I've been eating ...

Hey there! I've been on the road a bit so I haven't checked in for a couple of days. I left Detroit so full of midwestern goodness! Take a look ...
That's my favorite bowl of chili. I got it in my old neighborhood in Detroit at National Coney Island. I've talked about this chili on Cooking for Real when I shared my recipe for Interstate Chili and I think I've mentioned it here before. It is soooo good. If you can believe me, it melts in your mouth. No joke. I like mine topped with onions, cheese and a squirt of mustard. They even threw in an extra scoop of ground beef on top. That's just how they served it to me when I visited with my bff last week. She was nice enough to drive past my old place on the way to eat and I got out to snap a pic ...
I almost didn't recognize it when we drove by because the current owner cut down all the shrubs :-(. I used to get out there on a Saturday morning and trim them with my electric trimmer thingy. Such zen time, they were so pretty and green. Ever do that? Drive past your old place and get a lil misty? I don't get that much because I move so much, but to see my old place without the greenery made me a bit sad. Luckily I had 3 scoops of this in my belly ...
That's the sundae they sent out after my chili at National Coney Island. I didn't order it, but things have a way of finding themselves at my table these days and it's hard to refuse ... almost seems rude. So, woe is me, I had to power through some vanilla ice cream suffocated by gooey fudge syrup and pastry, it was soooo hard :-( ... can you hear the sarcasm, cuz it's there. :-) Thanks to the guys and gals over there, they fed me hot chili on many frigid Detroit days. It was nice to go back.

I also went to Michael Symon's Roast and didn't snap a pic at all. Wish I had, it was great, but I was there catching up with 4 friends from Detroit, so there wasn't room to say ... "hold on! lemme take a photo!". We were all just chatting and talking about the good ol days. Rest assured, the food was gooood! I actually enjoyed the drink menu as well and suggest a lemony fruity drink called "No Name" and if you like a dirty martini, he has something on the drink menu called a "Hot Dirty Bird" with Cholula and olive brine that I had and loved as well. I started with the beef tartare and ordered the bacon wrapped trout for an entree with the roasted cauliflower on the side.

I also had some soul food while I was in Detroit, but I couldn't tell you where it was from, my bff showed up two days in a row with it at my hotel room and when faced with hot fried catfish, you don't ask questions, but you do take pictures. :-)
It was soooooo crispy! And you can tell, even though it was fried, not a bit greasy. That's when you know the oil was at the right temp. Good stuff! I only ate one filet and ate greens and mac on the side.

Well, I Just wanted to let you know what I've been eating while on the road. I'm back in Brooklyn now and today I have another event with True Child. Remember, I just did a cook off with them last week in Chicago? Just as we wrapped the event coordinators asked if I would help out with the event here in NYC. I have the time and love goal of the organization, so I said why not! This time I'm judging the food instead of cooking and the event is tonight at the I.C.E. in Manhattan. Here are some pics from last week's Chicago cook off ...

My weapons of choice in the kitchen, the 10"-wide and a smile :-).
That's Dale (Top Chef), Myself and Natalie, Chef Chris Lateano, Casey (Top Chef) and Carlos. Dale and Casey were both runner's up on the same season of Top Chef and have done this event for the last couple of years. Natalie was the kid chef for the ladies. She takes part in another local charity, Common Threads, that Chef Art Smith runs. He is such a joy in person and it was so neat working with one of his students. Next to us is a local chef at helm of South Water Kitchen, Chris Lateano. He was introduced as the winner of Bacon Fest 2009, so I knew I had to give his place a try. The next morning, I checked out his place for brunch and enjoyed it before I hit the road to Detroit. The Chilaquiles were grrrrrreat! I usually like green sauce, but his was red and I didn't care a bit! Ok, next to Chris is Casey, runner up from Top Chef. She's opening a restaurant in Texas soon. Next to her is Carlos, another kid chef from Common Threads for the guys team. Here are us girls planning away with Natalie leading the way ...
We only had 5 minutes to plan, then we all dug into our secret ingredients ...

30 minutes later we were done and the judges had the guys edging us out by a tight margin. It never really felt like a competition, but tonight when I judge ... I'm leaning towards the ladies to avenge Natalie's loss! Just kidding! I'll be fair. If you are headed there tonight, stop and say hi! I don't bite!

OH WAIT! I forgot to share a quick touristy shot I took in Chicago ...self explanatory ...

She's soon ending her show and it takes years to get tickets, so I guess this is as close as it gets to being on the Oprah Winfrey Show, eh? Luckily my bff lives down the street and didn't think I was corny for wanting a picture. Oprah is responsible for her quitting the texting and driving craze, which I was happy to hear before our road trip to Detroit! Good stuff!!! Ok, hope you are having a great Monday so far!