A simple, versatile sauce makes this dish: Seared Scallops with Orange Gastrique

Orange gastrique—a simple, classic French sauce of reduced sugar, vinegar and orange juice—adds an elegant touch to quickly pan-seared scallops. Recipe below.

You never know what will send us down some culinary rabbit hole. This week’s recipe was inspired by a restaurant review in a back issue of some magazine, now misplaced and forgotten. What caught my eye was the term gastrique. Unrepentant Francophile that I am, I had never heard it. Continue reading “A simple, versatile sauce makes this dish: Seared Scallops with Orange Gastrique” →

Comfort in the kitchen: Dijon Beef Stew with Brandy and Shallots

Beef, brandy, two kinds of mustard, generous aromatics, carrots and mushrooms braise into a robust, soothing stew. Recipe below.

Comfort food. Are there two more comforting words? They conjure up very different things for all of us, I’m sure, but for me, they often look/smell/taste like this meaty, stew-y dish. But comfort isn’t just in the food—it’s in the making of food, time spent in the kitchen. Continue reading “Comfort in the kitchen: Dijon Beef Stew with Brandy and Shallots” →

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” →

A favorite Chinese restaurant remembered: Dim Sum Eggplant Stuffed with Shrimp

Our take on a traditional dim sum favorite, eggplant stuffed with a shrimp/pork mixture, sautéed and steamed. Recipe below.

For quite a few years, one of our most beloved dim sum dishes was the eggplant stuffed with shrimp prepared at Hong Minh on Cermak in Chicago’s Chinatown. It was light and luscious and suave, and we were crazy about it. Continue reading “A favorite Chinese restaurant remembered: Dim Sum Eggplant Stuffed with Shrimp” →

Pleasantly peasanty: Chicken with Vinegar Shallot Sauce

Leave it to the French to tame the sharp bite of vinegar with lots of butter, shallots, garlic and tarragon in this classic Lyonnaise dish. Recipe below.

CHICKEN. IN VINEGAR SAUCE. After me somehow never hearing of this ever, suddenly it was everywhere. Within the span of the past two weeks, three very different recipes popped up on my radar from three very different sources. A little digging turned up more. And despite my ignorance of it, chicken in a vinegar sauce wasn’t some new chef-driven trend. It was rooted firmly in “my grandmother used to make this” and “based on a traditional Lyonnaise dish” territory. Continue reading “Pleasantly peasanty: Chicken with Vinegar Shallot Sauce” →

Changing up chicken: Tomatillo-braised Thighs

A make-ahead tomatillo sauce with cilantro, garlic, jalapeño peppers and lime juice livens up this weeknight-quick chicken dish. Recipe below.

We’re big fans of chicken, especially thighs. They’re flavorful, juicy and relatively inexpensive. But it’s easy to fall into comfortable cooking ruts with them. “Shall I do my chicken and wine again tonight?” “Should we just roast them?” Or now, with summer here, “How about I fire up the grill?” All good choices, to be sure, but sometimes you need a change. And that’s where this tomatillo sauce with black beans and corn comes in. Continue reading “Changing up chicken: Tomatillo-braised Thighs” →

Oven-baked, country-style Chinese Pork “Ribs”

A variety of Chinese and not-so-Chinese ingredients create a flavorful marinade for oven-baked pork ribs that aren’t ribs at all. Recipe below.

CALL IT CLEVER BUTCHERING, CALL IT GENIUS MARKETING, CALL IT BOTH. In the 1960s, Clifford G. Bowes took a section of pork that was hard to sell, cut it into meaty/fatty riblike slabs and dubbed it country-style ribs. Bowes, “one of the country’s top meat men and a meat consultant from Chicago,” according to a Chicago Tribune article from 1978, had hit a meat home run. Soon, butchers were using pork shoulder and the blade just behind the shoulder to keep up with the demand for country-style “ribs”—which are actually not ribs at all. Continue reading “Oven-baked, country-style Chinese Pork “Ribs”” →

Four Kimchi recipes, traditional and otherwise

Savory, crunchy and often spicy, kimchi—fermented vegetables (most often Napa cabbage)—is the Korean national dish. Here are four recipes for cooking with it.

Last week’s recipe for Dak Kalbi, Korean barbecued chicken, has had us thinking about kimchi all week. Sadly, we don’t have any in the fridge right now. But when we do, here are some ways we cook with it. Continue reading “Four Kimchi recipes, traditional and otherwise” →

Dak Kalbi: Korean for Barbecued Chicken

Chicken thighs are marinated with soy sauce, mirin, fresh ginger, garlic, kiwi and other flavorings, then pan roasted for this take on Dak Kalbi, Korean barbecued chicken. recipe below.

[su_dropcap style=”flat”]T[/su_dropcap]acos just always seem to lead to good things. This weekend, we had an uncharacteristically lazy Sunday, running a few errands and doing some shopping along Michigan Avenue. When we finished, I remarked that we were close to Del Seoul, the Korean taco joint in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. Well, three miles as the Camry flies, close enough. As always, we had a wonderful lunch there. And I found the inspiration for this week’s recipe. Continue reading “Dak Kalbi: Korean for Barbecued Chicken” →

A blizzard and Irish leftovers: Lamb Stew with Root Vegetables

For the first time since 1871, Chicago had no measurable snowfall in January or February. So less than a week before the nominal beginning of spring, of course, we got seven inches. This was the view from my office window yesterday. You know, Tuesday. The day I’m often scrambling to create the post—and often produce the recipe—you find here on Wednesday. I had a recipe of sorts in mind, but the fierce snow and an admitted lack of willpower on my part stood between me and some necessary ingredients. So instead, I’m serving up a hearty lamb stew posted here several years ago, also during a Chicago March snowstorm. Continue reading “A blizzard and Irish leftovers: Lamb Stew with Root Vegetables” →