So as I’m sure you’ve noticed I haven’t been posting much (or at all) on here.  A big reason behind that is my personality.  I wanted this site to focus only on food and frankly I got bored with that.  Its not that I’m done with food but in order to really be into something I can’t think about it 24hrs a day. In all honesty I’m most creative when I spend 1 or 2 days a week concentrating on a project.  This is probably  why I have a gazillion different hobbies, none of which I’m a amazing at. So what I’m trying to say is this blog is going to really random from now on.  Proceed with caution from now on.

At a bar I am not proud to admit I frequent. There is a regular(you know the guy, you kinda pray he is too drunk to notice you walk in) who once tricked me into a conversation about a basketball game. Long and short of it is this game was a “statement game”. Both teams were excellent and were slated to be great competitors for the season. But history ran deep between the basketball players and this game was terribly exciting to watch on many levels. EVERY time I see this yahoo he yells “What kinda game is it?” 

Thirty years ago, Laura Chenel was interested in raising goats. Today she is a semi-retired millionaire who helped to start a revolution…a goat cheese revolution. 

It all started with a crispy round of pan-fried goat cheese and a simply dressed mesclun salad. This was a dish that was going to change the American view on cheese made from goat’s milk.

Laura Chenel came by farming honestly. The family farm, in Sonoma County, raised chickens and turkeys. Upon graduation from high school, Laura began to raise a small herd of goats. Quickly they were producing more milk than she could keep up with and naturally she turned to cheese making. The beginning was not very successful. Chenel did some research to improve her cheese making skills. She actually went as far as to contact the author of the French goat cheese book that she had purchased. That phone call plus one airline ticket and she was off to France for four months to learn the art of cheese making. Her connection in France led her to four different farms all over the country where she could hone her knowledge. Back in the States, Chenel perfected her fresh chevre and also created an interest in her product. As fate would have it, Laura Chenel’s goat farm was also the backyard of another pioneering woman in the food industry, Alice Waters, owner and executive chef of Chez Panisse. Waters was all too happy to order Chenel’s fresh chevre after the first taste. Not only did she love the cheese but also the politics that it represented. It was local, it was produced with organic ideals, and it would help to create a sustainable farm. All were passions of Waters and embodied that culture that Chez Panisse wanted to(and did) help build.

Laura Chenel chevre is easily found in many fine grocers and cheese counters throughout the country. Is it this cheese mongers favorite fresh chevre? Absolutely not! Judy Schad, of Capriole Farms in Indiana, has never been credited with starting a goat cheese revolution. Capriole was right there with her goats, mirroring the movement in Northern California, right in our backyard. I think that Capriole chevre is better than Laura Chenel. And there are better than Capriole. The point is this, Laura Chenel fresh chevre is a statement cheese. 

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts I spend a fair amount of time at the Lincoln Park Binny’s, I’ve also touched on how great their beer manager is and how rare it is to see
somebody at a chain store really care about their product. I’m not comfortable harping on a chain like this but frankly the selection is amazing, look at the picture above! Those are each a different beer!

At this point I’m sure most of you are wondering why I get so excited about this.  Well, the truth is I grew up in Florida, home of the most ridiculous bottling laws you’ve ever seen (now gone).  From what I’ve heard Budweiser and their distributors had such a stranglehold on that state they only allowed beer in 12oz, 16oz and 32oz bottles to be sold.  They basically banned most foreign beer and what small amount of craft brewers that where around back then. This being said there were a couple small places, like the home brewers shop, where you could get good beer. Unfortunately most of it had been sitting in a warehouse so long it had a nice patina and a layer of dust on it. To put it in perspective, early on we would get excited about last years Anchor Christmas Beer. So when I moved up here a couple years back it was like entering a Toys R Us for the first time, minus the creepy old guy in the corner with a trench coat.

As I’m sure most of you noticed beer has become the new wine.  Not sure how I feel about this. On one hand we have an incredible selection of beers and restaurants opening that cater to beer drinkers.  On the other hand we have a proliferation of “beer snobs”. Don’t get me wrong they have always been around, the difference was these “geeks” were friendly, unpretentious and approachable.  The new guard of snobs has brought the stuffy, unfriendly and boring wine scene and taken the proverbial dump all over the beer world.  When I’m sitting in a bar I don’t need to hear about the “hop profile” and “balance” from the douche in a coat and tie (or Sigma Chi winter formal shirt) sitting next to me.

Ok, ok….I know I’m being very general here.  There are amazing people in both the beer and wine scene who truly care about their passion.  The point I’m trying to make, if I even have one, is that I’m getting a little sick of everything becoming co-opted by the masses. Kinda like when mass media picked up on the Ska scene (for the 3rd time) in the early 2000’s. But what is the upside to this? Just like the Ska incident, when this all boils over and fades from fashion we will be left with nothing but the cream of the crop of brewers for all of us die hards to enjoy.  Is it arrogant of me to think this way? Yep, sure is.  What the hell do you expect?! Look at the industry I work in! 

I’m sure a bunch of you are rolling your eyes right now, but wait!!! It gets better!

Buzz word #2; Charcuterie.  Please stop. Please stop talking about bacon. Please stop putting it on your menu if it doesn’t belong there.  This falls under the same dilemma of beer.  There are a select few people in this town doing cured/smoked meats very well. I won’t name them for fear they might get raided by the Chicago food gestapo, but I’m sure you can guess who I’m talking about.  The other ones who are flooding their menu with “in house” made sausages and other nonsense need to stop.  I’ve had the unfortunate privilege of tasting these and frankly I would rather see a blank space on your menu. 

Ok, quick aside. Let me interrupt my rant by saying that I am not claiming I am any better at curing.  Frankly I f#*king suck at it. Most of what I make is not fit for consumption and what is usually doesn’t taste all that great.  Point being, I’m learning. This is a craft, and not an easy one at that. Very few people actually learn this stuff from the old guard, almost all us are self taught.  This is the point that gets lost in the fog of food fashion. You wouldn’t put a steak that tasted like shoe leather on your menu if you were unsure how to properly cook it, so why do you put something 10 times more complex on there without hammering out the details? Hmmmm? 

I guess all we can do is sit back and let people either learn the right way to do things or watch them fail in a blaze of mediocrity. Please don’t let it be the latter. 

While most office workers don’t enjoy getting new pens or computers for their job, people in the culinary world get the joy of geeking out over the tools of their trade.  We spend copious amounts of time trying to find obscure handmade knives and pans. The hunt is most of the fun and it usually ends in a celebratory lunch at some new found hole in the wall.

As some of you know I’m a total sucker for baked goods and like everything else I’m a complete snob about my desserts.  For a town with so many bakeries, frankly the majority of them blow. Bland, boring and poorly executed is pretty much the norm at these places.  Now, let me go out on a limb here and say that I have no place to talk.  I can’t bake, really, don’t even attempt to have me help make cookies.  Thankfully a couple bakeries have recently opened up and are firing on all cylinders.  Don’t expect any reviews, not my game.

You can pretty easily figure out where I got this monstrosity called a Malted Pretzel Cupcake. Don’t know if they make them all the time, its the first time I’ve seen them.  All I can say is F#$K!! There are no descriptives to describe the combination of all my favorite things on top of a spongy cake, pretzels, salt and butter.  Don’t be surprised if I wind up dead with two of these pastries on my person, one half eaten in my mouth the other shoved down my pants.  Too much? I think not.

What to do on a Friday with no work? What to do, what to do…..Well I like to ruin other peoples work schedule by dragging them out to “lunch”.  It all starts innocently enough and then I spring the trap.

“Oh, look where we are, we might as well go see whats new in the Binny’s beer section”

Its like I’m like the high school football jock who’s car just happens to stop running at Make Out Point.  Not that I wanted to make out with Mike, just eat Al Pastor Tacos. Well, one thing led to another and we ended up perusing one of the best beer isles in the city.

Now I’m not one to promote chain shops but this Binny’s has one of the best beer managers around, Adam.  One simple question turns into a half hour conversation and running up and down the isles pointing out all his new favorites. Frankly, this guy is way to into beer.  Mike and I both are completely sick of over hopped beers (you hear that 3 Floyds!!).  So our mission now is to find new varietals we haven’t tried yet.  Now, if you are not yet aware German beer is cheap. Not crappy cheap but really tasty and priced for those of us who don’t have “real” jobs.

You’ll hear about the other beers I bought later, but first I’ll go the German route.  I like bock, marzen, schwartz bier, etc… So in keeping with this tradition I picked up a Schlenkerla Urbock Smokebeer (spell check don’t like that one).  Now it says “smoke beer”, and Adam told me the Urbock was the less smoked of the 3.  After pouring the first ounce in the glass it smelled like somebody lit a campfire in my kitchen. I hate to make the analogy but this is literally tastes like a bacon beer. It has a sugary/fatty mouth and the smoke is straight hardwood.  You get used to the flavor after a couple sips but the first waft is pretty intense.  Is this a session beer? Hmmmm, maybe but I could see the smoke getting annoying after awhile.  Am I going to tell you what to eat it with? NO! I don’t care what you eat it with!

Go by and say “hi” to Adam.  You can’t miss him, long hair, blue Doc’s and a lip ring, everything your stuffy local wine merchant is not. I’ll post up about the other oddities I got later, one of which might be the last bottle available in Chicago!

“I don’t care where it comes from! I’m sick of summer produce, get any fall products you can!”

Produce Manager of a large unnamed “wholesome” market chain.

I’ve spent the past week writing a scathing editorial on people cashing in on the “local food” craze.  I called people out (not by name), criticized business practices and praised others.  You may be asking yourself “where is said modern day Watergate”.  Well, unlike Bernstein and Woodward I tossed it. Crtl-A + Delete is very cathartic.

Why did I delete it? Very simply, I don’t care.  Its not that I don’t care about supporting small farms or helping local producers, because I care very deeply about that.  What I don’t care about is money.  Frankly thats what it all boils down to. These people are out to make a buck by cashing in on a buzz word, and we can’t blame them.  Most of these unnamed businesses/restaurants are in it for their bottom line and thats how the industry works. Profits usually come before quality.

But guess who comes out loosing in this little game, the consumer.  Not only do we get duped into paying more for products that don’t come from where we think, but we loose the confidence to shop for these products.  Do yourself a favor and help out the small guy, it’ll make you feel better, might even clear up your complexion.

I’m done being preachy. Consider yourself lucky.

Yeah, yeah.  I know we haven’t been posting, we do have real jobs you know, well sort of real jobs.  Ok, they aren’t “real” jobs by most people’s standards, but we love ‘em and frankly they are much better then sitting behind a desk all day.

 After a veeerrryyyy long day on my feet I was supposed to come home and jump on the bike for an hour and a half, well at least according my coach.  Needless to say I turned on the TV and cracked a beer instead, I don’t think my cyclocross season will suffer.

Fantome is not a brewery you get to see very often.  Coming from Florida I had actually never seen it till I moved to Chicago.  The brewery is located in the Ardennes, the French speaking southern portion of Belgium.  What really sets this place apart isthe fact that its run by one person, Dany Prignon.  One guy. One guy brews 750 liters at a time, hand bottles, corks and caps. And I’m sitting here thousands of miles away drinking a beer that is barely available in the country of its origin!  Amazing.  Mr. Prignon brews a couple different styles most of them falling under the “farmhouse” flag.  This particular bottle is a Printemps, but this blows away any other summer beer I’ve ever had.  Now, I’m not going to give some rediculous tasting notes, because:

A) You don’t taste things like me, or anyone else for that matter.  Don’t believe tasting notes. 

B) I want you to go out and find this for yourself.  Half the fun is running around town trying to find a bottle and cracking it open.  Who knows you might hate it, I can think of worse things you could blow 14 bucks on.

C) I’m just plain lazy and my treasure chest of adjectives include such gems as: yummy, weird, holy crap and the always popular, good.

Drink beer, enjoy it.  Smaller producers are more available then ever, support them. Next time you take a road trip stop into the local Stop & Rob and see if they have anything fun, local or foreign.  You’d be very surprised what you can find at some shops.  If you live in a big city please head over to your favorite beer monger and spend a couple hours just drooling over the selection.  I do.

P.S. Please excuse the terrible picture. I’m not used to my point & shoot.  The DSLR was out of juice.