Cooking Army

Since the weather has finally changed so that we can go outside without freezing or getting rained on, it’s time to break out the grill! And we’re doing it in style with some homemade fancy stuffed burgers! You want bacon? You want BBQ? You want apples in your burger? We’ve got it. We’ll also have some salad so it’s not a complete protein-fest.

Menu!

When: This Wednesday, July 17th at 6:30pm.
Where: Chris’ burger diner
What: Homemade Vegan burgers, Apple and Goat Cheese stuffed burgers, BBQ and Gouda stuffed burgers, Bacon and Cheddar stuffed burgers, Apple Cranberry Walnut Salad

As always, everyone is welcome but not obligated to bring their favorite beer, wine, or other beverage. No need to RSVP, if you can’t make it, we’ll just see you next time. Come on over and bring your friends, bring your bellies, it’s time to eat.

/Chris

Sorry for the mildly late invite, but I had this whole thing setup where it was warm and sunny and I was gonna open up the grill because it’s finally warm again! And then I remembered it’s Chicago and it’s gonna be in the 30’s on Wednesday. So while this means we’ll have to wait a little bit before I brave the cold to run the grill, we will fire up the oven to some insane temperatures for this week’s Cooking Army!

Warmth!

When: This Wednesday, April 10th at 6:30pm.
Where: Chris’ bouncy house
What: Chicken Asparagus Roll-Ups, Baked Sugar Snap Peas, Spinach, Artichokes and Ricotta Pasta

As always, everyone is welcome but not obligated to bring their favorite beer, wine, or other beverage. No need to RSVP, if you can’t make it, we’ll just see you next time. Come on over and bring your friends, bring your bellies, it’s time to eat.

/Chris

Hola friends!

I haven’t been particular inspired for a specific theme for this week, so instead I’ve put together a menu of things that are in-season for February and looked particularly tasty to me. Take that as you may, but I’m a little excited to try some of these…

Foods!

When: This Wednesday, February 20th. Cooking and socializing starts at 6:30pm.
Where: Chris’ winter cabin
What: Garlicky Winter Greens and Chickpea Salad, Lasagna Rolls, Garlic Butter Turkey Meatballs, Cauliflower Mac and Cheese

As always, everyone is welcome but not obligated to bring their favorite beer, wine, or other beverage. No need to RSVP, if you can’t make it, we’ll just see you next time. Come on over and bring your friends, bring your bellies, it’s time to eat.

/Chris

With a blizzard bearing down on Chicago, we here at Cooking Army know just what you need to warm your cockles and endure the hardship that will be the next 3-4 months of Winter… Soup! Come on over, plop down on the couch by the fireplace, wrap yourself in a warm blanket, and have a bowl for what ails ya’. For our herbivores among you: two of our soups will be vegetarian, but not vegan.

Delish!

When: This Wednesday, November 28th. Cooking and socializing starts at 6:30pm, some soups will be ready right away.
Where: Chris’ Cozy Cabin
What: Butternut Squash Soup, Chicken Spinach Artichoke Soup, Tomato-Basil Soup, Beef and Cannellini Bean Minestrone

As always, everyone is welcome but not obligated to bring their favorite beer, wine, or other beverage, although I will say that Christmas beers are back in stores! No need to RSVP, if you can’t make it, we’ll just see you next time. Come on over and bring your friends, bring your bellies, it’s time to eat.

/Chris

Hello all you crazy kids,

Fall is always a weird and excessive time for our appetites. It seems like every culture that actually experiences cold has embraced the idea that we should squander our precious harvest as quickly and voraciously as possible. Perhaps we all instinctively fear the gods will grow fickle again and inflict us with some sort of famine. Here in America, that has evolved into an environment where all food made between October and early January is designed solely to ensure that the dental industry in this country has a perpetually prosperous future. Whereas in Germany, home of my beloved Oktoberfest, they have decided that their only form of Autumnal sugar (and joy) shall come in fermented form and in wildly irresponsible quantities. Meanwhile their food is hearty, savory and perfect for fooling you into thinking that it helps extend your sobriety. We at the cooking army have decided to embrace the best parts of both of these cultures and make you some old world, rib-sticking dishes from Bavaria and some delicious American style Autumn desserts.

Items!

When: This Wednesday, Rocktober 10th. Cooking at 6:30, food ready between 7:30 and 8.
Where: Jeremy’s House of Discount Oompa Bands
What: Schweinsaxe (roast pork knuckle), Bratwurst Stewed with Saurkraut, Homemade Käsespätzle (basically German mac and cheese), Apple Pie, Pumpkin Cheesecake

As always, bring anything you’d like to drink and if you feel like having some preemptive Halloween candy, we’ll have a small bowl you can add to or take away from as you see fit. I always say beer goes with everything, but this week we are serving food for which that is unarguably true. I’ll even point out that the Oktoberfest style beers I have had so far this year are infinitely superior to last year’s inferior set of offerings. Enough said on that front. So bring your friends, bring your empty stomachs and bring your mostly-functional livers. It’s time to eat.

-Jeremy

Hey Everybody!

A few weeks ago, I was ruminating on the banana rum we still have from my wedding in the Caribbean and how we should drink more rum. With bananas. So, this week at Cooking Army, we’re going bananas! Literally! Everything will have bananas and/or banana like product. By that I mean, plantains are sorta bananas and they’re awesome, so they’re included too.

Fruits!
When: This Wednesday, August 22nd. Cooking and socializing starts at 6:30pm, food ready starting around 7:30pm
Where: Chris’ banana boat
What: Pork Tenderloins with Banana Sauce, Fried Plantains, Banana Bread, Upside down caramelized banana skillet cake

As always, everyone is welcome but not obligated to bring their favorite beer, wine, or other beverage. With our semi-Caribbean theme this week, rum would not be inappropriate. No need to RSVP, if you can’t make it, we’ll just see you next time. Come on over and bring your friends, bring your bellies, it’s time to eat.

/Chris

Hey Friends!

This week at Cooking Army, I want to dig deep and get back to our roots. Get down into the earth and rip our meal straight from Gaia’s bounty… that’s right, we’re eating root vegetables! We’re getting healthy and there’s not a single thing you can do to stop me! Muahaha! Well, you could come and try it… it’ll be good for you! Also, we’re very vegetarian/vegan friendly this week. Except the the bacon. Bacon is a vegetable, right?

When: This Wednesday, June 27th. Cooking and socializing starts at 6:30pm, food ready starting around 7:30pm
Where: Chris’ victory garden
What: Cheesy Onion, Bacon, and New Potato Gratin, Carrot-tahini Dip, Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Garlic and Chile, Cumin-roasted Carrots and Parsnips, Roasted Beets with Orange and Crème Fraîche

As always, everyone is welcome but not obligated to bring their favorite beer, wine, or dessert. No need to RSVP, if you can’t make it, we’ll just see you next time. Come on over and bring your friends, bring your bellies, it’s time to eat.

/Chris

Hola Compadres!

This past week, my wife and I took a cruise down to the Caribbean and visited San Juan for the first time. We have the sunburn to prove it! We got to experience some of the local cuisine and thought it would be nice to share it with our fellow Cooking Army friends. While we will endeavor to bring a bit of warmth from our unincorporated territory’s weather, we can only promise that we may warm your bellies.

When: This Wednesday, April 18th. Cooking and socializing starts at 6:30pm, food ready starting around 7:30pm
Where: Chris’ quaint casa
What: Homemade horchata, Mofango, Shredded Pork, Arroz con Gandules, Puerto Rican Black Beans

As always, everyone is welcome but not obligated to bring their favorite beer, wine, or dessert. No need to RSVP, if you can’t make it, we’ll just see you next time. Come on over and bring your friends, bring your bellies, it’s time to eat.

/Chris

Eaters of food,

For Christmas this year, I was given a new cooking utensil to add to my repertoire, a dutch oven. I’ve been looking for ways to use it over the last couple of weeks and I was given a recommendation to try and make some risotto. To which, I do not believe we at Cooking Army have really tackled this dish properly in the past. So, this shall be remedied this week! And we shall do so thrice to see to which style we prefer most. Plus bacon. You can’t go wrong with bacon and I figured we couldn’t make everyone go completely vegetarian… we’re not monsters.

Zest!
When: This Wednesday, January 31st. Cooking and socializing starts at 6:30pm, food ready starting around 7:30pm
Where: Chris’ hole-in-the-wall Italian bistro you can’t wait to tell all your hipster friends about
What: Parmesan Risotto, Radicchio Risotto With Walnuts and Blue Cheese, Baked Saffron Risotto With Mozzarella and Crispy Topping, Bacon wrapped dates

As is tradition at Cooking Army, no need for RSVP, feel free to arrive whenever you like, but remember that it’s first come, first serve. We appreciate beverages as gifts and I hear wine goes well with risotto, but beer or other drinkables are welcome, but not required. Come on over and bring your friends, bring your bellies, it’s time to eat.

/Chris

Hi Everybody,

Just when you thought your holiday season couldn’t be any more calorie rich, it’s time for our annual festival of meat here at the cooking army. Most people who have fallen within a several mile blast radius of my loud complaining know that I typically eschew any form of tradition. So you know the food has to be great if I willingly make myself a hypocrite for this particular meal. As usual, it shall be a glorious gorging of the king of all meats, but this year I’m even throwing a lack-of-bone to the vegetarians hanging out in the back of the crowd trying not to be noticed.

Items!

When: This coming Wednesday, December 13th. Food ready by 7pm
Where: Jeremy’s Overpriced Steak House where you feel all fancy and stuff
What: Prime rib roast, garlic mashed potatoes with au jus, lentil casserole with mushrooms, Yorkshire pudding and lots of peppermint pie

As is our tradition, bring any drink you’d like to consume along with this fine meal and bring any friends you’d like to treat to some good food. It’s my educated opinion that beer goes with everything, but the high falootin folks will probably argue that red wine or a good martini goes better with prime rib. It’s difficult to argue against that point, but I digress. So bring yourselves, bring your friends and bring your all-consuming appetite. It’s time to eat.

-Jeremy