On Christmas day, our friend Niki was kind enough to make us a perfect turkey and the most rockin' stuffing. And yes, she is a believer in stuffing as opposed to dressing. It was absolutely fantastic and flavorful, and no one died (so take that Alton Brown.) The bird was so moist and the stuffing was chunky and rough-cut.



Her gravy was also fab. And all we had to do was bring the salad and some asparagus. Oh, and do note the pathetic offering of our Christmas cookies in the background. Luckily for us, she also had pumpkin cheesecake on hand!



In Niki's honor, I also including three ideas I've had in the past for leftover turkey. Sure, make the soup and the tetrazzini and the casserole... those are all great. But if you're looking for something different, and if you STILL have more turkey on hand...

This first one was stolen directly from Trader Joe's. They serve brie, turkey, and apple sandwiches already made. But since I had all that bird left, I made my own with a simple balsamic vinegar and oil dressing. And if you plan really well, you can actually have all this stuff left over (from salads and stuffing and whatnot) and just rearrange it all in sandwich-form.





I'm sure you've thought of this next one. I just rough-cut some turkey, and instead of re-heating, put it cold on a salad with some candied nuts. I made those in a skillet with just a little oil, sugar, and I like a little cayenne pepper in there. I served it with squash soup so it still warms you up.



Chris really liked this last one. I used my food processor, and pulsed the turkey and shredded some red bell peppers, celery, and walnuts. I combined it with lowfat mayo and plenty of curry seasoning and coriander. I think it'd also be good with golden raisins, cilantro and green onions if you have those around. It could also be a hearty dip.


If you can work any of those into the party you throw on New Year's, that's really the hat-trick! Have a good one!

Christmas Cookies in L.A.

For Christmas this year, in case you haven't already gotten this, we went to L.A. and saw the bro. We ate (both at restaurants and at home) so much freaking food that I will be posting feverishly for the next few days!

David had requested some Chicago gear so that he could "represent." We followed through, and he was able to fully represent while eating his salami, toast and eggs on Christmas Eve.



While watching the Bears game and not climbing out of our pajamas all day, Chris sampled his first bloody mary... the first of his many "first drinks" on our trip.



I don't think he was a huge fan, and while they aren't my favorite drink either, you can't argue that Dave makes the best ones. He makes them spicy with horseradish, worcheshire and hot sauce, and gives you plenty of skewered snacks.



That day, we also baked sugar cookies (per Chris' request.) We got plenty of Christmas cutters from the 99 cent store. I made the cookies from a box and still managed to mess up the directions with too much butter (I failed to use the "roll out" recipe.) So I had to keep adding flour. I also managed to overbake most of them slightly (I like to watch the game.) Still, despite my lack of baking prowess and a failure to purchase many decorative items, they came out pretty good.



I can't believe our trip is over and we are home, already! Hope yours was happy!

Happy Belated Chanukah... and Christmas

I've just gotten back from California! I will be posting tons now in an effort to make up for dropping the ball on my "daily posts" promise while I was out there. But you know, sometimes you are just too busy eating to post to your blog about eating.

Last Christmas, brother David and our friend Niki were out here in the midwest to celebrate... and this year I got to be out with them. This is the festive cookie they brought me last year, which came with its own edible food markers with which you could decorate the cookie. I took a picture of my efforts, of course.



It was fun to do, and a great tabletop item... But I had dropped it (note the crack) and upon hearing the sound of shattered ceramic, decided not to attempt eating it.

Stay tuned for this year's cookie decorating efforts!

Honey Mustard

It never occurred to me until I worked in a restaurant that one could make one's own honey mustard dressing. With just honey. And mustard. I worked for years as a waitress, and everywhere I worked, someone would ask me, "Do you have honey mustard?" If you have a good server, the answer is yes. If your server answers, "No," he or she is lazy. And believe me, I answered "no" on a very busy night or two.

If you like it sort of zippy and spicy, then just use those two ingredients. I like mine a little creamier (like shown), so in that case you just whisk in a little mayo (of course I'm still using the Just Too Good! stuff). That's it!



This photo is from a little get-together I had in which I just chopped up a bunch of salad toppings, had some crumble cheeses and meats out, and let everyone make their own chef or Cobb salad. It was a fun idea for a fairly hot day. Remember those?

Leftover Fried Chicken Salad

I had stored the leftover chicken limone and the sauce separately. Unfortunately, I made a lot more chicken than I did sauce. Or, not so unfortunately! I gave Chris the rest of the chicken and sauce, and made a really good salad out of what was left for myself.



My favorite salad dressing lately is just balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and a little brown or dijon mustard whisked together. I had some dried blueberries, some goat cheese, and some snow pea pods in there too, and squirted a little fresh lemon over the top.

Chicken Limone

Forgot to post yesterday, so... two today!

By the by, I have begun to resize my photos. So if they take a while to load, I apologize. This will be corrected in future!

Here is another instance of me looking at no recipe and getting away with it fairly well. I had some chicken breast strips that I wanted to use, and I thought they would be tasty double-dipped in flour and fried. At first, that's as far as my thinking went.



After removing the chicken, I mopped up a lot of the leftover oil and only some of the crispy bits from the pan, then added butter and a little more flour. I added some wine, chicken stock, and fresh lemon juice alternately to de-glaze the pan and thin the sauce as it thickened.



I boiled up some pasta, added drained capers and poured the sauce over the chicken and voila! Chicken limone.

Beans and Greens Fagioli

Okay, I promised to post an idea for a way to extend your leftover bacon and greens (turkey bacon for me) with onions into another meal.
So here it is... I added pasta, rinsed white beans, and chicken broth. It made kind of a smoky bean soup. Of course, had I made the greens without the turkey bacon, it would be a vegetarian soup, so that's an option.

I call it the "Soul Fazzole."

Red Beans and Brown Rice

Long ago and far away, I was a vegetarian for four whole years. During this time (now nearly ten years ago when I began) I was not a great cook. I don't even know if I was a good cook, really. Rather than turning to, you know, vegetables -- I subsisted mostly on Cheetos and other non-food items that I wouldn't go near today. Why did I start eating meat again? I often say this can be summed up in one word. And that word is "Cheddarwurst." Surprisingly however, I ended up with a healthier diet as a meat eater than I ever had before.

Back to my original point -- I probably wouldn't have lasted nearly so long in this veggie endeavor without Curtis Aikens' red beans and rice recipe. It has a complex, hearty flavor that keeps even meatitarians interested, and piling it up on the plate. Back in the day, it may have been the one thing I did right.



1 pound dried red beans (soaked overnight)
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 1/2 celery stalks, diced
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped or minced
2 bay leaves
3/4 cup olive oil
3 to 4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 to 3 cups cooked rice
I add plenty of Red Hot at the end, as well

Drain the beans, discarding the water, and set them aside in a pot. Place the onion, celery, garlic and bay leaves in a medium mixing bowl. Drizzle the olive oil over them and let the mixture sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Don't skip it!

Pour the oil and veggie mixture over the beans and let that mix sit at room temp for 10 to 15 minutes. Add enough of the water to cover the beans and bring to a boil. (Here, you could also place the mix in a slow cooker.) Lower the temp to a simmer, add S & P, cover and cook for 3 to 4 hours. Remove the bay leaves and add final seasonings to taste. Serve the hot beans over the rice.

I also serve this with greens with Trader Joe's turkey bacon, because it has a thick cut that seems like a ham-hock texture (hey, I still try to cut out the pork and the beef whenever possible) and biscuits (these were from a mix.)

Tomorrow, a quick post about what to do with your leftover greens!

BBQ Chicken and Goat Cheese Pizza

This is probably my favorite pizza that I've come up with so far. I don't actually remember if I invented it or saw it somewhere else, all I know is that it tastes great.



For the bbq chicken, I usually make my own in the crock pot during the day, and then I assemble the pizza at night. My bbq sauce is a mish-mash of ketchup, mustard (about a cup ketchup to 1/2 cup mustard), brown sugar (a lot -- about 1 and 1/2 cups packed at least), diced onions, about 1/4 cup of beer (no more, or this will be runny), a small can of tomato paste, garlic, salt, cumin, coriander, hot sauce, and a little bit of liquid smoke. Molasses also works well in there, but I don't always have it on hand, so honey will also work. I whisk that all together, then I add four or more chicken breasts. Then I drink the rest of the beer, and go to work for a few hours!

If I haven't had the time to do all that, I have also just coated leftover chicken in bottled bbq sauce (Famous Dave's is my fave) and that works just dandy.

After 6 hours on low, or 4 on high, the chicken should be loose enough to shred with a couple of forks in the pot when you get home. For this pizza, I toasted a whole-wheat crust from Trader Joe's, and then put down some pasta sauce (thinly), and piled on the bbq chicken. Then I crumbled goat cheese all around, and some long-sliced red onions. Drizzle bbq sauce over that, and then add shredded cheese. Then shake a little Italian seasoning on, and just a light drizzle of olive oil, bake at 375 until done, and be careful not to change past and present tenses as often as I have.



This pizza has a rich, deep flavor and Chris and I pretty much eat the whole thing every time!

Breakfast Casserole

I'm gonna start this post with a pledge for the four of you that read this blog. I'm done with the semester until mid-January, and you can look for a new post from me every day (yeah that's right, I said EVERY DAY) until I get back to school. And then I promise to update at least once a week after that. K?

Onto the food.

This stuff is gooood!

This recipe was given to me by my friend Sarah that I used to work with. When she sent it to me, it said, "submitted by Peggy R." Submitted to, I know not what. But cheers to Peggy!

1 1/2 cups chopped zucchini
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh mushrooms
3/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped green bell pepper (I leave this out, because in terms of cookery, I think green pepper is the facist vegetable that makes everything way too... facist and green peppery)
1 clove garlic, minced
6 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup half-and-half cream (I used milk)
2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, diced (fat-free works fine, but integrates less than the regular does)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
4 slices whole wheat bread, cubed
ample salt and pepper

Sautee the veggies and set aside. Cream together the eggs, cream cheese and milk. Stir in the cheddar and bread cubes and veggies, and pour everthing into a greased baking dish. Bake at 350 for 1 hour, or until center is set. Excellent hot and amazing cold.



I made the one on the right without onions and brought these to the onion-hating in-laws home. Jason devoured the one with onions, and so did Wilma. They were like, "it's way better with the onions." I could have told them that.

Which brings me to my other promise to self: convert all picky-eaters and onion heathens.

Paula's Pot Roast

When the weather turns as cold as it has here in Chicago, a girl's thoughts turn to her best friend (the Crock Pot.) There is nothing like the comforting little chatter of the lid on the pot when you walk in the door. It says, "dinner's hot and ready for you!" More specifically, my thoughts turn to pot roast when the weather becomes inhospitable.



I use Paula Deen's recipe, which you can still find here. The only things I do differently is that I add potatoes, carrots, and celery to make it a "one-pot" meal. It would be just as nice without the potatoes, though, and over some egg noodles. I also tend to use red wine instead of the Chardonnay, because I think it tends to have a deeper flavor with red meat. Also, we hardly ever have Chardonnay because I drink red.



I've also diced raw squash (like acorn squash) and added that, which turned out great as a fall-themed meal. It tastes great when there's leaves on the ground, or four feet of snow like today!

Mediterranean Chicken Green Salad

Remember the chicken kebabs and the mediterranean seasoning I like to use? I used the leftovers in a cold green salad. I made my own dressing with a little fat-free sour cream, skim milk (or buttermilk would be nice), a teaspoon of tahini paste, a squeeze of lime juice, greek seasoning (or just oregano and mint), and a sprinkle of sugar. I put bell peppers (non-green, of course), scallions and feta in the salad. It was nummers.

Tiramisu

PHOO! I've been gone a long time. October was particularly busy, with all-weekend anesthesia courses to complete (on my other blog, I may post pics of me getting, and giving, nine injections in the oral cavity on a Sunday night. Nothing like it.) Now that I've primed your appetite, let me tell ya, I'm still taking pictures!

I had never heard of tiramisu, probably, until I began dating my husband. In my family, we rarely ate Italian in restaurants. Aside from our favorite restaurant which used to on Wabash called Cafe Angelo in the Oxford House hotel (now the Hotel Monaco), *** an order of tomato gravy that invariably came with green peppers in a sauce that was gorily undercooked to a bright red would leave us disgusted and seeking Chinese cuisine the next time out. But Chris' family? Oh, they love to eat in restaurants. And my mother-in-law, who moved here from Italy at eight years old, always selects Italian or "just regular American." And they always pay, so who am I to argue? Chris and I pretty much leave the experimentation in exotic cuisines to our own time.

Anyway, something that always seems to be on the menu in any Italian restaurant (especially the nicer class of them that my in-laws favor that by the way, can also competently cook a white or a red sauce) is tiramisu. It also frequents the Food Network. It looked so easy that a couple of years ago I tried Giada's recipe.

I made a few alterations that I think made all the difference. First of all, authentic or not, I can't make anything with rum in it. Let's just say that a few experiences in my twenties left rum on my "never drink again" list. So I substituted with amaretto liquor. While tasting the marscarpone mixture, I also doubled the sugar (still just 6 tablespoons total), and added a capful of vanilla extract. I've used fresh bakery ladyfingers, but the shrink-wrapped kind from the Italian grocer actually seem to work better. I have an unsweetened cocoa and chocolate mixture that my brother got me some time ago from Ghirardelli, and I dust that between layers and on top. Lastly, I don't usually have espresso on hand, so I substitute with strong coffee, preferrably the stuff that has been evaporating/condensing in the pot since morning.



Chocolate chunks on top of this one, I know, totally unnecessary, but I didn't have block chocolate, and I was too lazy to shave each individual hunk. Now ask me if I regret it. NO.



The Witt family seems to like it. For the Christmas holiday shown above, my MIL had gotten some wonderfully fresh torrone -- the best I've ever tasted. She also had the panettone. My bro brought the amaretti cookies. It was a real meeting of the minds. Stomachs.

*** Cafe Angelo is STILL my favorite Italian restaurant. I read some time ago that the former owner opened another restaurant in the suburbs... and then I lost the name. They have a dance floor and they play Sinatra tunes. If anyone out there knows, let me know!

UPDATE: Holy crud, I'm getting good at answering my own questions. Angelo Nicelli now owns the Porto Bello Italian Steakhouse in suburban Lake Zurich. We'll be checking that out soon (and taking pictures, of course.)

UPDATE on the UPDATE: Sadly, it appears that Porto Bello is no longer open. Nuts.

Italian Roasted Veggies

My father used to buy finocchio, or fennel. He said it like "finoy-kya," which is how everyone on the Sicilian side of my family says it. However you wanna say it, I never wanted to go near it. I thought it was the foulest, funkiest vegetable that God had ever seen fit to drunkenly turn his back and create while blindfolded. An aberration, that's what it was. Sure, I would find the occasional fennel-flavored pastry or cookie acceptable. But the way that my father would brazenly crunch into a whole rib of the raw vegetable, clad in his wife-beater t-shirt and black socks, while on the sofa in front of the tube was not acceptable. For several reasons, really.

Anyway, last year I saw Michael Chiarello making some lovely roasted chickens with fall vegetables, including fennel. He said that fennel caramelized in the oven, and even if you don't like the stuff raw, that he still recommended you try it this way. So I did.



I chop up various veggies: Yukon gold potatoes, fennel, garlic, carrots (okay, as you can see I buy peeled baby carrots so there is no chopping there), sometimes onions, and celery if I have that on hand. Just drizzle olive oil over them, and season them with Nonno's seasoning (sage, rosemary, red pepper and yes, more garlic), salt and pepper, and stir. I roast them for about an hour at 375 degrees. After roasting, I add toasted pignolis (pine nuts).

The resulting veggies are sweet and aromatic, and do not at all induce the dragon-breath that I associate with raw fennel. I like to have them with a dollop of fat-free sour cream, because well, you know me and my condiments. (My brother and I, even after years of viewing this, went straight out and lived the opposite lifestyle.) I recommend using the base, or bulb part of the fennel instead of the thinner stalks. They tend to stay sort of fibrous, even after roasting. I'd also recommend chopping into one-inch pieces so that they cook through and get all melty. At some point, I think I will actually roast a chicken atop these, but for now I'm just enjoying them as a side to whatever meat I have on hand.

Happy roasting!

Home Sliders and Jenny's Shower

In August, my fellow "townie" and friend Jenny had her bridal shower at Dave and Buster's. I thought it was a great place for a shower, and we had so much fun. Any place where you can be served alcohol and play video games is a great place for a shower, if you ask me. We had a Kane County Cougar's game to attend that night, so we didn't actually have time to play the video games -- but we definitely partook of the alcohol. The food was fun and super-tasty. They served chicken fingers (very crunchy and tender inside), nachos, veggies and dip, mini-pizzas, and one of my favorites: sliders!



I've had a soft-spot for sliders, since I grew up near a pee-wee golf establishment that sold the little suckers (sadly, no longer in existence), and often we would run over to pick up a sack of burgers (and skip the golf). These at the D & B were so good, I made quite the pig of myself. They were far above the quality of your standard White Castle (not that there's anything wrong with that, if you're drunk anyway. Or hung-over). Nooo, these were special. The memory of them stayed with me, until a few weeks later I was forced to try to re-create the moment. I remembered my friend Katherine serving sliders at a pre-drink party a couple of years ago. She had mixed ground beef with onion soup mix, and a little Worcheshire and seasonings. Then she spread the meat out flat in the bottom of a sheet pan, baked it, and then cut them into small squares with a pizza-cutter. Judging from the look she was giving me, I was apparently the last person on earth to hear of this (which would be nothing new.) I had happened to find some Hawaiian bread rolls that were perfect for the occasion. I revived the recipe, and used turkey meat, as is my wont.



They were quite delicious. My largest sheet pan happened to be dirty, and as a rule I won't wash dishes by hand unless I absolutely have to. So mine came out a bit thicker, having used the smaller pan. I would also add that although I am always trying to kill fewer cows, as well as reduce our fatty intake and cholesterol, I think next time I will make these with lean beef. Still, they were very tasty and a lot of fun!!

P.S. I remember the two figures at the Pee Wee Golf that used to stand on Larry Power Road in Kankakee quite well... On one course, there was a Big-Boy-like male figure with a platter of sliders. On the other course, there was a girl with a similar platter and a flip hairdo. I remember them languishing sadly for a long while after the course closed, the victims of vandalization and degradation over time. Now I wish I had gotten a pickup truck and stolen them both. I wonder, does anyone have a photo of one of these two? I'd love to have a copy...

UPDATE (a la "Unsolved Mysteries"): The figures still stand on a miniature golf course on Larry Power road. They are now a part of Aspen Ridge Golf Course! (Sorry about the night pic, but you can see me next to the statue for a size reference.)

Halva

I was at Joe Caputo's grocery the other day, waiting at the always-spectacular but crowded deli counter. We were in a hurry to get to a friend's house. I picked up something that I thought was torrone, encased in plastic wrap as though it had been freshly made. Chris gave me the look that he gives me when he is annoyed that I have decided to experience something new when we are in a hurry to get somewhere. The parcel read, "halva," which I'd never had. Or heard of, for that matter. But I figured, "Well... it has something marshmallowy in it, and pistachios (which is, delightfully, the junk-food of nuts), so how could it be bad?" I tried to pull off a hunk just as we pulled up to our friend Cameron and Lindsay's house. I expected it to be chewy, like torrone, but instead it crumbled all over me and the car seat. Chris gave me the look that he gives me when he feels that I deserve to be covered in crumbs for getting distracted by food when he is in a hurry, and for being such a pig that I will open the package to eat it in the car before we get there.



It is a bit strange at first -- like the first time you have tahini all by itself (which, it turns out, is in this) -- but I really like it. Chris doesn't. I think it has a sweet, roasted nut flavor, and I like the texture. I like that it isn't overly sweet, but just enough. I also like that you can keep it wrapped on your countertop for an apparently long period of time, while you slowly chip away at it, unmolested by your sweets-mongering husband.

Eggplant Risotto

Risotto (arborio rice) is another Italian dish that I have no qualms in saying that I did not grow up eating. For one thing, the differences in Italian cooking vary widely not just region-to-region, but also from kitchen-to-kitchen that you can easily spend a lifetime exploring all of the possibilities. No single Italian grows up with every Italian dish. It is also important to note that my greatest influence in cooking was my father -- who was not just an Italian, but a long-term bachelor before (and after) his marriage. He was a great, and passionate cook, but he was also Mr. Mom. While he aspired to the delicate and complex cooking of Julia Child, his own cooking was often centered mostly around cuts of various meats, frying things, coldcuts, and (with the exception of his tomato-gravy, and corned beef on St. Patrick's Day) those things which could be made quickly and easily: utilizing only a 24-year-old spatula, and a skillet that looked as though it had shielded him throughout a war and several hostage crises. His cooking was born of his ethnicity, his necessity, and his resources. And consistently, it was damn good. I see these things with a clearer eye now.

(As a side note, when David and I moved out of the old house, we could not wait to chuck the crummy old cooking supplies and buy new ones. Now, when I think of the history the old man's skillet had, I wouldn't focus on its long lack of a non-stick surface: I would mount it on my kitchen wall as an historical artifact.)

Still, my tastes (and my husband's) run just a bit more to the veggie side now and again. My inexperience with the medium of risotto, however, made me rather timid about trying it out. But over the years, She Whom I Love to Taunt (but actually rely on, and worship somewhat) has emphasized the ease of making risotto so many times that I actually started to believe it. And Rachael? "Easy-peasy" it is.

I started the rice with onion and mushroom. Then I began to add the chicken stock according to the package directions. While I slow-cooked the risotto, I grilled eggplant on the side. It was very simple to continue adding chicken broth as the risotto cooked, thickened, cooked, thickened... Lather, rinse, repeat. I added fresh basil at the end, and served it with some ovoline (buffalo mozzarella the size of eggs) that I got at my new favorite grocery store. Just because it was there.

Chris has not yet completely developed an appreciation for eggplant, but I will continue to make it because I love it so much. I will temper it, for his sake, with the occasional serving of coldcuts and corned beef. I know what boys like.

Check it Out!

Gotta give a mention to my buddy Kira's new food blog... I loooove the title, and I sure as hell love that cookin'!

Kira's Food Blog

Everybody food blog!

Aaaaaand... go.

Thai Chili Garlic Paste

Nearly a year ago, I purchased a lot of new ingredients that were called for in a cookbook I got called "30-Minute Thai." I have only followed the recipes once or twice, but I've monkeyed with the ingredients quite a bit. I like to mix them with other asian ingredients, like soba noodles. I call this "Asian Fusion." Nah, you know me better than that. I call it, "My Cookbook is Too High Up and Requires a Stepladder."

You'd be hard-pressed to abuse soba noodles (which are yummy in plain broth or anything else), or fish sauce (milder than soy), but one ingredient I've had to learn to treat with respect is the thai chili garlic paste. Here's what you don't do:



Don't assume that two puny tablespoons and some olive oil for an entire bag of sliced pork tenderloin won't kill your entire family if you use it as a marinade. Because it will. As my friend J. Moy stated, "Oh hell no. That shit will blow your head off." Sure, on the jar it says, "condiment." But I can't imagine an amount of this stuff small enough for me to actually be able to use it as a topping. I dunno if we're way too caucasian, but my husband and I cried, sweated, and blew our noses through half of a pork chop each before conceding total inedibility. I was able to salvage the rest of the chops only by slicing up the leftovers and putting them into wonton soup. Whew. Which is a relief, because for a couple of days, looking at the leftovers in the fridge actually made me afraid.

Don't run from your leftovers. Here's what you can do:



Despite thai chili paste being the bad-boy in my fridge, my peanut butter has fallen deeply in love with him. And they are great together. You can mix a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter with about 1/4 teaspoon and enough olive oil and fish (or soy) sauce to thin it out, and it makes a great brush-on for chicken (with a little salt and pepper).



I now really love the chili sauce for the authentic, layered flavor it gives to the sauces you mix it with. (And let's face it, the stuff sure is economical at this concentration.) You can use it as a great toss with soba or rice noodles, too. I start with a little garlic and oil, add the merest quarter teaspoon of chili sauce, the same two tablespoons of peanut butter, and thin it with chicken stock. Add some scallions, veggies, fish sauce, and toss in the cooked noodles. I top it with crushed peanuts. I like the noodles with chicken, or fried tofu triangles.



Cut the firm tofu into the triangle shape, and roll them in corn starch. Fry them for a couple of minutes in shallow oil on each side until golden. Drain, and salt and pepper them with a little regular ol' chili and garlic powder. Crispy and savory, without the sensation that a thousand screaming-hot white dwarf suns are dying on the surface of your tongue. Which no one wants.

Schnitzels

I made these trying to make use of the giganto pork loins and chops you can purchase at Costco. I don't often buy pork, but you could make these with chicken, too. Either slice the pork loin into medallions, or debone the chop (or use the boneless chops). Then pound them flat between plastic wrap sheets. Dip them in flour, then beaten egg, then breadcrumb. I roasted mine in the oven for a less fatty effect than frying. I put them on a cookie and a roasting rack. I put mine in at 375 and checked them in a half-hour. I think.

I served them like schnitzels, with lemon wedges and applesauce. Mmm.

I am Siam

A place Chris and I like to go for some quick Thai takeout is "I am Siam" on Dundee road in Wheeling. Here's a link to the Citysearch listing, under which I believe I am the sole reviewer...) The dining room isn't very tidy, but the food is very consistent. We love the way that they package the takeout so carefully to keep the texture of everything just right by the time you get it home. They separate the breaded shrimp, the egg, the cucumber salad (which I could eat a pound of, then drink up all the dressing with a straw), etc. Good stuff, Maynard.

Mi Casita

Last time I went to see Ma, we had planned to go to Alfonso's (in Lawrenceville, IL), but when I ran in just minutes before our meal was to take place, the owner was a jerk about me using her restroom. So we decided we wouldn't ever eat there again (we are tiny, yet vengeful people).

So we trotted over to what is pretty much the only other ethnic place in town (this strike on Italian food may not be an easy one for Ma, since she lives there year-round): Mi Casita. Ma said it hasn't been there long, but she loves their food. Well, so did I! Ma had her current favorite, the "quesadilla texana." It had steak strips inside, and a seasoning like I haven't ever had. It wasn't carne asada or anything I'm familiar with, but it sure was savory:



I'm ashamed to say it, but I don't actuall remember what mine was called. I'm also ashamed to say that I tore through half of the dish before I remembered my duty to take a photograph. It was a creamy, chihuahua cheese enchilada platter, with shredded chicken in green chile sauce on the top:



I finished all of it, and you can see in the upper right, a corner of Ma's texana, too. I've had no small amount of Mexican food in my lifetime, and I've been to many places in Chicago (such as one that may have some wonderful guacamole, but was otherwise disappointing) that were much more expensive.... but I can honestly say I don't think I've ever enjoyed any Tex-Mex or Mexican meal quite so much as that one. So if you're ever in Lawrenceville (and believe me, if you are, you're gonna want ethnic food like a parched man needs water)... this is the spot!

And good thing, too, since the Italian joint is dead to me forever... Vendetta! Vendetta!

Saganaki Chicken

One of my most proudin'est creations is something I call Saganaki Chicken. I love saganaki, the flaming cheese that you get at Greek restaurants, where they squirt the lemon juice on it, spread on the brandy, light it and say, "opa!" It isn't the show I enjoy so much. I think it is just the crusty, fried feta cheese. In fact, shut up and give me my flaming cheese already.

I pound chicken cutlets flat between sheets of plastic wrap, dip them in beaten egg, and then roll them in shredded parmesan and feta crumbles instead of breadcrumb. It will work with just the parmesan, too, only it will be less melty -- more like a parmesan crouton on the outside. You fry them in just enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan.

This doesn't work as well in a dry pan, and it is pretty messy. You also have to be careful not to peek, and try to flip the chicken before it has formed a nice crust on one side. I've put marinara over the top of this like chicken parmesan, but I really think it tastes better all by itself. I put the chicken pieces on a cookie rack as I cook them, with a paper towel underneath, because the little suckers want to stick to the paper towel while they are very hot. They are crunchy, cheesy and salty. I garnish with basil or parsely, and squeeze lemon over them.



"Opaaa!" Eh, shmeesh.

Goat Cheese Portobello Salad

Wish I had a better pic... this is one from the olden days, when I was still using my trusty camera from junior high. No, Jen, it is not a Disk Camera. But it is the one I got right after that, so if you're sly you can figure about what year that was.

This salad is one I ripped off from the cafe that was downstairs in the office building I worked at in Skokie. It was really the only decent thing they had, but I could eat it just about every day... so that was ai'ight. I chop portobello mushrooms and red bell pepper, and cover them with my own vinaigrette (balsamic, olive oil, Italian seasoning and a little sugar). I keep that mix (peppers, mushrooms, vinaigrette) in the fridge, or bring it along that way so that I can mix it with the lettuce right before I eat it. Then I crumble in goat cheese, and top it with fried chow mein noodles. Oh, and scallions are good, too.

Might be my favorite salad. Until the next salad.

Shrimp Caesar Salad

Okay, I have a confession to make... I had never actually purchased uncooked shrimp before. I always got cooked, or cooked and frozen. But in the interest of upping the quality of my cuisine, I knew I had to stop being so lazy. Sometimes at least. Especially since the fresh takes about two minutes to cook. I still plan on getting frozen sometimes -- but maybe I'll be frozen uncooked shrimp. Do they make those? I cleaned these under water, and left the tails on.

Anyway, I used Alton Brown's "No Guilt Caesar" dressing recipe... It got such rave reviews on FoodTV.com that I just had to give it a shot. It's made with tofu, and no raw eggs. I thought it was really good!! It made so much, that two days later I served it at a little dinner party, and everyone seemed to dig it. My pregnant friend, Lindsay could indulge and not worry about the eggy-weggs. I used firm tofu, cuz that's what I had -- and I added a little milk to thin it to the consistency I wanted. I also added anchovies (which pregnant women can have, as long as they are the tinned kind). Anyway, Alton claims that anchovies have no place in real caesar dressing, but I can't imagine it without. Call me trashy.

I marinated the shrimp briefly in lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and Nonno's seasoning. Chris' grandfather makes this with fresh herbs (sage, rosemary, garlic and red pepper flakes) and a mezza luna, and then freezes it for us. I grilled them on my handy-dandy grill pan.

I covered the salad with parmesan cheese, and added more fresh lemon juice. It was fantastic!

Kira's Brownies

As promised, I made Kira's brownies the very next day after she posted about them in a comment (see Kira's blog on my blogroll: "Shovel-It-In.") She stated that she uses the "one bowl" brownie recipe on the back of the Baker's unsweetened chocolate box. She said she also adds extra chocolate morsels and macadamia nuts. I did the same, except I added half a bag of chocolate and peanut butter morsels that I had. And next time I will crush up the nuts a bit smaller, instead of just throwing them in the way I did. I was in a big hurry to get these things in my mouwf.

Well, the resulting recipe will go next to my cornbread as an Untouchable for all time. I don't think I'll ever make another brownie. The morsels melted all through the mix, and the top is crispy and the inside, when heated for ten seconds each time in the micro, is a fresh and chocolate-lava gooey as the day it was born. Wait, I hate the word "gooey." And yet that it what it is. God is it gooey, and dare I say the forbidden word? Moist?

Thank you Kira. You've changed my life yet again!

Chili Mac

About once a month for oh, my whole life, my dad would get a craving for Steak 'n Shake chili mac. We'd have to rush out and get it. I've often said that I think he was under the misgiving that there was a little fetus growing in his little potbelly, and he would get the cravings that would correspond to that condition.

I could never figure out why the chili mac I made at home never tasted like the mac at Steak 'n Shake. I even bought the chili that they sell there out of a can, and it still didn't taste right. Later I realized that there was chili sauce under the chili. Now I put the pasta sauce in the bowl, a healthy glug of chili sauce out of the bottle, and warm chili. Then the cheese, onions, and sometimes some sour cream. Shown in the picture above is my buddy Cameron's fantastic Howitzer Death Fart Chili that he was kind enough to send home with us. Well, that's what I call it. The effects last up to five days (that's tested fact, and not a joke), but lordy. Worth every green swamp cloud that the stuff emanates. Just make sure you look ahead on your calendar to what you have going on during the weekend.

Club Sandwiches Inna House

Speaking of the perfect club sandwich, how good are those on a hot day? Chris and I went out and bought all the fixin's, including turkey bacon (btw, nothing compares to Trader Joe's turkey bacon. It's all thick cut and farm-y). We also got taffy apple salad from Jewel, which tasted just like taffy apples. Yum.

They were so good, we made them again the next day!