Caroline's Kitchen Table

I don’t know about you, but I have bins of old stuff at my parents’ house. Old notes, ticket stubs, English assignments, you name it. My parents have been harping at me for five (ok, ten) years now to go through the baggage. A month ago, my dad finally got to me. Telling me some song and dance about how you’re really disappointing mom. Well, I did it (not all of it, but a start). And as it turns out he was lying, anyway. Well played, dad. Well played.

Starting out was pretty rough; the volume of old papers and report cards was just silly. But, somewhere along the way I got lost in the memories and was amazed at my life. And by amazed I mean the awkwardness. There were a lot of years of mom jeans and bad bangs (and this is me we are talking about).

I loved seeing all the pictures of my family. We are insanely close and I have to give all the credit to my mom and dad. The 2-week family vacations, the lazy afternoons in the backyard, the importance on family, and the good food (oh the food!). You could almost hear the laughter through the pictures. (and some occasional yelling).

The thing that shocked me the most were the notes and cards. I have received some of the nicest and most thoughtful “letters”–all of them were so touching. Not to mention ego boosting. That and the perfect lighting in my parents’ upstairs bathroom–gave me a false sense of self in high school.

I didn’t date (at all in jr. high) and just barely in high school so I have a lot of great memories with my girlfriends. Think concerts (everything from Up In Smoke to Harry Connick Jr….oh my gawd), train outings to the city, and pictures in matching pajamas.

I also came across my mom’s “college pic.” The one that her parents took of her as she was dropped off and left to discover the world ahead of her–she looked like a woman (a mighty good looking one) and stylish. I also found mine–I looked like a child and in need of a makeover (in a cute sort of way).

I wonder what Nora will think when she looks back on her childhood. I hope that in the midst of the text messages and Instagram posts, she will still be able to store up lots of good memories and get the same amazing encouragement from her peers. And at the very least, some good lighting and food at our house.

*Old soul + never wanting to grow up–yep, that’s me.

We spent Memorial Day at Brian’s parent’s cabin in Wisconsin. The thing I love best about weekends at the cabin is the disconnect. There’s no TV, bad cell reception, and a campfire blazing at all times. Nora packs a few toys, but she mostly entertains herself with rocks and dance parties in the yard.

This year our big family dinner was lobster rolls–you can’t go wrong with lobster rolls. And for dessert a strawberry rhubarb crumble with homemade ice cream. Nothing says special, like homemade ice cream.

Nora and I made the ice cream together earlier in the week. And plan to make it all summer…vanilla if it’s part of a duo or incorporating fruit purees, if it’s the main event. I love something you can make days or even a week ahead of time. This recipe is from Alice Waters’ Fanny at the Chez Panisse: A Child’s Restaurant Adventures. It’s a great book to cook through with your kids–especially if you’re a Waters fan like myself.

What are you making this summer?

Homemade Ice Cream

slightly adapted from: Alice Waters’ Fanny at the Chez Panisse: A Child’s Restaurant Adventures

makes 3-4 cups

4 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

1 cup milk

splash of vanilla

1 cup heavy whipping cream

pinch of salt

–

**2-3 cups fruit (mix in blender to yield 1 cup puree) if making a fruit ice cream

Mix the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl. Heat the milk in a medium to large dutch oven or pot until hot, but not boiling. Remove from the heat, then slowly stir in the eggs and sugar mixture (constantly stir).

Place the pot back on the stove over medium heat and stir constantly with a whisk until it just thickens. If you place a wooden spoon in and then remove it, when you run your finger along the back, it will keep a clear line (this is called nappe). Or if you are using a a thermometer, look for 170 F. Pour the mixture through a fine strainer right away (have this ready to go) and into a large bowl. Stir in the vanilla and salt. Let the mixture cool to room temp, then place in the fridge. Once it has cooled in the fridge, add the cream (and fruit if you made a fruit puree).

Let freeze in a covered container for 8 hours.

Memorial Day is almost here and this post will conclude CKT Restaurant Week. But don’t worry, we have one fab dessert up our sleeves to get you through the weekend.

This recipe is courtesy of Susan Hynes, personal chef (Oak Park). Susan shared this recipe with me a while back and it’s been a favorite for years. I am so excited she wanted to share it with all of you too.

The goat cheese makes this dessert a little more interesting and a little more decadent. It is tart and creamy; and with some seasonal fruit, pretty darn good looking.

Goat Cheese Cheesecake

Serves 8

2 cups crushed graham crackers

2 TBS sugar

1/2 stick melted butter

–

12 oz goat cheese – room temperature

12 oz cream cheese – room temperature

1 cup of sugar

3 eggs

1 cup cream

1 TBS Lemon juice

1 TBS Vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a small bowl, combine the crushed graham cracker crumbs with the sugar, and melted butter. In a 10-inch springform pan, press down the mixture; smooth out  with the bottom of a large cup. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then let cool.

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the goat cheese and cream cheese. Once combined add the sugar. Then add the eggs one at a time. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides. Add the cream, lemon juice, and vanilla. Make sure the mixture is well combined and uniform.

Pour the mixture into the spring-form pan. Cook for ~40 minutes or until slighlty puffed. Let the cake come to room temperature, then cool overnight in the fridge before serving. Top with your favorite fruit.

(photos taken by CKT after preparing these chef-driven dishes)

CKT Restaurant Week is well under way, and as our Wednesday feature, we are excited to collaborate with Lillie’s Q–our favorite Chicago BBQ spot.

Lillie’s Q  has some of the best BBQ sauces around; and living in Chicago, we are very lucky to have the restaurant a hop, skip, and a jump away. They even opened up a post in the French Market–lunch anyone? The main location is temporarily closed due to a significant fire, but we have word, that they should be reopening in a month or so.

Nothing starts a meal, like pimento cheese, and this one is awesome.

Lillie’s Q Pimento Cheese

serves 6-8 people

1 stick of Kraft Cracker Barrel Natural Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese (1 stick is 10oz)

8oz diced pimentos, juice drained

1 jalapeno minced, seeds removed

1 tsp pepper

Pinch of sugar

~1 1/2 cups of mayonnaise (Duke’s Mayonnaise if you can import it from the South)

–

1 baguette

Olive oil

Let the Kraft Cracker Barrel Natural Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese come to room temperature. Grate the cheese into a bowl and mix to combine with all other ingredients. Refrigerate for 8 hours.

Prior to serving, slice the baguette and rub both sides of each slice with olive oil. Bake the crostini in the oven for 5-7 minutes at 350 degrees.

Serve & enjoy. (We also love this dip with Fritos!)

CKT Restaurant Week continues with none other than…Cafe Habana!

Cafe Habana is an NYC favorite. This hot-spot is probably most well-known for its grilled corn. Everyone loves it– from my friend Greta to Tory Burch to Tyler Florence. It’s pretty amazing.

The thing we love about this recipe, is that is is a “no-recipe, recipe.” It’s all about using the ingredients and making them work together. It’s pretty hard to mess this one up.

Owners Sean and Leslie give us the scoop on the ultimate corn on the cob.

Cafe Habana Corn

from Sean & Leslie

We do not eat enough waffles. We have a decent amount of french toast and pancakes around here, but it’s probably been two years since we’ve made waffles. I get out bowls and other tools from the cabinets, daily, but for some reason the waffle iron stands as a challenge in my mind. It sits there silently among all of the other kitchen tools, but hardly ever gets taken out. Poor guy.

When I was pregnant with Nora, we had my family over for breakfast on Mother’s Day–waffles specifically, and it was memorable (for me at least). Since I’m pregnant again, I thought it was time for more waffles. I put Brian and Nora to work on the batter, starting on Saturday night since it’s a yeasted recipe. Making these the night before, is the beauty of these waffles, they are mostly done come morning and the texture is unmatched.

We use the Marion Cunningham’s waffle recipe (Fannie Farmer, anyone?). She was known for serving these waffles at her home in San Fransisco to all her famous friends. Her waffles feel important, cool, and special. They are perfect in my mind; being toasty, sweet, and airy. They barely need syrup. But butter and fruit are quite nice.

Marion Cunningham’s Waffles

from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook

Serves 8-12 depending on waffle iron size

1/2 cup warm water

1 package dry yeast

2 cups warm milk

1/2 cup melted butter (then slightly cooled)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

2 cups flour

2 eggs

1/4 tsp baking soda

In a large mixing bowl add the warm water and the yeast, let sit for 5 minutes to let the yeast dissolve. Then add the milk, butter, salt, sugar, and flour–combine with a whisk until smooth. Cover the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap and let sit overnight. (It doubles in size). When you are ready to make the waffles the next morning add the eggs and the baking soda (the batter will be thinner than you expect). When your waffle iron in hot, add the enough batter so that it fills the iron 3/4 of the way. Cook until golden and crisp. (Always do a tester waffle–to check on size and the temperature of the iron).

Serve with butter, fresh fruit, and a touch of syrup.

Brian loves panzanella–it might be his favorite summer dish. Panzanella is just a fancy way of saying “bread salad.” I have to admit, it is so very satisfying. You can really throw anything in panzanella, just as long as you have good bakery bread and a killer vinaigrette. But I love the sweetness and simplicity of the roasted tomatoes and peppers with the crispness of the torn basil in this one. Add the crumbled goat cheese and you have a dish that is both fresh and rich just in time for summer.

Panzanella – Bread Salad

serves 6 as a side

1 red pepper – rough chop (seeds removed)

1 orange pepper – rough chop (seeds removed)

1 pound cherry tomatoes – halved

1 baguette – rough chop, cubes (I used Pugliese–which is rather large)

Olive oil

s & p

–

1/4 shallot – small dice

1/2 tsp dijon mustard

1 tsp honey

3 TBS red wine vinegar

6 TBS olive oil

s & p

–

fresh torn basil leaves to taste

4 oz. goat cheese – crumbled

Preheat oven to 425 F. Place the peppers and tomatoes on a large cookie sheet with a rim. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil, toss, and season with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Place in the oven and cook for 15-20 mins or until tender but still vibrant.

On a separate cookie sheet with a rim, place the bread and follow the same steps (drizzle olive oil,  toss, and season). Cook for 7-10 minutes. The amount of time you cook the bread will depend on the freshness of the bread. (The fresher the bread, the longer it will cook). You are looking for a texture that is firm, but not hard (still a little soft in the middle).

Let everything cool.

To make the vinaigrette, place the shallot, dijon, honey, red wine vinegar, and olive oil in a jam jar with a lid (or a tupperware container). Shake until emulsified and  then season with salt and pepper. Adjust ingredients accordingly.

Finally toss the bread with the vegetables, add some crumbled goat cheese, fresh basil, and finally garnish with the dressing. Season with s & p.

**Everything can be made ahead of time, just wait to toss, just before serving.

My mom and I just got back from NYC. We are a little obsessed. We have both been there in the last year, and could not help going back this spring. Prior to the trip, my mom pointed out, that it was too bad that I couldn’t have a cocktail on vacation (clearly, I had already thought of this), but nonetheless, we still dominated (thanks to my friend Greta). Mother-daughter vacation success.

Our flight was delayed, so we just made it to our first reservation (at Cookshop in Chelsea) by dropping off our luggage and primping in the cab on the way to the restaurant. We scored the corner booth and ate our hearts out. The most memorable dish was the appetizer of Vermont burrata cheese, stewed rhubarb, pea shoots, and toast. So straight-forward and delicious. Recipe in the works.

The next day we hit up Fifth Avenue, did some (successful) shoe shopping, stopped in the library, and then headed to the Village. We had a drink and a late lunch at Buvette (our favorite little neighborhood eatery). It was the perfect day out, so we dined in the garden (which is actually just a very small porch–very). Luckily we stole a different table so we could actually have some leg room. Buvette is just adorable. But what makes it so memorable is really simple food, done to the nines. Fava, ricotta toast coming to a blog near you.

We met up with my friend Greta. She is a “lifer” and knows how to host. We found Perla for dinner and may or may not have been sitting next to The Glamourai. I was trying not to stare, but she was impeccably dressed, and well…glamorous. Perla has an old school feel, but a hip vibe. Drake anyone? Homemade pappardelle with duck ragu and a tiny bit of shaved foie gras was, to-die-for! (Based on my google search, they…the internet people, were not too keen on me chowing down on foie gras at my current state, but I had to give it a taste on the dish).

We tried our luck at the Comedy Cellar for the 9:15 show. We got in, and guess who just so happened to be performing…Aziz Ansari. He is hilarious and so adorable that my mom would have laughed at anything (the Book of Mormon was acceptable humor for her, due to the singing and tap dancing). We were in the front row and Greta is now part of the act. They talked online dating.

I started to realize this was the first weekend where people were openly acknowledging my belly. Which, as any pregnant lady knows, is a double-edged sword. You can get offended both ways. You go from, Do I look that pregnant? to How can they not tell I’m pregnant, clearly I don’t look like this normally. I was given seats on the subway and told “we shall cook your steak a little longer.” With a gestures to my belly. We have till August, folks.

Sunday we hit up Eataly, The NoMad (for a fancy brunch!), ABC carpet and home, Central Park, The Frick, and The Strand for a view of the Empire State Building. But nothing was more magical than the delightful French meal we had at The Little Prince. Greta knew the chef (of course) and we got the royal treatment. Extra dish,  after extra dish was sent out from the kitchen…”compliments of the chef.” We were eating to a soundtrack of anything from Michael Jackson to the Beatles. Finally when they brought out every last dessert on the menu for us to try as La Vie en Rose was playing, my mom said she was ‘so happy, she could almost cry.’ I don’t think it was, almost–there was a drop. Feeling was mutual.

We made it back to the hotel just in time for Mad Men and called it a night. Come Monday we were back on the plane and back to reality. For the first time, I almost finished a book on flight and was hotter than ever (temperature-wise…thank you compression stockings).

Coming home to a smiling two-year-old running to the car cannot be beat; dinner al fresco with my little lady and loving life (note: it was just the two of us because Brian had to work late).