Chicago Combo

More snow is coming our way.  I am on the fence about whether or not to drive into work.  It’s 7:00 a.m. now, the snow is light, but we could get 1 to 2 inches an hour by 12:30.  I guess we’ll see in an hour how it plays out!

Breakfast was a breakfast burrito – one tablespoon light cream cheese, 2 tablespoons refried beans (some of the best I’ve ever made – recipe to come soon!), 1 egg, 1/4 cup egg whites and baby spinach.  The clementines are some of the best I’ve had all year – so sweet.

I decided to bike ride at lunch yesterday.  I forgot my headphones, so I just concentrated on the ride.  I did the random setting, so you never know when it’s going to get harder.  I kept my pace between 90 and 100 rpm’s no matter the hill I was climbing, I was a bit sweaty at the end!  9 miles in 39 minutes – nice!

Lunch was some of Tony’s leftover fried rice.  There was probably about 1/2 – 3/4 cup of rice and I added broccoli slaw and shrimp.  I bought Jonagold apples because they were on sale – they really didn’t have much taste – I may have to saute the rest of them to give them some flavor.

I had my skinny mocha for an afternoon treat – 1 25 calorie hot chocolate mixed with coffee, then topped with whipped cream – I call it my 50 calorie café mocha.  And how cute is this snowman mug?  Skippy, I know you are eyeing it!

When my sister and I were in our early 20’s we worked at a bar called Schuler’s in Forest Park.  Billy, the uncle of the manager, was the cook.  He was a gruffy old man.  Smoked more cigarettes than anyone I knew, and as soon as the clock hit midnight and the kitchen closed, he’d ask me to get him a Heineken and a shot of Jameson.

His one night off was Wednesday night and at some point I volunteered to work the kitchen.  This was mainly a pizza place – the first time I had a pizza with diced pepperoni which was amazeballs.

The second top seller?  The Chicago Combo.  Now if you’ve never had this, this is a stunning sandwich.  Turano bun, Italian sausage, Italian beef and mozzarella cheese.  How bad could that be?!  The only thing I was missing was hot giardienra on mine.

I made ours a cheezy garlic combo.  I  schmeared a bit of butter on the bun, sprinkled with garlic salt, then put two slices of mozzarella cheese and put that bun in the broiler.  The sausage I got was homemade by our local grocery store – this version was provolone and peppers.  I bought 1/4 pound of Italian beef.  I took 1 cup of beef broth, added 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning and brought that to a boil.  Removed that from the heat and added in the Italian beef to warm it up.

I cooked the sausage in a cast iron skillet with about 1/2 a cup of water, turning frequently.  Once the water evaporates, it browned on all sides.   Then it’s time to build the sammie!

Not quite typical with mustard and this Southwest sauce – the southwest sauce is spicy and made from red peppers.

I don’t know what I was thinking.  I should have made one and split it with Tony because we both only ate half, but this was delicious – the sausage had a nice kick to it too.  The only thing missing was the hot peppers .  Next time!

Have you ever had a Chicago Combo before?  If I get it out, I like it “dipped” in the au jus so it’s extra messy!

Only 32.5 miles left to go to hit my 45 miles in March goal!

Alright, I guess I’ll jump in the shower and see where we are at snow wise.  Wish me luck!    Make it a great day!