Do You Have Leftover Candy Canes?

Here’s An Idea From The Lunchroom at SPACE 519!

It’s the day after Christmas and this afternoon we are going to have yet another celebration. We are here in Chicago with family and we’ve been doing some tag-team celebrating with our children, their spouses, and the families of their spouses at various locations in and around Chicago. Later this afternoon, we plan to head out to Eately Chicago (https://www.eataly.com/us_en/stores/chicago), make a bunch of fun food, open our presents and stockings, and then just sit around, and eat, talk, and watch Christmas movies all day.

I finished off all of the stockings with all sorts of candy canes, since I love candy canes. Here’s an idea for how to use them from The Lunchroom at SPACE, in the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago at 200 East Chestnut, Chicago. They recently had on their menu a peppermint mocha made from Metric espresso, chocolate syrup, house-made peppermint syrup, house-made whipped cream, peppermint crumble, and milk. It was delicious!

We have in our stockings a variety of candy canes, including butterscotch, strawberry, and peppermint with chocolate from Hammond’s Candies, along with some cute lil Joybrite peppermint candy canes from Walgreen’s, plus some heavy cream in the fridge, so we might experiment with some coffee drinks, make some homemade whipped cream, and then sprinkle some crushed candy canes on top.

When we had lunch at The Lunchroom at SPACE, all four of us that day opted for a special, the blanched Spanish artichoke crowns on gruyère toast, served with tomato basil soup, and a kale pepita salad. It was absolutely gorgeous and a perfect lunch for the holiday season, when we otherwise were eating a lot of heavy meals.

I’d like to try this at home but I cannot find for sale the beautiful Spanish artichoke crowns that they served and so I’m wondering if they prepared those in house.

I might use canned artichoke quarters (in water, not oil), rinsed, drained, and squeezed and then patted thoroughly dry; drizzled with some good olive oil and tossed with some sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and Herbes de Provence; roasted in a preheated 425 degree oven for about 15 minutes or so, tossed once or twice until they are a bit caramelized and crispy at the edges. Then I’ll toast some good sourdough, maybe in a pan with some olive oil, top that with Gruyère cheese, toast that until it’s melty, then top with the roasted artichokes. Seems like that might be pretty tasty, even if not as spectacularly pretty as the version at The Lunchroom at SPACE.

If we come up with any good recipe ideas worth sharing after our excursion to Eately this afternoon, I will be sure to share them!

And if you are in the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago anytime soon, you might want to check out The Lunchroom at SPACE 519. The food is fabulous and the staff is so friendly you will feel right at home. They also have a store attached selling everything from good olive oil and Momofuko noodles to clothing and stationery. They are located at 200 East Chestnut, Chicago, IL, and you can reach them at (312) 751-1519, and find out more at space519thelunchroom.com.