Skinny Cow Cups

This past weekend I signed up to attend The Perfect Cup free event with my friend Sara sponsored by Skinny Cow. I didn't know much about the event, but I knew that there would be the following:

1) Free Booze

2) Free Ice Cream

3) Bra fittings (perfect cup - get it?) 

Regardless of why we were really there I was obviously more focused on #1 and #2.  

I have to be honest, I was mostly excited about the cocktail when we first walked in. I have had Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches in the past and while tasty they never really did that much for me. Signature cocktails and I have a  lot more in common and this was a great one; lavender infused lemonade with sparkling wine. Don't mind if I do...Needless to say I briskly made my way through both my drink tickets. Next step: ice cream bar!

Walking up there was a display showcasing the five flavors of skinny cow's "perfect cups." Each of these cups have less than 150 calories and 4g or less of fat. Not too shabby if you ask me! They offered the following flavors:

• Chocolate Fudge Brownie
• Dulce de Leche
• Strawberry Cheesecake
• Carmel Cone
• Cookies 'N Cream

Nothing too left field, but some big hitters in there. I went for Strawberry Cheesecake and Sara opted for Dulce de Leche. I have to say, I was kind of impressed! The ice cream was very creamy and the strawberry preserves were tasty and not overboard sweet. I didn't get to try Sara's but she said she enjoyed it although it was a little rich.

 

Would I buy these again? Yes, especially because they are sold individually. I wouldn't eat too many though considering the only ingredient I really recognized was skim milk, but hey, for 150 calories I may just put all of that aside and enjoy the delicious ice cream.

As if this event wasn't wonderful enough. The beautiful super model Veronica Webb was a guest MC! I actually got to meet and talk with her and she caught me googling her...model fail. 

I love Chicago. 

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Top Chef Masters with A Top Chef Master

I can't believe that I am about to write this post; everything from tonight seems so surreal. Tonight I watched Top Chef Masters with Chef Marcus Sammuelsson (of Aquavit in NYC) one of the five chefs chosen to compete in tonights episode, at the rooftop bar of the fabulous Affinia Hotel in Chicago. 

I heard about this event courtesy of one of Chicago's best food blogs 312 Dining Diva. Immediately I knew I had to invite my cousin and fellow foodie, Dory, to come along. Naturally, she was in, along with her foodie friend Amy. So tonight we met up with very little expectations; at the most we were hoping to get Chef Marcus to sign a cookbook...ah, naivety you keep me young...

We arrive at the Affinia hotel and take the elevator straight to the top to C-view, the sky bar for the Marcus Sammuelsson restaurant downstairs in the hotel, C-house. We head outside to the beautiful patio and sit a long table that stetches nearly half the porch. Looking around I can't believe I am here. The view is unreal, the weather is perfect (70 with a soft breeze) and I know the food is going to be amazing. 

We start off cautiously with couple of cocktails (I got the Yes Chef!) and a plate of three cured meats, a special running on Top Chef nights for $10. To start we had:

- Salmon - "pastarmi" style

- Guanciale - cured pork jowel

- Jamon Serrano - dry-cured Spanish ham 

This was served with grainy mustard and grilled french bread. Out of all three, I think my favorite would have to be the Guanciale. There was such a nice blend of fat and meat that it made each bite melt in my mouth. Before I knew it I had consumed about half the portion and had to be put in cured meat time-out. The salmon was in a close a second. So light and delicate, I easily could have eaten half. the Jamon Serrano was delicious as well, but compared to the other two, this one was my least favorite. While a nice blend of fat and meat, I felt like I had the flavors before. I loved them, but again, the other two were just amazing. 

For dinner we ordered:

- Mini Yellowfin Tacos

- Lobster Club

- Bacon and onion jam flatbread

Thinking about these make my mouth water. The tacos were in fact mini, I dare say even bit size! I didn't order them but was completely happy with the one I sampled. Light, fresh and clean are all the adjectives that come to mind. This would be a great dish to share among a group. The lobster club was about as decadent as they come. Lobster, bacon, mayonnaise - what's not to like? And that's exactly the sentiment I had. It was so delicious and creamy I easily could have eaten the whole thing, but alas it was not my main meal; I ordered the flatbread. When it arrived in front of me I instantly smelled the bacon. Ah, sweet, sweet, bacon. Cheese, bacon, pears, and onions are never a bad combo and this was no different. The flatbread itself was a great balance between crispy and chewy. 

So you would think the food and atmosphere would be enough right? You would be wrong. To top this evening off, we watched the episode in which Marcus is featured with him all night. It was truly an amazing experience to watch someone on TV while they are standing (and yes, he was standing right next to me) during the show.

Chef Marcus was so kind, fielding our questions, signing our cookbooks and in general, just hanging out. He was completely unpretentious and inviting (much like the food at C-view) and created a memorable night for me. I wrote on a napkin my blog, so Marcus if you are reading - thanks for making my night!

It's going to be hard to top this one, but I have a lot of big foodie events coming up so stay tuned!!

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She and Him - Millennium Park

Mr. Charles Shaw (some of you may know him as $2 Chuck), pretzel roll, brie, sausage and my good friend Sara (she has a blog and it's awesome) made for an absolutely amazing Monday night in Chicago.

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DMK Burger Bar

Truffle parmesan fries, blue cheese/onion straw burger, olive tapenade/tzaziki lamb burger. Heaven? Close enough (well to me at least). These delectable items can be found at one of Chicago's new burger joints - DMK Burger Bar.

What started as the love child between David Morton and Michael Kornick (DMK - get it?) has turned into Lakeview's premiere gastropub/burger joint. Boasting 14 different burgers (eight meat and six "others"), this place has been on my radar for quite some time. The timing was perfect when my dad was recently in town and we wanted to check out someplace to new eat. Normally I have an ongoing list of places where we should go, but this time around I got a little busy and didn't plan. We started walking around my neighborhood when I remembered - DMK...

As luck we have it we were about a block away when the idea stuck me and so we went. Always hungry and ready for a good meal, we dove right into the menu and started with the caesar and wedge salads. The presentation of these were great; the caesar had fresh anchovies strewn across the top of the crisp romaine (pictured) and the wedge, large crumbles of blue. If I know I am going to be indulging in something as decadent as a burger, I like to get a salad to start in hopes of filling up my tummy a little bit before diving into the deep end of meat and cheese. These salads did their best to curve my hunger - I didn't even finish mine! Had we known the sheer mass of both salads we could have easily gone with one.

On to the next round: burgers. DMK Burgers offers only grass fed beef, which is great because cattle are suppose to eat grass. Seems simple enough yet a lot of grocery stores, restaurants (even high end ones) still use corn fed beef. Cows are designed to eat grass - not corn. Got it? Good. I could go on forever about my position on industrial farming, but thats for a separate post. ANYWAYS, burgers. We ordered:

1) The roasted hatch green chile, fried farm egg, sonoma jack, fresh bacon turkey burger (also known as #4)
2) Sheep's milk feta, olive tapenade, greek salad, tzaziki grass feed lamb burger (aka #11)
3) Chili rubbed onion strings, blue cheese, spicy chipotle burger (aka #2)

Coupled with our three orders of fries, sweet potato with lemon tabasco aioli, parmesan truffle cream, and amish blue and smoked bacon, this meal was a total knock out. The first burger was a great mixture of salt, sweet and spice from the bacon, egg and chiles. The lamb burger actually felt very light; the cucumbers from the greek salad and the brininess of the olive tapenade was a great background for the lamb. Then there was the onion strings/blue cheese burger. My burger. I have to be honest I normally don't go for the blue cheese burgers because I often feel that the cheese overwhelms the flavor of the beef, however this burger balanced all the flavors very well. The spice from the ketchup and the chili in the onion strings played right into the tang and pungent flavors of the blue cheese. All three burgers were dynamite and packed with great flavors - cooked perfectly too!

Not only was the food great, but the bar offers a unique selection of beers and homemade sodas. Being that it was a Monday I got the blood orange soda and I couldn't have been happier. Refreshing, sweet and unique this soda definitely hit the spot for me. I can definitely see craft sodas becoming a trend in the culinary world. When I go back (and I will go back) I want to try the Allagash, white wheat ale. Several people were drinking it and it looked mighty tasty.

For about $8 a burger, $2-$5 for fries and $5-$14 for beer you can get a gourmet burger in a great atmosphere. I am just looking for someone who wants to indulge with me again!

DMK Burger Bar
2954 N. Sheffield
Chicago, IL 60657

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Two Year Anniversary :)

Well Dear Foodies, if you can believe it today marks my two year anniversary of when I decided to start this little ole food blog. Blogging has allowed me to meet some incredible people/culinary icons including Art Smith, Marcus Sammuelsson and recently Dean Fearing. It's also lead me to some of the greatest meals (Prune, The Bristol, Extra Virgin, Craft) of my life with some of my best friends in the entire world. I wouldn't take back all the calories, spell or grammatical errors in the world for it (despite the fact it physically pains my mother - sorry Mom!) :) 

I want to thank my five dedicated followers for putting up with my harassment over reading the latest post, or blasting it all over you facebook and gmail statuses. I probably don't say it enough but it means the world to me!  

The only way I really know to celebrate is to head to the first outdoor Green City Market in Lincoln Park and take lots of pictures. 

Thank you all so much for reading and happy eating!

Much Love,

Renee 

Also special birthday shout out to Baby Beth who turns 25 today!!!!! WAHOO!!

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