Jules

Danielle, Just coming out of lurk-dom to say that I am really enjoying your foodblog. Welcome to Chicago! We also live in Lakeview although we are moving soon to Lincoln Square. I'm sure you have tons of suggestions about where to go, but here are a few of my favorites in the general neighborhood... We just did an ethnic food whirlwind weekend when my mom was visiting from out-of-state. Laschett's on Irving Park for German; a Lebanese place on Kedzie, just south of Lawrence (sorry, don't remember the name but it's next to a great Middle Eastern market owned by the same folks); and Vietnamese delivered from Viet-Dong on Clark (near School). We have a toddler also and all of these places are really kid-friendly. Thanks for posting about the Chicago Food Corp! I've never been there - I'm personally not a huge Korean fan, but my husband LOVES Korean food, so maybe I will take him there for his birthday this weekend. The wall of kim-chee will make him a very happy man. Jules

A Food & Wine recipe was actually my first introduction to you - it was a recipe for seafood bisteeya, in a 1998 or 1999 issue. It was exotic and somewhat complicated for me at the time... that recipe was the first time I had ever heard of preserved lemons, or chermoula. But what an introduction - it was delicious!!!!! I vividly remember tasting the chermoula from the blender and thinking, "oh, wow, this is going to be REALLY good." I've made it several times since - it is a lot of steps, but very fun to make. That particular issue of F&W is falling to pieces. Jules

In March, my husband and I visited Hearst Castle and stayed in Cambria. The owner of the hotel recommended a bistro called Black Cat - we thankfully took his advice and had a wonderful meal there. It's a small, cozy place - probably reservations are a good idea on weekends. I had a beet salad with pea shoots and some sort of goat cheese, followed by perfectly cooked salmon (I can't remember what else came with the salmon). Nothing wildly experimental, just very solid California cuisine. Great local wines by the glass and very friendly service - we were going to Paso Robles the next day to visit some wineries, and had NO CLUE where to go. Our server brought us a map and sat down next to us (we were one of the last 2 tables there) and chatted about some of the wineries with us. Hope you have a great trip! Jules

As I was reading through these posts about "worst meals" (and LMAO) - I was reminded of the following website: Weight Watchers Recipe Cards ( from 1974 - only the worst ones, and with hilarious commentary.) Any of these would qualify for a worst meal for me... Forgive me if it has been discussed here on egullet before - I'm new! Jules

I've been obsessed with this cookbook for the last several months, after picking it up at a used bookstore... I think one of the reasons I like this cookbook so much is because of her focus how to enhance & intensify the flavors in a dish in fairly simple, healthful ways. We've had such success with the recipes that this has become the default resource to go to to decide what we're going to cook. As far as specific recipes - I agree with MatthewB, Tuscan Style Pork Roast is excellent Other major hits at our house: miso-sake glazed salmon (we then grilled the salmon) - my husband said it was the best salmon he's ever eaten! Roasted Whole Fish (red snapper) with blood orange & olive oil sauce (my first attempt at a whole fish!) coriander-crusted scallops in fennel broth Basic Polenta - cooked in the oven (great for dinner parties when other things are on the stove) rice with fennel seeds, bay leaves, and cloves - we'll make this over and over again pasta with rosemary-roasted eggplant and ricotta salata - simple but absolutely delicious Steam-roasted leeks (the first time I've cooked leeks for a side dish that weren't stringy) odds-and-ends gratin (for leftover veggies) Tonight I'm going to make "The Best Part of a Potato Gratin" (even though it's summer and I'll have the oven on, oh well) Glad to hear the recommendations for the sherry chicken - I've been eyeing that recipe for a while. Now I'll definitely have to try it. The only "flop" we've had was the pan-smoked salmon - we used the cast-iron skillet and chiles to generate the smoke. But the salmon ended up tasting metallic. I figure we must have done something wrong (maybe the skillet is underseasoned or we should try wood chips not chiles). Schneider says somewhere it's one of her favorite recipes in the book! Has anyone ever tried this one successfully? Jules