French Foodie Mom | chefdruck.com

Table for Six: the Foodie Family Makes a Triumphant Come Back

January 26, 2012

When my first child was born, we were living in New York City and eating out almost as often as we stayed in. Although I loved to cook, there were just so many restaurants out there that were too appealing to ignore. Bella’s birth did not slow us down in the least. We had a lovely French meal on the way to the hospital for my induction, and were back out for a big Asian dinner at Ruby Foo’s a few days after coming home from the hospital. Everything was walking distance, and the loud restaurant noise just helped her sleep. As a first time mom, I was blissfully oblivious to the invisible germs swirling all around my tiny newborn.

We love exotic experiences like meals in Chinatown.

Although I’ve become more cautious about exposing newborns to unseen germs, our family’s love of dining out has not diminished. My kids can name their favorite restaurant without hesitation (Fogo de Chao Churrascaria in Chicago) and follow it up with their favorites in other locations (Sushi House in Oak Park, Chocolate by the Bald Man in NYC, Duck Donutsin North Carolina, and any street crepe vendor in Paris). We are a family of foodies and eating out is our sport. If medals were awarded in dining out, we would be serious contenders. You should see the way our posse attacks the bloody slivers of meat cut by the gauchos at a Brazilian steakhouse.

Baby Sophie sits like a peaceful Buddah on her sister's lap.

When Sophie was born, weighing in a a scant five pounds, we spent a few weeks exploring the pick up and delivery options in the Oak Park area. We ventured out a few times, quick clandestine affairs where either Steve or myself ended up swaying to keep her quiet while rushing the kids to finish. There was no joy to these dining out expeditions, just pure post-partum stress. Occasionally we would hire a sitter and enjoy an evening out as a family without Sophie, but although we were more able to focus on the food, we all missed our little Sophie love and felt incomplete.

The soup dumplings at Hing Kee have paper thin dough.

Then on Sunday, thanks to the beginning of a clear nap schedule, we broke free from our cocoon and had an amazing family dinner in Chinatown. Our table was filled with thrilling dishes: delicate soup dumplings, crispy pork potstickers, fluffy fried rice, and steaming bowls of broth filled with hand tossed noodles. A noodle chef stood right behind us, creating long strands of noodles from big hunks of dough. We ate, hopping from dish to dish, passing each other choice bites to taste. And througout the entire meal, Sophie sat happily on Steve’s lap, beaming at her siblings and bestowing easy smiles on the parade of kitchen workers who came to tickle her feet.

Giant smoothies made from real fruit are delicious.

We walked out of the restaurant into an alley decorated for the Chinese New Year, full and happy. Table for six please! The foodie family is now back in action.

Make sure to save room for these delicious puffs of fried dough with sweet condensed milk for dessert.

Our delicious Chinese meal was eaten at:
Hing Kee Restaurant
2140 S Archer Ave
(between Wentworth Ave & 21st St)
Chicago, IL 60616
(312) 808-9538

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-Dining, parenting

Trout en Papillotte or the Real Reason French Women Don’t Get Fat

January 24, 2012

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Do you remember Mireille Guiliano’s book French Women Don’t Get Fat? Long before it came out, my mother shared her version of French women diet secrets.

I was a pimply teenager just beginning to suffer the effects of a slowing metabolism. We had just finished eating dinner at a family friend’s apartment, a simple but delicious dinner of roasted salmon, green beans and salad. My mother commented during the car ride home that our host’s love of seafood was the reason she’d always stayed so trim. Coming from my perennially thin mother, the comment was surprising and it was the note of female competitiveness in her voice that made me look up from my book and ask her to explain. “Mais bien sur,” she told me, “fish is very slimming, tres bon pour la ligne. Fish is the perfect food for la diete.”

I love the aahh effect when you open up these little packages.

La diete au poisson became a family joke whenever my mother announced that we were having fish for dinner. But decades later, fish remains my go to dinner when I’m trying to lose weight. But instead of suffering through every bite as a teenager who hates fish, I now thoroughly enjoy it.

Steaming fish en papillotes in parchment paper or aluminum is one of the most elegant and easiest way to prepare seafood. And I love that it keeps the house from getting invaded by that fishy smell. Just season the fish, toss it with a few julienned vegetables, and pop it in the oven for 10-15 minutes. The little packages open right at the table in a thrilling cloud of steam.

I find it easier to use foil to make these packets, just crimp the edges to make it sealed all over.

Rainbow trout is a relatively inexpensive fish and has such a mild, delicious taste. I made rainbow trout en papillote last week with a balsamic butter. Butter? With a diet recipe? Of course! A little butter helps to make everything taste better. Steve and I basically licked our plates clean.

Rainbow Trout en Papillotte

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Total Time: 17 minutes

Yield: 2 portions

Rainbow Trout en Papillotte

These trout filets en papillotes are easy to throw together but delicious.

Ingredients

2 Rainbow Trout, fileted and deboned
3 Tablespoons of butter
2 Tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
1 lemon
3 carrots, peeled and julienned into thin strips
2 stalks of celery, cleaned and julienned into thin strips

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Melt the butter in a small pan. Add the carrots and celery and saute on medium heat for 3-4 minutes until softened.
Add the balsamic and blend well. Remove from heat and set aside.
Cut two large pieces (10 in by 10 in) of aluminum foil or parchment paper. Place one piece on a cookie sheet. Lay the fish skin side down on the paper. Pour half the vegetable butter sauce on top. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over it. Seal the paper closed.
Repeat with the second piec of paper and the second piece of fish and the remaining vegetable butter sauce.
Place in the oven and cook for 12 minutes.
Remove from the oven and serve immediately, opening the pouches at the table.

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-diet, fish

Sweet Success at the Weekly Weigh In

January 24, 2012

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Our scale is tucked away in the basement, in a frigid, dark little room. Even through the cotton rug, the tiles are painfully cold on my bare feet. It’s not an inviting room, not one where I have any desire to linger. Avoiding it between weekly weigh ins is easy. It’s actually walking in and stepping on the scale that’s hard.

I dodged the moment of truth, procrastinated a few days.

Having no drop in my weight after 10 days of dieting was disappointing. The thought of having it not drop again after three weeks without chocolate would have been devastating. Three weeks of no dessert. Three weeks of sweat. Three weeks of being really, really good just had to yield results.

All that work paid off. Four glorious pounds were chiseled away. Four pounds thinner. Four pounds fitter. And it felt great.

Onwards. In seven more days, I’ll step back on that scale again, braced for disappointment. But for now, I’ve had a taste of success, and it tasted sweet.

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-diet

Indulge a Little with this Butternut Squash Coconut Bisque

January 19, 2012

Pin itShare The difference between a bowl of bisque and a bowl of soup is a treasure trove of hidden, lick the bowl clean, moan-inducing calories. Every once in a while, it’s fun to cheat and indulge. A big bowl of root vegetable soup is my favorite lunch in the winter, especially when I am…