Japanese Pot Roast

Really hoping that I'm not jinxing the potential prolonging of winter by posting this recipe! Although I will have to say, one positive about winter is the cozy meals that we get to make and enjoy. I just love sitting at home on a cold weekend winter day and smelling the slow roast of whatever is sitting in my baby dutch oven. Gotta pull out the positives of the changing seasons, right?!

So this winter recipe puts a modern twist on a traditional dish via Williams Sonoma's cooking blog, a new fave website of mine, by the way. The soy and mirin and subtle hint of star of anise really pull the flavors together and the tenderness of the meat. Ohhhhh the tenderness of the meat. The Japanese word "boro boro" comes to mind when thinking salivating over the condition of the meat. Boro boro translates to falling apart and after 2.5 hours of slow heat on the stove top, this meat certainly is perfect! Most grocery stores should carry the Japanese ingredients listed in the recipe, but if not, any Asian or even organic grocer should do the trick.

Enjoy the rest of winter!

Served with Haiga brown rice and miso soup with seaweed. Garnished with green onions

 

Summertime BBQ

Pretty self explanatory. Rooftop & friends. And summertime, how I love summertime in this city.

XOXO, IN LOVE WITH CHICAGO

Asparagus and Shrimp with Hollandaise

Sean subscribes to the Wall Street Journal and as much as I love to read about the stock market, S&P zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, ok fine, it puts me to sleep. One section that I do love is the weekend Life and Culture section and this weekend Sean Brock's "Butter-Braised Asparagus with Shrimp and Lemon Hollandaise" recipe caught my eye. Sean Brock is a chef at Husk and McCrady's, both in Charleston, S.C., and is well known for his Southern, new American fare. I can't wait to make a trip down south for a visit to one of his restaurants!

I have never made Hollandaise sauce, but after viewing several youtube videos (how did anybody ever learn to cook on their own without them?), one failed try, a few eggs and sticks of butter, I had some creamy goodness on my hands. This is quite an easy recipe, because after I jumped the Hollandaise hurdle all I did was boil the broth mixture, braise the asparagus and poach the shrimp and voila! Sunday dinner. Definitely adding this one to the dinner rotation.

Be Mine

This Valentine's day was me and my Sean's 4th or 5th (eeek should probably remember that), celebration together and really to me, the best way to celebrate, especially on a week day, is to celebrate in the own comfort of your home.

He came home with a pretty bouquet of orchids and a little snack from Terry's Toffee, the local Chicago Toffee Shop that has been providing the treats for the Academy Awards since 2005. And for good reason-this shop is my go to for gifts for out of town friends as #1 There are free samples galore when you walk in the store and #2 Terry the owner plays with flavors such as chai spices, French lavender, Madagascar vanilla, Australian ginger and crushed wasabi peas. And it's right down the street from us!

For dinner I thought that I made a restaurant quality dinner with a pizza baked from scratch with mozarella, asiago, goat's cheese and proscuitto and chocolate covered strawberries. Yum! How was your Valentine's day?

Torta Alla Gianduia

I made my first recipe from the How to Be a Domestic Goddess cookbook by Nigella Lawson for Thanksgiving this year. The Torta Alla Gianduia, which I still don't really know how to pronounce, is an amazing Chocolate Hazelnut Cake recipe. It's a people pleaser!

The only thing the recipe is missing is how to peel hazlenuts. I didn't really think about it when I scooped the hazelnuts out of the bulk bins at Whole Foods, but when I got home the thought of peeling each one individually made me want to scream my head off. This blog post saved my sanity.

Peeling the Skins Bake the hazelnuts for 1/2 hour at 250˚F and then wrap the still hot hazelnuts in a kitchen towel. The hot hazelnuts create steam and loosens the skins. Unwrap the towel so that there is one layer below and above the hazelnuts and apply firm pressure while rolling the hazelnuts back and forth.

You can find the recipe and directions here

Thanksgiving

These non Instagram photos will show you what a scrumtious time my belly had this Thanksgiving. Sean's mother is a fantastic cook and firmly believes in all natural, home made everything. Lucky me! AND we strategically showed up on Wednesday night, so we had to eat two dinners? Oh Darnit. I contributed a Chocolate Hazelnut cake that, thank goodness, turned out deeeeliciously. Post to come soon on that business.

Me and Sean also took a little photo opp stroll in the back yard area and got exposed to a little Blair Witch....best believe I was looking over my shoulder and watching each movement of the sun going down. Taking in each inch of the Midwest, one day at a time.