Chicago Chef's Table @ Province.

Two weeks ago, Marcia and I went to a book launch party for Ameila Levin's cool new cookbook, Chicago Chef's Table, which features over 50 of Chicago's best chefs, restaurants and recipes. It's a beautiful book, well designed with wonderful photography – a great addition to any cook's library, but especially for one with ties to Chicago.

The party was hosted by Province, and we got to enjoy not only champagne and several passed appetizers, but a 5-course dinner with accompanying wines, all put together by the restaurant's chef Randy Zweiban. It was amazing! I wish I had written down the appetizers (bummer!), but here's what we had for dinner:

Course One: Nichols Farm Asparagus Salad | goat cheese, pretzel chip, preserved lemon. Tomero, Torrontés, Medoza, Argentina, 2009.

Course Two: Tortilla Soup | Laughing Bird Farms shrimp, avocado salsa, smoked tomatillos. El Albar Lurton, Tempranillo Rosé, Castilla y León, Spain, 2011. (image sans soup)

Course Three: Alaskan Cod | fingerling hash, piquillo romesco. Hermanos Sastre, Tempranillo, Roble, Ribera del Duero, Spain, 2008.

Course Four: Becker Lane Pork "Cubano" | Nichols Farm black beans, rice, orange mojo. Cedro do Noval, Syrah/Touriga Nacional, Vinho Regional Duriense, Portugal, 2007.

Course Five: Chocolate and Orange Flans | orange-dulce de leche ice cream, orange salsa. Casa de la Ermita, Late Harvest Viognier, Jumilla, Spain, NV.

In looking up the Province website again now, I noticed they have a Spring Menu Dinner tasting event this Thursday.  It's $75 and totally worth it in my opinion – there's so much to try complete with great service and atmosphere. Unfortunately, I'll have to miss this one – I'll be enjoying a steak at Ruth's Chris.

One more thing. I think my favorite of the meal was the Tortilla Soup. I just happen to have the recipe!

Chicken Tortilla Soup by Randy Zweiban. (Serves 8)

3 chicken legs
3 chicken thighs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
6 cups canola oil, divided
6 white corn tortillas, cut into 1/4-inch strips
1 cup diced red onion
6 tomatillos, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 serrano chile, stemmed, seeded, and minced
3 medium red peppers, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
2 quarts vegetable broth or stock

For the avocado relish:
1 ripe Haas avocado, peeled, pitted, and finely diced
1 tablespoon minced red onion
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350°F. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat two tablespoons of the oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Saute chicken until nicely browned, about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove from pan, set aside.

Add remaining oil to the pan and heat to 175°F, checking the temperature with a thermometer. Return chicken to pan and cover with lid or heavy-duty foil.

Roast in oven for 35-40 minutes or until meat is fork-tender. Remove chicken from pan, reserving the oil. When chicken is cool enough to handle, shred, discarding skin and bones.

Heat the oil back up to 325°F. Fry the tortilla strips until crispy, about 1-2 minutes. Drain the strips on paper towels. Pour off all but one-quarter of the oil.

Heat the remaining oil over medium heat. Sauté the onion, tomatillos, garlic, and chile until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the peppers, broth, and all but 1 cup of the crispy tortillas.

YUM!

Pastoral Artisan Cheese – Producer Festival.

This weekend I went to the 2nd Annual Artisan Producer Festival at the French Market. The event was free, open to the public, and hosted 70 wine/cheese and beer vendors, all offering their free samples.

It was super crowded, which for me is a turn-off. But I did get to sample a lot of delicious things. Like coffee with blueberry mousse (to bring out the coffee flavor), plenty of cheese, some excellent penne marinara, and delicious Illinois-grown strawberries (I took some of these home too).

My favorite cheese though, was the Challerhocker, an Appenseller-style cheese from Zurich, Switzerland. I even went back and waited in line again with Ruth, behind the second most cheese-inquisitive person on the planet, for a second little square. Then I waited in line AGAIN, at the Artisan counter, to pay $33/lb. for just a wedge to take home for myself... behind the MOST inquisitive (and sampling everything in the case) cheese lover. I held all of my impatience together to get this cheese. It was that good.

This event is worth keeping on your radar. It's indoors, so the weather isn't a factor, and you really do get to try a lot of interesting things if you can stand standing in the lines.

No.'s 3, 4 & 5

No. 3: Heavenly Onions & Jarlsberg on Tuscan white bread.

No. 4: Turkey, Green Bean Casserole, Mashed Potatoes & Mozzarella on Tuscan white bread.

No. 5: Ham, Spicy Mustard, Swiss and Gruyére on French roll.

No. 2

Pesto, tomato and mozzarella on crusty Italian bread. Tomato from Steve & Katy's garden.

It's Back.

The Panini Press is officially back on the counter. First up: Gruyére & Balsamic Onion Marmalade on Buttered Tuscan Bread. Don't even.

Pizza Party.

We had a "build-your-own" pizza party on Saturday night. The idea was to bring ingredients and roll out/build pizzas for everyone to sample. Lindsey kicked it off with a truffle oil/truffle salted crust topped with arugula and pear and walnuts. Clay made one with carmelized onion and fennel, goat cheese and tomato. Another good one had sausage and gorgonzola, and another was a classic – pesto, garlic and tomato.

Steve made one with eggs, peppers and cheese, dipped in salsa (good, but we all sort of agreed it needed some meat). Katy made her spinach dip with parmesan cheese appetizer pizza. I loved Lindsey's dessert pizza: mascarpone blended with honey and spread over the crust, then topped with apricot, cranberries and pine nuts. Wow.

But for sure the show stopper was Dave's Fried Chicken Pizza.

On top of the crust he put a layer of provolone cheese, spread a layer of gravy, and heaped on a pile of mashed potatoes.

Then he added the shredded fried chicken, and finished it off with a layer of cheddar cheese.

After it came out of the oven, we garnished it with cole slaw. I've had cravings for it every day since. YUM!

Cinco (Siete) de Mayo.

This party is a fun little "anniversary" of sorts. Besides the hosts, Eric and Kris, & Katy and Steve, it's the only time a year I see the other 20 or so other guests, and it's always interesting to catch up with them. I so love this now "tradition" and look forward to it again just about the minute it's over. Interestingly, now over the past two years, I've been reminded that altho we complain about it year after year, it really never is warm at the the beginning of May. Thinking back there's always a chill on the deck when we step outside, but the flowers are blooming and the Japanese maple always looks incredible. And even tho it was kind of raining, it was the perfect day for a party, and it's always a perfect day to eat some good food!

But let me back-track a second because prior to the party, I was given a very important assignment: Eric asked me to visit El Milargro at about 26th and California to pick up the chips and tortillas straight from the source. It was like a total different world down there. I want to go back and have dinner! But, going to the little store front and picking out tortillas from boxes on palettes on the floor (still warm) plus the chips everyone loves so much was a mini-adventure. The best part? 10 dozen tortillas and 4 bags of chips was only $9!!

Back to the party... There is always an assortment of beverage choices. Last year the hibiscus margarita made a debut, and I am happy to say there was a repeat performance (thankfully for my head, I learned a lesson and limited myself to only 2 instead of 30). Something made that a little easier... New to the mix was a melon horchata (like a cantaloupe juice, including blending the seeds which added a creamy consistency, and I believe maybe sugar and rice water?) that you could enjoy plain or with rum (with rum!). Super tasty.

Three different kinds of salsa (tomatillo, chipotle, and pasilla), plus a cucumber salad/relish/topping and chipotle relish. All great on chips (or tacos later).

The guacamole was amazing, but the second batch added a new twist. Eric blended in smoked salmon. I didn't think I'd like it but guess what? Delish!

The real visual stunner for me were the short ribs, prettily wrapped in banana leaves and cooked indirectly over the coals as well as steamed by their own juices dripping into a pan underneath outside on the grill. These were just as pretty to look at as taste.

Unwrapped short ribs.

The roasted pobano peppers, onions and cream is a crowd favorite. My favorite last year, I was glad to see it again.

This chicken might look pretty ordinary on the grill. I have no clue what he did to this thing. It was, truly, the most delicious, melt-in-your-mouth chicken I have ever eaten. This might be my second favorite thing I tasted all day. I was kind of bummed I got so full off the chips and everything else before I tried it, stupidly thinking, Eh, chicken? I went back for seconds even though I was totally stuffed.

Skirt steak, chicken and at the top there, the short ribs now off the bone for making tacos. There were chopped onions, cilantro, all the salsas and toppings, queso fresco, etc. to create your own combinations on lightly grilled corn tortillas.

That up there? Now, I'm not a dessert person. At all. Savory for me always wins... but this was my FAVORITE thing I tasted all day. What you're looking at is strawberries, bananas, plums and pecans, sauteed in butter and TEQUILA, and was served over homemade SOUR CREAM ice cream!! It was to die for! There was also chocolate chipotle ice cream, with chunks of chocolate covered chipotle peppers in it. Ridiculous.

What a great party. We missed Katy and Steve this year. That kid and all. But new to the crowd was my friend Sara who I have a feeling will be wanting to come back next year.

Pretty things and ideas.

I got lost today looking at Christina Weber's blog, especially when I got down to the weavings. They are so pretty. Weaving has a lot of appeal to me. I never really considered it before. I have a feeling it could suck me in the way a jig saw puzzle does. And then when you're done, you have a nice little piece of art to keep instead of just taking it apart and boxing it up.

Christina is also the creator of these amazing tea towels I've had bookmarked to get someone as a gift for months. I never ventured past Studio Patró before. It's funny but the only two links I clicked today in the "friends" list on 2 or 3 Things were the same person and led me back to those beautiful tea towels.

The first thing I reach for.

Those first two weaves are actually the same thing, just different due to age. Both beautiful I think.

Purging and Organizing.

Spent the weekend, almost the ENTIRE weekend, going through drawers, cleaning out cabinets, dusting, sweeping, organizing closets... the works. Baked a loaf of bread and made meatballs and spaghetti sauce, too. I'm tired!

My hands are like, raw. Must have washed them seriously about 950 times.


I also organized my books by color (not the bottom over-sized). I've been wanting to do this for a long time. Finished putting them on the shelves, turned around, and an entire stack of black ones didn't make it in there.

Blood Red.

I baked some beets the other night. The recipe said to put a layer of parchment over them and then a layer of foil. When I took it out of the oven, the parchment was filled with these pretty spatter-paint like designs.

The water in the bottom of the pan was the beautiful deep red of the beet. But when I poured it out in the sink (way to salty to drink) it felt a bit heavy, and watching it inch slowly toward the drain I couldn't help but think of blood. Then I sort of remembered that they used beet juice as blood on – maybe True Blood? But that led me to think of Dexter and the blood patterns he analyzes on the show. Doesn't this look like that, too?

Kind of an odd train of thought. I still think this is really pretty.

Maude's Liquor Bar.

Maude's Liquor Bar finally opened! I've been following the progress of this place getting ready to open their doors for a few months now on their blog. The pictures they've taken on the blog, of both the food and atmosphere, are so much better than what I was able to capture here... you should definitely take a look if you're interested in such things. Watching the place evolve from bare bones in August to a fully functioning restaurant today is also very cool. My Dinner Club went tonight.

I think to say the place was hoppin' is a bit of an understatement. It was packed. Great vibe and plenty to look at... and we never even saw the bar upstairs. I kinda can't believe I didn't make the effort, but it's a great reason to go back. We started with that dish above, the French Onion Fondue (carmelized onion and gruyere) and basically devoured it as a starter.


Then we ate, all sharing, Steamed Mussels, Escargot, Faux Gras Torchon, Lyonnaisse Salad, Pomme Frites, Blackened Brussel Sprouts, fresh bread, and the Shaved Vegetable Salad. You can view the whole menu here.

I'm a sucker for atmosphere, and I loved the whole look and feel of this place, down to the bathroom lighting above. I seriously think I'm developing an affinity for the chandelier!

I'm not necessarily a big fan of creme brulee, but this one was great. And huge. Of course we finished the entire dish full. (Also worth noting, if you get coffee at the end of the meal, it comes in your own individual-serving French press!). I want to go back for sure and try some more off the menu, but I will probably never skip the Brussel sprouts or that onion fondue. Amazing. Can't wait for the next time, and to maybe belly-up at the bar.

Tree 2010 (and some other stuff).

I know these pictures are blurry but I wasn't about to run out and get the tripod from the garage. Plus that "night scenery" setting captures the color in the room so well – I'm sacrificing clarity.

Even with the perfect snowstorm last night – it truly was beautiful outside – it still doesn't really feel like Christmas time to me? I can hardly believe it's in 3 days? Maybe because I didn't do a bunch of art projects? To be honest I still feel pretty art-projected out. I didn't do as much around the house either. I broke so many of the glass ball ornaments last year I could hardly believe it. Then Target didn't have the $2 boxes of plain old red and gold ones I like. They were all glittery designs and "sateen". So I didn't do a few bunches here and there that I normally do. Which actually is just fine.

Then my 1-year old light strands were dead. The lights at Target were all that LED blue-white kind, which I caved in and bought even though I knew I'd never be able to stand them. I find the atmosphere they create awful! (Sorry if you have them). So, I ended up putting them outside. They still bug me but are not as offensive considering the limited amount of time that I actually see them. Then I got some great lights at a good ole hardware store and I am quite thrilled with the glow inside now.

The winter berries. I LOVE them. Here's something I don't get. They were $3.50/branch cheaper this year – $1.50 less than they were two years ago. The price of these things really fluctuates and I wonder why? Even with the price drop, these are a splurge. The ones from Stems & Twigs in WS are so solid and long and perfect. I'd love to have them all over my house, but I stop at a vase full. I think they are totally worth it and totally wonderful.

Anyway, now that I finally have the mood right in the house, a poinsettia, my parents have arrived, and for the first time in YEARS I'm not rushing around like a lunatic finishing all the gifts at the last minute, I'm hoping the next 4 days I can just settle into the holiday. I'm looking forward to some long visits, the real deal hot cocoa, and enjoying making and eating some good food.