Shroom For More

Would you believe me if I told you I had a hot veggie side that you can throw together in 5 minutes?  with only 3 ingredients?  Because I do.

Even better than that, if you know someone who's not a big fan of mushrooms, this could possibly convert them.  It did for me.  I still wouldn't consider myself big on mushrooms, but I do enjoy them this way.

I got this method from a vendor at Green City Market in downtown Chicago.  He had a bunch of mushrooms cooked up this way and managed to charm my friend and me into trying them.  It was eye-opening.  They almost tasted like little bites of steak!  No kidding, that was my mushroom epiphany right there.

A Pop of Spice

I like to think outside the box.  I also sometimes like to sit inside the box and pretend that it's a time machine, or an airplane, or a silent padded room, but that's another story.  So when Curry's sent me their meat spice rub, using it on meat was the last thing that came to my mind.

The Meat Spice Rub is a very interesting mix of spices.  When you open it, you are immediately hit with an aroma reminiscent of sweets, almost like licorice and gingerbread.  That makes sense, because it has many of what I generally think of as "sweet" spices in it, like cloves, star anise, and cinnamon.  But then you can smell a hint of the smokier spices, and spices with more of a snap in there as well, like the cumin and the black pepper.  It was totally intriguing to me.  I love a good divergent flavor blend, whether it's salty-sweet like chocolate-covered pretzels, or salty-sour like salt and vinegar chips, or spicy-sweet like the smell of this rub.  It reminded me slightly of Chinese 5 spice (probably the star anise), and that made me think of an amazing caramel sauce that I made with Chinese 5 spice a while back.  Not wanting to do the same thing again, but loving that salty-sweet-spice direction, I decided to go with a spiced kettle corn.

Full disclosure: I have never tried to make my own actual kettle corn before.  I have let the people at the market with the huge copper kettles do it.  I have made my own popcorn, buttered it, and then sprinkled it with blends of salt or sugar or other flavors like cinnamon or garlic.  But I've never actually made the real deal in my kitchen.  Until now.

Saffron Mini-Muffins

Despite yesterday being the first day of spring, it is crazy cold around here.  Like, "high of 34, feels like 17" kind of cold.  And that's not Celsius either.  Freezing.  But on the upside, the sun has been shining, and I'm starting to see signs of spring cropping up.  Robins singing, the sun staying out longer, and the green starts of crocuses popping up in my yard.  It's on it's way.

(So, I could insert a long story here to make a smooth transition, but honestly, it's Thursday, my crazy day, and I'm going to skirt it.  If you'd like to imagine a magical, transcendent, witty, wordy transition, please do so now.)  

You know what spice comes from crocuses?  Saffron!  

Piggin' Out

The other night, my kids were up in arms.  It was another crazy schedule of a day, and we only had about 40 minutes to make and eat dinner between activities.  Silly me, I had forgotten that I had told them they could have mac and cheese for our next quickie dinner.  So when they asked what we were having, and I said pork chops, the reaction was less than pleasant.  They must have inherited my "undying love for mac and cheese" gene.  Then, my oldest paused from the "But you said..."s and asked, "Are the pork chops from Amy's?".  I grinned, because I knew I had them now.  "Are there any other kind?"  Wink.  There was a split second of silence, and then, in unison..."Yay!  Amy's pork chops!!!"

If you haven't read me brag on her already, the Amy in question here is the owner of Amy's Organics, our local organic mobile farmers' market, and she carries some fantastic meat on her truck.  I've already written about the fish she carries.  The Berkshire pork chops, no doubt, are my family's favorite.  Amy gets her pork chops from Black Earth Meats, who believes in farming methods that are organic and humane, and they also are grass-fed.  Joel Salatin, a farming icon, likes to talk about respecting the "pigness of the pig", and to me, these chops are what that ideal tastes like.  They are a deep, rich pork flavor, and once we tasted them, any store-bought chops pale in comparison.

Chocolate on the Brain

So, today we went to the arboretum for a wonderfully delicious event: the annual Chocolate Expo and Market.  To me, it might as well be that scene from Willy Wonka where they run into the room where everything's edible and gorge until the greedy chubby kid falls in the chocolate river and spoils it for everyone, only before the river fiasco.  Bunches of local chocolatiers and vendors, with very high-quality artisan goods, and almost all of them have samples of all the products.  Sugar rush like none other.

This is, I believe, at least the third year that my family has made it there to this choco-rific event, and it did not disappoint!  Sample after sample of chocolates and caramels and other sweets, twisted and developed in ways that I usually only get to drool about while watching Food Network.  Get out your wiping cloths, and try not to lick the computer screen.