A Tribute to the Zucchini Fry

One of our favorite new restaurants in Chicago is Urban Burger Bar.  Before their recent menu update, they had multiple types of veggie fries, including amazing zucchini fries, with some great dipping sauces.

Since they took it off the menu, we decided to try to make some at home. With the help of Giada De Laurentiis (an alumna of Michi's High School) we made some great fries and dipping sauces.

Fried Zucchini by Giada De Laurentiis (care of Food Network)
Olive oil, for frying
1 3/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan (I only used 1 1/2 cups in the panko mixture)
1 1/2 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3 medium zucchini, cut into 3-inch long by 1/2-inch wide strips

Directions

Pour enough oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 350 degrees. Stir 1 1/2 cups Parmesan, the panko, and salt in a medium bowl to blend. Whisk the eggs in another medium bowl to blend. Working in batches, dip the zucchini in the eggs to coat completely and allow the excess egg to drip back into the bowl. Coat the zucchini in the panko mixture, patting to adhere and coat completely. Place the zucchini strips on a baking sheet.

When the oil is hot, working in batches, fry the zucchini sticks until they are golden brown, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried zucchini to paper towels and drain.

Arrange the fried zucchini on a platter. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan and serve.

Dipping Sauces

Russian Dressing

1/2 cup mayo

3 tablespoons ketchup (enough to get a nice salmon color)

Horseradish Crema

1/2 cup sour cream

2-3 Tablespoons mayo

Heaping Tablespoon of Horseradish

1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar

Blog Vacation

Due to crazy work schedules and a month full of weddings, we are on a bit of a blog vacation.

We are still enjoying a number of Chicago restaurants (and a few while we are traveling) and will be back in November with some new posts and maybe even some Holiday recipes.

M&M

Preparing for Football Season

We recently watched an episode of Grill It! with Bobby Flay that featured some great "upscale" hot dogs. Since Matt LOVES hot dogs there was no surprise when he asked for hot dogs for dinner the week of the first ND football game.

We made versions of Bobby Flay's Nacho Dog and his guest, Nick Suarez', Brooklyn's Corniest Hot Dog.

M&M's take on the Nacho Dog
All beef hot dogs (Ball Park Franks for the best result)
Homemade pico de gallo (tomatoes, green onion, lime juice - feel free to add some jalapenos (Matt just can't handle heat))
Sliced Avocado
Shredded Jack Cheese

Boil the hot dogs. While the hot dogs are cooking, turn your oven to broil. When hot dogs are cooked, place on aluminum lined cookie sheet and cover with a handful of shredded jack cheese. Place in oven until cheese is melted. Once the cheese has melted, place hot dog in a lightly toasted bun, dress with pico de gallo and sliced avocado. Matt and I agreed some sour cream would be nice with this hot dog.

M&M's take on the Brooklyn's Corniest Hot Dog
All beef hot dogs (see note above)
3 ears of fresh sweet corn (corn removed from cob - $0.71 per ear at our local Jewel)
1/2 cup of diced white onion
Queso fresco to crumble
Mayo and dijon mustard to taste

Boil the hot dogs and while they are cooking toast the hot dog buns. In a saute pan, saute onions in a tablespoon of butter. Once onions are slightly soft, add sweet corn and saute until lightly golden. Once hot dogs are cooked, place in bun, top with corn and onion mixture, and crumble some queso fresco. I enjoyed mine with a bit of mayo and mustard but Matt was a purist - just corn and cheese.

Now the hot dog is an American classic, and in Chicago the traditional fare includes a grilled dog, mustard, onions and relish (NO KETCHUP) and a pickle if you like. The best traditional Chicago dogs we have had are at Superdawg (up on north Milwaukee/Elston). Hot dogs can be the perfect food for a tailgate or a midnight snack at Notre Dame (they sell them for a quarter -- SPOILER, this year prices were shamelessly raised to 33 cents). Now, obviously we don't know what the show's dogs tasted like but this episode and the subsequent recipes elevated the hot dog to a whole new level. As someone that really loves hot dogs, even Matt was impressed with these "fancy" dogs.

Next week we go back to the challenge, so stay tuned.

Rick Bayless Inspired

This week was a busy week, but we managed to make it out to the Publican on Saturday night with our monthly dinner club. The Publican is a near west-side tribute to the most delicious animal on the planet, the pig (sorry cows). We decided to indulge in ham three ways, pork belly, country ribs, and even spicy pork rinds, among others. They also have a great beer selection, which is designed to match their menu.

Now normally, there is no way we would let such a daunting challenge pass us by. But this week is special because in the grand scheme of culinary adventures, we (well I [Michele]) had a bigger one this week than even the Publican. So a bit of a twist;  I took a cooking class at the local Williams-Sonoma this week with recipes from Rick Bayless' new cookbook, Fiesta at Rick's.

One of the recipes that was featured was Fresh corn cake, Veracruz style (page 304). This is a dessert but was completely different than anything I had ever had. It was a combination of a sweet cornbread but with a bit of a flan texture. Knowing how much Matt loves corn, I had to make this for him.

I followed the recipe pretty closely (minus the fact I used frozen sweet corn). To make it a bit special, I made a home made caramel sauce (bag of caramels melted in some heavy cream) and then got some queso fresco to add a bit of a savory touch and to cut the sweetness.

Well Matt had 2 pieces at his first tasting so it was definitely a hit!

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.