Mariscos el Veneno (1024 N Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL, 60622) is a Mexican seafood restaurant with food from the state of Nayarit — so basically it’s awesome seafood cooked in a certain way. If you’re not prepared for your fingers and face to smell like a bad yo’ momma joke, then maybe this isn’t the …
So on the post from yesterday, I had this simple mixed berry dessert that I plated in a red wine glass. I don’t normally cook straight from recipes, but I found this one on Epicurious.com, and it seemed easy enough, and good enough for Tuan’s photography magic. My version is slightly less sweet, because I …
These photos are from some years ago — I don’t remember exactly when, but my friend Tuan wanted to do some food photography for his portfolio. I obliged, he bought over his camera, and I cooked up a crazy storm of fun stuff. Expensive, but fun. Kind of like your mother. Everything was edible, and …
My coworker Scott is a huge cocktail person. You see, when you work with me, you kind of have to drink a lot, because I am a lot to handle while sober. I asked him what his favorite drink was, and his immediate response: A Sazerac. The Sazerac is an anise-flavored (often misspelled in my …
People tend to be scared of whole roasted chicken because it seems like a pain in the ass, but that could be further from the truth. The basics: Buy a chicken, pat it dry with a paper towel, salt and pepper the outside and inside. Roast at least at 350° F, 20 minutes per pound …
Poutine (pronounced POO-TEEN, ha ha) is a Canadian specialty that is starting to come over to the states a lot more — I guess the closest thing we have here is gravy-covered fries, which isn’t terribly popular here in Chicago. Poutine is a simple dish; start with a healthy pile of french fries, cheese curds, …
Ha, I crack myself up. Can’t spell cocktail without the word cock, as I like to say. I’ll spare you any sappy details, but over two years ago when I started dating Sparrow, I used this cocktail as part of a Valentine’s Day dinner menu. While it’s in the middle of June right now, it’s …
One of my favorite food sites is A Hamburger Today. It’s more or less a burger review site with other information, like how to cook the perfect burger, and other burger-related things. Who doesn’t like a burger? Vegans. Who are miserable people. Does semen count as being vegan? Because if it isn’t…there’s one more reason …
Near my office in the Loop in downtown Chicago, there’s this food truck that comes around sometimes. It’s called The Meatyballs Mobile. Chef Phillip Foss, former executive chef of Lockwood Restaurant, makes different types of meatball sandwiches for lunch. Since the food truck thing is relatively new here in Chicago, there aren’t too many options …
Normally I avoid cooking directly from recipes — unless it’s something like baking and requires ratios to be spot-on. Otherwise, I just throw shit straight into the fire and make sure it doesn’t taste like the business end of an African Rhino who only eats a diet of rotten fruit. I saw this recipe in …