Fire is optional, flavor isn’t, with Giardiniera Aioli and Cumin Coriander Pork Chops

A cumin/coriander spice rub adds big flavor without heat to pan-seared pork chops; this lively, vinegary, fiery (or not) giardiniera aioli is great with pork, fish, chicken, tofu… Recipes below.

We went to an underground dinner last week hosted by Tuesday Night DInner. The TND crew creates pop-up dining events throughout the year, each in a different location and each with a different theme. This one was held at No Sandbox Studios, just west of Chicago’s Loop, and the theme was ”Off the Boat, Into the Kitchen,” an interpretation of immigrant fare reimagined by the TND chefs.

The four courses were delicious and inventive, but the thing that caught my eye—or more accurately, my taste buds—was an accompaniment for one of the courses, a giardiniera aioli. Usually, aioli is a sauce made of fresh mayonnaise and garlic, but chef Jeremy Leven substituted spicy giardiniera for the garlic. The result was amazing. Continue reading “Fire is optional, flavor isn’t, with Giardiniera Aioli and Cumin Coriander Pork Chops” →

Mussels with Fennel and Star Anise: wow power that’s weeknight quick

Mussels steamed in a broth of wine, butter, fennel, shallots, garlic, tomatoes and star anise are an easy, delicious, sustainable dinner. Recipe below.

A funny thing happened on the way to this recipe, and it illustrates the twists and turns that often occur in our kitchen. The idea to do something with mussels started with a comment on my Black Bean Soup with Ham Hocks post, oddly enough. In passing, reader Dani H. mentioned that she’d finally gotten around to cooking the Moules Marinières recipe I’d posted a couple of years ago. The next day, I came across a recipe for mussels using fresh ginger and lemongrass. Okay, the delicious, easy-to-cook bivalves were back on my radar screen.

Lemongrass, ginger and fresh mussels were acquired. I was busily mapping out how I would make the recipe my own. Then I took a quick look at past Blue Kitchen mussels recipes (and was shocked to find four of them) and realized I had cooked mussels with lemongrass and ginger already. Granted, it was a curried version, but it still seemed like time for a new direction. Continue reading “Mussels with Fennel and Star Anise: wow power that’s weeknight quick” →

What’s not to like? Mustard-Maple Glazed Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

Brussels sprouts are sautéed with garlic, then tossed with walnuts, bacon and a mustard-maple glaze and topped with Pecorino Romano. Recipe below.

To all of you who think you hate Brussels sprouts, you’re wrong. Well, most of you are anyway. And more than ever, chefs these days are out to prove it. In fact, Brussels sprouts have starred as delicious small plates in two recent meals we’ve had.

Quick cooking is part of what makes them so good. Pan frying until they’re just caramelized or even deep frying, instead of boiling them into the mushy, sulfur-smelling mess you learned to hate. So is pairing them with ingredients that make the most of Brussels sprouts’ pleasantly bitter natural flavor. Continue reading “What’s not to like? Mustard-Maple Glazed Brussels Sprouts with Bacon” →

Small Bites: an underground dinner and a downloadable documentary on organic food

Tuesday Night Dinner celebrates immigration and Chicago’s collective food history with “Off the Boat, Into the Kitchen.” And the documentary In Organic We Trust is now available on iTunes and On Demand.

Underground dining experiences combine lots of our favorite things. Eating great food, meeting new people and doing it all in nontraditional spaces. Tuesday Night Dinner has been creating just such creative dinners for Chicagoans since 2009. TND  is an underground dining community committed to creating an environment where guests feel a closer connection to their food and its sources. During the winter, TND hosts a communal dinner the last Tuesday of each month. This month’s dinner,  “Off the Boat, Into the Kitchen,” is an interpretation of Old World favorites tweaked through the lens of the Windy City. Continue reading “Small Bites: an underground dinner and a downloadable documentary on organic food” →

Southwestern antifreeze: lively, hearty Black Bean Soup with Ham Hocks

Lots of big flavors—cumin, garlic, celery, red bell pepper, tomatoes, jalapeño pepper and smoked ham hock—blend into a satisfying soup with a Southwestern kick. Go to recipe.

This is being a strange winter. Last Friday, for instance, the high flirted with 60ºF. In Chicago. Saturday, it dropped all day to the 20s. By Sunday night, it was 15. And on top of everything else, it isn’t snowing. As Marion points out in a post about a 6-inch tall fop on her blog, 9591 Iris, there has been no measurable snow in Chicago for more than 300 days.

But strange or not, it’s still winter, and that had me thinking soup. This soup started with a remembered ham hock not getting any younger in the freezer. My first thought was black-eyed peas, but there was also a bag of dried black beans in the pantry with similar faded youth issues. So black bean soup it was. Continue reading “Southwestern antifreeze: lively, hearty Black Bean Soup with Ham Hocks” →

Six sleek new kitchen tools from Savora

Looking to add some quick cool to your kitchen? Okay, so maybe you’re not ready to pop for recycled glass countertops or subway tile backsplashes. But the new Savora line of reimagined kitchen tools can deliver some serious splashes of color and sleek design.

First sold exclusively in the UK, the Savora kitchen tools were introduced in the United States just last month by Lifetime Brands. Their design team strove to combine optimal functionality and the fluid contours and bold colors found in fashion, home furnishings and high-end automobiles. Continue reading “Six sleek new kitchen tools from Savora” →

The winter of our meaty content: Korean Oven-braised Short Ribs

Korean-style beef short ribs become tender and flavorful when oven braised with soy sauce, ginger, garlic, fresh pear, carrots, scallions and daikon. Recipe below.

One of the best things about exploring other countries’ cuisines is shopping. Saturday found us at H Mart in suburban Chicago, conveniently at lunchtime. We headed straight to the food court, where we ordered generous, steaming bowls of pork and kimchi dumpling soup. H Mart is an Asian-inspired supermarket chain that started in Queens, New York.

The name is short for “Han Ah Reum,” Korean for “One Arm Full of Groceries.” You’re lucky if you can get out of this sprawling treasure trove of all things Asian carrying just one armful of groceries. The vast produce section has beautiful examples of all the usual suspects as well as things hard to find elsewhere—lotus root, enoki mushrooms, turmeric (not the powder, but the actual gnarly little rhizomes), tiny, speckled fresh quail eggs… The specific ingredient I’d gone in search of was Korean-style beef short ribs. We left, of course, with our arms more than full. Continue reading “The winter of our meaty content: Korean Oven-braised Short Ribs” →

Vegetarian Indian dish packs heat, authentic flavor: Tofu Curry

Sautéed tofu and a curry sauce made with onion, ginger, garlic, chiles, tomato and plenty of spices (but no curry powder) create a spicy, authentically Indian vegetarian main course or side dish. Recipe below.

We’re not big on new year’s resolutions at Blue Kitchen. There’s something so rigid and formal about ‘resolving’ to do something: “Be it hereby resolved that…” But there are things that we talk about doing, directions we talk about taking. The first post of the new year seems like a good place to explore a couple of them.

One is something we’ve actually been doing for a while—eating less meat. The other is getting into cooking more Indian food at home. This simple, spicy, big-flavored Tofu Curry let me do both. Continue reading “Vegetarian Indian dish packs heat, authentic flavor: Tofu Curry” →

The kitchen is closed for the holidays

This was supposed to be one of those posts that reflects on the year gone by and perhaps looks optimistically ahead to what the new year may hold. If I had written it before our family holiday dinner (with two servings of dessert and at least two glasses of wine), it might have been just that.

Instead, so far it’s been me sitting staring at the blinking cursor on the screen for minutes on end and thinking, “Now what?” Still, I wouldn’t trade even a brilliantly written post for the lazy, lovely day and evening I’ve spent with my amazing family. I hope your holidays were wonderful. We’ll be back next week with a new recipe.

Coq au Riesling: the other famous French chicken

An Alsatian take on classic coq au vin, Coq au Riesling combines chicken, lardons, shallots, mushrooms and dry Riesling wine in a braise that’s even better the next day. Recipe below.

WE SOMETIMES THINK OF NATIONAL CUISINES IN MONOLITHIC TERMS. “How about Chinese tonight?” “Nah, I’m in the mood for Italian.” But countries large and small are made up of regions, each with their own distinct cuisines. So you get classic Northern Italian dishes and Southern Italian dishes. North Indian and South Indian. And Chicago restaurateur Tony Hu has built a career of highlighting regional Chinese cuisines, with individual restaurants serving the foods of Szechaun, Hunan, Beijing, Shanghai, Yunnan… Continue reading “Coq au Riesling: the other famous French chicken” →