Dan and Emily made this for a picnic last weekend and I just made it again last night. It is super easy, tasty, healthy and lasts for a long time in the refrigerator.
Love and Lemons Every Day via Dan and Emily Cohn
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice (one big lemon or more)
2 garlic cloves grated
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed (2 cans)
8 large celery stalks with leaves – stalks sliced on bias and leaves chopped
2/3 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
ground black pepper
In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, mustart, salt and several grinds of pepper.
Add the chickpeas, celery stalks and leaves, onion, and dill. Toss to combine. Season to taste and serve.
WED 3/27/2024: I went on a solo trip to Las Vegas to visit Grace and Thomas and attend their engagement party. My early morning Frontier direct flight was zero hassle and better yet I started a book as soon as we took off and I finished it as soon as we touched down… perfect. (BTW I read “This Other Eden” by Paul Harding which was excellent. Five star PJH review)I took a cab to Grace’s office, dropped my bags off with her and went on a walk waiting for her to finish work.It was a beautiful day in Vegas – warm and sunny skies. I met Grace at the Venetian where we had a great birthday lunch at Estiatorio Milos.We both ordered the prix fixe lunch – I had oysters and salmon and Grace had greek spreads and a whole sea bream – all very good.We spent the rest of the afternoon basking in the sunshine at Grace’s pool and cooked dinner at their place.THU 3/28/24: I dropped off Thomas at work in the morning so I could use the car and then drove to Death Valley National Park in California. It was a two hour scenic drive through the desert.I stopped first at Zabriskie point which had a short walk up to a beautiful view. I then headed to the Visitor Center at Furnace Creek to buy an annual National Park Pass (hopeful to visit multiple national parks in the next 12 months) and to change into shorts as it was now in the 80s.I then went to the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes and walked among the dunes for about an hour.Pictures of course don’t do justice for any of the views – but the dunes were beautiful, large with strange looking plants and driftwood everywhere.It was very peaceful and quiet.I drove a short distance down the road to the Mosaic Canyon. Here is the start of the trail into the canyon.It was a beautiful hike with several slot canyons and amazing scenery everywhere.You can see the scale with the person in front of me.My last stop was Dante’s View at the top of a crazy drive. You can see the salt flats that run down the middle of the whole park. I wish I had more time to spend exploring – but overall the Park was much more than what I was expecting – very large with mountains, valleys, beautiful rock formations and beautiful views everywhere. I think it would be ideal to spend one night in the park as the sunset and sunrise would be amazing. Next time.I arrived at Grace’s just as TJ and Grace got home from work. We took an Uber downtown, had Pizza at Evel’s Pizza and then went to Corduroy for a night of Boozy Bingo.Didn’t have much luck at Bingo but had a fun night.Long Live El Cortez.FRI 3/29/24 Grace and Thomas were both off today so they slept in and we hung out in the AM watching NCAA basketball. We ventured out mid afternoon back downtown to Nevada Brew Works where we hung outside drinking beer and eating pizza.We checked out Stray Pirate – a new tiki bar that just opened up around the corner and had some fancy drinks. We then headed back to their neighborhood gaming parlor where I was introduced to Keno and watched more NCAA basketball.SAT 3/30/24 Today was the engagement party at Thomas’s Dad’s house – a 15 minute drive from Grace and Thomas’.The party was super fun and it was great to meat all of Thomas parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. The food was over the top. Check out the huge chunk of gruyere for the raclette. Delicious. There was Mediterranean – kebabs, tabouleh, baba, humus, rice and then also soul food – fried chicken and macaroni and cheese and much moor. Everything was outstanding – but the macaroni and cheese was for sure my favorite.Toasting the happy couple.Thomas, Grace’s friend Brittany and Grace.Thomas brother, step mother and brother’s girl friend. Everyone was so nice and so excited about Grace and TJ’s upcoming wedding.Ended the night at the local bar again.
SUN 3/30/24 – I guess I didn’t take any pictures – Easter – Everyone slept in after a long fun day. Thomas and Claudia came over for a super casual brunch and we went out to dinner to a nearby food hall place that just opened up.
MON 4/1/24 I dropped Grace off at work and hit the road by 9:00AM. I went to River of Fire state park which is an easy drive an hour north of Vegas.I have been to Valley of Fire a few years ago but I don’t think we went on any hikes. I went on two really great ones this time.The first hike was the Fire Wave Trail that hooked up to the Rainbow Canyon for a nice loop.The Fire Wave train is other worldly.The canyon trail was beautiful as well – with several slot canyons and beautiful scenery everywhere.An old 1940’s era cabin in the park.After a great morning and afternoon I headed back to the strip to wait for Grace to finish working. I walked through the Bellagio gardens that were all decked out for spring.I met Grace at Beer Park in Paris. We enjoyed the sunny afternoon on the patio with a view.Watched the whole LSU v Iowa women’s game. Lots of Iowa fans.We went to China Town after to a little ramen noodle place called Ramen Sora that was A M A Z I N G. I think the bowl of ramen I had was the best food all week – and we had lots of good food.TUE 4/2/24 I dropped Grace off again at work and went to Lake Mead National Recreation Area – just 30 minutes west of the city.I drove around for a few hours and stopped at several areas to walk around – nothing to strenuous.I had to be back in Vegas by 1:00 as we had a lunch reservation at Din Thai Fung.Of course had to get the cucumber salad. A nice copycat recipe I made a few times here.The Xiao Long Bao are my favorite.I spent the rest of the afternoon pool side at the hotel Grace works at on a nice hot afternoon.John was in town for a meeting so we met him for a late dinner at BrewDog with another great outdoor patio. Grace drove me to the airport after dinner so I could catch my midnight red eye back to CLE. Flight home was on time with no problems – other than being a red eye which is no fun at all. Another great trip to Vegas with Grace and Thomas.
Kathryn Purcell via Gina Depalma via Secrets of the Best Chefs
SERVINGS: 6 TIME: ABOUT 1 hour
This soup is hearty and so good! It freezes well. You could easily make it vegetarian by skipping the sausage. And you could make it vegan by not using the sausage and romano cheese.
*8 ounces of sausage meat is roughly 2 links. I have used up to 4. Use as much or as little as you choose.
2 large links (about 8 ounces) of sweet Italian sausage [see Note] 1 medium onion, diced
2 celery ribs, sliced or diced
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into half-moons or diced
4 cloves garlic, sliced (reserve half for later in recipe)
Kosher salt
A pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1 cup brown lentils, sorted and rinsed
2 bay leaves
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
6 cups water
Freshly ground black pepper
3 to 4 cups shredded or thinly ribboned Swiss chard leaves or kale Grated Pecorino Romano cheese to finish
On the stove: Heat 1/4 cup olive oil (enough to generously coat bottom of pot) in a large pot on medium to medium-high heat. When hot, add the sausage, breaking it up with a wooden spoon until it starts to brown, about five minutes. Add the onion, celery, carrots, first two garlic cloves, a pinch of salt, and if you like your soup spicy, a pinch of red pepper flakes. Cook with the sausage until the vegetables soften a bit, another 5 minutes. Add the lentils, bay leaves, tomatoes, water (6 cups is, conveniently, a little less than 2 empty 28-ounce cans, so you can get any tomato pulp you missed), more salt and black pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer and allow to cook until the lentils are tender, about 40 minutes. (It might be necessary to add more water if the soup gets too thick, though we preferred ours on the thick side.)
When the lentils are cooked, add the chard and cook until the leaves are tender, just a few minutes more. Discard the bay leaves.
In an InstantPot or electric multicooker: Proceed as written above, using the sauté function on high (I find this to be like medium-high on a stove) to cook the sausage and then vegetables. Once you’ve added the remaining ingredients, including dried lentils, lock the lid and set to high pressure for 15 minutes. Let it naturally release for at least 10 minutes (or longer, if you have time), to help keep the vegetables intact. You can manually release the rest. Use the sauté function on high again to bring it back to a simmer (this should be take no time at all) and add the greens; cook until wilted.
Both methods: To finish, divide soup among bowls, then add the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil and 2 garlic cloves to a small skillet (on the stove) and heat over medium until the garlic softens and hisses. Drizzle this over soup bowls, and top with fresh Romano, passing more at the table. Leftovers will keep for several days in the fridge.
PJH: I made this w boneless chicken breasts – just browned them first with no flour, used fresh mushrooms and kalamata olives. Was very good… maybe try boneless thighs next time.
2 whole chicken breasts
flour to dredge chicken
9 oz can of marinated artichoke hearts, liquid reserved
one can of sliced mushrooms, drained
14 oz can of chopped tomatoes and its liquid
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 t salt
¾ t oregano
1 t dried dried basil
¾ t black pepper
¾ cup straight Sherry
½ cup pitted black olives (optional)
Directions
Cut the chicken into 2-3 inch pieces and dredge in the flour. Saute in liquid reserved from artichoke hearts until lightly browned. Add the artichokes, mushrooms, tomatoes, garlic, and seasonings, simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the Sherry and simmer 5-10 minutes more. Add olives and simmer till heated through. Serve over any type of pasta or polenta.
This is a wonderful dish for those times when you need to make something that seems fancy, but you don’t have any time to cook. It takes about 10 minutes to throw this dish together the night before you need to serve it. A green salad and some wild rice complete the meal.
3 – 4 lbs. of chicken parts (breasts, legs, thighs)
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup dried oregano
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup pitted prunes
1/2 cup pitted Spanish green olives
1/2 cup capers with a bit of juice
6 bay leaves
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white wine
salt and pepper to taste
Arrange chicken in a single layer in a casserole. Combine remaining ingredients, pour over chicken, cover, and let marinate overnight, flipping the chicken in the morning and letting it marinate all day. Preheat oven to 350°. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, basting frequently with marinade in casserole. Chicken is done when thickest pieces yield clear yellow juice when pricked.
We went on a quick weekend trip to Chicago to go to a concert, celebrate my birthday and to visit with friends and family. Courtney and I picked up Jack at his place at 12:30 and hit the road for an easy car ride to CHI arriving around 5:00PM CST. We stayed at Soupy’s place in the south loop which is wonderful – even a free place to park. We visited with Soupy for a bit before he left to go to the Loyola BB game with friends. We then hit the pavement and walked for about an hour and a half down to Michigan Ave, then walked along the river walk and then cut back across the loop back to the south loop. We had an excellent dinner at Sofi on Printer’s Row and then stopped for a glass of wine at Printers Row Wine Shop and then walked black and quickly fell asleep.
It was a beautiful night to be walking downtown.The Riverwalk is amazingEnjoying a nightcap at a cool little wine bar on Printers Row
Saturday, March 2, 2024
I walked across the train tracks on Saturday morning to get some bagels and fixings for breakfast from a Whole Foods. It was already fixing to be a beautiful day.
After breakfast we did a walking architecture tour that I put together – focusing on 10 buildings mostly in the loop.
The Manhattan building – 1889.The Old Colony Building – 1893.Monadnock Building – 1891 and 1893.The beautiful Fisher Building – 1895.Going into the Harold Washington Library – 1991.The top floor of the library has a beautiful indoor winter garden.
Exterior detail of the Marquette building – 1895.
The lobby of the Marquette building. Each of the brass elevators has a bust of someone who played a part in Marquette’s history.
Admiring the spectacular Tiffany mosaics, tile-work and marble in the Marquette building.
The Rookery – 1888.
The amazing lobby of the Rookery – Frank Lloyd Wright – 1905.Chicago Theatre – 1921.City Hall – 1911.The Aqua – 2009.We walked back along the park, stopped for lunch on the way and took a rest for an hour or so before heading out again.We drove out to the Chicago Botanical Gardens to meet George, Weston and Maddie.It was a beautiful day to walk around the dormant gardens – knowing that Spring was right around the corner.It was a beautiful afternoon and Iook forward to going back when everything is in bloom.After saying goodbye to George and the kids we drove down to Lincoln Park and met Andrew at Pequod’s on our everlasting quest for the best pizza. We’ve never been there before and it is on top of many best of lists for CHI pizza – but we found it just mehhhh. It was great to see Andrew though.We drove just a few miles to the concert venue, parked, and walked to have a quick beer at Off Color Brewery and then headed to the show.The show was at The Salt Shed – the iconic Morton Salt warehouse that we have driven by dozens of times. It was converted into a concert venue about a year ago and it is fantastic. Everything is new, the sound is great and it is pretty small. Courtney and I bought seats with this great view and Jack had floor tix.Show was great. Greensky Bluegrass is so great to see live. This is the second time we have see them and I can’t wait to see them again. Such vibes.
Show lasted until about midnight – we got out with zero probs and were back at Soupy’s in less than 15 minutes.
We woke up early the next day and met Soupy at Walker Brothers in Wilmette for breakfast. We all ordered 49 flapjacks. Duh. Can’t resist perfection. We headed out after breakfast happy with our quick weekend trip.
MMMmmm these are the perfect sugar cookies – crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside and a little bit salty. Sarah Kieffer’s cookie recipes are so good.
1 cup (2 sticks or 227 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cup (350 g) granulated sugar, divided
1 large egg
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Adjust an oven rack to the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350F [180C]. Line three sheet pans with aluminum foil, dull-side up.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cream of tartar.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add 1 1/2 cups [300 g] of the sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and mix on low speed to combine. Add the flour and mix on low speed until combined.
Form the dough into 3 oz [85 g] balls [1/4 cup] (PJH: 60 g BALLS – 4 COOKIES ON TRAY). Roll each ball in the remaining 1/4 cup [50 g] of sugar. Place 3 or 4 cookies an equal distance apart on the sheet pan. Bake the cookies one pan at a time. Bake until the dough balls have flattened but are puffed slightly in the center, 8 minutes. Lift one side of the sheet pan up about 4 in [10 cm] and gently let it drop down against the oven rack, so the edges of the cookies are set and the center falls back down. After the cookies puff up again in 2 minutes, repeat lifting and dropping the pan. Repeat a few more times to create ridges around the edges of the cookie. Bake for 14 to 15 minutes total, (PJH: 15 MINUTES )until the cookies have spread out and the edges are golden brown but the centers are much lighter and not fully cooked.
Transfer the pan to a wire rack. Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes, then move them to a wire rack to finish cooling. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days (or refrigerate for up to 3 days).
Make the crust: Using a food processor, pulse the graham crackers and almonds together into crumbs. A few larger pieces of nuts is OK. Pour into a medium bowl and stir in the sugar. Add the melted butter and stir until combined. The mixture will be thick, coarse, and sandy. Try to smash/break up any large chunks. Pour the mixture into an ungreased 9-inch pie dish. With medium pressure using your hand, pat the crumbs down into the bottom and up the sides to make a compact crust. Do not pack down with heavy force because that makes the crust too hard. Simply pat down until the mixture is no longer crumby/crumbly. Tips: You can use a small flat-bottomed measuring cup to help press down the bottom crust and smooth out the surface, but do not pack down too hard. And run a spoon around the bottom “corner” where the edge and bottom meet to help make a rounded crust—this helps prevent the crust from falling apart. For more shaping technique tips, see the graham cracker crust recipe page.
Pre-bake crust for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave the oven on.
Make the filling: Whisk the sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, and egg yolks together. Pour into warm crust.
Bake the pie for 19–21 minutes or until only *slightly* jiggly in the center. You want it mostly set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Once cool, cover and chill for at least 1 hour (and up to 3 days) before serving.
Garnish as desired. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
Make Ahead Instructions: You can prepare and pre-bake the crust up to 2–3 days in advance. Cover and store at room temperature. Likewise, you can mix up the filling up to 2–3 days in advance. Cover and refrigerate, then assemble and bake. Freezes well up to 3 months; thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Graham Cracker Crust: If you purchase graham cracker crumbs, you need 1 and 1/3 cups (160g) for this recipe. Even though they are already crumbs, you can still pulse with the almonds. If you want to skip the almonds, use this graham cracker crust recipe instead and pre-bake for 8 minutes.
Non-US Readers: Don’t have graham crackers where you live? Use 180g ground digestive biscuits instead (about 12 biscuits), with the same amount of almonds and butter, and add an extra Tablespoon (12g) of sugar. Pre-bake for 10 minutes.
Make the marinade: In a small bowl, stir together the oil, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, thyme, mustard, salt, and pepper.
Marinate the chicken: Add the chicken thighs to a large bowl and pour the marinade on top. Marinate for 1 to 2 hours (and up to 8 hours) in the fridge.
Transfer to baking dish: Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Place the chicken in a baking dish and pour the remaining marinade on top.
Bake the chicken: Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the chicken is fully cooked and registers 175°F (80°C) on an instant-read thermometer. Optionally, you can baste the chicken a few times while it cooks. And for extra crispy skin, turn on the top oven broiler in the last 2 to 3 minutes. If you’re serving this dish up for a dinner party, you can garnish it with lemon slices if you’d like.
In a small bowl mix together mayonnaise, grated garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Peel shrimp if necessary, and pat super dry with paper towels – the drier the shrimp, the more crisp they will get when you fry them.
In a small bowl mix together the cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, chili flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, sea salt, and black pepper.
Toss shrimp with seasoning mix until evenly coated.
Heat 2 tablespoons avocado oil or ghee in a large cast iron or non stick skillet over medium high heat.
When oil is hot and glistening, add shrimp in a single layer, being careful not to crowd the pan. Cook in multiple batches if needed, add a little more oil for each batch.
Cook for about 1 minute per side, until just barely opaque in the center.
Garnish with some fresh parsley / chives and serve immediately with garlic aioli for dipping!
Eat On Edgecliff 