Earthy flavors – fresh herbs, roasted vegetables – beg for winter’s fire.

Cold winter days just scream for the kind of  soul warming recipes that keep wanderers heading to Provence and Tuscany year after year. While winter 2012 has certainly been on the mild side so far, a simple roasted chicken is just the thing to warm up the kitchen, even without snow. Combining ease with rich flavor, it’s a great dinner party standby, and the white bean ragut is one of those staples you should always have around – I love a quick kale or radish greens sauté finished off with the creamy beans.

For a girl on the constant run, this is an easy meal to throw together on a lazy Sunday evening and then nibble on for lunch throughout the week. Soaking the beans makes for an extra step, but they have so much more flavor when cooked from scratch. Whether you are looking to impress a group (pair the chicken with a Châteauneuf-du-Pape perhaps), or just want to enjoy this recipe for simplicity’s sake, it’s one to keep around for sure.

White Bean Ragut and Roasted Chicken
4 to 6 servings

For the White Bean Ragut:
1 cup dried navy or cannelloni beans
3 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 carrot, minced
1 celery stalk, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 slices thick-cut bacon, diced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
½ teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper
½ cup fresh parsley

For the Roasted Chicken:
1 whole chicken
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 carrot, rough chopped
1 onion, rough chopped
2 stalks celery, rough chopped
Fresh herbs, including parsley and thyme

1. Cover the beans with water and soak overnight. Drain, rinse and cover again with water. Salt the water, add the 3 garlic cloves and simmer for 40 to 45 minutes, until tender. Drain, reserving cooking liquid.

2. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Rinse the chicken thoroughly, pat dry, and season well with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place the vegetables in the bottom of a roasting pan, neatly tuck the chicken on top (or use butcher twine to truss it) and put the herbs in the cavity of the chicken. Cook for 50 to 60 minutes, until golden brown and fully cooked. Use any juice to baste the chicken and let it rest for 15 minutes.

3. While the chicken is roasting, heat the olive oil in a heavy-duty saucepan over medium heat. Cook the carrot, celery, garlic, and bacon until the vegetables are translucent. Add 1 cup of the bean cooking liquid, the tomato paste, and the beans. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes. Add in the balsamic vinegar, season with salt and pepper and cook an additional 5 minutes; add additional cooking liquid from the beans if necessary to thin out the ragut.

4. After the chicken has rested, sprinkle the chopped parsley into the ragut. Carve the chicken and serve with the white bean ragut.

I was lucky enough to spend a week in Morocco over the Christmas holidays. TH and I had an incredible time exploring a completely new culture, and eating a week’s worth of tagines, preserved lemons, cured olives, and rich breads. From wandering through the evening medinas — complete with grilled meats, live music, and costumed performers — to drinking cocktails à la Casablanca in a bar said to inspire the movie, the trip was truly unique. I’ll post a detailed travel guide from our trip shortly, along with some great pictures we snapped along the way, but for a fresh start to January, I wanted to share a glass or two of Moroccan mint tea.

We saw locals sipping on this herbal tea everywhere we went — bars, cafès, even corner stoops; one café owner described the brown liquid as Morocco’s whiskey. We trekked up steep cobblestone streets to sip on it over lunch at a tiny seaside restaurant in Tangier, and watched the sunset over the Marrakech marketplace at a fancy rooftop café. We also managed to bring back a lovely set of gold painted glasses perfect for enjoying the mint-studded tea back at home.

Mint tea may be a wonderful memory of our trip, but this cooling herb also packs plenty of benefits for those of you looking to spruce up in the New Year. Rich in Vitamins A and C, mint also contains a number of minerals, making it a great addition to your morning cuppa. Drinking a pot spiked with mint can stimulate the senses and improve mood, and mint is also known to relieve congestion, head colds and headaches, a much needed remedy this time of year. Moroccan’s enjoy their tea very sweet, with a large handful of mint in each glass. I prefer to cut out some of that sugar, and add a squeeze of lemon juice for a bright, minty sip that makes me feel fresh and ready to tackle the day.

Moroccan Mint Tea
4-6 servings
1 tablespoon loose leaf green tea
4 cups boiling water
2-4 tablespoons sugar, to taste
1 large bunch mint, reserve some mint for garnishing
1 lemon

1. Place the mint, green tea and sugar into a decorative teapot. Pour the boiling water over the mint and brew for 3 to 5 minutes. Place the garnishing mint into the tea cups, pour the tea through a strainer into the cups, and serve. Top with fresh squeezed lemon juice to taste.

For all that Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas do to set themselves apart from the pack, dinner at Alinea is everything you expect – unbelievable. From the Star Trek sliding front doors to the teasing kitchen view of several dozen cooks to the final course- a peanut butter, chocolate, blueberry dessert plated table side on the table atop a thin rubber tablecloth- every element is just as it should be: thoughtful, thought-provoking, playful, and delicious.

Lacking the pretension or overbearing presence that often comes with many multi-course, haute cuisine meals, the staff seems almost as giddy to be serving each course as the diners are to be enjoying them. With sly smiles and coy descriptions, the presentations arrive on the infamous metal spoons, vials, tiny platters, and delicate ceramic wear of Martin Kastner, the restaurant’s wildly talented service ware designer.

While at times inspirations can seem almost erratic, as you are pulled from country to time period to sensation through the varied menu, each course layers on top of the next, adding an element of surprise, whimsy, texture, and flavor. Japanese finger food (a soy milk skin dehydrated and fried is then wrapped in shrimp and coated in togarashi and sesame seeds, and served alongside a red miso emulsion), Escoffier (service ware from the 1900s is set for the classic Canard a la Cussy, duck and foie gras atop perfect puff pastry) and a study of color (a monochromoatic white plate features halibut and lemon, with teasing undertones of coffee, vanilla, and black pepper) all dance across the table.

Somehow the three-hour meal seems to have started just as it is ending, and yet you are left feeling completely content. Understanding first hand the drive, passion, and hard work it takes to make this kind of restaurant seamlessly work the way it does, and with all the recent press about their Next move, it’s hard to not be in (gushing) awe of these restaurateurs.

Who knows how the world went round before the advent of the Internet. Just how did Julia Child explore all those Parisian restaurants without searching chowhound for suggestions or using a smartphone to guide her to  the newest openings? It’s good for a lot, but for the foodie, surfing the net is great. From finding a romantic restaurant in a foreign city to looking for cheap eats, you can almost become an epicurean authority without ever leaving home. But the food tastes oh-so-better in person than onscreen, so get up from that computer, armed with suggestions from some of these top sites, apps, and services.

Find your Foodie guru
With weekly e-mails and an iPhone application, Foodie offers users specials, discounts and offers at Chicago-area restaurants that can’t be beat. Using the app, diners-in-the-know can score exclusive reservations at the no-reservations Bucktown-favorite The Bristol or complimentary courses at restaurants like Province. Blackboard Eats is a similar websites that offers daily specials at restaurants in cities like Los Angeles and New York, plus national online steals.

Get app friendly
If you have a smart phone handy, load it up with apps that will help you locate the best foodie finds, and save. For those who love to chase down their meals on wheels, Foodtruck and foodtrucker are apps that keep an eye out for what Korean/taco, philly cheesesteak, and macaroni roadie chef is popping up where. Want something a bit more grounded, but not sure where to go? Apps like Urbanspoon and Yelp easily show you what locales are nearby, including pricing, reviews, and all the info you need to get to the table.

Join the crowd
Your inbox may already be packed, but add a few foodie sites to the list of incoming. TastingTable sends you daily updates of openings, trends and recipes, and their online service allows you to save favorites in a checklist of restaurants to go to (plus download the app to view all their suggested hotspots near you). And sites like Groupon and LivingSocial aren’t just for scoring deals on clothes and spas­– change your settings to maximize coupons for food deals and you’ll be saving in no time.

Check in already
While you don’t need to be like that friend who regularly posts status updates from the dry-cleaners, yoga studio and grocery store, checking in at restaurants and bars may be worth the price of privacy. Using the check-in option on smart phone apps for Facebook, foursquare and Yelp can earn you coupons, like a dollar off beers or two-for-one discounts. But you never know where you’ll score until you’re a pro, so you kind of have to take a chance with this one.

Look to the blogger in the know
In every city there is someone who is doing exactly what you want to be doing- going to the coolest restaurants, eating the best food, hanging out with chefs and restaurateurs- only they’re doing it much better. And blogging about it. You can’t live in LA and not read about Caroline on Crack’s antics at pop-up dinners and bar crawls. Or be in the windy city and not hear Chicago Foodies thoughts on the latest microbrew. Find your foodie blogger, and you’ll find the true key to the city.

One of the first events I attended after moving to Chicago last winter was the Logan Square Pastry Market. As I made my way through the packed crowd, I was wowed by delicate macaroons, airy gelato, and bitter dark chocolates that vendors offered. This year I made sure to arrive early and was just as pleased. The space affords starting-out-bakers an industrial size kitchen, and is used by many local cooks looking for a place to make their goodies, including favorites like Katherine Anne Confections and The Baked Escape. They open the doors several times a year to share a taste with the public, and samples of caramels, chocolates, cookies, and ice cream abound. It’s the perfect place to pick up a last minute Valentine’s day treat.

Logan Square Kitchen, 2333 N. Milwaukee Ave., Pastry Market Feb. 12- 13, 10a.m.- 3p.m. $1 admission fee.

Somehow, through unfortunate schedules and travel plans that just couldn’t be changed, I found myself this Thanksgiving Day all alone in the kitchen, without a turkey in sight. No bread to be baked, no pie dough to roll, no potatoes to mash, or carrots to peel. What’s a cook to do on the day that all of America joins together in cooking unison, without an ounce of food to prepare?

It’s not as if I haven’t spent this special culinary day without family before. There was the year in college I rebelliously ditched home and spent the holidays with a friend, the year in Los Angeles when I cooked a dinner party, dousing the food with a little too much bourbon, and the year I spent with an old boyfriend’s family, that ended disappointingly when we rushed home to cook our own bird and found the oven broken.

But this year is the first I found myself on this late day in November– a day I have dubbed since childhood as TDay– without a turkey in sight. Although, my holiday plans for later in the week include a festive dinner with friends– a sort of second helping for those who have already dined with family– celebrating Thanksgiving late just didn’t seem to soothe the reality that I am not celebrating at all now. So what was there to do? Certainly the answer is obvious– what all the rest of Americans who don’t really care about this holiday, or any others, do. Go out for Chinese.

Of course, what hits home the hardest about this realization is that I am first and foremost a cook. But dining out, is still living life for food, if only in a different sense. And so, I trekked across the city to Chinatown, where no turkey or cranberries could be found, but instead the flavors of the far East wafted into my nose and then filled my stomach. Restaurateur Tony Hu has made himself somewhat of an empire here, and Loa Shanghai focuses on the cuisine of this Chinese coastal mecca. The extensive menu is packed full of Szechaun peppers, garlic, and chilies, in dishes you won’t soon forget. Xiao long bao dumplings burst in your mouth, full of sweet soup and sausage filling. Thin slices of pork belly swim in a dried chili sauce in the twice cooked pork, with large chunks of scallions cutting into the spice. Szechuan eggplant with portbello mushrooms is mild, and cooked just right, soft but not too mushy. And Mandarin lamb is sweet and fragrant, adorned with thick slices of onion.

After such an intense meal, I was as full as I would be after eating two plates of turkey and a slice of Mom’s pumpkin pie– minus the tryptophan. Not bad for my first TDay without the turkey. And it’s almost time to start cooking again, to celebrate my after-the-fact Thanksgiving meal this weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving to all you wonderful readers. Whether you were with friends, family, or dining out yourselves, I hope you’ve had a delicious meal and a great day! I’m so thankful for all of you!

You could say that this has been my year of the pig. I’ve eaten boudin blanc at The Publican, fried pigs ears at The Purple Pig and pork belly at Big Star. Grilled sausage with a fresh tomato salad has become my staple summer meal and I’ve attempted not one, but two of the city’s rib fests. So my heart soared when I heard about the event to top it all off- Slow Food Chicago’s 2^nd Annual Pig Roast.

This past Sunday, Goose Island’s Ukrainian Village brewery opened its doors for some of the city’s best chefs- think The Gage, The Publican and Mado- and a crowd of hundreds. Each chef was given one local swine to do with what they may. Some roasted, some shredded, some stuffed into sausage casing. David Burke served a tostado with shredded pork and sweet mole, Kith & Kin served ham and rye sandwiches with Dijon mayo, and Longman & Eagle served confit porchetta with a white and green tomato salad. The kicker? A black truffle sausage served with foie gras from N9ne Steakhouse.

In between plates of pork, diners sipped on cold Goose Island beers (Sophie, Harvest Ale and 312), sodas, and freshly brewed coffees from Intelligentsia. After eating, groups toured the Goose Island brewery, a twenty-four hour operating facility that brews and bottles the more than 50 varieties of the companies craft brews. But the day was really all about the pork. Three hours of eating sausage, pulled pork and spicy chorizo and it may be time for the year of the cow.

With a last minute decision to go to Lollapalooza, I was excited about the music, of course. But more importantly, I wanted to try the food. Buzz had been brimming for weeks about Graham Elliot Bowles’ culinary direction for the festival, and instead of the normal hot dogs, barbecue chicken and popcorn, we could look forward to pork belly sliders, truffle/Parmesan popcorn and Mexican style corn.

With music blaring from all corners, the food was everywhere. The crowd swarmed with huge plates of perfectly fried chips from BJ’s Market, baskets of thick-cut truffle fries from The Southern or folks cooling off with chocolate covered frozen cheesecakes on a stick from Windsor Ice Cream Shoppe. The sea of American Apparel and Urban Outfitters clad kids, hoping to hear Metric, The XX and Phoenix, were more than happy to wait in line for Kuma’s Corner, Big Star, and Franks N’ Dawgs. Hipster music, hipster food. If people weren’t eating they were talking about food. “What’s that?” someone asked, pointing at our tostada. “That was so good,” another guy said as we walked by.

“That doesn’t look like a cupcake you see at a festival,” a fedora-sporting girl said as we waited in the massive Kuma’s line. The black-and-white More cupcake ($4), topped with perfect marbled chocolate curls was intense. “It’s like fudge on top, bread on the bottom,” my boy grinned as he dug in.

Kuma’s didn’t disappoint, the gigantic Judas Priest burger easily the best deal at $10. Pretzel bun, huge beef patty, dried cherries, blue cheese dressing, walnuts and apples- just like at the restaurant. Another favorite, Big Star’s tostada ($7)- pork belly with black beans, red onion and cilantro- was filling and a good rendition of the restaurants version. Graham Elliot’s lobster corn dog ($9), with a tangy lemon aioli, was a bit small for the price and not quite crunchy enough although the aioli was perfect with the lobster.

For all the great food, the beer selection was traditional festival ware, leaving much to be desired. Budweiser and Bud Light tall cans for $7 is not what you want to drink with a lobster corn dog or truffle French fries, and with Goose Island as a vendor, it would have been great to have a Matilda. Maybe next year?

On the train ride home, mixed in between conversations of the previous day’s Lady Gaga performance, people were still all about the food. “The burrito was awesome, it had spicy black beans and goat cheese. It made my life,” a girl nearby us said. It just goes to show that funnel cake and hot dogs won’t cut it anymore. Three cheers Mr. Bowles.

Instead, the rustic wine bar, an open kitchen looking out onto high-top, wooden communal tables and Spanish-style tiles framing the walls, finds its home on Magnificent Mile, and by mid-afternoon it’s full of the busy, worked men and women of downtown, desperate for a glass of Sangiovese and a plate of fried sardines.

The menu is alluring and tempting, full of antipasti, cured meats, cheeses, and smears – everything is here from pork liver pate to roasted bone marrow. A section devoted to “fried things” is reason enough to come, with options like manchego – the earthy, musky cheese covered in ground panko crumbs and fried to a warmed state, served alongside sweet quince jam-  and fried pig’s ears with pickled cherry peppers. Tiny, crisp arancini are filled with sweet mashed peas, placed on top of smooth, creamy fresh ricotta and bright, lemony mint pesto – the perfect combination of textures, crunch and creamy, and flavors, salty and sweet.

A la plancha offers hearty lamb leg with fava beans and jamon serrano served with a fried egg and grilled bread, alongside lighter dishes like sepia with snap peas or skewered scallops layered with bay leaf and served with a chickpea aioli. The sepia is lightly grilled, and toasted with darkly roasted almonds and bright, crunchy snap peas, in a warm, tangy vinaigrette. It’s the perfect summer afternoon dish. Antipasti includes staple marinated olives, classic beets with goat cheese and pistachio vinaigrette, and playful olive oil-poached tuna with Greek lima beans.

While the menu is enticing, the food itself is a bit unbalanced in its preparation, leaning too heavily on vinegar or lacking seasoning. Artichokes served with potatoes and salami are soaked in a stringent mustard vinaigrette, the potatoes are unevenly cooked- some are soft while others are too firm- and the flavor from the Tuscan salami is lost in the vinegar. Grilled lamb leg is on the edge of being over seasoned as well, and the accompanying fava beans are mushy and overpowered by the tart, salty Kalamata olives they are served with.

But don’t fret, dolci includes a piping hot, golden brioche donut. Filled with fresh ricotta and chocolate chips, it’s sweet, crispy, and delicious- not to be missed.The butterscotch budino is not as satisfying, the pudding slightly overcooked and lumpy, the flavor off.

Whether it’s after a long day at work or during a shopping break, The Purple Pig offers a nice wine menu, a wonderful selection of cheeses, and several options for nibbles. Go early to avoid the evening crowds, the food and service is better without the clatter of the full restaurant, and you’ll miss having to wait for a table.

Under the train tracks at Milwaukee and Western, Belly Shack mashes up two cuisines in a bout of creative, culinary charm. Urbanbelly’s Bill Kim and Yvonne Cadiz-Kim mix their Korean and Puerto Rican heritages at this bare bones, industrial feeling BYO.

Soft Puerto Rican bread is filled with earthy lemongrass meatballs and topped with rice noodles and spicy sauce, or fill your own with the Korean kogi, sweet barbecued meat and tangy kimchi. Crispy fries in tograshi spice pair with a rich curry mayo. End with sweets – soft serve topped with crumbled bacon bits and chocolate chip cookies or drizzled with dark caramel sauce and Vietnamese cinnamon.

Although you can’t help but feel that the place is a rip on David Chang, this is Chicago, miles from New York City, and the kimichi sandwiches and played up soft serve go down nicely.

Unfortunately, the food is a bit overzealous in the seasoning, probably much better at 2 a.m. after a long night of drinking. The tograshi fries are swimming in spice, the curry mayo is overpowering. And the subtle flavoring of the Asian meatball sandwich is lost in overwhelming, spicy sauce.

And one last thought, at a place called Belly Shack, where is the pork belly?