The April appetizer special at Chuck's of three stuffed peppers. Sadly I forgot to get all the details, but there was an ancho stuffed with vegetables, and then I think two poblanos, one stuffed with a chorizo-based filling, and one stuffed with a pork(?)-based filling. I had that as my dinner with a bowl of soup.

The Gunthorp Farms pan roasted duck breast with duck leg confit and roasted sunchokes, served over savory grits with a duck jus, at Hot Chocolate.

The dried shrimp salad in congee at Me Dee Cafe, 4805 North Damen. The minced Chinese black olive and ground chicken with congee is a close second.

Homemade pie brought in by a co-worker for my birthday. Best dang piece of pie I've EVER had! Blueberry, rhubarb, and bits of orange peel. The crust some really old recipe involving vinegar. I'll never forget this pie!

Fresh churros at the Maxwell Street Market.

pigOut wrote:Fresh churros at the Maxwell Street Market.

...a wonderful place,
though I've only ever known it as "La Garra"

@ Elephant Thai (monday):

- som-tum papaya salad, just a great dish
- basil & wonton wrapped then deep fried shrimp rolls


Weber Grill last night:

BLT - smoked/grilled thick cut bologna, apple smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato, mustard/mayo on grilled texas toast.. just like something I would do at home, and great.

This sandwich was on their bar menu, not on the regular menu, a steal @ $5.99

The Asparagus Appetizer At Quince in Evanston.

Organic Asparagus, Serrano Ham, Morel mushroom, pumpernickel, egg.

Wow!

The tripe soup at Nelly's Saloon (Romanian restaurant) on Elston. The last time I had tripe soup, it was at a Mexican place in the eighties. That soup had a somewhat--OK, forgive me, this is why I'm not a food writer--sewery taste about it that put me off tripe soup for the last twenty-five years. But I felt adventurous on Friday night, and Nelly's inspired confidence. The soup was delicious. Buttery, garlicky broth loaded with bits of delicious entrails that had a wonderful texture offering up just the tiniest bit of resistance without chewiness. On a fairly busy night, we were the only ones in the place not speaking Romanian, which seemed a good sign.

Nelly's Saloon
3256 N. Elston
Chicago, IL 60618
773 588 4494

A corn dog right out of the fryer from a vendor at "Genoa Days". The batter was light, cripsy, not too thick and buttery. A schmear of yellow mustard...wow.

Cheese and onion roll from Asda.
Amazing test!

Just now, the best dessert in recent memory, Vienna Eiskaffe at Julius Meinl--espresso over vanilla ice cream topped with (unsweetened) whipped cream. Divine.

The sauteed scallops with soba gnocchi at Takashi . . . not only one of the best things I've eaten lately, but maybe better than anything I've tasted in the last few years . . . or more.

Quesadillas stuffed with grilled asparagus, onion, spinach and portabello mushrooms all bought from the Oak Park farmer's market. YUMMY!

windycityaj wrote:Quesadillas stuffed with grilled asparagus, onion, spinach and portabello mushrooms all bought from the Oak Park farmer's market. YUMMY!

Sounds delicious! What kind of cheese did you use, if any?

Finally got around to the Pot Roast Sandwich at The Depot. Holy cow! With an egg cream side, I was in heaven. Thanks for the tip, guys!

A gelato trio at the newly opened Black Dog Gelato shop: Sesame Fig Chocolate Chip+Olive Oil Thyme+Salted Peanut. It's a good thing this place is two buses and an el ride away or I would be in big trouble....

While on vacation in Sonoma county, I had two standout food experiences:

- Just harvested oysters at Tomales Bay
Geo's photos and description of Hog Island Oyster Co showed the way. We shucked and slurped down the freshed raw oysters and broth I have ever had. It was cold and we were under-dressed, so the charcoal fire was welcome for its warmth and serving up my first barbequed oyster. Cooked until the oysters just firm up and slightly open (less shucking and hand injuries - yeah!), squeeze of lime, and sometime a dash of hot sauce. It is hard to say which style I preferred.

- King Oyster Mushrooms from Occidental farmers market
I wish I took pictures. The mushrooms were pristine - white, clean, 6" tall with 2" diameter stalks. The farmstand guy recommended slicing the stalk and simply sauteing in butter. These mushrooms looked like scallops and had more umami than the steak it accompanied. Happily, I found this type of mushroom (farmed in California, bagged) at Joong Boo Market.

Poutine with oxtail gravy and the Foie Gras Moco Loco with spam fried in duck fat, fried quail egg and hamburger patty at Animal in Los Angeles. Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo got lots of media coverage with their Food Network show, "Two Dudes Catering". They parlayed that "fame" into opening Animal which was nominated for a James Beard last year and got them selected as two of Food and Wine's Best New Chefs of 2009. There's a lot of other great stuff on the menu, but these two dishes were the standouts- warm, tasty comfort food, but also ballsy and unapologetically in your face.

http://www.animalrestaurant.com/
435 N. Fairfax Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Animal!! Yes!!..what a great addition to my neighborhood! Agree the Poutine is the BOMB!

fusionfan wrote:Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo got lots of media coverage with their Food Network show, "Two Dudes Catering". They parlayed that "fame" into opening Animal which was nominated for a James Beard last year and got them selected as two of Food and Wine's Best New Chefs of 2009.

A profile of Shook and Dotolo appeared in the April 26, 2010 issue of the New Yorker. Here's the abstract; a subscription is required to view the whole article. Their food sounds delicious.

Barnaby’s in Northbrook – asked for extra crispy pizza with sausage, pepperoni, onion, garlic, jalapenos.

The added cooking time gave the already-great crust both an extra dimension of flavor and a crispy crunch. Toppings, as usual, were very good.

You can sum up this pizza in four words: spec – tac – u – lar!

the french fries at Bistro Bordeaux

double-dog at Red Hot Ranch. I love Gene & Jude's. I was lucky enough to grow up in walking distance of both Poochies and Herm's in Skokie...but I don't know that I've ever had hot dogs I enjoy as much as those at Red Hot Ranch.

Later in the week had a very different sausage: a seafood sausage at Goose Island clybourn, topped with fantastic artichoke fritters and a caper aioli. The July menu at G.I. on Clybourn was really impressive (sweetbreads, rabbit, a good looking charcuterie platter) in addition to the scallop, grouper and something-else-I-can't remember sausage I had. Great special rye-IPA in honor of the US soccer team too.

jimwdavis wrote:Barnaby’s in Northbrook – asked for extra crispy pizza with sausage, pepperoni, onion, garlic, jalapenos.

The added cooking time gave the already-great crust both an extra dimension of flavor and a crispy crunch. Toppings, as usual, were very good.

You can sum up this pizza in four words: spec – tac – u – lar!

I think this might qualify for the thread...you know you're an LTH'er when...

You come home from stuffing your face with fabulous food from the best of Chicago's chef and farm communities and you read this post and actually feel something resembling hunger. Barnaby's rules.

The "Snowball" starter at Usagi Ya (1178 N Milwaukee Ave). Despite its twee name, the seven balls of heaven are oh-so-seriously delicious. Small sushi rice balls topped with tender, sweet escolar/super white tuna, then topped with a white truffle sauce and scallions. The perfect bite! We looked at the 7 of them and longingly imagined a blizzard of them lining the tables, leaving us forced to find safety by copiously consuming our way out of the snowball sushi deluge.

Tacos de sesos at Casa Roman grocery on Clark in Rogers Park. Mildly funky, slightly herby and spicy. Excellente! Will be back for more of these.

both items out of Oglesby, IL.

double bacon burger @ The Rootbeer Stand(best burger I have had in years bar none):




peaches and cream sweet corn fresh from the field(who needs a farmers market when you live in God's country):

Wow that sweet corn takes me back to my youth living in Wisconsin, during the summer farmers would set up road side stands selling just picked sweet corn. Nothing better then fresh summer sweet corn with some salt and butter.

EvanstonFoodGuy wrote:Wow that sweet corn takes me back to my youth living in Wisconsin, during the summer farmers would set up road side stands selling just picked sweet corn. Nothing better then fresh summer sweet corn with some salt and butter.

I agree, I annualy try to fool myself into thinking early or offseason sweet corn from other parts of the country is as good as fresh, inseason Illinois sweet corn.

This weekend was my annual awakening to how great our corn is for this approx. 2 month window we are in right now. by tonight we will have eaten 1.5 dozen ears between 3 people.

plus you cant beat the price, the peaches and cream corn bought @ the farm was $3 for 13 ears.