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One for Uncle Joe
My column is usually calendar challenged – as I am trying to present food and wine thoughts far in advance of when you will actually see them, making the relevance often more than a bit difficult, but the moon and stars have aligned.
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Famous Holiday Tasting Forest Park
My Thanksgiving turkey, sausage and bacon dressing, gravy and cranberry sauce will be the featured at a 120 bottle tasting event Saturday November 12th at the Famous store on Madison in Forest Park.
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The Best Gets Beery
Loyal readers will remember a recent Woody’s Whine that rated Italian beef sandwiches in our northwest part of the city and if you were paying attention you’ll remember that Buona Beef was the tasty winner. Well recently they went one better and did a beer matching with their beef and some other full service menu items.
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The Grate Cheese Tasting
You may recall that I sort of “cheesed” you with a Face Book page about cheese blending for pizza not too long ago. Well here I am with not only the cheese story but I’ve thrown in mushrooms and sausage too. Hope you’re hungry.
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DMK Burger
Upscale (read $$) burger restaurants are almost out of control in Chicagoland these days and you must have a burger of some kind no matter what your menu is.
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Burger Up with Woody’s Whine “Three To Fall For”
As the weather cools it’s time to get back out to the grill and make burgers to drink with red wine. And these aren’t just your regular burgers, each is a made from a different meat with added flavors and will take a bit more time to make but the results are really tasty and I know you’ll enjoy.
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Where’s da Beef?
We’ve covered burgers so I figured it was time to take on the Italian Beef Sandwich and risk my life by not finding everyone’s local favorite to be mine also. Please keep in mind that Italian beef is fairly unique to the Chicago area and that people who move away beg others to send it to them. There are a number of great places around the city that lay claim to being the best but we have three in the area that are right up there so be hungry my friends as we sample together.
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Tasted, Read and Drunk Along the Way
This edition of the Whine is filled with a diverse offering of what wine not to buy, how to taste more efficiently, where your wine will come from in the future and how to use salt…oh and a simple but tasty recipe. How’s’ that for diversity
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Another Round in Burger World
This time around, Woody’s gone up a notch to quick service restaurants whose claim to fame is based on a more upscale burger experience. This means we’ve also gone up in the cost of our meal but we are expecting better quality and more distinctive taste and overall we really weren’t disappointed. Find out which burgers rated the best!
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Korean Beef Brisket Sliders (Bulgogi) with Sriracha Mayo and Scallion Salsa
You will not believe how good how all of these ingredients and more come together to create a delicious, can’t-stop-eating marinated Korean Brisket Slider
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He Really Grew Up in It
In this edition of Woody’s Whine you’ll read my conversation with a rather talented fellow who is an engineer, pilot, investor, manager and player of all things wine in and around Napa, Sonoma and Canada. He really grew up with it all around him, enjoy.
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The Bird, the Brews, Who Knew’s
Read the latest Woody’s Whine to see Woody’s picks for beer and turkey pairings, as well as a recipe for roasted beer-brined turkey with onion gravy and bacon!
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And of course the French have a better way of drinking
“In tough economic times, Europeans lower the quantity of their wine consumption, not the quality; whereas, in the same situation, Americans lower the quality of consumption, not the quantity.” This and more in the latest Woody’s Whine.
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What Goes With What // Food and wine pairings recommended by Woody
WGWW Quick Picks for Sparkling Wine and Champagne
Jaume Serra Cristalino Brut Cava/Rose’ Spain – Here’s your party wine, great ratings $9/10 Scharffenberger NV Brut, Anderson Valley – You won’t believe how good this is for $16 Roederer Estate and L’Ermitage NV, Mendocino – Best Sparkling wine for $20 (WSJ) and the ’06…
Two Simple Recipes With A Similar Cooking Style
Simple Pan-fried Chicken Breasts with Mushroom-Chardonnay Sauce – Serves 4 Here are two recipes that use the saute method of cooking and provide a pan sauce using a mixture of mushrooms to create a simple yet flavorful dish. Preparation time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 30…
Woody's Whines // Woody's thoughts and opinions on a variety of subjects
Even One for Uncle Joe
My column is usually calendar challenged – as I am trying to present food and wine thoughts far in advance of when you will actually see them, making the relevance often more than a bit difficult, but the moon and stars have aligned. You…
Three to Fall For
A recent “Crain’s Chicago Business” article says that you all are taking advantage of falling grocery store prices for beef, chicken, eggs, milk and cheese. Heck I got two-for-one large eggs at Caputo’s the other day, remember last year when eggs were $4/dozen. As result…
Wine Reviews // Tasty and reasonably priced reviews
2010 The Year of Growing Wonderfully
I tasted wines that are $30 and wines that are $300 and everywhere in between, almost all of them were tremendous, it was a great year in Bordeaux!
Woody's Recipes // Great meals to go with great wines
Korean Beef Brisket Sliders (Bulgogi) with Sriracha Mayo and Scallion Salsa
To be perfectly honest, a member of the tasting panel discovered and this recipe that is absolutely the best, I made a few twits to make the ingredients a bit simpler. The beef is terrific by itself and the mayo really takes it up a…
Coq Au Vin, Chicken Stewed in Red Wine
In a large skillet, bring the wine to a boil over high heat. Woody’s Note: you’re trying to burn off some of the alcohol so simply reduce it for a minute or two on high boil. Remove the skillet from the heat, turn your exhaust fan to high and being careful, use a long match or fireplace lighter and try to ignite the wine at the edge of the pan. If it doesn’t light continue reducing and try again. When the flames subside, whisk in the tomato paste.
Latest Podcasts // Audio from interviews with the industry greats
podcast post
Our most recent wine adventure was a week long visit to the Willamette Valley wine country of western Oregon, what a remarkable area and what spectacular wines. It was the first week of October and the weather was terrific, sunny, warm and windy – they…
Chef and Retailer Michael Chiarello
As I travel and taste I always have my recorder and camera with me and I share those interviews with you at What Goes With What. We met at a wine tasting event in Chicago and on a trip to Napa and Sonoma I had an opportunity…