Wakamono

Location: 3317 N. Broadway, Chicago

I'd been looking forward all week to what I hoped would end up being a lonely--oh, I mean, lovely--Saturday night of fancy sushi and wine. I really love fancy sushi, and what I mean by that is sushi that is not from a refrigerated case in Dominick's or from Todai, but rather a more refined establishment that requires a paper transaction of what you mean to order.

I had been to Wakamono one time before with my roommates Abby and Meghan, and good Lord, people. It was delicious. Expensive, yes, but definitely worth it.

Now, keep in mind I ordered take out, and in hindsight I should have at least put it on a plate for photogenic reasons, but that's why it's called hindsight.



On the left is the yo la mango roll with mango wrapped spicy salmon, grilled asparagus, tamago, cucumber, tempura crumbs, and shichimi pepper flakes. That sounded good to me, but it ultimately was just a bit too sweet. The mango also gave it a bit of a slimy quality, and since the asparagus is grilled, there was no crunch or bite factor in the roll, which made it just a bit too soft and, in the end, monotone for my taste. Also, I'm assuming that yellow goo on top is tamago, and let's add that to the list of things I think don't belong on/in sushi rolls along with cream cheese.



That lovely roll on the right is the classic maki roll I ordered, white tuna jalapeno maki. It was good, but I also think it'd be pretty hard to go wrong with just tuna and diced jalapeno. On a sidenote, I wanted it spicier, so I added a giant gob of wasabi. I'm pretty sure everyone has a wasabi story, so I won't bore anyone with details, but I really thought my nose was going to explode for about 45 seconds.

Since my carry out experience with Wakamono didn't exactly live up to what I was expecting, I at least want to mention what I thought were absolutely stellar rolls from when Abby, Meg, and I went before. I had the fire dragon roll: spicy tuna wrapped with freshwater eel, avocado, topped with red tobiko, and unagi sauce. I wish I had thought of this blog (yes, it was ME) three months ago because a picture is warranted for that roll. It looked awesome. Like a real dragon, you guys! Meg had the maki mexicano, which is yellowtail, cilantro, jalapeno, spicy sauce, avocado, and lime. It was good and I thought it was really unique, but I have no idea how that girl ate the whole plate because that spicy sauce was just slightly bearable for me. Abby had what I wish I had gotten this past time because I consider it the best roll I've tried there: kani chung roll. That's king crab, tempura crumbs over spicy albacore tuna, asparagus, unagi sauce, and toasted sesame. Maybe I just really like tempura crumbs, because that and the red pepper flakes were the highlights of the mango roll for me.

I did think it noteworthy to mention the adorable mini soy sauce bottle I got too. I love things in novelty size!



Also noteworthy (possibly only funny to Drew and me): I didn't want to go through the hassle of spelling my first or last name to the person over the phone, so I placed the order under "Morgan." Then the host didn't want to give me my food because (shock of shocks) my name's not Morgan! That was remedied though when I said, "umm, that's my boyfriend's name." Does it really make a difference? Tell me, Wakamono host, who also sarcastically told me not to break the wine bottles the time before, does it matter what name the order is under?

That reminds me, though, the place is BYOB with only a $5 corking fee per bottle, which I think is awesome. It's definitely a place I would consider only going to sit-down in the future, not only because I guess fancy sushi belongs in a fancy setting and not my living room while I'm watching House Hunters International and trying to place a roommate ad on craigslist, but also because just the way they present the food on the plate when you're actually there is great in and of itself.


FIN

Quinoa

I'm always interested in eating foods that are good for you. Whether or not that relates to my diet as a whole is up for debate, but a few months ago I heard about quinoa (I had been saying it "key-no-ah" up until about six seconds ago when I found this site (http://www.quinoa.net/) that informed me it's actually pronounced "keen-wa") and I knew I wanted to try it. I'm obsessed with grains like rice and pasta as it is, but quinoa supposedly is better because it has more protein than any other grain as well as other vitamins and amino acids. So I found some at Whole Foods (even then there was only one brand that they carried, so I'm pretty sure a normal grocery store wouldn't have it) and made some tonight.



It only takes about 15 minutes to cook, which was very surprising. You really just need to let the water boil, cover, and let it sit like rice or couscous, and it turns out kind of looking like little segments of rubber bands almost. Too bad my camera is crappy, or otherwise I'd be able to prove it.



Meanwhile, I wilted some spinach and then sauteed some garlic, which I subsequently burned because I was too busy taking pictures of the quinoa. I salted that and then coarsely chopped some almonds and added that to the pan for a little toss.




After I added the spinach, garlic, and almonds to the quinoa I salted it a little more and squeezed in some fresh lemon juice, then topped it with sliced tomato.



All in all: delicious. I was thinking about adding in asparagus, but that would require walking to Jewel today and it was way too cold. I would also like any suggestions for what else to do with it. It really is so light and fluffy I would think twice about adding any type of sauce, as that might just make it too heavy. I might want to stuff it in bell peppers...I think that might be tasty too.

Sweet Potato Bison Burgers

Made these burgers the other night and thought to myself "I should photograph this and put it on that food blog i just started two days ago!" because I'm a genius. Anyway, the star of this dish was this sauce that i got back in birmingham during the holidays at the new Bass Pro Shop. Yeah that's right, I'm cooking with Bass Pro Shop ingredients, wanna fight about it?

So i cooked some bison patties with a little oil, onions, garlic (garlic powder, chili powder also) and this sauce, which is Mango Ginger Habanero if you can't see it on the label. After they were cooked i allow the onions to caramelize on their own in this sauce and it really made them taste good.

I also microved a couple sweet potatoes at this point, which i ended up throwing in the pan later to crisp up.

When it was all done the burgers consisted of the bison patty, slice of cooper cheese, a medallion of sweet potato, some chopped onions from the pan, and lettuce all on toasted whole wheat english muffins. Turned out pretty tasty. And yes i ate them both. The sweet potato idea was nothing short of culinary brilliance. Did i mention i came up with that? I'm a bastard.

The End.

Tomato and Spinach Sandwich

Now, I'm not going to go and say that what I've just made here is up to the caliber of anything Drew has made, or ever will make, for that matter. However, I will say that I have discovered what could be a pleasant little summer lunch in the middle of January.

I used stuff I had lying around the kitchen. I always hate when people post recipes that they claim can be made with ingredients every household already should have, and then they pull out things like fresh dill and arborio rice. I wouldn't necessarily have these things on a normal basis, but since I did and I'm using them for a purpose I didn't originally intend, let's just go ahead and say you (yes, you!) really CAN just throw this together. (I'm probably setting myself up way too much. Sorry).

Anyway, I had a hothouse tomato, some spinach, and a whole wheat english muffin.



After I toasted the muffin and sliced the tomato, I spread some chipotle hummus on the muffin (I recommend this brand I just got at Whole Foods--Earl's. It's delicious). On the tomato I also drizzled some olive oil and seasoned with a little salt a pepper.



I won't call this delicious--it wasn't. But it was really good, and it definitely hit the spot. The chipotle hummus definitely was the magic sauce that sealed the deal: this sammy would just be bland and plain without it, but with it, it was spicy and gave the cool tomato a good kick in the pants.

And now you too can stack tomato and spinach on bread.

Good Stuff Eatery

Location: 303 Pennsylvania Ave S.E., Washington, D.C. 20003

Best place I've found so far to get a delicious burger, with Ray's Hell Burger in Arlington coming in second place. It's run by Spike from Top Chef. He's been there working on the line every time I've been, which earns him a thumbs up from me.

I went with the Spike's 5 Napkin Burger this time. It has an egg on it. verdict: delicious.

The burger's aren't on the gigantic size, but somehow they are extremely filling and satifying. Also got a side of Village Fries, which are douched with a generous helping of rosemary and very greasy. That did not stop me from eating all of them.

Now it's time that i talk about the mayonnaises. There is a help-yourself mayo station downstairs that provides Old Bay Mayo, Chipotle Mayo, Sriracha Mayo (favorite), and Mango Mayo (also favorite). Ignore the neon yellow normal mustard cup in the foreground. (credit: brian miller) Along with all this i decided to get a.....

BAM. Toasted marshmallow hand-spun shake. This is the only shake i've ordered but it's pretty much their signature flavor, and for good reason. It's like drinking cold, frothy sex. Also they serve beer (with a few on tap) which is nice.

One gripe i have is the lack of choice in fry order sizes. For some reason they only serve the large. For a burger, fries, and shake i spent 17$, which i don't mind paying, but it makes it a very "once every few months" place. Typing this post made me want another Good Stuff burger, which is strange since i made burgers for dinner, but that's another tale, for another night. Sleep well, children.

The End.

Chile Relleno

Alright Katrina let's start making some food memories. I think this will be a good way for us to document all our delicious meals as well as the cool places we discover in Virginia, D.C., and Chicago. Tonight I did some chile rellenos.

I broiled three Poblano peppers in the oven at about 450 degrees until they got a little soft. While that was going I kicked off this filling in pan on the stove:

-filling ingredients-
1st - garlic, chopped 1/2 onion, chopped jalapeno
2nd - 1/2 lb ground bison, salt, pepper, chile powder, garlic powder, oregano
3rd - chopped mushrooms, fresh cilantro, splash of balsamic vinegar

Then when the peppers are done (i should have broiled mine longer so i could have peeled off the skin) chopped the tops off and took out the seeds. Then i jammed some of this delicious filling in them along with layers of refried beans and some Cooper cheese, which is very melty, and broiled them again until they were even softer and everything was all melted and sexual looking.

Now that those are looking fantastic I plated it with some brown rice and beans and ate it. Ate it like a man... because I'm a man and i make delicious food and i eat it. That's what i do.

The End.