Yunnanese Ribs (Spring World)


gorgeous stevez photo

Not sure why these haven't yet captured the 'crack' enthusiasm of other dishes down the street, but in my ideal world Yunnanese ribs would replace popcorn at movie theaters, peanuts on airplanes and cereal for breakfast.

Sfogliatelle at Pasticceria Natalina in Andersonville -- such a sophisticated bakery!!!

Flakey, crisp layers of pure butter pastry stuffed with baked ricotta that is scented with candied orange peel and a touch of cinnamon -- http://www.p-natalina.com

smut crepes made from one of late summer's best purchases, served with roasted garlic cream sauce, and garnished with roasted corn kernals also frozen last summer.

Feeling under the weather, and it being a very snowy afternoon, the best thing I've eaten lately was very easily a comforting bowl of Smak-Tak's chicken noodle soup.

Pictured here (Photo by GWiv):

Feeling under the weather, and it being a very snowy afternoon, the best thing I've eaten lately was very easily a comforting bowl of Smak-Tak's chicken noodle soup.

Similar situation here, though I made my own soup. When I realized that the snow wasn't going to stop (and that Fox Sports Pacific was running back-to-back-to-back PAC-10 basketball games, the first of which featured my alma mater!), I decided to make a small batch of chicken stock and some homemade matzoh balls.

It turned into a mighty fine Mish-Mosh Soup, which included both jasmine rice and fine noodles in addition to the matzoh balls, which were relatively petite in size and flavored with thyme. No kreplach from Kaufman's on hand, but that's fine - the well-seasoned matzoh balls more than made up for their absence.

The stock was made from a leftover roasted bird, a leftover grilled breast, and the frozen neck & giblets of the roaster, and was intensely chicken-y, as I used a lot more meat than I customarily do. Inspired by this morning's viewing of Anne Burrell's show on the Food Network, I salted the bejesus out of the cooking water for every component, not to mention the uncooked matzoh ball mixture, and the stock, since I knew what it was being used for tonight. She's right - salting each component of a recipe more than you think you should results in much deliciousness. Burrell's show, 'Secrets of a Restaurant Chef,' has become Saturday morning appointment viewing for me - while her goofy mannerisms tickle me no end, she is one hell of a cook efficient and knowledgable, and just full of very useful tips. No veg or chicken in the finished soup, though I used plenty of both in the stock - just a festival of starchy, chicken-y, herbal goodness.

ASU won big over the U of Oregon, BTW. Good day all around!

On a cold snowy Saturday morning, me with a touch of a headache and growling stomach, I persuaded Mr. X to help dig out the car for the curative powers of Patty's old potatoes, ham and eggs over-easy. I'd been thinking about those potatoes for weeks and yesterday's plate of food really was one of the best things I've eaten lately. Crunchy bits of potato delight. Yum.

I wish I had a picture, but I went to Francesca's Forno in Wicker Park recently. It was my first time trying a Francesca's that wasn't Francesca's Intimo. I wasn't that impressed in comparison BUT they did have these amaaaazing wild mushrooms in truffle oil side dish.

They had a pasta dish with the mushroom mixture too but I decided I wanted a more tomato based sauce so went with something else and ordered these mushrooms as a side. They were so delicious, i couldn't get enough of them. I wished I ordered the main pasta dish with them!

They roast mushrooms then let them marinate in a white truffle oil and balsamic vinegar mixture. So good!

First Course at Aigre Doux tonight

Honey Crisp Salad- Yep, my favorite apple (I just love fruit in green salads, probably why blended salads/green smoothies are adored) plus arugula, shavings of parmesan and a horseradish dressing, and I do not care for horseradish.

This was delicious, as was the bread as usual.

Chef Rob Levitt of Mado could not believe we, of the 2013 cookbooks, did not yet have the A 16 Food + Wine book. I said they have a different inventory in Kentucky; that and the Borders in Oak Park has what I'd call pre-bankruptcy levels of books. It took a trip to a North suburban Barnes and Noble to finally find the book he's been tauting. It worked out very well, round one.

Roasted butternut squash with pancetta and chiles: first of all, an ideal locavore dish as we have plenty of stored squash and pumpkins; second, an ideal match of flavors, sweet, salty and heat--we used a few Thai-ish, indoor peppers grown by Illinois's AquaRanch, much hotter than the Calabrian peppers called for in the recipe, but what the hey. I highly recommend the A 16 book, but this ideal recipe, I bet you all can figure out on your own.

Vital Information wrote:Chef Rob Levitt of Mado could not believe we, of the 2013 cookbooks, did not yet have the A 16 Food + Wine book. I said they have a different inventory in Kentucky; that and the Borders in Oak Park has what I'd call pre-bankruptcy levels of books. It took a trip to a North suburban Barnes and Noble to finally find the book he's been tauting. It worked out very well, round one.

Roasted butternut squash with pancetta and chiles: first of all, an ideal locavore dish as we have plenty of stored squash and pumpkins; second, an ideal match of flavors, sweet, salty and heat--we used a few Thai-ish, indoor peppers grown by Illinois's AquaRanch, much hotter than the Calabrian peppers called for in the recipe, but what the hey. I highly recommend the A 16 book, but this ideal recipe, I bet you all can figure out on your own.

Excellent! Where can I get the locally produced Pancetta? Do they also have Guanciale?

Thanks

I had such incredibly low expectations for the food at pretentious-seeming Pops for Champagne, but boy was I wrong. This evening I ate but one thing, which the menu called "Pork Belly / BBQuphoria Sauce / Rutabaga Purée / Crispy Endive/ Cranberry and Apple Cider Puddings." It was a few small bites of food that I will not soon forget. I've had a lot of pork lately - especially belly - and no preparation has been better than this. The meat was so rich and flavorful, and the playful, colorful adornments on the plate were not merely for show. I wish I had brought a camera, because the plating was really stunning. A thin (maybe 2 oz) pork belly piece glazed with an amazing, vinegary bbq sauce sat atop smooth, creamy white rutabaga puree. Endive coated in what I'd guess was panko were fried in thin, crispy strips and placed atop the pork. Surrounding that centered piece were a few large "dots" - some red, some tan - of "pudding". The pudding was actually intensely flavored, reduced fruit juice that had been gelatinized with agar agar into a beautiful, almost-custard-like texture. There was a lot going on in this dish, including a bit of molecular gastronomy. Multiple components + chemistry is usually a formula that makes me wish I just stayed home and made a plate of pasta. In this case, the sum transcended the parts.

Andrew Brochu is the chef at Pops. Turns out he's had an interesting career, including a recent stint at Alinea. Achatz's style seems to have rubbed off, especially in the plating. From a brief conversation I had with chef Brochu tonight, I understand that his style of cooking is about robust flavors and lots of acid in every dish. Perhaps the pork belly is a one trick pony; if not, watch out for Andrew Brochu as a rising star in Chicago's culinary scene.

Excellent! Where can I get the locally produced Pancetta? Do they also have Guanciale?

Not sure what the locavore rules are but Panozzo's at 13th and Michigan carries LaQuercia pancetta and guanciale which comes from somewhere in Iowa.

edk wrote:

Excellent! Where can I get the locally produced Pancetta? Do they also have Guanciale?

Not sure what the locavore rules are but Panozzo's at 13th and Michigan carries LaQuercia pancetta and guanciale which comes from somewhere in Iowa.

My local boundary is the Big 10 Conference. Iowa's in.

La Quercia products available at Marion St. Cheese in Oak Park.

Vital Information wrote:My local boundary is the Big 10 Conference. Iowa's in.

La Quercia products available at Marion St. Cheese in Oak Park.

I can only hope this is pre-Big 11 bastard version and you thus shun things Pennsylvanian.

Matt wrote:

Vital Information wrote:My local boundary is the Big 10 Conference. Iowa's in.

La Quercia products available at Marion St. Cheese in Oak Park.

I can only hope this is pre-Big 11 bastard version and you thus shun things Pennsylvanian.

Of course!

Nice meal at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill in the Bahamas, but the uncontested winner would be the soursop sorbet. I am already contemplating going back and just asking for a plate of the sorbet.

I cannot believe I have 2 back to back posts here with more than 24 hours having gone by. Oh well, the charred corn ravioli at Cafe Martinique, Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas was delicious. I used the very nice bread to get all the basil fondue included.

I never understood the appeal of Waygu beef until I had the burger at West Town Tavern the other night. Served on a substantial focaccia roll with all the trimmings, it was the juiciest, beefiest, most perfectly cooked burger I have enjoyed in a long time. I paired it with a Belgian Duvel beer, whose bright notes brought out the natural sweetness of the meat.

Not as impressive were the sweet potato fries. Even though they're sliced paper-thin, many of them were chewy, not crisp.

West Town Tavern
1329 West Chicago Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622
312-666-6175

Paul SL wrote:Not as impressive were the sweet potato fries. Even though they're sliced paper-thin, many of them were chewy, not crisp.

Never fear, Paul. Crimes against sweet potato fries will carry the law's full fury when my new world order emerges.

Is it really possible to crisp up a sweet potato? Only relatively, I think.

Mike G wrote:Is it really possible to crisp up a sweet potato? Only relatively, I think.

It can be done, but they're extremely finicky. I would've preferred either shoestrings or home fries.

Yes, sweet potatoes fries can be crispy.

I just watched Ming Tsai's PBS show yesterday featuring a recipe for sweet potato fries and sesame chile oil aioli. His frying process adds an extra step to the typical twice-fried recipe. After the first fry, he coats the julienned sweet potatoes in a corn starch slurry and fries again in 350 degree oil for a few minutes. He cools and then actually freezes the fries on a sheet tray and later bags them. The frozen fries are then dropped straight into a 350 (or maybe 375) higher fry-temperature oil for the final crisping. He says they had been working on this recipe for a long time at Blue Ginger to until they settled on this method. They now keep the fries frozen, bagged and tagged according to this method. They appeared to come out quite crispy.

I have also had some luck with some available frozen julienned fries. Alexia Organic Sweet Potatoes Julienne fries are currently in the freezer. Here's a review with a 'finished' picture (I usually bake mine a bit more until they are further darkened and crisped). These are pretty good and can certainly scratch the sweet itch around the house. fRedhots and fries also has sweet potato frites after 3 PM on weekdays and on Sundays, with a choice of aiolis. I don't remember how crispy they got, but they were good.

Anyway, to add something more germane to topic, I had a sfogliatella today from Maria's/Il Mulino in Highwood that finally helped me glimpse why everyone loves this pastry so much. It had a crunchy, and not too delicate, outer layer (I believe shaved almonds were involved) and a moist crumb in the center with a hint of citrus and little bits (maybe orange peel). The whole thing was a melange of textures and subtle sweetness, a real treat.

I still can't pronounce it, but with Maria's version, I might just be starting to get it.

Paul SL wrote:

Mike G wrote:Is it really possible to crisp up a sweet potato? Only relatively, I think.

It can be done, but they're extremely finicky. I would've preferred either shoestrings or home fries.

I had wonderful sweet potato fries at some otherwise dull and anonymous BBQ stand in Texarkana, TX recently. The powdered sugar they were topped with was a touch odd, though.

Peach sorbet with yuzu granite. Nice clean finish to a good meal at Nobu, Atlantis, Bahamas.

Aya Mase from the Bolat truck across the street from my office. A fiery stew of rough-pureed roasted chiles, tripe, goat meat, and tilapia, served over rice with a ladle of Bolat's spicy, rich, and gamey tomato sauce.



Bolat Truck
Lunchtime, weekdays
N. Park Street, between E. Illinois & E. Water St.

The Meyer Lemon Upside down cake with lemon thyme ice cream last night at Lula Cafe. The cake was light, but with a substantial crumb (somewhat like birthday cake--just texture, not the taste). The crust of meyer lemon was not to sweet and had a beautiful carmelization.

The side scoop of lemon thyme ice cream was divine. Lemon ice cream, is one of my favorite flavors of ice cream and in my experience impossible to get, unless you churn it yourself.

As I have said in other posts, Lula Cafe is a great "come for dinner, stay for dessert" place.

Finally made my way to Papa’s Cache Sabroso in HUmboldt Park on Friday night. Cannot wait to return.

This place is a garlic-lovers Caligula's Palace of excess and sensation. The jibarito never stood a chance and i devoured the offering in a matter of minutes. The steak was flavorful and was well balanced with the lettuce and onions, while the garlic oil had my sucking my fingers repeatedly.

The chicken was perfectly roasted with crispy skin that crackled with each bite and parted to offer moist juicy chicken. I tool the remnants home with me and it was excellent reheated.

What a find this place is. I shall return.

Ghazi wrote:The jibarito never stood a chance and i devoured the offering in a matter of minutes. The steak was flavorful and was well balanced with the lettuce and onions, while the garlic oil had my sucking my fingers repeatedly.

Papa's Cache Jibarito

Chicken wings at VIP on Montrose. Only one way to describe them - "fried hard and sh*t" (from a classic skit on the Fugees' debut album). Awesome.

I have finally found a suitable replacement for the chicharron de pollo I miss so dearly from my NYC days.........

Made some awesome chili this evening after a visit to The Spice House in Old Town for some of their chili con carne spice mix. Nice way to warm up after a chilly day.