Carnitas Taco Night! I love Mexican food!

We had many and I mean many carnitas tacos at the home of my niece Liz and her husband Matt this weekend! They rocked this great meal which we enjoyed thoroughly! Much like us they enjoy great food and prepared us these great tacos with homeade black beans, topped off with a great dessert of Arroz con Leche! All of this with some ice cold Negra Modelo's! Thanks!

Let me show you this video from the singer Ingrid Michaelson that sums up my feeling for my love of Mexican food!

To all the Veterans...thank you for your service!

I just want to send out a huge thank you to all our Veterans of Foreign Wars! I appreciate all that you do and have done to protect our freedom!

A carnivore's delight weekend! Mmmmmmmm steak!!!!!!

Above picture of some beautiful steaks prepared by my wife's cousin Randy on Saturday night! Delicious! We took a lovely trip out to Batavia, IL yesterday for a great dinner and visit with two of our favorite people Randy and his wife Pam! Great conversation and lots of catching up to go along with steaks cooked to perfection...medium rare of course(is there any other way to order steaks?) accompanied by some great wine=a perfect fall evening! Thanks! Here is picture of the finished smothered in tasty sauteed mushrooms!

Did I mention I went out for steak on Friday night? A weekend to make DaBears Superfans proud! I dined at the Chicago Cut Steakhouse http://www.chicagocutsteakhouse.com/ with two of my favorite Irishmen Murph and Osh and enjoyed a delightful Bone-In Ribeye!

I was able to do an hour and fifteen minute workout at spin class yesterday and go for a four mile run today.....to help the waistline! Back to healthy lifestyle and eating today on Sunday! It's nice to splurge every now and then!

Ode to a legend! Chef Charlie Trotter!

Who is your favorite chef of all time? If you don't have one that's fine, maybe you could tell me what your favorite restaurant is? Here is my ode to my favorite chef and restaurant of all time! If you have not heard the legendary chef and restaurateur passed away suddenly at his home earlier today at the young age of 54! I'll miss you Charlie Trotter! I was served my finest meal on my birthday in 2006! I had long waited to eat at this famous eatery for near 20 years. I had first heard of him in 1987 while working downtown. This is when I was first really getting into fine dining restaurants and all the great things that could be done with food! I would travel the Redline train daily throughout the week reading both the Chicago Tribune, Sun Times, and on Thursdays picking up the latest edition of The Reader. I always would peruse all the restaurant reviews by all three papers and learn of all the great eateries in our city. I remember reading of this young whipper snapper chef only 28 years old making headlines quickly and rising to the top of his craft. He would earn his way to a James Beard award as top chef and earn top rankings in all the food publications. I always knew that I was going to eat at this restaurant at some point even though you needed to make reservations months in advance. Let alone the cost was for those making CEO salary's, which I was not quite at in my life! Well low and behold my kind friends whom I am always so grateful to have in my life came through once again! This time they gave my wife Cheryl a present for earning her PhD...a gift certificate to Charlie Trotter's restaurant. Dr. Cheryl being the great wife she is and knowing my adoration for this chef was able to take me their for my 43rd birthday on a Saturday night, October 27, 2006! I had eaten from his take out store located on the 1300 block of Fullerton a few times, but now I was going to the palace.....the place I had dreamt about many nights located just west of Halsted on Armitage! I had driven and walked by this restaurant so many times and now I was walking through Charlie Trotter's restaurant's door! We went and Cheryl had another surprise our niece Lauren who teaches at Lane Tech and was coaching their girls soccer team had a connection at the restaurant....it turned out one of her players father worked for Charlie and would end up giving us a tour of the restaurant after our dinner and bringing us back to the kitchen and down to the wine cellar! Amazing night! We did wine pairings picked out by our waiter to accompany each of our courses!

It started with an unbelievable appetizer bite which they call Amuse Gueule. Followed up by the first course of Poached Skate Wing with Red Curry, Twenty Four Hour Braised Fennel, Razor Clams & Herb Oil...next up Alaskan Halibut with Sweet & Sour duck Gizzards, Crosnes, Battera Kombu & Watermelon Radish....the hits kept on coming my mind was in ectasy food overload as it was living up to everything I was hoping for! Next course was Roasted Quail Breast with Crispy Hominy, Huitlacoche, Zucchini, Rosemary & Red Wine Essence and we were only half way home now! This was followed up by South Dakota Bison Tenderloin with Quinoa, Black Cardamom Mole & Ash Baked Eggplant. We were then brought Oloroso Sherry Sorbet with Dates & Mustard Greens. Still more coming which was Honey Crisp Apple with Toasted Caraway, Maytag Bleu Cheese & Cider Gelee! Lastly some Mignardises which is finger food desserts! Yum-yum!

How do I remember this great meal, because my wife had Charlie Trotter sign the menu that she then had framed and we keep in our kitchen (see picture below)! I'll miss you Charlie and I'll always have my memories of your creations! I still have your cookbooks and will try to recreate the magic from all the recipes you created!!!!!

A Seafood Extravaganza! The 50th birthday week came to an end on a high note!

Take a look at these beauties we cooked up this week! Halibut Fillet, Wild King Salmon Fillet, Whole Cooked Dungeness Crab, and Yellowfin Tuna Steak!

Started off with Dungeness Crab on Thursday which was Halloween night and served with some great candy bars(As seen in the previous post)! Friday night we moved onto the Yellowfin Tuna Steaks. Recipe courtesy of New York Chef Rocco DiSpirito. I found recipe for Seared Tuna, with Green Beans, Lemon and Wasabi on Epicurious's website http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Seared-Tuna-with-Green-Beans-Lemon-and-Wasabi-363404 Here is the pic of finished product and the Seared Tuna was cooked to perfection medium rare!

It was a great evening! We followed up this night with a morning bike ride to The Hair Loft for an early haircut appointment with the legendary hair stylist Jerry, whom many of you know as my bro! after the haircut and 22 mile ride we arrived back home for our Saturday morning breakfast of Eggs, Sausage, Alderwood Smoked Garlic & Pepper Alaskan King Salmon and wheat bread baguette!

We enjoyed the rest of Saturday getting many things done around the house and getting Cheryl ready for her trip to Boston. She leaves Sunday morning for a conference and returns home on Thursday night. Saturday evening we cooked what we discussed could be one of my best cooked meals that I could not have done with out my number one sous chef Cheryl! Another find of mine that I found on Epicurious's website this one I had many of my own twists on the actual recipe we substituted halibut for the cod http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cod-with-Chorizo-and-Breadcrumbs-51179210 I covered the halibut with Panko breadcrumbs and added a couple more tablespoons of red wine vinegar, the smoked Spanish chorizo sausage was perfect with the meal, along with grilled carrots purchased at the farmers market! Here is a pic of the final dish! Amazing and very easy to make!