Talking cheese in Oregon, making grilled cheese sandwiches in Chicago

Two variations on classic grilled cheese sandwiches—one with pear jalapeño chutney, one with roasted tomatoes, both with delicious Tillamook cheeses from Oregon. Recipes below.

A FEW YEARS AGO, OUR FRIENDS BUD AND CHRISTINE WERE VISITING FROM FRANCE. Before dinner, we put out some Tillamook aged white cheddar with crackers. Between bites, Christine kept exclaiming in her charming French accent, “You can’t get cheese like this in France!” Her words alone might have simply referred to the fact that the French don’t make cheddar-style cheeses. But the way she and Bud were happily gobbling it up said it wasn’t just cheddar—it was the Tillamook cheddar. Continue reading “Talking cheese in Oregon, making grilled cheese sandwiches in Chicago” →

Long distance locavore: Linguine with foraged chanterelles from Seattle, cooked in Chicago

Mushrooms, shallots, sage, cream and Parmesan combine to make a rich, satisfyingly “meaty” vegetarian meal. Recipe for Sautéed Chanterelles with Cream and Linguine Fini below.

The day before Marion cooked these chanterelles in our Chicago kitchen, they were in a stall in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Not much more before that, they had been in a nearby forest. We were in the market on the last morning of our first visit to the Pacific Northwest. Our luggage was already overstuffed with food purchases, many in glass containers padded with laundry in the hope they would survive the flight home. But when we saw these mushrooms, we knew we had to squeeze some into our carry-on bags. I’ll turn the kitchen over to Marion now and let her tell you what she did with them.

In another earlier life, I used to gather chanterelles in the wild all summer. It was such an everyday thing that I took it totally for granted. It was part of the season, like swimsuits and the beach. Continue reading “Long distance locavore: Linguine with foraged chanterelles from Seattle, cooked in Chicago” →

Subtle, savory black magic: Linguine with Mushrooms and Black Garlic

Fermented black garlic, the mysterious ingredient that’s been exciting chefs for a couple of years, is now showing up in grocery stores. Here it works with just a handful of ingredients to create a rich, satisfying vegetarian meal. Recipe below.

Umami. That savory, meaty fifth taste, only recently named. That’s what I smelled when I opened the bag containing two heads of black garlic. The smell of a really good consomme or perhaps the browned bits in the bottom of the pan after searing a roast.

The funny thing is, the only ingredients in black garlic are garlic, heat and time. No meat, no salt, no stock—nothing to impart that almost meaty scent. I can’t remember now where I first heard of black garlic, but it so fascinated me that I wrote about it for this week’s USA Character Approved Blog post. And I had to cook with it. Continue reading “Subtle, savory black magic: Linguine with Mushrooms and Black Garlic” →

A fresh, spicy surprise for summer: Watermelon Mango Salad with Blue Cheese

Watermelon, mango, blue cheese and cayenne pepper combine sweet, savory and spicy flavors in a fresh, colorful summer salad. Recipe below.

WHEN WE STARTED PLANNING LAST WEEKEND’S ROAD TRIP TO EASTERN IOWA, one of our first thoughts was that we might make it to Newton, Iowa, home of the Maytag Dairy Farms and Maytag Blue Cheese. Continue reading “A fresh, spicy surprise for summer: Watermelon Mango Salad with Blue Cheese” →

Multiple personalities, one delicious rustic dish: Eggplant Caponata

Versatile eggplant caponata, flavored with garlic, fresh tomatoes, golden raisins, red onions and parsley, makes a vegetarian meal for two, a side dish for four or an appetizer for a whole party. Recipe below.

Eggplant caponata is often referred to as Italy’s take on ratatouille. And it shares a rustic charm with that classic French stewed vegetable dish—as well as eggplant in a starring role.

But eggplant caponata boasts some real versatility when it comes to serving it. Chances are, if you’ve ever had eggplant caponata, it was served on crostini as an appetizer. But it’s also great served warm or room temperature as a side dish. Or with a nice crusty bread as a vegetarian meal. And it can even be spread on a sandwich, stuffed into a pita…

Recipes for eggplant caponata are just as impressively varied. Fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes, no tomatoes… capers, no capers, pine nuts, no… well, you get the idea. Lots of recipes call for olives, but not all Continue reading “Multiple personalities, one delicious rustic dish: Eggplant Caponata” →

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” →

Sweet, spicy, surprising: Strawberry Gazpacho

Strawberries, cucumber, cayenne pepper, chives and hot sauce blend into a sweet, tangy, spicy take on classic gazpacho in this quick no-cook first course. Recipe below.

It’s always nice to start a dinner party with an impressive little surprise, especially if it’s simple and can be made ahead of time. Marion takes over the kitchen this week with a lively Strawberry Gazpacho that delivers on all counts.

As you know if you read last week’s post, beautiful fragrant strawberries are starting to appear in the stores, and we are thinking about them a lot. This recipe came together in our heads from a lot of places. The first chives appearing in the backyard; a wonderful, mysteriously flavored gazpacho we had a while back at La Boca, the tapas restaurant in Santa Fe; a dessert soup of strawberries my sister and I once had at Le Petit Lutécia in Paris; and memories of little kid Julys picking wild strawberries in northern Michigan. Of course as kids, we did much more eating than actually picking these tiny, intense strawberry bits. Continue reading “Sweet, spicy, surprising: Strawberry Gazpacho” →

Cornmeal Lemon Cake with Strawberries and Mint: Simply the taste of spring

A simple, not-too-sweet, lemony cake topped with strawberries and fresh mint makes a light, seasonal dessert. Recipe below.

I didn’t grow up in the South, but lots of my relatives did, and they had an influence on my mother’s kitchen. In real estate terms, you could call mine a childhood with Southern exposure.

In spite of that fact—or maybe because of it—I was never a big fan of cornbread. At family gatherings, this was cause for some mild concern, but the “oh-well-more-for-me” instinct swiftly and invariably soothed it. This cornbread/cornmeal indifference followed me into adulthood, despite occasional attempts on my part to overcome it.

What put it back on my radar screen recently and actually made it stick this time was a simple piece of cake at mado. I mention mado here a lot, I know. That’s because owners Rob and Allie give me a nickel every time I do (mado, mado, mado, mado). Continue reading “Cornmeal Lemon Cake with Strawberries and Mint: Simply the taste of spring” →

In season now: “Wild leeks” star in simple, silky Ramps with Linguine and Fried Egg

In season for just a few weeks each spring, mild, oniony/garlicky ramps need little more than olive oil, butter, Parmesan cheese, pasta and a fried egg to make a satisfying vegetarian dinner. If you can’t find ramps, you can substitute leeks. Recipe below.

The other day, Marion called excitedly from her office, saying she would be bringing home some ramps. I knew I would be turning the kitchen over to her for this week’s post.

Last week when my friend Karin and I were talking about stuff we’d recently eaten, she told me she’d just made spaghetti with ramps, and I was immediately excited. She’d found the ramps at the Chicago’s Downtown Farmstand market. Immediately I called the market and began pestering the cheerful, cordial souls there for fresh ramps.

A few days later, the market got an e-mail—someone was going out to hunt for ramps right then. By the end of the workday, they had arrived—fresh and beautiful. Where did these come from? I asked. The answer was hazy, deliberately so. The Farmstand market shrouds its source in mystery, to prevent the general public from knowing where to find these trendy onions. But, I was assured, the ramps had been foraged by an organization devoted to sustainable harvest practices. This was conveyed to me with such gentle insistence that the first thing I did when I got home was Google ramps and sustainability. Continue reading “In season now: “Wild leeks” star in simple, silky Ramps with Linguine and Fried Egg” →

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” →