No-fry zone: These Korean Style Chicken Wings are roasted, not fried

Korean hot pepper paste, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and ginger make oven roasted Korean Style Chicken Wings a flavorful appetizer, main course or bar snack. Recipe below.

The first time we had Korean fried chicken wings, we were at a rooftop bar in Manhattan. It was the Mé Bar on the 14th floor of the La Quinta Manhattan in Koreatown, with the Empire State Building rising high above us just a block away. And it was a single wing, generously pressed upon us by a table of enterprising New Yorkers who’d had them delivered to the bar (New Yorkers seem to be able to get just about anything delivered just about anywhere). We had smelled something spicy and delicious and asked what it was. They insisted we sample one.

The next day, we headed to the source for lunch—Kyochon Chicken, at Fifth Avenue and 32nd Street. Continue reading “No-fry zone: These Korean Style Chicken Wings are roasted, not fried” →

Small Bites: Ice cream trucks, Seattle street food moves inside and how to cook like a Momofuku

Three recent posts on USA Network’s Character approved Blog cover a lot of ground—and flavors.

Ice cream trucks loom large in our collective summer memory bank. Who hasn’t urgently pleaded for ice cream money from whichever parent was the softer touch when the siren song of the Mister Softee truck or the Bomb Pop guy caught our ear?

A diminishing number of these old school trucks still prowl the streets of some neighborhoods, but a new breed of ice cream trucks is serving up artisanal ice creams in exotic flavors, made from carefully sourced ingredients. Continue reading “Small Bites: Ice cream trucks, Seattle street food moves inside and how to cook like a Momofuku” →

Sustainable and mayo-free: Tilapia Fish Tacos

Chunks of pan seared tilapia fillets seasoned with chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and lime juice are topped with cilantro, tomatoes and green onions for a healthy, flavorful meal. Recipe below.

[su_dropcap style=”flat”]I[/su_dropcap] like fish. I like tacos. So why has the charm of fish tacos always eluded me? Maybe it’s the fact that mayonnaise is used in so many recipes. I do use mayo on occasion (and appreciate its creamy tanginess every time I do), but putting it on fish tacos sounds like tuna salad in a tortilla to me. Some recipes even call for chopped cabbage—tuna salad and coleslaw in a tortilla.

Recently, though, two mayonnaise-free events had me reconsidering fish tacos. The first was in New York. Continue reading “Sustainable and mayo-free: Tilapia Fish Tacos” →

Enjoying the return of berries with a simple Berry Blue Cheese Watercress Salad

Blueberries, raspberries, watercress, butter lettuce and blue cheese all shine in this simple salad. Recipe below.

Berries are suddenly abundant in the supermarket—and therefore in our fridge. After not having them for so long, or else having them be too well traveled and hideously expensive to consider, we can’t seem to go to the store now without bringing some home.

Looking for ways to use up some of the unexpected bounty, I started thinking of salads. Nothing exuberant and overly busy, just something simple that would let the berries—and everything else—shine. When I first started eating salads—willingly, I mean—I viewed lettuce as nothing more than a vehicle for multiple ladles of gloppy, sweet dressing. Then I dallied with salad bars and their countless edible doodads and distractions for a while. Continue reading “Enjoying the return of berries with a simple Berry Blue Cheese Watercress Salad” →

Brew with a view: Eataly opens a 15th floor rooftop brewery, Birreria

Birreria, Eataly’s new rooftop brewery and brew pub, is the subject of my latest USA Character Approved Blog post.

One thing I love about New York is how the city makes use of every square inch of outdoor public space. And how the city’s residents embrace this space. The recently expanded High Line, abandoned elevated railroad tracks turned into a park and immediately (and perhaps obsessively) loved by New Yorkers, is an obvious example. But so too are smaller, quieter spaces. On the Upper West Side, the Broadway Mall Association maintains gardenlike median strips with benches at each cross street. Those benches are almost always populated by people enjoying a morning coffee, a bit of sunshine or just being outside.

So I was a little surprised that it took New York, perhaps the most vertical city in the world, so long to discover its rooftops. Continue reading “Brew with a view: Eataly opens a 15th floor rooftop brewery, Birreria” →

A chilled seasonal soup for unseasonably hot weather: Green Garlic Vichyssoise

Green garlic, in farmers markets right now, teams with leeks, potatoes, butter and half & half to create a cool, creamy, delicately garlicky first course. Recipe (with substitutions) below.

When it comes to large, hardworking families with big personalities, Allium outdoes even the Baldwin brothers. More savory recipes than not put at least one of member of the Allium family to work—onions (yellow, Bermuda, pearl, etcetera), leeks, scallions, chives, garlic, shallots… And then there are the seasonal workers—ramps, scapes and the star of last weekend’s Logan Square Farmers Market, green garlic.

Green garlic is just what the name implies—garlic picked early, before the bulbs have formed into cloves. Originally the byproduct of farmers thinning their garlic crops, green garlic has come into its own as a seasonal treat found almost exclusively at farmers markets and roadside stands. Continue reading “A chilled seasonal soup for unseasonably hot weather: Green Garlic Vichyssoise” →

Put a sommelier in your smartphone

18th century lexicographer, writer, critic and probable Tourette Syndrome sufferer Samuel Johnson once said, “Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.” When shopping for wine, I frequently use the second kind of knowledge. And most often, my source is Marion. She not only knows much more about wine than I do, she remembers more about it. (Note to self: Could that be because I drink more of it than she does?)

But now there’s a smartphone app that possibly knows even more about wine than Marion and me put together. And it’s free. Continue reading “Put a sommelier in your smartphone” →

Celebrating an American holiday with Grilled Moroccan Flank Steak

Cumin, chili powder, cinnamon, turmeric, garlic and fresh ginger all add to the big, exotic flavor of these quickly grilled, tender steaks. Recipe below.

Memorial Day is a particularly American holiday, honoring the men and women who have fallen in the service of their country. There are parades in towns and cities all over America. Classical radio stations heavy up on pieces by Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland and John Philip Sousa. And barbecue grills send up heavenly scents of smoke and meat in yard after yard after yard. Continue reading “Celebrating an American holiday with Grilled Moroccan Flank Steak” →

For The Greenhouse Tavern, green isn’t just on the plate, it’s in the building

For chefs and restaurateurs, green continues to be the new black. Organically raised, locally sourced ingredients grace plates, menus and servers’ nightly recitals of specials. Nose-to-tail cooking ensures that little of any humanely raised animal is wasted. When Jonathon Sawyer and his wife Amelia returned to Cleveland to open a restaurant, Sawyer decided to take green a step further. The Greenhouse Tavern is Ohio’s first nationally certified green restaurant.

Sustainable food is one part of green restaurant certification, but only one. Sustainable furnishings and building materials, waste reduction and recycling, water and energy efficiency and pollution reduction all are measured. And all represented big challenges. Continue reading “For The Greenhouse Tavern, green isn’t just on the plate, it’s in the building” →