Spicy, tangy Korean comfort: Kimchi Soup with Pork Belly and Tofu

The savory, pungent, spicy goodness of Kimchi Soup with Pork Belly and Tofu will fend off just about anything winter throws at you. Recipe below.

Compared to Boston and other points east, we’re not having a bad winter in Chicago. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t getting to us. Multiple days of mostly single digit temperatures and sub-zero windchills have gotten old. And then there were the unexpected snow squalls Sunday, wrecking our plans for the day and causing a 38-car accident on a downtown expressway. It was time for some serious comfort food. Continue reading “Spicy, tangy Korean comfort: Kimchi Soup with Pork Belly and Tofu” →

Cooking the basics: Homemade Marinara Sauce

Marinara sauce, a classic Italian red sauce with garlic, onions, herbs and not much more, is easy and weeknight quick to make. Recipe—and variations—below.

This post is about breaking old habits and overcoming fears. In our kitchen, both for the blog and for everyday cooking, we try to work with real ingredients as much as possible, not overly processed foods. (We do count certain canned and frozen goods as ingredients—beans, tomatoes and spinach, for instance.) But for some reason, I’ve resisted making my own marinara sauce. Continue reading “Cooking the basics: Homemade Marinara Sauce” →

Bold spices deliver big flavor (and a little heat) with Stir-fried Masala Fish and Okra

White-fleshed fish and okra are quickly stir-fried with garam masala, cumin seeds and other spices, then served over rice with coconut milk and cumin for a big-flavored, slightly spicy meal. Recipes below.

At the heart of Indian cuisine is a deft and exuberant use of spices. While some are used for heat, many simply supply huge, complex flavor. And at the heart of Indian spices is garam masala, a spice blend that sees almost daily use in Northern Indian kitchens—and in many South Asian kitchens as well. Typically, it is made fresh from family recipes for each day’s cooking. Though the mix varies regionally—and from kitchen to kitchen—it often includes some variation of peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, coriander, cumin seeds, nutmeg and cardamom. Continue reading “Bold spices deliver big flavor (and a little heat) with Stir-fried Masala Fish and Okra” →

Make this now: Kimchi Potato Salad

Kimchi—fermented vegetables (and Korea’s national dish)—combines with potatoes, scallions and bacon to become what just may be the best potato salad we’ve ever tasted. Recipe below.

CABBAGE AND POTATOES ARE OUR TWO FAVORITE FOOD GROUPS. Okay, so they’re not technically food groups, but they should be. Cabbage is versatile—think slaws, soups, stews, sideman for corned beef—and it’s one of the healthiest things you can eat. And potatoes… well, they’re potatoes. Continue reading “Make this now: Kimchi Potato Salad” →

Where there’s smoke, there’s delicious: Braised Pork Chops with Chipotle Black Beans

Canned black beans cooked with onion, red bell pepper, garlic and chipotle peppers in adobo sauce make a smoky, spicy, show-stealing side for pork chops, chicken and fish—or a vegetarian meal with tofu. Recipe and variations below.

There is something almost primeval about combining food and smoke. Cooking with fire and its attendant smoke links us to our earliest ancestors. Indeed to all our ancestors before the invention of gas and, later, electric stoves. Smoke is why we love hot dogs charred on sticks over campfires. And why, when grilling season rolls around, some of us refuse to cook indoors again until the first snowfall.

But there are simple ways to add the taste of smoke to foods without firing up the grill, some as close as the supermarket shelves. One of our favorites is canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Continue reading “Where there’s smoke, there’s delicious: Braised Pork Chops with Chipotle Black Beans” →

Guest chef: Chris Turner rocks Grilled Kalbi Korean Beef Short Ribs

Butcher and chef Chris Turner marinates thinly sliced beef short ribs in a mixture that includes garlic, onion, Asian pear, mirin, soy sauce and sesame oil to create authentic Kalbi Korean Barbecued Beef Short Ribs. Recipe below.

On a recent visit to our favorite butcher shop, The Butcher & Larder, we saw butcher Jimmy Shay working over thin slices of beef short ribs with the back edge of a cleaver. When we asked what he was up to, he said he was tenderizing them so that fellow butcher Chris Turner could turn them into the “most amazing, authentic kalbi, Korean barbecued beef.” We immediately asked Chris if he would share the recipe—and story behind it—here. Happily, he said yes:
Continue reading “Guest chef: Chris Turner rocks Grilled Kalbi Korean Beef Short Ribs” →

Tasting a sense of place in French chèvre: Salad with Baked Goat Cheese

Disks of Crottin, a classic French goat cheese, are baked on buttery toasts, then placed atop a simple salad of mixed greens and Dijon mustard vinaigrette to produce a classic bistro dish. Recipe below.

Terroir, the idea that a “sense of place” flavors agricultural products, is most closely associated with wines. But increasingly, the term is being used with coffee, tea, chocolate, hops and, germane to this story, cheese.

We were recently asked to sample a number of French chèvres, cheeses made from goat’s milk, each produced in a different region. They beautifully illustrated for us just how deeply place is ingrained into French agriculture. And how complex the notion of terroir can be. Continue reading “Tasting a sense of place in French chèvre: Salad with Baked Goat Cheese” →

Navarin d’Agneau: a French lamb stew for spring

Lamb Navarin combines lamb, peas, carrots, new potatoes and turnips for a spring stew that is hearty, but lighter tasting than beef stew. Recipe below.

MANY RECIPES HERE ARE INSPIRED BY COOKBOOKS. THIS ONE WAS INSPIRED BY A NOVEL. The World at Night is set mainly in Paris, in the early 1940s, during the time of German occupation. To call it a tale of intrigue and romance is accurate enough, but falls far short of doing it justice. Continue reading “Navarin d’Agneau: a French lamb stew for spring” →

Chicken Piccata, buttery and lemon bright

Based on the classic Italian dish veal piccata. Chicken breast fillets, pounded thin and sautéed in butter and oil, are topped with a piquant sauce of butter, wine, lemons, capers and parsley. Recipe below.

It’s week three of Butterfest at Blue Kitchen. Last week, my Hake with Lentils and Sage Mustard Butter had five and a half tablespoons of butter. And while Marion’s Chevre Cheesecake with Hazelnut Crust two weeks ago only used two tablespoons, dairy was otherwise well represented, with cream cheese, goat cheese and sour cream.

Based on the classic Italian dish veal piccata, this chicken piccata recipe requires a rather modest half stick of butter, four tablespoons. And requires is the operative term here—the buttery richness plays beautifully against the tart brightness of the capers and lemons. Continue reading “Chicken Piccata, buttery and lemon bright” →

A French twist: Hake with Lentils and Sage Mustard Butter

In this take on the classic French recipe Saumon aux Lentilles, mild white-fleshed fish and sage stand in for salmon and tarragon. Recipe below.

Julia Child famously said, “If you’re afraid of butter, use cream.” We’re not afraid of butter. We use an impressive amount, especially given how little we bake. But when I started researching the classic French dish of salmon with lentils and mustard-herb butter, I was still taken aback by how much butter was called for.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t just the volume of butter—eight tablespoons, a stick of butter, divided among the various components. It’s that this dish was fish. And lentils. These are not foods one generally associates with such exuberant use of butter. Continue reading “A French twist: Hake with Lentils and Sage Mustard Butter” →