Honored on the Michelin Bib Gourmand list year after year, Lula Café is one of my favorites. It has been credited with starting the farm-to-table trend in Chicago as well as the Logan Square restaurant boom. I’ve reverse engineered one of my favorite Lula dishes -- the Baked French Feta appetizer. Lula serves it garnished with red onion, cucumber, marinated olives, parsley and grilled bread (pictured), but I like it just as well with no garnishes and served with pita.
LULA CAFÉ BAKED FRENCH FETA WITH JALAPEÑO-BASIL OIL
1 block sheep’s milk feta, aka, French feta
1/2 cup first cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil
1 jalapeño, stem removed and quartered
16 medium-sized basil leaves
2 slices of crusty bread, or 2 thick pitas, cut into sixths
Sea salt
INSTRUCTIONS:
In a small saucepan, add the olive oil, jalapeño and basil. Heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Be careful as the oil will spit due to the moisture in the basil leaves. Cover and let stand for one hour and then strain into a small, heavy, oven-safe skillet or a small baking dish.
Place oven rack on the top third position and preheat to 400 degrees. Dry the block of feta with paper towel. Place the feta in the skillet/dish with the jalapeño oil. Coat the feta in the oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for 15 minutes then turn broiler on high until browned, approximately 5 minutes.
When the feta is nearly done, toast the slices of bread or warm the pita (5-10 seconds in the microwave covered with a damp paper towel). Pile the toasted bread or pita on the side of the skillet and serve. Be VERY careful as the skillet handle will be hot -- I like to drape a hot pad over the handle as a reminder to guests not to grab it.
Yields 2 servings as an appetizer.
© Simple Savant 2018
