Franks N Dawgs!

Being a Chicagoan, eating hot dogs is in our blood. It's just a yummy fast bite that is filling, quick, and easy to eat. Nothing is more satisfying than a hot dog with grilled onions at a baseball game.
Today, in continuation of our....what the hell do we do without football...misery we took a trip to Frank N Dawgs. We recently saw them on an episode of Bizarre Foods. I was excited but since the episode just recently aired I was worried that it would be crazy busy. It was, but not the way Hot Doug's usually is. There was a line, but not wrapped around the block. We waited in line to order for only 25 min, not bad. There was even a covered and somewhat blocked off waiting 'alley" to shield us from the pouring rain. There are few booths and tables but there is also a bar with stools along the wall where Bella and I took a seat while waiting for Josh to order our treats! There was also a fairly large outdoor patio that I am sure will get good use in the summer.
I was beyond excited. I've been to Hot Doug's, and yes, it is bad ass. You really can't compare the two because they are different. I had the thought that maybe Frank N Dawgs was just trying to mimic the success of Hot Doug's but it's not. It is entirely a different type of hot dog restaurant. Chef Joe Doren (Blackbird/Sixteen) has created a different type of "dawg" that was fun, delicious and I am still full from it.
What did we have, you ask....
Josh had the chili cheese dog. A Boars Head 1/4 pound 100% all beef frank with house made chili & mild shredded Cheddar & Monterey Jack cheeses

Bella had a Junior dog. Your basic hot dog.
I had the Brunch Dog. A Pork loin breakfast sausage with Cobb smoked bacon, fried egg & drizzled with maple mayo.

Josh and I also shared an order of triple truffle fries. Yukon Gold waffle cut fries, truffle oil, truffle butter, truffle salt & freshly chopped herbs

Everything was off the hook. It was fun, different, and delicious! Check 'em out

Franks N Dawgs
1863 N Clybourn Ave.
Chicago, IL 60614
312.281.518

P.S. Sorry for the shitty blog photos. I think it's time to keep the SLR on the hip and do all this food some justice!

Afritada (another Filipino stew)

Afritada is another yummy Filipinio stew. The memories of my grandma come flooding back EVERY time I make this dish. Sometime, I make it just to see her face again. I miss her a lot. Since she has passed away no one in the family made it. For a while I was trying to get the recipe from one of them but no one could really tell me it. Besides my Aunt Maria, no one else really made it. It's sooooo damn good I'm not really sure why they didn't. I wanted to make it so bad but without really knowing what was in it, I was kinda out of luck....then there was Aimee!
Aimee is a coworker of mine and a fellow Philipino. She had brought in some leftover afritada that her Dad had made and shared it with me. The moment that first bite hit my palet the memories came pouring in. I had to hold back the tears. At the same moment I was so happy to be eating it again and now I was one step closer to getting the recipe. Aimee, after quite sometime :), finally got it for me and now the dish has once again become a part of my recipe routine. There are a small handfull of dishes that have to be made often and even sometimes craved for. Afritada is one of them. I took Aimee's recipe and used it as a guide for my own and now I am sharing it with you. Who knows, there maybe someone else out there that is in a similar boat and needs this dish to reconnect with a lost loved one. Even if your not, try it. You will love it! It's thick and comforting and just plain ol' delicious.

salt and pepper
cooking oil ( I use olive oil)
1 white onion sliced
1 red pepper sliced
1 yellow pepper sliced
1 green pepper sliced
5 golden potatoes thick dice
fish sauce
1 can of tomatoe sauce
2 C chicken stock
your meat of choice....Chicken legs & thighs, beef for stewing, pork shoulder etc... etc.... in this recipe I used pork shoulder.


Start by coating the bottom of a large pot....Le Cruset is the best....with a little olive oil. When the pan is hot enough add the onions and a little salt an pepper to taste. Once the onions have softened add the meat. Let brown and salt and pepper again to taste.

Deglaze the pot with about 2 TLBSP of fish sauce.
Add the peppers, potatoes, tomatoe sauce, and stock. Give a good stir and let cook slowly for about 45min. It's tradition to eat it on a bed of steamed rice.
Many people ask if this dish can be made in a crock pot. I would never do it but I am sure that it can.

Bloody Mary's = Sunday funday!

Bloody Mary's may have to be my favorite cocktail along with wine and a good dirty martini. I find that the spicy, savory drink pops her way into almost every Sunday. Like in my previous post, Sundays are mostly spent watching football all day and a bloody in hand just goes oh so well. I often times find myself using bloodies as a bribe (to myself) for getting household chores done. "when I finish cleaning the house I can have a bloody mary." "when I finish folding the laundry I can have a bloody marry." "since I'm cooking football feast, I can have a bloody mary." "It's noon, I can have a bloody mary." LOL, you get the idea. I love them! We even gave them out as wedding favors at our wedding this past summer. Hehe
I am a bit fickle about their flavor and taste. I have a hard time ordering them at bars because a lot of times they just taste like meat. Not a fan of Worcestershire sauce. A dash or two here and there in a bloody is fine (I don't put them in mine) but a lot of times there is so much in the bloody the drink looks too brown and I really do not like them garnished with a slim jim. Seriously, what is that? I have yet to find a bar that has a bloody that I LOVE....suggestions are greatly appreciated but in the mean time, I am sticking to my own recipe. I have been told it's a local favorite :)

Pint glass filled with ice and a shot of vodka (I fill mine halfway with vodka,shhh, don't judge me)
splash of olive juice (garlic stuffed olive juice is what I use, thanks Stacy for starting my obsession with those)
fresh ground pepper
Mrs. T's Bold and Spicy blood mary mix
a genorous squirt of Sriracha
Shake Shake Shake
garnished with two garlic stuffed olives and a "zesty" pickle
Enjoy!

No more football Sundays :(

Football is a religion in my household due partly to my husbands slight obsseisson. I have always been a big fan but I'm not sure the word fan can be used to describe Josh's love for the sport. He was his highschool's quaterback and I'm sure had big dreams back then that he has now carried onto the shoulders of the Bears.
With Josh having Sunday's off and football being on, we have made a tradition out the sport and day. Cooking up some sort of feast and pretty much eating and drinking all day. This past Sunday was the first one without football since the start of the season and I felt a little lost and confused. I decided that the show must go on. What better place to fill my football void than in the kitchen. The feast (and the drinking) continues...GAUCAMOLE!!



I love guacamole. Especially in the summer with a margarita. I made this batch with a mortar and pestle that my sister gave us for Chiristmas. It made the perfect texture and was fun to use.



I started by mashing 1 tlbsp of garlic and 1 tsp of salt. I mashed them until it created a paste like consistancy. Then I added about 3 diced avocados and continued to mash until I was happy with the consistancy.



Next, I added 2 diced tomatoes, 1/2 red onion diced, and 1 whole jalapeno diced seeds and all and the juice of a lime. Salt and pepper to taste. Good stuff!

Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake

I was watching Barefoot Contessa yesterday morning and watched Ina make this easy, yet awesome sounding/looking cake. I knew right away I had to make it. After all, it is filled with some of my favorite flavors....chocolate and COFFEE! I made it this morning and just had the great pleasure of tasting a slice just a few minutes ago. I have to say that it is DAMN good. Thank you Ina!
It starts with some thin and crispy chocolate chip cookies. I decided to make them this morning.


I used Martha Stewart's recipe. I love Martha, she is one of the many reasons that I got into baking. Watching her show in the morning before some of my classes in college started the itch. It's her pumpkin pie recipe that was the first thing I ever "baked". Made with fresh roasted pumpkins. I will make sure to do a post about that when the season is right. Now, back to the icebox cake.
Once the cookies were cool I made the mocha whip cream

2 C of heavy cream
12oz of marscapone cheese
1/4 C Sugar
1/4 C Coffee Liquor
2 tlbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp instat esspresso
1 tsp vanilla

I put all the ingredients in the mixing bowl of my kitchen aide mixer with the wisk attachment and wisked until stiff peaks were formed. In a 8in spring form pan, layer cookies and cream starting with the cookies and ending with the cream. Let chill for at least 8 hours or over night.
After the game tonight I brought out the cake and couldn't wait to taste it. I am glad to say that it did not dissapoint. It was great! Not too heavy or too rich. The perfect ending to a fun day in the kitchen. Now....off to that said kitchen to clean up the mess that I have made.

Super Bowl Sunday!!! BUFFALO WINGS!!!

For many years my friends and I have treated Super Bowl Sunday as a holiday. Often my most favorite holiday. This year, with two of my least favorite teams playing, I decided to distract myself with cooking and baking instead of my usual party too hard and celebrate too much and spending the Monday hung over at work. So, I guess I have them to thank for that.
Like many of my Sunday's, today's drink of choice was my famous Bloody Mary. Delicious! Then I baked some chocolate chip cookies for my Mocha Chocolate Ice Box Cake, but more about that in another blog entry. This one is about BUFFALO WINGS!!!
I should start by saying that way back in the day I used to be a vegetarian. For 6 years!!! Crazy, I know. When I got pregnant with my daughter I started to crave fish and chicken. One of the very first "meat" dishes I ate was buffalo wings at a local spot in San Diego where I lived. The first thought that came to my mind was.....HOW ON EARTH HAD I NEVER EATEN THESE BEFORE!!! and since that day my love for Buffalo wings has grown strong. I know that everyone has their styles that they like. Me, I love them naked and spicy! I know that they are not the healiest things to eat so today I tried to make them a little bit healtier by ditching the flour and baking them instead of frying them. The end result......some very delicious, tasty, finger licking good wings!
I didn't really have a recipe to follow so I just "winged" it....LOL! Get it...."WINGed" it? Anyways....I took 24 drummies and wings seasoned them with a little salt, pepper, and garlic powder. At a 400 degree oven I baked the chicken for 30 min on one side then turned over each piece and baked them for another 15 min. Then I melted some buter tossed in some hot sauce and tossed all the chicken in the sauce. Yummy!

Blizard of 2011 aka SNOWtorious B.I.G.

    What does one do when you are snowed in from a massive blizzard?  I can tell you what we did.....we ate! We drank lots of coffee....a few beers....bloody mary's...and some wine.
    Waking up yesterday morning was very surreal. It was still snowing pretty hard and the snow had nearly reached hood level of most of the cars on the street.  The final snowfall total, I believe, is 20.2".  The most I have ever seen in my life.  Third most in Chicago history.  All Chicago Public Schools were closed and remain closed today.  My company, Schawk Retail Marketing, closed it's doors as well.  Many, if not most, businesses were closed and hundreds of cars were left abandoned on Lake Shore Drive.  After the snow finally came to a stop and the three of us having  a snow day, we suited up and decided to take an adventure outside.  Our staircase resembled a slide and the kids in the neighborhood were all in the middle of the street diving in the insane amount of snow. We had to join them.  I ventured around the neighborhood taking pics of all I could.  Some are posted on my facebook page. It was a lot of fun.  I mean, what else are you supposed to do when the city is covered in more snow than you have ever seen in your life....you play in it....AND you make some comfort food.

    Chicken Adobo is my all time favorite comfort food!  If you aren't familiar with Filipino cuisine, Adobo is a Filipino staple consisting of soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper and your meat of choice.  Throw all the ingredients in a big pot and stew til the meat is cooked and serve over a bed of rice.  So simple and so good.  Being a half breed Filipino...lol (half Filipino/half American mut) Adobo has been a comfort food all my life.  My Grandma made the best (miss you).  I am currently responsible for my husband's obsession with it and many of my co-workers.  I've posted a pick from my phone so you can see the deliciousness and I encourage you try it!

Supper Club... Bistro Champagne

    Ahhh, Bistro Champagne...this was my pick.  I have wanted to dine at this fine establishment ever since I moved back to Chicago over six years ago.  January 30, 2011, we finally did and was it a joy.  Our dining partners, The Forest's were there with us, of coarse. and they too enjoyed it.  It is a lot larger than it looks on the outside and when you walk in it's as if you just walked into a French chateau in Bordeaux.  We were one of few tables when we first arrived but within moments the place was a bustle. Again, I wish at the time that I had this blog in mind so I could have taken note of everything down to the server because he was fabulous.  By far some of the greatest service I have ever experienced.  From here on out I promise to be more detailed in my posts.  We each ordered an appetizer.  Escargots, caramelized onion strudel, stuffed calamari, and a rolled pate stuffed duck confit...which was probably my favorite.  I was a little nervous to try the escargot but I am so glad I did.  It was delicious.  It all really was.  For dinner I ordered the rack of lamb....my mouth is still watering from it! Alicia had the bœuf bourguignon, Josh had the trout and Jason had the confit of duck breast and leg.  The food put us at a loss for words.  Everything was PERFECT! It was by far one of my greatest dining experiences.  The food, the service, the subtle live music in the background....PERFECT, just perfect.  It's a must on the list again.  We ended the dinner with a creme brulee and a dark chocolate cake.  I have been dreaming of Bistro Champagne ever since. I will be back!
    Next stop is Alicia's pick....stay tuned to find out what that adventure turns out to be!  I know that I can't wait!

Supper Club... Girl and the Goat

    In recent months we have started a little super club with our friends the Forest's, Jason and Alicia   They too have a great love for some delicious food.  Alicia is a pretty damn good baker and Jason is quite the photog.  I can't really recall how it all started but I do know that it had a lot to do with a new restaurant that had opened up called Girl and the Goat.  I am sure that, by now, many of you have heard of it.  It is Chef Stephanie Izard's, winner of Top Chef season 4, new place on Randolph...aka restaurant row.  The four of us were dying to go!  At the time I think it was a 6 week wait for reservations.  Now I've heard it's about 3 months.
    Our reservations were November 27, 2010.  We were all pretty excited!  The interior was beautiful.  It were as if you took a Vermont lodge and mated it with one of our urban lofts.  We had to wait a few minutes to be seated so I took the time to take in the atmosphere.  Even the bathrooms were cool. Ok, Ok, like you really want to hear about the bathrooms at Girl and the Goat....on to the food.  After all, this blog is called Michelle Eats not Michelle stares at restaurant decor.
    I wish at the time I were planning on starting this blog because I would have taken note of everything that we ate and drank but..... being that it was over two months ago I can't exactly list what we had or what we drank but I can say that EVERYTHING was outstanding!  It was a great dining experience. We ordered and shared about 8 small plates ranging from scallops, calamari, goat, pizza, and even just peppers and man were they delicious!  I hear that the menu is going to be changing with the seasons so it is a must hit place throughout the year.  The Forest's have since gone back.  Lucky bitches!
    It was right then and there that the four of us decided to start making this a regular thing.  The four of us dining at different places every month or so and each taking a turn at picking the place.  It was a great idea! So glad we are doing it.  Girl and the Goat was Jason's pick and I was given the honor of picking our next feast.  Stay tuned to where that was cause it too was a HIT.
    Here's to hoping this adventure last throughout the years because it sure is fun and the Forest's sure are great company!  This city has so much greatness to offer food wise.  It sure is going to be a great adventure.

A Brief intro......

  I have been wanting to start this blog for quite sometime now.  So glad that I finally have.  I have developed a great love for delicious food and wanted to start tracking the fabulous places that I go or even share some of the great dishes I or my husband create.
     I'm Michelle. A working girl living in Chicago, happily married to my husband, Josh  (we are newly married so that seemed very strange to type) and proud mother of my daughter Izabella (Bella).  The three of us have a great love of food.  All shapes, sizes, colors and spices! Over the last 10 years I have developed some strong baking skills.  I am proud to say that I bake a pretty sweet wedding cake.  I will make sure to upload some photos of them.  My husband, Josh, is a fabulous Chef currently Chef de Cusine at Zak's Place in Hinsdale.  I highly recommend dinning there.  It's a gem in the 'burbs and damn is it good!  Our daughter, Bella, is a freak of nature....in kind words.  She will just about try ANYTHING!  That is saying a lot for a 7 year old.  A medium-rare steak is still her favorite but she also really loves sushi! Name sake nigiri is her favorite.  Strange, yes, I know.  I like to take credit for her very well developed pallet.  As a baby I made all her baby food from scratch and even then she would devour every bite.
    Through my blog I will try and keep track of all the yumminess that our city has to offer.....and some of the other cities we adventure to.  Check back frequently for places, reviews, suggestions, and pretty much anything food related.  BON APPETIT!