KateinChicago

For what it's worth I ate there last night. We were a party of 6 and thought we had reservations but found out that we didn't. It wasn't a problem and the place wasn't crowded for a Thursday night, maybe 5 tables the whole night. I was surprised at the low turnout because the tasting menu we had was really delicious. We started with vichyssoise topped with white truffle oil followed by a yummy risotto with bacon, crunchy sweet corn and creme fraiche. The risotto was particularly liked by everyone because of the combination of textures and the surprising but successful inclusion of the creme fraiche. The pan fried salmon with lentils, bell pepper jus and balsamic vinaigrette was perfectly cooked and the beef tenderloin with demi glace reduction with white truffle mashed potatoes and asparagus was just wonderful and a perfect medium rare. We were brought a tasty selection of desserts which included a lemon curd and berry tart, a dark chocolate tart with ice cream a peach cobbler and two others that I can't recall. The food wasn't cutting edge but it was really, really good and all of us agreed that we would return in a heartbeat!

You have our very best wishes and hopes. I heard the awful news tonight on the television. Kate

Staying at the Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa and am looking for great restaurants within easy driving distance (as in less than 1/2 hour). Any thoughts? It needn't be the French Laundry but preferably fine dining or semi-fine in mid to late July. Thanks. Kate

That one sounds great...I did not make it there off the bat because it seemed more out of the way than it really is. ← Isn't that the truth? I realized I was only 5 miles away when I map quested it. I will be there often now that I know how easy it is to get to. Thanks for photo incentive! Kate

I've been meaning to try Spacca Napoli for some time but Elliot's gorgeous photographs finally sent me over the edge and I drove the mere 5 miles to get there today. I loved the pizza I ordered! It was a special with porcini mushrooms, truffled cheese and truffle oil. The porcini tasted fresh not reconstituted and the truffle aroma was really intense. I felt like I was back in Italy! Kate

Oh my gosh. I just posted my reply to Jaz and Carrot Top's food ideas when I saw your response and that of Sugarella. Do these degrade much? Not that it matters in the long run as I'd rather have a slightly less quality product than tossing these products. They were certainly defrosted at under 40 degrees as my fridge runs cold. Is the 40 degree benchmark merely from the health safety framework or is there some issue with taste degradation involved? I'm merely a home cook so if I am not endangering my family and friends in some flagrant way I'll happily reboil and refreeze! Kate

Jaz and Carrot Top thanks for the excellent suggestions. I really like the idea of braising the artichokes and tossing them with a vinaigrette in a salad or as a stand alone appetizer. I have to admit that I have never cooked with frozen artichoke hearts before as I greatly prefer dealing with fresh artichokes but these I bought on a whim when one of my local markets was asking $4.00 per artichoke. I was planning on making a potato and artichoke gratin and balked at spending such a ridiculous amount for the required 8 artichokes. I wonder if a quick caramelization/browning in either the rendered bacon or pancetta fat might not be a good idea? It's so nice to toss thoughts around in this forum. I was bereft of ideas when I posted and honestly couldn't think of any reasonable use for the corn other than adding to a salad or perhaps a pasta salad which seemed lame to me since I was raised in an area of Illinois when summer meant getting your corn fresh from the field and either serving it on the cob or cut from the cob. Some of the corn is in a "low fat butter sauce" and some is, or was, just frozen corn. My SO loves this stuff and it is so easy to serve it for him from the microwave that I actually think it is a good thing even though I don't really crave it myself. I can definitely see the "low fat butter sauce" stuff being incorporated into a soup particularly with the bacon, potato, stock etc. additions. Even if I can't make a go of it over the holiday my SO would definitely devour it between now and then. I'm leery about using tomatoes in a puff pastry recipe simply because of the sogginess factor but I need to keep it simple and the whole caramelized onion and bacon/pancetta thing definitely works for me. I like the idea of doing sausage kabobs on the grill. I really like the Bari sausage and it wouldn't interfere with the BBQ theme for the Fourth. I'm still stymied by the glace de viand problem and the extra stock which is, as noted, highly concentrated (as a freezer space saving maneuver). My problem is that when I made the glace de viande and froze it in ice cube trays I eventually emptied the trays into zip lock bags. These, as defrosted, are semi amorphous blobs of semi-separated cubes that may or may not be easily re-separated. Could I re-heat the glace to make it liquid and re-freeze in an ice cube tray in a friends freezer? Could I do the same with the extra stock without degradation? As to dry ice - I'm scared of that stuff on anything other than a short term basis and don't think that it answers my concerns about the refreezing issue even if I had a place to store it. The Maytag Man will not be here before the Fourth Again, thanks for the ideas. Kate

Argh! My bottom mount freezer of one year and one month broke last night ( no I didn't get an extended warranty ). I just ended up chucking a lot of stuff but decided to let a few things thaw in the fridge with the hope that I could do *something* with them. Who better to ask for suggestions than this group?! The salvaged items include a 14 oz package of Dufour (all butter) puffed pastry dough, a 12 oz package of Trader Joe artichoke hearts, home made veal stock (about a quart of very concentrated stock), homemade chicken/meat stock (about 3 quarts of equally concentrated stock) 1 1/2 lbs of Bari Foods (Chicago) "Barese" mild Italian sausage, lots of frozen corn, lots of unsalted butter (obviously not a huge problem) homemade glace de viande (2 ice cube trays worth), kafir lime leaves, bacon (1 lb) and pancetta (about 1/2 lb). My larder is pretty well stocked with onions, garlic, shallots, lots of vinegars and oils plus several different cheeses (maytag blue, gruyere, mild chevre and sharp cheddar), condiments of many types and most dried spices, many types of dried pasta and grains etc.. I figure that I could make some different things to serve to friends and family over the Fourth of July holiday. Nothings has totally defrosted yet as I keep the fridge fairly cold. I'm thinking appetizers and side dishes and this is just is the wrong time of year for hot soups but the thought of the stocks and glace going to waste just has me sick! Maybe an artichoke and puff pastry appetizer that has a sauce that uses the glace or the stock or can be incorporated into the filling? Other thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I hadn't expected to be doing much cooking for the Fourth as it is my birthday and I'm not hosting the back yard BBQ but obviously this has changed things. I had originally planned to make a roasted potato salad but now I need to get creative and salvage some of this stuff. As I look at my list it all seems fall and wintery to me and I am in need of inspiration! Thanks in advance. Kate

I used to be "totally in love" with this place but my last few visits have left me vaguely disappointed. There's nothing really wrong with the food but it seems rather boring. I remember having a grilled grouper with pumpkinseed mole and a grilled shrimp with poblano crema that had me spending hours trying to make them at home (successfully!) but the last dish I had on the Saturday brunch menu, an egg thing with tortillas was so listless and dull I couldn't be bothered to finish it. Interestingly, the bartender (I was eating at the bar as I was alone) sua sponte (I made no complaints) offered to bring me some salsas to add to the dish. I accepted and even these didn't help. I got the feeling that the bartender probably was in the habit of offering gratis salsas to bar dining patrons as a "fix". "Best restaurant in America"? I'd say, decidedly, NOT! This makes me sad, in a way, because I've been a big fan over the years and have enjoyed cooking from the first two of Bayless's cookbooks. The mole I had in March was actually insipid and I have made much better moles at home using the recipes and guidelines from RB's cookbooks. Kate

There was some oohing and ahhing especially over the oysters and pearls and the home made duck confit ravioli. My mom preempted me on the main course and dessert. She wanted rack of lamb and nothing but rack of lamb and she wanted chocolate creme brulee for dessert "period". Although the latter were dead easy I some how managed to over-cook the lamb a smidge which I have decided to blame on her convection oven (which I am not used to). My parents have an open kitchen so everyone could see me slaving over the meal . When I was making the ravioli the night before the dinner my mom and sister kept asking if they could help. "No" to mom but, eventually "Yes" then "Big Yes" to my sister. That actually turned out to be fun for both of us as she had never made any kind of stuffed pasta before. I am the one who makes it for holiday dinners and now I have a well trained assistant (we made about 250). She actually wants to help with the next batch of Christmas tortellini! I've been trying to get a helper for years and actually threatened to stop making them. For some reason I never asked this sister to help (I've got 5 sisters and she is the only one not into cooking). No one offered to help shuck the oysters or cook the tapioca or make the sabayon or the sauce but they were more than happy to eat the oysters. What a great dish! Hats off to Thomas Keller! Would I make it again? Probably not. It's a lot of work and an unbelievable fat delivery vehicle and, my father just kept stealing the raw oysters as soon as I had shucked them. Fortunately I purchased more than I needed for just such an eventuality. I made a lamb jus for the racks from the home made stock and the sauce for the pasta was made from tomato and garlic confit and the stock and turned out very nice. I planned on serving the lamb only with some simple grilled asparagus but my father (and I hadn't been bad to him) demanded potatoes so I made some oven roasted red potatoes with fresh herbs and pancetta. I used Valhrona bittersweet chocolate in the creme brulee as it was the last of a large stash I purchased at the Valhrona factory in France on a trip with my parents. I forgot to bring my mini blow torch so I was a bit concerned about browning the tops under the broiler but it all worked out. By the time we started to eat I was so dead tired that my mom came over to me and gave me a kiss and said "You're such a good daughter". That perked me up quite a bit! Unfortunately Dad is expecting same for Father's Day Kate

Absolutely. Get Mom buzzed, but good. Everything just looks shiny and brighter. Unfortunately, my Mother is a teetotaler. I had to wash dishes, step, and fetch to make up for my sins. It is always worth it. You only have one mother. ← Mom definately drinks and she definately will but I am having a hard time figuring out how that Pousse cafe would actually taste. She'd probably rather have a dry potato vodka martini but I could dress it up with some roquefort stuffed olives and maybe a home pickled onion. Kate

Cream-puff swans. Ya gotta make the dough, pipe em (bodies and necks), bake em, cut half to make wings, fill em (can use icecream here), stick necks/heads on em, and pipe eyes on the heads. LOTS of work, very showy. Everything except filling could probably be done in advance. If you like the hot sugar idea from a croquembouche, you could use sugar threads to accent and add sparkle/crunch, or to make nests for the swans. The swans look best with VERY skinny necks, and nice round bodies, IMO. That also makes them more difficult to do... I dont know where we got the recipe we used. link to recipe/instructions That looks like a lot of work. THANKS!! I've got all of the equipment and have never been afraid of pate choux although my artistic ability is a little pathetic. For some reason the swans seem very springy and Mother's Dayish and perhaps I could do an ugly duckling as a self portrait , Kate ←

Been there. OK, appetizer. How about Oysters and Pearls from the French Laundry ? ← Well I am whacking myself on the side of the head (taking expiation to extremes cause it hurt ). That's a great suggestion and one I've been meaning to try as I love all things I've produced from the Keller books. Last expiation dinner she got the salmon (except I used smoked) tartare in the cornet. Actually she was the only one who got it in the cornet as my fingers were pretty well burned after, finally, making two that were servicable. Everyone else got smoked salmon tartare napoleons as the little rounds were much easier to make. While I love oysters I am not so much a fan of caviar but my mom is. So I get to make something I'm not crazy about but mom will love. Thanks! Kate

I need to pull out all of the stops for Mother's Day. You could call it Expiation Day Dinner From a Very Bad Child Who Masquerades as an Adult. I will be cooking for about 10 people. Mom is 79 and culinarily adventuresome as is dad. In my larder made within the last week (that I would hope to incorporate) are tomato confit, duck confit and garlic confit. I was thinking to incorporate these into a first course of duck confit and foie gras stuffed ravioli with a sauce utilizing the tomato and garlic confits. I am pretty sure that I can make these into a tasty something but all thoughts are welcome. I need an appetizer thing utilizing fresh oysters or clams, preferably labor intensive and elaborate ::think expiative::, a main with sides although I am toying with the idea of making cassoulet but the ravioli idea may nix this because of redundancy. Mom loves a great dessert. This should also be painfully labor intensive with the caveat that I only have until Mother's Day to complete it. For mom it's a plus if ice cream is involved but not a necessity. I live in Chicago so odd and weird ingredients shouldn't pose much of a problem. My parents live in Arizona for half of the year and are into spicy and loved their various trips to the Orient but, for the most part, I am thinking along European and Italian lines for this dinner. That could change however. All suggestions welcome. Just make sure that it won't be easy on me. Kate

Stuff with thin slices of fontina, prosciutto and morels (or other wild mushroom in season) and make a pan sauce of sauteed mushrooms, garlic, thyme, shallots with white wine added at the last moment and finished with a little butter. Really, really good! Kate

Spiaggia and One Sixtyblue are open on Mondays. Kate

Care to elaborate? Looking through my Italian cookery books I see many with a wine and clam component. Marcella makes her vongole bianco with white wine, Bugialli makes clam sauces and soups with red and white wine, Kleiman's "Mare" has several dishes with clams and wine and so many others do as well. I don't see the objection although most Neopolitan white clam sauces don't include wine - many others from Italy do. My paternal grandparents were from Piemonte so cooking with clams was not part of my culinary heritage but I certainly have eaten plenty of clam sauces that have included wine as a component both in the U.S.A and in Italy and it is one of my favorite dishes. The white clam sauce that I make is not, basically, a recreation of anything my grandmother might have made but a blend of flavors I have enjoyed and find pleasing from both an Italian American experience living in the USA and as an American living in Italy for the combined equivilent of two years. The foods of my childhood, the things I now consider comfort food, polenta, heavily egg enriched pasta, anything with lots of anchovies or rosemary, anything with wild mushrooms like chicken cacciatore or anything with fontina cheese would not be considered Italian American fare by the standards of the 60's and early 70's in the U.S.A. But it was what I was eating long before this stuff became popular in the late seventies and early eighties when "Northen" cooking became popular. Where I grew up what was cooked at home included a stuffed pasta, call it tortellini, agnolotti, mezza lune or whatever it was served in broth or with a meat sauce or Bolognese or simply burro e parmigiano. To me white clam sauce and pasta is food we never had at home but I am grateful to make at least 3 or 4 times per month Agree! I always make it with a dry white wine although the influence is obscure for me. It just tastes yummy. Though certainly not a universal ingredient, it would not have horrified anyone I am familiar with either. ← Me neither but I am interested in wine and clams is considered, in certain circles, as a "horror". Kate

I hear ya on this! I generally prepare white clam sauce using the recipe in Marcella Hazan's "Classic Italian Cookbook" as a "guide" but I add more shallot or yellow onion and garlic, additional clam juice and lots of chopped fresh Italian parsley. It never tastes clammy enough without additional juice nor "bright" enough without the fresh parsley. I hate any grit at all in my clams so I am fairly meticulous about scrubbing them. Once steamed open with white wine I remove them from the shells and place them in a small bowl with enough bottled clam juice to cover and strain the remaining clam nectar and white wine from the steaming pan through a fine sieve lined with paper towel into the bowl. I pull the clams from the steaming pan just as soon as they open so that they are slightly undercooked as they will go back on the heat right before serving. Rinse out steaming pan to get rid of any residual grit and saute the shallot in lots of olive oil, add the garlic and saute until translucent. Add crushed red pepper flakes then some white wine and reduce. Add half to 2/3rds of the juice holding the clams after straining yet again and reduce. When ready to serve I do add some butter and freshly grated parmesan (even Marcella admits this is heretical but it tastes better this way) and put the clams back in the pan to warm. Add the cooked pasta to the pan and let absorb some of the sauce for a minute or two over low heat. It works for me! Kate

Sausage stuffed Mushrooms Crostini di fegatini Spinach, roasted red pepper & feta stuffed leg of lamb with Pinot Noir reduction sauce Asparagus and parmesan flan Herbed gnocchi (from Keller's Bouchon) with brown butter and lemon Rosemary & onion focaccia Pecan crusted ice cream and lemon meringue pie (the one on the cover of April's Bon Appetite) Made the lamb stock for the Pinot Noir Sauce and partially reduced earlier today. Put the pie together (without the meringue) also today. I'm making the fegatini tonight because it tastes better after a day or two of melded flavors. The gnocchi was made a while back and frozen. I picked up the lamb today so that I could season it. I made the mistake of ordering it from not my usual butcher as I was house/dog sitting for a friend in the suburbs. UGH! The butcher is a not so good butcher. Lots of holes, left on lots of silver skin. This leg is going to require LOTS of twine. Tomorrow I'll start the focaccia and stuff the mushrooms. I'm not usually this far ahead of the game before a holiday but I anticipate trouble with stuffing and rolling the lamb. Happy Holidays! Kate

It wasn't when I was there on Tuesday.

I had dinner at Aigre Doux this evening with five friends. While I agree that it is a fine restaurant and all of the food was very well prepared I was not completely wowed by the food. I may have gone in with expectations too high based on some of the reviews here. I found the room pleasant but a little too dark to take pictures without a flash so I have none. The plating of the food was very nice. The Starters: My starter was a very good oxtail ravioli with chestnut and wild mushroom compote and roasted tomato vinaigrette. The sauce was heavy on the butter but the acidic roasted tomato provided a nice foil and the mushrooms were a nice touch. A big Yummy! One of my friends ordered the crispy risotto al salto served on a bed of prosciutto di Parma with aioli on the side. This was a sophisticated riff on the Italian arancini or suppli al telephono without the inner core of cheese. It was three light and crispy fried balls of risotto nestled atop thinly shaved proscuitto with aioli as a dipping sauce. Very nice! Another friend, a mussel fiend, ordered the Prince Edward Island mussels with noodle galette, butternut squash and coconut curry sauce. I tasted a lovely and perfectly cooked plump mussel with a small amount of the broth but none of the galette or squash so I can't comment on how the dish worked as a whole. My friend declared it "fine, good, but not as good the version you make". I kind of pride myself on a dish I have tweaked over the years which is a Thai flavored coconut curry mollusk (generally mussels or clams) steam/broth. When I serve it at dinner parties I am always told to buy more bread to soak up the sauce. I can't recall the last time I had a leftover mollusk. My friend, the mussel fiend, didn't eat all of the mussels or the sauce so take that as you will. From what I could tell mine is much more assertively flavored with lime, chile, lemon grass, shallots and other stuff. In summary, we were not particularly wowed because we like another version much better, but the dish was very competently prepared. The hamachi and avocado salad with bruleed yuzo and yuzo vinaigrette was given a grade of B- by the orderer who found it too citrusy. I didn't taste it as I was rapt with my ravioli. The seared ahi tuna with jicama and cumin infused citrus salad was declared to be "very yummy". It, apparently, was so yummy that by the time I was finished tasting and sharing the ravioli the orderer had cleaned her plate and was proudly announcing herself the "winner of the clean plate award" for the evening. The Main Courses A slightly mixed bag but mostly quite good with the abberations mostly due to individual palate idiosyncracies. I should point out that the group I was dining with have been doing so for more than 20 years. We celebrate each others birthdays with a dinner at, usually, a fine restaurant. The birthday honoree gets to pick the restaurant, is treated to dinner and gets a present usually costing somewhere in the neighborhood of $120 to $180 dollars. Recent dinners have been at One Sixty Blue, Croften, Naha, Nomi, MK, Spring, Blackbird and Toplobambo. We're constantly amazed that this tradition has lasted this long but never contemplate abolishing it in any serious way despite the vissisitudes of life events like divorce, marriage and remarriage, tragedies, personal funks and just plain weird life events etc. A few of us are seriously into cooking and food. The rest are merely into food My main was the lamb rack. I was really excited about trying the Colorado rack of lamb wih truffled grits and fennel, apple and fava bean salad. The truffled grits were redolent of truffles and very good. The fennel, apple and fava bean salad was not unforgettable and a nice contrast. The lamb was meltingly tender and ... utterly flavorless. Hello! Where did the lambiness go? It wasn't a question of simply being underseasoned, it probably was but not when eaten with the slightly too salty grits. These flavors should have worked beautifully together but the lamb was incredibly BLAH. I wanted to cry. The lamb looked beautiful with perfect grill marks, it was tenderness incarnate and it was flaccid and flavorless and totally delambified. I had this similar experience not too long ago at Seasons at the Four Seasons Hotel. A sous vide cooked Colorado lamb dish that defined tender and tasted of ... nothing remotely lambish. Everyone at the table who tasted the lamb said "what is this...?" On the otherside of the equation I had a "Colorado" lamb dish at One-sixtyblue that I still dream about. It was *that* good Slow baked salmon with curried parsnip puree, braised endive and citrus emulsion was ordered by two of the diners. They both loved it as did the others who tried it. I didn't because I don't like unsmoked salmon. I LOVE smoked salmon in a million different forms and when really spectacular I'll eat the fresh but it's not my thang. Maple glazed duck breast with duck sausage, six grain wild rice, rhubarb chutney and spiced juice. The first few bites were enthusiastic. My bite was okay but a bit overcooked. Again I didn't taste all of the components but the orderer who did declared it B-. She's crabby most of the time but was absolutely gaga for Moto. So take her review with a grain of salt. Steak Frites. The person who ordered this absolutely loved it. Others thought it great but a wee bit tough Finally one of my friends ordered the wild sauteed turbot with depuy lentils, hearts of palm, pomello and saffron sauce. My friend found this totally inedible but she believed that this was not a fault of the restaurant and merely her tastes so she asked for another dinner plate so that she could eat our food and leave the turbot for her friends to taste. All of us tried this dish and nobody found it objectionable, although some didn't crave it. I did. I'd order it again. I'd gladly swap my lamb with her turbot but she didn't like my lamb. Desserts I pre-ordered the toffee dessert for a birthday treat for the birthday girl which was delivered. Nobody at the table "got" which dessert they actually received accurately. Most thought that the tofffe thingy was what was labeled as the bread pudding. I really liked this dessert and I am a definitely a non-interested dessert person. The others ordered a 3 tasting of ice creams and seemed to like it a lot. Kate

I just happened upon this thread. I like to add anchovies to Potatoes Anna. I just chop the anchovies and alternate between the layers of potatoes. I also add to potato salad smushed in the vinaigrette. Loverly! Kate

Just got back from lunch at Frontera. I Hadn't been in a while and was planning to do something Irishish for St. Patrick's Day but the lines outside of Fado and Kerryman and O'Callahan's were unbelievable!! Frontera made a decidedly better choice. Note to self: Stop after one Topolo margarita Kate

Spring morels sauteed in butter baby peas sauteed in olive oil with garlic and prosciutto fava beans with pecorino roasted lamb (rack or leg) lamb ragout with artichokes and fava beans soft shell crab sauteed with lemons and capers Summer cherry clafoutis mixed berries with champagne sabayon tomato tarte corn on the cob slathered in garlic butter Pasta with pesto Fall pumpkin/squash ravioli with brown butter and sage Butternut squash and apple soup oysters (with mignonette sauce, rockefeller, fried) spaghetti with white clam sauce fonduta with white truffles grilled porcini mushrooms Winter lots and lots of braises Christmas tortellini (I make a lot to last all winter) Lynn Rosetto Kasper's brodo from "The Splendid Table" with a handful of parmesan and maybe a handful of tortellini for when I'm home alone and feeling aggrieved Kate