Carrots (bagna cauda, treviso, shaved Parmesan) at the Publican last night. Such a simple dish, but the flavors were so bright and vibrant, it really transformed an otherwise humble vegetable into something very special.

The Pizza Puttanesca special at Spacca Napoli last night. The Puttanesca was salty (anchovies, capers) and sweet (cherry tomatoes) and smooth (fresh mozz) all at once on their wonderful crust. Plus a gratis mini-cannelloni on our way out the door--we had a lovely meal.

Chicken pot pie from Hoosier Mama for dinner, followed by a Death of John Waters doughnut from Bleeding Heart Bakery for dessert.

Filete Machengo Relleno de Mariscos at El Navagante Friday. And as usual the empanadas de camerones were stellar.

Whole roasted red snapper at Urban Union ~ yowza. We literally picked it down to the bones, a tremendously executed dish.

The Blue Pig n’ Fig from Pastoral at the French Market. Serrano ham, blue cheese, fig, dijon mustard and greens. This is an awesome sandwich. The ingredients were perfectly applied. It'd be easy for, say, the blue cheese or the fig to dominate, but they just worked together. It was the first time I hadn't reflexively gone for the bahn mi at Saigon Sisters and I'm glad I branched out.

Chicken Wings at Owen and Engine - Piment d'Esplette, Chive Creme Fraiche


Crispy, bright and with a touch of heat, these were just outstanding. If I lived close to the restaurant I'd be here for these on a regular basis.

Stephen wrote:Chicken Wings at Owen and Engine - Piment d'Esplette, Chive Creme Fraiche


Crispy, bright and with a touch of heat, these were just outstanding. If I lived close to the restaurant I'd be here for these on a regular basis.

Yes. They were awesome the first time I had them. A couple of subsequent trips yielded some notably lesser orders but the last time I was there, they were outstanding once again. I hope they've permanently found their groove on this item. Man cannot live on burgers alone.

=R=

Porchetta sandwich and kimchi fries at bopNgrill.

Pork loin wrapped in pork belly sandwiched in ciabatta...porky goodness!

Some fresh bratwurst from CP Meat Market in New Lennox.

A great brat, nicely balanced flavors. Pan fried these were top notch. One of the better basic brats I have found in my recent search.

CP Meat Market
1312 N. Cedar Road
New Lennox, IL.

815-485-3629

http://www.cpmeatmarket.com

in the last week ive had the following for dinner 3 times...........
baguette, Parmentier sardines in EVOO, sea salt

Creamed Swiss Chard Tartine, Roasted Cauliflower Gratin at Telegraph - 12.0207

=R=

Telegraph
2601 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, Illinois
(773) 292-9463

Brisket, biscuit, and gravy with a perfectly fried egg on top, from Southport Cafe & Grocery.

A creamsicle milkshake at Prime Burgerhouse at the Grand Victoria casino in Elgin. Actually 1/2 of a shake as I had already had a burger and truffle fries. If I'd known how insanely good the milkshake was, I might have just gotten that and fries. The burgers are ordinarily very good, this last one was too charred.

Luckyguy wrote:The Blue Pig n’ Fig from Pastoral at the French Market. Serrano ham, blue cheese, fig, dijon mustard and greens. This is an awesome sandwich. The ingredients were perfectly applied. It'd be easy for, say, the blue cheese or the fig to dominate, but they just worked together. It was the first time I hadn't reflexively gone for the bahn mi at Saigon Sisters and I'm glad I branched out.

I love that sandwich too!!!! Whenever I go there I have a hard time trying something else because I know the Blue Pig n Fig is so good. (the other sandwiches there are great also..)

Another thing in the French Market that I love is the Montreal Smoked Hot Pastrami at Fumare Meats, right next door to Pastoral. it is amazingly delicious. Get it on rye with some cheese and mustard. That is all you need.

The Classic banh mi sandwich from Saigon Sisters at the French Market. I had been wanting to try a banh mi but nobody out here makes the so I had to wait until my partner had a conference downtown and took the train in. She had the vegetarian. They did not disappoint. Unfortunately she won't be going doing again until June.

Just in town last weekend and hit Longman&Eagle for dinner. My main was venison with huckleberry sauce and Brussels sprouts with lardon. Great dish - hint of gaminess from the venison (cooked perfectly btw), tart/sweet from the huckleberry and who doesn't like Brussels sprouts with smokey lardons? Perfect.

Breaded steak sandwich special at Freddy's (Cicero). I may be one of the few fans of Ricobene's here for that-generation Italian family nostalgia, but this was a different animal entirely; the beef had almost a braised character, and the good breading was saturated in drippings and yet still crisp on the edges. No tomato, a hit of giardiniera, excellent.

We had Jim and Pete's super pizza last night. Pepperoni, sausage, bacon, italian beef, onions, green pepper, with the usual very fresh condiments on the side-beer being one of them. I consider myself a true pizza addict and this was by far the best fix I've had in a long time. The large with three bottled beers was thirty dollars, a great deal for dining in.
I have to say, however, the washrooms are in the worst possible place. I've been sat at the deuce table right in front of them and, well....you get the drift. The waitress may forget she's a waitress when family comes to visit. That's OK, the bus guys are great and cover her, which is why we left a pretty decent tip. I think we were really tipping the pizza!

Surf -n- Turf:

Ultra fresh (alive and kicking) Santa Barbara spot prawns from SB Fish Market and Filets on the grill. The prawns were so sweet and juicy, reminded me of lobster. The view wasn't bad either... sitting on the patio looking out with the mountains on one side and the Channel Islands on the other!!

The shrimp course at Next, El Bulli. Wow...

The Gyro plate at PapaSpiros in Oak Park yesterday was very good. It was our first time going there and the place is nice and clean and the service was fantastic. Yani, our server helped make the whole experience all the more enjoyable. Would recommend.

Homemade chocolate chip banan-bread cookies that were featured on Kelsey's essentials yesterday morning. I had a couple of ripe bananas just begging to be used in something and this was the perfect solution. They came out yummy! Gonna put nuts in them next time for a bit of crunch.

The pork buns at Chizakaya--fantastic! Pillowy soft buns with a nice tangy flavor, the same gorgeous fat and crispy pieces of pork belly that they use for the slow cooked egg dish, pickles and radish, green onion, jalapeno, cilantro and peanut with a not-too-sweet hoisin sauce--could've eaten a dozen (well, probably not in one sitting but certainly over the course of a day or two.)

Spanish Chorizo/Black Bean Stew made with a cured chorizo from Publican Quality Meats. Yum.

Serves 2-3
1 circle of Chorizo (about 8oz)
1/2 onion, diced large
1/2 bell pepper, diced large
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 14oz can diced tomatoes
1 15oz can black beans
1 C chicken stock
1/2 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Heat a dutch oven on medium
Cut chorizo into 1/2"-thick discs, cook for several minutes until a fair amount of fat runs out. Recipes suggest draining all but a tbs of fat, but, seriously, that's where the flavor is, right?
Add onion, pepper and garlic, and cook until getting tender, about five minutes, stirring occasionally (watch that they sweat and not brown, turn heat down if needed)
Add beans, tomatoes, stock, thyme, black pepper and maybe salt if you think it's needed
Bring to a simmer, turn heat to low, cover. Cook for 30 minutes. Uncover and turn the heat up a little to let it thicken up for another 15.
Serve with toasted crusty bread

Monkfish Osso Bucco at Longman & Eagle
Celery root-apple purée, hedgehog mushrooms, Brussels leaves, barley, red wine reduction.

I haven't had a 'food moment' in a long time but this definitely did it for me. The depth of savoriness here was just incredible.

Hot potato/Cold potato and black truffle explosion at Alinea last night. Both classics, both outstanding.

Homemade Swiss Steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls/butter, scalloped corn, green beans with bacon, carrot salad with raisins & marshmallows, pickles, and an assortment of desserts (I chose an apple crumble pie drizzled with caramel. Coffee, milk, water. Price (all inclusive) $9.00. Kingston Methodist church....yeowsa!

Store made cold borscht soup from the refrigerated section at Village Market on Dempster. Surprisingly good.

Ham on Rye sandwich from Publican Quality Meats... I am still thinking about it days later...

Single cheeseburger at Au Cheval. Absolutely delicious, non-gourmet, diner-esque burger with gooey American cheese, pickles and mayo. No frills but incredible simple and flavorful. I am still dreaming about it!