Chicago Sun-Times

Putting other senses to work when taste is compromised

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 06:01:38 -0500

FOOD DETECTIVE: Taste is obviously important, but focusing on flavors, we easily neglect other food-related sensations.

Learn to make tres leche cake

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 06:01:25 -0500

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 – are two of the sweet treats included in the new Betty Crocker Cookbook Newlywed Edition (Wiley. $29.88).

Modern takes on your retro food favorites

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 06:05:08 -0500

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 dose of nostalgia or simply revel time-honored eats, a payoff awaits.

Steamed clams deliver big flavor

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 11:41:13 -0500

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

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 06:03:58 -0500

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 was because March always was Birthday Month in our family. Blessed with plenty of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, many of whom had March birthdays, it meant that a special cake was part of a celebration almost every day during the month. I thought every family must have Birthday Month. Although I was an only …

THE F WORD

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 06:01:43 -0500

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

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 02:29:03 -0500

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

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 06:01:04 -0500

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

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 06:01:09 -0500

Here are eight ways to add calcium.

Tastings Around Town

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 06:03:25 -0500

Find a wine event happening in Chicago or the surrounding suburbs.

Cauliflower’s calling

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 06:03:35 -0500

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

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 06:04:18 -0500

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

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 06:04:48 -0500

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

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 08:30:00 -0500

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

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 06:04:31 -0500

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

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 06:04:33 -0500

Find a wine event happening in Chicago or the surrounding suburbs.

A fast and healthy pear crisp to make any season

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 06:06:43 -0500

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.