A Blog by Chris

As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I’m way behind on my blog. I’ve only had this thing for a few months so this is a bad sign. But it’s actually worse; I’m changing positions at work so I won’t be traveling near as much anymore. This is actually good news for my marriage and personal life, but not so good for my stupid website experiment. I suppose I have a decision to make and I’m not sure if I’ll actually blog about something else, or just let this thing wither and die. We’ll have to wait and see.

Until then, I’ve got a few more photos in the pipeline just waiting to burst out of my camera and on to the Interweb.

Why look, here’s one now:

This was from the Doubletree by the airport in Atlanta. I was there for a quick trade-show last month (yeah, yeah, I should have posted this thing a long time ago, I know). There’s not much to say about the hotel (except that Doubletree cookies are awesomely delicious in that fake plastic food kind of way) or the show, but you can see the restaurant where I had some great ribs one night.

Michon’s is kind of cool. It’s on the second floor and as you climb the stairs you have to be careful to keep yourself from tripping over the oak logs that they store on the steps and walkway. But by the time you get to the door you can smell the smoke and spices wafting in the air. Right next to the front door and just inside the building they have big windows into the kitchen so you can see the cooks in there smoking the meat. I’m a sucker for that sort of thing. They also double as a jazz/dance club, but I didn’t stay late enough for the music. If I ever go back, I’ll have to try the smoked chicken wings.

Well, that’s all for now. Thanks for watching (reading) and be sure to stay tuned for another exciting episode of “Room With A View”. If you’re lucky, you might not even have to wait a whole month for it this time.

Chimichurri

Have you tried this stuff? Let’s just say I have a new favorite marinade. Here’s how I made mine:

• a bunch of fresh cilantro (You’re supposed to use parsley. I like cilantro better. Probably sacrilegious to some, but I don’t care. Sue me. It was awesome!!!)
• 4 or 5 cloves of garlic
• some dried oregano (use fresh if you’ve got it, I guess)
• about ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• the juice from a lemon
• about ½ cup EVOO (I feel dirty for using a Rachel Rayism)
• some Kosher salt
• about 10 peppercorns

Throw it all in a blender (fine use your food processor, I don’t care) and ¡voila! instant goodness. Well, maybe not instant. You do have to blend it up a little, but still, it’s quick.

I used this herby concoction (of course herby is a word – I just wrote it didn’t I) the other night to make the best pork chops ever. No joke. Best ever. Anywhere. I just marinated them for about 20 minutes (the chops were super thin) and then pan fried them in some olive oil. A little spoonful of the deliciousness on top and they were ready to go.

¡BON APPÉTIT!

And on a totally unrelated note, I think I missed my calling in life. I should’ve been a chef. Computers taste awful.