Monthly Archives: September 2010

Tomato Jam

29 Wednesday Sep 2010

Posted by in Condiments and Pickles

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Jar of Tomato Jam

Fall is here. The tomatoes at the market are getting down to canning tomatoes and some of the last varieties of heirlooms. Fortunately, there are some great recipes for turning these tomatoes, which may not be as exciting as the Green Zebra, the Purple Calabash, and the Carolina Gold, into something amazing and something that may last into the winter -oven dried tomatoes, canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato juice, or tomato jam.

Tomato jam is something that I have liked more and more in restaurants in the past few years, but finding a recipe online that appealed to me was not easy. Everything seemed to be super sweet and little else. One note is not very interesting. When I was catching up on what I missed by not attending (again) the LTH forum picnic, I read about this tomato jam which sounded like it had added significant tartness and heat to the already super sweet tomato/sugar mix. Continue reading »

Caramel Apple Ice Cream

27 Monday Sep 2010

Posted by in Ice Cream and Sorbet

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Caramel Apple Ice Cream sitting on top of a fuji apple

Apples are everywhere right now. Despite seemingly endless varieties at the market, people still push and shove for the Honey Crisp. They rant and rave about how they are so much better than they others, but for my tastes, I prefer the Fuji. Granted, the Double Honey confiture from Flora Confections, which is made from honey crisp apples, honey, and lemon juice, is about the best thing that I have purchased at the Green City Market all year. However, the sweetness and crispness of the Fuji is more than fine by me and I do not have to knock any marketeers over who describe the apple using a variations of “Nom”. Continue reading »

Tarragon Vinegar

25 Saturday Sep 2010

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Tarragon Vinegar with Herb Box in the Background

The experiment of the summer was a window box herb garden in a condo without window boxes. The front of our place faces East, but the area around our deck  is surrounded by two bigger buildings and has trees our front making the area, where I tried to grow tomatoes and herbs in prior summers, basically a two hour sun garden. It stinks. This summer, I moved the tomatoes to the roof and the herbs to a South facing window overlooking our neighbors parking area.

Without the ability to drill into the exterior of the building, I needed to get creative. Using a plastic window planter, a tension rod, and a drill, I fashioned a portable window box with a tension rod running through it, so in wind and rain, it would not fall onto the sidewalk below. This box got full sun all day and was just steps away from the kitchen. It also serves as the backdrops for most of the photos in this blog. Continue reading »

Fra’mani Salami Toscano and Salumeria Biellese Rosette de Lyon

23 Thursday Sep 2010

Posted by in Pork, Tasting Charcuterie

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Fra'mani on the left and Biellese on the right

 Sometimes you need to search out good charcuterie and other times you end up stumbling upon it by mistake. While we were staying in the hospital after the birth of our daughter, the food options for non-patients were very limited. My options were 3 day old cottage cheese and pineapple, chain pizza,  and M Burger, so my standby, go to meal (besides M Burger) was to walk to Chicago high end grocer, Fox and Obel.

In my limited exposure to Fox and Obel, I had not noticed that it has one of the best retail charcuterie selections in Chicago. Once I found the charcuterie counter, my breakfast plans changed instantly from pastry to salumi. I picked up some salami toscano from Fra’mani and rosette de Lyon from Salumeria Biellese, as well as one of my favorite baguettes in town. Continue reading »

Bourbon Cider Braised Bacon

21 Tuesday Sep 2010

Posted by in Bacon Projects, Pork

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Bourbon Cider Braised Bacon

After the maple braised bacon trials, I was left with a pound and a half slab of home cured and smoked bacon and there is nothing bad about that. I had some ideas on what I wanted to do with it, but a cool application stuck out from searching the web for any guidance on how to make the maple braised bacon. This article discussing the making of the bourbon cider braised bacon seemed that it would be a good bookend project to the maple braised bacon.  Continue reading »

Fig Walnut Ice Cream

19 Sunday Sep 2010

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A Spoonful of Fig Walnut Ice Cream

After finding fresh figs at the grocery store last week and making fig onion jam, I had about a half pound of leftover fresh figs. Anyone who has had fresh figs sitting around knows that the clock ticks quickly, you have hours not days. With that in mind, I had a few thoughts on how to use the remaining figs and the idea that won out was a fig ice cream. Continue reading »

Fig and Onion Jam

17 Friday Sep 2010

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Fig Onion Jam on top of Pork Chops and Capriole Aged Goat Cheese

This savory jam has been a standby at our house for a couple of years. I found Mindy Segal’s (Hot Chocolate, Chicago) recipe a few years ago when looking for an interesting sandwich to serve at a lunch at our house. This pork tenderloin-brie sandwich is a killer show off lunch where the jam and pork can be made ahead.

This jam is a great accompaniment to pork, but I have paired it with both roasted duck and chicken. The fig, onion, and port really pair to make something sweet and rich to match up with the intense savory qualities of the roasted or grilled meats. Another friend of the jam is goat cheese which matches up really well with the figs and port. However, due to the caramelized onions, you would never mistake this jam for a sweet jam. It is most certainly savory. Continue reading »

Bacon Tastings: City Provisions

15 Wednesday Sep 2010

Posted by in Bacon Tasting, Pork

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City Provisions Bacon: Regular (top) and Rosemary (bottom)

Chicago is a great food town. We can get most ingredients, with some searching, and the range of our restaurants from Alinea to Birrieria Zaragosa is outstanding. Ordinarily a deli opening will not make much noise, but a new kid on the block has gotten a ton of talk lately, City Provisions.

City Provisions started as a catering company, but in the last few weeks opened in shop just east of Lincoln Square and, in addition to selling local products, is butchering and curing their own local meats, including corned beef, pastrami, turkey pastrami, and bacons, as well as selling several awesome La Quercia products (including lardo folks). I had a small amount of free time on Saturday to stop by, so I decided to grab a few slices of the house cured bacon and rosemary bacon. Continue reading »

Homemade Chipotles & Stuffed Jalapeños

13 Monday Sep 2010

Posted by in Barbeque

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Chipotles: Smoked jalapeños

In the CSA season, I often times stare into the crisper drawer looking at large amounts of vegetables that I have little idea of how make taste new. With jalapeños, it was no exception. It finally dawned on me as I was making a smoker’s (BBQ not tobacco) treat that I could make chipotles at home. Continue reading »

Maple Braised Bacon

11 Saturday Sep 2010

Posted by in Bacon Projects, Pork

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Thick Cut Maple Braised Bacon

My go-to brunch order in Chicago is the waffle and Publican bacon at The Publican. The bacon is maple braised and  is super thick cut and tender as anything that I have tasted.  After a friend gifted a few quarts of some amazing small batch Wisconsin maple syrup tapped by her father, I really wanted to try to approximate this bacon at home. Continue reading »

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