Pizza Dinner

Tonight, we went to Fiore's, the corner store, and picked up some of their pizza dough. See, they make a good pizza there (I've had it a number of times myself), but there's just something about creating your own.

After struggling a bit to roll out the dough into a somewhat circular shape, the wife and I took some time making a sauce from some tomato paste, tomato sauce, and fresh basil and rosemary. Then we chopped onion, mushroom, pepper, spinach, and garlic, spreading them liberally over the sauce. Finally, a layer of pepperoni followed by a pile of mozzarella cheese.

The whole thing was nearly dome-shaped, which you can't really tell from the photo because of the angle. It was practically a deep-dish pizza, although the crust doesn't come up the sides at all. In all honesty, we overdid the toppings, and some of the veggies in the middle were undercooked as a result. But it was still fun to make and even more fun to eat!

Lunch at Whole Foods

The in-laws are in town this weekend, making my food photography spotty at best.
But one good thing from their visit is a trip to Whole Foods on Saturday, where the samples are more plentiful than swallows in Capistrano. So, this is where I ate lunch for free, by circling the sample area a few times in a row. A great exercise for all the freegans in my audience.

Five Guys Burgers

I didn't really eat breakfast or lunch today. This is not good for keeping the metabolism up, and substituting a cup of coffee for a meal is not a replacement, I know. But, my lack of calories through the day meant that I felt a bit justified eating a big fat dinner.

So we went to Five Guys Burgers on Clybourn Ave. and had some awesome burgers. If you haven't been to a Five Guys before, check it out. Their menu is simple (burgers, hot dogs, grilled cheese, and fries), but they focus on freshly sourced and prepared food, and it shows. No freezers in this place, and everything (fries included) is cooked to order. You wait a couple minutes extra, but the food is well worth the wait.

If you consider this to be a 'sit down' restaurant, it isn't the best food you're gonna get. But if you think of it as a Fast Food place, you have got to be impressed with the quality, freshness, and juiciness of the burgers. (Check out Yelp's reviews for some opinions on the matter.)

The damage: I had a bacon burger (comes with 2 beef patties), a pop, and the wife & I split a large fries. Now, I'm off to shovel a parking space (and put some lawn furniture in it to reserve it, of course) to work off all the calories I just ingested. See you at breakfast!

Peppercorn Tuna

After skipping lunch today because of work demands and not-much-in-the-pantry syndrome, I was ready for a really quality dinner. The wife and I picked up some 10 oz ahi tuna steaks from CostCo while grocery shopping, and I cooked one of my favorite fish recipes--cracked peppercorn tuna (recipe below).

To go along with the tuna, I steamed some broccoli (a bit overdone, I'm afraid) and cooked some rice.

~~~~~

Cracked Peppercorn Tuna

2 8-10 oz Ahi Tuna Steaks
3 Tablespoons whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 Tablespoons safflower oil

1. Season the tuna steaks with the salt and cayenne pepper. (Season to taste--the teaspoon measure is just a guideline.)

2. In a medium skillet, heat the safflower oil over medium-high heat (olive oil can be substituted, but it has a much lower smoke point, so you'll have to pay attention to the heat). Once the oil is hot, put the peppercorns in and stir occasionally til they pop, about 4 minutes.

3. Put the tuna steaks on top of the peppercorns in the skillet. Cook until the steaks are medium-well (about 5 minutes each side). An easy way to tell when the steaks are done is when the tuna turns flaky all the way through.

4. I prefer to eat the tuna with the peppercorns on the fish, but some of my friends have said it's too peppery, so I guess you can scrape them off if you find it too spicy.

Poached Egg

It's snowy this morning in the Ukrainian Village--the perfect kind of day for a hot breakfast.

A quick way to get hot protein into your body is to crack an egg into a ramekin and stick it in the microwave for a bit. (You'll have to play with the time to figure out how long to cook it for your desired consistency and based on your microwave. For me, 1:05 makes a good poached egg, with a solid white and a slightly runny yolk.) You'll end up with a great poached egg in about a minute.

Today, I got my favorite quick breakfast--a soft poached egg.

Leftovers for Dinner...Again

Forgot to take photos before I ate--I was hungry!

But it was the (leftover) fajita chicken again.

On the side, we had a romaine lettuce salad with tomato, olive oil, goat cheese, and fresh basil. Quite good. With the leftover pasta, I might make a pasta salad for lunch tomorrow...

Leftover Chicken Fajitas

I cannot think of a good way to make leftovers look good, presentation-wise. Any ideas?

Banana Nut Bread

A couple days ago, Annie made some banana out bread to save some bananas that were overripe. I'll post the recipe when I get back to the house.

In addition, I had my fix of caffeine, via Dark Matter Coffee's Flyin' J blend. (Dark Matter coffee beans are for sale (and brewed) at Star Lounge, and used at Kith and Kin, Browntrout, Alinea and The Drawing Room.)

Super Chili Bowl

I'm at a Super Bowl party tonight, where the host made chili for all the guests. Not sure the recipe, but it's heavy on the meat and beans, and light on the other veggies. Quite good.

Also, some of the guests brought brownies. The ones in this photo are chocolate mixed with peanut butter.

Add tostada chips and nacho cheese (Ro-tel and Velveeta melted together, I believe) to the spread, and I'm pretty sure I'll be popping the antacids tonight.

Fajitas for lunch

Homemade Fajita-style chicken with onion and bell peppers on corn tortillas. Also, we made guacamole on the side. Delish!

Welcome and introduction

Welcome to 365 Days of Meals. The premise is simple: I'll be taking photos of every meal I eat for the next several days/weeks/months/years.

This is hopefully going to accomplish the following things:

1) It will let me promote some of my favorite restaurants and let you join with me as I explore new ones in the Chicago area. If it's a new (to this blog) place, I'll try to review the place too, though not necessarily every time. Maybe I'll even link to Yelp or some other review site.

2) My wife & I have been cooking some AMAZING food lately. Sharing recipes and cooking tips is always fun--and having others look at our food will make me more likely to take care in the way I prepare food and present it.

3) This blog will be somewhat of a diet tool for me. As I take photos of the food I eat, it is more likely that I will make a meal and eat it, rather than go through the mental process of, "I'm hungry, what can I eat...*chomp*...I'm still hungry, what can I eat...*chomp*..." As a corollary to that, by posting my food, I will hopefully be shamed out of eating crap from fast food restaurants as often as I do.

4) It may actually get me to eat breakfast on a regular basis.

5) Provide some enjoyment for the foodies (and aspiring foodies) out there who don't yet realize that you don't have to eat expensively to eat well, you don't have to be a gourmet chef to cook great meals, and you don't have to have a 4 course meal every day in order to be a person who enjoys food.

I hope you enjoy this, and please tell your friends!