Monthly Archives: April 2012

The Morel of the Story

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Morel mushrooms image

Morel mushrooms have a honeycomb-like feature that helps them soak up a great sauce. Image courtesy of Indiana Dept. of Agriculture.

Morel hunters are out this week, peering downward at tree trunks with hopeful, trained eyes, trying to find that delicious fungi. Morel mushrooms are so delicious when you can find them fresh from the forest, cut them up, and cook them in some fat. In fact, the more fat you can find for those morels to soak up, the better.

Get Some Morels at Green City Market

Green City Market farmers are touting morels for this weekend — the last weekend for Green City’s indoor market — but get there early. Morel hunters in the city aren’t as gentle as their countryside counterparts, and they’ll snatch up those morels as soon as they’re set out!

Cooking Morels

To prepare those morels, you can do something as simple as fry them — gently — in some rich butter and season with fresh sea salt and cracked pepper. Some people fry them in batter, but I think that just takes away from the morel’s character. Keep it simple, and let those honeycomb-like morels soak up some simple butter or a great red wine reduction.

In fact, if you’re lucky enough to find some morels at the market this weekend, buy a nicely marbled steak and sear it in a pan in both sides, then place the steak in the oven at a low temp and cook until it reaches a legitimate (but just barely) medium rare. Also buy a really lovely bottle of burgundy and deliver a cup of it into the pan juices and make a nice quick reduction, finishing it off with some salt, pepper, and some really fatty Irish butter. In a separate pan, toss your morels with some more of that butter, salt, and pepper — OK, and onions if you really want them — and pour the morels and sauce over your steaks. Serve with some crusty bread for slopping up the sauce.

Delicious!

 

Sono – Wood Fired Pizza at North and Clybourn

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Sono Wood Fired Pizza image courtesey: Sono Wood Fired Pizza

Sono Wood-Fired Pizza features local ingredients baked in a hot oven. Photo courtesy: Sono Wood-Fired Pizza.

“I use local ingredients whenever I can,” cooed chef John McLean, owner of Chicago’s Sono Wood Fired. He had to repeat that for us, as the 14 in our party were surrounded by a gaggle of Tuesday night regulars in for the two-for-one pizza deal. Families with little kids wedged in next to hipsters and our group of noisy women for one of best deals in town.

Neighborhood Eatery

From the friendly first pour of wine – a California red zin that wasn’t too bad – to the patient waitress whose passion for the menu showed through in her descriptions, we had a blast at this place.

We also had to admire the decor. Hip wood floors support an antique wine rack against a back wall, and colorful tiles adorn the wood-fired pizza oven. This place is casual and cute.

Gourmet Pizza at Pizzeria Prices

We took advantage of the amazing pizza deal, eating the light-sounding spinach and goat cheese pizza and working our way through the menu of red and white pizzas to the za’s topped with soppresata and other thinly-sliced meats, vowing to come back for a flight of bruscetta the next time.

A few smart ladies in our party treated themselves with the generous flights of wine offered on the menu and on the specials board.

Something Sweet

When a few from our party left, we stayed for some after-dinner drinks and a bit of panna cotta and chocolate cake. The crowd died down a bit and we had a chance to dig into the sweets without having to share too much!

We highly recommend this spot and hope to go back to see lots of local specials on the menu this summer!

Sono Wood-Fired Pizza

Sono Wood Fired
1582 N. Clybourn Ave.
Chicago, IL 60642
312-255-1122
entrees: $10 – $17

 

Fresh Pasta with Pea Shoots and Chicken

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pasta with pea shoots and chicken thights

Pasta with pea shoots and chicken thighs -- treats from Green City Market.

Delicate pasta, chicken thighs and new spring pea shoots make up this entree. We were tempted by the pea shoots at Green City Market and then seduced by the idea of fresh pasta. In fact, this was our second trip to Pasta Puttana — we thought we’d try them again after having so much success with their pizza dough.

Thank goodness that the Chicago’s farm markets are starting to see some early spring veggies. We also grabbed some asparagus — purple and green — and included a bit in this dish.

Served with toasted French bread with roasted garlic butter, this made a for a tasty Sunday dinner.

It also made us re-think our pending commitment to becoming gluten-free. Maybe being really low gluten can work for now, we mused, crunching on garlic toast.

Try it for yourself and let us know what you think.

Pasta with Pea Shoots and Chicken Thighs

Pea pod shoots, uncooked.

Pea pod shoots fresh from the farm market.

1/2-pound of fresh egg fettuccine
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 pound boneless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into small pieces
1/2 cup chicken stock
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot
1 bunch purple asparagus
1 bunch pea shoots
1 tsp. fresh thyme, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Sauté garlic, shallot and asparagus over medium heat for one minute. Add chicken thighs and cook for 3 – 5 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Season with salt, pepper and thyme. Add chicken stock. Add pea sprouts, cover and stir periodically for 3 – 5 minutes or until cooked through. Toss with fresh pasta and season with salt and pepper.

 

Spring Pizza

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Spring Pizza: Semolina pizza dough, shiitake and crimini mushrooms, and lots of sausage.

Trying to get asparagus at Green City Market last Saturday was impossible — even at the early hour of 8:30 a.m. So we decided against the Easter Sunday brunch menu entirely, instead opting for — a pizza.

Fresh semolina pizza dough from Pasta Puttana was what inspired us — although there was some wood-fired pizza shells that looked pretty good, too. “He lets the dough rise overnight,” said the salesperson, which sounded Easter-y enough to me. We grabbed some leeks, and a few other fresh ingredients, and hit the road for our tennis lesson.

Spring Pizza

2 tbsp. olive oil
2 leeks, sliced thin, white parts only
3 bulbs garlic, minced
3/4 cup each shiitake and crimini mushrooms, sliced thin
3/4 pound ground Italian sausage
1 cup Gruyere cheese, grated
salt and pepper to taste

Sauté leeks in olive oil for about four minutes, or until translucent and season with salt and pepper. Add garlic. Remove from pan and set aside. Cook sausage in the same pan until just done.

Form dough into crust and cover with and even mixture of leeks, garlic, mushrooms and sausage, season with a bit more salt and pepper, then cover with cheese. Cook in a hot oven – we preheated our oven to 500 degrees with the pizza stone in it – for about 10 – 12 minutes until crust is brown.

Serve with a farm market fresh salad of mixed greens and in-season vegetables, or try our Quick Kale Salad.