Back at It

A great deal of time has elapsed since my last post. Haven't had a ton of free time. Or maybe I have, but regardless, weather and scheduling has put a relative halt to my travels, until last week, when I spent six days in Chicago.

I had never been to Chicago before, and I had heard it was an awesome city with a lot of great sights, alot of great restaurants, and plenty to do. The plenty to do appraisal proved true from the get-go, as I spent Friday night in the Lincoln Park/ Wrigleyville area of the city, and my friend Trout and I painted the town red. Unfortunately, because of this fact, my first meal in exquisite Chicago was at a Taco Bell across the street from Wrigley Field at 2:30 am. Normally, I wouldn't lend more than a sentence to TBell (although it has more mentions on this blog than any other restaurant), but I will mention that Trout ordered the "Charles Barkley." This, of course is the NBA Box, the ad for which Sir Charles starred during the Super Bowl, and Trout gave it a pretty good bearclaw score if I do say so.

Next day, in an effort to start taking advantage of the city a bit more, we went out to lunch. At Buffalo Wild Wings. Another chain... There was some good college basketball on half the TVs, and trivia on the others, so lunch ran until about 4 pm. I personally am a huge fan of BW's, it has some of the best chicken wings, boneless chicken wings, sides, and sauces in the game. I know most of the people in Philly and DC who may be reading this may not have been, because they don't seem to be that big around here. Back in the Burgh, though, it was a staple of high school life, and the Chicago location was nothing short of equally delicious. Service was a bit slow, and beer specials weren't that special at all, but I'm still glad we went.
http://www.buffalowildwings.com/

Sunday wound up being the highlight of the weekend, as we followed up a relatively slow Saturday (the highlight of which was watching the 2009 Penguins Stanley Cup DVD and fighting back tears) with quite an eventful Sunday. We started out at a few bars, took some pictures at Wrigley Field and then decided, on a whim, to head to the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana.
http://www.horseshoe-indiana.com/
To be quite frank, this place was more depressing than the first 1:45 of The Pursuit of Happyness, but even on a Sunday at 1 pm, it was PACKED. I guess atmopshere and look doesn't matter when the money they pay out is as real as the money they use in the Venetian, and bewteen the two of us, Trout and I left the place with about $1,000 of that money. (Of course he accounted for about 70%, but it sounded better that way.)

We left the Horseshoe with high spirits and big appetites. Luckily for us, it was restaurant week in Chicago as well. I lucked out hitting Buddakan during Philly Restaurant week, and we decided to take a different route for Chicago's. Trout's friends got reservations at a Brazilian Steakhouse called Texas de Brazil.
http://www.texasdebrazil.com/
I had been to one of these types of restaurants before, and I left feeling physically ill from the amount of food that I ate. This time around, it was no different. The premise at these places is simple: they stock the salad bar with the most gourmet salad items, soups, and sides that you can imagine: grilled provolone squares, shrimp salad, tuna tartare, hearts of palm, and more. Also, I must add that my aforementioned parmesan cheese addiction was fed by a half-sphere of solid parmesan, with an indentation chiseled into the middle, forming a bowl of parmesan chunks. I could have grabbed a spoon and eaten that all night, but I knew there was meat to be had, so I returned to my seat, flipped my coaster to "green", and it was on. They had flank steak, filet mignon, filet wrapped in bacon, chicken wrapped in bacon, top sirloin, and among many, many more, their signature meat, Picanha. All of them were cooked perfectly, seasoned perfectly, and came to the table in droves.

I won't say how much meat we all ate, because I think I blacked out after the first hour or 2,500 calories. Whichever came first. But I will say that places like Texas de Brazil and Fogo de Chao (and I'm sure any other three-word Brazilian steakhouses with the word "de" sandwiched in between) blow my mind as to how they can cook so much steak, and cook it so well. This meal was definitely a once-every-year-or-few type of excursion, and the price of $32 per head was a once-every-year-or-few type of deal (although I guess restaurant week is an annual thing). Despite missing out on the famous "Wiener's Circle" and their "Chocolate Milkshakes" right down the street from Trout's apartment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wieners_Circle), I think we made a great dinner choice, getting not only a meal, but an experience, and four days worth of food. 8 Bearclaws.

Wednesday in the Kitchen

More snow today. Luckily, the grocery store was open, so I decided to get after it in the kitchen. I made chili, chocolate chip cookies, and bought the ingredients for Red Lobster's famed cheddar bay biscuits. If you've never had them before, the recipe is on the internet. The recipe for the chili, however, came from my old man, who has become quite the accomplished chef over the past few years. I've tweaked it just enough that I don't think he'll mind me posting it on the internet.

1. The Don's Chili

Ingredients:
- 2 large cans of tomato sauce
- 1 large can of crushed tomatoes
- 2 boxes of Rice a Roni long grain wild rice
- 1.5 to 2 pounds of ground beef
- 3 packs of chili mix
- Oregano
- 4-5 jalapeno peppers
- 3-4 hot red cherry peppers
- 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
- Tabasco
*And the secret ingredient/ special addition: Bacon (8 slices in this case)

- Combine the tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, oregano, brown sugar, and two chili mixes in a large pot and cook over high heat.
- While this is going on, A. cook the ground beef in a separate pan (I added a pouch of chili mix and water to help in the browning), B. cook the rice in a separate pan/ pot (once again, add water. And butter if you'd like), C. fry the bacon in a separate pan until it is so crisp that you could use it as a baseball bat.
- Once the sauce is sufficiently heated, pour the ground beef and the rice into the tomato mix and stir. Break the bacon into small pieces and drop that in as well. Continue to let the mix simmer over medium heat.
- At this point, I proceeded to add enough jalapenos and red cherry peppers to kill a horse, as well as 3/4 of a bottle of Tabasco. Some like it hot. And hot it was. I let the final product simmer so the flavors could all mesh together, and then I crushed a bowl for dinner.

This was my first time making this chili, and while it wasn't perfect, it was really good. I'll make a few tweaks for next time, and if you make it on your own, feel free to add/ subtract ingredients as well.


2. The chocolate chip cookies were nothing special either. I just got a recipe off of google and made it happen. One thing I did do was add about 3x the recommended amount of chocolate chips, and also added a small bag of m&m's. Nothing worse than chocolate chip cookies with too much cookie and not enough chocolate chip. They turned out pretty good.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/best-chocolate-chip-cookies/Detail.aspx

**Two quick additions:
1. Once you've finished making the dough for these cookies, put the whole big ball in the freezer for 20-30 minutes. I'm not sure why you do this, but my mom always did and her chocolate chip cookies are out of this world.
2. Sprinkle some salt on the baking sheet before you put the cookies on. Some of this salt will stick to the bottoms of the cookies. I think it may prevent sticking, but the main reason I did it is because the warm chocolate chip cookies at Max & Erma's Restaurants have a few grains of salt on the underside of each cookie, and it really enhances the taste. Don't ask me how or why.

Connecti-cut Short

I was supposed to be spending this entire week in Connecticut for work. Had a few things planned, including meeting my cousins over at UConn and hitting up an iconic hamburger joint in New Haven called Louis' Lunch.
http://www.louislunch.com/

I saw this place highlighted on the Travel Channel as the apparent birthplace of the "Hamburger Sandwich." Alas, I will have to try it out some other time, as a threat of weather in Connecticut forced me to cut my trip short, and consequently drive back into the storm that was ravaging Eastern PA and New Jersey. Made it home safe and sound by about 3 am, and for those not getting the snow right now, this is what home looks like these days:

And this was just really weird....

I did spend Monday and Tuesday at the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, CT for work meetings. The weather was cold, but not blizzard-like, and I must say: if you're looking for a classy establishment with impeccable customer service, breathtaking decor, and a variety of good shops and restaurants, Mohegan may very well be the place for you. It was my second year attending the meetings at this casino, and while it's not as ornate as the casinos in Vegas or even Atlantic City, the words tacky, gaudy, and cheesy never cross your mind. It's on an Indian Reservation, so there is a very earthy motif, lots of bright colors, and a definite nod to the history of the Mohegan tribe. In addition, the entryway to the hotel/ casino looks like the canopy of the Pandoran forest from Avatar:

As for the food at the casino, I had one really great meal. It was at Michael Jordan's Steakhouse, which is apparently a mini-chain, but of which the location in Mohegan Sun is apparently the best and the classiest.
http://www.michaeljordansteakhouse.com/

Now MJ and I have a special bond: we share the same birthday. I thought the connection ended there, and if you've ever seen me jump, you'd surely assume the same, but apparently we both have a penchant for a well-cooked steak with AWESOME side dishes. I had a 6 oz filet mignon, and our table split some creamed spinach, lobster mashed potatoes, and grilled aparagus. Each of these sides was done to perfection, and I'd have to give the place 8 Bearclaws.

*I also had ice cream from the Ben and Jerry's store downstairs. The "Chocolate Therapy" flavor gets 9.5 Bearclaws. Hands down one of the best combinations of ice cream ingredients ever created.
http://www.benjerry.com/flavors/our-flavors/#product_id=94
(Ali, you'll probably need to brush your front teeth after just reading those ingredients.)

Snowed In

Most people who actually read this blog are probably in the same situation as I am today: snowed in with over a foot of accumulation sitting outside the door. I've seen a few cars on the road, but not many. One advantage of being trapped indoors for a weekend is the effect it has on one's wallet: None.

So today, Center and I decided to cook up one of my signature dishes, English Muffin Pizzas. The cupboards and fridge were relatively bare, as I am prepping for a week-long road trip for work next week. But all I needed for this dish was:
- English muffins
- Tomato sauce
- Parmesan cheese
- Pepperoni
- Pickled hot banana pepper rings
*Sometimes add hot pepper relish
**Sometimes add bacon bits (didn't have any)

1. Cut the English Muffins in half, and spread a layer of tomato sauce on top of each. Sprinkle on some parmesan cheese, and toss them in the oven at about 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges of the English muffin start to get brown/ crispy.

2. While this is going on, throw as many pepperoni slices as you'd like (I throw 2-3 on each muffin half) into a bowl or on a plate. Put a paper towel on top, and put in the microwave for 2 minutes. This makes the pepperoni nice and crispy. Also allows you to dab off some of the grease. *I actually used turkey pepperoni this time. Apparently there's 70% less fat. Once it's burnt and crispy, though, you cannot tell the difference.

3. After the muffins are nice and crisp and the layer of parmesan has melted, take them out of the oven and put the pepperoni and/ or any other topping on top. I usually throw on another layer of parmesan cheese, too. While I will readily admit I'm addicted to grated parmesan, this is a nice touch because when the cheese melts, it keeps all the other toppings together and intact.

4. Put these guys back in the oven for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the top layer of parmesan cheese starts to brown and/ or melt.

5. Take them out, let them cool, and enjoy.

Obviously, you can put whatever toppings you want on these, I just happen to love spicy food, so I usually put a thin layer of spicy pepper relish underneath the tomato sauce. Adds a nice kick. As do the banana pepper rings. Also, I have to give a nod to Mrs. Rogers and my mom for this recipe. Whether I was staying over my friend Tim's house or eating dinner at home on a random weeknight, many a night growing up featured this Britalian delicacy. They're cheap, easy, quick, and delicious. Next snow day, give it a try. (And as you may notice in the photo, never a bad idea to wash it down with a good old Iron.

Commercials

It's been a few days since my last post. I've had a pretty uneventful few days, both in the food world and travel world, hence the lack of material. Also, my dad dealt a crushing blow to the blog, saying that despite my best efforts, the chances my mom will start using the internet are still very slim, as the online scrolling script bothers her eyes. Understandable, but we will forge on.

Regardless, I wanted to put something out there today, and I decided to focus on advertising. Working in the Marketing/ Advertising field, this is a subject very near and dear to my heart. So when it comes time for me to pick a restaurant at which to eat, I will oftentimes make it my mission to reward good, funny advertising. For example, I am not a fan of McDonald's TV advertising. I know the company does great work in the community and across the world, but when it comes to their commercials, they're bottom of the barrel in my opinion. I think the last McDonald's commercial I enjoyed was when Michael Jordan and Larry Bird played H-O-R-S-E back in the 1990's.

Conversely, I cannot get enough of King from Burger King. Whether he is intercepting passes on the football field, reverse pickpocketing innocent passers-by, or waking up in bed with a fresh breakfast sandwich, he never ceases to crack me up. Personally, I think he's a genius character, and so if I'm driving down the road and see a McDonald's on the right and a Burger King on my left, I'm holding up traffic to make that left-hand turn because I appreciate the way BK spends an advertising buck.

With the Super Bowl coming up this weekend, and the Steelers regrettably not involved in any way, the commercials will probably be a highlight for me, so we'll see what some other companies have up their sleeve when it comes to luring in new customers. The right message certainly goes a long way towards getting people to at least try your product. For example, those new Domino's Pizza ads. If you've seen them, admit you've at least thought about calling and ordering Domino's to see how good their "new" pizza actually is...

All that being said, I've attached a YouTube clip of what is UNDOUBTEDLY my favorite restaurant commercial ever. Although I don't know if I'll ever find myself in Oklahoma at any point in my life, if I do, regardless of if I'm on the Arkansas border or all the way out on the panhandle, I will certainly make a journey to Mr. Spriggs Barbecue because this, my friends, is some seriously catchy, and seriously well-practiced and well-executed advertising, quite certainly crafted on a limited budget. Someone get this man a record deal.

*Special thanks to my friend Pack-Man for introducing me to this ad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz1cee_94L4

**And a little King for what ails you...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGriO85UGLg