Yummy Bites

americastestkitchen:

8 Summer Drinks to Sip Now: You’re on a porch in the sun, you’re surrounded by good company, and you’re sipping a cool drink. While we can’t provide the first two items in that delightful summer scene, The New York Times has published a few recipes for summer drinks that will complete the libation portion of the equation. The White Wine Mojito, Sherry Cobbler, and Bellini—to name just a few—look refreshing and perfect for a spell outdoors.

Wow, what a week!  I’ve had the absolute pleasure of meeting a few new VERY cute people in my life.  My friend Amy had baby Milo Jonah 2 weeks ago and my friend Naomi had baby Reese Lily this past Sunday.  They are both beautiful and wonderful and I couldn’t be happier to know them.  In honor of the new little ones, here are a few recipes for some baby things… baby potatoes, baby artichokes, and baby spinach to be exact.  And I threw in Dutch babies, too because those are just delicious.

Baby spinach, green apple, and warm goat cheese salad:

http://myeasygourmet.net/2013/05/15/baby-spinach-green-apple-and-warm-goat-cheese-salad/

Roasted baby potatoes with soy sauce:

http://disturbinglydelicious.ro/en/cartofi-noi-la-cuptor-cu-sos-de-soia/

How to prepare baby artichokes:

http://www.jillhough.com/2013/05/how-to-prep-baby-artichokes/

Mini Dutch baby pancakes with strawberry compote:

http://www.mykitchensnippets.com/2013/05/mini-dutch-baby-pancakes-with.html

Congratulations to all the lovely growing little families!

It’s been about a month since our trip so it’s about time I post about our Stephanie Izard tour in Chicago. I am a huge fan of the Top Chef winner and was so excited to try her restaurant Girl and the Goat. We made our reservations 8 weeks in advance and 10:15pm was still the earliest we could get at this very busy spot. So, naturally, we decided to have brunch at her newer restaurant, a diner style joint across the street called Little Goat (she likes goat)!

One of the best parts of our goat-centric day? We had to wait about an hour to get into Little Goat, but luckily the weather was gorgeous and we spent our time walking around the neighborhood. And then when we sat down and ordered a ridiculous amount of food, the server must have liked us because he sent us over these free goat chili nachos: Absolutely amazing. Homemade chips. Pickled red onion. Goat chili… a great start to our food coma day.  Also, getting free food is just really awesome.

Slip had the bulls eye French toast— French toast with an egg in the middle, fried chicken and syrup on top, and some kumquats as garnish. Talk about flavor combination perfection.

I had the corned beef hash— perfectly poached eggs over crisp, flavorful corned beef and equally crispy hash browns. I might be drooling thinking of this…

ZK had the unique breakfast spaghetti with clams and crab, which was crunchy from being tossed on the flat top before making its way to his plate:

And Allison had the equally unique parathas breakfast burrito— an Indian flatbread wrapped around eggs, an avocado bean salad, pepper sauce, and cheese:

We also shared some really tasty bacon, cheesy hash browns, and cheese grits, just for good measure.

After a long day of walking and exploring the city, we headed back to Allison and ZK’s to relax before our much anticipated dinner at Girl and the Goat.  No, our 10:15pm table was not ready when we arrived— the place was still packed!  We enjoyed some cocktails before being seated at a long communal style table, adjacent to another group, and I got to face the kitchen watching the chefs prepare all the small plates.  I love seeing the chefs buzz about in an open kitchen, grilling, chopping, saucing, and plating. The atmosphere was friendly and with the help of our upbeat server and Allison’s expertise, we ordered about 9 small-ish plates to share from their menu that is split into 4 parts— veg, fish, meat, and goat.  It was dimly lit and I was enjoying the company too much to take many pictures, but a few highlights included…

The goat empanadas:

I was told by a friend to order any and everything goat. This did not disappoint— a buttery, flaky crust filled with juicy goat meat on goat cheese and roasted tomato sauce.

And the questionably named “Pig Face”:

No actual face in here— this is more like breakfast on a small plate— some pork belly, crispy potatoes, and a sunny side up egg on top of some artistically drizzled sauces to make breakfast in one bite.  As I ate this one I thought about what the Top Chef judges would say— was there too much going on on this plate, or was it creative genius?  Personally I loved it.  Other favorites were the sugo and the chickpea dish.  

Overall I’d say I’m happy we went Stephanie Izard all the way— it was wonderful to do tastings at these highly touted restaurants.  There are so many phenomenal restaurants to try in Chicago and I can’t wait to go back and try some more!