NancyH

We had a big patch of "volunteer" acorn squash (and one lone zucchini - the biggest damn zucchini I've ever seen). Bob just cleared it out yesterday to make room for other veggies, and brought in a box of immature acorn squashes. We've found in the past that these aren't very tasty and have a hard texture. Any ideas for using them, other than the compost bin?

Fresser has started a new thread here showing images from the Ethnic Food Tour. But I'm going to put my Saturday lunch pictures in this thread. We weren't even that hungry when we made our last stop at Himalayan Restaurant, because we'd been noshing all day! The facade promised Indian and Nepali food. LAZ and her husband chose well! Our group of about 15 people descended on the buffet! Normally, I'm not a big fan of buffets - but Indian food seems to lend itself to continued stewing, so it works. The food was actually very good. The buffet begins with a salad and sauces. Chickpea Fritters These were intended to accompany the soup; they were light and crunchy. Fried Potato Slices (Pakora) Lentil Soup Basmati Rice Sweet Spiced Rice Chana Masala (Chickpeas w/North Indian Spices) Aloo Mutter (Peas and Potatoes in Gravy) Paneer Masala (Indian Cheese in Gravy) Sorry for the blur - I ran out of battery juice while trying to photograph this, and by the time I changed them and returned - the buffet line was a lot more crowded! Like Fresser, I rate this as one of my favorite dishes on the buffet. Cabbage Masala Tandoori Chicken The only dish I tasted that wasn't very good. Chicken Makhani On the other hand, this dish of chicken pieces in spicy sauce was lipsmackingly good! Khasi Ko Masi (Goat Meat in Typical Nepali Village Style, with Local Herbs and Spices) This was my second favorite, after the Paneer. My cup of soup Bread Service My plate I was too stuffed to try the desserts, though they did look good: Gulab Jamun Fruit Custard We headed back to Evanston with full stomachs, ready to start cooking! Thank you to Mr. and Mrs. LAZ for organizing this fun and productive tour, and especially this tasty lunch!

Friday evening, our tastebuds were dazzled by the fiery flavors of Szechuan cuisine at Lao Sze Chuan. Bob and I chose our table wisely - since the table next to us had only 4 people, they had a different dinner - and we passed dishes back and forth and got to try a couple of extra things! G Wiv did a marvelous job selecting a broad range of items for us to taste. The table next to us Every table was set with three cold dishes, two of which were from the "very Chinese" portion of the menu: Sliced Beef and Maw Szechuan Style Pig Ear Szechuan Style The third item is always presented as a complimentary starter at Lao Sze Chuan - Szechuan pickled cabbage. The hot dishes began to flow from the kitchen - and they were hot! Szechuan Wonton Tony's Chicken with three Chili a/k/a "Chicken Crack" This is truly irresistible! Crispy Shrimp in Mayonnaise Sauce Ma Po Tofu Prawns with Chili I'm not sure which menu item this was - but it was delightful. Both shrimp dishes passed my inspection - and had no off smells, tastes or textures (which frozen shrimp often has). I am guessing that this lamb dish was "Lamb with Pure Cumin Powder Xin Jang Style" It was very spicy and had a slight touch of curry flavor. Stir-Fried Sliced Potato with Fresh Chilli My guess is that this dish was "Sauteed baby Bai Cai" A welcome compliment to the spicy dishes that preceded it. It was about this time in the meal that our "neighbors" began to pass us some of their things - including this bun: Steamed Dumpling with Pork Don't know which fish dish this was - but it was delicious! At this point in the dinner, we were supposed to have "Famous Dong-Po Steamed Pork Elbow" - but the restaurant did not have enough of them. Since a few people were clamoring for relief from the heat - this dish was ordered in its place: Noodle Pancake with Beef This was the only dish I didn't care for - it had a tinny taste that I just couldn't get past. Oh well. I am hoping someone can identify these vegetables - which were a nice change of pace from the heavier dishes that preceded them. Another donation from the next table: This was one of the best things I tasted all night! Gary said it was Eggplant with Garlic Sauce, but it tasted like Chilli Egg-Plant to me. Two bites and I was done. Wo bao le (I am full). It was fun watching other tables nearby. The couple here is enjoying hua goa or Hotpot. Raw goodies are served, and a pot of boiling stock (Lovers Chafing Base, Consome Chafing Base or Hot Spicy Base) and dipping sauce are also brought to the table. The goodie plate here includes softened bean curd stick, tofu cubes, prawns, noodles and carrots. A small wire basket is used to lower the chosen morsels into the stock to cook - it's Chinese fondue (eat your heart out, Melting Pot!). Once all of the goodies are cooked and eaten, you add the noodles to cook, and then finish the contents of the hotpot as a bowl of noodle soup, which contains all of the wonderful flavors from everything that was just cooked in the stock. Since we have no Szechuan restaurant in Cleveland, this was an especially enjoyable dinner for us - the flavors were bold and the quality top notch! Thanks to Ronnie, and especially to Gary, for putting this together for us!

Ok - someone had to do it! Three food geeks (four, if you include me!) taking pictures at the same time! The disembodied hands belong to G Wiv and Edsel; the whole photographer is Ronnie, and his son Lucas and wife Julie are next to him, looking completely bored by all of the photography going on around them. This was the beginning of our Friday dinner at Lao Sze Chuan.

Nice to have two hands to type with again. For now. MRI revealed a big labrum tear. Which will probably mean arthroscopic surgery. Bummer. But I had a great time at the Gathering, and fully plan to be there next year! More photos to come, shortly.

Even with all of the time, effort and planning that Ronnie put into the weekend - he still had a few tricks up his sleeve! One of these was including Gary Wiviott of Chicago's lth forum [and his lovely wife ellen] in the festivities. Gary's website. Gary was a fun dining companion, and helped with the meal planning and menus. And so it came to pass on Friday morning, a stretch Ford Excursion limo drove up to the doubletree hotel in skokie, just for us! A dozen of us would eventually travel together on a whirlwind food tour of Chicago! I had known this plot was hatching since October, when ronnie & julie had shown us the town, as depicted here: thread on oct trip. Still, i only knew a few details as friday unfolded - and i was delighted that Gary and our own Fatguy would be joining us. The only "repeat" from October was the first stop: the original location of the now-franchised Al's Italian Beef. Beef & Sausage w/hot & mild peppers, wet Bob and i wisely brought a sharp knife for this trip, which came in very handy for sharing! Since we did the purist experience last time [just beef], we decided to add the sausage this time - heaven on a bun! our next stop was right across the street: Mario's Italian Frozen Lemonade Again, Bob & I took the purist approach, even though the many flavors offered were tempting, and got our lemonade straight. Frozen Lemonade Next stop: 1 of 2 banks of fry stations on either end of the kitchen Vienna beef hotdogs in the steamer our order - served in an incongruous paper bag We were told that you never get the same bag twice! Hotdog with mustard and fries Fries were awesome - hotdog ok. our order of break tamales So named because they are small and may appear broken. housemade hot sauce We weren't expecting much from the hot sauce, but we were pleasantly surprised. Parking lot mural Our next destination took an Hispanic turn. Gary ordered a feast for us! i am doing this with over a week [and a dislocated shoulder] in the interim, so please speak up to better describe these goodies. Cheese chalupas Pastor burrito porky goodness in a fresh tortilla, with 3 dipping sauces on the table for added zip. 1 of 2 different tortas we sampled 2d torta i'm pretty sure one of them was milanesa; don't remember the name of the other. both had crispy pork chop - 1 added cheese, 1 added ham; i think the cheese one also had avocado. this one had ham Avocado. our beverage of choice [empty bottle] you can see the squeeze bottle of green sauce behind it. they had a great selection of Mexican sodas [real sugar and not hfcs] and we tasted a specialty beverage - morchata. Our team of eaters was unable to clean the plates at Cemitas Puebla; how would we ever consume the wares at Honey One BBQ? We brought in a pinch hitter as Jesteinf joined us for this stop. ribs, served over fries and under bread, w/bbq sauce on the side A little dry - but incredibly tasty. tips. uhmmmm ..... Gary and Ronnie had other stops in mind for us - but after we declared 'uncle' after eating just a fraction of the food on table, our hosts resigned themselves to ending the tour. Maybe. It was 12 year old Lucas who inspired the last stop - you are never too full for ice cream, are you? not only is all of the ice cream home-made, but the range of flavors was mind blowing - from jackfruit to birthday cake! hang the knife - we weren't splitting one here! bob's - mango mine - purple yam The limo returned us to the hotel, and we had about three hours to digest before dinner. it was an amazing experience - showing up in some of those neighborhoods in that car was worth the trip all by itself! Thanks again to Ronnie & Julie - who's generosity made this day possible. This was a true "play with your food" experience, made all the better by amazing food and wonderful company!

My apologies! I left out the sidedish that was served Sat. night with Ronnie's ribs and Marmish's slaw - potato! Please tell us who made these and the details - i remember yummy, but not much more.

Thurs kick off dinner at Blackbird We started with 2 passed nibbles during the cocktail hour: Parmesan apricot shooter Tartare I remember this as lamb, but stuart said steak - who knows? it was delicious, as was the unusual shooter. Herbed butter bread service Bob and I both opted for the "nasty bits" menu. chopped chicken liver ravioli w/apple-lime puree and anise hyssop For my taste, this was, well, too chicken-livery. Caveat - I was never a chicken liver fan. [grain of salt] pickled beef tongue with fried bologna, cherry tomatoes, horseradish and nori I really liked this dish, though I never cared for the tongue on deli platters I tasted as a child. roasted hudson valley foie gras with preserved grapefruit, sea beans, and lychee-espresso I didn't like this as much as i thought i would, though as Tammy pointed out, roasted and seared foie are very different. count me in the 'seared' lovers group, i guess. braised rack of lamb with fresh soybeans, spring radishes, pickled feta & lovage Although there weren't any real nasty bits in this dish, it was superb. The lamb was perfectly cooked to a bloody rare [perhaps that was the nasty bit aspect] and tasted simply amazing. intermezzo - candied pig ear Loved this! Even more amazing was dessert: crispy veal sweetbreads w/cashew butter, rye waffle, black mission figs, black olive honey, and cashew ice cream The notion of sweetbreads for dessert was bizarre enough. but this combination of textures and flavors really worked! This lovely dinner really revved our culinary engines up for the edibles to come!

my photos from Sat. dinner: Edsel and his Vita Mix become the hit of the kitchen Fruits of the bread class Amuse, p 1 Amuse, p2 Tomato-watermelon soup beet stem pancakes Beet salad Salad niscoisse (pre-olives) baked shrimp Ratatouille Chicken & Waffles Gravy Cole Slaw Ribs It was all yummy! I was too stuffed for dessert - so no photos. lucas mentioned that he really liked the maple syrup on his rib (which was delicious, but a bit spicy). I thought the cole slaw was a perfect accompaniment, Marmish!

And a special thank you to Dr Kerry Beal, who kept me calm and triaged until the EMTs arrived. Take no backwards steps, and watch the sidewalk on maxwell street. Good news - Cle Dr. says i'll be out of this sling in one week! ← I also learned its nice to be in a group with not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 doctors. There wasnt too much they could do, but it was comforting ( to me anyway) to know they were there!! ←

Take no backwards steps, and watch the sidewalk on maxwell street. Good news - Cle Dr. says i'll be out of this sling in one week!

Here's the chix & waffles: Served with log cabin pure maple syrup (never heard of that before) and Edsel's coconut cream gravy:

i have some. i am trying to master typing w/one hand - i'll try pix once i get this down!

It was a wonderful weekend! Sorry, it may take me a while to post photos. At the Maxwell Street Market, I stepped into a divot between two sidewalk slabs and wound up on my back, with a dislocated right shoulder. I want to thank everyone from the group who tried to make me comfortable while we waited for the EMTs. The ER doctor was fantastic, and got me out of there in time for a little Burt's pizza in the evening. Kudos to all - especially Ronnie! The chicken & WAFFLE DISH was a true collaboration - once Ronnie posted that the church had a waffle making station, we started emailing each other. The original concept was to reinvent chicken & waffles with duck and SE Asian flavors. First problem: getting fresh duck! So, when we spied beautiful farm fresh chicken at the butcher shop LAZ & Dick brought us to, we went back to chicken. The butcher cut them up for us. Back at the kitchen, Tino &Chris invented and perfected the waffles. Bob trimmed up the backs and made cracklings, Edsel prepared both s SE Asian spice rub for the chix, and the coconut gravy. I prepped and grilled peaches and produced butter pats. Cooking the chix was a group effort - we'd planned to grill them, but ran out of time. So we crisped them on the flattop, then finished them in the oven. Final plating was also team - a quarter waffle was topped with a pat of butter, a piece of chix, a slice of grilled peach and a dusting of crackling. Maple syrup and the Coconut cream sauce were on the tables.

Mr. Weber would be AWESOME! Thank you!

No one has jumped up to offer a grill for Saturday. Can someone local be authorized to buy a real cheap one from a discount store? I'm sure now is the right time of year for it!

LL is part of the chain that owns Back Porch - Southern Restaurant Group. If you are looking for that type of food, Blue Orleans has been our second fave, though I understand the restaurant is up for sale - and our absolute fave - D&K Cafe.

Pig Roast at Lolita again! We needed to make up for last year, when torakris got sick her last week in Cleveland and had to miss the pig roast. So, together with Edsel, we met up at Lolita for what we all agreed was the best pig roast yet (at least, those of us who've had the pig roast before could agree - Kris was clearly at a disadvantage on that!). First - the four of us shared a new appetizer: Roasted Tomatoes with Feta, Skordalia & Herbs We cleaned the plate with our bread - it was that good! Next - Pizza! Duck Prosciutto Pizza This pizza is now topped with two organic eggs, in addition to Parmesan Cheese, Olive Oil & Rosemary. The crust was perfectly tender yet crunchy. And finally, the main event: Roast Pig over Mascarpone Cheesy Polenta This delight was topped with garden watercress, olive oil, and candied walnuts. And perched regally above it all - a freshly rendered crackling! My husband was moaning with delight as he ate it. And yes, it was that good. Moreover, at $19 a plate - it is a value that can't be beat! We were too stuffed for dessert. But we'll be back at Lolita Monday August 11! They are holding a benefit dinner for the Northern Ohio Convivium of Slow Food. Admission is $50, which includes dinner, 1 glass of wine, tax and gratuity. For $200, dinner comes with unlimited wine, and a raffle ticket (the winner will be drawn at the conclusion of the festivities) to win a trip to Italy in conjunction with Terra Madre, or a cooking class for 10 taught by Michael Symon, or 8 other prizes. The roster of chefs who will be cooking includes: Matt Harlan, Lolita (who will be roasting a whole Miller Livestock Lamb in his China Box) Karen Small, The Flying Fig Dominic Cerino, Retired (who is rumored to be bringing Copper River Salmon) Jonathon Sawyer, Bar Cento Dion Tsevedos, Chef to Chef foods Rocco Whalen, Farenheit Eric Williams, Momocho Heather Haviland, Sweet Mosaic/Lucky’s (and her peach cobbler at the Annie Chiu benefit last week was to die for!!) Michael Symon, Iron Chef, Dinner Impossible, Lola, Lolita You can call Lolita for reservations; there are only 120 seats - 216-771-5652.

Glad you enjoyed your trip. I'm a little jealous - I need to learn to fish! I'm a little surprised that you went to Landry's, which is a chain - you can do so much better than that in this neighborhood - but so long as you enjoyed it, that's what counts. We'll put Crab Shack and Black Pearl on our list of places to avoid.

I see we've got you hooked on those Szechuan potatoes! Jo-mel would be pleased!

The Meat team is seriously considering a variation on "Chicken and Waffles" - and especially since the kitchen isn't air conditioned, we'd love to have a charcoal (or gas) grill available - can someone local bring one??

I just asked my course-mates if we could work them into (or under) our dish!

How about pots and pans? Are any locals planning to bring grills? Will we need to rent tableware, or just go with disposable? Wine glasses?

Ronnie - can you remind us - what equipment/supplies are available at the Church?

As those of you who read this thread know, a plethora of Cleveland's finest Chefs turned out Monday night to help the beloved Annie Chiu, owner and operator of Sun Luck garden and recent quadruple bypass recipient. The restaurant has been closed since Annie took ill, and the restaurant community rallied to help her keep it by throwing a fabulous party: Takin' it to the Streets for Annie Chiu. The contributors were asked to prepare street food, which was served up at Sergio Abramoff's lovely Sarava restaurant on Shaker Square. The Abramoff family took the laboring oar to bring together food, wine distributors, raffle prizes and a website that, hint, hint, is still up and taking donations to help Annie. http://www.friendsofannie.com/event.html. While I have a full report and about 50 photos on my blog, I thought I would share some of the culinary highlights of the evening with you. Grilled Cheese & Pork Sandwich, Chef Zack Bruell, Parallax Pulled Pork w/Homemade Chips, Chef Karen Small, The Flying Fig Chinese Inspired Chicken Salad, Chef Rocco Whalen, Fahrenheit Duck Confit Gyro, Chef Brandon Kercher, Grovewood Tavern Fresh Peach Cobbler, Chef Heather Haviland, Lucky's Cafe Lamb Kabob, Chef Matt Harlan, Lolita Spicy Tuna Temaki, Chef Scott and Brenda Kim, SASAMatsu Duck Breast Topped With Cherry & Berry, House Made Graham Cracker, Chef Paul Minillo, The Baricelli Inn Duck Breast over Potato Pancake, Raspberry Chipotle Drizzle, Chefs Ruth and Marc Levine, Bistro 185 Mini Sausage Sub, Chef Doug Katz, fire food & drink Grilled Sweet Corn, Chili Butter, Crema, Salsa, Crumbled Cheese and Lime, Chef Eric Williams, Momocho Strawberry Taco, Chef Sergio Abramoff, Sergio's and Sarava. It was an amazing selection of street food, donated by these wonderful chefs. Get well soon, Annie!