Recipes

/

Home & Leisure

Stuffed Poblano Chilies

Zola Gorgon on

Bread on a Hanger

I did my most recent ZBinge in pretty much one meal instead of over two days. I only gained two pounds, which was good, and I immediately lost 4.1 pounds so I’m on my way down again.

In order to do my ZBinge my husband and I visited a restaurant in Chicago called Allium. Allium is located in the Four Seasons hotel and is run by a chef named Kevin Hickey. Very talented man. Chef Hickey is so talented that the last time the Michelin raters came to town he was one of the first places to receive the revered Michelin star for the outstanding food served in his restaurant. Fancy stuff! Funny thing is, the star was earned and then Kevin and the Four Seasons decided to completely revamp the entire dining room and the food. Nothing is the same. Before it was white tables cloths and rather stuffy. Now it looks like club atmosphere with beautiful wood tables and plush seating.

The menu is totally new. Now, they specialize in small plates (like many restaurants do), so you are encouraged to order more courses. The courses are smaller so it’s easier to do. They come with a smaller price tag too (per course) so it encourages you to taste lots of different things.

The list of what we ordered is almost embarrassing to reveal here but I am going to do it anyway and make comments along the way.

We started off with two things from the Snack category. We got the California almonds and the chorizo cheese chips. The almonds were amazing. I have to figure out a way to make these for ZReboot. They were regular almonds coated with a mixture of maple, sea salt and spice. Don’t worry. I’ll figure it out.

The chorizo cheese chips were a sad disappointment. Can’t win ‘em all, I guess. They were homemade chips, which were nice, but they were covered in a white, gooey cheese sauce that was bland and the chorizo bits were just about non-existent. Let’s move on.

We then ordered a couple of carbohydrate-laden favorites. The bacon and onion buns and the cheese lavosh.

The bacon and onion buns were fabulous but since they were a jazzed up version of Parker House rolls I can’t recommend you eat them on a regular basis. The lavosh was worth a picture. I have never seen lavosh hanging on a hook. I asked them to take a picture of one on my phone so you could all see it too. They took my phone back into the kitchen, so as not to disturb other guests, and brought me back the picture. The paper-thin oval of lavosh was perfectly seasoned. We just ate enough to get the idea and began to prepare the doggie bag for transport. We have others in the company who love it when we bring them leftovers. I could never endeavor to eat that whole thing so we definitely planned to take some home.

In the Smaller Course category I ordered the 24 Hour Onion “Tarte Tatin”. The onions are soaked in butter and milk a full 24 hours and the final product had plenty of goat cheese along with some apricot bits. It was small. Nothing left when we were done with it. No leftovers there.

Next up was the Terrine of Foie and Tete de Cochon. The terrine came with a rhubarb mustard compote, pretzel chips to garnish along with bits of pigs ears. Longtime readers will know what a huge fan of foie gras I am. I can eat that in any form. Sauteed, in a terrine, as a mousse. I’m all over it. Pared with tete de cochon I am not so thrilled. This was my first venture into head cheese. I can recall as a child seeing women ordering head cheese at the local, German butcher shop. I didn’t spit it out. I didn’t moan with delight as I ate it either. It just was. Kinda hammy. Kinda bland. This seems to be my season for trying new things like pigs ears and head cheese. Maybe it’s a sign of maturity. In any case I’d pass on it next time. My husband refused to even try a bite.

Lastly we ordered what would be considered our entrees. They weren’t as large as entrees usually are but they were sizable. I gave the chef his choice of what to serve to me. My husband had the wagyu skirt steak sliders. He was happy.

I was thrilled. Guess what Chef Hickey brought me in this fancy restaurant? He brought me a hotdog.

Chef Hickey’s hotdog is all the rage in a city nuts about their hotdogs.

This is no normal hotdog.

First of all, it is fatter than any hot dog I have ever seen. It still fits in the poppy seed bun that Chicago dogs are famous for, but I chose to eat it with a knife and fork. Chef Hickey makes his own buns and everything else that goes along with the hotdog. Chicago has a very special recipe for their hotdogs too and his gourmet version sort of follows along, starting with that famous poppy seed bun.

Chef Hickey makes his own mustard, his own relish and his own ketchup. In Chicago you only eat ketchup on your fries; never on your hotdog. I cheated. This ketchup was made with a balsamic vinegar reduction and was to die for. I put some on my hotdog.

The fries were done in duck fat and cooked to perfection. But it was the hot dog that really made my mouth jump. The first bite squirted all over the inside of my mouth. I had never tasted a hot dog so juicy. The grill effect was perfect, the skin not too thick or too tight. He does the whole thing in house, starting off with wagyu beef as his base. This is no Oscar Mayer wiener. Big YUM and WOW.

Chef Hickey came out of the kitchen to sit with us and find out what I thought of his hotdog. I thought he did such a good job that I had him autograph my menu.

But WAIT! There’s dessert.

I was already stuffed, but they talked me into it and then went way overboard!

Here’s the list of desserts they brought us on their famous “dessert tower”. Mind you these are all small portions but I swear there was enough for a table of 12.

 

Black walnut carrot cake

Lemon bars

Peanut butter “sandwiches”

Macaroons

Pretzel caramels

And

Lemon-basil marshmallows.

I tried tiny bits of each one and overdid myself by indulging in one whole caramel. The ratio in that caramel of gooey candy, to pretzel to sea salt was delectable.

And there were plenty of leftovers in the bag. In fact, they had to find a bigger bag.

Check out Chef Kevin Hickey and his Four Season restaurant Allium here: www.alliumchicago.com/people/kevin_hickey

Now that I am back on ZReduction, today’s offering will be fat-free, practically carbohydrate-free, but full of flavor. That’s what I’m all about. Flavor in diet food.

Stuffed Poblano Chilies EASY

Fans of Mexican food will love these. Easy to make and perfect for heating leftovers. Give them a try.

Serves 4

4 poblano peppers, cut in half lengthwise and seeds removed
1.5 pounds of ground sirloin
2 red bell peppers, seeds removed, and cut into dice
1 medium white onion cut into dice
15 ounces of salsa. This can be fresh or jar. Find one with no sugar. I used mild salsa
1/2 tsp of smoked paprika
1 tsp of ground cumin
1/4 tsp of cayenne or to taste
A grating of sea salt or to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

In a large sauté pan lightly spray with olive oil and add the ground beef. Begin cooking it. Add the onion and the red pepper when you have them prepped. They can all cook together. Keep breaking up the meat so it’s in small, bite-sized pieces. When there is no pink left in the meat you can add the salsa and seasonings.

Now you are ready to prep for the oven. Take the pepper halves and lay them in the bottom of a lightly greased casserole pan, cut side up. I used my old lasagna pan because it’s bigger. Then just pour the whole filling on top. I didn’t bother checking to see if every pepper got “stuffed”, and I didn’t have time to stuff them individually, but this works. Just pour it over and spread it out.

Then bake in your oven at 400 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes until the peppers are roasted through and the meat just begins to brown a bit on the top. They will be juicy and flavorful. You can add hot sauce on top if they are not spicy enough for you and you can have a salad on the side to round out your meal.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola


 

 

Comics

Kirk Walters Dinette Set Michael Ramirez Dustin Pickles Mike Smith