On Wednesday, we showed you how the pros make intricate and tasty desserts, designed to wow your eyes and your taste buds. But sometimes the tastiest bits of your meal can be done at home without a ton of effort or equipment. On our way out, Jove Hubbard showed us some of the candies that the restaurant makes. One, a heavenly hazelnut concoction, made us swoon with pleasure (and sneak a few extras). When we asked, he told us that it only had 2 ingredients and took about 20 minutes - and we begged for the recipe. more ›

Like many legumes, blackeyed peas are often eaten around the new year to bring about wealth and prosperity. We have our hoppin' john recipes, of course. For a New Year's party a few years back, we altered our standard hummus recipe to accommodate some vegans from Arkansas, using blackeyed peas as the base. It was so well received that we've tinkered with the ingredients further to bring in the essentials of hoppin' john: blackeyed peas and pork. We've also replaced the straight cumin with harissa spice blend to give this hummus some much needed kick. The combination of pork fat/bacon grease and collard greens also give this hummus a smoky flavor we found appealing. more ›

What a difference a week makes. And a lot of salt, pepper, sugar and thyme. The pork jowl has been cured (compare the shot above to how it looked before curing last week) and looks like it's well on its way to becoming rich, savory bacon. more ›

Our love of bacon has come to its logical endgame: we're making our own. more ›

All the cool kids (and some not-so-cool ones) have been tripping over each other to re-create the recipes from the Alinea cookbook that it set us thinking, "What cookbook would be the complete opposite of Alinea that could we utilize the same approach?" For us, only one came to mind. more ›

We’re always looking for interesting chicken recipes, but we find most are either incredibly bland or mouth-numbingly dry. We prefer whole roast or rotisserie chickens, but often boneless skinless chicken breasts are the only convenient option on a weekday night. This is an easy dish with a nice Thai twist and you can finish it in less than thirty minutes. It’s also got a nice spicy, citrus flavor for a summer dinner out on the balcony. more ›

Chicagoist hopes you enjoyed your weekend, perhaps catching some good music at the Pitchfork Festival, watching the Cubs sweep the Cardinals, or just sitting inside on top of an air conditioning vent. Because any kind of good vibes you have left over will be squashed when you check out today's headlines: more ›