Tag: Chicago

Girl and The Goat…A Dinner Invitation I Could Not Miss

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Some micro organism I consumed earlier this week has knocked me down for the count. This past weekend I had a jam packed food centric weekend lined up with with PR events, work with the caterer, and an epic dinner invitation from Lori Lynn at Taste With The Eyes for a special dinner for ten at Stephanie Izard’s Girl and The Goat arranged by her adoring brother, Don. I had to cancel my whole weekend , just to be be able to recover, and attend this dinner I wouldn’t have missed for the world. By midday Sunday, after plenty of sleep, bed rest, liquids, and other things I wont mention on a food blog, I was ready , to take Lori Lynn up on her gracious invitation. Mind you, I hadn’t really eaten in about a day and half. Marie from Proud Italian Cook ,kept checking in on me all weekend to see if I would make it. To say we were excited would be an understatement.

If you don’t know who Stephnaie Izard is, than you should. She is the only female winner of Top Chef ,and we in Chicago are damn proud of her. The past few months as I have been thinking about blogging, chefs, cuisine, and the food industry in general, I have been thinking of who’s the real deal and who’s just perpetrating . There is a lot I’m not overly impressed with when I analyze it all.Having been all over, and dined all over. I can say Stephanie is the Real Deal. I confess most of the times I go the hottest new restaurants, I’m left with a feeling of not being impressed and let down after spending my precious time and money. Many overly hyped places and people are really not that original or want to really stretch themselves or their diners. But after having dined at Girl and The Goat,I cant say I have ever dined like that in my life. Stephanie is a wizard in flavors and ingredients. Imagine a perfectly seared chicken with watermelon and olives. Crazy but does it work! Marie and I agreed no one coaxes and manipulates vegetable entrees like Stephanie. I could go vegetarian if I had her recipes. Besides the food, I was wowed by her rustic elegant interiors that made you feel comfortable and at ease. There was a casual laid back, yet clean and efficient ease with the staff. Her stacks of pottery and various jars as serving vessels inspired me to pull out my own for use.

What I admire most about Stephanie is her graciousness. Graciousness and modesty seems to be hard to find in this modern age. Lori Lynn’s brother had Stephanie cook for him at a private event in his house once before.Later that year, he had also bid and won on another local Top Chef contestant to cook for another private dinner at a charity event.That didn’t work out and Stephanie stepped in and offered him a gracious dinner at her new restaurant as compensation. She didn’t have to do it, but she did. I have worked in a few kitchens, and from what I saw Stephanie is a hard working , graceful chef with a pleasant attitude and no airs no matter how sticky things get. That’s a rarity in this business. And my hunch is people feel this and will gravitate to Girl and The Goat. For a Sunday evening all the tables were in use, and there was wait list for at 9pm.We reluctantly gave up our table after 3 hours for the next party. That’s not typical for Sunday nights in a recession.

Our gracious hosts ordered practically the whole menu for us to sample with accompanying wines. I barely made it through the appetizers, as I was still recovering. But we slowed the flow and I managed to sample most of the offerings.I had to go easy on some on the heavier meat dishes as I wasn’t quite up to that yet with my stomach. Here is what we dined on from the menu. I placed a star by my favorites although I found everything was exceptional.

Vegetables

warm marinated olives *

pan fried shishito peppers with parmesan , sesame, and miso *

sauteed green beans with fish sauce vinaigrette and cashews**

shaved kohlrabi with fennel, blueberries, evelon, and toasted almonds *

chickpea fritters with heirloom tomatoes and fresh mozzarella

Fish

grilled baby octopus with guanciale, lemon- pistachio vinaigrette *

seared scallops with braised veal, caponata, and marcona almond butter

steamed clams with pork sausage, fennel.green tomato, and linguine *

seared summer flounder with brandade, tart plums, and sweet onions *

Meat

pork liver mousseline with ham hock jus, apple mustarda, and crumpets *

ham frites with smoked tomato aioloi and smoked swiss

smoked goat pizza with honeycrisp soffrito , black kale, cipollini, and ricottta

skirt steak a la planch with chiogga beets, house pickles, wilted romaine, salted goat milk caramel

wood oven roasted pig face with sunny side egg, tamarind, cilantro, and potato stix

braised beef tongue with masa, beef vinaigrette, and salsa verde

pan roasted chicken with fermented black bean, nicoise olives, celery, watermelon, and mint *

goat belly with lentils

Desserts

sweet corn nougat with plum apricot and candied bacon *

fudgecicle with olive oil gelato and dragons milk *

fried potato dumplings with candied eggplant, figs, and honey yogurt

goat cheese bavaroise with blueberry and brown sugar cake *

Breads

Pretzle bread with apple mustard

courtesy of Proud Italian Cook

61st Farmers Market Demo on Canning

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I was fortunate to get invited back to the 61st Street Farmers Market to do another demo. I’m quite honored as the market attract some pretty heavy hitters in the Chicago culinary world. For this opportunity I decided to talk about canning and preserving the taste of summer . I spoke about two recipes I posted before, Giardiniera and Bread and Butter Pickles. Enjoy the videos. Each is about 10 minutes in length. Certain Someone was kind enough to film. The first frames sound is a little off but the majority of the clip is much better. My favorite part is naturally towards the end and the satisfaction and delight the people had tasting my Giardinirera and Pickles.

Chicago Culinary Weekend Events…Sears Chef Challenge

If you’re in Chicago and looking for some culinary related activity check this out! Also , yours truly will be doing a live demo this Saturday at the 61st St Farmers Market at 10 am.

Here is the information for the Sears Event:

On Saturday, July 31 at 7 p.m. CT, you and your readers are invited to watch the four national semi-finalists in the Sears Chef Challenge compete head-to-head in a LIVE cooking competition at the Kenmore Live Studio to be crowned the king or queen of the kitchen. Free to the public, attendees at this event will enjoy delicious food, interactive activities and exciting recipe demonstrations from each of the competing chefs.

Following a nationwide search and online vote, America has chosen the Sears Chef Challenge semi-finalist chefs that will be competing to raise money for local charities in their hometowns, as well as earn a spot to move on to the Sears Chef Challenge Championship Final on November 6. The four chefs will represent their local cities as they compete live by completing a variety of special culinary challenges during the Semi-Final event. The semi-finalist chefs will then be scored by a panel of expert, culinary judges.

What: Sears Chef Challenge Semi-Final Event Cooking Competition

About The Sears Chef Challenge

The Sears Chef Challenge (www.searschefchallenge.com) is a nationwide contest that aims to find the nation’s next up and coming chef by inviting aspiring chefs to enter for a chance to win a newly-renovated kitchen from Sears and up to $20,000 donated in their name to a charity food bank in their hometown.

Semi-Finalist Chef Contestants:

Chef Mark Maassen — Representing Chicago

Chef Steph Krzywanski — Representing Washington D.C.

Chef Riq Glispy — Representing New York

Chef Palak Patel — Representing Los Angeles

Date: July 31, 2010 at 7 p.m. CST

Cost: Free – Open to Public

Location:

Kenmore Live Studio

678 N Wells St.

Chicago, Illinois

Giardiniera. It’s a Chicago Thing.

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I have a co worker who is a self described Giardiniera addict. We could go on and on about it. She’s one of the few kindred spirit’s I have found, that derives pure pleasure in salty acidic relishes. What is Giardiniera you ask? Well prior to coming to Chicago over ten years ago, I had never heard of it. I would get my heat and acid kick from the East Coats versions of crushed peppers on my submarines and cheese steaks, etc.

So naturally with the Mid West’s summer bounty upon us, and my refrigerator running over with heads of organic cauliflower, peppers, celery,carrots and such, it was time to attempt some Giardiniera. For my first attempt it was pretty good. The co-worker expert said it was “Freaking Good’“and wanted some more. The beauty of this recipe, is that you use whatever you have laying around. If  you like your Giardiniera mild, add sweet peppers only. If you like some heat and spice go crazy with the Serrano’s and Jalapenos.After all Giardiniera means “Woman Gardener” in Italian.

To Process or Not?

I went ahead and processed mine in a water batch or my dishwasher method, as I was taught  last year). There is some traditional debate on whether this is safe or not (dishwasher method).If you  do a traditional water bath (the safest method), only do so for minimal time (like 3-5 minutes). At first I thought they didn’t seal, but they did the next day. The veg was still nice and crunchy. I still kept all my jars in the fridge to be safe, rather than sorry, and I’m just about out. If you don’t process, consume within 2-3 weeks and store in the refrigerator.

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Giardiniera

Makes 5-6 pint sizes

Total time 4 days to process

  • 1 head cauliflower
  • 1 bunch celery
  • 4-5 large carrots
  • 2-3 Red or hued sweet peppers
  • 4 Jalapenos or more or less to taste. Not seeded!
  • 4 Serrano’s . Not seeded!
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 tablespoon dried minced garlic
  • 1 tablespoon Italian Herbs mix (dried oregano, basil, etc)
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup Kosher Salt
  • 1 part Vegetable or Canola oil (to cover)
  • 1 part White Vinegar (to cover)

Preparation

  1. Sterilized jars, and lids. 1 pint size
  2. Clean and chop all your vegetables.Be sure to leave seeds from the heat peppers (Jalapenos and Serrano’s). In a non reactive container with lid, our salt  on vegetables and cover with cold water. Cover and store 24 hours in the refrigerator.
  3. Drain salt water. At this point you may rinse if you find the veg salty. I  like salt, so didn’t. It was just fine. In another container mix your 1 part Vinegar to 1 part Oil with the remaining spices. Mix well and make sure its combined or emulsified.
  4. Sterilize Jars and Lids. Pack the vegetables into clean sterilized jars and cover with the oil /vinegar mixture. Seal and either process in a water bath, or store in the refrigerator.
  5. If you process, let rest after process for 12 hour until sealed. If not sealed, follow instructions from jar manufacturer to reprocess, or store immediately in the refrigerator to consume within 2-3 weeks.
  6. Either way , once complete let, the jars rest for at least 2 days until consuming to allow the flavors to merge.

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Suggested Uses:

  • Chicago Beef Sandwich
  • Relish Trays
  • Antipasto  trays
  • Pasta Salads
  • Submarines
  • Pizzas
  • Accompaniment to Charcuterie
  • Or just plain out the Jar

61st Street Farmers Mkt demo

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Here is the video coverage from today’s demo at 61st Street Farmers Market. It was an honor that a few fellow bloggers and friends turned out. Also Stephanie Izzard was at the Market doing Market School on behalf of the Common Threads Organization. I made Lamb Sliders with Rhubarb Onion Sauce where you can find here. Note I used Brown sugar in today’s demo.