Roasted Pork

On the near west side of Chicago, every Czech-Bohemian restaurant has their own version of this dish. They’re all based on some mom’s Sunday Dinner recipe. This kicked up version offers similar tastes to satisfy the “comfort food” region of our brains, while entertaining the other definition of Bohemian – the different thinker in us all.

Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage

We don’t eat enough purple food! Just seeing this side dish is enough to make you smile – it’s just so… so purple! This isn’t a kind of Kraut, sour or otherwise. Of course you could make Sour Kraut with Red Cabbage, but then it would be Red Sour Kraut. While Kraut has a snap or least a bit of a crunch, all of the vegetables and fruit in this dish are just barely recognizable. I like to layer flavors here; just pay attention to any cooking show on television – it’s a big deal, and really works to add dimension to foods, but there’s no layering here. All of the individual ingredients have given up their distinctive tastes for the good of the dish.

Houskove Knedliky (Bohemian Dumplings)

This is a traditional accompaniment to Roast Pork served every day at most Czechoslovakian restaurants in Chicago. Frankly, the quality of the dumpling is how we determine whether or not we’ll be returning to the restaurant! 

They’re not fluffy like the dumplings Grandma made in her Chicken & Dumplings, but they’re not like Spaetzel, those little chunks of Bavarian dough noodles. In fact, when you see these for the first time your impression will likely be that someone put slices of bread and gravy on your plate.

Gringo Coquito

Coquito is a coconut flavored drink that originated in Puerto Rico. It’s similar to Egg Nog and is most often served during the Christmas holiday season. I offer many thanks to my long-time friend Jeff Harpell, a world traveler and fellow food lover now living in Spain, for sharing this holiday tradition. What a wonderful basis for a twenty-year friendship – food!

Beef Wellington with Cumberland Sauce

My introduction to Beef Wellington came from a friend in Chicago with whom I had the pleasure to cook and cater some wonderful dinners, all the while studying Psychology. While I did not become a Psychologist, I am still cooking.

Nancy had convinced her friend Chef Louis to give her his prized Beef Wellington recipe by trading some or her own creations and then allowing me to assist in its preparation. I never did see the actual recipe – at the Chef’s insistence! Talk about a closely guarded secret!

Merry Christmas!

 Image courtesy of Grant Cochrane/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Wishing all a very 

Merry Christmas 

and a 

Healthy New Year 

filled with 

Good Fortune 

and Good Food!

                                                                                                       

No Holds Barred Mac ‘n’ Cheeses

We all know that Macaroni and Cheese is traditionally made with Elbow shaped pasta, but when you order it at your favorite gastro-pub it’s probably made with some other more trendy shape. There’s nothing really wrong with that, but don’t you secretly wish for at least some nod to convention? They, and we here, have already presented you with a dish as far removed from the little blue box of neon yellow cheesiness as can be. But why eradicate the last semblance of comfort from this, the quintessential comfort food?

Let’s stand up and demand our Elbow Macaroni, but no tantrums please and do remember to keep your elbows off the table!