Chicken Burrito Bowl

I've never posted such a blatant imitation of a recipe that is pretty widely known by food-consumers nationwide: the Chipotle Burrito Bowl.  But if we're all going to collectively admit anything as a society, it should be that Chipotle is tasty.  So, I  share with you my scientific recreation of the burrito bowl if only to be able to proclaim "NAILED IT," and then enjoy how tasty it is in the comfort of your own home.  Oh, it's probably much less doused in sodium than the restaurant version.

Chipotle and I actually have a historic relationship that dates to the fall of 2000.  So we're talking pretty early on in Chipotle expansion.  I really lucidly remember my first trip to Chiptole as a sophomore in high school (Schaumburg, IL location, if you're curious).  My friends and I sort of made going to Chipotle our thing before Chipotle was a thing.  So I'm loyal.  

How loyal?  I moved to Ann Arbor, MI for college in 2002 and immediately began emailing the Chipotle company about once a month telling them to get their stuff on campus.  REAL PEOPLE WOULD ACTUALLY EMAIL ME BACK and thank me, telling me they would be in Michigan soon.  They weren't even in the state yet.  I literally had my boyfriend at the time pick up Chipotle in Chicago en route from Madison to Ann Arbor when he would come to visit.  Put that aluminum-swaddled baby on ice.  It wasn't until I was a senior that the chain would open a location near campus, and perhaps by then I was sort of over it.

So, I guess that's sort of my confessional about Chipotle.  I rarely eat there now...but when I do I still think it's good.  And, I think you'll be impressed by how near-to-restaurant taste the recipe here achieves if you're willing to make all the individual components.  I'm sure you could cut out one of the salsas, maybe the guac, and still nail it (but I highly recommend all components).   If you really want to keep things simple, purchase the salsas and guacamole and make the rest at home.

You'll notice I do not include shredded lettuce in my bowl.  Shredded lettuce is offensive.  Also, I don't include cheese (not needed, and keeps this a healthier version). 

gumbo

GUMBO 

W/ ANDOUILLE SAUSAGE, 

MAHI MAHI, & CHICKEN

Last week I had a hankering for some gumbo, and sort of gave it a half-ass shot.  I had never made a roux before, and couldn't find the okra that I now know is located right in the middle of the vegetable wall at the grocery.  Nonetheless, it turned out to be a really good gumbo-esque soup with just shredded chicken and chicken andouille sausage.

Thinking back on the first attempt, I don't think I cooked my roux long enough and the texture was a little thin without the okra (and the right roux).  Also, I missed the seafood element.  You see, my gumbo standards are very high thanks to Bob Chinn's - which is in the suburbs of Chicago, not New Orleans or anything.  Anyways, Chinn's has an amazing gumbo that is basically comprised of whatever fish they have left over at the end of the night.  So, there's a little variation from one visit to the next, but every time it hits the spot.  As a side note, Bob Chinn's is consistently rated the highest-grossing restaurant in the nation, and its pretty much an institution around here.  If you ever go, you'll be satisfied by the garlic rolls, a bowl of gumbo, and the peppercorn ahi tuna.  Splurging on crabs legs is optional.

OK, longer cook time on the roux, get the okra that's been in front of your face for years, and add a firm white fish at the very end.  Check, check, check.  Result: REALLY GOOD.  Even better the next day when the broth had thickened up even more.

Brown Rice Spinach Arancini

BROWN RICE SPINACH ARANCINI W/ ROASTED VEGETABLES & RUSTIC MARINARA

Last weekend I was invited out to a group dinner at an Italian "cafe and deli" called Gio's on the near south side and now I want to move across the street.

I wound up in the Bridgeport neighborhood twice over the weekend and remembered that there are wonderful neighborhoods in Chicago where people just live.  And probably do so beyond their twenties.  They are filled with modest homes that probably house modest and good people, rather than refurbished warehouse lofts in a neighborhood that makes one's identity complete.  Gio's fits in very well with that setting.  I'm pretty sure at one point the restaurant was just a small convenience store that specialized in Italian foodstuffs, but they've cleared away the center aisles for some checkered tablecloths.  The shelves full of canned sardines and pizzelles still flank the sides of the place so you feel like you're eating in a convenience store (in an awesome way).  The glass deli counter is still the back with their specials posted on a whiteboard above it. 

Go to Gio's.  The food was as awesome as the space, waitresses, and other diners who you can tell have been stopping in for years.  Try lots of appetizers like the grilled calamari and octopus, but especially the arancini.

It just so happens that I had lots of leftover brown rice from the Korean Tofu Rice Bowls, so I wanted to try an arancini recipe with some modifications.  Traditionally, arancini uses risotto and lots of parmesan and is deep-fried to give it that satisfying crunchy/creamy combo, so this is a slightly lighter version that was more like a rice patty.  I stuffed mine with spinach, but you could certainly use cooked ground pork, beef, or Italian sausage.

Korean Tofu Rice Bowl

After fighting the cold I've been on the brink of coming down with for about two weeks, my body finally surrendered.  I wanted something spicy enough to instantly drain my sinuses and pores while slapping my brain out of a bacterial haze.

For a long time these jars of commercialized kimchi arranged between the tofu and rice papers wrappers at the grocery have been eyeing my shopping cart.  I never responded to these advances since I figured my stockpile of East Asian chili paste would make that pick up a bit redundant.  But let's admit that kimchi brings something to the table that other chili pastes do not - a fermented, vinegary tang and crunchy bite that just might be the medicine I'm looking for.

Besides some medical advice, let me all take a moment to instruct you on what too many have been missing out on for years: Korean Cuisine.  For some odd reason, it is commercially overshadowed in the U.S. by Chinese, Thai, and Japanese.  Well, it took me a trip to Korea to learn that Korean food is just, if not more, satisfying as these other East Asian culinary competitors.  I stumbled upon this place because I figured after a two-week trip to Japan I might as well make a stop in Korea on the way home.  I mean, its right there.

Korea, Summer 2010

Turns out, if I were to redo my Japan/Korea trip I would have spent much more than four days in Busan and Seoul.  Not only did the food blow me away, but Koreans are such wonderful hosts to foreigners.  They're smiling, inquisitive, and outgoing...in some ways, dramatically different from the Japanese.  I loved Japan, and I'll save the details for a future post, but Korea should not be missed.

This recipe may not be particularly Korean in a traditional sense, but gets at that hearty meal-in-a-rice-bowl thing they've really got down.  Of course, kimchi.  Looking back on it now, topping this with a fried egg would have added some richness to round out the elements and tie it all together.