Alden's Bacon-Wrapped Dates

Nothing can top the spicy, chorizo-stuffed dates I had at avec at my I'm-done-with-grad-school-auditions celebration dinner last month. They were so stuffed, it was hard to tell where the chorizo stopped and the date started. And they were served in a pool of spicy red pepper sauce. Sweet dates, salty bacon, spicy, meaty sausage: A NOM-worthy plate if there ever was one.

If you want to make dates at home, it's hard to go wrong if you wrap them in bacon. My room mate Alden made these bacon-wrapped dates for our first pot-luck party in our old house and they were a big hit! They're also, ridiculously simple to make. Win-win. I don't know where he got this recipe from, but I feel obligated to credit this recipe to him, since really I am stealing it. (Sorry, Alden!)



Ingredients:
Medjool dates
thick-sliced bacon
brick of cream cheese, softened

Directions:
Preheat the oven to BROIL. Remove the pit from each date using a small knife. Just insert it in the stem end of the date and dig around for the pit. Leave the cavity open.

Put about half the cream cheese in a small ziplock bag. Snip the corner off of the bag to create a small opening (you'll want it small enough to fit inside the date, but not too small!). Twist the bag at the opposite end to coax the cream cheese out of the opening. Pipe the cream cheese into each date, filling the cavity completely.

Next, slice the bacon into half-strips. Wrap each date with a half-strip of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Place on a sheet pan.

Broil for 6-10 minutes or until the bacon is fully cooked, turning the dates over half-way through. Keep an eye on them because they'll cook fast! Let cool and enjoy!

Oh, Great White City!

"As Burnham talked with her, a relative also entered the room. She told them Root was dead. In his last moments, she said, he had run his fingers over his bedding as if playing the piano. 'Do you hear that?' he whispered. 'Isn't that wonderful? That's what I call music.'" -- Erik Larson, "The Devil in the White City"

There's almost nothing more "Chicagoey" to me than the ride from Midway to the Loop via the Orange Line on a sunny day. Today was one of those especially blue days, which lights the skyline in three dimensional clarity. I turned on Sufjan Stevens's Illinoise album as we pulled out of the Midway station into blinding sunlight. It's the perfect soundtrack for days like this.

I settled on The Devil in the White City for my spring break leisure reading. Intertwining the true stories of the Colombian Exposition's head architect Daniel H. Burnham and "doctor" and serial killer H. H. Holmes, The Devil in the White City is so enthralling.

Having recently started reading the book I'm attuned to the history and landscape of Chicago, but nothing prepared me for the third track of Illinoise: "Come on! Feel the Illinoise!" I never really pay attention to the words of songs unless something about them jumps out at me. So I've never really payed attention to the lyrics the hundreds of times I've heard it. This time was different. Suddenly the song came into focus:

Oh great white city
I've got the adequate committee
Where have your walls gone?
I think about it now

Chicago, in fashion, the soft drinks, expansion
Oh Columbia!
From Paris, incentive, like Cream of Wheat invented,
The Ferris Wheel!

Oh great intentions
Covenant with the imitation
Have you no conscience?
I think about it now

Sufjan wonders why such grandeur and innovation was not more permanent. Even the idea of progress has died, he claims. Gone like the buildings that once held the world's fair.

Checking the publication date on the back of the title page, The Devil in the White City was published in 2003, first printed in 2004. Part of me wonders if Sufjan read this book and if it was the inspiration for his 2005 album, which shares a name with this song. It certainly seems possible. He even follows this song with one about a more recent Illinois serial killer, John Wayne Gacy Jr.

Whether this is true or not, it was the perfect way to spend a two hour train ride and my first morning back in Chicago!

The Cupcake Phenomenon

I've always preferred the savory over the sweet, which also means I've never been much of a baker. My family never ate dessert except on Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I never "save room." While I prefer cooking over baking, my best friend Kim (we've been friends since kindergarten) has always had a knack for it. Kim has been taking advantage of the recent cupcake craze, combining her creativity and artistic skills to both design and decorate her own exquisite cupcakes.

Today I got to witness the artist at work. We made chocolate Nutella cupcakes stuffed with whipped Nutella mousse and topped with swirled coffee and vanilla frosting.

Kim moved so fast and knew her process so well, it was hard to keep up. I managed to write down her recipe to share with you.

Ingredients:
FOR THE CAKE
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
half a jar of Nutella

FOR NUTELLA MOUSSE
2 cups whipping cream
1 Tbsp granular sugar
1 packet unflavored gelatin (we used Knox brand)
remaining half jar of Nutella

FOR FROSTING
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups, plus extra powdered sugar
2 Tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp instant coffee crystals
1 tsp water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together dry cake ingredients in a bowl. Using an electric mixer, mix wet ingredients (including Nutella) together. Gradually add dry ingredients to the wet, mixing completely.



Line cupcake pan with liners. Fill each cup with batter until just over half full. (That's right, half FULL). Bake about 12-15 minutes or until tops spring back when touched.



Remove cupcakes from pan and let cool.



Beat whipping cream, sugar, and gelatin with a chilled bowl and beater until it turns the consistency of whipped cream. Fold in the Nutella until combined. Refrigerate.

Core the cupcakes using an apple corer. Make sure the cupcakes have cooled completely before attempting to fill them.



Using a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip, fill the cupcakes with the whipped Nutella mousse.



For the frosting, cream together butter and cream cheese in mixer. Gradually add the powdered sugar to the bowl, while mixing. Add the vanilla and salt and whip until airy. Divide frosting in half and reserve one portion in a separate bowl.

In a small bowl, mix coffee crystals and water until crystals are dissolved and a thick syrup forms. Add coffee mixture to one half of the frosting and blend.

HERE'S WHERE THINGS GET COMPLICATED

To swirl the frostings, fill a small pastry bag with some of the vanilla frosting and cut off the tip. Do the same in a separate bag with the coffee frosting. Put the two bags side-by-side in a large pastry bag fitted with a large tip, making sure the bags are even and not too full.



Give the bag a test squeeze and then pipe onto cupcakes in a big spiral, starting from the outside and working your way in. Voila! You have your perfect looking cupcake!



Jacob, for some reason, thinks Nutella is a girl's food and will emasculate him if he tries it. So when I described these Nutella cupcakes to him, at first he said "gross," but then I decided to rephrase it. Apparently, chocolate hazelnut cupcakes sound more gender neutral.

Bucheron

I've always been a sucker for goat cheese and I eat it on just about anything: salad, baguette, sandwiches, in scrambled eggs, BY ITSELF, etc. I recently stumbled upon my new favorite cheese, bucheron, which is an aged goat cheese. The center has all the mild bite of a soft goat cheese but with a drier almost crumbly texture, while the rind mimics the gooey-ness (at room temperature) and smokiness of a brie rind. Bucheron is a more complex goat cheese meant to be enjoyed on its own. I always serve cheese with Carr's crackers and a warm baguette. It also goes well with the occasional dried cranberry for garnish.

As for wine pairings, I am NO expert. Someday I hope to be but for now I will just pretend. Bucheron, and goat cheese in general, is slightly acidic or tart so I imagine an oaky Chardonnay would contrast nicely. I don't know much about other varieties of white wine, to be completely honest. Last time I had bucheron, I served it with Hey Mambo Chardonnay. Read more about Hey Mambo and its affordable trendy wines with funky names here.

Spring Break Reading

Well, it's finally spring break and I've been enjoying the finer things about being home: family, my fat cat Sushi, not having to cook, and reading for fun! It was nearly 80 degrees today, and while it was a little on the warm side, I'm not about to complain! Not having to wear a coat, or sleeves of any kind, is awesome. It's perfect weather for sitting on the porch with a little pleasure reading. My problem is that I finished my book on the way home! So, I thought I would make a spring-reading recommendation to you all in the hope you will return the favor and recommend me a good book that I can knock out in a week.



Never Let Me Go first attracted my attention in movie form. I saw the trailer and thought, "Oh hey, here's another British period movie with Keira Knightley in it," but I soon realized that there was much more to it. Imagine a story that's part science-fiction, part period piece, part British dystopia novel. Now, imagine it partly takes place in a boarding school (think Harry Potter), and features a love triangle (dare I reference Twilight?). What you end up with is a page-turner unlike any other.

It's pretty easy to find plot spoilers online, but you won't find them here. Especially since Ishiguro keeps you reading by being so darn vague. Never Let Me Go is written in the first person, with the narrator telling the story as a series of memories. Just like you might forget the details of a childhood memory, grasping only the way you felt toward a certain situation or perhaps backtracking to include a newly surfaced detail, Ishiguro's narrator reveals, piece by piece, a childhood shrouded in mystery. I enjoyed this book because it married my interests of sci-fi (I recently embarked on a 3-week-long Battlestar Galactica marathon) and what I'll call the "British boarding school romance."

Read the book before you watch the movie. You have a better chance of enjoying both that way. It's not one of those not-as-good-as-the-book movies; in fact, it does some things better than the book in my opinion. The movie stars hip, up-and-coming actors Andrew Garfield (The Social Network, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus) and Carey Mulligan (An Education) as well as Keira Knightley, who is perfect for her role.

If anyone wants to recommend a book for me to read, please do. And for those of you tuning in just for the posts about food, never fear! There's an epic cupcake post in the mix, courtesy of my best friend and baker extraordinaire, Kim.

Spring Fever

Anyone who knows me well knows to roll their eyes when I mention J.Crew. I'm obsessed. Or at least I have been for the last few months. I used to be a hard-core Express girl and even worked there for a summer. But, I guess one morning I woke up and decided that I didn't want to dress like a skank anymore. I wanted to be classy. Actually it wasn't so much a change in me, it was a change in Express. What initially attracted me to Express was its business wear - dress pants, blazers, button-up shirts in every color - but now Express is playing up its clubby/casual side and I don't like it. When you see a girl making an effort to be sexy in the way she dresses herself, it comes on a little too strong. People get the wrong idea. To me, there's nothing sexier than someone who is just confident and comfortable in whatever they're in.

That's where J.Crew comes in. J.Crew is the Volvo of the clothing world: clean lines, simply well-made, casual yet classy, and most importantly, COMFORTABLE. Draw whatever "soccer mom" conclusions you want. J.Crew is worth the price-tag (especially if you get things on sale, which I am all about).

Speaking of price-tags though, being the unemployed college student that I am, I really can't afford to go shopping at all! I've spent many a practice break "window shopping" on jcrew.com, fantasizing about what I would buy if I had money (100% of my money goes to feeding myself). Here is my perfect spring outfit, which I would buy in a heart-beat if money were not an option:











This is the part in fashion magazines where they show you what you should buy instead because it's cheaper. BUT this is The Finer Things. So, my plan is to go home for spring break and hope my mom is in a generous mood when I show her my grades. I'll settle for just the shoes.

Red Pepper Bisque

I've never been a picky eater, but the one food I could never stand was bell peppers. I hated them up until last year when Jacob and I made the now-infamous "Ann's Spaghetti," which is basically just Italian sausage, green peppers, onion, garlic, and diced tomatoes with spaghetti. DELICIOUS. I was a little wary of the green peppers at first and pushed them aside, but then Jacob labeled me a "picker" and not wanting to be associated with that word in any way, I gave one a try. Now, they are my favorite part of that recipe. Here's to trying new things, and growing up a little each time.

The first time I had red pepper bisque was my first Valentine's day dinner with Jacob. His mom generously lent us her kitchen to make dinner and the red pepper bisque was already made and waiting in the fridge. Jacob grilled some lamb chops and we made an orzo pasta salad with spinach and feta. What a good meal. Since then we've made the orzo together ad nauseum. It makes an easy summer meal. And this fall, we got the recipe to red pepper bisque.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 medium red bell peppers, diced
1 Tbsp. dried thyme leaves
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 large can (49.5 oz.) chicken broth
1/2 cup uncooked white rice
3/4 cup half and half

Directions:
Melt butter in large stockpot. Add onions, garlic and peppers; saute over medium heat until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Add thyme, pepper flakes to taste, chicken stock, and rice. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes; cool slightly.



Process soup in small batches in a blender or food processor, until mixture becomes a fine puree. Return soup to sauce pan and cook over low heat until heated through. Add a little of the half and half when you heat to serve.



Every time I make this it makes me wish I had an immersion blender. It'd be so much easier. I always make a mess trying to transfer the hot soup into a tiny blender and then to a separate bowl. But what else would I use an immersion blender for? Probably not much.

The soup has a little kick to it so it went really well with creamy brie.

If you want to get fancy, divide the recipe in half and make a half-batch with yellow peppers and a half-batch with red peppers. Then when you're ready to serve, put each in a measuring cup, or other container with a pour spout and pour both at the same time into one bowl, from opposite sides. The result is a bowl with two soups side-by-side. You can go even further by using a toothpick or chopstick to drag the red to the yellow side, yellow to red side, etc. You might end up with something resembling a marbled cheesecake brownie. It's really fancy. So fancy that I don't even do it. Just an idea.

Two Movies You Need to Watch

A long time has passed since leaving off with "Monologue Meets Dialogue." It's a new decade. I learned basic Japanese. I moved from the dorm to an apartment, and then to a different apartment. I traveled more than 25,000 miles (which is a story for another time). I turned 21. I have not, however, found a new movie to add to my list of favorites. Sure, there have been good movies made - blockbusters and indie films, alike - but nothing has really resonated with me.

When I added Rachel Getting Married to my list of favorite movies in 2008, I started to notice a trend. The majority of the movies I connect with (and thus, become my favorites) have just one main character, the protagonist, who is also somehow the antagonist. His struggle is an internal one, be it emotional, psychological, or otherwise. The plot is a realistic snapshot of his life. Garden State was one of the first, and the rest followed: On the Edge, Half Nelson, Rachel Getting Married. Donnie Darko and La Vie en Rose to a certain extent, but with less realism. Interesting...

Now, thanks to Netflix and a little free time, I've finally found two new movies that fit the bill: The Vicious Kind and Fish Tank.



The Vicious Kind was one of those movies I knew I was going to love before I even started it. I first stumbled onto it maybe as long as a year ago on my Netflix: Watch Instantly page. The opening monologue - at once hilarious, pessimistic, and colorful - is enough to suck you in. I won't quote it here, primarily because it's so...colorful, but also because I don't want to spoil anything about this movie. I will say that Adam Scott is amazing in this movie, but when I first saw it, I was confused as to why Netflix labeled it a comedy. Now, having seen Scott on Parks and Recreation as well as watching both seasons of Party Down, I can honestly say that there were some HILARIOUS moments in this. I recommend seeing Adam Scott in a comedy first to get used to his caustic wit before watching this movie.



By the time Fish Tank surfaced on my Netflix, I had long forgotten the trailer that had caught my attention more than a year ago. Widely avoiding "Juno" comparisons, this movie about a lower-class British 15-year old girl feels more like watching the movie Happy-Go-Lucky. Except there's nothing happy-go-lucky about it. Fish Tank is a true snapshot of angry Mia's adolescence in which the audience is kept at a distance. You're never quite sure why she does what she does. And the most you feel for her is when her outlet - hip-hop dancing - is taken away from her.

You should definitely watch both these movies on your own so you can really sink into them. Next time you need a little alone time, make yourself some tea or a hot beverage of your choice and crawl into bed to watch one of these movies. It'll be well worth your time, I promise.

Ina's Braised Short Ribs

Ina Garten is my kind of socialite. She's all about keeping things simple while maintaining the specialness of the main event. She's not afraid to use a LOT of butter or most importantly, to eat her own food. But Ina would not be Ina if she did not have her food muse: her husband, Jeffrey. Their romance is quite possibly the cutest story ever told. Despite the fact that Ina and Jeffrey are rarely seen together on camera, he's ever-present in the kitchen. When she cooks for Jeffrey, everything is extra special. And when Jeffrey is unavailable, she fills the void with food and friends (and lots of wine).

Since Jacob went away to grad school in Michigan last August, this too has been my way of coping. I've spent what free time I have trying out new recipes, things I'll want to eventually make for Jacob. Being relatively new to this whole cooking-on-a-regular-basis thing, I tend to make mistakes the first time around. But I learn quickly and by the second try, I'm ready to share it with Jacob. I was always told that the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach. This is true, but what they don't tell you is that it's even quicker if you cook everything with bacon!

Today's test run was Ina Garten's Wine-braised Short Ribs, and I have to say it was MOSTLY successful. It is rather time consuming, but for most of that time it is hidden away in the oven. For example, I had time to go to the gym and fit a 20-minute run in before coming back to take a peek in the oven. My roommate, Alden, was my guinea pig and we were debating the safety of leaving the oven on unattended. It probably was not the safest for us to both leave to go to the gym, but it's rare that we both want to work out at all, so we did it anyway. When we came back, all was well, but an hour later our carbon monoxide detector started beeping relentlessly! I guess our oven isn't quite used to being on for hours and hours at a time, or on such a low temperature. Luckily, the food was pretty much done so we opened some windows, turned off the oven and stove, and chowed down. And we didn't die.

Without any further ado here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
6 beef short ribs, trimmed of fat
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup good olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion (2 onions)
4 cups large-diced celery (6 large stalks)
2 carrots, peeled and large-diced
1 small fennel, fronds, stems, and core removed, large-diced
1 leek, cleaned and large-diced, white part only
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 (750-ml) bottle burgundy or other dry red wine
Fresh rosemary sprigs
Fresh thyme sprigs
6 cups beef stock
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the short ribs on a sheet pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.



Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven and add the onion, celery, carrots, fennel, and leek and cook over medium-low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Pour the wine over the vegetables, bring to a boil, and cook over high heat until the liquid is reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Tie the rosemary and thyme together with kitchen twine and add to the pot.



Place the roasted ribs on top of the vegetables in the Dutch oven and add the beef stock and brown sugar. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Cover the Dutch oven and bake for 2 hours or until the meat is very tender.

Carefully remove the short ribs from the pot and set aside. Discard the herbs and skim the excess fat. Cook the vegetables and sauce over medium heat for 20 minutes, until reduced. Put the ribs back into the pot and heat through. Serve with the vegetables and sauce.


This is the finished product after we had already eaten most of it. Pictures kind of fell by the wayside.

Alden does not like fennel (or anything anise flavored) so I substituted a second leek for the fennel bulb. Normally though, I swear by fennel and I could write a whole post about fennel and its uses. Sounds like a topic for another time though.

The bottle of wine I used was a red blend from the Rhone Valley in France. It was $7.99 so I went for it.



I snuck a taste before it went into the pot. "The Old Farm" is full-bodied and smooth, but sadly with not a lot of flavor. Again, $7.99 at Whole Foods so who cares. The end result was quite delicious.

I served the short ribs with roasted golden beets and a crusty French baguette to soak up the juice. I peeled the beets, quartered them, and rolled them around in the fatty meat juice in the sheet pan the short ribs were baked on, added a little more olive oil, salt, and pepper and added them to the oven for 30-40 minutes. The result was sweet and caramelized, but a tad bitter. I'm no beet expert so I could have picked out some under-ripe beets, otherwise I have no explanation as to why they were bitter. I wanted to steam some spring asparagus to go with the meal, but ran out of patience. I finally went to the gym, so I wanted to stuff my face.

The Reincarnation of the Blog!

Hi everyone!

"Monologue Meets Dialogue" is being reborn as "The Finer Things." I've been so busy lately that blogging was the last thing I wanted to do. And my bigger problem is not having anything to say!

These days I'm finding a little time on my hands to think for myself. And with all those thoughts rattling around upstairs, it's time once again to write them down. I'm hoping that "The Finer Things" will attract an audience since it is actually ABOUT something. Strangely I am more creative when I have some kind of limitation.

So here's to the start of something new! Let's hope I stick with it this time.

Cheers!

Maybe someday...

Someday, there will be something here worth reading.