Braised Rabbit, Italian Grandmother Style

Slow cooked with carrots, onions, tomatoes, olives, fresh herbs, wine and brandy, braised rabbit makes an impressive rustic company dinner. Recipe below, including substitutions for rabbit.

Rarely seen in American kitchens, rabbit shows up on dinner tables all over Europe. I’m turning the kitchen over to Marion this week, as she gets in touch with her inner Italian grandmother.

Years back, when I lived in the country, a lady up the road raised rabbits for meat, and it got so pretty much no month went by without some rabbit dish making it to my table. I would walk down to her place, about a mile away (sometimes getting the chance to see the local pheasants, owls and the wacky, kind of scary neighborhood flock of turned-feral guinea hens), make a purchase, then walk back home and cook it. It was inexpensive, delicious, low in fat and versatile. I was crazy about it. Continue reading “Braised Rabbit, Italian Grandmother Style” →

Simply inspired: Roast Chicken with Potatoes, Lemons and Capers

Roast Chicken with Potatoes, Lemons and Capers makes a flavorful, beautiful one-pot meal when paired with a salad. Recipe below.

Recipe ideas can come from just about anywhere. This one began with a comment by Laura over at What I Like on last week’s Meyer Lemon Pizza with Goat Cheese and Bacon recipe. She said, in part, “I love roasted lemons.” I’d never thought of roasting lemons before, but suddenly synapses were firing, and I was picturing roasting little red potatoes with lemons and rosemary. Then I remembered the whole chicken lurking uncooked in the fridge, and things just kind of snowballed.

I love this kind of cooking. As much as I also love poring over cookbooks, magazines and the daily bombardment of Internet food for inspiration, there’s something exciting about starting with the simplest idea (roasted lemons, in this case) and turning it into a meal. Continue reading “Simply inspired: Roast Chicken with Potatoes, Lemons and Capers” →

No sauce needed on lively Meyer Lemon Pizza with Goat Cheese and Bacon

Four simple toppings work together beautifully on this light, flavorful pizza. Recipe below.

The new USDA dietary guidelines came down hard on pizza. In fact, as Jane Black reported in New York magazine, the report singles out pizza as one of the worst things we eat. It is “Americans’ No. 2 source of saturated fat and solid fats” and our “No. 3 source of sodium, beating out cold cuts and even bacon.”

Perversely, reading this made me want pizza. Not that I was craving saturated fats and sodium. It’s just that we rarely eat pizza, and this article reminded me just how delicious it is. So when I was looking around for something to do with the last of our recent windfall of Meyer lemons (thanks again, Christina!), I started thinking pizza. Continue reading “No sauce needed on lively Meyer Lemon Pizza with Goat Cheese and Bacon” →

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” →