When I first met my husband, he had this movie poster of Eric Schaeffer's If Lucy Fell hanging in his bachelor pad. Through Charles, I soon became familiar with Eric Schaeffer's work and now count myself an equally big fan. His popular Showtime series, I Can't Believe I'm Still Single was a particular favorite of mine and is a hilarious companion piece to his memoir of the same title. To summarize loosely, the series is based on Eric traveling from Portland to Portland looking for love in mostly all the wrong places which makes for comedy gold. 

Charles wanted to bring Eric to Chicago and arranged for a screening of his latest film, After Fall, Winter at Facets Multimedia. I am delighted to have the opportunity to interview him with a Q&A after the screening.

Here are the details.There will be a reception before the screening, Q&A afterwards and an after party at The Small Bar. Hope you can join us for the evening's festivities.

Showtime:
Monday, Feb. 27 at 7 pm
A reception will be held at Facets prior to the screening at 6 pm

There will be a special admission fee for this event:
$15.00, which includes the reception and film.

Click Here to Purchase Tickets

Movie Synopsis

After Fall, Winter is a provocative, sexy, and at times a disturbing tale about two people who desperately want intimacy but have not resolved their severe personal problems, and it may already be too late for them to save each other. Michael (Eric Schaeffer, Fall), is in considerable despair about his writing career, which was quite successful in the past, but now he is in a tailspin, burdened by debt and a bleak future. He leaves his home in New York and goes to Paris, hoping to find inspiration, but he also has a sadomasochistic streak that he is also trying to resolve.

While staying in Montmartre, Michael falls for the beautiful Sophie ((Lizzie Brocheré), who divides her time between working as a BD/SM dominatrix and also a hospice worker who is taking care of terminally ill patients. Michael begins courting her in earnest, his personality as painfully open, while she remains wary and emotionally distant, as they also hide their lurid fetishes from the other. Intriguingly, the developing romance between Michael and Sophie is sometimes sweet and charming, with lively exchanges of comedy and delight. In the meanwhile, Sophie is increasingly involved in the life of a straight-talking 13-year-old girl with leukemia, and gradually Sophie begins to lower her guard and see that there may be an opportunity for the redemptive potential of love. However, their perverse take on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is a doomed love with an ending that is a remarkable testament to sacrifice, destiny and passion.

I am pleased to share new details about my upcoming wine bar and restaurant. We have finalized the location at 720 North Wells and have named the restaurant The Boarding House. I was drawn to the space because of its history. It was built shortly after the Chicago fire during a time of great economic growth for our city. Like many Chicagoans, I became fascinated with The World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 after reading books like Devil in the White City and Sin in the Second City. With characters such as Marshall Field, Potter and Bertha Palmer, John "Bathhouse" Coughlin, Hinky Dink Kenna and the Everleigh Sisters running around, it's easy to see why. During the 19th century, Chicago's central location and proximity to waterways made it an economic powerhouse and central hub for trading, manufacturing, distribution and shipping.

Exterior of The Boarding House at Superior and Wells

For the past few decades, 720 N Wells was home to various nightclubs including the legendary Cairo. I wanted to go back further in time so we paid a visit to the Chicago History Museum to see what secrets we could unearth. By accessing the criss-cross directories, we discovered that the building had functioned as a grocery store, saloon, tobacconist and even a cheese company.

During my research, I was flipping through an 1860's directory that listed Chicago businesses by name and came across hundreds of female names. I found this rather odd as it was rare during this time period for a woman to own a business. I realized that the names were proprietors of boarding houses. The helpful staff at the CHM nformed me that it was very common for women to take in boarders as way to earn extra income or earn an outright living. The boarders were often immigrants who came to Chicago to seek their fortune by working in one of the many factories in the city. A boarding house provided food, lodging and often a sense of familial comfort. Upon further research, I discovered that the building at some point had operated as a boarding house and I knew we had found our name.

The Boarding House speaks of my passion for history, my love for the great City of Chicago and my desire to convey a familial sense of comfort with food and wine as a female proprietor. We will be working with our architect Jeremiah Johnson of Chicago Building Design to stay true to the building's structural integrity and capture the essence and spirit of this very fascinating era of Chicago's history.

The Boarding House will open Summer 2012. Visit our website to sign up for our newsletter or connect with us on Facebook.

View of the Transamerica Pyramid from Chinatown

San Francisco has a fabulous restaurant culture and you would need far more than the 3 days we allocated ourselves to get a proper sense of what this city has to offer but we did our best to make the most of the time we had.

Here is our dining itinerary:

DAY 1

Left ORD 9 am and arrived at SFO at 1 pm. Hopped on the Pittsburg BART line for $8.10 per person and arrived at our hotel in Union Square 30 minutes later.

Kuleto's -- This San Francisco institution was designed by legendary designer, restauranteur and vintner Pat Kuleto.  Kuleto's projects include Fog City Diner, Farallon, Boulevard, Jardinere and Postrio to name but a few. We stopped in for a glass of wine.

A childhood favorite made in San Francisco since 1928

It's It Fix -- I grew up on these and there's nothing quite like the taste of nostalgia which in this case is vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two oatmeal cookies, covered in a crisp chocolate shell. 

John's Grill -- This iconic restaurant has about around since 1908. We enjoyed a glass of wine and chatted up the bartender who had worked there for 30 years. He said Jack LaLanne was a regular customer  and they eventually named a salad after him on the menu. John's Grill was also the setting for Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon.

Zuni's famous Caesar Salad

Zuni Cafe -- Chef and Partner Judy Rodgers was one of the pioneers of California cuisine: clean and simple cooking with seasonal, fresh produce. We ordered their famous Caesar salad and I discovered it was identical to the one I had served at a restaurant back in the 90's. Perhaps the chef at my old restaurant was quite taken by the salad as well and decided to emulate it along with Zuni's famous roast chicken, wood burning oven and elements of their decor. But then again, it was the 90's and Caesar salads, wood burning ovens and open kitchens were quite popular.

Note Pizzeria Delfina's condiment service for pizza

Pizzeria Delfina/Delfina -- After our Caesar salad snack at Zuni Cafe, we wandered down Market Street and made our way to the Mission district to Delfina Pizzeria on 18th St. After enjoying their sausage pizza we went next door to their more "formal" restaurant.

Bi-Rite Ice Cream -- located a few doors down from Delfina is the Bi-Rite Market which was closed but luckily their creamery across the street was still open. The ginger ice cream alone was worth the trip to San Francisco.

State Bird Provision's Cart Service

State Bird Provisions -- the final stop of the night was a 10 pm reservation at this unique new restaurant. They offer dim-sum style service where a waiter brings around a cart of various items for you to choose from. You can also enjoy items from the menu. The state bird for California is the quail (I still remember this from history class - thank you) and they offer it up deep-fried and delicious.

DAY 2

Bags of Blue Bottle Coffee awaiting eager patrons

Blue Bottle Cafe -- we started our second day bright and early with coffee. Blue Bottle has a cult following and when we arrived at the Mint Plaza location, there was already a line out the door. I had some difficulties in deciding how to order my coffee as they offer several brewing methods: drip over, single origin siphon, French Press, espresso, etc. I felt like I was in an episode of Portlandia but the coffee was very tasty.

Venga Empanadas -- We were on our way to visit Tartine Bakery in the Mission District but who can resist an Argentine style emapanada?

Tartine's take on a turkey sandwich

Tartine Bakery and Cafe -- Tartine is located next door to Delfina which we had visited the night before. I had heard so much about Tartine and was pleased to discover that the experience was well worth the hype. The only problem was deciding what to order as they offer everything from pastries, cakes, cookies, confections, sandwiches and all sorts of little things in between. We settled on a croissant that was perfectly laminated and soft and buttery on the inside. I spied a few people enjoying tempting looking sandwiches so I we decided to order the turkey pesto on Acme bread. If you find yourself in SF, I highly recommend you visit Tartine. It's a fantastic experience.

To earn our appetites we then walked through the Castro District, Haight, Hayes Valley, Chinatown and then eventually ending up in North Beach. It was a wet and rainy day so we stopped for a glass of wine and a chance to dry off at Absinthe in between neighborhoods.

Stella's Cannoli - take it and stay

Cannoli -- North Beach for me is synonymous with cannoli and other delicious Italian pastries. I couldn't decide between Stella's and Caffe Roma so we tried them at both locations. Needless to say, all the walking we did was crucial.

Kitchen window between Cotogna and Quince

Cotogna/Quince -- Our next stop was Cotogna, located a few blocks from North Beach in the Financial District. I had read a lot about James Beard Award-winning Chef Michael Tusk but unfortunately, Cotogna was closed for a private party. Their much higher-end, sister restaurant Quince was right next door but we were too wet and mangy looking to dine there. We poked our heads in for a quick look and the hosts cheerfully welcomed us in. With hospitality like that, how could we refuse? The wine director for Quince and Cotogna is the uber-awesome David Lynch. I'm a big fan of his wine lists so we decided to enjoy a glass of wine at the bar. David is currently planning his own restaurant, St. Vincent, which I look forward to visiting on my next trip.

Delarosa -- properly bolstered by sugar and wine, we began our long walk to Marina/Cow Hollow to visit A16. Along the way, we happened upon Delarosa (a sister restaurant to Beretta). The atmosphere was alive with communal table buzz so we grabbed a couple seats at the bar and watched the very handsome bartender churn out some serious looking drinks. Delarosa is known for their roman style pizzas but we resisted ordering one since we were on our way to A16. We snacked on crab arancini and meatballs instead.

Chef's table at A16

A16 -- A16 is down the street from Delarosa and I feared we would not be able to get in without a reservation. Twenty minutes after arriving, the friendly hostess placed us at the Chef's table which gives you a bird's eye view of the open kitchen with two wood burning ovens. Talk about dinner theater! We ordered an anchovy, olive and egg pizza and it had the perfect balance between a chewy and light crust with a wet but not watery center. Fantastic! A key component of the A16 experience is the interesting and impressive Italian wine program curated by Owner/Wine Director Shelley Lindgren.

SPQR & NOPA -- I hoped we had the time and energy to visit SPQR (sister restaurant to A16) and NOPA but sadly a long walk in the rain awaited us and we felt that it was best to reserve our energy for the next day.

DAY 3

Blue Bottle Coffee -- once again we began our day with Blue Bottle coffee.

RN74 -- A major reason for going to San Francisco was so we could visit RN74, a wine bar from Michael Mina and star sommelier Rajat Parr. If you are a Burgundy fan, you must visit this restaurant at some point in your life. We opted for a lunch of Toulouse sausage and beans, pate and cheese accompanied by some really addictive Della Fattoria bread (it seems serving good bread is a recurring theme for San Francisco restaurants).

Rainy day along the Embarcadero

Boulevard -- I was still craving some more cheese after our lunch at RN74 so we decided to stop in at Boulevard restaurant located a few blocks away along the Embarcadero. The Bay Area is home to an impressive lineup of female chefs and food pioneers including Alice Waters, Joyce Goldstein, Traci Des Jardins, Cecilia Chang, Judy Rodgers, and most certainly Nancy Oakes, chef and owner of Boulevard. Her new restaurant, Prospect is also located a few blocks away. 

View from our table at Hog Island Oyster Company

Ferry Building Marketplace -- a perfect place to be on a rainy day! Many of San Francisco's most famous restaurants and food artisans have stalls at The Ferry Building Marketplace making it convenient for one-stop shopping. You can visit Miette Bakery, Acme Baking Company, Blue Bottle Coffee, Cowgirl Creamery, Boccalone Salumeria, Slanted Door and many more merchants here. We stopped by Hog Island Oyster Company to enjoy a dozen local oysters and grilled sardines. Master Sommelier Peter Granoff, Debbie Zachareas and Bo Thompson own and operate The Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant where you can celebrate all things wine: purchase bottles, take a wine class, sign up for the wine club or simply enjoy a glass at the bar with cheese and charcuterie.

Check out that oven

Una Pizza Napoletana -- during our lunch at Tartine Bakery, we ran into Master Sommelier Jesse Becker who said if we wanted the best pizza ever to visit Una Pizza Napoletana. He advised us to get there as soon as they opened at 5 pm as they stop service once the dough runs out, usually around 7 pm. We arrived at 4:50 pm and were seated right away. The pizzeria is located in an old warehouse building and the pizza oven was set center stage in a sparsely decorated room.

Una's Pizza Margherita

The menu began with a list of rules warning customers about no substiutions or exclusions, no slices and a meat pizza was limited to Saturday service only.  There were no side dishes, salads or dessert - just various renditions of tomato and cheese pizza along with a succinct but well-done by the glass selection. Clearly, the pizzaiolo took his craft seriously. The pizza was was superb - light and chewy crust, the burnt edges were nutty but not bitter and similar to the A16 pizza, the center was wet but not watered down. Thank you Jesse for the recommendation!

Leave your name on the wait list posted outside

Mission Chinese Food -- another reason for visiting San Francisco was to dine at Mission Chinese Food after reading The Mission Street Cookbook. What started off as as a once-a-week experiment subleasing a food truck has now morphed into a benevolent business model that operates out of an old Chinese restaurant with a higher-end sister (Commonwealth) restaurant located next door.

Four Barrel Coffee -- After learning of our visit to Blue Bottle, Tony Dreyfuss from Metropolis encouraged us to check out Four Barrel Coffee. Sadly they were closed for a private party but hopefully we can join them on our next trip.

The secret is to use Bourbon and Straus Family Creamery dairy products

Humphry Slocombe Creamery -- Secret Breakfast Ice Cream -- bourbon flavored ice cream with cornflakes, need I say more? Quite tasty but overall, I preferred the ice cream at Bi-Rite Creamery.

Mission Cheese -- we hoped to stop in for some cheese but we were too full to indulge. We did peek in and the array of cheese offerings looked impressive so we've added them to the list for next time.

Also For next time -- AQ, Alembic, Tacolicious, Range, Sons and Daughters, Baker and Banker, Swan Oyster Depot, Bar Bambino, Flour and Water, Coi, Benu and I'm sure this list will continue to grow. As I said, too many good places for such a quick trip.

The ever-tempting cheese case at Pastoral

Pairing wine with cheese is something that any sommelier worth their curd should be able to do quite easily but I must admit that my knowledge of cheese had always quantified as enough to be dangerous. I know how to pair the various styles of cheese with an appropriate wine match but I had always been curious to learn more about the actual producers. My interest was piqued last year on a trip to Israel as well as a trip to Canada when I had the opportunity to visit a couple of goat dairy farms. Aside from the baby goats being as adorable as possible (I wanted to take one home), I was particularly moved by the dedication and artisanship of the people behind the (cheese) wheel.

Shortly after my resignation from Lettuce, I took the opportunity to work at Pastoral Artisan Cheese, Bread and Wine as a holiday associate. The knowledge of the staff at Pastoral is mind boggling. Each monger has the ability to rattle off all kinds of intricate details about each cheese selection.

My first few days were a bit overwhelming as I learned the ropes of being a cheesemonger. There are certain things you need to keep in mind when handling cheese. First and foremost - do not cross contaminate a blue cheese knife with a non-blue cheese product otherwise you risk spreading the mold inducing spores.  Always wrap cheese shortly after slicing it otherwise it will dry out but also keep in mind cheese needs to breathe as well - some once a day, others once a week. Wrapping cheese in plastic is an artform. It has to be really tight and you have to make sure that the side facing the customer is presentable. I will never take a beautifully presented cheese case for granted ever again. I did learn a tip for home: you can make cheese in your refrigerator last longer if you take the time to rewrap it tightly in fresh plastic. Don't reuse plastic - always fresh!

With each shift, I became more and more familiar with all the items in the cheese case as I learned about the producer and the production method. I also supplemented my education with Mastering Cheese. The best part about working at Pastoral is they encourage you to taste everything and I took them up on the offer! I often volunteered to split whole wheels as it was really awesome to be able to taste the cheese right after you slice it when the paste is extra creamy and soft. When dining out, I am more excited than ever to recognize my favorite cheeses at restaurants. I now have the ability to enjoy them knowing a lot more about what went into making them.

My time at Pastoral came to an end earlier this month and I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to work there. The owners, Greg and Ken, have a created a wondeful environment to share the goodness of cheese and I can't thank them enough for including me. The entire staff was very patient with all my questions and I learned a great deal from them as they shared their knowledge. When it comes to cheese, I could not have asked for a better education. 

The Ad Hoc at Home cookbook - the perfect holiday gift for any culinary enthusiast

Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home cookbook was published in 2009 and has since become one of my favorite go-to cookbooks. It is filled with gorgeous food photography and the recipes are accompanied by Chef Keller's precision laced instructions to ensure complete success with each dish.

Included in this book is my favorite recipe for fluffy buttermilk biscuits. If you are sensitive to salt, you may want to cut back on the amount called for here but otherwise this recipe is perfect.

 Ad Hoc Buttermilk Biscuits (Makes 12 Biscuits)

• 2 cups cake flour
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and chilled
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, plus 1-2 tablespoons for brushing
• 2-3 tablespoons (1 to 1 1/2 ounces) unsalted butter, melted

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine dry ingredients in a food processor and pulse a few times to blend. Add the chilled butter and pulse until the pieces of butter are no bigger than the size of small peas. Do not over process, the dough should not come together.

Transfer dough to large bowl and make a well in the center. Pour in the buttermilk. Stir and lift the mixture with a sturdy spoon, gently working the flour into the buttermilk. The dough should begin to come together but not form a solid mass or the biscuits may be tough.

Dust a work surface with flour and turn out the dough. Pat the dough into a 3/4-inch-rectangle. Using a 2 1/2-inch round cutter, cut out the biscuits. Dust the cutter with flour if the dough sticks to it. Place the biscuits on the baking sheet. The dough trimmings can be gently pushed together, patted out, and cut one more time; do not overwork the dough.

Brush the tops of the biscuits lightly with buttermilk. Bake for 15-18 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking, until a rich golden brown. As soon as you remove the biscuits from the oven, brush the tops with melted butter. Serve warm.

It’s hard to believe that my time at Lettuce Entertain You is coming to an end. I joined the company after moving to Chicago to join the team at Everest as their sommelier. I will forever be grateful to Chef J. Joho for taking a chance and giving me the opportunity of a lifetime. He taught me a tremendous amount about the art of service and the culture of food and wine. Chef Joho and the staff at Everest could not have been more supportive of my endeavors, both on the floor and off, and to that end, in 2003, I completed my goal of becoming a Master Sommelier.

After five years on the floor, I joined the corporate office in 2005 as the Director of Wine and Spirits and found new challenges extending well beyond the restaurant. I have had the great privilege to work with some of the most dynamic, thoughtful, and creative entrepreneurs in the restaurant industry. The volume of talent within this organization never ceased, or ceases, to amaze me. I have made lifelong friends, and though I will miss working with them, I look forward to our continued friendship.

Wine is not a spectator sport, and seeking new ways to develop my skills is a reoccurring theme in my professional life. Ever since my earliest days as a waitress in Monterey, California, I’ve strived to learn as much as I can every day, to grow, and, with any luck, be able to inspire the same in others. Earlier this year, that familiar desire to grow returned, in the form of an opportunity outside of the organization, and just as when I took the call from Chef Joho that winter afternoon in 2000, I knew I had to answer. It was not an easy decision to make, just as it had been in ways difficult to leave my West Coast life in my twenties, but I knew the time had come, and so today is my last day at Lettuce.

I am very excited for my new adventures and will announce the details shortly. My plans will keep me in Chicago, as I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else again. 

 The legendary hummus at Abu Hassan in Jaffa

Hummus had long ago become a staple food item that went into my grocery cart each week and for many of us, it's hard to imagine throwing a cocktail party without a bowl of it accompanied by pita chips and vegetables. 

This past summer I took a trip to Israel to learn about Israeli wines and the kosher wine system. Not only were the wines fabulous but the food was spectacular - especially the hummus! Israeli hummus is different - the texture is light, smooth, fluffy and quite simply put - change your life out of this world delicious. 

The secret to making fluffy hummus is to first soak the chickpeas and then boil them with baking soda until the chickpeas disintegrate into a soft mash. You then blend them with good quality raw tahini until smooth and creamy for Jerusalem style or you can mix it with whole cooked chickpeas for the chunkier Galilee version. I know this sounds like a lot of work but the flavor is far superior to any store bought hummus I've ever tasted.

I purchased souvenir bottles of tahini at the Carmel market in Tel Aviv 

I recently served this at a dinner party and my guests went crazy for it and I promised everyone I would share the recipe so here it is. You can make it with canned chickpeas but the texture won't be as light and creamy. Enjoy!

Basic Hummus Dip (serves 8-10)

• 1 lb bag small dry chickpeas
• 1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup good quality raw tahini
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• salt to taste

Soak the chickpeas overnight in a large bowl with water and 1 tablespoon of baking soda. The next day drain and rinse the chickpeas and put them in a large pan. Add water until it reaches 1 inch above the chickpeas. Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and bring to a boil. Cook covered over low heat for 2-3 hours until the peas become VERY soft. Be patient with this step as undercooked chickpeas will yield a lumpy texture. Cool slightly, drain and save some of the cooking liquid. 

Put the chickpeas in a food processor, add 2/3 cup tahini and process until almost smooth. Add cooking liquid if it is too thick. Season with lemon juice, garlic and salt - taste and adjust seasonings. For a creamier version, add the remaining tahini.

Hummus with full garnish 

This is the version you would receive in a typical hummusia served with plenty of warm pita bread. 

Ingredients (serves 6-8)

The Sauce:

• 1 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon hot red pepper chopped (optional)
• 1 tablespoon garlic crushed

 Additional garnishes: tahini, olive oil, fresh parsley, chopped onion

Mix ingredients for sauce and set aside. Spoon 1 cup of basic hummus dip in a shallow bowl and spread around the rim leaving a well in the center. Fill the well with 1 tablespoon of tahini, pour 2-3 tablespoons of the sauce and sprinkle with olive oil, parsley and chopped onion. 

The final game for the Rugby World Cup was held last week. We were lucky enough to be in Lyon that day to witness an interesting cultural moment as the French were positioned against the New Zealand All Blacks in the match that would decide the best Rugby team in the world. Cafes and bars throughout the city were broadcasting the game and rowdy French fans were spilling out of them as they rooted for their national team.

The All Blacks would go on to defeat the French by one point but at least the French fans had some delicious local wine to drown their sorrows in.

I am beyond delighted to receive an invitation to speak at an upcoming event at Waubonsee Community College on Saturday, October 1st at 7 pm. I am very much looking forward to sharing my background and how I turned my passion for wine and food into a rewarding career.

I would love to have you join us! My talk will take place in the Auditorium of the college’s Sugar Grove Campus, Route 47 at Waubonsee Drive. Tickets are $15, and are available at www.waubonseetickets.com. Please note that tickets are subject to a transaction fee.

I hope to see you there!

My husband received a copy of Jonathan Waxman's new book, Italian My Way from the publisher and he asked me to help him test some recipes for his upcoming review on BookSlut.com. I had become fond of the charismatic Jonathan Waxman while watching him on Top Chef Masters and I've never had the pleasure of dining at his NYC restaurant Barbuto therefore I was really looking forward to this challenge.

The press release claimed,

"Italian, My Way" breaks down the culinary lessons of Italy into plain English, helping you sweat less in the kitchen and enjoy cooking more. After all, simpler recipes mean less time planning meals-and more time enjoying them."

"It's food you cook for friends and family with music in the background and a glass of wine in hand…"

Less sweating in the kitchen, listening to music and drinking wine while you cook - as the Barefoot Contessa would ask, "How bad could that be?"

Drab photo of lemon raspberry crostata featured in the book on the right

Our initial glance through the book proved disappointing as legendary food photographer Christopher Hirsheimer's gorgeous photos are printed in black and white on low-heft paper. Considering the book retails for $32, I would have expected color photos and better quality paper.

The recipes range from, why does this even need a recipe (prosciutto wrapped around asparagus) to there's no way we're making this (fresh rabbit with white wine). Charles and I decided to make the JW Chicken, spaetzle, pizza Margherita and for dessert, a lemon raspberry crostata.

PIZZA MARGHERITA

Flattening of the beer

Good pizza begins with an excellent crust recipe so let's start here. The dough called for a sponge to be made 24 hours in advance using stale beer. I don't know about you but I don't keep stale beer handy on the off chance I need to make pizza dough. I even joked with my husband, "Hmm..how do you make stale beer on purpose? That wasn't on my Master Sommelier exam." We opened a bottle of Stella Artois and let it "go stale".

Our ingredients are sponge worthy

Chef Waxman highly suggested we use King Arthur's organic all purpose flour as, "it is perfect." Another key ingredient in the recipe was unprocessed honey and the stuff in my pantry was most likely heat-treated so raw honey was procured as well.

Charles, deep in thought, at the Whole Foods wondering if he can no longer trust our tap water

As for water, Chef Waxman wrote we must use fresh water and if our water was too hard or suspect to use bottled water. We drink tap water at home but should I now be suspicious of my water? I'm even not sure if it qualifies as hard or soft but it does taste funky at times so we decided to get bottled water too. 

The pizza sauce recipe required heirloom tomatoes but since the season for them is not until late summer, we opted for Chef Waxman's suggestion to use beefsteak tomatoes. Two curious additions to the sauce were rosemary and lavender. My grocery store was out of lavender so I purchased a small lavender plant instead. In place of plain old mozzarella, Chef Waxman's Margherita features luxurious burrata. 

The pizza was disappointing. I didn't care for the crust as it was tough and the pizza sauce was watery and bland. I've used dough recipes that are far less of a hassle and yielded a more flavorful and chewy crust. We were also not given specific instruction as to where to place the pizza in the oven - top, middle or bottom - and I feel this is an important detail in any recipe.  

JW CHICKEN

Herzog Restaurant Supply on Madison

On to the chicken now. This is perhaps one of Jonathan Waxman's most famous dishes and understandably it is a popular entrée at Barbuto where it is made in a wood fired oven. I've heard it described as the juiciest, most flavorful chicken you'll ever eat with an unbelievable crispy skin to boot. In order to replicate the effect of the wood fired oven at home, Chef Waxman suggested we purchase oval sizzling platters from a kitchen supply store as a way to fire up the heat potential during the cooking process. I wanted crispy skin so a visit to the local kitchen supply store was added to the list. 

The butchers at Paulina Meat Market are always so friendly and helpful

As for the chicken itself, Chef Waxman suggested we use a free-range organic chicken – fresh only!  I initially planned on purchasing a chicken from the farmers market but after the vendor we visited at our local market said he was only allowed to sell frozen chickens, a visit to a specialty butcher shop joined the schedule.

The instructions on how to get the chicken ready for roasting were not exactly clear. I was to remove the backbone of the chicken using kitchen shears and then cut out the breastbone using a chef's knife. I figured this meant separating the entire breastbone from the chicken, which is what I did.

These platters are going to be perfect for making restaurant style, sizzling fajitas

The chicken was not browning properly so I followed Chef Waxman's advice to turn it over so the skin was facing down. This made matters worse as the juice from the Meyer lemon steamed the skin rather than crisping it. I ended up broiling the skin side up for 5 min towards the end to get it to brown.

Ingredients used to make the salsa verde. Note the sparkling wine.

Chef Waxman did say this was food you cooked with a glass of wine in hand!

The salsa verde that accompanies the chicken includes 7 different herbs, capers in salt and anchovy filets. The capers needed to soak for 1 hour. The anchovies required a 15-minute soaking and then I was instructed to remove the bones using tweezers. Let me tell you, yanking teeny-tiny bones out of teeny-tiny fish has to be right up there with surgery on delicate nerves – nearly impossible.

The chicken came out moist but a bit bland. The skin, despite my attempts to crisp it under the broiler, remained flaccid and chewy. The chicken was too much work for somewhat mediocre results and not nearly as tasty as my usual go-to recipe. However, the salsa verde was really quite nice and I may make this again for other recipes.

Wondering if I had done something incorrectly with the JW Chicken recipe, I decided to do some research online and found this promo video for the book featuring Chef Waxman demonstrating how to make it. Much to my surprise, the recipe on the video was vastly different from the one in the book. Different ingredients and technique for making the salsa verde, breast bone cut in half and not removed and no Meyer lemon. Most importantly, the video recipe appeared easier to execute.

SPAETZLE

The spaetzle was a disaster. The recipe included organic flour, sea salt and sparkling water, which we purchased – Italian sparkling water mind you. We were instructed to push the spaetzle dough through the holes of a colander suspended over boiling water – a very difficult and nearly impossible thing to do, especially if you happen to have just two hands. We managed to get some of the dough to go through but the spaetzle was a gloopy, gelatinous, inedible mess.

LEMON RASPBERRY CROSTATA

And now for the dessert, which was spectacular. This recipe featured one of the most delicious tart crusts I've ever made – almost like a rich and buttery shortbread cookie. The lemon custard was tart and tangy with that distinctive aroma only Meyer lemons can provide. I'll definitely make this again.

CONCLUSION

I'm still a fan of Chef Waxman and I appreciate his fresh approach to seasonal cooking but Italian, his way will not become Italian, my way. I much prefer books by Lidia Bastianich, Marcella Hazan and even Mario Batali. Their recipes are easier to execute, the ingredients are far easier to find and the results are more to my liking.