The Meat of Things

So a whole world opened up to me when I met M. Aside from having tons in common, working together daily, and her just being too smart to NOT like - M loves food. She comes from a Hungarian family and loves to cook. M also steered me to my first butcher.

Butcher? Big deal Alise. NO NO NO it is a BIG deal!!! I grew up in the age of meat plastic wrapped and nondescript waiting for you in the local grocery chain. Long before the terms - farm-raised, organic, grass fed, local, etc. You just picked it up and fried it up and GULP. Not a thought as to how the meat was butchered or even what a WHOLE cow looks like.

I have always been a big fan of meat. Red meat in particular. Now I know the health dangers of too much red meat. I eat it in small amounts and infrequently BUT oh how I am a carnivore at heart. I went through phases due to politics or moral dilemmas that I cut out meats. My famous "no meat" days. Not quite a vegetarian - just no meat on certain days. But I always go back to eating meat.

So when M recommended a local butcher I thought I would give him a try. Devon Meats is located in the Park Ridge just east of Cumberland and Devon. The butcher shares space with the Morningfields Market, a small grocery that is trying to blossom into gourmet foods. Cash and check only but this is a family run business. The kids are behind the counter and their dad is always around. They make their own canadian bacon (thick slabs of pink, salty goodness), amazing stuffed chicken breasts and pork chops (each one seasoned and topped with a pat of butter), and wonderfully tender london broil.

Over the last year, my friendly butcher has ordered plump turkey breasts for Thanksgiving, a delightful and HUGE capon (the cadillac of chicken he proclaimed proudly). He recently offered to chop my next capon in half to save me from having to consume the whole bird in one week. Capon is good but even I will get sick of it after a week. I used the Zuni Cafe roasted chicken recipe (mom highly recommended it - she's a fabulous cook!) and that bird was the best I had ever made!

So why a butcher?

• He knows where his meat comes from
• He can prepare the cut of meat any way you need it! ( cubed, fileted, deboned!)
• He knows exactly what temp and for how long to cook the meat
• The prices are actually lower
• The difference in taste is amazing

I highly recommend my butcher. Give one a try. You will appreciate the difference. Next up I am going to order a pork loin cubed to try my hand at Clotilde's cider stewed pork.

And thanks M for the food advice and great friendship!

Devon Meats
800 Devon Avenue
Park Ridge, IL 60068
Phone: (847) 696-4200

Adventures in Brunching

I love a good brunch. Each year my mother and I have a Christmas brunch for family and friends. Quiches, biscuits, and sweets overflow from our table. As I said I LOVE A GOOD BRUNCH. Something about the abundance and an easy excuse to indulge in Mimosas. But I rarely get to attend other's brunches. I try not to take it personally.

But last Sunday, I actually was invited to one of the best brunches ever. My father and AW had battled over a brunch for 10 at last year's Teatro Vista benefit. The brunch was hosted by family friend and artist B. B is one of the greatest cooks I know. She has an interesting story of how she came upon her culinary skills.

From the way it was told to me, early on B signed up for the Peace Corps. I did not realize this but the Peace Corps used to send a box of books with each volunteer. Some of these assignments were very remote and entertainment was few and far between - hence the box of books. B arrived in her South American village and opened hers. Out spilled several volumes from the beloved James Beard. She had 2 years to memorize every technique and recipe. Upon returning to the States, she started to cook all the recipes and she hasn't stopped since.

So you can understand my excitement over tasting her cooking - not to mention the interesting assortment of attendees. Almost all artists or philosophers - me the only corporate shill.

We all stood in her large kitchen sipping mimosas and great coffee. H and I discussed the merits of using high quality champagne in mimosas. The usual recommendation is to use cheap champagne since you are really tainting it with oj, but H bulked at this advice and went with some wonderful champagne. I believe the brand was Becker Champagne "Brut" NV. Oh what a difference. H and I decided never to return to the cheap stuff. I guess you can compare it to the change from recommending cheap wine for cooking - now chefs recommend only cooking with a wine you would drink. I heartily agree.

THE FOOD:
Tarts - (the food kind)
1. Goat cheese, fresh tomato, homemade pasty crust (this amazes me - I still can't tackle crusts!), caramelized garlic - sprinkled over top
2. Mushroom, leek, Gruyere

Quiche
1. Straight cheese (Gruyere)

Food Trivia:
The question was asked: What is the difference between a tart and a quiche? The answer: Tarts do not have the egg component (aka custard)

The Extras:
Spicy link sausage, bagels with softened cream cheese (nice touch), fresh fruit (made me long for summer), salad, and roasted veggies.

The Sweet:
I abstained from the sweet since I was feeling a bit whale-like from the 2 servings of tart. But the dessert looked delicious. Chocolate bundt cake that JB referred to as "chocolate air". Not sure if chocolate air appeals to me - but everyone loved it.

A wonderful meal, perfect conversation, some gorgeous art (thanks K), and an invitation for us to visit Baja with B and H. Which means the beach and cooking with B.

I should have the recipe for the goat cheese tart mentioned above shortly. I will post as soon as I can.

Thanks again - fabulous meal.

Monday Night Dinner - Chalkboard

Scccccrrrreeeeeeeeeecccchhhhhh....

And so ended our dinner at Chalkboard in the North Center neighborhood of Chicago. I had been wanting to dine at Chalkboard ever since I peered into its large front window. I gazed upon its long chalkboard and barely made out these words "My mother's favorite...". They had me.

I am a great lover of comfort food. Being raised by Southern grandmothers who coaxed me into good behavior with buttermilk cheese biscuits, fried chicken (drumstick dipped in Kraft French dressing for me), and a luscious pound cake that I swear stays moist for 3 weeks. So needless to say...I was ready for Chalkboard.

It is one of those restaurants that you always pass by and mention to your cohort, we HAVE to eat there! But you always forget to put it on your short list when that lovely question rears its salt and peppered head..."Where should we eat?" But on Monday night I remembered!

JB and I talked about Lula's Cafe, Glenn's Diner and other favorites, but Lula's was too far and Glenn's was closed. So Chalkboard hit me! I was so excited!

Neither one of us was dressed for Chalkboard. We arrived around 6pm and were the first to be seated. Inside was very new....soft hues of green and orange. The HUGE chalkboard...very french bistro. Soft lighting and unexpected music choices. Old blues, jazz, and then some funky alternative.

The menu was straightforward with not a lot of surprises...comfort food/french bistro. Some Asian influenced items in the special - but nothing that screamed my name. The chef also added little anecdotes next to each item. Not sure I loved that touch - I tended to get annoyed with his continuous references to his wife.

THE FOOD:
Tap water was nicely served out of corked bottles - nicely chilled. Made me forget all my fears about Chicago water. Warm rolls were served - brushed with olive oil. JB and the man at the next table commented on the lack of butter, but for me the oil was enough.

I asked JB if he was up for some country pate. I believe I startled him. "You like pate?" he asked incredulously. "Hey, I grew up on liverwurst, mayo and white bread!" So bring on the pate! The pate was a mixture of chicken and duck liver, bacon and bacon fat served with cornichons, diced shallot, whole grain mustard, and roasted cashews in olive oil. We both gasped at the size of the pate portion. Very substantial for $10. We slathered the accompanying flatbread with pate/shallots/mustard and dug in. Very tasty. The pate on its own was good but layer it with shallots and mustard and I was in heaven. I occasionally get squeamed that I am eating liver but then I get over myself.

JB was eating light and went for one of his favorites - the single crabcake. I ordered the vegetable pie with curried peas. Trying to appear healthy after burying my face in the pate.

The vegetable pie was very pretty. A small pie settled in the middle of fragrant curried peas with two baby carrots. The crust was delicious but had a sweetness to it. After tasting, JB immediately declared that I was the only one who could order a perfectly sensible savory dish and have it turn up tasting like dessert! Inside was a brownish mushy vegetable that I guessed to be eggplant - but I had no real clue. It looked like the pate they put inside of old school Beef Wellingtons. It too was a bit sweet. Also inside was carrots, potatoes, some parsnips? And that strange sweetness...cinnamon? nutmeg? Definitely sweet without being sweet if that makes sense. The peas were straight curry and could have used some variance.

The crabcake. Oh the crabcake. I love a good crabcake. The right crabcake can sing and be sweet and salty. It can make or break a meal. This cake broke ours. The good: plenty of crabmeat -not a lot of filler. The mustard sauce tangy. The bad: Fishy...and I HATE FISHY. I am not a big fan of fish but I love crab. So god help the chef that makes my crab taste fishy.

JB stopped eating after 2 bites. His appetite was gone and I kept eyeing the nasty cake and trying to dispel the fishiness that I had been tricked into eating.

The server came to clear and asked if we had enjoyed the crabcake. JB was kind. "Um it was a little fishy". I could not hold back - "VERY FISHY" I added and made sure I made "the face". She apologized and said she would have Chef Gil taste it. JB took that opportunity to ask me HOW a Chef named Gil would be able to taste the fish. That was funny. She offered to get him something else - but fishy anything can spoil the most stalwart stomach.

Well Gil thought JB must not have like the Obi (seaweed) he included in the cake. Obi? Obi?!!?!? Who actually tries to make something taste FISHY? Obi has its place in cooking just not in a crabcake.

Dessert menu was a bit ho hum. Why can't chefs figure out that cookie dough egg rolls are just not that great? I love bread pudding but I was afraid that Gil might put some Obi in it.

The bill was presented WITH THE CRABCAKE. *sigh* 10% tip and we left. I felt disappointed and slightly uneasy while my stomach was trying to decide if "sweet" vegetable pie was to its liking.

I loved that they served Dr. Pepper.

Please take an eraser to Chalkboard. We will not be returning to class.

Chalkboard
4343 N. Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL