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Not gonna lie: I was ridiculously excited Wednesday about Green City Market’s Apple Fest, which featured over seven different uncommon varieties to taste as well as delicious prepared foods from well-known chefs in Chicago! But moreso than just apples, I was thrilled to find some unique products at the market that I am sure you will love!
1. Oscar’s Hairy Balls. I thought the name was a joke, too, but it isn’t. Oscar’s Hairy Balls are the catalogue name for the above seed pods on a stick that actually produce a lovely near-white bloom. Of course, once news broke of my discovery, many a joke was made.
2. Cherry preserves from Seedling Farms. Sweet and tangy with whole cherries in it. It’s like pie without the crust…on a croissant!
3. Peppers from Leaning Shed Farm. You can see Serrano, Jalapeno and Banana peppers in the picture above, as well as a big, shiny candy red onion! Cannot wait to fry it up! Mmmm-mmm!
4. Bosc pears, with a sweet, gritty flesh, from Mick Klug are just gorgeous. Honey Crisp apples are MASSIVE from Ellis Farms and the little red apples are a gift from Gabe, so I could make caramel covered apples with his perfect caramel sauce!
5. Hugging carrots and curly-q eggplant from Granor Farm. Jesse and Tim were kind enough to let me bring tons of little school children to their tent to show off their deep violet eggplants! Thanks, guys!
More to come…
Dev xx
The Good:
Okay, I lied. Not just good. Great. Amazing. Mind-boggling. The best. I know most people are going to jump on me because seriously, how did I not know about this place? But forgive me, I only moved here in January and I have not had the pleasure of bouncing around to all of the haute restaurants in Chicago.
The dish you see above is Cochinillo al Asado, or roasted suckling pig. It is a typical dish in Castilla, one of the largest regions in Spain. The pig is smoky, sweet and juicy. It pairs perfectly with the rosemary white beans better than any wine and the flash-fried spring onions (fried most likely in butter and fat) retain their crispiness, adding another texture to the dish.
By far the most complex and delicious thing at Chicago Gourmet.
Stephanie Izard of the Drunken Goat and winner of Top Chef certainly did not disappoint. Her chilled shredded chicken with pumpkin vinaigrette and olive tapenade was fresh and perfect for the changing season. She topped off her dish with these, what tasted like, roasted pumpkin seeds.
My third pick is not a dish, even though there were some other mentionable things I will get to at the end. What really made me stop and thank goodness that people care about making good food is this:
Hazelnut gelato from Labriola. Like Nutella but without the chocolate and better. Much, much better. A complex gelato that does not melt instantly when it hits your tongue. Instead, it stays solid just long enough for you to roll it along your tongue and taste how buttery and assertive it is. Who ever thought gelato could be this good?
Next up, my review of the best wines!
Dev xx
I know I should have updated yesterday, but I had such a fun, full and busy day that I just had to take a break and put it off until today (and I still will have to post more tomorrow about Day 8 AND 9!!!
In honour of Melon Fest, there were chefs and mixologists at Green City Market handing out samples of melon salad with goat cheese and melon soups. Sound good? Yes. Sound safe? Yup. But then there was this renegade chef who was handing out samples of his goat cheese and dill ice cream in a watermelon corn soup (picture above)! Goat cheese dill ice cream!? Come again? After I took my first bite, all I could think of was that my tastebuds were confused but happy. I thought the dish was perfect.
Can anybody identify the chef in this picture (the man on the left!)
Ten points goes to the reader who can identify the chef on the left in the picture above. Someone needs to give this man props for his weird and wonderful creation!
The inside of Cafe Brauer
On Wednesday, I was incredibly honoured to give a Green City Market tour to the chefs who attended Chefs Collaborative’s Summit. I am so thankful to the amazing and hard-working Laura Watkins, marketing and communications coordinator at GCM, for letting me give the tour!
Before the tour started, Rich Hawley, another awesome GCM employee, took me around to each vendor and I found out some interesting and fun stuff that makes them unique! Since this is stuff I did not know before, and information that really impressed the chefs on the tour, I thought I would share it with you!
I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time Wednesday afternoon and am very, very thankful that Mark, who works with Green City Market, invited me along to the Chefs Collaborative lunch at Cafe Brauer.
Cafe Brauer, as I learned, is an example of Prairie style architecture that originated in Chicago!
Sauteed swiss chard with shiitake mushrooms
Goodness help me, there has been so much going on that I almost plum forgot to post up my recipe for last night’s dinner! I had sauteed swiss chard with sauteed mushrooms and this delicious Pappardelle’s Southwestern pasta I scored from the Arlington Heights farmers market.
Sauteed swiss chard with shiitakes
- Coarsely chop 4-5 leaves of swiss chard (no worries, it will sautee down!)
- Chop up shiitake mushrooms into bite size pieces
- Heat up olive oil in a pan for about a minute on high heat
- Throw in your mushrooms and cook for about 2 minutes
- Then toss in the swiss chard and cook for another 1 1/2 minutes.
- Salt and pepper your mixture while it is in the pan
- Serve hot!
The pasta is so delicious and flavourful that all it really needs is to be cooked properly then tossed with some of Nordic Cream’s sweet butter and topped with freshly ground pepper – enjoy!
Dev xx
Long title for what will be a long entry!
James Gottwald and his chef de cuisine Amanda Downing
So, as some of you may or may not know, James Gottwald from Rockit Bar and Grill came to the market yesterday to do a chef demo! On the menu was a Super Sweet Corn Salad and Zucchini Fettucini with Mushrooms. For the recipes, click on the “Read More of this Article” at the bottom of this article!!
Needless to say, it was a hit and as I passed out samples and recipes, it was clear that people loved both dishes!
After returning from GCM, I decided to put the local fare to work in a homemade Carrot-Apple Cake with Maple Frosting. This cake contains NO processed sugar OR butter (but the frosting does!) and has a ton of local ingredients! It has been such a hit that it is almost gone and I made it on Saturday!
Here is the recipe:
PREP:
Grate (I HAND-grated, which took a LONG time!) 2 cups of fresh, local carrots
- about 4 large carrots – mine were from Green Acres Farm
Grate 1 cup of well-drained apples
- about 6 large apples, peeled and cored
- Any variety works, but I especially love Wolf Rivers. They are tart with a creamy flesh and keep crisp and juicy for a week – mine were from Nichols Farm
- MCH TIP!!!! Drain the apple using a sieve and let the juices fall into a bowl. Pour into a glass to enjoy about a cup’s worth of homemade apple cider! Yum!
HEAT your oven to 350 degrees and GREASE two 9″ circular cake pans
Ingredients for Cake:
- 2 cups of whole wheat flour (mine was bought from Heritage Prairie Farm, but the flour itself is from Ted’s Organic Grains)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 3/4 cup veggie oil
- 3/4 cup honey (mine was from Chicago Honey Co-Op)
- 4 eggs (mine were Mary’s Eggs)
- the carrots and apples you grated for prep!
- Throw the dry ingredients into your stand mixer (or bowl!) and whisk together
- Add the oil, honey and eggs into the dry ingredients and mix well!
- Finally, stir in the apple and carrots.
- Add an even amount of mixture to your cake pans
- Bake for 35-40 minutes
- Take your cakes out and let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then plop them out onto a wire rack and let them cool completely. While they are cooling, make your icing.
Maple Syrup Frosting
PREP:
Make sure 1 stick of butter and 8 ounces of cream cheese have been warmed to room temperature.
Ingredients:
- 4 tablespoons maple syrup (mine is from Burton’s Maplewood Farm)
- a teaspoon of vanilla extract (mine is Nielsen-Massey)
- 2 cups of confectioners sugar. I try to use as little as possible and always always rely on taste. Honestly, you do not need 3 cups of sugar in a frosting. Blech.
- Whip together your butter and cream cheese.
- Add the maple syrup and then slowly add your confectioners sugar in 1/2 cup increments.
- Remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl after you have added the sugar, and then mix one more time!
I baked my cake into a two-tier heart. Why? Because hearts are better than circles! :-)
The festival!
Yesterday I attended the 16th annual Taste of Romania festival, located in Chicago’s west side. I made a mental note (which as we all know tends to not be the best way to remember things) to attend this year’s festivities after my extensive “research” on Chicago’s elusive Romanian community. Unsurprisingly, I forgot all about it until the night before, when the fates stepped in by means of a flyer for the festival. It was posted on a wall , winking me in the face. This time the mental note stuck and I woke up the following morning chipper and ready to seize the day.
Before I say anything else, I really must hand it to the one or two people who attempted to put this event on. Quite contrary to what the web site proudly insists (“thousands of people attend each year…”), it was a good effort.
Roast pig, just one of the many taste-sensations available to patrons.
The effort was there, but still the event came up short. It cost $10 to enter the fest (not a suggested donation like many other street fairs in Chicago), and the price only got you in the door. Once inside I was greeted with the sounds of a man “tuning” his Casio keyboard and a handful of people milling around the grounds. As it was about 2 pm at this point, I was pretty shocked by the lackluster outcome of the event. Not ready to give up now that my money was in the hands of the cashier, I decided to buy a few tickets to taste some of the culinary fare.
My lunch!
Ticket booth.
Meals ranged from about 10-20 tickets which, naturally, cost the equivalent in dollars. The dishes included mititei (a popular Romanian meat), stuffed cabbage, roast pig and roast lamb. There were also options for wine, beer and the authentic “beer bucket”, as well as soda, water and homemade grape juice–stomped proudly the morning of. Tickets were sold in a tiny tent, nestled in a corner by a humming transformer (captured in photo on right).
I ordered the roast pig, tempted as I was by the slow-roasted sucklings on the spit. The dish was served with french fries and pickled green tomatoes. Three, thick-cut slices of bread were served on the side. Fairly heavy and dry for a lunchtime meal, it was more of an experience than a healthy alternative to a PB&J sandwich.
Keeping in mind that there wasn’t much to do aside from eating and drinking, I sat around wondering what to do next. The music had yet to really start (the Casio player was still tapping away idly at the keys) and people were still trickling in.
Amandina pastries.
It was around this point that I decided on dessert. One tent was sponsored by Le Patisserie and served two Romanian delights, one a chocolate mousse tart, the other a profiterole-style pastry with cream. I ordered the equally pricey chocolate mousse, called an Amandina, and returned to my chair and ate once again.
I am reluctant to admit that after dessert, I had little reason to stay. The musician finally made her way to the stage and the chairs lined in front were still empty.
Walking out I took this footage of her performance for your viewing pleasure. (Please try to ignore the wind in the background!)
Long story short, it was a good, once-in-a-lifetime experience. With a little work and a little more for guests to do, it could be a success.
Have a look at the link below for some shots of the faces from the event.
-Ileana
During my first few weeks of wandering around Chicago, I stumbled upon a street in Wicker Park that had some adorable shops and restaurants. Unfortunately I could not, for the life of me, remember the name of the street or how to get there. Lucky for me, Tim remembered the name of a pizza place on the street, and that restaurant just happened to be Crust, located at 2056 West Division.
When we returned to explore, the weather was unusually cold and although we did not plan to eat at Crust, it just happened to be there when I decided I had had enough of the weather – I needed a warm place to sit. Unfortunately, Crust was right across the street and that is where we ended up.
Like most places that are trying too hard to be swish, the interior decorators went crazy with mixed mediums, displaying poorly-framed, pretentiously artistic photographs against white washed brick; a ceiling with futuristic wooden slats; ultra-polished steel lighting fixtures and furniture that looked neat but was really uncomfortable.
Plus the place was freezing! I should not have to put my jacket on in the middle of eating dinner! Unacceptable.
But the real downer was not the decor…it was the bland, overpriced pizza that arrived at my table.
Only in Wicker Park could you find a pizza that costs so much and tastes like nothing.
A Margherita-style pizza is hard to mess up. All it takes is really flavourful, punchy tomatoes; a salty, creamy mozzarella and an olive oil that is both rich and gives you a peppery kick as it goes down. Oh, and let’s not forget about the crust. Since a Margherita relies heavily on the tomatoes and cheese for its taste, then the crust should be hand-tosses and the toppings should be completely covering the pizza (a little edge is okay…).
You may be thinking, “If it is so easy, then how did Crust screw it up?” Obviously it is because they were lazy and not did not give a crap about their ingredients. I barely recognised that the tomatoes were tomatoes, save their texture. They were just as insipid as the mushy cheese that teetered on being gummy. The crust completely lacked personality and the olive oil tasted buttery, which means it was probably rancid.
I might get crap for this but I do not care. Yes, I am sure there is at least one good thing on the menu but if you cannot get the basics right, then your more complex dishes certainly do not deserve my attention.
Crust: Avoid it.
Dev xx
Usually, we all know a good greasy spoon that is open incredibly late and serves us food that goes well with…being drunk. But since I only moved to Chicago in January, I have been sorely lacking a place that I can stumble into after a bender and drool into a plate of food while trying to figure out where my mobile phone (and my dignity) went.
Okay so I never get that wasted, but after a few beers I like to know that there is a late-night spot that will feed my rumbly tummy and wash down the unnecessary Jameson shots that Matt from the Sovereign feeds me when I call around. Standee’s, located only a hop, skip and jump from Sovereign at 1133 W. Granville Ave., finally answered my prayers to the 24-hour food gods and called to me one night after a Sovereign drinking fest.
Looking for fatty proteins and some satisfying carbs, I had my mind on the breakfast menu before I even walked through the door. But I was completely sold after I spoke to the welcoming short-order cook/server who told me that Standee’s pancakes were known to be both one of the best things on the menu and some of the best in Chicago.
He was not lying. Usually pancakes are sadly misinterpreted: they are either really spongy (like IHOP’s) or way too light and fluffy (think up-scale brunch spot). It always seemed to me that no one was fluent in the language of pancake – until Standee’s stepped in. Their pancakes are everything you want: made from scratch, hefty but not tough, and grilled with flavourless oil (canola!) to make them brown (not burned!) and let the pancake essence shine through!
The eggs were also well cooked and the bacon is still the best I have had in Chicago! The slices were cut thick, were well-marbled and crispy without being hard.
Would I consider Standee’s a guilty pleasure? No. There was no guilt, only pleasure and I would even return completely sober.
Dev xx
After a disappointing night at the very un-Debonair un-Social non-Club, I needed a pick-me-up. In my usual fashion, I sought solace in food and Flash Taco, at 1570 N. Damen Ave. in Wicker Park, was just the place I needed.
Among the darkened nightclub fronts and dim-lit restaurants you will see in Wicker Park, Flash Taco reminds me of a sunny day in Pilsen. The walls are painted in rich jewel-tones, Mexican artwork hangs from the walls and high shelves display Day of the Dead skeletons dressed in fun outfits.
Mini spotlight lights showcase the art pieces and keep the place well-lit and inviting. You will wait for your order to come up after you have placed it, but calm your pre-eating jitters by perching yourself on a stool and tuning into the two plasma boob tubes Flash Taco has, which play non-stop crazy music videos.
Flash Taco’s clientele comprises drunk hipsters who have just made their way out of a club and are looking for cheap, filling food. You will find both at Flash. Oh, and do not trust the Yelpers on this one: They gave Flash Taco a poor rating, but for what it is and where it is located, it is not supposed to be pitted against the other swanky and expensive places you will find in Wicker Park.
While the menu list is extensive and there is a lot of pressure to order quickly, I found that asking the friendly guy behind the counter was my best bet to getting something tasty. He recommended the tacos al pastor, which contained tender spit-grilled pork tossed with a light, spicy sauce and married with cilantro and pungent raw onions. I should have knocked more of the onions off (my own fault since I am not a huge raw onion fan), but even though I did not, it did not hurt the tacos at all.
While the tacos were not as good as the ones I found at La Cebollita in Pilsen, I have to take into account that Flash Taco is more of a fast-food joint and unlike La Cebollita, is not family-owned and operated where the owners use only the finest authentic Mexican ingredients. Even so, Flash is good food for a good price located in a neighbourhood where good fast-food is hard to come by.
Happy eating!
Tim's chicken fajita burrito, which he thoroughly enjoyed!
A really cool painting showing the Chicago skyline on the left and a Mexican zocalo on the right, separated by a flash of lightning
Dev xx
