I miss your soup and I miss your bread

It is Spring. Officially it was a few weeks ago, but the late season snow and windy weather made April come in like a lion too - or at least a lioness. Food-wise, the end of the season was marked by the Hideout's last Soup and Bread yesterday. It is all ramps and fava beans from here on out. Last week though, Andrea and I whipped up some Khao Tom, a favorite Thai soup usually cobbled together of leftovers and eaten for breakfast. By 6:00 PM our chicken soup was decimated by hungry bar patrons, so none of our friends who made it out got a bowl. But we swear it was delicious.

Khao Tom – Thai Chicken and Rice Soup
2 quarts homemade chicken stock, plus 1 cup for rice
Leg and Breast meat of one 3-4 lb roasted chicken
1 bunch of scallions sliced
1/4 cup picked cilantro leaves
7 cloves of garlic, sliced thin
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp fish sauce
3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar, divided
4 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp chili flakes in a teaball infuser (or tied up in cheesecloth)
2 cups cooked basmati or jasmine rice
1 stalk of lemon grass, peeled to center, bottom only
Salt and pepper to taste

Roasted Chicken
3-4 lb roaster chicken
3 cloves garlic
¼ onion, thickly sliced
1 lime, halved (lemon, or orange will substitute)
4 slices bacon
Kosher Salt and pepper
Kitchen twine

Wonton Garnish
Wonton wrappers
Canola/Vegetable oil
Kosher salt
Juice of 1 lime

The chicken:
Preheat oven to 375° F. Remove the giblets. Rinse the chicken in cold water and pat dry inside and out with paper towels. Sprinkle outside of chicken and cavity liberally with salt and pepper. Stuff cavity with garlic, onion and lime. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Wrap bacon over the chicken breast and roast on a rack, breast side up, until a thermometer inserted in the thigh reads 165° F. Let the chickens rest and cool for at least a half an hour. Remove the thighs and breasts from the chicken. Remove the meat from the bones, discarding the skin. Cut the cooked breast and leg meat into 1/2 inch squares.

The wontons:
Heat 1 ½ inches of oil in a deep, heavy, pot over moderately high heat until a thermometer registers 360° F. Slice wonton wrappers into strips about 3 in. x ½ in.
Gently lay 10 strips on oil and fry, turning over once, until golden, 15 to 30 seconds total. Transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Fry the remaining wonton strips 10-15 at a time. Sprinkle with lime juice (do not soak, wontons will become soggy) and season with salt.


The rest:
Cook the rice according to the package’s instructions using chicken stock in place of water (if using water, add 1 tsp salt). Add 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar when the rice is cooked. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in a small sauce-pan over medium low heat. Add sliced garlic and saute slowly, stirring often, until garlic lightly browns but does not burn. Remove the garlic from the oil and set aside. (Save the garlic infused oil for another use!)

Heat up the chicken stock, slowly to 165 degrees F. While heating, add the lemon grass stalks, whole, and the teaball of chili flakes. Once the stock is hot, add the fish sauce, soy sauce, and remaining vinegar, and season with more salt and pepper to taste. Remove the lemon grass stalk and teaball. Add the cooked chicken and sliced garlic.

To serve, put a 1/2 cup of the rice into each soup bowl. Ladle the hot soup on top of the rice and garnish liberally with the scallions, cilantro, and wonton crisps.

Am I Home Yet?

I realize it has been weeks since my last guest blog, but to make up for it, I think I feel a bit more like a Chicagoan now, having secured employment and a sense of humor about the weather and the CTA. A little more than a month ago, while still searching for a job, any job, I ran across two unexpected things, things I feel, if I may be such a bold newcomer, perhaps only Chicago can offer.

The first of these surprises came in the form of a job offer. Oh finally, someone wanted to hire me! I had an interview, which in my industry they call stages. Essentially, these eight hour working interviews are a way for chefs to evaluate whether a person is an idiot or not through observation. I am not sure why all industries to do not practice this custom, because it seems like a much better way of assessing a worker than talking to them for an hour. But, here's the thing, I didn't want the job. Me, worrier extraordinaire, moving to a cold-ass city in a recession, in the hospitality industry in January, didn't want the cooking job I had been trained for and that would look great on my resume. Arrogance, was that it? (If you are thinking stupidity, please keep that to yourself.) If so, Andrea the Arrogant, Andrea the I Want Something Better, was the surprise that Kansas City, home, could not offer, had never offered.

The second surprise, something perhaps a bit more interesting, was the discovery of the Issacson and Stein Fish Market just off Halsted near downtown. In order to get said job I ended up turning down, I felt like I needed to hone my fish butchering skills, as I was applying for the fish cook position. I asked resident food expert Allison where I could get great quality whole fish retail (expecting a "you know you're in the Midwest, even if it is Chicago"), and was directed unblinkingly toward the best fish purveyor I have ever seen, be it wholesale or retail. Retail quality fish for cheap in the Midwest?-huge surprise. Housed in an unassuming warehouse was a veritable ocean explosion of clear-eyed, clean-gilled sea bass, red snapper, live eels, sardines, anchovies, arctic char, rainbow trout, pompano and grouper, not to mention, like, nine kinds of oysters. I would say sixty percent of the fish they had were wild caught. You walk in, you grab gloves and a bag, and walk around overwhelmed. I wanted a mix of small and larger fish for practicing on, so I picked out one red snapper, two wild mullet, and two rainbow trout. My total? $15.65. Most of the fish I looked at were between $3.00 and $4.00 per pound. Oh, yes, you Whole Foods shoppers, look at that one more time. Though I did not request these services, the fish monger offers to clean your fish at no extra charge. I immediately went home, and while drinking a bottle of Gewurztraminer, cleaned, cut up, cooked, and ate all of the the fish I bought. This was, by far, the best part of the interview. Little by little, this big city is beginning to feel like a better version of home.



Issacson and Stein Fish Company

800 W. Fulton Market,

Chicago, Il

Ph: 312.421.2444

Black and Tan Corned Beef

March 2009 includes four house guests, marathon planning for three big April events (to feed more than 400 people!), a fashion show, an impromptu Whole Foods photo shoot, and way too many late night dinner meetings. How I long for the simplicity of March 2008. I had two house guests that month, but also the foresight and fridge space to tackle a cooking project I'd put off for far too long: making my own corned beef. These instructions are adapted from March 2008's Bon Appetit. I purchased both the brisket and the sodium nitrate (sometimes called pink salt or instacure #1) at the Paulina Meat Market. This March, I've tried to substitute the deli and salt-lick store-bought versions, but Nothing Compares 2 U, homemade corned beef.


Brine

5 cups water
3 12oz. bottles Harp Lager
1 1/2 cups coarse kosher salt
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons sodium nitrate
1/4 cup pickling spices
1 6- to 8-pound flat-cut beef brisket, trimmed, with some fat remaining

Corned Beef and Veg

2 12oz. bottles of Guinness Stout
6 large cloves garlic, crushed
4 bay leaves
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
2 whole allspice
3 cinnamon sticks
1 dried chile de árbol, broken in half (or sub 1 tsp. red pepper flakes)
Large Tea Infuser Ball or Cheesecloth and kitchen twine
16 unpeeled medium red-skinned potatoes
6 medium carrots, peeled
4 small onions, peeled, halved through root ends
1 2-pound head of cabbage, quartered

The Brining

Add water and beer to large deep roasting pan. Add coarse salt; stir until dissolved. Add sugar; stir until dissolved. Stir in sodium nitrate. Mix in pickling spices. Pierce brisket all over with tip of small sharp knife. Submerge brisket in liquid adding more water (or beer) to cover if necessary, then top with heavy platter to weigh down. Cover and refrigerate 4 days.

Remove brisket from brine. Stir brine to blend. Return brisket to brine; top with heavy platter. Cover; refrigerate 4 days.

Remove brisket from brine. Rinse with cold water.

The Cooking

Place corned beef in very large wide pot. Add stout and enough water to cover by 1 inch. Break bay leaves and add with coriander, allspice, and chile to tea infuser ball (or wrap all in cheesecloth - securing with kitchen twine). Add garlic, cinnamon sticks and ball (or spice bag) to pot with beef. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until beef is tender, about 2 1/4 hours. Transfer beef to large baking sheet.

Add vegetables to liquid in pot; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and boil gently until all vegetables are tender, about 25 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer vegetables to baking sheet with beef. Return beef to pot and rewarm 5 minutes. Cut beef against grain into 1/4-inch thick slices.

Save the Date: 3.25 Soup and Bread

The Hideout should be your favorite bar in Chicago (or at least on any reputable short list). You will never just happen across it, tucked in between some warehouses and empty lots down a sidewalk-less street. If you usually go just to see a band or sweat at the dance party (or gasp! haven't been at all), here's a reason to stop by:

The Hideout doesn't usually serve food, but this year one hungry bartender/writer hatched a brilliant plan to offer a comforting respite from Chicago's harsh winter. Wednesdays, from 5 - 8 pm, soup and bread is available for free. Come early, fill up, then make a donation to the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

Andrea and I are guest soup chefs on March 25th! Hope to see you there.

it's restaurant week, bitches

Hundreds of Chicago restaurants offer 3-course prix-fixe lunches for $22 and dinners for $32 this week (February 20 - 27). Many places have their specific restaurant week menus available for perusing online. Make your reservations at opentable. I did.

Shop Here: Middle East Bakery

I try to always have olives, feta cheese, hummus, and pita on hand so I'm thankful to have the Middle East Bakery mere blocks from my apartment. The name, sign outside, and window displays surely don't draw in passersby - this is a place that relies on word of mouth. But an in-the-know friend told me this is THE place to get the best tasting and best priced feta around and I've been stopping in once a week since.



Deli

The spinach pies and falafel are on par with Sultan's Market and are priced to sell. Andrea pieced together an entire meal of a dozen falafel, two meat pies, hummus, spicy babaganoush, and a bag of pitas for barely $11 - making two huge meals and a couple of snacks. Everything we had was perfectly seasoned and kept well for re-heating.

Stressed out over hosting my Christmas party, I stopped in for a tray of delicious baklava when I realized at the last minute I neglected to bake any cookies. This is the perfect place to:

-pick up a food gift for a host/ess
-grab dinner on the way home from work
-get appetizers for game day or a cocktail party
-snack while shopping in Andersonville


Grocery

Various exotic spices and imported goodies can be found in the grocery sections of the Middle East Bakery. The dried fruits, nuts, grains, and spices are fresh and inexpensive. You will pay a lot less and find more variety than can possibly be crammed into the three feet dedicated to Mediterranean on the international aisle of a major grocery chain. You'll find all sorts of yuppie, of-the-moment, foods touted at places like Whole Foods (think organic quinoa) minus the yuppie customers. Here's a snapshot:

-Israeli couscous
-green coffee beans
-red lentils
-gogi berries
-cardamom, sumac, and zaatar(of recent Top Chef fame)
-yogurt covered almonds

It is a small neighborhood gem, but being on Foster between Ashland and Clark it is easily accessible. Don't forget to reciprocate - I'm always looking for ethnic markets and small neighborhood grocers!

Guest Blog: Andrea's Winter Market Breakfast

I am finally here, happy and curious, even if a bit chilly. Last weekend Allison highlighted our trip to the indoor market in Evanston where I proceeded to gleefully spend money as though I were not unemployed. Two of the purchases that I loved the most were the beautiful farm eggs and the Jane Addams Day plum jam. I love foods that are best when prepared simply, and these two did not disappoint. The morning after our suburban sojourn, instead of venturing out into the freezing Chicago air to search for jobs, I decided to do what professional people do when looking for employment, I posted my resume online then stayed in my pajamas and made breakfast with our farmers' market booty. The eggs I fried in a little butter, with a minimal amount of salt and a moderate amount of pepper, over easy. The yolks were incredibly yellow with a texture that seemed creamier than regular store bought eggs. We had a log of Vermont Butter and Cheese Company goat cheese left over from a party, which I spread on a toasted english muffin and topped with the plum jam. The jam I have to say was quite runny for jam, but its flavor perfect, plummy and not too sweet. Both the eggs and the jam represented what I love about great food; it should taste as much of what it is as it possibly can. Eggs should taste like eggs and plum jam should taste like plums. I know, sort of an obvious concept, but in a time where people can buy liquid egg substitute and high fructose corn syrup flavored jelly, it is nice to know you can find real food in a local market even in the dead of a Chicago winter.