off the (meat)hook » RECOMMENDATIONS

{recipe} Palm Springs Date Shake

Karen — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 23:56:19 +0000

Have I mentioned that one of my favorite places in the entire world is Palm Springs, California? I love it so much, I got married there. Not only does it offer breathtaking desert landscapes and mid-century modern marvels, it’s also home to a very specific regional culinary delight: the date shake.

It’s estimated that 99% of US-grown dates are from the Palm Springs area, so it’s not all that surprising they invented this delicious way to enjoy them. Originating in the Middle East, dates have been around for thousands of years, and many cultures believe them to be essential for health. They were introduced to California by Spanish missionaries in the 1700s, who found that the desert in the Coachella Valley, around Palm Springs, was the perfect spot to grow dates.

Dates can get a bad rap–probably because they’re easily confused with unsexy things like prunes–but a fresh date is a thing of beauty, sweet as candy and good in so many recipes. Dates feature in my all-time favorite cookie recipe, Robert’s chewy amazing oatmeal cookies. If you have really sweet, soft dates, you can also make them into a super simple frozen treat I call “ice cream dates.” Yes, dates have a pretty high sugar content, but they also have a lot of fiber, potassium, antioxidants, and other nutrients. People make some pretty outlandish health claims about dates, but there is some reasonably strong evidence to back it up: I found peer-reviewed journal studies showing that dates may stimulate the immune system, protect the kidneys, aid pregnant women with labor and delivery outcomes, and prevent certain kinds of stroke. Furthermore, nutrition scientists have found that due to their nutritional content, they may be “an almost ideal food.”

Of course, this date shake involves ice cream and milk, so you might be questioning just how healthy it is. Forgetting the ice cream for a minute, many Middle Easterners believe that mixing dates and milk enhances the nutritional qualities of both. In fact, dates in milk is a traditional way to break the Ramadan fast. Dates and milk together are also one of the first foods introduced to babies after breast milk. But it’s not really about the health for me, it’s more about closing my eyes and being transported temporarily to that desert date palm landscape I love so much.

Recipe: Palm Springs Date Shake
I asked how they make the shakes at Oasis Date Gardens and this is what they told me. Makes one. And don’t worry, this ain’t rocket science, y’all.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup fresh dates (I like to use Medjools)
1/2 cup milk
1 cup vanilla ice cream

METHOD:

Remove pits from dates.
Put dates and milk in a blender and mix until smooth.
Add ice cream and blend until creamy.
Drink immediately.

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{recipe} Rainbow Fudge

Karen — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 02:02:46 +0000

I saw a recipe for rainbow fudge on Pinterest recently, and knew I had to make it. (For a full-fledged adult in her mid-30s, it turns out I’m pretty into rainbows.) But, I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t have a couple of major issues with the original recipe… so I had to do it my own way.

First of all, it drives me crazy when a recipe site asks for an email address to access a recipe. It seems ridiculous considering how many fantastic food sites are out there, both amateur and professional, that don’t require this. Second, a rainbow with no orange? Come on, people. Not cool. Orange is like, one of the best colors. Third, they use liquid food coloring, which not only creates insipid colors but also messes with the texture of the chocolate, by virtue of being a liquid. (Small additional point of irritation- the recipe tells you exactly how many drops of each color to use. Oh. My. Godthatissoridiculous.) And finally, if I’m rainbowing it up, I really like to go for vivid colors, none of this Easter pastel crap. You’re eating what is essentially a colored sugar bomb – why restrain yourself to subdued colors? So this is my take on rainbow fudge.

I considered other color combinations, and really, you could make this however you like- in team colors, flag colors, favorite colors, holiday colors, or what have you. 6 colors makes a really tall fudge so you could certainly make fewer layers if you need fewer colors for your scheme. If you require very specific colors, you can get a wide variety of food colors from Wilton here.

Added bonus of making this recipe: even your dirty dishwasher looks beautiful afterwards.

As to the taste… it’s pretty sweet, and pretty white chocolate-y, but good nonetheless. I made it for my 9-year-old niece’s birthday, and she likes white chocolate and super sweet stuff, so I wasn’t too worried on either count. It’s almost like eating a big piece of candy corn. Since it’s so tall, it’s a good idea to cut small pieces so it doesn’t overwhelm. I think you could even make a half recipe for each layer, because mine was so tall I had to call it “fudgehenge.”

I wouldn’t call this recipe “easy” because it takes a fair amount of time and fiddling around, but it is definitely easy in terms of cooking skills. You make each fudge layer in the microwave, with only 4 ingredients, so it’s not a recipe that requires a lot of technical kitchen skills. If you can microwave, stir, possess a reasonable understanding of what a rainbow looks like, and have a loaf pan, you can make this.

Recipe: Rainbow Fudge

Makes a lot even though it looks like a little. White chocolate chips are easier to use, because you don’t have to chop them, but they don’t melt as smoothly as a bar so I don’t recommend using them. Don’t get any amount of water in the white chocolate mixture, because it can cause the chocolate to seize and harden into lumps. I say this because between colors you’ll need to wash your spatula out – so be sure to fully dry it off with a towel.

INGREDIENTS:

36 oz. chopped white chocolate
3 cups sweetened condensed milk (you’ll need to buy 3 of the 14 oz cans to get 3 cups)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, divided
gel or paste food coloring (like this or this)

METHOD:

Line a loaf pan tightly with foil. Spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray.
Get out 6 microwave-safe cereal bowls. Into each bowl, put 6 oz. white chocolate, 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk, and 1/4 tsp vanilla extract. Set aside.
Put one bowl in the microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring well after each 30 seconds, until chocolate mixture is smooth and well combined with no lumps. (All microwaves are different but as a point of reference mine took about 90 seconds total.)
Add red food coloring and stir very well so there are no white streaks, scraping the sides of the bowl and making sure you get all the way to the bottom. A rubber spatula works well for this.
Pour into prepared loaf pan and bang the pan on the counter a few times to settle and even out the layer.
Place into the freezer for 20-25 minutes, until hard to the touch.
Repeat with remaining bowls, making orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Once the loaf pan and the layers have been in the freezer, the layer will almost immediately start to set, so you need to move quickly with spreading out the mixture and banging it on the counter so it’s not lopsided or lumpy.
After the final layer, put it back in the freezer for 2 hours, then move it to the refrigerator to completely set for a couple more hours.
When you’re ready to cut it, flip it onto a cutting board and remove the foil. Dip a sharp knife in hot water between cuts and wipe with a towel so the colors don’t smear together. It tastes better at room temperature and holds up pretty well for a few hours; otherwise, refrigerate it to keep.

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{travelogue} Something for Everyone in Berlin

Karen — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 07:12:00 +0000

Berlin is one of those cities that has something for everyone—it can be equally exhilarating whether you’re a sophisticated museum-goer, history buff, laid-back yuppie, family unit, or young partier.

I would have loved Berlin in my younger days, but the older, wiser me is happy that I got to experience and enjoy it without a single hangover. (Full disclosure: since I was 6 months pregnant during my visit, a hangover was not in the cards anyway. But I like to think that regardless, I would have behaved with more moderation than some of the 20-somethings I saw on the U-Bahn still drinking at 8 AM from the previous night.)

If you want to know what the best clubs are or where to go until 4 AM, I am definitely not the best source of information, but I am happy to share some of my favorite places to eat, drink, and see in Berlin! I’ve included street addresses and U-Bahn/S-Bahn stops.

Dinner & Drinks

Berlin is a great city for eating—whether you’re in the mood for traditional German food or more eclectic modern takes on the menu. Of course, since you’re making the effort to go out for dinner, why not stop for a drink nearby to round out the evening?

My top choices for the Kreuzberg area are not in the teeming, tipsy center of it all, but a little bit off the beaten path. For a seasonally changing menu of updated German fare, don’t miss dinner at Nansen, at the corner of Nansenstrasse and Maybachufer. Afterwards, cross the Spree to have a beer by candlelight with the locals at the out-of-the-way Celo Privat Bar at 19a Glogauerstrasse. U: Gorlitzer Bahnhof.

Your Schönberg evening should start at the Green Door, a sweet and friendly little cocktail bar with an extensive drink list. You have to ring the doorbell to get in. The drinks are very good, but not cheap. For dinner, stroll 5 blocks or so to the neighborhoody Renger-Patzsch for your choice of seasonal or traditional Flammekuche (Alsatian thin-crust pizza) or one of the expertly prepared meat specials. Green Door- U: Nollendorfplatze. Renger Patzsch- U: Eisenacherstrasse.

In Charlottenburg/Ku Damm, don’t miss Dicke Wirten (“the fat waitress”) by Savignyplatz for rib-sticking traditional German food. In the wintertime you can get Christmas specials like roasted goose. The portions are large and excellently prepared, the clientele is mostly regulars and locals, and the dining room is plastered floor to ceiling with kitschy Teutonic décor and doilies. After dinner, walk off some of that spaetzle and go to the speakeasy-esque Galerie Bremer on Fasenstrasse, about 4 blocks away, for a digestif. Dicke Wirten- S: Savignyplatz. Galerie Bremer- U: Spichenstrasse.

A warning: lots of bars in Berlin are really smoky, so be prepared for that.

Lunchtime

A Berlin street food staple is the Doner kebab, which is a Turkish-German hybrid dish said to be invented in Berlin in the 1970s, and is sort of like a shawerma. Thin slices of cinnamon-scented lamb, shaved from a spit, are wrapped in bread or Turkish flatbread with yogurt sauce, lettuce, and tomatoes. One of the freshest and best examples is the durum doner at Imren, on Boppstrasse in Kreuzberg. The flatbread is made to order, and arrives warm and stuffed with meat. U: Schonlein Tor.

Post-doner, if it’s a Tuesday or a Friday, you can continue your Turkish adventure at the Turkenmarket along Maybachufer, about 3 or 4 blocks from Imren. You can browse fabric, spices, olives, cheese, and much more. Find a stall with fresh Turkish delight for a perfect dessert. U: Schonlein Tor or Kotbusser Tor.

Another Berlin-born street food is currywurst, which consists of slices of sausage doused in curried ketchup. I will admit that this is not my favorite dish, but aficionados (and the line outside) will tell you that Konnopke’s Imbiss just below the U-Bahn station in Prenzlauer Berg is the best. If you are not keen on currywurst, you may want to have a relaxing lunch at Fellas nearby. The high-ceilinged dining room is open and convivial, and the food is solid. The salads are especially good. The service is friendly, if a little haphazard. U: Schonhauser Allee.

Probably the best lunch option overall, costing barely more than a stand-up street meal, is the set menu lunch at Nord-Sud near Hackescher Hofe. The food is outstanding, and incredibly, will set you back a mere €7.50 for 3 courses. The charming French owner will explain the daily menus for you to choose from. Prepare to be impressed—and stuffed. Nord-Sud serves dinner as well. U or S: Hackescher Markt.

Cafes

In a pinch, you’ll always be close to an Einstein Kaffe—Berlin’s local answer to the encroaching Starbucks empire. The coffee is good and the cakes are in a wholly different league than the usual chain sweets. But there are two Berlin cafes that really stole my heart.

EspressoBar in the Charlottenberg/Ku Damm area, tucked away on Mommsenstrasse between Bleibtreustrasse and Knesebeckstrasse, is exactly the kind of café at which I would want to be a regular. (I’d go so far as to say that if I moved to Berlin I would have to live nearby so I could make that a reality.) The place is pretty quiet, but you might hear the sounds of eggs cracking or the mixer going, as the owner bakes fresh cakes and other treats in the impossibly small kitchen. Excellent espresso, a selection of Kusmi teas, and warm flaky croissants—yeah, I could get used to that. U: Uhlandstrasse or S: Savignyplatz.

If you’re a loyalist of Stumptown, Blue Bottle, or the like, then I would have a completely different recommendation: Bonanza in Prenzlauer Berg, on Oderbergerstrasse. This is not a grab-and-go: for reasons unknown, a cup of coffee or a latte will take these mustachioed hipsters literally 10 or 15 minutes to prepare for you. Not only is the coffee worth the wait, you can easily lose track of time as you watch tripping over bags and buckets in this tiny shop as they freshly roast the next batch of beans right in front of you. U: Eberswalderstrasse.

I would be remiss not to mention the café in the MyParis gallery, at 67 Augustenstrasse near Hackescher Hofe. The gallery entry is 6 euros, but you can get a coffee and a snack in the gorgeous, soaring space without ponying up for the show. They have a small but cute and artsy gift shop, as well. U or S: Hackescher Markt.

Next door in the KW Gallery courtyard, at 69 Augustenstrasse, there is yet another arty café with an interesting design, Café Bravo, which seems a little more kid-friendly than MyParis. U or S: Hackescher Markt.

East & West

I am really fascinated by the history of the Berlin Wall and the divide between East and West Germany, and Berlin is obviously the best place to learn and experience more about it. Aside from the tackified tourist trap of Checkpoint Charlie, there are a couple of other places you can see standing sections of the Berlin Wall. The best-known is the East Side Gallery, in Friedrichshain, which has a section of the wall that was decorated by artists from around the world in 1999 and revamped in 2009. U: Ostbanhof or Warschauerstrasse.

From the East Side Gallery, a short hop on the train will take you to the Stasi Museum, which opened in the previous Stasi headquarters less than a year after the Wall fell. You can see some of the hilariously low-tech surveillance devices, hidden in tree stumps, neckties, and so forth. The film shown at the museum (with English subtitles) gives a great overview of the Stasi and historians share many interesting anecdotes about the Stasi’s history and activities. U: Magdalennenstrasse.

You can find another standing section of the Berlin Wall at Mauerpark, in Prenzlauer Berg. It’s not the prettiest park, but this part of the Wall is the official practicing ground for casual graffiti artists, and is inches thick with spray paint. While I enjoyed the East Side Gallery, somehow the Mauerpark section hit home with me more, perhaps because it was easier to get a sense of the ways in which the Berlin Wall divided neighborhoods so jarringly. U: Eberswalderstrasse.

If you visit Mauerpark, you can pop into VEP Orange, on Oderbergerstrasse, to browse kitschy GDR retro housewares and fixtures. I scored an awesome orange ceramic 1970s lamp for 20 euros. Across the street from VEP Orange you’ll find Bonanza Coffee (exalted in the “Cafes” section above.)

To prepare yourself for all of this Berlin Wall action, I recommend the book Stasiland by Anna Funder, which weaves together stories from both former Stasi officers and from people whose lives were strongly impacted by the Berlin Wall and the Stasi.

Ancient History

Say what you will about Germans, but man, they really knew how to plunder. The result is the excellent Pergamon Museum, which includes a full Babylonian gate, plus some rather astounding displays of Assyrian, Egyptian, Uruk, Persian, Ottoman, Greek, and Turkish treasures. With all this great stuff, the museum gets very crowded, so I would recommend booking a ticket online in advance so you can skip the line (they can scan the bar code or QR code on your mobile phone so you don’t even need to print a ticket out.)

If you want to see the famed bust of Nefertiti (which the Egyptians are still trying to get back) you’ll have to go next door to the Neues Museum. Pergamon and Neues Museum- U or S: Hackescher Markt.

Don’t miss the walk back to Unter der Linden, so you can catch the bizarre juxtaposition of the ostentatious Berliner Dom and the space-agey Alexanderplatz TV Tower.

Need a pick-me-up after all that museuming? Pop into the louche Hotel de Rome for a well-crafted (expensive) cocktail at the bar.

Winter Wonderlands

I imagine Berlin in the spring and summer is just wonderful, with people spilling out of sidewalk cafes, lounging by the banks of the Spree, and sipping frosty beers to cool down. Of course since I was there in late December I wouldn’t know anything about that. The saving grace of the wintertime visit is that Germans are dead serious about Christmas decorations, so the city is absolutely ablaze with lights, and the fabulous Christmas Markets are in full swing. There are over 50 Christmas markets in Berlin alone, where you can drink gluhwein (hot mulled wine), eat sausages and shop for ornaments. If you’re a connoisseur of gaudy holiday ornamentation like I am, you should probably put a Christmastime visit to Germany on your bucket list—the level of glitz and glitter was just outstanding.

No matter what the season or the occasion – don’t miss a trip to Berlin, one of the most affordable, quirky, friendly, historical, art-centric, and culinarily sophisticated cities in the world.

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{recipe} Butternut Squash & Short Rib Chili

Karen — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:01:47 +0000

It’s cold and rainy outside, and there is really only one thing I want to eat: this chili made with butternut squash, beef short ribs, and black beans. The flavors are complex, with a hint of cocoa powder and just the right amount of heat. Top it with fresh cilantro, some crumbled Mexican queso fresco, and some fresh slices of avocado, and the winter blues will melt away.

I got this recipe from the Scaling Back blog, which is the best blog you are probably not reading. I met the author Tina Jeffers at a food photography workshop, but when you read her blog you may be inclined to agree that she probably doesn’t really need food photography classes because her pictures are gorgeous, mouth-watering, and instructive all at the same time. Her tips and recipes are well-chosen, not too difficult, and they work. Subscribe, follow, or just check in from time to time, but for goodness’ sake don’t miss out on this site. It is hands-down one of my absolute favorites, which in the crowded world of food blogs is saying quite a lot.

I reproduce the recipe here because I simplified some steps and made some small changes. As is reflected in the recipe, I do not recommend eating this the day you make it- it tastes infinitely better if you let it sit in the fridge for a day or two or three and reheat it. Enjoy – and thank you Tina for the inspiration.

Recipe: Butternut Squash & Short Rib Chili

INGREDIENTS:

1 Tblsp live oil
1 1/2 pounds boneless short ribs, trimmed of most of the fat and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (ask your butcher to remove the bones for you)
1 large onion, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 chipotle in adobo sauce, minced
chili flakes, cayenne, or hot spice of your choice to taste (I used a large pinch of very hot Chinese chili flakes and a large pinch of cayenne)
2 Tblsp tomato paste
1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup red wine
15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
28 oz can diced tomatoes with juice
2 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed into 1/2 inch pieces
cilantro leaves, crumbled queso fresco, and avocado slices to serve

method:

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season beef with salt and add to pan. Cook about 8-10 minutes, browning on all sides.
Add onion and cook another 8-10 minutes, until onions are soft and translucent. Add tomato paste, garlic, chipotle, cocoa, and spices and cook another 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add wine, beans, and tomatoes with juice. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and cover. Simmer for 1 hour.
Add butternut squash and simmer for another hour, until beef and squash are tender. Cool slightly, then cover and rest in the fridge overnight.
To serve, reheat on the stove and serve with cilantro, queso fresco, and avocado.

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{travelogue} Chicago: Eating, Drinking, and a Few Other Things You Might Want to Do

Karen — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:29:37 +0000

For some reason I keep going to Chicago in the middle of winter, so mostly I spend my time eating and drinking (and being cold) when I’m there. Occasionally I get around to doing other things, too – so here are my top picks all around.

Eating & Drinking

I’ve tasted many Chicago pizzas, but the spinach and cheese stuffed pizza at Bacino’s is my favorite. I could explain how they chop all of the cheese and spinach together to make a perfect blend and so forth but I think the picture is pretty much loud and clear on the deliciousness front. They have excellent buffalo wings, too. Bacino’s: 2204 N. Lincoln Ave.

If you’re after a luxurious vacation breakfast spot, NoMI in the Park Hyatt is killer. Along with your great view you’ll get to choose from some of the most luxe and well-prepared breakfast plates around. I’m not super into breakfast normally, but this place gets my nod – I ate there 2 days in a row.

The Aviary is the bar version of the infamous Alinea (discussed next), and easier to get a reservation, too. Astounding, exploding, crackling, infusing, boiling, foaming are all words that could be used to describe various Aviary cocktail concoctions on offer. Examples: the “In The Rocks” is a perfect old-fashioned cocooned in an ice ball you break with a rubberband slingshot, and the infusion pictured below starts out pale yellow and gets darker in color and changes in flavor with each new pour. One preparation involved a bunsen burner! You can get small perfect bites to go with the drinks, too. Be warned: while this is a spectacular experience for the cocktail aficionado, a drink can set you back as much as $28 here. I say, worth it for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The Aviary: corner of Fulton and Morgan Streets.

Alinea: are you kidding me? What a mind blowing and fun experience. Just for fun, I’ve included all my notes from each course of the dinner below. Alinea: 1723 N. Halsted.

TROUT ROE, coconut, hyssop, passionfruit: I don’t even know what hyssop is but damn. This hand-harvested steelhead roe with banana, coconut, and passionfruit gels and pastes, with fleur de sel foam, was a screamin’ start to the eating evening.
CAULIFLOWER, five coatings, three gels, apple: Five cubes of cauliflower puree with aromatic apple soup. Each cube was crusted with a different dried or dehydrated aromatic such as cheese, nuts, or what have you.
LOBSTER, popcorn, butter, curry: I think this was my favorite. Apparently it was supposed to be on a theme of “things that taste good with butter.” OK, you had me at butter. There were too many things on this plate to describe but they included a butter poached lobster tail, a butter sphere you popped to get melted butter out of, curry pudding, popcorn, a popcorn gelee ribbon (don’t ask), corn kernels, dehydrated onion, and in my mind an unnecessary dollop of palate-cleansing mango-lime gel.
WAGYU BEEF, maitake, smoked date, blis elixir: Maitake mushroom on an applewood-smoked fig puree, raw wagyu beef, a dusting of fennel pollen, and sherry that had been aged in casks that previously held maple syrup and bourbon.
RABBIT, prune, shallot, burning leaves: A tempura’d chunk of tasty rabbit loin with prune gelee, shallot, impressively served on a skewer of smoldering oak leaves.
HOT POTATO, cold potato, black truffle, butter: I could eat about a hundred of these. You’ve got a cold potato, chive, butter, parmigiano, and truffle slice on a metal toothpick stuck into the side of a tiny wax bowl that holds hot potato soup. Pull the pin to let the cold items fall into the hot soup and drink the whole thing like a shot.
SHORT RIB, Guinness, peanut, fried broccoli: Melty soft short ribs caged under a Guinness gelatin sheet. Peanuts and broccoli in different forms, including pastes, shaved, etc.
BLACK TRUFFLE, explosion, romaine, parmesan: Literally an explosion especially for one person at our table who shall remain nameless but who will heretofore be thought of as the one who uncouthly squirted hot truffle juice at the table. One ravioli filled with truffle tea and served with romaine and a truffle slice. Meant to be taken in one bite with your mouth CLOSED to contain the explosion.
LAMB, saffron, poppy seed, pistachio: Thought I would love this but it was not my favorite. Sous vide lamb in a lamb and veal stock with white poppy seed custard, foam, cippolinis, and I can’t remember where the pistachios came in at all…
CONCORD GRAPE, yogurt, mint, long pepper: An exploding ball of liquid grape sorbet with a mint shell and bathing in approximately 3 drops of yogurt water. Squirt in your mouth, not in your hands. No idea what the long pepper had to do with this one.
CRABAPPLE, foie gras, brown sugar, sorrel: An 18-inch metal skewer pointed at your face, with one bite’s worth of crapapple mousse coated in foie gras with apple gelee and a caramel chip. Diners were encouraged to attack the skewer hands-free with one barbaric chomp to the skewer.
BACON, butterscotch, apple, thyme: Dehydrated bacon suspended from a wire, dipped in caramel and flavored with thyme and dried apple. One bite o’ heaven.
PUMPKIN, gruyere, Blis maple syrup, smoke: Points for showmanship. Smoke-filled pillows arrive at each person’s place setting. A plate is set upon the pillows which deflate slowly and release smoke aromas to enhance the experience of the dish. There was a lot going on here- roasted pumpkin, pineapple puree, oloroso sherry pudding, maple cream, cereals and seeds, sugar crystals, and puffed rice.
CHOCOLATE, fig, olive, pine: I was roundly chastised for not finishing this but let’s face it, by this point I was stuffed. A soft chocolate sheet, olive oil custard, and elements of figs and olives plus pine nuts. The olives were mostly in sort of a crumbly form and not too offensive- mostly salty with a hint of brine. It came with pine ice cream which I imagine is made by, you know, soaking pine needles in warm cream or something, which was a little weird.
DRY CARAMEL, salt: The science nerd in me LOVED this finale. Picture a shot glass full of dry caramel crystals, roughly the feel of raw sugar. Put these in your mouth and they turn to liquid caramel as if by magic. Magic! Seriously. A simple yet great end to an incredible night of molecular gastronomy.

(For the record, I’ve tried Moto as well – and while it’s fun to eat the paper your menu is printed on, Alinea is a much better option for maxing out on molecular gastronomy.)

The Berghoff has been around since 1887, and bills itself as Chicago’s oldest restaurant. More importantly, though, they make their own brand of beer, boast a cool sign, and rock a German-esque wood and stained glass dining room right off the Miracle Mile. You can’t go wrong for lunch with a housemade Hefeweizen and a bowl of onion-apple-gruyere soup. Sure, it’s a little touristy, but you are a tourist, right? The Berghoff: 17 W. Adams St.

Fun Food Shopping

You can’t do better for a global roundup of olive oils and vinegars than the science lab-esque Old Town Oil Co. You can taste oil varietals and flavored oils from big stainless steel jugs, and fill up your bottles with the ones you like best. Bonus: it’s right next to The Spice House, which is a veritable temple of fresh bulk spices, shmancy salts and peppers, spice blends from around the world, and everything else spice-tastic you can think of. Old Town Oil: 1520 N. Wells St. The Spice House: 1512 N. Wells St.

Vosges is a Chicago chocolate company (with outposts in NYC and Vegas) that offers “haute chocolate”- sure, that might seem a little haughty (haute-y?), but one sip of insanely thick Aztec hot chocolate with chilies, cinnamon, dark chocolate, and cornmeal will surely win you over- especially if it’s a cold and windy day in the Windy City. And if you’re more or less adventurous, don’t fear: they offer a wide spectrum of chocolates in all forms and flavors, including a high-end chocolate bars boasting bacon, thai chilies, and a bunch of other wacky stuff. Vosges: 951 W. Armitage St. or 520 N. Michigan Ave.

Tea Gschwendner (pop quiz: close your eyes and spell “Gschwendner”!) is a German tea merchant that offers a dizzying area of fragrant loose-leaf teas. They wouldn’t be German without a little bit of attitude, which at Gschwendner comes in the form of making sure you know that only dirty disgusting apes would use teabags, while real humans always use loose tea. Cue eyeroll. Overall, though, the staff are knowledgeable and are happy to walk you through tastes and help you pick out the perfect tea for any occasion- and their teas are, admittedly, pretty darn perfect. They only have 3 U.S. locations, and 2 are in the Chicago area. The other, inexplicably, is in Scottsdale Arizona. Go figure. Tea Gschwendner: 1160 North State Street.

A Few Other Things To Do

At some point you’re going to want to take a break from your eating orgy to hear some Chicago blues, and there is no better place than B.L.U.E.S. Plus, the name is easy to remember even after a few drinks. Pack yourself in and get ready to rock- this intimate, funky spot has live music 7 nights a week. B.L.U.E.S.: 2519 N Halsted St.

The Museum of Contemporary Art is a manageable and very well-curated modern museum, and their museum shop is one of the best I’ve ever been to–most of my friends and family will find MCA gifts in their stockings this year! MCA: 220 East Chicago Avenue.

Before your trip, check the Second City website for tickets–they have shows almost every day–and experience a live sketch or improv show. Second City is, of course, the comedic birthplace of some of the funniest people ever, like Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, Mike Myers, Jim Belushi, and Steve Carell. Second City: 1616 N. Wells St.

If you’re in Chi-town around Christmas time, stop by the Christkindlmarket – an outdoor German-style Christmas market in Daley Plaza, with ornaments for sale, hot mulled wine, potato pancakes, sausages, and lots and lots of people. It’s a fun and convivial atmosphere, but it does get quite crowded on weekends so you may want to go early. Christkindlmarket: Check website for dates and location.

What are your favorite things to eat, drink, and do in Chicago? Let me know so I can try them next time!

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{ask me anything about anywhere} Travel Tips for Hong Kong & Shenzhen

Karen — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 12:50:03 +0000

People ask me for travel advice all the time, and sometimes I just don’t get around to blogging about it in advance. Here’s your chance to ask me anything about anywhere! If I have any good intel–I’ll gladly share it with you.

The question: “I’m finally making that trip to China I’ve talked about for so long – and will be spending 3 weeks in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Any advice would be appreciated!”

Hong Kong is one of my favorite world cities, and neighboring Macau also holds a very dear place in my heart–so while I must admit I’m a little jealous about your impending journey, I’m excited to share some fun things to do!

Let’s just get this out of the way right now: in Hong Kong they actually do use bamboo for skyscraper scaffolding, as seen in every Jackie Chan movie ever made. This, I feel, is incredible.

No trip to Hong Kong is complete without a trip on the creaky wooden tram up to the top of Victoria Peak, the high hill that looms above the city. Ignore the weird wok-shaped mall up there, and focus on the panoramic view of the sprawling city. You can also circle the Peak on a 30-45 minute loop through trees and urban wilderness to see some of the less developed sides of the island. If you work up a thirst, have a drink at The Lookout before heading back down- which you can do on foot if you fancy a walk.

This might sound strange, but I think one of the most fun ways to get between harbor and hill is the Mid-Levels, a long series of escalators built to take businesspeople between their Peak-face apartment complexes to the flatland financial district. You might be tempted to get off to explore the streets that cross the Mid-Levels, which are full of shops, restaurants, markets, and commotion. A note: they switch directions depending on what time of day it is, so be aware of that.

Not far from the Mid-Levels is the boutiquey-cool Gough Street. The stretch between Shing Wong and Aberdeen offers cute and quirky restaurants among locally-owned design and art shops. Another actively gentrifying neighborhood to check out is Wan Chai, which is starting to get its share of hipster restaurants and shops. The area by St. Francis Yard, Star Street, and Sun Street is the epicenter of this burgeoning coolness. If you’re sick of dim sum and craving really good French toast with an in crowd, try Capital Cafe.

Legend holds that one of the first permanent structures the British colonists built was the Happy Valley Horse Track, and Hong Kongers still greatly enjoy this equestrian pastime. The weeknight tournaments offer a chance to place a few bets, mingle with the after-work cocktail crowd, and join in a Hong Kong institution. Best of all, the track is smack in the center of the city, nestled among the tall buildings.

You can cross to the Kowloon side of the river for a cheesy-cool laser light show that happens each night at 8 PM. Head to the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront for the best view of the free entertainment. To counteract the lowbrow nature of the show, follow it up with a drink at the louche Peninsula Hotel (or dinner at the venerated Felix in the hotel, if someone else is paying.) Like any great world city, hot restaurants and bars have a lot more turnover than sights to see, so I’d recommend turning to this recent New York Times article for more tips on where to eat.

I am transit-oriented by nature, so I also fancy a random jaunt on the old double-decker trolleys. Sit on the upper level to get a 2-dollar tour of neighborhoods bustling with noodle shops, meat markets, and more.

I highly recommend a day trip (at least) to Macau–you can get a one-hour ferry from Hong Kong and be back in time for dinner. The history of Macau is fascinating, as it was technically a Portuguese colony from the 1500s until 1999, making it both the first and last European colony in China.The cuisine of Macau reflects this history, and is influenced by the flavors of China, Portugal, and the former Portuguese colonies in India and Africa. Not only can you have a great Macanese meal at Henri’s, you can also drink cheap Portuguese wine or a pitcher of sangria—a welcome surprise in China’s wine desert. After lunch, it’s easy to forget you’re in China at all as you stroll the tiled expanses and marvel at the colonial European architecture you’re seeing. Of course, the skyline is dominated by the many casinos of Stanley Ho’s empire. In the 1960s, as mainland China was crumbling under Mao’s iron fist, former smuggler and black marketeer Ho was building up a fantastical casino empire. Now familiar Western casino brands like Wynn and MGM mingle with his myriad enterprises.

I have never been to Shenzhen, but I do have one recommendation for you: you should read Peter Hessler’s fabulous book about modern China, Oracle Bones, which includes some fascinating chapters on Shenzhen’s unique development and culture.

For books to get you in the Hong Kong mood, my top pick is James Clavell’s slightly silly but highly entertaining historical novel Tai-Pan, which takes place in Hong Kong and Macau during the very beginnings of the British colonization in the 1800s. To get a flavor of Hong Kong before and during the Japanese occupation of World War II, I recommend The Piano Teacher by Janice YK Lee. If you want a longer read that will give you a good overall history of China, I highly recommend Jung Chang’s personal story of growing up during the Cultural Revolution, Wild Swans. Chang weaves her highly compelling autobiography with an overview of 20th century Chinese history.

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{christmas in the future} Gingerbread House on the Moon

Karen — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 05:04:07 +0000

Every year a small group of dedicated friends gets together to make an epic gingerbread project that takes a cue from whatever this year’s Christmas party theme happens to be. Two years ago, for a Casbah Christmas, the tradition was born with a Middle Eastern-style courtyard house of gingerbread. Last year, we celebrated Christmas in Summer and put Santa in the pool, surrounded by a beachy scene. This year’s party theme was Christmas in the Future, so we took a few hints from The Jetsons and put Santa on the moon.

I am a fanatic about everything being edible, which means no supporting sticks or skewers allowed–and I insist that everything apart from the gingerbread and the royal icing is made out of store-bought candy. Could I make an amazing, edible gingerbread creation with marzipan or fondant? Absolutely. But to me, that’s kind of cheating, because I might as well just make it out of clay at that point. So my rules are pretty strict and this year was no exception, although we did use some edible silver spray to modernize some areas of the landscape.

MJ and Marghi worked the marshmallow Santa into his sweet (literally) UFO, made of gingerbread circles with a melted jolly rancher windshield, with a few gumdrops for structure and a Nerds rope for decoration.

Marghi & Mitra worked with me on the George Jetson-inspired tower houses, with stacks of gingerbread sprayed silver and lined up atop jujubes, jolly ranchers, lifesavers, gumballs, and Reese’s white chocolate peanut butter cups.

Miscellaneous candy antennae and other skyward protrusions, made with Ice Cubes gum, mini marshmallows, jujubes, gumdrops, gummy trees, and red licorice provide the final adornment for the stilted futuristic dwellings.

Once again Radha did much of the fine detail work and painstakingly laid out the lunar surface, using gray and black M&Ms, Sno-Caps, Hershey’s Oreo discs, cracked silver gumballs, blue and white York peppermint drops, crushed white lifesavers, mini marshmallows. Marghi and I worked out the big gingerbread slab for the backdrop, covered in black icing and studded with snowflake and pearl candy stars–and a highly inaccurate earth, hewn from blue sour belts and carved green gummies.

New guy Alex, who conveniently knows his way around a real-life construction site, was key in fence construction and final placement of the black night sky (and believe me when I say, you need someone calm and collected to manhandle a large, delicate panel of frosted, candy-laden gingerbread to get it vertical.) The reindeer were sprayed silver and penned in a gingerbread fence – and are eating silvery nuts and bolts.

Some details in case you’re wondering…

I got the majority of the candy at Walgreen’s, but I found a few specialty items at a big party store, like the gray and black single color packs of M&Ms and the silver gumballs.
The gingerbread project is constructed on two cutting boards taped together with packing tape and covered in aluminum foil.
The recipe I use for gingerbread is this one – it smells great, it’s sturdy and long-lasting, and it’s easy to work with.
The icing is key for this, because it acts as the glue. You can make royal icing with egg whites and powdered sugar, beat to fluffy. I don’t use a recipe, I just put a few egg whites and a lot of powdered sugar together and keep adding more of one or the other until it’s viscous enough to use as glue. If you leave it open to the air, it will harden, so you can put it in a ziploc bag and cut a hole in the corner and use that as your “glue gun.” For fine detail, use a smaller bag and cut a smaller hole. If you want to color the icing, use paste food coloring to get rich colors – which is how we got the icing on the sky backdrop black.
Now that the party’s over, I’m going to let my nieces and nephew eat it. They usually just pick the candy off and leave the gingerbread for the compost pile!

Here are some other gingerbread projects I think are particularly inspired!

Gingerbread AT-AT by Blackmarket Bakery
Super-detailed version of the Weasley house, The Burrows, from Harry Potter
Scout Regalia’s gingerbread geodesic dome (you can buy a kit for $25 to make your own)
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water - creator unknown

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{recipe} Chicken (or Turkey) Hash

Karen — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:09:25 +0000

I’ve been seeing a lot of Thanksgiving recipes go around lately, but what about the leftovers? WILL NO ONE THINK OF THE LEFTOVERS?

I, for one, can barely register the actual Thanksgiving meal as I’m cooking and eating it, because I’m so focused on how much better everything will taste the next day. I made this chicken hash this weekend with (wait for it) leftover chicken- but I think it would be just as fabulous with leftover Thanksgiving turkey.

And if getting together with your relatives leans more Mommie Dearest than Leave it to Beaver, you could even prep all the vegetables for this dish while you’re making Thanksgiving dinner and put them in the fridge – so that even in a bleary-eyed morning-after state of tryptophan- and whiskey-induced torpor, you can throw this together with minimal effort.

This was inspired by the chicken hash at Bix. If you eat dinner there with someone who has eaten there before, at some point as you’re perusing the menu they will say something like “you should really try the chicken hash, it’s terrific” and you’ll be thinking, “Why would I eat that for dinner? Why am I even here? Is there more wine? Why is he drinking all the wine? I really think he is hogging the wine.” and so forth. But my point is, you will be skeptical about eating chicken hash for dinner. You will also be wrong. It’s fantastic. And the internet, amazingly, has still to this point managed not to produce a recipe for it. So this is an attempt at meeting its high standard of quality. Since it’s a “restaurant recipe” I made sure to add fattening dairy products in at the end. You know that’s their top secret trick, right?

Recipe: Chicken (or Turkey) Hash

If you make eggs to go with it, serves 6. If not, serves 4.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 Tblsp olive oil
1 large russet potato, peeled and grated
2 large or 3 small carrots, peeled and grated
2 stalks celery, strings removed and chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 1/2 cups cooked chicken or turkey meat, no skin, chopped in small pieces or shredded with your hands
2 Tblsp chopped fresh parsley (flat leaf or curly is fine)
8 scallions, chopped finely
2 Tblsp dijon mustard
3/4 cup half and half

METHOD:

Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick saute pan over high heat. Add potatoes, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring every few minutes, about 8-10 minutes, until vegetables are cooked through and beginning to brown.
Add salt and pepper to taste, along with chili powder, paprika, and thyme. Add chicken, parsley and scallions. Cook another 3-5 minutes, until scallions are translucent and chicken or turkey is heated through.
Using a fork or small whisk, combine mustard and half and half in a bowl. Pour into pan and turn heat to medium. Cook about 7-10 minutes, stirring, to reduce sauce and boil off the liquid, leaving a creamy hash.
Top with fried or poached eggs if desired. Serve with hot sauce and lots of freshly cracked black pepper on the side.

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{i love presents} Tastespotting Badges – My Gift to Food Bloggers

Karen — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 20:22:23 +0000

See that cool Tastespotting badge over in my right sidebar? You can have one too!

I recently overhauled my website, and I wanted to take this opportunity to offer all of the food bloggers in this community a gift - a group of Tastespotting badges for you to use on your website. I asked Arin Fishkin to design three badges and had them coded. There are 3 different styles, and they are free and open for anyone to use. Consider it my way of saying “thank you” to Tastespotting and to the entire food blogging community at large, for helping me get from this, about four years ago, to what you see here today. Feel free to share the badge link far and wide, so other bloggers can have access to free Tastespotting badges too.

You can get the badges at the link on the left which says “badges” or by clicking right here. Enjoy!

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{recipe} Yosemite-Ready Granola Bars with Dried Cherries, Almonds, & Cocoa Nibs

Karen — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 14:07:37 +0000

Last weekend I had the great fortune to spend some time in Yosemite. I went with some friends who are really excellent cooks and hosts, so I wanted to impress them by showing up with homemade granola bars for our hikes so I could seem like one of those overachieving perfectionist-types. Of course, these guys have known me for about ten years, so we all knew I wasn’t fooling anyone! Still, the end result for all of us: homemade granola bars with dried cherries, almonds, and cocoa nibs to fuel us through our very non-strenuous and pleasant hikes.

What can I say about Yosemite that hasn’t already been said? We got to see the beginnings of fall colors, with vibrant yellow and orange leaves contrasted with the towering granite grays and misty white waterfalls…

Sun glinting through the pine trees as if they were daytime fireworks…

And of course, the always heart-stopping view of that most famous of Yosemite landmarks, Half Dome.

The icing on the cake: dinner in the dining room of what is ostensibly the masterpiece of all national park lodges, the 1927 WPA-era Ahwahnee Hotel, and a brandy by the oversized fireplace to top off the evening.

Recipe: Granola Bars with Dried Cherries, Almonds, & Cocoa Nibs
makes about 16 granola bars

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds
1/2 cup almond butter
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 Tblsp flaxseed oil
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp freshly grated ginger root
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup cocoa nibs
1/2 cup dried cherries (cut in half if they are large)

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment or foil.
Combine oats, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, and almonds. Spread on baking pan and toast in the oven for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and pour into a large mixing bowl.
Meanwhile, combine almond butter, honey, maple syrup, flaxseed oil, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, and salt in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat, whisking, until the mixture is melted together and fully combined.
Pour melted mixture into oats. Add cocoa nibs and dried cherries and mix everything together until fully combined.
Lightly oil your hands. Press mixture on to the baking sheet, pressing the mixture down and squishing it tightly together, forming an even rectangle that’s about 18 inches by 24 inches.
Bake 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for at least 2 hours.
Use a large sharp knife to cut into bars. Store in an airtight container , with pieces of parchment, saran wrap, or foil in between.

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