Chicago Foodies

Win Free Beer at Sheffield's Chili Cook-Off

Sheffield's has the recipe for your perfect Sunday afternoon: the Bears game, competition chili, and a chance to win free beer. This oasis for beer geeks stranded in a sea of Lakeview sports bars hosts an annual chili cook-off that carries a grand prize of a $100 bar gift card. If you think your chili has what it takes, you'll need to call or email the bar (events@sheffieldschicago.com) by 5 PM today, then bring a whole pot of your creation to the competition on Sunday at 1 PM. If you'd rather just judge others' hard work, show up at 1 PM with $20 in hand, which will buy you a taste of the chilis, some barbecue, and one drink ticket. Judging is left to the professionals; Spiaggia chef and Top Chef contestant Sarah Grueneberg will be joined by her colleagues from The Purple Pig and Southport Grocer to crown a winner. Since everyone will leave with bellies full and thirst quenched, there are really no losers.

Cooking with Beer

Summer is right around the corner. Surely, cookouts and beer drinking will come up. Here is an appetizer and dinner combo that incorporates beer as an ingredient. Enjoy!

Bacardi at the Park

I was very excited to try the new restaurant, Bacardi at the Park, when I went to the Sox game last night. Located right next to Gate 5, this hip-interior sports bar has a fun atmosphere and good beer.

Gibson's Restaurant Group owns Bacardi at the Park. They have a small menu with typical bar food including brisket nachos, a barbecue pulled pork sandwich, and smoked baby-back ribs. The food is priced between $7-10.

I was unfortunately in a hurry and could only try the brisket nachos.

The nachos took less than 10 minutes to arrive to my bar seat.

They do have very good service.

Lillie's Q - Best of Chicago BBQ

I don’t know what it is about real, down and dirty BBQ that gets Chicagoans so fired up (pun intended), but in the last few years grilling up some of the South’s favorites has been all the rage. It’s hard to say who’s at the BBQ forefront with favorites like Honky Tonk and Smoque, but the relatively newly opened Lillie’s Q is quickly making a name for itself.

Located at North Ave and Wolcott, Lillie’s Q is owned and operated by Chef Charlie McKenna, formerly of Tru and Avenues. All about keeping it in the family, the Lillie’s Q team is made up of himself, his father, and his two friends, and is even named after family members (Lillie referring to his grandmother who tough him Southern-style cooking, and Q referring to his father, Quito).

Beer and Barbeque at Sheffield's

As noted in the excellent post written by Foodies contributor Brian Ziegler on September 20, I, too, visited Sheffield's on the same evening.  By the time I got there,  Brian and his friend had already gotten "the tour" of Sheffield's barbecue operations.  I got my turn shortly after my arrival when Brian introduced me to Sheffield's owner, Ric Hess.  I have been a long time Sheffield's patron and an even longer time barbecue lover, so it was a treat to get a chance to explore Sheffield's excellent barbecue offerings in person.

Barbeque at Sheffield's

A friend and I were having a few beers at Sheffield's, known as a destination for craft-brew lovers and an outstanding selection of beers from Cleveland's Great Lakes Brewing, as well as our own Metropoltan and Half Acre.   As always, it's a good idea to pair beer with food.  My friend ordered a pulled pork barbeque sandwich, and I tried the smoked sausage.  Unbeknownst to us, we were a bar stool away from the owner, when my friend explained, "That's the best barbeque sandwich I've ever had".   That changed our evening completely - for the better.

A Revolution is Brewing

I would contend that Chicago has some of the most intelligent, passionate lovers of craft brews around. Lately it seems there has been an influx of headlining brewers making their mark in the windy city – Revolution, Half Acre, Metropolitan, Two Brothers, and most recently and with great fanfare, Stone Brewery. According to Stone’s twitter feed, Chicago became its fifth largest market… after only a week. Bonkers. Yeah. Chicagoans love a good beer.

I’ll be honest, I have not had the opportunity to try out some of the goods from all of the above, but I did make a Sunday mid-afternoon journey to Logan Square to visit Revolution Brewery (2323 North Milwaukee Ave).

The place exudes class, warmth, and passion for both their food and beer. A lot of brew pubs display their tanks right up front – sometimes an indicator of misplaced priorities. If there is serious brewing going on – and I mean, the messy, hot, smelly pour-your-heart-and-soul into it brewing – those suckers are going to be in a place where they’ll actually be used.

Revolution has theirs in the back with windows for curious diners to look through, but where crafting is actually going on by head brewer, Jim Cibak.

Grill Envy... Fuego the Anti-Weber

I'll admit when I hear Fuego I think Renault. It was the first 80s sports car that, as far as I knew then, used a turbo. It was cool when you were in 3rd grade. Super cool actually. So now I can think "grills" when I think Fuego. They might not stick, the Renault didn't, but they look good and, honestly, I find paying big bucks for a big old grill kind of pointless in the first place.

My mental-mansion has a giant steel oil drum torch-cut into a long silly grill. But these are at least neat looking. The Vikings, Webers, Aussies, etc. all kind of look the same.

Fat Willy's vs. Smoque Round 2

Okay, there really wasn't a round one... I have however made blanket statements about Smoque having the best pulled pork in Chicago and Fat Willy's brisket being the best. This time around it was different. I didn't eat any brisket at Willy's - they were out of it (a good sign). But I ate sausage at both. I'd like to say that one was better than the other and wile I had a preference for certain items, they both had their own successes and - oh my - disappointments.

You Don't Have to Finish it in the Smoker...

I know. I'm a wimp. A grade-C foodie. I have to finish my meat in the oven. I can't wait for the smoker. It's not like I didn't give it 8+ hours... There's such a thing as over-smoking, right?

Actually you can over smoke meat. Hickory chips are usually the easiest way to get a bitter flavor. Since the flower pot is pretty tame there is little flame on the wood so the chips don't actually catch. I like to wrap the meat in foil and then into a 350º oven for 20 minutes, until the temps is at 200. The juices are all there and chopping it is a dream. I commit another sin in removing the bone from the shoulder before smoking and usually set up 3 or 4 chunks to cook. (Likely to some a bigger sin than the oven-finishing). Yes, the crispy parts are still crispy by the way.

RJ Grunt's: Pulled Pork Done Right.

As a man who has spent the last part of his life living in Louisiana, I was nervous about ordering a pulled pork sandwich in Chicago. I mean, no offense, but this is the North. I’m from the North originally myself, but having tasted the difference I know that sometimes Northerners mistake “pulled pork” for “pork with some BBQ sauce on it”.

Chiu Quon Bakery – 4th of July BBQ Pork Buns

I wanted to celebrate Independence Day with some barbecue, but alas! I had no grill or deck or any of the other key elements of good barbecue.

So instead, I popped down to the Argyle Red Line stop and picked up a few BBQ pork buns for lunch. I've been hitting up the Chiu Quon Bakery for a couple years now and its never let me down. For 75 cents a piece, you can buy these massive steamed pork buns (a.k.a. "bao"s).

Texas BBQ... A Little Texas Sausage

Foghat's the best thing on the radio on the straight shot from San Antonio to Austin. I haven't eaten since a morning bowl of cereal in Chicago and it's about 5pm. I got a call from a friend's little brother who runs the Whole Foods prepared foods department in Austin and a couple of BBQ places were picked out.

Fat Willy's... Texas Warm-Up

The waitress reminds us that the brisket was mentioned on "Check Please." There's a fan-base for their 4-cheese macaroni. Fat Willy's is a go-to place for lots of folks. I should have written this before going to Texas but it might make a bolder statement now that I've been to a couple Lone Star eateries. The brisket is really good.

I had to order two sandwich plates. A big problem is that you can't get a meat assortment. I've heard that they serve a mean bird but I didn't want to toss all the extra bread, fries, cole slaw, etc. To order just the meat you have to order a huge portion – it's crazy.

Prelude to a BBQ... Smoque

I've been travelling and a wonderful thing about the web is that you can post from anywhere. The downside is that if you're posting, you're not doing something else. Considering it was my first visit to Paris and I was running around I am asking for a pass... I'll get to the wonderful places with pictures but there is a more pressing summer issue. B-B-Q.

Smoque has been getting lots of attention for a long time as being some great BBQ. Given my obsessive relationship with brisket I was a little embarassed to admit that I've never had smoked brisket.

Lawry's BBQ Beef

1:30 rolled around and I was still looking to eat lunch. The window was closing and it had to be relatively quick. Lawry's is the closest restaurant and their lunch special sounded promising. BBQ Beef sandwich for $6.

It's big. It's on a kaiser roll and it's good. I snagged a chocolate and white chocolate chip cookie and sat down in the back room. The table is set with homemade potato chips that everyone seems to love more than I do.