Last week I had a nice little vaca in Chicago/Michigan, the highlight of which include a concert with Tori Amos; Paris photo exhibition at the AIC (not the Toulouse-Lautrec. blech! not blech on T-L, but the exhibition was just boring.); a weekend at Margaret's family's lake house with a whole gaggle of fun people; thrift shopping with Michael, Ryan and Emily; and dinner at Green Zebra (more below). It was nice to leave all of the stress and disorder of packing and moving behind for a couple of days and just....relax.
At the lake house, which is in Holland, Michigan right on the edge of the faucean (faux+ocean=faucean) that is Lake Michigan, everyone pitches in to cook. There is always plenty of sweets, some salting things and more than the crew could possibly eat in three days. On Saturday night, there was some sort of pork on the grill and fresh corn from the farmers markets, plus new potatoes, and Tracy's Asian salad. Sean made a fun Champagne cocktail that was pretty as well as delicious.
I made some peanut noodles that we munched on for the weekend as well as pecan crispies, which are my favorite cookie, despite the fact that they contain no chocolate. Sunday night, John and I cooked a classic southern menu that included mac 'n cheese; Oklahoma hushpuppies (okra fritters); tomato salad; cucumbers in vinegar and fried zucchini. We started with pimento cheese which I molded into the State of Texas per Christine's creative suggestion. For dessert, it was Sex in a Pan, which is the name my college friends gave to one of my mom's classic dessert she calls Four Layer Pie. It really is that good.
Back in Chicago and running around with Michael and Ryan, I had one my favorite dishes from the newly remodeled Joy's Noodles and Rice in Lakeview: Phuket Noodles. I've never seen these on another menu and can't manage to track down a recipe, but they are comprised of delicious spinach noodles, vegetables and tofu in a yellow curry. MMMMM.
Tuesday night we went to Green Zebra which is the new restaurant by Shawn McClain, chef of Spring, and has a vegetable focused menu. It's the reversal of most menus in that it has one or two meat-based dishes and the rest are vegetarian. There are three small-plate course to choose from, which progress from light to heavy, each involving a unique twist on fine ingredients. I started with the avocado panna cotta which was rich and heavenly and topped with spicy, sweet onions. My second course was the crispy sweet potato dumplings in a dandelion miso broth which was followed by the grilled mushrooms with polenta. We each tasted the other's choices and the stand outs were the inside-out coconut spring rolls (not on the on-line menu), the blue-cheese cake and the....let's face it, everything was very good and aesthetically presented. It is a little costly and not somewhere you would eat every week, but well worth a visit. On-line reviews remarked that the service was spotty, which we didn't find to be the case until we were ready to pay the bill. Where do those waiters go once your credit card is on the table?
Returning home, I have a lot of food memories to comfort me as I pack and move.
Recipe: Champagne cocktail
Recipe: Sex in a Pan, aka Four Layer Pie
This is one of my mother's classic desserts. In addition to the chocolate version, she also make lemon and banana. Often, I would return to school from home with a pan of this to share with friends who thought it was so good they dubbed "sex in a pan." It is very good, but it should be pointed out that most of them were virgins.
Crust, Layer One:
1 cup flour
1 stick butter
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Cut together with knives or a pastry cutter and press into a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown.
Layer Two:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
6-7 oz. Cool Whip
1 cup powdered sugar
In a big, yellow bowl, mix together all three ingredients and spread on top of COOLED crust.
Layer Three:
One large chocolate Jell-O pudding mix, COOLED.
Layer Four:
6-7 ounce Cool Whip.
Chill and garnish with additional chopped pecans, chocolate shavings, etc.
Recipe: Pimento Cheese Spread
This version of the recipe is from Frank Stitt's Southern Table, but you can't go wrong with your own combination of cheddar cheese, mayo (John insists on Miracle Whip, which has a sharper flavor, but its all about preference) and pimentos. The cream cheese in this version is a nice addition.
1 lb. yellow cheddar, grated
1/4 lb. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. white pepper
3 roasted bell peppers from a jar, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup mayo or Miracle Whip
1 tsp. sugar
Splash of hot sauce
1/8 tsp. cayenne
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine. Serve with celery stick or crackers. It also makes a wonderful sandwich filling, especially on toasted bread.
Mangez!