The Food Club

Pannenkoeken Café

My friend, Tyler invited me to the Pannenkoeken Café in Lincoln Square. This Danish pancake café is very small, with only a few tables and a small kitchen, giving it a very homey feel. My pannenkoeken was absolutely perfect: Havarti cheese, sausage, on a warm, savory pancake. Tyler’s pannenkoeken had Nutella and bananas, which was consumed before I could get a picture.

Choco Taco!

One of my favorite childhood treats is the Choco Taco. A sugar cone shaped like a taco shell, chocolate and vanilla swirled ice cream as the filling, and nuts and chocolate on top, make this a delightful dessert. They are so hard to find nowadays, but I found one at a little convenience store in Oak Park. It was “One cool taco!”

Makin’ Bacon

No, not that. This (version 1).

So Scott called, and asked if I would like to make a batch of bacon. Scott and Lenny procured the pork belly, and we had a small curing rubbing party on Wednesday night.

Basic cure is half and half salt and brown sugar. Then, we personalized it with seasonings. I tried to go simple for the first time, and used thyme and black pepper. Other options used were garlic, Worcestershire sauce, mesquite seasoning and more garlic.

Here is the pork belly with the cure rubbed on. Next step is smoking on Saturday.

Next, Saturday at Lenny’s. We got there at 9:00, and Lenny was all ready for us.

Of course, once in the smokers, there is a lot of work monitoring (and day-drinking).

Meanwhile, Lenny had started grill number three, and made us a fantastic lunch. Totally unexpected, and thanks Lenny. You treated us like kings.

And here is my finished product:

So I brought home the bacon, and fried it up in a pan. Simple bacon sandwiches rock! After all, its the quality of the ingredients.

Not Bad For A Monday

Yet another TJ product meal.

Simply seasoned swordfish on the grill:

Grilled Bread:

Cabbage Salad (dressing: ponzu, toasted sesame oil, tamari, peanut garnish):

Fin

Don’t Bring No Ketchup Here

Happy Fathers Day!

And here is the master recipe (conveniently on the back of the of the requisite celery salt):

Your ingredients, in no particular order (see above for assembly):

Must be flourescent green relish:

Gotta be yellow mustard. No dijon here:

Check out Maryann’s buns:

And the finished product. No drug tests tomorrow:

My happy place at O’Hare Airport

The best part about traveling through O’Hare is stopping at Rick Bayless’ Tortas Fronteras. I swear my mother has nearly missed some of her flights trying to fit in one of these Mexican sandwiches. Rick Bayless utilizes local suppliers for the freshest ingredients. My favorite torta is the Choriqueso with chorizo, poblano rajas, jack cheese, and avocado. I love the combination of avocado and chorizo. Avocado’s texture just cuts through the sweet and spicy meat in a magical way. It’s so comforting to have a good place to go in such a busy airport where food choices can be so limited.

Pork tacos

I made a 5lb pork shoulder, roasting (low and slow – 300F), and then pulled the pork with forks (pre-pulling below):

But we had no appropriate bread, so we we used the corn tortillas from the carne asada the previous night. Carnitas tacos ala Mexicana (onion and cilantro):