Chefs

South Side soul food chef’s recipes featured in global cookbook

Mitchell R. Lajoie 5 months ago

Josephine Wade began cooking when she was 13. The daughter of sharecroppers, Wade was babysitting her siblings one day as her parents worked when she realized she needed to make them dinner. She went out to their garden, picked some vegetables and went inside to whip up a gourmet cabbage dish.

By the time she was 19, Wade knew she wanted to open her own restaurant. In 1986, Wade opened Captain’s Hard Times in Chatham, although she eventually changed the name to Josephine’s Southern Cooking.

Over the years, Wade amassed a huge following, with celebrities like Aretha Franklin showing up for her soul food. She became a staple on Chicago’s South Side and was seen with community leaders like Rev. Jesse Jackson and former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and part of 79th Street, near her restaurant, now has an official, if honorary, designation: “Mother Josephine Wade Way.”

Josephine Wade (left) accepts a copy of the “Savor Our World” cookbook, which features two of her recipes, from Larita Clark, CEO of Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority.

Josephine Wade (left) accepts

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Are You Salting Your Food Correctly? Here’s What Chefs Say.

Mitchell R. Lajoie 5 months ago

If you’ve wondered how the chefs at your favorite restaurant always seem to make food taste so much better than your home-cooked versions, there’s at least one ingredient that can take some of the credit — salt.

Of course, you use salt exactly the way the recipe says, except for when it says “salt to taste,” and then you possibly just close your eyes and toss.

But chefs use salt frequently throughout every stage of the cooking process. They use different types of salt for different purposes, and they often use it much more liberally than you probably do. The result? Food that tastes — not salty — but just more like itself.

“The amount of salt — and butter — used in the restaurant world is much higher than the average home cook is used to,” Keith Sarasin, chef and owner of The Farmers Dinner and Aatma,

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Food Writers & Chefs Talk The Best Restaurants Of 2021

Mitchell R. Lajoie 6 months ago

We didn’t eat at enough restaurants last year. Sure, in a lot of ways 2021 was more “normal” than 2020 — we started going to concerts, bars, movie theaters, and generally having lives again. Covid cases were on a downward trend! Vaccination rates were rising! Then we got hit with the Delta and Omicron variants and that renewed sense of optimism started to fizzle.

As of January 4th, there’s a fair bit that’s unclear. How serious is Omicron? Is it less dangerous than previous strains? More contagious?

The fears (many valid!) associated with this new strain of Covid means restaurants — which generally run on paper-thin margins — are struggling once again. So, in an effort to give some shine to our favorite independently owned and operated businesses, we reached out to some of our favorite chefs, food personalities, and food writers and asked them

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Alex Guarnaschelli takes on chefs in upcoming Food Network show ‘Alex vs. America’

Mitchell R. Lajoie 6 months ago

Chef Alex Guarnaschelli is going up against some of the country’s culinary masters in a new food competition show premiering in January on Food Network.

“Alex vs. America” puts 15 brave chefs from across the United States take their best shot at beating Guarnaschelli in a head-to-head competition. As a cooking show judge veteran, Guarnaschelli was eager to throw her hat into the ring in competing alongside these chefs.

“This is a brainchild born from the fact that I have watched or been a part of some many great shows. Anyone knows that I’m no stranger to this. I started on ‘Iron Chef,’ which is why I wanted to be on Food Network,” said Guarnaschelli. “I would watch ‘Iron Chef’ and want to be on that show. Of course, along came ‘Chopped,’ then ‘Beat Bobby Flay.’ All of the sudden, I think I’m an accidental competition show cook by default.

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