Discouraged, Part II: Encouraged!

The cooking I've done since I got back from that fateful (fateful? A bit dramatic, but we'll go with it) trip to Philly has been encouraging, Au Naturale, and most importantly: delicious.  Yesterday I was commenting that I feel like I do nothing but clean up my kitchen over and over again.  I realized as I was saying it, though, that that is probably a good thing.  It means I'm cooking galore.  For this post I'm not going to list recipes, but if there is a dish below that you are interested in, please make a comment here and I will dedicate a post "post haste" to that recipe.  Now, come, follow me on a tour of some of my culinary delights throughout the week (all veggies below are organic wherever possible):

The Ultimate Au Naturale Dinner

Last Monday my boyfriend and I were apparently still high off the FamilyFarmed Expo buzz because we rocked an amazing yet simple 100% Au Naturale dinner.  What you see above is his homemade vegetable soup, quite possibly the tastiest veggie soup I've ever had (and I swear I'm not just saying that because the chef is my boyfriend).  Assorted veggies, broth, and quinoa seasoned to perfection.  For a little extra kick, mainly because we're slaves to spice, we threw in a few drops of the Co-op Sauce hot sauce he picked up at the expo-- the one made by the folks who run the West Side community garden. (Please patronize them, they do amazing things in the community.) Fantastico!  We served the soup with a side of our homemade wheat bread (batch #2) and homemade-- yes, homemade-- beer.  The beer is a bit cut off in the picture above: the better picture did not have a flash and couldn't do this spread justice.  (Dammit, Jim, I'm a blogger, not a photographer!)  But in terms of the meal: does it get any better?

Dilly Beans

While waiting for the above soup to heat up, the expo-buzzing bf worked on canning some dilly beans- otherwise known as marinated spicy green beans. Seriously, I should have skipped that session on canning and just watched him do this instead.  What you see above are jars filled with green beans, jalapenos, garlic, and dill (before they were filled with liquid and sealed).  Should they be a raving success, which I expect they will, I'll post the steps.

Spice-Rubbed Pork Chops

I picked up these flavorful pork chops from Black Earth Meats at my farmer's market.  Black Earth is a ranch up in Wisconsin that specializes in organic, free range beef and pork.  The rub is a combo sweet/spicy mix (the brown above is the brown sugar) with a side of tomatoes, spinach, and something else I can't think of right now, sauteed with just a touch of oil.  I also have Black Earth breakfast sausage in the freezer, just waiting for a lazy Sunday brunch.

Chicken & Chili Wraps

Not fancy at all, this is a light and refreshing wrap that is perfect for making extras, wrapping in foil, and bringing to work with you the next day (which is why you see this one sitting atop a foil bed).  Free range chicken, roasted chili pepper, avocado, spinach (of course you can use lettuce), and a dill mustard sauce leftover from a different recipe make up the inside of this wrap.  The wrap itself is actually a wheat berry tortilla, from Tiny Greens Farm in downstate Illinois, also sold at the farmer's market.  Literally made of nothing else but pressed wheat berries, these delicate tortillas pack a flavorful punch.  Their only fault is that they are a bit crumbly so it makes it hard to wrap the wrap tightly without it falling apart a bit.  Eh, I'll live.

Wasabi Pea-Encrusted Salmon Fillet with Miso Soup

For no particular reason, we decided to end the week with a Japanese meal-themed weekend. (While the Tsunami did not trigger the theme, we nevertheless raised our sake glasses to the health and safety of the fine people of Japan.)  Friday night's main course consisted of two things I would have never have thought to put together on my own: wasabi green peas and salmon.  Fear not, spice-adverse readers: while the peas were coarsely chopped and adhered to the top of the sustainable salmon fillet by gobs of wasabi paste, there was absolutely no spice in the dish whatsoever.  We were shocked.  I don't know if cooking wasabi somehow eliminates the spice factor or what. However, the texture combination of the crunchy peas with the flaky fish was fantastic.  We served it over a bed of sauteed purple cabbage and sugar snap peas.  Who's loving the color combo here, eh?  The meal was supplemented by organic miso broth with tofu and seaweed.  And, of course, a big bottle of sake.

Saturday night was make your own sushi night with striped bass, squid and halibut that we picked up from Dirk's Fish Market, the local sustainable fish monger.  While delicious, it once again became obvious why sushi chefs spend years apprenticing.  Our rolls were not so pretty and therefore did not warrant any photos.

Chicken with Dill Mustard Sauce

I saved this photo for last because the sauce in photograph form just looks nasty, even though it is quite tasty.  I should have spooned it on with an artistic squiggly line or something.  My apologies.  This is the same sauce used on the chicken & chili wraps above, and was actually originally from a different salmon dish.  But sour cream, all natural spicy mustard from Boetje's, a local Illinois purveyor (with some interesting sales stats- look at the homepage of his site), dill and lemon is an easy and refreshing sauce that works on so many things.  Think of it like a fancy tartar- and I'm not a tartar fan.  Here, I just did a simple grilled chicken atop sauteed heirloom tomatoes, spinach, and quinoa.

You may be noting that I didn't mention any of my breakfasts or lunches.  Because I can often be a creature of habit, for breakfast all week I stuck to my current favorite of rye bread, almond butter, and banana.  Lunch generally hops back and forth between a mixed salad with tofu and olive oil/vinegar dressing, and a roasted mediterranean veggie flatbread sandwich I discovered in the cafeteria and to which I have subsequently become addicted. Granted, I'm not entirely confident in the origins of the flatbread itself and the feta inside (as paranoia strikes again), but I'm sure I'll be sick of it soon and go back to just the salads.

I feel like I should be aiming for these kinds of meals on the road but most are complex (complex meaning multi-ingredient, not difficult) enough that I wouldn't trust them in packaged form. However, I know if I think simple, as in simple veggies, simple sauces, as little as possible out of a bag or box, I should be fine... remember, keep it simple, stupid.  And marching on I go.

Farmer's Markets and the Restaurant Dilemma

It's hard not to be disappointed by a farmer's market in the winter while also being excited that there is some sort of farmer's market in the winter.  After all, it's really hard for crops to grow when it's literally freezing outside.  That's why we flock to grocery stores to buy produce from South America, California and other far away places, and endure procedures like picking the items prematurely and then gassing them so they look like they were fresh-picked.  Not ideal, but if you really want a tomato, so be it.

But, believe it or not, there are a few hardy winter farmer's markets in the Chi-town area, and on Sunday for the first time this winter I visited the one most local to me, located in the lobby of the Congress Theatre.  What can you find in the cold dark of winter, you may ask?  Well, the benefit of being in such a big city like Chicago is being in a city that happens to be located smack-dab in the middle of the Midwest.  That means that whatever items farms from Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan are producing-- the borders of which in any direction aren't much more than an hour and a half away-- you can buy.  And if they're taking the time to fight the cold, snow and ice to sell one day a week at a farmer's market, then they are probably small and sustainable farms-- right up my alley.

A quick shopping trip later, I have stocked up on fresh pasture-raised eggs from Tempel Farms Organics, grass-fed steak and sausage from Black Earth Meats, tofu from some farm in Champaign, IL, and mushrooms from a grower in Wisconsin.  Sadly, High Rise Baking Company, my bread supplier from the summer, did not have a space there.  I may have to find a way to stretch the last half loaf in my freezer til June.  If I can do it... well, kudos to me.

Later that evening I went to celebrate my boyfriend's birthday with his family at Prairie Moon in Evanston.  All that meat shopping made me hungry for a burger and I was drooling (all I had to eat at this point in the day was my beloved toast with organic hand-rolled butter, a small caprese salad, and a bit of aged parmesan.  Sound familiar?  It's cause I don't have much food in my fridge so I am emptying out before I go shopping again).  I made the smart move to get cheddar on the burger instead of the traditional American.  After all, there is really nothing remotely cheese-like in American.  I am aware that my cheddar may not have been to my au naturale liking, but it was at least a slight step up.

Then I hit a dilemma, one I've been dreading since I started on the Au Naturale path.

The bun was not fresh-baked, I'm sure, and that was something I was certainly aware the second I decided on a burger.  But really, can you eat a burger without ketchup or mustard?  Don't answer- it's a rhetorical question.  Of course you can.  But, do you want to?  My issue was the bottled stuff waiting for me on the table.  Preservatives, HFCS, and a lot of other things that resemble neither tangy tomato sauce or mustardy goodness.  They were my only options.

So I ask you, oh loyal 2 or 3 readers- what would you do in this dilemma, when you are at a restaurant and have little to no control over your ingredients?  Suck it up and have a dry burger?  Suck it up and make a small concession for this one meal?  Or be THAT person who sneaks in the natural, homemade ketchup and mustard in your purse?  I value your opinions, as this certainly will not be the last time I run into this problem.

Other than that, today back at the office was a moderately good day, except the Evil Bar of Doom struck again.  I've been great about avoiding most of it thanks to the raw macaroons hanging out by my desk.  The jelly bellies keep getting me at about 4:59 but today I avoided them: only to be sucked in by a box of DOTS someone had left out.  DOTS are a big weakness.

I left work consumed by guilt from the 7 (yes, I counted) DOTS that I ate.  However, shortly before the end of the work day I got some very exciting news, and to celebrate decided to treat myself to takeout for dinner.  I swung by Crust, a delicious high-end pizza and other-stuff restaurant in the Wicker Park neighborhood.  Crust is an organic restaurant, and anything that they may not be able to get organic they substitute with responsibly and locally produced items.  One grilled eggplant, wild arugula, roasted garlic, red onion, capers, pesto & fresh mozzarella pizza and a pomegranate lemondrop martini (made with organic infused vodka) later, I was a happy camper.


But takeout cannot be every day. This week begins the experimentations.  To cream cheese, or to cream cheese a different way?  That is the question.  And please, take a minute to give me your thoughts on the ketchup/mustard dilemma.  Stay tuned....