Scallops, fresh mushrooms and wine: Romantic decadence for two

Sea scallops with Shiitake and Oyster Mushrooms is a slightly indulgent, slightly exotic dish that’s perfect for Valentine’s Day—or any special dinner. Recipe below.

As Saveur magazine so accurately puts it in their provocatively titled newsletter Saveur’s Entirely Aphrodisiac Menu, “Who doesn’t love sensual and tasty indulgences like caviar, chocolate, foie gras and truffles?”

And to that list I’d add slightly exotic [or at least slightly extravagant], slightly grown up ingredients like sweet-tasting sea scallops and fleshy, earthy, decidedly non-button mushrooms. Throw in some butter, a little dry white wine and fresh ginger and suddenly, it’s time for candlelight and knowing smiles. Continue reading “Scallops, fresh mushrooms and wine: Romantic decadence for two” →

Valentine’s Day Round-up: A book, a song and a contest for the love of food

Okay, let me just admit it right here. I’m a recovering packrat and an inveterate procrastinator. Neither has anything to do with Valentine’s Day—they’re not even particularly lovable personality traits in a mate. But as much as they occasionally cause me grief, they sometimes work out nicely. Like with this post, a nice little mix of items all loosely strung together around the notion of love—and all things gathered from here and there and just saved because, hey, you never know.

I’ll start with a book. Way back in August, Penguin Books offered to send me a copy of Kathleen Flinn’s charming The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears in Paris at the World’s Most Famous Cooking School. It was just coming out in paperback at the time, and I should have read it right away. I should have reported on it here, and copies of the book should have made their way into numerous Christmas stockings. Instead, it languished in the well-intentioned pile of stuff I mean to read. Well, now I’m telling you about it as a possible last-minute Valentine’s Day gift—or just a fun foodie read for yourself.

Flinn’s book has an unexpectedly [and unintentionally] timely element to it. The events that inspired it came about when she was downsized out of a software job in London. Although it was first published in January 2007, well before the current global economic crisis, her experience of staring down the “what next” question is all too familiar to far too many people right now. What she decides is next for her is attending the legendary Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Continue reading “Valentine’s Day Round-up: A book, a song and a contest for the love of food” →

Beyond green beans: Leeks with a lemon vinaigrette make an easy, impressive side

Break out of the green-beans-as-default-side-dish rut with quickly prepared Leeks with Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette. Recipe below.

APPARENTLY, IT’S WEEK TWO OF THE TOUR DE FRANCE HERE AT BLUE KITCHEN. Last week was a very creamy, very French carrot soup. This week, it’s a French side dish whose impressive looks belie its ease of preparation. The unlikely star? Leeks. Ubiquitous in French cuisine, these mild onions usually play a bit part, often ending up puréed beyond recognition. Here, they’re cooked and served practically whole, giving you a sense that you’re eating something only very recently brought from the farm. Continue reading “Beyond green beans: Leeks with a lemon vinaigrette make an easy, impressive side” →

The truth about trans fats: Zero isn’t always zero

Turns out zero trans fats on the package Nutrition Facts panel doesn’t necessarily mean there are no trans fats inside. Here’s how to tell whether there are trans fats in your food or not and why it matters.

For many of us, trans fats appeared on our radar screens just about the time the food industry started getting its collective panties in a bunch about the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s ruling [in July 2003] that by January 1, 2006, all Nutrition Facts panels on food packaging had to include trans fats.

Pretty soon, though, smart food producers whose products were trans fat-free started using that fact as a marketing tool, putting it right on the front of their packaging. And as consumers became more aware of the health hazards of these evil fats, many companies decided maybe it was time to give up this cheap, industrially produced substance for healthier choices.

So now, post-2006, avoiding trans fats is as easy as looking for that reassuring 0g [zero grams] next to Trans Fats on the Nutrition Facts panel, right? Not so fast. I’m not sure whose quid got pro quoed, but according to the FDA, anything less than .5 grams of trans fat per serving can be listed as zero grams on the label.

How much is .5 grams, that the government thinks it’s essentially nothing? According to the Mayo Clinic, “Though that’s a small amount of trans fat, if you eat multiple servings of foods with less than 0.5 grams of trans fat, you could exceed recommended limits.”

And what might those recommended levels be? As you can see with this illustration, food nutrition labels in the U.S. don’t list a Percent Daily Value for trans fat; it’s unknown what an appropriate level would be, other than it should be low. But the Mayo Clinic reports that “the American Heart Association recommends that no more than 1 percent of your total daily calories be trans fat. If you consume 2,000 calories a day, that works out to 2 grams of trans fat or less.” Continue reading “The truth about trans fats: Zero isn’t always zero” →

Potage Crécy: French for “It’s cold outside—you need some creamy carrot soup”

A handful of basic ingredients—carrots, potatoes, leeks, stock, fresh thyme and cream—proves once again that the French are masters of sublime simplicity, in this colorful, subtle soup. Recipe below.

THE THING THAT KEEPS ME COMING BACK TO FRENCH FOOD IS ITS PERFECT SIMPLICITY. And yes, classic French cuisine is littered with plenty of complex creations, all wonderful, to be sure. But what really wows me is how they can take a half dozen or so ordinary ingredients and in a few simple steps make something perfect.

The French get food. They celebrate it. Much as their wines are named for the regions where the grapes are grown, many French dishes are named for their places of origin. According to Williams-Sonoma Collection: French, a gem of a cookbook, Crécy-en-Ponthieu in northern France is known for producing some of the country’s best carrots. Hence, the name for this creamy soup. (According to other sources, the town is even better known for a crucial battle in the Hundred Years’ War in 1346, a battle that did not end well for the French.) If I have to choose between dusty history and this subtle, satisfying potage, give me the soup, please.

A soup by any other name. Depending on who’s doing the counting, the French have either three or four distinct categories of soups. At one end of the scale is consommé, a clear broth that may or may not contain garnishes. At the opposite end is soupe, a “thick, hearty mélange with chunks of food,” according to epicurious.com. Potage falls somewhere in the middle, a thick, creamy soup that is often puréed. The Williams-Sonoma cookbook here calls out another category, bisque, a smooth, velvety soup most often made with lobster or shellfish and cream. Continue reading “Potage Crécy: French for “It’s cold outside—you need some creamy carrot soup”” →

Peanut products recalled, but wine is still good for you—and a “delish” online food resource

Oh, boy. More product recalls. This time it’s peanut products tainted with salmonella, and as of January 24, seven deaths and nearly 500 illnesses have been attributed to the current salmonella outbreak. Everything from peanut butter crackers to cookies, ice creams, frozen cookie dough, frozen chicken satay and even dog treats has been affected. And the list of suspect products just keeps growing.

I’ve included a link below to an updated list of affected products. But to help you continue getting your peanut butter fix during the recall, here’s a quick partial list of products that haven’t been affected and are safe to eat: Continue reading “Peanut products recalled, but wine is still good for you—and a “delish” online food resource” →

Eating with our noses: Fragrant caramelized onions star in a rustic pasta dish

Caramelized onions, grape tomatoes, fresh Parmesan cheese and olive oil are the only ingredients besides pasta in a hearty vegetarian meal. Recipe below.

A quick note: It appears to be all onion week at Blue Kitchen. Right below this post, you’ll find a recipe for a Sherry Dijon Vinaigrette that makes the most of the onion’s more refined cousin, the shallot.

Much has been said, including here, about how we “eat with our eyes.” That’s why we work so hard on presentation, isn’t it, arranging everything just so on the plate, maybe even giving plate rims a quick little wipe with a cloth before putting them on the table if we’re in total restaurant mode at home?

Well, we also eat with our noses. I thought about this recently as I smelled one of the coolest food smells I know. I was walking down the street and got a whiff of lots of onions cooking. It was wafting from some restaurant on a busy street, early enough in the morning that they were being cooked as part of some dish that would be served later in the day.

I love that smell. Partly, I’m sure, it’s the promise of something delicious to come. But more than that, it’s a vicarious olfactory glimpse into the world of professional cooking. It’s the same reason I like eating at the counter at Heaven on Seven here in Chicago, watching the line cooks in the open kitchen tending multiple pans and efficiently plating orders, all while seemingly effortlessly avoiding collisions with one another and waitstaff. It’s the same reason we watch the pros cook on TV—for that peek behind the curtain.

That morning, the sharp/sweet smell got me thinking about giving onions a starring role in some dish. Pasta seemed like a natural choice. Casting about for something else to add to the mix, I remembered seeing a gorgeous picture somewhere of sautéed grape or cherry tomatoes tossed with pasta. Throw in some olive oil and fresh Parmesan and I knew my ingredient list was done. Continue reading “Eating with our noses: Fragrant caramelized onions star in a rustic pasta dish” →

Quick and easy Sherry Dijon Vinaigrette: A reason to quit hitting the bottle

In minutes, Spanish sherry vinegar, Dijon mustard, shallots and olive oil become a lively vinaigrette that blows right past bottled salad dressings. Recipe below.

Mark Bittman loves his lists. In a recent article, “Fresh Start for a New Year? Let’s Begin in the Kitchen”, The New York Times’ Minimalist lists 15 OUTS and INS for the pantry—things to get rid of and what to replace them with.

I love Bittman’s lists too. Oh, I don’t always agree with everything on his lists, including this one [canned beans are OUT?—I don’t think so, and neither does über chef David Burke]. Invariably, though, something on each list makes me rethink how I do things in the kitchen, inspires me to try a new technique or explore a new ingredient.

And I’ll admit, one reason I love his lists is that invariably, at least one item on them makes me feel a little smug, because I’m already on the same page with him. This, for instance: “OUT Bottled salad dressing and marinades. The biggest rip-offs imaginable.” We haven’t bought bottled salad dressing in years. Making them, especially a simple vinaigrette, is just too darned easy to pay bottled dressing prices and get, well, bottled dressing flavor.

As an added bonus, you can generally pronounce all the ingredients in homemade dressing. Years ago, a potter friend of mine picked up the bottle of store-bought salad dressing I had just used to prepare a salad and started reading the ingredients. When he came to one multi-syllabic item in the list, he said he added that same ingredient to his glazes to help them stick to the unfired clay. Continue reading “Quick and easy Sherry Dijon Vinaigrette: A reason to quit hitting the bottle” →

Pure and simple: Roast chicken

Simple is often best when it comes to roasting a chicken. Here, we start with a good bird, use minimal seasonings and let heat do the rest. Recipe below.

These days, even the most hardcore carnivores [and yeah, that includes me] are thinking more about the meat they consume. Where it comes from, how it’s raised, how it’s processed—even how it’s packaged. So when I was invited to sample some Just BARE™ Chicken—all natural, minimally processed chicken raised cage-free by independent, local family farmers in the upper Midwest—I jumped at the chance.

Some home cooks are fortunate enough to have access to local farmers markets or CSAs [Community Supported Agriculture groups] that can provide them with a regular source for meat and poultry raised by small scale independent farmers. Many, however, aren’t. The challenge has been to find successful business models for translating better farming practices [better for consumers, the environment and the animals themselves] to larger scales to feed a larger market affordably and profitably.

Solutions are being found. Increasingly, terms like organic and free range are showing up in places like Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and even more mainstream supermarkets. Often these products carry a higher price tag, but more and more consumers are showing a willingness to pay it. And that has more and more producers looking for ways to serve this growing market. Continue reading “Pure and simple: Roast chicken” →

Chicago’s Vella Cafe: It’s not just for breakfast [and lunch] anymore

The popular Bucktown breakfast/lunch/brunch spot now serves up pizza three nights a week.

Looking at Vella Cafe’s airy, inviting space, its high ceilings festooned with a dozen or more vintage school light fixtures, it’s hard to imagine the place began as a panini stand under a 10-foot by 10-foot tent at Chicago’s Green City Market a couple of years ago.

Owners Sara Voden and Melissa Yen soon expanded their repertoire by hosting a crepe brunch at Kitchen Chicago in the summer. Later, they expanded again, trading their tent for a space with four walls and central air, tucked up against the Blue Line el tracks at the Western Avenue station, offering breakfast and lunch weekdays and brunch all day Saturdays and Sundays. Vella Cafe’s menu runs the gamut, from crepes and quiche on the weekend to panini, egg dishes, pancakes, a delicious sweet potato hash, house baked pastries and coffee. There are always vegetarian offerings too. On their website, they say their goal is “to become a part of the community by providing friendly service, a comfortable atmosphere and good, affordable food.” I think they’ve already achieved that.

Now they’ve expanded again, offering dinner three nights a week [for now]. From 5pm to 9pm Wednesdays through Fridays, Vella serves up a mostly pizza menu, along with salads, mac n’ cheese and desserts. Pizzas are the definite stars, 11-inch hand tossed pies with generous toppings and big flavor. Vella claims these pies serve one or two—we found that they easily serve two, especially if you split a salad as well. But go ahead and order one per person—they’re a mere 10 or 11 bucks each, and there are worse things than leftover pizza the next day. Vella Cafe is BYOB, which makes it an even bigger bargain.

Since discovering this little gem under the el tracks, we’ve eaten there countless times for the weekend brunch [which is not your typical overblown, overpriced affair, a plus in our book]. The food is unfailingly delicious and the entire staff is wonderfully welcoming. Now that we’ve tried the pizza, we know we’ll be back for that. You should get there too, before pizza nights are as bustling as their weekend brunches. You’ll find their complete menu [minus the daily specials] on their website.

Vella Cafe
1912 N. Western Ave.
773/489-7777
Monday – Tuesday, 7am – 3pm
Wednesday – Friday, 7am – 9pm
Saturday – Sunday, 9am – 3pm
Delivery available