CT Limerick Contest: We Have Winners!

The limerick contest deadline was Monday night. The judges were deep in deliberations yesterday, and it was a very tough call to narrow our favorite limericks down to just three. But we persevered, and we finally came to a consensus. Here are the winners.

First place goes to Jay's all-about-barbeque-in-CU poem:

When you want tasty 'que with your grog
you should try Famous Dave's for some hog
Porgy's portions are big
but my preference for pig
is the pulled pork at Ye Olde Black Dog

Elizabeth's verse about various types of melted cheese takes second:

Oh, what is your choice type of cheese?
Be careful, your raclette I'll seize.
Fondue with your wine
Saganaki's divine
I'll take melty or burnty cheese please.

And in third place, Brian's meditation on poetry and rice:

My food tastes have changed since I'm thirty,
For adults things are not always purty,
White, Minute, and Fried,
All three kinds I've tried,
But like limericks I like my rice dirty.

Congratulations to Jay, Elizabeth, and Brian! Please e-mail me at champaigntaste AT gmail DOT com, and I'll let you know how to claim your restaurant gift certificates.

Thanks a million to everyone who submitted one or more limericks. Judy, Brian, and I loved reading each one, and you really made it fun. Thanks also to CU Savings for donating the gift certificates so we could give them away as prizes. Let's do it again sometime, shall we?

French Rice Salad

This is a tasty dish to make if you have leftover rice. I first learned about it from some French friends while serving in the Peace Corps; they told me it was a standard pique-nique dish. The "recipe" is very flexible; you take cooked rice, mix it with whatever vegetables you have on hand, and toss the rice and veggies with a simple vinaigrette. I'll tell you how I made it last night.

French Rice Salad

About 4 cups cooked rice (room temperature)
1/2 of a large cucumber, peeled and diced
1 large radish, diced (I would have like to use more radishes, but I only had one)
A couple of handfuls salad greens, torn into small pieces
1/2 a green bell pepper, diced
5 green onions, chopped small (red onion would also be great)
1/2 pound green beans, cut into bite-sized lengths
Vinaigrette

Trim and chop the green beans and cook in a pot of salted boiling water for 5 minutes, or until tender but still firm. Drain the beans and run cold water over them till they cool (to stop the cooking), then dry with a towel.

Put the cooked rice into a medium-sized serving bowl. Add cucumber, radish, salad greens, green beans, green pepper, and onions.

Make the vinaigrette, pour it over the salad, and mix well. Add enough vinaigrette to coat the rice and veggies but not drown them.

Serve the salad slightly chilled or at room temperature.

Vinaigrette dressing
White wine vinegar (you can also use red wine vinegar)
Dijon mustard
Fresh garlic, minced or pushed through a press (1 or 2 cloves, depending on how much dressing you're making)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper (you want to add a good amount of salt and pepper, as the dressing is the only seasoning for the rice and veggies)
Olive oil

I didn't measure the vinaigrette ingredients last night, but the method is to put the vinegar, mustard, and garlic into a bowl or cup along with some salt and pepper and mix, then start whisking as you add olive oil. Depending on how tangy you like it, add either the same amount of or up to twice as much olive oil to the mixture as you have vinegar, and whisk until the dressing emulsifies. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

We ate the salad with grilled pork chops and sliced tomatoes. Very nice dinner for a hot evening. Again, you can use just about any vegetables you want to in the salad. Corn, avocado, and tomato would be a super combination. Raw zucchini cut into thin half-rounds is also a good idea. You can add any fresh, chopped herbs that appeal to you as well. Bon appétit!

Bacaro Market Monday Dinners Showcase Local Food

Thad Morrow, owner of bacaro restaurant and wine bar in downtown Champaign, wants to cook with the freshest ingredients possible and to use the vegetables, fruits, meats, and poultry that our local farmers produce. Thus, every Monday night throughout the summer and into the fall, he's running Market Monday dinners at the restaurant.

The local-food-focused tasting menu, consisting of five courses, is the only menu offered on Monday nights. But you certainly won't feel deprived. Here's what a companion and I had on the night we went.

To start, we each ordered a cocktail. Bacaro's drink menu includes a little something called Sardinian lemonade (it was actually quite a large something—a good-sized cocktail). The drink is made with Averna lemon liqueur, Averna liquirizia (star anise and licorice liqueur), Averna amaro (an herbal liqueur), fresh lemon juice, and prosecco (Italian sparkling wine). Layer upon layer of subtle flavor in this cocktail, and it's not overly sweet, just icy-cold and refreshing. Zounds! Highly recommended. It looks especially nice with my companion's pretty hand wrapped around it, no?

We enjoyed our cocktails for a bit, and then our extremely capable, friendly, and approachable server brought us an amuse-bouche, which turned out to be light and crispy fried sage leaves.

Our first course consisted of house-cured Copper River sockeye salmon and—here comes the local part—green beans, ribbons of daikon, heirloom radishes, cucumber, and a sugar snap pea vinaigrette.

The second course was a tomato and goat cheese tart garnished with fresh mint and accented by a sauce made with Mas de Gourgonnier olive oil, the prized oil that's the "other" product of the Provençal vineyard of the same name. In a town called Champaign, we have to have something French thrown in there, don't we?!

Thirdly, we were treated to plates of heavenly sage-and-garlic-infused roasted turkey sitting atop whipped turnips, served with wilted greens (kale, I believe) and bacon, and finished off with a fresh-sage gravy. It was like Thanksgiving in June! I can't adequately describe how delicious this dish was. The turkey was unbelievably juicy, tender, and flavorful, and the greens, bacon, and gravy complemented it perfectly. The portion was so large that we each took about half of it home; I ate my leftovers the next day without bothering to heat them up, and it was still scrumptious.

We were then served a bit of Prairie Fruits Farm Ewe Bloom cheese (a Camembert-style cheese made from sheep's milk) and slices of baguette. As you can see, the cheese was very ripe.

Our gustatory stamina was tested by the fifth and final course: a red-currant tart with honey and house-made whipped cream. Hey—there's always room for pie, right?

The farms represented in this divine meal were as follows: Spence Farms, Stewards of the Land, Kilgus Farmstead Creamery, Prairie Fruits Farm, Blue Moon Farm, Meyer Produce, Brackett Farms, Claybank Farm, Cary's Garden of Eatin', First Fruits Produce, Triple S Farm, North Avoca Farm, and Moore Family Farm.

We are so lucky to have the incredible farm land that we do here in central Illinois and the dedicated farmers who work that land in order to bring us fresh and wholesome food. We're also lucky to have chefs like Thad Morrow who are committed to buying from our local farmers and turning the fruits of their labors into meals like this one.

The five-course Market Monday dinners at bacaro range from $35 to $50 per person (not including beverages, tax, or gratuity). Yes, it's pricey, but, obviously, this ain't no diner food. Whether you can afford it on a regular basis or only for a special occasion, it's absolutely worth it to go.

I mentioned the cocktail menu; there is, of course, also a wine list from which you can choose a glass or bottle to accompany your meal.

To make a reservation for an upcoming Market dinner, visit the bacaro Web site. Chef Morrow usually posts a notice on the bacaro Facebook page on Monday afternoons outlining that evening's offerings, so you can check that before you go, to prime your taste buds.

bacaro restaurant and wine lounge
111 North Walnut Street
Champaign, IL
217-398-6982
Market Monday dinners are served from 5 to 10 p.m. Be sure to make a reservation; every table was filled throughout the evening the night I visited.

Red Beans and Rice

I guess we're all Louisiana, all the time here these days. There was the crawfish boil, and that same weekend, by coincidence, my esteemed partner had decided to try his hand at red beans and rice. Laissez les bons temps rouler, chér. I'd recently purchased John Besh's book My New Orleans, so of course we used Chef Besh's recipe.

Only we added sausage as well as ham. And not just any sausage, but the new Sweet Jamaican Jerk Sausage Links from Triple S Farm. (The ham hock was from Triple S, as well; you can get both from the Triple S stand at the Urbana farmers' market). Man, were the beans good. I highly recommend both the recipe and the book.

Red Beans and Rice
From My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh

Headnote from the recipe: Time is the key to making successful red beans; they need to cook slowly and well. Using flavorful fat is another secret. Just as my grandmother did, I keep the fat from every batch of bacon I make, and I save the fat that solidifies on the surface of chilled chicken soup and roast chicken drippings, too. Just a little bit adds big flavor.

2 onions, diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 stalk celery, diced
2 tablespoons rendered bacon fat
1 pound dried red kidney beans (Although Besh doesn't say to, we soaked the beans overnight before using them in this recipe.)
2 smoked ham hocks (We used only one, because we also used sausage and because the Triple S hocks are large)
4 sweet Jamaican jerk sausage links or other sausage of your choosing, sliced (our addition; not in the original recipe)
3 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 green onions, chopped
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Tabasco
3 cups cooked Basic Louisiana White Rice (recipe follows)

Sweat the onions, bell peppers, and celery in the rendered bacon fat in a heavy soup pot over medium-high heat.

Once the onions become translucent, add the kidney beans, ham hocks (and sausage slices), bay leaves, and cayenne, then add water to cover by 2 inches.

Increase the heat and bring the water to a boil. Cover the pot, reduce the heat to low, and allow the beans to slowly simmer for 2 hours. Periodically stir the beans to make sure that they don't scorch on the bottom of the pot, adding water if neccessary, always keeping the beans covered by an inch or more of water.

Continue cooking the beans until they are creamy and beginning to fall apart when they're stirred.

Remove the ham hock meat from the bones, roughly chop it, and add it back to the pot of beans.

Stir in the green onions and season with salt, black pepper, and Tabasco. Serve with white rice.

Basic Louisiana White Rice

1 tablespoon chicken fat, extra-virgin olive oil, or butter
1 small onion, minced
1 1/2 cups Louisiana long-grain white rice
3 cups chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1-2 pinches salt

Put the fat, oil, or butter and the onions into a medium saucepan and sweat the onions over moderate heat until they are translucent, about 5 minutes. Pour the rice into the pan and stir for 2 minutes. Then add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the bay leaf and salt.

Cover the pan, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 18 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, fluff the rice with a fork, and serve.
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Serve the beans and rice with a big green salad and some crusty bread, and open a cold beer, and you'll have a poor person's meal that satisfies richly.

Write a Limerick for a Chance to Win a Great Prize!

6/29/10: Because the contest has ended, the comments for this post have been closed. Thanks so much to everyone who left a limerick! ~Lisa

You know how we love poetry around here at CT. And how we love to have contests. Well, once again we're merging our two loves, and this time, your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to write a LIMERICK. A food-related limerick, of course.

The contest will be virtually the same as the haiku contests we've run in the past:

• You write a food-related limerick and leave it in the comments on this post. The subject of the limerick can be a favorite food item, be it cheese or tofu; cooking; shopping; dining out—it's pretty wide open and is limited only by your imagination!
• You may submit up to three limericks.
• The deadline for submissions is Monday, June 28, at midnight. No submissions will be accepted after that date.
• An illustrious panel of judges will select their three favorites.
• 1st-, 2nd-, and 3rd-place winners will be announced on Wednesday, June 30.
• Because the prizes are for local businesses, the contest is open only to people who live in the Champaign-Urbana area.

Why should I submit a limerick, you ask. First, because it's fun to write limericks (try it, you'll like it!), and second, because if your limerick is a winner, you'll get to choose one of these fabulous prizes:

• $25 gift certificate to Fat Sandwich Company
• $25 gift certificate to Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant
• $25 gift certificate to Minneci's Italian Restaurant
• $25 gift certificate to V. Picasso Tapas Bar and Lounge

There are two certificates available for Fat Sandwich, Guadalajara, and V. Picasso, and one for Minneci's. That means that the 1st- and 2nd-place winners will have their choice of a $25 gift certificate to any of the four restaurants, and the 3rd-place winner will choose from what's left (though of course, the 3rd-place winner might be able to choose from all four restaurants, depending on which certificates the 1st- and 2nd-place winners grab).

The panel of judges:

• Lisa Morgan, food enthusiast and editor and publisher of the blog that you are reading right now.
• Judy Elmore, manager of Jane Addams Book Shop in downtown Champaign, your local source for used and rare books since 1984. The store carries hundreds of cookbooks and three floors of other fantastic reads.
• Brian McKay, co-owner of the Art Mart in Lincoln Square, Urbana, purveyors of housewares, kitchen equipment, gourmet foods, and more since 1958.

Not sure what constitutes a limerick? Check out this info. A limerick must have five lines. Lines 1, 2, and 5 must rhyme with each other, and lines 3 and 4 must rhyme with each other. And it must follow a certain pattern of beats (not syllables, but beats): three beats in lines 1, 2, and 5, and two beats in lines 3 and 4. Here's one to get you started. I'll show the beats by using all caps. Sometimes it's helpful to clap your hands as you read the limerick aloud, so you can feel the beats.

For a NIGHT on the TOWN in c-U
Choose a PAtio TAble for TWO
Sushi, TApas, or STEAK
Burgers, FRIES, or cupCAKES
Summer's EVE will be MAgic—woo HOO!

See? Easy, right? OK, not super easy, but fun to try. So give it a go!

A huge THANK-YOU to CU Savings for donating the gift certificates to area restaurants. If you haven't checked CU Savings out, you should do so right away. They have free, printable discount coupons for local businesses (everything from restaurants to dry cleaners to golf courses), and they also run half-priced deals constantly.

Sign up for their newsletter on the Web site, and you'll receive e-mail notices about discount deals. You can also become a fan of CU Savings on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Judy, Brian, and I are looking forward to reading your limericks. You can start submitting any time, so go for it! You have nothing to lose, and a $25 gift certificate for an area restaurant to gain.

Note: Judges' family members are excluded from the contest. Thanks, family members, for your understanding.

Grilled Pork Tenderloins with Sweet-Hot Chipotle Sauce

I had a couple of pork tenderloins from Triple S Farm, and as I thought about what I wanted to do with them, the fact that I also had orange juice in the fridge, a can of chipotle salsa in the cupboard, and a new container of honey from the farmers' market came to mind. This Cuban-inspired dish is very quick and easy, except that you have to allow for the marinating time.

This is the salsa I used. I got it at Schnucks in Champaign; I'm sure the local Mexican groceries also carry it (or another, similar brand of it).

 Grilled Pork Tenderloins with Sweet-Hot Chipotle Sauce

2 pork tenderloins, about 3/4 pound each
2 cups orange juice
1 7-ounce can chipotle salsa
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon salt

Mix together the orange juice, salsa, honey, and salt, stirring to dissolve the honey. Pour the mixture over the pork tenderloins in a shallow dish or in a Zip-Lock bag. If using a dish, cover with plastic wrap and marinate, refrigerated, for 3 hours or overnight (if using a plastic bag, push out as much air as possible, seal the bag, and refrigerate).

Remove the tenderloins from the marinade. Grill over a hot fire for about 6 minutes per side, or about 12 minutes total. While the meat is grilling, pour the marinade into a small saucepan and boil until it's reduced by half and forms a thick sauce, about 10-15 minutes.

Remove the tenderloins from the grill. Slice each tenderloin into 1/2-inch slices, crosswise, arrange on a platter, and spoon the chipotle sauce over all.
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This dish reminded me a bit of the pork with chipotle sauce served at Fiesta Cafe, except that the sauce at Fiesta isn't sweet. The key is not overcooking the pork; you want a hot fire, so that you get some charring on the outside of the tenderloins while retaining a juicy pink interior. Rice and greens on the side complemented the pork well.

First Annual Salt & Light Canless Food Drive Starts Today

Please welcome Vern Fein, a guest contributor this week. Vern is on the board of the organization Salt & Light, which provides emergency food aid to people who need it. Thanks, Vern, for the information about this fund drive. ~Lisa

If you patronize restaurants and other food establishments in and around C-U, here's a chance to help people in need at the same time. Beginning today, June 1, and running through the month of June, Salt & Light—a ministry that gives food, clothing, appliances, and furniture for free every week to over 400 families—is placing paint-sized cans in 250 area businesses to raise funds to purchase food from the Eastern Illinois Foodbank. Salt & Light can buy $10 worth of food for every dollar they collect—a wise and expansive use of your contributions. You can put checks or cash in the cans.

For nearly five years, Salt & Light had been serving more than 200 families on a weekly basis. Then, last summer, as many of you saw, the couple who run the ministry—Nathan and Jenny Montgomery and their four children—were selected to receive a new home from the TV show Extreme Home Makeover.

The national publicity from the show has caused a huge surge in demand, doubling the number of families who come to Salt & Light each Wednesday. The demand has been so great that Salt & Light has had trouble keeping up with the food needs and has at times run out of food altogether.

Therefore, if you see a can with a red-and-white label (as shown above) in an area store or restaurant, please be generous and tuck something into it. If you want to contribute directly or volunteer with Salt & Light, go to their Web site. Thank you!

These are the area restaurants that are participating in the month-long food drive:

• Alexander's Steakhouse
• The Apple Dumpling
• Atlanta Bread Company
• Black Dog Smoke and Ale House
• Buffalo Wild Wings
• Burger King
• Buttitta's
• Cafe Kopi
• The Cake Artist's Studio
• Chevy's
• Cookies by Design
• Courier Cafe
• Culver's
• Dairy Queen
• El Toro
• First Fruits Produce (Mahomet)
• The Great Impasta
• Hickory River Smokehouse
• Hideaway of the Woods (Mahomet)
• Houlihan's
• Iron Post
• Li'l Porgy's
• Milo's
• Monical's Pizza
• Old Time Meat and Deli
• Papa John's
• Philo Tavern (Philo)
• Pizza Hut
• Silvercreek
• Starbucks
• Subway
• Taffie's
• The Azteca (Mahomet)
• The Coffee Station
• Walnut Street Tea Company
• Zelma's Pizza