food
Putting other senses to work when taste is compromised
FOOD DETECTIVE: Taste is obviously important, but focusing on flavors, we easily neglect other food-related sensations.
Learn to make tres leche cake
SWAP SHOP: Company-perfect or family-fabulous, Tres Leches Cake — for B.W. of Chicago — and Brown Sugar Refrigerator Cookies — for P.G. of Crystal Springs Read More
Modern takes on your retro food favorites
Bust out those faded cookbooks and get in the game: modern versions of retro dishes are popping up all over town. Whether you appreciate the Read More
Steamed clams deliver big flavor
SARA MOULTON: Certain ingredients — including clams, mussels, rack of lamb, skirt steak and dark chocolate — make meals delicious with very little effort on your part. Really, you’d have to be an idiot to screw them up. Clams and mussels are especially generous, delivering a one-two punch of taste thrills: the succulent bivalves themselves and the deeply flavorful juices that stream out of them when they’re cooked.
Coconut pie, almost like mom’s
I don’t know when or why Coconut Pie became my Birthday Pie. I remember that my mother made complicated pink and white checkerboard birthday cakes, multi-layer showstoppers, some with jelly beans on top if my birthday coincided with Easter, as it often did. Maybe it …
THE F WORD
Tessa: Wow, thanks. [That cake] looks delicious. Lisa: Oh, it’s not. My mom stopped keeping sugar in the house. I had to use cumin. — Lisa’s (Allie Grant) admission on “Suburgatory.” …
Survey shows need for healthy options
SHOPPING SMART: Last week I released the findings of this year’s benchmarked National Grocers Association|SupermarketGuru Consumer Panel Survey and lead a discussion of the findings with industry leaders including two industry leaders from Chicago — Mark Batenic, chief executive officer, IGA, Inc.m and Art Potash, chief executive officer, Potash Market.
Forget frozen; learn to make a homemade pot pie
If you thought frozen pot pies were good, you need to try making a homemade one. It’s surprisingly easy to make a pot pie from scratch, and I can guarantee it will be infinitely better than any store-bought version.
8 ways to up the calcium in your diet
Here are eight ways to add calcium.
Tastings Around Town
Find a wine event happening in Chicago or the surrounding suburbs.
Cauliflower’s calling
Gone are the days of boring old steamed cauliflower topped with cheese sauce (although for us cauliflower-philes, that’s delicious, too). Now you can find it mashed, fried, served as a “steak,” smothered in a cream and cheese sauce and so much more.
Midwest greets Far West beers
POUR MAN: Recently two other Pacific Coast beers — Deschutes and Kona — entered the Chicago market and this is also a good thing.
Chipotle beef stew’s high in flavor, low in calories
SWAP SHOP: The just-released Betty Crocker The 1,500 Calorie a Day Cookbook (Wiley, $19.99) provides delicious and low-cal solutions of Slow Cooker Chipotle Beef Stew for S.Z. of Chicago; No-Bake Lime Bars for S.W. of Joliet, and Sweet Potato Stew for P.D. of Chicago.
Onions pump up the flavor in any meal
CHEF JAMES O’DONNELL: There are countless ways for home cooks to prepare onions. Some of my favorites are often on the menu at our restaurant, Michael Jordan’s Steak House: pickled, pureed, smoked, fried, grilled, roasted and caramelized.
Early spring means it’s time to tap for maple syrup
FOOD DETECTIVE: Maple syrup-making frequently begins in early spring, but this year’s unseasonable winter warmth makes it possible to begin earlier. Syrup is produced by tapping a maple tree for sap, which contains 2 percent sugar, and reducing it to a very sweet, distinctly flavorful liquid. Forty gallons of sap make about one gallon of maple syrup.
Tastings Around Town
Find a wine event happening in Chicago or the surrounding suburbs.
A fast and healthy pear crisp to make any season
SARA MOULTON: Sometimes, even on a weeknight, you really crave a little dessert. But making dessert takes time, and you already are spending time cooking up the main event, namely dinner.
