Unfortunately for you dear reader, this block is turning into my Chicago food blog that revolves around like 3 restaurants. This of course isn't and wasn't my intention, however, life has seriously gotten in the way. Thus far in 2014 I've dealt with a number of personal things, wedding planning and my fiance moving in. Needless to say, I've been busy. Not too busy to cook, just too busy to document.
I can't promise things will change at all in the near future as there are other crazy things on the horizon, but I will promise that I will try.
Anyway, my fiance and I made another trip to Chicago this weekend to partake in ING's newest menu, Chicago Craft Beer. This is a menu inspired by all of the awesome craft breweries that have sprung up around the city the last few years. I was impressed because of the 8 beers we were served, plus the beer cocktail, only three are available on a regular basis in my local liquor stores. Those are Goose Island, 5 Rabbit and Finch's. Anyway, you guys come here for the food so let's get there.
Course #1 was Coconut, Mussels, Fennel, IPA Beer Bread. This is a mussel and coconut broth that had steamed mussels in the broth. The bread was made with an IPA beer yeast and topped with a salad of fennel, red pepper and an herb known as bull's blood. Sam's dish didn't have the mussels and excluded the mussel cooking liquid from the broth. They served this dish with a beer cocktail known as Off--Color, Troublesome Cocktail. This cocktail included a beer (not sure which one), St. Germain and several other ingredients.
Overall, this was a fantastic way to start the meal, light, sweet, and savory and really got your tastebuds wanting more. This was like a giant amuse bouche. Sam and I both loved this dish.
Course #2, Cauliflower Soup, Couliflower, Brioche, Honey. This was a cauliflower based soup that was served with a crispy cauliflower floret, dried mullberries, a brioche and honey and beer sause which are the dark spots on the right. The drink with this was was Metropolitan Brewing's Dynamo Copper Lager. This was a good second course, the cauliflower soup was sweet and cut by the candy like sweetness of the honey dolup which was cut by the crunchiness of the cauliflower floret and the mulberries.
Course #3 starts the progression towards uber rich. This is Beer Cank Chicken, Allium, Kochujang, Pilsener. Which was served with Sydincates, Van De Velde, Belgo which is a Belgian Malt Beer made with American Hops. There are two types of chicken on this dish. On the right is a torchon with is pureed chicken which is wrapped and then poached in beer. On the left is a seared chicken breast. The chicken is all topped with a kochujang sauce which is a spicy korean bean paste that the restaurant cut with a bit of maple syrup. On the torchon is a quenel of pickeled leeks and the green sauce is a ramp puree and the whole thing is topped with beer battered fry bread. Amazing, lots of chicken, spicy from the sauce, the leeks were a nice palate cleanser.
Course #4, Smoke & Fish, Bacon, Smoked Salmon, IPA. This is a cold smoked salmon, brussels sprouts, and a little bit of onion, served with a ham, bacon, and salmon broth. I thought the salmon was a little bit over cooked, and the individual brussels sprouts leaves had some inedible parts (though the more whole ones were good) and the broth was absolutely amazing. The drink pairing with this dish was Local Options, Blood Ov The Kings.
Course #5, and what I was probably scared of the most, not necessarily for me, but for Sam. She can be a bit squemish when knowing what she's eating, so I thought she'd be immediately off put by the idea of eating organ. I had never had beef heart before but I was excited. This was asparagus gazpacho, grilled asparagus, which was doused with a lemon juice and beer, an onion in the middle and thinly sliced seared beef heart. The grilled asparagus was fantastic, the onion amazing, the gazpacho was definitely asparagus, but nothing special. The beef heart, delicious, very distinctly beef, but no hint of being an organ at all. If you wanted to sneak that in on your squemish friends and tell them that it's a medium rare or rare steak, go ahead, they won't be able to tell. The beer pairing for this was a brew I had had many times before, Goose Island's Pepe Nero. A farmhouse ale that is fermented with black peppercorns. This makes for a very light wheat beer that is dark and has a faint spice of the pepper. I wanted to love this dish more than I did.
Course #6, Pork Belly Estouffade, Celery Root, Zucchini, IPA. This is a beer braised pork belly served with a white bean and celery root stew (the Estouffade) that was topped with some grilled zucchini. The pork belly was spoon tender, the white bean amazing and the zucchini perfectly cooked. This dish was expertly paired with Pipeworks' Ninja vs Unicorn a double IPA. By far the best pairing of a beer with food the entire night. The pairing worked so well, that Sam drank her whole glass of beer, and she HATES IPAs.
The final savory course of the night, Lamb, Parsnip, Pistou, Stout. This is a 21 day dry aged lamb served with butter poached parsnip slices, parsnip and onion puree and pistou a sauce of basil, garlic and olive oil. This dish was an absolute homerun, the best dish of the night. Sam and I both loved it. It was rich, playful and fun and done with techniques not often seen with lamb, meaning the dry aging. This dish was served with Revolution Brewing's, Eugene Porter. When I saw the beer I was scared for Sam because she doesn't like heavy stouts. This was amazing light, yet full of flavor.
Course #8, the Cheese Course and by far the best plating of the night. This one comes on on a whole board from a whiskey barrel. This is Cheese, Pralines, Queso Ibores, Sour Sale. An aged goat cheese served with pralines, golden raisins and a sour ale foam. I knew I was going to love this one, and I absolutely did. Sam scared me, because she has always told me that she doesn't like goat cheese. Well guess what, she really enjoyed this one too. This was served with 5 Rabbit, Missionario. A beer that was brewed with Muscato Grape Skins. I will definitely be seeking out a six pack of this beer since 5 Rabbit distributes down state. Sam loves muscato wine (way too sweet for me) but when mixed with the beer ingredients it made for a light refreshing drink towards the end of the meal.
Course #9 caught me completely off guard after I had seen the menu in the restaurant. Given that this one didn't have a beer pairing with it and the title of the dish "Dark and Stormy, Ginger, Lime, Rum I was expecting a liquid course with the classic Dark and Stormy Cocktail. Well Homaru Cantu didn't make is name by doing what is expected. This is a edible version of a dark and stormy. Cake crumble underneat, key lime ice cream and rum and ginger I believe worked into the little cracker on top. This was absolutely fantastic. The key lime ice cream, too tart but oh so perfect for everything that had come before.
The final course, milk and cookies with sugar cookie, chocolate, and Finch's Stout. The wine glass was brought to the table with frozen sugar cookie topped with 85% dark chocolate and the glass had a bruleed marshmallow attached to the side. Then the wait staff added a small pour of Finch's stout to the glass. It was really awkward to eat because the sugar cookie didn't melt nearly fast enough and was simply too hard to break apart elegantly. Definitely not my favorite course of the night.
This was my fourth trip to ING, and this was by far the best meal I've ever had there. This was Sam's second trip and the last time was nearly a year ago after we had only been dating 4 months. She ate every bit and drank every drop of beer and thoroughly enjoyed herself. I can't believe how much progress she's made with her palate over the time we've been together.
If you every get a chance, please check out ING. They do fantastic food at a very reasonable price.
