Ryan Snyder

I needed a special Mexican dish to make for a celebration this weekend, and a buddy of mine recommended making Puerco Pibil, the dish Johnny Depp's character orders at every single restaurant he visits in Once Upon a Time in Mexico. It took 3 hours of grocery shopping, 1 hour of preparation, 6 hours to marinade and 4 hours to cook, but when we finally ate at 10pm, it was divine. Here's the director's video on how to make the recipe:

After the geekfest at OSCON, I went downtown to join a couple of friends at the Thirsty Lion. I hadn't eaten dinner yet and there was no way that I was eat a few massive plates of fried who-knows-what. So I happened upon a food vendor in an old baby blue and white rusted-out bread delivery truck with a side window, along the street corner at 3rd and Oak (I believe)... When I approached the window, an elderly Thai couple looked out at me and the woman asked what I wanted.

"I don't know," I responded. "What's good?"

The woman replied, "All good. All good."

"In Foie Gras We Trust" was printed on the T-shirt of the line cook in front of me as we ate at the bar at Le Pigeon. It was placed over top a gold coin, where stamped on the coin was a goose with a funnel its mouth. So, how could I not order the foie gras PB & J on Wonder Bread? It was delectable -- order it for an appetizer, dessert, or take it home for breakfast. Or how about the monkfish, placed atop shredded beef lip with a fried zucchini flower? Or the pig ear terrine with homemade mustard butter? Or for dessert the honey-apricot-bacon cornbread topped with maple ice cream?

Best dim sum in town. Hands down. Wong's King Seafood out at Division and 86th always gets the nod over Fong Chong, but not in my book. Hit the Curry Pies and the Ginger Chicken, they'll rock your world.

I'm in love. It's been a while since I've had a feeling like this, but I went camping last weekend and decided it was time to pull the iron skillet out of the closet. She was caked with a year of grease, dust and little insects that got stuck to her. I cleaned her, seasoned her, bought 4 lbs. of bone-in ribeyes, corn on the cob, 1lb. of bacon, red potatoes and a dozen eggs, and cooked like an iron chef over the hot campfire coals for both dinner and breakfast. Hands down the best camping meal I've ever had, and maybe good enough to take a pack mule with me the next I go backpacking...