Messy Cookin'!

Basil and Boxes

2010-08-01T19:25:00.006-05:00

Recently I got a new comment on the ole' 'Toast Your Lover' post from many moons ago. Which reminded me of this lovely little thing I had long forgot.

The comment was to tell me I had forgotten an ingredient in the famous "Avocado Toast". He/she was right. Lemon juice was forgotten. The mistake has been remedied.

As you can see, my last post is from July of 2009. So much has happened since then my foodie friends.

Last summer was the summer of "The Bryant".

This summer is the summer of "The Basil".

I'm obsessed. Ask anybody. I've always liked Basil, but this year...This summer I am so obsessed that I bought a basil scented candle AND basil scented laundry detergent.

I've made Caprese everything for weeks now-- sandwiches, pasta, salad, pasta salad. I've also made fresh pesto and put chopped basil in plain ole' lettuce just to jazz it up.

I've even thought that Basil would make a cute name for a puppy...or...a baby...

Basil has also taken center stage in one of my new hobbies. Assemblage Art! (I just found out what I've been doing is called Assemblage Art)

This ones called BasilFaceBluesParty VII.

See that Basil in the middle. Not real. That's a picture which I shellacked on a cigar box! Fooled you. I'm an Artist!

I'm really good. Right? Soon I'll have an ETSY shop and EVERYTHING. Right now I've made...3.

And... then gave one away. But I will make at least 25 more before Brian gets home from Maine. Because seeing his face when the walls are covered with collaged boxes will be worth the hot glue burns and stiff back.

This last picture is of this eves dinner. Isn't is nice?

Balsamic Glazed Tempeh and Cauliflower topped with Basil, Olive Oil, and Jalapeño Hummus. Served over Greens and fresh Mozzarella. Plus a side of (my part time lover)Mr. Avocado Toast.

I'll try to write more. I do like to share my food wisdom.

Oh I almost forgot to put in some food wisdom!

To keep your basil(or other heeerbs) fresh:
Put them in a cup with about one inch of water.
Then loosely cover them with a plastic bag.
Then put the cup in your frigidaire.

Tah Dah!

The Bryant

2009-07-05T11:45:00.003-05:00

Have you had one?

Well you should. It's the sexiest drink this side of the Mississippi and that side of the Rio Grand.

One Part Whiskey.

One part Ginger-ale

Lotta Liiiiiime Juice.

The Bryant

We've been having a lot of fun ordering them at bars and then scoffing and rolling our eyes when the bartenders have to aaaaaask what it is. Then we tell them and they act like "Duh, I knew that."

The Bryant. Order it and see.Spread the word. And it is actually quite delicious.

Yes, I understand that saying 'a The Bryant' might be weird so you can just say 'a Bryant'. I mean, if you haaaaaaave too.

I'll have a summer The Bryant party. And maybe you'll be invited. But only if you ask nice. And only if you drink my drink and toast me and say nice things and tell me I'm pretty and buy me presents and take me on your scooter and buy me an ice cream cone and pull a quarter out of my ear. Whoa! How'd you dooooo that!?!?!?

Dani and the pie disaster.

2009-03-29T15:40:00.008-05:00

I. do. not. bake.

But I'm trying.

And FAILING!

No, no. Not aaaall the time. I usually get it right on the second try.

Remind me to stop using the broiler to 'brown' things.

As you can see.I burned Dutch Apple Pie #1.

And Dutch Apple Pie #2 was graaaaand success.

Until Brian's vat of fat spilled on it. Yes, Brian has a vat of fat and it spilled on my pretty pie to be delivered to clients on one hour.

On the pie. Pork fat IN the pie. Like, INSIDE of the pie.

The 3rd pie is in the oven.

Fingers crossed.

FU PORK FAT!FFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.

March on to Yummy Foodtown, USA.

2009-03-03T21:08:00.007-06:00

Spring has sprung!!!!!(no, no it has--maybe not in Chicago, but I'm sure somewhere...)

In celebration of SPRING and in celebration of my new camera-- so thoughtfully given to me by nk--Today I took some pics documenting my day of cookin' for Barb and Sunil.

Brian and Brianna helped.

I banged this order out uber fast. I did, however, mess up the egg noodles. So you will NOT be seeing the egg noodles. Trust me they were not pretty...

We started with a cornucopia of deliciousness!

We gots every pan goin'. We gots the steam. The smells. The goodness.

Even amongst the chaos, Little Baby Bri-Bri Belly was able to make his Bourgeois Breakfast. Ain't he sweet?

Morengo Chicken...it has olives in it so I say ew. But others say yay!

Olives are gross.

Squash. Squashes. Squeeshes.

OH MY GOSH! LOOK!!! All the food is, like, totally the same color.

We gots Quinoa Stuffed B-Nut Squash.
Veggie Chili
Morengo Chicken
Egg Noodles (we don't talk about these.)
Rice unt Beans.

In other news CabVag is goin' online...well I mean websitey.

Check it...it's the bare bones, but we got it goin' on.

http://cabaretvagabond.webs.com/

Look at the minds at work.Brian is reeeeeally close to the screen. We worry bouts his eyes.

This week (and last week) is restaurant week in Chicago. Find a fancy place and go eat their fixed menu. Eat it. Eat it goooooooood.

Can you handle this AWESOMENESS?

2009-01-27T11:27:00.011-06:00

Oh my sweet babies. Did we have a weekend!

A weekend of amazing meals and good talks and more good meals and even more good talks.

We started Friday morn with a Bourgeois Breakfast. Brian's favorite breakfast in Germany.

Side note:Did you know Brian lived in Germany? Berlin actually.Pronounced Bear-leeeeeeeen. He actually speaks German. Did you know that? He does. German. Speaks it.Like for real. He lived IN Berlin. Like the city...of BERLIN.Pronounced Bear-leeeeeeeen.

Anyway Brian's favorite type of breakfast in Bear-leeeeen was a plate a random things. Such as an egg. Some bread. A LARGE chunk of meat. Some cheese. Carbs. Perhaps an olive or two.

He has started to recreate this party on a plate every week for whomever is willing to load up on copious amounts of protein. This week we shared it with Becket!

Pork Chop! Fried Egg! Sauteed Turkey! Spinach! Avocado Toast! Olives!

On Friday night we did an ole' game of Supermarket Sweep.
Nate, Tony and I went to Harvest Time and each had three minutes to get two ingredients and then we had to make a meal out of what we got.
Dani: Skirt Steak and Portobellas.
Tony: Spinach and Eggplant.
Nate: Absurd things which we made him put back.

The menu: Sazon spiced steak with spicy sauteed eggplant, onions, and spinach.

Black Beans and Quinoa(we needed carbs so I raided the pantry when we got home and added this dishy)

Tomatillo Salsa(We let Nate try again with his Supermarket Sweep turn and he did great.Mmm.)

Whiskey Baked Apples

So real quick on the apples. How you doooo it.
Core Apple
Stuff center with butter
Sprinkle with Sugar and Cin.
1/4 Whiskey per apple--so 4 apps was one cup of the good stuff.
Let bake at 375 for 1-2 hours. Slow, but soooooo good.
Top with ice cream.
Just do it.
OK?
Now.

We, of course, drank copious amounts of wine with the word Blood in the title. Boars Blood and Bears Blood. We thought they twere quite amusing.

Next night was an impromptu dinner party with Le Braden. Our plan was to go to the sto'(Dani speak for store) and buy stuffs, but Brian, Braden and I got caught up in being terribly amusing and thus the sto' closed. So I raided the pantry and made something. Ugh, it was so much fun. I love to just make some new business up! Foodie business is my business.

Spaghetti,Chicken,Onions,Sundried Tomatoes, Tomato Sauce, Pine Nuts, and....Indian Spices! Like: Turmeric, Curry, Cardamom. A bit of Love and Sass.It was great. Braden said it tasted like McDonald's chicken nuggets with sweet and sour sauce, but, like, ya know...healthier?

Finally, we ended the eve with some Bread Pudding Pancakes. The mix was from Southport Grocery-- it's just dried white bread,sugar,eggs and milk, but the texture of these things are DIVINE. I made a honey butter maple syrup sauce. Oh.My.God.

(Not my picture, but you get the point.)

Brian and I made a vow to spend less money going out and more nights in cooking and entertaining. We have done it. And it was glorious. A glorious weekend full of love and happy tummies.

This coming weekend we shall repeat. And every weekend for the rest of my life. It's my favorite thing to do you know.

Please join us.

Join we and us AND our bodacious and phallic food fertility deities which only come out of their barrels at mealtime to aid in digestion.

A Crowd Pleasa!

2009-01-19T20:42:00.005-06:00

Posole is Spanish for Yummy. It is, I Googled it.

So. Whilst in Idaho over le holidays my Aunt Judy served this up one cold snowy eve. It was crowd pleaser amongst my family--My family being my mother, grandmother, aunt and myself. But lemme tell ya, we were pa-leased.

So at my recent potluck,(which by the way was AMAZING. If you missed it, no worries, there will be more. Every month in fact.) I made this Posole business for the masses.

It is the easiest GD recipe this side of the Mississippi. People raved. Some actually asked me for the recipe, as if they were gonna make it THEMSELVES! Imagine. My roommates wanted me to make it again this weekend. So I did. I shall now share it with you. My "homies."

Posole:
Olive Oil
Chicken(2 cups diced)
Pork(chops or loin, again 2 cups diced)
2 cans of Hominy(which is just hulled corn with the bran and germ removed, duh)
2 small cans of Diced Green Chilies
Chicken Bouillon Cubes(4 or 5)
1-2 cups Water
Garlic Salt
Smoked Paprika(Smoked is faaaar superior to the un-smoked)
S&P

Toppings:
Green Onion
Radishes
Avocado
Sour Cream
CRUSHED chips. (Smack em' with a hamma!)

Part of me just wants you to figure out what you do next yourself. It's THAT easy. Just guess. NO? Too hard? Too soon? No enough practice?

Oh,Ooooooooook.

Chop meat. Saute meat--in Olive Oil. Add everything else--including the liquid in the Hominy and Chili cans. Stop at toppings. Don't add the toppings IN the soup silly. That's later. Let the soup simma until the bouillon cubes are dissolved and the meat is cooked all nice and prettylike.

Put in a bowl and NOW add the toppings. I know the simpleness is blowing your mind. I would eat some now, but Brian finished it all off. Thanks, Brian. No really, thanks a lot.

Below are some pictures to help you on your journey to Posole town!!!

Eat good my pretties.

The ingredients shot all artylike.

Das Ist Kunst. God, I could marry an avocado.

Stewing, if you will.

As I have said before if your bowl of Posole does not look exactly like this, then you have, in fact, failed. Make it work people.

Cute kids I have cooking class with on Wednesdays. We cook. We giggle.It's a blast.

I want a fruit roll-up.

A Fiery Orphans Thanksgiving.

2008-11-28T20:24:00.005-06:00

We started as 3. Grew to 9 for dinner. Then 16 for the late night fun banter.

It was a long day for me. Up at 8am to start cooking. And the last guest left round 2am.

It was an almost perfect day...except the FIRE!!!!

Yesh! I caught the house on fire. The oven really. So. We bought one of those cheap pans to roast Mr. Turkey in. Apparently there was some crack in it? All the fat leaked into the bottom of the oven and caught on fire! Fat fire!!!

It was very exciting and very hilarious. Brian and I stood looking at it--the fire. Then we'd look at each other. I dashed into the pantry looking for baking soda. We only had baking powder. It does NOT work the same. Nope. So then Brian started to get water and I said "Noooooooooooooooooooo!!!" So then we looked at it some more. As the smoke filled the kitchen and all of our eyes watered I thought of what was most important--The Turkey. So I rescued the turkey. Just as Amanda dashed in with the fire extinguisher. We didn't need the extinguisher. The Fat fire burned off and calmed down. That's what fat fires do.

It was hilarious. The day thus far had gone way too smoothe. I was way ahead of schedule. After the event the house reeked of smoke! Windows open, fans out before the guests arrived.

Loved it. One of those memories. My first Thanksgiving where I ran the show and I almost burned the house down.

We made so much food.

The Menu:

I made:
Apple Brown Sugar Brined Turkey.
Cornbread and Pretzel Stuffing.
Parmesan Scalloped Potatoes.
Carrot Yogurt Salad.
Hazelnut Brown Buttered Brussel Sprouts
Sweet Potato Casserole
Croissants with Brown Sugar Butter

Merissa brought:
Spoonbread
Broccoli Casserole

Erika and Nando brought:
Cheesy Green Beans
Marshmallowy Potatoes and Squash

Becket brought:
Greens. Salad and Greens!

Amanda brought:
Sweet Potato Pie
Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake
Cranberry Relish

Ben brought:
Clementine Salad
Banana Bread
A lot of booze

Galen brought:
Pumpkin Pie

Mika brought:
1/2 a bottle of wine

Brianna and Andrew brought:
Their sweet asses.

We ended the night with a 3 hour conversation about gender, sexuality, expectation, and power. We're, like, really smart and articulate people who can shovel massive amounts of food down our gullets.

After the fire. Not quite cooked of course, Just smokey. extra smokey. Thank goodness for the oven downstairs!!! We would have been shit outta turkey luck!

Ahhhhhh! I did not finish my plate. So ashamed.

The first wave.Good little eaters and amusers.

I love hosting things. I wish everyday was a holiday where I can cook feasts for my loved ones.

I'll invite you next time. If you tell me how pretty I am.

Somebody lied to Rachel Ray...

2008-11-13T23:19:00.006-06:00

When they told her that this was a good idea.

Or this.

This either.

Ooooop,here's another.My fav!

She's not the only one.

Cat Cora got tricked too...

Bless their hearts.

This is the ONLY Food Network Star that can get away with FHM spreads.

Giada.

I am sexy. You are sexy. Rachel Ray? Noooooo sexy. Huh? Or am I wrong? Are these hot? Bah.

The Great Chicago Cupcake Off of November 8th 2008

2008-11-09T23:11:00.002-06:00

So it was my Birthday on Saturday. It was a really great day. Really great. Relaxed but jovial. Surrounded by my favorite people.

We had a deliciously delicious meal at Uncommon Ground.

http://www.uncommonground.com/pages/clark_home/19.php

We feasted on...

Sweet Potato fries with goat cheese fondue!

Sunshine Salad:organic greens, seasonal farmer’s market vegetables, avocado,sunflower seeds & sprouts, apple cider vinaigrette, seeded flatbread crisp!

Pumpkin Ravioli:creamy sage brown butter, toasted hazelnuts, gorgonzola cheese!

Duo of duck:duck confit, seared duck breast, black river gorgonzola, ‘crunchy’ potatoes, farmers market onion & port wine duck jus!

Crispy gunthorp farm chicken breast:apples, butternut squash, swiss chard, brie, apple brandy reduction!

Among other things.

We boozed on...

Frida Kahlo: Dark chocolate liqueur, madagascar vanilla vodka, kalua, omahene chocolate, cinnamon-cayenne pepper syrup.

Neal Cassadys Coffee: Madagascar vanilla bean house-infused whiskey,
black cat double espresso & steamed maple cream

Plus two seasonal drinks called Tom Waitts for No Man

and The Blanche Devereaux

And!

Black dog gelato & sorbet trio:choose three: whiskey, caramel-goat cheese,salty peanut, fresh mint or cocoa nib,cucumber-rose sorbet or strawberry-rhubarb sorbet!

After dinner we headed home where we entertained ourselves with song, rhyming games, wine, and...

CUUUUUUUUPCAAAAAAAKES!

I went to three bakeries...

Molly's
http://www.mollyscupcakes.com/

Southport Grocery
http://www.southportgrocery.com/

Angel Food Bakery
http://www.angelfoodltd.com/

We judged by looking and tasting and scoffing and yumming.

Here was the selection with awarded titles.

Molly's: 1st place
Chocolate with Chocolate Icing--Moistest!Moistest? Not a word, right?
Carrot Cake with Brown Butter Icing--Weirdest Icing
Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Icing--Best overall. Winner extraordinaire.Prettiest
Vanilla with French Butter cream Icing--Most delicious yet boring.
These puppies won overall.All four were quite good.

Angel Food:2nd place
Coconut-- Biggest. Easiest to cut.
Pumpkin with Cream Cheese Icing-- Most seasonal, duh.
They were pretty and boxed nicely.

Southport Grocery:3rd place
Vanilla on Vanilla--Easiest removed wrapper. Ooo.
Chocolate on Chocolate--Best chocolate cupcake that tasted nothing like chocolate.
Oddly dryer then expected. Good frosting I guess, but dry as your dirty kunst(art) face.

We had so much fun. Well, I did. 24 is gonna be a goodie. I can feel it.

Dinner Party of Dreams

2008-11-03T20:19:00.007-06:00

Braden, Vanessa, and Blayne were going to have dinner.

Austin, Brian, and myself were going to have dinner.

So, like duh, we combined forces and had a delightful ole'time.

Menu:
Miso noodle soup with Shrimp.
Sticky rice with egg and seaweed
Veggie and Chicken Dumplings
Veggie Egg rolls
Chocolate and Green Tea Mochi
Gingerbread cake.
And6...6! bottles of wine. That's one a piece folks.

Topics discussed:
Whether or not sperm has souls. Is that why they sparkle under black lights? Is it their souls saying "Hello!!"?

Who is the funniest cartoon character of all time?Then the boys talked Disney cartoons for far to long. V and I were a bit in awe of their Aladdin/Little Mermaid/Beauty and the Beast knowledge. It was impressive. And weird. They were not ashamed.

We discussed our lovers or lack thereof.

As well as the art of projectile vomiting and our fascination with Cancer--especially my mother's benign tumor that grew body parts like teeth and eyelashes(for real.)

We debated whether or not I should get a tattoo on my back to commemorate this insane year that is almost behind me. What do you think? See it below.

We laughed. Hard. For hours.

...then we had massage time? Yeah, we paired off and massaged shoulders and necks. Bizarre, but a perfect ending to a wonderful meal...I think. No, I know it was! We're such hippies.

Go team Cabaret Vagabond. We were full of Asiany carbs and Kunst. Always Kunst. Lots of Kuuuuuust.

Soup and dumplins. I love dumplins. I once made pumpkin dumplins. Yeah, I know!

Sticky rice. How does it get so sticky?!? Magic!

Some gosh darn delicious soup. Hard to eat with chopsticks though. We did it anyway.We're hard core chopstickers.

Dessert by Austin and Trader Joe.

Our host and hostess. Good people. Two of the best.

3 of my favorite men on the planet and our attempt at being food critics. See us critique! Look at us gooooo!

My possible tattoo. She's sensual and confident, and would be there on my back even though I couldn't see her...I'd know she was there. I LOVE Mucha. He's everywhere in my apartment. I adore him.

I have a question.

2008-10-22T22:10:00.004-05:00

How much do you eat in restaurants?

Like twice a week? 4 or 5? Once a day? How about three times a day?

...Yeah that was my yesterday. I cook for people, but I don't cook for myself! The other day Brian said "I'm hungry" and I sprung into action and made him Quesadillas. I ate some too, but if I had not made a balanced meal for my big tall roommate I would have just eaten rice crackers, almond cheese, and nibbled on other things made of almonds. Like butter for instance...I don't know what this is all about.

I just roasted vegetables for me though... Eggplant, Cauliflower, and Asparagus. Best combo ever!

But back to restaurant living. I must spend 50% of my income on food. BUT hey I don't spend money on nail polish or crystal meth or a pet goldfish so it must balance out right? I have fine taste. I can't help it. I can't help lots of things.

So last night after seeing Edward II(which is fantastic--go see it!)at Navy Pier we somehow ended up in Evanston. Wait, I know how. I forgot to get off Lake Shore drive and then suddenly we were in Evanston! So we picked up Brian from rehearsal and went to Tommy Nevins Pub. Because it was the ONLY thing open.

I found our variety of food to be quite amusing. Please enjoy.

Mine was Salad and Sweet Potatoes. Boring, I know. The Sweet Potatoes were amazing. Like pie. Only potatoes.

Brian, as usual, ate the only balanced meal. Salmon Flatbread. Nice ratio of Carbs to Protein, B!

Brianna had her free Mexican beer, her Jamison and Baily's and her mini chicken Caesar salad.

Finally Braden's...Oh, yes. Cream cheese balls with BBQ Cocktail sauce. And Berry Bread Pudding. I argued that the Bread Pudding's texture was not authentic, but I was overruled by the table.

I have the best times in restaurants over food with the ones I love. I shall never stop! Never. You are NOT the boss of me crumbling economy!

Hey,wanna get brunch?

My body is angry at me.

2008-10-17T17:31:00.004-05:00

Dear Kids,

If you are googling me. Go do your homework and/or practice the silly things I have taught you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In other news.My body is still angry at me. Though I'm doing well on this clense. 21 days, you know. Oprah did it, but isn't looking to hot these days. But I like fat Oprah better anyways.

I made a delicius butternut bisque!

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 medium-sized butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks.(buy the pre-cut at Trader's Joes, yo.)
2 Apples
4 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup canned coconut milk(coconut milk is more super awesome cool then regular milk)
S&P
1 TLBS Curry Powder

1. In a soup pot over medium heat, heat the olive oil and add the onion, stirring until softened, about 5 minutes.Add apples Add squash and cook, stirring occasionally, for another 5 minutes.

2. Add stock, cover, and bring to boil, then reduce heat and cook about 15 minutes, until vegetables are tender. Stir in coconut milk.

3. Puree in a blender or food processor, working in batches. Return to the soup pot and heat through. Taste, and add salt if needed.

Woohoooooo!!!!!!!

Crockpots and Crackbread.

2008-09-30T20:01:00.007-05:00

It was cold today. I loved it! This is my absolute favorite time of year. I love sweaters and dirty chais and hats and all things cozy.

So tonight I whipped out the ole' crockpot. It's an oldy, but a goody. I bought it used, so just think of all the delicious meals cooked in that baby over the years. I wasn't prepared for this soup craving so tonight turned into my most favorite experiment...throw in whatever the hell I got in my kichen and see what happens.

You can throw aaaanything in a crockpot and it'll be delish.

Pasta+Milk+Cheese= Lazy Mac and Cheese
Fruit+Brown Sugar+Oatmeal=Lazy Cobbler
You can make Souffle!
Pot Roast!
And so much Soup. So easy. So healthy. So good.

I also made another batch of the most amazing cornbread. I made it for Barb and Sunil yesterday. It's a Shaker recipe and sweet baby Jesus is it good. I had to give it away today--which is fair because I guess they did pay for it. But tonight I made us some and it is ALL ours. Brian will eat it all though. He's selfish. I kid.

Happy End of September Soup
2 Leeks
1 Onion
4 Carrots
3 Staks of Celery
1/2 small head of Cabbage
Handful of Mushrooms
1 can of White Kidney Beans
1 can of diced Tomatoes
Bay leaf
Palm full of both Tarragon and Savory
S & P
2 Chicken Stock Cubes
3 cans of Water

Chop the chopables.
Throw it in your crockpot.
Turn on crockpot.

Go to Target.
Come home.
Eat Soup with....

Shaker Corn Bread
Dry:
1/4 cup of Flour
1 cup of Corn Meal
1 TLBS Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
2 TLBS of FRESH Dill
1 cup of fresh Corn(about two ears-- frozen works)

Wet:
1 and 1/2 cups of Buttamilk(the recipe call for 2%, but I scoff at 2% when you can use Buttamilk!)
1/2 up of Egg Substitute(I highly doubt the Shakers used egg substitute...2 real eggs would work too.)
2 TLBS Honey(Spray the TLBS with cooking spray first. The honey'll slide right off...)
3 TLBS melted Butta

Pre-heat oven to 375
Combine dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl whisk wet together.
Make a well in the center of the dry and pour in wet.

Mix gently. Don't over mix. That takes away the fluff factor. And it's all about corn fluff people.
Pour in muffin tins or a cake pan. I've now made it both ways and it works great in either.
Bake for about 35 minutes. Watch the muffins though. Cooking time will be quicker on those little babies.

Mmmm....

Top soup with Parm cheese if you like.

Now have a crazy party in your mouth. Make your belly happy and warm your soul. It's that time of year.

The Frittata of Dreams

2008-09-25T10:06:00.011-05:00

Frittatas are like sooooo totally underrated. Wikipedia calls them Italian omelets. I like to think of them more as quiche without the crust! But many have argued with me on that. Namely, Braden LuBell. Frittatas are perfect. They're one of those dishes that'll really impress, but is so easy peasy. Oooo a Frittata with peas would be delish...

This particular Frittata has a bit of a Mexican flavor. But you could fancy it up in any style. Soy sauce and water chestnuts for an Asian delight. Feta and spinach for something Greeky.Do it up, yo.

Them Gredients:
5 whole eggs (Egg whites work perfectly fine as well.)
Splash of milk
One medium onion sliced and diced
One red bell pepper chopped and slopped
1/2 cups of corn (Fire roasted from Trader Joe's is the BEST!)
1/2 cup black beans
1-2 links of Chicken sausage.
One packet of SAZON!:The magical Mexican spice.
Pepper(You may or may not need more salt. SAZON!is pretty salt-a-licious.)
CHEEEEESE! (Any cheese really, I used cheddar.)

Chop everything chopable to about the same size. Throw the onions, peps, and sausage into a med-high pan with a bit of oil to start a brownin'.Once the onions start to caramelize add the corn and beans and SAZON! Let it cook for few minutes more to let the flavours combine.

Pre-heat the oven to 350.

Crack the eggies and whisk in a bowl with the milk.Pour mixture into the pan and let it cook until the edges begin to set. DO NOT STIR. This is key to make your Frittata a Frittata of Dreams!

Look at that creepy egg bubble.

So, if your saute pan has a plastic handle just wrap it in tin foil before you put it in the oven. Alton Brown taught me this at The School of the Food Network. He's a super genius. Now let the pan hang in the oven for about 10 minutes.

Slice and dice the cheese into a lovely little pile like this one. If your pile does not look exactly like this. Then obviously you have failed and you should hang up your chefs hat(Do you have a hat? I do. Jealous?)forever.

Top your Frittata of Dreams with cheese and switch the oven to broil. Keep an eye on it until the cheese is all melty.

Tada! Serve with something carb-a-licious. Toast? English Muffin? Bagel or Bran Muffin. Pancake!!Corn cake... Mmm, did I miss any breakfast carb? Croissant! Scone!Kolache!Yeah,Kolache.

Eat good my kittens, eat good.

Monday is Funday

2008-08-26T22:13:00.007-05:00

Monday nights are the best! Monday means cookin' for clients. Monday also means those I love gather round my stove and engage in fun banter and wit whist I cook.

Last nights guests were Austin and Tiff with Brian joining a bit later.

We drank whisky. We did crossword puzzles. Mostly THEY did crossword puzzles. I only got two answers: moonshine and fry. God, I'm just a Tennessee hillbilly at heart ain't I? Then we watched a bit of the DNC and finished up the night drunkenly watching our favorite YouTube videos while I waited for the squash to finish roasting.

This week was a small order because B&S are going out of town.

Tada:
Fruit Salad. Which is actually quite tedious with all the mangoes and pineapple to cut up.
Meat Loaf and Mashed Potatoes. Comfort food. Mmm.
Curried Quinoa Stuffed Butternut Squash. Dani food, fo sho.
Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Shells. So easy.

All are a breeze. But the last is, I think, the easiest and most tasty. Let's whack this one out shall we?

1. Boil large pasta shells and drain.

2. Combine in a bowl:
1 Small tub of Ricotta Cheese
1 Cup Parmesan
1 Cup Mozzarella
1 Small box of Frozen Spinach(thaw and squeeze out the water before you add)
1 Can of Artichokes roughly chopped

3.In a large baking dish pour a layer of pasta sauce. Jarred is totally fine. No judgment, yo.

4.Using a tablespoon fill each shell with the cheesy goodness.

5.Top with more sauce and sprinkle a bit more cheese.

6.Stick in a 350 oven for about 20 minutes.

Done and done.

Look a cat in a bag!

In other news: Come to our show!

Cabaret Vagabond:BoHoBo Bazaar
Location:117 N. Jefferson
Date/time: August 30th-9pm

The Omnivore’s Hundred

2008-08-22T10:26:00.005-05:00

Here is a list somebody put together across the ocean. These are the foods we "should" eat before we die.

At the age of 23 I believe I am doing quite well. Quite well indeed! I have eaten 45?!!? I have SO many years to do the rest! It was really fun Googleing the ones I didn't know and then makin' little mental notes so I can check, check, check, em off my list as I continue on my foodie adventures.

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore's Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros(spicy eggs, oh my!)
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding(Hey there, Birmingham England!)
7. Cheese fondue(Um, duh.)
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush (Hummus's eggplant cousin Baba!)
11. Calamari
12. Pho(Thanks Brit!)
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle(Oh, sweet baby Jesus, yes)
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes( Mead count? Honey wine?)
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream(Pistachio ice cream is tied with Red Bean as my favorite.)
21. Heirloom tomatoes( Hey, Tennessee)
22. Fresh wild berries( Again with the Hey Tennessee. Blackberries galore!)
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans(OK, weird one, but OK)
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters (Just Mussels at this point)
29. Baklava( Not a fan. It's too sweet.)
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl(I've had the CC and the SB, but not the CCSB)
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float( I LOVE root beer floats!!!!)
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea( On a plane when I was 13)
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O (Hey, 1047 parties.)
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more(Oh, someday.)
46. Fugu(Ahhhhhh!!!Blowfish! Maybe someday...)
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut(Hey, Tennessee. KK in microwave?Mmm.)
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal(I think so.)
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV(Which is weird, because I'm not a beer girl.Dani's a whisky girl.)
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips(On frozen kefer!)
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads(I know!!!Mmmm glands of young cows. Delish...)
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake(All of the above?)
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain(Oh, mama.)
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho( Not a fan. It's like cold drinkable pasta sauce.)
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe( Um, I have had this. Abroad. Waaay abroad with Brian.)
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill (Ew.)
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie( Once, upon a time...)
78. Snail(Yum!)
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini( I have SUCH a Bellinis in Venice story.)
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky(On the 4th of July)
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.(Alinea)
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers(In a salad once.)
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam ( Sighhh. Hey, Tennessee)
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox( Hey, Hey, Stagedoor Bagel Day.)
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Harvest Time with Brian and Jenny.

2008-08-20T21:17:00.010-05:00

Since I've figured out how to e-mail pictures from my Blackberry/Future Box, this bloggin' should become more prevalent. See, I misplaced my camera in the move and have been too lazy to figure out how to download pics off my phone. And frankly blogs with no pictures is a snore, yes? No? But e-mail?!? Heck yeah. I'm the queen of e-mail.We're now all set for some serious business.

So. Harvest Time is our favorite Mexican Grocery in Lincoln Square. It has gorgeous produce and cheapo little delightful treats. Brian(the tall one), Jen(the young one), and I(the cooky one) took a stroll over to our little haunt. I had nothing to buy,neither did Jen,but of course we bought things. Brian had plenty to buy. At the end of our adventure I looked into our baskets and laughed and laughed. Such a silly contrast. Enjoy.

Brian's cart is the one of a well balanced man. Milk, Bread, Meat, Cheese. Superb Brian, really good show my dear chappy.

Jen looks like a supermodel by the way. She just got out of school and lives on Ramen noodles, CheeseItz, mac and cheese, hard boiled eggs(for protein, duh) and apparently scallops and frozen peas? HYSterical.

I decided to buy 3 fruits which all look the same.Red grapes,cherries, and figs.Purple and round and juicy and perfect. I'm a fruit whore. I also got the magic Mexican spice.

And then when we got home I introduced them to the wonder of fresh figs--which are in season and cheap!!!Eat them with cream cheese and walnuts or goat cheese and prosciutto! My roommates were unfamiliar. I educated them. They had only had the dried ones. I mean come on! Fruit of the Gods!

Look at that sexy piece of fruit.

Look at those sexy roommates.

Me likes them.

Cooking for one.

2008-08-19T19:31:00.006-05:00

This eve I had a mini panic attack because I couldn't remember the last time I cooked for just myself. Like a meal. Of course, I make toast and an enormous amount of cottage cheese with grapes, but I cannot remember the last time I took ingredients and made a dish that was solely for the belly of Dani Bryant.

Why is this? Well, I just like cooking for other people too damn much. And I've just gotten used to cooking for others so much that when it's time to do it for just me, well, I get a little blue.

I think I also sometimes equate eating alone with sadness. Unfortunately, we ladies have plenty of food issues and a lot of them rear their ugly heads whilst in solitude. (Quick off-topic ranty side note:I say "we" as a collective group, because the more and more I have recently began to open up about my food issues/eating disorders the more I discover EVERY woman I know has them or has dealt with them or some form of them in the past. Which frankly is scary and alarming and I hate(hate, HATE!) that food is such a struggle for women.)

Here's what I do know.

I love, love, love having people over, nibbling on leftovers while I cook for clients. I love a full kitchen of my friends laughing, debating, and having a blast-- all sweaty and hot in my tiny darling kitchen.

They sit on the stools, we pick a Pandora station and spend a few hours together. These kitchen memories are so dear to me and I know they will stick out years in to come when I think back on this time in my life as a 20 something with 8 random jobs, a pretty spare bank account , and a circle of fabulous foodie friends who I adore.

So what did I make? Oh yes, I did make something. I didn't just whine and eat cashew butter like I sometimes do. I wanted some sort of comfort food and my father and his skillets popped into my head. He was famous for his skillets, when he wasn't being a crazy-pants. This is for you Papa Cornbread.(Another side note: In Tennessee my father was know as Cornbread. He won the nickname off some guy in a game of pool. I swear to God. People sometimes called me Corn Muffin. Yep.)

I healthified this skillet.

Ingredients: A Small Sweet Potato
Chicken Sausage, or Veggie Sausage, or Pork if you are feelin' porky.
Green Pepper
Onion
Salt and Peppa
Balsamic Vinegar

Chop, chop, choparoo!

Get the Peppers, Onions and Potato started in a med-high pan with about 1 TLBS of Olive Oil or Butta, or BOTH!... for richness says Paula Dean.

Get the veg going real good before you add the Chicken Sausage. It will probably already be cooked and you are just browning it. We are also caramelizing the onion and peppers so after you add the Sausage put in on med-low and let it go for a good long while. Stir in every once in a while, but let the taters get brown and the onions get gooey.

After this skillet of dreams is sufficiently cooked we shall DEGLAZE!!!!Which is always fun. Just give the balsamic a few turns around the pan. Watch out that your face is not right over the pan. Evaporating vinegar can be intense for your nose and eyes. You could deglaze with anything. Wine, chicken stock, juice, juices...Practice your deglazing kittens. Shake, shake, shake on some S&P.

Now plate it up ,crack open a somethin' (For me it was a yummy root beer!), go sit outside and eat with the fireflies and Chicago bunnies--which are like rats. Oh, and watch the people walking by bein' all jealous that you made yourself dinner and all they eat is Lean Cuisine.

And then frolic off to play with your friends, Austin and Tiffany. Everyone should have an Austin and Tiffany. Maybe they'll let me bake them something...

:)

Eat gooooood.

Update: We totally baked. We made Healthy Oatmeal Amaretto cookies. They were more like breakfast scones. Hearty...not so treaty.

A sexy narrative.

2008-06-09T01:25:00.006-05:00

It's 1:26 am.The messy red haired cook stands barefoot in a sundress over a sweaty stove on a hot, steamy, but rainy Chicago summer night. The onions sizzle as the brown line rumbles by. Nina Simone plays nearby (quietly as not to wake the 6'7 giant sleeping in the next room.) She makes lamb and fontina stuffed green peppers. Did we mention it's 1:30am? She eats a bright red bouquet of cherries as she roasts and purees.It's sexy livin'in this wonderful town. The messy red haired cook is very happy. And so should you all.

Mmmm peppers.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
3/4 cup water
4 green bell pepper
1 onion, chopped
4 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces ground lamb
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 cups tomato sauce
4 ounces shredded fontina cheese
S&P

Directions: Follow verbatim.

Sexily combine rice and water in a small saucepan.
Saucily bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 15 minutes.
Seductively preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut tops off peppers, seed insides, and naughtily arrange peppers in a large baking dish.
Provocatively chop usable portion of the tops.
Reeeeally heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
Brown ground lamb in skillet like you've never browned it before.
Stir in chopped peppers and onions in oil until soft and voluptuous.
Add parsley.
Reduce heat to low and slooooow, and continue cooking for 5 minutes.
Titillate in cooked rice and 1 1/5 cups tomato sauce.
Season to taste with salt and p-p-p-pepper.
Spoon the mixture oh so carefully into the peppers, and top each with remaining hot juicy tomato sauce.
Modestly cover, and bake about 45 minutes.
Rip off cover hard and fast, top each pepper with salty fontina cheese, and bake until cheese is oh so gooey....

What on earth has come over me?It must be the heat...

Let's blame the concussion.

Eat gooooood... and you're welcome.

Hey remember that time...

2008-06-06T14:22:00.004-05:00

I was really into this food blogging thing and then my life spun into craziness and then I stopped blogging for a while and then things evened out and I decided to start it up again?

That was fun.

So a foodie update. I've been cooking for new folks... a lot.

I had a funky woman who had me make ridiculously simple things for her in order to lose weight before she went on safari. Yes, safari!!! Like plain chicken and roasted carrots. I still can't believe people pay me to do that.

But it's a new couple which keeps me most busy! The don't cook at all. So I do all their dinners for the week--at once! That is a lot of cooking folks. And here's the kicker--The dude likes SPIIIICY food...like crazy, normal people can't handle it spicy , but the lady can't handle any spice. So I make it very bland, split in in half and then spice the heck out of the one half.

Both of these new clients love my roasted vegetables. They are juuuust roasted vegetables. Nothing special. But people go nuts. Salt, Pepper, EVOO and a 350 oven. Easy as pie. Mmmmm pie.
Cauliflower, carrots, and eggplant are a bangin' combo. Try it on the grill.

In other recent food news...I got concussion! Yes, I was hit in the head by a ladder. I'm OK now---except, all I want to eat is fruit. All day. all the time. This could be because it's hot, but frankly I like to blame things on the concussion. Late for work? I'm concussed bosslady! Hit the biker with my car? Sorry dude I'm concussed...Can't stop eating fruit? Concussion. Mangos, Kumquats, Watermelon and of course Cherries. I live on Cherries during the summer. Even though they cost mad dough. I eat em cause I loooooves em.

Oh man. Ice Cream. Don't you love it? Well I shall continue to update you on my findings. So far I have two great little spotties to report.

Starfruit!!!

www.starfruitcafe.com

It's frozen kefir. Which is very good for you. They have lots of yummy toppings...like FRUIT!!! And other yummy toppings like red velvet cupcake chunks and fruity pebbles. Check check it out.

Bleeding Heart Bakery

www.thebleedingheartbakery.com

I recommend the Take A Hike Scone. Eaten by the lake with some pear butter, of course. BUT their ice cream. OMFG. Here are just a sample of some flavors:

Organic Strawberry Ginger Basil Ice Cream.

Organic Elvis Ice Cream - Chocolate Bacon and Banana.

Organic Avocado Peppercorn Balsamic Ice Cream.

Organic Goat Cheese Walnut Port Wine Ice Cream.

Yeah, I know right?!? I had the last one. And it was great! Not weird at all. Very tasty indeed. Stop what you are doing right now and go get some. Get on a plane if you must.

Tomorrow I'm hitting up some farmers markets and I plan to bring the ole camera. Are you so excited?

Eat good my lovelies. Eat goooooood.

Lustin' for Brunch?

2008-04-24T09:45:00.005-05:00

I love breakfast and brunch foods. Seriously. I'd eat them for every meal. Hot diggity! I am also a seeker of spots. In CT it was actually kind of hard(except for MO's and a little place in Collinsville) to find little spots that were unique. I'm a snob and refuse to eat at IHOP--sorry...

I also come from the land of Pancake Houses. On the last leg of a drive home to Tennessee I once counted every restaurant which had the word pancake or flap-jack in it. 47. I. counted. 47. establishments. What do you think about that? Pretty cool aye? Makes you want live there?

I've found a few awesome places here in Chicago. I know there are MANY more. Chicago is a brunch kinda town which makes it my kinda town.

lula in Logan Square.

I went to this little gem with my friend Erica. The wait was long, but sooo worth it. The specials are to die for. And any place that'll serve me a blackberry bellini at 10am rocks my socks.

Victory's Banner in Roscoe Village.

This place will just make you happy. Simple as that. Bottomless Chai?Yes! Try something different and get the Uppama--a savory hot cereal with peas, tomatoes and onions, served with a sweet coconut chutney and yogurt...Mmm...

Southport Grocery

Bread Pudding Pancakes. That's all I have to say about that.

M Henry in Edgewater

Such a delight! I've only been once and am dying to go again. Brit and I tried the other day but the line was out the door and around the corner. When I was there I got the 'Vegan Epiphany'--only I got it with eggs...because I like eggs more then tofu.Yums.

Pick Me Up Cafe in Lakeview/Wrigleyville.
I go here a lot---mostly in the wee hours of morn on Fridays and Saturdays. It's our go to sober up spot. I'll eat brunch at 3am. Their 'New Yorker' scramble is fantastic. Pesto and Goat Cheese. Bzam!

OK now a quick recipe. Steel Cut Oatmeal is far superior to regular oatmeal. Tastes better and is better for you. Gobble it up. You can put anything in it! This recipe is apples and peanut butter. But I also love it with pumpkin and almonds or bananas and walnuts!

Ingredients: 1/4 cup Steel Cut Oats
1 cup water/milk/soy milk/almond milk(I use half almond milk and half water)
Pinch of salt(Very important!)
Small Apple
Dash of Cinnamon
Smudge of Sugar/Splenda/Stevia
Dollop of Peanut Butter
Something crunchy(Nuts/Granola/Flax seed...)

On medium heat bring your chosen liquid to a boil. If it's regular milk watch it closely so it doesn't burn.

Add the oats!

In a small bowl combine the apples,sugar, and cinnamon and nuke in the microwave for 2 minutes. It will smell so good--don't fwwweak out.

Throw it in with the oats as they finish cookin'. Add the pinch of salt. When it's all done--not too thick--slop it in a bowl--dollop with the PB and add some CRUNCH! I did flax seed--but there are cruncher options...I was just out of them.

Now go eat some breakfast like yo mama told ya!

ps. The first video blog died. You will never see it. But it was good. Real good. We'll do another one.

Hot Chocolate

2008-04-13T23:33:00.008-05:00

Oh what a night--Brit's birthday was a April 1st, but tonight we celebrated with decadent meal at a delightful place in Wicker Park called Hot Chocolate. I shall give you a play by play of what went down.

First off our waiter, Doug, was super cute. And SUPER flirty. He kept touching all of us and really liked us because we were all lookin' suuuuuper smokin hot. We couldn't figure out which one of us he was really into...I thought it'd be funny if we all wrote down our numbers and next to the number put decriptions of ourselves and then see who he called--but...then his curley haired girlfriend came in and he got all formal-like...which was OK. He still got a juicy tip. If anything go there for Doug.

Here's our app. These beer boiled homemade pretzels with cheese and mustard. Pretty freakin great.

Rachel's burger! So good. It had an egg on it--which is very Aussie.

I will not be showing you what Brit and I shared--we were not that happy. We got the "warm “calzone” of Pleasant Ridge Reserve cheese and brioche, Served with sautéed local seasonal vegetables with a lemon-thyme pesto." It was ok. Not life changing, but what ruined things was the salad. Our new best pal Doug did not mention that the salad we ordered was a bread salad!!! Just croutons. Who wants a bread salad with a calzone? Not a good pairing. We love our carbs, but this meal had way. too. many. carbs.

JJ's Half and Half--which is half dark chocolate and half espresso. It was like chocolate coffee soup with homemade marshmallows. I tasted it and it reminded me of my grandmother Julia. I love her.

Happy Happy Birthday!! She got the chocolate X 2--which was just divine and a box of free treats...from Doug.

Rach and I shared the Pineapple Dessert--we like fruity desserts. We trick ourselves into thinking the "fruit" will balance out the carbs? Ha.

How freakin' cute is she?

Doug(on right)! And Patrick--one of the chefs? I think... We really only cared about Doug.

Here's some quotes about Doug: "I've never had a waiter go through the entire menu w/ me, recommending the good and letting me know to steer away from the bad."--Rachel Felson

"Doug's hands were so big and manly I wanted him to feed me my dark hot chocolate"--Also Rachel Felson

We have much more fun then you do.

PS The Video Blog is still on it's way. We had a busy week and instead of forcing you to watch 27 minutes of us being silly we thought we'd cut it down for you...still workin on it. Soon soon.

1st ever Messy Cookin' Video Blog!!

2008-04-07T17:29:00.005-05:00

Oh man--a revolution is happenin'. Dani and friends are going live. Here's a little preview of the fun night we had...the whole video will be up soon. We made a feast!

Thanks to Tiff-tiff for editin' it and postin' it and being all pretty and stuff.

xo

Masaman Your Face Off

2008-03-29T22:19:00.009-05:00

As promised my lovelies.

It's real good and pretty damn easy. Is this a traditional Masaman recipe? No. Why? Well, there are a lot of versions out there. I found three and kind of mixed em up plus made a major change--which is what makes this recipe delish.

The secret? Cashew Butter.

There is greatness outside of Skippy people. Almond butter. Tried it? Amazing. Macadamia Butter!!! Umm get on it!

Them gredients:

A bit of oil
1 big onion chopped up
3 cloves garlic chopped up
2 cups veggie or chicken stock(use the cartons, cubes, whateva works)
1 can of light coconut milk (I love this stuff, by the way.)
1/2 cup Cashew Butter
S & P to taste

2 TLBS of Any Curry Spice

1 TLBS of Garem Marsala Spice
4 BIG carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
3 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and cut into 1- inch pieces

1 cup frozen peas

1 head of Cauliflower

Chopped Cashews

*Protein is totally optional for this dish--throw on in some chicken or tofu if you're feelin' it.

OK you'll need two pans. A big ole pot and a saute pan.

Combine the coconut milk and veggie stock. Bring to a boil. Stir in Cashew Butter. It takes a bit of time and effort to stir in the CB...it's sticky--just keep it up. Add the Curry.

Chop all the veg into bite size pieces. Keep them around the same size so it all cooks at the same rate.

Everybody in the pool! Bring it down to Med and cook for about 20 minutes. It'll slowly start to thicken with starch of the potatoes.

While that pot is going saute the onion in a bit of oil with the Garem Marsala. Then add the protein if you like. Add the garlic in the last minutes.(I forgot to take that picture.)

*Garlic side note: Garlic, while delicious, burns super easy and then gets bitter. Wait a while before you add garlic. If it burns it'll add a weird tang to your dishes.

Now add the onions and garlic to the big pot. Stir in the peas. Add your S & P. Let it hang till the all the veg in tender--tender is a creepy word--till the veg is cooked? Yes, cooked.

In the last few minutes toast the cashews. Toasting nuts brings out all their best flavors. Just throw em in a dry pan (nuts have enough oil) on low--as soon as you start to smell nuts then they are toasted! Don't burn. That would be sad, cause then you'd have no nuts. Crunch is nice.

Taste one last time and adjust spice and S & P. If you want a lot of curry or Garem flavor just add more--little bits at a time.

Bowl it out--top with nuts--eat.

In other food news. I have a new job.

http://www.chocolate-grape.com/

Grand Opening is April 6th. I'll be both in the kitch and on the floor. Best of both worlds. It's in Wicker Park--come out and play.

Molecular Gastronomy Is Cooler Than You!

2008-03-20T13:25:00.012-05:00

So I was on the treadmill at the gym 10:30pm watching Top Chef(like you do) and the guest judge was Wylie Dufresne--a very famous chef and molecular gastronimist!

He inspired me to tell you all about my secret fantasies of cooking with pacojets, cryovac machines, and paint stripping heat guns--word.

Really my experience with this food is purely in the form of eating it AND that experience is limited to one freakishly expensive meal at an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G restaurant here in Chicago called ALINEA. http://www.alinea-restaurant.com/index.html

What is this Molecular Gastronomy I speak of?--Well, it's basically the chemistry and science of food flipped upside down to create a plethora of artistic, unique, and delish cooking techniques. The dishes are beautiful and usually have an innovative way to go about eating them.

Wiki says...

Example areas of Molecular Gastronomy investigation:
~How ingredients are changed by different cooking methods
~How all the senses play their own roles in our appreciation of food.
~The mechanisms of aroma release and the perception of taste and flavor
~How and why we evolved our particular taste and flavor sense organs and our general food likes and dislikes
~How cooking methods affect the eventual flavor and texture of food ingredients
~How new cooking methods might produce improved results of texture and flavor
~How our brains interpret the signals from all our senses to tell us the "flavor" of food
~How our enjoyment of food is affected by other influences, our environment, our mood, how it is presented, who prepares it, etc.

Hopefully you'll get a better idea when I tell you of my experience.

After knowing my new friend Rachel in Chicago for about 5 minutes-- Brit and I agreed to go with her to Alinea for her 25th Birthday!

I was just off a raw food cleanse--so real food was most welcome.

Best decision ever? I really do believe this was and probably will be the most amazing dining experience of my entire life. Now, the question remains is this exciting? or depressing?... because I'm only 23. Mmmph?

We also decided to do the petite wine paring. With each course we received a new little glass of wine. It really blows your mind how each wine can really enhance an entire dish.

Did I mention there were 12 courses? We did the 'tasting.' See how it curves? The meal progresses based on our taste palate--salty-sweet-savory--then back to sweet. Notice ingredients like : vegetable ash, toasted hay, and smoke. Mmm and sweetbreads!--yikes. Google it people.

And here is the 'tour'. 25 COURSES!!! Ah. Maybe someday I will get to taste the amazing dishes I missed out on...chicken skin and liquefied caramel corn.

And because we LOVE us some carbs we were very excited that each course also had its own unique bread with a different spread or infused butter. Sigh...

So this was my favorite dish 'Beans.'

I can't really tell you much. Except it was life changing. We ate it clockwise. Using the puree in the middle to mix with each of the little blobs around the edge.

This also came on a pillow of nutmeg air. The plate went on the pillow so as you were eating you smelled the air as it enhanced the eating experience.

Yeah, I know.

Here was another memorable one.

"Apple"

There were very specific instructions about eating this.

1. MUST eat it like a shot. One bite.

2 MUST have our mouth closed completely when we bite down. No space for the food to squirt out!

It was like a cold refreshing apple cider explosion in your mouth!

I could go through and talk about each course--but I won't. You should save your pennies and get up here to Chicago to try it out yourself. And visit me, duh.

They also can do vegetarian. Still awesome I'm sure. And it's seasonal so the menu changes. We were on the cusp of fall to winter. Oh I wonder what spring will be!

Dinner anyone?

Coming soon: I just invited the best Masaman curry for Brit--it's the only ethnic food she eats. Well that and Pho. She also eats Pho. But that's it. The curry is mind blowingly good.