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| This is one of my favorite pantry meals. Frozen chicken breast and peas are readily available. Red peppers and onions are optional, though both vegetables keep very well. Finally, everyone should have a little vodka around for... err... cooking.
- 1/2 pound penne pasta
- 1 large chicken breast
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 red pepper
- 1 onion
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- 1 small can tomato sauce
- 3/4 cup heavy cream.
- 1/4 cup vodka
- Basil (preferably fresh)
- Thyme and rosemary to taste (I almost always use dried herbs)
- Grated / shredded parmesan
Start by boiling water in a large stockpot. Then heat your saute pan until it is screaming hot with olive oil (you want just enough to coat the bottom of the pan). While things are heating up, pound your chicken breast until it is a uniform thickness. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add to the hot pan and sear on both sides until cooked through. Once your water starts boiling add your pasta and cook until al dente.
To figure out how long to cook your chicken, leave it in the pan without moving it until you see the white cooked part creeping onto the upper surface. Then flip over for an equal amount of time that you cooked it on the first side (actually a little less). Remove chicken from pan to cool. Turn the pan down to medium heat and add red pepper, onion, and peas. Cook until the onion begins to caramelize then add tomato paste. It is VERY important to allow your tomato sauce to come to a boil. You are actually cooking the tomato sauce at this point, mellowing some of the tartness and bringing out some more of the tomato sweetness. Salt and pepper to taste, add rosemary and thyme, then add vodka. Allow the majority of the alcohol to boil off, then turn heat to low medium and add cream. While the cream is heating up, thinly slice your chicken and add to the pan. Add the fresh basil now. When the pasta is ready, drain water well, then add to pan. Allow flavors to soak together on low heat, then enjoy. Add parmesan as a topper at the end. | | |
| Today is my best friend Warren Den's birthday. Please wish him well today. If you want to know how old he is... you're going to have to ask him yourself. I'm sure he's kind of sensitive about his advancing years.
You may also notice that this is the first post that I have put up that isn't about food. Well, happy birthday Warren... my gift to you: my first non-food post.
Finally, Warren came and lived with me for a summer in Boston back in... gosh... 1996. That was also the summer that I learned how to cook (out of necessity), played way too much NBA Jam (Boomshakalaka!!), and met my future (now current) wife. | | |
|  Le Lan was named best new restaurant by Chicago Magazine for 2004-2005. The creation of a Vietnamese and a Thai chef, Le Lan serves French-Vietnamese cuisine, though this leans heavily toward the French side. Other than for the use of ingredients like lemongrass I really didn't see too much Vietnamese influence. However, it was nice to be in an Asian owned and run restaurant with a mostly Asian waitstaff that served high-end cuisine.
We tried the roasted rack of lamb with red curried loin and a grilled bass a la nage. I'm not really sure what a nage is, but both dishes were prepared to perfection. What I really appreciated about the meal was the attention to detail in regards to flavors and textures. The presentation was beautiful, though portions were on the small size.
When we first arrived we were kind of turned off by this giant dragon painting / carving that adorned the back wall of the restaurant. However, since my back was to it, I was able to tune it out. Jenny was not as fortunate. Of note, Le Lan has a special deal on Tuesday nights where you can get a soup, entree, and dessert for $38. Pretty good deal since most entrees are around $25 - $30.
All in all, this is a terrific place that we would definitely consider returning to.
Le Lan, 749 N Clark St, (312) 280-9100
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| According to the lastest issue of Chicago Magazine beef short ribs are currently "in." They must have missed the fact that Koreans have been cooking and enjoying Kalbi for ages. Regardless, what I've recently gotten very into are braised short ribs. Here's a recipe that I put together for Jenny not too long ago.
Ingredients
- beef short ribs (I used 4 bones, sliced, about 2 lbs total)
- 1 small onion, chopped fine
- 1 cup shiraz
- 14.5 oz beef broth
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- thyme
- rosemary
- 1/4 cup barley
- Asparagus
Brown short ribs on all sides with olive oil in a medium saucepan. Remove shortribs and all but a thin layer of oil from the pan. Add onions and cook until translucent. Add Zinfandel and scrape up browned bits from bottom of pan. Add beef broth, garlic, thyme, rosemary and short ribs to pan. Salt and pepper to taste. Of note, if you're using a stainless steel pan it is advisable to have the liquid boiling before adding the salt. Salt will sink in non-boiling liquid and leave pock marks at the bottom of your stainless steel stuff. Bring to a gentle simmer and braise covered for 1.5 hours. Add 1/4 cup barley and continue to simmer for 1 hour covered. Wash asparagus and gently bend several spears until they snap. The point at which they break demarcates the tender from the woody parts of the asparagus. Place asparagus in a steamer and salt well. Steam the asparagus for about 10 minutes or to the proper tenderness. I like to put the steamer directly over the same pan that I'm braising the short ribs. There's something very elegant about keeping everything down to one pot. When short ribs and barley are tender (the short ribs should fall off the bone with a gentle pull with a fork), remove and serve. | | |
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Today is our one year wedding anniversary. For those of you in the know, the first year anniversary gift is paper. So both of us independently decided to purchase an "Anniversary Journal" so we could record what we did on each of our anniversaries. Now we have to decide which one of us has to return their gift.
Either way, one of the things we decided to do to celebrate was to go for a nice dinner. Sean McClain, the head chef at Spring is one of Chicago's celebrity chefs, recently named a James -Beard Award Winner. This restaurant came highly recommended by Big Head who is almost as crazy about food as I am, so we gave it a try.
 Spring boasts an eclectic New American with an Asian flair cuisine. We started our meals off with soup; I tried the Spring Onions soup and Jenny the Curry Lemongrass soup. Mine was delicious, subtle with a delicious sweet onion aroma, but Jenny's felt like we should toss in a bowl of Thai Jasmine rice and chow down. Similarly for dinner, my Sea Scallops with Braised Pork Belly were superb. The scallops were tender, sweet, creamy, melt in your mouth good. However, Jenny's moki snapper was disappointing. Perhaps I was expecting a flakier fish, but overall the dish just lacked a certain pizzazz that I would expect from a top restaurant.
Overall, a good dining experience with a friendly non-presumptious waitress, chic yet comfortable atmosphere, and an interesting menu. However, once you get to this level of fine dining and expense, Spring just didn't satisfy us the way we expected.
Spring 2039 W North Ave - (773) 395-7100
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