Balon

Seared scallops

Balon

Seared wild salmon

Balon

Honey roasted spicy pecans

Scrod a la Enzo

Scallops on a bed of curried maple festival squash

I really need to a) get a good camera and b) take a course in food photography because as I reflect back on my meals using such washed-out blurry photos I actually can't remember how good things tasted.

At any rate, here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

Butternut, Acord, or Festival squash
Scallops
Ginger
Sage
Nutmeg
Butter
Maple syrup
Curry powder
Mango Chutney powder

Recipe:

1. Grate ginger over halved squash and sprinkle curry powder, salt, & pepper.  Grate nutmeg
2. Coat with olive oil and put sage leaves in the squash cavity
3. Roast for 1 hour at 400 degrees, then scoop out and puree with maple syrup and a dash of lime juice
4. Sprinkle mango chutney powder, salt, & pepper on scallops
5. Sear in butter

On a kale kick

Rotini with kale, shallots, garlic, fresh chillies, (and super-secret anchovies).

You can replace the anchovies (which you dissolve into the oil first before sauteeing the shallots and garlic) with bacon, pancetta, or any other fatty goodness that will render down and give a little extra richness.  I suppose if you wanted to go vegan you might even be able to brown some portabello mushrooms and deglaze with a veggie stock.

Kale with pomegranite seeds?

Yep. Tasty! And looks like Christmas on a plate but my cell phone camera dulled the colors :(

Here's the "recipe":

1. Heat up some olive oil in a pan
2. Sautee some shallots and chillies
3. Throw in some chopped kale and make it go all wilty 
4. Sprinkle some celery salt as you stir in some pomegranite seeds and lemon juice
5. Serve immediately, eat immediately, and sigh with pleasure (immediately)

Death and Co

I don't normally review bars but K and I just had such bafflingly beautiful cocktails at Death and Co (6th between first and ave a).  The entire place is themed like a funeral parlor complete with austere entrance, with a menu full of about 12 pages worth of original drinks, sorted by primary liquor.  

K & I both opted for selections from the whiskey page.  She had La Dolce Vita (right), a strong drink centered around a chamomile-infused rye, complemented by St. Germain, Campari, and Elderflower liquor.  It grew on both of us as the ginormous ice-cube began to dilute.  I'm a sucker for all things smokey (scotch, bbq, lox, and lapsang suchong), so I went for the Laphroaig-based Paul's Word (left) spiked with lime juice and Green Chartreuse.  It was, despite the strong single-malt structure, a bit lightweight for me, but it was oh so interesting to taste the peaty backdrop of Laphroaig cut through the sweet.  And our bartender Thomas: this is a man worth befriending, folks.  He worked his tail off, even going so far as to taste (with a little pipette) my Paul's Word and decide it wasn't to his liking.  He spilled it out and started from scratch.  Wow.

So, if you're looking to contemplate your mortality while you imbibe some highly original cocktails with uber-top-shelf spirits, I definitely recommend Death and Co.

It now appears I have a hot chocolate blog

At MarieBelle New York in (wait for it) New York. Ordered their Panela ($6.50). 75% chocolate!!! I didn't think that was street legal. Such a well-crafted drink feels both decadent and refreshing, equal parts dessert and restorative. And since it is served in delicate little gilded teacups in a second floor boutique over looking Madison Ave, one feels oh so uppercrust. As near to chocolate perfection as I have had, but MarieBelle has not solved the classic hot chocolate dilemma: lumping. It invariably sets in as the hot chocolate becomes less..hot. Stirring doesn't help. Maybe all hot chocolate should be ladelled into shot glasses from an auto stirring fondue pot on your table? Maybe I should just chew my lumps :)

Chocolate decadence

After Friday's jaunt into Chicago, the fam and I were eager to sink into what I was told (by a few different websites) was Chicago's best hot chocolate, a Barcelona-inspired concoction at the EasyBake oven-decored Angel Food and Bakery.  They were closed when we finally hunted them down on Friday, but the sign said they would return on Saturday so we made plans to do so as well.

It was worth the wait.

We ordered 4 regular-sized "Barthelona" hot chocolates which I washed down with a peanutbutter cupcake (yes the cupcake actually appeared to be less thick than our drink).  The chocolate, topped with a few inches of homemade whipped-cream, was thick, rich, and dark, texturally quite stunning as a sip of chilled cream and the hot cocoa equivalent of 3 melted chocolate bars mingles in your mouth.  The peanutbutter cupcake was like Haute Reeses.  

I didn't finish either but it wasn't for lack of trying.  The chocolate coma set in shortly after my first sip and bite, and, by the time I gave up, my eyes had started glazing over, the world-filtered through cocoa-colored glasses.  

Angel Food & Bakery is located in Ravenswood and is about 15 minutes from downtown Chicago.  Well worth the trip.  Has anyone tried their homemade twinkies?

Lula Cafe in Chicago

Lesson of the day: If you're visiting a new city, ask an aerialist what her favorite restaurant is? I asked E if she had any friends in Chicago, and a friend of hers from ART who just happens to be a Chicago-based aerialist gave me an incredible dining tip: Lula Cafe.

I can't imagine someone creating a restaurant more compatible with my food-activist philosophies and my adventurous palette. The walls are decked with gorgeous photos of farm-fresh produce and the farmers who grow them.   You can probably quiz your server and ask them to source any ingredient on them menu.  You'd find they're all (the ingredients, not the servers) locally grown with organic practices (it can be difficult for small farmers to actually gain organic certification) and, in the case of meats, humanely raised and slaughtered.   Beyond the many many ways that supporting such establishments is absolutely vital in these days of corrupt agribusiness, I think you can actually taste the difference when such care has gone into the raw materials of your meal.  

And, one quick glance at the menu makes it clear that equal care is being put into the innovative entrees that Lula offers.  I started my brunch with a Black Sambal Bloody Mary: strong and spicy (in both senses of the word, both hot and flavorful).  My sister M and I decided to share two of the brunch entrees:their take on Eggs Florentine (with poached eggs, hollandaise, sourdough crostini, tomato coulis, and pickled asparagus) and a fascinating squash dish (Ancho glazed sweet dumpling squash, scrambled eggs, black beans, queso blanco, and pickled brussels sprouts).  The florentine was really quite perfect, offering a nice twist on a Norwegian Eggs Benedict (served with lox instead of bacon) with perfectly cooked striped bass, both flaky and savory.  And while hollandaise-doused eggy brunch items can sometimes overwhelm with their richness, the pickled asparagus (pickled asparagus?  yep!) cut through and complexified the palette.    The squash entree was quite a flavor festival and though I'm not sure it all came together for me, I really found each individual ingredient flawless on its own.  

So, all you Chicagoans and those visiting, hie thee hence to the Lula Cafe.  

Super Heeb Sandwich (Russ & Daughters)

Had this tasty treat at the Lower East Side legendary lox-spot, Russ & Daughters.  They call it the Super Heeb.  The regular (unsuper) Heeb is an oh-so-fluffy and just fishy-enough whitefish salad on a bagel schmeared with (double-whipped) horseradish creamcheese.  The mild-mannered Heeb earns its cape and long johns (thereby becoming...SUPER!) with a few bounteous dollops of wasabi infused flying fish roe.  Though lots of reviews have praised the Super Heeb's sinus-clearing potency, I think I've just drowned too much gefilte fish in horseradish sauce (and sushi in wasabi) to be impressed on that front.  That said, it is really quite good and a nice way to introduce the smoked-fish averse to their first white-fish salad.

Oh, and did I mention that their lox are sliced so thin that if you dressed yourself in them you'd be violating public decency laws in most states?

August stinks: Pain, Vin, Fromage

Missed out on what seems to be another must-eat. Ah well--gives us a reason to come back.

Les Philosophes (3/3)

Foie Gras, the consolation prize. (See my below tantrum)

Les Philosophes (2/3)

A watermelon, blender, and a handful of spices walk into a bar. Bartender says, "You three think you're so cool, don't you?"

Watermelon soup. Chilled. Oh. Yes.