Archive for March, 2011

March 16, 2011

Chipotle Alfredo Farfalle Pasta – aka “When You Eff Up”

The below looks good enough, right?  I started off with Farfalle Pasta, Ragu Alfredo Sauce, Spinach, and Red Onions.  Sounds simple enough.  I got myself into trouble with my aforementioned affection for hot peppers.  The store didn’t have the ones I wanted in their produce section, so I decided to “go rogue” in the least Palinite fashion possible (or maybe the most?) and go buy some canned peppers.  I settled on some of the “chipotle peppers in adobo sauce” and figured I could make it work (can pictured below).

I cracked open the can of peppers and went to work washing the adobo sauce off of them (it’s kind of a smoky barbecue sauce), meanwhile putting about 2/3 of a red onion and the spinach in a saucepan with some oil.  I added the peppers once I had rinsed and chopped them.  I added ALL of the peppers.  A little sauce and some boiled pasta later, I had my dish.

I added too many peppers.

The dish came out hot as fire.  The Chef, to her credit, managed to hang in like a champ and eat her helping, even though she did say she had some “stomach upset” by the end.  I took mine down and went back for seconds, even though I think I went through about 3 glasses of tea.

Over the next few days, I finished all of the pasta that I had made, leaving out most of the peppers.

Moral of this story?  Taste what you’re putting in your food before you do it.  I had never cooked with these peppers and didn’t realize the heat and pain that I was about to unleash on myself and my guest.  A simple taste would have revealed that a much smaller portion would have been sufficient to bring the spice train to town.

March 9, 2011

Chicago Restaurant Review

I was in chicago for ACUI 2011 and stayed after for a few days.  Here’s my brief review of the restaurants I visited.

Burrito Beach – Basically a variation on the Qdoba/Chipotle/Moe’s family.  Burrito was pretty enjoyable and they had a special with free guac and chips for a foursquare checkin.  Win!

Pizzeria Due – Chicago style deep dish pizza place.  However, upon arrival, I realized that this is just a 2nd location of Pizzeria Uno.  I wouldn’t have had a problem with this necessarily, except that Pizzeria Uno is a chain that I can visit in NC.  On top of that, I learned that apparently the place to go for Chicago style pizza is not Pizzeria Uno but Giordano’s.  So why were we here?  That being said, the pizza and dessert was pretty ho hum.  Maybe you should follow those folks recommendations and go to Giordano’s.  Pass on this joint.

Weber Grill – overpriced, average food.  Great place to hang out with a fun crowd but not a place that I would go if I was looking to enjoy my dinner.  We had salad, entree and dessert and I wouldn’t say that any of them were much to write home about.

Grand Lux Cafe – I actually liked my dinner here, but I wish that I had done the desserts.  They advertise this restaurant as “something for everyone” and that’s essentially the problem.  The desserts are made to order and thus must be ordered about 30 minutes ahead of time.  This alone sounds intriguing, but I was so full that I didn’t go for it.  Should have.

Epic Burger – tiny burger joint, but fantastic.  High recommend, but not a lot to say about it.

Signature Room – in the Hancock Center.  We just went here for drinks but the food sounded pretty good.  I’d recommend going up here if you’re interested in the view and not being rushed through.

Yolk – kinda expensive, but one hell of a breakfast.  I think we went here every day after the conference was over.  I didn’t have anything that wasn’t excellent.  I highly recommend the corn beef hash as well as the strawberry orange juice.

Kim and Carlos Hot Dog Stand – this was just a hot dog stand, but I’ve got to comment on the actual hot dog.  I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to eat a normal hot dog again after having a chicago style dog.  Wow.  Just wow.  Make your own.

Siam Rice – We basically stumbled on this place accidentally.  It’s a beautiful restaurant inside the Loop, kind of hidden from view.  I had the Basil Chicken and basically inhaled it along with some jasmine tea.  I think everything looked good though and I can’t say there would have been any misses on the menu.  Worth checking out if you’re in the area.

Pint – crappy food and expensive beers.  I know you can do better than this, Wicker Park.  You should be ashamed of yourself.

La Fonda Del Gusto – truly strange dining experience.  I spent my entire dinner staring at the picture of a cockfight (see below) on the wall of the restaurant.  That being said, the salsa verde that they brought to the table (bam!) was great as was the Tacos al Pastor that I had for dinner.  Worth stopping here for dinner in Wicker Park.

March 9, 2011

St. Louis Restaurant Review

I was in St. Louis for the NACA Convention.  As I’ve tried to do with some of my other travel, I wanted to post a few places that I’d been to and what I thought of them.

Hard Rock Cafe (union station) – yuck.  I can’t say I’ve ever been to one of these places that was any good.  The food is below average.  The atmosphere sucks.  I don’t understand why people go here.  We went to try and please a very picky eater (read: they have chicken tenders).

Bridge Tap House and Wine Bar – FANTASTIC place.  Excellent beer selection.  Unique menu – much of the food is based around cheese plates or cheese/meat plates.  I had the House smoked duck breast with shaved cabbage, red onion, and a cassis bbq sauce and it was fantastic.  The duck was served cold with the combination served on slices of bread tapas style.  I highly recommend the dessert here also; I had the tipsy granny (Granny smith apples tossed in pomegranate vodka and served with caramel dipping sauce) and it was fantastic.  If you come to the Lou, don’t miss this place.  Just for the record, the beer I had was the Great Divide Hercules, but there is plenty here to choose from for everyone.

The Dubliner – beer was pretty expensive.  Only reason I’d say to go here is that they have a veggie selection for folks who are into that sort of thing.

Rosalita’s Cantina – Some of the best Tex-Mex food I’ve ever had.  We showed up for Happy Hour and had some really cheap margaritas that were great.  I had the chile rellenos and they were some of the best I’ve ever had.  Highly recommend.

Tigin Irish Pub – meh.  I had the fish and chips and it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t anything special.

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