ronnie_suburban

Matsumoto is the lead story in this week's edition of Chicago Magazine's Dish: =R=

Then shouldn't you be drinking by now? =R=

August 31, 2005... From today's Chicago Tribune - Good Eating section: California (olive) dreamin'...Bill Daley details the struggles which American olive oil producers face. Included are quotes from eGS member Marlena Spieler, a noted authority on the subject of olives. Once upon a time, when California olives were chic...in a sidebar to his olive oil story, Bill Daley provides some background on the once chic California olive. Where there's pinot, there's chardonnay...Bill Daley reports on how marketing adjacency has helped Oregon chardonnay producers carve out a niche for themselves. Tasting notes are included. Building a bigger Block...Kelly Aiglon details The Chopping Block's recent move to the Merchandise Mart. Eggplant...Renee Enna with a useful guide. Golden Arm and Station Master Wheat Ale...Jeff Boda with his Beer of the Month installment. French elegance, on the double...James P. DeWan walks us through Fillets of fish a la meuniere with a step-by-step guide. ===== From today's Chicago Sun Times - Food section: What Chicago loves to eat...Sandy Thorn Clark with a fun story (and list) about some of Chicago's most popular food items. 437 Rush chef introduces specials for fall...Denise I. O'Neal previews their new menu as well as a cool fall "special" being offered at Tru. Tastings around town...in her weekly round-up, Celeste Busk previews events at Motel, Salud Tequila Lounge and 404 Wine Bar. ===== From today's Daily Herald - Food section: Stuff it...food editor Deborah Pankey hits the sandwich trail. Food and wine classes...a comprehensive listing of upcoming area food events, tastings and classes; broken out by day. ===== In the new-look Dish from Chicago Magazine, Penny Pollack and Jeff Ruby add to the buzz surrounding Matsumoto Restaurant, the newly-opened, all-kaiseki restaurant in Albany Park. ===== =R= <><><><><> 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. Please do not reply on this thread. For discussion of any stories which are linked here, please feel free to start a new thread or contact the forum host or digester who will be happy to do it for you.

A dinner sounds great but please, let's not use the forums for event planning. The best way to coordinate this would be through pm's or the ISO thread which is pinned at the top of the forum. For reference: eGS Calendar and Events Policy Thank you =R=

My expertise is only in eating them but I believe they are essentially cornbread fritters. =R=

The link is repaired =R=

← A brilliant choice, if I do say so myself. =R=

I'll be happy to co-pilot . . . assistant birriarista! The few times I've had it around here, it was slowly-cooked. One birriaria we hit on occasion prepares it in what can be described as carnitas-style. It think it's braised for a while and then roasted near the end of the cooking process to crisp it up. It's damn good that way. =R=

Don't worry -- we'll put you to work. So, who wants to research the cooking of whole goat? This is obviously not a Southern thing (unless we're thinking of Southern North America -- aka Mexico), but I'm thinking of lots of lard, lemon, oregano and rosemary. I know you're supposed to cook it low and slow. Ronnie, you want to be responsible for this??? ← LOL! I'm not sure the best time for my maiden voyage in goat-cookery is when there will be upwards of 150 dedicated epicures standing by with forks in hand. That said, back on A Cook's Tour I remember seeing Bourdain's Puebla friends cook several goats in pits they dug, using hot embers and banana leaves, IIRC. And, I have at least a couple of books in which whole goat cooking is covered. I'll check them out as soon as I get home. =R=

I've amended the title of the thread accordingly. =R=

I think I could probably id 2 of the 4 on a good day if the wind were blowing just right. It certainly would be fun to try =R= ← I don't mean distinguishing the smell of the smoke. I meant, could you distinguish by the flavor of the meat? ← Understood...didn't mean to imply anything more than "randon chance" with my wind comment above To clarify: I think I'd have a decent chance of recognizing the meat cooked with the 2 woods I most often cook with; hickory and pecan. I'm certainly not sure I can do it. But it wood (sic) be a fun thing to try. =R=

I think I could probably id 2 of the 4 on a good day if the wind were blowing just right. It certainly would be fun to try =R=

I'm glad you raised the point because I've been curious about this myself. I too have a very bio, health conscious friend who expressed to me her concerns about this issue. And, like you, I couldn't really answer her questions. =R=

OMG! We still have one of those and it's in use at this very moment. Does the spikey thing actually do anything? I don't know if you can still buy them. =R=

Regarding fun at Alinea, here's another account: Dining as theater by Rachel Forrest at the Portsmouth Herald (NH). =R=

LOL! That is so true. Can't believe I overlooked that. =R=

I agree with you about TG; it's my favorite holiday because it's primarily about the food but still, hosting is hard and requires a lot more work than just making the food. The meal itself must be planned out and shopped. For a larger group, the set-up of the house and table(s) is time-consuming too. And let's not forget about the most labor-intensive task: the clean-up, which follows not only the cooking but the eating of the meal as well. In the end, hosting TG is a fairly major task which usually disrupts in no small way one's general routine. It's fairly significant upheaval; especially for someone who really isn't in the mood to do it. Even the basic act of cooking the turkey may require extra effort, like cleaning out one's refrigerator or getting up earlier than one is used to. All that said, if it were me, I'd either offer to host the family version myself (which I always do to ensure that my immediate family has TG the way we want it) or do whatever I could to make it as easy as possible on the relatives doing the hosting (committing to make certain sides, pledging clean-up effort, etc). As much as I love a food-oriented holiday, I cannot imagine ever putting the TG meal ahead of being with my family. Going out for TG totally sucks, IMO. Having it at someone's home/apartment is the preferred mode because it matches up with my vision of what the holiday should be. Family members can hang out together and watch/play football. The kids can play together before and after meal. Grown-ups can take a nice, post-meal walk together. These are parts of the holiday that are just lost when you go out for TG dinner. No matter what, I would work very hard to prevent my TG dinner from taking that form. Every year my mom tries to convince me that we should go to her country club for Thanksgiving...blech! It's usually a small skirmish but having it at home always wins out. That's the price I pay for making sure TG goes the way I want it to. =R=

August 24, 2005... From today's Chicago Tribune - Good Eating section: Gone whole hog...following up on her inquiry here, Robin Mather Jenkins reports on this compelling and time-honored culinary tradition. Crazy for Spain...Bill Daley goes beyond Rioja and explores the "new wave" of Spanish wine. Honeydew melons...Robin Mather Jenkins with a useful guide. Test your food safety IQ...dietitian Janet Helm will be your proctor. ===== From today's Chicago Sun Times - Food section: Ideas for new creations spur use of odd equipment...Janet Rausa Fuller visits with several Chicago chefs and explores some of their technological innovations. Enjoy summer while it's still here with a cool cocktail...food editor Sue Ontiveros and Celeste Busk remind us that it's not too late to enjoy one of summer's simple pleasures. Recipes are included. Nonprofit uses food to teach children diversity...Sandy Thorn Clark reports on Common Threads, the brainchild of Art Smith and Jesus Salqueiro. Sutton at center of Evening to Savour...Denise I. O'Neal reports on Seattle Sutton's upcoming appearance in Chicago and a few other food-oriented events as well. Tastings around town...Celeste Busk previews Sweets & Savories' first ever wine dinner as well as upcoming events at Greenhouse at the Ritz-Carlton, Chopping Block, and Knightsbridge Wine Shoppe in Northbrook. ===== From today's Daily Herald - Food section: My first recipe...28-year-old Tom O'Konowitz makes an entertaining confession. Food and wine classes...a comprehensive listing of upcoming area food events, tastings and classes; broken out by day. ===== And last, but certainly not least, in this week's installment of Chicago Magazine's Dish...Penny Pollack and Jeff Ruby dish up news of Copper Blue, a French-Mediterranean from Michael Tsonton (Tizi Melloul) and Victor Newgren (MK North), scheduled to bow, somewhere downtown, this fall. ===== =R= <><><><><> 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. Please do not reply on this thread. For discussion of any stories which are linked here, please feel free to start a new thread or contact the forum host or digester who will be happy to do it for you.

I always do both with ribs (and most other pork for that matter), making sure to cut back the amount of salt in my dry rub accordingly. For 3 slabs of loin ribs, I'll brine for about 12 hours in a gallon of water mixed with about 2/3 C of morton kosher salt. After the brining, I rinse and dry them, and hit them with some rub before they go on the smoker. =R=

For starters, check out this thread: Decent Croissant in Chicago, does this exist? =R=

Other than the baguette, croissant and breads used for sandwiches, everything at Cafe Selmarie is made on premises. =R=

I'll be happy to help out with the eggs too. I usually turn out 72 (144 halves) for my holiday party every December, so I have some familiarity with the task. I've been looking through Debbie's book and the recipes all look great. I'd love the opportunity to work alongside the master and learn a bit =R=

Truffle honey sounds intriguing. Did it contain pieces of truffle or truffle oil? =R=

I think that continually expecting this show to be A Cook's Tour can only lead to disappointment. It's really a whole new thing. Put a fork in A Cook's Tour. It's over. If I'd never heard of Bourdain before and stumbled upon this show, I'd be quite pleased. And, in the end, I think that the real target audience here isn't necessarily those who already count themselves as Bourdain fans. Sure, we food-lovers are going to give it a whirl but there are much larger segments of audience who (are going to) love this show. In its context as a "travel" show, it's original and fairly compelling. =R=

I am SO jealous!!! Sounds like it was a great meal and a great time. I hope we get to hear more about it soon. =R=