Inspired by Columbus, again: Baked Eggs with Tomato and Spinach

Eggs baked with cream, tarragon and a compote of tomatoes, spinach and garlic are a simple vegetarian dish that feels luxurious and is infinitely tweakable. Recipe below.

Columbus, Ohio is a city that invites walking, from German Village up through downtown, Victorian Village, Short North, the University District and beyond. Which is fortunate, because it also encourages overindulgence at just about every turn. Inspired food options abound, from locavore breakfast spots to taco truck tours and the best small batch ice cream I’ve ever eaten.

I visited Columbus for the first time last fall on a press tour (you’ll find that story here), a guest of Experience Columbus, a non-profit organization that promotes the city as a travel destination. The tour was orchestrated by Weirick Communications, a Columbus-based tourism marketing firm. The city utterly charmed me, and not just because of the food. So a couple of weeks ago, Marion and I visited. It was her first time there, and she was as taken with the city as I was. Continue reading “Inspired by Columbus, again: Baked Eggs with Tomato and Spinach” →

Small Bites: Spooky sweet bites and donating to Hurricane Sandy relief

Vosges Haut-Chocolat offers sophisticated spooky treats. And a couple of places to provide help to Hurricane Sandy victims—including pets and farm animals.

First, the sweet stuff. Halloween and Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebrations offer a perfect convergence of excuses for enjoying Vosges Haut-Chocolat’s trio of Skull Lollipops. The Barcelona Skull Lollipop features hickory smoked almonds, grey sea salt and 44% cacao deep milk chocolate. The Red Fire Skull Lollipop heats things up with Mexican ancho and chipotle chillies, Ceylon cinnamon and 55% cacao dark chocolate. The Leche Skull Lollipop combines pink Himalayan salt and 44% cacao deep milk chocolate. All are much too good to waste on kids. Find them at the Vosges Haut-Chocolat website. Continue reading “Small Bites: Spooky sweet bites and donating to Hurricane Sandy relief” →

Fair Trade Month gives “good eats” new meaning

October is Fair Trade Month, reminding us that buying Fair Trade Certified foods improves the quality of life for farmers and their communities—and the quality of the imported foods we eat.

We were out of the kitchen last week on a food-focused road trip to Columbus, Ohio. Look for a new recipe next week—and a Columbus report soon.

Food is in an interesting place right now. Increasingly, we are urged to eat locally—and farmers markets, locavore chefs and even grocery stores are bringing us ways to do that. On the other hand, our palates have never been more global. Exotic spices, produce and pantry staples are transitioning from ethnic markets and gourmet shops to supermarket shelves. They’re doing so because we’re using them in our kitchens more and more. And then there are those staples so ingrained in our daily lives that we don’t often even think of them as imported—coffee, chocolate, bananas, tea… But how these foods are grown, harvested and processed has a major impact on lives around the world. And on the health of the planet. That’s where fair trade comes in. Continue reading “Fair Trade Month gives “good eats” new meaning” →

Chengdu meets Paris: Pork Chestnut Kale Stir Fry with Fried Soba Noodles

Ginger, garlic and chili paste flavor pork stir-fried with chestnuts and kale and served over gently fried soba noodles. Recipe below.

We’ve often talked about our love for Chinese food, which for us is the ultimate in comfort food. In the last year or so, our adventures have led us away from our friendly old favorites in the kitchen, but some recent enjoyable dinners in Chinatown, and a memory of past pleasures, put it front and center for us again. Continue reading “Chengdu meets Paris: Pork Chestnut Kale Stir Fry with Fried Soba Noodles” →

Hungry for new experiences, new friendships? SideTour comes to Chicago

New York City startup SideTour is all about trying something new and seeing the world through the eyes of others. And now it’s come to Chicago.

People are naturally curious creatures. Naturally social too. Put those two elements of human nature together and you’ve got the driving idea behind SideTour. Founded in New York in June 2011, SideTour is an online marketplace of “handpicked activities, tours and memorable things to do, all hosted by talented local people.”

Some of the events are food and drink related—creating a gluten-free meal with a holistic chef, dining with a banker-turned-monk in his East Village monastery and brewing your own pale ale with a craft beer expert, for instance. Others range from boxing with a world champ in a Brooklyn gym to visiting Hollywood’s secret (props) arms depot in SoHo and learning the art of disguise from a former CIA agent. Continue reading “Hungry for new experiences, new friendships? SideTour comes to Chicago” →

Shrimp Fideos: Short for little Spanish toasted noodles and shrimp

Toasting uncooked pasta with olive oil in a skillet before adding liquid gives it a pleasingly nutty taste in this globe-trotting, Spanish-inspired dish with shrimp, red bell pepper and edamame. Recipe below.

One of the things I love about cooking is how recipes for the same essential dish can be so different. For fideos—short, thin noodles toasted and then cooked into Spanish (and Italian and Mexican) stews and soups, this is spectacularly so.

Fideos is actually the name of a specific type of thin noodle, most often short, slightly curved pieces. According to Joey Campanaro, chef/co-owner of The Little Owl in New York, fideos is the Catalan word for noodles, and many Spanish cooks use it instead of rice to make paella. Typically, English-language recipes call for using vermicelli, cappellini or spaghetti and breaking it into short pieces. Continue reading “Shrimp Fideos: Short for little Spanish toasted noodles and shrimp” →

Small Bites: 3 new haut chocolates from Vosges and 100 top wines for $15 or less

Vosges Haut-Chocolat introduces three new flavors for fall. And Wine Enthusiast Magazine releases its Top 100 Best Buys for 2012.

Dessert with a capital D is only a sometime thing here at Blue Kitchen, but we do like to keep chocolate on hand. Just a square or two after dinner gives the meal a sweet finish without committing to a big, calorie-laden slice or scoop of anything. So when artisanal chocolatier Vosges Haut-Chocolat invited us to join its VIP Blogger Program, we were more than happy to oblige.

A couple of perks of the program are preview announcements of new flavors and—more to the chocolate-loving point—occasional samples of those new flavors. Case in point are three new chocolate bars for fall. Continue reading “Small Bites: 3 new haut chocolates from Vosges and 100 top wines for $15 or less” →

Senate Bean Soup: Classic comfort food, comfortingly not updated

Served daily in the United States Senate Dining Room since the early 1900s, Senate Bean Soup is a soul satisfying, stubbornly old school dish. Recipe below.

Special Collector’s Issue is a term often used—and abused—by magazine marketers to boost newsstand sales. The October issue of Saveur magazine, however, lives up to the hype.

As the cover promises, it contains 101 classic recipes—and not much else. No restaurant showcases, no travel features, no chef profiles or kitchen gadget reviews. Just a short piece up front by the editor-in-chief celebrating Saveur’s 150th issue and a classic food-related photo of Lucille Ball on the last page, with the aforementioned recipes sandwiched in between. Continue reading “Senate Bean Soup: Classic comfort food, comfortingly not updated” →

I’m in a cookbook! With Helen Mirren!

Made With Love: The Meals on Wheels Family Cookbook features recipes by celebrities and celebrity chefs (and me) and raises money to fight hunger among seniors. And we’re giving away a copy here.

And Mario Batalli! And Martha Stewart, Patti LaBelle, Al Franken, Paula Deen… Made With Love: The Meals on Wheels Family Cookbook includes recipes from the tables of well-known actors, chefs, writers and other celebrities, along with personal stories about their favorite family meals. I was honored to be invited to share a recipe.

Published just last month by BenBella Books, Made With Love features 125 recipes arranged by course, from breakfast to appetizers, soups and stews, main dishes, casseroles, pasta and rice dishes, salads, sides and desserts. The stories told about many of the dishes are as delightful as the recipes themselves. Beautiful color photographs are sprinkled throughout the book. Continue reading “I’m in a cookbook! With Helen Mirren!” →