Creamed spinach–Texas style! Sans canned-creamed-soup and minus the processed cheese, this is a gourmet side dish worthy of birthday dinners and holiday feasts. The pickled jalapeno adds a lot to the flavor–one of my boys begs for it : ) Continue Reading…
America’s love affair with cinnamon rolls is alive and well. Cinnamon rolls, sticky buns, coffee cakes…I’ve featured recipes for all of these by request. But lately I’ve had more queries, well, “pleas” is probably more accurate–for a good, old-fashioned-tasting, gluten free version. Continue Reading…
We’ve had requesters looking for what to do with the leftover sauerkraut, so this one’s for you! Rich with butter, cream, bacon & white wine, this soup makes the sow’s ear of sauerkraut into a silk purse. Iron Chef Edward Lee created it for his Louisville, KY, restaurant 610 Magnolia, putting to use the sauerkraut his German in-laws make each year from cabbage they grow themselves. Continue Reading…
Gina DePalma thinks her mom got the recipe for this gorgeous, not-too-sweet apple cake from a ’50s women’s magazine. When Gina was little, her mom made it Saturdays, for Sunday supper. These days, Gina makes it year round and affectionately calls it her Hubba Hubba Apple Cake. It’s basically a dump cake–just whisk and stir liquid ingredients into the dry ones, layer the batter with cinnamon-sugared apples, bake it off and there! You’ve got an impressively tall and tasty cake. Continue Reading…
From the time it opened in its first unit in 1898 until the last Ebinger’s Bakery turned out its lights in 1972, the Brooklyn bakery chain was known for this dark chocolate cake. This recipe is answer to multiple requests for it and comes to us compliments of Chicago-based chef and baker, Gale Gand. As Gale puts it, “Ebingers was renowned for the purity of its ingredients, the sparkling cleanliness of its stores, and the deep chocolatey-ness of this cake.” Long after the last Ebinger’s finally closed Gand says devotees kept Blackout Cakes in their freezers. “I mean, for years!” she laughs.
Recreating the cake, Gand didn’t have access to one of these freezer fossils. Instead, she relied on the taste-memories of Ebinger’s fans who grew up in Brooklyn. Gand included this group as her taste-panel. Says Gand, “They were a tough crowd, but they told us we finally got it right. The custard filling is finally the perfect deep, velvety, very, very, dark brown.” Continue Reading…
Except for the no-sex and separation-from-the-world rules (pretty hard to overlook), I admire most everything I’ve read about Shakers. Progressive thinkers who supported full equality for men, women and all races, Shakers embraced technological advancements, were amazing architects and craftspeople and made a not for the faint-of-heart lemon pie. Continue Reading…
So a little history…Go to the website for British gourmet food retailer Fortnum & Mason and you’ll find the claim that the classic Scotch egg was invented by Fortnum’s in 1738. Others say origins go back to farther to a Moghul, egg-stuffed, kofta-ball snack, but the basic gist is the same: Take a boiled egg, wrap it in seasoned sausage and breadcrumbs, fry it ’til crisped, and you’ve got a hearty, portable lunch. There are plenty of variations on the theme, from a black pudding version, to scrumpy (with apples, onion and sage) to Fortnum’s hammy, pinkish version. Continue Reading…
From the time it opened in 1905, until it closed in 1962, Little Jack’s restaurant was a force in the Chicago restaurant dining scene. At its peak in the ’50s, the sprawling three-dining room restaurant reportedly served between 600,000 and 1 million meals annually. Named for John H. “Little Jack” Levin (1887-1971), Continue Reading…
Nevadan Elizabeth Castle says she got this recipe from her 93-year-old aunt, Myrnie Dawson, of Princeton, IL. Elizabeth got so many compliments on the recipe, she was happy to share it. It really is a good find–the perfect balance between cakey/fudgey in a brownie. Note: Since publishing this, Hershey’s stopped marketing the syrup in the can! Head of Hershey’s kitchen told me to substitute 1 1/2 cups of the syrup (1 lb.) or, to use the new 1 lb. pouch, on Ebay. It appears the 1 lb. can is still available here: Mercato Happy baking! Continue Reading…
Established as a private-dining club in Chicago’s boutique Whitehall Hotel in 1956, The Whitehall Club was a fine-dining fixture for 40 years before it closed. That left LRF reader Dave Lauer with an insatiable craving for Whitehall Club creamed spinach. Fixable : ) I reached out to now-Colorado-based Jason Rogers–one of the last sous chefs at the Club–who was happy to share the recipe. Built with an Escoffier-styled bechamel (white sauce steeped with onion, veal, nutmeg, clove and thyme,) this home-cook-sized version of the dish yields both creamy spinach, plus a serving of milk-braised veal–delicious mixed with orzo, or Israeli couscous. For another kick-ass creamed spinach, try our Texas-style Jalapeno version. Continue Reading…