Five great grilling recipes kick off summer

Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of summer here in the United States. And as it so happens, last weekend marked a wonderful long weekend in New York City for Marion and me. We returned to Chicago Sunday evening to 90º temperatures, broken air-conditioning and little desire to cook. So this week, I’m raiding the Blue Kitchen archives for five recipes for the grill to get the season rolling.

1. Moroccan-influenced Spicy Grilled Chicken Paillards

Cumin and paprika add plenty of flavor to these quick-cooking chicken breasts, but not much heat. The sauce gets the same treatment from orange juice, lemon juice, honey, cinnamon and red pepper flakes. The dish originated in Paris and is just one of many French dishes that borrows flavors from Moroccan kitchens. Spicy Grilled Chicken Paillards is a great spur-of-the-moment dish, Continue reading “Five great grilling recipes kick off summer” →

Hey! I’m 1/55th of a book!

I first heard about the 55 Knives project last September. Nick over at the food blog Macheesmo had come up with what sounded like a brilliant idea—and a daunting task: He would ask 55 food bloggers to each submit a recipe and the story behind it and turn all of this into an eBook. I was one of the 55 bloggers Nick invited.

And now it’s in print! Well, in “print.” Nick has just published 55 Knives as an eBook, a downloadable, interactive, searchable, printable PDF. You don’t need a Kindle or an iPad to read it—any computer will do. Continue reading “Hey! I’m 1/55th of a book!” →

Trio of big flavors makes one simple meal: Salmon with Arugula Bacon Salad

Seared salmon fillets and an arugula salad are both flavored by bacon, for a quick, satisfyingly flavorful meal. Recipe below.

Is there anything bacon can’t make taste better? Okay, pig meat is having its moment, as we all know. Chefs everywhere are going crazy for every cut of pork, the fattier the better, and bacon is turning up in some pretty strange places. I’ll admit that it didn’t do a lot for a chocolate bar I once sampled. But when paired with the right partners—especially equally big-flavored ones—the addition of bacon is hard to beat and even harder to resist.

Salmon may not seem like an obvious choice to pair with bacon—or seafood in general, for that matter. But all of those “surf and Turf” combos of the late ’60s were on to something, I think, beyond the marketing gimmick novelty. Continue reading “Trio of big flavors makes one simple meal: Salmon with Arugula Bacon Salad” →

Women chefs raise $19,200 for Greater Chicago Food Depository at 14th annual Girl Food Dinner

We’re big fans of the Greater Chicago Food Depository and all they do to help fight hunger. So I was delighted to hear the results of the 14th annual Girl Food Dinner, held this past Sunday night at West Town Tavern. The sold out event brought in an amazing $19,200 to the organization; 100% of the $150 ticket price paid by 85 lucky attendees went to the Food Depository, as did the proceeds of a raffle held at the event.

The annual event is called the Girl Food Dinner because the meal is prepared exclusively by Chicago women chefs. Continue reading “Women chefs raise $19,200 for Greater Chicago Food Depository at 14th annual Girl Food Dinner” →

Sweet, spicy, surprising: Strawberry Gazpacho

Strawberries, cucumber, cayenne pepper, chives and hot sauce blend into a sweet, tangy, spicy take on classic gazpacho in this quick no-cook first course. Recipe below.

It’s always nice to start a dinner party with an impressive little surprise, especially if it’s simple and can be made ahead of time. Marion takes over the kitchen this week with a lively Strawberry Gazpacho that delivers on all counts.

As you know if you read last week’s post, beautiful fragrant strawberries are starting to appear in the stores, and we are thinking about them a lot. This recipe came together in our heads from a lot of places. The first chives appearing in the backyard; a wonderful, mysteriously flavored gazpacho we had a while back at La Boca, the tapas restaurant in Santa Fe; a dessert soup of strawberries my sister and I once had at Le Petit Lutécia in Paris; and memories of little kid Julys picking wild strawberries in northern Michigan. Of course as kids, we did much more eating than actually picking these tiny, intense strawberry bits. Continue reading “Sweet, spicy, surprising: Strawberry Gazpacho” →

Books, DVDs and… bananas? Baltimore turns libraries into Virtual Supermarkets

In an experimental program to improve nutrition, the Baltimore health department has turned two public libraries into virtual supermarkets where patrons can order groceries along with their bestsellers.

We have always been card-carrying fans of public libraries. The stack in the photo above is a modest example of how many books we may have checked out at any given moment. To us, libraries are one of the most noble inventions of civilization. So when we read about the public libraries in Baltimore taking part in a pilot program to help people in underserved communities have better access to healthy food, we were delighted, but not overly surprised.

I’ve written here in the past about food deserts—communities with little access to supermarkets or other sources of healthy food options. Continue reading “Books, DVDs and… bananas? Baltimore turns libraries into Virtual Supermarkets” →

Cornmeal Lemon Cake with Strawberries and Mint: Simply the taste of spring

A simple, not-too-sweet, lemony cake topped with strawberries and fresh mint makes a light, seasonal dessert. Recipe below.

I didn’t grow up in the South, but lots of my relatives did, and they had an influence on my mother’s kitchen. In real estate terms, you could call mine a childhood with Southern exposure.

In spite of that fact—or maybe because of it—I was never a big fan of cornbread. At family gatherings, this was cause for some mild concern, but the “oh-well-more-for-me” instinct swiftly and invariably soothed it. This cornbread/cornmeal indifference followed me into adulthood, despite occasional attempts on my part to overcome it.

What put it back on my radar screen recently and actually made it stick this time was a simple piece of cake at mado. I mention mado here a lot, I know. That’s because owners Rob and Allie give me a nickel every time I do (mado, mado, mado, mado). Continue reading “Cornmeal Lemon Cake with Strawberries and Mint: Simply the taste of spring” →