Many years ago, some wiseguy Polish dude invented these evil things called paczkis. Then the idea came to feed them to everyone on Fat Tuesday.
My officemate Glenn brought in two dozen of these things, and decided to drop them in my space. So I've been smelling these plump, fat-rich sugar bombs all day. I managed to stay away from all but two of them, so my will power may be dented, but it's still intact.
Man, Krispy Kremes yesterday and these today. I'd better get to the gym.
Our bestest buddy RB took us to Lou Mitchell's for a late breakfast today. One cheddar cheese omelet the size of a Toyota later, and I'm ready for a nap.
No Milk Duds for the ladies today, though-- they had Tootsie Rolls instead.
I got this cool software for my iPod called Anapod Explorer. It essentially allows you to treat your iPod like an extra hard drive, and best of all you're able to copy songs to and from your iPod to your computer, which iTunes and Windoze don't allow. I just repopulated my music directory on my laptop. It also has this feature where it turns your iPod into a little music webserver, so you can play tunes off your iPod through a browser.
A bit more work to do before that Friday-afternoon-productivity-slide kicks in...
I took the kids to see Ella Enchanted this evening. They really liked it, so mission accomplished. It was a cute fairy tale, although they recognized bits of Shrek, The Princess Bride, and Cinderella in it. Good to see Eric Idle again, playing the narrator. And Carey Elwes plays sort of the opposite type of character he played in Princess Bride.
The webcam has been on and off for the past couple of days, so click the button up on top to see the latest of what's going on inside the recently-refinanced pad.
I enjoyed a lovely Italian Beef at Portillo's. While I was sitting there, listening to the guy behind me hacking up a lung, I realized that when I eat in restaurants I always face the door. At first I thought it was some alpha-thing, and then I remembered where it came from.
When I was at UIC, I had a friend named Karen who lived in one of the rougher neighborhoods of Chicago. Sometimes we'd have lunch at one of the restaurants on Taylor Street, and one day I sat with my back to the door. She told me that her boyfriend René (a CTA bus driver) always faced the door "because you never know." Being the naïve suburban kid I was, I asked "'You never know' what?" She looked at me very seriously and said, "Because... you never know."
So for whatever reason, since that day in 1982, I always sit facing the door. 'Cause you never know.
I have no idea how I missed this one.
Here's a recipe for biscuits that you may want to try in a well-ventilated area. Do yourself a favor and watch the slideshow for the full effect.
(Credit for the title above goes to NPR's Peter Sagal.)
The other night, I had dinner at my favorite restaurant in the world. "Thank You" to the HQ.
We decided to do the "Chef's Tasting," which is a five-course meal accompanied by wines the chef matches to each course. The whole thing was amazing: I barely remember getting back to my car afterwards.
Randy Zweiban, the executive chef at Nacional 27, wasn't in that night (he'd already left). In his place, according to our server Charles, was "Number Two." I envisioned Robert Wagner in a chef's hat preparing our dinner. The menu was Randy's, though.
I spoke to Number One the next day, and he emailed me the menu, so I've posted it here.
The only thing I missed out on was a caipirinha. And they make 'em the right way (with cachaça-- no vodka!). It was a little too cold for that, anyway.
For you out-of-towners: if you're ever here, check this place out. It's definitely worth it.
Yes, I made it to the cycling class this morning. Aileen led the class, and while she can be a lot of fun, I think she was determined to put us through our paces. My legs are still recharging.
Here are the usual instructors, so when I refer to them in the future, you'll know of whom I speak. At the top of that page, you can see a little bit of the room where I put myself through this. The difference is that the lights are usually out.
The Silent Film Society of Chicago is starting their 2004 season, tonight featuring Madame DuBarry starring Pola Negri. I was thinking about going to see it, but I'll probably use the time to catch up on other things.
I will be stopping to see my pal Mitch (scroll down to where it says "Under the Tuscan Sunset") for a wine tasting, though. I'm amazed at how much I've learned about wines in the few months I've been stopping by the shop.
I mentioned yesterday that I was planning in stopping at Tuscan Market, and I did.
Mitch always has wine tastings in the afternoons, and I'm something of a straight man for him. When he sees me coming towards the store, he pours a tasting of wine and when I walk in the door he hands it to me without looking at me. Never fails to crack up whoever else is there at the tasting.
Last night I learned what an "Old Vine Zinfandel" is. Evidently, when this type of grapevine gets old (as in 125+ years), it becomes really gnarly and is difficult (hence unnecessary) to maintain. These vines are commonly found in mining areas, where the miners didn't have the time to work the vines at all, until it was time to harvest the grapes. Then they'd pick them and make wine. Now all these wine companies are seeking out real estate in old mining ghost towns to look for the old vines.
The couple of wines he had last night were good, if you like dark zinfandels. As I sit here I can't remember the name of the one I liked better, but if it comes to me I'll post it.
Sorry if that was a short trip nowhere, but you learned something today, I hope.
Today I was back at the store for a beer tasting. Yay! He had a couple of beers from some local guys-- Two Brothers Brewery, whose "Prairie Path Ale" is an excellent Belgian-style beer, and it's named after a really cool bike path that's nearby. The others ranged from pale ales all the way to a chocolate and a vanilla stout. The one I came home with, though, was Left Hand Sawtooth Ale, which seems like it'll be a good summer beer. This stuff is brewed in Colorado.
There seems to be a lot of alcohol in this posting. Oh well, it was educational at least.
Just a quick note to let you guys know that Mr. Red Eye wasn't at his post this morning. And I was all primed for it, too. Maybe tomorrow.
Another quick thing about more evil in the world of food. Some of you are aware that I have a desk drawer known as "The Land of Chocolate" where I keep a stock of things suitable for bribes, thank yous, and edible trajectory devices. The other day I was at Costco and bought one of those thirty-five pound bags of the Hershey's Miniatures, and as you can see from the picture, the supply is almost depleted. I become a very popular guy when the LOC is open for business. I also hear the words "damn you" an awful lot when the drawer is opened.
Thanks to Liz and Bob, my favorite breakfast place in the world will now be regularly packed. Oh well, good things are meant to be shared; I suppose it was time.
On a side note, if you do a Google search for "Ywwouurrrrrrdaaaarrrrgghhhhreeeeeedahhhhhhhhrahhheeeerrrrrrre" you come up with this weblog. Not that you'd be searching for that, you know, on a whim or anything.
I figured I'd make some breakfast.
1. Are pancakes okay with you?
2. I'll squeeze these if you like.
3. Mmmmm. Paaancaaaakes. (We can open the wine later.)
4. And don't make fun of the contents of my bachelor-guy fridge.
Next time, I'll do my world-famous waffles or, even better, my legendary french toast.
Dinner time.
I've got an idea: we'll stop at Chin's for Szechuan Chicken. It looks mild tonight, but maaan.
We have another visitor from the east here, and last night we enjoyed The Berghoff, another great Chicago tradition (and place of good house beer). Wiener schnitzel all around-- for side dishes, I opted for the creamed spinach, Don went for the beets, and Chris did spaetzle. I've gotta stay in touch with my roots every once in a while, mein Freund.
McDonald's introduced this new thing called the "Go Active! Happy Meal for Adults." Glenn and I discovered it this morning while we were at The Worst McDonald's in the World.
This must be their response to all the criticism over allegedly causing obesity. ("Honestly, your honor, they made me buy the Supersized Fries and they stuck an IV in my arm when I walked in and they squished those Shamrock Shakes through!") It consists of a premium salad, a bottle of water, a "walking tips booklet," and a "Stepometer™."
It was the "Stepometer™" that set Glenn off in a way I've only occasionally seen. We're in line, ready to order artery-clogging breakfast-ish things, and he starts his rant: "So, this company thinks that we're all too stupid to know what a pedometer is??" I pointed out that this was probably a cute little marketing thing for McD's, and he came back with "No-- sorry, it doesn't work that way. It's a freaking pedometer. I don't care what they call it."
I told Glenn he needs to get a blog setup so he can rant publicly to more than a handful of fast-food devotees.
We'd attracted enough attention by that point, so they gave us our food and we left. Come to think of it, they were faster than usual today, so bonus for us.
Unrelated, uncategorized update:
Red Eye Guy has been at his post the past few days, but he seems to be stuck on that "Ywwouurrrrrrdaaaarrrrgghhhhreeeeeedahhhhhhhhrahhheeeerrrrrrre..." thing I was telling you about. If he gets a different script, I'll share it here.
Last night, I was invited to a beer tasting at the Labatt USA Beer Academy. Yeah, I know: rough gig.
The tasting featured four European beers, so we were in the "European Bar." The beers were, in order: Stella Artois, Hoegaarden, Leffe, and Boddington's. Interstitials (including cheese, sausage, bread, crackers) were provided by Mary Ellen and Courtney at Urban Harvest.
There were about 20 of us, and we were each given a placemat with descriptions of the four beers along with a "Beer 101" guide which told us how to taste a beer. I've transcribed the guide on the next page: it's good information to have. And I left all the Canadian spelling.
Here's my feedback on what we tasted:
Stella Artois: I've had this before. It's a light lager (brewed in Leuven, Belgium, since 1366) which has the aforementioned strong hop character. It's good, and probably a nice alternative to Miller Lite. It's not something I would go out of the way to order.
Hoegaarden Wheat Ale: This was my favorite of the bunch. From Hoegaarden, Belgium, since 1445. It's got more body than the Stella, but there's also a lot more going on here. It reminded me of a beer I had (like I'll remember the name) at a beer garden in Frankfurt. It has a definite European flavor to it.
Leffe Abbey Ale: 6.6% alcohol by volume. Say no more. Okay, let's say a little more. This one goes back to the year 1240, where a bunch of monks started making this (in presumably what is now Belgium). This was the "polarizer" of the bunch: people either loved it or hated it. I thought it was great at first, then I really didn't like it. By the end of the evening, I was back to liking it again. (And this was after only one glass of this stuff.) There is a heck of a lot going on in this one, a combination of sweet, clove, and other full-bodied flavors. I can't really compare it to anything I've had before, because it's not as full-bodied as a heavier ale, but it's got more flavor than any other lighter-colored ale I've tasted.
Boddington's Pub Ale: From Manchester since 1778, this is one of those nitrogenated ales where the tiny bubbles appear to travel downwards along the side of the glass. This is probably the best thing about Boddington's. I don't really get this ale. Those of you who know me know that my favorite beer these days is Harp, and the only reason I went in that direction in the first place was because my previous favorite, Caffrey's Irish Ale, is no longer available in this country. Caffrey's is a nitrogenated ale with a great balance of flavors, similar to Harp, only creamier. Boddington's is like a K-Mart house brand version of Caffrey's. And I don't mean to dis K-Mart, what with their bankruptcy and Martha Stewart problems and all. Needless to say, this was my least favorite of the group.
After the tasting, we went to Urban Harvest for some cherry- and raspberry-infused ales, neither of which were really stellar (although the cherry one went remarkably well with the chocolate truffles served along with it). Then it was off to Peggy's for a Harp.
There's supposed to be another event in about 6 weeks, so I'll keep you posted.
The other day I had my first experience with Dippin' Dots. For years, I've seen vending machines and little stands selling this stuff, and on Sunday I decided to give it a try.
The idea behind Dippin' Dots is that they're hyper-frozen tiny balls of ice cream that are served by scooping them into a cup. ("Scoop" as in a dry kind of scoop, like you see at a candy counter or at the feed store-- not an ice cream scoop.) (And I have no idea where the concept of "the feed store" came from, considering I've never actually been in one, so just go with it.) They come in all sorts of flavors, similar to your familiar Baskin-Robbins' selections. I opted for the "Rainbow Ice."
The experience of popping a spoonful of these little things in your mouth is akin to having a dozen or so tiny metal December flagpoles dropped on your tongue all at once, and then, after the few moments it takes them to thaw and for the pain to go away, you get the ice cream flavor. It's sort of a neat experience (in a masochistic way) the first couple of tastes, and then it's just annoying and unsatisfying.
According to the company's website, Dippin' Dots were created by a research microbiologist named Curt Jones. (Mr. Jones' area of specialty is cryogenics-- hmmm, is "Austin Powers' Mojo" the next flavor? Or is Walt Disney somehow involved?) In any case, it's another case of something discovered on the job contributing to the general public's amusement (q.v. Superballs and Silly Putty).
Anyway, Mr. Jones decided to apply the technique of hyper-freezing to ice cream bits, and he gave the world Dippin' Dots.
Here's a bit of hype from the company's web site about the whole concept:
Not only had Curt discovered how to instantly freeze ice cream, his product proved to be much more flavorful and richer than regular ice cream. You see, the super-cold freezing proved to cryogenically lock in both flavor and freshness in a way that no other ice cream could offer!
I don't buy a word of this. Everyone knows that the colder something gets, the less you actually taste of it. And the fact is when the little beads finally do melt, they taste okay-- not "more flavorful and richer," just okay. There's not a lot of "ice cream" flavor to it: it really falls under the general taste category of "candy." The Rainbow Ice reminded me a lot of those candy necklaces my kids like; it wasn't really fruity like a good sherbet, nor was it creamy. So thumbs-down on the concept of "Ice Cream of the Future" from a mouth experience standpoint.
I have to admit, though, that it's a genius-level proposition from the seller's standpoint: it's sold in coolers like ice cream, but there's virtually no mess because the product is, for all intents and purposes, dry. If there are any spills, the cleanup tool is a broom, not a sticky rag. I imagine shipping this stuff is incredibly easy, too-- pack everything in dry ice and you're all set.
And this stuff seems to be insanely popular. There's always a line at the stands I've seen. So thumbs-up if you're a potential franchisee.
Thankfully, I have an Oberweis Dairy right down the street from me, and they serve ice cream the way it should be: sweet, sticky, and right at that perfect temperature where the melting process has already begun. Now that's what I'm talking about.
Today is Chris' birthday, so we let him pick where we would have lunch. He chose Peppers.
The charm of this place is that it's small, dumpy, limited in its menu, and relatively quick. The food tastes okay when you're eating it (I had a double cheesburger with everything-- the burgers are flame broiled-- and fries), but a little while later, you tend to remember why this is a once-a-quarter event.
'Nuff said. Next topic:
We walked back to the office and there was a band playing in the plaza at the building across the street. As we approached, we heard a respectable version of "Sweet Home Alabama," which was okay for a song I've heard a kabillion times, then it morphed into Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London." Nice segue, and I never realized it had the same bassline. After a verse or two, it further morphed into the Grateful Dead's "Franklin's Tower," again with the same bassline. Then all three songs got squished together. It was a neat musical stream-of-consciousness in an overplayed-classic-rock kind of way. All this was courtesy of a group called Maryann and the Professors.
Moving on with the afternoon now.
Suppose you're wandering around Greenland and you get a hankering for some really good Chinese food. Well, you no longer have to dream about the place around the corner back home: you can just mosey over to the Misigisaq Restaurant.
The menu is interesting, and as far as appetizers go I'm torn between the “Love at First Sight caribou meat on little sticks" or "Numbing Spicy Musk Ox." I'm willing to bet the seafood is seriously good, though.
And once I get tired of doing what I'm doing with my life, I may just open a franchise of this place.
The next time you fly to Europe, ask for a parachute about halfway through the flight. When they ask you why, just tell them you need some good Greenlandic-Chinese carryout.
--
Tangentally related to restaurants: I was getting my bagel downstairs and they were playing Rickie Lee Jones' "Danny's All-Star Joint" overhead. I forgot what a cool song this is, so here it is.
Lisa was in town for the weekend, so in addition to all the other running around doing Chicago-ish and Arlington-ian things, we did a Chef's Tasting at Nacional 27.
As always, it was awesome. The food was matched with some great wines, and there were a few unexpected twists. It's all on the next page.
Afterwards, we did our best on the Salsa dance floor. It was crowded enough that even if we did look dorky (which I'm sure we didn't) nobody would have noticed.
Thanks again to Randy for a great dining adventure.
Mega-lunch day today. We went to Manny's Deli and maaan, what an experience. I remembered that they gave you a lot of food, but I forgot that it was a lot of food.
I had a cup of matzo ball soup, a pastrami on rye that was at least twice as big as anything you'd get at, say, the overrated Potbelly, and a ginormous potato pancake. Yes, a whole lotta food for lunch.
I looked around for the defibrillator but sadly, none was in sight. A group of people from the Chicago Fire Academy were nearby, so we were protected on some level. The Academy is about two blocks away.
(Tangent: The Chicago Fire Academy stands on the spot where Mrs. O'Leary's Barn stood until a certain night in 1871.)
Glenn had a corned beef on rye, and Chris went for some sort of turkey focaccia thing. Here they are post-meal. Note the happy, satisfied grins.
By the time we were done, guilt had set in. We walked back to the office. :-)
On Saturday afternoon, we went to the Chicago Beer Society's 7th Annual Brewpub and Microbrewery Shootout.
This was a very cool event: 16 brewpub/restaurants from the Chicago area set up tables in a huge room at the Irish-American Heritage Center on Chicago's Northwest Side, where they had samplings of their beers and food. We, as attendees, were asked to try each establishment's goods and rate them on: (a) favorite beer; (b) favorite food; and (c) favorite food/beer pairing. Here is a link to the winners.
Both Lisa and I picked The Onion Pub & Brewery's Sand Hill Pilsner as our favorite beer. My favorite pairing was the short loin from the Chicago Rock Bottom with their Robust Porter (also the overall pairing winner from the votes), and my favorite food was the Irish Bread Pudding from Govnor's Public House in Lake in the Hills. Honorable mentions for the food go to Emmett's in West Dundee for their venison loin with cherry sauce, and Prairie Rock of Elgin for the sesame scallops.
In spite of the huge crowd and the occasional person bumping into another, the atmosphere was very jovial. I guess all that good stuff had an effect on the attendees. I ran into Chris from the EMS days, and once I thought about it, I shouldn't have been surprised that he was there-- he's always been a beer expert.
We'll be hitting more of these events, I am sure.
If you'll remember last year's posting about Pączkis... well, today being Fat Tuesday, Glenn did it again. I had a dozen of these things sitting in my cube at about 9:00 am, and it's now about 3:00 pm and there are three and half left (yeah, a half...). I only had one today, so I am already ahead of the game from last year.
Happy Mardi Gras, whether you're partying in New Orleans, Rio de Janeiro, Venice, or anywhere else in the world.
On the next page, we have the lyrics for Tribalistas' "Carnavalia." I thought I posted the lyrics here before, but I guess I didn't. Anyway, today it's an appropriate song, since it's about (oddly enough) Carnaval.
Saturday night, we went to The Hot House for a Brazilian Baile de Carnaval, which is a traditional ball held on the Saturday before Easter Sunday.
The Hot House is a not-for-profit performance space just south of downtown Chicago. They host a lot of jazz and international artists, and it's just the right size so the music sounds great, yet there's room to move around.
The event featured Brazilian food catered by Jorgina Pereira and Sinhá Elegant Cuisine. Served buffet style, the main course was Xinxim de Galinha, a delicious sauteed chicken dish served with peanuts and cashews. It was served over (or maybe next to-- my plate was pretty loaded) a bed of rice with black beans and sausage along with boiled greens and a saffron-couscous-type of side dish. It was amazing. Dessert was a layer cake with an Easter lamb cake on top of it.
Years ago, Jorgina held "events" in her home which were basically large dinner parties. These were really cool evenings where people from all over Chicago would come to be part of a group (of about 30) who would eat great Brazilian food and drink caipirinhas and guarana. I'd been hoping to run across her again, and I was glad to see that her catering business was becoming more successful.
The first round of entertainment was provided by Edilson Lima, a samba dancer and instructor. He and his female dancers were in full Carnaval dress, and after their first round of performing (accompanied by the house DJ) they gave the crowd a samba lesson. Yeah, we had a little trouble keeping up. Lima knew how to work the crowd though-- he was one of those guys who's trouble while holding a microphone. He and his group came out a few times, in other carnaval outfits as well as in street clothes.
Later in the evening, Chicago Samba took the stage and performed Brazilian pop classics like "Mas Que Nada" as well as some slower, jazzier numbers. They finished up their first set with an extended carnival samba percussion piece that had the walls and floor of the place-- along with most of the crowd-- moving.
They said this may become an annual event. It's certainly a cool way to spend the night before Easter.
I just noticed on Edilson Lima's web site that they posted photos of Saturday night's event. Go to this page and scroll down to "Alleluia Baila de Carnival hosted by Jorgina Pereira."
And now for your "Easter Egg," if you'll pardon the expression: look in the third-from-the-bottom photo, all the way to the left. Note the guy in the black shirt. The lady to the right has a sliver of blue over her left shoulder--- that belongs to someone really special. :-)
Last night, we went with Liz and Bob to the 12th Annual Chef's Fest at Arlington Park. This event is sponsored by the Greater Woodfield Convention and Visitor's Bureau, who brought together over 60 restaurants, hotels, schools, a zoo, and a baseball team to set up booths with samples of their food.
We arrived about 45 minutes after it started, and the place was packed. It was tough to decide where to start, so we just decided to dive in and grabbed some shrimp cocktail at one of the hotels' booths. From there on, it was nonstop samples for the next couple of hours.
In no particular order (well, Lisa can vouch for what was first on her list), our favorites included the Chocolate Fountain from the Sheraton, creme brulee from the Woodfield Hyatt, Mai-Tais from The Bamboo Room, apple cider donuts (aka "autumnal donuts") from Long Grove Confectionery, Guinness-cheese soup from The Curragh, spicy chicken wings from Irie Jamaican Cafe, wine from Lynfred Winery, crab rangoon and spring rolls from Taste of Thai, Bananas Foster from The Barn of Barrington, and crawfish etoufee and a chocolate pastry thing from Pappadeaux.
Brookfield Zoo's cafe had a booth (fill in all the easy jokes here) with a really cool watermelon carving of the Mona Lisa, and the Schaumburg Flyers' booth featured hot dogs. Harper College and DePaul University had samples of the food from their hospitality programs (don't even start with jokes about tater tots and Salisbury Steak).
Two hours later, we were all ready for a nap. I challenged Bob to one lap around the track but he chickened out-- I know I could have taken him.
Not only was this a great way to spend an evening, but it also gave us a bunch of new restaurants to add to our queue.
Behold two versions of a Milky Way bar: the top one is from my local European grocery store, and was made in Poland. The lower one is the plain ol' US version from the Jewel.
When I first visited Europe in the early 1990s, I was surprised to see several different versions of Milky Way bars for sale there-- whereas in the States we have Three Musketeers, Snickers, Mars, and two versions of Milky Way (light and dark), in Europe they brand all these bars as different versions of "Milky Way."
This one is a Three Musketeers equivalent. Aside from being smaller, it's less chocolate-y and more nougat-y than its American counterpart, and closer in taste to the way I remember Three Musketeers bars as a kid. The chocolate shell on this one, as with most European chocolate, is much smoother and less waxy than the American version. Delicious.
The side of the label says "Cosmically Light:"
Yes, it's all over the news: Twinkies are 75 years old.
I'll forgo the jokes about how the ones at the newsstand across the street from me are probably originals (BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA) or how there's probably one in the basement of St. Emily's that's still good after I left it there in seventh grade (BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA). I might as well launch into "What's the deal with taxi drivers who don't speak English? I mean, HEY!" (BADUMP-BUMP). Thank you, I'll be here all week.
Now that I've got that out of my system, back to Twinkies.
My favorite childhood memory of Twinkies involves taking them out of the freezer and eating the cake around the nearly-frozen center, leaving the "tower of synthetic icing" for my enjoyment. (Freezing the Twinkie could also be accomplished by waiting at a cold bus stop for a while in the winter.)
In 1989, Spy magazine ran an article by Jane and Michael Stern called "Twinkie, Twinkie, Little Suet-Filled Spongecake Crisco Log, Now I Know Just What You Are." The article gave an analysis of the Twinkie, discussed its natural and semi-natural properties, and gave the results of several New York pastry chef's attempts at creating a "small yellow sponge cake with cream filling." A portion of the Sterns' article has been posted hundreds of times to the Internet (it's on the next page): it's a discussion of a series of scientific tests under which the Twinkie was put, and the results that were gathered.
In 1995, some students from Rice University decided to take these experiments, perform them themselves, and document their findings on a web site. The results can be found at the T.W.I.N.K.I.E.S. Project Web Site, which, in a show of a sense of humor, is hosted by Interstate Brands, manufacturer of Twinkies.
When Becky was in third grade, her teacher made this one of the class' science units. Who says kids aren't getting a quality education these days?
More fun facts about Twinkies:
Fascinating.
Now head down to the 7-11 and get a two-pack and celebrate today.
Last night we tried the new Bangkok Café (or, according to the restaurant's sign and the menu, the Bangkok Cafe') in downtown Arlington Heights. They relocated from an odd, sideways little strip mall at the south end of town to the spot formerly occupied by the Vail Street Cafe.
It's a relatively small place with a larger party room in the back. It was a nice night and a little warm in the restaurant, so we took a table near the door.
We started with the Crab Rangoon and the Chicken Rice Noodle Soup. The Rangoons were very well done, not overly creamy, and the soup was light and delicious.
Lisa had the Pad Keemau which she described as "surprisingly spicy" and the most attractive presentation of that dish she's ever seen. There wasn't a lot of meat in it, but what was there was very tasty. I had the Pad See Ewe with chicken, which was also very good.
One challenge with Thai food is that the noodles can be over- or underdone very easily. Then there's that tricky zone where if it's not hit just right, they're either al dente or rubbery. In both of our dishes they hit the mark. Also, care has to be taken to ensure that other foods don't influence the dishes being prepared. My only complaint about the Pad See Ewe was that my chicken tasted a little fishy. A few bites into the dish, though, it was fine.
When we left, we offered to hand out carryout menus in exchange for some free crab rangoons, but they didn't go for it.
I admit that I tend to judge restaurants based on other places with similar cuisine. My first experience with Thai food was at Star of Siam in Chicago, and for a while that was top of my list. My two favorite Thai places now are Tamarind Thai at the south end of Arlington and My Thai in the DePaul Building on Jackson Boulevard in Chicago.
Bangkok gives us a very good, nearer-by alternative to these other places.
In the summer of 1990, I found a whole bunch of packets of Berry Blue Kool-Aid on the clearance table at the Jewel in downtown Arlington Heights. They were a steal at 10 cents each, so I bought every one they had, about 25 of 'em.
The first time I had this stuff was in 1988, when a friend of mine said "Try this-- it tastes just like the blue part of a Bomb Pop." I was hooked.
Now, here we are, fifteen years later, and I am down to my last two packages of Berry Blue Kool-Aid. These little envelopes survived several relocations, kids, and all sorts of other life-changing events. And in the summer of 2005 it tastes every bit as good as it did in 1990.
The rumor is that General Foods stopped making Berry Blue because it looked like windshield washer fluid, and supposedly kids were drinking window cleaner thinking it was Kool-Aid. That sounds a bit like an urban legend to me-- GF should have just changed the color if that was the concern.
Oh well, all things must pass.
And now I'm down to one precious envelope.
This evening, we took advantage of the longest day of the year and took a long ride. We picked up a couple things at Binny's in Des Plaines (not for consuming until later... we practice safe cycling), and wound up at Farmer's Pride, which is a produce stand/Mexican grocery near my place.
Thanks to a tip from Liz, we found the premade fajitas at the deli counter. These are pre-cut meat and vegetables sitting in a marinade, and you buy it by the pound (about $2.99/lb. to be more specific). We also picked up some of their homemade pico de gallo, tortillas, beans, and cheese. At home, Lisa just threw the fajita mix in the wok for a few minutes and it cooked up beautifully.
The color in the photo above is slightly off, but the food was great.
My contributions to the meal were (a) lugging all this stuff in the bags on my bike; and (b) making caipirinhas with the cachaça we bought.
A lot of bars don't make real caipirinhas-- they use vodka instead of cachaça, and bottled lime juice instead of real smashed limes, which just ain't right. Here's my caipirinha recipe:
2 limes, sliced in quarters
2 tablespoons of sugar
2½ oz cachaça
crushed ice
Squeeze the limes into the glass. Add the sugar and with a wooden spoon, mash the sugar into the lime wedges (pulp side). Add the cachaça, stir, then add the crushed ice. Stir well and enjoy. You don't have to be scientific here-- feel free to play with the amounts until you hit a mixture that works for you.
So there you have it-- a Mexican dinner with a Brazilian side.
One of my favorite fast-food places around here is Buffalo Joe's in Evanston, home of the best hot wings in the Chicago area.
Becky had an order of mild wings, and I opted for the spicy (I've had the "suicide" wings in the past, but wasn't up for it today) while Emma had a hotdog. We also had a couple orders of cross-cut fries (cleverly, by 1980s standards, called "buffalo chips").
I wasn't a big fan of spicy chicken wings until I had Joe's in the late 1980s. Since then, I have yet to find wings that even come close to Joe's. A warning, though: these things can't be good for you-- first the wings are deep-fried, then they're put in a huge steel bowl and doused with a sauce that has to have a high percentage of butter along with hot sauce and various other seasonings (Joe's does not, as some have suggested, use Frank's or Tabasco) and tossed right in front of you. My eyes are watering just thinking about it.
The wings are served with a small side of ranch dressing and a little tray of celery sticks, both of which are meant to cut the heat. When you see this coming at you, be sure to have a lot of napkins standing by:
Afterwards, we took a walk to Fountain Square, and then across the street to Jamba Juice. We learned that the "Strawberry Tsunami," which was removed from Jamba's menu boards in December, is now called the "Strawberry Surfrider."
It was a refreshing day, despite the heat.
On Sunday night we had dinner at Greek Islands, a longtime favorite. The kids had the Chicken Riganati and Lisa and I each had Souvlaki. Lisa also had the fish soup, one of her favorites.
Afterwards, we headed down Taylor Street to Mario's Italian Lemonade, a longtime Chicago tradition. Becky had the watermelon lemonade, Emma had blue raspberry, and Lisa and I had strawberry.
(Photos by Becky, by the way.)
It was a nice ending to a very very hot weekend.
Yesterday afternoon I decided to stop in at Cereality, which is billed as a "cereal bar and cafe."
I call it the place with the sugar buzz that won't die.
Cereality's concept is very similar to Cold Stone Creamery's or Starbucks': take something you can make at home, mix it in a certain way with some fairly common ingredients, and charge a premium for it.
You can choose from one of their pre-defined cereal mixes, or you can create your own from their menu of about 30 different cereals (both hot and cold) and dozens of toppings, ncluding bananas, raisins, chocolate chips, yogurt, rainbow sprinkles, marshmallows-- beginning to sound familiar? Your concoction is served in a mid-sized chinese carryout container, accompanied by a half-pint carton of milk of your choice.
For the purpose of this review, I chose the "You Snooze, You Lose," which was made up of Cinnamon Life and Golden Grahams cereal, a shot of espresso, and crushed malted milk balls. When I topped it with a half-pint of skim milk, it turned into an edible latte. This amalgamation cost me $3.89, about the same as a Starbucks mocha, only this made me a lot jittier.
Cereality also offers cereal bars, mini coffee-cakes, and parfaits, smoothies, coffee, and something called Überpudding, which is a combination of yogurt, oatmeal, orange, and honey. I didn't try any of these yet.
The store is set up very much like Starbucks and Cold Stone, with a glass case at the front and tables off to the side. There are also tables outside, overlooking the Chicago river. There's also a sign advertising free WiFi, which I may take advantage of one of these days. A "cereal barista" (my term, used for lack of something better-- maybe "cerealista?") takes your order and creates your item.
I spoke with one of the owners, who told me business was good. I see a steady stream of people moving through the store when I walk by every morning, so here's wishing them continued success.
Can we kids try this at home? Sure. But like Starbucks and Cold Stone, Cereality is also about the experience.
Last week at Wal-Mart, I found a cake mix on an end-cap at the checkout line. Never one to give in to impulse buys, I... well... gave in to an impulse buy.
It's a complete cake-and-frosting kit called Mam Papaul's Red Velvet Cake, and it's made by a company called Louisiana Gourmet Enterprises who also makes all sorts of other New Orleans-type mixes including gumbo, dirty rice, and corn soup. The also make other cake mixes including Mardi Gras King Cake.
I remembered the urban legend about the Waldorf-Astoria Red Velvet Cake, so I figured I would give this a shot.
This is what the cake batter looks like once you've added three eggs, water, and vegetable oil. Interestingly enough, this was almost the identical color of the primer I used on my kitchen wall when I painted it last summer.
You're supposed to beat the batter for a long time-- 7 or 8 minutes-- which seems longer than most cake mixes I've dealt with. I had to be careful with this stuff-- I'm sure it would stain if it got on anything.
...and fresh from the oven, there they are. Pay close attention to that glass bowl in the background-- something's going to be happening there.
Check out this icing: that's the mix that came in the box (which seemed to be mostly sugar and corn starch) along with a cup of milk, a stick and a half of margarine, a half-cup of shortening, and 8 ounces of cream cheese. While mixing up this concoction, Lisa referred to it as a "heart attack in a bowl."
Now out of their pans, the layers are cooling off. They seem to be much denser and took on a much spongier consistency than your typical Betty Crocker cake. Lisa sliced the layers horizontally for an even more professional touch. She wanted to use dental floss to do this, but the only kind I had was mint-waxed, and that would have probably changed the taste a bit. :-)
The finished product. Lisa sprinkled cinnamon on top to add a little holiday color to the presentation.
Yum. When you put something this color in your mouth you (well, *I*, at least) expect it to taste like an Atomic Fireball or, at the very least, somewhat cinnamon-y. Nope: the Red Velvet cake is a nicely dense chocolate cake. Note that the bottom layer got lost by the serving fork as that first slice was removed. Moments after this photo was taken, it was restored.
So it's thumbs-up on the Mam Papaul's Red Velvet Cake. The also make Lemon Velvet and Black Velvet cake mixes, so I may try one of those in the future.
Yesterday, we went to Chicago's Chinatown. This is only the second time I've been there as an adult, the first time being almost two years ago with the kids.
Above you can see part of our haul: a couple boxes of "relaxation tea" (which really works, by the way), a GINORMOUS bag of fortune cookies which ran about three bucks, a smaller bag of chocolate fortune cookies, and a bag of "The Kitchenette" brand white crystal sugar, which is basically rock candy chunks that we bought with the intent of using it in the aforementioned tea.
Curiously enough, the sugar chunks are mighty friendly:
Hmm. Time for another cookie.
Tonight's project was decorating the gingerbread house shown above. Check out Lisa's mad icicle skills coming off the roof and Emma's awesome gumdrop installation.
It looks good enough to eat, doesn't it?
We made an awesome angel food cake from scratch today-- there was a recipe in the Daily Herald last week for lemon angel food cake, and we switched out the lemon for vanilla bean. The strawberries were from the Jewel this morning. :-)
Last night, we went to Superdawg for a classic summer drive-in dinner before heading over to Twin Links Mini Golf in Mt. Prospect for a quick 18 under the lights.
More in the next post. My dawg was delicious, by the way. :-)
Do something once, it's something. Do it twice, it's a tradition.
The four of us went to Buffalo Joe's this evening, and it was awesome as ever. Definitely worth blowing the diet over.
We stopped at the Berghoff Restaurant's Oktoberfest this evening before the Chicago Podcaster Meetup at the Apple Store.
It's great to know that even though the main restaurant is officially closed, they're keeping up with this autumn tradition. I remember going to this with my pals from the old O'Connor days.
The photo above was taken before the crowd really grew. There was a hair-metal cover band playing this evening, and it was a sight to see-- all those bedockered middle-aged guys singing "You Give Love a Bad Name."
Good times.
This past weekend was the Second Annual Crazy Apple Daze Festival in Lisa's home town.
Okay, it was a family get-together where everyone pitches in we make apple butter.
Apple butter, for those of you who aren't familiar with the concept (I wasn't until a couple years ago) has lots of apples and no butter in it. Basically, it's a whole bunch of apples cooked over an open fire for about 6 hours until it boils down to an essence that an only be described as "supremely apple."
In the photo above, you can see how two bushels of apples look at the onset of the process.
This is what the apples look like after about 2 and a half hours of cooking and stirring...
and here's the product that finally winds up being canned, six hours later.
You can see a video of this entire process by checking out the Cheap Date Show and look for the October 16 episode. (iTunes users: you can subscribe by clicking here, and each new episode will automagically download to your computer when it's ready.)
Next year, we'll do it all over again...
I've long been a fan of Coca-Cola. That's pretty well-known in my immediate circles, and, many years ago, by the people who used to frequent the alt.food.cocacola Usenet group.
By now, most of us know that in 1985 Coca-Cola changed the formula of their flagship product and the backlash against "New Coke" resulted in the re-introduction of the "original formula" as Coca-Cola Classic.
But all was not the same. Pre-"New Coke" Coca-Cola was sweetened with sugar, and "Coca-Cola Classic" is sweetened with High Fructose Corn Syrup, as you see here. HFCS is significantly cheaper than sugar.
During Passover, people who follow the Ashkenazi Jewish tradition are forbidden from consuming products containing certain grains, including corn. Therefore, the Chicago Coca-Cola Bottling Company produces a limited amount of Coca-Cola Classic sweetened with sugar, which is sold in grocery stores in areas with larger Jewish populations.
Here's the delightful ingredient list:
You can identify Kosher Coca-Cola here in the Chicago area by looking for the seal of the Chicago Rabbinical Council on the can:
The cans in these photos have the same UPC code, so there's no way of differentiating the product at the scanner. If you're seeking the Kosher stuff, look for the identifiers I've shown above.
Now, to further confuse the situation, many foodies claim that Coca-Cola made in Mexico, which is available at many Mexican grocery stores in our area, tastes the same as "original" Coca-Cola. It certainly contains sugar, as you see:
But the last time I had a Mexican Coke (in Mexico a couple of years ago), it seemed to taste more like "New Coke" (or "Coke II") than the original, pre-1985 formula.
That brings us to today's experiment.
The three containers shown in the photo at the top of this page hold, from left to right, Kosher Coca-Cola, HFCS-sweetened Coca-Cola Classic, and a Coca-Cola (note the absence of the word "Classic") bottled in Mexico.
My experiment was to identify which drink came from which source, and to note the differences between each. I would take three clean glasses and have my lovely assistants pour equal amounts of each product into each of the three glasses. No ice. The cans and bottle were all kept next to each other in the refrigerator for several hours prior to the test and were opened at the time of the experiment.
And the results:
I was able to identify the HFCS-sweetened Coke Classic, but I confused the Mexican and Kosher Cokes. They both tasted very similar, which leads me to believe the "New Coke" taste of the Mexican product is a thing of the past.
Anyway, I now have a couple of six-packs of the Kosher stuff in my pantry, ready for when I want "The Real Thing."
Picture this: it's a summer night in the 1970s, around midnight. Two kids start scrounging through the kitchen of an Evanston home looking for a snack. One finds a box of Sunshine Lemon Coolers cookies, and the kids sit down at the kitchen table and plow through the box in about 30 minutes. Buzzed on sugar, the two head back to their sleeping bags and lay awake the rest of the night reading comic books.
That was my introduction to one of the most delicious cookies I've ever tasted. The kids in the story were my cousin and me, and my aunt had bought the Lemon Coolers earlier that day. She was pretty upset that they were gone by breakfast, but it was worth it.
Lemon Coolers were round, lemon-flavored, crispy-almost-shortbread cookies with lemon chips dusted with lemon-flavored powdered sugar coating. They were unique in that nobody else made cookies like these-- the only way to get them was in their green and yellow box, and many grocery stores only sold them during the summer.
Over the years I would pick up a box, at least one per summer, when I saw them on the shelves. But like so many other things of our youth, Lemon Coolers fell victim to The Bottom Line. Keebler/Kellogg's bought Sunshine in the 1990s, and in their infinite wisdom they discontinued the product.
Now, I told you that story so I could tell you this one.
I've been looking for something similar to Sunshine Lemon Coolers cookies since then. Supposedly, the Girl Scouts sold a "Lemon Coolers" cookie years back but I have never seen them in real life. There was also allegedly a President's Choice-branded lemon cookie but I've never seen that, either. Then I found several recipes on the internet for Lemon Cooler-like cookies, and the recipes I tried-- even with a few tweaks-- were awful.
Last night, I went to the Jewel and found Archway Iced Lemonade Cookies. I was intrigued, especially by the word "crispy." I figured I had little to lose, so I bought a bag.
I was very pleasantly surprised: this is the closest thing to Lemon Coolers I've tasted in a long time. The cookies have the right texture, and while they don't have lemon chips in the cookie itself they have just the right flavor. The iced coating isn't as tart as the powdered sugar on the originals, but it's a lot less messy so I'll call that an improvement.
Thank you, Archway.
Now all I need is a tall iced tea and some time in the hammock. And maybe a comic book or two.
We've been fans of sun-dried tomatoes for some time now, and with a fresh crop of Romas coming in from the yard just about every other day, we figured we'd try drying a bunch for salads, pesto, etc.
This is the easiest recipe to follow, and the results are amazing. Just take some Roma tomatoes, wash them and remove any remnants of the stem, and then slice them in half lengthwise.
Lay them face up on a baking rack and sprinkle with sea salt. Then put them in a 200 degree oven for a minimum of 6 hours, checking to make sure they're drying out as they're supposed to.
When they're done, simply remove them and let them cool.
We let these bake for about 7 hours, with some of the larger pieces going for almost 8.
Most of the recipes I've found call for simply storing the tomatoes in a ziplock bag-- others mention putting them in jars of olive oil. To be honest, these keep getting eaten before they're removed from the racks. :-)
Enjoy!
A few years ago, we were introduced to the wonderment of limoncello by our pal Mitch, the guy who opened Tuscan Market here in Arlington Heights. More recently, Amy, the new owner of the shop, introduced us to Gioia Luisa Limoncello Cream, which is a delighful spin on the traditional drink.
What is limoncello, exactly? Well, it's lemon-flavored, refreshing, and highly alcoholic. Exactly what you need on a summer's afternoon when you just want to crash in your hammock.
This got us to thinking that we should try making our own limoncello: I mean, how difficult could it be? It seemed all we need are some lemons, the appropriate type and quantity of alcohol, and time.
There are several limoncello recipes available on the internet, including the ones found at the excellent LimoncelloQuest site. We decided to modify the recipes we found to suit our needs, and boy, were we pleased with our first-time-out results.
Let's jump right in:
This past weekend we visited Lisa's parents in Frankfort and continued the Apple Butter tradition for the third year.
This year's addition? Matching T-shirts (I'll spare you). :-)
We started with two bushels and a peck of various apples, including Golden Delicious, Cortland, and Ida Red. These were peeled and cored, and put into a big copper pot over a flame for several hours.
Here's what it looked like at the start:
Then, about four hours in:
..and finally, around hour 7:
At the very end, we added sugar and a pound or so of red hots, and after a final 30 minutes of stirring the finished product was put up in jars:
The next morning, we sampled the stuff on fresh biscuits. Good stuff.
Hopefully, this year's batch will last through to next year.
In the episode "The Lady and the Babysitter" of The Dick Van Dyke Show, Rob whines about how Laura made a delicious "milk cake" yet there's no milk in the Petrie house. He could have been referring to the cake I'm talking about here.
Yes, those are Hershey Bars laid across the top of the cake. Six of 'em.
My mom made this cake many times when I was a kid. I used to refer to it as the "vinegar cake" because of the one tablespoon of vinegar that's in the recipe, but don't let that put you off-- it's all in the name of good baking chemistry.
Now, I admit I'm kind of a snob when it comes to chocolate bars, and Hershey's is usually lower on the list than other brands. For the purposes of this recipe, though, the Hershey bars have the best shape, thickness, and melting point-- plus, we're talking about comfort food here, so let's allow a little throwback to childhood, shall we?
The recipe is ridiculously simple and the result is simply amazing.
The cake lends itself to a tall, cool, glass of milk or even a nice cabernet sauvignon. It's really moist, but you will want something to wash it down.
And now that I have your attention, check out the recipe.
This is our favorite time of year: cooler temperatures, colorful leaves all around, the harvest of the summer fills the larder (I've always wanted to use the word "larder"), and the festivities of the holidays are about to begin.
Oh, and the week before Thanksgiving is when the Beaujolais Nouveau wines come out to play.
We've heard that Beaujolais Nouveau is often referred to as the "cookie dough" of wines-- sweet, unfinished, young, and unpretentious. That's one of the reasons it goes great with pretty much anything-- pizza, pasta, and even your Thanksgiving feast, despite the fact it's a red wine.
We tried four different brands this year as part of our process of selecting the wine that will grace our palates (and the palates of our families and friends) for the next week or so. All of these wines average under $15, so any of these would be a steal. Here's what we tried, in order of preference:
Joseph Drouhin: This is our favorite Beaujolais Nouveau this year. It's got a lot of fruit flavor and is sweet enough without tasting like Mogen David. It's not overly complex, but it's got a little more dimension than the others. We bought this at Binny's.
Maison Albert Bichot: Very close in flavor and complexity to the Drouhin, but a little less fruity. If faced with a choice between Georges DuBoeuf (below) and Bichot, go for the Bichot. We picked this up at Whole Foods.
Georges DuBoeuf: This is the king of brands of Beaujolais Nouveau(x). You'll find it pretty much everywhere, including your local grocery store or specialty stores like World Market. We weren't overly crazy about this year's DuBeouf-- it tasted a little too dry, although it still got the job done.
Louis Tête: It cracks me up to think this translates to "Head Louis," as if there are subordinate Louis out there. (Just humor me for a minute, please.) This is an earthier and drier wine, and a bit more pricey than the others. Still a very good choice, but a little more complex than I like my Nouveau. We found this at Tuscan Market in Arlington Heights.
We also found (but have not tasted yet) Domaine Dupeuble Père at Fils, Bouchard Aîné & Fils, and Mommessin. The latter two are in plastic bottles with screw caps, so if things get a little out of hand over your holiday you won't have glass to sweep up.
It's also worth noting that cute label designs are standard practice for many of these wine brands. The Bouchard label has a cartoon of people dancing-- the guys are outfitted in the stereotypical striped shirts and berets-- and Mommessin, as in previous years, has a series of labels featuring attractive, suave cartoon people enjoying the company's product.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and bon appetit!
This past Saturday, Lisa and I attended the Chicago Beer Society's 11th Annual Chicagoland Brewpub and Microbrewery Shootout. As always, it was a blast.
(Here's a link to a previous blog posting about the Shootout, and here's a link to our coverage of the event for the Cheap Date Show in 2007.)
There were 12 breweries/restaurants represented this year, which made the playing field a little more manageable for the attendees. As in previous years, the event was held at the Irish American Heritage Center on the North Side, and was well-attended as usual.
Of all the food and drink events we attend during the year, this is our favorite: the participants all bring their A-game, and the attendees are friendly and courteous (let's face it, why should they be any other way? :-).
The logistics of the event are simple: when you arrive, you're given a glass which you use throughout the day (this year's looked like a wine glass, as shown above) and a guide to the brewpubs and their offerings of the day. Then you enter a large meeting hall where the brewpubs have tables set up around the perimeter of the room, and there are several large tables in the center where you set up your "home base." We sat at a table with a bunch of people we didn't know, but we became fast friends with two of the guys sitting right next to us, Kevin and Mike.
One of the neat things about this event is how you can be on your way back from one brewpub's table and you'll see someone go by with something that looks really good. There's a lot of motioning-with-full-mouths-towards-other-restaurants'-tables with your fellow attendees.
After a couple hours of sampling, it's time for the crowd to enter their ballots. Votes are cast for Best Beer, Best Food, and Best Food/Beer Pairing. And here are this year's winners:
Best Beer: Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery North & South (Orland Park and Lombard). The beer was their E-Ville Imperial Porter. They also served as bonus beers their Eradicator Doppelbock (North), Blitzen Belgian Trippel, & Abominator Double IPA (South).
Best Food: Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery North & South (Orland Park and Lombard). The food was a seared, barley-encrusted baby lamb chop and porter marinated sea scallop served atop mashed sweet potatoes with cilantro-lime pesto and chipotle mango sauce, topped with crispy onion slivers and fried carrot strings.
Best Food/Beer Pairing: Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery East & West (Chicago and Warrenville). The food was seared Kobe beef medallions with andouille potatoes, spinach, balsamic-chipotle glaze, tomato emulsion, and crispy carrots. The matching beer was the CBS Düsseldorf Alt.
As for our choices, I matched the crowd for the Pairing. Lisa's favorite pairing was from the Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant in Bolingbrook, who had Ahi tuna marinated in Sriracha, soy sauce, and toasted black and white sesame seeds, served on a fried wonton topped with namasu. They served a WinterBock with this dish.
My favorite beer was a last-minute recommendation from our pal Chris (who introduced us to the Society and is our Beer Yoda)-- the Sarge-Bourbon barrel-aged Imperial chocolate espresso stout from Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewing. Chris reminded us that he's not a chocolate-person, but he really liked this. Imagine a Starbucks mocha with a kick-- that's the Sarge. This was one of their bonus beers; Flossmoor's food was their Killer Chocolate Silk Tart and it was paired with their Killer Kapowski Baltic Porter, a very nice experience that won them Second Place for the Pairing contest.
Lisa's favorite beer was the Behemoth Barleywine from Three Floyds Brewpub and Brewing Company. She said it was sweet and rich, and a little bit creamy. I thought it would make a good spring or summer beer. Floyds' pairing was with a bouillabaisse with grilled octopus and pork belly. There were a lot of "pork belly" jokes going around the room as the afternoon progressed.
My favorite food was the Bol Le Hautes Terres stew from America's Brewing at Walter Payton's Roundhouse in Aurora. This was a "combination of smoked stag, meats, and fowl from the generations of hunters found in the Scottish Highlands Blackwatch Brigade" according to the menu. It was very good, and was paired with their Peat Smoked Scotch Ale, which I wasn't too crazy about. Our tablemate Mike really liked the ale.
Lisa's food choice was lamb chop and scallop from Rock Bottom North & South.
Also worth mentioning are the Chicken and Dill soup from Blue Cat Brew Pub in Rock Island (pickles in the soup-- and it works!), the braised goat barbacoa with baconed great northern beans with braised winter greens from Goose Island in Chicago, and the one table I visited more than any other, the chocolate and bacon bark from Lunar Brewing in Villa Park, which was paired with their Power Outage Porter. Excellent stuff.
A complete listing and recap of the event will appear shortly on the Society's web site, so be sure to check there.
Since this has become such a popular event year over year, the Society has begun to restrict attendance to members only. If you like beer, food, and beer and food, it's worth the membership just to be able to attend this event.
We'll definitely be back next year!
Remember a few years ago when I talked about PÄ…czkis? (Or again the following year?)
Well, that was part of a tradition that has continued to this day. My now-former-officemate Glenn picked up a couple dozen pÄ…czkis at Calumet Bakery in Lansing, IL and did a drive-by with a raspberry one for me while he was on the way to his work.
When I got back to my office, someone had brought in FOUR King Cakes from Bennison's in Evanston, and moments later another coworker brought in four dozen pÄ…czkis from Dinkel's in Chicago. Couple that with a cup of Seattle's Best and we're talking serious sugar crash by late morning.
The sugar bombs in the photo above came from the Rolling Meadows Meijer store. Thankfully, Lisa took those to her office today.
And just like five years ago today, I'm sitting here writing this when I should be at the gym.
Happy Mardi Gras!
This is one of my favorite times of year: the snow is melting, the days get warmer, there's a hint of freshness to the air... and Coca-Cola made with real sugar returns to the store shelves for a little while, anyway.
But I can't tell you how surprised I was when I walked into the Dominick's in Elk Grove Village last night to find a display featuring this neat new product: Pepsi Natural. According to this press release:
Pepsi Natural is made with all-natural ingredients, including lightly sparkling water, natural sugar, natural caramel and kola nut extract. The amber-hued cola gets its color from natural caramel and natural apple extract. From the amount of bubbles to the foam that rises to the top of beverage when it's poured, Pepsi Natural offers a brand-new cola experience.
This evening, I opened up a bottle and poured it into a glass, no ice. My verdict: it's pretty nice. It's not as sweet as regular Pepsi and comes off "cleaner" at the start. The kola flavor that usually gets buried inside regular PepsI's (and Coke's for that matter) formula is prominent at the end. I think it has a nice, subtle taste, not really comparable to Pepsi or Coke.
Will I buy it again? Possibly. Since it doesn't taste quite as sweet as regular Pepsi I have the feeling this will be a refreshing alternative on a hot summer day.
Pepsi Natural has 150 calories per 12 oz serving and 39g of carbs, just like a regular Pepsi.
Pepsi Natural is available in Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Las Vegas and New York. It's part of a campaign called "Refresh Everything" which includes another sugar-formulated Pepsi product called "Pepsi Throwback" and a companion "Mountain Dew Throwback," which evidently are based on their 60s and 70s heritage. Despite the unfortunate names, I'll be seeking out the "Throwback" products, which are supposed to be available only for eight weeks beginning April 20. I'll have a review here when I find them.
I've been saying for a long time that Coca-Cola should introduce a premium product made with the original original formula made with sugar (and no, not the recipe with cocaine). They should put it in those 8-oz glass bottles you see especially around Christmas time and charge a premium for the whole thing. They may not make kabillions, but they would certainly goose up the sales of their flagship product. I guess they just wanted to let Pepsi try it first, sort of-- Pepsi Throwback will come in a 12-oz can.
I hope someone at Coca-Cola headquarters is paying attention.
As mentioned in my previous blog posting, Pepsi has introduced a version their flagship product made with sugar: Pepsi-Cola Throwback.
Now, despite its unfortunate name, the drink actually accomplishes what it set out to do: it tastes a lot like I remember Pepsi tasting when I was a kid. The only thing is that it seems to be a little more watery than I recall the old Pepsi.
Pepsi-Cola Throwback will be available through the end of May. I bought a 12-pack at my local Jewel for about $3.50.
Last summer, I put up a blog posting about some of my favorite cookies of all time, Sunshine Lemon Coolers.
I recently walked through the cookie aisle of my local Dominicks when I discovered these cookies: Niche Foods Lemon Cookies.
Niche Foods bills itself as a company who is "attempting to fulfill a niche within the food industry where you, the consumer, have a voice in what you want served on grocery shelves." They're specializing in two products right now, Lemon Cookies and Original Garlic Spread Concentrate.
The Lemon Cookies come very close to the original Sunshine cookies-- the only difference is that the Niche cookies have less powdered sugar coating than the originals. Other than that, these are almost identical to the cookies I remember.
The cookies are in limited distribution, so check a grocer near you!
In last month's Esquire magazine, Chef John Currence of City Grocery Restaurant in Oxford, Mississippi provided his recipe for Coca-Cola Brined Fried Chicken.
Now, let's stop for a moment and ponder this. In one very descriptive phrase, the chef covered pretty much every one of my favorite food groups. Coca-Cola: check. Brined: works for me. Fried: there are other cooking methods? Chicken: protein. And something to hold whatever "fried" business comes into play.
Lisa and I were driving back from a family visit in southern Indiana, and somewhere outside Mt Vernon, Illinois I opened the magazine to a full-color photo of the finished product. (Our version appears at the top of this page.) I knew at that moment what our next cooking experiment would be. So, on a Saturday afternoon a couple weeks later, there we were in the kitchen...
Coca-Cola-Brined Fried ChickenOne Southern chef's sweet, fried homage to a New Orleans' culinary institution
By Chef John Currence
Ingredients:12 chicken thighs (skin on)
Peanut oil and lard, for frying
Brining Mix:1 qt Coca-Cola
1 tsp Liquid Smoke (optional)
2 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp Tabasco
3 tbsp ground black pepper
3 tbsp coarse salt
Batter:1 egg
3/4 cup peanut oil
Dry Mix (well combined):2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp coarse salt
4 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
2 1/2 cups flour
Instructions:
Rinse chicken, drain, and set aside. Blend together brining mix until salt dissolves. Place chicken in brine in a large covered bowl and marinate, refrigerated, for 4 hours.
Whisk egg well in a stainless-steel bowl and add peanut oil and 21/2 cups water. Add in dry mix, whisking slowly so batter doesn't clump.
To prepare chicken: Fill a large cast-iron skillet halfway with equal amounts peanut oil and lard. Slowly bring temperature to 375 degrees. (Use a candy thermometer.) While oil is heating, remove chicken from brine and place in a colander in sink. Once chicken has drained, pat dry with paper towels (a critical step) and season with salt and pepper.
Dip chicken in batter and place (carefully) in hot oil. Adjust heat, as the chicken will bring the oil temperature down dramatically — you want it back up to just above 350 degrees. Turn chicken regularly using tongs to prevent burning. After 8 or 9 minutes, remove a piece, prick it to the bone with a fork, and mash it. If the juices run clear, it's done. Continue cooking if necessary.
Serve with pickle-garlic relish. Cover any leftovers with a dish towel and leave out at room temperature (or in the fridge, if you must, although my grandmother never did). This keeps it crispy.
Pickle-Garlic Relish
Ingredients:
1 cup Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
1 cup hamburger dill-pickle chips
3 tbsp garlic
Instructions:Chop everything finely and combine. Add a little pickle juice, if desired. Refrigerate.
Let's cut to the chase: the chicken was delicious. The coating was light and spicy, and once we resolved the challenge of the oil temperature it turned out wonderfully crispy. The chicken itself was moist and spicy, although I think next time we'll ease up on the Liquid Smoke-- a teaspoon was a bit much and overpowered some of the other flavors. There was a sweetness to the meat, but if you weren't told there was Coke in the brine you may not catch it.
The relish was good, but I think it was unnecessary. The chicken was that good.
This recipe called for chicken thighs, which tend to be much more flavorful and tender than chicken breasts. We might try breasts in the future just to see how it turns out.
Delicious!
We had a great Halloween, and we topped it off with this drink:
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First, combine 1/2 cup of candy corn with 1 1/2 cups of vodka. Cover and set aside.
After 3 hours, strain and discard the remaining solids.
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, add 4 oz infused vodka, 2 oz orange liqueur, juice from half a lemon, and one large egg white.
Shake vigorously for 30 seconds, strain into two chilled martini glasses.
Remember this for next Halloween!
It's that time of year again-- the third Thursday in November brings the annual release of Beaujolais Nouveau. We always sample several wines and select the one we'll serve at Thanksgiving dinner.
Beaujolais Nouveau is a simple, young, and unpretentious wine which is perfect for the holidays. It goes well with just about anything, including this lovely pizza from Dondi's:
This year, we tried the wines from four vineyards: Louis Tête, Joseph Drouhin, Georges DuBoeuf, and Thorin. While DuBoeuf is the most popular brand, you'll find several brands in your local store, and this year's wine is very good, so you won't go wrong regardless of the brand you choose.
We selected the Thorin (from World Market) for this year's dinner, as it has just the right balance of sweetness and dryness.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and bon appetit!
Valentine's Day dinner was my doing this year. I made Chicken Parmesan (a modified version of the too-complicated Cook's Illustrated version) and this awesome dessert: Flourless Chocolate Cake. I got this recipe from Les Nomades, a wonderful restaurant in Chicago that we reviewed on an episode of our Cheap Date podcast.
What you see above are some of the raw ingredients for the cake. Five full-sized Lindt 70% Cocoa bars made the foundation for this dessert. Read on for the recipe and more photos.
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