Dinner at the Blackbird in Chicago

Dinner at the Blackbird. Found this restaurant in the Best New Chef issue of Food and Wine. Chef Mike Sheerin is a graduate of GRCC's Culinary School. I had heard of Blackbird and its sister location, Avec, in previous issues of Food and Wine. Awesome meal is all I can say. The decor was simple lines with the color white splashed on everything. We chose the 11 course meal. Below are the pics and the description the chef provided. I cannot say enough good things about this place.

Course 1. Freshwater Shrimp with pickled watermelon, shisito peppers and coffee. Nice start.
Peanut gazpacho with cured hiramasa, rhubarb, pine, brittle peanut and green peppercorn. Incredible.
Seared ahi with green garbanzos, picholine olives, smoked butermilk and candied wild rice.
Hudson valley foie gras torchon with black garlic, green strawberries and shrimp salt. Tasted like butter. Literally. My least favorite.
Slow-cooked halibut and brandade with chinese broccoli, lavender and picked cherries. From here on out, everything was great. Great makes it sound less than what it was.
Sauteed skate wing with peach molasses, eggplant confit and chamomile.
Roasted berkshire pork loin with beets, caramelized white chocolate, plums and sea beans.
Grilled wagyu tri tip with artichoke, figs, sprouting granola and cassia bud. After the granola, this guy could make bark taste like a million bucks.
Cherry sorbet with candied pecans, blis maple syrup and cilantro. Where's the sorbet? Inside the completely enclosed cherry made entirely of sugar.
Brown butter cake with red raspberries, borage and goat's milk caramel ice cream.
Criollo chocolate with cupuacu, milk meringue and tonka bean ice cream. The best statement of the night came when this was delivered. In a spanish accent: "Youz needz to breaks the ballz."

The meal tasted as good if not better than the plates looked. Reservations are expected since the place is busy. Have fun and go with an open mind. You cannot go wrong with whatever you order.

Pan Seared Salmon with Smoked Tomato Vinaigrette

I do apologize for the lengthy span in writing on this blog. Work, kids, a moment to create something fascinating. In the warm confines of summer, I now have something healthy and full of great flavor to share. Pan Seared Wild Caught Salmon with lightly sauteed peas and asparagus atop a bed of greens with a smoked tomato vinaigrette a summer squash spaghetti.

This whole entree came about learning how to effectively cook on my new Brinkman Charcoal Grill and Smoker. I took some roma tomatoes, cut them in half, tossed in a bit of olive oil and placed them on a low heat charcoal grill. Just before placing the tomatoes on, I threw in some hickory chips to get the smoke going. Once on the grill, I covered and let them smoke for about 10 to 15 minutes. Once complete, I put them on a pan surrounding 4 cloves of garlic and roasted it in the oven at 400. They roasted for about a half hour. Once complete, they went in the food processor, pureed then added some good olive oil, salt, pepper, balsamic and Italian vinegar. Once blended, in the fridge it went.

Jane and our friends down the road started a garden. It is loaded with some great veggies. She went down and plucked some great Arugula, Basil, parsley and lettuce. After a thorough rinsing and drying, I made a ponzu oil blend and lightly tossed it in the greens, then placed it on a plate. From there, the farm market Asparagus and Peas were quickly sauteed to soften the veggies and give them a softer texture. Then I used my zester to make spaghetti like strands with some summer squash. This too, was lightly sauteed in oil with a pinch of salt and pepper and held till the end. Finally, with skin on, I placed the salmon, which is seasoned with salt and pepper, skin side up into a ripping hot pan. After 2 minutes, I flipped over onto the skin, put the asparugus and peas onto the salad, waited for 4 minutes, took the fish out and peeled the skin off. The fish went onto the salad, then the awesome dressing finally topped with the summer squash.

It was a simple salad with incredibly complex flavors. Real smoke is hands down better tasting than liquid smoke. If you do not have a smoker, just roast the tomatoes and leave it at that. If you want to taste test this dressing, I recommend you visit my mother in-laws driveway. Spilled some when it fell out of the car and broke open. Enjoy.