Mariscos San Pedro

-Grubbing in Chicago
Fiesta de Mariscos en Pilsen

There’s always Mexican restaurants opening in Chicago though so many of them are basically the same thing. But of late there’s been a handful of interesting and out of the ordinary openings. Mariscos San Pedro inside Pilsen’s Thalia Hall is the latest. The live music venue at the corner of 18th and Allport has teamed up with the Poilevey brothers of Le Bouchon, La Chingon and Obelix.

Recently Opened in Pilsen 

Mariscos San Pedro replaced Dusek’s in July and immediately started garnering buzz. Michael Nagrant of ‘The Hunger’ Substack called it “The Restaurant of Summer” which is fitting with its colorful space mixed with lots of light, friendly hospitality, and a chef driven menu of mariscos more commonly found in LA. I’ve always said Mexican food in Chicago is awesome but it doesn’t quite match LA due to a lack of seafood forward spots like Mariscos San Pedro. Slowly but surely we’re starting to see some Baja quality places so to say. We visited San Pedro a couple weeks ago on a warm and sunny early evening. We took a seat on the patio despite there being plenty of seating at the bar with lots of empty tables inside though they were all filled by the time we left (reservations are always suggested).

a peek inside 

The menu at San Pedro is flooded with seafood or mariscos as pronounced in Spanish. The menu is broken down into platters, ceviche (and aguachile), tostadas, tacos, hot seafood, whole fish and “Masa y Mas” which is everything from quesadillas to a plate of Nopales. Me being me I had to start with a couple of the seafood tacos including the classic Baja Fish taco and also a newfangled Taco Gobernador as they call them here. The fish taco was on point with a nice chunk of perfectly fried cod topped with aioli and slaw resting atop a made on site corn tortilla. The Gobernador was just as good although technically it’s more of a taco de costra con camaron or a cheese crust taco with shrimp. Gobernador tacos are typically like quesadillas as they melt a bunch of cheese mixed with shrimp and peppers but here they mix shrimp into a cheese crust and roll it all up as seen in the picture below.

Taco Gobernador at Mariscos Don Pedro 

Did you know the Caesar Salad was born in Baja Mexico? Caesar Cardini - a French - inspired Italian chef who immigrated to America before moving to Tijuana Mexico to escape prohibition is the man credited with its creation. Chefs in Baja and beyond have been cheffing up this classic salad alot of late. The kitchen at San Pedro starts out with little gem lettuce, boquerones, and Cotija cheese according to the menu. I also detected some crushed up tortilla chips with sweet corn and matchsticks of radish and it all blended together really well. This is a very good choice to start your meal with.

Ceasar Salad at Mariscos San Pedro 

The “Hot Seafood” section has four really interesting options including a wood fired shrimp dish that we ended up choosing over the mussels and frites, an Octopus Sonoran Hot Dog and the Scallops with corn and nduja. You get four large head on shrimps with each plate of the wood grilled shrimp. The shrimp itself was a bit limper than I like but this is pretty much always the case in Chicago and other land locked sections of the country. Though the aguacate salsa with chunks of pineapple sitting on the side was so good it made up for the limp texture and a lack of smoke flavor in the shrimp.

Wood Grilled Shrimp at Mariscos San Pedro 

All three of the whole fish selections sounded good but the pricing on whole fish has gotten out of control in my opinion. We ended up choosing the Dorade bc it was the most reasonable but it’s likely that I come back for the whole fried snapper which I noticed is broken down into individual fried chunks like some spots in Mexico do. I prefer it that way as it’s easier to eat and it's texturally better too. The dorade is wood grilled and served the same way as the fish at Mexico City’s Contramar Restaurant or Christmas style as it’s called out in New Mexico due to the red and green coloring from the sauces used to marinate each side of the butterflied fish. It comes with four thick made on site corn tortillas but you have to add rice and beans if you want those too. I really liked the salsa options included but thought the rice had a weird Uncle Ben’s texture to it. All in all it was a great summertime meal as there’s something about warm weather that makes me crave seafood and Mariscos San Pedro is already one of the city’s best seafood restaurants. Check it out while the weather is ripe.

Grilled Dorade 

Mariscos San Pedro
1227 W 18th St
Chicago, IL 60608
(312) 508-4700
Website

Cajun Pasta Dinner

--Tailgatin' and how to make mofos start playa hatin' (Recipes)

A recent trip to New Orleans has had Cajun cooking on my mind. I whipped up a fantastic dinner this past week that helped feed the itch which I'm not sure will ever leave. You best believe theres a legendary post on NOLA eats coming but in the meantime let me share with you what I made. I got both a recipe I found while down there and one I came up with in impromptu fashion that turned into a keeper for the recipe book.

Oysters, Eggplant and Tasso Gratin

I found this recipe printed in the newest edition of Southern Foodway's which I picked up at a restaurant in New Orleans. Susan Spicer, the chef credited for this wonderful dish, calls it a "new trinity". FYI the Trinity is the trio of chopped bell peppers, onions and celery added into a dish. Check out the recipe HERE and a step by step picture guide down below. This dish was rich and full of flavor, great start to an epic made at home meal.

Making the roux


Eggplant and tasso being sauteed


The gratin before the top layer of bread crumbs are added


Gratin out of the oven

Oysters, Eggplant and Tasso Gratin w/ French bread for an appetizer
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chibbqking Blackened Shrimp Pasta w/ Trinity and Tasso

I was in the mood for a Cajun inspired pasta and ended up creating something from within. Lets take a look at how I did it. I used this guys recipe as a base and changed a few things too.

Ingredients (Serves four as main dish)

2 Pounds Shell on Shrimp, 21 - 30, Peeled and Cleaned
1.5 cups worth of Trinity (chopped onions, celery, peppers) with Tasso
1/4 Cup Blackening seasoning
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil, as needed
2 Tablespoons Butter, as needed
8 Cloves Garlic, grated or pressed
1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil, as needed
1 Pound Penne Pasta

Trinity with tasso ready to go

1) Start out by removing the shells of the shrimps and de-veining them after. Once done set shrimp in bowl and add healthy amount of blackening seasoning and set aside. Take your shrimp shells and make a stock out of that.

2) Get water ready to boil for the pasta. While waiting grate the garlic, and place it in a small pan with 1/4 cup olive oil. Cook on low heat until the garlic is soft, and fragrant. This will infuse the oil with the garlic flavor. Cook about 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and leave it alone.

3) While waiting for water to boil, saute the trinty/tasso mixture in a pan with butter and oil until translucent, add some Creole seasoning on top if you got it. Before removing the mixture from the pan add about 1/4 cup of the shrimp stock and cook that thru for 3 mins. Dont clean the pan.

Trinity and Tasso cooking away

4) Once water is boiling add 1 tablespoon of oil with 2 tablespoons Kosher Salt, and add the pasta. Once that's boiling stir to make sure it doesn't stick and then blacken the shrimp in the same pan used to make the trinity. About 2 mins per side in half batches and then set that aside.


My stove as I prep the Cajun pasta

5) When shrimp is done leave your pan as is and get it nice and hot and then follow that by emptying the rest of the shrimp stock into the pan and scraping the bits off of the bottom. Once its all removed strain the liquid through a fine sieve to remove the big black chunks so that its just a dark liquid base like that seen below.

Blackened Shrimp Stock


Blackened Shrimp

6) When the pasta is done, drain it and place it in the bowl. Add the garlic infused oil and mix it up well. Dump the last batch of shrimp into the bowl along with the trinity and tasso and mix well.


chibbqking blackened shrimp with trinity and tasso pasta

7) Serve on plates and drizzle a little of the blackened shrimp stock on top. Enjoy!


Up Close view of the goodness

Note: Tubed pasta works great with this dish b/c the trinity gets stuck up in each piece.
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See ya next time @chibbqking.

Longman & Eagle

-Grubbing in Chicago
New to the 'Scene'

Longman & Eagle opened up back at the start of 2010. Following the trend of hot gastro pubs around the city they did so with a bang. It was an immediate success and received rave reviews. As always I like to let a place get its feet under its legs before I try it. So I hadn't been until earlier this month. I'm not the local snob food expert but I very much enjoyed my first visit and intend on getting back sooner than later. I know I like it when I'm wanting to go back asap despite the place being flooded with hipsters. there were like 7 hipster bikes parked on the pole outside. They have officially taken over Logan Square. That is until they grow out of this "weird and annoying to others" phase of their life.


An immediate success and now staple on the scene

As you can see in the picture above they are low key for what they put out. The food is excellent and the drink list is impressive. They have alot of whiskeys available including cocktails dedicated to the season and plenty of micro brewed beers and a fine wine selection. I had wanted to try a Dark & Stormy but for some reason they were out of that I was told. A mixed drink? I went with a Moscow Mule which was excellent and great on the summer day as we dined outdoors enjoying the weather and cocktails.

Summertime Moscow Mule

Lucky for me this was a bday treat from a couple of my aunts so there were three of us and we were able to split a few of the small plates which are basically appetizers. We went with the bone marrow spread served with toast, a porcini agnolotti with crispy pork skin and also prawns and grits. All three were excellent. Hard to choose a favorite so much so to the point I would get the same three again if the menu was still the same. It can switch as the seasons do too.


Bone Marrow

Prawns and Grits


Porcini Agnolotti with fried pork skin


Seared Tuna Entree

The entrees were just as good as the apps. One of us had the tuna seen above which was excellent as I was able to have a piece. I forget how it was prepared and the menu does change but if your going there around or near when this was written just check the entrees. I get the feeling it's hard to go wrong here. Even if you wanna just head out with a friend/spouse for a drink and reasonable meal, the burger is said to be great and it sure did smell good. The skirt steak dinner was excellent. Served with a bone marrow ravioli as well as green beans, corn and a wonderful Latin inspired sauce.


Skirt Steak Dinner with bone marrow Ravioli

Longman & Eagle
2657 North Kedzie Ave
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 276-7110
Website

Heatwave Recipes

--Tailgatin' and how to make mofos start playa hatin' (Recipes)

America has had some heatwaves of late, would you say? Man it's been hot and I've been traveling, everywhere is sticky. So what to eat when its so damn hot you don't feel like anything yet your still hungry? I'm not eating tofu bites and a plain old salad aint going to do it. Well it gets hot in Texas don't it? How about a recipe from the King of Texas Eats Robb Walsh. I made this meal using two recipes from 'The Tex Mex Backyard and Barbacoa Cookbook' and it was excellent, perfect for a hot summer day. I said it before and I'll say it again, if you don't own this book and consider yourself a grillmaster, stop thinking you are. You need this in your collection.

Grilled Shrimp and Guacamole Salad

This was an excellent summertime dinner if I may say. If you've ever had lettuce wraps at an Asian joint you'll love this Tex-Mex take on them. No exact recipe, you gotta get the book for that. But what you need is some marinated shrimp (soaked in grapefruit juice) which you'll grill and then throw onto a lettuce wrap atop fresh guac, a supremed piece of grapefruit and sprinkle that with some fresh chopped cilantro, green onion shavings and fresh lime juice. These make for a great appetizer at a party too as they can be made in any size. So good on a steamy day.


Grilled shrimp and guacamole with grapefruit lettuce wraps
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Republic of the Rio Grande Grilled Tuna and Grapefruit Salad

This my fellow friends is what you need for dinner on a day it's 99 degrees in the shade. Robb Walsh comes thru yet again. If you thought Tex-Mex was just nachos with processed cheese and fajitas you never got one of Robb's books or been to one of the many food spots in Texas he documents in each book. "A restaurant in McAllen, Texas, called Republic of the Rio Grande Grill and Cantina invented this entrée-size grilled tuna salad with grapefruit sections and red onions on top. It's a classic combination of South Texas flavors—and a very healthy dinner." Order the book for many more great eats like this and if you want to have this for dinner tonight, get the recipe HERE. Who knew being healthy could taste so good? Big Ups to the King of Tex-Mex.


Grilled Tuna and grapefruit Salad in the backyard
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See ya next month @chibbqking

Blizzard Breakfast's

--Tailgatin' and how to make mofos start playa hatin' (Recipes)

Well in case you live in a basement and hibernate there all winter never leaving or peaking out the window once, in case that is you or you live in Florida, you most likely know there's been some blizzards here in the USA in the winter of 2010-11. In fact we just had a massive one pass thru Chicago that pretty much shut the city down for a day and a half. People were so scared of the overhyped news that they were clearing out grocery stores as if Armageddon was coming. C'mon people, we live in Chicago, snow and even lots of it is not something new. Albeit it was a damn big snowstorn with thunder, lightning and the whole nine yards. I'm sorry but if you're one of the idiots that got caught on Lakeshore Drive and is now blaming the city, well your a fool. Maybe if you didn't do all your shopping at American Stupid, where it obviously rubs off on ya, then maybe you would of realized that LSD was the last place you wanted to be when the storm hit us. So unless you live in the lake, there were plenty of other ways home and you chose the stupid way. Sorry but that's on you.


Northbound on Lakeshore Drive during the snowstorm (pic from: chicagofree.info)

So anyway now that I got the idiots outta the way lets get to the food. Well in blizzards like these one's we've had around the country you cant do much. I never even went to the grocery store and thus I was working with what I had as far as making meals during the aftermath. So I went into my fridge and this is what was concocted in my kitchen the day I was stuck inside on a snow day. I don't know why but I like breakfast most on days like these.
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Breakfast Sausage Sliders


The patty getting its color

Ingredients

- 1 package loose breakfast sausage
- 1 container of Pillsbury breakfast biscuits
- egg's for frying
- American cheese for topping
- butter


Sausage patty fried up and ready

Directions

1) Start off by cooking the biscuits according to to the package instructions. Then start making 1/4 pound balls of meat with the sausage, make enough patties so that you have enough sliders for all, one patty per slider. Butter up a flattop pan and throw the balls of sausage into it when ready. Take a heavy flat pan or spatula or anything that you can put a little force into and smash the sausage patty down as much as you can so it looks like that seen in the pic up above.

2) When all the sausage patties are made put them on a plate with a paper towel beneath them and then cook your eggs you your liking, I do mine fried. One minute before you take the egg off, put the patty on top followed by the slice of cheese and let it sit until it melts. Put it all into a biscuit and enjoy.


Breakfast sausage sliders
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Denver Wiener Scramble

So I would guess that 3 out of 5 US households have Oscar Meyer wieners in their fridge. Personally I am not a fan of Child's play hot dogs but I do use them in my bbq baked beans recipe which can be found HERE. These dogs are crucial for my beans and its flavor profile so I do have them buried at the bottom of my fridge from time to time. I came up with this during the blizzard after I ransacked my refrigerator. Since most people also usually have eggs and bell peppers and onions, this is a good recipe for the starving.

Ingredients

- 2/3 Oscar Meyer wieners
- 3 eggs for scrambling
- about a cup of chopped onion/bell peppers
- some minced garlic
- shredded cheese (optional)

Directions

1) Start off by cutting down the wieners into diced pieces. When that's done, throw some oil into the pan and saute the hot dogs and veggies for seven minutes or until done and then remove the mixture into a bowl.


The insides of my scramble

2) Add more butter to the pan and take your scrambled egg mixture and make the eggs in the pan. Just before ready add the bowl of meat and veggies in with the eggs and top it with cheese and enjoy.


Denver Wiener Scramble
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Shrimp & Grits

I love me some shrimp and grits and although this is a typical breakfast/brunch in the south, it's what i had for dinner the night of the blizzard. I'll eat shrimp and grits anytime of the day however, its always good ya know? Over the years I've experimented with a few different recipes and last year I tried one from Serious Eats and it became my go to when I want some shrimp and grits. Nick Kindelsperger hooked this one up! I love it. Her is some video of it.


Shrimp and Grits from Serious Eats (Recipe HERE)
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See ya next time on S'C'&C.

Thirsty Perch

-Grubbing in Michigan
Where the FIB's eat.

Pure Michigan is where we head on this trip. Not too long ago I got back up to South Haven in SW Michigan's Harbor Country and had a great meal which has happened before (click HERE for a previous post on the area). I usually spend a nice amount of time in the area during August so I have a few spots on my radar and The Thirsty Perch has been one of them for a while now, so I scoped it out on my most recent visit to the area. Its a spot not too far from the beach and is there for the influx of tourists that flood the area over summer.


South Haven, MI

We went on a weekend day around 5p and there was a nice crowd in the restaurant just as there was on the streets and beaches. Its the peak season for SW Michigan and its towns along the lake. I might of said this in my last post too, the area has basically become Chicago's version of Cape Cod or the Hamptons with beautiful estates, lots of shopping and golfing and of course plenty of bars and restaurants. We chose to sit at the bar which is my preference when visiting a bar while on vacation or at home in Chicago. It allows you to learn more about the area and meet locals and regulars. The inside of the place is really nice and casual, well sized and has a great feel of summertime when you stop in. Like any good summertime beach area bar they have a happy hour and serve some fine local microbrews on tap and in bottle. I browsed the menu to see what else was on it but the reason we where here was all in the name. The Thirsty Perch uses the best fishmongers in the area for fresh Michigan perch delivered to the kitchen daily. I spied they had fresh iced oysters on the half shell at $2/each and since it was so hot I had to order a few.


The High Life

I was impressed with the menu at Thirsty Perch and really liked how they offered their fresh caught perch both beer battered and pan fried. Aside from the namesake they had some nice looking salads all made with fresh local farmers products and I spied a nice looking burger that passed me in the hands of a waitress. The use of fresh local ingredients and my love for legit fish sandwiches made me go for a perch sandwich which came with fresh cut fries and I also opted for a couple side orders of fresh fried perch to go with that.


Perch Sandwich

I've always been a big fish fan and an even bigger freshly fried fish fan and perch has always been one of my favorites. I'm happy to say that the Thirsty Perch met my expectations for the two of them and I quite enjoyed the meal. It wasn't the cheapest batch of fresh perch out there but it was nicely done and I will be back and hope I can be so sooner than later because now after posting these pics on here, I really want some fried perch.


beer battered fresh perch

Thirsty Perch
272 Broadway Street
South Haven, MI 49090-1483
(269) 639-8000
Website

New Orleans Take-out

Grubbing in Madison
-Where the locals, students, politicians, hippies & everyone else eats.

College is back in session and football season is about to begin. Where in the world do I start when it comes to the celebrated city of Madison? the great state of Wisconsin's capitol, a Big Ten fixture and another amazing eating city for both meat and veggie lovers. I was lucky enough to spend a few years drinking in Madison during both the Wisconsin winters that sucked-but you drank to get through them and then the summers when the city turned into a whole different vibe. I still cant decide which one I like more but both made Madison the best little city in America and the best college town anywhere.

If you want to be considered an amazing college town you better have a few things down pat. Not only is Madison a city that boasts more bars per capita than anywhere and a great drinking town but its also has the best eats of any college town around. I will argue that with anyone who think they know of a better one. So with that here is the first of many into the Madison eats section here on chibbqking.


State St. on a midsummer's night (Photo by: Cool Town Studios)

Well I got back up to Madison for the first time in a year or so this past weekend for a bachelor party and although I didn't have my camera on me half the time (cameras aren't allowed in all places we were headed too) I was reminded of a few things. A few of which I will share with you today. I said it before and I'll say it again-there is nothing close to as good as New Orleans Takeout as far as Creole food goes here in Chicago. Its the real deal. Owner John Roussos might as well be born and bred and serving Creole food to the people of New Orleans because it is that authentic. However he is actually a native New Yorker who spent most of the 70's learning the French inspired cuisine in New Orleans and now going on 20+ years has been serving his recipes in Madison, Wisconsin. Make sense?


My favorite eating spot in Mad City...bar none

NOTO has two locations one is next to the popular Mickie's Dairy Bar near the football stadium and one on Fordem ave just off Johnson (about 10 mins from downtown) and I always liked the original more for the feel and food. But I cant really say there's much of a difference since both places are spot on. As far as the menu items it includes all the Creole classics. The cuisine is native to New Orleans and French inspired with roots tracing back to African, Spanish and Italian. I seriously like it all including the daily specials. Click here for the menu. On my most recent trip back to Mad I only made it to NOTO once and was not happy. I will get back there soon but here is a look into what I had. I would say I ate here three times a week when I was in Madison.


The spot on Fordem has the feel of a local NO restaurant and is loved by all

Everything pictured was amazing as are the sides of French or corn bread that come with each order. Each order seen is actually a small order with two sizes being available. The price is right and the food is great. I'm glad to say that spot that I ate at most during my college days didn't turn out to be some crap I just liked b/c it was cheap, they delivered and tasted good when stoned.


Red Beans & Rice with Sausage


Crabcake with remoulade


Fried Oyster Po'Boy best sandwich in Madison and the best Po Boy outside NOLA


Deb's Barbecued Shrimp


Crawfish etouffee


Mardi Gras Combo (Jambalaya, Red Beans & Rice, Shrimp Creole)

My only regret was upon walking out I saw a couple young guys chowing down some fried wings. They are masters of the golden frying process and these smelled and looked so, so good that I was pissed I never tried them before. Next time. Its impossible to pick a favorite dish so I wont but these were my regular ordered items when I ate there often. New Orleans Takeout is celebrating its 20th anniversary and I cant wait to get back. If your a student or have students at Wisco then make sure you try this place out-its slap your mama good. EAT MO' BETTAH!


Happy 20th anniversary to New Orleans Takeout (order poster here)

I hope you'll check back often to scope out my other favorite eating spots in Mad City. Wont you come on the block with me? If it was around five years ago and way before I was there then trust me I have been. Since you know I know my way around Wisconsin. See ya next time on Sconnie eats from a Windy City Citizen.

New Orleans Takeout
1920 Fordem Ave
Madison, WI 53704-4606
(608) 241-6655
2 locations
Website