Category Archives: Food

cheezborger cheezborger cheezborger… double cheeze, its the best!

Billy Goat will feel right at home in Washington

The joint is on the ground floor of the National Association of Realtors building, and when you walk outside you can see the Capitol dome.

The association’s headquarters is in Chicago, and the Goat has been sitting in the belly of its building at 430 N. Michigan since 1964.

“They were the first people we thought of when we put up this building,” said association spokesman Lucien Salvant. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) will cut the ribbon and speak at Monday’s grand opening, as will association executive vice president and CEO Terry McDermott and president Al Mansell.

Cheezborgers for all as Goat debuts in D.C.

One of the Chicago Goat’s employees, early morning grill man Spiro Sarivasilis, was flown in for the occasion and entertained Monday’s crowd by crowing the Goat’s legendary spiel: “Cheezborger, cheezborger! No fries … chips! No Pepsi … Coke.”

Well, that explains where Spiro has been. My fried egg, cheese (cheeze?), and ham just weren’t the same.

I Smell *BACON*!

In the Chicago Tribune‘s food section today was a recipie for bacon-fried corn. It actually sounds really good, but what doesn’t when made with bacon. I reprint it here for two reasons 1) so I don’t lose it and 2) so MARK NOTARUS, who has eaten bacon-wrapped bacon, can see it.

Bacon-fried corn
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

  • 9 stripgs bacon, diced
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • Kernels from 5 medium ears of corn, about 4 cups
  • 1 red bell pepper, seeded, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Freshly ground pepper
  1. Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 5 minutes; remove bacon with a lotted spoon to a paper-towel lined pan. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat.
  2. Add the onion to the skillet; cook, stirring often, until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Add corn and bell pepper. Cook, stirring often, until corn is crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in the parsley, milk, salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with bacon pieces.

Nutrition information per serving:

  • calories: 216
  • calories from fat: 36%
  • fat: 9g
  • saturated fat: 2g
  • cholesterol: 16mg
  • carbohydrates: 26g
  • protein: 11g
  • sodium: 624mg
  • fiber: 4g

Taste of Chicago

On Wednesday, Dave and I ran over to the Taste of Chicago for lunch. (I link to the Sun-Times site because its much much better than the city’s web page for the Taste. So goofy.) We’ve been doing it every year we’ve been working nearby, so we didn’t want to break a 4 year thing. That and the taste can be yummy.

Anyway, I had some thoughts related to the taste, but I’ve been too busy the past few days to follow up with them. Luckily, Nick went there as well and had many of the same thoughts.

To add to Nick’s thoughts:

I noticed some of the same things he did. It seems to be getting a little worse in the non-sensicle taste portions each year.

And while I love going on the 3rd, I have to say this past wednesday 6/29, was perfect for lunch. Fairly low attendence so we were able to get in, get tickets immediately, and never had to wait for food.

My find of the taste was the taste portion at Robinson’s ribs. It was a full link of italian sausage slathered in BBQ sauce and in a bun. On a normal day, that’s pretty close to a full lunch for me.

And people wonder why the US is the fattest nation…

It looks like someone has defeated the hamdog, which I’ve mentioned before, at least in terms of pure grossness.

Pa. Eatery Offers New 15-Pound Burger

The burger war is growing. Literally. Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub, which lost its crown as the home of the world’s biggest burger earlier this year, is now offering a new burger that weighs a whopping 15 pounds.

Dubbed the Beer Barrel Belly Buster, the burger comes with 10.5 pounds of ground beef, 25 slices of cheese, a head of lettuce, three tomatoes, two onions, a cup-and-a-half each of mayonnaise, relish, ketchup, mustard and banana peppers – and a bun.

Wouldn’t you like to be a Pepper too?

Quick drink review, if only so I don’t go for more than a week and a half without a post….

Over the weekend I was at the mall and Dr. Pepper had a big booth giving out free cans of Diet Dr. Pepper and Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper. I’m a big fan of Diet Dr. Pepper, so I thought I’d give its new cousin a try.

I was a bit leery because I think Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper has too many modifiers as part of its name. My fears were unfounded. Its a bit sweeter tasting then I’d like to have everyday but the cherry and vanilla flavors really compliment the taste of Dr. Pepper.

If you like Dr. Pepper, you’ll probably like this. If you don’t like Dr. Pepper, this isn’t going to make you like it.

A moment of silence

Since Dinah has been in day care, I’ve been taking the train from Metra stop in Roselle. Since I have been parking in the North parking lot, I drive by Bud’s, the former home of BeerTuesday, almost daily.

Today I ask for a moment of silence, my brothers and sisters in mass alcohol consumption, because on my way to the train today I noticed large FOR RENT signs in the windows of the establishment now formerly known as Bud’s. Rubbing my eyes, I looked again, and they were still there, but this time I also noticed that the sign board was devoid of message.

There is a yellow 8.5×11 sheet of paper taped on one the doors which probably has a message of thanks for the years Bud’s existed, or at least a “sorry, we’re closed for good!” As I had 4 minutes to catch the train, I didn’t stop to read it, but I will on the way home and try to take a picture with my phone.

If they died due to missing a large influx of cash each Tuesday or because their service and beer selection just went into the shitter, we may never know. But please, I beg, a moment of silence for an establishment that: gave us food when we were hungry; that reserved our corner 99% of the time; that let us master darts; that thought were were thespians; that gave us the centurion club to finish over and over; that saw Brian White drink said club faster than any man in history; that saw a beer tab and tip much larger than 4 men should reasonably create; that gave us waitresses who were, after training by us, without parallel; that taught us it was a bad night when “(beer + liquor) > food” evaluated to false; that gave us shelter in times of peace and times of strife; and, most importantly of all, that gave us alcohol when we were sober.