My apologies for missing gastro fridays last week. I came down with a most awful cold on Wednesday, and all hopes of finishing that post were flushed down the drain with my snotty tissues. Before I was down for the count, I was able to participate in the first of two Chicago restaurant weeks. This restaurant week was sponsored by Choose Chicago, a group dedicated to making Chicago a global destination. I believe the purpose of Restaurant Week was to advertise all the great restaurants out there and offer diners a break on prices to restaurants they might not have been able to afford regularly. In theory, it sounds like a wonderful plan. Read the rest of this entry »
Leena Eats: May Street Market–The Sad Post
The sad chicken pate that should have never lived.
Not only has it been a crap couple of months as far as cooking and baking goes, but the same goes for eating. Seriously, the last couple of big dinners I have eaten out just haven’t been worth leaving the warm, toasty apartment for. From surprise raw vegan dinners (how many foods can YOU squeeze the word “vitality” into?) to unbearably long and cold waits for delicious hot dogs (I spent two hours in 20F weather for Hot Doug’s…You make a killer dog, Doug, but it ain’t worth two hours and a bad frost bite on my toes!), I have been royally screwed up the ass by the culinary gods when it comes to eating lately. Read the rest of this entry »
Leena Cooks: Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas
Behold, my landscape of cheese, chicken and corn tortillas!
It has been a rough winter in the Leena Eats household. Unbearably cold, especially after living in Australia for a year. Not a lot of culinary inspiration. And some of the worst colds and flus I have ever had in my life. I am fairly certain I spent the entire month of January sick. Woe is me. Oh woe, is me. Sometimes, when you are having a bad week-month-YEAR in cooking, it is best to stick with those tried and true recipes, the ones that no matter how hard you bite it, you still can’t mess up. For me, that recipe has always been chicken and cheese enchiladas. I pushed aside the used tissues and a self-doubt that could only be Nyquil-induced and got to work. Let’s just hope I don’t set the cat on fire. No promises. Read the rest of this entry »
Leena Eats: Hot Doug’s–the best damn hot dogs on the planet.
Welcome to the magical land of Hot Doug’s. Be sure to genuflect upon entry!
Are ready for some hot and heavy hot dog porn?! Last week, I had the joy of eating at Hot Doug’s in Chicago for the time, the gourmet sausage emporium. This place is legendary. They make all of the sausages and hot dogs that they serve, and there are always at least 8 solid gourmet selections, with their popular duck fat french fries on Fridays and Saturdays. If you love encased meats, this is the place to be. Sorry, but heart pumps are not available at this location. Read the rest of this entry »
Gastro Fridays: Figuring out this “teaching” thing
For this week’s Gastro Friday, I wanted to reflect on my first two weeks teaching gastronomy to high schoolers.
Week one: the candy lab.
The most important lesson I learned from my two weeks of classes is that I am officially old. I must be. Because at the ripe old age of 28, I have already forgotten what it is like to be a teenager, even though I vowed I wouldn’t. Especially the part where they laugh at anything that reminds them remotely of sex or drugs. I should have known that–hell, I was ONE of those kids (and still sort of am!). Woe be to me, the one who chose to have them read candy reviews out loud on lollipops (who could write a lollipop review without using sucking” repeatedly?!) and candy bars with nuts. NUTS. I walked right into that one. Read the rest of this entry »
Leena Eats: Chinese Dumplings! Finally!
Oh baby you, you got what I need…
Once upon a time, I moved to a magical land known as Australia. In that magical place, I ate Chinese pan fried pork dumplings and homemade Asian fried noodles. In every major city I visited, Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, I was able to find a similar dumpling and noodle shop, and it made my heart so very happy. Then I moved back to Chicago. There were no dumplings or homemade noodles to be had. Many a night, I cried myself to sleep. I even took a stab at making some myself, which were good, but just not the same. I had heard fables of a Chinese dumpling and noodle shop near Chicago on various Internet food forums, but it was in a dreaded place we city folks call “The Burbs”. Just the word alone makes me shudder! Read the rest of this entry »
Leena Cooks: Gourmet’s Parmesan Pull Apart Rolls
My parmesan rolls with medium rare roast beef tenderloin, bacon, and a bit of butter.
Hot damn, it has been a while since I’ve successfully cooked or baked anything. Seriously. I tried my hand at beef short ribs…didn’t cook them enough and they were too tough. A batch of oatmeal cookies went south when my stupid ass used instant oatmeal instead of rolled oats, making a crisp cookie with an interior texture similar to chewed bubblegum. I craved French onion soup, and then burned the onion instead of caramelizing, giving the soup a bitter aftertaste that no one liked. And let me tell you, nothing is more sad than a crock full of soup and coated in gooey, melty cheese that looks so tempting to eat…but you know it tastes like crap. Read the rest of this entry »
Leena hearts Valentine’s Day
Sometimes, even when you love food, the package is more important than the contents of the box. This is one such case.
Mrow! Happy V-day, everyone!
Needless to say, I love my husband. Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! ~LTG!
Gastro Fridays: Leena’s Cheetos Poem
A vending machine in New Zealand with Twisties (New Zealand/Australian cheetos).
For this week’s Gastro Fridays, I thought I’d share with you a poem I wrote for a poetry slam in Chicago. The Encyclopedia Slam, which is hosted by Robb Telfer and Shanny Maney-Magnuson, is sponsored by Young Authors of Chicago. Each month, Robb and Shanny pick a theme and assign topics from an encyclopedia. Teens in Young Authors and friends/colleague’s of Robb and Shanny then write a poem or piece of writing based off of their topic. The show I participated in was called The Visual Spectrum, and my topic was the color orange. I wrote about the first thought that came to mind when I heard orange–Cheetos dust. I’m not a professional poet, but I quite liked it myself. Hope you do it. Happy Gastro Friday! Read the rest of this entry »
Leena Eats: Hot Chocolate
Chicken liver pate–best part of the entire meal!
When a friend from college told me she was coming to Chicago, pregnant, and wanted to eat a delicious dessert, I knew Hot Chocolate would be the place to go. Chef/owner Mindy Segal has been known to create a kick-ass dessert or two thanks to her extensive background as a pastry chef (past work has included stints at Ambria, Trotters and mk), and I’ve been curious to see if her savory dishes could stand up to the desserts. Read the rest of this entry »
