ronnie_suburban
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Posts posted by ronnie_suburban
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I highly recommend The Joy of Pickling by Linda Ziedrich.
I've made 4 recipes from it already this summer (first ones will be ready in 2 days, w00t!
) and I've also eaten several other pickles that were made from recipes in this book. Not only are the recipes solid, but after reading this book you will likely feel very confident about improvising your own variations as well.The book is divided into 10 sections. There is a primer section--which covers the basics and safety issues--as well as sections on fermented pickles, fresh pickles, cabbage pickles and freezer pickles to name just a few. There is also a section on pickling meats, fish and eggs. Can you say pickled tongue? I knew that you could
It's a comprehensive resource which even includes a list of mail-order pickling supplies.I tend to cook obsessively and I have become completely captivated by this book. I cannot say enough good things about it. And, at under $16.00, it's a real bargain as well.
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for me, it came down to holding my elbows in against my body rather than out. i know that sounds weird...
This is a tip I often see given when people ask for advice on whisking--holding elbow's against one's body while whisking is supposed to reduce the fatigue factor considerably.
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A very positive, 3-star review from Phil Vettel at the Chicago Tribune (published July 16)...
Green Zebra celebrates vegetarian cooking as envisioned by chef/owner Shawn McClain, formerly chef at four-star Trio. In many ways, Green Zebra is a logical extension of Spring, McClain's 4-year-old Wicker Park restaurant. Spring's menu embodies McClain's love of seafood, vegetables and all things Asian; Green Zebra is a more tightly focused version of the same vision.I'm going to GZ later this week and I'm even more excited now than when we made our reservations.
FYI, here is a link to their web site:
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Doesn't anybody go out to eat before they go to the theater? What about afterwards?
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today i noticed the name of the new chef at trio was announced on their website.
his name is Dale Levitski from Blackbird.
He was also, most recently the chef at La Tache. This news was reported here a few weeks ago.
It looks like Trio will be changing gears rather significantly--although under Henry's hand, I'm sure the transition with be a smooth and successful one.
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How about suggestions for Mexican cooking including sub-specialties?
I'm sure that others, more expert than I will chime in, but I think the Diana Kennedy books are terrific and they are also very highly-regarded by a lot of people I talk to.
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LOL! Nice write-up of the Ritz-Carlton Dining Room, but no need to duck...different strokes for different folks.
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I thought canned pineapple doesn't tenderize that well because the activity of the tenderizing enzyme (papain) is reduced significantly. Fresh pineapple and papaya work well because they contain the active enzyme (which is a protease, so it chops up proteins).
This is correct, although the acid in the pineapple juice will have some effect on breaking down the tissue. But the papain (and bromide, IIRC) which occur naturally in Pineapple Juice, are essentially deactivated upon pasteurization so using canned juice won't have the desired effect.
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Beautiful!
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given the pedigree of the place, it think it's a good bet that it won't need too long to settle. and you really, really don't want to miss the elan that the waiting staff have. they are obviosuly *loving* it there.
unlike, say, the staff at the ritz carlton last night....
I get the feeling that Sarah & George leaving R-C is part of a much larger story...I wonder if morale isn't a bit low there these days.
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I'm usually weary of trying new places so soon after they've opened, no matter what the pedigree. I trust Suzy when she says she had a wonderful experience there, but still...
I recently went to Miramar (in Highwood) on its second night. It was wonderful, but there were still some glitches which presumably will be/are already fixed.
How long does everyone out there think is a good enough time to allow a place to iron out its opening wrinkles?
I tend to agree. One has to balance the 'buzz' factor of eating at a relatively new place with the likelihood of having a solid and typical experience there. Is a month adequate before trying a new 'hot' spot? I honestly don't know. Looking at the calendar, this will only be Le Lan's 3rd weekend in operation. I'd be willing to go for it but I'd also be prepared for it to not be completely up to speed at this point.
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I'd really like to try Le Lan and I'm glad to hear you enjoyed your meal there. It's a joint venture between Roland Liccione of Les Nomades and Arun Sampanthavivat of Arun's. With that pedigree, the place deserves an immediate visit (or two).
Arun, who also consulted KDK Group and helped develop the menu at Opera (and at some of their other restaurants as well, IIRC), is clearly at the center of the Chicago restaurant universe. He seems to be involved in just about everything.
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Ramsay and his restaurants were also featured on another show, Chef School (or something like that...can't remember if that was the exact name) which ran on TLC or Discovery. He was dropping what I assume were F-bombs constantly--again can't be sure because there was so much bleeping going on.
One particularly memorable sequence featured Ramsay scolding the hell out of a young cook, fresh out of Le Cordon Bleu-London, who had won an externship with Ramsay. I believe the incident centered around some salads which became soggy because the extern dressed them too early.
This should be fun.
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Izze
in Ready to Eat
I really enjoy their Grapefruit and Lemon products. I buy them all the time and they work great in cocktails--especially vodka cocktails. I had the good fortune of trying all their products, side-by-side, back in May at the Fancy Foods show here in Chicago. Very nice.
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Lard will give you the flakiest crust and the most heart-blockage. I choose the healthier alternative.
I disagree. I'll take a tasty fully saturated fat like lard over a less tasty partially hydrogenated (trans) fat like shortening anyday and it can be argued that it's actually better for you...
Many commercial lards are partially hydrogenated, so you both may be right...err, wrong...well, whatever
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July 14, 2004...
From today's Chicago Tribune - Good Eating section:
Consumer offered a sweet puzzle...Brian McCormick reports on the vast array of sweeteners currently being offered to consumers.
Chefs ahoy!...sailor/reporter Mike Esposito charts the ins and outs of on-board dining.
Standing up to sushi...Bill Daley accepts the challenge and reports on wines which match up well with sushi.
Baby Joe's BBQ Co....Renee Enna files a 'Cheap Eats' review of this suburban eatery, aptly located in Hickory Hills.
Market Basket Foodstuff...blurbs about upscale gelato offerings downtown and on Chicago's French Pastry School instructors, Jacquy Pfeiffer and Sebastien Canonne, who were named Pastry Chefs of the Year at the 2004 World Pastry Championships in Las Vegas last week.
Perla's wisdom...Robin Mather Jenkins reviews How to Peel a Peach and 1001 Other Things Every Good Cook Needs to Know by Perla Meyers.
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From today's Chicago Sun Times - Food section:
Ice cream, etc....July is National Ice Cream Month and Denise I. O'Neal reports on a variety of ice cream-related events taking place in town as well as Chicago's French Pastry School and its founders, Sebastien Canonne and Jacquy Pfeiffer, who were awarded the Pastry Chef of the Year award at the Inniskillin Icewine 2004 World Pastry Championships in Las Vegas last week.
Cookbooks explore Greek cuisine...Joan Brunskill reviews several 'Greek' cookbooks, including Paula Wolfert's The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen: Recipes for the Passionate Cook and Meze by Diane Kochilas.
Tastings around town...a round-up of Chicago-area food-related events coming up this week. The roster includes events at Le Meridien, Golden Triangle, and Sam's Wine & Spirits.
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From today's Daily Herald - Food section:
Cooking classes...a comprehensive listing of the week's upcoming cooking classes, tastings and culinary events around town, broken out by day.
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And, in this week's installment of Chicago Magazine's Dish (formerly known as Morsels)...Penny Pollack and Jeff Ruby 'break' their own story as their newly-renamed, weekly column will now also run in print every month, starting with the upcoming, August issue of Chicago magazine. We also get 'served' a mini interview in which Sarah Stegner reveals some details about her upcoming Northbrook eatery.
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Media Digest Notes...
Updates from some Chicago media outlets, which do not 'go to press' on Wednesday mornings, will be edited into each week's post as they become available.
For discussion of any stories which are linked here, please feel free to start a new thread or contact the forum host who will be happy to do it for you.
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. . .I guess the only bad thing that happened was the outcome of the Cub's game!
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that was a good thing. go sox
and Kevin's from WI, so he was pleased too
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Thanks tetsujustin, for the excellent report.
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i've just cancelled my table. am going to the ritz carlton instead.
What were the specific factors which influenced your decision? I know you weren't crazy about the idea of Trotter's from the beginning but I'm always curious to learn why a seasoned diner makes the decisions she does.
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I have deleted a few posts which had changed the focus of this thread. Let's please keep the conversation on this thread--positive or negative--focused on Trio and Chef Achatz's work.
While I think the 'traditional vs. avant garde' debate is an interesting one, it would be best handled in its own thread and not piggybacked onto this one.
Thanks for your understanding.
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Ron, I am so jealous!
I've been dying to go back to Marisa's, had gone so far as to grab my keys, but then remembered all the food in the fridge we need to eat before going away...
I've hit the stage since my last visit of skepticism - was it really that good? Maybe I just caught a good night, etc etc. I'm glad to see it stands up one multiple repeat visits.
Have you tried the Sicilian pie yet?
I know exactly what you mean. I go thru that 'was it really as good as I remember?' phase with places all the time. For me, Marisa's absolutely stands up to that test. And last night's visit came at the end of a week where I also made pizzas at home twice (Sunday on the grill and Wednesday in the oven) and had Malnati's (Tuesday) as well. Ok, it was a very pizza week for us.
If we'd been there without our friends last night I would have definitely tried the Sicilian for the first time, but since they were with us, we opted for the thin pies, since we know them and love them. I wanted our friends to try the item we could recommend from experience.
But next time, I'm trying the Sicilian regardless of the circumstances.
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In the food world, there is little better than taking friends who've never been, to a place you like, and having it blow them away. That was our experience at Marisa's last night. We pre-ordered 3 pies over the phone for 'eat-in' and Mike had them ready for us and our friends who'd never eaten there, when we walked in the door.
Damn! This is some great pizza. Even our friends' notoriously picky kids were snarfing it down with wild abandon. Moments after we carried the pies to the table, the previously incessant chattering of the kids came to a delightfully abrupt halt.
Between the 8 of us (4 adults, 4 kids) we managed to effectively polish off 3 thin-crust pies--a small, a medium and a large. Our friends were blown away by how good it was. The only issue was how full we were going to be when we left. At one point I looked over at my friend, who had already eaten 3 slices, as he was coveting a 4th, which we eventually shared.
Amusingly, before we arrived, he'd mentioned something about a salad. Salad?!?! Bwah!
He was probably into his 2nd slice when I reminded him about it. He dismissed me with an impatient wave and went back to inhaling his pizza.Included in last night's order was our inaugural veggie pie from Marisa's...mushroom, onion, spinach leaves and sliced roma tomatoes. Wow! It was excellent. I didn't even think I'd like it yet I happily finished a whole slice. Of course, the pepperoni and sausage (my go-to combo) was as good as ever.
Anyway, I just can't say enough good things about Marisa's. The place is as solid as they come. Their pies are absolutely wonderful...and consistently so.
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LOL! So are you down to 165 this week?
We were 'in the neighborhood' last night and stopped in at the B.G. Culver's for dinner. I had an excellent double mushroom-swiss burger and, on George's recommendation, my wife and I split a turtle sundae--no actually we fought over it. I'd never been stabbed with a plastic spoon before.
Kevin, it was a pleasure to meet you. Even in the midst of that '3 busloads of folks showing up' rush, your staff handled things outstandingly. As I mentioned, the burger was excellent, even while your folks were getting slammed.
One other thing I really appreciate about this particular Culver's is the availability of caffeine-free diet pop. I don't know if every Culver's offers it, but the B.G. store does and it's a very nice thing.
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Welcome back to the Heartland!
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Cookbooks – How Many Do You Own? (Part 2)
in Cookbooks & References
Posted
Awesome score...TJOP is fabulous, as you and I just discussed here and I'm pretty sure that the Rosengarten book has been out of print for quite a while.
Very nice
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