Sip on some suds
Saturday, Aug. 23 Plenitude is a good thing. So if a sampling occasion lets you try 50 local craft beers, it’s tough to schedule around the 3-7 p.m. event that is the Oak Park Microbrew and Food Review. Yes, local restaurants will be there, too.
The beer will be from Rock Bottom Chicago, Rock Bottom Yorktown, Rock Bottom Orland Park, Rock Bottom Warrenville, Metropolitan Brewing, Two Brothers, Goose Island, Goose Island Pub and Gordon Biersch. The food will be from Marion Street Cheese Market, the Golden Lamb, Los Cazadores, Cosi, Trattoria 225, Nola’s Cup, Fuego Loco, Winberie’s, the Perfect Dinner and Harrison Street’s yet-to-be-open Briejo.
Admission is $35. A VIP ticket of $65 gets you in an hour early and affords you a tour of and additional select tastings at Oak Park’s new foodie mecca, Marion Street Cheese Market. On Marion Street in downtown Oak Park, between North Boulevard and Lake Street.
For all things foodie, count on us for the extra helping
Last Friday, one Oak Park food enterprise-the Marion Street Cheese Market-made Channel 7 as the featured find on Steve Dolinsky’s Hungry Hound. This Friday, another Oak Park foodie find-PapaSpiros Greek Taverna-makes the Hungry Hound report.
Not to be outdone by our media brethren at WLS, we’re here, as always, to serve up a little more.
We checked in with beaming proprietors Eric Larson and Spiro Papageorge, respectively, and rounded up recipes for what the Channel 7 crew shot at their establishments. One recipe we’d already brought you in our Spring Food section.
So here’s the recipe for the salad shown in the opening array of dishes at Marion Street Cheese Market. And here also is our reprint of the vegetarian recipe from PapaSpiros that we brought you in our March 4 food section.
Clip. Save. Enjoy.
PapaSpiros Gemista Ladera
(Tomatoes and Peppers Stuffed with Rice)
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7 medium tomatoes
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6 medium green peppers
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1½ c. rice
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2 medium onions, finely chopped
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Parsley, finely chopped
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1½ c. olive oil
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Salt, pepper
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Rusk crumbs
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2 c. tomato juice
Wash the tomatoes and peppers. Cut a thin slice off the stem ends and hollow out the interiors. Keep the tomato pulp, and chop it up or purée. Mix the rice, onion, parsley, tomato pulp, ½ cup olive oil, salt and pepper. Fill the tomatoes and peppers with the mixture; cover them with the lids you have sliced off and arrange them in a baking pan. Pour the tomato juice and the rest of the oil over them and sprinkle the lids with rusk crumbs. Bake them in a moderate oven for 1-1½ hours.
Serves 6
Marion Street Cheese Market’s Granny Smith Coleslaw with Gruyère Cheese
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2 Granny Smith apples
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Juice of half a lemon, fresh-squeezed
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1 red pepper
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1 jalapeño
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Half a red onion
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5 oz. Gruyère cheese
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1 c. heavy mayonnaise
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2 T. red wine vinegar
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1 T. honey
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4 oz. fresh parsley, finely chopped
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Salt, pepper
Be sure to rinse all the produce well with cold water. Julienne the apples and toss with lemon juice to preserve their color and crispness. Julienne the peppers, onion and cheese. Set aside in bowl with the apples. In a new bowl, mix mayonnaise, vinegar, honey and parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste. Whisk well to work in all the flavors. Stir in the julienned mix a little at a time to coat evenly. Refrigerate until serving.
Serves 4