NRA – Chicago – and a Celebrity Chef – what a weekend

We had a great weekend of food, fun, friends and celebration the weekend of May 16th in Chicago. Linda’s hometown is our favorite place to visit – we do often when we can – it is usually a 3 hour drive to downtown. Unfortunately, Friday the 15th was not to be a simple drive – we had rain and hit the wall around O’Hare. Let’s say it was not a wonderful 5 hour excursion but one that was so painfully slow we started to count out of state plates and ended up with 24 states and 2 Canadian provinces by the end of the weekend. But once we made it to our hotel the beautiful downtown Marriott (ugh) we checked-in, had an overpriced cocktail and then made our way to dinner. Did I mention it was raining, yes this is mid May, Chicago, NRA and that spells weird weather – 50’s and wet, not just wet but stormy! I digress, dinner time we had an eight o’clock reservation at C-House, Marcus Samuelsson’s new Chicago seafood and chop house concept in the Affinia Hotel, we arrived on time. I am usually happy and cheerful but when you try to seat us at the worst table in a half full dining room I get a little cranky, the five hours in the car helped I am sure. So we opted to “wait” at the bar – it was like 3 minutes and they sat us at the premier table in the dining room, what a spot. Ok the recovery was swift but then it gets better who pops by the table to greet us and suggest a menu items or two – Marcus himself in town is working the dining room. What impressed me most was that he was authentic, reserved and himself, just a warm and hospitable host! He suggested that we not miss the tuna tacos (mini) and the heirloom tomato salad, cool we made sure to order both and they were spectacular. The service the rest of the meal was wonderful, prompt, informed and oh yes the GM of C-House stopped by as well on two occasions. What started out as a dark and stormy night was turning into an awesome start to our weekend. The menu at C-House is very reasonably priced and has lots of variety with nods to Marcus’s background and Scandinavian style of cooking here is what we ate!

The – C-Bar – menu section that is a sampling section were you select either individual pieces or 3,5, or 7 piece samplers – we went for the 5 piece

Tuna with pine nut and toasted rice vinaigrette – was delicious almost tarter or ceviche in style it was wonderfully rich with meat notes
Octopus with smoked romesco and fennel – sorry to say one of the misses – too over fishy due to the preparation of being cooked confit, oily and unpleasing
Yellow Tail – mini fish tacos served on a bed of dehydrated sweet corn – what an awesome little bite yum!
Cobia – with Kumquat relish, rye toast and juniper – the acid of the relish really balanced the richness of the fish it was wonderful item
Waygu Tartare - chopped with roasted beets, quail egg and pineapple – it was an utter delight and we enjoyed it with gusto

Oysters – with honeydew granite, mignonette and house made cocktail sauce
We had a variety we have never before seen Stingray – it was briny and sweet with a nice plump bite, also we enjoyed a few Sunset Beach oysters, another favorite of ours

We bypassed the entrée selections and shared 3 different appetizers instead because they had greater appeal to us that evening. Here is what we shared

Heirloom Tomato Salad - at Marcus’s recommendation we enjoyed this dish completely – the tomatoes were lush and rip large chunks of brandy wine and ox heart served with a wonderful group of little accompaniments they tasted yummy. The black olive sponge cake was a wonderful surprise

Porchetta – what an amazing dish – a very different approach that was so wonderfully rich that it was complimented by the pickled green beans, pecans and candied fennel that was better with every bite we will have this dish again!

Salmon Pastrami – well this one sounded better than it was with beet, pickled radish and bitter sweet chocolate the dish just did not live up to the rest of the meal

Marcus sent out two sides as complimentary dishes to try – the Pea Tendrils with lemon and sesame fell flat but the Chorizo Mac & Cheese was a wonderful delight we enjoyed it – even Linda liked it and she is not a huge fan of mac & cheese

For Dessert we took the same sampling approach from what they call the Candy Bar our favorite item the sour candied citrus was simply the best way to finish the meal. We also tried the rocky road clusters, pistachio brittle, salted fudge brownie, and a boring vanilla bean cupcake. I would make the sour candied citrus and eat it every day – that is how good it is!

But wait the evening is not over…….we head up to the C-Vue lounge on the 29th floor for an after dinner drink – a small high end lounge with outdoor terrace that has the most wonderful views – tonight a lighting show from the storms moving in off the lake. Service was very good again but what a great space to drink and have a wonderful conversation and we did.

From here we headed out into the night to a private party at Buddy’s Guys to hear emerging legend Ronnie Baker Brooks rock the house with awesome Chicago blues. We played into the wee hours and had a wonderful Friday night in our favorite town, Chicago!

Korean BBQ it is HOT HOT HOT!

Here is the second recipe we created for the Value Cuts Summit in Austin. Just know that this is a spicy one, but not as hot as the proto-type. While developing this one Linda said it might be a little too hot for the average consumer. And after eating three tacos during development she was absolutely on the mark, it took a couple of hours for my tongue to cool off! So give these a try when you want to spice up your dinner – these can be either wok cooked or on the grill for even better smoky flavor. Happy eating




Korean BBQ Beef Tacos servings: 4


1 lb Delmonico cut steaks
12 each Tortillas, flour or white corn

Marinade
1/2 cup Korean soy sauce
4 cloves Garlic, minced
2 T Fresh ginger, grated
¼ c Brown sugar
2T Toasted Sesame oil
1 t Black pepper, fresh ground

Kimchi Slaw
1/2 c Romaine, shredded
1/2 c Napa cabbage, shredded
1/2 Cucumber, peeled & seeded, julienne
1/4 Red onion, shaved
1 Carrot, julienne
1/2 Red pepper, julienne
¼ c Cilantro, chopped
2 Green onions, sliced

Slaw Dressing
1/4c Lime juice, fresh
1/4c Rice wine vinegar
2 t Red chili paste
2 t Sugar
1/2 t Red pepper flakes

Red Pepper and Sesame Hot Sauce
3T Red pepper paste
3 t Sesame oil
3 t Brown sugar
2 T Rice wine vinegar

Preparation:

Take the chilled Delmonico steaks and slice into ¼” slabs. Place in a container for marinating.

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for the marinade, pour over the Delmonico pieces, coating well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.

In a large mixing bowl add all the Kimchi slaw ingredients and refrigerate until ready to dress.

In a separate bowl, combine the ingredients for slaw dressing and mix well with a wire whip. Add to the slaw ingredients and toss to combine. Refrigerate until needed.

In a separate bowl, combine the ingredients for the red pepper and sesame hot sauce; mix well with a wire whip. Transfer to a squeeze bottle.

Grill the marinated Delmonico slices over medium high heat until medium degree of doneness. Set aside to rest. When ready, slice into smaller strips.

Heat the tortillas and wrap in a towel to keep warm.

Assemble the tacos as follows:

Place a warm tortilla on a plate
Add approximately 3 ounces of Delmonico steak strips
Top with a generous portion of Kimchi Slaw
Drizzle the Red Pepper and Sesame Hot sauce over the slaw
Serve immediately

New Cuts of Beef - it is what's for dinner!

We just got back from Austin last week where we did a demo for the value cuts summit put on by Plate and Meatingplace magazines. We had a wonderful time at the Texas Culinary Academy a state of the art culinary school with 600 students. I created 2 recipes for the event using new cuts of beef from the National Cattleman’s Beef Association. We had a lot of fun and I wanted share these new recipes with you. All of the new cuts are becoming available in your local supermarkets. Give these a whirl when you get a chance – I will post the other one later this week.

Coffee Crusted Denver Steak with Spring Hash

Coffee Rub Marinade for 3 pounds of meat

1/8 c Instant coffee
1 T Kosher salt
1 T Brown sugar
2 t Cumin, ground
1 t Black pepper
¼ t Onion powder
¼ t Garlic powder
1/8 c Olive oil

Prepare Marinade:

1. Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Add Olive oil; mix completely.
3. Rub on Denver Cut steaks and marinate, refrigerated, for at least 8 hours.

Cooking:

1. Remove Denver Cut steaks from marinade.
2. Place marinated steak on a medium high grill or in a cast iron skillet; cook for 4 minutes. Turn and cook for additional 4 minutes to Medium Rare with a nice crust on both sides.
3. Remove from heat; allow to rest for a couple of minutes before slicing.
4. Slice the Denver Cut steak on the bias into 6 or 7 slices.
5. Fan slices around a portion of Spring Hash.
6. Sauce plate and lower half of the sliced Denver Steak with Red-eye Chipotle Glaze



Spring Hash servings 4

2 c Asparagus, cut 1” pieces, blanched
1 1/2 c Fingerling potatoes, diced, blanched
1 c Shitake mushrooms, sliced
1 clove Garlic, minced
¼ c Red onion, diced
1 bunch Ramps, sliced
2 sprigs Thyme
2 T Olive oil
To taste Salt & Pepper

Preparation:

In a sauté pan over medium high heat add the olive oil, onion, ramps, garlic and thyme, sauté until just tender.
Add asparagus, mushrooms and potatoes to pan; toss while sautéing.
Cook until everything is heated through, adjust seasoning.
Set aside and keep warm until needed for service.




Red-eye Chipotle Glaze

1/3 c Corn syrup
2 T Worcestershire sauce
2 T Ketchup
1 t Instant coffee
2 t Brown sugar
1 T Tabasco Chipotle sauce
3 T Butter, cold
To taste Salt & Pepper

Preparation:

In a sauce pan combine all ingredients except the butter and bring to a low simmer - stirring well.
Remove from the heat and add the butter by whisking in one piece at a time.
Adjust seasoning and reserve in a warm place until needed.


© Doak & Krantz 2009