Chefs
Hi, we are Bryan and Jessie - a recently married couple who enjoys cooking at home, eating at our favorite local restaurants, and trying new restaurants and recipes. We also have two pets - Brew, a black lab, and Alton Brown, a domestic shorthair.
Foods we couldn't live without: blue cheese, potatoes, gin, popcorn, garlic and butter
Number of cookbooks we own: 57 and counting
Favorite kitchen tools: Shun knives, Le Creuset cookware
For more information, click here.
Booze Archive
-
Review: Short’s Brewing Co. Bloody Beer
I’ve been a fan of bloody beers for years, but haven’t tried one pre-made for me. My favorite version of bloody beer I used to make involved Cave Creek Chili Beer and V8. (I discovered Chili Beer at World Market.) So when I saw Short’s Brew Bloody Beer at a local liquor store, I had [...] -
A night with Johnnie Walker
As part of my job and this blog, I subscribe to a number of emails focused on events, trends and deals. One of these email groups is Thrillist and since Chicago is the closest city to us, I receive the Chicago-focused emails as well as their national emails. A few weeks ago I was skimming [...] -
Arizona wines pass the test
Until Thursday, I had never had a sip of Arizona wine. I waited far too long. If you’ve seen the movie “Blood Into Wine,” you’re aware that there is a growing movement to establish Arizona as the next great American wine region. We’re in Phoenix for a few days, and decided to spend a day [...] -
Horseradish Vodka Recipe Review
There seems to be some controversy on whether or not drinking the morning after you’ve had a few the night before helps cure your hangover or hair of the dog. Personally, I’ve found a great Bloody Mary does the trick (along with some greasy food, of course). I will admit I was skeptical of trying [...] -
Not just any port in a storm
I’ve been a huge port wine fan for years. It’s the perfect finish to a great meal, and a fine port is indeed a wonderful thing. Port is a dessert wine fortified with a neutral grape-based spirit. If you’ve never had a good port, it’s sweet with a high residual sugar content, and typically has [...] -
An old Bordeaux
We’re not wine experts, though we enjoy learning about wine and trying new wine. Our experiment today (as part of Thanksgiving festivities) was to see if a 16-year-old Bordeaux is still palatable. The wine in question, a 1994 Les Fiefs de Lagrange, was purchased by my parents in Waterloo, Belgium, in 1997 or 1998. It [...] -
Best bets in Napa and Sonoma
As usual, I apologize for our severe lack of posting recently. I’ve been busy launching a new product, and Jessie has been tied up with loads of top-secret PR work. We did, however, find time to sneak out to Napa and Sonoma, Calif., a couple of weeks ago. Here’s a brief summary: Four giant thumbs [...] -
Same old booze got you down?
One of the highlights of our trip to the 2010 Food and Wine Classic in Aspen (wow, was it already three months ago?) was an opportunity to sample new and exciting liquor hitting the market. My love for the hard spirits comes and goes, and usually when I’m at a bar I stick with my [...] -
Fresh take on grilled corn: Tequila
Jessie and I grill flank steak on a regular basis, and almost always grill sweet corn with it. Tonight, at Jessie’s prompting, I tried something a little different with the corn. First, here’s my typical procedure for grilling sweet corn: Peel back the husks, making sure to not remove them completely. Remove the silks (I [...] -
VIDEO: Chef Tom Colicchio sings
He may be the hard-nosed head judge on Bravo’s “Top Chef,” but apparently Tom Colicchio can let loose, too, especially when the tequila is flowing. Last night we attended T-bones & Tequila, a fundraiser for the Mario Batali Foundation at a home in Aspen, Colo. The food was great, the swag (including a pair of [...] -
Easy steak in brown ale sauce
I’ve been extremely busy with work lately, and haven’t had as much time to experiment in the kitchen as I’d like. I’ve mostly just been sticking to my tried and true favorites. But tonight I decided to try something new again. We had some beautiful grass-fed flat-iron steaks from Amish country, and I thawed them [...] -
A Variation of Chicken Saltimbocca and Jessie’s Vegetable Hash
We recently celebrated a milestone at the HouseOFoodies – Bryan turned 30. For this big birthday, he requested a quiet meal at home and I obliged. To start, I picked up a bottle of real champagne – Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, Brut. It was delicious and made the other sparkling wines we’ve been sipping pale in [...] -
Tito’s + Zing Zang = Good.
While in Iowa for Thanksgiving we happened across a great brand of vodka and a flavorful, spicy Bloody Mary mix. Tito’s Vodka is handmade in Austin, Texas, and distilled six times, according to the manufacturer. The taste is smooth, especially considering how inexpensive it is. We also found a Bloody Mary mix that was just [...]