While in Florida for a quick mini vacation, I happened upon this article and the above amazing photo about the Bo Ssam at Momofuko in New York.  I had tried back in November to reserve the infamous Bo Ssam for the family, but unfortunately they were booked solid.   And at $200 a pop I was thrilled to see the recipe!  And what was more fantastic then that, was reading how incredibly easy it is to make.  To be honest, it seemed too good to be true.

I ventured out to Joongboo Market; which is the best Korean market in Chicago to get a few ingredients for the sauces. There was a fermented bean-and-chili paste (ssamjang), chili paste (kochujang), and Kimchi (fermented vegetables..usually cabbage).  Here is a pic of what the two pastes looked like..it helped enormously to have found pictures on the internet beforehand,  since everything is in Korean at the market.

On the way home I was heading to Whole Foods to pick up the pork.  The recipe calls for a bone-in pork butt, which I had never seen before.  I happened to randomly take another street and saw this…

HOME OF THE BEEF!  PLASTIC COWS!!  I felt like I was back in Florida at the local steak house.  So of course I had to venture in and piled high in the case were bone-in pork butts. For a total of $15 I got a 6 pounder and Momofuko’s $200 meal was seeming better and better.   I came home, mixed up 1 cup of Kosher salt with 1 cup of sugar, rubbed it on, and didn’t look at it until the next day.

Now here’s where the recipe was vauge..does one wash the rub off or not?  I did.  Right? Wrong?  Who knows? Anyone out there make this with the rub on it?

Here’s a picture of it going into the oven…

The recipe called for a 8-10 lb pork butt and to cook it for 6 hours.  I cooked mine for 5 hours and it probably could have went for another hour.  One thing I’ve come to realize about roasting pork butts, no matter what the size, it is more like 8 hours in a normal oven.

The end result…worth every long hour waiting for it to cook.  The sides were so easy to make and the pork was out of this world. I was blown away by how easy and painless this A-rated meal was to put together.

The perfect meal for a cold winter day.

Momofuko Bo Ssam

Pork Butt

1 whole bone-in pork butt or picnic ham (8 to 10 pounds)

1 cup white sugar

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon kosher salt

7 tablespoons brown sugar

Ginger-Scallion Sauce

2½ cups thinly sliced scallions, both green and white parts

½ cup peeled, minced fresh ginger

¼ cup neutral oil (like grapeseed)

1½ teaspoons light soy sauce

1 scant teaspoon sherry vinegar

½ teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste

Ssam Sauce

2 tablespoons fermented bean-and- chili paste (ssamjang, available in many Asian markets, and online)

1 tablespoon chili paste (kochujang, available in many Asian markets, and online)

½ cup sherry vinegar

½ cup neutral oil (like grapeseed)

Accompaniments

2 cups plain white rice, cooked

3 heads bibb lettuce, leaves separated, washed and dried

1 dozen or more fresh oysters (optional)

Kimchi (available in many Asian markets, and online).

1. Place the pork in a large, shallow bowl. Mix the white sugar and 1 cup of the salt together in another bowl, then rub the mixture all over the meat. Cover it with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, or overnight.

2. When you’re ready to cook, heat oven to 300. Remove pork from refrigerator and discard any juices. Place the pork in a roasting pan and set in the oven and cook for approximately 6 hours, or until it collapses, yielding easily to the tines of a fork. (After the first hour, baste hourly with pan juices.) At this point, you may remove the meat from the oven and allow it to rest for up to an hour.

3. Meanwhile, make the ginger-scallion sauce. In a large bowl, combine the scallions with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and taste, adding salt if needed.

4. Make the ssam sauce. In a medium bowl, combine the chili pastes with the vinegar and oil, and mix well.

5. Prepare rice, wash lettuce and, if using, shuck the oysters. Put kimchi and sauces into serving bowls.

6. When your accompaniments are prepared and you are ready to serve the food, turn oven to 500. In a small bowl, stir together the remaining tablespoon of salt with the brown sugar. Rub this mixture all over the cooked pork. Place in oven for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, or until a dark caramel crust has developed on the meat. Serve hot, with the accompaniments.

When you take a chef from The Purple Pig and the team behind the Francesca’s restaurants and mix them together you end up with Davanti Enoteca. A quaint place in Little Italy with a menu that rivals the best.  There is something about a brisk night, tea candles ablaze, exposed  brick, and recycled wood bar that seemed extra inviting as we walked in the door.  The wine menu was full of Italian wines just begging to be tried.  On tap was a 2008 red Salice Salantino from the Puglia area.

Since we were a large group we decided to order several things on the menu to share. Appetizers were cacciatorini (wild boar salami) and chicken liver pate served in a mini mason jar with tuscan toast.  I have never tried pate before and decided to branch out this night and give it a whirl.  Ok…sold.  Won’t snub my nose at that every again.

Next up was Paccheri con Salsiccia e Pomodri al forna (rigatoni & sausage) and pizza con prosciutto e ruscola (prosiutto, mozzarella and arugla).  The ‘gravy’ was nice and light, pasta al dente, along with a perfectly made wood burning crust on the pizza.

The highlight for me was the ‘board.’  They literally bring out a small piece of wood,  pour mascarpone polenta on it (which tasted like a vat of cream and butter were added to it) and then top it off with a lamb ragu.

There were so many more things beckoning to be ordered, that I’ll have to go back.

Davanti Enoteca

1359 W. Taylor Street  (Little Italy)

*No reservations, so get there early*

I hope these last  months you have  enjoyed the bounty of the final summer treats and kicked into full gear the warm winter stews, hot cocoa, and yummy root vegetables.  As I hunker down into the heart of another Chicago winter and the new year upon us…it’s time for a little reflection and regrouping of this blog. Numerous things have caused a delay in posts, but I hope to get things up and running again.  Of course the focus will always be on healthy food.  I’ve seen some good things and bad things happen this past year as the vegetarian road was rerouted.  The constant tingling feeling in my fingers has disappeared, but an extra few lbs were added.   With the exception of a few meals, I can’t say that I actually enjoy eating meat.  Having that type of protein in my life seems more of a necessity thing right now.  When I look back to this past year of the actual meat I bought it was seafood, lamb, and pork.  A roast chicken seems to get me through a week here or there, but I am not gorging myself on it. So looking forward, I know that a plant based diet if more healthy then what I am currently doing…and that isn’t much.  In hopes of reviving this blog I’d like to add an emphasis on all things seafood that are sustainable and lamb.  Growing up lamb was a staple for the Armenian side of my family and my ‘body’ seems to agree with it, so I’m going with that.

The other part of this blog will also be dedicated to all the wonderful places in Chicago to dine.  My Godmother is coming here in a few short months and wants to go visit some of these great places.

After four long months, this new entry is broken up into two parts.  One is the Christmas eve dinner I made and the second part is a great place I recently visited.  I realize I am not a recipe developer, so occasional I will post a ‘revised’ recipe here, but until that time, I’ll add the link to the recipes and any ‘enhancements’ that were made to it.

I call this Kimbrella’s lamb.  Kim has been a friend of mine for many years and made this one year for Easter.  When she came to visit this year, I begged her to recreate it and I’ve been hook ever since.  The only addition I did to this recipe is made more slits in the lamb and stuffed the roast with a whole head of garlic.  Temperature wise it said to cook till 160 F, but that was way too done for me.  I would go with 140 F. Also, I bought a 2.5 lb de-boned roast, but followed the recipe the same. The other part of this dish which is a total keeper were the Greek potatoes. I finally think this recipe nails that wonderful lemon taste. (I used chicken stock)

Lamb recipe

Potato recipe

Since I am a fan of all things tea and had a few days off, I decided to visit another locale in Chicago to see how High Tea was done there.  The Drake Hotel is located at the very north end of Michigan Avenue. The hotel is beautiful and it was extra nice since all the holiday decorations were still up.  In life I’ve realized going solo sometimes to an event gets you to places where you never could go otherwise.  Front row of a show, learning a new custom because a local takes you under their belt.  Some of the best meals I’ve had were alone and left having made some incredible friendships. And high tea didn’t disappointment.  Inside the ‘tea room’ stood a giant fountain and I was lucky enough to score a seat right next to it.  The table next to me was enjoying a martini glass full of strawberries and sipping on a delectable glasses of Veuve. Next to them, the harpist was playing Christmas carols.  Ahhhh….bliss….

Tea was a Chinese black mixed with wild blackberries.  Four small sandwiches, a raisin scone, banana bread, and two desserts (mini key-lime pie and a creme filled pastry shaped like a swan).  Lemon curd, preserves, and double Devon cream accompanied the whole thing!  Service was top notch.  The afternoon was heaven and would recommend it should you be in town.

Next up is Gene’s Sausage Shop. Pure bliss.  First floor, all the sausage you can imagine.  Second floor all the beer and condiments you can imagine.  Third floor…roof top deck that cooks up what is on both floors.  Oh yeah!!

This summer went by way too quick.  I’m still pinching myself because I can’t believe I am living here and get to enjoy all the great food and wonderful places to visit.

Yeah, that’s me…number 31 in line.  After 30 minutes, more sweat then I care to recall, my order was up. Vanilla glazed and chocolate glazed thank you very much!  They offer a cake-like donut and a mini-stack.  If you are going and waiting that long in line seriously…..a mini-stack???  Whatever.. so I slid up to the counter where an old-time cash register and a lone girl took my order. The best, a chandelier hanging overhead. First, bite…all I can say is so worth the wait and so worth the sweat. Should they have been out, mini-stack for sure! And knowing that there had to be a bazillion calories in that thing I decided to become a donut courier and make some people happy!

Those donuts even blew up Marilyn’s skirt they were so tasty.  (okay, maybe not that funny, but the art display is cool)

Doughnut Vault

Tuesdays-Friday 8:30 a.m. until they are sold out

Saturday- 9:30 a.m. until they are sold out

401 1/2 N. Franklin Street

Chicago, IL 60654

So now having moved to Chicago, I longed for those memorable dinner parties and jumped at the occasion to attend one at Mike & Matt’s home in Pullman. The minute I walked in, I knew it was a night to be cherished. Cosmopolitans greeted us immediately. Pea shoots appetizers were expertly filled with a goat cheese mixture and a homemade tapenade..I was doing the happy dance. Votive candles, fresh flowers from the backyard, and the perfect music playing softly in the background.  Mike gave us a brief history of Pullman and a tour of the their beautiful home. Dinner was on the horizon.

Raw shaved asparagus salad, grilled chicken (marinade recipe to come), couscous with dried fruit and nuts, and haricot verts. Man o man…

The coup de grace at dessert were the chocolate martinis!

Before I rudely invited myself back, I asked for the marinade recipe they used on the chicken. A huge thank you to Matt and Mike for having such an amazing night and sharing your home and recipe!!

Here is the Peanut/Cilantro Marinade or as I like to call it…M & M Marinade.  This works great on chicken (had it this week)  and would think shrimp too.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chunky peanut butter (no salt or sugar)

1/2 cup peanut oil

1/4 cup white or red wine vinegar

1/4 cup  Tamari (soy sauce)

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

4 garlic cloves, minced

10 cilantro sprigs, minced

2 teaspoons dried red pepper flakes

2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger

Procedure:

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blend to mix.  Then cut boneless/skinless chicken breasts into big 1″ – 1 1/2″chunks (this mixture is good for about 3 – 4 whole chicken breasts / 6 – 8 half breasts)

Marinate in covered bowl, stir occasionally.  Thread onto bamboo skewers. Broil on a  high flame for about 6 min per side.

*Martini photo from http://girlsjustwanttoohavefun.com*

I don’t think my Mother expected the tavern ham sandwiches to be such a big hit, nor do I think my Father expected to make daily trips to the grocery store to feed the endless need of country bread and swine.  But hey, it is what it is.

Mom made dinner reservations for us at Cloudland Farm.  This is truly the quintessential place of farm to table. The farm is comprised of 1000 acres and they recently added a restaurant from wood straight off their property.  The dinners are organic, cooked with ingredients that are in season, and locally sourced.  In other words…HEAVEN.

The dinner consisted of braised beef  brisket with grilled green onion jam and red wine jus.

Garlic and herb smashed potatoes

Spinach & radicchio salad with sour cherry vinaigrette

Blueberry tart with buttermilk-thyme custard, cornmeal streusel, blueberry sorbet

Plus, Mom busted out two glorious bottles of Paloma wine. (I’ll save the scaling of fences and near death by St. Bernard story for another day to acquire that wine).

At one of the local farmer’s markets, Mom got her hands on a little basket of artichoke hearts.  And immediately this recipe popped into my head. Giada from Food Network made this one day and I remember the steam coming up out of the pot mimicking Mt. Vesuvius; hence it’s name Chicken Vesuvio.

Picnicking in the park before a hike up Mt. Tom, Dad’s defcom 4 repair of the coffee grinder, and Mom horizontal in a chair will go down as just a few of the treasured memories of the weekend. Thank you Mom for the ham sandwiches and all the laughs!  I love your people!

With Oak Park village board finally agreeing to bee hives, my dream of  having some Apris Mellifera is getting closer. Recently a book called The Beekeeper’s Lament by Hannah Nordhaus came across my radar and wanted to share a few tidbits from it. As we have all heard, the bees are suffering from Colony Collapse Disorder.  Things like cherries, almonds, watermelon and apples are just a few of the crops suffering due to loss of pollination.  The treating of the hives has turned to such harsh measures that in 2002, China was banned from importing their honey to the U.S. Chloramphenicol Antibiotic (highly toxic) was found in samples being imported.  Unfortunately after that ban, countries such as Singapore and Vietnam, who had no bee industry are now reporting to import 2.9 million pounds of honey into the U.S.

So what is causing the colonies to collapse?  No one knows yet, however there is a lot of speculation. One thing I did take away from the book was that our little bee friends live only 6 weeks.  I quote from Hannah, ” There are a lot of crops to pollinate and too many miles between them. Riding in trucks and eating fake flowers and living in a constant state of natural or artificial peak bloom can take it out of a bee. At times beekeepers have to rely on low-cost corn syrup to help bees survive lean times.  They pump syrup into hives from 300 gallon tanks with gasoline nozzles.  Research is showing that bees are suffering from the same kind of malnutrition afflicting humans who eat processed junk food.”  The man she interviewed from the story went into a ‘dollar-type’ store and took a bottle of honey off the shelf, turned it upside down and watch the bubbles rise to the surface.  This he said is what happens when corn syrup is added to honey after it is removed from the hive.  A bottle of pure 100% honey takes minutes for one single bubble to rise to the surface.  It really angered me to hear that now companies are adding corn syrup to honey.  What a joke!  I’m fortunate to get Stover’s  raw honey at the farmer’s market and in a small part help the cherry trees get pollinated on their farm.  

Bubbles….I do love champagne or sparkling wine. This past weekend was the Dose Market.  A little over 20 food vendors were there such as Black Dog Gelato, City Provisions, By M Desserts, and Rare Bird Preserves. And none other than Grant Achatz from Aviary was pouring a crafty mix of strawberry/Thai Basil/long pepper topped off  with Domaine Chandon. Great fun!  Also tried an iced 2009 Vintage Sicilian Blood Orange Pu-erh from Rare Tea Cellar.

This weekend was the perfect weather for a BBQ!  Corn on the cob, flank steak with bloody mary tomato salad, spiced zucchini, Thai marinated prawns with chilli dipping sauce, hot-and-sour cucumber salad, jalapeno poppers, Hebrew National hotdogs, and the drink….habanero infused grapefruit margaritas!

Grilling and Dose Market photos are my own.  All others, including margarita shot is  from the following…Amazon, Google Images, Bon Appetit, and Stovers.

One of the great things about living in Chicago is that you get a chance to meet some wonderful people in the food world.  The Culinary Historians put on a lecture last week showcasing none other than Barbara Fairchild. For the last 33 years Barbara has been the editor in chief of Bon Appetit.  The magazine relocated to NY this past year and Barbara decided to stay in LA. It was fascinating to hear the stories of how she became the editor, tested the recipes, and what it took to put out a monthly food magazine.

When she left, subscription sales were at 1.6 million. Every year they photographed a turkey for Thanksgiving and every issue had a dessert.  The editorial staff always looked for a classic dish, but would add a twist to it. Bon Appetit was designed for the ‘home’ cook.  Traditional food items such as lemon, chocolate, and vanilla were always included.  Two of the highest selling issues over the years were focused on Irish and Mexican food.

After she talked for a while about her career and the magazine, the host opened the floor to questions.  One lady asked her what she ‘favorite’ meal was.  It was nice to hear that location and who she dined with were just as important as the food.  I think the most dead-on thing I took away from her response on this particular question was when she described how she knew a ‘great‘ meal was about to be served.  Barbara said if the bread basket came  and the bread was exceptional, then she knew the chef really cared about the food they were cooking. When I think back to the really special meals I’ve had, it always started with bread and butter that wanted me going back for more.

Barbara talked about recipes and how the test kitchen for Bon Appetit got more refined as the years went on. Early on, she said she was served broccoli with strawberry sauce and refused to even try it.  Each recipe that gets placed in the magazine is tested two times and if it doesn’t work, they toss it out.

Another guest asked her what her favorite recipe was.  Barbara said that every year since 1994, she still makes the Roast Turkey Herb Rub & Shiitake Mushroom Gravy. (Picture from bonappetit.com)

After the discussion, desserts were provided by Delightful Pastries.  Dobra Bielinski, the owner attends some of the monthly dessert exchanges and I always look forward to what she brings.  And believe me, she didn’t disappoint this time either.

On tap…. lime snowball cookies, Rhubarb & Strawberry Compote, and I believe a Lime/Lemon Posset.

As Barbara was wrapping up the talk she said, “Basil & Lavender sorbet is a momentary recipe, but chocolate chip cookies are forever.  So in her honor and all the great years of giving us Bon Appetit….Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies from Bon Appetit Desserts.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter; room temperature

1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsps vanilla extract

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.

3. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add both sugars; beat to blend.  Add eggs and vanilla; beat to blend..

4. Add flour mixture and beat at low speed just to blend.

5. Stir in chocolate chips.  Cover and chill dough at least 2 hrs.  (I skipped this part).

6. Drop dough by 2 level tablespoons onto cookie sheets; spacing 2″ apart.  Bake until edges are browned and tops are golden brown, 11-12 minutes.  Transfer cookies to rack and cool completely.

Summer would not be complete without a concert or two at Ravinia.  This is a beautiful outdoor concert venue dating back to 1904.  There is the grand lawn where everyone sets up blankets, tables and food or you can sit under the covered Pavillion.  The concerts end up being a huge party.  There is great people watching and the beauty of the place is worth the hour trip north of Chicago. The first concert seen was The Judds. Hearing them brought back some great memories of San Antonio.  Unfortunately, this night was rainy, cold and misty.  Thank goodness the food and company made up for the dreariness of the weather. However, the second concert Hall & Oates was beyond reproach.  We arrived at 3:00 to do a little tailgating before the show only to discover that swarms of people were arriving to stake their claim on the lawn.  I really had no idea how crazy it got there.  The show was sold out and groups of people for hours came piling in.  Birthday parties, 9 ft. balloon palm trees, coolers being hauled in by a moving dolly…everyone had the “table in a bag.”

Of course, I was totally into what people were bringing to eat.  There were the ‘dudes’ who laid out their sleeping bags, Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and a bucket of KFC, then the young yuppies who drank Far Niente out of plastic glasses (I almost had a seizure over that one) and ran the gamut of Triskets with cheese to full on catered dinners.

Our menu looked liked this:

Deadly Mojitos

Guacamole and Salsa

Ad Hoc Fried Chicken

Rootbeer Baked Beans

Potato Salad

Apple Pie

Fried chicken was going to be a first for me.  The only place I knew to turn were two experts in the field…my Secundo Mama and Thomas Keller.  I made the brine first like Tom said and soaked the chicken overnight.

Then got my ingredients all in order….

And fried it up with special tips from Secundo Mama!

Oh man, was that some good chicken.  The brine made the chicken super moist, and the triple dip action made the best coating.

The other recipe I’d like to share is the Deadly Mojitos.  It came from a friend of a friend of a friend.  So who ever that friend is…muchas gracias.

You will need a 2 gallon jug to mix it in.

Ingredients:

1.75 Liter of Bacardi Limon

1 1/2 Liters of Club Soda

3 cups (about 20 limes) freshly squeezed lime juice

2 cups Sugar In The Raw

2 packs of fresh mint, minced

Procedure:

Mix all in the jug and serve over ice.

*First picture from Ravinia’s website*