Chicago vs. Minneapolis/St. Paul

Well, I have decided to move to Chicago in search of more opportunities and change of scenery. It has been quite challenging on many levels, but feel it is a good decision. While in search of new jobs and apartments, I have discovered a plethora of eating establishments. There are foods from just about every type of cuisine with the addition of Chicago's hot dogs, of course. Hot Doug's is one the more famous local hot dog eateries that I have yet to enjoy. Just about everyday I see people stand in long lines outside, even in the windy, cold weather, waiting for their fill. I was not sure what to think at first, but then I discovered on-line that it was part of the Slow Food Chicago movement (http://www.slowfoodchicago.org). This website is now my go-to page to find participating restaurants. Another restaurant making the list was Green Zebra. My friend Niki, former Sous Chef of Corner Table, and I decided to eat there a couple days ago to indulge in a complete vegetarian affair with fresh burrata topped with crispy lentils, butternut dumplings, mushroom bread pudding and poached egg over smoked applewood mashed potatoes. Yummmmmy. The food was absolutely delightful. Several people had told me beforehand that it is quite possibly the best vegetarian restaurant in Chicago. I guess I will have to eat my way through Chicago and decide for myself.

After my experience at Green Zebra, I could not help but compare the restaurant/food scene of Chicago to Minneapolis/ St. Paul.* The two cities have quite the food scenes going on, each with different high/low lights, thus it is difficult to say which has better food. One thing I do like more about Minnesota and the Twin Cities is the local food movement. I do not have exact stats on how many and how much food the restaurants source locally, but due to the larger number of farms in Minnesota, it would seem more likely. If you think back to a post I wrote a while back on what local means, I mentioned the term 'local' has various definitions depending on who you converse with. Therefore, I must clarify what I mean when I speak about local foods; I believe local foods should refer to the mileage, the distance the food traveled from growth to consumption within a 100-200 mile radius. Most Chicago menus and websites I have browsed print 'local' when they source mostly from Wisconsin, Iowa and Ohio. Yet, there are a fair amount of farms in Illinois, especially in the growth of various berries, asparagus, squash and dairy production, much like MN. Perhaps I have it all wrong; I would love to be proven otherwise that Illinois is well on it's way to providing local foods to local restaurants.

*I guess I should also mention that I had the fortune of eating at the only two 3 star Michelin restaurants in Chicago, Alinea and L2O, since this plays a vital role in comparisons between the cities.

Here are some quick notes on comparing the two foodie destinations:

Twin Cities:

Fewer restaurants (obviously) with less variety

Less creativity, all the food seems alike

Cheaper prices

Ingredients travel a shorter distance in terms of 'local' eating

Easy to go out, [free] parking is available

More country style comfort foods

Quieter

Less busy overall

Chicago:

More restaurants with more variety

Menus differ between restaurants with more creativity

Expensive to eat out

Heaps of community style restaurants

Adventurous eaters, here's your city

Restaurants here have a longer history

Michelin Restaurants: for food and entertainment (might have to explain that in another post)

No parking, unless you want to pay an arm and a leg [taxi]

Of course, these are my observations and options....to each their own.

Tchau tchau for now foodies.

Adapting to the Midwest

It was not long ago when I sat on Lopes Mendes beach, soaking up sunny, 100 degree weather in beautiful Brazil. Often I think of my travels and reminisce on such days when the weather here in Minnesota becomes cold and gray. Thus, to bring the warmth back, I prepared one of my favorite comfort foods. Yesterday I made Split Pea Soup with all natural organic ham from Beeler's Farm in Northwestern Iowa. In my opinion, it is best to make several quarts at once and freeze the bulk for another rainy day, but in small portions. The recipe below makes about 1.75-2 gallons depending on your desired consistency.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced

1/2 medium yellow onion [kept whole]

5 small/medium carrots, diced

4 celery stalks, diced

14 cloves roasted garlic

4 cups potatoes, diced

14 ounces frozen peas

2 pounds cubed, smoked ham

3 cups shaved brussels sprouts

ham stock

1 1/4 pounds green split peas, rinsed and soaked* [see note]

1 bay leaf

smoked paprika to taste

salt and pepper to taste

Garnish of toasted sliced almonds and celery greens

Preparation:

Rinse the soaked split peas and return to the pot stove filling with water to cover. Add bay leaf and half onion, cooking until peas are tender and naturally fall apart into a puree.

Meanwhile, in a pan, saute in oil [or butter] the diced onion until translucent, then add carrot and celery. Once cooked through, add the potatoes and fill with ham stock just enough to cover the vegetables. When the potatoes are almost soft, add the frozen peas and cook for another few minutes, puree all contents in a food processor until smooth with the roasted garlic. Put in a stock pot and keep on a low simmer. Add to that the cubed ham and shaved brussels sprouts.

Once the split peas fall apart, remove from heat and puree all but three cups for texture. Be sure to remove the bay leaf and half onion before pureeing. Add the peas to the stock pot with the soup. Mix well and heat slowly until the ham warms. Season accordingly with the paprika, salt and pepper until desired taste.

Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with chiffonade celery leaves and toasted almonds.

A nice boule of whole grain bread or Peasant loaf would suite this dish well.

Over the years, I have made several different versions of this recipe. When I have the time and I am moved to Chicago, I will search for past recipes and try them out to see how they compare. In past recipes, I believe I added toasted, ground cumin seeds and spinach.

While in Chicago, I was craving this soup and mentioned to Gil this was one of my favorite soups to prepare. Gil said he could make a better split pea than I, while Lori and Doug stood aside in hopes there would be a cooking show down for them to judge. Perhaps Gil and I will have to prove which one makes a better split pea once I move to Chicago. However, I may have to change a few things since his will be loaded with fat. We all know that fat is flavor, flavor is fat. Who knows, the two combined could be a match made in heaven.

* I prefer to soak the split peas to shorten the cooking time; however, whether it is worth the trouble is up to you. Soaking in cold water for 6 hours can save you 30 minutes in cooking time. Think of it this way, it doesn't take long to soak, so why wouldn't you? All it takes is forethought.

Soaking yellow split peas is another story. It will produce a more viscous puree than unsoaked and will save you one hour of cook time when soaked for 8-10 hours. Be careful though, over-soaking can cause germination and give off-flavors.