The best day of my week is Saturday. The anticipation and wondering Friday night nearly kills me. My mind races thinking about the subtle firmness and round shapes; the juicy, succulent interiors; all sorts of flavors and colors. Of course I am dreaming about the farmers' market. I rise with the sun so that I can be one of the first to arrive at the market for the best choice of produce. This is the most GIANT organic farmers' market that I have ever seen. My sister and I went together my first week here and I was enchanted; I go every chance I can. First of all it is set in beautiful Lincoln Park right beside the lake and the heart of historic downtown Chicago. Second, the food selection is huge! Fresh berries, berkshire pork, duck eggs, mushrooms, real fruit smoothies, milk fed goat, homemade butter, local coffee, fresh milk, hand packed ice cream, pastries and so so much more... Good for me but bad for my wallet. Without fail, no matter how much money I bring, I always spend every last dollar I have on me, even if that means missing the bus or skipping lunch.
This last market was particularly special for me because I had the opportunity to buy food to make a going away dinner for my sister who will be living without luxuries for the next month. I was honored that she asked me to make her dinner. She is a recently converted vegetarian to vegan to vegetarian and now sensible meat produce consumer. With that in mind, I wanted to create a very simple, fresh dinner for her that included some sort of meat that is mild but flavorful: of course, chicken. So with the faint idea of a menu beginning to hover in my mind, I stepped on the El headed to the market. The first thing, of many, to catch my eye at the farmers' market was my favorite stand: mushrooms! 30 dollars later I had a big bag of gorgeous, fresh mushrooms that make grocery store shiitakes look like wood. I also got an amazing portabella, spinach, cheese dip that is heavenly. Next I moved on to bigger and trickier game: heirloom tomatoes. The perfect tomato is like love. You never quite know when you will find it and it usually isn't in the package you expect. When it comes to heirlooms, the ugly plump girls are my favorite. Finally the center piece: chicken. My favorite meat recipes are simple and clean. I decided to roast the chicken based off a combination of Adam Robert's meyer lemon chicken and Thomas Keller's roast chicken with root vegetables.
After all that work of taking the El and wandering the market, I just had to get myself a treat. Enter the best crepe cart in the states; they actually spoke french and could say chevre with the suave elegance that only the french can. I was torn between a classic sweet bananutella and a savory filled with goat cheese, sun dried tomato tapenade, and a balsamic reduction. In the end my sweet tooth won because they were out of savory batter. But I will return to tackle the savory crepes. The best part was watching the artist's precision as he poured the batter, shaped the crepe, and assembled it all. They had a special gun to shoot out Nutella onto the crepe in perfectly even lines for optimal coverage. That toy just moved to the top of my unnecessary want list. Overall, the crepe itself was soft like sponge and perfectly sweet and delicate. And banana/nutella combo makes anything better (particularly ice cream but that is for another time). It was all nicely rolled up into a neat, little package like a gyro for on the go eating, but this level of indulgence required sitting down on park fountain side to fully enjoy.
I had some time to kill as the day was still young so I journeyed to the specialty oil and vinegar shop that I have been dying to try. The shop is very unassuming from the street and I would never have imagined the vast selection of oil that sat behind the doors. Sitting on an island in the center of the shop are at least 15 30 gallon drums of olive oils from all over the world and infused with anything from truffle to herbs. They had an oil for everything: smooth and mild for drizzling over tomatoes to strong with a peppery after bite for bread. They had balsamics so sweet and light that I was dying to bath strawberries in it. But I had to be practical so got a versatile herbed evoo and classic 18 year vintage balsamic.
Dinner time! First course: heirlooms tomatoes. For these I let the beautiful tomato be the star of the show and just offered it a little support. I layered thick slices as the foundation and then sprinkled a generous pinch of truffle salt and fresh black pepper on top. Next a healthy splash of the evoo and balsamic. Finally a nice dollop of creamy burrata cheese. If you don't know what burrata is, go to your cheese monger and buy the biggest package you can because it will not last long. My convincing point, burrata literally means "buttered" in italian. This cheese is made with a outside shell of mozzarella but the interior is a creamy mixture of cream and mozzarella; nothing compares. Biting into it is like nibbling on a cloud of freshly skimmed cream.
Sides anyone? Roasted asparagus with poached duck eggs and roasted mushrooms. To explain what a duck egg is like, simply think of the best egg you have ever eaten... but on steroids so it is richer, stronger, and bigger like Barry Bonds. For the mushrooms I simply sliced and coated them in a mixture of Plugra and herbs to be roasted in the oven with the asparagus.
Next was the chicken. Popular consensus says to flavor the chicken by stuffing its cavity and rubbing the outside of its skin. I don't buy into this. First off, I used to absolutely hate roasted chicken unless it was dark meat or covered in gravy. I later discovered the culprit: overcooked and dried out white meat. The way the chicken is shaped makes it naturally prone to parts drying out before being fully cooked. To battle this I played with different recommended methods: covering in foil, layers of fat, shingles of bacon, but none were quite satisfactory. Finally, I thought why not break tradition by using something that flavors as well as protects the delicate white meat without overpowering it or clotting my arteries. The simple lemon was my savior. But first you need to mix softened butter with a whole lot of FRESH herbs (thyme, sage, rosemary, oregano, or whatever is your poison) along with a splash of olive oil. Slowly loosen the skin on the breasts and legs, careful not to tear the connective tissue that attaches the skin to the breast bone, or else you will have shrinkage. Then rub the herb mixture under and on the skin of the chicken. Next is the secret to moist, flavorful chicken. Slice the lemon very thin and place slices under the skin all over the chicken. As the chicken sits in the oven, the lemons will absorb much of the heat thereby releasing juice onto the white meat that would normally dry out as the legs finish cooking. Roast at 500 for 25 min and then 400 for 45 min until right before the thigh is done. Another secret to moist chicken breast I learned from Ina Garten: cut the entire breast off the bird and then slice it perpendicular to the skin. The resulting bird is not the prettiest, but it has a crisp skin and the most flavorful, moist meat you have ever cooked. While the bird rests you can make a quick gravy (although I am hesitant to call it a gravy because it is more of an au jus) by deglazing the pan with a nice splash of white wine and balsamic and then adding a roux until thickened. The lemon and herbs give this gravy a light, refreshing note that is a nice change of pace from traditional lumpy gravy.
All in all it was a very pleasant day and night in old Chicago. What more could a person want? Beautiful lake view, fresh local food, good wine, and even better company. For dessert we had left over banana pudding. And hurray for next day leftovers and cold gravy with bread!
After all that work of taking the El and wandering the market, I just had to get myself a treat. Enter the best crepe cart in the states; they actually spoke french and could say chevre with the suave elegance that only the french can. I was torn between a classic sweet bananutella and a savory filled with goat cheese, sun dried tomato tapenade, and a balsamic reduction. In the end my sweet tooth won because they were out of savory batter. But I will return to tackle the savory crepes. The best part was watching the artist's precision as he poured the batter, shaped the crepe, and assembled it all. They had a special gun to shoot out Nutella onto the crepe in perfectly even lines for optimal coverage. That toy just moved to the top of my unnecessary want list. Overall, the crepe itself was soft like sponge and perfectly sweet and delicate. And banana/nutella combo makes anything better (particularly ice cream but that is for another time). It was all nicely rolled up into a neat, little package like a gyro for on the go eating, but this level of indulgence required sitting down on park fountain side to fully enjoy.
I had some time to kill as the day was still young so I journeyed to the specialty oil and vinegar shop that I have been dying to try. The shop is very unassuming from the street and I would never have imagined the vast selection of oil that sat behind the doors. Sitting on an island in the center of the shop are at least 15 30 gallon drums of olive oils from all over the world and infused with anything from truffle to herbs. They had an oil for everything: smooth and mild for drizzling over tomatoes to strong with a peppery after bite for bread. They had balsamics so sweet and light that I was dying to bath strawberries in it. But I had to be practical so got a versatile herbed evoo and classic 18 year vintage balsamic.
Dinner time! First course: heirlooms tomatoes. For these I let the beautiful tomato be the star of the show and just offered it a little support. I layered thick slices as the foundation and then sprinkled a generous pinch of truffle salt and fresh black pepper on top. Next a healthy splash of the evoo and balsamic. Finally a nice dollop of creamy burrata cheese. If you don't know what burrata is, go to your cheese monger and buy the biggest package you can because it will not last long. My convincing point, burrata literally means "buttered" in italian. This cheese is made with a outside shell of mozzarella but the interior is a creamy mixture of cream and mozzarella; nothing compares. Biting into it is like nibbling on a cloud of freshly skimmed cream.
Sides anyone? Roasted asparagus with poached duck eggs and roasted mushrooms. To explain what a duck egg is like, simply think of the best egg you have ever eaten... but on steroids so it is richer, stronger, and bigger like Barry Bonds. For the mushrooms I simply sliced and coated them in a mixture of Plugra and herbs to be roasted in the oven with the asparagus.
Next was the chicken. Popular consensus says to flavor the chicken by stuffing its cavity and rubbing the outside of its skin. I don't buy into this. First off, I used to absolutely hate roasted chicken unless it was dark meat or covered in gravy. I later discovered the culprit: overcooked and dried out white meat. The way the chicken is shaped makes it naturally prone to parts drying out before being fully cooked. To battle this I played with different recommended methods: covering in foil, layers of fat, shingles of bacon, but none were quite satisfactory. Finally, I thought why not break tradition by using something that flavors as well as protects the delicate white meat without overpowering it or clotting my arteries. The simple lemon was my savior. But first you need to mix softened butter with a whole lot of FRESH herbs (thyme, sage, rosemary, oregano, or whatever is your poison) along with a splash of olive oil. Slowly loosen the skin on the breasts and legs, careful not to tear the connective tissue that attaches the skin to the breast bone, or else you will have shrinkage. Then rub the herb mixture under and on the skin of the chicken. Next is the secret to moist, flavorful chicken. Slice the lemon very thin and place slices under the skin all over the chicken. As the chicken sits in the oven, the lemons will absorb much of the heat thereby releasing juice onto the white meat that would normally dry out as the legs finish cooking. Roast at 500 for 25 min and then 400 for 45 min until right before the thigh is done. Another secret to moist chicken breast I learned from Ina Garten: cut the entire breast off the bird and then slice it perpendicular to the skin. The resulting bird is not the prettiest, but it has a crisp skin and the most flavorful, moist meat you have ever cooked. While the bird rests you can make a quick gravy (although I am hesitant to call it a gravy because it is more of an au jus) by deglazing the pan with a nice splash of white wine and balsamic and then adding a roux until thickened. The lemon and herbs give this gravy a light, refreshing note that is a nice change of pace from traditional lumpy gravy.
All in all it was a very pleasant day and night in old Chicago. What more could a person want? Beautiful lake view, fresh local food, good wine, and even better company. For dessert we had left over banana pudding. And hurray for next day leftovers and cold gravy with bread!
No comments:
Post a Comment