What it is: Butternut squash, a flavorful variety of Cucurbita moschata, is an edible gourd related to pumpkins and zucchini. A hard-shelled winter-storage squash, the butternut has a tan exterior, a long bulbous shape, and an orange flesh. Its sweet, nutty flavor is similar to pumpkin, for which it makes a fine substitute once Halloween [...]
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Holiday cooking and entertaining season has come upon us. If you’re looking for new ideas for your own holiday parties or dishes to take along to friends’, try these terrific recipes from Chicago chefs. Lillie’s Q, Wicker Park, pimento cheese, a Southern party spread. Shokran, Irving Park, zaalouk, Moroccan eggplant spread. Rhapsody, Loop, arancini, Italian [...] North Side, South Side or in the Chicago suburbs, you don’t have to cook your own Thanksgiving dinner. Chicagoland restaurants offer bountiful holiday feasts. Call for hours and menu details. Reservations are highly recommended if not required everywhere. Many restaurants also offer complete Thanksgiving dinners for carry out — several days’ notice is typically required. [...] Cooking season is here. Time to tune up your cooking skills. These Chicago restaurants want to help you gear up for the holidays with culinary classes. Flip Crepes at the Chicago French Market in the West Loop team demos the art of the French crepe in a “Sweet and Savory Couples Crepe Class” at 10 [...] What it is: A member of the cabbage family, bok choy or pak choi (Brassica chinensis), sometimes called “white cabbage” or “Chinese cabbage,” is a crisp, stalky vegetable that typically has long white stems and crinkled green leaves and mild flavor. It’s common to several Asian cuisines but rarely seen in Western cooking. Both leaves [...] Just the thing to warm up with on cool fall nights: Gnocchi al pomodoro, comforting little pillows of pasta, coated with tomato sauce, basil and parmesan, $14 at Il Poggiolo in Hinsdale. What it is: Sweet corn, sometimes called “maize” (Zea mays) is a distinctive fresh grain picked at an immature stage to be eaten as a vegetable, with tight rows of kernels grown on long cobs under a wrapping of green leaves. Technically, it’s a type of grass. Varieties include su (“normal sugary”), sh2 (“shrunken-2″ or [...] The queens of Chicago vegetarian cuisine, Karyn Calabrese, owner of Karyn’s Fresh Corner in Lincoln Park and Karyn’s Cooked in River North, and vegan columnist Kay Stepkin, former owner of Chicago’s first vegetarian restaurant, launch a series of raw and cooked vegan food preparation classes in Calabrese’s new state of the art studio kitchen. Students [...] What it is: Prunus persica, a sweet, luscious, juicy stone fruit with a slightly fuzzy skin, is a delight of summer. Where it comes from: Peaches originated in China, where they were cultivated at least as far back as the 10th century B.C. Alexander the Great is said to have introduced them to Europe, and [...] What it is: An underrated root vegetable, fresh beets come in a colorful spectrum of jewel tones ranging from the familiar deep purple-red to pink to the distinctive candy-striped ‘Chioggia,’ as well as shades of orange and yellow. The variants taste much the same as the red ones, sweet and a little earthy. Chef Scott [...] |
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