I Heart L.A.

I discovered last week that I love Los Angeles. I had never been there before and early Monday morning I returned home on the red eye. I am already asking Nate when we can go back. Next month? Maybe two months? I can be patient just as long as it is soon!

I do have a passion for Chicago so I am not thinking that I'd like to relocate to So-Cal, but L.A. makes for a great vacation. We hiked in Runyan Canyon, people-watched, celebrity spotted, rode bikes on the beach, and indulged in our fair share of tasty treats!

One of our favorite events was exploring the Farmer's Market on 3rd and Fairfax. This market is celebrating its 75th year and it is impressive. Vendors are selling produce, fudge, wine, olives, beer, and some seriously good tacos. Two of my favorite treats on my trip came from the market.

At Loteria Grill, I ordered a Champinones con Epazote taco and was impressed. This was a mushroom and epazote taco. Epazote is a Mexican herb that I found out is poisonous in large quantities but a little bit of this really brought out the depth of the earthiness in my mushroom taco. It was served with chopped onions, cilantro, queso fresco and salsa verde. I am definitely going to try and re-create this from my kitchen here in Chicago.

Also at the market was Little John's Famous Fudge. This is a shop that creates each piece of candy by hand. My favorite of all the delicious samples I had was the toffee. It was simply outstanding. It had a buttery flavor and the crunch was perfect. I bought a pound to take home with me and I sadly lost it somewhere between L.A. and Chicago. I am going to order some to be delivered and I strongly encourage you to do the same. You will not be disappointed.

Nate has been in L.A. off and on these past few months and was craving the lobster and garlic noodles that he had tried a few weeks ago at Crustacean Beverly Hills. This is a famous restaurant whose family recipes are so highly guarded that they have built a 'secret kitchen' within the regular kitchen for family members and staff who have been with the restaurant for at least 10 years. This is to ensure that their secret recipes for garlic noodles, Dungeness crab, prawns and lobster are not made public. We ordered the lobster and the prawns and while they were delicious, my favorite of the evening was the cucumber martini. I am a fan of cucumbers and a martini is one of my favorite drinks. This one was made with vodka and it was so smooth with a slightly sweet aftertaste. I enjoyed it so much we went back the next day for happy hour. This cucumber martini is definitely going to need to be created in my kitchen and the restaurant has promised to send me the recipe. I can't wait!

As soon as I receive my little John's toffee delivery, recreate the Champinones con Epazote recipe, and mix up my cucumber martini I will be able to enjoy a tasty bit of L.A. right here from my Chicago kitchen.

Death's Door

Last week was freezing in Chicago but a windchill of -16 degrees didn't stop me from attending a Supper Club event at City Provisions in Ravenswood last Wednesday night. City Provisions is a catering company focused on a commitment to the community that comes through in their product which tastes excellent and is organic and mostly local. City Provisions also does a monthly supper club featuring local farms, wineries, breweries and distilleries.

Last Wednesdsay the featured partner was Death's Door Spirits. This is a company that grows all of its wheat on Washington Island which is located in in Lake Michigan near Door County, Wisconsin. All of the ingredients in Death's Door's spirits are sourced as locally as possible and are pesticide free and organic. They also happen to come together to make some fantastic cocktails.

The Supper Club featured 6 cocktails that were paired with bite-sized savories and sweets which were made using the featured spirits of the evening: vodka, gin, and whiskey.

My cocktail blitz started off strong and tasty. The first was a Moscow Mule with the traditional ingredients of vodka, lime and ginger beer. It was perfect and the ginger was a nice starter that paired well with the Butterkase macaroni and cheese which was also made this vodka.

I do like vodka and it's my spirit of choice so the fact that I enjoyed the Moscow Mule was no surprise. What did surprise me was that I liked the gin and whiskey drinks, too. I haven't had gin in years. The smell of it just turns my stomach, but when I was presented with an ice blue drink in the form of an Aviator, I braced myself and took a sip. How rewarding! I had expected a harsh flavor, but instead found a smooth cocktail that was as refreshing as it looked. The recipe included Creme de Violette, which is a beautiful and rare liquer whose flavor was enhanced in the cocktail with Maraschino syrup. City Provisions paired this with a house gin-cured salmon that was nestled in a radish cup with a chive garnish. The combination of this drink and this tasting was my favorite of the evening.

In the whiskey category, I savored the Maple Whiskey Punch that was set in front of me. This was the end of the featured cocktails and I could still taste the individual ingredients of white whiskey, rum, milk, nutmeg and maple syrup. Smooth, smoky and sweet all at the same time. It was delicious and warming. The perfect ending before I bundled up and headed back out into the cold Chicago night.

Classic Caesar.....With an Edge

Saturday night we had company from Texas and our friend's only request was to not go to a steak house or a chain restaurant. I didn't feel very challenged by his simple request but I diligently did my research and decided to go to Blue 13. This is a newer restaurant in River North at 416 West Ontario. I picked it because I had read that its atmosphere was upscale yet laid back and had a rock 'n roll vibe that we would enjoy. I was right!

The guys were more than pleased with their dishes. Nate's Steak on Acid was prepared well and the presentation was unique. I tasted our friend's Drunken Short Ribs and found that the meat literally melted on my tongue.

I had read online that these dishes were excellent, but when I chose the restaurant I didn't know that the service would be the best I had received in the city.....and the Caesar salad rocked even more than the music.

I love Caesar salad and appreciate the classic version as you've probably already read. I am, though, always open to new ideas and this one was presented in a unique and utterly delicious way.

The Romaine lettuces were grilled which made the entire dish edgy....and yummy. And what made this dish remarkable for me were the croutons, which were called 'Camel Eye Croutons'. They were crunchy and crispy and inside each of these croutons was a quail's egg. When I cut into the them the yolk of the egg spilled out, still warm, and that added a decadent depth to my salad.

I have been thinking about this salad since Saturday night and I am going to have to return. Let me know if you want me to include you in the reservation.

Hoa Nam - Providing Much Needed Comfort

Thank you Hoa Nam grocery! I somehow acquired a horrible sore throat - a pain that burns so badly I haven't felt this way since I was a kid.

I haven't slept in about 3 nights and just feel awful. Yesterday I was flipping through an old magazine and a vision of COMFORT reached out to me. It came in the form of a recipe for Coconut Curry Chicken Soup. It just looked so yummy and steaming hot in the magazine that I immediately left for the grocery store.

Most of the ingredients I had in my pantry, but I needed to replace my red curry paste, get semi-wide rice noodles and coconut milk. I went to the two closest stores - Dominick's and Jewel - and came out both times without the curry paste and the milk.

Now, I live in downtown Chicago where ethnic foods are usually easy to find in mainstream grocery stores so I was pretty frustrated yesterday when I couldn't find these ingredients. Normally I would have no problem with using it as a chance to go to an ethnic grocery, but my painful sore throat told me to go home, take some Advil and drink some tea.

This morning, during a serious snowfall, I found myself in Uptown and remembered an Asian grocery store at 1101-03 West Argyle . I popped in quickly and easily found the curry paste and coconut milk. I passed up the fish balls and shrimp chips, but grabbed some yummy-looking coconut wafer rolls on my way out.

I returned home and made my soup, tweaking it only to use vegetable broth and tofu instead of chicken. As mentioned, I do not feel well at all and had an all around bad day, but when I tasted this soup, all my issues melted away. It was spicy and comforting and the coconut milk had just the right texture to soothe my sore throat.

After the doctor this afternoon I had another bowl and went straight to bed. Thank goodness Hoa Nam had the right ingredients to provide me this comfort when my neighborhood stores fell short!

For the Coconut Chicken Curry Soup, you can find this on Myrecipes.com. It is a Cooking Light recipe. Enjoy!

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Enchiladas

Every Monday during Bachelor season on ABC, my college roommate, Carla, comes over for dinner and some trashy TV. When this tradition started, I used to serve her leftovers from our Sunday night dinner or I'd make a simple salad and some grilled veggies. Grabbing what was in my pantry or refrigerator all changed last year.

In the fall Carla started making requests for her dinner the following week. While she was over she would flip through my cooking magazines and identify what appealed to her. It started with a Bon Appetit smashed rutabaga recipe and since then I've carefully shopped and made various dishes for Carla.

When I emailed her to invite her to the premiere of this new season, she responded within 30 seconds stating that she would like for me to make Sweet Potato & Black Bean Enchiladas. When I started researching the recipe, I asked her where she had tried this dish. Carla had tasted a burrito at the Bongo Room in Bucktown that had similar ingredients. Not seeing a solid recipe online, I went ahead and created my own.

The enchiladas turned out wonderfully. The filling was savory with the hint of sweet potato sweetness and it was encased in pillowy flour tortillas. The salsa verde sauce had a moderate heat that made the chocolate pudding we had for dessert a nice finish.

I sent her home with the one leftover enchilada for her husband. Based on Carla's sly grin, I am not so confident it will end up in his hands.........

New Year's Pizza Party

We bucked tradition this year and did not spend new years in a loud bar or eating a late night dinner in a restaurant. We decided to stay in, just the two of us. We had a few things on our agenda: homemade pizzas, Caesar salad, and Guitar Hero.

Nate used to work in a restaurant that made its own Caesar salad so he was in charge of that. His dressing was perfect. It was full of garlic and anchovies and had a burst of vinegar flavor. I've had it every day since new year's since I enjoyed it so much.

For our pizzas, we used Giada DeLaurentis' food processor pizza dough recipe. We really enjoy this recipe since the crust comes out fairly thin but still has a chewy texture. It is also very easy to make and something we can do together in the kitchen.

We made 4 pizzas to go with our salad and our bottle of Moet & Chandon:

Sausage, pepperoncini, and mushroom
BBQ chicken, red pepper, and caramelized onion
Fresh mozzarella, red pepper, caramelized onions, mushrooms and spinach
Brie and grapes

Nate's favorite was the BBQ chicken pizza and mine was the Brie and grape pizza. I copied the concept from La Madia's grape pizza. We liked ours a bit better because the Brie was more mild cheese choice and we had rolled out our pizza dough until it was almost wafer-thin. I reluctantly just gave up the last piece of this pizza to Nate. I thought I should start off the new year on a nice note!