Green Zebra

You know how I've been moaning and wailing about my general feelings of fatness? Well, I just got back from dinner at Green Zebra, a primarily (they serve sea scallops) vegetarian restaurant. Normally I'm not eager to go to vegetarian restaurants, but this one had been flagged by a foodie friend, and I seriously was craving food that didn't involve copious amounts of saturated fat.

If you ever read Julia Child's biography, you'll learn that she too took breaks from her rich diet. If Julia understands the need for a break, so can you. And I incidentally. I really need to learn to take breaks.

The restaurant surprised us with a little amuse. I love surprise amuse bouche. It's like hello, let me give you a friendly kiss on the cheek. Who doesn't like a kiss on a cheek? Well, okay, I can think of a few occasions. But a little spoonful of pureed red pepper goodness is just the right kind of smooch smooch.


I went on an on about burrata, and how it's mozzarella on steroids. Then when my dining companion expressed lack of interest, I acted like it was no big deal to me, and I didn't need to order it if she wasn't going to try it. Then I ordered it. Topped with grilled asparagus and a little romesco, it was nothing earth shattering, but a nice satisfying dish. By the way, is it just me, or does romesco sauce seem to be everywhere? I've had it at Avec, Publican, and now Green Zebra.

Oh crap, I just did the equivalent of celebrity name drop. And it's not even like I dropped Alinea and Per Se, true juggernauts. Oh wait, I just did that too. Can we say obnoxious? Someone slap me and tell me to shut up.


A sunchoke ravioli topped with grilled ramps (I love grilled ramps!), medjool dates, preserved lemon, and a poached quail egg. Hello pureed sunchoke, how much I love you wrapped in a little pasta pillow. If you visit this restaurant, this is the top dish I'd recommend.

Slow cooked shittake mushrooms in this weird spring roll form with a fried wrapper. Man, this is what happens when one forgets to filch a menu. A truly unappetizing description.

Oh wait, it's still up on the online menu: Slow Roasted Shittake Mushrooms, in crispy potato with savoy cabbage. Ah yes, much better.

Creamy grits with caramelized fennel and sage. The idea was to take the flavor profile of sausage and pair it with grits. A savory, even wintery dish.

Spinach crepe with oyster mushrooms and confit artichokes. It was lovely to leave a meal and not feel like a lumbering elephant pounding out the door.

Speaking of fatness, has anyone watched the Life series on Discovery lately? Those seals that live in Antarctica. Now that is rotund. If only we could all look so incredibly beautiful while approximating the general proportions of a Goodyear blimp.

Green Zebra, 1460 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL

The Purple Pig

I've been dancing around this Purple Pig post for awhile now. Just thinking about the meal makes me tired. Aside from the Alinea fluke, I hadn't done any epic gourmet meals since I dragged my parents to Avec and Publican. Actually, maybe I should just end this train of thought because clearly I'm a lucky bastard.

Okay, deep breath. First up: Shaved Brussel Sprouts with Pecorino Noce & Parmigiano Reggiano. Yes, it as good as they say.

Salt-roasted Beets with Whipped Goat Cheese & Pistachio Vinaigrette. The whipped goat cheese is also smeared into the inside of the ramekin so the beets have a good shot at picking up some of the goat cheese.

Pork Fried Almonds with Rosemary & Garlic. This I got to try at home. So easy! So indulgent! Oh wait, I'm trying to eat healthier. Crap. Crap. I tell you, I seriously need to rent two teenage boys, so they can help me deal with the fallout from my cooking bursts.

Lardo Crostini. One of the things I miss most from the one month I lived in the center of Florence was the ability to walk two blocks to the local corner store and buy pre-sliced lardo and balls of mozzarella (only a euro each!). Oh lardo, how I love thee.

P.S. Confession. After having tried the whipped lardo at Del Posto, dealing with the sliced lardo is significantly more technically complicated.

Calabro Ricotta with Pork Neck Bone Gravy. I had high hopes for this once, but it actually turned out to be less satisfying and exciting than some of our other dishes. The pork neck gravy in the tomato base was good, but it almost seemed like rustic home cooking in comparison to the decadence flavors in the other dishes.

Okay that's it. I officially loved fried pig's ear salad. This Pig’s Ear with Crispy Kale, Marinated Cherry Peppers & Fried Egg was crazy crazy good.

And when you crack open the yolk and let it run over the crispy ears, creating a rich dressing. Lord, I've met some people who don't like runny egg yolks. It's a dying shame I tell you.

Sardines with Lemon Vinaigrette. Did you know the last U.S. sardine cannery just closed down? I suppose I'm plenty to blame as well. I only order the suckers at restaurants, though I'm nearly always happy when I do. The fennel and caper salad is a great complement to the oily fish.

Mussels with Treviso, Serrano Chiles, Winter Citrus & Gaeta Olives. A surprise hit. The mussels were shucked, lightly breaded and fried and then tossed with some citrus and olives that served as great bright foils to the briny pockets.

We planned in a salad to help clear our palates. Mixed Greens with Feta, Watermelon Radishes & Red Wine Mint Vinaigrette.

Octopus with acini di pepe & Swiss Chard. Tender, smokey, meaty. All one wants from grilled octopus.

Charred Scallions with Romesco Sauce. These had me dreaming of ramp season. If you are in the vicinity of any grilled ramps, do yourself a favor and order them. Make that two orders.

Wagyu Sirloin Tip with Bone Marrow Vinaigrette. I was leaning towards not ordering this dish when we were plotting our attack plan, and boy am I glad that I lost that battle. Wagyu. One remembers why it is revered.

Sicilian Iris (Ricotta & Chocolate Chip filled Fried Brioche). Yes. A light fully fried donut ball filled with goodness. I could only handle about one bite of this, it was so rich. Luckily, my dining companions had more fortitude.

Purple Pig, 500 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL

Spring time

You know that Brad Garrett 7UP commercial where he frolics? Well, when I see all the trees blooming, that's exactly what I want to do. Except, usually my feet hurt too much in my wedge espadrilles to bother. But inside. In my heart. I seriously crave the frolic.

Tea Gschwender

I'll say this about doing a tea tasting at 7:30pm in the evening. Especially when you're someone who has tried not to drink more than a cup of caffeine a day after getting massively addicted one summer that culminated in an internship with a major soda manufacturer. You are hopping awake afterwards.

Tea Gschwender was kind enough to host a tea tasting, and I learned a ton about tea. We learned about cupping, which is a method to evaluate and appreciate the quality of tea. We sniffed and slurped the beverage, poked and prodded the leaves.

China Lung Ching- very astringent.

Japan Gyokuro. This was one of my favorites. A great green tea.

Sumatra Oolong Barisan. You only pluck the top 3-5 leaves from the plant at each time.

Darjeeling Phuguri, incredibly aromatic.

China Yunnan Golden Pekoe

Rooibush Cream Caramel. This is a doctored up tea concoction created by the Tea Gschwender people. People loved it as it is highly aromatic with strong sweet notes, but I'm not that keen on the pre-doctored tea experience. I'd rather present the cream and caramel for my guests to doctor themselves.

MIA

Sorry I've been in MIA. I'll say this though, if you don't actually know me, consider yourself lucky. I've been telling anyone who will listen about how my stomach is so stretched out from the massive amounts of eating that has been going on lately that I am always ravenous. Guys at school are hungry too, but they seem to have been doing a lot of running around in the nice Spring weather. I don't run. I sit and chow down.

The downside when this runs amok, of course, is the incredible feeling of fatness that generally pervades one's waking hours. The other day I tried to think of a healthy-themed menu that I could throw for a little gathering I was hosting. You won't be surprised to learn that I couldn't think of anything.

Lately, however, I've been craving quinoa. Anyone got any suggestions? I've got summer dresses to fit into.

Indian Potluck

I've always been skittish about hosting potlucks. The control freak in me has problems letting go. What if the dishes don't match! Potlucks with a theme may be the solution. At an Indian-themed potluck I attended, everyone chipped in. First up, Mango Lassi.

I brought some spicy snacks that I had picked up in Devon on a recent shopping trip. Hello friends with cars.

Homemade somosas with homemade dough. The dough was very hearty and probably took healthy for me, having been made with whole wheat flour. Still, it's always nice to eat food that has been prepared with care.

Chutney aka orange sauce for the somosas. I still think of chutney as something sticky and chunky, but I'm trying to let go.

Raita

Rice. I only just discovered at this dinner is that the trick to get the orange color is to drizzle some saffron infused water over the rice when it's done.

I brought this Eggplant Bhurtha dish - very spicy and fun to make.

This Mutter Paneer starts with a cashew puree, which was surprising but really lent a nice rich aromatic quality ot the dish.

Chicken prepared by our host, courtesy of his mother-in-law's recipe.

And a vegetarian dish from the same source. The image of mother-in-law and son-in-law bonding one weekend over old recipes is sweet. Our host is a bit of a precise fellow, and his mother-in-law has just made these dishes the way she has always made them. So he would consult an Indian cookbook that would call for a cup of a particular ingredient, and then she would proceed to pshaw him and say she just threw in eight spoonfuls. He couldn't take it, I suppose their love doesn't go that far, and measured our her eight spoonfuls, which equals exactly one cup.

And a homemade mango cheesecake. Everyone participating is incredibly busy, and it's such a treat to have people take time out of their packed schedules to make something delicious for you.

Momofuku Bo Ssam

I had a hankering the other day for Momofuku Bo Ssam the other day, but being many miles away from New York City, I had to make it myself. Luckily, David Chang has been kind enough to provide a recipe to New York Magazine. Martha Stewart has a different one that calls for a rub rather than a brine. I have never tried the Martha Stewart one myself, but I can attest to the NYMag version.

I had a little difficulty getting the bone-in pork butt, but this turned out to be a great conundrum, as it necessitated my inaugural visit to Peoria Packing Butcher Shop. If rows of stainless steel tables piled high with various cuts of meat gets your blood pumping and your lips turning up in a smile of glee, then Peoria is the place of you. It's sort of a grab and go operation. There are various stations where one can don some plastic gloves and then pick and choose her desired cut. I cradled my 9.5 lb pork butt against my stomach as I slowly perused the other aisles before I walked it to the register.

Cradled it in a plastic bag of course. I love meat, but not that much. I love clothes too, you know.
After over six hours in the oven, the Bo Ssam had a wonderful dark caramelised bark. One grabs the pork with tongs. Then take a lettuce leaf, smear it with some Sagyegeol ssäm jang, top it with some rice, and a little pork. That's it! Wrap it up and eat it like a little burrito. One can feel free to add additional accompaniments of course, maybe some sliced jalapeno, or a bit of kimchee. Anything really. I paired the bo ssam with lots of banchan from Joong Boo Market and some pan fried vegetable gyoza. Some of my guests had never had Korean before, and it was exciting to be their guide.

Big Star Taco

We had some unseasonably warm weather earlier this week. Since then Chicago has taunted and teased me with blasts of cool and deceptive bright sunny days. Today is a perfect example. The sky is blue, and the sun is shining, making a girl dream of flip flops and white skirts, but the weather report says the temperature outside is 33 degrees. If Chicago were a friend, I'd say, "I hate youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu." And close it with a smile.

Anyways, this Monday it truly was warm, so I met up with my friend for lunch at Big Star Taco. Big Star Taco is really easy to get to via the el. It's right off of the Damen stop on the Blue line.

It was one of those bright bright days, where one has to squint to make eye contact and avoid the sun's glare. We sat outside, had a cold beer, and proceeded to demolish four tacos each.

The fish taco was superb. The slightly bitter and crunchy radish paired well with the big honkin' slices of creamy avocado. Lime juice drizzled out of the taco and down my pinky. I strongly urge you to pay a visit.

Big Star Taco, 1531 N. Damen Ave., Chicago, IL

Goat Cheese Salmon Canapes

It's easy to forget that one doe not need fancy equipment to make something that is good and pretty and a gift to guests. A friend brought over these canapes. Just baguette, sliced and toasted, topped with a smear of goat cheese, sprinkled with dill and topped with a slice of smoked salmon. With a squeeze of lemon, they were a nice way to start dinner.

So if you ever need to whip something together that will impress your guests, this could be something in your arsenal of secret delights.

Feast

I arrived to Easter brunch in a bit of a sweat. You see, I had power walked to Feast and dodging all the Chicagoans in their church finery had tuckered this girl out.

Speaking of tuckered out, the other day I did this yoga video on Netflix, and when the instructor suggested that I go from a high push up position into a low push up position and then into downward dog, I snorted out loud, alone, in the middle of my apartment, "You've got to be kidding me." I mean, I've never done a real push up in my life.

And speaking of Easter and church, I couldn't help thinking that half the value of this Sunday morning affair came from the excuse to bring the whole family together, all generations, get the men to groom themselves properly, and the little girls in their buckled patent leather shoes. Everyone is here, in one place, having taken the time to look nice and be with loved ones.

Okay, so back to brunch, I went and got the Eggs Benedict Trio, which was great because I got to try the one with smoked salmon and caviar, and the salty, briny eggs made all the difference. I can't think of when I've had the dish with the inclusion of caviar. One thinks it must have happened, but in any case, this dish was a small joy, and I was careful to ration my pearls from the sea, so that they could accompany every bite.

Yes. The three eggs benedict came with this whole bowl of potatoes. I do not expend energy in the day to require the caloric fuel contained in this brunch. Not that that has ever stopped me before of course.

Feast, 25 E. Delaware Place, Chicago, IL

Easter

Easter dinner went well. It felt good to be able to share some home-cooked food with classmates.

We started off the evening with bubbly, courtesy of a guest. Bubbly is, in my humble opinion, the best way to start any celebration.

Knowing little about wine, I typically ask guests to bring a bottle, and one pinot noir particularly stood out: Calera 2007 Pinot Noir. It was lovely with the lamb.

I learned that if anyone ever needs to get anything done that depends on charm and good lucks, I've got the guy for you. How one breezes through life as if doors are always swinging open for you, is beyond me.

And someone brought flowers! I love flowers. I used to sniff that they were a terrible waste, as as soon as they are snipped they are destined to die. But a home with fresh flowers is somehow nicer. Back when I worked, it always brought a smile on my face to see them as I turned to lock the door and leave for the office, and they brought another smile to my face when I came home and saw them bright and pretty on the table. I confess I don't normally like to receive roses, particularly red ones, but these looked fantastic in a tin pail, and I'm going to have to consider including them in future floral rotations.

On the menu was:

Shaved fennel, celery, and parsley salad, topped with toasted, salted pumpkin seeds and dressed with a lemon vinaigrette

Garlic-Rosemary roasted leg of lamb

Minted Pea Puree

Brown mushroom in thyme and white wine

Roasted potatoes with herb pesto

a palate cleanser of creamy lemon-mint sorbet

Chocolate mousse with whipped cream

Bolat African Cuisine

It is always so exciting to discover a new cuisine: new spices, textures, aromas. Awhile back there was a Groupon for Bolat African Cuisine. Have you heard of Groupon by the way? It essentially offers a discount for various local businesses: you get to try some place new for less, and the business gets to bring in new customers. The Groupon is available if enough customers opt into the deal, which it seems, always happens.

One of my classmates is Nigerian, and ever since he made his fish pepper soup, I had been eager to try more dishes from his birth country. We started off with a sauteed goat dish over rice.

One of our favorites, however, was Jollof Rice. Even though our bellies were full at the end of the meal, we found ourselves wanting more, so we ordered another Jollof Rice!

It's also always exciting to try a new cuisine with the help of a guide, and at one point my friend asked the waitress for clarification on a dish, and she mumbled something about how it was a typical Nigerian entree. He paused, and said that he had never heard of it before, and then half-jokingly, half-seriously inquired as to her own background. Ah, a Kenyan.

I can see how the Egusi Soup with Pounded Yam would not work for everyone, particularly the pounded yam. The yam is pounded into a glutinous paste and then molded into balls. It has a bland consistency, and is one of those local staples that arguably has stuck around out of habit than any intrinsic merit. Not unlike poi from Hawaii.

I actually appreciated it as a foil to the generally greasy, highly spiced meats.

We broke down and decided to hedge our bet with some Nigerian inspired cuisine for those not eager to dive into wholly "classic" dishes. This is the Berber Spiced Rack of Lamb, and though it was good, it seemed ordinary and slightly passé in comparison to the other dishes.

Finally Ayamshe. I would highly recommend going to Bolat. As I said before, the food is on the greasy side, but trying a new cuisine is like travelling in a single meal. It's an easy way to experience something new without having to go to far outside one's comfort zone. And you can still go home to your own bed and not have to stress about whether or not you've remember to bring your glasses or pack enough underwear.

Bolat African Cuisine, 3346 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL