So this recipe is comes from my father-in-law and is one that is a homemade version of the classic Chicago sandwich, the Italian Beef. There are notable differences, the main one being shredded beef vs the authentic, super-thin, deli-sliced beef and the fact that it's braised in a slow cooker rather than slow roasted in an oven. Despite these differences, the flavor is amazing and therefore renders all arguments as to the authenticity of this recipe a mute point. This makes a good bit, as well, so you can have a nice little dinner party or some delicious sandwiches for lunches all week long.
We've done a couple of variations to the original recipe that was passed on and I'm sure others will try some variations of their own, altering it in infinite ways. We've used beer or red wine for the braising liquid, added sliced onions or peppers for some different flavors, and used a variety of herbs and spices and condiments to see what piques the taste buds in new and interesting ways. Feel free to doctor it up any way you see fit and be sure to tell us so we can try it if it comes out well.
To go with a Chicago dish we naturally turn to a Chicago band that needs no introduction. We've featured them before and probably will again at some point because they've been around that long and they're just that good. Screeching Weasel is one of my favorite go-to punk bands when it comes to feeling nostalgic and returning mentally to the days of my youth, so I couldn't help but go with the song "Hey Suburbia" as suburbia was where I grew up for the most part. -justin
ITALIAN BEEF Time: 6-12 hr Difficulty: Easy Serves: 6-8
1 medium onion, about a cup
4 tbsp minced garlic
5 tsp beef bullion or beef base
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
8 oz peperoncini with liquid
2 cups water
22 oz beer
2.5 lbs of boneless beef chuck roast (or other fat laced beef shoulder cut)
Simply add all ingredients to slow cooker and set on low for 10-12 hrs or high for 6-7 hrs. When done, shred the beef with forks, or other suitable utensils, and add back to braising liquid. Serve on a crusty Italian bread roll with some shredded cheese; we prefer mozzarella. To be truly Chi-town authentic, you'd need to top it with some giardinara and dip your roll in the braising liquid, or "juice", before loading it up and serving.
I'm stoked about this recipe, not so much because they were good (and they were!), but because I feel like this has gotten me one step closer to a different recipe! We grew up outside of Chicago and there's a renaissance fair that's just over the Wisconsin border called the Bristol Renaissance Faire. They serve the regular ren-fair food, but there's always been a stand there that serves beer and cheese fritters. These cheese fritters have got to be on my Top 5 Best Things I Ever Ate list. My aunt has had a booth up there for years and I even tried to get my cousin to get the recipe from the guys there, but no such luck. These hushpuppies were way good... and now I have a little bit more of an idea on how to go about making those ultimate cheese fritters.
I heard the Riverdales the other day and hadn't thought of them in a LONG time. I had a friend in college who loved these guys... hometown boys from Chicago! What does "Prince of Space" have to do with hushpuppies? Absolutely nothing. But it does make me think that's exactly what Lumpy Space Princess needs. It makes Justin think of MST3K. As you can see, we lead very uninteresting lives. -jen
1/2 cup corn flour (or grind cornmeal in food processor)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1/2 teaspoon KFC copycat seasoning (optional)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 green onions, finely diced
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon jalapeños, diced fine
1/2 cup fresh sweet corn
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add green onions, garlic, jalapeños, and corn. Mix in beaten eggs until combined.
In a small sauce pan, bring milk and butter just to a boil, remove from heat. Mix the milk into the dry ingredients, half at a time. Add shredded cheese and refrigerate for one hour.
Preheat deep fryer or 4" of vegetable oil in a skillet to 350 degrees. In heaping tablespoons increments, drop refrigerated dough carefully into heated oil. Cook for 2.5 minutes, turning once to cook evenly. Serve hot. We dipped ours in tzatziki, which was a nice refreshing dip that went well with the slightly spicy hushpuppies!
Note: I thought I might like a little sweetness to the batter, so with the leftover batter that I didn't use (maybe about 1/2 the batter), I put a heaping tablespoon of honey in. It lent just a touch of sweetness and I think I'd probably use it in my next batch... or maybe a tablespoon of sugar.
As I've stated before, we are always looking for a better mac & cheese recipe as it is, in my humble opinion, the ultimate comfort food. If you were of the poorer persuasion as a child, then you undoubtedly grew up with the store bought stuff in a blue box (we all know what brand I'm referring to, hopefully) and while that is a suitable quick fix, I've got a recipe that doesn't take very long that comes out better by several orders of magnitude. This can be doctored any way you like. I decided to go with bacon and green onions at Jen's request and I believe it worked beautifully. But you could do roasted garlic, or leeks, or add green beans, or sausage or pepperoni, or whatever you like! Incidentally, you can use almost any cheese, or cheeses, you want with this so get creative if you feel like it. Just remember that the harder a cheese is, generally, the more oily it'll be when it melts. I went with some Colby Jack as it's a good all around cheese for flavor and meltiness and also used some Smoked Gouda to stretch the smokey flavor without overpowering the dish with bacon (is there such a thing?).
To accompany this musically, I went with an old favorite, Down By Law. Their album Punkrockacademyfightsong is a classic and one I've listened to so often that I know it by heart. My favorite song on there is without a doubt 1944 so I went with that, though I listened to most of the album again, just to be sure. It's that good.
Mac & Cheese Time: 45 minutes Difficulty: Easy Serves: 4-6
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Pasta
4-6 cups water
1/4 cup salt
1 lb Rigatoni or Rotini pasta (these hold the sauce well but use whatever you like)
In large stock pot or dutch oven, bring water and salt to a rolling boil. Add the pasta and return to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook for 12 minutes or until your pasta is al dente. Remove from heat and drain in a colander. Place back in pot and cover till compiling the dish.
Sauce
2 strips thick cut bacon, diced
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup shallot, minced
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 cups heavy cream (if you like a thinner sauce also use an additional cup of whole milk)
12 oz cheese, grated
1/4 cup green onion, diced
In a small skillet, heat bacon over medium high heat until crisp, 4-5 minutes, stirring as needed. Drain off excess grease and set bacon aside. In a 2 qt saucepan, heat butter and olive oil over medium heat and add shallots when the butter has melted. Cook over medium heat for 3-5 minutes or until your shallots start to brown a little. Add the flour and stir in thoroughly. Reduce heat to medium low and brown the flour for 2 minutes. Add the salt and pepper and heavy cream (milk as well if you are using it). Return heat to medium high and bring the cream to a low boil. Add 8 oz of the grated cheese, reserving a third for later use, and the green onions and crisp bacon. Stir continuously until cheese has melted completely.
Add your cheese sauce to the drained pasta and mix thoroughly. Spoon the cheese sauce and pasta into a 2 qt, glass baking dish, sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese, and place in the 350 degree oven for 5 -10 minutes or until the top cheese is melted. Serve immediately and enjoy the cheesy creaminess!
We had our good friend Lua over for dinner tonight and wanted to do something that would be simple and fast, but still have a bit of a "wow factor". Justin and I had been talking about a yogurt marinade recently and having company seemed like a good reason to do it (not that we really needed a reason). So we went with a Mediterranean themed dinner.
What I really like about these three dishes is that I used lots of the same ingredients in everything, so everything just stayed on the counter and got used again and again. That's actually how I came up with the green hummus! I had the intention of just making my regular recipe... but then I had the 3 green onions leftover, the mint, and some parsley from when we did our Italian Chopped Salad. I was super stoked about how it came out all herby and delicious. J and I both decided that every recipe listed below was perfect... lots of times we make a recipe, like it, make it the next time, change it a little, make it again, change it a little. With these, we decided there wasn't room for improvement. We liked them all just as they are. (It was a pretty awesome compliment from Justin.)
The song playing right now in our kitchen, as I was typing this up and deciding what kind of music to post, is Bouncing Souls' "Letters From Iraq". I think it's technically "Fourth of July Weekend", since the 4th is this Wednesday. -jen
In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients (except the chicken - that's hard to whisk). Combine chicken strips and yogurt marinade in a gallon Ziploc and marinate for at least an hour (longer is optimal!)
The chicken would probably be better grilled, but it's a lousy day so we're baking it. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly oil a baking sheet, then line up chicken strips on pan and pour remaining marinade over them. Bake at 350 F for 15-20 minutes (depending on the size of the strips, check with meat thermometer or cook until juices run clear).
Serve on a toasted pita with lettuce, tomato, onion, and cucumber. We like to spread some hummus on the pita and top the pita with tzatziki. Sprinkle with some crumbled feta cheese.
juice of 1/2 large lemon (use other half in chicken marinade)
zest of 1/4 large lemon (use remaining 3/4 in chicken marinade)
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 green onion, diced fine
1/2 teaspoon dill
2 teaspoons fresh mint, chopped fine
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon Accent (optional)
ground black pepper to taste
Place diced cucumber in a strainer over a bowl. Toss evenly with 1 teaspoon salt and let drain for 1/2 hour to 1 hour. Squeeze out excess juice. Discard juice and combine the cucumber with Greek yogurt. Add all remaining ingredients and mix. Serve on pita sandwiches, as a dip with toasted pita, or as a fresh vegetable dip.
GREEN HUMMUS Time: 5-10 minutes Difficulty: Easy Makes: 1 cup (maybe 1.5 cups) Need: Food processor or blender
1 can (14.5oz) garbanzo beans, drained
2 heaping tablespoons tahini
3 green onions, rough chopped
2 tablespoons parsley, rough chopped
1 tablespoon fresh mint, rough chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1/8-1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (depending on taste)
1/4 teaspoon salt
few grinds of fresh black pepper
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar (or lemon juice)
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
Combine all ingredients except the olive oil in the food processor. While blending, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until desired consistency. Blend for 2 minutes on high until completely smooth. Same application as tzatziki - use in pita sandwiches, to dip toasted pita or tortilla chips in, or as a fresh veggie dip.
PITA CHIPS Time: 15 minutes
pitas
olive oil
salt and pepper
Zatar seasoning (optional, but awesome)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut pita into 1/8 sections. Place in a single layer on baking sheet. Brush tops with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and Zatar. Bake for 5 minutes. Turn pieces over and bake another 5 minutes, or until crisp. Can be eaten with both hummus and tzatziki.
No this is not a reference to Bill Murry's nationality or his movie career. Rather, Jen and I were inspired to whip up this recipe after watching one of our favorite Swedish Chefs. No...not this one:
Though he rocks in the kitchen as well, I'm told. It was another awesome Swede that we were inspired by:
While we have a slightly different cooking style than the gentleman above (his style requires several sedatives and mood levelers to calm him before filming, I've heard) we were still inspired to whip our own version of said dish. It's simple and filling. Meat and gravy. I would suggest adding some greenery to your plate in the form of a salad or vegetables but I'm not here to be your mommy so do whatever you like!
To accompany a Swedish culinary delight, we of course rock out to our favorite Swedish band. But since I couldn't find my Abba cassettes we decided to listen to our second favorite Swedish band and went for Millencolin, a personal favorite since my high school days. And since we had been inspired by Regular Ordinary Swedish Mealtime but didn't copy their recipe exactly, there is no Millencolin song more appropriate than "No Cigar" Somehow "Dancing Queen" didn't exactly fit with this recipe... - justin
(On a side note, we changed the name from Swedish Meatballs to Almost Swedish Meatballs because my good friend, John Andersson, who is from Sweden, had this to say about our recipe: "Oh dear... if only you knew a
swede who could set you straight... OK, these are, possibly, meatballs.
If you want them Swedish style, you must serve the meatballs with
potatoes or mashed potatoes. Any thing else is heresy. Also heresy: not
including THE most important garnish: lingonberry jam. In Swedish homes
or swedish restaurants you will not be able to find meatballs without
potatoes and lingonberries on the same plate. I'm sorry, but on behalf
of the entire Swedish population, I cannot approve of this. Meatballs:
yes. Swedish meatballs: NO. Sorry." Hahah!) -jen
Swedish Meatballs Time: 45 minutes Difficulty: Easy Serves: 4-6
2 slices Rye bread (any bread will do but I like the flavor the Rye bread lends)
1/4 cup whole milk
3 tbsp butter
1/2 cup diced yellow onion
1 green onion, chopped
2 tsp salt plus 1 pinch (for sweating onions)
1 1/4 lbs ground beef (we used ground chuck cause it tastes good!)
1 1/4 lbs ground pork
2 large egg yolks
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1/4 cup flour
3 cups beef broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
Preheat oven to 200 degrees. It will be used to keep meatballs warmed after browning.
Tear the bread into pieces and place in a small bowl with the milk and set aside to soak.
In a skillet, melt 1 tbsp of butter over medium high heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and sweat until the onions are translucent. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl combine the bread and milk mixture, ground beef, pork, egg yolks, 2 tsp salt, black pepper, allspice, nutmeg, and onions. Make sure the ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Roll portions into golf ball sized balls, about an ounce if you want to get all nerdy and weigh stuff out. Heat the last 2 tbsp of butter in your onion skillet over medium-low heat and saute meatballs until they have browned on all sides, about 8-10 minutes. Remove the meatballs from the heat and place on a sheet pan in the heated oven while we make the gravy.
Decrease the heat on the skillet to low and add the flour. Whisk until the flour is lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the beef stock and keep whisking until it thickens. Add the cream and cook until the gravy reaches the desires consistency. Remove meatballs from oven, smother with gravy, and serve with some rice, potatoes, barley or what have you and enjoy!
I'm not really sure why I wanted to do some stuffed cabbage lately but it's been on my mind. Makes sense. It's a completely NorCal summer dish, right? My heritage has nothing to do with Eastern Europe, where the dish is believed to have originated, and we have no Jewish ancestry, also associated with the origins of this dish. However, I do recall my mother preparing this a couple of times in my youth, and I remember disliking cabbage in general, so I wanted to give it a go with my big boy taste buds and see what came of it.
I believe it was a success! It's a bit intense to put it together but well worth it in my opinion. Clear a couple hours from your afternoon, if you can, and give it the attention it deserves and you shall be rewarded for your efforts. If you find you want a quick recipe, this is not for you. If you want comfort food tastiness however, that's another story all together.
To accompany this cooking adventure I had some Stiff Little Fingers on the laptop. Referred to in their inception as the Irish Clash, they faded from the scene in the early 80's and yet, I still find myself singing little snatches of songs here and there when I'm working. So it seemed apropos to have some playing while I slaved away in a hot kitchen on a hot summer evening cause if that isn't work, i don't know what is. -justin
Bring water and salt to a boil and add the rice. Return to boil and reduce to simmer until grains are tender, about 45 minutes. Remove from heat, drain in small mesh colander and set aside to cool.
Sauce
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow or white onion
2 28oz cans crushed tomatoes and their juice
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra dry vermouth
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Heat olive oil in large saucepan or dutch oven, add onions and sweat over medium low heat till translucent, roughly 8-10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, vinegar, vermouth, brown sugar, raisins, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Filling
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup chopped yellow or white onion
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup grated carrot
1 1/2 cups cooked wild rice (see previous instructions on prep)
1 tsp dried thyme
1 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
Combine everything in a large bowl.
Cabbage
1 head green or Savoy cabbage, cored
enough water to cover cabbage in a large saucepot or dutch oven
Boil your water and while you are waiting for that to happen you can core your cabbage (and make sauce and filling if you're awesome at multitasking). Simply, use a sharp paring knife to cut the stem core out of the bottom of the head of cabbage. Place the head of cabbage in the water after it boils and simmer for 3 minutes or so, until the outer leaves begin to become pliable. Remove them with tongs (the water is boiling, remember?) and set aside to cool. When all useable leaves are removed (the center or heart of the head isn't much good for rolling) cut the rib out of each leaf to make it easy to roll.
Assembly
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of an 11x15, glass baking dish with a couple of ladles of sauce so the rolls don't stick or burn. Place roughly 1/2 cup of filling, molded into a cylinder, at the top of a cabbage leaf. Roll the "log" toward the stem part of the leaf, folding in the sides as you go. Place the rolls in the dish, they can be touching, and cover with the remaining sauce (uncovered cabbage will dry out as it cooks in the oven, not yummy!). Cook, uncovered for 1 hr. Let it rest for 5-7 minutes before serving with a healthy ladle of sauce. One or two of these are very filling!
In keeping with Justin's summer theme on the last post, I made this fantastic summery vegetable salad with a homemade Italian dressing. I'd been feeling like raw veggies lately, and one thing with veggie salad is that it's usually cut into large pieces that you can fit two, maybe three veggies on the fork. I wanted this salad chopped a little smaller so that I got all the flavours with every bite. It reminds me of a large-chopped relish. But it was really good... especially after it sat refrigerated overnight. And it's versatile! The first night, we just ate it in a bowl. The next night, we sprinkled it onto lettuce greens. I was thinking it might be tasty warmed and served on crustini, too!
When we make olive oil and vinegar based dressings, we usually just whisk all the ingredients together and you get big bits of dried herbs. It's always good, but I was thinking about the dressing packets you can buy at the store, so I took all my dry dressing ingredients and blended them into a fine powder with our herb grinder and then used the stick blender to blend it into the oil. It came out good, so you could do it that way... but for the ease of those without herb grinders or stick blenders, I posted regular blender instructions
As soon as I started thinking about posting this salad as a summer salad, I got The Atari's "Boys of Summer" song stuck in my head. Well really, it's Don Henley's song, I guess, but it's their version that got stuck on repeat. It's a little poppy... but so was the original, and I still like that one too. :P -jen
ITALIAN CHOPPED SALAD WITH DRESSING Time: 15-20 minutes prep Difficulty: Can you handle a knife? Serves: About 6, as a side dish
3 medium zucchinis (about 2 cups), large dice
2 carrots, large dice
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1 orange bell pepper, large dice
1 cup crimini mushrooms (about 7), large dice
1 medium shallot, diced
3 green onions, diced
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1 and 1/2 cups mozzarella (12oz), diced
1/2 cup rough chopped green or kalamata olives
1 can (15oz) garbanzo beans, drained
1 can (15oz) red kidney beans
3 teaspoons capers, drained
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 and 1/2 cups Italian Dressing (see recipe below)
1/4 cup pepperoni, diced (optional)
Place all ingredients into a large bowl. Toss with dressing. Serve at room temp. Note: I'd have put some fresh herbs in this if I'd had any on hand, but since I didn't, I didn't want to put it in the recipe. Maybe 1/4 cup chopped basil or flat leaf parsley.
ITALIAN DRESSING Time: 7 minutes Difficulty: E-Z Makes: 1.5 cups
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon Accent or MSG (optional)
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
1 cup olive oil
In a blender, combine all dry ingredients and vinegars. While blending, remove the middle spout of your lid (most blender lids have these) and very slowly drizzle in the olive oil so that ingredients emulsify.
