I have a post up over at Gapers Block about Dark Lord Day 2008. You can read about Dark Lord Day 2007 in my post from last year. We opened up our first bottle last night and it was delicious. While similar to the batch from 2007, this year it wasn't as thick and had a bit of sourness to it.
(Mirabelle Bakery's Seeded Boule)
Many of my weekends over the past few months have started aboard a southbound train that deposits me 150 miles away from home in Champaign, IL. Nick returned to finish his last year at the University of Illinois and we have been traveling back and forth to see each other since September. We weren't particularly thrilled about the prospect of spending time in a central-Illinois college town, but the discovery of Mirabelle Bakery made it all a bit easier.
(Mirabelle Bakery's Onion and Rosemary Foccacia)
The bakery is closed on Sundays, so nearly every Saturday morning we make the half mile walk from Nick's apartment to downtown Urbana. We stop at Strawberry Fields, the local natural foods store, for coffee and head up the street to wait in the perpetually-crowded storefront of Mirabelle.
(Mirabelle Bakery's Mexican Brioche)
We always select something to eat immediately on the park bench outside, and often purchase a loaf of fresh baked bread to accompany our dinner. I am a glutton for traditional breads, and Mirabelle may have the finest baguettes that I have ever encountered in the United States.
(Mirabelle Bakery's Chocolate Brioche)
The only complaints I could possibly muster about Mirabelle would be their loose interpretation of brioche as more of a pastry than an enriched bread, and their coffee which is a weak and pedestrian variety tucked away in a self-service corner. But, I do visit for the breads and pastries and I would not suggest that they turn their attention away from these incredible offerings.
(Mirabelle Bakery's Onion Roll)
My favorite pastry of all is the Mirabelle Bakery Onion Roll. The roll is soft and buttery, stuffed with poppy seeds, sour cream, red onions and an indescribable, delectable savoriness that makes my mouth water just thinking about it. If you have occasion to visit Mirabelle Bakery, this would be my first suggestion to sample.
(Mirabelle Bakery's Pesto, Tomato and Goat Cheese Foccacia)
If you have a heartier appetite, their foccacia servings are huge and easily make a meal. The crumb is chewy and tender and the toppings are always very fresh.
(Mirabelle Bakery's Seeded Boule)
The other two highlights of Champaign-Urbana have been the Blind Pig, a beautiful bar with over 21 taps and Prairie Fruits Farm goat cheese.
(Prairie Fruits Farm Herbes de Provence Goat Cheese)
This locally produced goat cheese can be purchased at Strawberry Fields, and while a bit pricey (about $7 for 6 oz.), it is worth every penny. We do not have a car available to us, but I am hoping to find a way to make a trip out to the creamery in the spring, if the owners will have me, to see the farm's operation first hand. I often fantasize about making my own goat cheese and it would be fun to see a local example.
While we would both rather be living a normal life back in Chicago, it has been fortifying to find these high-quality, local and affordable establishments in a town with too many trashy sports bars and fast-food chains. I have to admit that I didn't expect to miss things about Champaign-Urbana, but I will.
For an inside look at Mirabelle Bakery and to learn more about the food in Champaign-Urbana from a well-versed resident, visit the lovely blog Champaign Taste.
Mirabelle
127 W. Main
Urbana, IL 61801
217/384-6460
When Nick took me to the May Street Market for my birthday last week, we picked up a flier for a Champagne tasting. This past Monday I met my friends Paul and Margaret at the tasting to celebrate my birthday, Paul's birthday and Margaret's return to Chicago after living in Russia for a few years.
Ruinart, established in 1729, is the oldest operating Champagne house. We had the opportunity to sample the Ruinart Blanc de Blancs and the Ruinart Rosé. They were both delicious, refreshing and had beautiful coloring. Both of these varieties run about $60 a bottle.
I was glad to have a reason to return to the May Street Market so quickly and we were all pleased with the appetizers that they served during the tasting.
May Street Market Mussels.
May Street Market Maytag Blue Cheesecake.
We each drank three glasses of Champagne and enough appetizers to whet our appetites.
We decided to head east to Avec to continue the evening. We ordered the Roasted Corn Bruschetta with fresh dill, shaved fennel and corn vinaigrette.
Chorizo-Stuffed Madjool Dates with smoked bacon and piquillo pepper-tomato sauce.
A cheese flight of Mistura Biera (raw cow, ewe's milk) from Portugal, Caciocavallo (cow's milk) from Italy and Cabrales (cow, sheep and goat's milk) from Spain.
...and we shared a delicious bottle of wine. It was a more extravagant Monday night than I am used to, but it was nice to celebrate with Paul and Margaret -- two of the best food and beverage companions I know.
In early July Nick and I took an Amtrak train from Chicago to Holland, Michigan. We were met at the station by a very sweet young woman who was the keeper of the Dutch Colonial Inn where we had two nights reserved. We had decided on Holland thanks to the New Holland Brewery. Nick and I are fans of many of their offerings, though most notably their Dragon's Milk. The bed and breakfast is only about a mile from the brewery and we walked straight there after checking in to our room.
There were a large number of IPAs on the chalkboard that we had never heard of, so we decided to start with a sampler tray:
Klomp Hatter IPA: This one reminded us a bit of Gumballhead, with the hops kicking in at the end. It was pretty good.
Urele Heavy: A Scotch ale with a light front, a sweet end and a malty roundness throughout.
Nitro Hatter IPA: This tasted bland and thin to us.
Belgian Hatter IPA: Smelled a bit like cough syrup and had a sharp astringent finish.
Imperial Hatter IPA: Very sweet with a muted hoppy-ness. Full and luscious at the end.
Black Hatter IPA: This may have been the favorite of the bunch. Very dark in color and had a full earthy taste of toasted barely. Not terribly complex, but strange and tasty.
Czarist stout: A very chocolaty stout with a frothy mouth-feel that finished pretty thin.
Existential: A sweet and hoppy barleywine. Very good.
Their food was decent. I ordered the annoyingly named "Treehugger" for eight bucks ("Vegetarians delight in this display of roughage! Served on a toasted focaccia bun, we pile hummus, cucumber, red onion, Roma tomato, sprouts, chipotle ranch dressing and dill havarti cheese.") We learned, to our surprise, that the New Holland Brewpub does not own a deep fryer, so no fries...
After we ate we decided to move out back to their patio and ordered some tried and true full sized beers: the Dragon's Milk and Existential. We had planned our trip around the brewery hours, and were well aware that the website claims the brewpub is open until 2 am on Saturdays. However, again to our surprise, the kids who run the place (seriously, they all looked about 17) closed up shop around 12:30 even though the place was packed. This resulted in a mass exodus of very intoxicated patrons wandering out towards their cars and calling it a night. Yikes. We walked home with a 22 to share in the garden.
Overall we weren't sure what to think of the New Holland Brewery and Brewpub. Perhaps we just had bad luck, but no one seemed to know much about beer or really be old enough to drink it. Their food was mediocre and they seem to be in need of a new manager if closing up shop an hour and a half early when the place is packed makes sense to them. We were somewhat underwhelmed with the new beers we tried, but we do love the Dragon's Milk and Existential. All in all I am quite glad we made the trip to the brewery, but I think in the future we will stick to those beers that the New Holland Brewing Company has deemed worthy of distribution.
Oh, and one more thing, Holland doesn't allow beer or wine sales on Sundays --only liquor... This was an unfortunate surprise to us when we went back for one last try on Sunday afternoon. Plan accordingly if you visit. They neglected to mention this on their website we visited, but they now have a small button asking for help in repealing Sunday prohibition.
We really weren't heartbroken to use our time in other ways. Holland is a charming little town and thanks to the Dutch Colonial Inn, we were able to fully enjoy it. The Inn had two bikes that they allowed us to take all over town. We biked the seven miles to the shores of Lake Michigan where the "Big Red Lighthouse" sits. The views were breathtaking and the weather was perfect.
We then biked over to Windmill Island on the other side of town. We paid the small admission fee and went straight to "De Zwaan," a 240 year old working Dutch windmill. Our tour was run by a sweet and knowledgeable young woman dressed in traditional Dutch attire. We were able to climb all around the windmill and learned quite a bit about the tradition behind various decorations and how the milling process works. Flour is still milled at De Zwaan and visitors can buy the flour in the gift shop.
We then spent about an hour laying around on the lawn and framing shots of Nick fighting the windmill. Other attractions at Windmill Island include: a working antique carousel, homemade fudge, a working antique Amsterdam street organ, a miniature village and old-time klompen dancing performances.
We returned to the bed and breakfast to lay around and plan for dinner. Our options were very limited on a Sunday night in Holland, Michigan. We were going to order a pizza and call it a weekend, but our lovely inn keeper once again came to the rescue. She scoffed when I asked for delivery recommendations and basically made us take her car back out towards the lighthouse to have a civilized dinner. She recommended the Piper Restaurant on the water. They had a lovely balcony overlooking the docks and the cool evening felt wonderful.
We were both still in the mood for pizza, especially now that we had found a place with a wood oven. Nick ordered the Meaty Medley: Italian sausage, smoked ham and pepperoni with a five-cheese blend and tomato sauce.
I designed my own with asparagus and goat cheese. It was all very tasty.
Holland, Michigan is a beautiful town. We experienced some great food, interesting beer, gorgeous scenery and unbelievable hospitality. This was an easy trip from the city and one I would highly recommend.
At the end of June I traveled to Baltimore with my office and several hundred of the nation's preeminent oncologists. My trip was a bit rocky due to a canceled flight, a delayed flight and a botched Super Shuttle reservation. I arrived at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront at about 2 am and soon began a succession of very early morning work hours. One of the only perks with this work schedule was the ability to order room-service.
My room was huge, with two walls of floor to ceiling windows looking over the harbor, a king size bed and a large television. I spent a few nice mornings with the sun rising over the harbor, the history channel and satisfying diner food delivered right to my door.
The food wasn't stellar, but it hit the spot. I documented the occasion more for the novelty of the room-service experience than the culinary prowess of the Marriott kitchens.
My friend Mike grew up in Baltimore. During our senior years at Reed College, Mike, Tamara and I ran Renn Fayre together. Mike was also a guiding force behind Beer Nation, which kept those of age happily saturated with Northwest micro brew in campus beer gardens. Naturally, Mike did not lead me astray with Baltimore beer advice. I was able to make two visits to A Brewer's Art, once with my co-worker Aaron and a second time to meet up with my dear cousin Matt and his girlfriend Ana. Matt and Ana had just relocated to Washington D.C. from Portland, Oregon and were kind enough to drive down on Matt's birthday to say hello to me. While A Brewer's Art brews several delicious beers, their Resurrection Ale (an abbey-style dubbel) stands alone. Sadly, they don't bottle yet. They expect to start in the next few years according to the bartender.
After a particularly long work day and too many hotel meals, I decided to take myself out to dinner. Having little energy and limited Baltimore navigational skills, I decided to try one of the nearby Italian restaurants. I settled into a sunny table at Aldo's and ordered a Pinot Noir and an Arugula Salad with shaved Parmigiano Reggiano and an aged balsamic vinaigrette.
The salad was perfect. It was simple and full flavored with a hearty crack of black pepper.
My waiter, Jim, seemed to take a liking to me and was intrigued as to why I might be photographing my food. I explained my hobby and Jim turned up the charm, starting with a complimentary Four Cheese Risotto. The risotto was rich and creamy, with a nice subtle sharpness to the cheese.
My main course arrived with a complimentary glass of wine that Jim thought would be perfect with the fresh Porcini Agnollotti and Shitake Mushrooms tossed in Italian-Norcian Black Truffle Butter. It was.
Perhaps the most exciting part of the meal was an aperitif of Limoncello Cream made by chef Aldo Vitale himself. A combination of Meyer lemons, grain alcohol, sugar, cream and water create a silky, sweet and sour beverage that was a great end to a great meal.
The sun was just setting when I arrived back at the hotel. I caught the water taxi at the hotel pier and rode around the harbor. I switched boats and took the route towards Fell's Point. From what I had gathered, this area of Baltimore was a newly gentrified district on the water with a number of bars and restaurants. Upon docking I saw this was in fact true. The historic buildings were gorgeous, yet marred by neon lights. The area was crawling with polo-shirts, sun-dresses, burnt-skin and bad shoes.
I made my way to Max's Tap House. This bar boasts 70 taps, more than 300 bottles and accolades from Beer Advocate. It was super crowded, loud, brightly lit and had snotty service with a somewhat creepy clientele. Not really my kind of place. I was determined to try another good beer in Baltimore, however, and decided I should give the Clipper City Heavy Seas Loose Cannon a try. This was a very nice ale with a formidable hop level, including my favorite Amarillo hops.
I left Max's as soon as my beer was done and decided to wander around Fell's Point to enjoy the architecture. I came upon Pitango Gelato, a smart looking gelateria with a bustling crowd.
This was a truly lucky stop to stumble upon. Pitango's uses grass-fed organic milk and high end organic ingredients to create gelato that rivals many that I have sampled in Italy. They eschew artificial ingredients, flavorings and extracts and use milk, cream and eggs from their own single-herd Pennsylvania farm. They also serve frozen yogurt and sorbet.
I ordered the spicy chocolate and, of course, pistachio. This was one of the finest pistachio gelatos I have tasted. Pitango flies in Bronte pistachios from Sicily, which are grown at the base of the active volcano, Mount Etna. Needless to say I highly recommend Pitango gelato if you live near Baltimore. For everyone else I simply highly recommend pistachio gelato.
I was initially somewhat annoyed that I had to travel to Baltimore for work. I used to think that I would enjoy business travel, but it can be quite lonely. Luckily, I think I have a talent for truly enjoying loneliness, it just takes a few days to kick in.
I had a nice visit and would certainly not be disappointed to return to Baltimore. The only other time I was in Baltimore was when I was about 6. My cousin Matt who I mentioned earlier in this post used to live there. He taught me how to tie a double not that week as we spent hours in his tree house. Our dads took us to an Orioles game at the old stadium. I think it was the fourth of July. The fireworks went awry and started shooting into the crowds, directly at us. I watched a woman two rows ahead of us have her hair go up in flames. Our dads hoisted us under their arms and we ran out of the ballpark. I think it is safe to say that this most recent trip was better.
The flight home went as planned. I returned to find these beautiful flowers from Nick (anthurium and orchids). He bought them at Fleur in Logan Square. Fleur is a sweet little shop with an excellent selection of exotic flowers and letterpress cards. It was good to be home.
Last night I visited my friend Ellen. She lives a matter of blocks from me, yet somehow it was the first time I had managed to take her up on an invitation. I concocted a new cocktail for the occasion. A few years ago Hospitality Club provided my roommates and I the opportunity to host a guest named Guillermo from Columbia. He arrived bearing this incredibly sweet liquor. As I recall, Molly and I made quick work of it.
I don't have much of a sweet tooth, so the idea of mixing the Limoncello with other ingredients appealed to me. I decided upon the following:
Lemon and Rosemary Spritzer
Serves 4.
2 lemons
2 C Limoncello
2 C seltzer water
8 rosemary sprigs
ice
In a tall glass put two rosemary sprigs and fill with ice cubes. Almost fill the glass with equal parts Limoncello and seltzer water. Squeeze half a lemon into the glass. Stir and serve.
The rosemary was nice, but next time I am going to try basil. This was my original intention, but the grocery store was out. For the basil variation, I would suggest muddling the leaves a bit before adding the liquid. This will help the flavor permeate. Whichever herb you choose, this is a perfect summer drink. Sadly, it still feels like February in Chicago.
For dinner, Ellen made a gorgeous frittata. She lined a cast-iron skillet with slices of potato and piled cherry tomatoes, onions, garlic, feta and asparagus on top. After pouring the egg over these ingredients she baked the frittata. Oddly, I had never considered baking a frittata and instead have always made them on the stove. Her method is clearly superior. The frittata was perfectly cooked through and came out tall and airy. The potato "crust" was particularly ingenious.
In other news, this weekend was more culinary-centric than most. On Friday, Harold and I went to the IACP Cookbook Expo. I met Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks in person and purchased her gorgeous new cookbook. I have been hungrily reading through it and highly recommend it. Congratulations Heidi!
That evening, Nick and I went to see John Vanderslice. The show was quite good. We were particularly impressed with the opening act, St. Vincent.
The next morning we roused ourselves earlier than most weekends and headed to the Union League Club of Chicago to hear Hervé This speak. The event was thought provoking, yet the question and answer session was a bit lacking when it devolved into some pretty egotistical Chicago chefs debating when their skill was craft vs. art. We took the stairs on the way out and enjoyed perusing the ULCC art collection (the second largest private collection in the U.S.).
That evening we stayed in, ordered a pizza, and finished the second season of Twin Peaks which I finally own a copy of. It was Nick's first time through and he seemed fairly upset about the last episode.
For the past few months we have been fairly obsessed with the Bloomingdale Trail, and finally went up for a walk (from Milwaukee to Elston). I really hope the city decides to support the proposal to turn these old rail lines into a park. It would be a truly unique addition to the city.
That evening we decided to make gnocchi from scratch. I had tried my hand at it years ago in high school. After a fair bit of hard work, the gnocchi completely dissolved into the boiling water. My research informed me that I had been too timid with the flour.
It turned out quite well this time and Nick made an excellent garlic and cream sauce. The recipe I used made a huge quantity. We fed three with half of it. I froze the rest and am hoping it will keep well for future use.
The North Shore Distillery began producing Chicago's first craft liquors in 2005. Several months ago I first enjoyed the clean and smooth taste of their vodka when my friend Harold brought some over to my house. I soon sampled their gin and found it pleasing as well. The hand-numbered bottles of North Shore can be found in several locations in the city, most notably Sam's and Binny's. Nick and I learned from their website that they also offer a variety of less conventional liquors: Gin Infused with Medjool Dates, Gin Infused with Ceylon Tea, Tahitian Vanilla Vodka, and the very recently released Aquavit.
I decided to invite Harold over for a belated birthday celebration with dinner and a bottle of one of these unique liquors. I was quite excited about the date gin, but alas could only find the vanilla and Aquavit (it appears that this may have been a limited release, please do let me know if you find it). I settled on the Aquavit, primarily because Harold, Nick and I had never had it before.
Harold fixed us delicious cucumber and Plymouth gin martinis while I prepared the onion tart for baking. These simple drinks are incredibly refreshing and could be quite dangerous on a lazy summer day. Baby cucumbers are sliced and added to the shaker with the ice and gin. After shaking vigorously, pour into a martini glass and garnish with a cucumber wedge. The drinks take on lovely bright green hue and smell incredible.
I made an onion tart based on a recipe from Molly at Orangette. It had been a while since I last baked one. This tart is sweet and full of cream and caramelized onions. Quite perfect when served warm on a blizzardy February evening. (It is also extremely inexpensive to make.) Nick grilled us some zucchini as a side, which also helped brighten the plate.
(This picture is from the North Shore Distillery website, mine did not turn out well.)
We decided to enjoy the Aquavit straight in order to best evaluate the flavors. This Scandinavian liquor is most easily identified by its strong caraway flavor and soft golden hue. Many flavors common in gin were also prevalent in the Aquavit, especially the cardamom and anise. The Aquavit also seemed to boast just a hint of citrus rind. Overall, the flavors are much stronger in Aquavit and it should not simply be considered a differently flavored gin. The Aquavit was crisp and smooth and the flavors were complex and well-balanced. I highly recommend North Shore Aquavit as a change of pace for the gin and vodka drinker who enjoys the taste of a well-crafted liquor--not just what it is mixed with.
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