Restaurant review - Fleming's Steak House Lincolnshire, IL

We had a gift certificate to Flemings for $100 so we went there for dinner.  I had been there one time before and the only memory I have of that dinner was how loud the restaurant was.  But having the gift certificate gave us reason to go back.

Walking in there was a sign $6 by 7p - certain drinks were only $6 up to 7p. We got there at 6:45, so we ordered a tropical martini and a pomtini.  The tropical drink was our favorite...made with Malibu coconut run.  I spill some of our pomtini, so our waiter brought us another Tropical for no charge (since he knew we liked that one better).  Nice touch.  I do have to say though, as the consumer of most of those drinks, they were very weak.  I guess that's what you get when you pay $6 a drink.

Our waiter was great.  Very attentive and just the right amount of talkative.  But, one of our biggest gripes was the fact that our water glass was left empty WAY too often. It was not our waiter's fault since he doesn't handle that part of service, but that was a big problem.  When you are paying for a place like Fleming's, this should NEVER happen, especially repeatedly.

Our meal started with bread with some butters.  It would have been nice if the butters were explained to us.  I think one was vegi butter and one had chives.  The bread was nice and fresh and the butters yummy...what butter isn't great?!?

We ordered the calamari to share....
SWEET CHILE CALAMARI 
lightly breaded and tossed with sweet chile sauce
It was was delicious.  Tender calamari and the coating wasn't too thick.  The sauce was the right combo of sweet and spicy.  Good dish....

 I had the chilled seafood tower as my dinner.  This is an appetizer on the menu, but I tend to like apps more because they tend to be lighter.  I was disappointed in this dish.  It had on it shrimp, lobster, lump crab meat, ceviche, and crab legs.  The ceviche was tasty and reminds me I would like to try to make one some time.  It was the best thing on this "tower". The shrimp was a nice size.  The lobster was almost non-existent.  There was barely any meat in this tiny tail....poor lobster. You can barely see it in this picture because it was covered with parsley. Pitiful indeed. The lump crab meat was fine....not too much flavor.  And the crab legs were awful. Soggy and thin....not very appetizing.  And again with the non-purposeful parsley.  One of my dining pet peeves I guess...stupid waste of a plant. 

 We sat in a side area, so it was quieter than the main dining room. All in all....we won't be going back there.  Just not worth it for us.....

Dinner - BBQ Pulled Pork, coleslaw, pickles and beans

Made a family favorite.....slow cooker BBQ pulled pork.  I made it on January 1, but I will post the recipe again here.  I also served it with "hamburger" pickles, canned baked beans (I like "country style" baked beans), and my homemade slaw.  Yum Yum!!!!  This is a meal that always has no left overs!!

SLOW COOKER BBQ PORK

INGREDIENTS

1 cup chopped celery  1 cup chopped onions (I buy these already chopped from the salad bar....and not too much more money than buying the whole onion and whole celery) 1 cup ketchup  1 cup barbecue sauce  1 cup water  2 tbsp vinegar  2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce  2 tbsp brown sugar  1 tsp chili powder  1 tsp salt  1/2 tsp pepper  1/2 tsp garlic powder  3 lbs boneless pork roast 

DIRECTIONS

Combine all ingredients except roast in the slow cooker.
When well mixed, add roast.
Cover, cook on high for 6-7 hours.
Remove roast.
Shred the meat and return it to the sauce.
Note - You may want to thicken the sauce some.


Number of Servings: 12

To make the coleslaw - I buy shredded coleslaw at the grocery store...I like the angelhair style.  I add in miracle whip - low fat (I know - either you are a mayonaise or a Miracle Whip person), 3-5T apple cider vinegar (depending how vinegary you like it), 1t celery seeds, and 1-3T agave syrup.  Just stir it all together and it is ready to go.  SOOOOO yummy with the bbq!!

Restaurant review - Prairie Moon Evanston, IL

Had brunch with my new book club at Prairie Moon in Evanston, IL. We read "MWF Seeking BFF".  The author is Rachel Bertsche.  What was special was that Rachel came to brunch with us!!!  It was great to meet someone who has had a published book by age 30.  She was SO nice and open about talking about her process of writing, publishing and the PR that comes along with keeping her book in the public eye.  And the book is a really great read about what it takes to make friends. It was eye opening to see what is out there now to aid in making friends - you can even rent a friend.  I am not kidding...Rachel did that and writes about it in her book.  I put a link to her website on my blog.  Go check it out....

Now onto the food....I had the Wild Mushroom Omelette.  It had swiss cheese with 3 kinds of mushrooms in the omelette.  It was good with HUGE portions!  It also came with potatoes and onions and toast.  All good, solid food.  There were a lot of mushrooms and cheese, something that can be lacking in omeletees. The restaurant was nice and is much larger than it appears.  In fact, I think it would be a nice place to hold a family gathering or event.

Dinner - Mussels and Kraft Fresh Take Chicken and Fish

I made supper with a new product - Kraft Fresh Take.  There were different flavors to choose from - I chose Italian, knowing this choice has the flavors the kids tend to like.  I bought chicken breasts, for the kids, and tilapia for my husband and myself.  This is a neat product...it has two pouches - one has bread crumbs and spices and one side has the cheese.  You pull apart the middle divider and mix the two sides together.  Then you open the top of the whole pouch and put in each breast (or piece of fish) one at a time.  I lined a pyrex pan with non-stick foil (a product I love) and put each coated piece of meat on it.  Per the instructions, I baked the meats at 375 degrees.  The chicken needed longer than the fish, but everyone loved everything.  In fact, I have even had requests to make it again next week.

I also made mussels, per my husband's request.  Mussels, I think to many, are very intimidating to make.  I think they are actually one of the easiest things to make.  They tell you if they are good to eat and they tell you when they are done cooking.  For a light side to our dinner I bought 1.25 pounds for just my husband and myself to have.  If I was making it just for our supper, I would have made 1 pound for each of us.  ALWAYS make sure, wherever you buy them from, have every mussel checked over all the mussels you are getting.  As I said earlier, mussels tell you when they are good to eat, meaning that they are closed = alive.  By having the fish monger check every mussel, you aren't paying for mussels you can't eat.  I put all the mussels into a small pot, cut one large shallot into little pieces, and added a small bottle of white wine.  I like to keep those small size bottles of white and red wine in the house for just this reason.  Put the lid on the pot, turn the heat up and let them steam away.  Within the first 10 minutes, check and see how the mussels are doing.  As long as most of the mussels are open = done and ready to eat.  You want to get them off the heat as close to the opening point as possible.  This ensures that your mussels aren't overcooked - which may lead to chewy mussels - yuck!  Whatever mussels don't open, throw those out.  They aren't good, don't even try them.  It's really just that easy and quick to make mussels.  Such a treat and show stopper when you have people over or want a healthy quick dinner!!

Mussels, shallots and wine in the pot and ready to be covered.

See all that yummy juice down there.  Great to mop up with crusty bread!!

Restaurant reviews - La Casa De Isaac - Highland Park, IL and Frost - Highland Park, IL

We went to La Casa De Issac with friends the other night, but we almost had a problem.  I had made a reservation through Open Table (I use this website often - even have an app for it on my phone), but when we got there for our 6p reservation, they told me I had made a reservation for their other restaurant location and not the one we were at.  Luckily, they opened at 6p (right when we got there), so there were tables for 4 available.  Very lucky indeed, because the restaurant was full within the next 20 minutes, which wasn't that hard because it is a very small place.  This size can cause an issue.  Tables were very close together and it got quite loud in there, but we were having so much fun together, everything else drowned out.

There were chips and salsa already at the table and it was delicious!  The salsa was not too spicy, not too onoin-y, not too cilantro-y....just right (said Goldilocks).  We ordered guacamole and a pitcher their premium margarita.  Both were fantastic. The guac was somewhat chunky - which was great.  The flavor was spot on.  And the margarita....smooth and easy.  Need I say more!?!?

Here's my smooth margarita....I asked for extra salt - and they delivered.  Mucho bueno!!

This was a special dish they had.  It is call a Molkajete.  It comes in a heated lava rock bowl.  I don't know if you can tell, but this is boiling at the table and remained bubbling for quite awhile.  It was made of black bean, cheese, onion, chorizo, and grilled cactus (see it hanging off of the side near the top of the photo?).  They serve it with tortillas, your choice - soft corn or soft flour.  This could have easily been shared. 

Here is what I had made.  I love grilled cactus.  Don't hesitate eating cactus...it has a slighty sweet, yet tangy flavor to it with a texture that has a bite to it...kind of al dente.

These were ahi tuna tacos with red cabbage slaw and mango salsa.  It was served on homemade purple tortillas - I agree - they looked green to me too!  This was delicious - nice and light dish. Sweet, crunchy....all great flavors.  A nice compliment to the heavier Molkajete.

Here is the dessert we got at Frost.  This is a new gelato place  place that opened up in downtown Highland Park.  SOOOO delicious and a great way to end our great dinner.  I had a banana and dark chocolate cup. The banana had a full on banana flavor and the dark chocolate was not too sweet (in typical dark chocolate fashion) with bits of dark chocolate chips in it.  The perfect yin-yang dessert!!!!

Dinner - Salmon and curried cauliflower

I made a grilled salmon that I had made before and a curried cauliflower recipe I saw on the Today show.

The grilled salmon I have made before, but this is the first time I have put the recipe here.  I bought 2 pieces of salmon.  For this, I put 1/4 cups of low sodium soy sauce, 2 T honey and 1/4 inch of wasabi paste.  I mush those all together in a large plastic bag so they are all incorporated together.  Add the salmon and let it marinade for about 6 hours in the fridge.  I have marinaded it up to 9 hours.  I take it out of the fridge about half an hour before I grill it to get the temperature throughout the fish as even as possible. When I grill it, I put the grill up as high as possible.  I spray the skin side with Pam and put the piece skin side down first.  After about 5 minutes, I spray the meat side with Pam and turn it over onto the heat. I cook it another 8 minutes or so.  The times really depend on the thickness of the meat.  You want it to be able to pull away from itself, but not break away (too dry/well done)...and not rip away (too moist/rare).  I know....fine line here, but you will get it once you have cooked salmon.

Here is the cauliflower recipe I used....

Recipe: Curried cauliflower "En Papillote"

Eric Ripert

Ingredients

• 1 head white cauliflower, leaves removed and stem trimmed
• 1 1/2 teaspoon madras curry powder
• 1 tablespoon of softened butter
• 1/2 cup of water
• Salt
• White pepper

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Take a large piece of aluminum foil or parchment paper 24" x 24".  Place the head of cauliflower on 1 half of the foil or paper. Season the cauliflower with salt and pepper and sprinkle the curry powder evenly over the cauliflower. Next, spread the butter evenly over the top of cauliflower. Fold the other half of the foil or paper over the cauliflower. Starting from a corner of the folded half, begin to fold the edges of the foil or paper in order to "seal" the cauliflower inside. Before making the final fold, pour the water inside the foil or paper and complete the last fold. Place the cauliflower onto a baking tray and roast for 30-40 minutes or until the cauliflower is fork tender. Remove from the foil and serve warm.

Once the curry, salt, pepper and butter have been put on the head, fold the foil around it.  Don't forget to add the water right before it is all sealed.

Here's where I had a problem.  The foil kept ripping and I had to wrap it a few times until I finally had one that didn't rip - and I was using "heavy duty" foil. I think parchment paper would have been better.

Done.  I didn't use the full amount of curry powder.  I thought it would have been too much....wrong.  Next time, I will use the full amount recommended in the recipe.  Otherwise, tasty and healthy!

Restaurant review - Inspiration Kitchen - Chicago, IL

What a special brunch we had a Inspiration Kitchen. Here is there mission statement:

Inspiration Corporation provides essential social services to Chicagoans hardest hit by homelessness and poverty, and we inspire our participants to take action to improve their own lives. Here at Inspiration Kitchens, we help individuals gain valuable skills and experience that lead to employment in the food service industry. Thank you for dining with us and changing lives!

I picked this restaurant from looking on Yelp.  I was looking for a place in the city to go for brunch.  This "Inspiration Kitchen" had good reviews on their food.  Good enough for me.  Off we went with GPS leading the way.  We didn't know what a special place we were going into and what life lessons our kids would learn that meal.  Once we got there, I read different articles that were on the wall and realized what a special place we had gone into.  I asked the hostess to explain the kids what was going on there and she graciously and eloquently, in her own words - explained the mission (I copied their statement from their website and put up there).  Our kids were amazed.  "You mean homeless people made this food?"  And then it lead to a conversation on about how with some understanding and training, people can change their lives.  WOW....and all because we wanted to try a new place for brunch.  Who knew?!?!?

Ok....let's talk food...I mean...this is why I picked this place to go eat at...right?  Some would say yes....some would say we were "meant" to go here and learn more.  Anyways.....

Here is the hot chocolate our daughter ordered.  If you have read my blog for awhile, you now know our daughter fancies herself a hot chocolate conniseur.  Here was her cup of hot chocolate.  She rated it a 5 out of 10....good...not great.  But don't get me wrong...she finished every last drop of it.  And it sure looks great!!

I ordered biscuits and gravy.  It is homemade biscuits, corned beef hash, scrambled eggs, and sausage gravy.  Boy was this good!!!  I have never had biscuits and gravy with corned beef hash...and what a great combo. Some potato and onion with bits of corned beef.  The biscuits were so fresh they stuck together.  Perfection!  See the parsley on the plate...it was wilted and totally not necessary.  I would tell them don't waste the money on it.  Let the food do it's own talking - and talks very well!!!

Here is the outside.  It is a very small place though there was never much of a wait. What I don't have is a picture of the french toast. - deemed by our kids as some of the best french toast they have ever had.  Our son declared "I think there is some cinnamon in here".  Our little foodie....we are SO proud!!

Across from the restaurant is a community and outreach center. There were gorgeous mosaics on their walls.  Various words were in the artwork...peace, respect, restore...just to name a few.  Go there and see the wonderful art for yourself and go eat some wonderful, heartful food.