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eG Foodblog: daniellewiley - Interactive Wanderings in the Windy City


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Someday, you, too, will grocery shop alone. Once I got to that point, I think my favorite moment of the week was shopping alone on Monday mornings, when what had gone off sale the day before was reduced, and there were little old ladies to help, etc. (Sad, but no, they shared many of the plants in their gardens as I helped them get home!).

Good compromise on the pizza. Where are TJ's do you find the pizza dough? We have but a tiny TJ's here in Minneapolis, and let me tell you, the place was jammed and I couldn't find anyone to ask. How was the sausage?

Susan Fahning aka "snowangel"
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pizza, any kind. Heat up a non-stick skillet, drop in some butter, place the slice in topping-side down, saute for a few minutes, flip and do the other side.

I unhesitatingly share my honorary Goddess of Lily Gilding title (conferred some time back, regarding using up some five pounds of cream cheese, if I recall).

Pizza fried in butter. I might oughta just abdicate in your favor.

Gilding, indeed. But, you know, it's good.

Edited by Lori in PA (log)

~ Lori in PA

My blog: http://inmykitcheninmylife.blogspot.com/

My egullet blog: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=89647&hl=

"Cooking is not a chore, it is a joy."

- Julia Child

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Someday, you, too, will grocery shop alone.  Once I got to that point, I think my favorite moment of the week was shopping alone on Monday mornings, when what had gone off sale the day before was reduced, and there were little old ladies to help, etc.  (Sad, but no, they shared many of the plants in their gardens as I helped them get home!).

Good compromise on the pizza.  Where are TJ's do you find the pizza dough?  We have but a tiny TJ's here in Minneapolis, and let me tell you, the place was jammed and I couldn't find anyone to ask.  How was the sausage?

The dough is just before the cheese. It's near the guacamole and salsas and prepared dinners.

The sausage was excellent - basically tasted like salami, but with such a nice chewy texture.

Danielle Altshuler Wiley

a.k.a. Foodmomiac

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this is a bit late, but let me just add that your bi bim bap looks very authentic. The messier the better!

next time though, you should add a heaping tablespoon of gochu jang :biggrin:

I saw in your grocery pic (from the korean store) that you bought some spinach, bean sprouts, etc banchan and they were all seasoned. It sounds like from your recipe that you seasoned them all yourself? Did you buy the veggies pre seasoned or did you "jazz" them up for the bi bim bap? If so that is a pain in the butt and i congratulate you. I am so lazy sometimes I toss carrots, spinach, mushrooms, bean sprouts, bell flower root, fernbracken, etc in one pan and cook it with sesame oil and some salt. I know it looks pretty when you arrange it neatly in your bowl but you're just going to mix it up anyway right?

Edited by SheenaGreena (log)
BEARS, BEETS, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
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this is a bit late, but let me just add that your bi bim bap looks very authentic.  The messier the better!

next time though, you should add a heaping tablespoon of gochu jang  :biggrin:

I saw in your grocery pic (from the korean store) that you bought some spinach, bean sprouts, etc banchan and they were all seasoned.  It sounds like from your recipe that you seasoned them all yourself?  Did you buy the veggies pre seasoned or did you "jazz" them up for the bi bim bap?  If so that is a pain in the butt and i congratulate you.  I am so lazy sometimes I toss carrots, spinach, mushrooms, bean sprouts, bell flower root, fernbracken, etc in one pan and cook it with sesame oil and some salt.  I know it looks pretty when you arrange it neatly in your bowl but you're just going to mix it up anyway right?

Thanks!

We each did add a bunch of gochu jang - that is the red lines you see. I bought some variety in a squeeze bottle.

I did buy seasoned stuff, and then also seasoned some ADDITIONAL veggies, including cucumbers, zucchini and carrot. The cucumbers were raw, so those were easy. The carrots and zucchini I boiled separately, but I used the same water, and did them one after the other so it wasn't a huge deal.

Danielle Altshuler Wiley

a.k.a. Foodmomiac

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Love the blog, dog and kids.

I have visited Chicago a number of times. What a great town.

If you like Korean Food go to Seoul. I have been twice for work, I got to do a little sight seeing which was nice, but WOW what a place to go to eat.

Best meal I had I walked into the bus station and went upstairs to look at the places to eat. I spoke no Korean, my waitress no english. I asked for yeukajang, the super hot beef soup. She said no. I pointed to what I learned later was a bowl of screaming hot Kim Chi Soup. She said yes, yes and brought a huge bowl over with a quart of water and a huge tray of banchan.

I was in heaven. Price $6.00.

edited because I wish I could spell or at least proof read.

Edited by handmc (log)

**************************************************

Ah, it's been way too long since I did a butt. - Susan Fahning aka "snowangel"

--------------------

One summers evening drunk to hell, I sat there nearly lifeless…Warren

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Love the blog, dog and kids.

I have visited Chicago a number of times. What a great town.

If you like Korean Food go to Seoul. I have been twice for work, I got to do a little sight seeing which was nice, but WOW what a place to go to eat.

Best meal I had I walked into the bus station and went upstairs to look at the places to eat. I spoke no Korean, my waitress no english. I asked for yeukajang, the super hot beef soup. She said no. I pointed to what I learned later was a bowl of screaming hot Kim Chi Soup. She said yes, yes and brought a huge bowl over with a quart of water and a huge tray of banchan.

I was in heaven. Price $6.00.

edited because I wish I could spell or at least proof read.

Michael went to Seoul this summer for work - he didn't have much freedom when it came to choosing meals, but he did get out late night a couple of times for some food. (He said he preferred Kang Suh in NY over what he had, though, interestingly enough.) He also drank quite a bit of soju. :rolleyes:

The price point you mention above, actually, is very similar to what things cost at that little cafe I went to the other day. Their bibimbap was $5.00!! The soup I got, which came with just kimchi (not a whole tray of banchan, unfortunately) was $6.00.

Danielle Altshuler Wiley

a.k.a. Foodmomiac

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I love eating leftovers for breakfast as well, the spicer the better!!! Love your adorable kids, and the fact that you use a notebook for jotting recipes. I have several I've kept over the years and refer to them often.

Thanks so much for your time this week!!!

Stop Family Violence

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Hi, Danielle. I just caught up with your blog. I'm enjoying it. I've been to Chicago twice - in 1988 and 1997. I really like Chicago (except in February - brrrrrrrrr!). Fabulous museums and nice architecture. I ate well there, too.

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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OK, I am REALLY behind!! :sad:

First, last night:

We met up with a bunch of eGulleters at a restaurant called Hot Chocolate:

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The chef/owner is Mindy Siegel, who was the acclaimed pastry chef at MK. Thanks to RonnieSuburban's clout, we got the "kitchen table" and we all were able to meet Siegel personally. She is very sweet (no pun intended), and seemed like a sincere person with a great love for what she does.

Hot Chocolate has gotten some mixed reviews, mostly because the desserts are perceived to be so much stronger than the entrees. She IS a pastry chef afterall. I set out with an open mind, though, hoping I'd love all of our courses.

I started fried green tomatoes, served with teeny lardons and greens that was tossed with a buttermilk ranch dressing. I liked this dish. It didn't blow me away, but it was definitely good:

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Michael started with the mussels. These were served in a green curry, coconut, and lemongrass broth. We loved them, and the portion was admirable. (I've gotten frustrated quite a bit in the past with restaurants that serve up dinky portions of mussels):

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We then moved on to the main courses, and from what I gathered, no one at the table was blown away. I had a fresh pappardelle pasta with a braised lamb shank ragout, ricotta salata and crispy lamb. As with the tomatoes, it was very good, but I wasn't left swooning:

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Michael had the steak, a seared "Kobe" style skirt steak with onion confit, potato puree and gruyere toast. He probably should have sent this back to the kitchen, as it came out cold. However, it didn't seem appropriate given the attention that Siegel was giving us. And she was just so darn nice - we felt like we'd be clods to complain about anything, to be perfectly honest. There was so much food, though, that Michael was fine eating off my plate. Here is the steak:

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The menu is two-sided, and at the bottom of the front page are the words, "save room." Truer words were never spoken, and we would have done well to heed this warning. Ronnie asked Siegel to figure dessert out for us. There are 13 desserts available, plus six hot chocolates, seven milkshakes. There were also 13 types of cheese. Siegel brought out a ton of desserts, and everything was phenomenal. At this point, my stomach was bursting, but I just kept eating. We all took a bite of each dessert and started passing them around. It was fun.

My favorites were the Banana (Volume VII), described as a "banana split" : chocolate brownie, caramelized bananas, banana sherbet, coco nib chocolate chip ice cream, chocolate sorbet, chocolate sauce and butterscotch:

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and the Chocolate (72%) Cake and Shake, an "all American chocolate cake." layers of chocolate buttermilk cake, bittersweet chocolate mousse, chocolate ganache butter cream and served with a vanilla bean milk shake (I'd love the recipe for this cake - it was outrageous):

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and the little milkshakes:

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I can't resist posting this pic. I love how Ronnie is laughing. We had a great time.

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Danielle Altshuler Wiley

a.k.a. Foodmomiac

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This morning, Max and I went to the Green City Farmer's Market. We got an early start, and arrived at 8am:

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Our first stop was to get some eggs. When we last visited the market two weeks ago, we missed out on the eggs by 15 minutes. I wanted to be sure we got some. The purveyer is Country Cottage Farm. We've had their chicken before, but never the eggs. I had heard wondeful things though:

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Next stop was Heartland Meats to pick up some beef for tomorrow night's dinner. I chose a two pound chuck roast. All of his meats are frozen, so it is currently defrosting in my fridge. Looks great. He features Piedmontese beef - higher in protein and lower in fat. I could really care less about the fat, but I've enjoyed the flavor of Piedmontese beef in the past.

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I also wanted to get a squash. I chose Kabocha:

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As you can see, I had plenty to choose from:

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I also wanted to get some greens. Kinnikinnick Farm has a very wide variety. I took the easy way out and bought a bag of mixed braising greens.

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My handsome shopping partner:

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And some bread from Red Hen:

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I'm a huge fan of this market. It has a focus on organic, local and sustainable produce, and I always have a blast when I visit. It is great to chat with the various farmers, and I also love the people watching.

When I first started going, a few weeks ago, I had no idea how to manage the market. It's in a very busy part of town, and parking is a bitch. The first two times I went, I parked in the lot, and even though my ticket was validated by the main tent, I went over the one hour allotment and had to pay extra each time. It would normally be $4 for the hour. Because I went over (less than 10 minutes), I ended up paying $6.25 one week and $9 the next. I decided this was ridiculous, and set out to find a better way. I now park on Wells Street, in Old Town, and walk the block or two to the market.

In the teaser for this blog, there was a picture of a beautiful door that I found two weeks ago when walking down Wells Street to the market. The other picture, by the way, was of one of my favorite farmers; Tiny Greens. He had a sub working his booth today, so I didn't stop by. I love seeing him, though. He always checks out my blog and Flickr photos, and when I walk up, he shouts, "Foodmomiac!!"

It's always charming to have small town neighborhood friendliness in a big city, and I've found that it is very much present at nearly all of places I visit for my food needs.

Danielle Altshuler Wiley

a.k.a. Foodmomiac

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This morning's breakfast was made after I returned home from the market. I fried up two of the eggs from Country Cottage (delicious) and also baked some Niman Ranch bacon in my toaster oven, after sprinkling it with turbinado sugar and freshly ground black pepper. Awesome. Oh, and a slice or two of bread from Red Hen. (spread with cultured butter):

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I skipped lunch, but had an early dinner from a local Mexican takout joint called Picante. Dylie had two ground beef tacos, just lettuce. I shared a chicken burrito with Michael. Here's a pic of the burrito:

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They are huge.

Max had rice and beans:

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Danielle Altshuler Wiley

a.k.a. Foodmomiac

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Max had rice and beans:

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That is quite an understatement! :biggrin:

BTW, Danielle, you mentioned bread up at the very top and I really don't think there are any better -- which are available here in town -- than Red Hen. Bennison's in Evanston and Labriola in Alsip, both also turn out amazing product but given how nearby you are to Red Hen, it may not be worth going too far out of your way to source either of them. That said, I do see Labriola's stuff at many outlets around town and iirc, they also produce the 'house brand' bread products at Trader Joe's.

One other great spot in town for bread is Fox and Obel. It's Nancy Silverton-school bread baked on premises and supervised by a Silverton protege, Pammy Sue Fitzpatrick. The store is not even close to conveniently located for me, but if I'm in the area, I always try to stop in.

=R=

edited to add information about F&O

Edited by ronnie_suburban (log)

"Hey, hey, careful man! There's a beverage here!" --The Dude, The Big Lebowski

LTHForum.com -- The definitive Chicago-based culinary chat site

ronnie_suburban 'at' yahoo.com

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...

I kind of miss our favorite Lebanese restaurant, The Beirut.

Your blog has been fun to follow, and prompted me to come out of lurk mode to make a couple of comments.

We used to enjoy a Lebanese place Kan Zaman up on Clark St., but I see from Centerstage's listings that it's now down on Wells St. And there are several other Lebanese places around-- I'm sure you'll find a new favorite.

(centerstage.com, if you haven't run into it, has a good list of restaurants-- and lots of other stuff-- which you can get at alphabetically, by cuisine, or by "style"; you can locate something there, then come back to eGullet to see what food people have to say about it. I don't know what others think about it, but to me it's a great Chicago resource.)

Re wine shops: Sam's is one of the best, but also check out Binnys (probably the 3000 N. Clark location would be most convenient for you) and Wine Discount Center (in a non-shopping area on Elston Ave about 1800 or 1900 north). Binnys is a big, full service place, but has good prices, particularly when things are on sale; they have an affinity card which gets you an extra 2% off (eventually, if you buy enough) and gives you access to a few more sale prices. WDC is a very plain place, bottles displayed in cases, no sales or case discounts, just good prices on a somewhat limited and ever-changing inventory. All three have multiple locations, with Binnys being the biggest.

The Chicago area has a lot of more or less independent grocery outlets (I see you've found several already), some of which reach supermarket size. A classic (IMO) is Treasure Island. Many are at least nominally ethnic, such as Carniceria Jimenez, which has several locations around the city and burbs. Garden Fresh is a growing local chain, which I presume starrted out as a produce market and expanded from there; they have at least one location in the city and several in the burbs. Fresh Farms is another with city and suburban locations. Garden Fresh and Fresh Farms have lots of ethnic foods, the selection based on the local neighborhood (the GF in Northbrook even has a kosher meat/fish/etc. market). While these places don't specialize in seasonal midwestern produce, they do have some, particularly things like Michigan apples and peaches in season. They sometimes have very fresh stuff, but caveat emptor. Most of them have much better prices on most things than the big supermarket chains.

Dick in Northbrook, IL

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That picture of Max is the best! I love how he's grinning through layers of beans :smile:.

Kathy

Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all. - Harriet Van Horne

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:biggrin:

*Surfaces from concert week brain freeze*

What fun to enjoy somebody's enjoyment of my home town! Wish I'd been able to join the gang on Friday -- perhaps some other time.

*Crawls to bed to get some sleep before singing church tomorrow.*

:biggrin:

Me, I vote for the joyride every time.

-- 2/19/2004

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Just got back from breakfast at Wishbone, a Southern food restaurant about a block or two from our house.

I had a disappointing crab benedict, crab cakes, poached egg and dill hollandaise over toasted English muffin. I had to send it back once because the egg was raw. When they brought me a new one, the yolk didn't even run.

I have so many problems with Eggs Benedict. Am I crazy to expect fully cooked whites with a runny yolk? I grew up thinking that this was standard, but I'm starting to think that I need to specify when ordering.

I'm trying to figure out what to do with tonight's chuck roast. I'm thinking Beef Rendang, but Thai Grocery might be hard to get to given the marathon today. I need to compare the marathon route with my Google map to the grocery.

Danielle Altshuler Wiley

a.k.a. Foodmomiac

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Danielle, Thanks for sharing your week with us. Wishbone is a favorite of my husband because they have biscuits and gravy and I feel my heart seize up everytime I even look at it. I've never made it to the Green City Market but one of these days....

Do you have the Molly Stevens, All About Braising cookbook? If you don't get to the Thai Grocery, I highly recommend the Zinfandel Pot Roast. Just a thought.

It was great seeing you and all the other egulleters at dinner. I completely agree with your assessment of the food. Next time I go, it's a light sandwich and LOTS of dessert.

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It was great seeing you and all the other egulleters at dinner.  I completely agree with your assessment of the food.  Next time I go, it's a light sandwich and LOTS of dessert.

The cheese list is really great, so for me I think it would be salad, cheese course, and LOTS of dessert.

Excellent blog, Danielle! I saved it up until Friday night and read it on the train home yesterday - it was a great way to pass some of the time. It was great to see you on Friday, and to explore Chicago with you virtually as well!

Oh - I checked, and I was at Hot Doug's around 1:30, so we just missed each other on Thursday.

Tammy's Tastings

Creating unique food and drink experiences

eGullet Foodblogs #1 and #2
Dinner for 40

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Thanks everyone for reading this week! I'm excited to let Sandy to take over (first of all, because I can't wait to read it, and second of all, because I am TIRED!!).

Today was a very quiet day. After breakfast at Wishbone, we all relaxed while Max napped. Then, Michael ran out to grab donuts from Dinkel's:

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I ate my donut too quickly to take a picture. We hear these are the best donuts in Chicago, and we love them. We will likely not have a giant taste-off, because Dinkel's is a two minute walk from the house, so why mess with perfection??

After donuts, we went out to run some errands, including a stop at Sam's for a case and a half of wine, some rum and some bourbon. What a place!! It is humongous, and I am very happy to have it available as a resource. I still think I'd like to have a neighborhood place, (probably Lakeview), because I like one-on-one attention, but, you can't beat having Sam's nearby.

And for dinner, thanks to JeanBlanchard, we tried the Zinfandel Pot Roast, served with glazed carrots and parsnips, and roasted fingerling potatoes from the farmer's market.

Delicious:

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Thanks again everyone!! (and if you are ever in Chicago, please PM me!)

:wub:

Danielle Altshuler Wiley

a.k.a. Foodmomiac

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Thanks for a wonderful tour, and for the glimpse of your lovely family. I'll probably see more of Chicago from time to time, as we live fairly close, but I'll return time and again to that sweet, sauce-smeared face with the three shining teeth in that heart-taking smile.

Wish I lived close enough to baby-sit.

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The pot roast looks good. I've never ordered pot roast in a restaurant. Actually, I can't remember ever seeing it on a menu (though stew sometimes is). The thing is, my mother frequently made pot roast when I was a child, and I always liked her rendition. Do you make pot roast?

I enjoyed your blog, Danielle. Chicago is a great city, and it definitely looks like you're making the best of no longer being in Toledo. :biggrin:

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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