Caprese Salad

Ok folks, a special treat this week, Caprese Salad. For a few weeks we have been thinking about this dish, since it is one of our favorites, but we decided to wait until we had one that would really measure up. We have really been into restaurants that are known for "small plate" menus. It has given us the ability to try a variety of dishes in one sitting without feeling too much like fatties.

This week we decided to try Meze a tapas lounge in the west loop. Besides having really awesome and affordable Sangria (20 bucks for a pitcher), their caprese salad was delicious (and that's saying something since Matt LOVES caprese salad and has had it MANY times). Unlike most caprese salads we've had, Meze's including a basil oil drizzle (like a pesto) which added a great extra basil flavor to the dish.

Obviously we had to try this at home since it is fairly simple to make and know that it makes a great addition to a summer dinner.

Matt's Caprese Salad
3 ripe tomatoes sliced
1 ball of fresh (buffalo) mozzarella
Pesto

Pesto
3 cups of basil (any extra pesto can be used with noodles)
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
2 gloves of garlic
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

In a food processor chop the 3 cups of basil with 2 gloves of garlic until makes a nice paste. Then add the cheese and pulse until combined, season with salt and pepper. Then stream in olive oil until the pesto becomes drizzable.

Layer the tomatoes with slices of mozzarella and pesto.

Judgement: Homemade Wins! (close call, but our pesto pulled it off)

Chocolate Fondue

Another week, another challenge, and this time we let our sweet tooth get the better of us, literally.

Friday's have now turned into official "date nights" and a quest for our next culinary adventure. This week we went to Quartino - an Italian pizza and wine bar near the Mag Mile. This place had a pretty good cheese and meat selection, and their sampling plate was both full of variety and pretty tasty.

They also had a number of fondue dishes, and although we didn't indulge ourselves during dinner, we couldn't help but try the chocolate fondue for dessert. Although we enjoyed our savory dishes, the chocolate fondue was definitely something we thought deserved our special touch. Now normally this could be potentially hazardous, mainly because I (Matt) have a pretty terrible track record around things that are flammable, but for pure melted chocolatey goodness, we figured we would risk it.

Matt & Michi's Chocolate Fondue Recipe
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
pinch of salt
4 oz of semisweet chocolate (shaved or chopped in small slivers)
2 tablespoons amaretto (optional)


Fondue accompaniments
Marshmallows
Shortbread cookies (Pepperidge Farm)
Strawberries
Bananas


In a small saucepan, heat the heavy whipping cream, butter, and salt. When cream starts to bubble slightly, remove saucepan from heat and add chocolate. Whisk until smooth. Once chocolate has melted add the amaretto and stir. Transfer chocolate mixture to a fondue set and serve with your favorite accompaniments.

This is the perfect treat to share with your favorite someone.

Judgement: Homemade Wins!

P.S. Yes we bought a Fondue set today (only $19.99 at Bed Bath and Beyond) and with that the next logical progression is Cheese Fondue or a Fondue party!

Beer Battered Cod and Corn Salad

This week we decided to step up our game by taking on 2 new dishes from one of our favorite restaurants (see last post).

The biggest challenge of taking on these recipes was figuring out how to develop a homemade deep fryer. Easiest way to accomplish this, head straight to Sur la table. We picked up a spider and a deep fry/candy thermometer. Despite all the fancy equipment, it was still funny to see Michi flinch when she dropped in the first piece of fish. Our fish was more like a traditional fish and chips with a buttery beer batter that fries into a nice airy casing for a delicious piece of fish. The Purple Pig's white bait dish was more like an appetizer with shoe string and rings of fish with a calamari like breading. Our corn salad was VERY close to the Purple Pig but it probably needed to set over night to let the flavors meld more.

NOTE: Remember to be careful when frying at your home or apartment (especially keep that special someone away from the heat so they don't get splattered).

Corn Salad
4 cups of cooked white or sweet yellow corn (cold)
1 small box of button mushrooms
1/2 cup walnuts
4 springs rosemary
Juice of 2 Lemons
1 clove of garlic finely chopped
1/2 cup of crumbled parmesan cheese
4 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Saute sliced mushrooms with two small pads of butter. Once sauteed season with salt, pepper, and add leaves from 1 spring of rosemary. Let mushrooms cool. Toast the walnuts in a dry skillet until the walnuts start smelling. Chop coarsely. Add cooled mushrooms, walnuts, and parmesan cheese to 4 cups of cooked and cooled corn.

For the vinaigrette, add juice of two lemons to garlic. Stream in olive oil until combined. Then add vinaigrette to mushroom, walnut, and corn mixture. Stir well and chill for a couple of hours.

Beer Battered Cod Recipe
4 small fillets of Cod cut into strips (get fresh cod if you can, if not thawed, frozen fish works fine)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 2/3 cups of flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 cups of favorite beer
Corn oil to fry
Parsley and lemon for garnish

Whisk flour and baking powder and then add beer. Chill batter for at least one hour. While oil is heating, season fish with salt and pepper and dust lightly with a bit of flour. When oil heats to 350 degrees, dip the fish in the batter and fry until crispy.

Judgement: Purple Pig Wins!

The Purple Pig

Friday = Date Night!

We debated a ton this week about where to go next and what restaurant deserved to make the Reservations at Home cut. We decided to head back to one of our favorite restaurants in the city, The Purple Pig Chicago (thanks Remy and Rosie for the find). It has some of the best charcuterie (copious amounts of meat products), cheeses and a variety of hot, cold, and fried Mediterranean dishes, not to mention a ton of great and affordable wines by the glass, quarter, half and full bottles.

Our order included:
Cheese Plate with Manchego, Big Ed's, and Quadrillo di Bufula
2 orders of roasted corn with mushrooms and walnuts (we ended up getting the last order of the night)
Prosciutto bread balls
White bait "french fries of the sea"
Liver and pork neck pate

Sunday's challenge will include our version of the roasted corn and white bait "french fries of the sea."

Fingers-crossed we can compete with this great place.

Ribs

What better way to start off this blog during the July 4th holiday than with RIBS!


A few weeks ago we went to Carson's in Chicago.  Carson's is famous for their ribs. Sometimes after a long day of work nothing sounds better than a full slab of sweet BBQ, fall off the bone baby back ribs.


We were impressed by Carson's but we left debating if we could make our own delicious ribs at home. Lo and behold a few weeks later it was the 4th of July and we decided to give it a try. And thus this blog was born.


What we are going to attempt to do is compete against the best restaurants that our city (and maybe some from our random adventures) has to offer. We may be biased but we will judge as best we can. After all, if there is one thing we like better than cooking together, it's eating together.


Judge for yourself how we did (seen above are our ribs).


General Preparation/Recipe (Note: recipe is a combination from Martha Stewart Living Magazine June 2010 and watching too much food network)
2 full slabs of pork baby back ribs (whole foods - $5.99 lb.)
Coat ribs with your favorite dry rub
Bake ribs until tender in 300-degree oven (approximately 2.5 hours)
Slather ribs with homemade bbq sauce (Matt's BBQ sauce recipe below)
Grill ribs on high heat (450-500 degrees) for 1-2 minutes per side (till gets a good char)
Serve ribs with extra BBQ sauce and your favorite sides.


Matt's BBQ sauce (clearly a large batch of BBQ sauce)
12 oz Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce
6 oz Sweet Baby Ray's Hickory Brown Sugar BBQ sauce
4 oz Honey Dijon Dressing
4 oz Worcestershire Sauce
4 oz Sangria (Red Wine can substitute)


Judgement: Homemade Wins!


Check back soon for more homemade restaurant challenges.