Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Some food-related (mostly) things we enjoyed this past week:
We were out and about on a blustery day last weekend and ended up having a late lunch at a great little bar & grill called Norton’s in Highland Park. It was freezing out — we have learned that they don’t call Chicago the “Windy City” for nothing; the wind can often feel like tiny ice fists punching you in the face — so we lingered long enough after lunch to watch the dining area empty and the bar fill up with locals in the early afternoon.
Although the wind and its tiny fists of fury kept it from really feeling like 60 degrees, we finally had a day of spring-like temperatures last week! Borrowing my brother’s Minneapolis mantra: we can make it to June, we can make it to June…
We’ve mentioned our recipe for ponzu fish as a favorite before, but it is worth repeating that this is one of the best fish dishes we’ve ever had. You really should try it.
Here’s to a wonderful weekend! We are off to spend some time with two of our favorite small people, spoiling them to our Aunt & Uncle hearts’ content.
Mark Twain probably said it best: “New Orleans food is as delicious as the less criminal forms of sin.” For us, one of the foods that most epitomizes The Big Easy is crawfish etouffee. Done right, it’s rich in a subtle yet complex way, with a nice amount of heat and a silky, comfort-food texture. And the fact that this Cajun specialty is made with the small crustacean also known as a “mudbug” gives the dish a gritty undertone evocative of Post-Katrina New Orleans. (“Gritty” in the conceptual sense, as in moxie or determination. If yours is literally gritty, then your crawfish probably weren’t cleaned properly and maybe you shouldn’t eat them.) There are a lot of different etouffee recipes out there, but this version seems to be the most authentic homemade interpretation of one of New Orleans’ most sinfully delicious favorites.