Thanks for all the feedback on the Chicago dogs.
Went into the city several times since Christmas and got some Vienna
and Klemments dogs (the latter are quite good, bigger and plumper than
the Vienna). Purchased the green relish and sport peppers from
Flukeys on-line. All very good. Have you tried the Ore-Ida fast food
fries yet..good combo with the dogs. I put cuckes on my dogs along
with tomatoes relish mustard and sport peppers..topped off with celery
salt. It was great. I could not find the seeded Rosens buns at
Dominics or Butera.

Visisted Bob-O several times, and well as SuperDawg on Milwaukee Ave.

I realized that what I want to get now are those great tamales wrapped
in paper that you steam.

Anyone got a supplier for these?

I going back in this Sunday until Tuesday..along with a coler.



Since I'm Polish, I also stopped by at the Niles Polish Deli on
MIlwaukee across from Maryhill Cemetary. I tell you, with all the fat
and cholesterol in those sausages, a cemetary across the street is
perfect.

Picked up some great fresh and smoked Polish sausage that we dined on
Christmas day here in Iowa for a real Chicago-style Polish holiday.

Jerry

"Jerry Ranch" > wrote in message
...

> I realized that what I want to get now are those great tamales wrapped
> in paper that you steam.
>
> Anyone got a supplier for these?
>

I would hesitate to call them "great" but it sounds like you ar referring to
XLNT Tamales that are commonly smothered in chili and sold at hot dog and
hamburger stands. At least in Los Angeles they are; I can't speak for
Chicago or the rest of the country but I used to be a local wholesaler of
these when the brand was owned by Nalley's Foods. They are also sold in food
markets here. The brand is now owned by Don Miguel Mexican Foods which also
produces XLNT chili bricks.

Don Miguel Mexican Foods
2125 E. Orangewood Ave.
Anaheim, California 92806
(714) 634-8441

are you referring to the XLNT brand?...

Harriet & critters (jj the world famous jack russell terrior & pk the lady
manx who rules the house)
"Jerry Ranch" > wrote in message
...
> Thanks for all the feedback on the Chicago dogs.
> Went into the city several times since Christmas and got some Vienna
> and Klemments dogs (the latter are quite good, bigger and plumper than
> the Vienna). Purchased the green relish and sport peppers from
> Flukeys on-line. All very good. Have you tried the Ore-Ida fast food
> fries yet..good combo with the dogs. I put cuckes on my dogs along
> with tomatoes relish mustard and sport peppers..topped off with celery
> salt. It was great. I could not find the seeded Rosens buns at
> Dominics or Butera.
>
> Visisted Bob-O several times, and well as SuperDawg on Milwaukee Ave.
>
> I realized that what I want to get now are those great tamales wrapped
> in paper that you steam.
>
> Anyone got a supplier for these?
>
> I going back in this Sunday until Tuesday..along with a coler.
>
>
>
> Since I'm Polish, I also stopped by at the Niles Polish Deli on
> MIlwaukee across from Maryhill Cemetary. I tell you, with all the fat
> and cholesterol in those sausages, a cemetary across the street is
> perfect.
>
> Picked up some great fresh and smoked Polish sausage that we dined on
> Christmas day here in Iowa for a real Chicago-style Polish holiday.
>
> Jerry

Jerry Ranch > wrote in message >. ..
> I realized that what I want to get now are those great tamales wrapped
> in paper that you steam.
>
> Anyone got a supplier for these?
>
> I going back in this Sunday until Tuesday..along with a coler.
>

If you're interested in the real thing, a number of pushcart vendors
sell them on Saturday and Sunday morning in Hispanic neighborhoods. I
usually pick mine up from a lady in front of Supermercado Lindo
Michoacan, on the northeast corner of Lawrence and Kedzie. She has
pork, chicken, and chile/cheese (rajas). I used to think this was mom
and pop type stuff (or mom and kids), but lately these seem to be
grouped under a "Tamales Del Rey" rubric. They still seem home-made,
though.

-bwg
I'm like a tree that's planted by the water
I shall not be moved

: I realized that what I want to get now are those great tamales wrapped
: in paper that you steam.


I can't for the life of me believe that Chicago would be known for,
much less even have, good tamales. One needs to go to New Mexico,
Arizona, Colorado, or Texas for those. You're better off sticking
to hot dogs if you're talking Chicago.

Just say "no" to Illinois tamales...

wrote in :

>
>: I realized that what I want to get now are those great tamales wrapped
>: in paper that you steam.
>
>
> I can't for the life of me believe that Chicago would be known for,
> much less even have, good tamales. One needs to go to New Mexico,
> Arizona, Colorado, or Texas for those. You're better off sticking
> to hot dogs if you're talking Chicago.
>
> Just say "no" to Illinois tamales...
>
>

I don't necessarily agree. I've been to Texas and (of course) had AWESOME
Mexican Food. But I've also found a small Mom and Pop place in Milwaukee,
WI that serves Authentic Mexican Food that would rival anything you could
get in Southern US, or even Mexico. The key is to eat at a family owned
restraunt. The Place I ate at was a dive. Fly paper hanging from the
ceiling. Pic-Nic tables to sit at. Nothing fancy about it at all. But the
food was incredible!

On the Same note; I live in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and we have a pretty
large Hmong community here. In the last 10 years or so a hand full of Hmong
grocery stores and Hmong restraunts have popped up. The food here is
probably every bit as good as anything you could find in Laos (and in most
cases probably better). Living in Wisconsin you don't get many authentic
Thai Restraunts, but as far as I can tell Hmong food is Extremely similiar
to Thai food.

On that note, I'm sure that you could find great tamales in Chicago if you
visited the right "mom and pop" place. I doubt they were going to Taco Bell
for their tamales. If a family moves from Mexico to Chicago and opens up a
mexican restraunt you can bet that it's going to be pretty authentic.

My only problem is....why would anyone ever want to move to Chicago? :P

moe wrote:

> : I realized that what I want to get now are those great tamales wrapped
> : in paper that you steam.
>
>
> I can't for the life of me believe that Chicago would be known for,
> much less even have, good tamales. One needs to go to New Mexico,
> Arizona, Colorado, or Texas for those. You're better off sticking
> to hot dogs if you're talking Chicago.
>
> Just say "no" to Illinois tamales...


Not really - we have a huge Mexican population and you can get great
authentic stuff here, especially in places like the Pilsen neighborhood. If
you want *really* authentic vittles check out the Maxwell St. Market on
Sunday mornings - eyeball tacos, anyone?

As Barry mentioned earlier, there are lots of little pushcart vendors and
the like who dish up the "real deal"....

--
Best
Greg

Paper wrapped tamales come from Supreme Tamale Co, 5813 W Grand Ave, (773)
622-3777

They are the ones wrapped in paper and steamed to eat.

I think that Dave has the right source for me.
I'm not looking for authentic tamales.
I'm looking for chicago tamales, the kind commonly sold at the hot
dogs stands as a kind of appetizer. They are a ground beef encased in
a cornmeal tube of sorts.

Jerry


On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 00:58:24 GMT, "Dave" >
wrote:

>Paper wrapped tamales come from Supreme Tamale Co, 5813 W Grand Ave, (773)
>622-3777
>
>They are the ones wrapped in paper and steamed to eat.
>

can you get them in grocery stores

On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 00:58:24 GMT, "Dave" >
wrote:

>Paper wrapped tamales come from Supreme Tamale Co, 5813 W Grand Ave, (773)
>622-3777
>
>They are the ones wrapped in paper and steamed to eat.
>

"Jerry Ranch" > wrote in message
...
> Thanks for all the feedback on the Chicago dogs.
> Went into the city several times since Christmas and got some Vienna
> and Klemments dogs (the latter are quite good, bigger and plumper than
> the Vienna). Purchased the green relish and sport peppers from
> Flukeys on-line. All very good. Have you tried the Ore-Ida fast food
> fries yet..good combo with the dogs. I put cuckes on my dogs along
> with tomatoes relish mustard and sport peppers..topped off with celery
> salt. It was great. I could not find the seeded Rosens buns at
> Dominics or Butera.
>
> Visisted Bob-O several times, and well as SuperDawg on Milwaukee Ave.

Aaargh!

You're killing me! I used to live in Chicago, and before we moved, we lived
within walking distance from Bob-o's. My husband worked there when he was in
high school. But my favorite Chicago dogs were Gene 'n Jude's on River Road.

Is Leona's still on Irving, down the street from Bob-O's? It's a chain, but
not too bad.

As for the Polish, last time we were in town, we wanted to go to a place on
Milwaukee that used to be called Sophia's --- it was still there and had
some Polish food, but had turned into a funky Polish nightclub. Very weird.
Luckily, we went for lunch, so the disco ball wasn't lit up.

Tonight for dinner, we had fresh Polish sausage, so I guess I'm not that
deprived. But I can't buy the stuff anywhere, so I had to make my own.

My other greatest complaint is that I really miss the Chicago thin crust,
neighborhood pizza-joint pizzas. Not the trendy thick crust, stuffed, or
whatever. I want the thin cracker-like crust, the tasty sauce.... sigh.

Very cool
And I went to HS at Holy Cross in River Grove, but I lived near
Canfield and Higgins. So after school during the warmer months we'd
occasionally walk to Bob-O's for a dog before the long trek home..this
was '63-'67.
Not familar with Leona's of Gene 'n Judes..was the latter near the old
A&W in Rosemont? Man that WAS a real drive in....There was a driving
range just north of the A&W..I had a friend that could drive the ball
over the south fence (maybe 150' high) and bounce cars in the A&W.

Riggios on Oakton and Milwaukee is still there..I stopped in there and
had dinner one PM. They had great thin crust pizza.

Don't know Sophia's either. I never associate Polish with Deli or
nightclub..but they do exist I suppose (and I'm Polish!)

Hey I'm going back tomorrow for a few days..let me know what you want
me to check out and I'll see if during my wandering I can scope it out
for you. My mom still lives near Canfield and Higgins, and her sister
lives on Osceola just south of Irving Park. The old neighboorhoods
have not changed much since I left in '72 (say betweem Harlem and
Cumberland and Dempster and Belmont). It remains clean middle class
neighborhoods with a large eastern European immigrant population
(Poles, Czech, Russians etc)

The White Castle remains on the corner of Belmont and Harlem (my first
intro to sliders)

Dunning is gone.

HIP is HUGE now. Even bigger than before..it grew upwards.

Where you at now..sounds like you don't get into Chicago frequently.

BTW Niles Polish Deli on Milwaukee WILL send you stuff..great fresh
and smoked kielbasa. They must have had 30 different kinds of sausage
there. I'm getting more on this next trip.

Jerry


>Aaargh!
>
>You're killing me! I used to live in Chicago, and before we moved, we lived
>within walking distance from Bob-o's. My husband worked there when he was in
>high school. But my favorite Chicago dogs were Gene 'n Jude's on River Road.
>
>Is Leona's still on Irving, down the street from Bob-O's? It's a chain, but
>not too bad.
>
>As for the Polish, last time we were in town, we wanted to go to a place on
>Milwaukee that used to be called Sophia's --- it was still there and had
>some Polish food, but had turned into a funky Polish nightclub. Very weird.
>Luckily, we went for lunch, so the disco ball wasn't lit up.
>
>Tonight for dinner, we had fresh Polish sausage, so I guess I'm not that
>deprived. But I can't buy the stuff anywhere, so I had to make my own.
>
>My other greatest complaint is that I really miss the Chicago thin crust,
>neighborhood pizza-joint pizzas. Not the trendy thick crust, stuffed, or
>whatever. I want the thin cracker-like crust, the tasty sauce.... sigh.
>

"Jerry Ranch" > wrote in message
...
> Very cool
> And I went to HS at Holy Cross in River Grove, but I lived near
> Canfield and Higgins. So after school during the warmer months we'd
> occasionally walk to Bob-O's for a dog before the long trek home..this
> was '63-'67.

My husband graduated from Holy Cross. I went to East Leyden; grew up in
Schiller Park.


> Not familar with Leona's of Gene 'n Judes..was the latter near the old
> A&W in Rosemont? Man that WAS a real drive in....There was a driving
> range just north of the A&W..I had a friend that could drive the ball
> over the south fence (maybe 150' high) and bounce cars in the A&W.

Gene 'n Judes is (was) on River Road near Grand. Next to the Cock Robin. At
the corner of River & Grand was the Thirsty Whale. WHich is now a gas
station and McDonald's.

>
> Riggios on Oakton and Milwaukee is still there..I stopped in there and
> had dinner one PM. They had great thin crust pizza.
>
> Don't know Sophia's either. I never associate Polish with Deli or
> nightclub..but they do exist I suppose (and I'm Polish!)

Sophia's used to be Jan & Sophia's and then they got a divorce. Then
somebody else bought it. I think it changed to Irene's. Not much to look at,
but really great Polish food. It was on Milwaukee north of the White Eagle.

>
> Hey I'm going back tomorrow for a few days..let me know what you want
> me to check out and I'll see if during my wandering I can scope it out
> for you. My mom still lives near Canfield and Higgins, and her sister
> lives on Osceola just south of Irving Park. The old neighboorhoods
> have not changed much since I left in '72 (say betweem Harlem and
> Cumberland and Dempster and Belmont). It remains clean middle class
> neighborhoods with a large eastern European immigrant population
> (Poles, Czech, Russians etc)
>

Before we moved, we lived on Panama, a block off of Irving.


> The White Castle remains on the corner of Belmont and Harlem (my first
> intro to sliders)

MMMmmmmm ... (burp!)


>
> Dunning is gone.


Eli's cheesecake factory is near there, somewhere, off of a side street.

>
> HIP is HUGE now. Even bigger than before..it grew upwards.
>
> Where you at now..sounds like you don't get into Chicago frequently.

We're in Colorado. We don't get back real often, and when we do, we're
spending most of the time visiting hubby's family. Everytime we go back, I'm
surprised at how much has changed.


>
> BTW Niles Polish Deli on Milwaukee WILL send you stuff..great fresh
> and smoked kielbasa. They must have had 30 different kinds of sausage
> there. I'm getting more on this next trip.

Get me a phone number or email or something for them!!!!!!!!!!!!! Right
about now I'd kill for some good pierogis!

Donna

Hey Donna

Don't you have a good recipe for pierogis? I can probably share ours
with you..old family recipe of course, filled with mashed potatoes,
cheese, plums, sauerkraut or meat. We usually fry ours in butter.
Margie (the spouse) made cheese and potato ones for Christmas.
Since Des Moines has some slavic population, one can find frozen
pierogies in the grocers..they are not too too bad..but nothing like
the homemade of course (they have too few onions usually)

Heres a contact for the Deli

Niles Polish Deli
8705 N. Milwaukee Avenue
Niles IL, 60714
Phone: 847-470-8780

And I found this too
http://www.polskiinternet.com/englis...1chicdeli.html


>My husband graduated from Holy Cross. I went to East Leyden; grew up in
>Schiller Park.

All real familiar to me..got friends and relatives in Schiller Park
still.

>Gene 'n Judes is (was) on River Road near Grand. Next to the Cock Robin. At
>the corner of River & Grand was the Thirsty Whale. WHich is now a gas
>station and McDonald's.

I'm hazy on this ..its a bit too far from my usual haunts. Although
the Thirty Whale sounds familiar.


>Sophia's used to be Jan & Sophia's and then they got a divorce. Then
>somebody else bought it. I think it changed to Irene's. Not much to look at,
>but really great Polish food. It was on Milwaukee north of the White Eagle.

Had my wedding reception at the White Eagle in 73.
Worst experience of our life (even worse that the coronary bypass I
had in '82)


>Eli's cheesecake factory is near there, somewhere, off of a side street.

Yep I know where that is

I think I'll bring one back !

We're due for a winter storm here in Des Moines, so we'll see how the
trip goes.

Regards
Jerry

"Jerry Ranch" > wrote in message
...
> Hey Donna
>
> Don't you have a good recipe for pierogis?

No. My mother never made them, although she was a good cook. Actually, none
of my relatives ever made them that I ever saw. One aunt, who I thought made
her own, served a variety of pierogis every Christmas Eve, but later I found
out she bought them from a deli.

Unfortunately, my mother was never much for following or writing down
recipes. She made crock pickles and bread & butter pickles from a recipe,
but that was about it. Everthing else was a pinch and a taste. She was big
on casseroles and soups, but she never made breads, desserts...or pierogis
:-)

I can probably share ours
> with you..old family recipe of course, filled with mashed potatoes,
> cheese, plums, sauerkraut or meat. We usually fry ours in butter.

Yes! With onions, sometimes, in the butter. The only ones I was never crazy
about were the plum ones, but I'd love the recipes for all! My favories were
the cheese, sauerkraut, and potato. And Sophia's had these great
mushroom-filled ones...

> Margie (the spouse) made cheese and potato ones for Christmas.
> Since Des Moines has some slavic population, one can find frozen
> pierogies in the grocers..they are not too too bad..but nothing like
> the homemade of course (they have too few onions usually)

All I can find here are Mrs. T's which are edible, and some odd brand that's
completely inedible.


>
> Heres a contact for the Deli
>
> Niles Polish Deli
> 8705 N. Milwaukee Avenue
> Niles IL, 60714
> Phone: 847-470-8780
>
> And I found this too
> http://www.polskiinternet.com/englis...1chicdeli.html

I think I'm going to have to clear some room in the freezer!


>
>
> >My husband graduated from Holy Cross. I went to East Leyden; grew up in
> >Schiller Park.
>
> All real familiar to me..got friends and relatives in Schiller Park
> still.

Hubby's scratching his head trying to figure out if he knows you. I'll bet
we at least know some people in common.

>
> >Gene 'n Judes is (was) on River Road near Grand. Next to the Cock Robin.
At
> >the corner of River & Grand was the Thirsty Whale. WHich is now a gas
> >station and McDonald's.
>
> I'm hazy on this ..its a bit too far from my usual haunts. Although
> the Thirty Whale sounds familiar.

It was the place to go when you turned 21. And the River Grove cops knew it.

>
>
> >Sophia's used to be Jan & Sophia's and then they got a divorce. Then
> >somebody else bought it. I think it changed to Irene's. Not much to look
at,
> >but really great Polish food. It was on Milwaukee north of the White
Eagle.
>
> Had my wedding reception at the White Eagle in 73.

I aways knew the White Eagle as the place for funeral lunches. Especially on
my dad's side of the family.


> Worst experience of our life (even worse that the coronary bypass I
> had in '82)
>
>
> >Eli's cheesecake factory is near there, somewhere, off of a side street.
>
> Yep I know where that is
>
> I think I'll bring one back !

Well, I can get little ones at the local supermarket, so I'm not as deprived
as it seems. But I remember one Christmas when I went to Eli's factory sale.
I was picking up cheesecakes for desserts, gifts, etc. Then I got to the
checkout, and they had this wacky promotion going where if you bought
certain things, you got other things free. I ended up with twice as many
cheesecakes as I bought. Which wasn't actaully a bad thing, but I was
scrambling for space to put them all.

>
> We're due for a winter storm here in Des Moines, so we'll see how the
> trip goes.

Keep warm, and send along those pierogi recipes. The surprising lack of good
ethnic food here has led me to cook a lot of things from scratch that I
would normally have just bought in Chicago...or gone out to dinner for. It's
fine with me, since I like to cook, but sometimes it's a pain to even find
the ingedients I need. Good thing I can oder stuff on the Internet!

And here's another oddity. Maybe you can help...My mother used to make a
soup out of dried fruits. It was served warm with kluski noodles. The end
product was a dark brown, a little thick, and it was sweet-sour. And she ran
the cooked fruit through a mill, so there were no lumps or pieces in it. It
was very close to her czarnina, if you've ever had that. (Now there's a
recipe I won't be looking for any time soon!)

I've searched all over the internet and in most of the cookbooks I have, and
I can't find anything that seems close. I found a lot of Swedish recipes,
but those tend to be cold soups or even dessert soups, and most have
cinnamon or other flavors like that. I'm pretty sure there was no cinnamon,
but there probably was vinegar or sour salt. I'm not even sure if it had a
meat base. It might have been just the fruits. I remember she bought the
fruits in a package and then picked out one particular fruit and threw it
out. Don't remember what it was, though.

I did find a czarnina recipe that called for quite a few dried fruits, so
maybe this was something she created when she didn't have the right
ingredients. She just called it "fruit soup" no Polish name, so I don't even
know if it was something traditional Polish.