OK, I’ll admit that the place won’t win any awards for décor. The glass storefront window doesn’t let in enough natural light to brighten up the narrow, deep space, and the dark paneling that’s been there since the place opened 29 years ago doesn’t help, either. The chairs and the booths and tables with their […]
Food Features
Posted inFood & Drink
And more chicken!
“Hi, Mom! Hey, how much do chicken wings cost? Some guys are coming over tonight to play cards, and I want to make hot wings. I’m going to have to get them at the grocery store, ’cause the farmers’ market hasn’t started yet.” It was my son, Robb, calling from New York last April. I […]
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Preserving the bounty of summer
Not so long ago, almost every family — rich and poor, country and city dwellers — preserved much of their own food. From late summer until first frost, kitchens were even more a beehive of activity than usual as cooks made jams, jellies, pickles, sauces and condiments and canned vegetables and fruits. That began to […]
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Grilled what?
I’ve taught several cooking classes about grilling, for which I developed a guide to grilling vegetables and fruits. It’s pretty comprehensive, covering a wide range of produce with specific instructions for each. The fruit section says, “Most fruit is too delicate to stand up to the dry heat of the grill,” then lists the fruits […]
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Cold comfort
“There are two kinds of people in this world,” says Bill Murray in the movie What About Bob?, explaining why he’s divorced, “those who like Neil Diamond and those who don’t. My ex-wife loves Neil Diamond.” It’s a line that’s become part my family’s unique lexicon, an inside joke we repeat to each other with […]
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Once, fair food was wholesome and local
Ah, the Illinois State Fair — the focal point of my childhood summers. Every year I hoarded my allowance money and income from various odd jobs, then blew it all on a gloriously uninhibited fair week. Fair-going nowadays is in many ways a nostalgic experience. There’s so much that triggers memories: horse shows at the […]
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To tandoor or not to tandoor
Some guys collect sports memorabilia or antique beer cans. My husband, Peter, collects barbecue gear. He’s currently the proud owner of two smokers, various grills, an indoor fireplace grill and rotisserie, and the “Party Que,” a Greek contraption designed to rotisserie whole lambs and other small animals. As I write this, a Japanese tabletop yakitori […]
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A cautionary tale
“They’re breeding the heat out of jalapeños, and it’s all because of poppers,” says Rick Bayless, addressing a group of us attending his seminar on the foods of the Yucatan. Bayless, with two acclaimed restaurants in Chicago, an ongoing PBS cooking show, multiple cookbooks, and a nationally distributed line of salsas and sauces, is regarded […]
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Ready, set, the tomatoes are here!
At the beginning of the month there was just the tiniest trickle of tomatoes. One of the earliest varieties is the aptly named “Fourth of July.” The tomatoes from this plant are small — about the size of a golf ball — but provide a true taste of summer flavor. The trickle has now widened […]
