chezbrad wrote:

aschie30 wrote:Unless they changed vendors, PN's gelato is made by Palazzolo's. Not to diminish Nick's "exacting standards," but Palazzolo's gelato makers are no scrubs -- that's good stuff in general and widely available in Western Michigan where it is made.

Still Palazzolo's, yes--but apparently Nick is sending the gelato makers the ingredients for the pistachio.

Wow - I'll have to get over there and try it.

I tried it last night. One of the secrets is that Nick adds toasted pistachios to the finished ice cream. It's the nuttiest pistachio I've had.

Easily the corn soup from this evening's meal at Perennial.

Just-churned olive oil - black pepper ice cream. I've started working my way through David Leibovitz's The Perfect Scoop, and I married his black pepper ice cream recipe with the olive oil ice cream recipe. It's a great combo and oh so smooth.

pairs4life wrote:Easily the corn soup from this evening's meal at Perrinneal.

Glad to hear it, but I'm not sure I'd eat at a place called "Perrinneal". Seems to have an unwholesome taint about it.

scrambled eggs with tarragon. Some pairings were just meant for each other.

cilantro wrote:

pairs4life wrote:Easily the corn soup from this evening's meal at Perrinneal.

Glad to hear it, but I'm not sure I'd eat at a place called "Perrinneal". Seems to have an unwholesome taint about it.

Correction made. You are hilarious.

Fresh rasberries and blueberries (from the Evanston farmer's market) bathed in Blue Marble Dairy's drinkable whole milk yogurt and brown sugar.

Blue Marble doesn't make their own regular yogurt; they supply to a local producer, who only makes lowfat products. The whole milk drinkable stuff they make themselves, and it's rich, creamy and tangy, and with some sugar or honey added, it's great. I also mixed some with Ovaltine (I don't quite know why), which was quite nice, as well.

Jonah

Boiled Peanuts & scuppernongs. I can't wait to hit the south on Friday. My sister sent the peanuts,scuppernongs, & 10lbs of the endangered Red Band Flour up via a friend who just returned from the south.

Hellodali wrote:Just-churned olive oil - black pepper ice cream. I've started working my way through David Leibovitz's The Perfect Scoop, and I married his black pepper ice cream recipe with the olive oil ice cream recipe. It's a great combo and oh so smooth.

One of the best things I ate this summer was at a Spanish culinary event at the French Pastry School. It was olive oil ice cream paired with fresh berries (fraises des bois, strawberries and raspberries) tossed with pieces of oil-cured black olives. Such an odd combination, I can't tell you why it worked, though I suspect it worked the way that chocolate and berries can sometimes work.

Homemade mini bagel with some Cheddar/Blue/Pistachio cheese log that I picked up at the excellent cheesemonger at the Skokie Farmer's Market. Definitely a recipe I'll be making again - much easier than I anticipated, though I can't imagine doing it without a Kitchenaid. We divided the dough into 16 instead of 10 to get this size - in addition to a shorter cooking time, you probably want a shorter second rise - after 10 minutes they didn't sink in the water...though as the recipe said, we didn't notice. Chewy and crisp: much, much better than storebought or even bakery-bought.

Hit up Cermitas Puebla last night for dinner and got an Atomica to go with a small Orchata. The ONLY thing better than my dinner was my leftovers for breakfast with additional bacon added to the sandwich. HMMMM.

Last night was my third attempt at making sauteed frog legs and I finally nailed it. Big time!! Lightly breaded and sauteed in butter, minced garlic, shallots and diced tomatoes and then simmered in chardonnay for 2 mintues. These legs came out luscious, tender and bursting with flavor. I was so happy with the outcome given my previous two attempts rendered some pretty mediocre frog legs. These frog legs were as good as any I've had in a restaurant (with the exception of Phil Smidts).

I had a coho salmon special at Scoozi last night for dinner. I know LEYE places don't get a lot of love around here, but this was really good. The salmon was cooked a perfect medium rare (at my request) and served over little cubes of watermelon, wilted watercress* and thinly sliced breakfast radishes. It seems like a lot of different flavors, but they complimented each other very nicely. It was a great meal for a warm summer night on the patio. Very fresh and refreshing.

* The watercress was very slightly wilted and that might have been due entirely to being under the fish.

..... smoked chuckie enchiladas topped with sour cream, green onion, and 2 sunnyside up eggs. this is one of those dishes that was a sum of its parts, some rice, some beans, some of the enchilada, and of course some beautiful egg yolk(and of course some green El Yucateco). pure decadence, and fulfilling.





edited for spelling

La Condesa for breakfast, scrambled huevos with jalapenos, potatoes with cheese on top, all scooped up nicely in the homemade tortillas, and fresh salsa. Really good cup of coffee with a very slight cinammon taste.

Stonyfield Farm organic chocolate raspberry swirl ice cream. You can really taste the chocolatey and raspberry goodness. Heaven on a spoon.

Apple Pie from Pleasanton Bakery in Traverse City, MI:

Kennyz wrote:Apple Pie from Pleasanton Bakery in Traverse City, MI:

Wow, Kenny, that is one good looking pie! I'm up there 5-6 times a year and have never been to this bakery, it's going onto my list!

It's in old the insane asylum that's been converted to condos/ restaurants. Wood-fired brick oven, fresh breads that use local grains, fantastic pies... it's really a great place. Watch Beyond Chicagoland for more complete T.C. post soon.

Hoosier Mama Peanut Butter Pie



Also posted about here.

laloo's goat's milk ice cream with pureed black mission figs. available at whole foods. sweet and so good. i'm inspired to make buttermilk ice cream with cooked fresh figs tonight, as fresh figs are cheaper than i've seen them in years. (organic figs, 2 pts. for $6 at whole foods). justjoan

Had a glorious meal at Mado on Saturday night and the highlight of highlights was this dish, which the kitchen sent out for us . . .


Pig Brains and Eggs on Toasted Brioche

Wow! Wow! Wow!

=R=

Made a nice lunch today. Mac n cheese, baby back ribs, and some roasted asparagus.

Buttered Toast Bread Pudding from Gourmet cookbook.
Vanilla and cream flavors like a creme brulee, teriffic caramel sauce.
Used a challah from Shop 'n' Save, which had some orange and lemon peel, overall fantastic stuff that MrsF made for the family.

pigOut wrote:Made a nice lunch today. Mac n cheese, baby back ribs, and some roasted asparagus.

Love that crust on the mac & cheese . . . is it just cheese or breadcrumbs too?

Banana chocolate buckwheat pancakes that I made for breakfast this morning. Great way to wake up along with a nice cup of ginger cardamom tea.

BR wrote:

pigOut wrote:Made a nice lunch today. Mac n cheese, baby back ribs, and some roasted asparagus.

Love that crust on the mac & cheese . . . is it just cheese or breadcrumbs too?

Just cheese...that was a corner piece so it was extra crispy and delicious.

PigOut, that's beautiful macaroni and cheese. It never works out for me when I try to make it. Do you have the recipe posted here somewhere, or would you be willing to post it?

once again I have to tip my hat to myself, I have been trying to be financialy good lately, and staying home, and exercising my culinary chops. And other than Shui Wah recently nothing I have eaten out has been 1/2 as good.

Since an even decent Philly steak is not attainable in Chicago(please dont direct me to Philly's Best because it is terrible imho). I had to do my own version of a steak sandwich(keep in mind I worked the grill @ the best Philly Steak place in the area, for years so I have a decent idea of what is what(RIP Donti's Deli). Although not a traditional Philly, this was greasy, cheesy, popping with flavor at its finest imho.

I obtained some beef "milansa" from Super Wal Mart(please dont debate the cut with me, I am just going by the label). Concerned with how tough it felt out of the package, i knew I needed to break it down with a marindae. Marinated for 4 hours in balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, soy sauce, turbino sugar, thyme, western dressing, oregano, kosher salt, black pepper, paprika, chopped garlic, ground mustard, and oil. I could feel the difference in the cut after 4 hours, and knew it was going to be a knock-out. grilled for maybe 1.5 minutes per side over lump, and mesquite, then foiled while I sauteed the onions. sliced the meat against the grain then chopped. Threw some of the beef in the the onions, added mozz cheese, and melted it down. Threw it on a large loaf of crusty Italian bread with diced olived stuffed with jalapeno, chopped cherry peppers, and topped with some tomato... Brilliant, and a great end to the long weekend