Chicago: Deep Dish and a Grill

We visited Chicago this past weekend for a short stay and had some noteworthy food. First we wanted to try some of Chicago's famous deep dish pizza. Based on reviews and proximity to our hotel we went to Lou Malnati's. We ordered a small deep dish butter crust with sausage, mushrooms, onions and green peppers. The pizza was pretty good, with plenty of cheese and an interesting crust. We also ordered the salad, which was more memorable. It had fried cubes of salami which made for a nice salty contrast to the sweet italian dressing and pungent blue cheese.



Based on Ben's love of grilling and Weber grills we also went to the Weber Grill Restaurant. As we walked to our table we passed through the open kitchen with at least eight giant weber charcoal grills. These were different than your typical Home Depot variety. They were about 4x the size and we felt the heat as we walked by. Ben ordered the BBQ Combo with St. Louis ribs and chicken. The chicken--a thigh and drumstick--was excellent, and the barbecue sauce was especially good, pungent, sweet and spicy. The ribs had a great black pepper and molasses flavor, but the cut of meat--somewhere near the end of the ribs--was less than ideal. I ordered the classic burger which was cooked to perfection and was well seasoned. The kids meal for Jonathan was pretty impressive, including a hot dog, tater tots, broccoli and cheese and fruit. He also got a drink and ice cream sundae included as well.

(for Lou Malnati's)

(for the Weber Grill Restaurant)

Lawns?

In a recent article in the New York Times Magazine, Michael Pollan suggests that the best way to personally reduce your carbon footprint is to rip up your lawn and plant a garden there instead. It clears up any worry about which produce is the best purchase in terms of carbon footprints. And it also addresses concerns about whether "carbon saving" acts such as biking are negated by the carbon necessary to sustain our resulting increased food intake (This issue was also recently discussed in this post from http://benjacat.blogspot.com/). You don't have to worry about the energy expenditure of gardening causing you to eat more, because the food is right in front of you.

Pollan also argues that our lives and careers are so specialized these days that we're disturbingly removed from the origins of the food and energy that sustains us. Intensive gardening reconnects us with this.

Of course, one might quickly become the pariah of one's neighborhood for ripping up one's lawn. And this project would also require a lot of work. But wouldn't it also save a lot of trips to the grocery store? And don't we mow, water and even till our lawns anyway? And wouldn't the produce be the freshest you could possibly find?

Ripping up one's lawn might at first be seen as shameful, but eventually the waste of land and soil required for a lawn could be seen as the real shame.

Saugatuck, Michigan

Sarah and I recently visited Saugatuck, Michigan while in the area for my brother's wedding. Saugatuck is a very small, picturesque town on the shores of Lake Michigan which is known for its community of artists. It reminded us a lot of Key West.



For lunch we visited Pumpernickels. We started off by splitting a cinnamon roll, which, while not a typical appetizer option, looked too good to pass up. It was unbelievably good, with so much cinnamon flavor that it almost tasted spicy (but it was plenty sweet as well). It was probably the best cinnamon roll I've ever had.

For sandwiches Sarah ordered the tuna salad on pumpernickel and I had a turkey, bacon and Swiss on cracked wheat. The sandwiches were fairly generously portioned and very fresh, but a bit heavier on the bread than I generally like. Sarah loves bread, so she was fine with the ratio. Jonathan had a peanut butter and jelly. They were really generous with the fillings, and his was actually really yummy.







For dessert we headed over to Kilwin's. There are actually two locations on the same street, which is pretty weird for a town of around 1,000 people. We saw them making fudge, which of course involved loads of sugar. On the bags of sugar was written "15 calories per teaspoon" in huge letters. The fudge looked to be around 90% sugar, and I'm guessing very few people consider 1-2 teaspoons of fudge a single serving.



Jonathan ordered a milk chocolate marshmallow, which was very good. The marshmallows were clearly homemade and had a density and strong vanilla flavor that you'll never find in a "jet puffed" marshmallow. Sarah had a dark chocolate peanut butter cup, which she said was the best peanut butter cup she's ever had (and she's definitely a connoisseur). I had a chocolate covered pretzel rod, which I very much enjoyed. Their chocolate is very flavorful and just sweet enough to satisfy a sugar craving without being cloying. I grew up in the town where the first Kilwin's opened (I think), but you can now find them all over the country.

We'd definitely recommend both Pumpernickels and Kilwin's if you're ever in the area. And it's definitely a good region to visit, considering the lakefront cottages and general sense of escaping from civilization.

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

I recently made Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins as one of my many avenues to use a 4 lb. container of fresh strawberries from Costco. I've entered these in the Strawberry Moon Festival Contest hosted by Cooking in Cleveland.

The whole family loved them, especially the strawberry flavor in both the batter and the strawberries.

1 1/2 cups (8-9 oz.) strawberries, hulled and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt
3/4-1 cup plain yogurt (or buttermilk, or sour cream)
1 egg

3-4 TB. melted butter

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Combine strawberries and sugar and let sit for at least one hour at room temperature (overnight or all day is even better).

2. Preheat oven to 400 degree and grease 14 muffin cups.

3. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

4. Strain liquid from strawberries into a medium bowl; reserve strawberries. Add yogurt, egg and butter. Mix well.

5. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients. You may have to add some additional yogurt or milk if you haven't let the strawberries sit for very long. Stir in chocolate chips and reserved strawberries.

6. Scoop batter into muffin cups and bake for 20-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Combining the sugar and strawberries gives you an excellent syrup to flavor the muffins and concentrates the flavor of the remaining strawberries. They actually shrink to about 1/3 of their original size if you let them sit for long enough.

Next time I might substitute whole wheat flour for some of the white flour, and even more strawberries probably wouldn't hurt either.

My other uses for the strawberries were Bon Appetit's Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream and David Lebovitz's Strawberry Sorbet, both of which turned out really well.

Mama Santa's Pizza

After reading Nancy Heller's post about Dewey's I was really in the mood for pizza. So we ended up picking up a pizza from Mama Santa's. Ben and I have only been there once in the last 6 years... primarily due to the parking situation in Little Italy. Between the three of us we polished off a large cheese pizza, even Jonathan who does not tend to be into pizza really enjoyed it. We were amazed at how inexpensive it was, only $6.50 for a large 15" cheese pizza! We are going to make sure it is a lot less than 6 years until our next visit.

Mama Santa's Pizza and Pasta
12305 Mayfield Rd
Cleveland, OH 44106-1927
Phone: (216) 231-9567

Grilled Garlic Halibut and Zucchini

Because of the nice weather, I've been using my grill a lot lately. I thought I'd share recipes for Garlic Halibut and Zucchini below, as they turned out really well:

The halibut is basically an Asian preparation. It's slightly sweet with a rich but mellow flavor of ginger, garlic, sesame and soy. Even Jonathan really liked it.

The zucchini was just briefly marinated in Montreal Steak Seasoning and olive oil and grilled in the basket along with the fish, then grilled a couple more minutes on the grates to get grill marks.

Garlic Halibut

(from Steve Raichlen's How to Grill; I've halved his recipe)

Serves 2-3

1 lb halibut
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 t. peeled, coarsely grated ginger
1 TB. minced cilantro
1 1/2 TB. sugar
2 TB. fish sauce or soy sauce
1 1/2 TB. sake, rice wine or dry sherry
1 1/2 TB. dark sesame oil (optional, but very good)
1/2 t. coarse salt
1/2 t. freshly grated black pepper

1. Rinse the fish and pat dry with paper towels. Arrange in a dish just large enough to hold the fish.

2. Prepare the marinade: Pound the garlic, ginger, cilantro leaves and sugar to a paste using a mortal and pestle (preferable, and fun) or puree in a mini-chopper. Work in remaining ingredients. Marinate for 30 minutes to an hour.

3. Set up your grill for direct grilling. I like to use charcoal and a chimney starter, with the newspaper lightly drizzled with vegetable oil (a technique I got from Alton Brown). You can also set your gas grill to high.

4. Place the fish in a fish basket (preferable) coated in cooking spray, or directly on a well-oiled grill grate. Grill for 4-6 minutes per side, until browned and firm.


Raichlen says that this preparation also works well with salmon, bluefish or sea bass. The important thing, I'd think, would be getting a type of fish that is fairly firm. We got our halibut at Costco.

I can't recommend Raichlen's How to Grill highly enough. In addition to a lot of very good recipes, he also teaches you a lot of useful grilling techniches.

I'd probably go easier on the Montreal Steak seasoning for the zucchini next time, as it was a bit strong, but they did have a good flavor. Fresh garlic, salt, pepper and oregano would make a good alternative.

Both of these work well with rice.

Dim Sum at Bo Loong

My Mom and I recently had lunch at Bo Loong in Cleveland's China town. The atmosphere is a little kitsch, it is dark inside and there are a lot of fish tanks. We started with a few Dim Sum items as an appetizer, steamed shrimp dumplings and shrimp shumai.





We each ordered a lunch special of szechuan chicken with steamed rice. The sauce was pleasantly spicy, and it was full of vegetables.



I've been here before, but this was a first time visit for my Mom. I think the Dim Sum is pretty good, but I've had better in NYC. My mom enjoyed her meal, and even said she would bring my Dad back for dinner some time. I think what sets this place apart is the fact that they offer Dim Sum and that they are extremely affordable. Our lunch was just over $18 excluding tip. We have enough left over for another meal for two.

Bo Loong Chinese Restaurant
3922 Saint Clair Ave NE
Cleveland, OH 44114
(216) 391-3113

Mushrooms and Swiss wrapped in Naan

We improvised this recipe based on the ingredients we found at the store. Ben made some nann, and I sauteed some button and portabello mushrooms in some olive oil and butter. When the mushrooms looked pretty well done I added some fresh chopped garlic and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Then we assembled the wraps by placing the mushrooms in the naan, and topped with shredded Swiss cheese. Ben and I really enjoyed it, and Jonathan enjoyed a non-mushroom version with just cheese and naan. The simple preparation really brought out the earthiness of the mushrooms.

Sushi Rock

We recently visited the Sushi Rock in La Place in Beachwood. It's one of our favorite "just the two of us" lunch spots, when we both happen to have a day off and Jonathan is at school.

As usual, they did not disappoint. Sarah ordered the Maki Bento Box and I had the Sushi Bento Box (each about $12, only available at lunch). I used to try to sample the menu--e.g. the Lobster Crab Cake with fries, which is very good--but I've become completely sold on the plethora of sides that comes with each bento box. In addition to a variety of sushi, you get a mixed greens salad, a seafood salad, fried dumplings and half of an orange. The salads are fresh and crisp, and the orange makes a nice heat diffuser if you happen to put too much wasabi on one of your sushi rolls.

The service is also friendly, and we'll definitely keep coming back.

Grass-Fed Hamburgers

Sarah and I tried grass-fed beef for the first time last night. We bought ground beef from the Cleveland Food Co-op and I made charcoal-grilled cheeseburgers. I was a bit worried while making them, as this was clearly hamburger, not ground sirlion, round or chuck. There was a lot of marbling, and the grind was course.

The burgers were excellent, though. The first word that came to Sarah's mind to describe them was "clean." Typically, after eating beef or some cheap potato chips, one can feel one's mouth coated in a yucky kind of grease. That was not the case with these burgers, though. The flavor of fresh beef really came through, and even Jonathan seemed to like them more than regular burgers. The course grind also made them taste meatier than supermarket burgers. And, even if the fat content was a bit high, these only have 1/3 the saturated fat of corn-fed burgers, plus some of it cooked off on the grill.

We'll definitely try these again, although our next grass-fed meal will probably be steak, which they also carry at the Food Co-op. Click here for The Cage Free Tomato's post on some other local options for grass-fed beef.

Eggs over Asparagus

This week we made a simple week night dinner, partially inspired by Mark Bittman's list and partially inspired by a trip to the food Co-op. I simply steamed some asparagus and fried some eggs, then assembled them on the plate with parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. If only all recipies could be summarized in one sentence! All three of us enjoyed the meal, and it was super quick.

Chain Restaurants

There has been some controversy (click here, here and here) surrounding a recent New York Times article reviewing chain restaurants. The Times article is, for the most part, snobbish and disingenuous. The line "I had a great meal at the Cheesecake Factory in White Plains" is prefaced with the words "True Confession." As the detractors point out, New Yorkers are probably not truly alien to these restaurants as so many of them move to New York from the suburbs. Even if they willfully isolate themselves from chains as adults, they probably had experience with them as children.

Considering all this, now seemed like a good time to admit that Sarah and I do a good percentage of our dining out at chains. We avoid some places (Applebee's, for instance), but we're generally excited about a night out at The Cheesecake Factory, and it's hard to beat the Texas Roadhouse for a good value on a decent steak plus yummy sides. We also enjoy local chains including the Winking Lizard (great beer selection and Tuesday wing specials) and Yours Truly in Shaker Square (good burgers and a train table for Jonathan).

That said, we don't think any of these can compete with a good meal at Lola, Three Birds or Fire. And one can't find a chain for Thai food, Turkish food or authentic Neapolitan pizza (not that we'd even want to). But, for American food, we can't afford to dine reguarly at Fire, plus there are other places closer to us. We support local establishments often, and we're far more excited about getting around to trying Crop Bistro than whatever new chain comes to Legacy Village. But we also enjoy a night out at a reliable chain.

While the New York Times employs a "stranger in a strange land" attitude towards these restaurants, there's a very obvious reason they're popular: they provide decent (and sometimes quite good) food at reasonable prices.

For an excellent article on the political dangers of snobbery, see Slate's "What Orwell Can Teach Obama."

Cat Food and Artificial Flavor

Believe it or not, even canned cat food is often artificially flavored. We've been trying "natural" canned cat food lately and, just as with a person who finds something "wrong" with whole wheat flour, the cats smell it and look at me like I've put them on a diet or something. They eat it anyway, though.

Simple Meal Ideas

Mark Bittman recently published the excellent article Summer Express: 101 Simple Meals Ready in 10 Minutes or Less in The New York Times. I'd been thinking of doing a series like this, but he's given about 90 more ideas than I had, plus most of my ideas--eggs with asparagus, quick fried rice--are already in his list in modified form. In honor of his excellent article, though (which will be tacked up on our fridge this summer), I'm presenting my own simple meal idea:

102. Open a can of white, black or red beans. Add some olive oil to hot pan and sauté some onions. After five (or more) minutes, add garlic and spices. At least 1/2 tsp. of cumin should be included, but feel free to experiment. I like black beans with Caribbean spices, e.g. allspice, ginger and cinnamon. Some dark rum or tequila makes a nice addition here as well. Sauté for a minute or so and add beans, mashing beans with a potato masher as you fry them. Serve on tostadas, in burritos, or over nachos.