Tamale Casserole Recipe

We had a long day of driving back from southern Illinois today and my bf and I were tired and hungry when we got back. I made tamale casserole for dinner from a recipe that I adapted from one of my Cooking Light emails. We almost finished off the pan. It takes no time and tastes awesome.

Tamale Casserole
What you'll need....
1/4 cup and 1.5 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
1/3 cup skim milk
1/4 cup egg substitute
1 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 can (14.75 oz) cream corn
1 box corn muffin mix (8.5 oz - I used Jiffy)
1 can green chiles (7 oz) - drain off some of the liquid
1 can enchilada sauce (10 oz - I used my favorite... Old El Paso)
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (If you don't feel like cooking chicken breasts... get a rotisserie chicken and shred the breasts)

What to do...
- Preheat oven to 400 deg

- Combine the 1/4 cup cheese, the milk, eggs, spices, cream corn, corn bread mix and green chiles in a bowl (it mixes very easily)
- Pour into a 13x9 in pan thats coated with cooking spray.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until set (watch it because the original recipe calls for 15 minutes, but mine took approx 23 min).
- Pierce liberally with a fork and pour enchilada sauce on top.

- Top with chicken and 1.5 cups cheese.

- Bake again for approx 10 min (cheese should be melted).
- Remove from oven and let stand for 5 min.

- ENJOY!!!

The reason why I called this blog So Full in the Windy City.....

When looking at food blogs makes you nauseous... that's how you know you're SO FULL. OH MAN... WHAT A MEAL. Had a rough day at work and my foot hurt and I was tired and crabby. Cue my boyfriend. "You had a bad day.... why don't we have another date night (another because we had date night on Friday and Saturday this weekend)?"

We've been wanting to try Volare, an always busy Italian restaurant that's close to our apartments. We've tried to go on a random Tuesday without a reservation and the wait was over an hour. So we called to get a last minute reservation and much to our surprise, we were able to get in at the last minute.

We sat in the heated, closed-in outside seating area which was a little quieter than the inside of the restaurant. Here's the review....

Volare (http://www.volarerestaurant.com)

Location: 201 East Grand (just a block off of Michigan Ave).

Food:  We ate a lot and it was good. They bring out a basket of 2 types of bread... a baguette and a delicious focaccia. There was olive oil and a bowl of parmesan on the table to dip the bread in as well. We started off with the steamed mussels in a white wine and garlic sauce. The mussels were on top of two delicious crostinis that were soggy from the sauce... amazing. There was plenty of sauce left to dip the bread in.... it was a tough decision on which to use... the broth or the olive oil/parmesan combo. Here's a pic of the already eaten mussels. We got so excited, we forgot to take a picture :O)

Entrees: I had the handmade ricotta gnocchi with the Arrabbiata sauce. It was amazing. The gnocchi were slightly less chewy than the potato version and a little more creamy. They were delicious. The sauce had tons of flavor. It's a spicy tomato sauce with pancetta and tons of garlic. I was concerned on whether the flavor and texture of the gnocchi could hold up to the arrabbiata sauce.... it was a great combination.  I ate the ENTIRE plate. 

My boyfriend had the pasta special. It was a handmade ravioli filled with braised beef in a tomato cream sauce with sauteed mushrooms. Again... delicious. The beef-filled ravioli were one of the best fillings I've ever tried. It was a pulled beef (reminded me of durkee beef... which I'll post a recipe for next time I make it). The sauce was delicious as well. This is one of those dishes I must try to duplicate. 

For dessert (yes, we had dessert too!) we had the creme brulee trio... one chocolate, one vanilla, and one Baileys. These were delicious. The Baileys creme brulee may have been my favorite. I even enjoyed the chocolate (and I'm not a huge chocolate fan). 

Drinks:  Great wine list. We were both in the mood for a pinot grigio and picked one out at random. The waiter suggested a new wine on their list that was a similar price and also a pinot grigio. The wine was awesome and really went well with our entire meal. 

Service: Great service. Water glasses were always full and food didn't take very long. 

Atmosphere: Small. Loud. Fun. 

Price:  Fairly typical for a nice Italian dinner in Chicago... let's be honest we ate a ton. Entrees were around $15.  

Another similar spot:   Topo Gigio in Old Town... also delicious. Great outdoor seating when the weather is nice. 

Klay Oven

Oh Indian food.... how I love you.

Last night my boyfriend took me out to dinner at Klay Oven.

Here's my review:

Klay Oven (http://www.klayovenrestaurant.com)

Location: 414 North Orleans (a quick walk from Merchandise Mart Brown Line stop).

Food:  This was my first time at Klay Oven. I've frequented Indian Garden and India House on multiple occasions, but I think Klay Oven is my favorite so far.  We always order too much food when we go to Indian Restaurants and last night was no different. 


We started off with the samosas. I love samosas and have been spoiled in the past because my friend's mom makes amazing samosas that she often shares with me.  The samosas at Klay Oven were delicious. Great seasonings (ginger, coriander and mango) and filled with potatoes and peas. They were cooked perfectly... crisp shell, not too oily.  And the chutneys were good as well. See picture below (from their website).

As far as the main course goes, one of my favorite Indian dishes is Chicken Tikka Masala, so we usually get it as one of our dishes. The Chooza Tikka Masala at Klay Oven was very good but fairly standard (fyi: standard for me = delicious). The chicken was soft and cooked well and the seasonings were great (as usual per my opinion). The website describes it as boneless chicken cubes marinated in yogurt and fresh lemon, roasted in a klay oven and stir fried in gravy. Mmmm... I'm about ready to dig into the leftovers right now!


We also got the Hing Dal. Wow! Delicious. Yellow dal seasoned with asafoetida. I just looked this spice up and it's interesting. It's an herb that native to Iran that gives foods a onion/leek and garlic flavor when cooked.  This was without a doubt, my favorite yellow dal dish I've ordered thus far. It was spicy but not hot. Man, the flavors in this dish were amazing. I highly recommend this dish if you enjoy dal. 


Our third dish was mushroom muttar... and this one was our favorite. The dish is sliced mushrooms and peas seasoned with herbs and spices in a delicious curry sauce. The mushrooms were fresh (not soggy or rubbery) and the peas were even really good. The gravy was amazing. LOVED THIS. Also spicy but not hot. 


To go with the meal, we got the rice with peas and one order of plain naan, one of garlic naan. The rice was awesome! Flavored well and the peas add a nice touch. The naan was good (garlic is my favorite). 


Drinks: We both enjoyed a Kingfisher. They also had a wine list and a few cocktails. 

Service: Good service. Water glasses were always full and food didn't take very long. 

Atmosphere: Relaxed and comfortable, but still nice. 

Price: Indian restaurants are always a little on the more expensive end in my opinion but maybe that's because we always order a lot of food. Bill was around $60 but we had a lot of food and lots of leftovers.  

Another similar spot:  Indian Garden and India House.... both good, but I liked Klay Oven the best. All three of these places have a lunch buffett. I haven't had the lunch buffett at Klay Oven yet. The buffett at India House is GREAT. Good variety and food is fresh. Indian Garden's buffett is good too. 

BEST BURGER IN CHICAGO....

Wow. The time between posts has gotten a little embarrassing. I have tons of excuses... out of town, broke my foot, etc etc etc. But all excuses aside, I went to one of those places that makes me feel the need to come back and write another review....

I traveled back to Kuma's Corner this weekend because I was craving one of their burgers. I've been here a couple of times and this was the first time I did not have to wait over an hour! We arrived around 11:45 for their noon opening on Sunday and got the last 2 seats before people had to wait. Whew.

That being said.... Kuma's Corner is worth every minute of waiting... even if it is over an hour.


Kuma's Corner (http://www.kumascorner.com)

Location: 2900 West Belmont (Right off 90/94).

Food: 4 words: BEST BURGER IN CHICAGO. I have to be honest. I love hamburgers but I have never, and doubt I will ever again, taste a burger like a Kuma's burger.  These burgers are unforgettable. 


So for our meal, we started off with the jalapeno poppers - delicious. These poppers are stuffed with cream cheese and chorizo then deep fried and served with a jalapeno raspberry jam. The sweetness of the jam is the perfect contrast in flavor to the spice of the pepper and chorizo. They are fried crispy. 

Now for the important part of the meal... the burgers. All I can say is: take your pick. I've been to Kuma's many times with many people and they've all tried different burgers... I've never heard anyone complain. I have a problem trying different burgers when I go because I got hooked on the first one I tried: The Plague Bringer. If you like garlic... this is a MUST!!! Per the website description: Roasted Garlic Mayo, Tortilla Strips, House Made Hot Sauce, Fresh Garlic, Pepper Jack, Sliced Jalapenos. The roasted garlic mayo has the most luscious roasted garlic flavor... like you just popped the roasted garlic out of the oven and somehow magically made it creamy. The house made hot sauce is not too spicy with a smoky (maybe chipotle) flavor. The fresh cut jalapenos give a little extra spicy kick and the pepper jack cheese is gooey and melted and the perfect addition to the sandwich. The bun (as are all buns at Kuma's) is a pretzel bun. It does a spectacular job holding up to all these ingredients.

My boyfriend got the Pantera. Per the website: Roasted Poblano Pepper, Bacon, Chedder and Monterey Jack, House made Ranchero Sauce, Tortilla Strips. I only had a bite, but it was memorable as well. The poblano pepper and ranchero sauce were quite a team. The bacon added a nice contrast to the flavors as well. 

One more important mention: the sides. Burgers come with choice of homemade chips or waffle fries (or a salad for extra money). I suggest one person get chips and one fries if you go with a friend. Split them. They are both great. Chips are crisp. Both are salted well.

Drinks: Great beer selection. They have Three Floyds... need I say more? 

Service: Staff is very friendly. We sat at the bar this time which was great. We had a server and the bartender was always around. The kitchen is small and they are cranking out the burgers so be patient. 

Atmosphere: Loud. Hot. Heavy metal music. Risque pictures on the wall. Overall a fun atmosphere filled with people who love burgers. In the summer the outdoor patio is open which I highly recommend. 

Price: Burgers are $11-$13 but worth $20. They are so good and huge. We had 2 burgers, the poppers and 2 beers.... couldn't finish it all.... $50. 

Another similar spot: Can't compare any other burger places to this one... as I told my boyfriend... they aren't even in the same paragraph....

A week of chicken....

Now on to this weeks meals. I was watching the food network, which I often do, and Rachael Ray was doing a "meals for the week" show. She made a couple roast chickens and used them to make meals for the week. I had such luck with the roast chicken, I figured this could be a success. So my plan for the week... meals all based on the roast chicken I made on Monday. 

Monday: 2 roast chickens. One I made as discussed before. The other I made similarly except I stuffed it with garlic and a lemon that I quartered. I took a picture to show how I started cooking the chicken... on it's side. 

Both chickens turned out great... the one with the lemon was extra moist. Mondays dinner was roast chicken and Near East garlic and olive oil couscous. It was a great combo and a nice start to the week. 

After dinner, I pulled all of the meat off the bones of the chickens to save it for the week. 

Tuesday: I used the leftover chicken to make pasta. I used orecchiette noodles for the pasta which are great for hearty pastas... I especially like it with chicken and mushrooms. To make the pasta, I cooked some sliced mushrooms and garlic in olive oil for a couple minutes. When the olive oil absorbed, I threw in some red wine and let it cook down. I added spices including cayenne pepper, black pepper, a pinch of salt, and dried oregano. After the wine cooked down a bit, I added some fresh thyme and rosemary, as well as the leftover chicken. At the end, I added a pat of butter. After cooking and draining the noodles, I threw them into the pan with the chicken/mushroom mixture. I then grated a bunch of parmesan cheese into the pasta to finish it off. Turned out great. 

Wednesday: Pizza day. I decided to do a BBQ chicken pizza with the leftover chicken. I bought the Pillsbury thin crust pizza dough. You cook it, according to the directions, for a little while with nothing on top. I made 2 pizzas. The first one... BBQ chicken. I sauteed some red onions in olive oil until they were nice and soft. I added the chicken to the pan and a bunch of my favorite BBQ sauce, Maull's sweet and mild. Maull's is a BBQ sauce made in St Louis. It reminds me of summer weekends when I was a kid with my dad barbecuing for our family. I spread the chicken/onion/BBQ sauce combo onto the crust and covered it with mozzarella cheese and then baked it to finish it off according to the crust directions. For the second pizza, I combined some store bought tomato pasta sauce with a few spoons of tomato paste to thicken it up. I put garlic and spinach on the pizza then topped it with mozzarella cheese. The pizzas turned out well. And there were some leftovers for the week... mmmm cold pizza for breakfast. 

Saturday: I used the rest of the chicken to make a recipe for Southeast Asian Soup that I found on the Real Simple website. Recipe as follows:

1 large onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped 

Cook the above in olive oil until soft. 

Add 42 oz of low sodium chicken broth, 14 oz of light coconut milk, 3 inches of fresh ginger (peeled and minced), 2 red Thai chilies (sliced), 4 minced garlic cloves, and a little bit of salt. 

The soup was increased to high heat and bought to a boil. Then add 2 cups of bean sprouts, 1/2 head of cabbage (shredded - USE GREEN CABBAGE... I used red and the soup was a pale purple color... whoops!), some of the leftover chicken and a small package of rice noodles. Cook another 5 minutes until the noodles and cabbage are tender. 

Before serving, add 1/2 cup fresh cilantro and 2 tbsp of Thai fish sauce. Serve with lime wedges. 

A few things I learned.... DO NOT USE RED CABBAGE. The soup is a bit less appetizing when it's purple. I used dried red Thai chilies which worked fine. 3 inches of the ginger was a bit too much. I would use a little less next time.  Overall, the soup was quite good. 

Lunches for the week: salad with spinach, chicken, sprouts, quinoa and balsamic vinaigrette. Awesome. Filling and delicious... not to mention quite healthy. This was the first time I've ever used quinoa. Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is a (gluten-free) seed that's full of fiber, magnesium and phosphorus. It's also a great source of protein. (This is a good option for vegetarians.) Here's what it looks like when cooked: 

So there you go, a week of roast chicken meals... 

My final birthday meal... Ma and I

I had a birthday dinner with a large group of friends (there were about 15 of us) at Ma and I in the South Loop last Saturday night.  Ma and I is one of the places I frequent. 

Ma and I (http://www.maandichicago.com)

Location: 1234 S Michigan Ave 

Food: Combination of Thai and Japanese food. I love the curries. This time I had the red curry... great flavor. I love spicy food so I always ask to have mine extra extra extra spicy, and yet, I always end up adding tons of hot sauce. The flavor is very good though. It's kind of a sweet curry, so adding the hot sauce leads to a nice combo of sweet and spicy. The maki rolls are also delicious. On Saturday I split a Millennium roll with my boyfriend. It was great... actually I've never had a roll there that I disliked. The rolls are large. The beef pad see ew is also delicious which tender chunks of beef and soft noodles. 

Drinks: Cocktails, wine and beers. I had the lychee martini. I'm not typically a martini-type person, but man was this good. Very sweet. 

Service: I've been here several time and always had good service. I was extremely impressed with the way they handled our table of 15. The place honestly isn't that big, so I was concerned that they might have trouble accommodating a group that large, but they did a great job. 

Atmosphere: I love the atmosphere here. Without a doubt, this place is the best in the summer. The front of the restaurant is all large windows that are opened in the summer and the restaurant turns into a very chic, open air Thai bistro. The decor is cute, not tacky. The lighting is kind of low. It's a good date place as well. 

Price: Good prices. Thai entrees are around $10. Rolls are around $10-$14. 

Another similar spot: I also love Opart Thai in the South Loop. The food is spicier (which makes me happy). Opart's food is great, but they definitely score a little lower on atmosphere in my opinion. 

Again, lack of pictures. I'll try to do better this coming week. 

Man... it's been awhile

I've been busy busy busy.... between work, research and eating, I haven't had all that much time to post. The past 2 weeks have been very different, 2 weeks ago: a lot of eating out; this week: a thought out plan for meals for the week (I felt very Rachael Ray).  I'll try to post a few times this weekend to get all of my thoughts out. First off.... we'll start with one of my new favorite places in Chicago... 6 Degrees.

Let me start out with a little background. I went to med school in Springfield, IL and lived there for 3 years.  Anyone who's ever lived in Central Illinois knows the one thing you can find on just about every menu is the Horseshoe. If you've never visited Central Illinois (especially Springfield)... you may have no clue what I'm talking about right now. Let me explain. The horseshoe was created back in the 1920s. The original horseshoe was said to as started as 2 pieces of toast, open-faced and topped with ham then covered in Welsh rarebit cheese sauce and finished with potatoes.  The horseshoe (or as some of us like to call it... a heart attack on a plate) has changed a bit over the years and the standard horseshoe now consists of a slice of Texas toast with your choice of meat on top (can be hamburger, ham, bacon, veggie, etc etc etc, and my personal favorite: buffalo chicken breast), then topped with fries and cheese sauce. A-MAZING!!! Each restaurant that serves these changes things up a little... the types of meats and the cheese sauce recipe vary from place to place.

When I moved to Chicago from Springfield about 2 and a half years ago, I craved horseshoes. I searched and searched and couldn't find any Chicago restaurants that served these horseshoes. I periodically searched the internet over the next 2 years and one day I happened upon this place.... and I'm so glad I did.


6 Degrees (http://www.6degreesbucktown.com)

Location: 1935 N Damen (Bucktown).

Food: HORSESHOES!! And ladies and gentlemen... these horseshoes are great! Let's just say, if this place were in Springfield, it would have been my go-to place. I ordered the buffalo chicken ponyshoe (which is just the smaller version of the horseshoe) with extra hot sauce and ranch on the side. I also asked for my cheese on top of the horseshoe... which is how they do it in Springfield. 6 Degrees puts the cheese sauce under the fries. They have a bunch of great reasons why... the fries stay crispy, the sauce stays warm, etc. I like it the old way really just because that's what I'm used to. Horseshoes are often judged by the cheese sauce. I tell you what... this cheese sauce is superb! It's creamy and has great flavor. The ponyshoe option comes with choice of one meat/veggie and the horseshoe comes with choice of 2 meats or veggie. Two of my close friends were along and they are vegetarian. The vegetarian shoe is awesome. I had a bite of it and the veggies are cooked perfectly and actually blend well with the cheese sauce. 

Drinks: Nice beer selection. Negra Modelo drafts were on special the night we were there.  Guinness was also on special. 

Service: Amazing! The owner waited on our table.... which also felt very Springfield to me. She was great. We went to celebrate my birthday and my friends brought me a box of Molly's cupcakes (whoa.... so good. Favorite cupcakes in Chicago by the way.). Ann (our waitress/owner) took the box and put a candle in the cupcakes for me. Ann was very friendly and (as the name of the restaurant implies) we actually knew a lot of the same people from Springfield. I have to say this is one of the first places I've been in Chicago that makes me feel like I'm at home. 

Atmosphere: The atmosphere is nice. It's a chill bar with sports on the TVs. The walls are covered with pictures of the owners and their friends. It's a very welcoming bar. The owners seem to try to get to know the people that come in. When we were leaving, Ann took a picture of our party, which was a fun touch. 

Price: Great prices. If you go on a Wednesday night... ponyshoes are $6 and horseshoes are $10... any other night, ponyshoes are $8 and horseshoes are $12. I promise you that this meal will FILL YOU UP. It's so much good food. Wednesday also has Sam Adams on special for central Illinois prices!

Another similar spot: THIS IS IT!! Unless you're willing to drive 3 hours south...



I know there is a lack of pictures here, but I got so excited by the meal, I forgot to take the pictures! Here is a pic from last time I ate at 6 Degrees.