See Food: Stephanie Izard's Cookbook Launch Party

By Roger Kamholz in Food on Oct 6, 2011 8:20PM

The braised pig tongues with quick-pickled sunchokes and Brussels sprouts recipe from Chef Stephanie Izard\'s new cookbook, \<em\>Girl in the Kitchen\<\/em\>, here presented with beef tongue.

The Sprout table, where Chef Dale Levitski made a twist on French gnocchi with watercress sauce.

Levitski plating freshly cooked gnocchi.

Roasted radishes with blue cheese, peanuts and cilantro.

Shrimp, corn and fried green tomato salad.

Butternut squash and parmesan veloute with salt cod, pickled cauliflower and dill. (Gotta love dill.)

Tap beer was plentiful.

As was glassware.

Cooks at the Chalkboard table plate smoked gouda and braised pork belly mac and cheese...

...based on Izard\'s recipe for Four cheese macaroni with apples and bacon.

Izard with her cookbook\'s co-author, Heather Shouse.

A juggling interlude during an impromptu session of pot-and-pans playing.

Paul Virant\'s take on Izard\'s recipe for pan-roasted N.Y. steaks with sautéed cucumbers and salted goat milk caramel.

Proceeds from Goat Tour parties will be donated to Share Our Strength, a charity aiming to end childhood hunger.

Stephanie Izard's Goat Tour, which promotes the Girl and the Goat chef's first cookbook, the newly released Girl in the Kitchen, made its hometown stop last night - and if the plates served up to celebrate the occasion are any indication, Izard's handsome anthology of recipes is destined for a lot of use in many a home kitchen.

Held at Salvage One, a giant furniture/antique store in a loft building on West Hubbard Street, the book launch party offered an interesting glimpse into the contents of Girl in the Kitchen, which Izard co-authored along with TimeOut Chicago's Heather Shouse. Several of Izard's Chicago chef-friends were invited to present adaptations of recipes from the book, making improvisational tweaks and swapping ingredients based on their personal styles and whims. Paul Virant (Vie, Perennial Virant), Chris Pandel (The Bristol) and Dale Levitski (Sprout) were just a few of the chefs in attendance who cooked up a take on a GitK recipe.

Izard's local rolodex is also deep with brewers. Fresh off its Great American Beer Festival win, Haymarket Pub & Brewery was serving up its gold-medal-winning Angry Birds Belgian IPA. Suds from Goose Island and Small Bar were also flowing. Ben Schiller, head bartender of the BOKA group, which includes Girl and the Goat, oversaw cocktail service; packed with fall flavors, his Good Livin' cocktail (Evan Williams Single Barrel bourbon, autumn falernum and orange bitters) seemed to complement every plate we tried it with.

Proceeds from the Goat Tour benefit Share Our Strength. The tour has dozens more stops in cities all over the country, including more booksigning appearances in Chicago over the next several weeks.