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.

Easy meal after work... enchiladas

This is one of my old standbys... so quick and easy after a long day at work. And... VERY adaptable to your audience (my vegetarian friends love the cheese version).

First off, the sauce is straight from a can and oh so good. It's the Old El Paso red enchilada sauce... mild, medium or hot (medium and hot are harder to find). I add some Cholula to the sauce for a little extra flavor.

Second, pick the ingredients you want in the enchiladas.... I usually go with cheese, chicken, or ground beef.

Okay.... now for the recipe:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Start with a small pan and put in some onion, garlic and olive oil. Add in some seasonings... I usually put in some chili powder, cayenne pepper, and a little cumin. Cook these together until the onions become translucent.

Next, the meat (if you want to include meat) :
-- ground beef: cook with some of the same seasonings mentioned above and some garlic powder.
-- chicken: you can use a rotisserie chicken (I usually don't bother adding any seasoning to this option) or cook a chicken breast with the above seasonings and shred it.

I use corn tortillas and heat them in the microwave for 20-30 seconds so that they are easier to roll.
Put cheese and some of the onion mix in each tortilla. Add the meat into the center as well if you choose to use meat. Roll the tortillas and pack tightly into a glass pyrex dish. A lot of the time the corn tortillas break when rolling them... don't worry, you can't tell once you put the cheese over it all.

Cover with the sauce (for an 8x8 inch pan, I use 2 small cans of sauce) and then top with some Cholula.

Top it all with a bunch of cheese and bake for 10 minutes or so... I usually just watch it while in the oven. The cheese should melt and the sauce should start to bubble... a little browning of the cheese is great too.

Enjoy. Great as leftovers as well. Tonight I served this with some refried beans (which I always mix with some hot sauce and cheese).

Happy bday to me!! What a day of food!!

We had dinner last night at Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Co. Here's what I think:


Location: 2121 North Clark

Food: What a unique pizza place. We started off with the Mediterranean Bread.... which is (per the menu) the restaurants most popular item and I can see why. WOW! It's a very thin piece of dough topped with a mix of herbs (including dried onion, oregano, garlic and... way more) and parmesan cheese.  The bread is huge and hangs over the side of the plate. It could probably serve up to 4 people but the 2 of us ate the entire thing. 

We followed that up with a pizza pot pie. We got the half pounder which was plenty to share after having the Mediterranean bread. It's cooked in a bowl with cheese on the bottom, topped with a meaty sauce and a few whole mushrooms (my favorite part) then covered with the crust which cooks over the side of the bowl. When they bring the "pizza" out, they flip it onto a plate to serve it so that it ends up looking more like a pizza with the crust on bottom.  I love the mushrooms, they are so fresh and are cooked whole so they don't get all dried out and rubbery. 

The menu also includes several salads and oven grinders. I haven't tried the grinders but I've had the chef salad once and I remember the dressing being amazing. 

Drinks: Not many beers on tap (Stella and Miller Light were the only 2) but they have a good selection of bottled beers.. including several from Goose Island (312, Winter, Honkers and Matilda). 

Service: Good. No complaints here. The guy in the front is a rockstar... no list of names but can somehow remember the order and number in the party. Impressive.  

Atmosphere: Dark, lots of wood. Cool old place. Busy but we only waited about a half hour. Open for dinner only during the week... open at noon on the weekends. 

Price: ONLY TAKE CASH. But reasonable. Plenty of food for $30-40 for 2 people. 

Another similar spot: I'll be honest.... I don't know of any other pizzas like this one. 

Birthday dim sum

For my birthday brunch today, my boyfriend and I headed to Chinatown for some dim sum at Phoenix. Visiting Phoenix on Sunday mornings has become a fairly regular thing for us. Phoenix has the traditional dim sum dishes that are served by servers on trolleys (or carts).

So... here's my first review: Phoenix Restaurant (for dim sum)

Location: 2131 S Archer Ave, Chicago (right across the street from Chinatown Square).

Food: The options are endless.... some of my favorites include: turnip cake (see picture 1 below... which although it's called turnip, it's actually made of daikon and it is my favorite dim sum dish - an amazing savory flavor and just the right amount of crispiness), pan fried shrimp and chive dumplings, seasame rolls, lo mai gai (see pictures 2 and 3 below, sticky rice with pork and chicken wrapped and cooked in lotus leaf... yum!), rice noodle rolls (shrimp in a long rice noodle), and the deep fried seaweed roll (see picture 4 below, seaweed filled with shrimp, then deep fried... greasy but oh so good).  The food is good and the variety is awesome!

 Picture 1: Turnip cake

Picture 2 and 3:  lo mai gai

Picture 4: Fried seaweed roll

The food review wouldn't be complete without mentioning the chicken feet, which my boyfriend gets nearly every time we go to Phoenix. I'm not a huge fan but he likes them a lot. They kind of taste like the skin of a vinegar flavored hot wing. Not much meat and lots of bones. I'm not really a fan.

Drinks: The dim sum is served with a mild hot tea. I always finish the pot quickly!
A quick note about the traditions of the tea.... Always pour the tea for others before pouring for yourself. The way to thank someone for pouring the tea is by tapping your index finger (if you're single) or your index and middle finger (if your married) on the table a few times. 

Service: Decent. There are tons of servers. But if you get stuck in the middle of the room, it may take a while for the carts to get around to you.  The only other complaint (about the trolley type of dim sum in general) is that you never know what is going to come around... so if you have a craving for something, you're better off asking for it or you may never see it.

Atmosphere: The atmosphere is fun and it's entertaining getting to pick your meal as you go.

Price: The prices are good. Today we left totally full and our bill was around $32.

Another similar spot: Happy Chef (in chinatown square) - also great but you order off a menu instead of the carts going around. The food is equally as good.


We finished off the day with a bubble tea from Saint's Alp Teahouse (which is right next door to Phoenix). We opted for the green tea with milk and pearls. It hit the spot.

Getting ready to head out for dinner soon... which means... another review to come!

Our last meal of 2010

I recently bought a book by Pim Techamuanvivit called "The Foodie Handbook." In this book she goes over how to make a roast chicken. My boyfriend read the section on making a roast chicken and ever since, he has not been able to get it out of his mind. So when we were trying to decide what our NYE dinner should be, I suggested a roast chicken. It turned out perfect.... moist and tender with perfect mouthwatering flavor. So, for my first post, I will describe our last meal of 2010.

The menu:

Roast chicken with jus

Pan roasted potatoes

Steamed broccolini

Olive bread

Pumpkin cheesecake

How to make an amazing roast chicken (a synopsis from The Foodie Handbook):

I bought the chicken at whole foods fresh from the meat counter. It was approx 3.3 lbs. I washed it with water, then patted it dry with paper towels. Then I rubbed softened butter all over the chicken... and lots of it. Next, I rubbed kosher salt all over the outside (and inside of the chicken), as well as freshly cracked pepper. I stuffed it with about 5 cloves of garlic, 3 quarters of an onion, rosemary, and thyme. The chicken was placed ON ITS SIDE in a 8 x 8 inch glass pyrex dish and I put a few more sprigs of rosemary and thyme next to the chicken, as well as 2 heads of garlic (with the tops cut off). I then baked it at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. At 30 minutes, I pulled it out, basted it and flipped it over to its OTHER SIDE (and added a little more butter), where it baked for another 30 min. It then came back out of the oven and was basted and turned breast side up where it baked an additional 20 minutes. When it came out of the oven this time, it was finished. I placed it on a platter with the breast facing down and the tail up and covered it with aluminum foil for about 10 minutes before cutting it (Pim T talks about how this is done so that the juices settle down to the breast of the chicken). And man... it was GREAT!! The jus was then made by deglazing the pan with red wine and a splash of red wine vinegar. This was finished off with a little more butter. (The butter was definitely not lacking in this dish... I put a load of it in the roasted potatoes, too.) 

A quick note on the olive bread: it was made using a Clement Clayworks pot that I received as a Christmas gift. The recipe came along with the pot.... it was good (and not too difficult to make). The company that sells these pots is located in Springfield, MO. The email on the recipe card was: clementclayworks@yahoo.com, in case you're interested. 

Finally, a brief mention of the pumpkin cheesecake... it's a double layer cheesecake with a gingersnap crust. I got the recipe from a friend... not sure where she found it. Maybe I'll post it sometime soon.