Peter – The Roaming GastroGnome – Page 28

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

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 wasContinue reading “Southport and Irving Café-Bistro-Bar – Oh that Pork Chop!”

Braised Chicken Legs with Kalamata Olives

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, wereContinue reading “Braised Chicken Legs with Kalamata Olives”

Grilled Skirt Steak with Garlic-Lime-Cilantro Marinade

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 steakContinue reading “Grilled Skirt Steak with Garlic-Lime-Cilantro Marinade”

Garlic Herb Stuffed Leg of Lamb with an Orange Mint Sauce

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. Continue reading “Garlic Herb Stuffed Leg of Lamb with an Orange Mint Sauce”

White Sox Home Opener on the Southside!

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 YankeeContinue reading “White Sox Home Opener on the Southside!”

Weekend in Paris: A Tale of Two Memories

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 timeContinue reading “Weekend in Paris: A Tale of Two Memories”

Easter Brunch Idea: Sausage Stuffed Artichokes

So I’m in the grocery store this week walking around looking for inspiration and I spy artichokes on sale. Just like asparagus, artichokes are coming into season and are yet another sign of Spring’s arrival. Artichokes can look scary and overwhelming to the home cook. What do you do with them? Supposedly they’re very difficultContinue reading “Easter Brunch Idea: Sausage Stuffed Artichokes”

Mushroom and Carrot Risotto

Ah risotto. Siiiiiiiigggghhhhh. I’d say this is one of those dishes every budding home chef ate at a restaurant or saw Mario make on tv and said to themselves “I have to learn how to make this!” Risotto’s not quite the Holy Grail of home cookery but I’d say it’s one of the top adventuresContinue reading “Mushroom and Carrot Risotto”

Meat on a Stick: Lamb Kebabs with Mint Yogurt Sauce

It’s almost Opening Day here in Wrigleyville and the temperature has cooled off a bit from last week but that’s ok, it’s still grilling spring training weather. By the time summer does roll around I’ll be in mid-season form. These lamb kebabs are one of the first things I ever grilled for Cheryl, showing herContinue reading “Meat on a Stick: Lamb Kebabs with Mint Yogurt Sauce”

Happy World Whisky Day! Whisky Tasting at Binny’s World of Whiskies

Happy World Whisky Day! It just so happens last Thursday Cheryl and I headed south from Wrigleyville to Binny’s Beverage Depot (Lincoln Park) for an annual tasting event they host called World of Whiskies with over 50 different whisky and whiskey (you know the difference) distributors. Since Cheryl and I both like single malt scotchContinue reading “Happy World Whisky Day! Whisky Tasting at Binny’s World of Whiskies”