Return from hiatus with delicious muffins in tow.

Hello dear readers!  I am back in action after fixing my computer problems.  Thank you for sticking with me.  I have received many sweet emails asking if I am throwing in the kitchen towel on my blog, so to speak.  I am not.

i have at long last been offered a well paying and challenging job.  After the Thanksgiving holiday i will once again be working in the Chicago loop for a wonderful organization pursuing cancer and leukemia treatment research.  Not only does the work promise to be personally gratifying, but socially as well.  As some of you may know, I have an interest in one day pursing a joint law and public health degree program.  This opportunity will help inform my decision to go ahead with the latter.

I wanted to remind you of one of my all-time favorite recipes that I have been baking in high volume recently:  Bonnie's Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins.

I usually do not use grated chocolate and never add the nuts that this recipe calls for, but rather extra chocolate chips.  For a special treat use a high percentage cacao dark chocolate with a handful of regular milk chocolate chips.  The dark chocolate will not melt as much as the milk chocolate during baking and will provide not only a deeper flavor, but a pleasing texture as well.

One other bit of advice.  I recently used a baking spray to coat my muffin tins before baking and the muffins came out a bit tough.  Ditch the spray and use the old-fashioned method of coating the tins in butter for a more luscious final product.

Ting Pop

While I receive a number of emails concerning things that I post on Pro Bono Baker, one of the most popular topics is Ting pop.  I initially posted about my love of this pop when I reported on my yearly family vacation to Waupaca, WI last year.

In an effort to assuage those of you who have written to me for more information on Ting, and for others who might be curious, I offer you all the knowledge I have.

When my family is in Waupaca we always take a short bike ride, or an even shorter car ride, to the Weller Store in Rural.  From Waupaca head southwest on CR-QQ which becomes Old WI-22.  22 jogs west in Rural and becomes Rural Rd.  This should send you past the Weller Store which sits next to the Crystal River in Rural.

A very sweet older man runs the Weller Store. (There he is above serving my father ice cream.)  Here you can find water-logged pulp novels for 10 cents, Ting pop for a quarter, ice cream cones for the same price (50 cents for some premium flavors; I am fond of the maple nut), inner-tube rentals, and fascinating conversation about local lore, river water levels, and how the community has changed over the years.

As far as I know, there is no way to contact the Weller Store.  I cannot locate a local listing for it and I do not recall having ever noticed a phone in the establishment.

While at the Weller Store recently, I learned that Ting is bottled by the New London Bottling Co. in New London, WI.  They can be reached at (920) 982-2337.  It sounds as if they will continue to bottle until they run out of bottles.  Therefore, when you purchase a pop at places like the Weller Store you will kindly be asked to consume it around town and to return the bottle. Please do.  It will be a sad day when I head to Rural and am unable to enjoy a Ting while watching the Crystal River canoe trips float by in the summer sun. Therefore, those of you looking to have Ting shipped or to take it home with you are out of luck.  Please cooperate.

Ting can also reportedly be found at Cheesie Bob's Bleu Cheese House in Waupaca proper. Follow the link for a map or contact the Bleu Cheese House at (715) 258-0900.

*Update*

Thanks to Mark for another Ting pop location, also in Waupaca:

Cas Liquor Store

226 W Fulton St
Waupaca, WI 54981

(715) 258-3127

AND for this fantastic link!

Birthdays and Broken Computers

Today is my 25th.  I had a lovely lunch at Lula Cafe with my mother, grandmother Schwab, and dearest friend Eileen.  This evening Nick and I are having dinner at the Green Zebra which I am very excited about returning to.  This will be a very delicious day indeed.

My apologies for not posting recently.  My computer isn't letting me upload any photos.  So, while I have about 2 months worth of things to post about, it will be a bit before you can see the evidence.  I will hopefully have the issue resolved soon.

In the meantime here is a photo of my family last Christmas standing in Kraków's Rynek Główny.  I love them very much.  Thanks for your care and patience these last 25 years.

Summer Spinach Pie

Eileen and I moved into our new apartment last month.  It is a tiny two-bedroom and we are still getting settled, but it is so nice to have our own place after many months of temporary housing.  A few weeks ago I had Nick over for dinner and took advantage of our glorified fire escape/porch by pulling our table and chairs out of doors.

I made this spinach pie based on a recipe in the May 2006 issue of Cooking Light.  The original recipe, Spring Greens Pie, can be found on page 152.

Here is my modified recipe:

Summer Spinach Pie

6 Tbl butter
1 C thinly sliced green onions
1/2 C thinly sliced shallots
1/2 C thinly sliced onion
10 C baby spinach (de-stemmed)
1/2 C part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 C shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 C chopped fresh dill
1/4 C pine nuts
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp nutmeg
8 sheets frozen phyllo dough (thawed)

Over medium heat saute the green onions, onions and shallots in 2 Tbl butter until translucent and golden.  Remove and set aside in a large bowl.

Working in batches as your pan-size restricts, wilt the spinach.

As each batch is wilted set aside in a colander to cool.  Press out any excess moisture and transfer to the large bowl with the onion mixture before draining the next batch.

Preheat the oven to 375F

Add the cheeses, dill, nutmeg, pine nuts, salt, and pepper to the onion/spinach mixture.  Toss to combine evenly.

Place one sheet of phyllo dough over the surface of a buttered glass pie pan.  Melt 4 Tbl butter and distribute a thin coat over the phyllo dough sheet using a pastry brush. Repeat with the remaining sheets of phyllo dough, arranging the sheets in alternating directions to cover any gaps.  Spoon the filling into the center of the pie dish and gently distribute evenly.  Fold the phyllo dough towards the center of the pie and brush with the remaining melted butter.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until the phyllo dough is golden brown and the center is firm to a gentle touch.  Cool slightly before serving.

This was a fairly hearty and basically healthy dinner pie.  It was filling without sitting too heavily in the stomach for a warm summer day and went nicely with a slightly chilled red wine.

Cavatelli Pasta with Morel and Asparagus Cream Sauce

John and I shared a lovely dinner with Mindy and Ken using the last of the morel mushrooms a few weeks ago. We walked over to Hyde Park Produce to purchase fresh pasta, asparagus, and ingredients for a cream sauce.  There are a multitude of things that I will miss about Hyde Park when my eventual move to a new neighborhood occurs, but Hyde Park Produce vies for the top of the local establishment list (contending only with the Florian Caffe).

For the pasta we chose long, plump strands of fresh cavatelli.  This thick pasta perfectly complemented the asparagus both visually and texturally.

We wanted to create a cream sauce that would complement the luscious taste of the morels without overpowering them.  Through a bit of research we concocted our own recipe.

Morel and Asparagus Cream Sauce

3 large and fresh morel mushrooms
1 1/2 C dry white wine
1/2 C finely chopped shallots
3 Tbl fresh lemon juice
1 lb thin asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 C heavy cream
3/4 C plus 3 Tbl cold and unsalted butter cut into tablespoons

Rinse and chop morels.  Melt 3 Tbl butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Add morels and saute until water has leached out and mostly reabsorbed.  Remove morels from heat and set aside.

Blanch asparagus in boiling water for a few minutes, remove when just undercooked (before turning bright green.) Set aside.

In a large and heavy skillet simmer 1 C of the white wine, lemon juice, and shallots until reduced to a few tablespoons. Add the cream and simmer for one minute.  Add 1/2 C of white wine, the morels, and asparagus and simmer for about 5 minutes.  Add 3/4 C butter and whisk constantly over medium-low heat until creamy.  Remove from heat once incorporated.  Do not over cook.   Salt and pepper to taste. 

Cook 1 1/2 lbs pasta as directed and cover with the warm morel cream sauce.  Serve and enjoy.

7th Annual Feast of the Senses

Food, Art, & Wine! Tomorrow night!

Last year I attended the Feast of the Senses and wrote a two part post on the event. You can find the archived articles here and here.

John and I met wonderful people, visited beautiful galleries, spoke with talented chefs, sampled superb foods, and drank our fill of wine and beer. Judging by the list of restaurants participating this year, I fully expect the event to be better than ever.

If any of you dear readers end up attending, please do say hello to me.

More information can be found at Chicago Cooks.

Thursday, June 22nd, 6pm-8:30pm
Galleries of River North
Tickets sales/Program Pick-up at Allens American Cafe
217 W. Huron at 5:00pm.
The event begins at 6:00pm.

Ticket Price $50 before and
$60 at the door.

Flux.

It has been a while, huh? I have had a lot of changes occuring in my non-food life over the last few weeks--some good, some bad. I have several posts to put up and many new posts from food blogging friends that I have yet to view and comment on. When I have more regular internet access I will be sure to get back in the game. Thanks for your patience during the interim.

Above is a photo from our widly successful first round of CUDGEL- Urban Golf. Check out this fabulous music video that my friend Peter put together with video from the event. We will be holding the next round on July 15th. Details can be found on our website.

Morel Murshrooms

Last weekend John, Paul, Mindy, and Ken went up to Paul's farm in Wisconsin to pit-roast a lamb and sample the home-brew Paul and John made most recently.  In addition to these culinary delights they also foraged for morels. Morel season has been upon us for a few weeks now, and thanks to a recent rain, my friends were able to find handfuls of these beautiful things.

They dined handsomely on them while at the farm, but were kind enough to bring some back to share with me.  The unctuous taste of the morel is subtle and full.  When preparing the morels it is important to remember to pair them with flavors what will not over-power their unique taste. 

To prepare:

Clean, trim, and chop the morels.
Melt a hearty amount of butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
When the butter begins to foam add the morels. 
Stir often.
Moisture will leach out of the morels.  Continue to cook until most has evaporated. 
The morels should cook just a few minutes in total.

Thus far we have enjoyed them on toast as well as in an omelet with dill Havarti cheese.

Formerly Known as the Berghoff Bar. . .

Tuesday night I had the luck to be invited by my friend Paul to the private grand re-opening party of the Berghoff Bar, or as it is now to be called -- 17/West.  Name changes aside, my worries were assuaged to a large degree when we walked in.  The west wall has been taken out and café style seating installed.  The lunch counter is still just ahead of this area and otherwise things are fairly intact.  The expansion feels a bit strange, but it does make the business feel airy and bright (oh, they also put in big windows, or rather, took the dimming shading and foliage off the old).

That glorious wooden bar is still as beautiful as ever.  The old brass Berghoff taps are gone and have been replaced by tacky plastic and the liquor behind the bar has been removed and replaced with white table cloths and empty clear glasses.  This last feature made the place feel a bit like an office party in an unfinished board room, but I'll live.

A nice woman named Nancy who is helping to run things took us for a small tour of the premises.  Above you can see the old back dining room which is currently set up for a catering event.  In case you haven't heard, Carlyn Berghoff has started a catering business out of the old site.  (Paul's sister is getting married in a week and they have the rehersal dinner planned for this location, I will report back on his comments.)

Just off the main dining room is their new 'tasting room' for more intimate gatherings.  It is a nice idea, but I would curious to see if they use both spaces simultaneously, that could become bothersome.

(My apologies for the poor picture quality.)

The bar area has a new menu of German fare, tapas, and desserts.  Many of the items from the German menu sounded similar to their old offerings so Paul and I had to try our favorites.  Paul was happy to report that the sauerbraten tastes as good as ever.  I ordered the new version of their mushroom strudel. It was tasty, but made me yearn for the old days.  The phyllo dough is somewhat dry tasting and stuffed with goat cheese, not mushrooms.  The mushrooms come in the form of a puddle on the side that you supposedly dip the cheese stick in.  Not what I am looking for. Oh well.  We gave Nancy our input and hopefully we will see some of it put to use.

In any event, it was great to be back in there and to see that the old wood bar I love hasn't become full of chrome and leather.  The staff is completely different, but the regulars were all back and seemed pretty content. I will definitely be re-frequenting the Berghoff. . ahem. .  I mean 17/West when it reopens to the public soon.

The Best Pizza in Chicago

I love deep dish pizza, as all good Chicagoans do.  However, if you were to ask a few where to find the best you would likely receive a multitude of answers.  My favorite can be found in Hyde Park at Caffe Florian. 

This small business nestled in between used bookstores looks quite unremarkable at first pass.  However the oddly colored walls and bored staff will quickly melt into a blissful glow around you when you try their deep-dish pizza.

The crust is unbelievably delicious. Golden, buttery and flaky.  Order the white rather than the wheat, there is no need to pretend this is healthy.  I have sampled a handful of ingredient combinations and I keep coming back to the 'Florian Spinach'. 

While in Poland a few months ago John's mother smuggled us an entire pizza.  Needless to say we were beside ourselves with joy.

If you are from Chicago I would love to encourage you to venture south of the Loop one day to try this pizza.  If you are not from Chicago I would love to encourage you to avoid the tourist trap of Pizzeria Uno's when you visit.  Let me know what you think.  I'd also love to hear what you find to be the best Chicago-style in the city.

Miso Soup and Miso Coleslaw Salad

After eating miso soup from small dehydrated packages for the last month or two I decided it was time to make my own.  Rather than go through my method I would like to defer you to Maki's beautiful site and her thorough miso soup lesson.

I paired the soup with a miso coleslaw salad.  This is a very simple side to make if you have miso on hand and the texture compliments the soup nicely.

Miso Coleslaw Salad

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 Tbl canola oil mayonnaise
1/2 Tbl rice wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbl yellow miso
1 tsp fresh ginger - grated
salt & pepper
2 C shredded vegetables

Mix all but the last two ingredients together, season to taste with salt and pepper, and toss with the vegetables.  I prefer a thinner dressing, so you may want adjust some ingredients to achieve your desired consistency.

May St. Café

My dearest friend Eileen recently returned from studying in Mexico.  We met for lunch at the May St. Café, a place I have been wanting to try for a year or two now.  I love Pilsen and this just added one more reason as to why.  The brightly colored exterior is impossible to miss if you are traveling down Cermak.  We found the interior to be equally as inviting, but with more low-key hues.  While a high-priced decorator could improve the feel, the home-grown look of the establishment is far more inviting in a day where most restaurants would never attempt to open without every nook and corner clinically crafted.

I ordered the fried plantain sandwich with potato salad.  When the dish was presented to me I was pleased to see that the plantains were not inside the sandwich, they were in fact the "bread" sandwiching roasted red bell pepper, romaine leaves, tomato, grilled carrot and grilled eggplant. The vegetables were liberally dusted with fresh cracked black pepper and the plantains were fried to a perfect golden yellow.  A modest application of seasoned mayonnaise pulled it all together.  The accompanying potato salad was decent, but paled in comparison to the sandwich itself.

Eileen ordered the double cream brie and pear quesadillas served with sour cream and adobo sauce.  Many of us have likely encountered a brie and pear crépe along the way, but this dish created a lovely spin on this common combination. 

The crisp and mellow tortillas pulled the sweet flavors of the brie and pear together, while the adobo sauce offered an unexpected and exciting flavor that complimented the other smooth flavors wonderfully.  The cilantro seasoning also provided a great contrast.

Overall our experience at the May St. Café was excellent.  I hope to return soon to peruse more of their menu.  For those of you unfamiliar with Pilsen I would love to suggest combining an early dinner at the May St. Café with the second Friday Pilsen Art Walks.  There are many excellent independent galleries in the neighborhood and it would make for a unique and inexpensive evening.

Eileen and I spent the rest of the day together wandering around.  She convinced me to buy expensive jeans and cute shoes which I cannot afford but am now pleased to own.  She is my favorite lady (and has been since 8th grade!) and it is great to have her back.  I am sure she will run off to Central or South America again soon, so I hope to see as much of her as I can while she is around. 

Potato Chips and Neiman Marcus

Saturday was John's birthday as well as the night he and Erik unveiled the newest murder/mystery game: Church of Our Lady of Interplanetary Ascendence.  In keeping with the "church evening becomes dangerous cult bloodbath" vibe I decided to make some cookies to share.

First I made a batch of potato chip cookies.  I used to make potato chip cookies when I was younger and they even when to the state fair when I was about 13.  I don't recall the recipe I used at that time, but I will be making a point of locating it over the next few weeks when I visit my parents.  For this batch I used this recipe. The cookies turned out fine and the guests seemed to enjoy them (every cookie was consumed by the end of the night), but I think the temperature called for is much too high.  They quickly became deflated, a bit oily, and prone to burning around the edges. 

For the second batch I made Neiman Marcus cookies with some small variations.  First, I used 1 tablespoon of very finely ground regular coffee beans instead of the 1 and a half teaspoons of instant espresso coffee powder.  Secondly, instead of the 1 and a half cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips I used some of the delicious chocolate candy that my mother sent me home with on Easter.  Using a plastic bag and a hammer I crushed one chocolate bar and a few handfuls of pastel M&Ms (some of them contained peanut butter). 

These cookies turned out lovely. 

The evening was fun and the game expertly written.  Sadly, John did not have a chance to eat any of the cookies that I made for his birthday because he was busy acting like a creepy church elder, but I will be taking him out for modern art, fancy cheeses, and wine next week so perhaps that will make up for it.

The Chicago Urban Devils Golf Enthusiasts' League

Do you live in Chicago? If so you should consider signing up to play Urban golf. In the spirit of the wildly entertaining Chiditarod, which I posted about recently, we are planning to play urban golf.

Urban golf, as we envision it at least, is all about getting together with a bunch of people you've never met and making a fool of yourself. We know, we know, you already do this every weekend at the bar. But at the bar you get looked at funny for wearing argyle hotpants.

We see a group of 50-plus people barhopping with metal clubs, ugly clothes and a passion for the sporting life.

Sign-up is now open!

For more details go to our website.

Anheuser-Busch Brewery

I traveled to St. Louis, Missouri with my mother recently to attend a family wedding.  We were lucky to have beautiful weather and ten of us decided to spend part of our Sunday at the Budweiser brewery.  I can't claim to be a fan of any Anheuser-Busch product, except perhaps King Cobra, though it was interesting to visit such a large scale brewery. 

I have visited several smaller scale breweries and either helped or been in the vicinity of many home-brewing adventures.  This tour, however, was on a completely different scale.  Groups of 40-60 people left with a pair of guides every 10 minutes to follow a well-worn path of quaint stables, plexi-glass shielded mashers, control rooms, and no-photo zones. 

At the beginning of the tour we were treated to some pretty spectacular views of the factory pipe-work.  Here you can see beer being pumped through the sky in giant tubes.  (It seems more likely that they actually hold water or mash at this point, but the guides said it was beer.)

The round stables are still intact and filled with Clydesdales and their lovely little boots.  We even had the chance to see a very young Clydesdale colt. The horses were used for transportation before motor-vehicles and their image originally symbolized the speedy and reliable delivery of fresh Budweiser beer at a time when few other breweries could make such a claim.

These pretty hop vine chandeliers which now grace the vaulted ceilings of the brew-house debuted at one of the World's Fairs in the early part of last century.

After the walking portion of the tour we were taken a few hundred meters by bus to the sampling room.  We were invited to try up to 2 beverages while snacking on pretzels in a garish, color-blocked room.  The bar had the expected offerings as well as a decent seasonal witte beer and a new product not-yet on the market called Spikes.  These little 4 ounce bottles come in four flavors; mango, lime, another fruit that I cannot recall, and chocolate.  The Spikes contain 12% ABV and are intended to be added to beers.  My mother was thrilled, as she is not a very big beer fan. I on the other hand found that they actually made the already dubious quality of the beers worse.  It is an interesting idea however.

The tour and subsequent bar stop before noon was a lovely way to spend some quality time with a portion of my extended family that I haven't seen in years.  The tour was free and I would recommend it if you are ever in St. Louis and looking for something to do.

Split-Peas on a Sleepy Day

I started my Monday at 3 am and showed up to a local bakery for training at 4 am.  I happily shaped loaves of ciabatta, foccacia, baguettes, rolls, bagels, and pretzels until 10 am when I sleepily rode my boyfriend's bike home.  I have an odd situation, I am being trained for a job that will never employ me.  After a few weeks I will have to be looking for something else.  In the meantime I hope to be an eager student.

In a sunny afternoon haze I came past a bag of dried split-peas that I had recently purchased at the Co-op.  I decided I must make split-pea soup.  Here is the hodge-podge recipe that I concocted.  It worked well.

Sleepy Day Split-Pea Soup

Makes 6-8 servings

1 C celery stalks - chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1 C carrots -peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 medium onion - chopped
3 Tbl butter
3 large garlic cloves - chopped
3 C dried split-peas
1/2 Tbl dried rosemary
1 bay leaf
8 C water or vegetable stock (plus more if soup becomes too thick for your taste)
1/2 C of sliced radishes
1/2 C of dried porcini mushrooms
4 small potatoes - diced
salt and pepper to taste

Croutons

1 C of stale bread - chopped
1 Tbl olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

In a large stock-pot melt the butter and add the celery, carrots, onion, and garlic.  Sauté until tender, about 7 minutes.

Thoroughly rinse the split-peas and pick through for any inedibles.

Add all of the other ingredients except the radishes, potatoes, salt, and pepper (and the ingredients for the croutons).

Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer (medium-low heat).

Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add radishes and potatoes.  Cover and simmer for 30 minutes more, still stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 250F.  Cut up chunks of stale bread and place on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Bake for about 10 minutes, though watch closely so they don't burn.  Remove when croutons are golden brown and allow to cool.

Uncover, salt and pepper the soup to taste

Serve warm with croutons.  This soup keeps well refrigerated for a day or two.

Ready for Spring

I spent the day with my friends and fellow gardeners in our community garden.  We have 2 and a half plots this year which we have prepared for planting over the last few weeks.  Chicago has had a few perfect Spring days in the last 2 weeks, though every Chicagoan knows it could well snow tomorrow and that we shouldn't get our hopes up just yet.

We adjourned for coffee and sorted through our seeds while mapping out where each would go. It is going to be a delicious year.

John and I returned home and started some herbs on our windowsills: lemon basil, dill, sage, watercress, and cilantro.  He just left to watch the White Sox opener and I am about to take a sleeping pill to get to bed so I am somewhat energetic when I wake up at 3 am to have my first day of training at a local bread bakery. Life is nice right now.

Menu Database

Perhaps I simply overlooked this resource in the past, however I was thrilled to stumble upon the Los Angeles Public Library Menu Collection today.  I am attending a murder mystery party this Saturday night set in a 1920s speakeasy and the guests were asked to bring a small dish.  This has opened up a multitude of options!

Fry me up!

Mindy and I decided to pull out her deep fryer and spend a night turning healthy things into greasy delicacies.

We started off with your standard tortilla chips.  We used both corn and flour tortillas. Simply cut a tortilla into your desired triangular sizes and add to the hot oil.  We used safflower oil for everything.  It is a bit more expensive in the states, but it has a more neutral flavor and won't stink your house up as badly as other oils.

I wish I could convey more of a method, but honestly the best way to check for doneness is to watch the color carefully and remove one to test when you think they are getting close to done.

Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a sheet pan lined with paper towels to soak up any excess oil.  One of our favorites, as we knew it would be, were our fried plantains.  Plantains become both crisp and light and reveal a sweet nuttiness when fried.  Delicious.

I also prepared two dips.  The first was a standard guacamole but the second was based on a recipe from Claudia McQuillan's book Chips and Dips.

I was drawn to Campanile's Fresh Fava Bean Dip, though I had no access to favas. I decided to try substituting lima beans, as she suggests in the book.  The recipe was a fairly straight-forward take on a hummus, simply using a different base.  The beans were heated over a low heat until bright green and then mashed with olive oil, garlic, onion, lemon juice, salt and pepper.   The photograph isn't very appealing, however this was a very nice dip and I will be making it again.  The flavors were subtle and it complimented the salted, warm tortilla chips well.

We also fried parsnips, Japanese eggplant, taro root, carrots, rutabagas, cheddar cheese, sweet potatoes, and turnips.

The rutabagas turned out absolutely gorgeous.  When fried they developed a carmel color with flecks of deep brown in the centers and a stripe around the edges.  They tasted fabulous too.

Lastly, we wanted to make some sort of dessert/alcoholic item.  We concocted an idea to combine the two.  First we injected vodka into strawberries with a syringe and then let them soak in the vodka for about an hour.  Next we dredged the strawberries in a mixture of bread crumbs and sugar, rolled in beaten eggs, and then back in the bread crumbs.  We fried them until golden brown and ate them warm.

These were astoundingly good.  Mindy and I were both skeptical at first, but we were pleasantly surprised with our success.

Upcoming Chicago Area Food Event

I was recently informed about these delicious events:

Caveny Wine Dinners with Caveny Farms and Candid Wines.

"a celebration of sustainable food and wine featuring two of Chicago's best chefs - Paul Virant of Vie and Michael Lachowitz of Michael.

    Vie - March 30th, 2006 - 7pm Western Springs, IL.  Call 708/246-2082 to reserve.

    Michael - April 6th, 2006 - 7pm Winnetka, IL.  Call 847/441-3100 to reserve.

    $125 per person, tax and gratuity included."

    You can also reserve at this website.

These events are quite outside of my price range, but perhaps some of you employed Chicagoans have a refined hunger and the billfold to back it this month.  Let me know how it is if you go!

For more information and menus please view the file below.

Download event.rtf