Bagel sandwich with chicken salad, cheddar, lettuce, and bacon

There is new Whole Foods right near my work, and it's dangerous! Today, I craved chicken salad, so I just went over there and got some!

Bagel sandwich with chicken salad, cheddar, lettuce, and bacon

Ingredients (serves 1):

1 plain bagel
3 slices bacon
1 slice cheddar cheese
1 leaf romaine lettuce
5 oz Sonoma chicken salad

1. Toast the bagel.
2. Fry the bacon in a skillet over medium heat, flipping often. Or bake according to instructions.
3. Assemble the sandwich layering from the bottom the romaine, chicken salad, cheese, then bacon.

Frank Meats Patty

Frank Meats Patty is a new restaurant on N California Ave between Roscoe St and Henderson St in Avondale in the former home of Hot Doug's, everyone's favorite former hot dog joint in the city. It's not easy to follow that.

The people behind Frank Meats Patty are the same people behind Fatso's Last Stand, which I haven't been to, and Lockdown Bar & Grill, my personal favorite burger joint in the city.

Frank Meats Patty sells hot dogs, sausages, burgers, fried shrimp, macaroni and cheese, pickle chips, and fries. Apparently the menu is very similar to Fatso's.

I ordered the Super Ooey Gooey, which is 2 patties stuffed with Vern's cheddar cheese, bacon, and sport peppers, topped with grilled onions and Fatso sauce. The grilled onions were plentiful. The bun was buttery and warm. I also added lettuce. The lettuce was very hard and not very fresh. The Fatso sauce added little flavor. The patties were thin and overcooked, and there wasn't as much cheese stuffed into them as I would've preferred. I probably would've been better off ordering the Double Fatso with Cheese.

I also ordered the Cheddar Fries. The cheddar came on the side. The texture of the cheddar seemed off. It was thick and lumpy. The fries were limp and soggy, and also overcooked. I definitely wouldn't get them again.

Lastly, I had a Filbert's Black Cherry Soda. Filbert's is a Chicago-based beverage company famous for their Old Time Root Beer, but they have 24 flavors. I like when a restaurant carries locally sourced products and ingredients, and has beverage options other than typical Coca-Cola or Pepsi products.

The restaurant is affordable, and the service is nice. It's cash-only; however, the restaurant recently showed up on Seamless and GrubHub where you can order delivery or take out with a credit card.

Parson's Chicken and Fish

Last night after work, a group of 10 of us went to Parson's Chicken and Fish on W Armitage Ave in Logan Square.

The table ordered lots of stuff including fried chicken, grilled chicken, oysters, baked beans, mashed potatoes, and cocktails. Our server brought us complimentary hush puppies, and we were glad he did! I definitely recommend getting them. They're made with ham hock, scallions, cream cheese, and cornmeal, and come with a fantastic Harissa aioli for dipping. They're crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside.

I got the Fried Chicken Sandwich for myself, which is a boned out fried Amish chicken thigh, slaw, aioli, American cheese, pickles, and hot sauce on a buttery bun with house made potato chips on the side. The chicken was really good. It was a thick, large cut, breaded and seasoned well, and very crispy. The toppings blended well, but bun quickly got soggy and fell apart. By the end, I had ditched the bun altogether. Next time, I'll just get the fried chicken. And the hush puppies.

They happily split up our check 8 ways, and even after we had signed the checks and left our tips, our nice server brought out two complimentary Bang Bang Pies. Awesome.

Spicy macaroni and cheese

Tonight, for dinner, I made turkey stuffed peppers, and for a side dish, I made some macaroni and cheese. This could be a great entrée, too. We will have some leftovers of both for during the week, which is great!

I was told this is one of my better incarnations of homemade macaroni and cheese, which is nice to hear considering I didn't use expensive gourmet cheeses this time. I also liked it a lot. I used cheap ingredients, the recipe took less than 30 minutes to make, and it was delicious. Feel free to add more paprika and cayenne pepper at the end of the recipe if you prefer more heat.

Spicy macaroni and cheese

Ingredients (serves 2):

8 oz pasta (I used rotini)
1 tbsp butter
1 1/2 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1 3/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp black pepper

1. Boil the pasta and strain according to the package's instructions, and preheat oven to 400°.
2. Meanwhile, in a large sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour to make a roux.
3. Whisk in milk until the sauce is smooth and the milk thickens a bit, about 8 minutes.
4. Add Dijon mustard, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/4 tsp paprika, and black pepper. Then add 1 1/4 cup cheese and stir until smooth.
5. Add the pasta into the sauce, and mix together. Then pour the pasta with the sauce into a baking dish. Top with the remaining 1/4 cup cheese.
6. Bake at 400° for 10-15 minutes. When finished, put into serving bowls, then add the remaining 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper and 1/4 tsp paprika on top.

Chicago's Dog House

I found myself back at Chicago's Dog House, and tried out some hot dogs that were new to me.

I had the French Poodle Hot Dog, which comes topped with Brie cheese, pear slices, and Grey Poupon, and the BLT Hot Dog, which comes topped with bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise. The actual hot dogs still fair on the small side, but the toppings are generous and amazing, and the poppy seed buns are fluffy and fresh.