This Chicago Tribune article helps readers wade through the fried dough options in and around the city -- and suggests where to buy them. They have also included a delicious photo gallery.
The Gulab Jamon, "A small dark doughnut hole of flour and milks (powdered, regular), steeped in a sticky syrup of rosewater and sugar (and sometimes cardamom) until it's spongy and dense, and sweet," looks particularly delicious.
(Don Churro's churro pictured. Photo from the Chicago Tribune.)
I took a trip to one of my favorite places in the world this past Friday to see Feist: RAVINIA!
For those who haven't made the journey, the Ravinia experience begins with the trip up the Metra Union Pacific North rail line, steadily weaving through the lush suburbs (Kenilworth, Wilmette) as you leave the city, arriving at Ravinia Park a half-hour later. The lawn is really the only exciting place to be during the show, especially when it comes to the food: some people bring gourmet eats to be placed on dainty little tables with elegant candles and silverware, and others walk in with a few bottles of cheap wine and a bag of chips. It's truly a beautiful sight to see the patchwork of blankets and tarps that spread across the lawn. Even Leslie Feist herself started talking onstage of her curiosity of what was going on in the lawn section of the theater, seemingly miles from the stage. We ate on.
I took a minute to take some pictures of the spreads around me. For your enjoyment...
We dashed for ice cream: espresso Oreo, strawberry and vanilla chocolate chip - all vegan. Two friends and I had just finished dinner using veggies from Green City, when we realized we needed a treat. One of them called. How late are you open, he asked? 9 p.m. We were soon walking down North Avenue, wandering if fast enough. A few traffic lights slowed us down. Some 21 minutes remaining ticked down to ten. We were those last minute customers, but the staff gladly obliged. The cones were vegan. I took the sugar cone - the one I remember loving from childhood indulgences two and three scoops deep. He momentarily left for the cone, and then returned telling me that he'd double-checked to make sure it was vegan - so nice. Each of us took a different flavor. I sampled all three before deciding. The vanilla chocolate chip tasted the fullest to me, with a nice round flavor. All were smooth, and the espresso had a nice coffee flavor. The strawberry was the scooper-man's fav, he enthusiastically told us. Most importantly, each of us liked our flavor the best. My two pals had planned to work out, and they did. I walked with them to their gym. Cardio was next up after dinner and vegan ice cream. Just Indulge, 1755 W. North Ave., (773) 486-6680.
I love bacon. It’s true. But who doesn’t? I know of no other creation of mankind that can turn a person’s moral upstanding right on it’s fickle head as bacon. Every vegetarian I’ve ever known has either dreamed fitfully or fallen headlong into a bacon dalliance. I was one of those vegetarians, once. I sniffed it in rapture at the hip south city diner where I waited tables in my home town. But I didn’t touch. No. Not Yet.
Not until shortly after New Year’s Eve 2001 did I cross that blissful fatty cured belly line. And after 5 years of vegetarianism, I thrust myself bodily into a long and enduring relationship with bacon. It is, at present count, the longest most enduring relationship I have had, outside of that with my hairdresser. Yes. I have a long term relationship with my hairdresser, what of it? She gets me, alright.
Tod Mun and it’s reputation runs the line from much maligned to utterly forgettable. This little fried treat more often resembles the exact flavor and texture of disinfected shoe soles than a delicate lime inflected pillow of deliciousness. It is a tremendously simple thing: fish, and sometimes shrimp also, are pureed with long beans, curry, lime leaves and eggs, made into little patties and fried. They are traditionally served with cucumber dipping sauce. Together the two make a fresh lip-smacking treat, if done right. Somewhere the balance gets lost often, it is easy to make the collagen in fish become spongy and chewy. And taken overboard, lime leaf can taste more like furniture polish than one of my favorite things.
I have tried Tod Mun at nearly every Thai place I have entered in this city, and it has been many…perhaps too many…but that’s for another day.
Honestly, at it’s best it is hands down my favorite Thai treat, well, next to a really well executed green papaya salad. These two dishes require a certain level of skill and sense of balance, which makes them an excellent gauge for a kitchen’s commitment to good solid cooking.
Here are a few of my favorite Tod Mun, and be assured that they are just the tip of the iceberg for these three really special Thai spots:
TAC Quik: Thai Authentic Cuisine. Ask for their Thai menu. So incredibly good, the whole fish is also incredible as is this insane anise scented stew. God love’em, get over there.
Spoon Thai: one in a stretch of pretty good Thai spot on Western, they do these sorta lame lunch specials, but at night when you can get the special Thai menu, it is so good. There are these chive dumplings that are gooey and chivey and just excite me.
Sticky Rice: Um…northern sausage? Coconut water in a shell….I have had some very very exciting food here. Damn…
Honestly I was tempted to say that each of these places has my favorite Tod Mun, but that’s not possible, they are seriously head to head. Make sure to try these little swimmer patties, they are incredibly satisfying and just make you want more.
According to some less-obscure-than-you'd-think British formula, the third Monday in January (Blue Monday - not to be confused with the rockin' but still actually kind of depressing New Order tune) is always the most depressing day of the year. It has something to do with compounding accumulated debt with grey weather, number of days since Christmas, number of days since breaking your new year's resolution, etc. While it may be a week later, we're hardly in the clear, and if you're like me, you're in need of a little sunshine, metaphorical or otherwise.
Enter new food blog One Trick Pony, who, with her cooking photos and banter, is clearly anything but, and is sure to warm you up inside. And maybe even make you want to stay inside and attempt to cook a duck. (Or not.) Only a week in, and the author's kitchen has already seen many a good meal come through -- more, please! Add to the goodness some tips for Chicago groceries that range from Aldi to Joong Boo Market, and the following video, and you should be set to fight the winter blues for a long time to come.
Back in September, Guy Fieri from the Food Network show "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives," interviewed the minds behind BBQ masters Galewood Cookshack at the Logan Square Farmers Market. The episode aired January 14 but we have some footage for you to drool over in anticipation of barbecue season (and better weather). Fieri also visited Smoque recently; the next airing of that episode will be Monday night.
Dia de los Muertos, the Mexican holiday celebrating the dead through art and food, begins today. If you're looking for the sugary, colorful calaveras (skulls) and sweet egg bread (pan de muerta) that are the symbols of the holiday, a nice Sun Timesarticle (mentioned in the Quick Links below) sums up where to go. If you're looking to buy some things online, local confectioner Dulcelandia has a nice selection. And if you're a foodie with a hankering for the gourmet stuff, your buddies at Vosges have come up with a nice trio of chocolate skulls for your indulgence.
Summertime is a good time for food porn. Colorful, varied, and never boring, I find pics of summer dishes to be almost better than eating the darned thing. So when I got my hands on a recent Smitten Kitchen post about a Summer Berry Pudding, I began planning my own foray into photographed cooking. I was going to make the Summer Berry Pudding. And it was going to be artful, clean, and delicious. Just like the photos.
In preparation for its last service on June 30, the Lincoln Park restaurant Ambria has started a website to celebrate the end of their 27 years in business (take a look at the extensive foodporn section of the site). To further go out with a bang, Ambria is holding a series of special events and menus on Saturday.
Our comrades in foodiephileness at LTH Forum are holding their first annual Food Photo Contest that ends June 30, so get over to the site to check out the rules. Finally, there's an incentive for enduring the stares of puzzled waitstaff and fellow diners when you whip out your digital to take pictures of your meal. And theirs.
Sure, there are lots of Chinese restaurants in Chinatown, but it turns out that almost all of them of them (like the vast majority of Chinese restaurants in the US) serve Cantonese food. Now I'd never disparage Cantonese cuisine, which can serve up some real delights, but its the spicy Sichuan dishes that really capture my heart, so I've always been a little disappointed with Chinatown here in Chicago... that is, until a friend told me about Lao Sze Chaun.
People always recommend Cedars (or Cedars of Lebanon as it was previously known -- that's a story for another post) as the best spot for middle eastern in Hyde Park, but I've always liked The Nile even better. It's a much cheaper and less ambitious restaurant, but the hummus is the best I can remember having anywhere, and the sandwiches are both delicious and massive.
We're reviewed Tanoshii in the past and have followed Sushi Mike from Hama Matsu (our review) to Tanoshii. I'm a huge fan of the kind of sushi Mike makes -- a fusion of French, Italian and Asian style sauces meets the clean, crisp taste of sushi.
In January, when Schwa moved to closing on the weekends and opening on Mondays instead, I managed to obtain a much longed-for reservation. Schwa, in some way, is a hidden gem of cult status sorts — those who know about it rant and rave and those who don't wonder why they never knew about the place in the first place. They're not lacking for diners though but somehow remain manageable for "those in the know". Given the dining experience at Schwa, I can't imagine any other way for them to operate — which is just about perfect.
I fell in love with cold soup the year I moved to New York City. My husband—then my boyfriend—and I had a favorite cheap Italian restaurant in the East Village that served a cold strawberry soup, made with Champagne and...
This Chicago Tribune article helps readers wade through the fried dough options in and around the city -- and suggests where to buy them. They have also included a delicious photo gallery.
Back in September, Guy Fieri from the Food Network show "
