Last night I took a little walk as I left one friend to meet up with D and his buddy uptown. I often find myself speedily walking the length of Manhattan island as it begins to warm, much more pleasant than the claustrophobic subway, watching as the people and their actions change with the neighborhood. On a weeknight, the walk is the best: the crowds have diminished, a few hardy souls stumble from bars attempting to make a last effort phone call, and tourists walk aimlessly, unaware of where they should be. In the spring, as night falls cool, a brisk walk is perfect to keep the blood flowing while appreciating time that can finally be spent comfortably outdoors.

My little walk turned into a 40 block trek and for one slight moment, a total of half a block, I smelled spring. It has officially arrived in New York City. It was a brief moment, just past a pile of garbage bags that the air lightened and suddenly Dogwood mingled with early purple violets. Blossoms are out; spring has arrived.

With the weather warming, D and I begin to think about our city escapes: camping. Just when the weather turns perfect, D plans our camping destination while I plan the (cheese) farms to hit up for produce along the way. Interspersed with our camping shenanigans are the precious city BBQs. Few and far between since outdoor space is a rarity, when they do come, they are perfect: on a rooftop, in a side alleyway, in a 5 foot plot of grass next to the front stoop, on the fire escape, and if you are lucky, on the coveted balcony.

So it is with these spring thoughts that D and I whip up our own little (indoor) BBQ. It is possibly the classic New York City diner meal (next to the corned beef sandwich): a burger with french fries and a black and white milkshake. The (best) black and white milkshakes, like the black and white cookie, are only found in the tri-state area [cough] — New York City. On a trip home to Chicago one year I entered a diner and ordered one. I received a confused look and returned it with a smitten: “vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce!?” Geesh, how can you not know?! But attempted (and tasted) in diners west and north, the best are found in the City. The black and white milkshake has the delicate pleasures of vanilla ice cream with that extra sweet richness of chocolate sauce. Like the classic hot fudge sundae or chocolate milk, you can make it as subtle or rich as desired. An even better play on this drink? The beershake– really, it’s tasty. Or, the whiskyshake, which my New Orleans friend calls “milk punch.” The rest of the meal has received ink:

The Burger (made with caramelized onions and mushrooms; no cheese)
The Sweet Potato French Fries (made with salt, no cumin)

And without further ado…

BLACK & WHITE MILKSHAKE
Makes: 2 servings. Active Time= 5 minutes.
* 1-½ cups vanilla ice cream
* 1 Tbl chocolate sauce
* 2-½ cups milk

1) Blend all ingredients and serve immediately

THE BEERSHAKE
Makes: 2 servings. Active Time= 5 minutes.
* 1-½ cups chocolate ice cream
* 1 cup milk
* 1 pint good porter beer

1) Blend the ice cream with the milk.
2) Add beer, stir with spoon. (Do not attempt to blend the beer as it will produce a foamshake.

THE WHISKYSHAKE
Makes: 2 servings. Active Time= 5 minutes.
* 1-½ cups vanilla ice cream
* 1 Tbl chocolate sauce
* 2-½ cups milk
* 4 oz preferred whisky

1) Blend all ingredients and serve immediately

Since leaving home to attend college—and remaining away—each visit back holds significance: My mother moved out the home I grew up in and into the city; My friends (now also in the city) have other friends outside of “the group” I am obliged to be with; In the spring, I returned with D in tow, to attend the wedding of one of my childhood friends– When did we get so old? This recent trip home was marked by the holidays and upon further scrutiny, noticing how much my group of friends has matured– in some ways.

I say “in some ways” because when we get together, really, we are the only ones that understand the jokes that make us laugh until we cry. We will beat a saying (or even a word) into the ground, and continue until it comes back to life. We recently gathered to create some pathetic looking sugar cookies (see picture at right). They tasted great, don’t get me wrong, but 5 bottles of wine down the line, well… we were decorating like we were 5 years old. We also will make it a point to travel to the suburbs for our old favorite restaurants and scoff in amazement (and hide) when we see people we know from high school (why is she at my restaurant?!). Then proceed to the local beach to run around the playground, even if our hands are freezing. But now, even though our gatherings are far and too few between, we also discuss our real fears, have real arguments, and no Di, I am not next on your marriage train.

My dear city is home to a lot that makes me proud (other than my own brat pack of friends). I used to (and often still do) spout all the films and actors that graced “my” doorstep rather matter-of-factly: Home Alone was filmed 10 blocks from me. Bobbie Brown (the makeup artist) went to my high school, as did Moses—oh, I mean, Charlton Heston. Uncle Buck picked his niece up around the corner. Chris O’Donnell bought Robin figurines “for my nephew” at the toy store I worked at in high school. The Breakfast Club was based on my high school. And these are just my own suburban town’s claim to fame. The city itself is a jackpot for culture: Home of the blues, deep-dish pizza, the tallest building in North America, a thriving standup comedy/ improv scene, Chicago-style ‘dogs, the dear Cubbies with their ivy-laden walls, a breathtaking waterfront…. Chicago is the fabulous hub of the Midwest.

Indian for “field of onion,” or as I knew it growing up, “The Smelly Onion.” The city received its more recent nickname of The Windy City in the 1800’s. I have heard this phrase defined two ways: 1) Chicago is a very windy city (I have actually, literally, been stopped in my tracks by the wind of a late fall storm) and 2) because of all the politicians who blow their hot air through the city. I think it can go both ways.

But if you are in Chicago, onions should definitely be had, at least on a proper Chicago hot dog. And probably the best place to quench the ‘dog thirst is at Wrigley Field enjoying a Cubs game. Though it is a little cold for that now, and the ivy walls of one of the oldest ballparks in this country must be missed, head to any number of ‘dog joints that surround Wrigley (or nearby bars). My favorite is Demon Dogs, located conveniently close to my mother’s apartment, under the Fullerton El stop (others claim The Wiener’s Circle on Clark is top dog).

This time of year, I think it is more pleasing to snuggle up with a juicy burger and cold beer in front of a fireplace (also with onions, but caramelized) on some good pumpernickel or rye bread. Which brings to mind Chicago’s seedy past. I am not talking about Al Capone and his gangsters, booze and girls. I am talking about the meat industry highlighted in Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. It has worked its way out thankfully, and a great piece of meat can now be found in this city. From steaks to ribs to burgers, some of my favorite memories include the smell of BBQ emanating from peoples’ backyards and balconies all over the city, regardless of the temperature.

Below, my recipe for the cheeseburger all of us love, with the necessary (hidden) gourmand flare. These burgers are amazing on a grill, but can still be made inside on the stovetop. I produced this recipe a few years ago one humid summer’s night in New York. We were grilling at my friend A’s place and I took over the grill. I like to think it was not just the beer in people, but man and woman alike returned for seconds and thirds. They spouted their accolades: I should sell the recipe and retire off the wealth it would bring. But here, gratis, I offer you this fabulous burger that reminds me of my sweet home, Chicago:

THE GOURMAND’S CHEESE BURGER
Makes 4 burgers
1 lb freshly ground beef
½ cup red wine
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium white onion, (1/2 chopped, 1/2 sliced)
¼ cup loosely packed fresh basil, chopped
½ tsp. cayenne pepper
4 dashes Worchester sauce
fresh pepper (to taste)
fresh goat cheese (I prefer this recipe with plain goat cheese. It can also be made with mozzarella or plain)
Honey
Spicy mustard
Fresh tomato
8 slices dark rye or pumpernickel bread

1) In a small pan on the stove, carmelize the sliced onion. To carmelize, keep the pan on medium-low heat. Add about 1 Tbl butter and cook the onions SLOWLY until they brown, sweetened to carmelized to goodness. Watch the cooking while you proceed with the burgers and stir periodically. Total cook time for the onions is about 20 min.
2) Mix the first 8 ingredients by hand (use only the chopped onion). Folding until evenly distributed.
3) (If using a stovetop, heat a sauté pan on medium high.) Break apart the mixture and form 4 thick patties.
4) Make an indentation with your thumb in the middle of each patty, about a 1inch diameter hole, halfway through the patty.
5) Place a spoonful of goat cheese into each hole. Using your fingertips, pinch the patties up and around to close the hole, hiding the goat cheese inside.
6) Place on hot grill or stovetop pan, cook until desired doneness (I cooked mine about 4 min each side on medium high heat).
7) While these are cooking, prepare the “buns”: lay out the 8 slices of dark rye or pumpernickel. Brush all 8 pieces of bread with about 2 tsp honey, spread mustard on 4 slices, place tomato on top of the mustard (you can also top this with 1-2 large basil leaves).
8) When meat is ready, place on “bun” and enjoy.

Note: The honey and goat cheese are a great sweet combination and delight playing upon the saltiness of the meat. When I recently made these, I had no honey. I substituted a small amount of maple syrup on the bread instead. It was a little sweeter, but worked well. I also ran out of onion and was unable to carmelize any. The burgers were still delicious without.

Tuna sandwiches and I were a love-hate affair when I was younger. I thought they tasted good, but then I would look in a can only to be repulsed by the resemblance to cat food. I also found it strange that I did not like regular (non-canned) fish, but could eat canned tuna. It seemed too close to Spam– which is just repulsive. I also was unable to eat other canned fish– like canned salmon. To this day my mother buys it and makes what she calls “salmon patties”. These truly are cat food and I am sure my current cats would engulf those patties.

I also remember being terrified of the possibility at the lunch table in junior high school to be the kid with a tuna sandwich. Kids can be cruel and there is nothing worse than the smell of tuna; too easy of a target to make fun of. The only thing I can think of that is worse is being the kid with the pickle in the lunch bag (I was also sometimes that kid). It is one thing to pull a fresh tuna sandwich (or pickle) from a nicely refrigerated space and eat it immediately, but I think parents fail to realize a child’s lunch sits in their dank locker or backpack until lunch. How many bugs crawl through there? How often is the sack smashed into place? How much food has rotted in their by previous occupants? If you have children just try not to think about this. I don’t but now shutter thinking back to my own home-brought lunches (which always far surpassed the grease-laden-grade-D-garbage they sell at almost every school across the country, even if it did sometimes smell).

Once, I think I was in high school, I attempted to make my own tuna and eat it out of the bowl one night. I dumped the drained canned tuna in, added mayonnaise, celery and pepper and proceeded to eat it. I thought it tasted too fishy and needed more mayonnaise, so I kept adding mayonnaise: 1 Tbl, 2 Tbl, 3… Now I had a bowl of mayonnaise that hinted at tuna. It went into the garbage. I had thought I wanted tuna, but turns out my taste buds were not having it.

On Sundays my mother would purchase bagels and lox from a bagel shop.in a neighboring town. This place has such good bagels there would be a line outside the door on Sundays. Since we would devour the lox in one day, she would also buy a quart of their tuna to put on the remaining bagels. That tuna was so good (and I would think still is) that it sometimes would also disappear in one day—I would often catch my little brother shoving spoonfuls of the tuna into his mouth, returning it to the fridge, then repeating 2 min later. (They pulse the tuna and ingredients into a tuna “paste” which allows it to keep the shape when on top one’s bagel.) We attempted to imitate it at home, but failed. I now believe there is an opiate in it to make it so addictive. I have never found any store-produced tuna tasting so good.

Today, when I make a tuna sandwich, I do not use any mayonnaise. In fact, there is not even a jar of mayonnaise in my refrigerator. I made it once (mayonnaise) and was totally repulsed by the amount of oil that went into it, I figured I could drink it straight for the same effect, and now try my hardest to avoid the white stuff.

This tuna is a super protein tuna (for all you carb-phobes). It is meaty, chunky, crispy, smooth, rich, spicy and indulgent. It is made with avocado (not mayonnaise) and tastes amazing on toasted bread, in a salad or plain out of the bowl. It is one of those sandwiches you cannot wait to eat. You will dream about it coming home and turn the key a little faster to get at it sooner. Your cats will paw at you over the intoxicating smell of freshly opened tuna. The best part is, it can be altered to suite your taste or with what you have available.

NOT SO CLASSIC TUNA SANDWICH
Makes 2 sandwiches. Prep time= 5-10 min.
1 can albacore chunky tuna, drained (give the juice to your cats if you have)
1 ripe Hass avocado
1 stalk celery, chopped (a chopped pickle, olives, chopped grapes or raisins or 1 Tbl relish are other options)
1 small white onion, chopped
1-2 Tbl spicy mustard (Dijon or Deli is good)
salt/ fresh pepper to taste
2 tsp lemon juice
1 vine ripe tomato, sliced (or chop sun-dried into the bowl)
8 fresh leaves of basil
4 slices good bread, toasted (I used an Irish Soda Bread, but hearty nut-based is good)
1) Peel and deseed the avocado. Place it in a bowl and mash, it can be left slightly chunky.
2) Begin toasting bread. Add tuna, celery, onion, mustard, salt/ pepper and lemon juice. Mix until well blended.
3) Place bread on plate once toasted, add a heaping spoonful of tuna, cover with sliced tomato and basil. The result is mouthwatering, healthy and delicious.

NOTE: Hass avocadoes are rough-skinned and smaller. They have a nutty, buttery flavor. The thin-skinned large, lighter variety is not as flavorful and more watery. I have found it is best to purchase avocadoes when they are hard. This avoids ones you believe to be ripe; when in fact they are bruised. Allow them to sit on your counter (or fruit bowl) to ripen (or in a paper bag for faster results). This process will probably take about 3-4 days and the avocado skin will darken as it matures. The avocado is ripe when the skin gives under a little pressure (the innards are soft). Once they are ready, they can remain for a few more days on the counter or be placed in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks. When ripe, the skin easily peels off (once started with a knife) and the seed is easy to remove. If you do not use an entire avocado, sprinkle with lime or lemon juice and wrap it air tight to prevent discoloration. Here are some fun avocado facts.
Here we see 2 cats post-tuna juice indulgence.