Rice is nice

Risotto is the Italian word for “little rice,” coming from a country prevalent in pasta, holds its own as some pretty substantial stuff. The dish comes primarily from the north of Italy, where rice patties can grow without the harsher sun of the southern regions, it is perfect Italian-alternate for people with wheat-gluten allergies and even follows ye olde cliché, “It’s not the size that counts, it’s how you use it.” Having just made a batch a couple of days ago, I feel compelled to share…

Basics. When making risotto you MUST use a short grain rice, such as Arborio (probably the most commonly used in the US). Uncle Ben is not welcome, so please don’t invite him. If he comes everyone will feel awkward, and you don’t want that do you? Long-grain Ben doesn’t have enough of the right starches to create that oh so creamy texture. The simplest risotto has broth and some kid of grated cheese like parm or romano. But here’s the way I like to do it…

FRIST: get a tall cool drink of any sort and be prepared to stand at the stove for the entire cooking process. It will make you happier to have a friend to talk with, or if you have no one (aka alone) consider good music or a podcast. You may NOT leave the stove once you have started. Don’t forget to use the restroom first too…

This recipe is for 1 cup of dry risotto, serves maybe 4 people. To start, finely chop (dare I say mince) a shallot. While you, or your beloved, are handling the knifery, gently heat one tablespoon each of butter and olive oil in a large-ish sauté pan. I think ours is about 12 inches, but I really have no idea. If you are British and don’t know what a tablespoon is, just melt what you think looks good, you cannot go wrong with too much butter. Toss in the dry rice and gently toast till it starts to have a little color. (People say that it should smell nutty, but what does that mean? Nuts? It’s rice, it smells like toasted rice.) About half way through the toasting, maybe 3 min in, add in the chopped shallot. You can also throw in some whole fresh herbs at this point, we use thyme.

Add one cup of white wine and stir. Now here’s the thing. From this point on you can’t stop stirring. You have begun to incorporate the liquid and magical things are happening, if you let the mixture sit…well I have to say I have no idea what happens because I don’t like to waste food that way. But feel free to experiment, and waste your money. After the cup of wine has reduced a little begin to add hot chicken broth or stock one half cup at a time and reduce. Have ready at least 4 cups, it varies how much you will need. Keep stirring, are you stirring? Once you get down to about one cup of liquid left, give a taste test, is the rice still crunchy? Is it bland? If you don’t know how to fix these problems you are a silly duck. Add more broth or salt if needed. Watch the salt content though, we’re gonna add some cheese at the end and cheese’s salty too! Once the rice is perfectly al-dente fish out the herbage, and such. Stir in maybe ¼ cup of Parm, or more. Like butter, cheese is to taste.

Variations, like mushroom risotto, are always fun. With mushrooms though, brown them in the pan first before toasting the rice. Remove them, then add them back in with the liquid. Other veggies, you can add in the last 5 min of cooking, such as peas, diced zucchini, tomatoes, asparagus…sky’s the limit. Or add grilled chicken shredded, or scallops… Try subbing the white for red wine and use beef stock… be daring! And the next time you order risotto while out at dinner, remember the slaving over the stove that had to happen for those little grains of rice.

Oatmeal, eh?

Simple, some say boring, sold in bulk, instant-fied, fortified, hearty, oaty, oatmeal. We have been eating different forms of oats since childhood, in granola, cookies, and the bowl. Lately I have been told at least once a week by my mother to eat them, I've told the husband to eat them, and my colleague down the hall has bought them in bulk and eats them probably daily. Why? Probably because these notey-oaty gems are packed with good stuff, and they are a cheap quick way to begin YOUR DAY! (insert commercialized muzak here)

I have never been an oatmeal person until recently. Sure I'd eat the odd packet at a desk job, we have a giant container at home sporting the giant white haired man in our upper cabinet in the kitchen, but I've never been a fan until Irish Steel Cut Oatmeal. I capitalize it because it's important. And it's the best.

The difference is that while rolled oats oatmeal can be mushy and have a mouth feel of baby food, Irish steel cut versions are like more yummy version of grape nuts, because, well, they're not grape-nuts. Kind of like if grape-nuts and regular oatmeal had a baby. They have a lightly al dente texture, with all the oatmeal creaminess. A perfect warming breakfast. Trader Joe's has a version, but my favorite is McCann's. These brands are instant, and usually take around 5 minutes to make. Honestly, there's no real health benefit to eating one type over the other, the rolled oats are flattened versions of the steel cut. But for me the texture is a huge plus.

Lately I've been having them with sliced strawberries, cream and brown sugar. Decadent and healthy... except for the cream part... feel free to leave that out. The real message is if you hate eating oatmeal because of the boring texture try these. You might want to eat oatmeal over an entire pack of bacon.

Chilam Balam!

As my final dinner "at-home", in Chicago in anycase, the husband and I went to Chilam Balam last night on Broadway in Lakeview. If you have not had a chance to go here, you should. The weekends are bustling and very busy. I'd reccomend, as did a staff member, coming on a Monday if you want immediate seating. We arrived at 6 and were granted a 45minute wait which we spent at the bar next door.

There isn't a whole lot of room to move around in Chilam Balam, the tables in close quarters in the small-ish basement establishment. And a passer by might even completely miss the signage out front. But once you do sit down and taste the food, small and larger plates, all the searching and waiting will not be in vain. Bring your favorite great wine, no corkage fee, and if you bring a cheap one they even have a sangria mix ready to go for you to pour your awful vintage into to try and make it better. From the amazing fresh look of the fruit and juice mix, I'd almost just drink it sans vin.

We ordered several small plates including the ceviche which was a whole mess of fun - without the mess, served with freshly made chips and lime on the side. Unlike some places, which serve it saturated with juices in a liquidy slosh, it was perfectly cured and cleanly presented from a ring mold. You could also taste every veggie that accompanied - especially the cucumbers which were extra yummy.

Another great dish was the duck tamale, topped with a mole negro. The corn taste in the masa was incredible and the shredded duck was tasty tasty. Topped with a refreshing celery root slaw and crunchy nuts it was a perfect combination of bitter and sweet, comforting flavors.

We also decided to get a larger plate and chose the "airline" chicken, which was so far from something you get on an airline. The dish drew us into it's smoky and sweet medly. The butternut squash mole was a perfect compliment, making a lighter statement than one would think. But my favorite part of this plate was the braised greens, which were bitter and wonderful. Honestly, how many times do you order a chicken dish when you're out?? This one should not be missed!

For dessert we had to get the Hibiscus flan, and while it was a bit thicker than you traditionally think of flan being, it made a nice close to the meal, and they comped us their GREAT Oaxacan hot chocolate, which the husband couldn't put down. I'd recommend reservations and it's not great for really large groups, but you have to get to this place. The chef, while on 23, is a cool cat and really knows what he's doing!

Cassoulet Day 3 - the Conclusion!

We shopped, we cooked we conquered.

Honestly the best thing about cassoulet is that on the last day, all you do is bake it to reheat it and form the top crust. That being said, Bourdain's Cassoulet is a little untraditional, actually since, it has no breadcrumb top, and the overwhelming presence of the beans - too many in my opinion. But the meat was amazing and tender and tasty.

We had a few friends over to sample the goods, and the wine did floweth! We started the night with little cucumber canapés with a lemon creme fraiche and black roe topping with a prosecco. Then we started the dinner portion with a roasted beet salad over frisee with an orange vinnegrette and feta, paired with a Côtes du Rhône rose. Following that we had the cassoulet, heaping plates for all - a really dry red is perfect, and we chose a nice Bordeaux. Dessert was the husband's amazing lemon tart also from Bourdain's book with a great muscato.

Though it was a fun evening, it will be a while till we make it again. Cassoulet is more work than you think (especially if you confit the duck yourself!), and it takes a lot of funds to make this meal. Everyone should try to make something like this, especially if you don’t have to be the head chef!

Cassoulet Days 1 and 2

I have been pushed from the kitchen. The husband has forbade me to have a primary hand in one of the greatest dishes ever. Cassoulet. He is he master of this creation and not I. And it might be slowly festering inside me, but I am making do as the prep and sous chef - even though he has taken away my cleaning duties as well...

If you'd like to follow along, we're making Bourdain's recipe from the Les Halles book. It's full of meat and wonderment. If you have never eaten cassoulet, or seen it, or heard of the thing, it is a one pot deal featuring as much meat as possible. Basically, it's white beans cooked in a dish lined with pork skin, with alternating layers of pork belly, duck confit, and pork sausage. That being said you can add whatever kind of meat you'd like, though this is traditional. The porkier the better. And the white beans make it healthy!

We began this dish with a three day plan, day one (Friday) was pretty simple, all we had to do was soak the beans over night and then salt the duck legs which were to be confit in the morning. We spent the time before starting the festivities with shopping. Off to Gene's in Lincoln Square for the ordering of the belly and skin to be picked up in the morning, as well as the duck legs.

We ended up soaking about 1/3 as many beans as we needed and awoke to them pouring out onto the kitchen counter. Then it was off to Paulina Market for the duck fat and the rest of the ingredients for our Sunday feast!

When we got home, the husband covered the duck in the liquid fat, along with rosemary, thyme and some garlic, and cooked it in the over at 375 for two hours (longer than the recipe asked, since our legs are actually quarters), the cooled it in the fridge. He then simmered the beans with pieces of the skin and fat as well as the belly, cooking the beans and creating a luscious broth. While that was cooking he fried the pork sausage in some of the reserved duck fat, and after used the remaining to brown onions and a few pieces of remaining fat from the belly which were pureed following the browning.

Once all the parts were sliced and diced and simmered, then came the layering. In the bottom of a large oven safe pot or dutch oven went skin first, then beans, the sausages, beans, pork belly, beans, duck confit, and more beans along with a dollop of the onion puree in each layer. Presently they are in the oven, and have to cook another hour. After they will sit over night in the fridge and have another session of cooking tomorrow!!!

As the sous chef, I don't see why I have to stay up and wait for them to finish their time in the oven tonight. Technically, I'm on vacation for another few days, so I'm heading to bed.

Wings

I love chicken wings. For all the lovely euro-cuisines, nothing makes me more giddy than a big pile of crunchy juicy buffalo style chicken wings.

Tonight I went to Buffalo Wild Wings, not my first choice, since they tend to over sauce their wings. However, these wings totally satisfied my craving. This morning, Emeril had a whole show on wings on as a repeat. Not fair. Only last night the husband threw in my face the face that he went to wings. Something had to happen, so following rehearsal we decided to go to Wing Zone in Milwaukee, which frequently has a dancing chicken on the roadside corner promoting. It's supposed to be fantastic. However, they have no place to sit, so the party was transfered to BW3.

When I'm at home, chicken wings are a treat. I make them for special occasions due to their fried status. Sometimes I'll so a blend of dry spices and cook them in the oven. But when I fry them, that's when the fun comes in.

A couple of years ago I bought the husband a fryer as an xmas present. Since then we use it sparingly, for specialty items, like this bitty chick. I fry my chicken wings, or drummets unflowered till golden brown at 350-375 for no more than 10-12 minutes. Remember never to leave your fryer unattended!!!

For the "Buffalo" sauce, I have kind of developed my own recipe. Depending on the amount of wings I melt 1/2 to 1 stick of butter, add in 1-2 Tbs of sriracha sauce, or more! Then I add a few Tbs of white vinegar and actually some Emeril seasoning. If you don't have that you can do chili powder, paprika, garlic and onion powder. Actually one of the more fun parts about making homemade wings is experimenting with flavors.

Anyway let the butter cool slightly till it's thick enough then toss the wings in it and remove them after coating so they stay crunchy.

There's no substitute for a great chicken wing! And frying stuff is just downright fun. Make some for your favorite Sunday sports game and try out different flavor combos! Regardless, they are fried and spicy and full of lovely goodness.

Dinner not to be repeated (read at your own risk.)

I thought I'd share what you should not eat for dinner. I have a little cold, which is at the stage where you don't want to do anything except lay in bed. This definitely means not cooking.

I knew I had to eat something healthy, since we have a concert in a few days, so I started pulling things out of my pint-sized fridge. I had picked up a chicken breast and my bag of kale from a friend's much larger fridge/freezer. Noticing that my tiny tomatoes were about to be completely ruined, I picked out the ones that I could salvage and quartered them. The I recalled how a friend said she loved cottage cheese with them, and having some threw in the tomatoes, eating as I prepped the kale. I thought this was smart and healthy, it was like a little appetizer.

Sauteed red onion, garlic and chili flake in olive oil. Added blanched kale and a little white wine vinegar. Presto! Yummy. Kale.

These two separate dishes, however, DO NOT go well together. I realized after almost finishing my absurd amount of cottage cheese and tomatoes that I didn't want the chicken breast I had been thawing. That was sad, as the appetizer quickly became the accompaniment for sauteed kale. UGH. Just writing about it makes me feel gross.

Anyway, don't ever eat these two things in the same sitting. You won't be happy, no matter how much you think it doesn't make a difference.