Night at the Field Museum! Wine Enthusiast Toast of the Town on June 8

24 Thursday May 2012

Posted by Peter - The Roaming GastroGnome in Events

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Chicago, Field Museum, food, restaurants, Toast of the Town, wine, WIne Enthusiast

Taking a break at last year’s Toast of the Town in the Field Museum

Recently, I received a postcard from Wine Enthusiast alerting me to their upcoming event at the Field Museum: Toast of the Town. They sponsor the event in three cities: New York, Chicago and Washington, DC. Chicago’s the second stop on the tour and while we don’t get as many wineries/distributors as New York we have way more restaurants attending. DC brings up the rear in both categories. Since Cheryl and I went to last year’s event at the Field Museum the arrival of Wine Enthusiast’s piece of direct mail caused a bit of excitement. We like tasting events (see my earlier post on Binny’s Whisky Tasting) so I am happy to say we’re going back to this event! Continue reading »

Get Ready for Summer Salads! Potato Salad with Eggs and Dill

20 Sunday May 2012

Posted by Peter - The Roaming GastroGnome in Recipes

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dill, eggs, hard boiled eggs, mayonnaise, peas, potato salad, potatoes, red onions, salt, summer salad

Lately I’ve been talking about refreshing your grilling skills as we get closer to Memorial Day and the official start of summer. Very important of course, but one area you shouldn’t neglect in your preparation are salads. I was inspired to make the first potato salad of the summer since we had absolutely gorgeous Chicago weather this week. Oh and there was also a 50 lb bag of potatoes in our basement. Continue reading »

Mixed Berry Custard Tart – Simple Ratios

15 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by Peter - The Roaming GastroGnome in Recipes

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recipes, eggs, water, butter, sugar, flour, ratio, tart, cream, raspberry, blackberry, custard, 3-2-1 dough

On Mother’s Day we went over to our friends Erik and Jen’s for some grilling. It was a beautiful, sunny day in Chicago and we offered to bring some dessert. No idea why since I’m not much of a baker. Well not much of cake baker at least. If I had to rank my dessert making skills I’d say I make pies the best with cakes way down on the list. Tarts are somewhere in the middle since they’re pie-like but require some extra ingredients. That said, I really can’t believe how simple it was to make this delicious tart. Minimal ingredients and minimal time. Continue reading »

Sopa de Tomate! Tomato Soup Recipe Learned in Barcelona

10 Thursday May 2012

Posted by Peter - The Roaming GastroGnome in Recipes, Travel

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balsamic vinegar, Barcelona, Cook and Taste, cooking class, garlic, olive oil, parsley, pecans, sopa de tomate, soup, tomatoes, walnuts

A couple of weekends ago Cheryl and I traveled back to Washington DC to see some friends and ended up having Sunday Brunch at Taberna del Alabardero. Normally brunch is brunch but this particular Sunday they were hosting a Feria del Abril event. Dancers, food, drink. Lots and lots of them. One small bite offered was a little glass of gazpacho. It reminded me of a tomato soup Cheryl and I learned how to make in Barcelona while we were on our honeymoon. I didn’t think I’d have a chance to make it so soon but Chicago cooperated and one day last week the temperature was up over 80°F. Perfect opportunity to make this quick and easy summertime soup. Continue reading »

Southport and Irving Café-Bistro-Bar – Oh that Pork Chop!

07 Monday May 2012

Posted by Peter - The Roaming GastroGnome in Restaurants

≈ 2 Comments

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bistrot, Chicago, pork chop, restaurant, Southport and Irving Restaurant, Southport corridor, weekly specials, wine bar

For the past few months I’ve been keeping my eye on the northwest corner of Irving Park and Southport. Each day as I’d drive through the intersection from the east (ha! there I’ve worked another compass point into this post) my eyes would glance over to look for signs the new restaurant under construction was ready for customers. It was steadily progressing when one day, I received a message via Twitter, from Southport and Irving (4002 – 4004 North Southport Avenue) inviting me to a grand opening event, would I like to attend? Um, yes please! Continue reading »

Braised Chicken Legs with Kalamata Olives

02 Wednesday May 2012

Posted by Peter - The Roaming GastroGnome in Recipes

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chicken, garlic, kalamata olives, lemon zest, onion, oregano, thyme, tomatoes, wine

Way back in time when I became more serious about cooking for myself I used to read a lot of Food and Wine magazines. This is a variation of one of the first “step-up dinners” I made where I graduated from using one of those jar sauces to cook chicken in. Those, of course, were a step-up from Shake N Bake chicken. I don’t remember all of the original ingredients in the F&W recipe and over the years I’ve tweaked this plenty. Make it a few times and you’ll find it’s a very easy one to customize for yourself. Continue reading »

Grilled Skirt Steak with Garlic-Lime-Cilantro Marinade

25 Wednesday Apr 2012

Posted by Peter - The Roaming GastroGnome in Recipes

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cilantro, corriander, cumin, garlic, lime, lime zest, red pepper, rum, salt, shallots, skirt steak

Sorry for the rather light posting lately, real world has been pretty busy which is a good thing. Anyway, on my way back from the office the other day I stopped at Trader Joe’s to pick up a couple of items and saw a bag of limes. I was planning on grilling some skirt steak for dinner and I really like using limes in my marinades so I grabbed them. For me there’s just something about limes that seems to say “sunshine.” Limes (and lime juice) give some really good citrusy flavor to cocktails, salsas, ceviche, Thai food, etc. See? Don’t you think of warm sun and sand when I mention those? Good thoughts for springtime in Chicago. Continue reading »

Garlic Herb Stuffed Leg of Lamb with an Orange Mint Sauce

17 Tuesday Apr 2012

Posted by Peter - The Roaming GastroGnome in Recipes, Sunday Dinner

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butter, Easter, garlic, lamb, mint, orange, Orthodox Easter, parsley, pepper, salt, thyme

So remember a few posts back how I said I always make a leg of lamb for Easter? (No? Well go back a few and get caught up!) Since we were traveling I didn’t get to cook Easter dinner. However, upon returning to Chicago I noticed ham and lamb were both on sale. Imagine that. It was kind of like buying wrapping paper on December 26. Very nice. They didn’t have any full lamb legs but there were plenty of 3-4 lb shanks and shoulders to be bought. Prices being what they were I picked up a nice little piece of lamb (and some ham) which I intended to make for Sunday dinner. And since this past Sunday was Orthodox Easter it turns out I did make lamb on Easter! Continue reading »

White Sox Home Opener on the Southside!

15 Sunday Apr 2012

Posted by Peter - The Roaming GastroGnome in Events

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American League, baseball, Chicago, MLB, Southside, Tailgating, US Cellular Field, White Sox

I don’t know if I should put this in the travel category or not. I did have to cross a border to the Southside so technically…I mean, it’s a long way from Wrigleyville. Especially metaphorically. Northside, Southside, I really don’t have a dog in this baseball fight since I’m a born and raised NY Yankee fan (go ahead, hate away), but I am a baseball fan and love going to the ballpark. When the opportunity arose to attend the Sox home opener, I took it. Continue reading »

Weekend in Paris: A Tale of Two Memories

11 Wednesday Apr 2012

Posted by Peter - The Roaming GastroGnome in Travel

≈ 5 Comments

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Eiffel Tower, La Part des Anges, Latin Quarter, Mercure Montmartre, Montmarte, Notre Dame, Paris, Relais de la Butte, Sacre Coeur, Tuilleries

Paris. Cheryl’s favorite city. I’d been there once before but that was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. It was a very interesting trip in that my perception of Paris was based on 20 year old memories. How much would it have changed? How different would my experience be this time as opposed to going over on a school trip where, let’s just say, my attentions were focused on other things. And we’d get to see my Navy brother and his family who were coming to Paris from Spain for the kids’ spring break. Bonus! Continue reading »

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