Food Blog

As I greeted my cousin at his house for Thanksgiving, he handed me a beer and led me to one of those contraptions that cause fear in the hearts of otherwise courageous cooks - a propane tank and a pot full of 6 gallons of oil.
Apparently in accepting the beer, I was accepting the position […]

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It’s really mostly charcoal grilled, with a few chunks of hickory thrown in, but it sounds better that way. Rubbed with rosemary, garlic and salt and pepper and put in the Weber Bullet (without the water pan) for 2 and a half hours (it was a 2.5 pound piece of leg). The Weber keeps the […]

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It’s been awhile since I’ve done a recipe around here, but don’t worry, I am still eating. Here’s a calzone I made the other day.

I had made a batch of pizza dough that turned into some outstanding pizzas. They did not survive long enough for photography. This will be my standard pizza dough recipe from […]

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Spaghetti is such an American staple. But the truth is, I don’t eat it very often. I’m too busy filling myself with other kinds of pasta. And I almost never make meatballs. I’m always making a Bolognese or some other kind of meat/mushroom sauce. But here’s how I made them the other night.

1 can […]

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Last weekend I made it to Paulina Market, often cited as Chicago best butcher shop. Chefs and restaurants brag about getting their meat from them. I got there a little too close to closing time, so they were unstocking the cases while I stood gaping, trying to decide what I wanted. The sausage case was […]

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Here’s a recipe I want to perfect. It would probably work on chicken too.
Slightly inspired by the Black Cod with Miso from Nobu, I wanted to achieve a lacquered skin, with a nice sweetness. Nobu’s black cod isn’t so much about the miso, as it is about the mirin and sake that it uses […]

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I haven’t posted a recipe lately - here’s one.
Mutsu apple and Thai Basil Stuffed Pork Tenderloin
I got a few Mutsu apples from the Evanston farmer’s market. Mutsus are also known as Crispins and are a sweet, crisp, long-lasting apples. A woman tasting a slice at the booth gave a description more likey to be heard […]

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Over the years of doing this, I’ve collected many photos of dishes I’ve never written up. Whether due to laziness or some other affliction, these dishes will never have accompanying recipes. But rather than rot in my photo files, I’ll serve some of them up here anyway.

Pasta with Italian Sausage. This is a typical everyday […]

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This is the typical American-strip-mall Chinese Restaurant style dish. Lightly battered and fried chunks of chicken get a luscious reduced sauce of pineapple juice with a slight vinegar edge. My version has mandarin oranges and is loaded with ginger and spiced with some thai peppers. The juice from the oranges, and some honey give my […]

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I haven’t posted any food pictures recently, so I thought I’d put up what I had the other day - Panko-breaded chicken sandwich on Calamata olive bread. Sounds fancier than it is. The bread is from Dominick’s (a supermarket).
Panko is a Japanese bread-crumb, I had some left over from my last trip to […]

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