Spicy Moorish Kabobs, Chicken with Garlic

My better half got me an adorable little cookbook for Christmas called simply tapas. This tiny treasure chest includes recipes for everything from anchovies to zucchini, and it has the most luscious photos in it. Photos that make you want to drop everything, fly to Spain, and find the nearest bar ASAP.

I didn't make a vast array of tapas last weekend, just these two, which I served with braised fennel and potatoes and some nice bread. I was on the hunt for dishes involving pork and chicken because I had a pork tenderloin and a package of chicken thighs from Triple S Farm in the freezer—not to mention a can of smoked paprika in the cupboard. (Yes! Another use for my smoked paprika!) The flavors of both tapas were great, and I especially loved the whole cloves of garlic in the chicken.

Spicy Moorish Kabobs
From tapas: delicious little dishes from Spain, by Juiz Beresford, Clare Ferguson, and Linda Tubby

Serves 4

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 dried red chile, crushed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground fennel
1 teaspoon oak-smoked sweet Spanish paprika
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon dry Sherry
1 pound lean pork fillet

Special equipment: Metal kabob skewers, or bamboo skewers that have been soaked in water for 30 minutes

Put the oil, garlic, chile, cumin, fennel, paprika, lemon juice, parsley, and Sherry in a bowl and mix well. Cut the pork into 3/4-inch cubes and add to the bowl. Cover and chill overnight in the refrigerator.When ready to cook, preheat a broiler until very hot. Thread the pork onto the skewers and broil for 10 minutes, turning often—take care not to overcook the meat. Remove from the heat and set aside for 10 minutes. Serve warm.Chicken with Garlic
From tapas: delicious little dishes from Spain, by Juiz Beresford, Clare Ferguson, and Linda Tubby

Serves 4

1 tablespoon sweet Spanish paprika
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3 1/2 pounds chicken pieces, such as thighs and breasts (but no drumsticks)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
15 garlic cloves, unpeeled but slightly bruised
1 fresh bay leaf
1/2 cup medium-dry Sherry
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus extra to serve
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Special equipment: A heat-diffusing mat is helpful. Note: I didn't use a heat diffuser when I cooked the chicken (don't own one). I put the skillet on the small simmer burner, and that worked out fine—no burning.

Put the paprika, flour, salt, and pepper into a plastic bag and shake to mix. Add the chicken pieces and toss again until the chicken is evenly coated. Leave in the bag for 30 minutes or longer. Hey! It's Spanish shake 'n bake!Heat the olive oil in a skillet, add the garlic, and fry for 2 minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon. Add the chicken pieces (if necessary do half at a time, but remember to remove half of the garlic-infused oil) and fry for 5 minutes until the chicken is golden on all sides.

Add the bay leaf and Sherry and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer gently on a heat-diffusing mat for about 30 minutes until tender. (Breast pieces will cook faster, so remove them about 10 minutes before the end of cooking.) Pile onto a serving dish and sprinkle with parsley.Note: Although Pollo ai Ajillo is traditionally cooked on top of the stove, it could be baked in a preheated oven at 375 °F for 35 minutes or until cooked through.
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I look forward to trying more recipes from this itsy-bitsy cookbook. Hmm. What next? Clams in tomato and saffron sauce? Catalan chickpea salad? Eggplant cheese fritters? Spanish stuffed peppers (featured on the cover at the top of this post; the peppers are filled with a mashed-white-beans concoction). So many riches! The better half comes through with a gift to help chase away the winter blues, once again.

Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: Comfort Food on the Prairie

Foodbuzz, the fabulous foodie organization I'm partnered with, just sponsored an event wherein 24 food bloggers from 24 cities have dinner (and post about it) in the same 24 hours. Bloggers affiliated with Foodbuzz were invited to submit proposals outlining their ideas for uniquely themed dinners, and happily, ours was accepted.

A CT reader contacted me recently to say that he often has out-of-town visitors who want to sample meals that scream "central Illinois!" and asking me for ideas on where to take them. Shortly thereafter, the Foodbuzz invitation went out, and I knew what would make our dinner unique: it would showcase typical Midwestern fare.

It's interesting to think about what defines Midwestern cuisine, because the Midwest is a large and varied region. In our immediate area, one restaurant leapt to mind, as I explain in the following video. Guy Fieri, eat your heart out.

These are the C-U food bloggers who joined Keith and me for dinner yesterday:

• Aaron, of Razzie's Food for Thought
• Lauren, of Genki Tummy, and her husband Mike
• Lori, of Hey, Hey, Good Lookin'
• Melody, of Fruit Tart, and her husband Glen
• Susan, of Why Mom Why . . . and What's for Dinner?
• Tien, of Cooking with Tien

We arrived at The Apple Dumplin' in the early evening, prepared to chow down. Our table for 10 was ready and waiting, and we perused the Saturday-evening specials: popcorn shrimp, beef and noodles, ribeye steak, and fried chicken. On other days you might find meat loaf, ham and beans, liver and onions, or chicken and noodles on the menu.Between the 10 of us, we sampled the entire menu. I ordered the chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy (you could have a baked regular or sweet potato instead) and chose the salad bar as my vegetable (two cooked vegetables were also available as sides). In addition, all meals come with a homemade roll or a biscuit.

The breading on the chicken was beautiful and crispy, and the meat inside exceptionally moist and juicy. The potatoes had a good texture and were smothered with a cream gravy. Portions were large; I took about half of my dinner home, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I enjoyed cold chicken for breakfast this morning.The popcorn shrimp was tasty, too. I had wondered if it would be mostly breading and very little shrimp, but that wasn't the case: the shrimp were a decent size, and the breading didn't overpower them at all. You could tell that the oil the cooks had used for the fried foods was very fresh, as the flavors were clean and light.The large portion of saucy beef and handmade noodles almost totally hid the surprise underneath: yes, Virginia, there are mashed potatoes under there. How many calories are in that plate of beef and noodles? If you have to ask, you can't afford them.Finally, we ordered the dessert the restaurant is named for—the apple dumpling. This little bombe consists of a baked apple enveloped by pie crust and oozing with buttery cinnamon-sugar sauce. Vanilla ice cream is optional but highly recommended. The staff at the AD keep count of how many apple dumplings they've served over the years, and, as you can see in the photo at the top of this post, that number is up over 300,000.I asked Kathie Flaningam, the restaurant's manager and long-time employee (she's been with the AD for 18 years, and her mother and daughter currently work there as well) what makes the food at The Apple Dumplin' so popular with the restaurant's regulars.

The AD makes the kinds of meals that many Midwesterners grew up on. And that's really the defining characteristic of comfort food, isn't it? It's food we ate in the company of our families and friends, and it makes us feel satisfied, secure, and at home.

Hold on—we're not quite finished yet! The owners of the Apple Dumplin' were kind enough to share one of their recipes with us. The recipe is for breaded tomatoes, one of the AD's most popular vegetable side dishes.

The Apple Dumplin's Breaded Tomatoes
1 #10 can whole peeled tomatoes, hand mashed
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 pound butter
Dash ground black pepper
16 slices bread, cubed

In a large pot, combine the tomatoes, sugar, butter, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, then add the cubed bread. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes and serve hot.

Realizing that these quantities might be a bit large for the home cook, I worked out the amounts and came up with what I think would be the right proportions if you want to cut it down: 2 28-ounce cans of tomatoes, about 1/3 cup sugar, 1/4 pound butter, and 8 slices of bread.

Many thanks to the folks at The Apple Dumplin' for sharing the recipe and for making us feel so welcome at the restaurant where they proudly serve this and other much-loved dishes six days a week, as they have since 1988.

The Apple Dumplin'
2014 North Highcross Road (about a half-mile north of University Avenue on Highcross)
Urbana, IL 61802
217-344-0076
Serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner Tuesday through Saturday (7 a.m. to 8 p.m.) and a buffet from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday

And there you have it: a taste of the Midwest, Champaign-Urbana style. Thanks again to Foodbuzz for selecting our proposal and for sponsoring the 24, 24, 24 event, and thanks to the other C-U food bloggers for making it such a fun little party.

Be sure to visit the "24, 24, 24" page on the Foodbuzz site to see how the other 23 bloggers in the other 23 cities did it.

The Silver Palate Smoky Pumpkin Soup

I've had The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook since the mid-1980s (one look at the clothes and hairstyles on the cover and you can tell that's when it came out!), and yet I haven't made very many of the recipes in it. Don't know why, because there's lots of good stuff in the book. This past weekend I was rooting around for a recipe involving pumpkin, and in the end I settled on the Smoky Pumpkin Soup in the "Country Fare" section.

I had a smallish, pumpkin-looking squash I'd gotten at the last farmers' market; it wasn't a kabocha (Japanese pumpkin), and it wasn't a sugar pumpkin. It may have been an ambercup squash; that's the one it most resembled.

I had originally planned to try the Pumpkin Soup with Smoked Paprika from Simply Recipes, but then I came across the Silver Palate recipe and, since I had a dusty bottle of Marsala on the bar and six slices of bacon in the fridge that were about past their prime, that's the recipe I went with.

Note that there's no cream in this soup; it's all about the pumpkin (well, and the bacon, and the Marsala). The addition of the Marsala made the soup, as promised in the recipe, "deliciously unusual."Smoky Pumpkin Soup
From The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook, by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins

6 slices bacon, diced, cooked crisp, fat reserved
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
6 cups peeled cut-up pumpkin (1-inch pieces)
6 cups beef stock
1/2 cup Marsala
1 teaspoon dried thyme (I used herbes de Provence, as I didn't have thyme)
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste (another use for my newly acquired smoked salt!)
Toasted pumpkin seeds for garnish

Heat the bacon fat and butter in a stock pot over medium-high heat (I cooked the diced bacon in the stock pot and removed it with a slotted spoon to avoid dirtying two pots). Add the pumpkin and sauté for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Pour in the stock and simmer, covered, until the pumpkin is very tender, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat.

Add the Marsala, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste (I used probably a teaspoon of smoked salt and a half to one teaspoon of pepper). Process the soup in batches in a food processor or a blender until smooth (why don't I have an immersion blender??). Return to the stock pot.

Add the cooked bacon. Simmer 10 minutes. Serve immediately, garnished with pumpkin seeds.

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Seeds of one pumpkin
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt to taste

Rinse the seeds to remove the strings and pulp and pat dry. Spread the seeds on a baking sheet and let stand for several hours to dry.

Preheat oven to 350 °F.

Toss the seeds with the oil and salt to taste. Toast the seeds in the oven, stirring every 5 minutes or so, until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely. Taste and add more salt if needed.

Serve the pumpkin seeds as a snack or use as a garnish.
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The pumpkin seeds, though they look cute as a garnish, were not a big success. For one thing, I didn't notice till now that I was supposed to let them dry for several hours before roasting, which is surely why they snapped and popped all over the place in my oven. But that aside, once they were roasted, there wasn't any appreciable amount of actual seed in the shell, so I had to eat the things shell and all, which I didn't like. I'd say, if you want to use seeds as garnish for this soup, buy some shelled pumpkin seeds and use those. Or just garnish with parsley or fresh thyme.

If you haven't cooked with Marsala, give it a whirl. The classic dish is, of course, veal or chicken Marsala; if you've gotten the bottle of wine and want to try that dish, the Proud Italian Cook (a Chicago food blogger) shows us how she does it.

Inexpensive Enameled Cast-Iron Cookware Available Locally

Check this out! Lori, of the local food blog Hey, Hey, Good Lookin', has a shopping alert for us. It seems that Aldi, the discount grocery store, is carrying a line of enameled cookware similar to Le Creuset, and it's on sale this week (January 18 to the 24th).

I adore the pieces of Le Creuset that I've been lucky enough to receive as gifts, thanks to The Best Husband in the World. This sale is tempting me to add a 5-quart braiser to my collection—I already have pots in flame, sand, and black, so why not add something in red?

Thanks to Lori for the heads-up on this opportunity to own what looks like very good cookware at very reasonable prices. See her post for details and price comparisons with Le Creuset.

There are two Aldi locations in C-U:

Aldi—Champaign
701 North Mattis Ave.
Champaign, IL

Aldi—Urbana
3102 East University
Urbana, IL

Hours:
Monday-Friday: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Saturday: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

CT Up for Food Blog Award

Awards season is upon us, and it turns out that Champaign Taste is in the running for Best Food Blog—City in the Well Fed Network's Best Blogs 2008 event. I don't know the person who nominated this blog, but whoever you are, bless your pointy little head! No, seriously: a big thank-you for that. And thanks also to the folks at the Well Fed Network for choosing CT as one of the five finalists in the category.

If you'd like to vote for CT, I won't try to talk you out of it. Votes are accepted until Saturday, January 24th at 8 p.m. EST. Remember: A vote for CT is a vote for Champaign! (Lame attempt at campaign humor—on this, of all days.)

If you're interested, here are the WFN's food blog award nominees in every category, including Best Overall Food Blog (one of my perennial favorites, Simply Recipes, is on that list).

Local Radio Station Helps Fight Hunger in Central Illinois

Local station WEFT-FM is putting on a radio food drive, as they're calling it, to help generate support for our local food collection and distribution agency, the Eastern Illinois Foodbank (EIF). The following description of the predicament hunger-fighting agencies in the U.S. currently find themselves in comes from the Share Our Strength Web site:

Local food banks are struggling to meet an unprecedented demand. The number of families with children needing emergency food is growing faster than the food banks can support them. At the same time, donations of food and money are declining while the costs of buying and transporting food are increasing.

And in fact the EIF reports that this winter, 50 percent of its clients have had to face the decision to either pay their heating bill or buy food—a choice that no one should have to make.

Want to help? From this day of service through February 22, you can support our food bank when you donate money to local station WEFT. Here's the lowdown on the radio food drive: For every $10 you pledge to WEFT, the radio station will contribute $1 to the Foodbank. In turn, with every $1 the Foodbank receives, it can supply a family with $10 worth of food. So if you're planning to give to WEFT, anyway, do it now and your donation will also go toward getting food to those who need it.

If you're not inclined to pledge money to WEFT, you can still take action today. Simply go to the EIF Web site donations page; it'll only take a minute. And remember the for-every-dollar rule: If you pledge $10, that $10 becomes $100 worth of food.

Weeknight Takeout: Jack's Grill & Mediterranean Cuisine

I first found out about Jack's via the November 2008 yellow pages. There was a quarter-page ad in the restaurant section carrying photos of juicy burgers, kabobs, and gyros, plus stuffed grape leaves and chicken with rice. I looked at the address—705 North Neil Street—and the tiny map in the ad pinpointing the location (between Columbia and Bradley on Neil, west side of street), and I was mystified. There's a place serving Mediterranean food on North Neil? I tried to picture that portion of Neil St., but I had no a ha! moment.

I gave the phone number a try, to no avail, and realized that they'd put the ad in the book in anticipation of opening sometime during 2008-2009. And I filed the info away in the foodie section of my brain, vowing to keep checking.Then suddenly it's January, and my esteemed partner calls me one morning to tell me he located the little building housing the new restaurant, and not only that, but there was a Grand Opening banner waving out front. Naturally, I stopped in for lunch the same day. And two days later. And then I got takeout for dinner Friday night (which was Jack's Grill's 1-week anniversary).

The first order of business on Monday, when I went for lunch, was to find the place. Which, as it happens, is a hop, skip, and a jump from where I work. I drove south on Neil from Bradley . . . and sure enough, there was a newish cement-block building on the west side of the street. Let me put it this way: When you hit the railroad tracks on North Neil, you're there. I pulled into the parking lot and went inside.What I found was a medium-sized dining area, empty but for four tables and six chairs, with a counter and open kitchen along one side. (Booths and more tables and chairs are reportedly in the works and should be in place in the next few weeks.) The interior was devoid of any kind of decoration; bare, white walls and the dearth of furnishings gave the place an antiseptic feel amplified by the Arctic-like temperature outside. However, it was comfortably warm in the restaurant, and the tempting aroma of grilled meat wafted around me. The six chairs were occupied by other patrons, so I hung out and talked to one of the owners while I waited for something to open up.

The venture is a family affair, with the young man I spoke to covering the American-food side of things (Jack's offers burgers, sandwiches like Philly cheese steak and Italian beef, and fried chicken and wings), while his father and uncle take care of the Mediterranean/Middle Eastern offerings (his mother is also involved, or will be—she'll make the stuffed grape leaves and cabbage rolls that they plan to put on the menu soon). It wasn't too long before I could sit down, which I did, after ordering the chicken kebab plate.

If you order a plate, you have your choice of hummus (spelled humas at Jack's) or rice on the side, and you get pita bread as well. The menu indicates that plates also come with "appetizers," but no appetizers materialized, and I was never able to determine what they might be.

What I received, after a short wait, was a large plate filled with juicy, tasty cubes of grilled chicken (3 skewers' worth—a lot of chicken), a hefty portion of rice topped with a green-bean and tomato mixture that was great, and two falafels (which I had ordered extra, as I wanted to try them).Sitting there eating this plate of hot, homemade food was a wonderful thing on one of the coldest days of the year, so much so that I didn't even mind the complete lack of any sort of ambiance. And the portions were so generous that I ended up taking lots of rice and chicken home and eating it for dinner the next day, which meant that my $7.99 meal was really two meals.The falafels were good; crunchy outside and tender inside, but I wanted something to go with them, so I asked if there was any sauce they could give me. The counter person brought me some plain tahini sauce, which was just OK, but then the owner's uncle (grill man par excellence) brought me a little cup of just the right thing: still a tahini-based sauce, but filled with parsley and garlic. That sauce was perfection with the falafels.

The next time I visited, I went with friends who both ordered the shawarma plate, and I tried the kefta kebab plate with hummus (there was also Jerusalem salad on the plate; maybe that was the "appetizer" mentioned on the menu?).

That day, there were only two people behind the counter/in the kitchen, and service was slower than it had been on Monday. One person in our little party got his plate of shawarma, then some time went by, then the other friend got her shawarma, then the uncle brought out a pile of hot pita and a plate of sliced pickles and peppers (delicious with the hummus), and I continued to wait for my order of kefta. Finally, it was ready as well, and again, it was 3 skewers' worth of the spiced, perfectly grilled meatballs—lots of meat—along with the sides of hummus and salad.The shawarma was extra-good. At Jack's they stack large pieces of beef and lamb on an upright spit and slowly grill it to perfection. The result is tender, juicy, delicious slices of meat. Both of my companions had ordered the humas with their shawarma, so the nicely charred meat rested atop the chickpea mixture.

Despite the staggering of our meals and the wait time, we were able to get in and out for lunch in about an hour.

On my third visit I decided to try Jack's as a weeknight takeout destination. I got there around 5:30, and there was just one other person in the place. I ordered a Philly steak sandwich with fries ($5.99) for Keith and the kefta kebab sandwich ($3.99) for myself, along with an order of humas ($5.49) and a kibbeh. (Kibbeh is a fried snack filled with ground beef, in this case, seasonings, and pine nuts. It goes for $1.49 per piece, and it's not on the menu yet; ask for it if you want it.).

I ended up waiting more than 30 minutes for the to-go order; half of it was ready, and sat, while the rest was cooked. A later order came out ahead of mine, and there was a sort of general sense of slowness and confusion, even though only three people had orders in. Not surprisingly, the place being only one week old, the owners are still figuring out their system.When I got the food home, somehow, it was still hot. Keith's Philly steak was not a Philly in the true sense. We detected some onion, perhaps, but no grilled peppers, and the sandwich was topped with lettuce and tomatoes—pretty, but not traditional on a Philly steak. The steak was well-seasoned, tender, and delicious, however, and there was a lot of it; so much so that it was difficult to close up and eat. The fries had kind of steamed in the styrofoam takeout box while I drove home, and, if they had once been crispy, they weren't by the time we ate them. Even so, Keith liked them well enough.The pita encasing my kefta sandwich was bursting at the seams with the 2 skewers' worth of meatballs stuffed into it, so it was also a bit hard to eat. In addition to the meatballs, there was Jerusalem salad and two kinds of sauce (tahini and a red sauce that had a nice little kick to it). It was a big, messy, very tasty whopper of a sandwich.The hummus had nicely balanced flavors and was topped with parsley and olive oil, as well as a spice I don't recall having run across before. It was a pretty, rosy color, and it had a tartness about it that was an excellent counterpoint to the chickpea-tahini mixture. After doing some digging, I realized that it was sumac—not the American sumac, which is poisonous (!), but the spice commonly used in Middle Eastern cooking. I have every feeling that World Harvest market carries it, and I plan to pick some up ASAP.

The torpedo-like gem known as kibbeh was outstanding. It was perfectly fried, not at all greasy, and the beef filling with the pine nuts in it was moist and savory. I ate it so fast I didn't have time to take a photo.

There was also, inexplicably, a falafel sandwich included in our takeout packages; I suspect that it belonged to the couple who ordered after me—oops.

Here's a shot of the menu. There are more items listed on the board in the restaurant than are shown here, but these are the basics.If you're a vegetarian, choices are fairly limited, at least at the moment (a new menu is in progress). There is, of course, hummus, and falafel (a falafel sandwich will set you back just $2.99 as of this writing), and the wonderful eggplant concoction called baba ganoush is also available.

My menu suggestions for the owners are as follows: Put one or more vegetarian combo plates on the menu. Start offering stuffed grape leaves and cabbage rolls regularly, and, if your grape leaves normally have meat in them, offer a vegetarian version as well. List your homemade sauces on the menu with descriptions. Make it clear what the appetizers accompanying the kebab and other plates are.

In sum: Jack's Grill serves both American-style sandwiches and Mediterranean food, and the food is tasty and homemade. The grilled items, including the shawarma, are standouts. But be aware that they are just going into their second week in business, they're still tinkering with the menu, the dining area is not set up yet, and you may experience longish waits and/or mix ups. So be forewarned. If ambiguity frustrates you, wait a few weeks to go in. For the moment, I recommend Jack's mostly for takeout, and it's probably a good idea to call in your order ahead of time.

Another thing to be aware of is that although they show credit cards in their ad, they are not yet set up to take cards, and they don't accept personal checks, so you need to pay in cash. I fervently hope they get online with cards soon, as I, for one, rely almost totally on my debit card.

I have a feeling I'm going to be popping over to Jack's on my lunch hour or after work on a regular basis. I'm pleased that there's Mediterranean cuisine in my neck of the woods now, and I look forward to seeing the place come together.

Jack's Grill & Mediterranean Cuisine
705 North Neil Street (just south of the railroad tracks)
Champaign, IL 61820
217-355-0599
Open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Sign Up for Cooking Classes at UAEC

That's right—the spring session for Urbana Adult Education cooking classes is upon us. Say it with me: Spring session. We need to think past winter on a day when the temperature is 12 degrees below zero, don't we?

All right, so in point of fact, the first classes start in early February—but it's still the spring semester!

In February, you can get much-needed soup and stew recipes from chef Bob Rowe, or you can learn to make fresh ricotta in Tien Douglas's class. You can also discover sushi secrets in one of Irene Shu-Ling Lee's Asian fusion classes.

In March, it's Vietnamese appetizers with Tien (you may remember that I took Tien's pho class last spring); while Bob Rowe takes you to Mexico, the Caribbean, and the southern United States; and Irene shows you how to make a dish of shrimp and tomato sauce.

In April, you can learn some new tricks for a brunch or a cocktail party with chef Bob; make pasta dishes with chef Carlo Anzelmo (shout-out to Lori Stewart: he's doing orecchiette with seafood—is he copycatting you?!); create an entire Vietnamese meal with Tien; or enjoy learning about and eating the scrumptious Chinese dish called ma-po tofu (shout out to Tien—is she copycatting you?!). You might also want to get the lowdown on using the natural sweetener stevia in your cooking in one of Shirley Splittstoesser's classes.

And there's more! See the UAEC online catalog of cooking classes for details on all of the classes and for info about how to sign up (it's quite easy, just a quick phone call away). Kudos to Urbana Adult Ed for offering so many interesting classes to the C-U community. Also, check out the collection of recipes the staff at UAEC is putting together (there's a link to it on the Center's main page).

Now, repeat after me: There will be a spring . . . there will be a spring . . . there will be a spring . . .

From the Pantry: Smoked Salt

Have you ever used smoked salt? I think the first time I encountered the stuff was at Carmon's, the little French bistro on Neil Street. They had sprinkled smoked salt on sweet butter, and eating that on bread was a great taste sensation. If you want to try it this way, be sure to get unsalted butter.

I had thought I'd have to order it online, but then I found this brand at Schnucks. I checked the label to be sure it wasn't just salt with artificial smoke flavoring added, but it said "organic sea salt naturally smoked over red alderwood," so I gave it a whirl.

This is pretty tasty salt. So far I've used it in several dishes, the last being a big ol' pot of collard greens. I didn't have any smoked turkey parts or a ham hock on hand, so I added the salt to give the greens that smoky flavor, and it worked well.My only regret is that I didn't notice that this salt is fine grained, even though it says so, big as life, on the label. What they used at Carmon's, and what I would've preferred for heft and crunch, is coarse salt (which is why I'm also a big fan of kosher salt).

Schnucks carries other types of Artisan Salt Company salt in addition to the one I picked up. You'll find it on top of the deli case where the prepared salads live. If you want to check for other brands, they likely carry smoked salt at the Art Mart, and I'm guessing the Sun Singer has it, as well (you may remember that I procured the wonderful French fleur de sel there).

Appy Hour at Silvercreek

It's all about going out lately here on CT, isn't it? I am cooking at home, but the things I've been making you've seen before, and that's no fun. And to be honest, what with the nasty cold I had over the holidays (that hung on past the holidays), I haven't been cooking as much as usual. There will be more home cooking and recipe sharing soon, but in the meantime I offer glimpses of the dining out life.

I don't mean to be a one-woman booster club for Silvercreek, or anything, but I had to tell you about the specials the restaurant offers from 5:30 to 6:30 on Friday nights. Everything on the bar menu is half-price, as are cocktails. A friend and I took advantage of the 1-hour window of opportunity last evening.You may remember that I raved about Silvercreek's Bloody Mary, which Keith and I enjoyed (again, at half-price) at a recent Sunday brunch. My friend and I both ordered them during appy hour. (And no, that's not a typo on the SC Web site, as I thought at first; it's supposed to be a cute play on words. "Appy" is short for "appetizer." Appy hour. Yeah, I don't like it, either.) The Bloody Mary was as good last night as it had been during brunch: same zing, same great garnishes.Eats-wise, I sampled the slider trio, which consists of three 3-ounce beef tenderloin steaks on three buttered, grilled, sesame-topped buns, each with a different topping: one had melted Brie and carmelized onions on it; another, a roasted red pepper, goat cheese, and basil sauce; and the third, a horseradish-mustard aioli.Gotta tell you, the sliders were heavenly. Now, I would've preferred the steaks cooked medium-rare, but the bartender had asked me if medium was all right, which gave me the impression that that was the only option, so I said OK. Next time I would ask about getting them less well-done, but still, the meat was tender and good, and the toppings were delish.My favorite was the one with the melted Brie and browned onions, but all three versions were great. The soft grilled-and-buttered buns topped with sesame seeds (which are, in the parlance of the day, housemade), were absolutely the right thing to do as well!

Both my friend and I ordered the pommes frites (known in English as French fries) with garlic aioli (known in English as mayo). We received huge plates piled high with slender, wonderfully crispy and hot fries that were drizzled with the aioli and garnished with chopped parsley.When we saw how large the portions were, we realized we could have done with just one order to share. Even so, we each made a pretty good dent in the fries.

The sliders are normally $12 on the bar menu, but during the Friday happy hour they're half price, so they set me back only $6. The fries are normally $4 and we got them for $2. The Bloody Marys, we found out, are normally EIGHT DOLLARS (what?!), but, and thank God, they were also half off from 5:30 to 6:30, so we paid $4. We each indulged in two Marys, which meant that my total bill for the two cocktails, three steak sliders, and huge plate of high-toned fries could have added up to only $16. Such a deal!

I say "could have added up to" because, well, we lost track of time and ordered the second round of Bloody Marys after 6:30, so we ended up paying full price for one Mary each, which increased my grand total to $20.

This is the problem with a 1-hour-only happy hour. My friend and I decided to think of it as two $6 Bloody Marys; that's still much more than I want to pay for this cocktail, but it allowed us to pretend that we had not been hoodwinked into paying $8 for a very basic drink (I say "basic" because that's what it is; I don't care that they make their own Mary mix; that's the way it's supposed to be done, and it shouldn't mean that you can then charge the price of a small car for the thing). We joked that the bartender should give last call at 6:20 to alert the masses that the time for half-priced drinks is almost up.

End of the-price-of-drinks-these-days rant. I highly recommend the Silvercreek Friday evening appy our. You can get some really great food and drink for cheap while enjoying the very pretty and cozy SC atmosphere. Just be sure to order your last drink before magic wears off.

The Clark Bar's Shrimp Pesto Potato Martini

Have you checked out The Clark Bar? It's been open only six months or so, and its name gives away its location—Clark Street in Champaign (near Randolph Street, a few blocks south of the downtown area).

It's a cute little bar where you can play a game of pool, lounge on a cozy couch, or plant yourself on a stool and chat up the bartender. They also do karaoke and have late-night dancing, with music by guest DJs.

And there's a very pleasant outdoor patio on the side that's filled with flowers and lanterns and boasts its own "tiki bar" (not the season for that right now, obviously, but it looks like a great place to spend some time when the weather cooperates).The Clark Bar serves tapas. The menu changes frequently; the night I stopped in, there were 10 hot and 5 cold dishes on offer. The small plates are served from 5 p.m., when the bar opens, until 10 p.m. (the bar is open until 2 a.m.). You can check out the menu on the bar's Web site, although do be aware that because it changes often, the dishes listed might not be the exact same ones you'll find if you go in. That said, the bartender told this reporter that the shrimp potato martini is always offered.

The chef is very interested in using local ingredients, so you'll find dishes that include Prairie Fruits Farm goat cheese, lamb and other meats from local farms, and produce (in season, of course) from the Market at the Square in Urbana. That being the case, I've added The Clark Bar to my list (right-hand sidebar) of restaurants that patronize local farms.But I digress. A CT reader named Chris fell in love with the pesto mashed potatoes in the shrimp-and-potato "martini" on the tapas menu and asked for the recipe. Chef John Lindell was happy to provide it; thanks very much, Chef John!
Shrimp Pesto Potato Martini
Recipe courtesy of chef John Lindell, The Clark Bar

For the mashed potatoes:
1 pound Yukon gold potatoes
3 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons heavy cream

For the pesto:
2 ounces fresh basil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 ounce chopped walnuts
1 ounce grated Parmesan
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

For the shrimp:
2 tablespoons melted butter
12 jumbo shrimp
2 1/2 ounces dry white wine
4 ounces heavy cream
Salt and pepper

Cut the potatoes into quarters and cook in lightly salted water until tender. Cool and peel off skins. Mash with the butter and heavy cream, and season with salt and pepper.

Put the pesto ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth. Stir 4 tablespoons of pesto into the mashed potatoes (the ratio is 1 tablespoon pesto to 4 ounces potatoes).

In a large, heavy skillet, sauté the shrimp in 2 tablespoons of butter until just cooked. Remove shrimp from skillet. Deglaze the pan with the white wine, and cook until the wine is reduced to 2 tablespoons. Swirl in the heavy cream, bring to a boil, and reduce to a medium sauce consistency. Adjust seasoning with salt.

Place 4 ounces of pesto potatoes in each of four martini glasses. Pour some of the cream sauce over the potatoes, and arrange three shrimp on top of the potatoes in each glass. Garnish with a little paprika if desired.
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Thanks again to Chris for the request and to John Lindell of The Clark Bar for sharing the recipe. Remember, if there's a recipe you'd like to have from a local food establishment, e-mail me at champaigntaste AT gmail DOT com, and I'll try to get it for you. To those of you who've already sent in requests: I'm working on them in the order in which I received them; it may take me a while, but be assured that I'm on the case!

If you want to see the previous How Do You Make That? recipes (from Luna, Biaggi's, Real Hacienda, and Escobar's), scroll down to the recipes section of my companion blog, More Champaign Taste.

WILL-TV Wants Your Recipes

Our local PBS affiliate is asking people to send in their favorite soup, stew, and/or chili recipes for possible inclusion in their next cooking special, aptly titled "Chilis, Soups, and Stews." The special airs in March, and WILL is putting together a cookbook for the occasion as well.

So, if you have a great soupy-stewy recipe you want to share, let the folks at the WILL studios know about it. You can e-mail your recipe to will-tv AT illinois DOT edu, or you can send it via regular mail to Heather Miller, WILL-TV, 300 N. Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61801. Recipes must be received by 5 p.m. Friday, January 23, 2009.

Now, I just have to coax my esteemed partner's chili recipe out of him!

Champaign Taste Does 2008

As I did at the start of 2008, I've put together a list of my favorite posts from the year we have just said goodbye to. I was going to pick one from each month, but it didn't turn out quite that way; however, most of the months are represented. It was great fun reviewing what happened, blog-wise, in 2008, and I look forward to making more delicious memories in '09.

Let the Champaign Taste year in review begin!

This post about the vegetable-bean soup and cheesy rice fairly begged to be on the list. I can still remember how delicious both dishes were, and so comforting for the winter. Nothing wrong with repeating myself in January '09!

In February, of course, there was the second annual Oscar contest. I had to include that, because we just enjoy the heck out of it. I hope you've been thinking food as you've been seeing movies this year, because I would love it if you played along next month.

And who could forget Apple Pie for Pi Day? That was a tasty event cooked up by Alanna of A Veggie Venture, and I had a great time baking for it—something I rarely do. Kind of wish I had a piece of pie right now.

Also in March, I discovered that we can procure, from a local farmer, a pork product called guanciale, and that's definitely something to shout about, so the post on Pasta all'Amatriciana must be noted here.

I include my review of Cakes on Walnut from last April, because so many people had such strong opinions about the new bakery and offered in-depth reviews of their own! The bakery is, I'm happy to report, still going strong (unlike a number of other locally owned food businesses, which we lost in 2008).

In May, I took part in Rita's Chinese Takeout Party by concocting Italian roast pork "lo mein." Man, was that tasty and fun (even though I didn't win the lucky draw—I am not bitter).

A highlight from June was the fish sandwich from Derald's catering truck. A reader clued me in to this delicacy, and am I ever glad he did! Just a fantastic sandwich and a great value.

In July, the standout has to be my visit to Saigon, the new Vietnamese restaurant in Savoy. Delicious food, great atmosphere, many new dishes to try . . . mmm.

August 2008 saw the début of my "How Do You Make That?" feature, in which readers write and ask for a favorite recipe from a local chef, and I (try to) get it and post it. I kicked the feature off with the sangria recipe from Luna, which chef Iren Aikman generously shared. (You can find all of the HDYMT recipes I've gotten so far on my companion blog, More CT).

Another standout from August was the shrimp ceviche I tried my hand at for the first time. Thanks again to old friend Charlie Smyth for his family recipe and tips.

Any reminiscences about October must include the discovery of Stewart's bagels. Now that the farmers' market and the holiday market have ended (sob), you have to call or e-mail Stewart with your order and arrange pick-up at a location you both agree on. Check the post for his contact info.

To wrap the year up with a big (edible) bow, I must end this list with pav bhaji, the Indian mixed vegetable dish I made for the winter edition of Novel Food. That's another dish I know I'll make regularly, especially now that I have the special masala for it (thanks again, Annapoorna store!).

And there you have it. Some memories of the year gone by. A huge thank-you to everyone for sharing your comments, questions, tips, and scoops with me and for being a part of this labor of love. I wish you every good thing in 2009. Happy new year!