spring is coming! we are gearing up for this occasion by celebrating all the bounty that spring has to offer us! we are hitting the markets this week to test out some new items for this dinner, and to see what fresh things sing to us! we are toying with the next dinner "falling", er, i mean "springing" into action on sunday 04.03.11! so get ready!

reversing gears to the last dinner we had, it was fantastic, and full of surprises! It's always those unexpected events that happen during cocktail hour that make for great table conversation. the meat we braise can only add so much tenderness to your evening, but the juciness comes from the table conversation! that being said, the whole meal was extraordinary, and i think the whole table would admit that we could've eaten 50 more ribs, easily! the ode to the year of the rabbit was a success, so a huge thanks to everyone that was here that made the dinner bone-sucking fantastic! 

lately, we have been a little occupied and slacking on blog entries, since we have been working a ton, which is good, but also planning some very exciting things. we will mention the bewildering changes in the next blog later this week, promise! 

til then!

mikey + brian

the 2011 chinese new year is the year of the rabbit! we are hugely excited about celebrating the chinese new year with our next dinner set for 02.20.11. 

there are some menu items that we are toying with for the next dinner, one being sopapillas. sopapillas are hugely popular in tex-mex restaurant's as being a light, fluffy fried pastry served with powdered sugar and honey. they are sooooo addictive, and it is easy to down 10 of them in one sitting. we are testing out some recipes to add another level of flavor and texture to it's original flour and baking powder base. we are thinking somewhere along the lines of a ginger-mexican vanilla ice cream atop the sopapillas with a plum+honey drizzle, or maybe even something with agave nectar....hmmm..the possibilities are endless.

we have just survived the chicago blizzard of 2011, and have been stuck inside our abode for 2 days! with that time we have been researching some popular chinese dishes that are made during the first weeks of celebration for the new year. we will take on the challenge of preparing some of these dishes, with some mexican flair to them! ay-yi-yi, i am getting hungry!

stay warm, and many great wishes for the new year!

mikey +brian

2011 has started off in a fantastic way for yo soy! 

we tried all new menu items that proved to be a hit! we started the evening off with a mezcal and tequila cocktail mixed with fresh lemon and a chamomile syrup! it was paired with zucchini fritters topped off with a sambal apricot sauce. 

we then sat down for the 2nd course which was the pozole recipe that my stepmom from mexico gave us! it was packed with roasted peppers and chiles, as well as pork that was extremely moist & tender! the soup was sprinked with nice bits of hominy and finished off with roasted sesame seeds to add a nice chinese accent. we then served chile rellenos that were stuffed with chihuahua cheese and sprinkled with chinese sausage. the acidity from this dish came from the puree under the pepper that was avacado & cocount with fresh lime. this was the most difficult dish to prepare since we experimented with a different type of chiles other than traditional poblano. the risk seemed to pay off since everyone at the table loved this dish! it was delicious! the main course was a dish of roast beef with mandarin orange glaze + piloncillo reduction paired with cumin spiced sweet potatoes and chinese (napa) cabbage sauteed with oyster mushrooms! it was a healthier play on orange beef, with it's great orange zest and potent chili kick, without the frying factor. 

the dessert course was, by far, the best dessert to date! at least in our eyes! it was a dessert that we were kinda scared of, but once we tried it, PURE HEAVEN! the top layer of flan and the bottom layer of moist chocolate cake together was a great treat for this meal. it was rounded off by a cajeta reduction and garnished with candied kumquats that added the perfect acidity! we loved this dessert so much we titled this blog entry chocoflan! viva chocoflan!

we also had the pleasure of having a slew of new guests at our dinner table! we were extremely excited to have met wiliam, newt, and paul! you guys are fantastic and we hope to see you back here soon! and of course, the entertainment, stephen leonard! he always brings the smiles and tears with his amazing voice and stunning guitar riffs! 

what a way for us to welcome the new year! a special thanks once again to doug, gabe, and matthew for your help in our dream. also, a huge thanks to brian for carrying a lot of the load this dinner! 

on a more serious and pensive note, what a lot of people at the dinner table did not know was that i got an emergency call from my mom in texas the sunday prior to the dinner. that sunday my cousin lee was rushed into the emergency room and was immediately put into i.c.u. and the situation seemed grim. i had to make plans to get home to corpus christi and lend my support and love to my family. unfortunately, lee did not make it, and he slipped away quickly that monday afternoon. it was heartwrenching to see my family in such pain from a sudden loss in our large, loving family. however, it was warming to hear the eulogy at his rosary from other family members. mainly, most spoke about how he cooked the best beef brisket and caught the best fish to fry for his friends and family. through those couple of days the main feeling i had was that life is short, and it is to be enjoyed every single minute, especially over great food and loved ones! i came back to chicago late that saturday evening, and was not sure if my spirits were gonna be high enough for our yo soy dinner the next day. ultimately, it was great to come back home to a yo soy dinner filled with that lust for life, and the eagerness to try different things and meet new people. i am hoping we can get a recipe of my cousin lee's to share with you guys one dinner! that is the way brian and i know how to do tributes, and i think lee would approve.

r.i.p. cousin lee. you enjoyed life, food, and family! viva la familia!

salud!

mikey + brian

we are fresh back from our holiday trip to texas! we always leave there with our hearts (and stomachs) full and wonderful ideas for some great new dishes! we had an awesome pozole at my dad's house that my stepmom from mexico city made, some amazing squash fritters at my mom's, and some great cheesecake that my cousin from corpus christi made! we also made a stop in a place named "nuevo cafe" in corpus that is known for it's poblano soup that is killer! and for the life of their first born they will not reveal the ingredients, trust me, i tried! in san antonio we hit a place called paloma blanca in alamo heights that had some great guac, and cream of cilantro sauce that is addictive! we also made a stop in houston where they are doing some amazing things with mezcal at grand prize, and some equally great things with other spirits and fresh fruits! usually when you hear of texas, your mind does not jump straight to food, but it should! while still in houston, we made a stop into monica pope's (read about her here) new place called "beaver's". the fried pickles we had there are sinful, the kobe beef hotdog was to die for, and the black mission cup is a must try with pimm's no.1, gin, texas figs, lemon, and angostura bitters! it was equally as good as the michelada that i enjoyed on a sunny 70 degree texas december day! 

while in houston we visited the menil and caught some great artwork that inspired brian! he cannot get enough of cy twombly (see his work here) and his abstract organic patterns. we also were hugely inspired by the chapel of st.basil at university of st. thomas, it was gorgeous and done with such simplicity inspired by the catholic faith. simply breathtaking. the rothko chapel allowed us to sit and ponder the wonders of life, as well as where we were going to have dinner that evening. our mind always turns back to food, although we were still topped to the brim with our lunch at beaver's, we had to plan our move and make resos somewhere! the dinner at gravitas restaurant was decided on after much debate of one friend loving it, and the other just thinking it was okay. we kinda fell in the middle because the gin and local blackberry + gin drink was remarkable, the wine list they had was great (owen roe's sharecropper's cab was what we had), the food was just kinda "flat". you cannot win them all i guess, but at least the drinks were kicked in full gear that evening.

we wound down our trip with some great barbeque that my dad does for us every trip as well as watching of novellas with my parents in corpus christi. all in all it was a trip filled with food, drink and fun, just the way we like to live! a great way to have ended 2010, and start 2011 with some great ideas! that being stated, we are testing out some recipes and will be excited to share them with everyone on the 16th, so if you wanna taste some delicious food, and here some juicy texas stories!

2011 hopefuls, 

mikey + brian