M Henry’s

I went to breakfast at M Henry’s for the name.  I will come back for the name and the breakfast.

black bean cakes with some smoky chipotle sauce, poached eggs, and nutty, cranberry toast.

tacos

As soon as we discovered that we could get a stack of steaming hot tortillas for less than a dollar at any time of day or night in our ‘hood, we started eating everything in corn tortillas.  I think I may have become addicted.  We made dessert tacos with queso fresco and guava paste or honey.  We made simple quesadillas with queso fresco and pepper.   And we tried as many different savory tacos as we could.  We bought carnitas by the pound in Pilsen, we ate fancy vegetarian tacos at Big Star, and we made amazing poblano peppers and portabello tacos at home.  (As this is my last month eating meat, I also tried my first lengua/tongue taco, which luckily, did not become a new favorite.)   Our fridge was always stocked with queso fresco, avocado, tomato, and cilantro.  And when we couldn’t eat all of our fresh tortillas, we turned the stale ones into chilaquiles (see last post).   What will I do without fresh tortillas?

Chilaquiles

Rick Bayless is a Chicago celebrity chef, who recently cooked at the state dinner for the Obamas and The Calderóns of Mexico.  He tried to highlight the American and Mexican cuisines, making Orgeon Wagyu Beff in Oaxacan Black Mole.  Let me know if you make this.   I, however, opted to try his recipe for Chipotle Chilaques, topped with queso añejo, avocado, and fried egg.  Before Houston (Dec ’09) I had never tried Chilaquiles.  Using this extremely facilisimo recipe, I was able to make the best I’ve ever had.  Fabulous.

Who are you, Breakfast Graffiti person?

The Weiners Circle

According to Wikipedia, Chicago’s The Weiners Circle is “famous for four things: its signature Chicago-style hot dogs, hamburgers, and cheese fries, and the mutual verbal abuse between the employees and the customers during the late-weekend hours.”  I was warned against going.  But I needed to try a Chicago char dog.

Luckily, I went in the middle of the day, and no one yelled at me.

This American Life (TV show) did a segment on the place, and I think that’s all the Weiner Circle experience I’ll ever need.  The video makes me ill.