Wow LONG time no post....sorry everyone, my day job has me pretty busy.

We went to Chicago right before Christmas last year and despite it being a blizzard and cold, we absolutely LOVED it. I'd say it's one of the best foodie/culinary city in the US. We also have some friends there so we decided to take a 4 day weekend and call it mini-culinary-getaway, since our new jobs don't let us have an official 'vacation' this year.

We flew out of JFK...not because it's easy or cheap....but because we actually enjoy Jet Blue's terminal 5 dining! Crazy right? but both JFK and Newark have some really good places to catch a bite. In JFK we usually go to 5teak and in Newark there is a nice wine bar I go to. I know this is crazy, and coming from a guy who is a huge spoiled cocktail nut who's very picky...but the bar at 5teak makes the BEST manhattan. They don't do much anything different, so I can't tell you 'what' it is...but it's just...good.

We stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel, mainly for the pool. 

Nice hotel, right on the main/touristy part of town (which, I kinda hate, but...it had a nice pool!). It just so happened that the weekend we pick to go to chicago, they are filming Transformers 3 right out front! This was kinda neat, but grew old quick with the gawking crowds.

The cheapo plane ticket is worth it JUST to go to Rick Bayless's restaurants. He has three, Xoco, Frontera Grill, and Topolobampo. Last trip we went to all three, this year we only went to Xoco and Frontera Grill as we saved a the higher end dinner for......(surprise I'll tell you down below)

 Here are some pictures from Xoco. It's Rick's 'fast food' type place. Imagine what Chipotle SHOULD be like. x100.

I got a pork sammy with pickled onions and a habanero salsa. The habanero salsa was awesome, hot, but so good, you kept going back...

Laurie got the same thing, only in a salad...

We shared Churros and Ice cream for dessert..These churros are 'da bomb'. yo.

After lunch I went inside to hit the head and as I'm coming out, guess who's walking by! The MAN himself. Chef Bayless!! I said hi to him, shook his hand and that was that. Little did he know that so far this is my second trip to Chicago, PRIMARILY to JUST visit HIS restaurants!

We didn't fill up too much, because that night, we had a 'special' reservation....ALINEA!  26 'official' courses (more like 30) and wine pairings (~12). 6 hours. we sat down at 7 and didn't leave until around 1am! I was a little apprehensive as 1.) It's expensive. Not that we don't like spending money on food, we spend astronimical amounts for good meals...I'll drop 500$ on a dinner without blinking if the food is good...but the last 'big' dinner in Chicago we had was Charlie Trotter's and at 800$, it was less than good, and actually quite 'bad'. 2.) I'm not the biggest fan of molecular gastronomy (or whatever the cool kids or the anti-cool kids are calling it nowadays.

Well, it was THE most expensive meal I've ever had, but also one of THE best dining experiences I've ever had! We knew it was going to be an awesome experience so we invited another foodie couple to enjoy it with us. I'd say this meal is best done with a 4-top. I won't even get into every detail or I'd have to write a book, so I'll give you the short.

- The staff was awesome - very unpretentious, very knowledgeable, very down to earth, very funny (and they laughed at OUR jokes too). Best line of the night? Staff, after handing Kelvin a bite of something and Kelvin asking what it was 'just put it in your mouth'...Kelvin: 'Oh, I've been to one of THOSE parties before'
- The kitchen was manned by no less than 20 people, possibly more.
- after 26 courses and 12 wines...no matter how 'small' the courses are, that's a good amount of food!
- Chef Achatz made our dessert, not tableside, but tableTOP!
- Best dish? way too many to list a favorite. really. but probably the spring roll with pork belly you made yourself.
- Worst dish? for me, the crab dish, BUT only because I don't care much for crab at all.

I can't even explain the dessert. (well the LAST dessert). 1.) I was a little buzzed by then... 2.) I just can't even explain it...there was liquid, there was smoke, there was nitrogen, there was chocolate, and there was menthol. BUT....it was SO DAMN awesome.

I can't even explain the experience...I know this sounds silly, but I felt like it was the NYC marathon of dining, in all ways.

Here is our menu, if you want to view it. The 'bubbles' are the size of the portion compared to the others...

So what's a guy to do to cure a food coma hangover? Mexican BRUNCH at Frontera Grill!!

We ate brunch, but we really didn't feel like eating a dinner, so we went to The Violet Hour. A speakeasy cocktail bar that serves some great cocktails.

From the outside there is no sign, just a kinda hidden 'door'.

 I like these rules!

Out last night, we had reservations for another place we went to last time The Publican. It's basically a concept that seems to be the trend in newer restaurants nowadays...casual dining, community type seating, meat, and beer. It was pretty awesome as well. The company was great too! 
Funny, 3 seats down...guess who is also dining there? RICK BAYLESS! ha. we know how to pick'em.

Before our flight, we hitched a ride to Chinatown and ate at a place recommended by Joe...Lao Sze Chuan. It was great!


Another Honorable mention, the place we ate at the night we arrived, because they had a late night menu, was the Purple Pig on Magnificent mile....very cool small plates menu and great wine list.

Our only complaint was the food options at O'hare...come on guys, get your act together!

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This post is WAAAY late. I thought I had posted it already, but....I didn't. I've been too occupied with our other project. 

Some background. My Wife's friend from Montana flew in for our 'wedding' (aka very very small dinner >25 people), as a gift, she gave us a basket of some stuff from the farm she works on. best. gift. ever.

She gave us some:
Garlic
Mint tea
Lemon Balm tea
Raspberry Jam
Redcurrant Jam
really good Honey
Oregano

So, we decided to invite her over for dinner, and use the ingredients in a dinner for her.

Well, dinner was had on Friday to MUCH success...perhaps it was that false sense of "because I made it" but our guest loved it, and we chalked it up to one of the best dinners we've ever made!

Here was the 'fancy' tongue-in-cheek menu...


Garlic Honey lollipops, were really, good. Stole the idea from Pegu Club







Apologize for the not so great pictures, didn't wanna be that 'guy' snapping photos while the guest is thinking, 'i just want to fsking eat'

then we did the salad...the vinegairette was fantastic...really really surprisingly good. We used the red currant jam, some really good red wine vinegar we brought back from Italy (from Volpaia) and some really good Olive oil we have from Nice. No pictures though....sorry. Wife did the recipe, she just mixed like 4:1 oil with vinegar and red currant jam to taste, and a fresh cracked pepper.

Then we did the lemon balm and honey granita.....again, surprisingly simple and good.



For the main, I did the Mint 'tea' risotto with Lamb




chocolate mousse.



The mint risotto with the lamb was just awesome. Mint goes awesome with lamb, and well, I like risotto. It's no big deal to I'm sure most of you guys, but this is the first dinner I didn't go off any recipes....I patted myself on the back all night!

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I loaded up on Ibuprofen and Laurie and I went to an awesome brunch today at Catherine Lombardi Restaurant and Cocktail Bar in New Brunswick, NJ. It was for the release of Jill DeGroff's new book Lush Life, Portraits from the Bar.



Jill was there signing books and her Husband, King Cocktail Dale DeGroff was there mixing cocktails.

Anyone who knows anything about food and cocktails knows that this combination, (THE best cocktail bar in NJ, THE king of cocktails, and drinking at noon with THE best BURGER in NJ), is something not to be missed. Indeed it wasn't.



To start, Dale was mixing up some Ramos Fizzes. I ordered one.







... and Laurie ordered a Red Snapper (or, a bloody mary made proper, with Gin). Our bar boy -- (I can call him that, because he shaved his beard) --James made one up.



James is one of the best bartenders I know. I'd call him my favorite, but he always hit's on my wife and has recently shaved his beard. He makes THE best Sazerac in NJ. James's Sazerac trumps even Dales. I've done a side by side comparison, and well, my wife, the Sazerac Connoisseur, agrees.



He just needs to grow his beard back...is all.

After imbibing some awesome 'breakfast' cocktails with some other friends and regular who also came, it was food time. Me. I'm a burger guy, so, it was an easy decision. Laurie is a seafood gal, and we don't cook much seafood at home, so it was a given for her too.

The menu was great. (there were some additions too)

For first course, I ordered the goat cheese salad with candied pecans, orange, pickled shallots, and while I didn't see any pickled shallots, I could eat goat cheese all day. Sorry, forgot to snap a pic.

Laurie ordered Seared Scallops, Pork Belly, Anson Mills Johnny Cake and New Jersey Corn Sauce.


Homerun with this dish. A poorly cooked scallop can ruin a dish and a scallop paired with a bad sauce or accompaniment can too. This dish nailed both. Perfectly seared with a good corn sauce and the Johnny cakes were awesome. I don't have to rave about pork belly, it's pork belly. It speaks for itself.

For mains, I ordered the burger, medium. It's still the best burger in NJ. One might feel weird biting into this burger with juices getting a little messy on your hands and chin in a fine dining establishment. Don't. The Neuske Bacon was good too.



Laurie had "Hybrid Striped Bass Over Crab Chowder"

She loved it. I didn't taste it. But she loves Stage Left's crab chowders.

I don't know what the hell a 'Hybrid' Striped bass is, but I'm guessing it's fuel efficient and might not give you as much gas? I'll let you know tonight.

For dessert, who the heck wants to worry about picking just one...they set it up buffet style. Caramelizing Creme Brulees to order. Needless to say, we didn't share.


I was slipped a piece of the Raisin Hazelnut French Toast with Blackberries and Almonds too...It was gone too quick for me to take a picture.

During the meal, Dale and Francis, did some readings from the book. The book is a fun book filled with stories from bartenders, quotes, poems, and fabulous illustrations/characatures done by Jill DeGroff. Gary Regan, who is featured prominently on the cover, has a story inside that is one of the best.

I don't frequent bars, mainly because most can't make a cocktail as simple as an Old Fashioned, or serve sugary vodka concoctions, or....the bartender is, for lack of a better description, a big chested blonde who has no personality and is only there to sling bud light or sell shots of Jaegermeister (I wont attempt to even spell that right, because like the liquor, it's just not worth it). Or, it's a sports bar....and TV's have no business being in a bar in my opinion. Thank god I can't see the one in CL's from where I usually sit.

I like a bartender that has a story or two, and can listen to a story or two. This book has more than a story or two. Make yourself a cocktail at home, read a page, and you'll think you are sitting on the other side of the bar at the 21 club circa 1950. Or...read it on the toilet, like I did (feel free to take your cocktail along).







In other words, great book, great food, and well, CL's is a great bar.


"Mark and Francis- forever behind the stick"

For a few hours, I almost forgot I have had a migraine for the past 7 days...If I die of an aneurysm, at least I can rest in peace knowing I'll have died with a DeGroff mixed Fizz and a great burger in my stomach.

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I never finished putting up my Italy trip report. I probably never will. Just too busy to do it justice. If you wanna hear about it, email me, this is an open invite for dinner at my house.

I've been suffering from a crazy migraine post running the NYC Marathon (oh yeah, I ran the NYC marathon), and still have it...but needed some comfort food if I wasn't hitting the cocktail bar tonight. So, in Top Chef style, we raided the fridge-freezer-cabinets for some ingredients to throw something together. I'm the self proclaimed risotto king, and we had some sweet italian sausage in the freezer...some San Marzano cherry tomatoes we bought by accident collecting dust in the cabinet...and enough vermouth left for a martini, and for some risotto. The basil plant will likely die in the frost tonight too. Here's my recipe. It came out awesome. I don't know why more restaurants don't serve food like this.

Timko's Tomato Sausage Risotto

1 cup of arborio rice
1 quart or so of chicken stock (I used beef, its all I had, better than bouillon to be exact)
2 big links of sausage (whatever that equates to weightwise)
14oz can of peeled tomatoes, with the juices
1 cup of vermouth (or white, or red wine)
1 onion - minced
3 cloves of garlic - minced
1tblspn tomato paste
Some fresh Basil
1 cup or so of fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
some olive oil
Some oregano


1. Heat up the stock to a simmer. Put some oil in a pan on mid-high, and crumple the sausage in and brown it good. Take sausage out.

2. Throw onion in, and cook it down but down let it turn brown, when it's about to, toss in the garlic.

3. Throw in the rice and 'toast' the rice for a few minutes, it should smell, nutty.

4. Toss in the tablespoon of tomato paste and mix it all in, for about a minute or two then deglaze with the vermouth/wine being sure to scrap up any crispy bits from the sausage browning.

5. Toss can of tomatoes in with the juices, and if you want, the sausage (I did, or you can throw it in at the end too) and a ladel full of the hot stock in, stir and wait until the rice drinks it all up...then keep repeating adding ladelfuls until rice is how you like it, keep heat at a low simmer. I tossed in about half a teaspoon of oregano too and some S&P to taste.

6. Take off heat and Toss in the cheese and stir.

7. Serve with some fresh basil on top.

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Alright, I'm obsessed with Mexican food/cooking. I'm not good at it...yet, but damnit I'm trying. I think I like it because I like the Mexican grocers in town.

I wanted something simple/basic to make last night so whipped up Diana Kennedy's recipe for simple Mexican Rice. Arroz a la Mexicana. Threw some left over grilled chicken in there too. Came out awesome. Could have maybe used some more tomato flavor, but I followed the recipe, and used fresh tomato over a can, and maybe the tomatoes just weren't the best.

She sure does use a blender a lot in her recipes...I can't imagine this is really that traditional? maybe I'm wrong. Either way it worked out.

Sorry for the bad cell phone picture.



Tonight, some chicken in a salsa of Tomatillos and Chipotle.

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Risotto is usually pretty heavy...but I craved it last week and whipped up a modified recipe I found on the web (I'll find it again, and post a link, I promise) made with summer squash, some fava beans, and fresh ricotta topped with some basil from the garden (by garden, I mean the pot of basil I try to prevent the neighborhood cat from pissing on!) It wasn't much less "heavier" but....it was my justification from gorging on it in the summer!

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Dipping my toe into wanting to learn Mexican a little more, I went to the bookstore and stole a few recipes...made Salpicon De Res from The Art of Mexican Cooking tonight.

came out good.






I'm not making my own tortillas yet....




....but that's just because I haven't picked up a press. ;)

Been really interested in Mexican cooking lately...if you follow my blog you might remember my Caldo de Pollo post.

I have some great Mexican markets near me...should be fun.

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