August 26, 2010

Friends with Benefits.

According to Wikipedia, an alliance is an agreement or friendship between two or more parties, made in order to advance common goals and to secure common interests.

Well, let me tell you that a friendship (with extensive benefits) has been officially created between me and Alliance Bakery & Cafe, who supplied me with 30+ Macaroons a Vanilla Frosted Blondie Bar, and a few Lemon Bars. I am unsure why I choose to capitalize dessert names, but maybe it's because they tasted absolutely incredible for our baby shower this afternoon at work. I needed somewhere to pick up treats from in order to help a friend of mine have an adorable and tasty baby shower (she's due in October) and considering she's someone who also shares my passions (J Crew and online shopping) it was well worth the stop into our neighborhood bakery.

It seems like this spot has been on the map for a while, and has survived through all the dessert fads (cupcakes, etc) and just served quality products to those who live closest to it's maroon colored awning. On the way to the buses and the El stop on Division, I would recommend this vintage looking & wonderful smelling bakery. I even got hit on by the same 70 year old man who sits outside the doors on a bench eating the same lemon scone & coffee each morning (sarcastic eye roll) but still, a further testament to the fact that time really does tell when it comes to good baking and delicious treats.
According to their website, Chef Peter Rios operates the Alliance Bakery & Café. (and has served as executive pastry chef at the Fairmont Hotel Chicago in their pastry department). Prior to Fairmont, he served as executive pastry chef at Sofitel Hotel Chicago. Clearly a distinguished background with extensive training!

Their website is useless and unattractive, so just go there. Here is the address:
1736 W Division St, Chicago, IL 60622
They open at 6:00am


August 25, 2010

More Than Just Chocolate.

(Mindy's) Hot Chocolate. A charming and hip (yet cozy), cutting edge (yet old school), reasonably priced (while being decadent) Wicker Park Restaurant. Despite the name, don't be fooled. This venue is SO much more than a small town bake shop (although with 4 James Beard Outstanding Pastry Chef Nominations for owner Mindy Segal, how could you not think that upon first glance).

In desperate need of a glass of wine & a nice meal with the boyfriend, we ventured to Hot Chocolate on Damen (across from the Dailey Method Studio & Marc by Marc Jacobs, possibly my two most favorite places all consolidated into a 2 story store front! Woo!), where we have been multiple times. This venue delivers excellent service and a non-fussy straightforward menu with ridiculously lip smacking flavors that are absolutely one of a kind.

Mish's Tip: Don't necessarily go directly for a main course entree. The starters really do a nice job of displaying the attention to detail head chef, Mindy Segal, uses when compiling her dishes. No flavor is left un-done. Order a bunch of starters, and salads, and go to drinks and desserts. You will be full for sure!

Last night we ordered the below listing of items. I've also had the Arctic Char Fish, and it was perfectly cooked. We actually didn't order desserts last night, but I will say that everything comes in adorable and manicured packages (especially the milk shakes! they come in tiny double shot size glasses, not like I know what those look like...). The peanut butter milkshake is best. Also, any dessert that they create using bananas in it, is worth ordering. Just take my word for it, you won't be let down.

Food:
Muscles with PBR Butter Sauce: bacon, shallots, garlic, local chilies, PBR, organic cream, grilled bread
Lamb and Krema Kasa: sourdough flatbread with house-made lamb sausage, Carr Valley Krema Kasa cheese, wild arugula oregano oil served with pickled beets
Melon Prosciutto Salad: melons chopped in pieces, sliced fresh prosciutto, basil olive oil puree dressing, Parmesan cheese shavings, fresh greens

I highly recommend you take a visit there. Also, if you do, let me know how much the brown leather bench in the entry way costs, because I want it for my home!

Restaurant Website: Click Here

August 23, 2010

Le Freak, C'est Chic.

Just like that 80's song where I only know the words that I made as the blog entry title, I freaked out in the kitchen this past Sunday. More often than not, recipes I try out are pretty basic & easy to follow. This wasn't the case. I seriously almost had a mental breakdown in the kitchen. I think the trigger was that we are spending the most money I've ever spent on a home, recently, to get items we are investing in (like our bed frame, or a couch, etc). We are happy to do so (of course) but I think that it hit me when I was at Whole Foods and the Salmon fillets they rang up for me were $23.00.
This is how Mish's Grand Kitchen Freakout of 2010 went down:
Step 1: Have a stool strategically placed in your kitchen
Step 2: Trip over the stool, and fall onto a (thankfully cool) pan holding Brussels Sprouts on the stove and...
Step 3: Swear for 20 minutes and say "I hate cooking today. I quit." So mature.

That having been said, the food turned out absolutely delicious (thanks, in most part, to the boyfriend with grill skills). I think that is a pretty good trait to possess as a guy...grill skills. It's like Napoleon Dynamite said "Girls want guys with skills! Bow-hunting skills, numb-chuck skills...." well I have a boyfriend with grilling skills! He'll have to teach me soon (and simultaneously, I guess that means I'll have to overcome my fear of burning my hair--I have never liked matches since I feel like I'm going to burn myself, maybe I did as a child and I just don't remember). We pretty much made up our own recipes for everything since the original directions from Food and Wine Magazine were really hard to follow. I swear, everything was misguiding and nothing I made seemed to look like their photos above the recipes.


We ended up eating out on the roof, because it was below 70 degrees! Everything seems to be better when I'm up on my roof. Luckily, I was feeling more calm at that point, and the million dollar salmon was simply fantastic. It was restaurant quality (thanks Whole Foods, I won't judge your seafood prices again).

Honey Mustard Salmon
Ingredients:
2-4 Fillets of Salmon from Whole Foods
Whole Grain Mustard (about 1/4 cup or more, just taste as you go and base off however many fish fillets you bought)
Yellow Mustard (about 1/4 cup)
Honey (about 4 Tablespoons)
2 Cloves Garlic
Salt and Pepper

Directions:
I should have been watching when Doug was on the grill rather than pouting so hopefully he'll read this (even though I tell him not to read my blog) and correct me when I'm going to inevitably be wrong about these cooking directions, since the majority of this preparation was done on the grill. I'll probably end up revising this tomorrow.
1. Put salt and pepper on the salmon before grilling.
2. Place on grill for 6 to 8 minutes. This recipe said to keep the skin on, so we grilled skin side down.
3. With about 1 minute left, add on the Mustard Honey sauce, drench over all fish pieces.

Vegetables with Walnut Sauce
Ingredients:

(Dressing)
2 Cloves garlic
1/2 Lemon Squeezed Juice
1 Cup Walnuts (bake them in the oven for 15 minutes at 350 to brown them first)
1/4 cup Olive Oil (I used more than this, it just depends on how thin you like your dressing)
1 Teaspoon Thyme
1 Shallot sliced

(Veggies)
1 Red Onion (sliced in 1/3 inch horizontal slices)
1 Bunch of Asparagus, it usually comes in bunches close to a pound at the store (slice off the un-ripe section at the bottom, it's where the natural "snap" of the asparagus occurs if you break it off with your hands)
1/2 Pound Shiitake Mushrooms (de-stem them)

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients into a food processor for the dressing. Put the walnuts in LAST or else you'll end up making something like peanut butter. What Food & Wine failed to explain is that the dressing should have a chunky texture to it, not something that's creamy. I'd put the Olive Oil with the sliced shallots and the spices and lemon juice first, then just barely pulse it at the end with the walnuts.
2. Salt and pepper the veggies on the grill with some Olive Oil. Once they are off, toss them with the veggies in a bowl. Trust me, it ended up tasting pretty good!

*All I did with the Brussels Sprouts (that I made because I realized they had been sitting in the fridge for a few days and I didn't want them to go bad) was prepare them, saute them, and salt and pepper them.

*By the way, the trays that I'm obsessed with are from (no shock here) West Elm.
Click to View: Trays on West Elm Website

Mish's Apartment Had a Farm


E-I-E-I-O.
And on that farm there was a rooster.
E-I-E-I-O.

Don't worry, I'll stop the song there.

I purchased two roosters (and Doug purchased two animals holding guns...a rabbit and a panda) from Wicker Park Festival, the first weekend (actually second day) that we were living in our new apartment. I figured that we could make a nice little (Type A organized) farm scene in our guest bathroom. The strange people who lived in our apartment before us certainly had some awkward taste in paint colors, but the bathroom was one wall we decided to keep, with the olive coloring on the walls and a slightly lighter olive ceiling. I felt that crisp white would be the best compliment to the coloring (any more green and our guests may feel as though they are walking into a rain forest for crying out loud).

I (Doug) hung the two roosters, Sam and Frank (I have no idea why those are the names that came to mind but I'm sticking with them) above each other. I think that the frames set up the way they are truly draws the eye up to the high ceiling. Although his website doesn't say much about his style of artwork, it's essentially layering of ink prints on top of each other that create a textured look.

Artist Name: Tim McGuire
Artist Website: www.otto27.com

Pretty in Pink.


I promised I wouldn't post any photos of myself and/or of my friends and boyfriend on my blog. Sorry for partying, but this one had to go up. I was eagerly awaiting the posting of this photo for weeks after the themed wedding of one of Doug's co-workers went down, and well, the wait was worth it. I don't know if I really need to explain more other than getting to go to prom (when you are taller than 4 foot 8 like I was in high school) with an acne free face is a treat. Sad but true. Probably two of the more creative and hipster people that I met through Doug (both "Creatives" at the advertising agency where he works) threw a wedding reception atop the roof of their apartment on W Grand in Wicker Park (I believe on the awesome tickets they created, they called it the "Starlight Ballroom"). Everything was "DIY" (Do It Yourself), and crafted from hand for this special celebration.

I went to Ragstock in Lakeview, the Mecca of 80s prom gear (there was never a choice for my costume. We were doing 80's enough said). I purchased a pink $12.00 dress for myself and a blue ruffled item for Doug to sport. Excellent. I watched Duckie and Andy in Pretty in Pink (best movie ever) while ironing out my dress before going. The woman at the store said to me "honey, this dress may have been created in the 80's, but it was really made for you." I swear that it was custom made for Mish in 1982, transported through time, and then it was supposed to find me. The tailored waistline fit perfectly. Luckily, I wore flip flops with my dress so I could really work it on the Prom Photo arch & balloon covered booth area. Good choice! What a great idea. Best part was that there was a candy table there too. I love eating candy. I have a sweet tooth. It's fine.

Moral of the Post: Here is the Ragstock Website with their locations. Go there and get something hilarious.