Charlie Trotter's Kitchen

I'm so fortunate. Last Saturday I was The Guest Chef for the Day at Charlie Trotter's Restaurant in Chicago - a unique opportunity to participate in the creation of Charlie's world class cuisine. The weekend before, the restaurant celebrated its 21st anniversary. This prestigious restaurant is dedicated to excellence in the culinary arts and I was absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to be a part of the team for the day.

I arrived at 2 PM. The plan was to work in his innovative and progressive kitchen until 9 PM then change out of my chef's whites and join my family and friends in the dining room for dinner.

The Family Meal: The staff and I enjoyed this delicious fish stew, paprika potatoes, fresh Illinois corn and salad before the shift.

Ready to get cooking, but wait, I am first offered a glass of Champagne...they're spoiling me! Pierre Peters Brut Blanc de Blancs, Grand Cru

I'm hoping I can give you a sense of the experience by sharing photographs of the kitchen and some of the finished plates.

The Busy, Dedicated Staff

Garde Manger: the station where cold dishes are prepared.

Chilled Snow Lake Trout with Smoked Salmon Roe

Sorrel & California Crayfish

Pickled Baby Radish with Chives
Charlie Trotter is clearly passionate about vegetables.

Building the Dish:

Michigan Heirloom Tomatoes with Fava Beans

Basil Seeds & Chervil

Italian Summer Truffle :)

Ossau Iraty with Truffle

Ossau Iraty cheese from the French Pyrenées is aged for a minimum of ninety days;  its fragrance is reminiscent of toasted hazelnuts, and it tastes of the sweet, buttery flavors from superior sheep's milk.

Braised Short Ribs are Grilled...

Plated...

Served:

Forty Eight Hour Braised Short Rib

with Chive Blossoms & Fermented Black Garlic

Angelica Ice Cream is made with angelica herb from the restaurant's abundant garden.

Michigan Raspberries & Blackberries 

with Angelica Ice Cream & Angle Food Tuile

I am so grateful to the entire staff at Charlie Trotter's. Everyone was extremely accommodating, friendly, and professional. And to top it all off, my family, friends, and I enjoyed a fabulous dinner later that night.

Thank you everyone for a most extraordinary and memorable day.

Mignardise: small sweet bites served at the end of a meal...

A sweet experience indeed!

Polish Sausage Chicago Style

Polish Sausage with the Works at Hot Doug's

“There are no two finer words in the English language than,

‘encased meats,’ my friend.”

-Secret Robbie

Everyone's got their favorite dog. People who rarely eat hot dogs will cheerfully order up when in Chicago. When I'm in town, my all-time favorite remains the one I've been eating for decades: The Chicago Style Polish Sausage with the Works. It is a hickory-smoked mildly spicy beef sausage with all the condiments. Even as a kid, I chose the polish over the hot dog on our regular trips to Fluky's, another famous hot dog stand that's been around since 1929. These days, no one does encased meats better than Doug Sohn, owner of Hot Doug's.

Pictured above is: The Elvis

Polish Sausage: Smoked and Savory - just like the King.

$2.50

The polish, served in a steamed poppy seed bun and dressed with all the traditional Chicago-style condiments:

• Yellow Mustard
  
• Caramelized Onions
  
• Bright Green Sweet Relish (also called Piccalilli)
  
• Tomatoes
  
• Pickle
  
• Celery Salt
  
• Sport Peppers (optional)

Doug is my hero. In addition to the excellent standard fare, he also offers duck fat fries (only on weekends) and gourmet sausages including Game of the Week, this particular week: Merlot and Blueberry Venison Sausage with Pomegranate-Blueberry Mustard Cream and Finnish Lappi Cheese, oh my!

And other specials such as the one pictured above which I enjoyed on my last visit:

The Celebrity Sausage

Robert Goulet

Uber Garlic Pork Sausage

Chipotle Dijonnaise

Menage Cheese

Roasted Garlic Cloves

$7.00

My nephew, Stone, prefers his hot dog with ketchup only.

How do you like yours?

Hot Doug’s

The Sausage Superstore and Encased Meat Emporium

3324 N. California Ave.

Chicago, IL 60618

Phone (773) 279-9550

Hours 10:30 AM - 4 PM

Stone and I recommend that when you visit Chicago, don't miss out on a trip to Hot Doug's for lunch, and be prepared to wait for your excellent encased meat, as the line is usually out the door!

Spinach Salad, Warm Bacon Pecan Vinaigrette

Fresh Baby Spinach

Warm Bacon, Pecan, Red Onion Vinaigrette

Crumbled Blue Cheese

Sauté chopped bacon in a good dose of olive oil until halfway cooked. Then add sliced red onion cook until onions are translucent. Add a big splash of rice wine vinegar and turn up the heat. Stir in pecans and warm through. Season with salt and fresh ground pepper. Toss the warm vinaigrette with baby spinach, finish with crumbled blue cheese.

The inspiration for this dish came from one I posted back in January from Chef Michael Shafer. We held our holiday party at his restaurant The Depot in December, and one component of the party was a cooking demonstration. Chef Shafer prepared this course for us, then gave everyone a copy of his recipe to take home. His Wilted Baby Spinach with Dates, Bacon and Mushrooms was a big hit! The precise recipe is posted here.

White Miso Soup

Shiro Miso Soup

Tofu, Edamame, Nori

Scallion Garnish

I love to make soup...

• Chicken Soup with Fresh Herbs and Matzoh Balls
• Pho Bo
  
• Cauliflower Soup with Roasted Brussels Sprouts
  
• Roasted Turkey Barley Soup
  
• Minestrone
  
• Udon Noodle Soup with Beef and Shiitake 
  

...just to name a few. It's funny to think that I have enjoyed many a bowl of miso soup in Japanese restaurants over the years, yet I never thought to prepare it at home. The soup is wonderful. It takes only minutes to prepare, it is light, yet simultaneously hearty and satisfying with intriguing complex flavors.

Simmer a piece of dried kelp (kombu) in four cups of water. Remove the kelp before the water boils.

Add dried bonito flakes (katsuo bushi). Simmer for a few minutes, then pour through a sieve to strain out the bonito flakes. This is now the soup stock (dashi).

Add frozen shelled edamame to the stock. Bring the stock up to just below boiling then add cubed firm tofu and strips of roasted seaweed (nori). Simmer for 5 minutes. Dissolve 4 T. of Shiro Miso in an equal amount of water. Pour the miso into the stock.

Turn off the heat. Stir gently. Serve.

Triple Legume Love:

• Miso -  fermented soybean paste
  
• Tofu - soybean curd
  
• Edamame - boiled green soybean

I am submitting this miso soup along with its heart-shaped nori to Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook, for her Legume Love Affair event. This event features recipes that showcase the legume as the central ingredient. 

Cedar Plank Salmon

Fresh Wild Sockeye Salmon

Grilled on a Cedar Plank

Brown Sugar Mustard Rub

Soak the cedar plank in water for a minimum of 2 hours. You will need something heavy to weigh down the plank to keep it submerged. Fire up the grill, heat the smooth side of the plank directly over the flame. Turn the plank over and brush olive oil on the smooth side. Place the fish, skin side down, directly on the hot plank.

I prepared this fish first by mixing olive oil with a squeeze of lemon juice and rubbing that on the fish, then seasoning with salt and pepper.

When the plank was ready, I placed the fish on the plank and coated it with a mix of course-ground Dijon mustard and brown sugar. 

Grill on high heat, close the lid and cook to desired doneness. This fillet took about 15 minutes. You need to keep on eye on the grill as the cedar can catch fire, if it does, douse with some water. I had soaked the plank for about 3 1/2 hours and it did not catch fire. I did turn down the heat directly under the plank however.

Using a long-handled spatula, lift the plank off the grill and place it on a heat-proof platter. Serve the fish directly from the plank.

You can visit my new blogger friend, Fishmonger Ran, at Don't Fear Fish for more details on Cedar Plank Cooking.

Great presentation! Wonderful cedar-y aromatics! The fish is subtly imparted with the true deep flavors of the wood. Can't wait to try this method with other fish, meat, and vegetables!

My Julia Child Floribunda Roses

August 15 is Julia Child's birthday. In celebration, Lisa of Champaign Taste blog has hosted the Third Annual Julia Child Birthday Event. Please visit Champaign Taste to watch Julia make an omelette on The French Chef (oh, the memories) and to see the delicious ways other bloggers celebrated Julia's birthday. Thanks again, Lisa!

Petits Pots de Crème

Chocolate Orange Pots de Crème

The term "Petits Pots de Crème" refers both to a soft baked custard and to the small ceramic pots, often with lids, that they are baked in. These adorable authentic petits pots are made in France. They belonged to my grandmother-in-law, Evelyn Dawn. 

To continue our Celebration of Julia Child during her birthday week, we made her chocolate pots de crème recipe for dessert.

Evelyn and Julia hailed from the same town. Both were born in Pasadena, California, Evelyn in 1907 and Julia in 1912. I never heard Evelyn mention that their paths had ever crossed. But she did get a kick out of telling us that a boy named Marion Morrison asked her to the high school prom and she turned him down. He eventually became an actor and changed his name to John Wayne. Both ladies were nonagenarians. Julia passed away two days before her 92nd birthday, and Evelyn passed away just 8 days after her 93rd birthday.

We made this dessert in honor of Evelyn and Julia. The recipe comes from Julia & Jacques Cooking at Home.

We used 4 oz. unsweetened Ghirardelli chocolate and added the optional orange zest and coffee as Julia suggested.

Two cups of heavy cream with orange zest and instant coffee are heated to a simmer then steeped 5 minutes off the heat.

Four egg yolks are whisked with 1/3 c. sugar until the yolks are pale and thick.  Then the hot cream is slowly stirred into the egg mixture.

The custard is then poured through a sieve, (which removes the orange zest and any coagulated bits of egg) into a bowl with broken chocolate pieces. It is stirred to melt the chocolate and 1 1/2 t. vanilla extract is added.

The petits pots are filled with the chocolate mixture, then placed in a baking pan with hot water about half way up the pots. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. Cool briefly then refrigerate to chill thoroughly.

Thank you Julia, for the delicious recipe and inspiration, and thank you Evelyn for the darling petits pots.

Grilled Swordfish, Homemade Mayonnaise

"Mayonnaise is one of the finest and most important sauces in classic cuisine. The shame is that few of us ever taste the kind of fresh handmade mayonnaise that deserves such culinary status - and even dedicated home cooks don't realize that making their own is a simple process that takes only minutes and, if you use a food processor, almost no effort at all, " Julia Child.

The Julia Child birthday tribute continues. This time with her homemade mayonnaise recipe. 

Julia's Mayonnaise in the Food Processor

• 2 egg yolks
  
• 1 whole egg
  
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed, plus more if needed
  
• 1 teaspoon Dijon-style prepared mustard
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• Big pinch freshly ground white pepper
  
• Up to 2 cups vegetable oil or pure olive oil (all one or a mixture)
  

Put the egg yolks, egg, lemon juice, mustard, salt, and white pepper in the work bowl of the food processor; process for 10 seconds or more, until creamy.

With the food processor running continuously, pour in the oil very slowly in driblets at first, to start the emulsion process. When the sauce has definitely thickened, you may add the oil in a thin stream. Do not stop the machine at this point, but cease pouring every few seconds to be sure the oil is being absorbed. Then continue until the remaining 1 1/2 cups of oil are incorporated. Stop the machine and check the mayonnaise for taste and consistency. Adjust the seasonings.

To learn more about mayonnaise and the very interesting chemistry of many other sauces, please visit my blogger friend, YannChef at Food Lorists.

Rub the fresh swordfish with mayonnaise, fresh ground pepper, and kosher salt. Grill over medium-high heat.

Serve grilled swordfish over a smear of mayonnaise and garnish with herbs: Italian Basil, Purple Basil, Chives, Parsley, Thyme, Dill, Mint. 

Moist, pretty, simple, delicious...

Thanks again, JC!