Posts tagged "food"

  • June 08, 2011

    We’ve been on a new kick lately, where we forsake meat on Mondays and opt instead for a vegetarian menu. It’s nice to come down from a weekend that’s typically jam-packed with meat. Don’t worry, it’s nothing permanent: We ♥ The Publican. And Jaimitos Al Pastor tacos… Yes, I know, meat is murder. Tasty, tasty murder.

    Continue reading "Meatless Mondays"...
  • March 13, 2010

    While it's not St. Patrick's Day related, an Old Fashioned is still a tasty drink... I've been having mine with Templeton Rye lately, and it always comes out smooth and just sweet enough for my taste.

    Last night I made a batch, but instead of following Templeton Rye's standard recipe like I usually do, I decided to mix things up a bit. Since I had some blood oranges and West Indian Orange Bitters (my new favorite bar ingredient) I skipped the orange wedge, cherry, and Angostura...

    Hopefully I won't upset any old schoolers, but I preferred my version a bit better. The blood orange mash was sweet without being acidic, and it took the Templeton Rye very well — smooth, sweet, cold, and warm all at the same time. Perfect.

    Continue reading "My take on the Templeton Rye Old Fashioned"...
  • March 06, 2010

    Last night Elena and I cooked up a nice Mexican feast at home: chicken enchiladas, Mexican rice, refried black beans, salsa verde, guacamole, and margaritas. Duh. Because we all know that you can't do Mex without margs!

    Here's my personal favorite margarita recipe, adapted from the quality "Fresca" marg at Las Palmas in Bucktown / Wicker Park. I even included a photo for reference.

    Continue reading "Tasty tasty margs..."...
  • December 25, 2009
  • November 10, 2009

    Tonight was Salsa Verde night over here, and thanks to Rick Bayless’ Authentic Mexican cookbook, I was able to whip up three tasty versions.

    They’re pretty similar, consisting of tomatillos, japaleno/serrano chiles, cilantro, and onion. There are a couple of twists, though — while the “original” has cooked tomatillos, version #2 uses fresh ones. #3 sticks with cooked tomatillos, but throws in an avocado to give it that guacamole consistency. I’ve made #1 before (and absolutely love it) but I’ll never get through that book making the same things over and over…

    Continue reading "Salsa Verde Three Ways"...
  • September 22, 2009
  • August 23, 2009
  • August 07, 2009
  • July 24, 2009
  • March 23, 2009

    The James Beard Foundation (JBF) Awards 2009 nominee list just came out, and, as usual, Chicago did a great job!!!

    Congrats to all the restaurants, restauranteurs, and chefs, including:

    • Richard Melman, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises (Outstanding Restauranteur)
    • Paul Kahan, Blackbird (Outstanding Chef)
    • L2O (Best New Restaurant)
    • Mindy Segal, Mindy's HotChocolate (Outstanding Pastry Chef)
    • Bin 36 (Outstanding Wine Service)
    • Spiaggia (Outstanding Service)
    • Koren Grieveson / Avec, Arun Sampanthavivat / Arun's, and Bruce Sherman / North Pond (Best Chef Great Lakes)

    The Publican and their designers were also up for two awards: Outstanding Restaurant Design (Design Bureaux, Inc.) and Outstanding Restaurant Graphics (The JNL Graphic Design). And, of course, a special shout out to Isaac Becker from 112 Eatery in Minneapolis, who is up for Best Chef Midwest. I've eaten there (thanks to Jay) and I'm just sorry the honor didn't come sooner!

    Update 5/5/2009: Ouch. Chicago came away with zero wins at the 2009 James Beard Foundation Awards ceremony... I suppose we can count Best Restaurant Design for The Publican, but I was really hoping for some culinary representation. NBC has a funny, albeit sad, article with the details.

    Better luck next year, Chicago!

  • February 03, 2009

    Just got done watching Anthony Bourdain hit up Chicago on tonight’s episode of No Reservations.

    Tamales and deep dish pizza were obvious choices, but they also hit up Hot Doug’s, Moto, The Silver Palm, and L20… While they didn’t film at Blackbird or Avec, they did do a backyard party at owner Paul Kahan’s house. Oh, and Grant Achatz’ Alinea got a mention, too. Great choices, across the board!

    I won’t go into too much detail, since there are quite a few other blog posts out there that can do it much better. Check out Louisa Chu’s blog, and Bourdain’s own post.

    Continue reading "no reservations, chicago"...
  • May 18, 2008
  • May 17, 2008
  • July 22, 2007

    last weekend i got a new grill (a weber genesis e-320 in bright blue) and so i’ve been putting it to heavy use lately… so far i’ve made beef and chicken kabobs, italian sausage, seasoned potato wedges, portabello mushrooms, and pork chops. as long as the weather holds up, i’m going to grill as much as possible — gotta get a whole summer out of this thing! the menu for tonight includes seasoned potato wedges (again), smoked sausage, corn-on-the-cob, and some asian-themed shrimp skewers. i’ll put the recipe up for the seasoned potato wedges (and probably some of the other stuff) as soon as i perfect it…

    Continue reading "new grill, new food"...
  • July 12, 2004

    a while back i posted this about how i’m an awesome cook… certainly (despite the crappy photo) that meal rocked, but i now realize just how fantabulous i truly am. last week i made 3 kickass dinners (“stott’s spinach salad,” “holy-shit-that’s-spicy italian sausage omelet,” and “teriyaki-ginger stir fry”) and i’ve decided to share the wealth with you all in the form of recipes the stottsan way. so give these a shot and let me know what you think.

    stott’s spinach salad

    ingredients: » a boatload of fresh spinach » 3 strips bacon » 1 sweet red bell pepper » 2 hard boiled eggs » 2 green onions » cherry tomatos » creamy caesar dressing » fresh-ground pepper

    instructions: » cook bacon well-done, then crumble » tear up the spinach, duh » cut up pepper into chunks, slice onions & eggs » mix all ingredients in bowl adding dressing to taste » add some fresh-ground pepper if you like » serve and worship my genius

    Continue reading "correction, now i'm the iron chef"...
  • July 16, 2003

    steak dinner, mmm tonight i made dinner. and not just your everyday lipton noodles or reheated pizza, but the type of dinner you want to tell everyone about. (but not quite in the in progress sense of tell…)

    it started off as just a frozen steak left to me by my recently-floridianized parents. defrosted that in the micro for a few minutes, then marinated in italian dressing and coated in garlic powder. smellin great already! i broiled that in the oven for a while, flipping every 10 minutes or so. then i started thinking: what else can i add? cheese, always good. red onions, of course. and salsa. definitely a mexican theme, i can’t deny it.

    i grilled the onions for a bit in a frying pan, just to get them a little browned. but i needed a side. creamed spinach (don’t laugh, i love it) seemed like a perfect fit. so i nuked that, and did the steak decorating in the meantime. tossed it all together, garnished with a nice red ring of salsa, beautiful. how did it taste? i am the iron chef.