Pro Bono Baker

Picnic

On Sunday I met Chicago food bloggers Joanna and Karin at Montrose Harbor for an early summer picnic.  I made 101 Cookbooks' Citrus Parmesan Farro Salad.  It turned out nicely and kept fairly well for lunch the next day.

   

Karin brought a rice salad with shrimp, tuna and smoked salmon from the Splendid Table cookbook and her partner, Carl, brought these beautiful tandoori chicken kabobs.

Joanna brought quite a spread including tarragon butter and radish sandwiches:

Goat cheese stuffed peppadew peppers. (These peppers were new to me. I really loved their sweet and tangy flavor.)

And sweet white wine coolers.  She soaked green grapes in sugar and white wine for about three hours.  The wine was then combined with lemon zest and served with lemon slices and seltzer water.  It was a perfect and refreshing picnic beverage. (The boozy grapes were delicious too.)

It was a lovely few hours.  We hope to plan a similar, larger event later in the summer.  If you live in Chicago and would like to join us, send me an email and I will put you on the invite list.

Warm Wild Rice Salad

I had quite a whirlwind weekend.  I was up at 6 am for marathon training on Saturday, met my mother at an Alzheimer's convention near the airport, and then drove with her to attend the Visakha day festival in Woodstock. Sunday morning I had an appointment with my dentist, followed by brunch with my father's side of the family, followed by a short visit with my maternal grandmother, a long drive back to Chicago, and a short run with a friend. 

The point of the entire visit was to retrieve my parent's van in order to retrieve Nick from school later this week.  It will be nice to have him back and a relief to never take the Chicago to Champaign leg of the Amtrak line ever again.  I'm looking forward to slower weekends, evening walks, and dinner parties.

I've recently found that when I'm feeling rundown and overwhelmed, a warm bowl of wild rice, bright vegetables and pillows of goat cheese can make for a soothing evening.  Here is simple recipe that yields impressive results.

Warm Wild Rice Salad
Serves 2 - 3

Ingredients

1 C wild rice (I use Lundberg rice)
Water
Vegetable bullion
.5 C slivered almonds
1 Tbl olive oil
10 cherry tomatoes
15 stalks of asparagus
3 garlic cloves
1 Tbl chopped basil from a jar (or 2 Tbl fresh)
2 oz goat cheese
salt and pepper

Method

Cook the rice according to package instructions.  (Add the amount of water called for and enough bouillon for the water volume.)  It will take about 50 minutes for the rice to cook.

Meanwhile, slice the tomatoes in half.  Trim the asparagus and cut into one inch pieces.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a skillet.  Using a garlic press, press the garlic directly into the pan (if you do not have a garlic press, mincing the garlic works fine).  Add the vegetables and toss frequently.  Season with salt and pepper.  Near the end of cooking (when the asparagus is bright and tender, and the tomato skins are blistering), add the basil and toss to coat.

When the wild rice is done, combine the rice and the vegetables in a large serving bowl, add small pieces of goat cheese, the slivered almonds, and toss. Season to taste.

Twice-Baked Potatoes

Recipe from the archives.

I am not a runner.  I have been an enthusiastic swimmer and an occasional biker in the past, but running always seemed out of my reach.  Amazingly, I just signed up to run the Chicago Half Marathon on September 14.  I will be running with the National AIDS Foundation and working towards a $1,500 fundraising goal.

I'm runner number 0440 and I start training this Saturday at 7 a.m.  I started a new blog to track my progress. If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to my funding goal, you can do so by visiting my AIDS Marathon page.

It was 38 degrees in Chicago today.  Time to (briefly) turn on the heat again, fire up the oven and enjoy a warm twice-baked potato.

Twice-Baked Potato with Vegetables

Serves 1

Ingredients

1 baking potato
.5 Tbl olive oil
.25 Tbl Balsamic vinegar
.5 C broccoli rabe
.5 C sweet corn kernels
.25 cherry tomatoes, sliced
.5 mushrooms, sliced
.5 to 1 C buttermilk, shaken
1 Tbl fresh dill
1 Tbl Cheddar cheese, shredded
salt and pepper

Method

Clean the potato and poke holes all over with a fork.  Wrap in tin foil and bake for about an hour at 375F.

When the potato is nearly finished baking, heat the olive oil and Balsamic vinegar over medium heat. Add all the vegetables and saute for about 5 minutes. Salt and Pepper to taste.

Slice the potato in half longways and gently remove all but a small amount of potato from the skins. Put the insides in a bowl and mix in the buttermilk to taste (judge the desired texture before adding too much). Mix in the dill and add the vegetables. Combine well. Spoon heaping amounts of the mixture into the potato skins. Transfer the filled potato skins to a tin foil lined baking sheet. Top with Cheddar cheese and bake for 10 minutes more at 375F.

Simple Broccoli Salad

This past Easter, my Uncles Jack and Dave hosted us for a laid-back afternoon of food and drinks.  The light in their house is gorgeous and I couldn't keep myself from taking pictures of all the beautiful food (and their Burmese cats).  One dish that I really enjoyed was a simple, sweet and savory broccoli salad that Dave made.  I recently asked him for the recipe and made a dinner of it this week.

Dave's Broccoli Salad

Ingredients

6 C of fresh broccoli florets (blanched if you prefer)
.25 of a red onion (or to taste), thinly sliced in half inch pieces
.5 C dried cranberries
.5 C sunflower seeds
mayonnaise
sugar

Method

Toss the first four ingredients together in a medium sized bowl.  To make the dressing, combine the mayonnaise with sugar to taste (the dressing should be slightly sweet).  Make enough dressing to thinly coat all of the broccoli.  Toss the dressing with the other ingredients.  Cover the salad and chill in the refrigerator for about an hour.   Before serving, toss the salad to re-distribute the dressing.

As requested, a photo of one of their cats.

Hot Doug's and Broken Bones

Last weekend Nick and I made plans to finally eat at Hot Doug's together.  However, when I woke up that morning my right hand was twice it's normal size.  I determined that I must have broken my wrist the night before when I tripped over the television that isn't normally in the middle of our kitchen whilst carrying two deck chairs in the door, backwards.  Knowing that the impending emergency room visit would take at least 5 hours, I decided that enjoying a fried veggie corn-dog (which they only offer on weekends) would make the gloomy looking end to the weekend somewhat rewarding (to much protest from Nick, I should add). 

We walked to Hot Doug's from Logan Square, and after a spell where I had to take a break on their lawn because I was sure I was going to faint, we sat down with our selection. 

Nick ordered an elk sausage with a mustard sauce and mustard seed cheese, I enjoyed the aforementioned veggie corn-dog and we split a giant basket of duck-fat fried french fries. 

It was all very greasy and very good.

We also bought celery soda.  I had never tasted it before.  It was definitely sweeter than most things I enjoy, but the taste was so unique that I hardly minded.

We then traveled to my HMO approved hospital where we spent the next many hours. (Conveniently located next to Binny's at least!)  Nick was sweet and put up with the crazy old men and poorly behaved children in the ER waiting room while those tending me decided I might have a novicular fracture. I spent this last week at appointments with my general practitioner and orthopedic surgeons, getting enough x-rays to take a year off of my life, and the verdict is still out.  They basically told me to wear a wrist brace and if it hurts in a few weeks it is broken, if it doesn't hurt in a few weeks it isn't broken.  Ah, modern medicine.  I'm glad I ate first.

      

Miso Soup and Miso Coleslaw Salad

After eating miso soup from small dehydrated packages for the last month or two I decided it was time to make my own.  Rather than go through my method I would like to defer you to Maki's beautiful site and her thorough miso soup lesson.

I paired the soup with a miso coleslaw salad.  This is a very simple side to make if you have miso on hand and the texture compliments the soup nicely.

Miso Coleslaw Salad

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 Tbl canola oil mayonnaise
1/2 Tbl rice wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbl yellow miso
1 tsp fresh ginger - grated
salt & pepper
2 C shredded vegetables

Mix all but the last two ingredients together, season to taste with salt and pepper, and toss with the vegetables.  I prefer a thinner dressing, so you may want adjust some ingredients to achieve your desired consistency.

May St. Café

My dearest friend Eileen recently returned from studying in Mexico.  We met for lunch at the May St. Café, a place I have been wanting to try for a year or two now.  I love Pilsen and this just added one more reason as to why.  The brightly colored exterior is impossible to miss if you are traveling down Cermak.  We found the interior to be equally as inviting, but with more low-key hues.  While a high-priced decorator could improve the feel, the home-grown look of the establishment is far more inviting in a day where most restaurants would never attempt to open without every nook and corner clinically crafted.

I ordered the fried plantain sandwich with potato salad.  When the dish was presented to me I was pleased to see that the plantains were not inside the sandwich, they were in fact the "bread" sandwiching roasted red bell pepper, romaine leaves, tomato, grilled carrot and grilled eggplant. The vegetables were liberally dusted with fresh cracked black pepper and the plantains were fried to a perfect golden yellow.  A modest application of seasoned mayonnaise pulled it all together.  The accompanying potato salad was decent, but paled in comparison to the sandwich itself.

Eileen ordered the double cream brie and pear quesadillas served with sour cream and adobo sauce.  Many of us have likely encountered a brie and pear crépe along the way, but this dish created a lovely spin on this common combination. 

The crisp and mellow tortillas pulled the sweet flavors of the brie and pear together, while the adobo sauce offered an unexpected and exciting flavor that complimented the other smooth flavors wonderfully.  The cilantro seasoning also provided a great contrast.

Overall our experience at the May St. Café was excellent.  I hope to return soon to peruse more of their menu.  For those of you unfamiliar with Pilsen I would love to suggest combining an early dinner at the May St. Café with the second Friday Pilsen Art Walks.  There are many excellent independent galleries in the neighborhood and it would make for a unique and inexpensive evening.

Eileen and I spent the rest of the day together wandering around.  She convinced me to buy expensive jeans and cute shoes which I cannot afford but am now pleased to own.  She is my favorite lady (and has been since 8th grade!) and it is great to have her back.  I am sure she will run off to Central or South America again soon, so I hope to see as much of her as I can while she is around. 

Split-Peas on a Sleepy Day

I started my Monday at 3 am and showed up to a local bakery for training at 4 am.  I happily shaped loaves of ciabatta, foccacia, baguettes, rolls, bagels, and pretzels until 10 am when I sleepily rode my boyfriend's bike home.  I have an odd situation, I am being trained for a job that will never employ me.  After a few weeks I will have to be looking for something else.  In the meantime I hope to be an eager student.

In a sunny afternoon haze I came past a bag of dried split-peas that I had recently purchased at the Co-op.  I decided I must make split-pea soup.  Here is the hodge-podge recipe that I concocted.  It worked well.

Sleepy Day Split-Pea Soup

Makes 6-8 servings

1 C celery stalks - chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1 C carrots -peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 medium onion - chopped
3 Tbl butter
3 large garlic cloves - chopped
3 C dried split-peas
1/2 Tbl dried rosemary
1 bay leaf
8 C water or vegetable stock (plus more if soup becomes too thick for your taste)
1/2 C of sliced radishes
1/2 C of dried porcini mushrooms
4 small potatoes - diced
salt and pepper to taste

Croutons

1 C of stale bread - chopped
1 Tbl olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

In a large stock-pot melt the butter and add the celery, carrots, onion, and garlic.  Sauté until tender, about 7 minutes.

Thoroughly rinse the split-peas and pick through for any inedibles.

Add all of the other ingredients except the radishes, potatoes, salt, and pepper (and the ingredients for the croutons).

Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer (medium-low heat).

Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add radishes and potatoes.  Cover and simmer for 30 minutes more, still stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 250F.  Cut up chunks of stale bread and place on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Bake for about 10 minutes, though watch closely so they don't burn.  Remove when croutons are golden brown and allow to cool.

Uncover, salt and pepper the soup to taste

Serve warm with croutons.  This soup keeps well refrigerated for a day or two.

Salad with Warm Soft-Boiled Eggs

Today has been nice. I haven't been outside yet and I am still in my pajamas, but I have been basking in the warm sunshine streaming through the dining room windows while I happily cross various tasks off of one of my many lists (yes, I am one of those people).

I *may* have gotten a really nice job yesterday. More on that in a few weeks. I can tell you it has to do with bread though. . .!

I made myself a huge salad to graze on while I give my full attention to the computer. Salads typically do not excite me. However, when they have mixed greens, broccoli, carrot, tomato, and (these are the really important parts) cold, boiled potatoes, avocado, and warm, soft-boiled eggs it becomes a real meal. I made some dressing with mustard, alfalfa honey, balsamic, and olive oil to accompany the runny yolk.

I have also been enjoying one of Tanya's many orchids that bloomed recently. It is a rare event, but a gorgeous one.

Tastefully Yours

My mother and I went out for a pre-Valentine's lunch last week in Barrington, IL after a misguided attempt to find a new bakery that had been recommended to me. A woman suggested Tastefully Yours to us just before we unhappily entered Einstein Bagels to find something to eat. Located near the train station, this new restaurant doubles as an antique showroom. The decor is unique and quite lovely. Everything from the tables to the salt shakers can be purchased.

My mother sweetly threw ours in with the check after I had fondled them for most of the meal.

The food was pretty good. My mother ordered the grouper po' boy. Panko-crusted grouper with wasabi mayonaise, tomato, and lettuce. It was served with seasoned pita chips and a selction of fruits (grapes, cantaloupe, and pineapple).

I orderd the grilled cheese. Brie with raspberry jam grilled between slices of pecan-walnut bread. It was served with a house salad (mixed greens, carrot, cucumber, and tomato in a balsamic vinaigrette) and the same fruits.

The grilled cheese was good, but it should have been toasted longer in my opinion. The cheese was barely melted and the bread was only warm and pliable. I would have cut the cheese in half and added some fresh apples to the mix, but overall the flavors were nice. The bread was especially tasty.

Sadly, the salad was awful. It consisted of entirely old and wilted greens (as you can see in the above picture). I only managed to eat a few pieces of spinach that had persevered along with the other vegetables. What I did eat divulged a fantastic balsamic vinaigrette. I should have gone with the soup. Oh well.

Tastefully Yours has a great atmosphere and a nice staff. However the service is very slow and they are only open Monday through Saturday from 11am to 2:30pm for lunch and tea on the second Monday of the month beginning at 3pm. They also have a catering service.

I would recommend a lunch stop at Tastefully Yours if you are ever in the Barrington area, though not a special trip.

Tastefully Yours
230 East Main Street
Barrington, IL 60010
847/382-4220