danf

I have never baked bread of the non-banana bread type before but this recipe and all of the furor around it was so intriguing I had to give it a shot. Having an extensive amount of information on every single cooking website as well as a youtube video made me a bit more confident that I could handle this brave new world of baking. I basically followed the nyt recipe and technique except I used a 5 qt metal calphalon pot instead of cast iron or enamel, which I don't have. You can see the results below, I think it turned out pretty great, so great that I have already eaten half of it. I am definitely going to have to mess with this a bit as it seems to be pretty open to experimentation, maybe I'll even try to read this whole thread. Honestly this came out too good with too little effort, I can't wait to try again. peace Dan

oh man I forgot...welsh rarebit.

peanut butter, butter, jam, nutella, cream cheese, mayo, mustard, chutney(s), garlic, pesto, cheddar cheese, mozzarella, eggs, leftover pasta sauce...jeez, I don't thing there's anything I won't put on a piece of toast.

Yeah, that is a tough one, there's great food all over the city. Depends on what you want to eat or drink. Definitely check out the rest of this forum and LTH Forum for tons of places you might not find on your own. Also the Chicago Reader, metromix.com, and the PBS show "Check Please" are useful for information, though you might not find as many small or out-of-the-way places. I guess you'll be staying in the gold coast but, I think, as far as food goes the lakeview/wrigleyville area where I currently live is probably one of the most disappointing.

MLK weekend was a long one for me...though it's kind of hazy, this is what I ate when I managed to make it out of bed: cold tea ice water toast with cream cheese the weather in Chicago was so crappy and each morning I felt bad enough that I didn't even try to make it to a diner (even though there's an IHOP about 200 ft from my front door) for a carb/grease/salt fix. I can remember what I ate, now where the hell did these bruises come from?

I remember that Minimalist article, it was nice to see an article in the food section of the NYT about buying something cheaper. Trader Joe's seems to own in this category. I especially like the their super sweet corn, I can eat it frozen right out of the bag. I also buy the blocks of frozen spinach (usually Jewel brand) for quick pasta and soup meals. I keep a beat up old bread knife to saw then in half and throw it into the boiling pasta water or soup stock for my dinner. Quick question about frozen edamame, I've only had it when I cook it and don't know what it's texture should be. Should the beans still be crunchy-ish? I usually only cook them for a minute, just to get them unfrozen and warm, because I'm afraid of mushy beans. Dan

When in need of a protein and fat fix during climbing trips I've been known to eat peanut butter and oil-packed tuna sandwiches. The trick is thicker bread so it doesn't soak through. Dan

To me just focusing on the fuel aspect of local/global food debate seems kind of short sighted, no matter which side your coming from. While I'm not an agriculturist there seems to be a lot of other byproducts or side-products (to awkwardly coin a term) of agriculture that effect life and the environment as much as fuel consumption. Just like driving a hybrid car doesn't really won't solve any problems in the oil producing areas of the world, by local food kind of misses the forest for the trees. There's a lot more than just fuel going wrong with food production. Animal waste, pesticides, fertilizer, water usage, soil depletion are all accelerated by large-scale industrial farms but that doesn't mean that something from your favorite local farm couldn't be killing the trout in your favorite local stream. I realize that this discussion is about food miles as a flawed concept, and I appreciate the de-bunking of what seems to me to be a rather elitist and classist (at least in the United States and most of the industrialized world) concept, but maybe it can serve as a starting point (like it did here) for a wider re-evaluation of our food system. my two cents... Dan

I haven't been to any of these stores on the East or West coast, but I think Jungle Jim's and Wegmans are both impressive. I definitely prefer the big warehouse-y stores to the boutique food shops, mostly because my bank account can only take so big a hit on a specialty grocery run. If anyone else reading this is from the Cleveland, OH region surely there are other supporters of Miles Farmers Market? I think they have awesome produce and a good selection of other things (wine, olive oil, bakery, an olive bar) as well. Also, their bakery, in my opinion, produces the greatest loaf of rye bread in the universe. I have eaten half a fresh-out-of-the-oven loaf during the drive home from the store. I would also submit the West Side Market in downtown Cleveland, if the rules of this contest extend to the multi-store enclosure category. Dan

How about on pretzels, especially with that bottom of the bag salt? Or on a toasted pretzel bagle from Bialeys bakery (University Heights, OH). There is a very distinct possibility that I have consumed at least one peanut butter and something sandwich for every day that I have lived. Dan

Thanks for that excellent report. I've just returned from a trip to Helsinki myself and was also impressed with the food I found there. Finally there will be some useful information about this wonderful city on EG. My own travels were of a decidedly more frugal nature than yours. I don’t really have the funds to visit multiple restaurants, let alone those with Michelin stars. I could give a reasonable account of the grocery stores around the city center if anyone is looking for it. My one restaurant visit was to Ravintola Zetor, which one guidebook described as “fiercely agrarian,” though it should have also included “fiercely kitschy.” Tractors are the big thing here. The seating area of the restaurant includes two or three large tractors, presumably from Finnish farms, for the tourists to examine. The menu is pretty telling, it’s in Finnish, Swedish, English, French, German and Russian. Particularly humorous to my friend and I was the fact that the Finns, Swedes and English-speakers get a hard to follow menu with each dish description confusingly hidden within joke-y bits of prose, while the Continental Europeans get a more classical list-style menu. As for the food, I don’t have the most discerning palate but it was very good. There is less style than substance here as the food tends towards the hearty meat-and-potatoes dish than more elegant options. I had a green salad that was made with nice fresh vegetables but had a dressing than was nearly undetectable. We also had an appetizer of vendance (tiny white-fish) wrapped in dark rye bread. These were tasty, especially with the dill and sour cream(?) sauce/dip they were served with. For main dishes I had the reindeer steak and my friend had more fried vendance. My steak included an onion and potato gratin/hash and a dark sauce with lingonberries as a garnish. The vendance were fried and served with mashed potatoes and beets. We also had glasses of the house specialty drink, whose name escapes me, but it’s a beer-like drink that tasted like an English-style ale but kind of sweet and smoky and even less carbonation. I was too full of steak to have dessert. The rest of my time in Helsinki I was living off of grocery-store bread and fruit and Jaffa brand drinks. Also, one curiosity-driven visit to Hesburger pretty much tasted like McDonalds. I will also second the recommendation to visit the waterfront food stalls near where the ferry boats depart. The fish looked amazing and the produce, while there wasn’t a lot of it also looked pretty good. The covered market that’s also on the waterfront also has some amazing looking fish as well as more specialty stalls with bakery, cheese, etc. Finally, if anyone is planning to go to Kouvola, a smallish city NE of Helsinki, don’t plan on a similar culinary adventure. I can recommend the Pizzeria Bravo for huge, decently priced pizzas but don’t expect it to rival your favorite place anywhere else. Also the Sip Sak kebab stand makes a decent kebab for not that much cash. From what I heard from people there the best restaurant in the city is the one in the Sokos hotel, though I didn’t try it. I’d try to give directions but you’ll find all of these places within a ten minute walk even if you’re not looking for them. OK, that’s about all I have. I very much enjoyed my time in Finland so hopefully this will help some others. Dan

Nate's on west 25th has great food, I especially like their hummus, and is convenient if you're down at the west side market. Dan

It's towards the bottom (or what I always think of as the bottom) of the coventry strip, right before you hit mayfield. Its a brown building with a small sign on the left hand side of the street (if you are heading towards mayfield). Nothing super special about it but they do make really solid subs. Sorry but I can't remember any more details, sometimes coventry is a bit fuzzy in my head... now I want an Alesci's pizza bagel Dan

enthusiastic seconds on Grums few more: Jack's Deli on s green and cedar (not really subs but nice sandwiches) Slyman's Deli on St. Clair (google says: 3106 Saint Clair) also around there Hole in the wall vietnamese place on superior and somewhere west of e24th (its kind of hidden in a tiny strip mall behind a soul food takeaway) has decent bahn mi I'll keep thinking, its harder when you dont live there any more ... Dan