Serious Eats Roundup

Happy New Year!  We hope your holiday was as food-filled and fun as ours.  Lots of stories to tell, but for for now, here's a little roundup of what the two of us have written over on Serious Eats.

"Dinner Tonight" Column

Quick meals to your table five days a week.

• Spicy Spaghetti with Fennel and Herbs
• A "deconstructed" Italian sausage pasta, which has Nick raving about fiery chilis and a "crucial porky edge" thanks to bacon.

• Beef Stroganoff
• The classic dish with a sour cream sauce and egg noodles, made in a remarkably short time.

• Sweet and Spicy Chicken Curry
• After rich holiday fare, the spicy and citrus-y flavors of a curry are a welcome relief.

• Seared Pork Chops with Kimchi
• "Kimchi can do no wrong."  Enough said.

• Shallow-Poached Salmon
• An argument for gently poaching fish, which turns out a "marvelous and simple" result.

• Sunchoke Soup with Lemon and Saffron
• Discovering a vegetable called "sunchokes" though also called "Jerusalem artichokes."

Standing Room Only

A column about the best of Chicago's restaurants--with no seats.

• Jeni's Ice Cream
• A brief hiatus in Columbus, Ohio from the usual Chicago fare, Jeni's ice cream is perhaps the best in the country.

• Scratchell's Beef and Pizza
• Though the pizza, fries, and Chicago-style hot dog are just average, the Italian beef at this South Side stand--"gluttonous and messy, fiery from the hot peppers, and impossibly tender--may be the best in the city of Chicago.