vegetarian side dish – In Good Taste

Brussels Sprouts with Apples & Chestnuts

Maris Callahan — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 06:01:41 +0000

Last week I was chatting with Barbara and she said that she spends upwards of 20 hours per week working on her blog, recipes and photography. I would guess that there are a lot of food bloggers who would agree with that. To say that my posting has been inconsistent lately would be an understatement because there is an inversely proportionate relationship between how busy I am with work and how frequently I post here. If I had been posting as regularly as I’d like, then I would have told you weeks ago that I’ve been obsessed with Brussels sprouts this year. They’ve always been a favorite veggie despite their less-than-stella reputation, but never have I made them as often at home as I have been lately. There are just so many things about them that are great, so let’s make a list, shall we? 1. If you quarter them before cooking, they cook quickly, by roasting in oven or cooking in a skillet on the stove top. You could probably also steam them in the microwave but that isn’t something I’d wish on anyone. 2. You can prepare them so many different ways. 3. They are filling and therefore […]

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Tri-Color Roasted Cauliflower

Maris Callahan — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 06:58:41 +0000

I’d never understood when people would tell me that they didn’t have time to cook. If you have time to eat, then you probably have time to cook. Well, it turns out there are people who don’t have time to eat and I’ve become one of them. Between my restaurant job, client work and writing I clock in about 120 hours of work per week – which is enough work for three people. Which leaves less kitchen time than I’m used to. So, I understand what people say when they claim that they have no time to cook. Working in a restaurant, I can usually eat at work and when I wake up, I’m typically too tired to want anything heavier than coffee and cereal or a Luna Bar. Sad, but true. But, no matter how much I work, I’m not happy unless I’m dirtying at least half of the dishes in my kitchen on a daily basis so I have been cranking out some of my favorite recipes – new and old. If you don’t have a lot of time to cook there is no law that says you need to create entire, elaborate meals, even though you might […]

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Braised Brussels Sprouts with Pine Nuts and Golden Raisins

Maris Callahan — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 19:46:38 +0000

Last month I left my corporate job to freelance full-time. Yes, it’s been a big change. Faced with days upon days of little to no human interaction, and fearing that if I didn’t have a backup plan I’d end up with little to no revenue stream, I decided to get a job at a restaurant and at the end of January started working at the newly-opened Paris Club in downtown Chicago. At the helm of the kitchen is a James Beard winning French chef whose team turns out approachable French fare that’s unpretentious: you don’t need to speak five languages to decipher the menu but each dish blends an authentic French tradition with contemporary twist. During the first week of orientation, the entire service staff sampled almost every dish on the menu. The food is delicious but this is where I’m going to confess that after six straight days of tastings, I never wanted to see another order of pommes frites as long as I lived. That lasted about three days. There is one dish on the menu that I absolutely adore….and before you start thinking that it must be the Roquefort-crusted filet mignon, the French onion soup fondue or the […]

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