thanks. I was bored with FT. Now I’m bored with real life so I’m back for a while.

Carryout:
fried chicken (4 pcs) with Yukon mashed, collard greens, and Brussels sprouts
Caesar salad with prawns
kids grilled cheese with shoestring fries
biscuits with honey butter and apple butter
total $80 with $20 tip

I’ll never cook fried chicken at home so it’s a great dish for me to get at a restaurant.

i definitely need a LOT more water - i still taste salt :-)

I’ll probably have some Honolulu brand chocolate chip shortbread cookies for dessert although I’m sure they also are salted :-)

Because of the mess or the difficulty? I kind of feel the same way, because a lot of places do fried chicken very well, and it's not typically very expensive. So not worth all the trouble for me.

We had delivery last night too. Enchiladas, Taco plate, and chips and guac from La Casa de Isaac and Moishe (a non-Kosher Mexican restaurant owned by 4 Jewish Mexicans who now obviously live in IL). We've wanted to try it for a while and found it to be pretty high quality food, although not spicy enough for us. But we'll be going back.

I much love love Michoacán in highland park - so great that I talk about it. But of course I’ve only eaten there and not had delivery.

for fried chicken - it’s the oil mess. Yes I could do oven-fried the way I’ve mastered oven-baked steak fries in olive oil. But fried chicken is a lot more complex than steak fries. I firmly believe that fried chicken needs a deep fryer or at least a big “pasta pot” with a lot of real oil (not olive oil).

oh - olive oil vs vegetable oil. I cook bbc in vegetable oil (1 tbsp) per recipe suggestions. Could I use olive oil??

I'm with you on the mess. Even with a splatter screen, it can be messy. Apparently, many southerners would disagree about the deep fryer. As I understand it from friends, the traditional way to make it is in a cast iron pan - a shallow fry. An old roommate (20+ years ago) made it once and I wish I would have sat in the kitchen and watched him do it.

But of course, the cast iron is even messier because of the short sides.

Also, have you tried Clucker's Charcoal Chicken? There's one in Highwood, I thought you might know about it. It gets great reviews for what seems to be fast food style roasted chicken (not fried). I've brought it up a couple times, but my wife just laughs. I think that means we're not eating there.

Oh course you can use olive oil .. Or you could steam it.

For sauteing vegetables, we use extra virgin olive oil in our house; sometimes, depending on the recipe, we use a 50/50 mixture of EVOO and butter. I wouldn't use olive oil for deep frying unless it's the highly refined and more neutral tasting "pure" olive oil (Costco sells two-packs of three liter bottles really cheap ~$24).

Ooh I don’t know this place but I’ve only had a couple highwood dining experiences. I like the bakery The Bent Fork (more than Deerfield Bakery!) and cant find any decent bakery in highland park.

Thank you! I start with the sauté and then actually do steam the bbc, so that There’s a little char. So my bbc is primarily steamed.

Thank you! I do use the cheap Costco (Maybe organic?) olive oil but I think it’s a single 1-1/2 liter for $10; I’ll seek out the one even cheaper because I use it for cooking and Roasting. I use the lux olive oil for salads...

Grapeseed oil has a higher smoke point than olive oil plus a neutral flavor and heart healthy properties. I only use 2 oils in my house--EVOO or grapeseed. Grapeseed is best for frying, pan frying etc.

Got both sockeye salmon and cod at the grocery. Going to grill one or the other for dinner.

What do you do with the EVOO, drink it straight from the bottle?

Are you on LTHForum? (Local Chicago food board.) Case de Isaac gets a lot of love on there (or historically has), but I've never tried it.

Re caviar -- years ago I had a Persian boyfriend and when we broke up he had a 500 g tin of caviar that he'd brought back from Iran for me, but that I never got to enjoy! For years I did use the huge container of Iranian saffron he'd gotten for me on a previous trip back home.

We're going out tonight and tomorrow, then getting Bavette's takeout on Wednesday. Our order includes shrimp cocktail and crab legs, but I'm kind of hoping we over ordered so those can get saved for NYE dinner, when I'm tempted to do a seafood extravaganza. Sitka Salmon Shares delivered sushi grade albacore tuna, spotted prawns and Dungeness crab last week, plus we have salmon from last month, so I may do a cold seafood platter, maybe with some salmon carpaccio or sushi. If I'm feeling like going to the store, might also splurge on some caviar or lobster (only if I can find some claws -- I hate the tail meat). I wish Mr. CE were willing to try shucking oysters. While I am not a raw oyster fan, I've been wanting to do grilled oysters, which I love. (Maybe I could have them shuck them at the store, but give me the oysters, liquor and shells so we could them grill them without having to deal with shucking.)

LOL
Of course not...I mix it with vodka.
I use it for dressings or marinades or sauces.

I prefer the claw meat on lobsters but I also like the tail. You hate the tail meat? To me, there isn't a big enough difference to love one and hate the other! I thought you were doing takeout from a fancy place for NYE--plans changed?
Every year for a brief time at Christmas Costco sells a frozen bag (about 2-3 lbs) of lobster claws. This year I only saw it for a week but managed to snag 3 bags which I will save for a special treat over the next several months.

My friend from India told me that Indians got saffron from Iran. I found it so surprising.
anyway yelp had some very negative comments for Casa de Isaac which is why I tried Michoacán and then instantly loved it. It tasted like nice taqueria mexican food that I get in San Francisco.