We had our first false spring last week, only to have the weather turn cold again on the eve of Chicago’s mayoral election. I’m sure by the time the new mayor takes office, he’ll have us on the road to a prolonged thaw. Rahm won’t officially take office until May, but he is liable […]
When I was a kid, the go-to tomato soup was a can of Campbell’s. We’d slop the contents into a pot, fill the empty can with water, add it to the pot and heat. Okay, I didn’t do any of that. My mom did. She’d also make us grilled cheese sandwiches on the broiler while […]
I saw a cabbage in the store today. Sorry if that sounds like a bad Emily Dickinson parody. That’s just how this week’s soup got started. I began with a head of red cabbage and proceeded to free associate. It wasn’t the most direct route to a wonderful entrée, but c’est la vie. Actually das […]
I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to do my taxes yet. I’ve got the Turbo Tax software sitting on my desk along with a Ziploc back full of receipts. I’ve written a check to the state and the feds in case I somehow under withheld, but I’m just not quite in the […]
I went back to Caputo’s this week. It had been several months since I’d been to the Chicago-land grocery chain in part because I had found inspiration elsewhere. But with the change of season, I figured it was time to see what fresh offerings my favorite produce market had to offer. I had visions of […]
If something works for me, I stick with it, even if it sometimes seems a little weird. Earlier in this culinary adventure I turned one of my favorite salads, the Caprese (visit post)—a traditional Italian dish consisting of tomatoes, basil and mozzarella cheese—into a soup. It turned out great. This time, with spring officially upon […]
As my wife was reading through past editions of this blog, the ones she hadn’t quite gotten around to reading, (You too? Not to worry. I don’t read them all either.) she stumbled on a recurring theme: My children are not all that fond of my creations. I am sure that if my eight- and […]
In the past few months, I’ve produced Charlie Trotter’s (or was it Thomas Keller’s) Acorn Squash soup three times. That’s in addition to the indie soups I’ve made for the blog every week. I cooked it twice playing sous chef for the Italian wine dinner my wife and I worked on and once as an […]
When I started this week’s soup, I had no idea I was headed to the Middle East. It started with some cuts of pork and a few Honeycrisp apples. Nothing more American than that, right? Then I stumbled into the cooking process and the soup went all Moroccan on me. Now, before some of you […]
