Comfort Me: Michael Kornick Likes Meat

Michael Kornick

By David Hammond

“Hearty chicken soup with big chunks of parsnip celery and carrot.” That’s what Michael Kornick, chef and restaurateur (mk and Ada Street, among others), thinks of when I ask him about his favorite comfort foods. “It was like a meal. You go to delis all over the country,” he remembers, “and they have Mish Mosh soup, which is everything thrown in, and then you have, like Chicken in the Pot or something like that, and that’s the soup I’m talking about.

“Just thinking about chicken soup makes you feel comfortable,” says Kornick, “but what you think of as comfort food changes over time. And if it’s really comfort food,” says Kornick, “it has to be eaten in a place that’s comfortable for you.

“There’s something very comforting about sitting in Italian Village and having spaghetti marinara. It reminds me of meeting my father for lunch; we’d head over to the bar, and like two-thirds of the people there knew the bartender. He’d have a martini, and we’d both have a bowl of pasta and garlic bread. And the Cubs were on television, because they played only day baseball. Very comforting. And I feel the same way about walking into a place like Gibsons, whether I’m going for steak or a grilled cheese sandwich. There’s something very ‘neighborhood’ about the experience that gives a lot of comfort to locals.”

Grandmothers seem to have had a powerful influence on many Chicago chefs perhaps because it was Grandma who had the time to cook. We tend to think of our grandmothers as making the best version of specific foods… but Kornick is skeptical.

“Some people may admit that their grandmothers were not great cooks,” says Kornick, “but there’s something about the place where you had the food that was comforting. My grandmother lived in my house when I was growing up, and there were things that my grandmother and mother made that were the best… regardless of whether they were really ‘the best’.”

I asked Kornick about what food his grandmother and mother made that he found “the best.” Without hesitation, he said “Brisket!”

When asked about whether his family’s brisket has influenced anything on his current menus, Kornick said he believes “Slow cooking in general was big among Eastern Europeans, because we sometimes had a problem getting fresh and tender meats. We often had the stuff that was tougher. I do a lot of slow cooking, though what I do now is very French influenced.”

I mention to Kornick that a lot of the comfort foods he’s mentioned are very, um, meat-centric. He readily agrees, saying “That’s because growing up there was only one fish in my house: white fish with paprika on top.”

Michael Kornick’s Mom’s Brisket

Ingredients
One medium-to-large brisket
Two packages (four ounces total) Lipton onion soup mix
Four cups San Marzano Italian plum tomatoes in heavy puree
Three-quarters cup flour
Two large Spanish onions
Six-to-eight medium-to-large carrots, peeled
Six large ribs celery
Three pounds Yukon gold potatoes
Three bay leaves
Six sprigs thyme
One-third cup sliced garlic
Three cups beef broth (low sodium)
Three-quarters cup cooking oil
Four teaspoons ground black pepper
Four teaspoons salt

Equipment
One large roasting pan with a tight-fitting lid or foil
One large sauté pan

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 375’F
2. Peel, core and slice the onions into large wedges
3. Cut carrots and celery into three-inch lengths
4. Cut potatoes into large wedges, store in cold water
5. Cut tomatoes in half, reserve with the liquid
6. Season and flour the brisket
7. Brown in half the oil in the pan, then place into the roasting pan
8. Add the remaining oil and caramelize the onions
9. Place the broth in the roasting pan, season the top of the brisket with the onion soup mix, place the roasting pan on the flame, bring the liquid to a boil, cover and place into the oven
10. Cook for one-and-a-half hours, add the potatoes, carrots, celery, tomatoes, herbs and garlic to the pan, cover and continue cooking at 275 for about two hours until the brisket is fork tender
11. Remove the brisket from the pan and let it drain well and cool slightly
12. Slice against the grain into two-thirds-inch thick slices and arrange on a plate or platter
13. Serve the vegetables and pan juices on top or side