Grub Seeker

Chicken & Dumplings(rolled style)

2012-01-06T16:43:00.000-08:00

Comfort food for a Monday supper to end the New Years weekend.

Some Chicken & Dumplings from scratch. I took a whole chicken and cut it into 8 pieces, and took out the backbone. I took the wings, the backbone, the chicken neck, some garlic 7 some onion and tossed them in a pot and cooked them down. I then added water a bay leaf and the rest of the chicken. i cooked this for about 35 minutes, or until the chicken was just done.

I reserved the broth and striend it through a cheesecloth to get out any impurities. I set this aside and worked on the dumplings. Basic flour, eggs, milk, water, butter, salt, black pepper, baking powder version. Combined, refridgerated, then rolled out and cut into squares. i dig dumplings this way(growing up i only was exposed to the spoon dropped style which I did not care for, but i enjoy now). Like a pasta noodle.

I brought the stock to a boil, added some steamed carrots and celery, and the chicken I had picked off the bone. I added the dumpligns quickly, reduced heat to a simmer and covered and cooked the dumpligns until done, about 11 minutes.

Great version, great on the first night, stellar after a night in the fridge.

rolled out dumpling dough:

cut:

voila:

2012 Anticipation

2011-12-27T07:20:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all the folks who check out my blog, 2011 has been a great year imho.

The circle of life moves on, made some new friends, some friends moved on, and I strengthened bonds with the inner circle. All good.

Foodwise a fantastic year that started with the blowout trip to New Orleans in January. If there is a better food city than NOLA I have not found it(no disrepect to Chicago, but I think I need to move to Louisiana). Some goo eats in Chicagoland, but the most of the focus and fun has been out of the city in Wisconsin, Iowa, and NW Illinois. Great finds like Johnnies Meat Market in Davenport, IA., etc.

Just ran out of time/warm weather for some of the things I started or wanted to do. I still see a fried shrimp shack crawl in the works as well as a tied house tour, and other historic explorations.

Happy New Year.

Red Gold Ketchup, Sauce and Spares

2011-12-19T04:40:00.000-08:00

Grabbed up some fantastic local pork spare ribs from a butcher shop over in Sublette, IL. Perfect opportunity to whip up some ketchup, and then a basic bbq glaze for the ribs using Red Gold whole pealed tomatoes.

Basic ketchup recipe(onion, garlic, cinnamon, vinegar, water, etc). SImmered downa nd run through the food processor. Made a nice base for a sweet and hot bbq sauce(cayenne, black pepper, vinegar, molasses, brown sugar. Used this as glaze for the spares after they came off the WSM.

Red Gold Ketchup:

Spares"

Mopped:

Glazed:

Really simple process, using your own ketchup in your bbq sauce makes a big difference.

Country Village Meats - Sublette, IL.

2011-12-15T16:22:00.000-08:00

Part of the joy of just pointing the RL in a direction and driving is the places you discover. Found a magnificent meat market about 35 minutes from my home, just north of Peru in Sublette, IL. Right on route 52, i spied it, and quickly pulled into their parking lot. Nondescript building with animal pens on one side.

Inside I found a clean, well stocked meat market, large processing area, and friendly staff. Prices on a chalk board, and if you dont see it ask. I went with some of their hot dogs, snack sticks and spare ribs.

Spare ribs were in cryo, but from local pigs, the meat was well marbled, and bright pink(thinking it was a duroc or berkshire mix perhaps by the color, fat and flavor). Top notch spares, already trimmed into skirt, tips and spares. Id prefer to do the trimming myself, but these were good. Extemely porky, and juicy. Hot dogs were good as well, some of the beefiest and garlicky dogs i have had. Snack stick were solid as well. Dont you could go wrong with anything from these folks.

The best part about this place is the animal pens on the side of the building, thats where locals bring their livestock and deer to be processed. Fresh, local meat. Cant beat it. They offer whole and 1/2 pigs and beef. 1/2 pig, 115 lbs... $242..... Big difference between going to the source and paying $9/lb at some boutique meat market inChicago.

Spares I smoked, really porky:

Country Village Meats

401 N. Pennsylvania

Sublette, IL.

Star Union Brewery(closed) - Peru, IL.

2011-12-08T17:42:00.000-08:00

Illinois history, and breweries have become a facination of mine. The Illinois river Valley was home to many breweries and distilleries back before and some even after Prohibition. Large ammounts of grain, corn, artesian springs, the river, and folks who knew how to make beer and spirits(Germans, Irish, etc.), made for the perfect environemnt.

I previously visited a long shuttered brewery in Morris, IL. I just recently visited 2 brewery sites in Peru, IL. The first is what remains of the Star Union Brewery. The last day beer was produced at this plant was January 9, 1966. All that remains is a portion of the bottling plant a current distribution business. To the east is a wooded area littered with red bricks. That is where the chimney and other buildings of the plant once stood.

Here is a link to a picture from bakc in the day. I parked my truck in front of the closest building and took my photo from across the street and to the far left.

http://www.1964lp.com/nGallery/photos/11/47.aspx

Really amazing to see the before and after shots, and perspective from being on site. The field where the bricks are are private property so I did not venture into the field. Also there had been a cave in recently of some of the tunnels that used to run under the brewery.

Brews produced under the Star Union label were Sepp'l Brau & Star Model starting in the 1920;s and 1930's. The brewery was in operation, besides the Prohibition years, from 1856 - 1966.

Not much of this brewery left, the other brewery site I checked out was in really good shape, and for sale.... :-) More on that to come.

Star Union Neon @ the Water Street Pub - Peru, IL.:

Portion of former bottling plant:

Star Union Brewery bottle:

Star Union Bottle opener:

An ice pick from the White Way Tavern - Peru, IL.

Star Union Brewery

102 Pike Street

Peru, IL.

Wedron Office - a Contender

2011-12-08T16:21:00.000-08:00

I am a creature of habit, and Wedron Office has been a regular stop since our first visit a few months ago. Fried chicken is solid on every visit, not to the heights Rip's can reach but very, very good.

My current Illinois Valley Fried Chicken Rankings:

1) Rip's - Ladd, IL.
2) Cherry Suppper Club - CHerry, Il.
3) Wedron Office - Wedron, IL.
4) John's North Star - LaSalle, IL.
5) Verruchi's - Spring Valley, IL.

I have explored more of the menu, steaks are really good, and well, cooked. Plus a bargain price wise. Sundays are ayce chili, cheap drafts and cheap wings. Fish has been ok, but ive decided Im sticking to the fried chicken or a steak from now on.

Chicken is the largest in the area, a 1/2 light is 2 huge breasts and 2 plump wings. Nice coating, juicy interior. Place is always packed come dinner time, we usually go for an early supper and rounds of drinks.

Nightly Specials:

Wings:

Sald bar:

This past Sundays bird:

Wedron Office

Wedron, IL.

Mark O's - Mark, IL.

2011-11-26T08:30:00.000-08:00

Scratch another of the Lasalle/Bureau County classics off the list. After an afternoon of hitting the antique shops in Princeton, IL., we headed over to Mark, IL., and Mark O's. We had passed by it a few weeks ago, and I had heard of it from some folks. Pasta, fried chicken, steak, seafood.. the standard roadhouse fare. Pasta is house made .

On Route 71 on the edge of Mark, small looking on the outside, pretty spacious inside. No salad bar, but one of the better salads I have had out here, it had more than iceberg lettuce.

Fried chicken was solid, the crust/batter is one of the more flavorfull around. Chicken was perfectly cooked, but missing the flavor pop of some. I went with chicken parmesan, & some of the housemade gnocchi. Both were good. Steaks were expensive, I believe the cheapest was $17. Overall a spot I wouldnt heisitate to return to

Fried Chix:

Gnocchi in Alfredo:

Chicken Parm:

Mark O's

Route 71 & Milwaukee Street

Mark, IL.

815-339-6577

Turkey Pastrami

2011-11-25T10:17:00.000-08:00

I told Vangie this attempt at turkey pastrami was going to suck, or be the best thing I have ever done. Glad it tipped the scales towards magnificent. I am not new to brining, but curing is something I only dabble at.

I bought a 6 lb. bone in turkey breast from Ho-Ka, minimally processed bird. I whipped up a basic brine:

- 2 qt water

- 1 cup dark brown sugar

- just under 2/3 cup canning salt

- 2 tsp mustard seed

- 1 head of garlic smashed

- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

- 1 tsp cloves

- 2 bay leaf crumbled

- some other stuff I threw in there

brought the water, salt and sugar to a boil, until disolved. I removed from the heat and added the spices and let cool completely, I even put the stock pot on the deck on that 40 degree evening.

Put the whole breast in the 1 gallon bag and added the brine, sealed and put it in the fridge for 48 hours. I turned the bag and squished it to mix the brine. After 48 hours i removed the breast and rinsed thouroughly and set it aside to make a rub.

Rub, as many spices as posible ground fresh:

- 1/2 cup light brown sugar

- 6 tbsp fresh ground corriander seeds

- 6 tbsp black pepper corns fresh coarse ground

- 2 tbsp mustard seed fresh ground

- 1 tbsp paprika

- 2 tbsp onion powder

- 2 tbsp garlic powder

- 1 tbsp thyme

- 1 tsp red pepper flakes

- a few other spices

I rubbed the brined breast and pit it in the fridge uncovered for 12 hours. I removed it and re rubbed. My cooking method was using the WSM, water pan in, with no water. R.O. lump, and some alder and oak, ran the WSM around 300ish for the cook. Took the breast to 165ish and pulled. Took about 2 hours. I let the breast cool a bit, then split it down the breast bone for quicker cooling. I set this cooked bird outside as well, November temps really help with added cool storage. As soon as the halves were cooled I wrapped them in plastic wrap and put in the fridge for about 4 hourse before i sliced.

End result and some earlier tastes confirmed a fantastic product. Peppery, a little salt on the front end, some sweet from the brown sugar, and a really deep flavor from the brine. Folks might notice I didnt use juniper berries in the brine or rub, I am not a fan of their flavor. This turkey pastrami was a great addition to an artisnal cheese board we had as an app.

Breast out of the 48 hour brine:

Just about done:

Pepper:

A big hit:

Last minute adder to the cheese board:

Indian Creek Massacre Site - Earlville, IL.

2011-11-20T14:46:00.001-08:00

A friend clued me into the Indian Creek Massacre, and after some research we headed to the location this past weekend. The site located in Shabbona County Park in Earlville is the site of two memorials that mark the massacre site as well as the grave the 15 victims were buried in. Recent discoveries of coins and artifacts on the site are evident by some marks in the gound showing some small scale digging, foraging.

The park appeared closed on this blustry November day, we parked outside the park and walked in. The 2 stone memorials bear witness to the victims, a quick walk takes you to Indian Creek, one of the causes of the dispute. Seems the settlers had damed wup the creek, impacting fishing for indians in the area. the settlers refused to move the dam, a personal dispute ensued, and the Indian Creek Massacre was put in motion.

May 21, 1832 a band of Potawatami, and a couple Sauks attacked killing 15 men, women,and children. History reports will give the gruesome details if needed(the 15 victims were buried in one grave from what I have read. 2 sisters were kidnapped and ransomed a few weeks later. This event was one of the causes of the brief Blackhawk War.

I was struck on this grey fall day of the bad vibes this site gives off(eerily quiet, and just something unsettling), could have been the weather and the day, but I would never spend a night at this site. If any place is haunted this is it.

Monument to the 2 sisters who were kidnapped and later ransomed:

Original memorial over grave site:

Indian Creek Massacre Memorial

Shabbona County Park

Earlville, IL.

Niabi Zoo - Coal Valley, IL.

2011-11-07T17:27:00.000-08:00

Took the family out west to Coal Valley to visit the Niabi Zoo, a small public zoo with plenty of free days. Taking advantage of the last of the nice fall weather we enjoyed a walk around the zoo checking out the animals. I am torn about zoos, I hate seeing animals caged up, but I like to see them.

Really enjoyed the petting zoo area with some rams and goats, as well as the bobcats. They really got agitated when they saw the geen John Deer cart zip by, must be the person who fees them. Definitely identified the bobcat as what I saw in my backyard a few weeks ago.

Niabi Zoo

http: www.niabizoo.com

Vito & Nicks - Lemont Lanes

2011-11-07T17:15:00.000-08:00

Vito & Nicks, a place I am so glad I gave another chance. My first visit to the Pulaski Ave.. location was not good, every visit since to Pulaski & their Lemont Lanes location has been great. The Lemont Lanes location is ultra convenient, no trek way down Pulaski Ave. Credit cards accepted, some lanes to bowl a few games, cheap beer, and pizza that is on par with the s. side location.

THis visit was typical, great. $2 High Lifes, and a large sausage and garlic pizza, well done. Pizza came out great, nice char on the crust, and browning of the mozz. Crust was crisp from the edge to the middle.

Dig it:

Large - Sausage & garlic, well done..

Vito & Nicks - Lemont

1015 State Street

Lemont, IL.

http://www.vitoandnick.com

Sulpher Springs Hotel - Utica, IL.

2011-11-06T08:39:00.001-08:00

The Suplher Springs Hotel building, a hotel popular in the 1850's for people visitng the area for the hot springs. Located across the river from Starved Rock in Utica, IL..

THe hotel is interesting enough, but the land it sits on is the real draw. Once the Grand Village of the Illinois, or Old Kaskaskia, this indian settlement was already a large one when Marquette & Joliet came upon it as they trekked up the Illinois river from the Mississippi River, a shortcut to the Great Lakes. Within 2 years the village numbered over 6,000 people. Much of the village was destroyed with the daming of the river, and eventual development, however the State of Illinois owns the property the Silver Springs Hotel sits on, and Plum island, another part of this ancient village is owned by the Audobon Society. So they are luckily safe from future damage.

Sulpher Springs Hotel

Utica, IL.

Gebhard Brewery - Morris, IL.

2011-11-06T08:05:00.000-08:00

Besides food I am also interested in history, recently I have been exploring the I & M canal areas history and visited a few sites. The first was the old Gebhard Brewery site in Morris, IL. . The site sits a few blocks west of main street, bordered by a forest preserve on one side and homes on the other. 2 buildings remain, as well as part of a smoke stack.

The brewery was founded in 1866 by Louis Gebhard, the brewhouse and bottling plant are all that remain. By the 1870's the Geghard Brewery was using 1/3 of all the corn grown in Grundy County. Like many breweries in thh area it closed in 1919 when the activities of bored busy-body types from places like Evanston succeded with the nonsense of Prohibition. The site was never used as a brewery again, a future use was a flour mill, but it has been abandoned for the past 25 years. Beautiful brick buildings with broken out windows giving glimpses of the insides.

Brewhouse:

Bottling Plant:

Area between Bottling Plant & Brewhouse

Gebhard Brewery (closes)

Morris, IL.

I have some plans to explore some closed breweries in Peoria, Lasalle, & Ottawa, as well as a planned Tied House tour in Chicago.

Al's Pizza - Warrenville, IL.

2011-09-21T18:29:00.000-07:00

Al's, the pizza of my youth growing up in then, rural Naperville. How things have changed in the area, but Al's I found out has stayed pretty much as I remembered.

Around since 1959, and not visited by me in at least 10 years. We used to be able to quickly get across Naperville and get a carrout pie from Al's back in the day, a trip that would take 40 minutes nowdays. Tavern style, square cut, crispy thin crust pizza, our staple was sausage and mushroom.

Last night I went to the Towne Tap a bar Al's shares the building with. They are connected in the back through a walkthrough, and you can eat and drink at either side. Cash only at both places. Nice bar, copper bar top, nice bartender. I had a taste for an old fashioned, and the bartender whipped one up, a really nice version, I particularly enjoyed the lemon twist. Otherwise I had some Jim Beam & High Life waiting for the family. Looked like the Towne Tap serves lunch and has Friday fish frys, might have to check it out.

The Al's side is as basic as it comes, some tables and booths, paper plates. YOu order at the counter and pay when you are done. We went with the largest sausage, mushroom & garlic pizza - well done, that a Mt Dew, and a bottle of water were like $23.

The pizza came out molten hot, nice char,. A really good pizza, seemed to get better as the cheese cooled and the ingredients melded. Sausage was flavorfull, and ingredients well balanced. The crust was nice and crisp, char on the edges, really subtle, airy and tasty crust.

A really solid pizza, and for my tastes just a notch below Vito & Nick's or Wells Bros. Which is high praise.

Large: sausage, garlic, mushroom (well done):

Al's Pizza

28w241 Warrenville Road

Warrenville, IL.

Town Tap

28w247 Warrenville Road

Warrenville, IL.

Al Pastor Pork Chops

2011-09-21T18:24:00.001-07:00

I am faciniated right now by items cooked on a spit, a rotisseire, or hung over live coals. Perhaps last year I tackled an Al Pastor in the WSM using trimmed pork butt pieces. This time I went a different route with more success.

I had some monster sized bone in pork chops from Johnnie's over in Davenport, IA. I marinated them for a couple hours in some fresh pineapple juice, lime juice, lemon juice, garlic, green onion, black pepper, white pepper, oregano, marjoram, chinese wine, a couple chipotles, adobo. High powered mariade as I only had a couple hours. Cirtrus and pineapple broke the meat down nicely.

I took the chops and using two metal skewers I layered pork chop onion and pineapple and bent the bottom of the skewres to hold the load. I basted with some resreved marinade and dropped it inthe roaring hot WSM. THe WSM was set up with charcoal, no water pan, and running wide open. I hung the Al Pastor from the top rack so it hung over the hot coals. Lid temps for the cook were in the 300 - 350 degree range.

End result was a crispy, flavorfull Al Pastor, sweet from the pineapple, a kick from the chipotles and adobo. Pork was tender and the cripy fat was a treat as well as some bone marrow.

Ready to hit the coals:
Hangin:

Almost done, nice char imho.:

Chopped and ready to serve:

Wedron Office, Wedron, IL.

2011-09-18T11:49:00.000-07:00

A lazy Saturday afternoon running errands allowed for a visit to a place I have been meaning to get to for a few years. Darn close to my house, maybe 15 minutes away in the town of Wedron. Really kicking myself for not going here before.

Roadhouse looking spot on the west side of town, an old Budweiser sign along the roadway allerts you to its location. Small bar area, and a dining room that runs off to a side. Bartender was sassy and alot of fun, beer was cold, and the Jim Beam was good as well.

Had to try some fried chicken although they have Bluegill on the menu(next time), as well as tenderloins, burgers, steaks, etc.. Salad bar was decent, a better salad mix than most out here, and I appreciated the red onions, cucumbers, egg, etc. The soup that day was a solid cream of broccoli.

Fried chicken, solid, not beer battered as is my preference, but a solid fried chicken along the lines of Verruchi's. Nice big pieces, perfectly cooked as well.

I will be coming back here for sure, loved this place.

Bar area:

Salad bar:

1/4 Light:

Wedron Office

2005 N. 35th Road

Wedron, IL.

Burnstad's European Restaurant & Pub - Tomah, WI.

2011-08-31T19:04:00.000-07:00

A real find IMHO. Burnstad's European Restaurant and Pub in Tomah. Maybe about 40 minutes north of the Dells, where 94 & 90 split @ Tomah, WI. A mish mash operation that works. An Amish store, a grocery, a boutique, a restaurant & a pub.

Of course we went with the pub option. Set in the back of the building, a nice quiet bar/pub with a large tv playing the Brewers game.

Typical Wisconsin menu, executed well. Pretzeles with cheese and mustard dip starter was great, especially the cheese spread. My warm smoked turkey, bacon and 2 wisconsin cheese croissant was nice as was Vangies pork tenderloin.

Stars of the vist were the chicken spatzle soup, and the bllody maria. The soup was glorious.. rich stock, airy spaeztle. Loved it. Bloody Maria, I am trying to acquire the taste for theis drink I already sub out the vodka to make it a bloody maria vs a bloody mary. This one stacks up with my favorite to date, Sobelmans in Milwaukee.

Besides the meal and drinks we grabbed some sausages @ the market, and some candies and other items at the Amish market.

Bloody maria:

Pretzle App:

Chicken Spaetzle Soup:

Smoked Turkey, bacon, cheddar and swiss croissant:

Burnstads European Restaurant

701 E. Clifton

Tomah, WI.

http://www.burnstadseuropeanrestaurant.com

Quivey's Grove Stable Grill - Madison, WI.

2011-08-31T18:44:00.000-07:00

While looking for stops to hit around New Glarus on the way to the Dells I read a post on LTH by "griffinswife" I believe detailing a visit to Quivey's Grove a few years back. An old refinished barn that is a pub, and a main house that is a restaurant. Nice property. The barn(Stable Grill), old stone & exposed wood, really nicely done. A main bar area and a small dining room off the entrance.

Lunch for me was the Kegonsa Lake Perch Sandwich, a couple nice pretzle crusted perch filets that were tasty, and perfectly fried. A nice light lunch with some Spotted Cows.

Definitely a place I would like to go for dinner, especially the main house or one of their fish friys.

Kegonsa Perch Sandwich:

Quivey's Grove
6261 Nesbitt
Madison, WI.

http://www.quiveysgrove.com/

New Glarus Brewery - New Glarus, WI.

2011-08-31T18:34:00.000-07:00

A visit to the brewery @ New Glarus is a pilgrimage beer lovers must make. Set on the edge of town and down a winding path the brewery buildings appear. Brewery, gift shop, tap room, beer store, beer grden. We had a great visit, I sampled a few New Glarus beers I usually dotn try. I am a big Spotted Cow fan, but enjoyed the other beers. The beer garden is a spacious area with some tables and great views of the surrounding Wisconsin countryside and rolling hills. Sadly I could only spend a few hours here instead of a whole afternoon.

Gotta get back here asap.

Beer Garden:

Beer Store:

Nice Saturday:

New Glarus Brewery

119 Country Road W

New Glarus, WI.

http://www.newglarusbrewing.com

Wurst Kitchen - Aurora, IL.

2011-08-21T17:29:00.001-07:00

In my search for bratwurst and ither sausages for the grill this summer I hit a spot in Aurora I had just heard of this past spring. Surprising as I lived in the area, and the place had been in operation since the late 1800's. Live and learn.

Small, neighborhood, family owned sausage shop set on Aurora's near east side. More brat and sausage varieties than I could count. I went with some of their standard brats, their uber garlic brats, some andoullie, and some frankfurters. The owner was friendly, and took time to chat which was appreciated. Veal bologna in the case caught my eye as well, next time.

Off the Weber kettle these brats were really good. The uber garlic brat being one of the best I have had all summer. The andoullie has a date with some gumbo, and the frankfurters as snacks. Prices were a tad higher than some of the other spots I have gone to, but these are hand made sausages, so they are worth it.

Wurst Kitchen:
Sausages:

Uber Garlic brats & regular brats on the kettle:

These casings popped:

How I like a brat(ketchup, onion, pickle)

Wurst Kitchen

638 2nd Avenue

Aurora, IL.

http://www.wurstkitchen.com

Johnnie's Meat Market - Davenport, IA.

2011-08-14T08:18:00.002-07:00

Heard of Johnnie's Meat Market and it became a must stop on one of our recent trips touring the QC. Johnnie's is a neighborhood butcehr shop and from what I ate and saw there they specialize in pork and sausage. The items I got were excellent.

On a Saturday around 11:00 Johnnie's was pretty crowded, so not much time to chat up the folsk working. Customers were there samoling some of their items or taking advantage of one of their package deals. I went with Iowa cut pork chops, garlic and onion brats, bacon cheddar brats, & andoullie. Next time, I will stock up on the chops and brats, and i inagine the andoullie.

I grilled the brats indiredt on the weber kettle with lump and a bit of hickory. I loved the garlic and onion brats. Powerfull, bold taste, nice pop. Kudos to the sausage maker and cook. Bacon cheddar brat was good, I am not much for specialty brats.

Chops were brined in a buddies protype brine, Mad Hunky Chicken and pork brine. I then rubbed it with my rub, and then hung them in my WSM for about an hour. End result was a juicy, tender, well smoked chop.

I am heading back in September, I need what I stated above and some pork chop steaks for grilled pork chop sandwiches.

brats on the Weber:

Iowa corn and brats:

Iowa chop:

Johnnie's Meat Market

1302 Washington

Davenport, IA.

http://www.johnniesmeatmarket.vpweb.com

Packinghouse Dining Co. - Galesburg, IL.

2011-08-01T17:46:00.000-07:00

Decided spur of the monent on the way back from the Quad Cities to take a quick detour off I-80 to hit Galesburg, IL. After driving around a bit we stumbled upon Packinghouse Dining Co., an old Swift meat warehouse/packing plant that was turned into a restaurant. Right up my alley, really didnt matter what was on the menu, I just wanted to see inside. With that said the food was solid.

The main dining room is where the carcasses used to hang and alot of the inner workings of the plant are still in place. TO enter you go through an industrial freezer door. Interior was clean and spacious. A larger salad bar ran down the middle of the room. Pretty straight forward midwestern menu, steaks, chicken, etc.

I went with a sirloin steak with the salad bar that came with (2) portions of their cinnamon rolls. Vangie opted for a burger.

The cinnamon rolls, I can see why they portion them, they are great, layers of pastry dough, tone of sweet cinnamon sugar, and an almost hard crust of cinnamon on top.

THe siroin steak was perfect, nice meaty cut, cooked perfectly to medium rare. The burger, a great burger, hand pressed and large. Really beefy flavor, a simple, straight up, killer cheeseburger.

Still not full from (2) Pizzas, Ice cream, a pork tenderloin sandwich, and this dinner I needed a capper for the day. A Sundae made with their cinnamon rolls. 2 or 3 scoops of vanilla with whip cream over what appeared to be at least 2 of the decadent rolls.

This surprise stop turned in a very good meal

Entry:

Top Notch:

Perfect sirloin:

Cinnamon roll sundae:

Packinghouse Dining Co.

441 Mulberry

Galesburg, IL.

http://www.packinghousedining.com

Lagomarcino's - Davenport, IA.

2011-08-01T17:29:00.000-07:00

Lagomarcino's, a place I never heard about despite a James Beard award. We stumbled upon their Davenport location and had a great afternoon snack, learning about the original Moline location from their menu.

For over 100 years these folks have been making candy, ice cream, and running their soda fountains in the area. 2 are left, one in Moline, and the one in Davenport. We went with a rootbeer float, a strawberry sundae, a trurtle sundae and an egg cream. I had to try an egg cream to put their soda fountain to use. I really didnt et to appreciate the egg cream as I tasted it after many sweets. The ice cream used here is fantastic, high butter fat content and rich. Turtle sundae was chock full of pecans, and loaded with caramel Strawberry sundae was solid, and the rootbeer float was really nice. $11 before tip for all of the above.

Probably hitting the Moline location this weekend.

Egg Cream:

Rootbeer Float:

Turtle Sundae:

Strawberry Sundae:

Lagomarcino's

2132 E. 11th Street

Davenport, IA. 52803

http://www.lagomarcinos.com

Clints - Moline, IL.

2011-08-01T17:13:00.000-07:00

Ive been spending too much time in Chicago, we headed the other direction this past Saturday towards the Mississippi river. Only about 97 miles from God's Country, it was an easy cruise. Initially a quest for Quad Cities Pizza turned into much more. A couple pizzas were had, 1 Quad Cities, the other a basic thin crust. A visit to Davenport, and even Galesburg were in the cars.

1st stop, Clints, a bowling alley pizzeria, gotta love it. Old school pizzeria, full bar, etc. Went with a small sausage pizza and a forgettable pork tenderloin. Pizza cooked to order came out piping hot, I loved the sausage, crumbles with plenty of fennel seed. Crust was crspiy and perfect. this was a really good pizza.

Clint's

4204 Avenue of Cities

Moline, IL.

http://www.clintspizza.com

26th Street Crawl - IV

2011-07-31T06:49:00.000-07:00

Last stop,, already full, but had to finish strong. I noticed Delicias Mexicanas and their hotdogs tocina they adevertise. A quick look and I saw they were profiled on LTH. We headed over and ordered a hot dog, and a steak taco for fun. Hot dog was ok, bacon wasnt really crisp, and the hot dog was lukewarm. At first I thought the cheapo pork hot dog wasa mistake, but is eemingly worked, a good beef dog would stand out too much. Mustard, mayo, grilled onion, etc. worked well. . My Sonoran dog is better, but for $2.50 this one wasnt bad. Steak taco was actually pretty solid as well.

Steak Taco:

Hot Dog tocino

Delicias Mexicanas

4148 W. 26th

Chicago, IL.

26th Street Crawl - III

2011-07-31T06:41:00.000-07:00

Our 3rd stop was Troha's, old school shrimp shack. I have just started going here when I get a long lunch. Just west of Pulaski on 26th. Perfectly feied shrimp to order, piping hot, crisp crust. These are some of my favorite shrimp in the city. To-go only, i usually eat them in my truck as I cant wait. Theyve been around for 90+ years, and are doing it right. I have to try the pork tenderloin meal they do, as well as some chicken one of these days.

1/2 lb. shrimp:

Troha's Shrimp and Fish House

4151 W. 26th

Chicago, IL.

http://www.chicagoshrimphouse.com

26th Street Crawl - II

2011-07-24T14:59:00.000-07:00

2nd stop was a new place to me, and one I had not heard much about either. Pollo al carbon,r ight up my alley. 1/2 chicken served with corn tortillas, grilled onions, beans, and rice. Really nice. Skin could have been crispier, but the meat was flavorfull and juicy. Good service, friendly place.

Pollo al Carbon:

El Pollo Feliz

3105 W. 26th Street

Chicago, IL.

26th street Crawl -I

2011-07-24T14:40:00.000-07:00

Recent trips down to 26th Street & Pulaski in Chicago to Troha's for shrimp has tempted me with other places in the area to explore.

1st stop today was La Chiquita Supermaket that is a supermarket with a taqueria attached. Al Pastor taco, Carne asada taco, chili relleno taco. Al pastor was solid, crunchy crispy char. Carne Asada was pretty good as well, smaller chunks for the steak than I prefer, but flavorfull and fresh. Chili relleno taco was pretty bad. Overall Pretty good first stop, and a menu ill explore.

Carne Asada taco w/ avocado:

Al Pastor Taco:

La Chiquita

2637 S. Pulaski

Chicago, IL.

Busy Summer

2011-07-06T13:49:00.001-07:00

Just a heads up to the folks who check out my blog. I am still here, I have just been really busy the last month or so, and not been doing any over the top eating. Just the basics so I didnt want to bore anyone.

Upcoming things I am working on/kicking around:
1) Quad Cities Pizza Crawl
2) Chicago Shrimp Shack Tour
3) More Wisconsin Dells Eats

Anyone interested in doing the Quad Cities crawl or the CHicago Shrimp Shack tour drop me a line.

Wells Brothers - Racine, WI.

2011-06-18T08:59:00.001-07:00

Wells Brothers Pizza had been on my short list for a while now. A trip up to Wheeling made the quick trip across the border an easy decision. This place is about the pizza, and has a solid rep for turning out some of the best thin crust pizza around. VIto and Nicks style if you will.

We made an early dinner reservation, and were seated as we arrived. I really liked the old school supper club charm of the place. Friendly professional service, cheap New Glarus on top, a winner. We ordered some lake perch, and a large sausage and garlic pizza, well done. Perch was good, but the star of this vist was the pizza. A masterpiece, char on the edges, piping hot, and looking great. What a great pie, possibly the best I have ever eaten, perfectly balanced, celan flavors, and the crust was cracker thin, and great.

Great place.

Wells Brothers Pizza

2148 Mead Street

Racine, WI.

http://www.wellsbrosracine.com

Neglect

2011-06-02T12:30:00.000-07:00

My bad, I just realized I went the whole month of May without very many posts.

Of course i'm still cooking and eating out. Ill update the blog asap with some thoughts on a fried chicken crawl I did, as well as a trip up to Racine, WI, and Vito & Nicks.

Some crawfish boil pics, as well as some grilling/smokig pics as well.

Thanks to all the folks who check out my blog, I appreciate it.

Ming-Hin - Chicago, IL.

2011-05-23T16:48:00.000-07:00

Ming Hin, not a big fan after my first visit, but this place is growing on me, especially the bbq items. A nice dinner a recent Saturday night, Macau pork belly, magnificent in every way, juicy, tender, packed with flavor. Crisp, etc. BBQ pork ribs were very good. Beijing duck 2 course was very good, crisp skin course was nice, served with bao. Duck noodle dish wasnt as good. Stir fried baby bok choy with garlic was great. Pan fried rice noodle roll with XO sauce was missing something. Nice noodles, sauce was one note.

I like Ming Hin, I think ill stick to the bbq from now on.

Pork belly and ribs:

Stir fried baby bok choy and garlic:

rice noodle rolls XO style:

crispy duck:

Ming Hin

2168 S. Archer

Chicago, IL.

http://www.minghincuisine.com

Longman & Eagle II - Chicago

2011-04-22T16:28:00.001-07:00

Longman & Eagle, Michelin Star recipient was the choice for an early dinner a little over a week ago. I had been wanting to try their dinner menu after an impressive sampling of their brunch items a little while back.

Arrived about 20 minutes before 5 p.m., which is when they break out the dinner menu. Got a table in the bar area to wait, and then moved to one of the 4 tops near the bar. We had shay with us, and L & E turned out to be kid friendly at that hour.

I started out with a PBR in the can, and also had a couple shots of bourbon from their impressive whiskey & bourbon collection which includes many $3 pours.

We started out with a few small plates, the slagel meatballs with polenta, parsley pesto & fonduta, as well as the pretzel with Welsh rarebit. The meatballs were good, but the parsley pesto overwhelmed the dish, kind of a bitter end note. The polenta was perfectly cooked as were the meatballs. A decent overall dish. The Pretzel and Welsg rarebit, not what I was expecting in regards to the rarebit. The pretzel was excellent, and really went well with a beer. The beer cheese dipping sauce wasnt what I was thinkong of when the menu mentioned Welsh rarebit. I had to google rarebit, and this wasnt what I was expecting.

Mains, Roasted marrow bones with sea salt, red onion jam, and sourdough crostinis, as well as the tete de cochon. The roasted marrow bones were excellent, plenty of buttery, tasty marrow. I have had/made a better red onion jam, so this was the weakest part of the plate. I really enjoyed the sourdough toasts as opposed to french bread, etc.

The worst dish of the day was the heralded by some Tete de cochon. Pretty looking dish with a sunnyside up egg, and a mustard smear. But the dish failed miserably. Perhaps I am jaded, and influenced by a magical, somewhat similar version of this dish I had @ Cochon in NOLA, but the L & E version was really bad. :-). The pork was oversmoked, & bitter, really nasty. The mustard slather was not a match, and even a perfectly cooked egg with a runny egg yolk couldnt save this dish. The server seem disinterested in my opinion on this dish, which was disappointing.

Overall I would like to go back and have some more of their dinner menu, but in a head to head comparison, I preferred everything I had @ brunch better. Maybe if they could serve the bone marrow @ breakfast I would be set.

I like L & E, comfortable place, interesting food, nice bar, good service:

Pretzel & Welsh rarebit?:

Slagel Meatballs:

Bone Marrow:

Tete De Cochon:

Longman & Eagle

2657 N. Kedzie

Chicago, IL.

http://www.longmanandeagle.com/

Tierra Caliente - Chicago

2011-04-22T16:02:00.000-07:00

Tierra Caliente, a tacqueria/lunch counter at the back of a small hispanic grocery store on Ashland Ave. I have gone here quite a few times, and finally took some pictures. Their specialty is Al Pastor tacos. Cooked on a spit, crisped up on a flat top and served on corn tortillas with cilantro and onion. A bite of the roasted jalapenos they have, a squirt of their hot sauce and a bite of this juicy pork, and you are good to go. Cheap, top notch.

Al Pastor on the spit:
Al Pastor taco:

(2) Al Pastor tacos & a jalapeno:

Tierra Caliente

1402 N. Ashland

Chicago, IL.

Triumphant return to bbq

2011-04-10T11:36:00.000-07:00

Folks who know me know I have been sick of bbq for the past 4 or 5 months. Gradually getting back into it as the weather breaks. A visit to Austin BBQ in Wheaton really inspired me to get back into it. We were served, and sadly payed for some of the crappiest bbq I have ever eaten(disgusting brisket, nast pulled pork). But I digress, Im back into bbq. Grabbed a really nice 10+ lb. bone in pork butt from Sage's over in Morris, IL. These folks run a nice butcher shop and source their pork from a farm in Fairbury. Getting pork like they offer is a treat, instead of getting bent over by the folks @ Butcher & Larder who run a boutique butcher shop in Chicago(not a real butcher imho, fancy, overpriced cuts. Their display case is really sad, rough looking cuts of meat one might expect to see at a Meijer or Walmart). This local butt was magnificent, nice fat cap, fresh dark pink color. I was planning on doing this for Sunday supper, but watching the weather I saw I window of opportunity to make it for Sunday lunch. I started this butt @ 6:00 p.m. Saturday, mustard slather, rub, and a sprinkle of brown sugar and dried onions. Smoked it on the WSM with Coshell briquettes, pecan & apple. One ring of the Coshell did the whole smoke. I added wood as needed throughout the smoke. About 16 hours later the butt was @ 205. Pulled it and double wrapped it in foil, & a towel. It went into a cooler and sat for about 2 hours before pulling. End result was great. Nicely smoked, tender, nice smoke ring, juicy, etc. Its good to be back smoking. rubbed and on the smoker: 16 hours later:

monster piel o' pork:

nice bark and ring:

nice sandwich with homemade slaw:

Roasted Bone Marrow

2011-04-10T08:47:00.000-07:00

As a kid I always loved bone marrow, typically from a t-bone steak, or a bone in pork chop. WHen grilled that little slot on the bone would become a gathering point for the salty, buttery marrow as the meat was grilled. A tasty morsel. I have recently been exposed to marrow bones at a couple Chicago restaurants, Maude's and Owen & Engine. Both had sold versions, Maudes being the better of the two, but I knocked out a really nice version with some red onion jam, and quail eggs a couple weeks ago. I needed help finding marrow bones on short notice, after a stop @ Butcher & Larder(expensive boutique butcher shop), and getting 2 small marrow bones I emailed my buddy Steve Z from LTH forum, he tipped me off to a couple spots to try. I hit Gepperth's in Chicago(old school, real butcher shop) and they had the bones, long shanks spilt in half. Just what I wanted. I defrosted these bones, and put them in a sink full of salted water for a few hours to help ge them ready. After that they were topped with slat and black pepper and tossed in the oven @ 375 until they were done, maybe 40 minutes. Then finished them under the broiler to get some crunch on the marrow. End result was great. Served as an appetizer on a toasted slice of french bread. A slather of the buttery marrow, a little red onion jelly, and a sunnyside up quali egg. Magnificent. Maroow bones ready to go: Marrow platter:

Decadent bite:

Mercy...

David Burke's Primehouse(aging room) - Chicago

2011-03-24T06:31:00.000-07:00

Got a nice, quick tour of the dry aging room @ David Burke's Primehouse in Chicago this past wednesday when I was there for my birthday dinner.

Impressive setup for turning out some of the best steaks in the city. Small prep/cutting area, and a large temperature & humidity controlled aging cooler. The back wall of which is line with slabs of Himilayan salt.

One treat was a glimpse of a piece of beef that has been aging since DB's opened back in April od 2006.

Cutting room:

Back wall lined with Himilayan salt slabs:

Beef:

Approx 1,810 day dry aged beef.

David Burkes Primehouse

616 N. Rush

Chicago, IL.

Girl & The Goat - Chicago

2011-03-23T06:12:00.000-07:00

A really nice early dinner Saturday @ G & G. This place has been on my list for a while, because of the interesting menu. Im not one to fawn over celebrity chefs, but G & G was really good. We arrived @ 4:30 as they opened and got a table, no reservation. Knowledgeable staff knew the menu and ingredients inside out.

I started with a sazerac from the bar which was really well made, as good as recent ones in NOLA. Table with a view of the kitchen. One downside is the tables are packed close together. We started off with the bread service, fresh, housemade bread was excellent. Chewy, and flavorfull. Our accompaniments were the house cultured butter(excellent), and the beer-cheese compote(also really good.

Onto the dishes, I needed some oysters, and did the raw shubimi. Too much going on, oysters were fresh, but with raw oysters simpler is better. i didnt care for the radis mignonette or the tarragon.

Next plate out was the Sauteed skate, goat belly, maple-pink peppercorn jus & fried egg. A really solid dish. The skate was good, but looing back on it I am craving another try at skate. The goat belly, a first try for me was the star. Tender, meaty, succulent.

Goat, pork & veal sugo: Pappardelle, rosemary, ground cherries. My favorite dish of the night. Tender meat ina rustic ragu. Pasta was masterfully prepared, tender, supple. Just a great dish start to finish.

Wood Oven roasted pig face: sunnyside egg, tamarind, cilantro, potato stix. My least favorite dish of the visit,. I was able to eat one bit, I got a huge sampling of the vinegary sauce, and it really ruined the dish for me.

Overall, this place seems to live up to the hype. I see myself gpoing back for some more of their fine goat preperations.

raw shibumi:

Sauteed skate/goat belly dish:

Goat, pork & veal sugo:

Wood oven roasted pig face:

dessert, apple, cranberry trifle?:

Girl & Goat

809 W. Randolph

Chicago, IL.

http://www.girlandthegoat.com

Tank Noodle - Chicago

2011-03-20T06:55:00.001-07:00

Way too long between visits to Tank Noodle in Uptown. Always packed around meal times, other worthy spots have become suitable substitutes. But Tank is always solid, and we got in right before the lunch rush this past Saturday.

Light lunch:

-#1 Appetizer combo: pork skin spring roll, shrimp and pork spring roll, fried pork egg roll, grilled beef with lettuce leaves for rolling, a minced shrimp on a sugar cane that was deep fried, and a Vietnames meatball. Really nice combination of items for tastes. Really liked the shrip item, as well as the shrimp & pork spring roll, the beef for filling for the lettuce leaves, and the meatball. Great start.

- #23 Vietnamese BBQ sliced pork, pork cake and pork pate Banh Mi. Really ncie, fresh sandwich. I really liked the bread this Vietnamese sub sandwich was on. First try of pork pate, it reall made for a good sandwich. Sliced pork was a bit fatty, but for $4 a cheap, good item.

-#47 Sliced beef Pho - Flavorfull beef broth, well layered with herbs, beef flavor and spices. Supple noodles, lean, thin sliced beef. Just a great bowl of pho yesterday.

-# 103 Rice dish with Vietnamese pork chop, Chinese sausage, & fried egg. Solid pork chop, I really love the flavor of Vietnamese pork chop. Sausage was also relaly good. One down side was the fried egg was a little under done, so I skipped most of the yolk as the white was undercooked.

I like Tank.
Appetizer Special # 1:

#23 Vietnamese BBQ pork, pork cake & pork pate Banh Mi.

# 47 Sliced Beef Pho:

#103 Rice Dish with pork chop, Chinese sausage & fried egg:

Tank Noodle

4953 N. Broadway

Chicago, IL.

Pork and shrimp Lumpia

2011-03-20T06:17:00.000-07:00

Lumpia, aka Filipino egg rolls, one of the first things I would eat at Filipino parties. Crispy deep fried egg rolls with a pork filling. I did a version with ground pork, minced shrimp, carrots, onion that turned out pretty well, passing the test of a couple Filipino folks.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup uncooked shrimp, shelled, deveined & pulsed in the food processor
- 1 lb. ground pork
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup minced onion
- 1/2 cup minced carrot
- 3 tbsp. dark soy sauce
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- black pepper to taste

Tools:
- lumpia wrappers
- 2 eggs for an egg wash to seal lumpia while rolling
- wok
- canola oil

I combined the lumpia filling ingredients, and put it in the fridge for a couple hours to let the falvors meld. When ready to go I preheated the oil in the wok, and set up on my cutting board with the bowl of filling, the lumpia wrappers, & the egg wash.

Starting with a corner of the lumpia wrapper I put about 2 thbsp of filling on the wrapper spreading it out so it was even. I filded over the corner, then folded in the sides making an envelope. I then rolled the lumpia sealing at the end with some egg was on my finger. Pretty quick and easy.

Deep fried these in batches of 4 or 5 until they floated and were crisp. Served with a thai sweet chili sauce, they were great.

rolling set-up:
ready to roll:

finished lumpia, ready for frying:

in the hot oil in the wok:

finished lumpia:

Lechon Kawali

2011-03-20T05:54:00.000-07:00

Main course of or recent Filipino dinner was a magnficent version of lechon kawali. Essentially simmered pork belly that is deep fried to finish. I decided to eat mine as tacos with some sauteed pineapple chunks, kind of a riff on al pastor tacos.

I started with chunks of pork belly purchased @ H-Mart Naperville, I have been wanting to try some pork belly from The Butcher and Larder in Chicago, but there is no way I am paying $8 a pound for pork belly, I dont care what the pigs pedigree is. I simmered these nice chunks in cold water, bay leaf, black peppercorns & whole garlic cloves after rubbing the belly with kosher salt. Once the belly was fork tender I put it in the oven on a sheet pan for a little over an hour @ 200 degrees to render a little more fat, and to help dry it out. Once ready to go I filled my wok about 1/3 with canola oil and brought it up to frying temp. I slid the pork bellies into the oil and slowly deep fried them for about 20 minutes, until the pork skin was crispy and blistering. Once they hit this point I took the chunks out of the oil and cut the belly into cubes and tossed them back into the hot oil for a second frying. Took about 10 minutes.

End result was brilliant. Crispy skin, tender juicy interior, the fat was crunchy as well. Worked really nice as a taco, or as my wife ate hers with white rice.

The taco easily blew away any taco of this style(or even al pastor) that I have had at Tierra Caliente or Big Star which were my standard bearers for pork belly, or al pastor tacos.

H-Mart Pork Belly Chunk:
Chunks in the deep fryer:

Finished chunks:

Finished morsels of belly and skin:

Pork belly taco with jalapeno & pineapple chunks sauteed in butter and adobo:

Filipino Cooking - Atsara - Green papaya pickle

2011-03-12T11:46:00.000-08:00

Planned a day of Filipino cooking, some pork belly, some lumpia, and I wanted a side that would compliment those dishes. I settled on a green papaya pickle called Atsara. Pretty simple preperation, and looks like a success. I knocked out 3 pints, one for use today, and 2 went in the canning bath for the future.

Ingredients:

4 cups shredded green papaya
1/8 cup salt
1 red bell pepper julienne
1 jalapeno sliced
1/2 onion grated
3 carrots grated

I mixed the shredded papaya with the salt and put it in the fridge for a little over an hour. I then drained the moisture, & rinsed a few times. Then squeezing the water out of the papaya. I tossed this with the other veg listed above and set aside.

I needed a syrup for the papaya.

2-1/2 cups vinegar
2 cups sugar
3/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp black pepper
3 cloves sliced garlic.

I brought the vinegar and the sugar to a boil, disolving the sugar. I then added the pepper, ginger, and garlic, simmering for 5 minutes.

Canning was basic procedure. Filled the pints with the papaya mix, then topped each with some of the syrup, leaving 1/4 inch space on top, and getting the air bubbles out. I initailly put all 3 in the water bath, but took one out since we are using that tonight. The other 2 were submerged in the bath for 30 minutes. They will make a nice snack in the upcoming months.

Seeded, peeled, halved green papaya:
papaya mix:

measuring the space:

about to be lowered into the bath:

finished atsara:

Crawfish Bisque

2011-03-06T09:14:00.001-08:00

Main purpose of getting the live crawfish in from LA., was to do a crawfish bisque that I have been wanting to do for a while. Frozen tails, or mudbugs were not going to work. I needed fresh so I could have the fresh tail meat, and more importantly the crawfish butter(fat) from the heads. As well as fresh heads to stuff.

Bisque Ingredients:

3 onions minced
1 green pepper minced
3 stalks of celery minced
8 cups crawfish stock
3/4 can tomato paste
1/4 cup crawfish butter
6 cloves garlic mashed
2 bay leaves
thyme
1/2 cup parsley
1/2 cup chopped green onion tops
3 lbs. crawfish tails
1 cup flour
1/2 cup veg oil
6 tbsp butter
black pepper
cajun seasoning

Stuffed Crawfish Heads:

thorax section behind the head, cleaned and boiled to make sure they were clean
1 onion minced
1 green pepper minced
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup flour
bread crumbs
2 eggs
1/4 cup choppedgreen onion
1/4 cup parsley
4 tbsp melted butter
3/4 cup crawfish stock
1/4 cup crawfish butter
1 lbs crawfish tails minced
crawfish "heads"
cajun seasoning

I made a roux with the butter and oil, stirring contstantly for about 10 minutes, light brown roux, I then added the garlic, onion, celery, and green pepper, and cooked another 10 minutes adding the tomato paste at the end. I then started adding the crawfish stock small ammounts at a time, forming a gravy. I used probably 6 cups of the stock here, and added more later to thin it out as needed. At this point I added the bay leaf, balck pepper and cajun spice, & crawfish butter and let it simmer on low for 15 minutes. Then I covered it and simmered for 30 minutes. At this point I put it in a cold water bath to cool it down for the drive up to Deerfield.

Time to make the stuffing for the heads, we did most of the work the previus night, extracting the crawfish butter, and reserving the section behind the head for stuffing. Stuffing was easy, made a roux with the flour and oil, then added the onion and green pepper cooing til they were tender, added the crawfish buter and minced tail meat, and cooked for 10 minutes, then added the 2 eggs(beaten), the stock, the butter, the parsley, and green onions. Then added the bread crumbs after taking off the heat. I added cajun seasoning for flavor. I stuffed the heads with the stuffing and reserved.

When I arrived at the party I reheated the bisque slowly and added some green onions and parsley for about 15 minutes. In the meantime I coated the stuffed heads in flour and tossed them in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes, as well as cooked off some long grain rice.

Serving, I took a bowl, then added a scoop of rice, & a few pieces of the tail meat and then topped them with the piping hot bisque. Tossed in a couple crawfish heads, and garnished the dish with parsely & green onion.... Mercy... What a rich tasting dish, silky, powerfull crawfish taste, stuffed heads were a messy treat, picking the shell open and eating the flavorfull stuffing.

A killer recipe, and the fresh crawfish is a must.,

Bisque Ingredients:

Spoonfull o' crawfish butter:

Stuffing:

Stuffed heads:

Rich bisque:

Thanks for looking, this one was alot of fun.

Mudbug boil 2011

2011-03-06T08:45:00.000-08:00

Had a hanering for a crawfish boil, some for munching, some for a crawfish bisque I have been wanting to tackle. Ordered in a 10# party pack from the Louisiana Crawfish Co, about $59 delivered. Included 10 #'s of bugs, spice mix, cajun seasoning, bibs, beads, koolie. Bugs were in great shape when they arrived. Only 3 dead ones out of the batch. After purging on my deck they were fighting mad, and lively, some tried to escape when they saw their fate.

I filled a large stock pot with water, added 1/2 the boil spice mix, a dash of beer, some salt, some celery, halved lemons, heads of garlic, whole small onions & let it get to a boil. I did 1/2 in the first batch and used most of the tail meat from this batch for the soup. While we were picking the mudbugs from the first batch I added the whole potatoes, and boiled 10 minutes, then I added some whole mushrooms, kilbasa, brussel sprouts(these were great) and the rest of the bugs. Boiled these for about 7 minutes then turned off the pot, and let them sit for a few minutes. End result of both batches was flavorfull, tender, perfectly cooked bugs. I ate as much as I could and still had plenty left over for the bisque, heads, and crawfish butter were reserved for the next days bisqe as well. Other shells and claws went into making a crawfgish stock.

Ill buy my bugs from these folks again for sure.

in the pot:
pinchin' mad:

starting to pour out the bounty:

Mercy....

the carnage & the yield:

Louisiana Crawfish Co.

http://www.lacrawfish.com

Maude's Liquor Bar - Chicago

2011-02-27T09:25:00.001-08:00

Last stop on a day long food shopping & eating tour that started in Elburn Illinois, and ended at Maude's in Chicago. I really enjoyed Maude's, small location, maybe 20 tables. Casually elegant. Nice use of subway tile, and turn of the century bar back.

Arrived as they opened Saturday, and ate and adrank at the bar. Friendly mixologist Jeff on duty, kncking out some creative, tasty & strong drinks. I went with a mezcal old fashioned. Really nice, powerfull as well as tasty. Maude's has a small, but focused menu. Maybe 30 items total. Everythig we had was good, some items great.

First dishes were the Pommes Frites with the garlic aioli & the roasted bone marrow with onion jam. Pommes Frites were ok, garlic aioli was really nice. The roasted bone marrow, magnificent, buttery and carmelized in spots. Served with grilled french bread and that jam made for a wonderfull bite of sweet and savory. Probably my favorite overall dish of the night.

Second round was Lyonnaise salad, blackened brussel sprouts, scallops, and the cassoulet. Lyonnaise salad was nice, egg a little overcooked, but still some yolk. The star of the salad was the crispy, perfectly cooked pork belly, some of the best I have been served in Chicago. Blackened brussel sprouts were solid, scallops were also well prepared and perfectly cooked in a brown butter sauce. The cassoulet which changes was great, pork belly, and sausage atop some great white beans. Lots of flavor and textures going on. My second favorite dish of the visit.

Maude's isnt cheap, but the food shines. For 3 of us it was about $55 per person with tip. I really want to get back to try their oysters, and get another stack of that roasted bone marrow.

mezcal old fashioned:

Roasted bone marrow:

Lyonnaise salad with pork belly:

Cassoulet:

Maude's Liquor Bar

840 W. Randolph

Chicago, IL.

http://www.maudesliquorbar.com

Watermelon rind pickles

2011-02-13T12:23:00.000-08:00

I am in no doubt infatuated with southern cooking right now.

During our recent trip to NOLA, I had some ribs at Cochon Butcher that had what I at first thought were cubes of apples on top of and mixed in with the bbq sauce. Only to find out that it was watermelon pickles. This yankee had never heard of such a thing, and started my research of this item once we returned home.

Recipes looked simple enought o make with the right tools, and pickling/canning knowledge. So I purchased a basic Ball canning kit. A large pot to boil water in, a rack to set the jars on while they are submersed in the water, some canning tools, and a dozen ball pint jars.

I bought a barely ripe whole watermelon(not easy to find in February in Chicagoland, and cut it up, removing the sweet watermelon flesh, and the outer green skin from the rind. I cut the rinds into 1" x 1" squares and brined them overnight in mix of picklign salt & water.

The next morning I drained the water, and rinsed the cubes of rind a few times in cold water. Next step I put the rinds in a saucepan and covered them with water and simmered them until they were tender. Meanwhile I combined sugar, water, vinegar, a broken stick of cinnamon & cloves. I simmered this until it was a syrup., thens trained the liquid. I put this syrup and the tender watermelon chunks in a pot, and cooked them with a 1/2 of a lemon sliced, and 4 marachino cherries. I simmered this mix for about 40 minutes until the rind was almost translucent.

Canning these was easy. I sterilized the jars and lids, and the filled them with the syrup and rind. Twisted the caps & lids on,a nd out them in the boiling water bath for 5 mintues before removing. I let them rest a full day on the counter, and yielded 2 full pints of watermelon rind pickles. These jars are currently in my basement where it is cool and dark waiting for me to try them in a couple weeks. I am going to be patient, and let them the first one go 3 weeks before opening.

I can see how pickling/canning could become a new hobby.

Sliced rinds:

Simmereing in the syrup with lemon slices & marachino cherries added:

Jarred up, pre water bath:

ABout to be dropped in the water bath:

Finished product:

Galatoire's NOLA 2011 - II

2011-02-12T07:03:00.000-08:00

Styling, the Quinn family:

Eggs benedict topped with lump crab:

These were great:

Shrimp Clemenceau:

Cup Custard(forgot to mention this in the opening post, I dont do dessert, but Vangie and Shay loved this Galatoire's classic.

I was so blown away by Galatoire's I bought their cookbook, I cant wait to dig into its treasured recipes.

Galatoire's

209 Bourbon Street

NOLA

http://www.galatoires.com

Galatoire's NOLA 2011 - I

2011-02-12T06:50:00.000-08:00

Galatoire's, a must for our trip to NOLA, and it was given the spot of the last dinner in NOLA. I am big on history & tradition, and places like Galatoire's and Commanders Palace represent this like no other places in the country. Classic fine dining in the best food city in the U.S.

Enought gushing and waxing poetic, We had a reservation for Galatoire's and preferred going this route because we had to go here, and the prospect of waiting in line with a child or missing out were not in the cards. The fabled downstairs of Galatoire's and the famous Friday lunches appealed to me, but having a great vacation ending meal with my family was more important. I love that jackets are required @ Galatoire's, no exceptions for dinner. The upstairs dining room was comfortable, and elegant, service was good as well.

The meal started with a combination plate of crabmeat maison & shrimp remoulade. Really nice dish, both items contrasted each other, the silky elegance of the crabmeat maison, and the little spice of the shrimp remoulade. Of course both were prepared masterfully with great product, and care. A rich start to a meal that would only get better. We went with a cup each of the seafood okra gumbo as well as the duck and andoullie gumbo. Both well prepared and rich. Seafood gumbo was silky, with alot of seafood and okra, well balaned broth. Duck and andoullie gumbo was my second favorite of the trip. Dark roux, flavorfull duck, and nice sausage. Lovd em' both. Now for one of the best dishes of the trip(its hard to choose a favorite). We went with the Eggs Benedict, I also asked lump crab to be added to this dish to take it over the top. What came out was a brilliant version of Eggs Benedict. The hollandaise was perfectly balanced, and was taken to another level with the egg yolk. Salty chunks of ham, and a nice English muffin. Eggs were poached to perfection, and the added lump cfrab made this incredible dish unforgettable. Rich, salty, crunchy, silky, yolky. Magnificent. For the main courses my wife went with the Shrimp Clemenceau, a solid dish, but after the initial courses nothing could live up. I embarassingly went with a steak. A good steak, but by this last night of our trip my taste buds were on overload and I needed them to be brought back to earth. NOLA really kicked my butt food, fun, and alcohol wise.

So glad we went to Galatoire's, one of those must hit places when in NOLA.

Crab maison:

Shrimp remoulade:

Seafood okra gumbo:

Duck and andoullie gumbo:

More pics in part II

Bourbon House Nola 2011

2011-02-12T06:06:00.000-08:00

Bourbon House was a last minute change for dinner on the Thursday we were in NOLA. Original plan was Lilette, but we were tired and didnt want to take the trip up there. We instead wanted a place in the FQ. I had been at Bourbon House the night before for a few rounds of bourbon, and the menu looked good. Bourbon House is located on Bourbon street, in a hotel. A nice space, comfortable and bustling. Seervie was good, 3 servers taking care of our table for food, drinks, etc.

We started with some local raw oysters topped with the paddlefish roe. Really nice adder. Fresh, succulent oysters, with that little pop of caviar. Loved these. We also had the corn and crab bisque which was pretty weak. All corn, no crab. For mains my wife ordered the BBQ shrimp, large shrimp served NOLA bbq style. Their bbq sauce had too much wine in it, tasted to me like they had not cooked enough of the sauce off. The shrimp were perectly cooked, but the best part of bbq shrimp, dipping some bread in the rich sace was not possible. I ordered the paneed veal and crab dish, this was one of the surprise dishes of the trip. Thin pieces of tender, perectly cooked veal, lump crab, asparagus, mashed potatoes in a lemon beurre blanc sauce. Great dish, I would have licked the plate if possible. Dessert was a nice version of a Ponchutula Strawberry Shortcake. A solid version, not quite up to Commanders Palace, but what is. Overall I really liked Bourbon House, a tip, if you are going to NOLA sign up for the NOLA Bourbon Society on their website. Its free and it gets you one free pour of the bourbon of the month duting your visit. After the free bourbon stickaround for some oysters & sample their huge selection of bourbons.

oyster with paddlefish roe:

Paneed veal with crab:

BBQ shrimp:

Panchatula Strawberry Shortcake:

Bourbon House

144 Bourbon Street

NOLA

http://www.bourbonhouse.com

Big Fisherman NOLA 2011

2011-02-07T12:39:00.000-08:00

Anyone who knows me knows I am a huge fan of crawfish, crabs and other insects of the sea. Although early in the crawfish season I made it a point to try to find some crawfish on our visit to NOLA the last week of January. I was aware of a place called Big Fisherman Seafood that sold cooked crawfish by the pound, and after getting in touch with them towards the end of our stay(they were only open Thursday, Friday & Saturday I think), I was told they had the mudbugs for $4.99/lb. Score...

On a pleasant, 70+ degree Friday we made the short trek down Magazine Street to Big Fisherman, a small storefront seafood shop. No tables, carryout only(I read about a bar in the area that will let you bring in the crawfish to eat if your drinking, but it was so nice out we had to eat at the park.

In their display cases were 5 different sizes of steamed blue crabs. Busters to monsters. We went with 2 of the medium blue crabs which were big by our standards. These crabs were $2 each, a steal. The crawfish were hot in a big tub, and they scooped out 2#'s for us. Also in the cases were nice looking shrimp and magnificent soft shell crabs popping with roe.

We took our haul of food, and found a park a couple blocks from Big Fisherman. What followed was one of our better and cheapest meals in NOLA. Fresh, local crawfish, fresh local crabs cooked and seasoned to perfection. Crabs were meaty and each had a large ammount of roe. Crawfish were nice as well, good spice level, tender, fresh, and great.

Loved this picnic.

Soft Shell Crabs:

Local Crabs:

One of ours:

Nice Mudbugs:

Big Fisherman Seafood

3301 Magazine Street

NOLA

http://www.bigfishermanseafood.com

Casamento's NOLA 2011

2011-02-05T09:19:00.000-08:00

Over 80 years old, this place is a NOLA institution. a short trip down Magazine street about a mile or so from the zoo it made for a nice lunch before we went to the zoo. I liked the restaurant, and the white tile, on the walls and floor. Clean, and crisp looking, a comfortable spot for lunch.

I wish I was in the mood for raw oysters on our visit but I was not, we went with a cup of their gumbo, a small fried shrimp dinner, a small portion of crab claws, and a 1/2 shoft shell crab loaf.

THe gumbo was really solid and might be the 2nd favorite of the trip. A little heavier on the tomato in the stock than I am used to but good. Almost a minestrone gumbo... We liked it. the deep fried crab claws were good, nice little meaty claw portions. The small shrimp dinner was really good, perfectyl fried shrimp, nice breading, a nice light lunch. I liked how at the table were the items to whip up your own cocktail dipping sauce(ketchup, horseradish, tobasco & lea & perrins). Nice touch. The 1/2 soft shell crab loaf was interesting. Really meaty portion of soft shell crab, but it really didnt work as a sandwich. The large pullman bread masked the crab. Bread was eaten seperatley as was the meaty, fresh soft shell crab.

I will make sure to return to Casamento's and try some more of their menu items, especially some raw oysters.

gumbo:

crab claw appetizer:

1/2 soft shell crab loaf:

shay & vangoe in the kitchen:

Casamento's

4330 Magazine Street

NOLA

http://www.casamentosrestaurant.com

Luke - NOLA 2011 - Part 2

2011-02-05T09:12:00.000-08:00

Jumbo Louisiana shrimp creole:

local crab ravioli:

loved the lump crab ontop of the dish as a garnish:

Bread pudding:

Luke Restaurant

333 St. Charles

NOLA

http://www.lukeneworleans.com

Luke - NOLA 2011 - Part 1

2011-02-05T09:04:00.000-08:00

A pleasant Wednesday meal @ Luke was in the cards and was another place really high on my to do list. I ignored the folks on Chowhound who tried to get em to go elsewhere(really glad I ignored thier advise on lots of things(Butcher, Luke, Big Fisherman, etc.).

Comfortable dining room with a view of an open kitchen, a busteling happy hour bar scene as well(I went back the following night for happy hour and enjoyed some P & J oysters, Abita & bourbon.

Dinner was solid from start to finish, I have to admit this meal was the 1st raw oysters I tried on the trip(stomach just wasnt in the mood until then), and at that I had kumamoto oysters vs local oysters as part of a raw bar appetizer of shimp and oysters. Kumamoto's were great(as always), fresh, tender, briny. Boiled shrimp were good, perfectly cooked, plump, and tender.

My wife went with the Wednesday night special, $23 for soup, nightly entree and bread pudding for dessert. Soup choice was a very nice duck gumbo, dark roux, nice chunks of meat and okra. Entree was a very nice jumbo Louisiana shrimp creole with local tomatoes and popcorn rice. Large shrimp flavorfull boardering on spicy sauce. I ddi not try the bread pudding but it looked good.

I went with a cup of crawfish bisque, and locla crab ravioli ravioli. The crawfish bisque was rich, and grew on me as it was consumed, especially after a few spoonfulls of the gumbo. Really brought out the flavor of the bisque. The local crab ravioli made in house. simmered with garlic, cream & Meyer lemons. Nice dish, creamy & rich.

Good service, comfortable space, good food. John Besh and his restaurants impressed me this trip.

Kumamoto's & shrimp appetizer:

duck gumbo:

crawfish bisque:

Kumamoto ready to go:

Commanders Palace - NOLA 2011 - Part 2

2011-02-05T07:18:00.000-08:00

"The pig & the peach II" - magnificent:

seafood gumbo:

Sea scallops:

Strawberry shortcake:

Commanders Palace

1403 Washington Ave.

NOLA

http://www.commanderspalace.com

Commanders Palace - NOLA 2011- Part 1

2011-02-05T07:11:00.000-08:00

Commanders Palace, the venerable institution in NOLA cuisine. Commanders was one of my must hit places for dinner, and I made a solo reservation for a Monday night blowout dinner. Commanders was going to be stop 2 of what turned out to be an incredible and unless you are in NOLA unduplicated day of great food. Lunch @ August, dinner @ Commanders, unmatched anywhere.

I arrived @ Commanders as they were opening, and went to the bar area for a pre-dinner drink. Interesting the bar is off the kitchen, and has no chairs, or bar stools, more of a holding area while a table is getting ready than a bar. I went with one of their specialty cocktails, but cannot remember what it was. I then switched to bourbon served neat with a cube of ice.

After a couple drinks I went to the dining room across the courtyard, at no time as a single diner did I feel uncomfortable, the staff was knowledgeable and friendly. Of course I asked many questions about the dishes, and took lots of pictures so that got me extra attention. I was comped an after dinner bourbon, and a mid-meal palate cleansing shot.

I was planning on doing the 8 course tasting menu, but after seeing the nights offerings I changed my mind and created my own menu.

I did 2 appetizers, a dish called "The pig and the peach", basically a sticky abita rootbeer braised pork belly, over cajun boudin and topped with put up peaches, local honey, and trotter jus.... This dish was one of the best dishes of the trip, and the best preperation of pork belly I have ever had. The belly was fork tender, and had a sticky sweet coating of the abita. The peaches boudin, and trotter jus took this dish over the top. Brilliant, spectacular. The 2nd appetizer was the "Shrimp and tasso Henican", which was wild white shrimpstuffed with tasso, on the plate was a Crystal hot sauce beurre blanc,pickled okra & 5 pepper jelly. Another top notch dish and preperation. So many layers of flavor, some heat, and a bunch of different textures. Their housemade tasso was excellent.

I did a 3 course dinner after that, a bowl of the gumbo dujour which was a nice seafood gumbo. Lots of depth to the flavor, nice chunks of oysters, & crab. A solid gumbo and my first of the trip. Butter roasted sea scallops - caraway crusted sea scallops over wild rice, quinoa, barley, winter wheat, porcini cream, & pressed pumpkin seed oil. Great dish(a theme of this entire meal), tender perfectly cooked scallops, buttery texture, just great. Dessert, I wasnt hungry but got the strawberry shortcake to go.

Overall, Commanders lived up to, and even exceeded my expectations. There is no place like Commanders...

Amuse:

Shrimp Henican:

"The pig & the peach":

Restaurant August - NOLA 2011 - Part 2

2011-02-02T07:59:00.000-08:00

Stuffed Gulf shrimp entree:

Black Garlic carbonara:

Black Garlic carbonara(love that egg yolk):

Cream cheese tartlet:

Restaurant August

301 Tchoupitoulous

NOLA

http://www.restaurantaugust.com

Restaurant August - NOLA 2011 - Part I

2011-02-02T07:48:00.000-08:00

We were fortunate enough to get to eat lunch @ Restaurant August during our trip. Chef John Besh's flagship restaurant, one of the top restaurants in NOLA, and in the entire country. A great lunch gave us a glimpse of the magic they turn out.

The interior of the restaurant is upscale, white table cloths, exposed brick, etc. A comfortable space to enjoy a leisurely meal. Our lunch took over 2 hours. August runs a prixe fix lunch for $20.11, 3 courses from a changing menu. My wife went with this option, while I ordered and appetizer and a main from the lunch menu. All dishes were executed masterfully.

One of the items that I had heard about that intrigued me most was an amuse served in an egg shell. A trifle of seafood sabayon, fish fumet and bowfine caviar, upon arrival at the table, and tasting I knew we were in for a great meal. The amuse was delicate, yet layered with many flavors, we loved every spoonfull.

Off the Prixe fix menu my wife ordered the salad of fried brussel sprouts, the stuffed jumbo gulf shrimp, & the creole cream cheese tartlet. The fried brussel sprout salad was phenominal, the dish contained yams, as well as bacon & almonds. This dish was subtle but packed with flavor and texture. The stuffed gulf shrimp were a really nice main dish, flavorfull stuffing also served with mirliton, & an andoullie vinegrette. The cream cheese tartlet was decedant and sweet without being over the top. All 3 dishes were perectly executed and well worth the bargain price.

I went with a newer item to the menu for my appetizer, the Plaquemines Parish citrus and blue crab. This dish was top notch, fresh, light, & citrus that played nicely with the crab meat. Also present was a blood orange compote that added some tart and tang to the dish. A smoked aioli and bacon just took the dish over the top. The dish was topped with greens which added texture to the appeal of the dish. I loved it. My main dish was a black garlic carbonara, pasta a la chitarra, La Provence bacon, & a Maravilla Ranch egg on top. Another great dish, and as with anything I love a runny yellow egg yolk with any dish. Pasta & black garlic were very subtle, but the rich egg yolk made the dish come together.

Overall Restaurant August is near or at the top of any restaurant we have eaten at anywhere. Great service, great food. Id love to get back here for dinner someday.

Amuse:

Amuse:

Fried Brussel Sprouts:

Citrus & Blue Crab Appetizer(awesome):

Check out part 2 of this series for the main dishes.

Emeril's Delmonico - NOLA 2011

2011-02-01T12:58:00.000-08:00

We were struggling finding a Sunday dinner reservation in NOLA, not all restaurants are open. I at first was not interested in any emeril spots in the city, but conceded and chose Delmonico. Set in a nice space on St. Chalres street in the Garden Distict, I had read Delmonico had been really hit hard by Katrina. The space is nice, white table cloths and all.

Service was as good as any place we went in NOLA, 3 waiters tending our table, and needs. I enjoyed a sazerac, and some Abita Jacomo. Jacomom being new to me, it might be my favorite Abita product. Tastes alot like 3 Floyds Gumball head to me.

We ordered a couple appetizers, the fried sausage stuffed olives, the double gloucester cheese, & the crispy pork cheeck with dirty rice. Saussage stuffed olives were the least favorite, good, but not my thing. The Double Gloucester cheese was really nice, and went well with the mixed drink and beer. The favorite by a wide margin was the solide version of the crispy pork cheecks with the dirty rice. The pork cheecks were perfectly cooked, tender and flovorfull. the dirty rice is probably the best version I have had. Just popping with flavor, and laced with offal. Great total dish.

I also had a bowl of she-crab soup, a decent version, rich, etc. But not as good as versions I have had in South Carolina.

Entrees were one of the nights specials - lobster gnocchi, my wife didnt care for the dish, and I dont think I tried it. I ordered a 20+ day dry aged ribeye steak that came in @ 20 oz. I ordered it rare, and the kitchen hit the temo perfectly. This was one of the best steaks I have ever eaten, the meat was popping with flavor, and buttery from all the melted fat in this prime steak. Top notch piece of meat. I was unable to finish the steak, and wanted to take the small piece home. Evedently there was a mix up in the kitchen and the small chunk was thrown out. I would have been ok with that, but the server withour me knowing had the kitchen fore a whole new steak for me to take home... Unheard of, and appreciated.

Overall a solid dinner, and a place I would not hesitate to go back to.

Cripy pokr cheecks with dirty rice:

Double Gloucester:

Lobster Gnocchi:

20+ day aged ribeye.. rare:

Emeril's Delmonico

1300 St. Charles

NOLA

http://www.emerils.com

Butcher II - 2011

2011-01-31T17:16:00.000-08:00

additional pics of the genius they are turning out @ Butcher:

king cake

Cochon Butcher - NOLA 2011

2011-01-30T18:09:00.000-08:00

Cochon Butcher, right next door to Cochon. A smaller venue in size but a giant in regards to quality & taste.

Another one of the must stops for us as I had read alot of glowing praise of Butcher. House cured meats, and all items pig. Loved the hanging meats in the case above the butcher as well as the cases of meats, sausages, etc, on display We limited oursleves to "the gambino" duck pastrami sliders & a king cake. Of course a couple of bottle of Barq's rootbeer.

"The Gambino" was one of the best Italian stlye sandwiches I have ever eaten. The bread was soft, yet flavorfull, and could hold up to the meat inside. Housemade cotto salami, sopresetta, & copa. Topped with arugala and a vinaigrette. Everything worked in concert together. The meats flavorfull, the arugala a nice touch, and the vinaigrette, just adding some zip and tang. The duck pastrami sliders were a surprise for me, almost a grilled cheese sandwich with flavorfull thin sliced duck pastrami. With some of the Butcher hot sauce on the table these were great.

A pleasent surprise of the visit was getting to meet Chef Stryjewski. Friendly and willing to answer some questions and take time to chat. It was appreciated.

The lunch at Cochon was excellent, I wish we could have made it back before we left town.

Duck Pastrami slider:

"the gambino":

Chef S. & the grubseeker:

Cochon Butcher

http://www.cochonbutcher.com

Cochon - NOLA 2011

2011-01-30T16:57:00.001-08:00

Cochon, one of the restaurants that was highest on my list of places to try on our trip to NOLA. Had to be our first dinner in the Big Easy.

Known for snout to tail cooking and their two well known and respected chefs Link & Stryjewski. Rustic, old school cajun food. Cochon did not disappoint from the flight of moonshine to the dishes we ordered. We went with the woodfired oysters, spicy grilled pork ribs with watermelon pickle, mac-n-cheese, rabbit and dumplings, and the Louisiana cochon with trunips, cabbage & cracklins.

The woodfired oysters were solid, but had tough competition from a batch we had from Drago's earlier in the day. Fresh & well prepared. The spicy grilled pork ribs with watermelon pickle was good, vinegar based sauce with some kick, quality pork, well cooked and good. The watermelon pickle was the kicker, small chunks of the watermelon popped. Mac-n-cheese, a very solid version, cheesy, perfectly cooked pasta, and a crisp crust. Shay loved it. The rabbit and dumplings, what a great dish, rustic, popping with flavor. Tender chunks of flavorfull rabbit in a rich rabbit gravy with hints of tarragon. The dumplings were great when ladeled with the gravy, flavorfull and supple. The Louisiana cochon.... masterfull preperation. Perfectly coooked pork shoulder formed into a cake, sitting in a rich pork jus & topped with a crispy piece of pork skin. Cabbage and turnips also in the gravy made this dish one of the best of the week.

Cochon was pure genius from start to finish, and set the bar high for the rest of the week. I wish we had a place like Cochon in Chicago.

Mac-n-cheese:

rabbit & dumplings:

Louisiana cochon:

Cochon

930 Tchoupitioulas

New Orleans, LA.

http://www.cochonrestaurant.com/

Kendall Pub - Yorkville, IL.

2011-01-09T17:01:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to go somewhere and watch the Raven's game today, I had wanted to get to the Kendall Pub over in Yorkville for a while and it ended up being a great choice.

Comfortable spot, although they could have turned the heat up a little. A large handcarved bar, plenty of seats, and enough tv's to watch the game but not be in your face. In the back there is a bean bag toss pit, I be this is a fun place on a busier day. Extensive craft beer list on tap and in bottles, i went with some High Life's, Jim Beam, and Schlitz $2 pours.

I had a craving for chicken wings, and have a hard time finding good ones out where I live. they are typically breaded, foodservice stuff, and not cooked to order. Kendall tap was the opposite, fried naked, cooked to order, crispy, and great. I got these without any of their sauces as Shay was with us and she like plain wings, I can always add hot sauce. Served with celery, choice of ranch or blue cheese, and choice of tater tots or fries.. Tater tots of course...

Also ordered was the mini corn dogs appetzier, Shay chowed these, they were nice and also served over tater tots... :-)

Lastly Kendall Pub is known for their burgers, a 9 oz made to order burger called the Little Joe. I got mine topped with a fried egg which they were glad to do. A fried egg on a burger is one of the little pleasures in life, added gtextuire, added flavor. The burger was pretty good, a little past the temp I wanted, and not as good as The Bristol Tap up the road, but a solid burger for $7.

Raven's won, I didnt have to cook, and I had a good time. I like Kendall Pub
wings and tots:

Little Joe with fried egg:

$2 Schlitz drafts:

thumbs up from Shay:

Kendall Pub

209 S. Bridge Street

Yorkville, IL.

http://www.kendallpub.com

Longman & Eagle - Chicago

2011-01-09T16:37:00.000-08:00

I have been trying to visit Longman & Eagle since they opened, especially since they were awarded a Michelin star. We tried to go last Sunday, but didnt want to wait. Got the chance to make the trip into Chicago Saturday, and brunch @ Longman & Eagle was a no brainer.

L & E is a small space with a bar that runs almost the full length of the froint room. Kitchen is tiny, kind of amazing they can turn out such good food out of a small space. Brunch menu is interesting, but i went with the Peeky toe crab eggs benedict. This classic benedict preperation was topped with a 1 hour egg, and an old bay hollandaise. Everything worked together. The one hour egg was magnificent, A slow poached egg with a silky yolk, and tender meaty egg white. Crab was plentiful, and tasty. Served with great potatoes to mop up the crab, hollandaise and egg yolk this dish was great, awesome.

Nice drink menu as well, $3 pours of Rebel Yell bourbon, and PBR in the can. Lots of other choices but for a good ol' boy like me I was set.

I have to get back for dinner, and a return for lunch, this place was great.

Peeky toe crab eggs benedict:
breakfast potatoes:

another pic of the benedict:

Longman & Eagle

2657 N. Kedzie

Chicago, IL.

http://www.longmanandeagle.com

MingHin - Chicago

2011-01-05T15:35:00.001-08:00

MingHin was our dinner choice for this past Monday night, I wish we would have gone back to Go 4 Food, or Lao You Ju, or made our first visit to Chizakaya. MingHin is located in the CHinatown Mall next to lao Sze Chuan, and came highly praised but fell short in our visit. MingHin was decent but did not blow us away.

A clean, modern interior with a friendly & knowledgeable staff, I thought it would be better.

The good:

- The Chinese BBQ items were good(pork belly, pork, and duck). Nice flavor, small portions. -Pork belly was good, but a little fattier than I like and prepare mine at home. I prefer to have a little more of the fat "melted" off. Duck was flavorfull with a nice crispy skin, and nice color.
BBQ pork was tasty as well.
- Egg rolls, and crab rangoons were solid as well.
- Crispy chicken wings were also a hit
- One other dish was good, the On Choy in shrimp sauce. Tasty, crisp On choy, subtle sauce.

The not so good:
- the mini dumplings with celery in Malaysian sauce, the dumplings were overcooked, and tough, this dish could really be something special if was executed better.
- the sizzling shrimp with ginger and green onion, a really average dish, tons of ginger, properly cooked shrimp, but overall nothing special
- the pan fried rice noodles with beef and XO sauce, probably the worst dish of the night, not the fat rice noodles typical of other versions in Chinatown, but what looked like egg noodles, crunchy and dried out.

Ill give them the benifit of the doubt as we barely scratched the surface of their large menu, but after this first visit compared to one visit to Go 4 Food, and Lao YOu Ju, MingHin wasnt even in the same league. I could see giving MingHin another try for dinner and Dim Sum.

tasty bbq offerings:

MingHin Platter:(duck, belly, pork)

Duck:

Mini dumplings with celery in Malaysian sauce(this dish could be great if properly executed):

MingHin Cuisine

2168 S. Archer

Chicago, IL.

http://www.minghincuisine.com/

Owen & Engine - Chicago

2011-01-05T15:29:00.000-08:00

An imprompteau trip into Chicago with some out of town visitors brought us to Owen & Engine. Longman & Eagle was our first choice, but an hour wait was not in the cards. We shot down Milwaukee Ave to O & E, and had a very nice meal.

O & E reminded me of some English pubs I spent alot of time in when I visited Manchester years ago. Friendly, knowledgeable staff, and happy customers this Sunday night. We were seated upstairs in a small side room next to the 2nd floor bar. A long table we shared with a party of 2. O & E is kid friendly which is nice(people & kids should not be relegated to eating at Chuck E Cheese).

Food was very good with the exception of the hamburger which was just ok(another item that came with high praise, but fell way short). For starters we had a 1/2 dozen Kumamoto oysters, pan seared quail, and a beeg bone marrow appetizer with mushroom risotto.

- the Kumamoto oysters were spot on, as they should be, these are my favorite oyster variety, small, tender, plump, flavorfull.
- Seared quail appetizer, folks liked these, I personally didnt try them, but got a kick out of how Shay(our 4 y.o.) gobbled them down
- Beef bone marrow, this was the table favorite I believe, buttery marrow, tasty mushroom risotto, a great dish

Mains ordered were (2) of their Slagel Farms burgers, (1)Rasher & egg sandwich and (1)Slagel Farms roasted chicken

The burgers, average in my opinion, not in the same league as a burger from Kuma's, or Paramount Room. The burgers were cooked properly, and the meat was juicy, but these burgers were one note flavor wise. L & P Worstershire sauce permiated the flavor, allowing no taste of the Slagel Farms beef to shine through. The bun is another problem, made in house, tasty, and fresh, but unable to hod up to the burger, before being half done the bun was falling apart.

The rasher & Ellis Farm egg sandwich, brilliant, I love bacon and fried egg sandwiches at home, and this one was great. The rasher is a cut of bacon taken from the back of the pig vs the American bacon which is from the belly. A leaner, more like bacon cut. I found the rasher crisp and great. The egg was perfectly cooked, and the tasty yolk to dip the sandwich in was great. Served on a baguette, this was my favorite item of the night.

The Slagel Farms 1/2 roasted chicken, I didnt try the chicken, but I did try the roasted brussle sprouts, and the grain that was served with this dish. Both were great. Id imagine the chicken was good as well.

Overall I really liked Owen & Engine, and will return.

Pan Seared quail App.:

Bone marrow App.:

Rasher and egg sandwich:

Rasher & egg sandwich:

Owen & Engine

2700 N. Western Ave.

Chicago, IL.

http://www.owenengine.com

Caputo's Beef

2011-01-01T09:47:00.001-08:00

I have been impressed with my beef purchases @ Caputo's, I have always liked their produce and loved their deli counter.

The last few steaks & recently a bone in rib roast have impressed. Lots of marbeling for choice, and the steaks they have are usually thick and nice.

I roasted this standing beef roast until rare, let it rest, and made some killer yorkshire pudding from the pan drippings,.

Standing rib roast:
out of the oven:

Yorkshire pudding with my gravy:

This bone in ribeye steak was about 2.5" thick, and nicely marbled as well. I think it cost me about $14, a steal.

I grilled this on the Weber kettle for about 16 minutes per side. End result was a juicy, perfectly cooked steak that was almost medium rare, closer to rare.

Bone in ribeye:

ribeye coming off the grill:

NYE - Chinese babybacks & snow crab stir fry

2011-01-01T09:24:00.000-08:00

A couple other dishes from last night. I knocked out some oven cooked baby back ribs. Got these @ H-Mart and they were cut in half lengthwise. Ribs were marinated overnight in the following marinade:

Rib marinade:
Mirin
5 spice powder
garlic powder
shallot
garlic
corriander
black pepper
chinese cooking wine
L & P worstershire
dark soy sauce
sugar
kosher salt

When it came time to cooking these ribs I put them in a baking dish & poured the marinade over them. I also added some bourbon & Sprecher Rootbeer. I covered the baking dish with foil & cooked the ribs for 35 minutes @ 400 degrees. I then took the foil off and cooked them for 40 minutes @ 375 basting with the sauce in the baking dish every ten minutes. When these were done i tossed some green onjons & toasted sesame seeds on them. Really nice, sticky ribs.

I also had some snow crab, I steamed these and set them aside. I fired up the wok, and as soon as it was roaring hot I tossed some oil in, and then some chopped bok choy, crushed garlic, & green onions. Stir fried these for a couple minutes, and then tossed in the snow crab, and some dark soy sauce to coat. I also added some water to help get some steam going. End result was a batch of tasty crab.

Ribs after 35 minutes:
finished ribs:

finished ribs:

Stir fried crab and bok choy:

Stir fried crab & bok choy:

NYE - Lobster and Dungeness & Avocado Salads

2011-01-01T08:58:00.001-08:00

Due to logistics, I didnt want to drive to pick up a live crab and lobster on NYE day, I bought the live Dungeness & lobster Thursday night @ H-Mart Naperville. $10.99/lb for each, I got an almost 3 lb. Dungeness and about a 1.75 lb. lobster. Both lively and both fighting mad.

I decided I wanted to do a duo of shellfish cocktails, both allowing the falvor of the shellfish to shine. I steamed the crab and lobster for about 18 minutes using a storebought zatarains crab boil pouch, then tossed them in a ice water bath to stop the cooking. I sampled a few segments and was happy with the flavor. Whole crab and lobster were then refridgerated overnight in their shells. the next morning I shelled the crab and lobster & set aside the meat.

The Dungeness crab and avocado salad used a yougurt dressing.

Yougurt dressing ingredients:

1/2 cup plaing yogurt
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
4 tbsp parsley
2 tbsp shallot
1 clove of garlic
2 tsp green onion sliced
kosher salt and black pepper to taste
L & P Worstershire to taste

I put all these ingredients in the food processor, and ran it til smooth. I then refridgerated the dressing for a few hours. About an hour before serving I chopped 2 avocados, and spooned in about 3 tbsp of the dressing. I then tossed in the dungeness crab chunks. Served in a margarita glass lined with some lef lettuce. I topped the slad with some whitefish roe for fun & color. End result was fresh & citrusy. You could really taste the fresh crab, and the avocado gace nice texture.

Lobster Salad was similar but a different type of dressing, utilizing mayo instead of yogurt.

Lobster salad dressing:
1/2 cup mayo
2 tbsp parsley
1 tbsp chili sauce
2 tbsp grated onion
t bsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp paprika
L& P to taste
Kosher salt and balck pepper to taste

I whisked this salad and refidgerated for a few hours. Much like the crab salad about an hour ahead of eating. I mixed about 2 tbsp of the dressing with the lobster and mixed. I served these in wine glasses lined with leaf lettuce. I scooped in the lobster salad, and topped it with black pepper and some paprika for color. Another nice salad, a little heavier than the crab, but still really good with tender chunks of lobster tail.

Angry lobster:
Angry crab:

steamed:

Lobster salad:

Dungeness Crab and avocado salad:

Lao You Ju - Chicago

2010-12-25T03:08:00.001-08:00

Last night was my families annual x-mas eve dinner in Chinatown. 3rd year doing this great new tradition and the best version so far. Year 1, the inspiration for this event was a lackluster and expensive dinner @ Lao Sze Chuan with the memebers of a food board I post on occasionally. Food was decent, but @ $30 per person and then to leave hungry really didnt work for us. Last year it was just my family and myself, a good x-mas eve dinner at Double Li, good food, and BYOB. This year however blew both of those previous dinners away. We hit Lau You Ju, Tony's new restaurant @ the opposite end of the Chinatown mall from Lao Sze Cuan. Brilliant food, great service, great night.

A modern comfortable space with half booths and a full bar. The only negative I think is the 2 or 3 flat screen tv's in the dining area. I had sipped a couple Eage Rare bourbons before heading in, and had a shot of Jim Beam, and a couple Ashai beers with dinner. Complimentary spicy peanuts on the table to snack on while decidint what to order. we went with the following for 3 adults, and one 4 y.o.:

crab rangoons
4 hapiness dim sum
world number 1 ribs
house special chili chicken on hot plate
orange beef tenderloin
palace crab - salt and pepper preperation
beef fried rice
3 kingdom steamed egg

Crab rangoons: I am a fan of this deep fried item, folks can say what they will about authenticity, etc. I really enjoyed this version, lots of crab, perfectly cooked.

4 hapiness dim sum: A steamer basket filled with one piece each of some shui mai, a bao, and a couple other steamed items. Probably should have gotten 2 of this so I could have tried a bit of each. All were good.

World Number 1 Ribs: A magical and unique dish. Not ribs which I knew going in, but a ham bone shank is what I would call it. The shank end pointed up with a straw in it. The bone was sitting in a beatiful to look at and taste silke abalone broth. The straw was used to suck the marrow out of the bone. Buttery and flavorfull this was one of the best dishes of the year for me, and I will say is the best $4 dish in Chicago. Brilliant.

House special chili chicken on a hot plate: As good as the chicken crack over @ LSC, flavorfull, salty, hot, crisp chunks of chicken. Interesting twist of crinkle cut fries in the mix, I liked them for a texture, and nibbling point of view.

Orange beef tenderloin: I really like beef, and orange beef, and this was a great version, tender chinks of crispy beef in a sweet and spicy sauce, loved this dish

Palace crab-salt and pepper preperation: The most expensive dish of the night @ $35, a whole dungeness crab, fresh, ferfectly fried, rivals, and surpases the crab in preserved egg yolk vesion from Double LI. Salty, spicy exterior, just finger licking good crab.

Beef fried rice: a hit with the 4 y.o., and everyone at the table, solid version of fried rice, lean beef, tasty, and not oily at all. One of the 3 or 4 dishes that were finished entirely.

3 Kingdom Steamed egg: I thought a very good dish, others at the table cited it as their least favorite. 3 different preperations, and great presentation. Custardy steamed egg, one with shrimp, one with ground pork, and one with fruit. I tried the sahrimp, and pork version, and liked both, giving the nod to the shrimp. I was impressed with this dish.

Tab for the few drinks and the above food was $125 before tip. Not a cheap place, but the quality of food, and service was worth it. This isnt a hole in the wall storefront, but probably the most upscale place in Chinatown. I will definitely be back as we only scratched the surface of this menu.

3 Kingdom Steamed Egg:

Orange Beef Tenderloin:

World No. 1 Ribs:

House special chili chicken on hot plate:

Lao Lou Ju

2002 S. Wentworth

Chicago, IL.

Pancit Malabon

2010-12-20T16:04:00.001-08:00

My wife is from the Phillipines, and I have been slow to embrace Filipino cooking. There have always been dishes I appreciate - lechon(roasted whole pig), Filipino egg rolls, and Pancit.

Pancit is a stir fried noodle dish with many variations, I tackled Pancit Malabon this past weekend and we were pleased with the results. Many items were already on hand in my pantry, or easily obtained @ the local produce aisle, Super H Mart, or Whole Foods.

Early in the day I made a necessary ingredient - shrimp juice. It was made from the shells, heads, etc, of the shrimp I shelled for this dish. Shells, etc. were blended in the food processor, and 1/2 cup of water was added and blended. I poured and pressed the shrimp juice through a strainer, and came up with a funky shrimp juice.

Pancit Malabon Ingredients:

1/2 onion sliced
2 carrots diced
4 cloves garlic minced
1 head of bok choy thinly sliced
1# of raw shrimp shelled
a couple pounds of pork belly, some thin sliced and some in alrger chunks - boiled then stir fried
2 tbsp crab paste
3 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce
all shrimp juice - about 1/2 cup
thin rice noodles - soaked
3/4 cup crushed cucharones(fried pork rinds)
green onions chopped
4 hardboiled eggs -halved
veg oil
white fish roe as garnish

In the wok I crisped up the pork belly slices and chunks, and removed, I then added the shrimp and quickly cooked,and removed them. I removed all but 1 tbsp of the rendered fat from the pork belly from the wok. I then added the bok choy and quickly stir fried that and removed it from the wok.Next into the wok was the onion, carrot, and garlic, quick stir fry, I then added the shrimp juice, soy sauce fish sauce, crab paste, and rice noodles, stir frying. I then added 1/2 of the pork belly, 1/2 of the shrimp, and 1/2 of the bok choy, all the green onions, and mixed it in. I poured the contents of the wok onto a serving platter and topped with the crushed chucharones, the rest of the pork, shrimp and bok choy. I garnished the platter with the halved eggs, and topped the pork with the whitefish roe.

End result was an impressive platter to the eye. Crispy chunks of pork belly, popping roe, etc.

Dish tasted really good, and will go into my rotation of dishes.

some ingredients:

shrimp juice, fish sauce, dark soy sauce, and crab paste:

finished platter:

crispy pork belly...:

cripy and popping:

Ream's Sausage Preperations

2010-12-15T06:40:00.000-08:00

Cooked up my haul from Ream's the past couple nights, one night and sausage was better than the previous. The Weisswurst(veal brats) were great, I split, scored, and griddled these, also tossing some kraut juice on the griddle to help steam these. A great sausage, lots of flavor, perfect texture and grind.

Weisswurst on the griddle:
I had mine with ketchup, sliced onion, kraut, and dill pickle slices ona Rosen's poppyseed bun. Perfection..:

Night 2 was the Debreziners(a hungarian spiced hot dog), I spiral scored these and tossed them in the Wok in a bit of veg oil. Deep fried dogs. End result was a crispy casing, and a juicy perfectly cooked inside. A great flavored sausage, a little spicier than a standard hot dog, but we liked them alot.

Out of the fryer:

Dog # 1: mustard, kraut, onion. Sausage really was the star, lots of flavor, nice snap:

Group shot, mustard, onion & kraur dog, and a chili cheese dog with onions.:

Both versions were great, I cant decide which was better. More research is needed.

Ream's Meat Market - Elburn, IL.

2010-12-12T17:52:00.000-08:00

We made a trip up to Ream's in Elburn to pick up a gift for a good friend we were visiting for a holiday party. Had to grab a few things for us as well. For such quality house made sausages the price is dirt cheao imho.

Items we grabbed for us, some veal brats, some hungarian hot dogs, some polish, and a chunk of beef chuck for a pot roast. Besides sausage they have a full offering of beef and pork.

Sampled the polish today when I sliced some and put them in a homemade bbq sauce for a quick football appetizer. Great sausage, fresh and flavorfull.

The other items(brats and dogs are for later this week.
Polish:

polish sliced:

veal brats:

Hungarian dogs:

Ream's Market

128 N. Main Street

Elburn, IL.

http://www.elburnmarket.com

Kuma's Corner

2010-12-11T06:46:00.000-08:00

What more can be said about Kuma's Corner that hasn't been reported. This place is great, and turns out some of the best burgers in the city. It takes some planning to eat here as there is often a wait or a line out the door. For those who have not gone and dont know about Kuma's, it is a specialty burger place, that is staffed by taotted and pierced staff, and plays heavy metal music. Their burgers are named after heavy metal bands, they offer craft brews, and have bourbons and whiskey on tap.

I went low key this visit and went with the Kuma burger, $10, 1/2 lb, cooked to order.. Topped with an egg, bacon and cheese, and a toothsome, sturdy pretzle roll. Mine was cooked perfectly to rare, and the egg was runny and good. Burger tasted like beef, not a bunch of spices, just the way I like it. I had mine with the housemade chips, and they were very good. A couple 3-Floyds Gumball Heads, and a shot of Jim Beam, and Buffalo Trace and I was set. Not a cheap burger dive.. $70 for me and my dining companion.

Kuma Burger:

My favorite bourbon, Buffalo Trace on Tap:

Kuma's Corner

2900 W. Belmont

Chicago, IL.

http://www.kumascorner.com

Woo Lae Oak Tasting

2010-12-11T06:31:00.000-08:00

Got invited to a tasting at Woo Lae Oak in Rolling Meadows as part of the recent Taste of Korea events to promote Korean cuisine.

I enjoy Korean BBQ alot, and dabble in making it at home. 8 courses were served, some better than others.

Anshim Pyunchae - marinated lean beef ribs wrapped in naturally colored radish, an interesting dish with nice texture and taste. Very subtle.:
Japchae - stir fried glass noodles with meat and veggie. Ive had this dish before, and liked this version. :

Gujeolpan: thinly sliced assorted veggies, beef, and abalone, wrapped in a wheat cake, served with spicy mustard dipping sauce - my favorite dish of the night, you self served the above items and dipped the small wrap in the mustard sauce, really nice:

banchan: - served at the end of the meal curiously:

Busuht Yukkaejang - spicy mushroom soup - decent not totally spicy.

Overall a good experience, I would like to try Woo Lae oaks bbq items not served to a large group. Curious if they use charcoal grills at the table.

Woo Lae Oak

3201 Algonquin Road

Rolling Meadows, IL.

http://www.woolaeoakchicago.com

Sliders

2010-12-05T06:25:00.000-08:00

Decided early in the week some sliders would be the food of choice for the Saturday night Oklahoma game. Of course with a few twists.

The burger mix is 3/4 lb. ground chuck & 1/2 lb. bison. Salt, pepper, garlic powder, and some L & P. Formed into balls and pan fried in melted butter. Balls were mashed down, and raw onions presses into the burger, then flipped. Topped with American cheese.

Some twists, I topped mine with some crispy pork belly, a pickle slice, quail mayo I made, some ketchup, and a quail egg.

Really a top notch burger, juicy, really flavorfull, and alot of things going on. The crunchy succulent pork belly, the tender quail egg and yolk, the crips pickle slice, the cheese, etc... A great slider.

smashed and topped with raw onions:
flipped:

pork belly topped:

quail egg topped:

assembled:

Spare Rib Gumbo

2010-11-30T16:00:00.000-08:00

Made a killer gumbo on Sunday, a few variations on my usual with great results.

I took some spare ribs, and the rib tips, and seared them in a pot, I then added 3 quarts of chicken stock, and 3 cloves of garlic. and allowed it to simmer for 2 hours. What I ended up with was 2 quarts of a rich porky stock. I set this aside, and skimmed the fat oof for the next few hours as I kept it warm on the stovetop. The ribs were set aside and shredded. The pork was nice, tender, but with a crisp skin from the searing. Almost like the crispy pata we had had a few weeks earlier @ Sunda.

I started a roux flour and butter, and cooked it over low heat for 1 hour. End result was a dark well developed roux. I added the veg(green pepper, onion, jalapeno, celery, and green onion), then the roux, and brought it to a boil. Simmered for about a 1/2 hour, then added the sausage and shredded pork. More time simmering.

First night the gumbo was great, 2nd night it was magnificent. Dark silky broth, popping with flavor. Served over rice sprinkled with gumbo file, and topped with sunnyside up quail eggs it was great.

Simmered pork:
roux:

bowl o' gumbo:

topped:

mercy....:

this recipe will be a keepr and my go to gumbo I think.

Verucchi's Ristorante - Spring Valley, IL.

2010-11-28T06:03:00.000-08:00

Since getting exposed to Illinois Valley fried chicken, and being impressed I have tried to make my rounds to any and every place I have heard is good. There are still alot of places on my list, but I crossed another off the list last night. Verucchi's over in Spring Valley. I came away really impressed with the whole operation, and the chicken in particular.

Verucchi's is a Northern Italian restaurant that I read on their website has been around since 1914... That alone was enough for a visit, the fried chicken was just a kicker. I am a big fan of family owned joints vs chains, etc.

Verucchi's is located 3 blocks north of Route 6 in Spring Valley, a large restaurant, with colorfull signs, and lighting. There is a bar area, a dining area, and what appeared to be banquet space.

I know now that a reservation is required on a Saturday night @ 6:30 p.m.. The place was pretty full when we arrived and were quoted a 1 hour wait. All good, I went to the bar and enjoyed $5.50 rounds of Miller Lite and Jim Beam. Bar was small, maybe 15 seats, music was loud, service was friendly. Ended up only waiting a half hour for the table, and the bar was packed shoulder to shoulder when I gave up my seat.

Dinig room was quiet compared to the bar, white table cloths, maybe 30 tables if I was to guess. The smell of red sauce Italian, and garlic hit you as you sat down. Bred basket, olive oil and parmesan for dipping, friendly, but not rushed service followed.

I had to get fried chicken so I went with the 1/2 chicken "family style". basically a half fried chicken, a side of spaghetti and tortillini, choice of potato & a salad for under $12...

Salad was simple, iceberg lettuce with some red onion slices. The dressing,.. a cream roqufort that was really good. funky roquefort taste, it was great.

The fried chicken, excellent. Really a light version for fried chicken, light flavorfull batter/breading. Perfectly fried, not greasy. Chicken was juicy and perfectly cooked. A real old school version of fried chicken I enjoyed alot. Hashbrown potatoes were ordered crispy, and came out that way. Spaghetti and tort side was nice, I enjoyed their meat sauce quite a bit.

Also ordered was a side of fettucini alfredo, a decent version, not as creamy as I like. Also an order of stuffed shells. I liked these although I only had a couple bites. Nice filling, lots of cheese, flavorfull marinara.

Entrees seemed to be priced from abouit $11 on the low end, topping out at $25 for a steak. 3 menu specials last night, Osso Bucco, a chicken dish and a pasta dish.

Overall we came away very impressed, happy, and full. Great service, really good food, and a good deal. I think we spent around $50 for a night out.

basic salad with the great roquefort dressing:

magnificent fried chicken:

stuffed shells:

Verucchi's Ristorante

600 N. Greenwood

Spring Valley, IL.

815-663-6431

http://www.verucchis.com

Steak and Eggs with style

2010-11-24T17:39:00.000-08:00

Really needed a good dinner tonight. I have a long day of cooking tomorrow.

Grabbed some quail eggs @ Super H mart, also grabbed a decent T-bone steak from Ultra Foods.

Used some store bought hashbrowns, they alwyas are consistant.

Steak was pan fried to a mdium rare, and set aside. hash browns prepared on the griddle. The quail eggs done with butter in a sautee pan (2) sunnyside up & (2) overeasy. Eggs were brilliant, and they will be a constant staple in my fridge.

Sonoran Style Dog's

2010-11-20T09:39:00.001-08:00

Sonoran hot dogs have kind of caught my attention letely. I made a version a few months back using the smoker to cook the dogs, and used regular hot dog buns. I then had a pretty bad vresion @ Big Star in Chicago, an over the top version with rubbery bacon, and just way too much going on.

This time I decided to make my own bolillo bread from scratch as the vessel for the dog. Yeast, honey, salt, bread flour, and lard. The bolillo was glazed with a cornstarch mix before baking to give them a nice crust. These were great, and a nice first attempt. Kind of a sweet, chewy french bread that held up.

I used Daisy Brand natural casing hot dogs, that I wrapped in bacon & cooked on the griddle. Toppings were a 1/2 slice of American cheese, chopped onion, chopped tomato, jalapeno slices, pinto beans, sour cream, mayo & queso.

Really a brilliant version, the sum of its parts, and nothing to over the top. My bolillo came out small, so the dogs were cut in half, but these bite sized Sonoran dogs were top notch.

bolillo ingredients:
finished bolillo:

wapped dogs on the griddle:

sonoran dog:

Sonoran Dog:

One of those keeper recipes.

Shrimp and Tasso Pasta - II

2010-11-14T05:24:00.000-08:00

I had a cajun food exchange to go to yesterday, and fell back on a new favorite dish. This shrimp & tasso pasta dish is not traditional cajun, but more "new cajun". I pushed the envelope further and used some white fish roe, and trout roe as a garnish on top of a large shrimp on each plate.

Tasso is from a batch I made at home a few weeks ago, shrimp are freshwater 13-15 shrimp. I reserved 22 of these shrimp, and diced up the rest.

2 pints heavy cream
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp thyme
2 tbsp chopped garlic
2 lbs 13-15 shrimp
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp hungarian paprika
cajun seasoning to taste
fresh pasta
1# diced tasso ham
1/4 cup+ parsley
1/4 cup+ green onion
trout roe for garnish
white fish roe for garnish

Reduced the cream, added the tasso, and spices, and simmered for about 15 minutes. Added the whole shrimp, and 3 minutes later added the chooped shrimp. Cooked for a total of 6 minutes. Served over cooked pasta, garnished with the roe, and some parsley & green onion.

Turned out pretty good, I would have preferred the sauce a little thicker, but it was popping with flavor. Shrimp were tender, and the roe added some color to the dish, and some nice texture pops.

Sunda - Chicago - Part 2

2010-11-07T06:45:00.000-08:00

Crispy pata, braised pork shank that gets deep fried to finish... brilliant. Tender, great pork, crispy skin. Cant ask for anything more. This dish was amazing. Simple but amazing.:
Soup dumplings, supple dumpling filled with a flavorfull pork broth. Slightly spicy dipping sauce. A solid version. I just wish there ws more than 3 per order..:

closeups of the crispy pata:

the "ridiculous": tempura ice cream, vanilla ice cream, wrapped in carrot cake.. topped with walnuts, & carmel creme sauce... Really nice dessert and that comes from someone who has no use for dessert.:

Not a cheap dinner, but for a special occasion it was well worth it. A little over $180 for the 4 of us. Overall I came away impressed and very full. Got some ideas for some dishes I want to try at home.

Sunda does not get much love on forums I frequent, not sure why, perhaps its the hype, the scene there, or there are always going to be negative haters out there.... but we loved it. Different Strokes...

Sunda

110 W. Illinois

Chicago, IL.

http://www.sundachicago.com

Sunda - Chicago - Part 1

2010-11-07T06:27:00.001-08:00

Wanted to take my mom out for dinner for her b-day, was thinking steak and seafood til she said no steak or seafood. So I was looking for something different, had a reservation @ Girl & the Goat(too different), Sushi Samba Rio(too over the top), and settled on Sunda.

Sunda does fusion asian food from China, Japan, Indonesia, Korea, & the Phillipines. Interesting mix. Beautiful dining room, attentive, service from attractive staff. Sunda is where the celebrities eat when in town, and is a hot spot.

The food, not a dud among any itme we ordered.

The loompya, Filipino spring rolls, crispy and deep fried with a pork filling. Served with Boston bibb lettuce for wrapping the roll in and nuoc cham for dipping. A solid version as good as any I have had.:
Toast & Jam, an item my mom ordered thankfully, crisp shrimp toasts served with a tuna "jam". Really suprised I liked this, the tuna "jam" was mild with a slight kick. This dish really worked.:

seared American Kobe beef tartar, served over pan fried sushi rice, the beef was flavorfull, and raw and tasty inside. Beefy, and great:

Baked seafood dynamite roll, kani, scallop, ebi, roe, avacado, scallions, cucumber, dynamite sauce, etc.. kind of a sloppy roll, but good, spicy, and the seafood was excellent.:

Pancit Canton, I am a big fan of pancit, as we get it served at Filipino paries we go to. This versionw as thicker noodles, and was less flavorfull than others I have had. The star of this dish, and the entire meal was the pork belly on top. Crispy, tender, porky. Really simple preperation allowed the pork to shine. reminded me of some pork belly cracklings I did about a month ago. The pork belly here was brilliant:

Holy Mackerel - Yorktown

2010-11-06T07:55:00.001-07:00

Got a free night out Thursday and went for an oyster snack @ Holy Mackerel @ Yorktown. I have been here a few times before and always had a good meal. At the bar shared by harry Caray's and Holy Mackerel you can order off both menus which is nice. Expensive but prime beef @ HC's and seafood from Holy Mackerel.

Tonight was about oysters aas I didnt want to drop $50 on a steak.

Ordered the oyster sampler and was really blown away by the quality of the oysters served. 6 different oysters, different tastes, textures, etc., all brilliant. These oysters were as good or perhaps better than I have had @ Shaw's, etc. in Chicago.

oyster menu:
my favorite:

platter:

my favorite II:

tasty bite:

Holy Mackerel

70 Yorktown Shopping Ctr.

Lombard, IL. (Westin Hotel)

http://www.holymackerelseafood.com

Vietnames pork steaks, grilled shrimp, wings & Filipino garlic fried rice

2010-11-06T07:42:00.000-07:00

Prepped, cooked, and marinated all weekend for a blow out Halloween meal. Some Vietnamese style items(pork steaks, shrimp, wings). All marinated in basica Vietnamese marinades I tweaked(fish sauce, lemon grass, mirin, sugar, soy sauce, coke, garlic, etc.).

Pork steaks from Whole Paycheck were the pork offering, not bad $3.99/lb. Marinated overnight to allow the flavors to get in. Then grilled over high heat and served. Pretty good, next time Ill use bone in chops.

Wings came out very nice, marinated for a few hours in fish sauce, soay sauce, sugar, and a few other items. The color I got on these was amazing without any added sauce/glaze.

Shrimp were gilled in shell, and marinated for about an hour or so, high heat cook, turned out good as well.

All of the above was dipped in my homemade nuoc cham dipping sauce.

Filipino garlic fried rice, a new fgavorite, crisped up the chooped garlic in the wok, then added the day old rice and stir fried, topped with green onion and 2 sunnyside up eggs.

Quite a feast.

skewered marinated shrimp:
bveautiful wings:

both kettles in action:

my plate:

Bo La Lot - grilled betel leaf wrapped beef

2010-11-06T07:25:00.000-07:00

Had bo la lot for the first time a little over 2 weeks ago @ Pho Xua in Chicago. Really blew my mind, clean tastin, lots of flavors, etc. Just a brilliant item. I began my quest to cook bo la lot at home.

Betel leaves were located in Downers Grove at an Indian market, 10 piece for $2.

Filling is:

1# ground beef
3 cloves garlic chopped
1/4 white onion chopped
1 tbsp corn starch
1 tsp ginger
2 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp lemon grass

I put all this in the food processor & pulsed to change the texture to more of a filling. Then into the fridge for a few hours.

I rinsed the betel leaf, and put them shiny side down, and put about `.5 tbsp of filling per leaf, making a roll of the mix. LEaf was rolled up around the filling, with a little of the filling to seal the leaf.

Grilled for a few minutes until done, then brushed with some scallion/garlic oil I made. Served with leaf lettuce, carrot, cucumber, and serrano peppers for rolling. also Nuao Cham for dipping.

A real nuce version, and a great first attempt. Pho Xua has some flavors going on i didnt, but I have some ideas for the next batch.

filling in the betel leaf:
finished rolls:

on the Weber kettle:

finished and brushed with scallion/garlic oil:

flavorfull bite:

Ribs and shrimp cole slaw

2010-11-06T07:07:00.001-07:00

Had a taste for some bbq and colesalw this past Saturday. Grabbed up a small slab of bb pork ribs, and a bag of uncooked shrimp, cabbage, etc. for the slaw.

I wanted to do some different thigs with the ribs, and try some new techniques. I am borrowing a copy of Serious Grilling by Adam Perry Lang. I also marinated the ribs for a couple hours as well.

Marinade:
Apple juice
cider vinegar
worstershire

I used a thinned out mustard slather from the book as well for rubbing into the ribs, I really liked this thinned out mustard and will use it again.

Mustard slather:
yellow mustard
water
cider vinegar
worstershire

After marinating and rubbing the ribs with the mustard they got a healthy coat of my homemade rub mix, and onto the WSM that was powered by Coshell Coconut briquettes, and apple wood.

Technique from the book was 2 hours in the smoke, 1 hour foiled with a foiling mix(brown sugar, honey, apple juice), then rested in the foil for 20 minutes, and then unwrapped and finished on the smoker for an hour, galzed with sauce for the last 30 minutes. Results were prett good, marinade was such a short time I dont know what it did. Foiling blend really added a nice ycandy quality to the bark. Ribs were tender, but not mushy or fall off the bone like alot of foiled pork. Bark was nice, and the ribs had a nice taste of apple, and the cherry wood I kissed them with to finish.

If I was to foil again, i would use this method, results were good. But I am typically a no foil, let the smoker do its work, no sauce kind of guy. But bbq is about getting out there and doing it, maybe trying new things, and keeping an open mind.

Shrimp Coleslaw - a great variation on a classic. Added texture and flavor, this will be my go to coleslaw recipe.

It was the favorite thing I made all last weekend, and I cooked all day each day. I used my homemeade salw dressing recipe(cant share that), and tweaked it with some dijon mustard. Shrimp were boiled in their shell using the Joy of Cooking basic boiled shrimp recipe. Once done they were cooled and peeled, then chopped in half. Slaw is cabbage chopped in the food prcessor, diced onion, diced red pepper, black pepper and horseradish. Combined, refrigerated and served.

bb's rubbed and just on the WSM:
Shrimp Cole Slaw:

Post foil:

done, resting:

mercy:....

Crab & Bok Choy Stir fry w/ lobster ramen & shrimp crepes

2010-11-06T06:52:00.000-07:00

Grabbed some items from down on Argyle street for an Asian themed Sunda supper 2 weeks ago. Some oyster sauce, and dim sum style shrimp crepes & ramen with lobster broth were obtained. Crab and bok choy were gotten @ Caputo's.

SImple prep, chopped the bok choy, and steamed the crab legs. Once done I tossed them all in the sizzling wok with garlic, and then added some oyster sauce towards the end. Simple but great.

Dim Sum style shrimp crepes, steamed these until tender, and then drizzled a litte oyster sauce on top. Really good side. TRhe crepe is tender, and has a unique texture. Ramen was simple prep, drained and plated.

A great Sunday supper:

bok choy:
oyster sauce:

in the wok:

Dim Sum shrimp crepe:

Plated:

asian groceries:

Viet Hoa Plaza

1051 W. Argyle

Chicago, IL.

Pho Xua - Chicago II

2010-11-06T06:32:00.000-07:00

I dont claim to be an expert of Vietnamese food, but I know I like it, and where I like to eat. Pho Xua on Argyle is my favorite. Great service, good to great food, and BYOB, cant beat it. Hosted a b-day party for my daughter here a couple weeks ago, and the event came off without a hitch. Good friends, family and alot of fun. 18 people, tons of food for $12 per person, cant beat it. Here are the stars of the meal:

bo la lot(grilled betel wrapped beef) - our friend My-Hien recommended this dish for the menu and it was my favorite. One of these rolls wrapped in a lettuce leaf with some veg and dipped in nuoc cham was an explosion of flavors:

Goi Du Du(papya salad with pork and shrimp) - great version imho, different textures, subtle fish sauce back notes, simple but nice:

Tom Rang Muoi Tieu(salt and pepper shrimp with shell) - a solid version, finger looking good, perfectly cooked:

Mango beef, a surprise of the night, i ordered mango pork, but this dish came out instead. Glad it didm it was probably my 2nd favorite item, and a dish I will order again.:

Gia Dau Hoa Lan Xau Toi(pea sprouts with garlic), simple stirfried pea sprouts and garlic, another simple prepeation that was great.:

Pho Xua

1020 W. Argyle

Chicago, IL.

http://www.phoxuarestaurant.com

Cemita's - Chicago

2010-11-06T05:59:00.000-07:00

A return visit to Cemita's Puebla a couple weekends ago reinforced my opinion that the cemita sandwich is the best sandwich in Chicago. I have enjoyed different variations on previous visits, and love the Atomica. this visit was a light lunch so I went with the carne enchelada cemita(marinated and grilled butterflied pork chop. The bread the cemita is served on is great, chewy, and flavorfull topped with seeds(sesame?). Holds up to the ingredients, avacado spread, and a mound of cheese. With the hot sauces at the table this sandwich is perfection. we also had some chalupa appetizer(cheese topped tortillas), 2 al pastor tacos, and 1 carne asada taco. Al pastor was ok, carne asada was really good. We should have gotten some of the tacos arabes which are another favorite here. Mexican Coke in bottles, friendly service, just a great Chicagoland spot.

Cemita's:

Part of the menu board:

chalupas appetizer:

al pastor tacos:

cemita:

Cemita's Puebla

3619 W. North Ave.

Chicago, IL.

http://www.cemitaspuebla.com

Shrimp and tasso pasta

2010-10-17T16:23:00.000-07:00

Cajun/creole cooking has taken over my conscience. I still love to smoke meats, and cajun food allows for that. But the simple, yet brilliant flavos of cajun/creole cooking has captured my imagination.

Tonight was another version of a basic shrimp and tasso pasta. Basically a tasso and shrimp alfredo. I used shell on, head on shrimp, and peeled, deveined, and de headed the shrimp. Also some of my home smoked tasso. While checking out the shrimp I could see the roe and butter throught the heads. I reserved some for future dishes and set aside 6 for a garnish. I steamed the heads and had them ready for when the dish was ready.

Simply 1 pint heavy cream simmered down, thyme, basil, garlic, and tasso simmered for 10 minutes. Shrimp added, as well as parsley. Simple yet great. Shrimp heads sucked like a crawfish head to yield their red butter, just a great garnish(some deep fried ones are in my future for sure).

Shrimp Uggie

2010-10-17T06:52:00.000-07:00

Cajun/Creole cooking is some of my favorite items to cook. Lots of flavor, some heat, and typically easy to make.

I found a recipe for a dish called Shrimp Uggie, a famous dish from he now closed Uglesich's in NOLA. A spicy shrimp dish wth chunks of potatoes in almost a chutney sauce.

I started this recipe a week ago to ge the marinade/sauce right.

Sauce ingredeints:
1.5 cups olive oil
1/2 cup ketchup(non hfcs)
2.5 oz. Melinda's XXX hot sauce
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp red pepper flakes
2 tsp paprika
1 green pepper diced
1/2 red onion diced
1 tbsp parsley.

During the week I stirred it a few times, and got it too room temp before using it yesterday. I also skimmed most of the oil off the top leaving a thick, chunky sauce.

Preperation was simple, i got some head on, shell on shrimp from Chinatown, defrosted them, and then got the wok up to temp. I cubed some red potatoes and steamed them until tender and reserved. I put the sauce in the wok, then quickly added the shrimp, cooked them abot 3 minutes, then added the potatoes for maybe 2 minutes. Didh was done. Added some black peper and salt to taste and served topped with some chopped green onions next to some steamed rice.

Really nice dish, head on shrimp worked great, lots of flavor, perfectly cooked, and popping with flavor. this recipe is a keeper.

Uggie sauce:
shrimp just added:

sauce, shrimp and potaotes:

plated:

Heads Up.

2010-10-13T12:21:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to give a heads up, I wont have any new food posts for a couple weeks as we are getting a new laptop at home. We should have the new laptop by the first weekend in November.

I wont be idle those couple of weeks, I will be eating out, cookign at home, and of course snapping pictures. I have some more cajun items in the pipeline, also some bbq(I feel a few slabs of bb ribs coming up), as well as planned visits to Phu Xua, Sushi Samab Rio and others in the next couple weeks. Look for those posts.

Ive got some real special dining out adventures planned for the next couple months and will share them here. I dont want to tip my hand though.

Thanks as always for reading my blog.

Tasso Ham

2010-10-09T10:16:00.000-07:00

Tasso ham, a stape in cajun recipes. I read up a bit this past week mixing and matching a bunch of recipes I saw. End result was great, smokey, and hot.

I purchased a bone in pork butt from Sages Meat Market in Morris, IL. Local, fresh pork, an important key to doing all bbq but especially important when curing. I deboned the butt, and then sliced the pork against the grain into 1.5" - 2" slices. I then applied a mix of tenderquick, allspice, brown sugar and marjoram. With the Tendequick I did not exceed the 1 tbsp. per lb. limit. I put the cure coevered slices in the fridge for 4 hours, then rised them off. Next step was put them on a sheet pan on a wire rack. Back in the fridge uncovered for 3 days. Texture changed over that time, firming them up, and slightly drying the meat. So kind of a quick cure, and a dry cure method.

I whipped up the rub, id like to keep some ingredients to myself, but the main ingredients were equal parts allspice, marjoram, cayenne pepper and white pepper. Other things were added to my tastes. Slices were heavily rubbed as I wanted a good crust.

Into the WSM, charcoal and pecan chips. I burried a foil pack of the pecan chips in the charcoal, and added chips as needed during the smoke to keep the pecan TBS pumping. Total batch took about 3 hours, some of the thicker pieces longer than others. Most were pulled at around 155 degrees internal. WSM temp was below 200 degrees the whole time.

End result was great, pink meat, not too salty, not too smokey, and nice and hot. This method for me is a keeper and will be used again.

I now have over 5 lbs. of tasso ham, some to share, some to toss in the freezer, and some for dinner tonight. I am pretty happy right now.

Sliced butt after cure and 3 days in the fridge:

rubbed and on the WSM:

sliced tasso:

sliced tasso II:

Lillies' Q - Chicago Part II

2010-10-05T16:51:00.000-07:00

Lillie's Q, my favorite bbq spot in Chicago. I payed a visit with some friends on Saturday for a quick snack, and i was once again impressed with what they are doing. There are alot of haters out there, and alot of folks who have no idea what good bbq is, and they seem to spout off alot. Charlie(the pitmaster @ Lillie's Q) is a bbq champion with a pedegree, and folks I know who live bbq respect and like what he is doing.

The pulled pork he does is brialliant, what anyone should shoot for. I turn out a pretty good pork shoulder/butt myself, but Lillies; Q pulled pork is the best around, the best. His ribs are foiled, and different than what i do, but they are still great. BBQ is for sharing and trying other folks styles, so I can appreciate Lillies' Q's ribs for what they are. A real nice version of his vision.

Moonshine shots, PBR cans, and a nice vibe, I love Lillies' Q.

PBR and some moonshine:
side o' grits:

side o' fried pickles:

pulled pork:

pork and ribs:

Hit this place.

Chicago Food Planet Tour - Bucktown/Wicker Park I

2010-10-03T08:37:00.000-07:00

http://www.chicagofoodplanet.com/

Got invited to spend a few hours on a Saturday to do a Chicago Food Planet food tour. Decided the Bucktown/Wicker Park tour was my speed. Tour started @ 11:30 a.m. on a chilly, and sometimes rainy early October day. A group of 16 folks from around the country and some from Chicagoland like myself. I was interested to do this tour as the Bucktown/Wicker Park area is a place I eat out in occasionally, and wanted to see some things that you wont see unless you get out and walk the neighborhood.

Stop #1 was George's Hot Dogs, a fine example of a Chicago style dog. Vienna beef, fresh cut tomatoes, a spicy sport pepper, etc. A solid version, and a piece of history as George's has been doing hot dogs's since 1948. I'd go back here again, get a hot dog, and maybe a gyros, or a burger.

George's:

"Chicago Style" Hot Dog:

Stop #2 was Hot Chocolate, a place I had heard of but has never been on my radar. I had heard of their chef, and her numerous James beard awards, but mistakenly only thought this was a dessert place. Now I know they have a full menu. Hot Chocolate was packed this day, and there was a wait. I wasn't that excited prior to the visit that the food sample was going to be a cup of hot chocolate. However with the chilly damp weather it was a godsend. Also it was brilliant, served with a house made marshmallow I loved it. Reflecting back being not a dessert, sweets eater the 2 favorite things I ate were the hot chocolate and later on the ice cream from iCream. I could see returning to Hot Chocolate some time in the future to eat. After looking at their menu and knowing Chef Mindy's credentials.

Hot Chocolate:

Hot Chocolate & housemade marshmallow:

Stop # 3 was Goddess and Grocer, probably my least favorite stop of the tour. I don't like to be negative on my blog, so I will just say I was not impressed with the pasta salad sampler we received. Shop was interesting, kind of a gourmet market with many prepared entrees and salads.

Goddess & Grocer:

http://www.chicagofoodplanet.com/

George's Hot Dog's

1876 N. Damen

Chicago, IL.

http://www.georgeshotdogs.com/

Hot Chocolate

1747 N. Damen

Chicago, IL.

http://www.hotchocolatechicago.com/

Goddess & Grocer

1646 N. Damen Ave.

Chicago, IL.

http://www.goddessandgrocer.com/