I returned home last Saturday after a fun, enlightening , and a bit hectic week in one of my favorite cities in the world, Vienna Austria. Some of my readers may know of my decade long connection to this city. The purpose of this trip was twofold, to produce content for American Airlines Black Atlas and for familial reasons. My late uncle, Bob Curtis, friends were having an exhibition for his works. I have to so much to share, so stay tuned for videos and articles from the trip. Besides food , my other passion is travel and I hope to record more of what I see as I explore the world.

So after  along flight with connections a delays, there really is nothing like a home cooked meal. Chicago was cold , raining and bleak. My freezer was bare and Certain Someone was prepping to fly out later that evening.With turkey  legs in the freezer , I decided to make us something satisfying and comforting  as I decompressed and shaked off the jet lag  and CS launched into his work week. My inspiration for this came from  a New York Times article. I changed up my techniques and ingredients. In Vienna this past week I noticed a huge Asian influence  from the diverse population. I have had some dubious Asian style style cuisines in my European travels, but everything I ate in Vienna was top rate. Malaysian, Thai, Vietnamese, etc. Fresh chilies added liberally to my dishes gave a great sinus clearing and metabolism inducing  kick. The Viennese embrace the exotic.