Carbon-based Observatory

Had a lobster tasting menu today for the Chefs Tasting. Did lobster cupcakes with tarragon mascarpone cream frosting and cooked roe, some good cannellini bean with lobster, frisee and soft boil egg salad. A chilled sorrel and green tomato bisque with lobster sorbet…. And lobster ‘meatloaf’ for the entrée. Had duck and veal in it too; kinda tasty. Try it at home and I’ll put more details up later. Just had to get back into the swing of posting ideas, and my first from the iPhone.

mini cooper weenie

Funny thing is that at work, i actually had the oscar meyer wiener song in my head at one point.  this was pretty funny though, all in the name of reducing our carbon footprint, i assume.

There’s this place that I, especially after having been now, cannot believe i had never set foot in.  it’s called Smoke Daddy, a pretty decent smoke house and bar on division in the Ukrainian Village/Wicker Park.  it’s dimly lit, there’s a band in the front window every night, and they do some decent barbecue and smoked meats to boot.  

Ordered a cold pbr and these smoked pork bbq nachos (an app, but ended up sharing with everyone around me with plenty for me to enjoy) and i’m hooked.  they treat the pig with the respect it deserves.  if you know you’ll be in the neighborhood, i’ll go back until i’ve eaten everything they have to offer.  if you visit from out of town, you’re coming here, no getting around it.  

This last thursday i made ten small courses of food to go along with a spanish wine class presented by Robert Houde (former head sommelier at charlie trotter’s in chicago), and all in all, it was a fantastic success.  some dishes really surprised me.  i mean i planned it out a bit, and gave it some thought, but some just came together really nicely.  from the starter, a coriander and sweet chile sea bass ceviche, to the final banana flan, it was fun.

i’m posting a gallery of some of the courses, i missed taking a picture of the two “hot” courses because i was just working fast and forgot to snap a photo.  Those were braised oxtail with garlic and citrus, the other smoked spanish paprika marinated venison with tortilla española.  both yum.

if you want a recipe for anything you see i can post later in comment, but to start here’s the basic guide for the banana flan:

For the caramel:

½ C sugar

2 ½ Tbs. water

¼ C cream

Cook sugar until a deep amber color, adding water before or after.  I prefer to cook the sugar and then add my liquid, so my color is perfect and I can worry about consistency after I’ve accomplished that.  Try it your way and see if it works well for you.  That’s half the battle with caramel.  While still hot, coat the bottom of desired ramekins or round cake pan and sides about ¼ inch up the side walls.  Allow to cool firm before adding flan base!

 

In a heavy bottom sauce pan, reduce:

1-2 bananas (stage 4 to 6, no green ones, no black ones)

3 Tbs. raw sugar

½ C water, to dissolve sugar and reduce bananas.  More or less may be needed.

            Allow to Cool, add banana mixture to

Flan Base (in blender):


4 eggs, large


1 can (sweetened) condensed milk


1 cup milk + ¾ the empty can refilled with milk

1/2 tsp. pure vanilla

 

Blend until smooth, strain if desired.  (when in doubt, strain)

ENJOY!

So i bike by this place on the way to work everyday, it’s about 2/3 the way.  and I finally noticed the other month that they have a new neon sign advertising a great little special.  now, do i want to hop off my bike in 90˚ heat and 90% humidity for a nice juicy kobe beef hamburger, maybe not.  But WHAT?!?  throw in a pint of beer and charge me 10 bux total and you’ve got yerself a deal, buddy!

anyway you breakdown the pricing scheme, it works.  I spent nearly 10 on a damn Jimmy Johns and bag of chips.  annoying price for that sandwich.  this i will try, however.

So some people bring their dog to the bar and people pet it.  some give away their cigarettes or lighters.  but last night, when a pretty decent thunderstorm rolled through, i found its good to be the only guy outside the bar with an umbrella.  i had my business cards on me too.  HA  i’m telling you.  if i own a 4am bar, i’m going to get custom umbrellas and send people to the bars i want people to flock from on rainy days.  perfect!

This last tuesday i met up with some friends for the first of a weekly thing downtown called ‘movies in the park,’ hosted at grant park.  It was pretty cool.  There was an intro by Richard Roeper saying hi to everyone, and then he gave the lineup for the summer (i had just read off the bag of free popcorn, but sounded better coming from mr. roeper) which includes what will include a flick i will certainly not miss.  The Blues Brothers.  Oh hells yeah.  This will be fun.  I mean, watching the Bette Davis film All About Eve was a good way to start, a cleaver and witty, classic black and white film on a warm summer night.  But being in downtown chicago at night, outside!  It’s 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark, and we’re wearing sunglasses. Hit it!

so everyone knows, i’m a big fan of encased meats.  just had to lay that out there to start.  and the latest fun one to dine on has been buffalo bratwurst.  i found this stuff, through work, and cooked it up in some goose island honker’s ale, onions and bay leaf.  well, needless to say, i brought some home as well.

DoH!  store’s closed and i don’t have any bun’s…  silly, you don’t need to eat buffalo bratwurst on a bun, make a pizza!  i had made some delicious pizzas the previous night, just cheese and fresh onions and cilantro.  but the key to being able to make one at midnight, after already cooking for a whole night, was to use this great nan bread (like really thin, larger diameter pita bread) i picked up at Stanley’s Market.  bubbly thin crust done!  just heat the oven and throw it in, cook’s faster than a frozen, and still works, a little, on the pizza stone.

so yeah, try this.  put some olive oil and grated parmesan or whatever dry cheese down (pizza glue) on some thin nan bread, throw whatever you like on top, and see if it works!  at least the time wasn’t wasted if it sucks.  and if it hits the spot close to the way mine did, you’ll be that much happier.

Well, Ryan, nice one.  Now i got a blog i will more than likely (fingers crossed) attempt to take seriously and do something useful with.  I figure i ‘ll try not to rant too much, that just brings everyone down.  And i’ll try not to get too personal, as not everyone cares ’bout that.  Instead i’ll simply try and make this blog about discovery and experiences.  I hope to throw a lot of culinary delights in as we go, a lot more pictures now that i have a new working camera with some decent features.  It stays with me most always and i’ll make a better effort of documenting some things that go down in this great city of Chicago (may need to buy a backup battery).

Oh, and if you have some general comments about how i can make the blogging go a little more user friendly, like tagging and the like, *please* let me know.  Could be labeled a rookie yet, here.