If you're like us, you're never not in the mood for Indian food. Get some good spices and some chicken breasts and get cooking! more ›

Fried chicken and bacon waffles? Sounds worth a trip to us. more ›

What did you do on Sunday morning? We were at Dose Market with Honey Butter Fried Chicken, setting up a mini-restaurant to fry 750 pieces of chicken. more ›

Nuts about nuts? What a tramp. But really, if you enjoy pecans, try making our Pecan Apple Chicken recipe this week. The pecan coating has more protein than traditional breading, and it's baked so you can avoid oil splatters all over that nice, clean stovetop of yours. The sweet cubes of apple pair well with the crispy pecans, and it's all done in one pan for easy cleanup. This recipe is easy enough for any night of the week - it was designed with the novice home cook in mind. Give 'er a try and let us know what you think. more ›

"When you say 'pot pie,' people's eyes light up," explains Cindy Gapinski, as she stirs a pot of pie filling. "I really want people to cook at home, but it's so hard to balance cooking with a full time job." She should know - she spent 12 years in the corporate world, before she left it all behind (she calls it "getting off the treadmill") to start Small Comfort. Small Comfort creates and delivers hand-made, delicious pot pies all over Chicagoland. The pies are delivered frozen, allowing customers to bake up a healthy, delicious meal even after a long day of work. Every step of the work is handled by Cindy herself. She makes the pie dough, pie filling and does the packaging. She even does the delivery herself! Her slogan? "I make pot pies. You put them in your belly." more ›

If we started this week's edition of What's for Dinner with the term "hot breasts," you might be a little worried about where we were going with it. Rest easy - these stuffed chicken breasts are packed with cheesy, blistering goodness and wrapped in bacon. Keep some beer nearby - thanks to the fiery Serrano peppers, you'll quickly reach for a cold one (or maybe two). Serrano peppers are quite a bit hotter than jalapenos and are perfect for someone looking for a little extra kick. Try making our recipe this week, created in Chicagoist's own test kitchens. more ›

Sometimes a Sunday calls for heading out for brunch. This past Sunday called for getting messy in the kitchen. We had these chicken breasts that inspired us to get our chicken and biscuit on. But we didn't want just any chicken biscuit. We wanted some inspiration. more ›

It's a Monday afternoon and there's no three-day weekend in sight for a while. So what you probably need is a mindless, hook-filled song that features cute animals. It's no "Hamster On A Piano" but it's close. more ›

The terrorists don't "hate our freedoms." They hate what we do with our freedoms. Case in point: Kentucky Fried Chicken's Double Down sandwich. In a time when the debate rages about how fast food chains are contributing to America's obesity epidemic, launching a sandwich featuring bacon, cheese and Thousand Island-style secret sauce fit between two pieces of fried chicken breast — or grilled, if you're "health conscious" — is a brazen display of chutzpah, if not an outright "fuck you" to those same critics. more ›

Ever noticed that fast food never looks quite as... appetizing as it does in advertisements? We've all heard food stylist horror stories about shaving cream, glycerin, paints, oils and all the other fake things used to make food look just so for photo shoots. But this piece from The Guardian's food blog puts it all in perspective: side-by-side pictures of fast food advertisements vs. reality. Yuck. We're especially disturbed by number 4, the canned whole chicken. Though, we suppose anyone buying a canned whole chicken is getting what they deserve. If you're on a diet, bookmark this page - anytime you're tempted by fast food, just take a peek.
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In today’s soup, we move onto an entirely different set of flavors. Rather than onions, celery, crushed red pepper or sausage, this soup has some new ingredients: curry paste, coriander seeds, coconut milk, ginger. The end result is a creamy broth that, depending on your taste, can be as spicy or as savory as you like. Play with the optional ingredients, try something new, or substitute something familiar - this is a very versatile soup and a good introduction to some basic Thai spices. We bought all of our ingredients at a normal grocery store - the “Thai Kitchen” brand is usually reliable. more ›

We’re always looking for interesting chicken recipes, but we find most are either incredibly bland or mouth-numbingly dry. We prefer whole roast or rotisserie chickens, but often boneless skinless chicken breasts are the only convenient option on a weekday night. This is an easy dish with a nice Thai twist and you can finish it in less than thirty minutes. It’s also got a nice spicy, citrus flavor for a summer dinner out on the balcony. more ›

Fried chicken is one of those dishes that we eat about twice a year; usually one of those times is disappointing. It’s a dish that’s very easy to get wrong and even the best examples of the frying art sometimes weigh you down like a lead overcoat. Happily, there is fresh hope for the fried chicken lovers of Chicago who are willing to try something a little different. more ›

Stella's on Broadway in Lakeview is packed to the gills for brunch every weekend. If you ask us, however, the most interesting times to eat here are Monday through Friday nights just after 5 o'clock. You'll encounter the early dinner crowd: people who just don't have the patience or inclination to wait until 7. One of the things they like to eat the most is the egg salad sandwich. more ›

The jibarito is a cross-cultural gem with a very American story. It was invented in Chicago (circa 1993) at Humboldt Park’s Borinquen Restaurant, a tricked-out plantain sandwich inspired by Puerto Rican culture and named after its peasant class, then embraced across strata at local Cuban, Mexican, and South American joints. more ›

Where protein is concerned, chicken is easily the biggest mainstay in our diet. It's affordable, lean, and easy to prepare; it provides us with the flexibility for a wide array of recipes; and we're never bored with eating it. On the other side of the spectrum is mayonnaise. We don't mean satiny emulsions like aioli fragrant with garlic or dill, mind you. We're talking about the white man's poison, Hellman's ca-ca. more ›

We went to Three Dumb Men on Wednesday, and the highlight of the show was this strange, gross and hilarious short film from Robert Buscemi, Jared Logan and Steve Delahoyde on how to cook a chicken. Enjoy. We sure did. more ›

Kids in Peoria built a gigantic Lego menorah, using the big Duplo version of the blocks. We know we're assholes for having our first reaction be "Duplos don't count!" Which is why we need more good things on the list... John Kass is way, way ahead in this "celebrity" ornament auction. His beer can chicken thing is already at $435, but everyone else's piece of crap ornaments--seriously, a little effort, people--are only around $100... more ›

We were downstairs at our neighbors' a couple weeks back, drinking bloody marys before the Bears-Broncos game while we were making chicken stock for soup. Normally, we make a killer bloody mary. But on this occasion we were missing something. Turned out that our neighbor had the cure-all: a good beer chaser. She had been to Sam's earlier in the week and picked up some selections from Ridgeway Brewing, and the first bottle she opened... more ›

After cooking our Thanksgiving dinner from scratch while holding our toddler, we’d like to never see the inside of a kitchen again. Thankfully, Chicago is rife with take-out deliciousness. Our new favorite is Ta Tong, a local Thai and sushi dive in Lakeview. Most Chicago neighborhoods have one: a hole-in-the-wall place that serves up some awesome Asian food. Ta Tong makes one of the best Pad Kee Mao ($6.95) dishes we’ve eaten in Chicago. We... more ›

We haven't had a school night in close to twenty years. But if we did, we'd still be tuning in to Channel 11 at 7:30 this evening to catch "Foods of Chicago: A Delicious History" (the program will also air at 9:50 this evening). If you want to find out where chicken vesuvio, saganaki, the cafeteria, and the brownie were created, then this is the program for you. Host Geoffrey Baer (and you can still... more ›

Many Wicker Park commuters are feeling a little less caffeinated these days since Half & Half (under the Damen Blue Line stop) closed up shop. Owner Debbie Sharpe told Metromix that the quality of the building is to blame. The good news is Sharpe also owns the Goddess and Grocer down the street, and Half & Half's delicious commuter sandwiches and pastries will be available for purchase there. LTH commentors prophecy its space may become... more ›

NBC5 is trotting out a sweeps special they've named "The Woman Who Knew Too Much" (video), an exclusive interview with Anne Lockett, a key witness in the 1993 Brown's Chicken massacre. Lockett waited nine years to tell police that her ex-boyfriend James Degorksi and his friend Juan Luna told her about committing the crime, and in these interviews attempts to explain what took her so long. Degorski is still awaiting trial, but his alleged accomplice Luna was convicted and sentenced to life in prison earlier this year. Degorski's trial is scheduled to begin in February. Lockett was 17 in 1993, and was in the hospital following her fifth suicide attempt when the murders occurred; she says Degorski was abusive, but she was so depressed she stayed with him for two years. more ›

Jean Sliwinski was convicted of reckless homicide today and was also deemed mentally ill. She'll be sentenced November 26. George Ryan is supposed to report to prison November 7...unless Judge Posner's emphatic dissent is enough to convince the 7th Circuit to extend Ryan's bail until his case can be appealed to the Supreme Court. There are people who enjoy Ricky Henderson jokes. There are people who enjoy Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me jokes. Then... more ›

It’s easy to miss A Mano on the street despite the restaurant’s name hanging above the front door in bright in bright red lettering—because it's tucked under Bin 36 like a secret clubhouse. Owner Dan Sachs and Chef Jon Caputo opened up the new rustic/authentic Italian eatery under their original mainstay, but when we attended a media preview a few weeks ago, it was clear the two want A Mano to stand on its own. more ›

We told you it was happening; now it has, and both the Food Chain and The Stew stopped by to take their respective looks at the new Pastoral in the Loop. Food Chain asked owner Greg O'Neill about the popularity of fancy cheese: "People have the sense that 'if I’m going to be bad, I might as well be bad with something good.'" Indeed, my friend, Indeed. Handlebar owner Josh Deth has been all over... more ›

The November issue of Chicago Magazine is on newstands, and the cover story is, simply put, open for discussion if you're a gourmand. more ›

Joining Current Conditions in its "new regular feature" designation is Quick Bites, a weekly wrap-up of some of the interesting topics debated and discussed in Chicago's food media. The Time Out Chicago blog scooped Dish on Marcus Samuelsson news; the Ethiopian-born chef will be opening a new restaurant, C-House, in the Affinia Chicago Hotel in early 2008. Samuelsson is known for his work at New York's Riingo and Aquavit. If you've been feeling a little... more ›

Translation: Kobayashi was defeated again! (We couldn't resist busting out the Japanese for the headline.) Chicago's very own Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti managed to out-chew not only the reigning chicken-wing-eating champ Joey Chestnut, he also licked the hot-dog legend Takeru Kobayashi. Bertoletti inhaled a whopping 4.1 pounds of chicken wings in eight minutes during the "Wedges & Wings" eating competition held in Las Vegas yesterday. Chestnut downed an equally impressive 4.05 pounds, while Kobayashi wolfed... more ›

Southwest Side Alderman Lona Lane (18th) isn't feeling like chicken tonight, chicken tonight. She's introduced an ordinance to amend a four-year-old pigeon ban to include chickens. The ordinance would make it a crime to "import, sell, own, keep or otherwise possess any live chicken" in a district zoned for residential use. It would also require a separate food establishment license for those who want to slaughter chickens. "I was alerted that some of the people... more ›