First I'll start with Frascas. Kevin and I went to this cute this restaurant on the corner of Roscoe and Paulina. We shared the bacon wrapped chorizo dates (so I could compare them to avec) and a prosciutto pizza. The dates were just ok, however, I loved the pizza. When I was in New York, we went to a restaurant called Bond 45 that has the absolute best prosciutto pizza and I've been looking for something similar in Chicago. It's one of those pizzas where they have the cheese melted on the pizza, but then throw the fresh ingredients on top after the pizza has been cooked. Our pizza at Frascas had fresh prosciutto crudo and arugula. I threw a little balsamic vinegar on there as well. It was great! And half the price of the pizza at Bond 45.
Kelly came over on Monday then we went over to visit her friends' place near Clark Street. There are a ton of restaurants around there to try! We chose Del Seoul which turned out to be a Korean/Vietnamese restaurant. I've only had Korean food once before and wasn't a huge fan, so I thought I'd give it another shot. Plus they had the Banh Mi sandwiches and ever since watching Tyler Florence's The Great Food Truck Race, I've wanted to try one of these. The Nom Nom truck won first place in every round except the last. We ordered almost everything on the menu. There was a lot of pork belly and some chicken. We ended up getting these pork belly fries (very good), regular fries with a great garlic dip, 3 bahn mi sandwiches, some Korean tacos and some pickles. I'd say the Bahn Mi sandwiches were the best, but I've decided that Korean along with Indian food, may be two cuisines that I just don't like. Kev, Kel and Rach really liked it though! Don't not try it just because of me!
On Tuesday, Kevin and I stuffed our faces with Potbelly's for him, Leo's Coney Island hot dog for me. Plus 2 milkshakes. Those Coney Island dogs are GREAT! Plus, it put into my head that I really need to cook some chili soon! Crockpot (or as Erin accidentally texted, Crackpot), time to get cookin'!
Wednesday, Cozy Noodles and Rice. Best Thai food in Chicago.
Happy Thanksgiving! I did actually cook a little! I made two side dishes, including mom's Broccoli Pea Casserole and this Roasted Apples and Onions with Thyme dish. I received quite a few compliments on the apple and onion dish. One of my old clients had mentioned he made this for Christmas last year. He's so into cooking that they actually give out comment cards for all of the guests to fill out and this dish received the best comments, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I really liked it as well! Here are the recipes for both:
Thyme-Roasted Apples and Onions
from Bon Appetit
- 4 cups apple cider
- 5 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tsp coarse kosher salt plus additional for sprinkling
- 6 7-8-ounce onions, halved through root end, each half cut into 6 wedges
- 6 tsp coarsely chopped fresh thyme, divided
- 6 Braeburn apples (about 2&3/4 lbs total), peeled, halved, cored, each half cut into 4 wedges
Boil cider in large saucepan until reduced to 2/3 cup, about 28 minutes. Whisk in butter. Season glaze with 1 tsp coarse salt. Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover; chill. Rewarm; whisk before using.
Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 425 degrees F. Butter 2 large rimmed baking sheets. Toss onions in large bowl with 2 tsp thyme and 3 Tbsp glaze. Arrange in single layer on second sheet. Sprinkle onions and apples with coarse salt and pepper.
Roast onions on upper oven rack for 10 minutes. Place apples on bottom rack. Roast onions and apples 20 minutes. Remove both sheets from oven. Drizzle remaining glaze evenly over onions and apples. Revers position of sheets. Roast 20 minutes longer.
Increase oven temperature to 475 degrees F. Roast onions and apples until tender and slightly caramelized, watching closely to prevent burning, about 10 minutes longer. Transfer onions and apples to large bowl. Season with coarse salt and pepper. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tsp thyme.
Broccoli Pea Casserole
- 2 packages frozen broccoli, cooked according to package
- 1 package frozen peas, cooked according to package
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 1/2 lb Velveeta
- 20 Ritz crackers crumbled
Melt cheese in soup over low heat and put veggies into cheese mixture. In buttered baking dish pour 1/2 veggie mixture and sprinkle 1/2 cracker crumbs then other half in same order. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes uncovered.
Dinner at the Wicklin/Hartnett's for Thanksgiving was great! Thank you for having me!
Friday, we ate Buffalo Joe's after seeing Harry Potter. Best wings in Chicago/Evanston! And snacked on some Garrett's caramel and cheese popcorn.
On Saturday, Stephan, Kerry, Kev and I went shopping in Wicker Park. We were starving after a bit and went over to Big Star. It serves a la carte tacos, tostadas, etc. It was excellent and the food was inexpensive. They have a huge beer menu. The drinks are what add up!
Here's their menu. They change it up every so often I guess.
And finally, on Sunday, to complete the week of gorging, we tried Nesh for lunch. It's this Mediterranean grill with pita wraps. We ordered a steak shwarma and a falafel shwarma. Not bad. I love falafel. However, I do believe Pita Inn (chain in the suburbs) is better. Nesh
Delicious. Now, I really REALLY need to grocery shop.
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