FrogPrincesse

Get better! I hope your stay at the hospital will be short.

Old Fashioned which was on the sweet side, and the Salt & Ash which was spicy and acidic with a bit of smoke, and went very well with the food. The soft shell crabs with a light crispy batter were succulent. The chorizo & lardo flatbread was almost too generous with its toppings (it could have benefited from a bit more bread for structural integrity), which included the most delicious dark cherries I've eaten in a very long time. The escargot raviolis were surprisingly safe. I was expecting a bit more meatiness/ earthiness. Brioche bread with a fantastic onion jam on the side. Grilled pork hearts with steelhead roe and oyster sauce. This was very good although very small, as the waitress had warned us. The highlight of the evening was this crazy surf & turf combo of caramelized goat belly with lobster & crab. I can't even describe how amazing that was. I always make sure to order the weirdest thing on the menu and am rarely disappointed. Dessert. We had the chocolate cake with shitake mushroom, and the goat cheese cheesecake with picked rhubarb. Both were very nice. We left the place around 10 pm and it was still packed! Not too bad for a Thursday night for a restaurant with 100+ seats.

Girl & The Goat. That place was buzzing with energy; it was super paked and loud but in a good way. Stephanie Izard who opened it won season 4 of Top Chef. The cuisine reminded me of Chris Consentino's Incanto / Cockscomb in San Francisco.

Art Institute Caillebotte Manet Wiener Werkstätte Francis Bacon

A farmers market on the way to the Art Institute. Raclette sandwiches seemed extremely popular, lots of people taking pictures including this lady who photobombed me.

A small sample of the cheese selection. Still trying to decide what to try tomorrow. Pastries. I had a delicious bite-sized baba au rhum with a little piece of candied citrus together with a double espresso (Lavazza). They also have a Nutella bar with crêpes.

Eataly has an awe-inspiring selection of amari and vermouths (including locally made ones). It hurts not being able to bring everything home! Grappas and the likes

Inspired by recent spontaneous foodblogs by @Kerry Beal and @rarerollingobject (among others), I decided to document here my long weekend in Chicago. It's my first time here. I started with something familiar - Eataly is just around the corner from the place I am staying at downtown, and I had loved that place in NYC. It's on two levels and about the same size as the other one. It was early (a little after 11) so the place was very quiet. Lunch at the counter overlooking the charcuterie station. Meat platter with a glass of Montanaro vermouth di Torino & soda. Fluke crudo with rhubarb agrodolce, fritto misto, gamberi fritti. Glass of rosé.

Oceanside (Erick Castro via Food & Wine) 2 oz Four Pillars rare dry gin 1 oz lime juice 3/4 oz simple syrup Berg & Hauck celery bitters Mint Pinch of salt I love this drink! It's savory and interesting. The Four Pillars was fabulous in it!

I like your approach. Very systematic!

Thanks! Mine were cheapo non-heritage pork so they really benefited from the sous-vide treatment. Juicy and tender, even as leftovers the next day. Before the sous vide I was always nervous about cooking pork because it tended to be disappointing. Not anymore!

@Darcie B Very nice. Thanks! I make a lot of different preserves at home so I am definitely going to make this cookie!

They look great. What's in the middle?

Me too!!! (although rum, tequila, vodka, etc would work too...) Here is a very a propos recipe that St. George distillery just posted on Instagram using their Botanivore gin. I immediately thought of your question when I saw it!

Cannelé from the frozen section. Four in a box, and they already cooked. I warmed it for about 20 min in a warming drawer. It could have used another 5-10 min but was delicious otherwise!

I saw these nice-looking pork chops at Trader Joe's the other day (less than $10 for the pair). I cooked them a la Kenji, 60 min at 60C. Then I browned them in plenty of butter with thyme from the patio and garlic, and served with mashed potatoes and apricot coriander chutney. Very nice meal!

I couldn't resist either. Vegetables + California, plus a few potentially interesting techniques meant that I had to get it! Hopefully I will be able to actually cook from it! I also ordered Richard's Blais new book, So Good, after having a stellar meal at his San Diego restaurant Juniper & Ivy. It's supposed to be geared towards the home cook, and several recipes spoke to me immediately. We shall see!

La Favorite is about $30 for a 1 liter bottle, and is a great choice for a white agricole. I am not sure it's available in SD though. I get mine in Orange County or LA.

I don't keep any spirits in the freezer. I like a little bit of dilution in cocktails. And for spirits enjoyed neat, I find they have more flavor at room temperature.

I don't feel that the pre-sear accomplishes anything. Now I just post-sear to get everything nice and crispy before serving. Duck breasts don't have that much fat to render compared to thighs for example. Sous vide cooking a duck breast renders some juices but doesn't render any fat. You will get a small amount when you sear them, but probably not enough for potatoes.

You realize that there is already an entire discussion about this book, right? It's a great source of info!

I think I went slightly below the 0.5 oz mark for both to be cautious, and it wasn't overwhelmingly sweet. The tequila is super herbal, and so is the Chartreuse, and that was enough to captivate my taste buds. It was a bit like a Margarita & Last Word cross, which was a very cool concept.

PDT's homage to the Last Word, the East Village Athletic Club Cocktail (Jim Meehan, John Deragon, Don Lee) with 1.5 oz Tequila Ocho plata 2014, 0.75 oz lemon juice, 0.5 oz yellow Chartreuse, 0.5 oz Grand Marnier. It's a little more subdued than the original, and the orange flavor from the Grand Marnier is almost like a small nod to a Margarita.

A classic Last Word with 3/4 oz Beefeater London dry gin, 3/4 oz lime juice, 3/4 oz green Chartreuse, 3/4 oz Luxardo maraschino liqueur, and a brandied griotte cherry garnish. I hadn't had one in a while and it just works. The green Chartreuse and maraschino are both super "busy" ingredients but together they work beautifully.

Grassiness is mostly a characteristic of white / unaged rhum agricoles, and is considerably more subtle with the aged ones. Saint James is a good brand, no longer distributed in the US as far as I understand. If I were you, I'd grab a bottle in a hurry!