Another reason to thank a bartender: White Bean Escarole Soup with Turkey Meatballs

White Bean Escarole Soup with Turkey Meatballs is a healthy, hearty, flavorful meal—perfect for a cold winter’s evening. Recipe below.

Never underestimate the power of a bored bartender. In January 2009, Chicago editor and writer Martha Bayne was tending bar at the Hideout, a comfortably divey music venue in an industrial corner of the city. Her midweek shifts meant small crowds and smaller tips, so the bored and broke Ms. Bayne came up with an idea to liven things up and do some good.

What she, fellow staffers and regulars cooked up was Soup and Bread. It’s a weekly free dinner of homemade soups cooked by the aforementioned staff and regulars as well as local musicians, writers, artists and professional cooks. Other treats include fresh bread and the occasional muffins, pie or cookies. While the dinners are nominally free, a donation is suggested. In the two years Soup and Bread has been going, it has raised more than $10,000 for Continue reading “Another reason to thank a bartender: White Bean Escarole Soup with Turkey Meatballs” →

Rick Bayless brings Mexican food with street cred to the streets of Chicago

Mexican street food as celebrated by America’s authority on Mexican cuisine is the subject of my latest USA Character Approved Blog post.

Street food is enjoying a moment. Whether it’s food taking to the streets in gourmet food trucks or street fare from the world’s street corners and marketplaces moving indoors, the street is increasingly becoming the source of some of the most exciting food these days.

One direction street food has taken is fusion mash-ups. I recently wrote about Korean tacos, for instance. They first showed up in LA on the Kogi Korean BBQ Truck. Now they’ve gone bricks and mortar at Chicago’s Del Seoul. Celebrity chef and Mexican food authority Rick Bayless’s cuisine is the exact opposite of fusion. Continue reading “Rick Bayless brings Mexican food with street cred to the streets of Chicago” →

Osso Buco: Italian “Bone with a hole” packs a whole lot of flavor

There are many versions of the classic Northern Italian favorite, osso buco. This one uses slow oven braising to make the meat flavorful, fork tender and moist. Recipe below.

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT USING KITCHEN TWINE that makes me feel like a chef and connects me to the past. Trussing up pork tenderloins or rolled roasts with string says you’re getting serious in the kitchen, in a comfortingly old school way. It was something Julia did. Continue reading “Osso Buco: Italian “Bone with a hole” packs a whole lot of flavor” →

Chicago’s Longman & Eagle: A 21st century update for ye olde inn

In the eighth grade, my class went on a field trip to New Salem, Illinois, the reconstructed village where a young Abraham Lincoln lived for a while. It was here he had worked in a store and famously walked miles to return three cents to a customer he had accidentally overcharged. It was here he had been postmaster. But the building that made the biggest impression on me was the Rutledge Tavern.

Our tour guide conjured up images of stagecoaches pulling up outside and disgorging tired, dusty passengers. In the tavern, they would be fed a meal cooked in the fireplace and served something stronger than the sodas we eighth graders were able to buy Continue reading “Chicago’s Longman & Eagle: A 21st century update for ye olde inn” →

As seen on TV: Marion’s Creamy Mac and Cheese with Tarragon

Macaroni and cheese is one of the ultimate comfort foods. This no-bake version delivers that comfort quickly, with a creamy finish and a slight kick. Recipe below.

Marion’s in the kitchen again this week—and not just ours, but at Chicago TV station WCIU. They recently featured three home cooks making mac and cheese on their morning show, You & Me This Morning, and Marion was one of them! I’ll let her tell you about her creamy mac and cheese—and her TV appearance!

I was already having a very nice birthday when Terry got an email from WCIU saying, we like your blog and we are doing a segment on local cooks’ macaroni and cheese recipes and will your wife be on our morning show? Continue reading “As seen on TV: Marion’s Creamy Mac and Cheese with Tarragon” →

Love apples? No green thumb? Rent a tree

Urban gardening is all the rage these days. So is urban farming. I think the difference between the two is that urban farming legally requires chickens or bees, but I could be wrong. But as cool as it all sounds (people in Brooklyn do it!), I’m just not cut out to be an urban farmer. I don’t have the yard space, the green thumb or the bib overalls for it. Well, or the inclination, for that matter.

For people like me, there are places like Earth First Farms. They’ll rent you an apple tree in their orchard, do all the work and ship you the fruits of their labor. Continue reading “Love apples? No green thumb? Rent a tree” →

Black-eyed pea soup with thyme and a lucky New Year’s Day find

Thyme and white wine add a little complexity to hearty black-eyed pea soup. Recipe below.

I know, I know. I was supposed to write about black-eyed peas before the new year. After all, they’re one of those foods you eat on New Year’s Eve (or is it New Year’s Day?) to bring you luck in the coming year. But this soup and this post were inspired by a little neighborhood restaurant we had the good luck to discover on New Year’s Day. Continue reading “Black-eyed pea soup with thyme and a lucky New Year’s Day find” →

Sierra Nevada brews Estate Homegrown Ale from the ground up

The subject of my latest USA Character Approved Blog post is a beer that borrows a page the winemaking playbook.

For years, beer marketers have tried to tell us water made the difference. Pure Rocky Mountain spring water. Artesian wells. Now one brewery is betting the difference is in the dirt. Pioneering California microbrewery Sierra Nevada has apparently learned a thing or two from all its winery neighbors. They’ve introduced Estate Homegrown Ale, brewed from organic hops and barley grown on the grounds of their brewery. Continue reading “Sierra Nevada brews Estate Homegrown Ale from the ground up” →