Last month I was in St. Louis on an unseasonably warm Friday afternoon. I was sitting in the covered patio of Vicia, a new restaurant in the Central West End. Several of the window panels had been removed, allowing the warm sunlight and fresh air to intermingle with the smoke wafting from the large wood-burning […]
Peter Glatz
After the passing of his wife, Julianne (former Illinois Times food columnist), Peter Glatz decided to retire from a 40-year career as a dentist to reinvent himself as a chef at the age of 66. In his short culinary career, he has worked at Chicago’s Michelin-starred Elizabeth Restaurant, Oklahoma City’s Nonesuch (Bon Appetit’s “America’s Best New Restaurant- 2018), Savannah’s The Grey, and Spoon and Stable in Minneapolis.
Posted inFood & Drink
Gonzo garbanzos
It’s that time of year when I’ve about used up last fall’s winter squash in my basement and all of last summer’s vegetables from my freezer and I’m looking for meal planning inspiration from my pantry. As I await the first spring radishes and lettuces, I’m leaning more on dried and canned beans to balance […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Sauerkraut and sausages with a French accent
In my last IT column (Fermented Foods- March 1), I discussed the benefits of incorporating fermented foods into your dietary regimen and I included instruction on how to make Easy Homemade Sauerkraut. For those of you who rushed out and bought a couple heads of cabbage to try out my recipe, by now your salted […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Fermented foods
It is estimated that our body is composed of over 10 trillion cells; inhabiting our skin and respiratory passages and digestive systems are 10 times that number of bacteria. These bacteria are known as our micro flora and many of these organisms are essential to our health, existing in harmony with our bodies in a […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Good for the gut
All my life I’ve struggled with bouts of insomnia. When I was in college I had a Social Psychology lecture right after lunch. I remember very little about the content of the course, but I do remember the professor: Harry C. Triandis. Professor Triandis was a renowned psychologist, author of our course’s textbook, and a […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Cold weather comfort
I love cooking outdoors, even in winter. The aromas of roasting meat and wood smoke intermingling in the crisp, cold air call out to me and awaken my appetite. Recently, however, the prolonged cold spell we’ve been having has taken away much of the appeal of cooking outdoors. When the cold winds of winter have […]
Posted inFood & Drink
What is real food?
Fifteen years ago, when my wife began thinking about teaching cooking classes, she asked me to help her come up with a name for her new cooking school. I asked her what she wanted to accomplish. Did she want to teach people how to cook fancy “gourmet” foods? She pondered my question and responded: “No…what […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Pimp your veggies!
Every morning as the clock approaches 7 a.m. the folks in my CrossFit gym cluster in little groups to socialize for a few minutes before the workout begins. I hang out with the Fasters. We are the ones who get motivational text messages from our coach at 3:30 every morning reminding us not to eat […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Start a new tradition
Most of the foods that show up every year on my family’s holiday table have origins in the culinary practices of our past generations. Our holiday table has never been a forum for innovation; it has always been a showcase for our family traditions. We always have Nana’s creamed spinach. We always have mashed potatoes […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Edible treats for holiday giving
If you were to close your eyes and envision a perfect celebratory winter holiday gathering, what would it look like? What are the traditions of your family? What are your cherished holiday memories? I grew up in a Protestant household in a middle-class suburban neighborhood and my vision would hasten back to a more idyllic, […]
Posted inNews
The fast way to health and weight loss
In the guidebook for Narcotics Anonymous there is a paragraph which begins: “We have a disease; progressive, incurable and fatal.” The paragraph ends with the sentence: “Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results.” Though this is in reference to drug abuse and chemical dependence, these statements could be equally applied to the […]
Posted inNews
Not just what to eat, but when
I was talking with my bandmates during our break the other day about the death of Tom Petty, Gregg Allman and all the other music heroes we have lost in the last year. The conversation morphed into a discussion of our own health statuses. One member is dead, one is undergoing chemotherapy, one had a […]
