adoxograph

The warrior-shaman, stripped to the waist, held aloft a stone stained with blood. His skin glistened in the sunlight as he peered down at the girl tied to the rock in front of him. "It is your turn." he intoned "and there had better be meat." "Come on, what if I just promise to be different? I'll do stuff no one else has!" The tattered remains of a black tennis shoe fell from her foot with a thud. "There must be blood!" His teeth looked sharp, and he spit as he glowered. "Um, what about salad? A nice green salad?" She squirmed. "Salad's for wimps. You're not a wimp are you? I hate wimps." "Hey, look! Transit of Venus!" She pointed towards the sun. The warrior turned, shielding his eyes. "What? Where?" When he turned back to the stone, the girl was gone. "Bah.... she'll be back. She'd better bring meat." A voice called out from down the mountain. "Fine, fine - if nothing else there will be fish!." The warrior rolled his eyes. "I totally knew it. Wimp."

Cold Stone's invaded the Chicago suburbs as well, lines, singing and all. I like customization for ice cream but overall, this place is not worth the expense.

Chef, I have to say Alinea is a great name - the symbol is a pilcrow, correct? Like this: ¶

The new Trio chef will be "a local name, a budding talent", eh? Anyone placing any bets, hypotheses, or conspiracy theories?

The cheese section alone of your "home" (it would be mine too) makes me consider employment options in Texas. :)

Top half of the East Coast (from my New England born biased POV) is New England and up into Canada. Islands include Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket and oh yes, there is lobster. Route 1 is a nice drive in parts, especially once the tourists go away. Hit the Cape (Provincetown), some great eats in Boston and Maine. Day trip up to Burlington, Vermon, look for Champy in the lake, cross over into upstate NY if you like. Bring home maple sugar candy, some proper cranberries, and skip the McLobster Roll. :)

Hey, when can we start making reservations? :)

If I pretend to be the Man can I have some of that pie? :)

If it were me, I would head for an area well known for cuisine that I don't know much about or haven't experienced "the real thing" whatever that may be. I know that may sound like a cop out, but really, there is a lot of stuff out there. Hooray for all of our immigrant and native ancestors. If I had to pick somewhere for you to go, I would recommend the East Coast, top or bottom, or the Southwest, because you seem to have the other regions covered. Or maybe Montana. I never hear about anyone going to Montana for the food. If you hit the East Coast on top, I would recommend a few ferry trips out to a couple of the islands, and perhaps a cross into Canada. I can't think of a place in the U.S. that wouldn't be great in September, especially after Labor Day, when pretty much every museum in the country would be thrilled to have you - until the field trips start at the end of the month. Have a great trip!

Let me add my thanks to everyone else's - and how I'm jealous of those around here who have experienced your baking firsthand. Despite hearing stories of 25 year old starters killed in two days, my own failed attempts, small successes and all the conflicting advice, I can't seem to let go of the sourdough addiction. What have been the best learning moments of your sourdough experience? What do you think are the most common sourdough misconceptions? In the end, do you think its worth it? :)

My sister married a Nashville boy, and rather than deprive him, she set her Yankee scientist mind at making a decent biscuit for him. Her recipe is this: 2 c. self rising flour 1/2 t. baking powder 1/4 t. baking soda 3-4 T. shortning 2 T. butter 1 1/4 c. buttermilk. I won't go into all of the details about how she put this together, but to sum up - the additional baking soda is there to balance the acid in the buttermilk. The shortning helps with tenderness, the butter is there for flavor. This makes a relatively wet dough, and she also stressed to me not to overwork it - she barely stirs hers to form a ball of dough, then presses it out with her hand to desired thickness. I like to let the dough sit for a few seconds before I cut it to help it stay together. The baking pan is wrapped in aluminum foil to help deter burnt bottoms, and the biscuits are placed touching on the pan to help them rise in the oven. They bake for about 10 minutes in a 425 degree oven. I hope this helps a bit, and good luck!

OK, so I didn't wake up this morning bleary eyed, sheets twisted around my ankles with my hand thrust in an empty pizza box. That having been said, I thought it was about the best thin crust I've had since leaving New England. We pulled in last night at about 7, past the Dominick's $5 Friday Night Pizza Special sign (have you tried one of those? gah!), parked the car, and headed in. Crossing the parking lot, the conversation went something like this: "There's a Vienna Beef sign in the window." "I know, ignore it." "They have a hot dog special." "I know. Ronnie said ignore the sign." "You think they'll put hot dogs on my pizza?" I was so studiously ignoring the Vienna Beef sign I missed that Ronnie's writeup had been given a place of honor by the door. We entered, and suddenly everyone who had been sitting in the booths scurried in to action behind the counter. Hah! Caught! We ordered two mediums and garlic knots. I'm predisposed to like any pizza place where you can get green olives, so I had the olives and mushrooms on mine. He saw that they had gyro meat as an offering, and couldn't pass it up - added that to the pepperoni he originally intended. I live with a freak. Garlic knots came first, steam pouring out as I ripped one open. He picked one up, put it back. "It's too hot." I gave him the eyebrow that replied, "Your girlfriend now believes that you are a big wuss." He didn't relent. I kept eating. My pizza appeared first and yep, it's a nice crust. Crunchy, nice sauce, and, happily, something I could eat multiple pieces of without expanding past bodily capacity. He snagged one of my pieces just as his pizza came up. That one looked tasty too. He put it aside to cool while eating part of mine. I think this is where things went wrong for him. See, the wuss let it cool, and he eats SLOWLY. Agonizingly slowly. When we were at TRU, it took a few courses but we eventually convinced the impeccable waitstaff that it was ok to clear the rest of our dishes while he was still eating. So, by piece number three of his pizza, the going got a little less crisp, a little more chewy. He mentioned it. I asked for clarification. Pointedly ripping at it with perfect incisors he went on to note that although the pizza was good, it wasn't greasy enough for him. Where were the pools of grease, the drippings? If he didn't have the keys, and I didn't know that was sarcasm, I would have stabbed his hand with my plastic fork and taken both pizzas to someone who appreciated them. Realizing that he was walking dangerous ground, he asked me to make sure we took home the leftovers. He wanted some for later. He's still sleeping, so I don't know how he felt about the leftovers, but his hand isn't thrust in an empty pizza box either. Which is good because then he would have eaten mine, and I'd have to kill him while he slept. I introduced myself to Mike, the owner as we were heading out. He seemed pleased to hear that we had made the drive, and pleased to hear that we thought it was worth it. He also asked if I had met our Mr. Suburban in person yet. When I said no, he replied, "Ronnie's great, you'll love him." He mentioned the writeup on the door, so we stopped to admire it on our way out. So I got a nice thin crust pizza, some tasty garlic knots, and a compliment for ronnie_suburban all in one sitting. Very nice for a neighborhood pizza place, dontcha think?

Sinclair, I'm all over that experiment with you - I've got my favorite lemon and key lime as well. I'd love one with blood orange juice or raspberry (insert weak knees here). Also, I've played around with the addition of ginger in my lemon curd which sometimes works and sometimes does not. To stay a bit more on topic - I started out with Alton Brown's lemon curd because, well, that was my first explanation of what a "curd" was. After developing a suitable addiction to curd in general, I've played with many curd recipes, but when asked for a how-to, I usually go back to AB's simply because I can give the best advice for that recipe.

I moved to Chicago some 5 (how did that happen?) years ago, and my first year, when I found out about the Taste, I wanted to go more than anything. I thought it would be something like a food version of the Big E (the Eastern States Exposition for you improper Yankees). My jaded never-leaving-Chicagoland friends told stories of McDonald's and Chili's and Dominick's. I was convinced that could not be true, but then work commitments interfered, I got sent to some strange locale and missed the Taste. The next year, I convinced my SO that I had had had to go. He had been, tried to dissuade me, but I insisted. So we went. It was disgustingly hot, humid, and expensive. I tried to figure out how a turkey leg could be a taste, but found one or two little spots that had a bite worth trying. Overall, though, it was fun to find the one or two interesting spots, until I realized how much they cost. I skipped the next year. Now, I'll be there Monday the 28th. I was there last year. Why? I'll be working the Family Activities Tent. Solar telescope viewing between the clouds! Since we have to be there, we try and make the best of it - we scope out short lines and good tidbits for each other, and we each do get a few free food tickets - but if I had a choice, I'd skip it. At least we're there on a weekday... If anyone does come down, come and say hello, and I'll give you an Adler Temporary Tattoo. :)

Well, there's liking a burger, and there's making me go off my mostly vegetarian diet. I'm not there yet. Surely someone's got one that can make me do that? :)

The executives are coming and they want a Good Eats spinoff. If you had to come up with something, what would you like it to be? What topics would you like it to cover? Would you make guest appearances that would result in sustained applause when you entered the kitchen?

I have three pregnant friends. I don't need an excuse anymore.

Was in the local asian market produce aisle today and was immediately drawn to an item called a "Grapple" pronounced grape - el. Apparently this is a fuji apple that has been "bathed in..the essence of Concord Grapes". Tasty, eh? At 5 dollars for 4, I wasn't ready to take the plunge, but have to know if anyone else here has. I'm willing to sacrifice in the name of eGullet, but only if no one has done so already. If it had been apple soaked in essence of pork, I'm sure someone would have had it already, but grape, well.... :) Any tasters out there braver than I?

weatherunderground.com shows Saturday will be 65 and partly cloudy, and my bank balance seems in good shape. Who's going to Evanston? :) To answer the original inquiry yes, I am very excited for the markets to open, I'm just always a little sad that the markets in my immediate vicinity (Schaumburg area) are a little lacking. But hey, I commute downtown anyway, what's a little more time in my car?

Driving through MInnesota this weekend, we passed by "Carlos O'Kerry's cafe". I couldn't help but think "What the hell do they serve there?"

When avoiding such fine dining experiences as Rice Krispie Chicken I could usually be found making strange hot pot couscous with tuna concoctions, or something out of those sandwich press thingies that make your sandwiches into hot pockets filled with something resembling nuclear fusion. Jiffy muffin mixes worked well in the sandwich maker - I would suddenly discover my neighbors when making blueberry muffins on weekends. A friend of mine was the son of a Rabbi who lived in fear that the one day he didn't eat matzoh during Passover would be the day of a surprise parental visit. We made varing attempts at alternates to matzoh pizza (which we loved and he hated). Matzoh with radishes, ground beef and ketchup was not what I would call a success. I always thought it was interesting that the dorm food meals cost the same as a quart of ice cream from the University Dairy Bar - and you could use your meal plan dollars for either. blackberry ice cream.... beef on toast..... blackberry ice cream.... beef on toast....

I've gotten shitaakes for a steal at the chains who entered them as white mushrooms, but the two produce markets I shop at regularly impress the hell out of me - the Valli Produce near me has produce I don't recognize (I'm tempted to take pictures and post them here under the heading WTF?) and yet the cashiers don't even blink at whatever weird offering I can muster from the aisles. Flat leaf parsley and cilantro entered correctly without checking any labels. I sometimes wonder what sort of training they must get....

After recommending this restaurant to more than half a dozen people who listened to my recommendation and enjoyed it, I figured it was time that I went. The inspiration for this was just a series of bad, grumpy days. Nothing specific that I could pinpoint, just general annoyances. The only cure, I decided, was a night out for a good meal. A small dip into the emergency restaurant fund provided capital, and after no debate my SO and I headed for Sabor. The reason I know Sabor exists is because of a friend, Scott, who owns a small bookstore. The chef had been coming in to order out of print seafood cookbooks, Scott's brother-in-law is a chef (my partner for my Iron Chef battle), there was conversation, and Scott told me to check it out. A year later last week, I did. It's tricky to find because of its strange strip mall location. Because it is in a strip mall within a strip mall (got to love the suburbs) they aren't allowed to put any signs on the streets. We have driven by it enough times that we only had to meander through the parking lot twice to actually get in front of the restaurant. There was a tiny voice that worried that it had better not be bad, or I would be even grumpier. There was no need to worry. The tiny restaurant was mostly empty in the early Tuesday gloom, but a nice table for two by the window with wonderful comfy seats cheered me. The menu cheered me more. We started with beef empanadas for him, calamar frito for me. The calamari was mingled with artichoke hearts and hearts of palm and the sauce was a nice balance of fruitiness and spiciness. The empanadas were tasty, and the sauce (as Sweet Willie mentioned) really made this dish. My sweetie cleaned the plate with a bit of brioche. I went for the rosemary herb roll, which we decided went better with my calamari sauce. For dinner he went with the Paella de Mariscos. I'll quote him -"i'm not the world's hugest fan of clam slime, but the mussels weren't too bad, and the shrimp was excellent. at times the peppers were a little too much, but the onions were especially nice, and the whole mess made the chicken really good. i had a glass of some white wine i'm forgetting with it, which went pretty well and i would probably buy a bottle for myself.." This from a guy who would go out for dinner and ask for the onions removed from everything when I met him. He recognized the saffron. I'm so proud. I had the Tico Tilapia, a crusted tilapia served with some fabulous rice (Our waiter claimed the rice was his favorite thing in the restaurant. I though that was weird until I tasted it.) seasoned with tomato, cilantro and the whole thing was topped with mandarin oranges. I thought I could live without the oranges, but actually they made a nice fruity addition. The fish was perfect, moist, not flaky dry. Dessert was a shared dish of banana empanadas with coconut ice cream and brandy caramel sauce. We ordered this because the waiter said it would be going off the menu in the next week - they are changing for the summer season - but I really hope that coconut ice cream stays on the menu in some fashion. The caramel sauce, made to order, seemed a bit grainy to me, and the banana empanadas were good, but that ice cream. Threats were issued to ensure that I shared. The subject of bill payment was volleyed back. I got more than he did. I win. Even if I did pick up the tab. Overall, I left not grumpy anymore, glad that I had recommended it to so many other people, and planning to return to check out the summer menu in a few weeks. If you're planning to be in Schaumburg, I'll tell you how to find it. Just don't tell too many other people. Our secret. :)

adrober, I'm curious - did you feel anything you would define as New York atmosphere at Per Se compared to Trotter's? I'm wondering if it's all just fine dining, or did you find something subtle that made it fine dining NYC rather than fine dining Chicago? Would Per Se have worked for you in Chicago?

I've officially been eating mostly vegetarian too long. How do I cook a steak? <insert shameful ducking of head here> Just some basic cuts and techniques - except round steak. I saw that thread. Hurry! Before the beef in my fridge goes bad! :)