Camera Phone!

I sent my brother a text message today saying, "I got a picture phone!" along with a picture I snapped of the framed photo of he and I that is on my mantle. He immediately texted me back with an accompanying picture, saying,

"Yay! Check out these pancakes!"

Chicken Parmigiana

My favorite places to eat in my hometown, as a kid and as a teenager, included some of the following (in no particular order):

• Pee-Wee Golf (for sliders)


• Hardee's (for frozen cookie dough)


• Jiffy's (now Bill's Diner on Kennedy Drive, a great place itself) where you used to be able to phone in your order from your table to the kitchen -- also, they had a jukebox at each table


• Monical's Pizza


• Aurelio's Pizza (my favorite still, thank goodness for the one in Addison)


• Chicago Dough Pizza


• Woolworth's (eat chicken nuggets, homemade pie and a cherry Coke with REAL cherries at the counter, then look at the parakeets and the Colorforms all in the same place! Jaffee Drug still has a soda fountain/counter open...)


• Jesse's Fine Dining (champaign chicken, seafood bar, or a black-cherry glazed bird -- fancy)


• Hunan Chen on Court Street


• Mickey's Gyros -- which reminds me of Jen's little brother Jason going, "TWOGYROPLAATES!" like he's yelling to the back of the kitchen


• Davidson's West on Court -- a favorite of the Kankaee Valley Theatre crowd in my later years


• Blue's Cafe -- Dad used to meet his buddies there, and bring me sometimes, too. Great food, still kicking.


• Howard Johnson's for hot dogs with buttered, toasted buns, or fried clams. For my first grade birthday dinner, I selected Howard Johnson's.


• Hunk's, for clown pancakes


• Lum's with mom, where I always ordered the French dip sandwich and stared at the Picasso and Matisse prints on the walls


• The Golden Bear, and I swear mom used to bring me to a Sambo's, a restaurant chain with perhaps innocuous, yet subtly racist overtones... Maybe that was in Carbondale?


• The Redwood Inn smogasbord... we came up with the word "bevam?" that expressed how they guy at the end of the line always asked "beef or ham?" in a quick, mashed-together way


• Mother McGee's, where my parents could get cocktails, and I had escargot for the first time


• Jaenicke's for sauce buns, and I'm sorry, but the one in Bourbonnais is better


• Boz Hot Dogs, for Italian beef, not hot dogs (you go to Jaenicke's or HoJo's for that!)


• Poor Boy Restaurant on Court (Dad knew the owner, and she'd drop off beans and cornbread or shrimp po' boys at the house)


• Dionne's in Momence (I always felt so fancy, and imagined my future life would be eating at places like this every week)


• Ryan's Pier in Manteno


• Sam n' Ella's on the river... and if you're not from the area, seriously, that was the name! They had great food and and unbeatable view.


• Town and Country, the red building out on Rte. 17. We used to get shish-kebab and duck there, or liver with onions. Dee-licious.


• Council Table (though I always just got cereal)

I'm sure there are more that have slipped my mind... a lot of these places have been closed for years. Does anyone have any memories to add? I would love to hear them... I plan on doing individual posts on some of these in the future.

Anyway, none of these places compared to "The Little Corporal" restaurant. The Little Corporal was a Napoleonic-themed diner in the front of the building, with drum-shaped table lights and French soldier figures throughout. I kid you not. You could sit in a generous booth, or at the large counter in the center of the diner. As you walked towards the back, you first encountered the restrooms. (I can't vouch for the men's room, but the ladies' was painted bright pink.) In the rear of the building, there was more of a nightclub atmosphere, with runner lights and a piano bar. (And those rumors that Barry Manilow got his start, and got fired from the Little Corporal? Well, those aren't rumors, friends.) The seating in the rear was my absolute favorite: striped Napoleonic tents over each private booth, with the names of different French generals, and pennants at the top. Many were the times my father sweet-talked the lunch-shift waitresses into letting us sit back there in the daytime (turning into rather long lunches when they subsequently forgot we were there.) The place was too good to be true.

I always ordered the same thing at the Little Corporal: the veal parmigiana. It came on top of spaghetti with meat sauce, and lost beneath a blanket of mozzarella cheese. Early in my high school years, I found out how veal is raised, and I've never eaten it since. The last time I had veal was probably at the Little Corporal.

Now, when I get that craving for the Napoleonic/Italian/trashy diner fare of my youth, I make it with chicken. (I know, I play favorites with my meat.) I pound the cutlets, dip them in flour, then egg, then breadcrumb and fry them up. Then I place them atop a mountain of pasta in a baking dish.



Then, I load it with enough cheese to fill up the Kankakee Valley, and bake it with some foil loosely over the top. If the cheese isn't bubbly and golden enough after everything is heated through, I take off the foil and broil it for a few.



Then I simply make a general's tent with the bedsheets, and I'm ready for my stroll down memory lane... Quite a FEW strolls, and Chris and I can separate this into several meals and eat chicken parmigiana all week long.



Sadly, the Little Corporal is now some pizza place, and I think part of it is called Liquor World or something. When the restaurant closed, I skipped the opportunity to attend an auction for some of the items, and I have since seen a few things show up on Ebay... I do still have a coffee-cup shaped magnet from the Little Corporal that was on our refrigerator for many, many years. I had it in my pocket when I went to the Barry Manilow concert last year at the Allstate Arena just in CASE I got called up on stage and could get him to sign it. Didn't happen.

Oh well... I'll always have my memories (and the parmigiana.)

Matcha Latte

Remember when I posted mournfully about the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf frozen matcha drink that I can't get here in the midwest? Well I figured out a first-rate substitution! And I couldn't be happier if I had flipping yellow butterflies floating out of my ears. To the tune of "Grazin' in the Grass." On pan flute.

Trader Joe's has come to my rescue yet again. I had read about their matcha beverage on the fabulous Super Eggplant. She was less than thrilled with the drink mixed up hot, as it is intended. But I thought it might be just the thing for a frozen version. I put the recommended amount (3 tblesp.) in the blender, with an "eyeballed" amount of ice and fat-free milk.



It was really excellent -- similar to Coffee Bean's version, though not quite as perfect... But then, how could it be? Still, with some whipped cream on top, it was not too sweet and very tasty. I am very pleased...

Can you believe I am drinking stuff like this with umpteen inches of snow on the ground? I must really miss California.

Beef Braciole

Before the holidays, I made Giada's beef braciole for some guests. It was super, super simple -- especially if you use a simple jar marinara sauce like I did instead of making your own. Didn't hurt things a bit... I'm finally learning to do myself a few small favors at a dinner party, so that I can spend some time with my guests, and can get dinner on the table before 9 pm.



I thought it was just fantastic. The beef was so incredibly tender. I made sure to roll up the flank steak in such a way that when it was sliced, I would be going perpendicular to the fibers in the meat, just as I do with slicing it for fajitas. It just melted in your mouth.



I save the red meat for guests or special occasions, and this one really did not disappoint. I don't know if it is just me... Perhaps it is because I grew up on my dad's sauce (which I'm posting soon), but the flavor of red meat and tomato sauce makes me very nostalgic. This had that incredibly indulgent flavor, with a great presentation, and without the four or five-hour cooking time!

Smoky Bean Soup

I made this soup out of Rachel Ray's "Comfort Foods" cookbook. The name in there is called, "Navy Bean and Bacon Soup," but I made enough changes to it that I feel I might rename it. As long as I give her credit, right?

Here is the recipe, as I made it (not as printed):

1 Tblesp. EVOO, natch
6 slices turkey bacon, chopped
2 medium Yukon gold potatoes, largely diced
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 stalks celery
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 bay leaves
3 or 4 pinches cayenne pepper
3 cans Great Northern white beans, drained and rinsed
1 quart chicken stock
1/2 cup smoky BBQ sauce
salt and pepper
oyster crackers, parmesan cheese, or a nice grilled cheese sammich

Sautee the bacon and veggies in a skillet, then add them to a crock pot. Add the beans and chicken broth, and BBQ sauce. Simmer for four hours until everything is tender. Remove the bay leaves. I also took an immersion blender and went through just for a moment, until it wasn't completey pureed -- just thickened and chunky. It reheats beautifully, and the flavors are smoky and complex. The turkey bacon worked really well in here, and I think added to the slow-cooked smokiness.

Honestly, I can't remember the last time I enjoyed ANY soup this much. I intended to make it as a "multiple portions to get us through the schoolweek" basic batch recipe, but it has shot straight near the top of my favorite recipes list! (That's a mental, hypothetical list -- but it's definitely up there.)

Go Bears!

Cha Cha Cha!

On the way to the airport, we had our last culinary experience in L.A. over Christmas break. We went to Cha Cha Cha in Silverlake, or Que Cha Cha Cha, depending upon where you read their title. It is Caribbean cuisine in the coolest, most laid back setting. The atmosphere is similar to a couple of places Dave has taken us in L.A.: they seem as though there is little more than a tin roof over your head, and the line that distinguishes "inside" from "out" is definitely blurred. The parking lot outside is tiny, and despite the relaxed and sort of funky-junky atmosphere, the Jags and BMW's are crammed into the little lot. You may even spot a celebrity! I think the word is out about how good this place is.

We started with the empa?aditas and the jerk pork. Both were fantastic. The empa?aditas are stuffed with squash, tomatoes and other veggies, and goat and mozzarella cheeses. The pork was super sweet and syrupy, but just as spicy. We gobbled it all.



David and I followed with the swordfish caesar salads. The fish was chargrilled to perfection.



Chris hadn't had his fill of jerk yet, so he ordered the jerk chicken salad. He said it hit the spot.



I will most definitely request a return visit on our next stop in L.A. And maybe we'll be as lucky as David and his friend Heather were before us, and run into one of our favorite recording artists who may be nice enough to let us take his picture.



But even if we don't see anyone famous (we didn?t on the way to the airport), it'll be well worth it. Who cares about celebrities when you have jerk pork this good? I want to try everything on the menu at this place!

Sushi is Better Fried

Two more posts about Cali... Whoops, three. And then it's back to my own cooking! I'm having problems with the internet connection, but Lord willing and the waters don't rise, I'll post them all today.

We went out for sushi at a place near Dave called Miyako (you can even view the whole menu online at this site. Will revisit this page later...) It was really delicious. This post features more of Dave's camera phone photos. I gots ta git me one of those.

We started off with an appetizer of tempura-fried jalepe?os with cream cheese and tuna in them. They had a delicious, creamy and spicy sauce on top. I could have eaten an order by myself.



I'm not crazy about sashimi, but I do love the photos of it. I'm always tempted by the new craft stuff online in the shape of it -- jewelry and pillows and stuff -- although I don't really eat it.



The sushi rolls we got are lined up in the photo in the order I liked them best (just by coincidence -- even my OCD knows certain limits.)



The first was either the Aloha or the Caterpillar roll... It had mango around the outside, which may have been pickled or treated in some way, because it wasn't as juicy or as citrus-y as we would have liked. The middle was the Philadelphia roll, with smoked salmon and Philly cream cheese, and it was very good. The Tempura Shrimp rolls on the right were my fave, because how can you beat anything fried? The sauce on it was also delicious.

It was a great meal, and we all left feeling full for not too much money... But not bursting at the seams. Mmmm, sushi. Meat without the regret!