Windy City Cooking: Week 21

(Ed.'s Note- Every Monday, Chicago's Jason Hissong writes Windy City Cooking, a column whose title says it all, and which this week turns legal drinking age. Enjoy! -Max)

Food Traditions: Christmas
by Jason Hissong
28 December 2009

I rest my head against the tiny window of the Boeing 737 that will take me from St. Louis to Chicago in 38 minutes. I'm anxious. I've never traveled on a plane during snow, or winter conditions, really. The captain dings the intercom on to inform us that we're going to be delayed because the plane needs to de-ice. It's a small comfort. I close my eyes and try to sleep, and as I try to sleep I can't stop thinking about our family's food traditions during the holidays. And, more importantly, how they're changing.

Panama City Cooking: Patacones

[Editor's Note: Please give an extra-warm welcome to Juan Duque and his new monthly column, Panama City Cooking! -Max]



Panama City Cooking 01: Patacones
December 23rd, 2009
by Juan Duque

They say Panama is the heart of the universe, the crossroads of the Americas, and even the bridge of the world. You can definitely see that reflected in our food, since you’ll be able to find dishes with heavy influences from pretty much anywhere around the world. Our geographical position is a big part of why this has happened, with the Panama Canal being the main reason we’re basically a huge melting pot of cultures when it comes to food.

Windy City Cooking: Week 20

(Ed.'s Note- Every Monday, Chicago's Jason Hissong writes Windy City Cooking, a column whose title says it all. Enjoy! -Max)

Evolver
by Jason Hissong
21 December 2009

'Tis the season.

I've had three culinary events this week which evolve previous topics I've written about. This is the nature of cooking, writing, and, life. As we march forward through time things shift, understandings change, ideas and meanings more lucid.

Chicken Souvlaki

Growing up in Buffalo, NY, there were a lot of cool little Greek places in our neighborhood, and my go-to meal was usually chicken souvlaki. I loved picking up the chicken, tearing off a piece of pita, spooning on a little tzatziki, and going to town. There's just something fun about the process--it makes the resultant bite just that much more delicious. If Sisyphus got a bite of souvlaki every time he completed his Herculean task, he'd probably be way happier. (Because, you know, rolling a rock up and down a hill for eternity is definitely comparable to the hard work of assembling a good bite of souvlaki.)

Windy City Cooking: Week 19

(Ed.'s Note- Every Monday, Chicago's Jason Hissong writes Windy City Cooking, a column whose title says it all. Enjoy! -Max)

Enemy Self
by Jason Hissong
14 December 2009

I'm sick.

I'm not physically ill. I haven't come down with H1N1 or that ubiquitous winter cough. I don't have any virus or disease, that I'm aware.

I'm sick of myself.

Why?

Apple-Parmesan Breakfast Pizza

Today's post is just a simple, basic breakfast pizza you can whip up with relative ease on a weekend morning. The only somewhat more complex ingredient is the homemade pastry dough, but even that's not too bad. You can find step-by-step instructions for making your own pastry dough in this post. This recipe is pretty simple, and involves fewer than ten ingredients, including those necessary to make the pastry dough, so it really relies on fresh, good quality apples and Parmesan. You can use whichever apples you like--I personally prefer Granny Smith for desserts. Oh, and if you don't have Parmesan on hand, a super-sharp Cheddar (Cabot's sharp Cheddars are my personal favorite) would make for a great substitute.

Whole Striped Bass Roasted in Salt

A couple of notes to kick off tonight's post: first, on behalf of Jason and myself, sorry about the lack of a Windy City Cooking edition this week. Jason will be back with another edition next Monday, so please stay tuned for that. Secondly, today's post contains pictures of whole dead fish, to be blunt, so if that wigs you out you're probably best off skipping this one. Tomorrow's post will be a nice breakfast pizza, no dead fish, I promise, so if you're skipping this one, I'll see you tomorrow and we can share a slice. Sound good? Okay, onto the aforementioned fish, which serves as the basis for our Whole Striped Bass Roasted in Salt.

Herring-Apple Salad

What do you usually make for lunch? According to Healthy Tuna.com, 88% of Americans eat tuna, with 83% of those tuna fans having it for lunch. How many eat herring? A measly .0017%! No, I'm kidding, I couldn't find that statistic. But tuna is great, and herring is pretty good, too. I'd say they're my two preferred canned seafoods. This recipe, from What's Cooking America, represents a nice change of pace from your typical canned tuna. It's probably the least time-intensive recipe on the site, but it's pretty delicious and the apple provides it a really nice crunch. It's great with crackers, or on little toast rounds, maybe some petit toasts if you've got those around.

Windy City Cooking: Week 18

(Ed.'s Note- Every Monday, Chicago's Jason Hissong writes Windy City Cooking, a column whose title says it all. Enjoy! -Max)

Giving Thanks: The Harvest
by Jason Hissong
30 November 2009

I'm sitting shotgun in our rented Jeep Wrangler. Jonathan's driving down I-70 towards Indianapolis, where we'll switch to I-65 which will deliver us back to Chicago. We're listening to the Garden State soundtrack as the miles tick by. It's calm, and collected, and it just seems appropriate as we travel home. We haven't spoken much on this trip. There's no need.

Pecan Pie

Armed with our homemade pastry dough, there are a zillion possibilities in front of us (give or take). One recipe I really wanted to test out with this pastry dough was a pecan pie, something I'd never made before but always struck me as pretty involved. As it turns out, it's a little time-consuming to prepare, but not too complicated at all. So, let's check out how to make a classic pecan pie.