May 2012
5 posts
4 tags
Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
I had never cooked or baked, or purchased for that matter, rhubarb before making this. And I’m so glad that I have now. It gives a fruit dish an extra depth of flavor that’s a little less sweet and it goes so well with strawberry. This extremely easy dish will be my breakfast with Greek yogurt for some days.
View the full recipe here.
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2-Ingredient Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream
I’d like to start by saying, I’m no fool, I know this doesn’t replace the real thing. But it DOES have a texture surprisingly close to ice cream, it’s delicious, and really refreshing on a hot day. I make this ahead and keep it in the freezer right before going on a long run then devour it after.
I’d been seeing it on the internet a lot, so I had to try it. As long...
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Au Cheval
“Single” Cheeseburger, Au Cheval, Chicago.
That photo right there, that’s the kind I have a physical reaction to. And it’s usually not one I actually took, of food that I ate. Look at that cheese and aioli oozing out… by far the juiciest, and possibly the best, burger I’ve had. So good it made me black out and I just remember a feel from the experience.
I...
April 2012
9 posts
4 tags
Turkey Pesto Meatballs
I want to put pesto on everything. I wish it was incorporated into breakfast more (it’s great in eggs), I want it on every sandwich, with every grain, I can’t stop and I don’t want to. Making it fresh is always worth it.
These turned out even better than I thought. The recipe calls for ground chicken but Trader Joe’s didn’t have any so I went with turkey, which...
Nightwood
Bagel sandwich with Rushing Waters smoked trout cream cheese, slaw, bacon, an over easy egg and a side of tots, Nightwood, Chicago.
I’m going to go on the record and say this is one of the top 3 brunches I’ve ever had. Nightwood has been on my list a long time, in particular for hearing about how amazing their brunch is. Whispers of bacon butterscotch donuts, local meats and bagel...
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Frog n Snail
Curry Braised Lamb Shank vegetables, pistachio, mint gnocchi and “oven goat cheese,” Frog n Snail, Chicago.
I had completely forgotten that Dale Levitski’s new place had just opened up in Lakeview/Boystown, but luckily a friend of mine had remembered! Sprout, his other restaurant, has always been on my gigantic list of places to dine in Chicago, but it’s expensive and...
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Homemade Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs
I couldn’t help myself. Easter is truly the high holiday of candy. Superstars like Robins Eggs, Cadbury creme eggs and Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs pop up months before you’ve got Easter on the brain and whisper your name from massive displays at the front of every Walgreens and CVS in town. After this, we’ve got 6 long months to wait until the next great set of...
Watch the Doughnut Vault doughnuts being made →
March 2012
5 posts
6 tags
Mint Oreo-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
If you want to blow minds, seriously, put a cookie inside of a cookie. It’s always a crowd (and taste bud) pleaser.
I made these for a co-worker’s birthday per her request from the last time I made them. I used this recipe again but just had to go with the mint Oreos since it was around St. Patrick’s Day. In fact, I’m usually only inclined to buy Oreos when they’ve...
5 tags
5 tags
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February 2012
12 posts
8 tags
How to Make Homemade Thin Mints
I don’t really have words for these. Relieving the pure misery that is waiting for Girl Scout Cookies to arrive might be the best joy I could put out into the world (not that I’m the first one to make these or anything).
They taste just like the originals. I did a taste test (or 100) with a box of them. See the whole recipe here.
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5 Ways for Food Lovers to Prepare for Spring →
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Taco Joint
This falls under the category of “place I’ve seen a hundred times and never expected to be this good.” Taco Joint doesn’t seem to be super popular on food sites, it’s not the most authentic Mexican food you can get in Chicago, but I’m gonna be going back. I enjoyed every aspect of it.
I got the estilo baja (Victoria Beer battered tilapia garnished with a...
10 tags
La Creperie
Going into dinner here, I had a hope of recreating a restaurant I used to frequent in Champaign called Carmon’s. That place is now closed, and it was divine. La Creperie almost did for me what Carmon’s could, just not quite.
I tried a bit of the french onion soup and it sure seems they do that right. I think they got as much flavor into that little bowl as they possibly could.
All...
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How to Make Homemade Speculoos Cookie Butter
I’ve professed my love more than once before, and I’ll do it again. Shoutout to my friend Maggie for introducing me to this stuff after her semester in Belgium. I had to try making my own once Trader Joe’s stopped making their version during the holidays. Luckily, you can now find it at the new huge flagship Walgreens on State St. in Chicago. Woo!
See the recipe here.
6 tags
Easy Whole Wheat Pizza Crust
It’s easy to be afraid of yeast. You always hear people talking about how you need to make sure to do X so you don’t mess up the yeast. Well so far, I’ve had zero problems with it! Maybe that’s because this recipe almost entirely involves throwing the ingredients into a KitchenAid.
After sifting through a whole lot of recipes for whole wheat pizza crust, I decided to use...
11 tags
Autre Monde Cafe
I had the pleasure of eating brunch here after it had been on my list for months. I never knew when I’d make it all the way out to Berwyn, being car-less, but when an opportunity arose, I jumped at it!
Please tell me what’s better than walking away from a leisurely, late brunch on a Saturday morning. Anything? Answer is no. This brunch was incredible. We started out with some bloody...
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How to Make Homemade Cheez-Its →
So simple, so cheesy! See the recipe here.
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A Love Letter to Sriracha →
January 2012
13 posts
3 tags
5 Places to Get Solid Southern Food in Chicago
Big Jones, Wishbone, Chicago Q, The Southern and Lillie’s Q. Hit them all up as soon as you can, you won’t regret it.
3 tags
Fried eggs in pepper baskets
This is one of those things that I guess you can call a dish, that I reacted to with a “why haven’t I ever thought to do this before?”
It’s simple: cut any kind of bell pepper into slices. Place on pan w/ a bit of olive oil over medium heat. Crack 1 egg into each slice and cook until the white are firm and the yolks almost so. Sprinkle with salt and ground pepper.
Flip...
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What I Drank in LA: Hops
Some friends of mine took me to Blue Palms while in LA, and they had an awesome beer selection. I did a flight so I could taste a bunch. Left to right, I had: Pliny the Elder (a double IPA described to me as the quintessential California IPA), Blue Palms’ own Hefeweizen, Beachwood BBQ Belgian Black Ale, and He’Brew ReJewvenator (described as a belgian/german hybrid w/ concord...
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How to Make Homemade Wheat Thins
They’re super salty, and taste amazingly similar to the real thing. Oh and cheaper, less preservatives… highly recommend making these.
See the full recipe and photo set here.
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What I Ate in LA, Pt. 2: Animal Style
So eventually my taco streak had to come to an end. Sad, but it made way for 2 more awesome meals. I’m sure you can guess where the above giant burger is from.
But first I went to lunch with my bosses at a place called Farmstand in El Segundo. This place was real cute on the inside, decorated in a farm theme with leather cowprint seating. We got the Roasted Eggplant & Caramelized...
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What I Ate in LA, Pt. 1: 24 Hours of Tacos
I didn’t plan to eat almost solely tacos fro 24 hours while on this trip, but I did. And I’m so glad I did!
For lunch one day, a coworker took me to what’s supposed to be one of the best food trucks in the city, Komodo. This is one that started out truck, and turned into a brick-and-mortar restaurant as well, which is always impressive to me.
You can order their stuff as tacos...
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Tortas Frontera
On my way out of town on a trip to LA, I was almost as excited to eat at Tortas Frontera as I was to go on the trip. I loved Xoco and especially loved the Mexican food I had when Rick Bayless helped out with Taco Hell at Lula Cafe, so I felt pretty sure I’d be having a good meal. And I was right.
I got the chipotle chicken torta, with a side of chips, guacamole and salsa. The torta...
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Peanut Butter, Dulce de Leche Cheerios →
So these exist. I’ll need them immediately, and to make some Rice Krispie treats with the PB ones as the cereal base. I wonder how widely available they are? I’ll be on the lookout.
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Chicken Tikka Masala
I’ve posted this recipe before, and it held up to its reputation. It’s very simple, it just takes a bit because of the multiple steps. If you invest in the right spices, it’s great to make a lot of and have in the fridge for future meals. I think it might even get better as it sits. I always crave Indian food but I think this time of year more than ever.
When I adapted this...
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The Muffaletta Sandwich
Muffaletta, Local Option, Chicago.
This Creole-yet-Italian sandwich is huge, heavy and can be found all over Chicago. Find out more about it here.
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December 2011
19 posts
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Homemade Nutella
As if I hadn’t already expressed my love for it enough, I decided to make my own. It’s awesome, it’s more hazelnuty than the real stuff, and I highly recommend making it.
A simple 6 ingredients is all you need. Find the recipe here.
Here’s a progression of it in the food processor.
After 1 minute:
After 2 minutes:
After 3 minutes:
After 4 minutes:
3 tags
Speculoos spread cookies
So I finally did something with the speculoos cookie butter OTHER than eating spoonfuls out of the jar. I made cookies out of spread made out of cookies, so I put a cookie in a cookie?
I used the same recipe as when I made simple Nutella cookies, and just replaced the Nutella for Speculoos. I think this verified that that recipe can be used for any type of spread, whether one of these, or any...