Edible Chicago

Dan's new venture!

2011-01-23T22:54:00.002-06:00

Check out Dan's new vegetarian catering business, yummy!!

Zesty Seitan!

2009-03-29T23:17:00.003-05:00

Wow. That worked! So, here's a recipe some of you may have seen before, only it's been altered to contain homemade seitan instead of tofu. Christa made the seitan (the hard part), I did the rest, and it was awwwwwwsooome! Damn! Good, sweet, in-season sugar snap peas balance out the spiciness of this dish very nicely. The seitan comes from the wonderful Mark Bittman cookbook, How To Cook Everything Vegetarian. If you don't like it too spicy, you may want to reduce the amount of sauce. There's a link to the seitan recipe below. Enjoy!

Zesty Seitan & Udon Noodles:

Sauce:
1 Tablespoon mustard (prepared -- I use Nance's Sharp & Tangy)
1 Tablespoon Sriracha hot sauce (asian hot chili sauce, A.K.A "rooster sauce")
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons dried dill
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1 recipe homemade seitan, cubed
1 lb. sugar snap peapods
Udon noodles (I like Nasoya brand fresh "japanese"-style noodles--available in the produce section at Jewel, right next to the tofu)

Sautee the seitan on high heat in 2T canola oil. While that's frying, assemble the sauce. Drop the udon noodles into your already boiling water (jeez, you're good!). Once the seitan is almost done frying (5-10 minutes), add the sugar snap peapods and continue to sautee for 3 more minutes. Add the sauce and cook until caramelized--about 1 minute. Drain the Udon noodles, add to the pan with the seitan, stir and serve!

Vegan lasagna- not pretty. but really tasty.

2009-01-24T19:21:00.004-06:00

Inspire the desire to make sweet love to a pan of lasagna with the following recipe. Included is my version of Tofu Ricotta. It's not as awesome as the Real Food Diner's version, but it's easier. Note that the same Tofu Ricotta makes great stuffed pasta shells. This recipe also includes the no-boil noodles made by Prince. This brand is my favorite, but its likely that others would work too.

Holy yum!
Needed:

8-10 oz mushrooms
1/2 of an onion
1 (15oz.) package firm tofu
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup shredded zucchini
3 Tabls. yellow miso paste
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
1.5 jars prepared pasta sauce (we like Neumans Organic, Basil and Tomato)
garlic powder to taste
1 box Prince Oven Ready Lasagna Noodles
Veggie filling:
1) Chop and saute 1/2 of an onion
2) Add 1 package of slice mushrooms and saute until well cooked and dried out

Tofu ricotta:
1) Shred (with a cheese grater) 1/2 cup of carrots and 1/2 cup of zucchini
2) In a bowl, combine carrots, zucchini, 1 package firm tofu (smooshed with hands or fork), 3 tablespoons yellow miso paste,1 teaspoon nutritional yeast and 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder or more to taste.
3) stir in 3/4 cup of prepared tomato sauce to make a spreadable paste

Assemble lasagna:
1) Add 3/4 cup prepared tomato sauce to bottom of 13x9 pan
2) add 3 noodles of Prince Oven Ready Lasagna noodles
3) add tofu ricotta layer, about 1/2-3/4 cup, over noodles
4) add another 3/4 cup of sauce and about half of the veggie/mushroom filling
5) repeat layering. on last layer, add more sauce (about a cup or 1.5 cups) to keep noodles from getting dry.
6) bake 30 minutes (350 degrees) covered in foil, then remove foil and bake another 15 minutes
slice and enjoy!

Cardamom bread

2008-12-14T17:10:00.004-06:00

OK, so i intended to blog the other great weddings i went to in August, but that's too far past now. So, in summary, i finally got to try a chocolate fountain at Emily's wedding, it was fun! AND we had a awesome weekend in San Fran for Chris and Lisa'a wedding, with some of the most amazing food and wine ever served at a reception (at Greens, a must see for anyone visiting San Fran. amazing location and food.)
But now, i have perfected a recipe and i must share.
Christa's cardamom bread:
Yields two loafs of deliciousness.

1) Mix in large bowl:
2 cups boiling water
2/4 cup instant dried milk
(vegan option, 1 cup water, 1 cup soy or rice milk)
2 Tblsp butter or margarine
2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
Stir until butter melts, let sit 20 minutes to cool

2) With 10 minutes left in milk cooling, mix in small bowl:
1/4 cup warm water
1 Tblsp yeast
pinch of sugar
Let sit to proof yeast for 10 minutes

3) After cooling/proofing, combine small bowl into large bowl and add:
5 cardamom pods, ground fresh or 1.5 teaspoons ground cardamom
Beat liquid mixture with a wisk for two minutes, to oxygenate the liquid

4) Add 4 cups of flour, once combined add additional flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough is no longer sticky (around 5 cups total)

5) Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes

6) In a very large, lightly greased bowl (olive or canola oil is ok) place the dough, turning the loaf to coat in oil. Cover in saran wrap and let rise about an hour (i like to heat the oven at 200, turn it off and put the dough in the warm oven)

7) Turn dough out onto a floured surface, punch it down and split into two loaves. Roll out the loaves well to get out the big bubbles. Form into loaves as follows: work dough into a squarish shape where the longest diagonal is 1-2 inches shorter than your pan. Place in front of you as a diamond shape and roll dough from the bottom point, so the diagonal defines the width of the finished roll.

8) place loaves into greased pans and allow to rise at least 2 hours (slower=tastier) until loaf is at least 1 inch over the top of the pan.

9) Mix an egg yolk with 2 Tablsp milk and brush over loaves (this wash is mostly cosmetic, consider it optional), slash a few times with sharp knife or razor blade

10) bake 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Yumm!

A month of weddings, the first:

2008-09-08T20:14:00.007-05:00

August was a busy month for us, and it all started with a long weekend in Portland, OR, for Blair and Rich's wedding. As residents of the local Zen center and active Buddists, Blair and Rich had ceremony that was a variation on the traditional ceremony. I have known Blair for many years, and she has always been a profoundly independent thinker, so it was no surprise that her wedding had a similar flair. Blair is like a sister to Dan, so it was a great trip out to see her for a few days.
I had never been to Portland, and i found it to be a really cool city. The Chinese Garden was a beautiful oasis in the midst of the city. We stopped in at the Tao of Tea for some authentic tea. Delish.Lastly, we did get a chance to visit the Rogue Brewpub in Portland. I had a taster of a number of great beers, but my favorite was the Hazelnut Nut Brown. So, so perfect.
We stayed in a really cute Hostel, in a private room. I recommend it for the budget adventure traveler!

Garden update

2008-01-19T10:34:00.001-06:00

well, the plants have been growing well. Two of the plants have some cute tomatoes, but the third has yet to grown any. strange....

The tomatoes are still quite green, and some have been fully grown for about 10 days or so, still no sign of red. We must wait i suppose!
As a last note, it seems our blog name is a magazine now! I'm a little upset it got stolen, but it is a great name after all, so maybe it's some sort of compliment. (thanks Chicagoist)

Everybody wants to be famous!

2007-12-17T22:28:00.001-06:00

Well, this was fun...

Veggie music

2007-11-29T12:37:00.000-06:00

hopefully this link stays good for a while

hilarious! awesome! tasty?

It's a super tofu day!

2007-11-23T22:26:00.000-06:00

Well, the foodies favorite holiday is over, and dan's just sad the party ended. We hit the Chatty's Nut Brown pretty hard, and the champagne, and the spiced cider with rum, and the wine....yikes, my head was hurtin' this AM. Here's Lenyr, Dan and Alex hittin' the buffet to kick off the day of gluttony, followed shortly by a day of sloth.

Me, i'm sorry there weren't more leftovers...'cause this year, we decided not to support the tofu-turkey hegemony by diggin into a mediocre, nay, some would say disgusting Tofurky loaf. This year, we made our own tofu roast! We made some key modifications of a VegWeb.com recipe, whipped up some Alton Brown Cranberry Sauce, and slathered on some Grit Sage and Onion Gravy...delicious! Here's the full recipe:

Dan and Christa's Thanksgiving Tofu Roast

5 (14 oz.) Packages of Tofu
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 Tbs. sage
1 Tbs. marjoram
1 Tbs. garlic powder
1 Tbs. salt
1/4 tsp Gravy Master or Kitchen Bouquet

Blend together well, working out chunks of tofu and forming a uniform paste (ok to add a few splashes of water to make it easier to mix, we used stand mixer)

Pour into large colander, cover with cheesecloth or parchment paper, cover with a flat object (book, plate, etc.) and a few pounds of weight. Place colander on a pan to collect water, press from 4 hours to overnight (refrigerate overnight,)

When done pressing, prep stuffing:
1 large diced onion
4-5 stalks diced celery
1 Tbs. toasted sesame oil (optional)

sauté in oil until onion is translucent, add:

4-5 diced cloves garlic
1/4 cup sage
2 tsp marjoram
2 tsp thyme
1 tsp rosemary
1/4 cup soy sauce

sauté spices for a minute or so, add:

3 cups stuffing mix
water until bread is spongy (probably 1/4 cup at the most!)

uncover pressed tofu and carve out the middle of the roast so that 1 inch of tofu remains on each of the 5 sides (save what you take out!)
fill with as much stuffing as you can, but only up to the sides of the roast, try not to overflow the cavity you cut out and fill over the stuffing with the roast you removed.
place roasting pan that is very close in size to colander on top and flip over quickly!

Baste with half of the following mixture:

1/2 cup canola/vegetable oil
2 Tbs. toasted sesame oil (optional)
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbs. Miso paste
2 Tbs. orange juice
1 tsp honey mustard

cover with foil and bake at 350 for 1.5 hours
set aside a few Tbs. of basting liquid for basting when served. After 1.5 hrs remove foil and baste with 2nd half of liquid
Bake another 1.5 hours uncovered to brown top of roast
Remove, baste with reserve, slice and serve!

Good luck, and hope your holiday was delicious!

Tomato, 16th day. Beer, drink it all-th day!

2007-11-19T22:24:00.000-06:00

Ok, it's been 19 days. the papa of the garden is getting huge!

you should see the crazy roots floating in the water. it's really cool to watch....

And the runt of the garden:

awww shucks, ain't he a cutie? she?

Ok, and the beer is done! I was worried some "volunteers" (i.e. microbes other than happy beering yeast) had surmounted my sanitizing efforts to sour the beer...my first trepidatious swig....will it taste as good as it smells? (which is awesome, BTW)

the verdict? delicious! a hoppier Newcastle, a fresh, tasty homebrew. Next? Honey Porter. Oh, and drinking 48 bottles of Chatty's Nut Brown.
If you're anywhere near me, you should come over and try some!

Aerogarden day 12, Chatty's Nut Brown Ale day 9

2007-11-08T20:50:00.000-06:00

Hey, so the tomatoes are taking off recently! Well, at least this one is...the other two are smaller, but still super cute! i can't wait for tasty sweet tomatoes....yumm!

The first fermentation on the Nut Brown Ale went fairly fast, so, for better or for worse, we spent Tuesday night bottling. It was a smelly process, mostly good smells, and of course we spilled beer everywhere. Yet, in the end, we have 48 bottles of beer down in the basement, getting good and carbonated (the second fermentation adds the dissolved CO2).

It was a two person job, and Dan got good at capping the beers after i filled them. It doesn't really take that much force...what a goof!
Note the Aerogarden blazing away in the background. Go Tomatoes! Go Beer!

Taste of Lebanon

2007-11-02T19:09:00.000-05:00

Must...get...blog...back...to...being...about...food! I know, I know-- I have no right to complain, what with the "not blogging at all in the last year" thing. Hey. You shut up. I was busy.

I did however, have time to eat at Taste of Lebanon, a great little spot 3 blocks from our apartment that is about 50% of the reason we moved to Andersonville. No, 10%. Okay, 25.

We love this place. Aside from serving the second best baba ghanoush in Chicago, T.O.L. knocks our socks off because you can get a full dinner here for 5-6 dollars, even if you are a flesh-eater. Flesh-eater! Check out the homemade dolma!

Here is Christa taking a bite out of a falafel sandwich-- I'd say she orders one of these about 3 out of every 5 times we go out for Mediterranean. I can't blame her-- I've never had bad falafel anywhere. Thinking of taking a trip to D.C.? Ask Justin about a place he took me to-- I don't know what it's called, but it's dingy and dark, and J.C., do they have good falafel there.

And finally, another picture from our wedding (sigh)-- but this one's of food! Ha ha! Good save! The baklava we served is also the baklava they serve at T.O.L. They gave us the tip on where to buy it in bulk, those classy, classy sons-of-bitches. If you have no idea why I am raving over this baklava, you either didn't taste it, or haven't eaten much baklava. Either way, I feel bad for you.

My next post will be exclusively about the wedding food. Be prepared.

Big Sur, CA, shaaa, fur shure!

2007-11-01T22:04:00.000-05:00

Ok folks, here's the deet's on our honeymoon. After flying into San Jose, we hopped in our rental and went straight south on California 1 till we hit the sleepy, easy to miss metropolis of Big Sur. We stayed in a really cute cabin (number 9) at the Ripplewood Resort, which was in an old stand of redwood trees (that smelled like heaven) and was right next to a serene babbling brook/river. Such quiet! The stars came out at night, and we saw the Milky Way! Here we are on the porch of our temporary home.

One of the first things we saw was Point Lobos State Park. It's named for the sea lions, which the Spaniards called sea wolves A.K.A., lobos. We saw a good number of sea lions (and heard them too, what a racket! they just bark all day long) and a few harbor seals. No sea otters (bummer) just lots of "kelp otters" (our guide used this term to describe bull kelp bobbing in the waves that, at a distance, is easily mistaken for a sea otter). There were lots of hummingbirds too, i saw more that one flock of them buzzing about.

There are some really old cypress out on the point, around 100 years old, though they can live up to 300 years. crazy! There is also a peninsula that is believed to have inspired Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island" (Carmel, the town just a few miles from the park, was a big pirate town for a while, and Stevenson used to hang about in this part of CA).

Finally, i want to point out that the curves and hills of CA state highway 1 provide an excited framework to this amazing scenery. I was always amazed at what vista would open up around every turn! here's just one example....

Cheers!

More photos!

2007-10-30T22:16:00.000-05:00

So the tomatoes are coming along great (Day 4)! All three seed pods have some really cute sprouts. Yeah! Soon i'll have to trim it down to one plant per pod (as per the instructions). Here's a shot of my sister, mom and i at the end of my wedding. It's one of my fav's, we all look so cute!
This is the waterfall in McWay cove at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park in Big Sur. It's the only waterfall in CA that ends in the Pacific Ocean. It's beautiful too!

Here's a closer shot of the waterfall...

This is dan contemplating Pfeiffer Beach, a few miles and a harrowing drive from Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. Incredibly beautiful.

I have tons more honeymoon and wedding shots, i'll keep blogging, just check back!

Nut Brown Ale day 1, marriage day 15

2007-10-28T22:28:00.000-05:00

So i turned 30 a while back, and dan-my-main-man (well, my only man) got me a home brew starter kit, and the ingredients for a batch of Nut Brown ale, my favorite type of beer. Coincidentally, it's also a good starter batch since it only takes a few weeks (4-6) and is more forgiving of mistakes since the flavor is so strong....anyhow, since we were going away on the honeymoon to Big Sur, CA, i had to wait until now to get the beer going. Here is a cute shot of us at Nepenthe, a really cool restaurant in Big Sur. Check out their web page for a live web cam of Big Sur weather!

The view was great and the food was good. The service was great too! Back to the beer though...it turns out, a lot of the work to get the first fermentation going involves just watching the wort boil (the wort is what brewers call unfermented beer. ha! now i'm a brewer too!) for an hour or so.
Once everything is good and cooked together, i cooled the wort, poured it into a sterilized plastic bucket, threw in some yeast, and sealed it up to wait. This first step should take two weeks or so, during which the yeast will eat up all the sugar and poop out delicious booze. However, i should know within 48 hours if it's going well, since that's when the yeast should really get going and a nice foam will cover the wort.
So it doesn't look like much, just a plastic bucket in the corner of our dining room. But i'm sure it's going to be an awesome batch! more details to follow.

Aerogarden day 1, marriage day 14

2007-10-27T17:13:00.000-05:00

So yeah, we got married. crazy kids! yes, we got dressed up and talked about love, but importantly, the food was awesome! We were so happy so many folks were able to make it out to Chicago, and still sad that a few folks were unable to attend.

In addition to the honeymoon, which i'll blog eventually, we got some amazing gifts. Although the transformation to our spice collection is notable, the most extravagant food-related gift we got was from my co-workers, who gave us the AeroGarden.

This amazing system is an indoor garden that uses hydroponic technology to grow tasty vegetables and herbs, right on our countertop! In 3 months we should be enjoying our first batch of tomatoes, grown organically and with the optimal nutrients for optimal flavor. I'll keep the world posted on the growth, as of now, the only action is some condensation inside the little domes.

Best. Pasta. Ever. (in Illinois perhaps)

2007-05-08T15:02:00.000-05:00

Dan and i were out a-wadering this past weekend on the far far northwest side of Chicago (exactly 8 miles west of our apartment). We were "the bridal district", where the ratio of ugly dresses to humans is roughly 1:1. Anyhow, we stopped in at Pasta Fresh, a simple tiny storefront with a cold case filled with pasta. For dinner, we each ate a pound of ravioli. It was awesome! My favorite was the asparagus filled, and we also had artichoke (which, although tasty, was a bit mild to stand up to marinara). Anyhow, it was spectacular! Worth an hour long bus ride both ways? Probably not. But with an impeding i-GO membership and a number of dress fittings in the bridal district, we are sure to have a lot more Pasta Fresh in our future! Though we are a little puzzled about the name. The shop is located in a strip mall called "Piazza Italia", why not go for "Pasta fresca"?

The Spice House

2007-04-09T15:02:00.000-05:00

Hello all! It's been ages i know, but i was waiting for Dan to take his turn. You can all see how well that worked out. Aside from some personal turmoil, we have still been eating our way through Chicago. Today i want to share with the world a little info on our favorite gourmet store, The Spice House. There are two locations of this amazing local jem in Chicago proper, one in Evanston (which i imagine must rock, though i haven't been) and one on Wells St in Old Town Chicago. If you go down there, you should not miss a stop-over at The Old Town Aquarium, located almost next door. We don't go there to eat the fish, just ogle them! The starfish are particularly awesome. Anyhow, back to the Spice House....you won't miss the entrance to the shop, since the entire sidewalk within 10 feet is awash with the glorious scent of spices; pepper, anise, sea salt, cinnamon, cumin, all entice me into the shop every time! The staff is really very helpful, and the prices are incredible. I always learn something new, since all of the labels contain some useful tidbit of info for each spice. There's affordable saffron, three kinds of vanilla beans, at least 10 kinds of salt....thrilling! Do not miss the medium chili powder. It is the perfect blend of pepper, cumin and mexican oregano. Really, it makes any chili recipe a 5 star recipe!Alrightly, there's the scoop. Cheers!

End of summer part 1

2006-10-03T22:36:00.000-05:00

The summer is the time for fish tacos, especially those with fresh grilled tilapia, tons of fresh cilantro, chile paste, and a mere 1.75 price tag. yummy! (please forgive the silly photoshop edits) Yet, the fall is in full swing. The Michigan apples are taking over the farmer's market, and the days for outdoor fun are numbered. Thus, i present some random photos from this past summer, enjoy!
George "Sulu" Takei was the Grand Marshal for the Pride parade, i snapped this just outside our apartment.Matt and Chris and Dan at the Chicago Botanic Gardens, in the Japanese garden. What an awesome place!
Anyhow, it's not all eating in Chicago. Sometimes we walk around gardens too!

Tasty Chicago!

2006-08-22T22:20:00.000-05:00

OK, it's been a few weeks. But back in the heat of July, Dan "dagwood" grodner and his lovely gal Ditte drove on in from Rochester and we all went to the Taste of Chicago. All the locals warned us not to even try, but really, a festival dedicated to food? can it really be that bad? truthfully, it was very hot. and fairly expensive. Yet, there were tons of food stands to choose from, and we got to eat some stuff from the South side (which we have yet to explore, even though it's more than half of Chicago!). Most of it was deep fried, or meat! The first thing we tried, the deep fried bananas, filled with gooey chocolate, were a serious highlight! This being a Chicago festival there were tons of pizza options to choose from. Ditte wanted to get a sample of this deep dish we are so famous for, and Connie's pizza (from the South side) didn't disappoint, covered in pounds of delightful cheese. There was a free cheesecake promotion, to celebrate Eli's cheesecake (after 26 years at the Taste of Chicago!) but by the time we walked over there, the line was literally a mile long. literally. so, we just went and bought some cheesecake. it was a bit frozen, so the texture was off, but the flavor was good, serious cheese action. what else would we expect from this town? clearly it's not a place for those on low calorie diets. We were so glad to see dan and meet ditte, it was great to help her celebrate her birthday! Hopefully she's been wearing her bike helmet. hopefully all of you are wearing your bike helmets!

Whole Bean Chronicles, Part One.

2006-07-11T22:57:00.000-05:00

One of the reasons we love eating is that it engages most or (if you're lucky) all of the physical senses. With a little willful exploration, it can also engage one's imagination: What are the common experiences of the people who brought me this food? What must the seasons be like in that country for them to yield so much of a certain crop, and how cooperative is the soil? What kinds of traditions and celebrations have grown out of the predominance of a particularly versatile edible?

What's it like to farm this crop?

This last question becomes very important when it comes to coffee beans, and we stand firm in our decision to support only Fair Trade certified beans when buying our home stash. If you're interested in why we choose to pay more for beans which may simply be equal in quality to that of some commercial products, please do some research of your own so that I can get off of this pedestal before the end of the post.

Okay, now.

One of my misconceptions about Chicago involved a highly increased cost of living, and the Coffee and Tea Exchange has gone a long way toward shattering that notion. In fact, they have something I haven't seen anywhere else in Chicago: Reasonably priced brewed coffee. $1 for a small, $1.25 for a medium, $1.50 for a large.

And.

It's.

Good.

So good, in fact, that we have occasionally forgone the fresh ground in our home for a cup around the corner (right across from the Nettlehorst school). And now that it's summer, they're serving amazing iced coffee from a cold-brew process that uses more beans, but packs quite a silky-smooth punch and doesn't noticeably weaken in flavor when the ice cubes melt. Coffee brewed to be served cold. Who woulda thunk it?

Don't call him a barista: Meet Peter, our usual beanologist. Pete, if you use a title that doesn't sound goofy, then I sincerely apologize for "beanologist". Peter was the very first employee of the Exchange to hear my plea for more Fair Trade beans, and a month later, CTE was carrying 3 new varieties. It's gotta be the Pete. Actually, all of the java slingers in that shop are extremely pleasant and knowledgeable, only adding to my puzzlement over the low prices.

Finally, here is a picture of one of the awe inspiring walls of tea, bulk spices, and useful coffee gadgets, Christa's favorite visual feature of the store.

Buy Fair Trade!

Nettlehorst French Market

2006-07-08T20:32:00.000-05:00

So it's Saturday morning. I'm a little hungover, and a little hungry. I need a shower, but i'll let it wait till later, because just down the street is the coolest thing about my neighborhood during the summer, the market held over at the Nettelhorst school.

The market is small, but has a great selection of local produce, local art, flowers and a fantastic bakery. One of our favorite stops is for pretzel bread and scones from the Hahn bakery stand, guys that come in all the way from someplace called Geneva, way outside of the city. Pretzel bread is a delectible mild bread, with a dark crust covered in tasty pretzel salt. Dan goes crazy for it! and i love anything with lots of carbs....

There are also artist booths, a few weeks ago i got a really cool necklace from a woman who lives just down the street from me, and it's so cool that a homeless lady stopped me to give me a compliment. Thanks michelle!

This week we obtained some awesome food-related artwork, from a guy who was selling these
georgeous wooden cutting boards and other crafts from a company in Oxford, PA. We got a really amazing cutting board, great for presenting the cheese course at our next dinner party!

Finally, we round out our carb fest with some zucchini from one stand, and some dried-vegetable chips from a farm in Dowagiac, MI. The veggie chips are great, the taro, carrot, and eggplant are good, but the green beans are actually our favorite. Salty and crispy and sweet! A great Saturday morning treat.

it's been a while...

2006-06-28T09:47:00.000-05:00

hello world, sorry the blogs been slow. be assured we have not stopped eating out or anything, but we have had some internet access troubles (the wifi we are "borrowing" has a weak signal lately). The good news is that the Taste of Chicago festival is this weekend. if we survive, you will probably hear more about it here, so check back soon!

Cozy noodle shop makes me giggle

2006-06-05T22:17:00.000-05:00

Yummy, i love Thai! Cozy noodle is an adorable place just a block south of Wrigley Field. Good Thai, cheap dinner, and a really fun dining room. The best thing about Thai is you know they always have great vegetarian options, and on this visit Dan and i both had very tasty tofu dishes. But really, it's not the food i am here to talk about (ask Dan if you really want the full details on that!) what i love is the look of this place. The dining room is bright, with sunny yellow walls and shelves full of antique tin windup toys and a large retro radio collection. The tables are made of old Singer-sewing tables (the kind you pump with your feet) and the service is always enthusiastic. For some odd reason, they have a full size Elvis! and it's BYOB, so we picked up our new favorite, Sangria-for-lazy-people, no fruit slicing required. mmmm, tasty. As an added bonus, the mere act of finishing a bottle of wine between the two of us, in the course of a 1 hour meal, had us feeling great for the rest of the night.

There seems to be this thing in Chicago about bathroom decor, and Cozy Noodle doesn't disappoint in their own entry for "Coolest bathrooms." The men's room is wallpapered in action figures, and the ladies is dripping with Pez dispensers! hilarious, and so colorful.

Leap of Faith.

2006-05-30T22:06:00.000-05:00

This vegetarian loves Chicago, and the Blind Faith Café in Evanston (immediately north of the city, for you out-of-towners) is one of the many reasons. Ladies and gentlemen, here is a fully vegetarian fine dining establishment WITH A CASUAL CAFÉ STOREFRONT attached to the more nuanced ambience of the full-service restaurant next door. I’ve eaten in both, and the experience is great either way.

Plate tour clockwise from the top left: we started off with tofu “crab” cakes amazingly seasoned (they don’t taste like crab) and served on a sweet pepper sauce swirled with balsamic reduction. Look good, don’t they? They’re fantastic.

Next up is Christa’s selection, Santa Fe salad with BBQ seitan. An unbelievable portion size forced her to carry it most of it home after those crab cakes. She also ate the rest of it later.

Those noodles were crazy and fun to eat and they topped my Mongolian BBQ seitan (a different sauce than the salad seitan, to be sure), which I can’t believe I finished. Okay, yes, I can, and so can everybody else. Shut up.

Observe, if you will: a high quality vegetarian chili served with what was reported to be a very fine vegan corn bread. This from Louisiana-lover Colleen, our friend and my colleague (why didn’t we get a picture of her?).

Take my advice and finish (or start) with a bottle of China Cola (I love the stuff) or a cup of Mighty Leaf Tea—the best on earth, as far as I know (not very far).

Is it cheap? Not as cheap as we’ve seen, but not as expensive, either, and definitely affordable by Chi-Town standards. We’d love to go again sometime. Who’s game?

Crepes, crepes, crepes!

2006-05-29T17:59:00.000-05:00

We have discovered that our neighborhood has quite a few french-style creperie cafes, so we have set out to eat at all of them to find out which is the best! And we get to eat lots of crepes, of course. La Creperie, a small place on N. Clark just north of Diversey, has a decor that feels very french. Lot's of antique-y maps and french art deco posters. We arrived around lunch, but both went for dessert crepes, made with whole wheat flour. I've had the savory ones there too, made with buckwheat. Both are good, but the sinful indulgence of dessert-for-lunch was irresistable! My strawberry crepe was just OK (the side of eggs was cooked perfectly), but the star of the meal was Dan's creme de marron (chesnut creme) filled crepe. Nutty, sugary, delectable! no photos, though, i always forget when i am very hungry.

Our second and third crepe adventures have been at The Crepe and Coffee Palace, otherwise known as "that Algerian place on Clark just north of Fullerton", since the real name is sort of missing from the sign! We have always gone for the savory crepes here, where there are some Algerian influenced ingredients you wouldn't find at La Creperie.

The crepes all come with soup, and both times we went the vegetarian option was a subtle, simple sweet potato puree with a few peas and a nice piece of mint. The coffee is organic, and the water is served with a refreshing slice of cucumber. ( left panel below) On the right is my half eaten crepe (oops) filled with arugula, red peppers, pine nuts and goat cheese. Pretty affordable (about 7 bucks) and really, really good! Dan chose his own fillings this time, with eggs, avacado, red pepper, onions and creme cheese (all for 6.95!).

Ok, so we got dessert too. It was so pretty! And delicious, of course, filled with Belgian chocolate sauce, bananas, toasted almonds and coconut. We can't wait to go back!

Where "Yuppie" and "Yummy" Meet.

2006-05-28T22:00:00.000-05:00

Well, I didn't think I would be spending too much time in downtown Chicago. That was before I realized Christa would be working there. Lucky for us she's been more than capable at finding quality, affordable downtown dinner spots. She recently called and informed me that we would be meeting at the Fox and Obel Cafe.

Fox and Obel is a one-of-a-kind (no, literally) grocery store centrally located across the street from Chicago's Navy Pier. The Navy Pier is touristy, and I refuse to link to it. Look it up if you care that much. Big Ferris wheel, blah blah blah.

As I am a new addition to the big city, I was muy surprised to be eating gourmand-worthy grub at a grocery store. Of course, this grocery store has embroidered disposable napkins that cost $15 per 20.

No, that's not a typo.

This is me thoroughly enjoying boccocino (small rigatoni) in olive oil with various wild mushrooms-- simple and amazing. Christa picked out the taste of smoked salt-- we theorize that they did not adjust for the truly saltier flavor of smoked varieties, and hence the dish is a little too salty.

She had a panini-pressed grilled cheese paired with one of the best tomato basil soups that either of us has tasted, and there are no pictures since I was too engrossed in my dish to remember that we were starting this blog.

I love it when a restaurant nixes table service in favor of lower prices and still manages to quickly deliver freshly prepared meals in a comfortable (no flies) setting. Perfect for a meal before a movie across the street at the River East 21, affordable and highly recommended.

learning to blog....

2006-05-24T17:41:00.000-05:00

Here is our first photo for our first blog. so cute! -cc

first is the best?

2006-05-23T19:01:00.000-05:00

here it is, the first posting. after a weekend of eating every kind of pork i could find in Rochester, i am back to chicago. we tried a new pizza from Ranaldi's, the spingione, a fancy sicilian crust. very buttery, very good!