Malawi: Mustard Greens and Peanut Sauce

We got a lovely e-mail from fellow food blogger Lena Nozizwe telling us to check out one of her mother’s recipes. We checked out her blog and were impressed by all of the beautiful food photography, so do go check it out. The recipe Lena shared with us was for Mustard Greens and Peanut sauce. M is basically obsessed with Peanut sauce – so this recipe is pretty much perfect. Moreover, we have never made any Malawian food and are really looking forward to trying it. Thanks, Lena!

The Obamas: ETW Fans?

We read today, with much interest, that the Obamas chose Marcus Samuelsson to be guest chef at their first state dinner. We found this surprising, because from our vantage point he didn’t seem like the obvious choice. Samuelsson was drubbed by Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America (27-15 in the taste category – ouch) back in 2008; and we noted in October that the line at Chicago Gourmet for an autographed copy of his new book consisted only of ETW representative L, while Rick Bayless’ line stretched for blocks. The Obamas had said previously that Bayless’ Topolobampo is their favorite Chicago restaurant – so why the switch to Samuelsson? There can only be one explanation: they read our endorsement of Samuelsson’s book and work. The Obamas must be ETW fans.

Thanks, first family!

Is the French Market finally happening?

It seems that the ‘French Market’ space in the Ogilvie Transportation Center has been ‘in the works’ for years, but it finally seems like something is going to happen. I’ve been hearing buzz about new vendors being signed up for the French Market in the past few month, and the list of the vendors sounds really good including Pastoral Cheese and Vanille Patisserie. We are also intrigued by the French fry cart from the Netherlands. Check it for yourself at Chicago French Market.

Mexico: Xoco

Xoco
449 N Clark St
Chicago, IL

The buzz around Rick Bayless’ new quick service Mexican restaurant, Xoco (located right next two his other two creations, Topolobampo and Frontera Grill) has been almost deafening – so we knew we had to check it out. Unquestionably, a good portion of that buzz comes from his recent victory on Top Chef Masters (we called it!), but even with such great anticipation, Bayless has a lot to live up to. Xoco does not take reservations – quick service only – so when we found ourselves in the loop for a conference on a rainy October night, it was the perfect opportunity (so we thought) hoping that the freezing rain would wash out the crowds. No such luck though: at 9 PM on Friday there was a line out the door. Not that the wait was particularly long, and even if it were, the extensive menu gives the thoughtful diner a lot to mull over. Caldos, tortas, empanadas, six varieties of chocolate – we had a tough time deciding.

The cold night made the hot chocolate a logical choice, as did the restaurant’s Nahuatl name. We had heard that the house-made hot chocolate was excellent, so we sampled 2 varieties. The servers came out with a little carafe of chocolate and pour it right for you (though we wish they would let us keep the carafe at the table!). We opted for the thick and creamy Barcelona, and the spicy Aztec. Ironically, a blend of both would have been perfect: the Barcelona was thick and creamy, but lacking the spicy punch of the Aztec; while the Aztec needed a thicker blend like the Barcelona. Not that either one was disappointing – both were excellent – but next time we will stage a reconquista and mix the two.

Entrees were a tougher choice. After a lot of debate, M settled on a caldo: the “Wood-Roasted Chicken Pozole,” ($11.50) while L got the Cochinita Pibil sandwich ($12.00). We had high expectations for the caldo, but at the end of the day was slightly underwhelming: the red chiles meant to flavor the dish never found a way to fully integrate their flavor into the broth, and the resulting mix seemed slightly disjointed. The added lime juice helped, but the potential marriage of strong flavors had a tendency to seem more like a shouting match without a moderator than Bayless’ usual seamless flavor marriages. L’s sandwich was much better. The simple ingredients packed big flavors. The perfectly spiced shredded pork was melt-in-your-mouth; garnished with pickled onions on top and Xoco’s delectable habanero salsa, all on a crusty bolillo roll:  the sandwich was a masterpiece.

Overall, we’ll declare our experience at Xoco great – and as two poor students, we certainly appreciated the lower price point. Rick Bayless himself is often in the open kitchen, especially mornings, and takes great care to use local, fresh ingredients, something we definitely tasted and appreciated.

Israel: Mekupelet

Thank goodness for the internet. I recently was the recipient of an assortment of snack-sized Israeli chocolate bars, and none of them, and I mean none had any sort of roman letters. Since I don’t read any Hebrew, and I was curious as to what type of log-like confection I was eating, I turned to Google. All I typed into Google was “Israeli candy” “chocolate” and “log” – but somehow I still got directed to the right place! The candy I had was Mekupelet, a famous Israeli candy similar to the Cadbury Flake bar – milk chocolate specifically extruded in a flaky form to look like a log. Markos Kirsch attempted to compare the two, but they were pretty much running neck and neck, with no clear winner.

Xoco’s Chocolate

Time Out Chicago has an awesome slideshow about how chocolate is made at Rick Bayless’ Xoco, from pod to cup.

The Last Days of Gourmet

The Last Days of Gourmet is a pognant photo blog of the last day at Gourmet magazine, as it was packed up and shuttered.

Guest Post: Triple X Drive-In

This guest post comes to us from the ETW family, who recently visits a burger landmark in Indiana.

Triple X Drive-In
2 N Salisbury St
West Lafayette, IN

We drove right past Triple X Drive-in on our way to a women’s lacrosse game – Illinois vs. Purdue. We immediately recognized the orange and black striped building, which is unlike pretty much any diner (or building, for that matter) you’ll ever see. After the game we all agreed we had to try this place. Needless to say, it was very easy to find.

On the inside, it looks like the typical university burger dive. The seating is a series of 4 u-shaped counters surrounding the grill area. After a brief wait our large group (20+) was seated at the counter in separate groups. Service was fast and friendly even though all of us were wearing some form of orange University of Illinois apparel. Naturally, we all opted for burgers, many of which are named after sports stars.

The “Bernie Flowers All Pro” is a 1/4 lb. burger with lettuce, tomato, onion and Miracle Whip on a sesame bun. A side of fries and a pickle were included.  The “Bert Burger” is the same with bacon. General consensus was the burgers were very good – juicy and a nice, fresh beef flavor. As an added touch, the meal did not arrive in the typical basket, but was served on a bright orange Triple X frisbee. The only negative to our meal was the french fries. Although they looked perfect – crispy, not too thick or thin – they were cold. Burgers are clearly the main draw here and worth a return trip for a good meal and little piece of the college experience.

Argentine Empanadas

An unlikely recipe from a blog called Tokyo Terrace – a recipe for Argentine empanadas. Expat foodie Racheal shares here experiences cooking in Tokyo on her blog and shares some pretty great recipes. We were definitely intrigued by this simple-sounding beef empanadas, alongside with Racheal’s great stories and photos.

Feliz Dia De Los Muertos

Sugar Skulls for Sale in San Francisco by Digiyesica

Feliz Dia De Los Muertos! Today is the 2nd day of the Day of the Dead celebrations, which gastronomically means a proliferation of pan de muerto and sugar skulls.

Szechuan: Lao Sze Chaun

Lao Sze Chaun
2172 S. Archer Ave
Chicago, IL

During a recent episode of “No Reservations” where Anthony Bourdain jetted off to Melbourne – he ate at a Szechuan restaurant and devoured a delicious looking dish that was basically a pan of red chilis studded with meat. M, ever the capsaicin lover, was practically salivating at the screen. So we figured the next time we were in Chinatown we should go someplace for Szechuan food, known for its particular heat. We did a bit of scouring to test the Szechuan options in Chicago, and Lao Sze Chuan came out on top. Lao Sze Chuan is located in the heart of Chinatown and earns rave reviews for its more innovative take on this Chinese regional cuisine.

The interior is your basic spartan eatery, but, as always, decor matters little to us and we dove right into the intimidatingly massive menu. We stuck to the page of ’specials’ since we were frankly overwhelmed by the massive amounts of choice. Though we didn’t venture too far afield, we especially enjoyed the demarcated section with “Very Chinese Specials” including Stir-Fried Pork Stomach with Dry Bean Curd ($7.95) and Pork Blood Cake with Chives ($8.95). It’s always a good reminder that we still have a ways to go to truly appreciate all of the world’s food – including offal.

M ordered Tony’s Three Chili Chicken ($9.95), a dish that constantly garners rave reviews when Lao Sze Chuan is mentioned. Despite the “3 Chili” label M found the dish not too spicy. In fact, it was not spicy at all. It was so unspicy in fact, that L even commented it was a bit bland. The only discernible spice was the few whole red chili peppers tossed into the dish. This was particularly perplexing – since we told the server to make the dish spicy, and to not tone it down. The chicken was mostly breading as well, which disappointed us a level further. As an accompaniment we ordered the garlic spinach ($7.95), perhaps in uninspired choice, but it arrived as advertised – garlicky and spinachy.

Our two table-mates had some formidable looking smoothies, which they reported that they quite enjoyed. We looked a bit longingly at the overflowing pastel fruit drinks as we picked through our bland chicken. Lao Sze Chaun left us scratching our head a little – everyone raves about its authenticity and flair, but we got neither. There was nary a hint of spice on even the dishes marked a spice-denoting ‘pepper’ in the menu and a dish named the “3 Pepper Chicken” didn’t even make us reach for a glass of water….

Picturing Spices

A beautiful post on the Flickr Blog has an assortment of pictures of spices from around the world. It’s worth a view. I am particularly impressed by these spice displays – they look too perfect to be real.

More to Mongolian Food

When I think of Mongolian food, I immediately tink “BBQ” probably because that is how it is branded in the US. However, Mongolians have a rich food culture that is surprisingly (to me, at least) dairy-centric. An interesting piece in the Atlantic describes Mongolian staples like fermented mare’s milk, airag. M would be right at home there.

An American (Cheese) in Paris

It’s funny to imagine that a Wisconsin cheddar is a pricy luxury import abroad. But, according to the Wall Street Journal, this is increasingly the case, as American artisanal cheeses are making their way to Europe. This is a trend I approve of – hopefully it will change some attitudes that American Cheese = Velveeta.

Guatemala: Guatelinda Bakery

Guatelinda Bakery
3025 W Diversey Ave
Chicago, IL

We were in the Logan Square neighborhood for a concert, and we felt like picking up a sweet treat for later, despite the fact that we already had a pound of carnitas (more on that later). We had heard good things about the Guatelinda Bakery, so we decided to give it a try. Guatelinda Bakery is a corner store in the truest sense of the word, situated directly on the corner, and containing both a baked goods counter and staples like milk and eggs. Along one wall there was a cooler of said staples as well as a well-chosen selection of Guatemalan canned goods and sodas. There is a chalkboard advertising the daily specials, including things like cornbread and fresh chile rellenos ($3). In the bakery case, as well as along the back wall, are an assortment of about a dozen kinds of pastries, scones, pan dulce, and cookies. We ordered a mini pound cake ($1.50) and a Carthucha ($1.50), a cream-filled fried pastry. The pound cake was buttery and delicious, with a hint of lemon. The cartucha was kind of like an eclair on steroids, but a bit flakier than you might expect, and M the whipped cream-lover was a fan. As we paid the nice lady manning the counter asked us if we lived nearby, if we did we should come back sometime to try the specials. Too bad we don’t!

A New Place for: Indonesian Food

Angin Mamiri
2739 W Touhy Ave
Chicago, IL

Indonesia is absolutely a huge country – so it’s a wonder that it’s taken Chicago so long to get its very own Indonesian restaurant, the family-run Angin Mamiri. Reviews on Yelp are mixed, but we’re still hoping to try it for ourselves. Both the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Magazine have ventured there. The Trib Review was positive, lauding the food as light and fresh, with some interesting choices like the dessert palu butung ($3.50), “a sweet soup of plantain chunks topped by crushed ice drizzled with pink-rose syrup.” The folks at Chicago Mag had less luck with appetizers, but enjoyed the sate ayam ($8.25) “savory skewers of grilled chicken topped with peanut sauce and paired with dense chunks of compressed rice called lontong.” While we have actually sampled Indonesian cuisine a few times in a Madison, we are glad to see some in Chicago!

Food as Flags

[Via Vidafine] I was intrigued by this interesting marketing for the Sydney International Food Festival, where food representative of a country’s cuisine was arranged like the flag of the country itself. Check out the Vietnamese flag done in starfuit and lychees, and the French flag made out of cheeses and grapes. How clever. You can find flags from Greece, India, and more, here at PSFK.

Happy Diwali!

Diwali Sweets for sale in Toronto by Xanada

Today marks the start of Diwali, the Indian festival of lights. And like any good festival – it brings with it lots of delicious FOOD! Diwali in particular is marked by elaborate feasts, so large quantities of food, in particular sweets and snacks are called for (Chow has a recipe for the sweet sesame snack, Til Ladoo). The BBC has a list of dishes typically served, though of course feasts will vary widely according to region. So just make something tasty! The food blog Aayi’s recipes has some excellent ideas.

Eating North Africa: Makroud

Today someone at work returned from northern France with a treat from North Africa, Makroud/Makrout. Makrouds are sweet date pastries, made with semolina flour and dipped in honey, that (perhaps surprisingly) are not overly sweet. There are several varieties of Makroud across regions, including the makroud blanc (without a filling), and makrouds filled with almonds instead of dates. Naturally, due to immigration patterns, this delicious pastry has gotten a foothold in France. Apparently the French are a fan of not-sickly-sweet pastries, so the makroud fits the bill perfectly.

UK: Fave International Food

Chicken Tikka Masala is often called “England’s Natonal Dish” and England is known for its excellent variety of Indian food due to a large Britsh Indian population. So I was quite surprised to hear that Chinese food is now tops in the UK.