Fire Roasted Salsa

So I was watching Rick Bayless' Mexico, One Plate at a Time  on Sunday morning and it was all about salsas.  The main point of the show was that salsa in Mexico is used more as a condiment than as a chips/dip combination that we use here in the States.  He showed clips from various Mexican restuarants that would have 5 or 6 different varieties of salsa available for toppings to the tacos and street food they were enjoying.  One of the salsas he made in the show really caught my eye, it was a fire roasted salsa.  I made it that night and mixed it with some homemade queso sauce and poured over macoroni, topped with shredded cheese and breadcrumbs and baked for 20 minutes.  However, I think the salsa would be a great topping to almost any dish, it could go on fish, steaks, burgers, tacos, fajitas, or could be used as a dip with chips.  The recipe I used (and adapted from Rick Bayless') was as follows:

8 garlic cloves
1/2 onion
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1/2 can of chipolte peppers, in adobo sauce (spoon out 4 peppers)
1/4 can of roasted red peppers
1/4 cup of chopped cilantro
1 tbsp of water
10 dashes of hot sauce

In a medium hot skillet, roast the garlic cloves, with the paper still on, until softened and paper is black in spots.  While you are roasting the garlic, slice onion into 1/8th inch slices and add to pan about halfway through the garlic cooking.  After garlic is roasted, remove from the pan and set aside.  Add the tomatoes, chipolte, red peppers and hot sauce to the pan with the onions.  Sautee for about 3-4 minutes, to remove the canned flavor and to heat slightly.  While this is cooking, peel the garlic from its paper and place in a blender with the cilantro, add the ingredients from your skillet and blend until smooth.  Add the water if needed to thin out slightly.  Salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Hope you enjoy.

Gastropubs

One of the most popular restaurant trends of the last few years has been the Gastropub.  The name Gastropub stems from the concept of the classic pub mixed with gastronomy, the art or science of quality food.  Over the last two months I have eaten at a few so-called gastropubs and I must say I love them.  The two best that I have eaten at recently are The Publican and The Purple Pig.  What is great about these establishments is that you leave the restaurant feeling like you ate the food the chef had always wanted to cook, at the restaurant he had always wanted to open.  Both of these establishments are owned by chefs made famous well before they opened their respective gastropubs, but you get the sense that these places have a renewed energy that shines through in food.

 The Publican is owned by Paul Kahan (of Blackbird and Avec), and their specialities are pork, oysters and beer.  The beer list is extensive and has a selection from around the world in all different styles.  The waitstaff is very knowledgeable about the list and offered great recommendations.  The beers paired nicely with a selection of oysters and spicy house made pork rinds to start the meal.  The pork rinds were really cool, it had a nice pork flavor and a very nice crunch.  The composed dishes are designed as small plates intended to be shared.  This is further enhanced by the communal dining aspect of restaurant.  Instead of having your own table, you are seated at a large table next to other diners.  It took a minute or two in order to get used to this concept, but at the end it definitely adds to the experience.  I sampled the suckling pig, veal sweetbreads, and the blood sausage and all were interesting and challenging to the palate.  This was not the food you get just anywhere.  The suckling pig was quite good and extremely tender.  The blood sausage (yes, it is what it sounds like) blew me away, it was one of the best things I have eaten in along time.  It had such a deep flavor, very enjoyable.  On my next visit, I would like to sample some more of their seafood options and the cured ham that they offer, but will definitely be going back for seconds on the blood sausage.

http://www.thepublicanrestaurant.com/    highly suggest flipping through the pictures of the food...

The Purple Pig was not all that different than The Publican conceptually.  It too is owned by some famous chefs/owners; Tony Montuano of Spiaggia and a James Beard award winner, Scott Harris who owns Mia Francesca, a fantastic Italian restaurant in Wrigleyville, and Jimmy Bannos and his son, Jimmy Bannos, Jr. who own Heaven on Seven, an extremely popular Cajun restaurant.  So the pedigree of this place was impressive to say the least.  The Purple Pig's slogan is Cheese, Swine & Wine, and the menu certainly supports that motto.  Like The Publican, communal dining was offered and we were sat at a large table with 3 or 4 other parties.  It was neat that towards the end of our meal the couple across from us was asking about dishes as they wanted to order them based on eyeballing our dinner.  The wine list was great, no American wines listed and the selections stretched across Europe.  Many of the wines were offered by the glass/quartino/half bottle and full bottle, which I really enjoyed because it allowed us to sample different wines from different regions.

The food stole the show though, we started with olive oil poached tuna and fava beans and shaved brussel sprouts with Parmesan and pecorino cheese.  The brussel sprouts were exceptional, the nuttiness of the cheeses shined through and accompanied the tuna nicely.  We followed that up with some crispy fried pig ear with fried kale, cherry peppers and a fried egg on top.  This was really cool, when you got a bite with all the components, it worked well.  Plus, you get to tell people you ate Pig's ear and enjoyed it.  Our next round of small plates were milk braised pork shoulder and a serrano ham, oyster mushroom and fried egg on top of a grilled piece of bread.  The serrano ham was good, the fried egg made the dish once again, but the pork shoulder was some serious eating.  It was the most succulent piece of pork I have ever tasted, it felt like butter in your mouth.  The flavor was great and it was served on creamy mashed potatoes with a nice gravy on top.  It was what you have always wanted a pot roast to taste like.  So good!  Dessert was a nutella, marshmallow and banana panini, which was fun and delicious, if not a bit overkill. 

http://www.thepurplepigchicago.com/    check out the recipe for the pork shoulder, will be trying it...

So am I on board with the Gastropub concept?  Yes, 100%.  The communal dining, European influenced small plates and focus on quality beer/wine lists is the complete package to me.  So I encourage you to try one the next time you get the opportunity, its the type of place to try something new and interesting and wash it down with a great beer or glass of wine.  Let me now if you have had any similar experiences.

Simple Dinner

The other night we invited some friends over for dinner last minute.

We were excited to have them but weren't really sure what to make.

Since neither one of us is that good of a cook, we were truly stumped all afternoon about this.

Ultimately we decided pizza was the best way to go.

Easy, yet delicious!

I bought pizza dough from Fresh Market.

Since I don't like pizza sauce, yes I am that picky, we made two medium size pizzas,

one with sauce and one without.

The one with sauce is much prettier.

It included spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, pepperoni, & salami.

Topped with shredded mozzarella & feta cheese.

(Mine had everything minus the sauce and meat.)

Stuck them in the oven for a few.

And there you have it!

Simple, yet delicious, dinner for four.

Anteprima

For Crystal's birthday this past weekend, we went to a great Tuscan restaurant up in Andersonville.  This is on the north side of the city and an area we do not frequent enough.  My friend and co-worker Brad had been talking up Anteprima for quite some time now and I have read a lot of great things about it.  Needless to say we were very excited to try the restaurant and it did not disappoint.

Let's recap the meal:

The restaurant brought out an amuse bouche, which was a vegetable tart.  It was a lot like a quiche and was a tasty first bite.   We decided to kick the night off with some cocktails and they were interesting; Crystal had Cynar, mixed with lemon juice and soda -- we had no idea what it was, but it was refreshing.  Later research indicated that it was a very popular drink in Europe.  I had a martini with fresh lemon juice and rosemary.  Very good, but I probably prefer a dirty martini, but this was good too.

For starters, we shared the grilled octopus (shown below) and the orichette pasta.  I need to discuss the octopus for a second, because it was phenomenal.  I have been craving it from the second the last bite was finished, I want more of this and I want it now.  It had a nice acidic vinaigrette spooned over perfectly grilled octupus.  It also had razor thin sliced fingerling potatoes and some peppers and chilis mixed in on the side.  It had such a nice balance and the octopus had a nice grilled flavor, but it did not overpower the dish.  The orichette was also well made, it had a house made lamb sausage, pecorino cheese and some chili flakes.  It was quite spicy, but again not in a way that overpowered the dish.  It was a smaller portion, so glad we got it as a starter, but was a nice dish I would try again.

On to the entree portion of the meal, Crystal had a sliced New York Strip which was served with wilted arugula and shaved parmasean cheese.  It was interesting that they put the arugula almost raw on the plate, but the plate comes out very hot, so it wilts as you are digging into the steak.  The strip was cooked nicely and was very tender and juicy.  I had the lamb chops, which were cut super thin, almost like they took a lamb chop and cut it in half lengthwise.  The flavor was outstanding and the sides may have been even better.  It came with a soft gargonzola polenta and spinach.  Excellent.  We enjoyed our meat dishes with a Barolo wine from Italy and it complimented the rich food very nicely.

Dessert was also very good, Crystal had a chocolate hazelnut tart and I had the lemon panna cotta.  I am not a huge panna cotta fan, but this was excellent.  Would definitely order it again when I return.  Crystal's was also delicious, the crust was great and it had a nice rich flavor.  If you like chocolate and hazelnuts, this was for you.

A great birthday dinner for Crystal and an exciting new find.  Looking forward to returning.



Lemon Chicken

4 whole boneless chicken breast
1 qt chicken stock
1 lb provolone cheese, sliced or graded
1.5 bunches of green onions, diced with stems
8 t capers
8 T olive oil or safflower oil
juice from 3 lemons
seasoned flour

Split breast and then cut in half, so that the thick side is all together. On the thicker pieces, place a couple of slits in chicken meat, being careful not to go all the way through.
Now place a sheet of plastic wrap on cutting board and place 2-3 pieces of chicken on the board and top with another piece of plastic wrap. With a mallard flatten the chicken pieces into thin scallopine, not too thin, just flatten evenly. Dredge the chicken into seasoned flour and set aside.

Heat the 2 T oil in a large skillet. Add 3-4 chicken pieces and cook 2 minutes and turn. Add the 2 t of the capers, 1 T of the scallions and 1 T of lemon juice a 2 T of the chicken stock. If you comfortable just eye the ingredients in this step. Quickly remove the chicken and all pan liquids to an oven proof casserole dish. You are only searing the chicken at this time. Heat 2 T of oil and repeat the procedure until all of the chicken is seared. Keep chicken in a single layer, you might need a second small casserole dish. Add chicken stock to casserole dish until the liquid is 2/3 up on the chicken. Top the chicken with a layer of provolone.

Preheat oven to 350o
Bake chicken for 30-45 minutes and serve
immediately.

NEW BREAKFAST ITEM

I have been thinking about eating quinoa for breakfast for sometime now. Yesterday I was reading the new issue of Food & Wine, in the reading room and I came across a recipe from Kristin Donnelly, a private-chef in LA and NY. The article was titled "Healthy Make-Ahead Dishes" page68. I created my own version. It is much lighter than oatmeal and tasted great.

This can be made ahead and heated in microwave, just keep the sauce separate from quinoa until ready to eat. Enjoy!

Breakfast Quinoa

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 cup apricot mango juice
5 dried Turkish apricots, diced
2 T maple syrup
dry roasted unsalted slide almonds

Heat water in sauce pan to rolling boil. Stir in quinoa and cover with tight fitting lid. Reduce heat to low and cook 15 minutes, or until all water is absorbed. Turn of heat and keep quinoa covered.

Meanwhile, in small sauté pan, heat apricot mango juice and
apricots. Simmer approximately 15 minutes to soften apricots. Now add the maple syrup and mix well.

To serve, place the quinoa into 3 bowls and top with apricot sauce, sprinkle with the sliced almonds for garnish and crunch.

CHICKPEA STEW

This stew has Middleastern flavors and turned out quite yummy

Chickpea Stew

1 #dried chickpea, soaked overnight
2 eggplants, peeled and large dice
4 cups sliced mushrooms (1#)
1 head of fennel, sliced across ribs and diced
3 cups diced carrots (1#)
1 qt of vegetable stock
6 cups of water
1 - 28oz can diced tomatoes
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and fine diced
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves , finely diced
2 T cumin
2 T coriander
1 T cardomon
1/2 t celery salt
1.5 T salt
1 T pepper


In a large pot soak chickpeas in enough water for beans to double their size and still be covered with water.

Drain chickpeas and rinse under cold water. Add stock and water to a large stock pot. Add chickpeas and bring to a boil and simmer for 1.5 hours. Meanwhile chop the other ingredients.
After an hour add the remaining ingredients and simmer for a another hour or until the vegetables and chickpeas are tender. To thicken the stew, use an immersion blender and blend a little at a time until the stew slightly thickens. You want most of the vegetables to be whole. An alternative method would be to use a potato masher and mash a few times to break down some of the vegetables.

Serve with toasted nan or your favorite crusty bread.

This makes approximately 10 servings