Beer-butt chicken

I'm a simple type of guy who likes to make food that's relatively simple. The other night, i made beer-butt chicken.

It's great, cheap, and super easy.

Ingredients
1 whole chicken fryer
Chicken Rub (any kind, Emeril, Lawry’s is especially good and local)
1 can of beer (1/2 – 3/4 full)

Directions

1. Remove the insides from the chicken
2. Wash inside and out with cold water, pat dry
3. Apply rub to the chicken (before you apply the rub, you can coat the skin with some softened butter if you want...mmmm butter)
4. Insert the can of beer into the chicken
5. Stand the chicken upright in a baking dish/pan, use the beer can to balance it
6. Cook at 350 for 1 ¼ -2 hrs (These are oven instructions. Also, if you have 3 hours It’s even better at a low heat on the grill or in the oven at 225-250)
7. Cook to internal temp of 180.

Songs of december

Here are my top five songs of December. The following five tracks are five songs that I've been listening to over and over on my playlists. I think I'd been listening to a little too much Indie Rock so December was an electronica/club month. I know it's a bit cheesy, but what better time to indulge than over the Holiday season.

There are some you can download of blogs but others... sorry, you gotta buy the album.

1. One Republic - Apologize (Lil Jon Remix): My sister showed me the original during our trip to Turkey. Found this remix while surfing through my blogs. It adds a tinge of electronica. I like to blast this song in my apartment and try to dance to it. Yes, this is my guilty pleasure and anthem of the month.
   
2. Cake - The Distance: Oldie but goodie. Found it in and for some reason the intro just hooks me
   
3. Justice- D.A.N.C.E. (Benny Blanco mix Feat. Mos Def and Spank Rock): This year's party anthem takes a nice twist curtsy by Mos Def. When driving home after a looong night, nothing better than Justice brining you home.
   
4. Tegan & Sara v. Etienne de Crecy - Walking With a Ghost in Paris (2007 Remix): A Party Ben mash-up. For me this was going back to my roots--a bit of club Frisco style.
   
5. Sam Sparro-Black and Gold: I first heard of this song from MOKB and immediately fell in love with it. Recently, I've been listening to it on my drives out of Chicago. There's something about the beat that energizes me. It's like some underlying pulse that keeps the blood pumping.
   

What's the deal with helvetica?

So I recently watched Helvetica on my laptop (I love streaming movies from netflix). It's a documentary about the ubiquitious font type we all come to know. After watching the film, I couldn't stop seeing the font type screaming into my face. It's like when K pointed out the arrow in FedEx (in Helvetica, btw)--that's all that I could see.

I started to look at fonts a different way when I visited the Design Museum London back in 2006. Not only did I get to see the original Times New Roman font, but they also had an exhibit on redesign of the Guardian. Then and there I learned that fonts can help you convey meaning--like a well laid soundtrack in a film.

To that end, I was really excited to check out the film...The Chicagoist and a lot of the reviews went crazy over the film... It went broke box office records at the Gene Siskel Film Center here in Chicago... But honestly, I don't see what the fuss is all about

Don't get me wrong, it's a solid film--the structure and composition of the documentary explored not only the history of the sans-serif font, but it carefully showed the cyclical nature of society's embrace and rebellion against ideas and philosophies--but it didn't rattle me to the core like I expected. A great documentary reveals and changes your frame of thinking as the story develops. This film tried to give you all sides of the story, but didn't lead the viewer to discover the paradigm shift but rather told us another point of view.

Rating:(3/5)

Loonie arbitrage

Over the summer, I spent a couple days visiting my family in Vancouver. As we visited the area, K and I were surprised how expensive things were (and this was before the loonie caught up with the greenback). My aunt mentioned that it wasn't unusual that people would come down to the US to do their shopping.

According to a news article, its so prevalent that:

At the Fashion Outlets mall just outside the city of Niagara Falls, managers have placed collection bins near the exits where Canadians customers can deposit their unwanted items.

Business is booming for a lot of border towns as our friends up north are cashing out at parity!

Chain digressions

Countless hours have been wasted as I learned how to play chain factor. Whether its the simple game play, clean layout, or the upbeat background music... I'm now 2 hours older than when I first sat down.

No country for old men

I finally got to see No Country for Old Men this past weekend. After all the hype from my friends, I trudged up to the Landmark Century Centre Cinema. After wading through the insane crowds (it was Juno's opening weekend), I was pleasantly surprised that the small theater was completely packed.

The Coen brothers have created another hit. Set in the Lone Star state, the nihilistic thriller is about the a cascade of events that is often beyond our control. Inertia builds as Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) finds money from a drug deal gone wrong. As Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), a sociopath killer with a beatles haircut tracks down Llewelyn, the local sheriff, played by Tommy Lee Jones attempts to catch up with the two in the hopes of preventing the inevitable. As the story unfolds, you're pulled into a round-robin cat-and-mouse chase.

As it relates with faith, each assumes a different perspective: Llewelyn tries to change his, Anton believes that he is just a messenger of it, and Ed Tom Bell (Mr. Jones) attempts to catch-up with it.

As the supporting cast meet their untimely demise at the hands of Chigur, they all plead, "You don't have to do this." As they attempt to change fate, Chigur represents the heavy hand of the tide that can't be changed.

Rating: (4.5/5)

Fowl business

I had heard so much about a TurDuckEn and at a holiday party last year, I got my first taste. There is something about the layers of Turkey > Duck > Chicken that scream of excess. Course Thanksgiving and Christmas are times when we should be counting our blessings with mirth and cheer.

According to the Daily Mail, Anne Peche has Devon, England has created a 48 bird (12 different species) monster.

It contains about 50,000 calories and takes more than eight hours to cook in an industrialducksized oven.

Anne, who runs the Heal Farm shop near Kings Nympton, said: 'The True Love Roast has a bird for each of the 12 days of Christmas.'

Feast your eyes on this monstrosity:

dark night trailer is out

Woke up this morning, stumbled to the shower, brushed my teeth and trudged to work. Venti in one hand, my mouse clicked through the morning blogs...

It was then I saw a link to the Dark Night trailer.

http://www.atasteforthetheatrical.com/deathtrap/default.htm

We were blown away at Christian Bale's strong performance in the first film. But from the trailer, it looks like Heath Ledger is going to own the Joker persona--looking and sounding nothing short of the villian that will haunt the nightmares of little children. There's a certain cadence in his voice and a playful psychotic demeanor.

I can't wait.

How many five year olds...

... can you take on at once?

A couple years ago, this very question consumed my entire group in the office. We spent precious office time discussion different variables and scenarios. Could we use the 5 year olds as weapons?

I had thought the question first posted on 2+2 forums was a part of my past. But last night, my friend sent me an online survey that breaks it down by physical prowess, training, swarm-combatting experience, and the flexibility of your moral compass.

Here are the ground rules:

• You are in an enclosed area roughly the size of a basketball court
• There are no weapons or foreign objects
• Everyone is wearing a cup (so no kicks to the groin)
• The children are merciless and will show no fear
• If a child is knocked unconscious, he is "out." The same goes for you.

You can take the survey here:


According to the survey, I can take up to 25.

salmon onigiri

Chicago is starting to get festive. Despite the blizzard last night, people came in droves to K and my holiday party. We weren't expecting more than 5 people, but we had a healthy 20.

Since moving here I've felt always one-step off with the world. Last night spoke volumes of what can be. I'm excited.

K went crazy as usual whipping up a frenzy of treats. But not to brag or anything, but i rolled up my sleeves and contributed as well. We made salmon onigiri balls. We put the nori strips in a tall shot glass. The idea is to have everybody use it as a "napkin" to pick up the rice.


We also made mozzarella and cherry tomato halves:
Yummy! ok, well now we have a ton of clean up to do...

Making sushi

Over the thanksgiving break, I spent a lot of time playing the Wii. Good luck if you think you're going to be able to get one... Nintendo didn't expect the demand for Wiis to be as high as they are... That said, I spent some time playing Cooking Mama:Cook Off. If you're into those games, you'll like the game below.

I just found myself fixed on this game for at least 20 minutes.. ok, ok, 30 minutes. Something about food games that gets me all transfixed.

Gimme my dark knight!

The reviews for Heath Ledger for the upcoming new batman film has been tearing up the blogosphere and forums. From his voice, his motions, his acting, and his makeup... i've been scouring the Internets for information.

From what I hear, before i moved here to Chicago, they filmed bits and pieces outside of my apartment complex. Woe is me!!!!!

Oh, what did I do on Sunday?!

I went to Ikea this weekend. I am still have nightmares of the place.

So to compensate, please check out this ad from lifesavers:

Update:
I've decided to post before and after pictures of my weekend escapes.

This was me as I walked in; notice how happy I am

This was at the end of the night. K getting impatient and wanted me to get in the car.

Welcome to chicago

I've been in Chicago for a couple weeks now, but to be honest, I haven't really had a chance to do much. It's been heads down at work and a lot of traveling (spent 10 days in San Diego for Thanksgiving and flew straight to DC for a week of work).

Last night, I had the opportunity to go do a little exploring. I visited the West Loop area:

View Larger Map

Starting off the night, i visited the G2 gallery. The gallery is operated by the SAIC (School of the art institute of chicago.. yes a lot of ofs). After a semester four courses presented their curated material. I've always had a soft spot for student exhibits. It's like a box of chocolates, you'll never know what you're going to get.

But the highlight of the night was the food. We walked north to Randolph street and on a whim went into de cero. The slick latino-chic decor embedded saucy energy into the atmosphere. The food took traditional roadside flair and added a modern update to it. The chile rellenos oozed with queso and coupled with smoked tomato salsa.

But the highlight of the night was the Grilled Chicken Mole. Seriously, my demeanor completed changed when i took a bite out of it. The boneless half-chicken was grilled to perfection--skin crispy with its hash marks but still retaining its juicyness. Served atop sauteed escarole and basmati rice the mole sauce wasn't blanketed on top but put at the bottom of the dish.

And the intenseness of the mole sauce. A perfect melange of flavors and texture.

Address:
G2 Gallery
847 West Jackson Blvd., 2nd floor
Chicago, IL 60607

de cero
814 W. Randolph Street
Chicago, IL, 60661

Gift ideas for the foodie

My sister recently walked away from her job to start a new career at the San Diego Culinary Institute. I'm really happy for her, she's no longer working 7 days a week. For gift ideas, I reached out to my friend, Tommy, who just graduated from the Culinary Institute of America for suggestions. These are his suggestions:

A great thing to get would be a diamond stone for sharpening her knives. You should be able to find one a bit under $100. She may have a regular sharpening stone. The diamond ones are more expensive but easier to use and they pretty much last forever. I still don't have one and would have been stoked to get one so she would probably like that. One good book is Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking." It breaks down the science of cooking and is very useful. An immersion blender is extremely useful and she probably doesn't have one. Also if you could buy an ALL CLAD saute pan. I'm not sure how much it costs for one (preferably the 12 inch or bigger). Their pans are amazing and last forever. One of the best things I've ever bought for the kitchen is a really good pepper grinder. The best ones are made by Peugeot, the French company (that also makes cars). It is incredibly worthwhile to get one. I think they are about 40 or 50 dollars.

I was thinking about getting my sis the immersion blender. Turns out both Macys and Amazon.com have it on sale for 49.99 (down from 69.99). Unfortunately, they're both sold out. I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for one. If you know where I can get one, I'm all ears.

Michelin in Tokyo

Michelin announces its first guide in Asia-Tokyo. The Michelin Guide Tokyo is now on pre-order.

In its first Asian guide, announced on Monday, Michelin has awarded more of its famed stars to Tokyo restaurants than any other city, with a total of 191 stars compared with 64 for Paris and 42 in New York.