Five recipes guaranteed to beat the cold

From quick weeknight dinners to slow cooking and from Morocco to New Mexico, here are five surefire recipes to warm your insides as cooler weather takes over.

A friend will help you move. A good friend will help you move a body.” By the standards of this graffiti found in the men’s room of Chicago’s Green Mill Jazz Club, Marion and I are not good friends. There were no bodies involved. But we did just spend five days helping someone with three cats move 600 miles. So I think we qualify as pretty good friends.

Those five days included zero time spent in a functioning kitchen. So this week, I’m digging into the Blue Kitchen archives for some hearty, stick-to-your-ribs meals perfect for taking the chill off cool autumn—and even downright cold winter—nights.

1. Moroccan Braised Beef

Pictured above, this dish combines golden raisins and an international mix of spices, with an emphasis on bold flavor, not heat. It delivers the warm, sweet/savory tastes and aromas of traditional Moroccan cuisine, a blend of Europe, the spice trade routes and the African continent. Moroccan Braised Beef uses slow oven braising to turn inexpensive, flavorful but tough chuck roast into a tender, delicious, fragrant meal.

2. Lentil Soup with Kale and Sausage

This hearty, healthy soup comes together quickly, perfect for a weeknight meal. Lentils pack a powerful nutritional punch—they’re loaded with fiber and protein. Kale brings plenty to the table too—vitamins A and C, folic acid, calcium and iron. It also contains cancer-fighting antioxidants. And good health aside, Lentil Soup with Kale and Sausage is just plain good. Continue reading “Five recipes guaranteed to beat the cold” →

Worth the wait: Slow-braised pork roast with five-spice rub and apple/onion compote

An inexpensive pork roast, seasoned with fresh garlic and Chinese five-spice powder and braised on a bed of apples, onions and apple cider until falling-apart tender, becomes an impressive, company-worthy dinner. Recipe below.

I love pigs. If you’re going to eat meat—and I am—you should honor the animal by preparing it well and making sure nothing goes to waste. That’s the core philosophy of nose to tail eating. Can you think of a creature more completely, creatively and deliciously suited this approach? Chops, ribs, roasts, ham, bacon, a whole world of sausages and charcuterie come from pigs.

Our current infatuation with all things charcuterie led us to a recent dinner at Rootstock Wine & Beer Bar in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood. And that led to this recipe. Rootstock’s liquid-centric wine & beer handle belies an equally thoughtful focus on food. Executive Chef Remy Ayesh supports “local farmers, hormone-free meats and seasonal produce as often as possible” to deliver a small but intensely varied menu of “bar plates, greens, crusts, cheese and charcuterie.” She also offers “more plates,” which include one of the best burgers I’ve tasted in a while and braised pork shoulder on a pickled plum and carrot purée. One bite of the tender, heavenly meat and I knew I would be attempting a pork roast soon.

Oven braising is a great way to turn tough but flavorful, inexpensive cuts of meat into soul-satisfying meals. Think of chunky stews and stick-to-your-ribs pot roasts Continue reading “Worth the wait: Slow-braised pork roast with five-spice rub and apple/onion compote” →

Healthy choices and the power of fun

We all know that healthy living includes not just eating right, but exercising too. And many of us try to cajole, bribe and browbeat ourselves [and sometimes, our loved ones] into “burning more calories than we consume.” This sensible balance is an easy concept to grasp, but not always so easy to live up to.

But what if we could make doing the right thing fun? Would we do it then? That’s the question The Fun Theory has set out to answer in a number of ways. In this charming video, you’ll see how they tested whether fun could motivate people to exercise a little more.

How do you motivate yourself to get more exercise? Do you have a secret for making it fun? Continue reading “Healthy choices and the power of fun” →

A mild-mannered chicken curry takes the chill out of a rainy autumn night

Ginger, garlic and cilantro team up with a number of spices in this simple, fragrant Chicken Curry. Recipe below.

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One of the perils of living in a city like Chicago, with its rich cultural diversity and well-deserved reputation for authentic food of all ethnic stripes, is that your taste buds get spoiled.

When recent chilly, drizzly weather put me in the mood for attempting a curry dish, my spoiled taste buds were envisioning the robust flavors and aromas of Devon Avenue. The practical side of me, however, was looking for something simple, something doable on a weeknight.

I looked around at numerous recipes. Some sounded deliciously authentic, but more complicated than I felt like tackling at the moment. Others sounded a little too basic, a little to aimed at the American palate. Finally, I settled on one that had “good bone structure”—a satisfying number and variety of fresh ingredients and spices— Continue reading “A mild-mannered chicken curry takes the chill out of a rainy autumn night” →

A quick taste of Toronto

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I don’t know if Toronto has an official tourism tagline, but maybe they should consider stealing IHOP’s: “Come hungry. Leave happy.”

On a recent visit, Marion and I did just that. I’ll get to the food in a moment, but first here’s how Canada’s largest city fed our urban souls. When we’re traveling, some of the things we look for in cities we visit are great museums [art and otherwise], active gallery and music scenes, cool shops, a diverse, lively street culture, walkability and, if possible, decent public transportation.

Toronto delivered on all counts. We parked our car at our downtown hotel and didn’t touch it again until we were headed back to Chicago days later. Much of what we wanted to do and see was walking distance, down streets that invited and encouraged walking. Continue reading “A quick taste of Toronto” →

Grilled cheese with an autumnal touch, lentil soup with cilantro and cumin

Two recipes create a satisfying vegetarian dinner this week: Quickly sautéed apple slices and arugula liven up a classic grilled cheese sandwich, and cumin and fresh cilantro do the same for lentil soup.

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The Russet apples Marion had picked up at the farmers market had sat in a bowl on the kitchen counter for days now, their rough skin inviting an occasional touch and the promise of delicious tartness encouraging ideas for their use. Continue reading “Grilled cheese with an autumnal touch, lentil soup with cilantro and cumin” →

“86 Hunger” with top Chicago chefs, winery turns garbage into great taste

Six Chicago chefs—including Rick Bayless—are teaming with with the Greater Chicago Food Depository to take hunger off the menu. You can join them. San Francisco’s tough composting laws are actually helping restaurants and winemakers.

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The restaurant business is full of colorful terms. You only have to watch Hell’s Kitchen to hear some of the more colorful ones. Well, or hang around in my kitchen when things start to go wrong. But to “86” something lets the entire kitchen and restaurant staff know that a menu item is no longer available.

86-hunger-sm The Greater Chicago Food Depository wants to 86 Hunger: Take Hunger Off the Menu. To do it, they’re teaming up with six Chicago restaurants for a series of dinners in intimate settings, now through November 18. The series of dinners is being launched in a year when 35 percent more Chicagoans are turning to the Food Depository and its network of pantries, soup kitchens and shelters. Funds raised will benefit the Food Depository, which serves 500,000 men, women and children in Cook County every year.

Chef Rick Bayless kicks things off with a VIP event at his Frontera Grill on Wednesday, October 21. Dinner includes a visit to his home garden and a live cooking demonstration in the restaurant’s test kitchen. Continue reading ““86 Hunger” with top Chicago chefs, winery turns garbage into great taste” →

Casserole of Roasted Mushrooms: Perfect with wild or not-so-wild mushrooms

An assortment of roasted mushrooms, onions, garlic, spinach, ricotta cheese, spinach and pasta make for a robust, deeply satisfying vegetarian casserole that’s perfect for chilly autumn. Recipe below.

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Recently we received a review copy of Edible Wild Mushrooms of Illinois and Surrounding States: A Field-to-Kitchen Guide by Joe McFarland and Gregory M. Mueller, published by University of Illinois Press. Since Marion is by far the bigger authority on mushrooms in our kitchen, I’ve turned the book—and the kitchen—over to her this week.

One of the things that surprised us when Terry started this blog three years back was the unexpected cool opportunities and, well, freebies like this, wafting down into our kitchen. This book is one of the most terrific of all these gifts. I. love. this. book. It is both attractive and useful. For those who live in the Midwest and who love mushrooms, but who don’t know much about finding them in the wild, this book is brilliant—direct, charming and, best of all, smart. Its hallmarks are clarity, safety and deliciousness. When you open it up, one of the first things you see is a yellow warning triangle with a skull and crossbones and the words DO NOT IGNORE THIS WARNING—MUSHROOM POISONING CAN BE FATAL.

Yes, it can. Deadly poisonous mushrooms are common throughout the Midwest and, indeed, throughout the world. Even in winter. As the authors note, “Finding wild mushrooms in Illinois is incredibly easy. They’re everywhere. But that’s the problem.”

And it is a problem the authors show you how to address. First, be safe. Continue reading “Casserole of Roasted Mushrooms: Perfect with wild or not-so-wild mushrooms” →

Blog Action Day 2009: Global warming and the meat of the matter

Nearly 10,000 bloggers around the world are taking part in Blog Action Day 2009, discussing this year’s topic, Global Warming, from the perspectives of their individual blogs. Here are my thoughts on meat’s giant carbon footprint.

Mae West once famously said, “Too much of a good thing can be wonderful!” Unfortunately, just about everywhere you look these days, the opposite is proving to be true. Take meat, for instance. America’s growing love affair with meat [and more recently, the developing world’s increasing infatuation with it] is having dire consequences for our health and the health of the planet.

How big is the world’s love of meat? In his 2008 article “Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler,” New York Times food writer Mark Bittman said, “The world’s total meat supply was 71 million tons in 1961. In 2007, it was estimated to be 284 million tons. Per capita consumption has more than doubled over that period. [In the developing world, it rose twice as fast, doubling in the last 20 years.] World meat consumption is expected to double again by 2050.”

What makes these numbers so scary? Consider this. According to Livestock’s Long Shadow, Continue reading “Blog Action Day 2009: Global warming and the meat of the matter” →

Lamb chops, couscous with raisins and the singular pleasures of cooking for one

Cooking for one can be a chore for some. For me, it’s a chance to indulge in old favorites and experiment a little: Pan-grilled Lamb Chops for the former, Moroccan-style Couscous with Raisins and Onions for the latter. Recipes below.

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Shortly after I’d moved to Chicago the first time, I bought a half ham. Trying to figure out what to do with it, I consulted Joy of Cooking, where I was greeted by these cheery words: “Someone defined eternity as a ham and two people.” Standing there alone in the galley kitchen of my tiny studio apartment, I did the math—my half ham and I were in for a long haul. Continue reading “Lamb chops, couscous with raisins and the singular pleasures of cooking for one” →