tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132138352938100813Thu, 05 Sep 2024 22:05:46 +0000A blog about the food we eat.http://lessercuts.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (John Lenart)Blogger22125en-usnoA blog about the food we eat.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132138352938100813.post-266094087030385701Tue, 12 Nov 2013 23:43:00 +00002013-11-12T18:11:38.667-06:00So today the 2014 Michelin Guide Chicago stars were announced. This red book generates a lot of chatter in the Chicago restaurant community and among enthusiastic diners.  A few weeks ago I said on social media that I questioned the continuing relevance of Michelin, particularly in Chicago. Basically there was very little change in the starred restaurant list from last year. There are 5 http://lessercuts.blogspot.com/2013/11/my-thoughts-on-michelin-and-next.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Lenart)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132138352938100813.post-2863077245035430729Wed, 05 Jun 2013 22:08:00 +00002013-06-05T17:08:35.845-05:00 WARNING, ADULT LANGUAGE AHEAD It seems that Food Blogs are like assholes; everyone has one, and they stink. Well that’s not entirely true, they don’t all stink. There are a number of very good ones out there. Some of my favorites belong to folks that have become friends of mine. So, if you’re looking for some good Bloggage (I just made up a word!), without having to wade through a seahttp://lessercuts.blogspot.com/2013/06/oh-food-blogs.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Lenart)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132138352938100813.post-6526257011272515991Tue, 29 Jan 2013 05:16:00 +00002013-01-29T11:09:46.312-06:00A business closed today.  I guess some of you are thinking "Yeah, so? Businesses close everyday." While you're absolutely correct, this one was different. This one was important. The funny thing is, while I did occasion this neighborhood shop, I was by no means a regular. I didn't know the staff like I do at a lot of places I shop. I didn't go in and ask what's good today or http://lessercuts.blogspot.com/2013/01/is-sustainability-sustainable.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Lenart)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132138352938100813.post-6145043933054997818Sat, 26 Jan 2013 18:42:00 +00002013-01-26T12:59:19.932-06:00OK, this post isn't so much about food or cooking so if you are looking for that you can stop reading now. The food world has taken a funny turn over the past few years, and a few events in the Chicago food scene in the last couple of weeks highlight a lot of wrong in it. So it got me to thinking, just where did it all go wrong? From the time I was young what fascinated mehttp://lessercuts.blogspot.com/2013/01/no-its-not-all-about-you.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Lenart)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132138352938100813.post-6113260634668131379Mon, 31 Dec 2012 21:29:00 +00002012-12-31T16:08:37.663-06:00This blog isn't quite dead yet. Sorry I've neglected it and I'll try to do better in 2013. So here I sit on New Years Eve and I've been reading many "My Favorite Dishes of 2013" lists. Many of these are very astute observations from serious food people. So I won't bother to recite a best things I ate list here.  But I would like to list my favorite places to eat. Most are in Chicago, a few http://lessercuts.blogspot.com/2012/12/2012.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Lenart)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132138352938100813.post-8516397344231348557Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:58:00 +00002012-02-14T14:45:37.753-06:00$500 for dinner? I struggle with this. What the hell am I talking about? Well let me start by telling you over 6000 people scrambled to do just that. And just over 1000 were granted the honor of doing so. OK, I admit that's a bit harsh. "honored" is just me being snarky. To be fair purchasing a $500 dinner was not bestowed upon individuals, but rather, much like tickets to a http://lessercuts.blogspot.com/2012/02/you-paid-how-much.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Lenart)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132138352938100813.post-8245768759379356506Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:33:00 +00002012-01-13T09:33:02.736-06:00Have you ever eaten calves brains? I bet most of you are saying "EWWWWWWW!" right about now. But after having not one, but two brain dishes this week I knew that these guts dishes needed to be blogged about. When asked about one of these amazing dishes by our server all I could muster was "Calves' brains are like sweatbreads' sexier, older sister." And really that about describes them.http://lessercuts.blogspot.com/2012/01/not-just-for-zombies-anymore.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Lenart)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132138352938100813.post-4371787135817093989Wed, 14 Dec 2011 02:21:00 +00002011-12-13T20:21:25.698-06:00It's winter time and as the cold weather comes in there's nothing quite as warming as braised meat. Lesser cuts are perfect for braising because they're typically tough and have a lot of connective tissue, which renders into rich meat and sauce. And quite frankly, one of the best lesser cuts to braise is the shank. The shank is the lower leg of the animal. Hind shanks are http://lessercuts.blogspot.com/2011/12/mmmmm-braise-liscious.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Lenart)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132138352938100813.post-6705538030619510500Mon, 24 Oct 2011 01:29:00 +00002011-10-23T21:06:23.836-05:00So I'm sitting there happily munching away on the pig I roasted in the Caja China and I was sitting next to my friend Scott, who I work with. Scott had brought his two sons to the party and they were behaving like perfect little gentlemen. His oldest, RL, was sitting next to Scott and asked me about the pig's head. "Can I have the head?" he asked. A bit puzzled, and more skeptical really, abouthttp://lessercuts.blogspot.com/2011/10/igs-head-that-won-election.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Lenart)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132138352938100813.post-5481420317278901548Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:22:00 +00002011-10-06T09:52:28.909-05:00Part of what got me started writing this blog was the idea of using the whole animal that gave its life to feed us.  Now, that’s easy for a restaurant to do but when it comes to the home cook, like me, once you get beyond something the size of say a turkey, using a whole animal is pretty much impossible. A few years ago however, a friend of mine told me about this party a friend of his washttp://lessercuts.blogspot.com/2011/10/going-whole-hog.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Lenart)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132138352938100813.post-5922203100869723338Fri, 08 Jul 2011 16:46:00 +00002011-07-08T13:09:47.116-05:00So, this post is a long time coming. Several months ago I wrote about the "Ticketing" system at Next, the new restaurant by Grant Achatz.  Needless to say, I was thrilled to be able to score tickets, especially considering the insanity that happened when they were released. Anyway, I don't like writing reviews of restaurants, so take this more as a trip report. Actually, I http://lessercuts.blogspot.com/2011/07/eating-at-next.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Lenart)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132138352938100813.post-8006037202236405609Wed, 15 Jun 2011 02:39:00 +00002011-06-14T21:44:16.352-05:00OK, so it's been a long time since I've blogged. I'll own that. But you know, I saw something tonight that pissed me off. While watching a cable show hosted by a guy who eats Bizarre Food, he was taken around a city known for the "Independence" of our nation by a "Food Blogger." This chick was cute and couldn't have weighed 110 pounds. When he took her to a place that severed a lot of lesser http://lessercuts.blogspot.com/2011/06/short-and-bitter.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Lenart)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132138352938100813.post-7103872563277378539Wed, 20 Apr 2011 02:45:00 +00002011-04-20T11:35:09.710-05:00So, we can't always eat the lesser cuts. Sure I love them, but sometimes, when presented with the opportunity, you eat a really exciting meal that is comprised of some of the finest ingredients that are neither local nor sustainable. A little over a year ago Chef Grant Achatz of Chicago's Alinea, which was recently awarded three Michelin Stars, announced the opening of a completely new typehttp://lessercuts.blogspot.com/2011/04/most-anticipated-restaurant-in-world.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Lenart)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132138352938100813.post-2948230137835526352Mon, 28 Mar 2011 02:55:00 +00002011-03-27T21:57:08.790-05:00Some people just don’t get it. OK, so this is going to be a bit of a rant.  I was at dinner the other night and a young, well dressed, good looking couple was seated at the table next to us. From the minute they were escorted over to the table they didn’t say a word. Not to the host, not to one another, or to anyone else.  They had their faces buried in their respective iPhones and werehttp://lessercuts.blogspot.com/2011/03/some-people-dont-get-it-some-people-do.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Lenart)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132138352938100813.post-685488351151666765Sun, 13 Mar 2011 19:17:00 +00002011-03-13T14:33:19.929-05:00A lot of people say “I can't afford to eat organic meat.” You know what? Just about anyone can, you just have to select the right cuts. I picked up some gorgeous Dietzler Farms beef cheeks for The Butcher and The Larder last week. The cheek is the facial muscle of a cow. It's typically lean and quite tough. It's loaded with connective tissue and is super dark in color due to the amount of work http://lessercuts.blogspot.com/2011/03/tasty-but-cheap-dinner.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Lenart)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132138352938100813.post-3661264893431590973Tue, 15 Feb 2011 02:16:00 +00002011-02-14T20:16:30.885-06:00This is a blog in 2 parts. First is a part about what's most certainly not about a lesser cut or guts. I just ate the best pork chop I've ever had in my life. Knowing that today was Valentine's Day and that I'd be making myself dinner at home I sought out a good piece of meat. I stopped at The Butcher and The Larder and picked up a really nice looking pork rib chop. I prepared it simply toppinghttp://lessercuts.blogspot.com/2011/02/valentines-day-pork-and-heart.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Lenart)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132138352938100813.post-1518788342729725195Sun, 13 Feb 2011 04:43:00 +00002011-02-12T22:52:03.130-06:00So, after all of the meat and the offal are eaten and there's nothing left but bones there's still some amazing eats left. First of all, you can take the bones and make stock. There's a pretty big difference between broth and stock. Broth is made from the meat of an animal. Sure it's tasty, but you know what? Chefs know something you don't. Stock is where the real culinary magic http://lessercuts.blogspot.com/2011/02/our-ancestors-leftovers.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Lenart)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132138352938100813.post-3454138531371315662Sun, 06 Feb 2011 18:43:00 +00002011-02-06T12:43:16.921-06:00Wow, what a crazy week. I'd set the goal of writing 3 posts per week in this blog, but I failed miserably in that. I'll do my best to get back on track. Anyway, blizzard schmizzard. Yesterday was the end of the curing process for my bacon. I pulled it out of the cure, rinsed it under some cool running water, wiped it dry and set it on a wire rack over a baking sheet then put in the http://lessercuts.blogspot.com/2011/02/bacon-day.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Lenart)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132138352938100813.post-2664330209698554311Mon, 31 Jan 2011 04:24:00 +00002011-01-31T14:07:14.841-06:00After cooking a terrific Lesser Cuts and Guts dinner last night, (which I'll tell you about later in the week) tonight I made a terrible mistake. Now I don't always eat the Lesser Cuts, nor should you. Here's a story about my dinner tonight that was not going to be a Lesser Cut. I wanted it to be fast, easy, and good. At least I got the first two right. Personal commitments kept me busy during http://lessercuts.blogspot.com/2011/01/horrible-mistake.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Lenart)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132138352938100813.post-6957849032933684675Sat, 29 Jan 2011 18:02:00 +00002011-01-29T12:02:02.570-06:00Who doesn't love bacon? I know a guy who's wife is a vegetarian except for bacon. It's that good. You know what's better? Homemade bacon! It's so simple and delicious that after the first time I made it I swore I'd never buy store bought bacon again. How simple? Well, I'm here to show you. First start with a 3-5 pound pork belly. I like the belly I'm going to cure to be at least 1 inch http://lessercuts.blogspot.com/2011/01/bacon-is-proof-that-god-loves-us-and.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Lenart)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132138352938100813.post-7680987899710894393Wed, 26 Jan 2011 03:13:00 +00002011-01-26T07:22:22.393-06:00I never really understood people who are picky eaters. I've cooked for and had dinner with people who have flat out refused to taste some particular dish that they thought they wouldn't like. Now, its OK not to like something. But you've got to at least try it. Otherwise you could talk yourself out of missing something you might just end up loving. While I eat just about anything, there are some http://lessercuts.blogspot.com/2011/01/open-your-mind-part-2.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Lenart)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132138352938100813.post-919576787187816283Mon, 24 Jan 2011 05:22:00 +00002011-01-23T23:22:30.120-06:00So you're at the local megamart shopping for your groceries. You look into the meat section and see the pristine looking steaks. They're neatly cut and placed into Styrofoam trays and wrapped in plastic.  Do you ever think about where that steak or pork chop came from? Well, it came from a living being. And that animal gave its life to feed us.  But a lot more comes from a pig or http://lessercuts.blogspot.com/2011/01/open-your-mind.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Lenart)1