Saturday, June 1, 2013

Boomboxes and Baguettes v.1.0

Between getting chauffeured in `Benzs, wearing head-to-toe Louis Vuitton and spending racks in the strip club, a rap superstar has to eat. Boomboxes and Baguettes is a section of Meat.Bacon.Meat where I concoct a meal from food-focused hip-hop lyrics. This week, I take a classic song you know you love to act like a thug to and turn it into a dinner fit for a king. From 1993, I give you “Big Poppa” from The Notorious B.I.G.

Biggie mentions bringing a fine piece of booty back to the hotel and filling his belly with “A T-Bone steak, cheese, eggs and Welches Grape.”

The first step, which is mandatory, is to crank up some B.I.G. Boomshakalaka.

Picture of said steak


Marinate the steak in about a half-cup of Worcestershire sauce, two cloves of finely chopped garlic and a couple pinches of salt and pepper. Slip the steak in a zip-lock bag and let the complete marinade and meat hang out in the fridge for an hour. More time would be better to let the flavors soak into meat.



Then, with the grill at a high temperature, toss it on the grill so the meat gets a wicked sear. The grill grates should read well above 500 degrees with a thermometer. I cooked the steak to an almost perfect medium rare, which is about 130 degrees to 140 degrees internal temperature.

To top it all off, add lemon parsley butter. Take room temperature butter, lemon, parsley, salt, and pepper. Mix.


I hard boiled two eggs, cut up creamy bleu cheese and plated it up all pretty-like.


In the end, the food turned out great. It was a juicy, tender and succulent steak with a creamy blue cheese and a large wine glass full of grape juice. I should’ve melted the cheese onto the steak to make it more extravagant but I wanted to keep to the roots of what I was doing. In the end for Biggie, he skipped the hotel and steak, went back to his crib and did what he came to do: “Watch a movie in the Jacuzzi and smoke L’s while you do me”


For your listening pleasure.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Food Porn! Mmmmm

These pictures are from my Instagram. Follow me @bbruzek and you'll see food pictures a couple times a week!

Ditalini, spicy andouille sausage, yellow peppers, crushed red pepper, a little cream, parmigiano cheese to create a bit of a cheese sauce, and of course, parsley to top it off.

Italian sausage with red and green peppers.

Snack time! 
Cinnamon raisin bagel with crunchy peanut butter, raspberry jam, and a couple perfectly sweet and tart clementines.

Bison short ribs




TOP TEN MOMENTS WHEN FOOD GETS ME EXCESSIVELY EXCITED (In no particular order):

95% of the time I get really excited about food. The other 5% is when I just finished stuffing my face with food and I can feel dessert creeping up my throat. Everybody knows that feeling. Here are THE TOP TEN MOMENTS WHEN FOOD GET ME EXCESSIVELY EXCITED (In no particular order)


1. When a roux starts to turn blonde and smell nutty.

2. The minute before bacon is done.

3. When I smell fresh rosemary or basil.

4. When I cut into a steak or burger and it’s just how I like it cooked.

5. Taking a whole chicken and breaking it down into breasts, thighs, and drumsticks, and wings.

Before: 

After: 

6. The part of the pizza crust where there is barely some sauce with crispy browned cheese. 

7. Any type of ice cream with peanut butter in it.
I like to get my fix with a peanut butter sundae from Oberweis. If you don't get it in a dipped waffle bowl you should be ashamed of yourself. Mmm sriracha peas


8. Portillo’s is my place of worship and Dick Portillo is my God.

9. When my mom cooks ANYTHING. Love you Mom!

10. BACON MAC AND CHEESE.







Monday, May 13, 2013

Pita! Pita! Pita!


As much as I love shoving my face with a messy, sloppy double chili cheeseburger – side bar: mmmmmmmmmm -- I need to eat other foods. Switching up meals is important to keeping food interesting and my most recent cuisine kick is Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food. Now, I alternate shoving my face with shawarma, falafel, pita and hummus. It’s been about a year exploring this cuisine and I can’t get enough. I GO HARD on pita a few times a month at various locations in the Chicago suburbs.

When the craving hits, Pitaville in Naperville on Ogden Ave and North Aurora Road is really good and has an interesting backstory. The owner, Sam, saved the place from going under by switching up the recipes, marketing and the way the restaurant was set up. He didn’t have much restaurant or cooking experience so it was an inspiring story to hear from such a young guy.

On to the food! I usually get the dinner meat combo. It’s guaranteed to fill you up with “A combination of beef kafta kebab, chicken kafta kebab, chicken shawarma and falafel. Served with Basmati Rice, Fatoush Salad, Hummus and Pita Bread” The spices typically used are cardamom, oregano, nutmeg, caraway, paprika, and cumin. All the flavors culminate in a mouthful of meaty bliss. My technique is to take the pita and smother the hummus on the insides, put rice at the bottom, top with any combo of meat or fattoush salad and top it off with tahini and skhug spicy chili sauce.  
Oh man, it’s so good. For most people it’s enough pita goodness for two meals. I usually eat 75%, and save the rest for a snack. Pitaville also has lunch specials that are a smokin’ deal for $7.99. Between 11-3pm on weekdays, they offer a meal similar to the dinner meat combo but with fewer kinds of meat. The dinner meat combo will run a bit over $10.


Another similar style restaurant is Naf Naf Grill in the Fox Valley Shopping Center area. While it’s around the same pricing as Pitaville, Naf Naf’s kicker is the pita itself that they cook fresh. You know how kittens and baby bunnies are really soft and fluffy? It’s like eating baby animals minus the furry animal part. The pita is the most fluffy, softest and delicious pita in the area.

Finally, the last place I frequent is Pita House in Lombard. This is where I was introduced to the cuisine. Pita House’s awesome lunch special has a little less food than Pitaville but is just as good as their dinner meat combo. And - drum roll, please - it’s $5.95 compared to Pitaville’s $7.99 combo. You can’t go wrong.
The most epic meal from these places would be the pita from Naf Naf, the meat from Pitaville and the rice from Pita house. Put it all together and go crazy. Who’s in for a pita crawl?

LINKS 4 YOUR PLEASURE!

Beef Chuck!


WELCOME TO MEAT.BACON.MEAT

YOU NEED TO EAT FOOD. Why not make it delicious? That’s what I’m here for. Welcome to Meat. Bacon. Meat.  I’m taking you on a journey into the life a fat kid’s dream. I’ll be cooking all types of mouthwatering meals that will make you lick your computer screen like it’s the last sight of food you’ll ever see. Whether it’s showing you my recipes, food porn, restaurant reviews or posting pictures of me looking sexy in my chef coat, you’ll find it here. So grab your favorite Snuggie, recline in your desk chair and grab a couple paper towels to wipe the drool off your face because I’m bringing the deliciousness.