Lavender Sky

Inspiration

2011-01-30T13:50:00.010-05:00

You never know where clicking around the web will take you. A few weeks ago I was learning about Cake Pops. I often forget You Tube isn't just for watching your favorite movie and cartoon clips illegally. I was watching videos on how to make cake lollipops and in the suggestions section were videos on baking cupcakes inside ice cream cones. Granted, most of the amateur videos should be made fun of on Tosh.O, but here is this kid, making cupcakes for his Mom on Mother's Day, and hocking his T-shirts - with 27,000 views! Complete with porn-style background music! I really enjoyed it. It's 9 minutes long, but worth watching the whole thing.

Su-Tang Cupcake Clan

My take

The other day was a special anniversary here in the Hungry Household. Fifteen years ago, there was a blizzard in the Northeast. NYC Public Schools were closed for a snow day for the first time in a long while. I was a junior in high school. I was spending the day on the Internet, much like today. On that day, I met my future husband! Online. He was snowed in, in King of Prussia, PA. I didn't know a town called King of Prussia existed and was sure he was making it up. What is not made up, is that we fell in love and spent many years commuting back and forth on weekends to see each other. To mark this occasion I wanted to make something with similar flavors as one of our 2 wedding cakes, and so I created my own cupcakes in ice cream cones. Chocolate cake with lemon curd filling and rich chocolate frosting.

I explained to the Hubby that I didn't invent these, but he was as excited as the first person to see sliced bread must have been. ♥

Place the cones in a foil wrapped muffin tin to hold them upright.

The finished product. I seem to always frost cupcakes the same way.

The original cake!

Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

2011-01-29T13:46:00.005-05:00

When I was itty bitty, my Mom's chicken noodle soup began with Soup Starter. I thought it was great, and I didn't pay any attention to the fact that the only fresh, non processed food in that soup was the chicken itself, which had been boiled to death. The vegetables were freeze dried and came mixed with a powdered concoction of flavorings including loads of MSG and salt. I don't mind MSG (see Steingarten's, "Why Doesn't Everyone In China Have a Headache?") but the levels it included, along with the salt, were probably highly unnecessary. Soon my Mom started adding tortellini to that soup, along with the chicken. What else would you expect Italians to do? I also doused the soup with handfuls of Parmigiano Reggiano. I am still a huge fan of tortellini in soup, and adore the minimalist tortellini en brodo.

Now, all grown up, and with some decent culinary training and experience, I make a different soup almost every week. It's no secret that soup's awesomeness has many levels, including but not limited to: being able to cook once and eat for 2 or more days, being inexpensive, takes well to using up fridge scraps, and can even be transformed into another dish entirely - such as leftover potato fennel soup becoming a sauce for clams or mussels. French Onion soup remains my barometer for a restaurant. If it's on the menu, I must order it at least once, and base most of my opinions about the establishment on their preparation and service of that soup. It's easy to make it great, and easy to mess it up or be careless.

Get to the Thai chicken soup already!

O.K., O.K.! Years ago when I visited a friend in the hospital who had just given birth, she was eating chicken noodle soup with coconut milk and other Thai flair. It caught my eye and really stood out to me how many different cultures have their own version of dishes I'm familiar with. Think: meatballs, pastas, cabbage, custards, breads - these are universal items and are borrowed and adapted endlessly throughout history and around the globe. Then last week on Twitter, ChefWifeDotCom mentioned Vegan Thai Coconut Soup and it reminded me of that chicken noodle soup. I did some web research and decided what I wanted mine to be. The timing was perfect as we've been getting blankets of snow nearly every day here in PA. In fact, it's snowing right now. I don't often post actual recipes here, but here's an attempt.

Thai Coconut Chicken Soup Adapted from Tom Kha Gai

*Not at all traditional and with Asian components not particularly Thai!

Ingredients:

2 stalks lemongrass

1 knob ginger

1 bunch scallions

48 oz chicken broth, low sodium (veg is fine too)

2 Tbsp tamari

2 Tbsp fish sauce

1 can of coconut milk, shaken before opening

1 package of chicken thighs, about 1.25 pounds

1 bunch cilantro

1 cup julienned carrot

1 Tbsp sriracha

2 limes

6 oz (half a package) of udon noodles

Method:

Bruise the lemongrass, chop roughly. Slice the ginger, slice scallions in half - keeping dark green and light green parts separate. In a 5 QT soup pot, heat first 7 ingredients and peel from limes. When simmering, add chicken. Poach until mostly cooked through, 20 minutes. While poaching, cook udon according to package directions, (I broke them up to look like traditional noodles for chicken soup and to accommodate my chopstick-impaired Hubby) drain, rinse, set aside. Remove chicken from broth, strain broth back into soup pot, keeping heat on low. Add carrots to broth. Add sriracha. Shred chicken, add to broth. Simmer 10 minutes to cook carrots, leaving them a smidge crunchy. Serve in deep bowls, adding a generous handful of torn cilantro and chopped scallion to each. Squeeze lime wedges over soup just before eating. Who cares if the wedges are without the peel? Make use of the whole lime!

Variations:

Use rice noodles or plain pasta

Add curry (red or yellow)

Add sliced chiles

Add packaged dumplings for a larger meal

Add sliced mushrooms

Add toasted unsweetened coconut

Foreshadowing

2011-01-20T19:53:00.005-05:00

Last weekend we were working hard on a short term goal of ours. Getting an unpacked junk room turned into a useful office. Most people have junk drawers, we have a whole room. The contents are a combination of: my culinary library which I've been sad to have very limited access to (the books are in storage boxes), computer equipment, stuff we moved but didn't unpack, and leftovers from each time we tidy up for company in a hurry and need a place to throw stuff. You can imagine the black hole of its contents.

We've found some interesting things. The only VHS in existence of my early childhood in Arizona, our wedding cards and wedding paraphernalia, and my school report cards and photos. In with my school things was a "what I did on my Summer vacation" report from 1990. It was my first year at Seth Low I.S. 96. I got to write about my family's time in Hawaii, which was the last vacation we ever took together. At the time I did not know I was a future chef, or a foodie in the making. Or even a future lazy blogger/aspiring food writer. What did I write about? The FOOD of Hawaii. Mahi mahi, poi, and a whole pig cooked in the ground. I even wrote that in one day I ate mahi mahi in an omelette for breakfast, in a sandwich for lunch, and as an entrée for dinner. Foreshadowing? Yes. Also intriguing, I wrote this report on 9/11/90, eleven years before that awful day.

Haute Dog Cuisine

2010-09-22T21:31:00.003-04:00

No, I don't cook for my dog. Also - I am NOT a stoner. Yet. What do you think this concoction is?

I made a magical pot of chili over the weekend and that always means chili dogs in the near future. Another night I made fish tacos with mango banana salsa yielding leftover tortillas and salsa. On the long drive home tonight I was craving a quesadilla. Hence, dinner was born! Have you noticed the latest trend in hot dogs? Angus. These are Angus dogs which are nitrite/ate free, and smoked. They are pretty fabulous, as far as hot dogs go. I melted cheese on a single flour tortilla, added a thin line of chili and rolled it up taquito style.

A chili dog quesaquito? Whatever it is, it totally would have one some off the wall, Top Chef Quickfire challenge.

Giada's SNAFU

2010-09-20T12:53:00.003-04:00

I am highly critical of TV Chefs. Mostly because I am jealous that I am not one. Some things that I see are truly awful and warrant a complaint. I've been laid up for the last few days and have had plenty of opportunity to see some horrific things.

On Giada at Home, Giada was preparing a Mexican meal. I know there are some Giada devotees that will recreate something just because SHE made it, but I have no desire to see Giada's take on Tex-Mex. She was going to grill marinated chicken and steak - probably for tacos or fajitas. She created a marinade that looked pretty good (I would have added tequila) and then marinated the chicken in the same dish as the beef. Um - no thanks. Unless you're going to cook that beef to 180 degrees, rendering it overcooked and inedible, the beef is not edible for risk of salmonella. Would it have been so hard to marinate them separately? Yuk.

Another gripe I have is chefs not measuring on TV and is clearly not close to the original measurement. The biggest offense is coating the whole bottom of a pan with oil and saying, "Start with 2 Tbsp of oil in the pan." I would love to jump into the TV grab the pan to measure how much was used. This is not to say I follow recipes when I am not testing for a purpose, but you must realize if someone actually follows the printed recipe they will often have different results.

Food 52 365

2010-09-05T21:55:00.002-04:00

Fresh Sriracha (aka, home made 'Rooster') from Food52 on Vimeo.

Food 52 is one of the few food sites that I can find something fabulous on everyday. This must smell amazing while cooking! I keep latex gloves around for peppers. I think it's also important to change cutting boards.

Revisiting Wine

2010-09-04T22:56:00.004-04:00

To say that it has been a stressful week is putting it mildly. Last night nerves were soothed with Salty Dogs. They were good but I've come to prefer mine made with Izze grapefruit soda and I was using the much more potent grapefruit juice. Tonight I wanted something more delicate. Wine. I used to really love wine. I still do, but beer has taken over as my beverage hobby. I got out a *good* wine glass, not flinching about it not being dishwasher safe, and traveled over to my kitchen wine rack. My wine rack contained: 2 mini-bar bottles of a Frontera cab/merlot adorned with a 'thank you for joining us for our special day' stickers as they were wedding favors, a bottle of Malibu rum, and my propane torch for creme brulee/emergency s'more making. It was kind of depressing. I am grateful for stellar wedding favors, especially ones that reminded me of a very fun evening, but I needed something extra special to soothe my soul.

I should have thought twice about an emergency trip to the State store just before closing time on a holiday weekend Saturday night. Bottles of Jagermeister were flying off the shelves all around me. Everyone was getting ID'd. Their identification said they were 21 but who can tell anymore? All it needed was a strobe-light and an impenetrable cloud of cigarette smoke to feel like the Palladium in 1997. Not my scene. I headed for the Pinot section. It's easy to drop a pretty penny on pinot noir, but I am on a budget. I snagged a 2007 Bear Boat from the Sonoma Coast for a reasonable $11.99. Then I went over to the Cabernet Sauvignons. My favorite wine at Ruth's Chris is the Louis Martini 2007 Cabernet. I was appalled to discover the bottle sells for $12.99. It is at least $16 a glass at the bar! I know that's within traditional wine mark up range, but the budget conscience wino in me was in shock. I bought a bottle of that too as I will stick to martinis and Manhattan's at the steak house from now on. Remembering that the hubby has had an even more stressful week than I, I grabbed him a bottle of his tried and true Jameson's. I may also be plotting some Jameson's and ginger beers for tomorrow.

I make it home and polish the wine glass. How is it that a glass gets dirty while in a closed cabinet? I get out my wine opening equipment and open the bottle with all the flair I learned in bar & beverage class. I hold the bottle the same way I held the bottle of Lambrusco in Bologna, with my thumb inside the bell on the bottom. I pour. I swirl. I do all the pretentious wine tasting motions. They actually have a purpose, I tell myself. I sip. I exhale. I am soothed.

A little while later, after chuckling that Frontera retweeted my tweet about using a *good* wine glass (after all, it was their wine that I passed up tonight!) I decided to complete a more formal tasting of the Bear Boat. It has a shorter finish than I like, but is grassy and prune-y which I love. I stick my nose as far into the glass as it will go. I ponder that maybe that's why I'm not more of a wine person - I don't have that iconic extra long nose that is made for sticking into wine glasses. What do I smell that I did not expect at all? I smelled it repeatedly to confirm... cooked cabbage! It doesn't taste like cooked cabbage but I can't deny that is exactly what the smell is. I don't find it unpleasant but I am confused about it.

Regardless, the wine and ritual of the wine has served it's purpose.

I Didn't Order a Side of Bacteria with That!

2010-08-08T19:24:00.002-04:00

As I get older I am definitely more conscious of germs, bacteria and other pathogens. From being in the food biz I've taken too many classes on cross contamination, hand washing and how to keep patrons from getting sick. Maybe this is why some things I see in restaurants & bars really bother me. Here are a few of the violations I see too frequently:

Bottle opener in the pants. The standard uniform for female bartenders of happy hour places are the ubiquitous black stretch pants and a revealing top. Neither of those options provide a sanitary place to tote a bottle opener. Too often I see it tucked in the side, against the bare skin of the bartender. That is why I will only order draft beer or mixed drinks when I see that. Gross. Also note: pockets are also not acceptable places to carry bottle openers.
Check holder in the pants. I saw this one just the other day. You know that sleek black folder that usually has a credit card logo on the front that your check arrives in? I usually only open these with a napkin. Too often I find them tucked into the pants at the lower back of a waiter. In the violation I witnessed this week, the waiter also had pants that were too low, so I saw the holder stashed immediately touching his underwear. Luckily he wasn't my server or the manager of that establishment would still be talking about the scene I caused. Gross.
Refilling fountain beverages with used glasses. This one is not as obvious, but - if there is a glass that has been sipped from, it should not be placed anywhere near a fountain soda dispenser or beer tap. It's the same as going back to a buffet with a dirty dish, just an easy way to spread germs. I know it can burden a restaurant to use fresh glasses all the time, but I'd soon rather be given a disposable cup than think about what germs my glass encountered on that trip. This is made even more gross with a used straw sticking out of it.

Stay tuned for more to come. What do you see that bothers you in restaurants?

More Pizza Pizza

2010-08-04T20:53:00.015-04:00

"Never trust a round pizza." - Todd English

Yes, I've been on a pizza kick. It's cheap, takes to fridge leftovers and is delicious. After seeing this slide show on SLICE I had to give the grill a try. I finally grilled pizza for the first time! True, I'm not reinventing the wheel - but what a revelation. Now I don't have to fret about keeping the oven on 500 for 3 hours while I heat my stone and bake away in the summer!

You need to have all your ingredients ready to go. There is no running back in the house for something forgotten. In this case, I made the dough and let it rise while I prepped the 4 kinds of cheese, pepperoni, broccoli, quick tomato sauce and some smashed garlic in olive oil to brush on the dough.

Using my 25% whole wheat dough, I made 4 large pizzas. One white because the Hubby loves white pizza. I smeared ricotta and shredded provolone and Asiago and sprinkled broccoli florets and drizzled that all with the garlic oil.Another was smoked Gouda with grilled pepperoni. That's right, I grilled pepperoni before putting dough on the grill. The result? Salty/crispy deliciousness. I didn't dare try to grill tiny round slices of pepperoni so I had to cut it in a more grill friendly shape. It paired well with the smoked Gouda but we found ourselves eating all the pepperoni off that pizza all throughout dinner. Another was a traditional margherita with fresh mozzarella. The fresh mozz was a mistake, giving off too much water when it melted gently. In a 500 degree oven this is not a challenge - but on a grill it does not fare as well. The last pizza had traditional low moisture mozzarella and my quick sauce of crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper and oregano. Did you know that it is loads of oregano that gives pizza sauce it's distinctive taste? It's too much oregano that gives frozen pizza that unbearable flavor - as well as sugar.

Pizza grills very quickly. Trying to capture photos while still on the grill led to some extra charring. Not having a larger table to set the finished pizzas on as well as my camera led to an interesting setup on the hood of my car. My neighbors were intrigued at the smell of a bread oven coming from my driveway and thoroughly amused at the setup on my hood - conveniently not pictured!

Expanding culinary horizons

2010-07-28T23:20:00.002-04:00

Today I finally got to try Honest Tom's Taco Shop! It's a funky taco truck that I heard about through Twitter or Facebook. Aside from their usual spot in University City during the traditional school year, they smartly started popping up in Logan Circle near the Cathedral of Sts Peter and Paul on Fridays during Lent - to sell fish tacos. I appreciated their novel marketing and rave reviews, so I had to get there.

On my way over to 18Th and Vine St., I asked someone who works in the cafe if he'd like some tacos. He wasn't sure what one was. It gave me pause to remember that not everyone travels with their own personal gourmand to expand their culinary horizons.

I had the sweet potato tacos which even as a non-vegetarian I loved! Fresh guac, pico de gallo and what was either a homemade flour tortilla or one that was shown extra special love on the griddle out of the pkg. It was grand.

The lesson? Share your food and your lunch plans! You never know when you can brighten someones day and treat their tastebuds.

Crowd Pleasers

2010-07-19T21:39:00.003-04:00

I love chocolate anything. I've eaten chocolate covered tortilla chips and potato chips, chocolate bars with bacon, chipotle and various salts. I can taste differences in chocolate as if I'm sipping fine wine or describing a great craft micro brew. Thanks to the various food allergies/aversions/phobias I assume are present at gatherings of more than 6 people or so, I hesitate to bring chocolate when I am responsible for dessert or an extra treat. Enter blondies.

Easy to make, essentially a bar cookie, blondies are brownies without the chocolate. They are great plain, but are also pantry friendly to accept the scant 1/4 cup of leftover nut hanging around. I've made them with half whole wheat flour, and have even substituted some olive oil if I was short on butter and a trip to the store would derail me when I'm in "the zone". My favorite combination is pressing salted cashews in the top and sprinkling with toffee pieces before baking.

In my vast cookbook collection I couldn't find a blondie recipe so I turned to the Gods of Google. I stumbled upon a fantastic blog, Whipped - complete with a post full of alliteration as a nod to V for Vendetta! You can whip it up on a whim and feel like a whiz and share the wonderment that is, BLONDIES!

Frog Burger

2010-07-15T23:44:00.003-04:00

My first time email blogging is a burger review! Had some extra time after work before attending an author event at the Free Library (Steven Raichlen!) so I trotted across the very difficult to navigate on foot Ben Franklin Pkwy.

Frog Burger's been getting lots of press over it's chub-burger, touristy named "Love Burger" which features TWO grilled cheese sandwiches for buns! I can rarely resist but here I did and got a standard cheddar cheese burger. They didn't ask for a temp but mine came out a juicy medium. Acceptable for a place I'm not good friends with yet. I also had jalapeño fries and a Kenzinger Ale from Philadelphia Brewing Co ($2 @ happy hour!).

It was well executed. For a gourmet burger stand I want more than a potato roll fresh from a bag for a bun, even though it was grilled. Nor am I a fan of the almost shoe-string cut of the fries. Yet what it comes down to is this : Is it the best burger on the Parkway? YES. Is it destination burger worthy? NO.

What I wonder is, how did they get the license to do this? I know a little too much about opening a business in this neighborhood and it ain't easy! Outdoors and serving alcohol? Who did they blow? Service was great, BTW.

Frog Burger
Address: under the metal airplane on the lawn of The Franklin
Hours: 12-8pm 7 days/wk

Sent from my iPhone

Deep 'Za

2010-07-04T08:29:00.004-04:00

Do not stand between me and a craving. Ever. The other day it was deep dish pizza. I've had both kinds of Chicago deep dish pizza (in Chicago!). The first - the stereotypical kind which consists of at the very minimum a two inch layer of mozzarella topped with a one inch layer of sauce. Cut into it right out of the oven and you will have cheese lava on your table. To me, this is best eaten at room temp or cold the next morning. It's tasty, but it's like ordering a 'Philly Cheese Steak' at a random pizzeria in Florida when what you should really have is a 'Cheese Steak' from Cosmi's, a tiny unassuming deli in deep South Philly.

The second deep dish pizza is the one you spend waiting an hour for a table for, even possibly standing in vehicular traffic because the sidewalk is too crowded with people waiting for the same table you are. It's from Pizano's which I've already mentioned. What to do when you can't head to Chicago on a whim for a pizza craving (and a visit with my Godson!)? Get out the Google and slice some mozzarella.

I had tried to recreate it before. I used my standard pizza dough recipe in my deep dish clay baker, pre-baked the crust, added sliced mozz and some toppings. It was OK. The crust was all wrong. You can't have a crispy/chewy crust with mile high toppings. My latest research revealed some cornmeal in the crust. It made sense to me. Cornmeal would retain crunch but minimize chew. I decided to replace 25% of the flour with cornmeal and set out to make the dough. Every time I make pizza dough I recall how I LOVE to make dough and don't make it often enough.

After it rose for a little over an hour, I oiled the clay baker, set up the dough and baked it. If you put the toppings on raw dough, you will get raw dough under cooked toppings in your finished product. While it was baking I sliced the mozz, sauteed mushrooms with some onion, spread on some crushed tomatoes (the sauce cooks along with the pizza), sprinkled it with oregano and some thick slices of Sicilian pepperoni which would self-fry in the oven and become little pepperoni crackings by the time it was cooked. All baking is done at 500 degrees, don't be shy about oven temp! After 20 minutes of cooking and 10 minutes of resting (this is crucial and hard to resist) the feasting begins.

The dough recipe will yield leftover dough. If I was thinking ahead I would have popped it into the freezer for deep dish pizza on demand in the future, but I spread it out and topped it with some of the leftover sauteed mushrooms and Asiago cheese so we had a little appetizer while the pizza was cooling.

How to Cook Everything, Except Shrimp

2010-05-23T10:12:00.003-04:00

It's never been a secret on this blog, that I would eat shit - if Mark Bittman cooked it and declared it was fabulous. I adore his food philosophies about cooking techniques, flavor combinations and serving styles. You won't find him making anything that includes molecular gastronomy, and the iPhone app that accompanies his book is the bee's knees.

There is ONE area that I have major differences of opinion with him about. The timing on shrimp cookery. His recipes repeatedly list shrimp cooking times that if you followed, would yield chewy, overcooked, inedible crustaceans. Here's just one example. If it took 10 minutes to cook you would cry at how much shrimp you've wasted. I've even emailed him about a recipe that appears on epicurious of his where all the reviews talk about the dish being wildly overcooked. No response.

Now, I can grant him this ONE oversight - but I'm tickled how it is so consistent.

Uova in Purgatorio

2010-05-08T11:58:00.006-04:00

If you've learned anything about me from my blog, you know that I love witty food! Eggs in purgatory falls in that category. This morning's breakfast is in honor of some well spoken gentlemen who got us out of bed by ringing our doorbell. Now, it was almost 11am so we can't be angry but anyone who disrupts our slumber on the weekend is subject to penalties.

Our at-home date movie last night was the recent remake of The Taking of Pelham 123 with John Travolta, Denzel Washington and the dude who plays a bad guy in every single movie, Luis Guzman. This tangent will make sense in a moment, I promise. I prefer the 1974 version of Pelham with Walter Mathau and Robert Shaw (the rugged sailor from Jaws) but that isn't important. The new Pelham features all the typical, iconic, NYC scenery. The ride over the Manhattan Bridge looking down on the South Street Seaport was the view of my daily commute. The other side of the bridge has The Watchtower, which was the distribution site for the well known Jehovah's Witness publication. I made note of it to Paul, because it is indeed an impressive building soon to be for sale if you're in the market. I have $120 mil laying around, don't you?

This morning our doorbell was ringing. By the chime I knew it was the front door, not our most used kitchen door. That is the best thing about wireless doorbells, having a different chime for each door - highly recommended. This told me the people at the door didn't know us so I sent Paul out of bed to see who it was. It was two men passing out The Watchtower! I believe this is only the second time I've been called on by this group since living in PA. NY and AZ were much more active.

Finally on to my witty food. I thought I was being all professional roasting breakfast sausage for this morning while we ate dinner last night. Turned out I forgot about them in the oven and well, we didn't have any breakfast sausage for this morning. I did have some leftover tomato sauce (a staple in my fridge) and some fresh mozz that had to be used up. Everyone knows how I love poached eggs, so I poached eggs in the tomato sauce, added some heat (it is purgatory, it can't be all pleasant) and placed the finished product atop slices of the fresh cheese to melt and I poured coffee. Tasty and witty.

Cotton Candy Seafood with Jose Andres

2010-05-02T22:53:00.003-04:00

I am not a fan of molecular gastronomy. I am a fan of Jose Andres, what he has brought to this country, and what he gives back.

I am also a fan of now knowing how to add video here. Watch out world!

You Say it's Your Birthday?

2010-05-02T20:54:00.003-04:00

"Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread and pumpkin pie." - Jim Davis, creator of Garfield.

Preparations were underway for my Father-in-law's 70th birthday. The party was to be a surprise, at a casual Italian restaurant nearby. Our family tradition states that although there is a party planned, there will also be a mandatory after party. While there was an equally traditional pound cake birthday cake for the restaurant, my Mother-in-law was baking an apple spice cake for the after party. "He asked for carrot cake, but I don't know how to make that, so he's getting apple," she said. A light bulb went off in my head. I have carrots and a kick ass recipe for carrot cake cookies! Time to make a present to accompany the bottle of well aged single malt Scotch to mark the occasion.

Notice the picture is NOT carrot cake cookies. Here is the progression of my baking energy on a Saturday morning after a late Friday night out: 1 - Thinking, "Gee, I have to go to the store to get some more butter and cream cheese for the cookies." 2 - Go to the store, but also stop at Chick-fil-A to bring home their irresistible chicken biscuits for breakfast. 3 - Eat breakfast, lay on the couch because I'm still not fully awake and now have a full stomach. 4 - Think, "I really need to start the cookies." 5 - Continue to lay on the couch. You get the idea. The clock was ticking and we absolutely could not miss the surprise part of the party. I decided a carrot cake would save labor time. Throw it in the oven, cook, cool, frost. Easy-peasy as Jamie Oliver would say.

I preheat the oven, grate the carrots, decide that I know more than the food geniuses at Epicurious and alter their recipe. I sub half the sugar in the recipe for brown for added flavor and moisture, reduce total sugar by 25% just because, add a cup of raisins because carrot cake SHOULD have raisins, sub ginger extract for fresh because that's what I had in the pantry. I go to get my cake pans and... I don't have any cake pans! I use disposable ones because recipes require so many different sizes I don't want to stock them all. Also, I don't have to be delicate with disposables, worrying about scratching a dainty non-stick surface, etc. I didn't have any! What I did have was a small arsenal of disposable muffin tins leftover from a healthy muffin kick a few months ago. I also had cupcake cups. I was in business!

In the end, cupcakes are more work than cakes but less work than cookies. No one had the hassle of slicing a cake, and the look on my Father-in-law's face when I handed him one of 3 containers and told him these were only for him was priceless. ♥

I Love Breakfast!

2010-03-20T13:05:00.004-04:00

Scrapple. It's one of the things I didn't know existed until I moved to Philadelphia. Also in that category: water ice that's different than Italian ice, cheese steaks made into hoagies, and people that dance down Broad St on New Year's Day in lavish costumes. It can be elegantly referred to as breakfast pate, or not so elegantly as a breakfast hot dog - as in, you do not want to ask what's in it. Nevertheless, when cooked properly it is crispy on the outside, lovely and soft on the inside and porky all over. This morning I served it atop a thick slice of cornbread with a maple syrup drizzle alongside a fluffy delicate mound of scrambled eggs. Not pictured: hot dark roast coffee. It's going to be a tasty weekend.

Snowed In

2010-02-25T11:36:00.004-05:00

Here in Philadelphia we're having the snowiest winter ever. Ever. Recently, during the second blizzard in a week, I was in full baking mode after reading every status update and planting every Farmville acre on Facebook. I whipped up this recipe from Epicurious for brownie cupcakes with peanut butter frosting. The frosting was a peanut butter - butter cream. In my head it would taste like a Reese's peanut butter cup. Turns out, the frosting tastes exactly like a nutter butter cookie. Yum! The cupcake didn't pair well with the frosting, however. It was a rich brownie but the texture was distracting from the flavor of the frosting. A soft devil's food cupcake would be the perfect combo with this terrific frosting. That did not stop us from eating them all, and dueling to defeat for the last one.

It's snowing again today. Maybe it's time to turn the chocolate and peanut butter combo into a cake?

Darkly Dreaming Dexter

2010-01-20T19:43:00.002-05:00

I love Dexter! Who doesn't? I also don't have Showtime so I'm 2 seasons behind via Netflix. No spoilers, please. Watching a series via DVD in marathon sessions is also more rewarding than a weekly fix for me. When I watch a disk I get to see the opening credits 3 or 4 times in one night. It gave me something to think about besides an average Joe guy that happens to be a vigilante killer. That chops up criminals. And throws them in the bay.

The opening credits are all about Dexter's morning sequence and he is such a good serial killer he has breakfast everyday. My concern is the order of events. After shaving he cuts a piece of ham steak and sears it. And eats it. Then he fries an egg in brown butter and breaks the yolk, serving with a splash of what I hope is hot sauce. And eats it. Separately from the ham. He then brews a pot of French press coffee and squeezes blood orange juice. I get the symbolism but blood orange juice isn't especially good for drinking straight. Dexter then puts on his shoes and lastly his shirt and heads to his job at the police station with too much SPF on his lips. At least that's why I assume his lips are always purplish-pink on the show.

Who cooks the components of breakfast separately and eats them in a similar fashion? Coffee cannot wait until the end either. It should be sipped leisurely while you ponder the crappy day ahead, or grill your significant other about their day to come, right?

I'm going to go make sure the air conditioner doesn't have any glass slides in it.

Since you been gone...

2010-01-20T19:32:00.004-05:00

It's been nearly six months since I've blogged. I've certainly been eating and cooking in that time yet have developed a preference for sharing food stuffs through facebook. With share buttons and status updates from my iPhone, I can facebook in my sleep. Yes, I used facebook as a verb. Your point?

I will try to be here more often and not stress over including perfect pics with every post and not succumbing to the anxiety of thinking my every self published monologue will be the next cover story for the NYT Dining and Wine section. Can you see how stressful I can make this? I hope you'll come back & leave a comment or two so I don't think the only people that read this are East Asian autobot spammers.

Speaking of Spam - I've still never had it! I might have to change that soon. And blog about it.

The Next Wave for Oceana

2009-07-30T21:54:00.005-04:00

The restaurant Oceana in NY always held a special place in my heart. NYT Off the menu reports it has moved! When I was in culinary school, I approached then sous chef Michael Schenk at a food fundraiser and asked if I might be able to do my externship at Oceana. He said that they were highly coveted positions and they usually asked people to 'stage' first before setting it in stone. Stage is a time for a young chef to test a place out, and vice versa, for free. Still a common practice and very necessary. The very next night I walked into the teeny kitchen at Oceana. I didn't dare tell anyone it was my first time in a real restaurant kitchen. My nerves were so shaky I could barely plate the hearts of romaine caesar salad. Being German, Michael Schenk gave lessons on how to pour German beer in between expediting orders. The kitchen was run by uber successful Rick Moonen. It was intense. Everything smelled delicious. They took pastry so seriously there was an entirely separate kitchen for it. It was brand new to me. It was surreal.

I persevered for over a month, about 4 nights a week. I learned to chiffonnade. I made taramasalata but never learned how to spell it. It was the age of 'everything' crusted tuna loin and I was in awe that someone worked inches from a deep fryer all night. Everything had to be perfect. They cared. They taught. They were never degrading. In the end they weren't enrolled in my school's approved program and I had to leave for another restaurant. I bought Paul there for dinner, it was comp-ed (yay! $$$) and the head waiter said he recognized only my eyes, which he would see peering through the service window. They used the old school method of head waiters and side waiters. The head waiters were all in their 50s and did not tolerate the 'can't have garlic, onions cut crosswise or greens that have not been pre-chewed for me' crowd.

My time there was my first exposure to late night imbibing with the guys - this was my first experience as the only female in a kitchen, one that would happen too often. Monkey Bar across the street, still there, still notorious for changing owners more often than the bar mats - was divine.

In school I won a contest to choose the name for the new student newspaper (a la carte) and won a free dinner to any restaurant I chose. Paul and I went back to Oceana and racked up a $300 bill. I ordered calvados with an apple tart for dessert and got a rewarding nod of approval over the reading glasses of the aging waiter. To this day when we encounter a similar method of approval, we call it the 'calvados nod'. We also went there for a few anniversaries. This is how I remember white asparagus is in season in late April - it was always on the menu at that time.

The inside of Oceana was made to look like an ocean liner. The walls decked with murals to make you think you were on the open sea. They were best known for a copper fish that hung above the second floor bar, all nestled in a narrow but tall townhouse. I don't doubt that the same quality will endure in the new location. Oceana attracts and develops culinary talents (Christopher Lee before he was a somebody!) and will continue to do so. Translating the character of a townhouse with a restaurant with so much history will be hard to mimic in a modern, redesigned space. Rose just let go of Jack and he is sinking to the ocean floor.

Recipes that work, really

2009-07-27T23:00:00.002-04:00

As a rule, I don't believe in paying for access to a website. I pay for Internet service, and that's plenty. Even for the once yearly, research only, porn search - there's plenty to be had for free. Same with recipes. Cook's Illustrated is different. Their content is worth paying for. Videos, recipes, product and cookware testing - Cook's Illustrated satisfies the annoying 2 year old inside that only asks, "Why?".

Until July 31st yearly access is 50% off. I recently ditched many food mag subscriptions because I found that I toss them into a pile that I intend to read, but don't get to. I use this website more than any mag, and this is cheaper!

Go. Really. Celebrate Christmas in July and buy yourself something useful. Now.
Cook's Illustrated

Crab Eggs Benny

2009-07-26T13:13:00.005-04:00

I love poached eggs & hollandaise sauce should be a food group. On a rare weekend when I don't have the roommate lurking to see if the coffee is ready, I am free to create and tap into the culinary skill which is easily suppressed when I'm perturbed.

Perched on rounds of toasted potato bread are lump crab cakes, poached eggs and super lemony hollandaise. It reminds me I need to make some herbed white wine vinegar - project for next week! I really do want to attempt some Scotch eggs as my next breakfast project. Soon! I can't beleive it has been more than 2 years since salmon eggs benny.

Dagoba

2009-07-26T12:59:00.003-04:00

I have eaten a lot of chocolate in my time. Amedei still reigns king for me. I picked up this Dagoba bar at Whole Foods - 74% dark chocolate with dried cranberries and raisins. What surprised me most was the gold ingot format of the bars. The divisions often represent portions of bars - not here. Nearly impossible to divide the bar with these divisions other than in half. I proclaimed it, "Not terribly nuanced, but not bad for $2.99."

Braciole

2009-06-07T21:59:00.014-04:00

I hadn't had Braciole in at least 6 years since leaving Brooklyn. Then, yesterday, my new facebook food friend, Kevin D Weeks posted a recipe for it. I longed for the days of walking to Bari pork store on 18th Ave in Bensonhurst. When I gave the Philadelphia Pizza Club a tour of Brooklyn, we stopped at Bari before heading back to Philly. They have some of the best cheese and parsley sausage around, and Braciole, of course.

Yes, we all know that Braciole in some circles refers to a different kind of, um, meat. Even the Braciole wiki refers to the slang meaning. Make a dirty joke, grow up, and get over it. I've never made my own Braciole, but supermarkets in Philaburbia seem to never have heard of it. Below, my journey to Braciole.

I started with a boneless pork shoulder, great for braising.

Took the net off, letting it get room temp for easier pounding.

Making good use of the food processor, shredded provolone.

Took the crusts off a loaf of roasted garlic bread for the filling.

Chopped parsley and garlic.

Action shot! Adding oil to the breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley and grated parm.

Finished filling.

Chef snack! Bread crust with filling, provolone and a drizzle of evo.

Pork fillets. Gave my butcher skills a workout.

Larger pieces about to be pounded.

Pressed the filling on.

Provolone on one side so it doesn't all fall out.

Rolled and secured with toothpicks. Use butcher twine if you're adventurous.

Fast forward, brown in pot - deglaze with red wine - add tomato sauce, simmer, cover, braise for 45 min

The finished product. Not in photo - rigatoni.

It was delicious - and I gave my husband the Braciole. ;)

KFC

2009-05-06T00:17:00.003-04:00

Wasn't their motto, "We do chicken right"? Well, I can certainly see why they ditched it. I knew that KFC fried chicken is a guilty pleasure of Pinky's. He worked at Roy Rogers in high school and developed a taste for it, then most of the Roy's disappeared. He was kind enough to have it on nights when I wouldn't be home for dinner - and dispose of the packaging before I got home. The first time I took a bite (age 25 or so) the salt content knocked me over. Sometimes I would steal a piece of his if it was in the fridge. Luckily, it has been in the fridge less and less since we discovered I make pretty decent fried chicken (and slamming buffalo wings!).

Fast forward, present day, fast food is sometimes in our rotation after the gym. That can't make sense, can it? Well, if you're avoiding carbs, and it's 8pm - the last thing I'm doing after a long day is making dinner. Sometimes we head to Boston Market where it's easy to assemble a carb friendly meal (double side of creamed spinach or creamed spinach and broccoli or green beans), other times we might head to the salad bar of our gourmet grocery. Last night we went to KFC for their grilled chicken which is being promoted by Sandra Lee. That should have been a sign. I despise this woman mostly because she matches her shirt to the background decor on her show and it makes me want to puke. Pinky said he had KFC's grilled chicken when he was fully a bachelor one of the other million times we've tried to avoid carbs, and it was decent. Well. Last night's chicken was far from decent.

Have you ever seen a grill in a KFC? Nope. I submit that the chicken is flash grilled with the skin off for appearance sake, then frozen and shipped where it sits in a hot oven for hours until someone is silly enough to order it. If they left the skin on it would help the flavor, but not the fat content, and grilled chicken skin doesn't exactly adhere well to the meat. The piece of chicken was so small I thought they were doing a Cornish hen promo for a minute. Dry, sad, a shameful waste of an animal who gave its life for my stomach.

And the sides. Yikes. Pinky's green beans may have been green at some point, but were not when they got to his plate. Coleslaw was acceptable, and my corn on the cob wasn't awful, until they told me they only had ketchup packs of government invented margarine to smear on it. My side salad would have been acceptable if they provided anything other than a SPORK to eat it with. How very junior high of them. Wait, the food in junior high was better. The 'veal' patties weren't half bad when you piled it with every condiment available. I should have taken a cue from when I ordered the salad and they reacted as if the health department just walked in. I take it that is not a common request there. Blah.

Late Dinner

2009-05-03T22:46:00.001-04:00

Empty out the fridge scramble: potatoes, grilled asparagus and black forest ham - scrambled into eggs, topped with crumbled blue cheese. Even better with cracked black pepper.

Taste the soup!

2009-04-14T23:34:00.005-04:00

I love a last moment to shine. On this chilly, rainy Spring day I thought about split pea soup on the way to work. I don't like hot soup in the summer. I just can't do it. Maybe some tortellini with broth, but no chicken noodle, no kale cold remedy soup, no spicy Asian broth-y pho-like anything.

Forgive the horn tooting, but I am a master soup blender/puree-er. In a professional kitchen, when you are first relegated to the salad station, after you prep your station you get to do the tasks no one else will do. In some cases not even the illegal immigrant hires will do these tasks. Peel grapes. Surgically remove veins from raw foie gras, puree soup. Not "make" soup mind you - this is after another chef has crafted the soup it gets passed to you. First you puree the soup with a home-depot version of a hand blender, then into the almighty Vita Mix blender, strain through a chinois "chino fino" in kitchen Spanish, using a ladle to press the solids. Depending on the soup sometimes you'd have to repeat this ordeal. White gazpacho was the worst. Trying to get stale bread and almonds smooth was an uphill battle. If I never see another chestnut again I'll be OK. Later on in my past career I never worked the grill station that put out the soup so I never got to make soup and pass it to an alternate peon, but I relished being done with those tasks when I took on hot appetizers & risotto.

Translating this skill to my home cooking life, I especially love soup during a week when I'm trying to only spend $50 on groceries for 7 days, when it's cold, and when there is an odd leftover. I can build an amazingly fast soup with a rotisserie chicken, some boxed stock, carrots, spinach and pasta (a MacGuyver recipe!) but I adore pureed vegetable based soups. One I make repeatedly - sweet potato with caramelized onions. I roast sweet potatoes, slice and caramelize a load of onions, and combine them with some stock in the food processor. Swirl in some apple butter and it's an elegant first course. Simmering some vegetables with onions, maybe garlic, and stock and then pureeing is the method for any veggie soup. This works for cauliflower, mushrooms, peas, asparagus, parsnips, and carrots. For carrot soup I like to throw in a load of ginger and big scoop of peanut butter, and garnish with wasabi peanuts. Easy. Cheap. When I want a garnish for cauliflower soup I slice up some Aidell's chicken apple sausage. For tonight's split pea I made a quick ham stock with the Easter Ham bone, sauteed onions in olive oil, added the split peas, stock and herbs with a bay leaf wrapped around it and puttered around facebook while it simmered. Then I pureed it, put it back in the pot, and added some leftover ham and shredded carrots because peas and carrots are funny together.

Maybe this summer I'll work on some cucumber soups (garnish with curry-coconut sorbet??) but I am retiring the soup portion of my dijon colored Le Creuset 6 QT until the fall.

Not Pure Premium Packaging

2009-02-24T20:41:00.003-05:00

Not many products have memorable packaging. Sunny delight does. Philadelphia cream cheese does. Bombay sapphire does. Now, imagine Philly cream cheese in a red tub instead of it's classic silver rectangle. Imagine Sunny D looking like a gallon of milk. And Bombay sapphire, imagine that as a behind-the-counter fifth of a liter instead of it's gorgeous blue glass. This entire departure from recognizable packaging is what Tropicana did. Old packaging on the left, new on the right. When I first saw the new carton at a meeting last month, I thought it was a generic brand. On it, 100% orange is more prominent than Tropicana. I likened it to a bland, white label black print store brand of canned beans. The only intriguing part of the new package was that the orange pour cap now looked like the outside of an orange. "Interesting, I wonder how much that adds to the price?" I thought.

I know, too much obsessing over a carton. Same juice and that's all that matters, right? Not to consumers. Tropicana is ditching the new packaging and returning to the familiar. Smart. Click my witty title for full, journalistic write-up.

The Curious Cheese Plate

2009-02-08T22:30:00.003-05:00

I am not one to chat with people on the checkout line. While I am interested in what people are buying, I am not interested in talking to them. I had the most intriguing interaction last week at Whole Foods. A woman on line in front of me was buying bulk Spanish Cocktail Mix and it wasn't ringing up in the register. She looked at me and apologized for the delay. I told her it happened simply because I was in line behind her and chuckled. I told her the mix she was buying was tasty so it was OK. She looked at my items (3 gallons of milk and a few quarts of half & half) and said she should drink more milk like me. I told her that my purchase was for a coffee bar and that I am actually lactose intolerant. We giggled at the image of my buying so much dairy. On a side note, despite being expensive for many things, Whole Foods is cheaper for dairy than restaurant supply houses. They are conscience of their price of items that people know and remember the cost of.

I notice the rest of her groceries, and she had at least 4 cheeses, all with 'stuff' in them. Gouda with cumin, Gouda with mustard seed, Cahill's cheddar with Guinness and with sage. At the time I assumed she was serving them all together but as I write this I realize there may have been other plans for them. Served together they break a guideline for a cheese plate to not include more than one cheese with 'stuff' 'in it other than blue cheese. What was she doing with them? Blogging about them? Testing them as burger toppings? Giving them separately as gifts? I can't get my mind around it and should have asked her. Trivial I know, but as I don't socialize with other shoppers, this encounter sticks in my mind.

Leftovers

2008-11-29T13:52:00.002-05:00

Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday. Many are just times to share special foods with friends and family for me, not necessarily a religious celebration. Thanksgiving is the time when everything is supposed to be about the food anyway. A win-win situation for me.

Over the years I've adapted quite a few recipes for leftovers that I look forward to after the feast. Turkey pot pie is my hands down favorite. You can dump in any leftover gravy and veggies and it freezes well if you're at your turkey threshold. Turkey enchiladas, Monte cristos made with french toast, ham, Swiss and turkey, turkey chili - you get the idea. Often it's the side dish leftovers that end up in the garbage disposal abyss. Today's breakfast goes in the side dish leftover category.

I had raw sage sausage from my cornbread stuffing and maple roasted sweet potatoes and butternut squash. Sauteed together with pantry staple onions, I had the makings of Thanksgiving Hash. Metropolitan Bakery's Pumpkin Pecan Cranberry bread was on the side with cream cheese and pumpkin butter. If I was working as a chef again, this would be on the menu this weekend.

Soy Sauce, Steak & Shampoo

2008-09-28T21:20:00.003-04:00

One of my favorite places to waste time on the Internet is GroceryLists.Org. It appeals to the voyeur in me - knowing what others intend to buy. Some lists are hysterical, and the typos add to the humor. For example, "Floss picks, ketchup, bourbin". You might expect that a shopping list read like a recipe, simply withholding the quantities of ingredients. Not true. Usually we have some ingredients already - that may be the way we chose a recipe in the first place. The list supplements what is missing. A list may also be a mini game plan for the week. On the left is mine.

Before heading to the store today, I asked my husband what he wanted for dinner this week. "Anything easy for a man to throw together," he replied. Pasta with pre-made sauce, jambalaya rice mix, and hot dogs fall into this category for him. More like heating than actual cooking. I appreciate this because it means I don't have to cook, despite it not being exactly gourmet.

Dinner and snacks are the only meals I shop for as we both usually eat lunch out and unfortunately we both usually overlook breakfast or also purchase it at work. I am anticipating working long days this week and buying dinner on the way home is too costly and often unhealthy. I took this afternoon where the men would be relegated to the living room with marathon sessions of football to conjure a magnum opus in the kitchen.

What would you assume was on the menu from reading the list? Chili powder gives it away a bit - one item is turkey and black bean chili. The small can of tomatoes goes in there too. For the slow cooker - the chicken (turned out to be thighs), onions, bay leaf & stock to make Emeril's smothered chicken, served over polenta. The red onion, garlic (question mark was to check stock before leaving the house) and celery were for a chilled calamari and shrimp salad for dinner tonight. Jambalaya along with chorizo for the hubby to make dinner, and ginger beer for mixing up Jameson and gingers, my favorite drink of late. My list is complete with my own typographical error. Natural cheetos. That may have been out of my own embarrassment of writing that down, yet found in the natural foods section, Cheetohs brand Natural cheesy poofs are yummy.

What's on your list?

Tasting with your mind

2008-09-01T11:27:00.002-04:00

The Baldy was mentioning his excitement about football season beginning this week. At Lincoln Financial Field, home of our Iggles, the food is great. Philadelphia institutions like Tony Luke's, Termini and Chickie & Pete's are at the stadium in full force. Chickie & Pete's is famous for Crab Fries - french fries dusted with old bay seasoning served with provolone sauce for dipping. (Insert drool here)

That catapulted a craving. Old bay + potatoes. Old bay home fries - roasted old bay potatoes as a bed for crab eggs Benedict. With that we have a breakfast project for next weekend! The thought of tasting that delayed my sleep for a few hours after that.

Hollandaise sauce isn't exactly Labor Day dinner fare, so as I make my first attempt at grilling pizza this evening, there will be a pizza with roasted old bay potatoes and provolone. Stay tuned for the post game report.

Not Lost in Translation

2008-08-23T10:04:00.008-04:00

I love watching British chefs cook. The most appealing is Jamie Oliver. Part of it is due to his wholesome image that makes him perfect for bringing home to mum, and his messy faux-hawk says he's bad enough to make a Saturday night good. The other part is his food. Known as the "Naked Chef" his food is simple and straight forward. No molecular gastronomy, non pretentious, nothing unnecessary.

Today he made his own ketchup so he felt the need to grill a simple steak and grill potatoes alongside. Although his is speaking English, sometimes a guide is helpful.

Whack = Put "Whack it in the oven"

Liquidizer = Blender

Whiz = Whirl or process in food processor

Aubergine = Eggplant

Chicago Meeting of the Big Eaters Club

2008-08-16T14:18:00.019-04:00

When traveling, it is always important to sample local fare. I don't mean locally grown produce in it's full terrior. I mean - where Joe Schmo likes to go on Friday night with the guys. This is Calvin Trillin's credo. During a recent road trip to visit my bestest friend and her newly expanded family (my new Godson!) in Chicago, The Baldy and I got our eat on. Visiting 4 restaurants and a bar in 2 days is a good way to start.

The first stop, Portillo's , for a classic Chicago Dog. Donning relish, raw onion, mustard, dill pickle, celery salt and hot sport peppers (everyone knows I always opt out of raw tomato) this is a busy dog. Served on a steamed poppy seed bun, this dog combo is another Chicago staple born at the World's Fair in 1893. This is a product I think Philadelphia and it's love of messy, high grease content, hand held food would thoroughly embrace. The bustling scene of the self seating restaurant which also features a pasta joint for good measure is similar to that of our Reading Terminal Market. On the line I had a never before ordering experience that worked - someone took our order while waiting on a long line, wrote in on a bag that you hand to the cashier. Your food is presented in the same bag the order was on. Smart, progressive - I like it. Imagine that at Jim's Steaks?

The Maxwell Street Polish was an exciting find also at Portillo's. The enchanting crunch of this all beef sausage with mustard and grilled onions could be an everyday food for me.

After the first course of our lunch, it was time for deep dish pizza. Pizano's is always included in the hotly debated "Best Pizza" category. Chicago had a pizza schism similar to Lombardi's and Tottono's in New York. Ike Sewell founded Pizzeria Uno, and Rick Malnati, founder of Pizano's, claims to be the inventor of the deep dish while working at Pizzeria Uno. Strife always tastes good. Here we experienced another first in restaurant service. Due to the long wait for a table and long pizza cooking time (20+ minutes) you can place your order while waiting for a table. This way the pizza arrives shortly after being seated. Kudos also to the hostess, who remembered and used my name when I ordered our pizza after examining the menu on the sidewalk.

The pizza was incredible. This is coming from an occasional member of the Pizza Club of Philadelphia, who led members on a pizza tour of Brooklyn, and considers pizza a food group. Normally I only hold court with thin crust pizzas. I also subscribe to the "don't trust a round pizza" philosophy of Todd English. Pizano's deep dish pizza goes against all my beliefs and yet my taste buds were enthralled. Even their butter crust is against my principles. A healthy, not obscene layer of sliced mozzarella, topped with house made sausage, onions and mushrooms, with a suggestion of tomato on top. We ordered a small thinking it would be just a few bites, enough to give us a good sampling - ample after just having dogs. That turned out to only refer to the first piece of pizza. The second piece was eaten solely on the basis of "could not resist". We got over our objection to having to eat pizza with a knife and fork. The faux pas was worth it.

After eating for almost 3 hours, we waddled over to Lake Shore Drive and enjoyed ocean-sized Lake Michigan where we sat, contemplating a nap as our stomachs were filled to capacity. Our other visits warrant their own post, stay tuned.

Fig & Blue Pizza

2008-07-07T20:30:00.003-04:00

The pizza dough mentioned in the below post was a batch made by my Sister-in-law, Kari. She is a great culinary apprentice and sous chef. Recently having saved me from a Ramsay style kitchen nightmare when I got myself in over my head hosting a baby shower in my house, Kari is always eager to learn and doesn't flinch when I give her mundane tasks like making ham snow for these deviled eggs.

Kari is also full of great ideas. When we were embarking on a day of pizza this past weekend, I suggested a fig jam and blue cheese pizza. I had made the combo before on crostini as an hors d'oeuvre and thought it would translate well to a pizza. It did. Kari suggested adding some caramelized onions we made as a topping choice along with a sprinkling of home grown rosemary that she received. This took it from a nice "out there" kind of pizza to one that should be on the menu at restaurants that serve pizza.

Burger King or Buffalo Burger?

2008-07-07T13:02:00.004-04:00

When my husband and I happen to be reading in the same room, we read interesting or witty snippets to each other. This book has me reading entire chapters to him. Michael Pollan examines the duality of an American carnivore's life and the new American paradox "a notably unhealthy people obsessed by the idea of eating healthily."

This is evident of my dining over the past holiday weekend. Venturing to Burger King to investigate their new Steakhouse Burger (terrible but the fried onions were a nice touch) while suggesting cutting the white flour in a pizza dough recipe with some whole wheat, even if only as 20% of the total flour. 20% by the way is the perfect amount for the dough not to taste "healthy".

Check back for book updates as I continue.

Back on the Saddle Again

2008-07-07T12:48:00.002-04:00

Yes, I've been gone. Work and life have gotten in the way of a great way to relax. More to come soon.

Mmm... Anchovy Extract

2008-05-04T09:55:00.006-04:00

I love finding odd ingredients in food. While anchovy is certainly no stranger to Caesar dressing, I didn't know there was such a thing as ANCHOVY EXTRACT.

I consider Ken's to be a reasonably premium brand of bottled dressings. If I am having a moment of weakness and reach for a bottled brand, I usually do select Ken's if I am not opting for one of the boutique super-thicks in the produce section. is anchovy extract that much easier to work with than anchovy paste? Is it a cost issue? Anchovy extract could possibly cost $.001 and the anchovy paste might cost $.015 per packet. Ah! Well then, an empire founded on fish extract. Yak.

An inspection of T.Marzetti's Supreme Caesar in my fridge showed that they use anchovies straight. Bravo.

Could you imagine it at a gathering, "What do you do for work?" "I'm a fish extract salesman." "No way! Me too!"

Chocolate Corn

2008-04-29T21:42:00.005-04:00

Photo by LK

Last summer I picked up a bag of Dale and Thomas sweet and spicy BBQ popcorn. I was addicted. Sweet, spicy, salty, crunchy. I sound like a Taco Bell commercial. Anywho, I found some more of their products at my favorite former employer slash gourmet mart in the form of a chocolate popcorn bar. The chocolate in it is wonderful. Available in dark or milk chocolate, I opted for dark, as always. The popcorn is coated with caramel to keep it crunchy. I also love the box it came in. The only thing I would change is the thickness of the chocolate in the bar overall. It is so thick that by the time you bite through it, you miss the crunch of the caramel and popcorn. I would compare it to a more nutty Krackle.

$3 Beer

2008-04-29T21:33:00.003-04:00

Foobooz reports $3 Bell's Beer at South Philly Tap Room this Thursday. Run!

Negative x Negative = Positive

2008-04-22T20:23:00.003-04:00

In a quick review of my latest posts, I've been cranky. Very cranky. It's reflective of my mood of late. In celebration of flowers blooming and dormant things making a return this month, I will bring some positivity to this blog.

Last week I made a super tasty pork rib roast. There were 5 ribs that I Frenched poorly as I haven't done it since culinary school. I seared it with some Penzey's tandoori spice, S&P and pan roasted it with onions and apple juice in the bottom of the pan. After roasting, I pureed the onions, juice and drippings with some applesauce and just a dash of BBQ sauce. It made one of the most interesting sauces I have ever had. The onions caramelized during roasting, the juice and apple sauce made for awesome texture and just the right level of apple flavor. It was grown up pork chops and apple sauce. I made cornbread cakes on the side, sauteing jalapenos and scallions, and dropping batter on top of them. In my head this sounded easier than making cornbread, but the procedure was make corn bread batter and fry it rather than let it bake all by itself. Maybe I was drawn to the fried aspect. I wasn't thrilled with the combo of corn product and apple sauce. Next time I'll try moderne latkes of sweet potato! If I had a BBQ joint, or a steak house, this would be on the menu. I guess this is as positive as I get. :)

Dinners No Longer in My Repertoire

2008-04-09T08:50:00.004-04:00

It really is true, nothing tastes just like Mom made. In my case, I crave my Mom's meatballs and chicken parm. My husband noted that while mine don't taste like my Mom's, they are more culinarily correct and upscale. That's fine and dandy, but as the years of her passing saunter by, food is one of the ways I honor our time together. Because eating them is often a disappointment now, I am reluctant to make them.

This instance occurs in my new family as well. My sister in law and I have been thoroughly instructed to master my Mother in law's coleslaw, Jewish apple cake, and mashed potatoes. Despite wonderful instruction on each of the recipes, we often fall short of transporting our husbands back to the dinner table of their childhood.

What familial food do you crave?

Morimoto I'm Not

2008-04-07T21:29:00.006-04:00

I have been thinking about sushi all week. I had it 3 times last week. My new favorite store bought sushi is from Whole Foods. Their varieties made with brown rice are quite filling and there's never a question about freshness. Of all the things I have made, sushi isn't one of them. I consulted the honorable Mr. Bittman on the makings of sushi rice. What I produced wasn't bad, but was a bit overcooked. I poached shrimp in a quick dashi of ginger, scallions and soy. Lined here with spicy Sriracha mayo & cilantro. Note: this photo shows unrolled sushi with a bit too much rice.

A completed roll with some lettuce. I wasn't adventurous enough to make an inside out roll or a larger maki.

The table complete with pots of tea for everyone, and some chirashi sushi with shrimp and black sesame seeds in rice bowls. This meal really fed my soul.

Worst Review Ever

2008-03-23T09:53:00.004-04:00

I often delight in the ridiculousness of comments on Epicurious. People write about how they changed the recipe and then review the changed recipe. I'm guilty of it myself. Here, is something I would NEVER confess to online:

05/18/02A Cook from Racine, WI
After reading the reviews I just had to make this for a company dinner. I needed enough mushrooms for 8 people which took me nearly 8 hours to find in area woods, never having looked for these before. At dinner everybody just loved the dish. However, its what happened about 30 min. after that was the problem. I'll just say having 8 people trying to use the bathroom at the same time was very embarrassing. I later found out that in this area we spray for insects which makes the wild morels undigestable by humans. Next time I'll use portabello, that is if anyone will eat it again.

The last line should read, "That is if anyone will eat my cooking again." The cook notes she'd use portobellos next time. I think a great substitute for morels would be dried porcini. Both have a meaty earthiness that portobellos just can't shake a stick at. Props for foraging for mushrooms, though. The original recipe is for fettuccine with morels, asparagus and goat cheese. It is something I'd like to serve at a spring, asparagus themed dinner. Here will be the first course, asparagus soup with Parmesan custard.

Hala Peen Yoes

2008-02-16T21:18:00.002-05:00

Last week I took a trip to hell. Twice. Really. The basement of the Municipal Services Building of the City of Philadelphia. The Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I) is below the ground. How fitting. While I was sitting in a row of chairs all tied together in a way that if one person exhaled all the seats rocked, I was reading TV. The devil was kind enough to provide TVs as the average wait is 3 hours, but evil enough that they were showing Martha Stewart. There was no volume and I wasn't blessed with the talent of reading lips, so I was at the mercy of reading closed captioning.

Miss Martha was gushing about an amuse bouche she had at Jean Georges in Columbus Circle. It was simply sea urchin on buttered pumpernickel toast with a slice of jalopeno. The closed captioning clerk must not have been a foodie because the screen read "hala peen yoes". Maybe it seemed funny only because my day was going terribly, but I laughed out loud much to the dismay of others in my row of chairs who were being throttled by my laughter.

I have an aversion to sea urchin. At Picholine I had to produce a sea urchin pannacotta that I really didn't like. Also, the urchin flesh resembles duck tongues that I used to see in Asian markets that creep me out. If the ocean ever made cheese, that would describe the earthiness of sea urchin.

Restaurant Jean Georges holds a special place in my heart. I used to walk by it at 7am and see Jean Georges himself straining stocks and working in the kitchen. Here is a chef who was already making many millions of dollars. He also had plenty of people trusted with producing excellent food. None of this made him any better than anyone else. He was already there working when I was late to work. He made me want to be a better chef, or a more punctual one anyway.

Champagne's Carbon Footprint

2008-02-16T08:48:00.001-05:00

The Eco-Wingers are messing with my bubbly now. Where will it stop?

Epi Not So Curious

2008-01-20T10:05:00.000-05:00

It's no secret that I love Epicurious. I am also a fan of Debi Mazar. From the sceptical friend in Jungle Fever to the coke head goomah in Goodfellas, she's been around. It also helps that she's from Brooklyn. Why Epicurious would post a video like the one to the right is beyond me. My apologies for it being ill formatted. I am still toying with adding alternate media to this blog. Was she joking when she says, "fresh Corona"? I can hardly believe she and her husband do much cooking at all given they look like skeletons with skin. I am skeptical that this wasn't an add for Sur La Table as it's mentioned by name. There is a series of 3 videos on their main site. In another Debi and her husband prepare beef stew, where he cooks with Yellow Tail wine. "There is cooking wine and drinking wine," he says. Yellow Tail qualifies as neither to me. Yuck. The whole thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Orange You Lovely!

2008-01-17T22:44:00.001-05:00

Cara Cara oranges. Wow! I picked some up at the grocery store thinking, "These look nice, and it's the perfect time of year for citrus." Never having had them before, I didn't expect the inside to be reddish pink. Research availed that they are also known as pink navels, originating in Venezuela. They are less sweet, and less acidic, making them perfect for savory applications.

I immediately thought these were the types of oranges chefs had in mind for duck a l'orange. Possibly a salad of warm duck confit, frisee and cubes of cara cara oranges, with a sherry vinaigrette. Or, supremes layered between tuna sashimi with ginger poached orange peel. In my next culinary life I might want to be a sushi chef.

Confessions of a Caviar Addict

2008-01-02T21:51:00.001-05:00

My name is Lisa and I love caviar. I got my first high in 2001 when I worked the garde manger station on New Year's Eve. Each guest was to receive a beggar's purse filled with 1oz of Iranian Beluga. "What's the big deal about this stuff?" I thought as I put the first spoonful in my mouth. Ooh. This was good. Oceany, crunchy, earthy - a combo that can't be recreated any other way. Similar to truffles in that aspect. Very very unique. OK, I can see making a fuss.

The following year it became, "Scoop for you, scoop for me. Scoop for you, one for me." It's a good thing the caviar consumption that evening wasn't questioned. This also developed into my need for caviar on New Year's Eve. Why not say goodbye to the previous year's strife and struggle and welcome a new year with elegance?

For the 3rd year, I wasn't working on NYE, so I bought some osetra at Wild Edibles at the Grand Central Terminal Market. This was before the major caviar shortage due to overfishing and political strife. I enjoy it best with brioche toast points and the slightest wisp of creme fraiche.

When I began working for Di Bruno Bros., my caviar came with a sweet employee discount. I was responsible for caviar purchasing so I was able to ensure my choice was in stock. I was also sent to caviar training camp at Petrossian back in NY. I was given a lesson in product and caviar etiquette by Eve Vega, the Executive Director at the time. I was so nervous and had zero experience in eating it properly. I knew not to use steel utensils (we used plastic in the restaurant) mother of pearl or solid gold is ideal. I mimicked the co-worker I was sent with who spread the caviar on the toast points as if it were thick cream cheese. A real schmear. Eve saw this and tried to hide her dismay. We were big clients after all, purchasing a thousand dollars a week of product and selling it well despite our lack of knowledge. "Many people have taken care not to break those eggs before they make it to your tongue. Please take care to do the same." She said. She walked us through gently swooping the caviar out of the serving piece, and allowing it to fall on it's own accord onto the toast. This grand experience was followed by a sake tasting with sushi at Bar Masa in the Time Warner Center. A memorable day.

Once the severe shortage surfaced, prices skyrocketed and beluga was banned briefly. Osetra and sevruga doubled in price. American, farm-raised caviar grew in popularity due to price and surprisingly good quality. The following year even the American product rose in price so I settled for trout roe. Orange in color, much smaller than salmon roe, trout roe have a slight nuttiness while retaining a nice crunchy pop when pressed in your mouth. When eating sushi with a friend I asked her if she ate salmon roe. "Where I come from that's used as fish bait, so, no." She replied. For me it's too fishy.

Roe v. Caviar

Isn't caviar just fish eggs? No. Caviar must come specifically from sturgeon. Roe are eggs from any other fish. Shad roe is the complete, fresh egg sack often eaten sauteed. Avruga is the roe from golden herring. I'd rather eat a pile of smoked salmon bones that have been regurgitated by a cat than eat this product. Not that I have an opinion on this subject.

For this most recent New Year's Eve celebration, I spied some $70 osetra at Whole Foods. Not a bad price, but my wallet didn't agree. What I was pouting about settling for turned out to be quite enjoyable. I bought some fresh smoked salmon salad with dill, red onion and a tad of sour cream. I boiled some tiny fingerling potatoes and cut them in half. The cold salmon atop warm potato was a lovely combination and perfect for crisp bubbly.

My resolution for this year? Save up money for some caviar to enjoy on 12-31-08. Happy New Year!

Tastes of the Net

2007-12-30T19:49:00.000-05:00

The BBC has an impressive, festive canape collection.

Mark Bittman pan sears monkfish (video).

McDuff had another great meal at Talula's Table, featuring a porcini and taleggio raviolo that I've been thinking about all day.

Shola agrees with me that olive oil is great in mashed potatoes. I also didn't know they had a fancy French name. The addition of goat cheese is also fantastic.

Naked Wings

2007-12-29T20:43:00.000-05:00

Hi! I know it's been a long time since I've seen you all here, and there's a long list of reasons I haven't been here. Namely, a fire (not kitchen related) and a car accident. One thing after another, but we're all safe and still breathing.

What has prompted me to blog tonight isn't food. Although, I did make some kick ass fried chicken for dinner - my best batch yet. Once again, I'm here to talk about football. Bill Belichick specifically. I'm here watching a game that is being broadcast to more people than the Superbowl will be. It could be a monumental game for the Patriots this evening. Not only could they complete their first undefeated season ever, Tom Brady and Randy Moss also stand to make history with new records. Yet again Bill Belichick is standing on the sidelines in a cut-off sweatshirt. I'm pretty sure his team could make him some custom short sleeve sweatshirts. I bet he could even order the sleeves to be elbow length as he seems to prefer. Instead, it looks like he chopped off the sleeves with a scissor moments before the game. I certainly understand the desire to be comfortable at all times. However, why not show some pride for what you and your team have accomplished?

The NFL is very sensitive about it's image and the image the players portray. Please, please take a look at the coaches. Blah.

On a side note: here's a link to an article about the new coffee bar I'm managing. I'll get to train as a barista in a Starbucks in a few weeks. I'll write all about it!

(Non) Green Eggs and Ham

2007-11-18T22:21:00.000-05:00

Deviled eggs came into my life only a few years ago. They weren't exactly a Brooklyn staple. Maybe I had them twice when I was growing up. After moving to PA, they showed up at many family functions, and social gatherings. They even appear on tables when they don't go with the other foods. Over the summer I attended a party where grilled meats and vegetables were served. There were deviled eggs on the table. I prefer them as an hors d'oeuvre or with other finger foods. I never thought I would aspire to own an egg plate. Now that I do, I couldn't wait for a reason to make some deviled eggs. The weekly Sunday football buffet would do just fine. The secret to a delicate, light filling? Grating the yolks through a microplane and going easy on the mayo. I am not a purist so I like other things in my eggs. Truffle, shrimp with pepper relish, curry, and ham with horseradish make appearances.

Grated yolks. This yellow snow IS safe to eat.

Ham snow. Can't wait for that conversation at the office... "What did you do last night?" "I grated ham finely with a microplane!"

The finished product with some ill cut ham for garnish. Had I thought about it beforehand, I would have cut all the ham in the shape of diamonds, like the one on the left, middle row.

I have perfected my hard boiled egg technique thanks to Sara Moulton. Place eggs in cold water with lots of salt. Slowly bring to a boil. The moment it begins to boil, turn off the heat. Cover. Let stand 7 minutes. Cool under running water, peel immediately. This yields tender whites, perfectly cooked yolks and not a spec of green sulfur ring around the yolk.

Born in the U.S. of A.

2007-11-18T18:06:00.000-05:00

"Too few people understand a really good sandwich." - James Beard

The Cheesesteak BLT Club @ Vesuvio's
The bread was a cross between focaccia and a Kaiser roll. Grilled filet with caramelized onions, provolone, bacon, lettuce, tomato and sriracha mayo. Incredible. Deserving of it's title, "Best Sandwich in America" bestowed by the Today show. Served in a small, unassuming bar attached to a restaurant. Salty, sweet, spicy, beefy, crispy, cheesey. The recipe for the perfect husband and sandwich.
Vesuvio 736 S 8th StPhiladelphia, PA (215) 922-8380

Fond of Ficoco

2007-11-10T12:28:00.001-05:00

It was so good my sister in law Kari emailed me about it. When she's this excited about something I know it's good. During my next Whole Foods jaunt I had to buy Ficoco. I had a suspicion and I was correct, it's from Dalmatian, the makers of the dried fig spread I love with cheese, also available with orange. Made in Croatia, it's yummy figs with pure cocoa.

So, what can you do with it? Eat it on gelato. Sandwich macaroons. Dip madelines in it. Add it to a muffin as a surprise center. Layer a cake with it. Stuff French toast. Make thumbprint cookies. Swirl it in ice cream while still churning. Add a dollop to spicy mole for duck. The list goes on, but the bottle doesn't, so stock up!

Ficoco on silver dollar pancakes. Great for eating with your hands on the sun porch with coffee.

Shola. Snack Bar. Solid.

2007-11-07T21:15:00.000-05:00

It was one of my most eagerly anticipated meals of this year. It lived up to my expectations. I did not take photos. When dining in a group amongst Phil A. Dining, whose photos make those in Art Culinaire look like stick figures, you don't haul out your 4 year old outdated digital camera. You also don't steal someone else's pictures, so here is his photo recap of the dinner. I recommend opening it in another window so you can reference back and forth.

I started with a wanamaker cocktail. Snack Bar is known for it's inventive drink list so despite the fact I knew I had a tasting menu with wines on the way, I had to start big. Bourbon, cider, the butterscotch was understated but overall a great drink. The amarena cherry garnish tasted a bit past it's prime though.

First course: carrot ginger soup with coconut froth and peanut praline. Very enjoyable. Praline was a great foil to perfectly smooth soup. Served pretty hot in a pretty shot glass. I wasn't thrilled with the pairing, a champagne cocktail with basil seeds. Basil seeds? The thought progression... "Basil leaves don't have seeds. Oh, seeds that you would start a plant from!" While they had a slight basil flavor the passion fruit seed texture of goop around the seed coupled with their deer tick size meant they were stuck in your teeth for a good 20 minutes. Food 1 pairings 0.

Second course: Scallop 'choucroute' of fennel and apple with yuzu miso glaze. The scallop was cooked perfectly and the yuzu miso the perfect compliment. I did have a bit of sea grit on the scallop, but my favorite Bartendrix mentioned it might be some mystery seasoning, so Shola gets a mulligan for that one. Katie is much more familiar with his food than I. The La Cala Vermentino with it was pleasant and crisp, terrific with the apple and fennel. A healthy pour for a tasting menu. Food 2 pairings 1.

Third course: Skate wing torchon, nicoise flavors. Interesting and unusual, yet I don't need cornichon puree in my life. Red pepper vanilla gelee was quite inventive. Fried capers always please. And nasturtium leaves were a nice touch. Points for preparing skate in an unusual way and shape, but not one for the scoreboard. The viognier was wonderful with the gelee. Food 2 pairings 2.

Fourth course: kobe beef culotte, oxtail gyoza, parsnips and chanterelles. Wow. Yum. Not much to say. I'm glad philadining confirmed this was prepared sous vide, as I was hoping to encounter some on this night. It is a signature technique of Shola's. I was a bit confused by the wording, "culotte" as in split skirt. The cut of beef wasn't a skirt steak. Maybe a short cut? I'm all for creative wording but this one was lost on me. Oxtail is the new short rib. Bargain cut gaining notoriety with chefs. With good reason. Part of eating out is having something you wouldn't make at home. Who braises something for many hours anymore (besides me)? Spoiled me wanted to gild the lily and beg for white truffle on this dish. Great Valley Zinfandel was a great pairing. Stood up to the kobe without overpowering. Food 3 pairings 3.

Fifth course: epoisses with fennel mostarda, shitake soil and pumpernickel crisp. One of the best of the evening, requiring minimal preparation. The cheese was perfectly room temperature and perfectly ripe. It's pungency paired with shitake earthiness had me moaning for quite a bit. The Coteaux du Layon had just the right amount of sweetness to balance the funk. I hope Katie or David McDuff can shed some light on the varietal and other info of the tasty beverage. Food 4 pairings 4.

Sixth course: apple in forms, black sesame struesel, white chocolate. More moaning. Lovely. Crisp. Fresh. Cool. I could go on and on. The green apple granita was more similar in texture to a sorbet, but that's nitpicking. The white chocolate sabayon was velvety on the tongue. Black sesame for a touch of savoriness and compressed apple with chartreuse was a fun addition. I hear Quentin Tarantino in Death Proof, "Chartreuse, the liquor so good they named a color after it." This was the only dish I saw Shola eating himself in the dining room. The pairing however, did not fare so well. Acrid. Deplorable. Yuck. Warm sake with lemongrass and some other flavor I forgot while trying to suppress the memory of this. Suggested fix: chilled sake with elderflower. Food 5 pairings 4.

Seventh course: caju lime marshmallow and fried chocolate. Where was my graham cracker? Wonderful creation. I should have assumed there'd be a geyser of chocolate when I bit into it, but after a long day I wasn't paying attention and my shirt got a big taste! Caju lime marshmallow with a spicy peanut butter would make a killer nouveau fluffer nutter.

My first Shola dinner. My first time out with my dining crowd in a long time. First time meeting many eGullet regulars. A terrific night. Special thanks to I Call the Duck for coordinating a reservation for 11 in a small space.

Birth Day Week Month

2007-11-04T18:44:00.000-05:00

I like my birthday. A lot. My husband says that will end next year when I meet the numbers "3"&"0" but for now I get to plan plan plan some tasty happenings. The festivities begin tomorrow night when I'll attend a guest chef dinner at Snack Bar featuring Shola of Studiokitchen. I've admired Shola's food for a long time. While I've discussed products and food with him, this will be the first time I've eaten his food and I've been anticipating this since I made the reservation a month ago. This is a birthday present to myself. Since I've used the gourmet meal budget on the Shola dinner, for Saturday night, the actual day I arrived on this Earth I'll keep it simple. It's a toss up between eating some cheese steaks at Jim's on South Street, a place Paul and I went often long ago, or trying the sandwich at Vesuvio's, the cheese steak BLT (I will hold the T) recently named best sandwich in the country by the Today show. Afterwards we'll listen to some jazz at Chris's Jazz Cafe and maybe we'll hop over for some gelato at Capogiro afterwards. Listening to live music at a small club and sharing a nibble or a cocktail is what you evolve to when you outgrow your club phase. There really is nothing like live music.

Some past birthdays:

When I turned 21 we went to brunch at Aquagrill when I lived in NY. I had a crab and asparagus omelet and saw Danny DeVito and Rhea Pearlman at the table next to us. I giggled that his feet didn't touch the floor when he sat. After I got us lost on the subway after a few mimosas, we ended up seeing the butterfly exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. It was a great day. That same birthday I discovered ganache, chocolately love. The pastry chef at Picholine, Deborah Racicot, made a two tier chocolate cake with candied oranges and ganache.

My Sweet 16 was very small scale. While most other girls at school had elaborate parties at a catering hall I had a 7 ft hero sandwich in my living room. I tried not have a party at all, but Mom wouldn't let me, she was very excited. She saved up every penny she had for that party. She even made the requisite for Brooklyn chocolate lollipop favors in a mold that had a heart with a big 16 in the middle. I bought the cake. I paid $1 per strawberry to have them dipped in chocolate and placed all around the outside. When I picked the cake up, the bakery forgot to dip the strawberries. To fix it they dipped the berries that already had apricot glaze on them in chocolate. Because of this the chocolate never hardened and I was angry. I still have ill feelings toward Savarese Bakery in Brooklyn on New Utrecht Avenue. One of the presents I received at that party was a tray of chocolate covered strawberries so I guess I made it well known how much I loved them.

I'm not sure how I want to welcome 30 next year. The most decadent meal of my life? Brunch at Lacroix? Maybe I'll head out to brunch in NYC to see if Danny DeVito has gotten any taller.

Peasant Food - Chilaquiles

2007-10-27T11:18:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I was being bombarded by Bayless. Late one night battling insomnia I caught an old episode of "In the Kitchen with Julia" where Julia Child bought in other well respected chefs to make their signature dishes. Rick Bayless, credited with bringing real Mexican food to mainstream America made black beans, and black bean chilaquiles (chee-la-keel-ees. The next day I clicked on the interesting show "A Chef's Story" where the founder of the French Culinary Institute interviews chefs to discover how they got into the biz, and what drives them to continue their work. Bayless again. He spoke of how he travels to Mexico every year with staff members of his successful restaurants in Chicago to inspire everyone and remind them what their food is about.

That same day I was in possession of lots of leftover cooked chicken that needed using. It was too hot outside to make soup, and too hot for the chicken and dumplings I've been planning for months, ditto chicken pot pie - one of my favorite leftover iterations. A search for cooked chicken on Epicurious for inspiration yielded chilaquiles. I decided fate was telling me to make it. My stomach told me to make it with ingredients I knew I liked.

Rick Bayless took some of his cooked black beans pureed them, and poured them over just fried corn tortillas and baked it in the oven. I'm sure this was wonderful, but I wasn't about to begin cooking black beans from scratch, nor was I going to fry tortillas. Epicurious directed using store bought chips and green jarred salsa. I am picky about green salsa and don't often like it. I picked up a jar of roasted guajillo chile salsa with some chipotle in it, added a can of black beans and used my favorite store bought tortilla chips, Tostito's Restaurant Gold Chips. These are as close to the real thing you're going to come across in a supermarket. I sauteed some onion and a jalapeno in a soup pot. I added the salsa and chicken stock, boiled, reduced to a simmer and added the chicken and black beans. When they were heated through I added the whole bag of coarsely crushed chips. Let it heat through and soften the chips. I spooned it into bowls with shredded jack and a dollop of sour cream, the consistency of very thick stew. Thoroughly well received. Note I didn't add salt anywhere, the chips and chicken stock had plenty. Add more hot sauce if you like. Super great. Thinking back, I saw Rachel Ray (make a dish that had no EVOO!) make what she called green chicken chili, that was similar to the Epicurious original recipe.

Rick Bayless explained this is often a dish made to use up stale tortillas or when money was tight. Wikipedia says it's common for hangovers and for breakfast with an egg on top. True peasant food. Yumm. As water fills the basement on this very rainy day, I might finally get to making the chicken and dumplings.

Got Sushi?

2007-10-18T22:42:00.000-04:00

Tonight we enjoyed a night on the town to celebrate my first check from my great new job. What better way to celebrate than to spend some of it? It's been awhile since we had a nice date night aside from our anniversary. Time to enjoy some of the best sushi in the 5 county area at Bluefin. The sushi chefs wear sleek black shirts with a mod fish with the phrase "Got Sushi?" below. I always forget it's BYO and forget to bring my favorite sake. Here's a brief recount of dinner complete with bad pictures from my Blackberry.

Wasabi shu mai. Well seasoned pork with wasabi rice dough. The wasabi is almost too much to handle, but these are exciting. 4 to a serving, I remembered the picture when there was one left.

Sushi sampler. Note the minimal amount of rice around the spicy tuna roll. The fish is the star and the rice is only a supporting role. The eel is plump and warm, more akin to a small mackerel than wimpy eel found in other places. I had 3 assorted rolls whose pictures couldn't be saved. Fresh king crab with asparagus and seaweed, and more eel atop spicy hamachi.

Hamachi Kame. Yellowfin tuna CHEEKS. These were truly the highlight of the evening. The crisped outside with rich flesh due to the presence of some bone similar in flavor to salmon but more cucumber-y. The skin was flaky and tender. I could have eaten only this and been happy.

Everyone gets some melon, a piece of tempura banana drizzled with honey, and an orange at the end of the meal. The tempura banana is divine. Why do Asian restaurants have the sweetest, juiciest oranges?

With the return of DINK status I hope to dine out more often and report back here. Do not miss Bluefin. Make a reservation or wait a long time for a table! 1017 Germantown Pike -Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462 Phone: (610) 277-3917.

Chiles Rellenos - Stuffed Peppers - A Mini Pictoral

2007-10-05T11:23:00.000-04:00

I'm becoming a bigger fan of football. Not only because my husband has encyclopedic knowledge of every aspect of the game and history of the players, and not only because we have a better TV than most bars on the east coast (thanks to my in-laws!) but because it gives me a bar food audience. With loads of space and a service span of 3 hours of gametime, I can rock. Since I am an Eagles fan by marriage, last week I must say the food was better than the football. My stuffed peppers evolve beyond ground beef, rice and tomato. The way I learned from my Mexican brigade is the roast, stuff, and fry method. I was hoping for Poblano peppers but none were available so I opted for large jalapenos and made a twist on the commercial popper.

Hooray for gas powered cooking! This allows me to roast peppers on the burner. It's my preferred method because it removes the skin without cooking the flesh to mush, a hazard when roasting in the oven. Alternately it can be done under a broiler. After roasting all over, place in an airtight container so they continue to steam a bit. This will make the skin peel right off.

After steaming and cooling they are ready for peeling. I refrain from using water to assist getting the skins off, you wash away some flavor and as these are going to be fried it's best to keep them as dry as possible. After peeling I made an "L" shaped incision on the side, allowing me to remove some of seeds and stem root inside to make room for the filling. I made a rice mixture with chorizo and onion, and put a thick strip of mozzarella in each one so they'd be gooey.

Best beer batter recipe: 1 part dark beer to 1 part seasoned AP flour. Mix, and chill. Batter must be fried very cold to get crunchy, tempura like results. Slightly advanced fry technique - after dipping in the batter, dip 1/2 into hot oil and hold it there. Carefully. Once the batter puffs (about 5 seconds) it's OK to release. If you drop it in without holding, it will sink to the bottom and stick. If it sticks when you release it from the bottom it will most likely tear spilling out the contents. This is something I knew when I cooked professionally on a regular basis and quickly recalled after messing up my first one. Oops! Served over leftover filling minus mozz.

Jalapenos vary wildly in heat factor. Some are as mild as green bell peppers. These were as if they had an affair with a habanero on the vine. Roasting with seeds in also intensifies the heat. Despite having removed most of the seeds while stuffing, eating only 2 left me in a lot of pain. Not as much pain as Paul was in watching his Birds get stuffed and fried themselves.

The Man Who Knows How to Cook Everything

2007-09-26T09:15:00.000-04:00

Note: Most of the links in this post are to The New York Times which requires you to log in.

He's A.K.A. The Minimalist with good reason. Mark Bittman is the no fuss master presenting recipes that cooks with minimal skill level can make easily. His "No Knead Bread" technique from Sullivan St. Bakery sparked an Internet buzz still ongoing. Is it really possible to have awesome bread without giving your biceps a workout? Yes. He proved with Mario Batali that risotto doesn't need the ground and pound of a Jiu Jitsu master to be creamy and elegant. Mark Bittman takes the drama out of cooking and infuses it with honest, straightforward flavors. He guides with technique that can be applied all over my kitchen.

Last week we had 3 nights of Bittman food. I used his method for grilling chicken wings and applied it to some thighs which are my favorite. Previously I had parboiled chicken parts before grilling, like I do for ribs. This left them well seasoned but Bittman's chicken cooked over indirect heat and then crisped over a higher flame was, well, more chicken-y. If you put raw chicken over high flame the outside burns and the inside remains raw. His video for twice cooked Chinese pork left me drooling. I braised the pork while the chicken was grilling and served it the next day. I served it along side a stir fry of rice noodles and bok choy with black bean sauce. Exciting. Night #3, a few days later I sliced the remainder of the pork and served it atop homemade fried rice, a new staple for me. I'll use the pork braising liquid in a dish of Lion's Head Meatballs next week. More on that later.

Check out Bittman every Wednesday in The Times, and be sure to catch his video that usually accompanies his article.

A Renaissance

2007-09-25T20:49:00.001-04:00

About 6 months ago I gave up gourmet cooking at home. It wasn't because I wanted to. I was defeated by my tiny apartment kitchen and taking on the project of our house that consumed so much time. Well, Gourmet-me is back and I couldn't be happier.

I present whole wheat butter nut squash ravioli with beef demi glace, walnut pesto, gorgonzola and brussel sprout leaves. This would be a menu item at my non existent northern Italian Trattoria.

Surprisingly, it would fall under the "semi homemade" guise. The ravioli were courtesy of Severino Pasta of NJ (the best fresh pasta company in the Northeast, even beating out the Brooklyn institutions of pasta I was raised on) and demi glace from Williams Sonoma. I made the walnut pesto - toasted walnuts chopped the food processor with loads of parmiggiano reggiano, olive oil and black pepper. I've also used this pesto on steamed broccoli. I blanched the brussel spout leaves in the pasta water, they added great texture and a fresh flavor to the whole dish.

Notice the ravioli weren't tossed with the demi glace. It would look terrible and demi is strong, so I spooned it over once the ravioli were in the bowl. Same with walnut pesto. Given the hearty flavors of the dish I poured a 2004 Louis M. Martini Cabernet from the Sonoma Valley. This is my favorite wine served at Ruth's Chris and I finally added it to my home wine rotation. Terrific together.

Another note about Severino Pasta. A few years ago I made my favorite birthday dinner ever using their butternut squash tortelloni. I made a sauce this time of Italian Panna (very heavy cream) Gorgonzola melted into the cream, and balsamic vinegar drizzled over at the last moment. I wonder about the owner, if you make wonderful pasta all day long, can you stand to eat it for dinner?

I look forward to getting back in the swing of sharing my degustations with you!

Perfect Summer Send Off

2007-09-07T10:02:00.000-04:00

I've been celebrating the end of summer with great sales on seafood at the store. Last weekend we hosted our first dinner guests, my Father in law and one of four brothers in law. Not wanting to make Italian food knowing that's what they'd expect, I tried out a new crab cake recipe from Cook's Illustrated. It was a success! Served with pan roasted carrots, creamy basil sauce and a green salad with balsamic roasted mushrooms and onions.

A few days ago I settled on an entire eat-with-your-hands menu of jumbo wild gulf shrimp (poached in old bay broth and served in shell), king crab legs (poached in broth after shrimp were removed) with homemade cocktail sauce and corn on the cob. Served with Victory Brewing Co's Prima Pils, it was a match made in heaven. Shrimp cooking is a very delicate thing. While boiling for 3 minutes yields edible results, a slow poach brings about tender, wonderful results.

To begin, make a court bouillon (quick stock) by sauteing onions, garlic, carrots and celery in some olive oil. Don't dice them nicely, just rough chop. Add a bay leaf, black peppercorns, a cut lemon and some herb stems like parsley. Depending on mood I might add crushed red pepper, coriander, ginger, lemongrass or kefir lime. Add a flavor conductor, like white wine, beer, or store bought broth. Allow the alcohol to cook off, and top off with any additional liquid you may need, usually water will be fine. Bring to a simmer. After the flavors have had a few minutes to marry, turn the heat off. Add shrimp. Cover. Poach about 5 minutes for very large shrimp. Remove and lay on a pan in a single layer so they don't continue cooking too much. Chill and peel for shrimp cocktail or serve immediately for a feast. A casual dish like this really impresses guests and is almost no work. Save this valuable cooking liquid for making paella, bouillabase, or some Italian fra diavolo.

Give the utensils a rest and celebrate the bounty of the sea!

The Rain Delay is Over

2007-08-24T22:40:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it's been more than 3 weeks since my last post. My sincerest apologies to my swarms of readers. What have I been up to you ask? My captive husband was best man at his brother's wedding in Minneapolis. With that union one of my favorite men married one of my favorite friends. A match made in heaven, a real star couple. Look for a full report on the state of the food in Minneapolis here soon.

We've also been moving. Into our first house. Check out my other rarely updated blog to see some photos of that project. I made my first meal there the other night. What a treat. I feel like an abused child that has been chained to a radiator (and Justin Timberlake wasn't my man like in Black Snake Moan) who has just been let free. The kitchen in our apartment of many years used to be a closet. Need I say more? It's 8 feet long and 3 feet wide. The refrigerator resides in the living room it's so small. Tiny, old electric stove. No room for flipping flapjacks or pizza dough. The trade off was worth it - endure that kitchen to live with my man. Food is my career, that's how much my man means to me. Now... I get the great husband in a kick ass kitchen. A gas stove with high power burners and slow simmer options. A warming drawer. 3 racks in the oven instead of one and now my half sheet pans will fit in them for baking. A dishwasher. A huge sink and oodles of counter space. All in sparkly stainless steel. Wow golly gosh I wanted to cry. When I was plating salads I was flustered for a moment because I was about to plate one and deliver it and repeat which is what I had to do before when serving guests. Now I put all the plates on the counter at once! Imagine the possibilities!

My first meal was quick because we were moving boxes and furniture. I bought some good quality ravioli, ditto vodka sauce, crab meat and some basil pesto. I simmered the sauce, added the crab and some pasta water - plated and drizzled some pesto over. Terrific! Not gourmet but classy. Tonight we drank dark and stormys on the sun porch relaxing after a long day. Bourbon with spicy ginger beer - yumm. Living in a normal size house, yeah - I'll take it.

Just Gimme the Meat and only the meat

2007-08-02T13:26:00.000-04:00

It was a lesson learned with pork last year. Read all the labels on meat, all the time. I brought home some tenderloins and they wouldn't sear. Liquid seeped out. The meat stayed moist, but not as tasty as browning would have lent. Looked at the package "this product contains up to 15% solution". Blah. The solution is for moisture retention. Forget proper cooking which would yield moist results. A few weeks ago my local grocery store, I almost purchased their store brand chicken breasts as they were only $3.49/LB. A quick glance at the label told me - more solution. I'd rather pay $5.99 for chicken in it's natural form than less for chicken and solution.

I discovered the same with turkey while researching carb count. Why would turkey be high in carbs? It is a Superfood, after all. The cutlets were dipped in a solution containing sugar to retain moisture. Now I buy only turkey "London broil" cut. A boneless, skinless section of breast meat. Great for pan roasts. I made the mistake this week and purchased Shady Brook Farm ground turkey for turkey tacos. The solution had been added, despite not mentioning it on the label, and browning took an awful long time. The pan wasn't overcrowded, this was seepage of goop from the meat.

The search for real meat continues.

Berry in Blue

2007-07-21T16:26:00.000-04:00

This morning's thought progression regarding breakfast:

"I feel like eating grits.

I have a load of fresh blueberries in the fridge.

Would blueberry grits be good?

I don't think so, but blueberry corn muffins would be!"

And so, my blueberry corn muffins were born. I based my ingredients on this recipe from Epicurious, doubling the recipe and reducing the sugar, and substituting some sour cream for milk to retain moisture and because I like sour cream. The only thing better on these than sweet butter is a drizzle of maple syrup.

My Favorite Deli (in PA)

2007-07-20T11:58:00.000-04:00

Michael's Deli in King of Prussia, PA. Part diner, part beer garden, part Jewish Deli. To the left is "Michael's Platter". I regret I didn't have the captive husband rotate the plate to show the mounds of meat in the front, but it's piled with pastrami, corned beef, cooked salami, cheese, coleslaw AND potato salad, and sandwich toppings. It's served with a mound of whatever bread you like to build your own sandwiches. And it's only $10.

It's the only place within a 15 mile radius that I can get hand sliced lox to order when the craving strikes. They serve breakfast all day, and have over 100 types of bottle beer for sale. Great pickles, authentic knish, and tomato pie by the slice. Don't forget Jewish Apple cake. When my mother in law is on baking strike, I eat theirs.

I don't regret to report that the waiter slash magician I wrote about here is no longer employed there.

Favorite Delis (not in PA)

Brooklyn (Jewish) Empress Deli (gasp) no real website. Crunchy beef hot dogs and crispy Coney Island Knishes. Triple decker sandwiches and chocolate egg creams.
Brooklyn (Italian) Star Cheese Salumeria - 20th Ave. Googling shows it may have closed. I didn't appreciate hand made mozzarella and the best mortadella when I was 6 years old. An Asian family bought it and kept it Italian, making mozzarella everyday and even wearing the old Italian lady housecoats as uniforms. This is where my semolina knot roll came from for my elementary school sandwiches.
Washington D.C. (Arlington, Italian) The Italian Store This place reminds me of Brooklyn, and South Philly. They also have a nice selction of wines. Waiting for made to order sanwiches and pizza is controlled chaos, and worth the wait.

Get Fuzzy by Darby Conley

2007-07-19T23:35:00.000-04:00

My favorite comic strip, with food as it's subject. Joy!

Harry Potter and the Treacle Tart

2007-07-19T10:33:00.000-04:00

I must interrupt our regular programming to bring you the latest on the Boy Who Lived. I resisted the urge to yap about the iPhone, but this can't wait. The New York Times has already reviewed the book that's supposed to be under wraps. It reveals that no less than 6 characters die. But whom? Below, my predictions.

The Harry Potter Death Pool

Severus Snape - Harry may ache to do this himself.
Lucius Malfoy - I hope.
Arthur Weasley - Some of the good people have to die too. If it might not be the main characters themselves, strike for loved ones.
Neville Longbottom
Tonks
Hagrid

Should Voldemort count if I believe he will be reduced again to whatever he was before he came back the first time?

We now return to your scheduled program already in progress.

Edit: After Googling Lucius for spelling purposes, I read the Wikipedia entry on him which was updated this morning.

"Malfoy himself, still imprisoned, is not harmed; his family, however, are less fortunate. Voldemort recruits Malfoy's son Draco with orders to murder Dumbledore, threatening to kill the boy and his mother, Narcissa, if he does not.

Does this reminder mean Voldemort kept his word and Draco and Mommy are gone?

Dinner Tonight

2007-07-13T22:24:00.000-04:00

Grilled pork chops with garlic cilantro sauce and warm black bean salad.

I am a magazine junkie. I subscribe to no less than 4 food publications. Well, 3. One was a gift from my future sister in law, although it was a subscription extension. Bon Appetit, Gourmet, Food & Wine, Saveur. There are also newsletters and quarterly journals from Slow Food, and my complimentary professional subscription to Food Arts (best covers ever). Possibly because I taste each recipe in my head, reading just one can take more than an hour. I am not disciplined enough to read them on a regular basis, so they build up in the mail pile that I move from the coffee table, to the desk, to the floor, under the futon and back. Nor can I part with them. Someday I may need it. You never know. So this morning while actually organizing the tower into spiffy red magazine holders from IKEA, one of them fell down and landed on a page with Cuban pork chops with cilantro vinaigrette. Eureka! Quick, flavorful, and would go nicely with the Friday margarita I was planning for the captive husband.

I recalled Daisy Martinez's method for mojo (I think) where she put raw garlic and onion in a blender with some vinegar. She heated oil and added it to the blender. This both enhances and tames the garlic kick. A quick Google revealed she doesn't publish many of her recipes online in an attempt to get you to buy her book. How I forget no everyone has money rolling in everytime someone says, "Bam!" on any continent like Emeril. So, I improvised. I only wanted enough sauce for this meal so I chopped 4 big cloves of garlic and put them in my mortar. I smashed with a little salt and heated some canola oil until quite hot but not smoking. When I added the hot oil to the mortar the smell was divine. The texture was similar to babaghanouj. Yes, I'm assuming you know what babghanouj is. Google it. I took a shortcut with the cilantro. I found the flavor tubes of herbs in the produce section and promptly returned the very sandy bunch of fresh cilantro. Plus, for the amount I use, I'd end up throwing the rest of that bunch away in a week. Squeezed some into the mortar, added a splash of vinegar and some more salt - complete! Exceptional! Potent, but manageable as long as both members of the couple are eating garlic, they cancel each other out.

After seasoning some pork loin chops I let them hang out in the grill pan while I cut the kernels from an ear of corn and put them to saute. Added some diced red onion and drained and rinsed canned black beans. After seasoning, the juice of a lime bought it all to life. I could have added some diced avocado but the captive husband isn't a fan. I eat avocados in secret. In the plating, I wish I'd put the sauce in a little puddle between the chops. Since it's thick it ended up looking like cat vomit in the photo. Sorry!

Overall, it was ready in a half hour and accompanied the margaritas nicely.

Limey

2007-07-12T12:37:00.000-04:00

While I was procrastinating this morning.

What is under that kilt?

2007-07-09T10:45:00.000-04:00

Luckily the label isn't representative of the quality of the beer. I picked this up on Thursday to go with "Corned beef specials" I made using the leftover coleslaw that went with the ribs. Terrific! Scotch Ale is roasty and deep unlike it's pale couterpart. A great compliment to the pumpernickel rye swirl bread used for the sandwiches. From Syracuse, NY Middle Ages Brewing Co has an impressive lineup, with witty names. Wailing Wench, ImPaled Ale. I'd be interested in trying their other Scotch Ales, there are 2, in comparison to the kilt tilter. Maybe it's named as such for the high alcohol content, 9%, which is up there for beer.

Sippin' the Night Away

2007-07-04T19:14:00.000-04:00

What better way to celebrate our independence from the British and our dependence on illegal immigrant labor than with a margarita? The sky is cloudy and damp so I've made a big pitcher and got out the ice crusher for a night of fun. Baby back ribs are roasting in the oven and the cole slaw is curing while I rim glasses with a 50/50 mix of kosher salt and sugar.

My favorite margarita recipe. I made use of my spiffy Rosle muddler to mash a lime with sugar before I added the rest of the fresh lime juice. The captive husband has been craving these for awhile. A few weeks ago we gathered the required bushel of limes and then discovered we couldn't find our Triple Sec. A week passed, limes soured (imagine that) and still no Triple Sec. Then I finally bought a bottle and we were out of limes. Today all the forces came together!

Success! Pollo al Mattone

2007-07-02T11:11:00.001-04:00

I finally got around to making chicken under a brick, a dish described in one of my first posts. It was as good as I hoped it would be. I did hit some snags along the way. I used a regular Perdue fryer chicken but it happened to be larger than the average chicken. It wasn't a roaster, but larger than it should've been, taking longer to cook. I put one brick over the breast, one brick over the legs/thighs. After being in the oven about 10 minutes I removed the brick from the dark meat to give it a head start cooking, and 25 minutes later removed the brick from the breast. The key is to turn the chicken over before it starts releasing tasty pan juices which will soften the skin. I did encounter a bit of this. I roasted fennel with olive oil in the oven on high heat while I butchered the breastbones out of the chicken. While the chicken was resting before carving I put the fennel back in the oven to warm while I made buerre rouge, a French red wine pan sauce with oodles of butter.

To make buerre rouge, I softened 2 sliced shallots in the large saute pan I used to roast the chicken - allowing some chicken fat to act as a flavor amp. When soft, I added 1 cup of a red wine I wasn't fond of drinking which happened to be the most recent beaujolais nouveau. Why do I get on the bandwagon every year when this is released? I liked it once long ago when it tasted like Snapple fruit punch and buy it every year since despite it being horrid. Back to sauce making... I bring to a boil while scraping the tasty roasty bits off the bottom (called deglazing) and add a bay leaf and a sprig of thyme. I dice 1/2 stick cold butter. When the wine is almost entirely reduced, I take the pan off the heat, remove herbs and swirl in the cold butter, making an emulsion. If you do this on the heat the butter will simply melt and you won't have a sauce with the mouthfeel of silk. A sprinkle of black pepper (there's a good amount of salt already in the pan from the chicken) and a minute on a low flame to heat up. Plate the chicken and drizzle sauce. The photo above is sans sauce so I could sauce and serve immediately. The poor captive husband is often left waiting and salivating while I delay dinner for poor photography to present here.

Chicken under a brick - make it this week! Some nice accompaniments could also be: sauteed brussels sprouts with walnuts, gnocchi with brown butter (forgo red wine sauce), grilled asparagus, or smashed yukon gold potatoes with goat cheese and olive oil.

What am I?

2007-07-02T11:05:00.000-04:00

It's blurry, I know. I was too excited to eat and not taking the proper care with my ancient camera. So, a puzzle for Lavender Sky readers. What is this divine foodstuff?

Hint: It is a traditional southern accompanitment to BBQ that has been breaded and deep fried upon it's entry into heaven. It's gooey and wonderful.

Love Is... Sharing Your Cheese

2007-06-24T22:18:00.000-04:00

Thanks for your patience as I reformat the blog... always want to keep it fresh and inviting.

Yesterday was starting off as an average Saturday morning. I was way hungover from drinks at a local dive that proved very entertaining. The sun was glaring at me as if it were God's flashlight on high beams. Then brunch at our favorite diner left me falling in love with my husband all over again.

I ordered an Angus cheeseburger with 2 eggs over easy on top. A new brunch special. I assumed I was getting a burger on a bun with fixins, like a normal cheeseburger only with the addition of eggs. I received a burger patty with eggs on top, home fries and toast - so it looked like the standard breakfast platter with a burger standing in for sausage or the like - and NO cheese. I wasn't angry, I love this diner and my life can go on without cheese. Then, without any hesitation my husband took half the cheese off his Big Joe's Country Scramble (description to come) and put it on top of my eggs. I was so moved I almost cried into my coffee. It was one of those moments where anything you were thinking of or were distracted by leaves your being and you focus only on this event. This wasn't about men always prepared to give up half their stuff. This was my man wanting to give me anything I desire. Yummy. What a loving gesture. I propped the burger and eggs and cheese onto the toast and proceeded to devour it.

Big Joe's Country Scramble is serious breakfast. One biscuit, split open. Topped with scrambled egg, topped with sausage gravy, topped with cheese. Home fries on the side. Divine. Libby makes a respectable sausage gravy in a can on the aisle with salted brown rain water they call gravy in a jar.

Two breakfast posts in a row, I know. More on other food in the day shortly.

Egg sistential

2007-06-16T12:18:00.002-04:00

I love poached eggs. My dismay at a restaurant for serving coddled eggs advertised as poached is on record. A tender white and hot oozy yolk - yumm. I had simultaneous cravings for poached eggs, salmon and hollandaise sauce - time to make salmon eggs Benedict, sans English muffin for lower carb count.

Armed with Scottish smoked salmon from Trader Joe's and leftover wild Copper River salmon from dinner last night, I began the hollandaise. Clarified a stick of butter in the microwave, whisked 2 yolks with lemon juice & zest, salt and a tablespoon of water over a double boiler. Drizzled in the butter while whisking and 3 minutes later it's ready! I poached the eggs in the water under the bowl, about 4 minutes for the perfect egg. I laid a bed of smoked salmon, arranged the egg on top, doused in hollandaise and leftover salmon. A wonderful way to start the weekend!

Dining in the Sky

2007-06-12T22:31:00.001-04:00

My Mother, June Diane Alois, died June 19, 2006.

As this sad anniversary approaches, I reminisce about her food and how it influenced my life. There are two main points on the subject; I began cooking when she worked full time and went to college at night and I wanted her to come home to a hot meal. The second is that I was interested in cooking because her repertioire left me thinking food could be better. Despite this, her food and her love gave me a career.

She was great at making My-T-Fine chocolate pudding. Whether in a graham cracker shell for a pie or just in a ceramic bowl, pudding was serious business. When I was cranky (often) she made me pudding in a cloud - a cool whip lined bowl with pudding in the center.

She was a master at making chicken cutlet parm with pasta in only half an hour. Put water on to boil - fry cutlets - assemble parm - drop pasta into water - put chicken in oven - serve. The original 30 minute maven.

She made me breakfast everyday before school whether I wanted it or not. It was never too complicated, usually an english muffin or a Lender's bagel, and I never appreciated it at the time. When I was very little she used to make me scrambled eggs and when I tired of eating them I shoved them in the couch. No kidding. Gross, I know.

She made great coffee despite never drinking it. She made it every morning for Mary and I before going off to Seth Low junior high and on weekends.

In elementary school when I came home for lunch everyday, she would go to the Italian grocery to get a fresh semolina knot roll for my sandwich, usually bologna and american cheese. I ate this same bologna and cheese with a granola bar and capri sun juice pouch through junior high.

On the first day I met the Captive Husband, it happened to be Sunday so she made her meatballs and gravy. That night we shared the first of many wonderful meals together and it began with her cooking.

She cooked beef until it resembled the gray of cement. When we lived in Arizona far away from any Italian food she attempted to make pizza with only the Kraft green cylinder can cheese. I never had pizza before and thought I never wanted it again.

She loved zucchini bread and spinach pie. She bought one or the other to all events that required her to contribute food.

I loved listening to her tell stories of her grandmother, Grace Parente, cooking. Rice balls coated in corn flakes and homemade pasta laid on the bed to dry. On Sundays when she was a little girl she would walk to Coney Island with my uncle and great grandfather to get Italian bread. My uncle always ate the end on the way home.

She gave me my KitchenAid stand mixer as an early Christmas present so that I could make oodles of Christmas cookies. The food processor was a gift when I began culinary school. She could barely put gas in her car but she gave me lots of appliances.

She was also the first to clean behind me in the kitchen. No small task, especially then. I am much better at cleaning as I go now. I'm still bad at it, so imagine what it was like in 1996.

I would give anything for a bologna sandwich right about now. I hope there's zucchini bread in heaven.

Brew Cause

2007-06-07T11:30:00.000-04:00

Craft beer + Charity = A great Sunday. Last Sunday we ventured to Yards Brewing Co. in northeast Philadelphia for a Slow Food fundraiser. Slow Food is a worldwide non-profit group dedicated to keeping small farmers and producers viable and working hard to advance sustainable agriculture and recreating the kitchen and table as a place of community. It was founded by Carlo Petrini who was disgusted by the proliferation of McDonald's in Italy. The local chapter is very active and had a hand in saving Cape May Salt oysters from extinction. Local chapters are all over the nation. They hold many events each month that are fulfilling for the gullet and soul. Join today - memberships are tax deducible and a great way to network and socialize.

Yards Brewing Co. is the only craft beer currently bottled within the Philadelphia city limits. While the beers are special, they also give back to the community. They strive hard to lift Kensington, a seemingly dilapidated neighborhood. Long ago there were more than 50 breweries in the city limits.

The event featured whole roast pig, a passion here in Philadelphia. Joined by potato salad, greens, cornbread apple dressing, roasted veggies and unfortunately forgettable cole slaw. An apple raisin crisp topped things off with lots of flowing Yards beer.

The whole pig. I named it Wilbur although it was female.

Plate o' pork

Beer is born in these tanks

A lot of my favorite beer ingredient

Between the Buns

2007-06-02T00:29:00.000-04:00

Today's blog is inspired by Frank Bruni and his Diner's Journal. Burgers. They are this season's grilled chicken caesar, must be on every menu. I get angry when a good restaurant doesn't offer a burger at least on their bar menu. Sullivan's, the smaller very upscale steakhouse chain does offer a great one on their bar menu. I have been lobbying Ruth's Chris to add one to no avail. We were successful in getting Victory beer in there.

But given my desire for their omnipresence, are they simply an adult version of chicken fingers? Picky eater can't be adventurous, have a burger. While I'd argue my consumption is more on a connoisseur basis - for many they are not.

Last night we dined at a family restaurant that offers burgers, ribs, chicken fingers and more sophisticated entrees like crab pasta and salmon Oscar. They even had combo platters to pair ribs and chicken fingers. Their chicken fingers were done nicely, with a crisp batter as opposed to bland breading - but they are still chicken fingers. The burgers there are also of good quality, any time you get to select a temperature (mid rare for me) is a good sign and when they back it up by cooking it to the specified temperature I'm even more impressed.

There are message boards devoted to the topic of burgers. What are the best toppings? Best way to cook them? I submit that the notion is similar to that of pizza. Many children will eat any pizza. Many adults seek out the artisanal, brick oven pizza while some are content with Domino's. Lets hope those unadventurous bland burger people stay in the bad chain places.

Notes on a Burger

Now to the nitty gritty. My "Burger Bible" of sorts complete with commandments.

While I applaud attempted innovations at using various meats, a burger should be beef exclusively. Ground turkey and tuna patties can turn into an enjoyable sandwich, but it's not a burger.

Alternate toppings are a nice touch as long as they don't overpower the intended flavor of the burger: nicely browned beef. Pineapple and teriyaki are nice sweet options - blue cheese and caramelized onions are my favorite. Lettuce and tomatoes should not be added when you have alternate toppings like these.

The size of the burger should be equal to the circumference of the bun, and about 1/2 inch thick. Trying to pack 3/4 LB of beef onto one bun is just uncalled for.

1. Thou shalt use well marbled high fat content beef.

2. Thou shalt season highly.

3. Thou shan't press the burger with the spatula at any point during cooking.

4. Flip only once.

5. Do not overcook! (an unforgivable curse - oops wrong religion!)

6. Let the burger rest before placing it on a bun to avoid SoggyBunBottom, a condition with many known side effects.

7. If applying cheese do so on the heat source. Cold cheese on a hot burger is just silly.

Egg in the Basket Pictoral

2007-05-27T17:13:00.000-04:00

My previous post inspired this morning's breakfast: eggs in the basket. Below I offer a pictoral for your viewing pleasure.
The bread already griddled on one side. I melt butter in the center and twirl the bread around.
Once the second side is toasted, crack the eggs in the center. Cook slowly. Break the yolk if you like.
Gently turn over when the egg is set.

Ready to serve, sprinkled with coarse grey salt for crunch.

Of course there's more info on Wikipedia - these were made in Moonstruck too!

Food On Screen - An Occasional Column

2007-05-22T10:19:00.000-04:00

Food on film always fascinates me. Is the dish a favorite of the writer/producer/director? Does it have other significance to the surroundings? Historical reference to the subject? The most recent episode of the Sopranos made me put this entry that I've been pondering for some time to the web. Lincoln Log Sandwiches? Carmella made hot dogs split open with cream cheese on bread. I do like hot dogs and cheese but the prospect of cream cheese seemed revolting. I have started a topic to query this creation on eGullet.

Some movies are notoriously gourmet. Big Night and the famous Timballo. Like Water for Chocolate. Chocolat. Eat Drink Man Woman. Some are more subtle. After watching V for Vendetta, the captive husband was memorizing his new favorite instance of alluring alliteration and I was rushing off to make 'eggies in a basket'. A piece of griddled buttered toast with a hole in the center with an egg cracked and fried in the bread. Quite memorable. Took a few tries to get right. Don't add the egg until very near the end of browning so the toast is perfectly crisp and you can then pick it up and eat it with your hands. I use a large biscuit cutter to make the hole. I must also include the famous Pretty Woman scene with escargot, "Happens all the time."

I plan this to be a recurring subject on Lavender Sky, what film food stands out for you?

Eating Live - Tossed Edition

2007-05-14T15:27:00.000-04:00

Thanks to the connectivity of my new Dell XPS laptop I am now free to report on the goings on of my gullet regularly, and from anywhere.

Just getting to brunch at 3:30 PM. An artfully self prepared container from Genuardi's salad bar. 3 sections consisting of romaine, spinach and field greens topped with olives, hard boiled eggs and chick peas (ceci for our European friends). Some shaved "parmesan" an blue cheese dressing and I was happy. Section 2 - slices of broccoli and cheese stromboli. Yes, I had to give my salad a side dish. Section 3- cantaloupe, honeydew and strawberries dressed with poppy seed dressing. A sweet and light finish to a nice lunch.

I make it into the car, place the bag with salad on the front seat just a tad off kilter and WHAM! The top popped off the container and the salad exploded in the bag. Luckily since it was all in the bag I was able to salvage it. There's no consoling the taste buds once you've had strawberries mixed with green olives. Chickpeas and poppy seeds probably weren't meant to get married either. Could be worse, I could be riding with a salad grenade as my navigator.

Dining Delay

2007-05-09T11:11:00.000-04:00

I haven't felt like talking about food too much lately. See my other blog to find out why. Interesting of note is the dynamic of food in one's life. It is usually the center of my attention. Elaborate masterpieces. When it isn't, I find new ways to deliver tasty and healthy to my dinner table.

Rotisserie Chicken Haiku

Always ready now

The perfect dinner for 2

Salad on the side

In an effort to avoid processed fast food, I turn to supermarket rotisserie chicken about once a week. Just a few dollars more than a raw chicken buys juicy, seasoned, crispy skinned chicken to carve and serve. This week I also grabbed a pack of fresh whole wheat asparagus ravioli that I boiled while I carved the chicken and tossed the ravioli with balsamic vinaigrette served atop mixed greens. Dinner served 12 minutes after I walk in the door. No exaggeration.

Today I take a day off from contractor management to make Toll House chocolate chip cookies to surprise the captive husband. They will follow my circa 1985 dinner of pork chops and apple sauce. Comfort food on demand.

Breakfast of Champions

2007-04-16T12:16:00.000-04:00

Lemon Souffle pancakes from James Macnair's book Breakfast. Super crispy bacon and a goodly bit of butter. I make a small panacke for the top of the stack to eat before I douse in syrup.

Fast Whole Foods

2007-04-12T11:35:00.000-04:00

I seem to be most creative at lunch. Yesterday, in an effort not to cook a quick pasta I opened a can of Italian olive oil packed tuna. I drained about half the oil out, and put on a platter. I opened a can of chick peas, rinsed them, and put a handful next to the tuna. I grabbed the jar of hot giardinera - Italian spicy pickled vegetables, and put some carrots cauliflower and red pepper strips next to the beans. A big hunk of feta cheese crumbled on the beans, some anchovies smashed with lemon juice olive oil and black pepper and drizzled over the tuna... a Mediterranean masterpiece in 4 minutes time. Mmm Mmm good.

Springtime Macheroni e Formaggi

2007-04-04T00:13:00.000-04:00

I relished another tasty lunch today. Mac n cheese that had a layover in Rome. I bought some of the first asparagus stalks of the season, with no specific intention for them. I had some leftover annelini, small pasta rings that are great in soup. I cooked the pasta, throwing in the asparagus tips and a bit more salt when there was 1 minute left to cook. This technique is also handy for making pasta with broccoli or peas. After draining most of the water off, I returned it to the pan and added ricotta cheese along with some parmiggiano and black pepper. The ricotta married the bit of pasta water to become a subtle sauce. After plating, I shaved some pecorino on top and drizzled with white truffle oil. White truffles aren't a springtime delight. Fresh white truffles are in season in the fall/winter. But hey - allow me this slip. I was so thrilled that I took time to be grateful that I could make a meal like this in the middle of the day on a Tuesday.

I enjoyed it so much I managed to save a bit for Captive Husband in case he needed a snack when he got home from his long day at work. It just so happened he worked through lunch yet again and was delighted for the tasty respite.

I used up all my culinary prowess for the day on this meal, dinner was high quality Chinese takeout. I have a weakness for dumplings.

Clams with Chorizo Almejas con Chorizo

2007-03-30T22:31:00.000-04:00

Our wonderfully exciting Friday night meal.

60 Miles for 50 Clams

2007-03-30T16:09:00.000-04:00

Back to the intended topic of this blog, the yearnings of my gullet. Last Saturday I improvised a dish of pan roasted cod and little neck clams with chorizo and white wine. The roasted cod was passable. I envisioned buying the thick cod center loins I used in restaurant cooking but only small tail portions were available for retail. It flaked and got lost in the haunting melange of clams and chorizo. Since then, I've thought of the dish everyday - wanting more. I rarely want to eat the same thing over and over. When I first moved in with my now Captive Husband, I prided myself on not preparing the same meal twice in 3 months. Here it is less than a week later and I'm making the dish again, sans cod.

Last week I purchased the fish at Whole Foods. I knew they would have cod and that it would be perfectly fresh. The clams were good, and even better that the cashier didn't scan the bag right and they weren't on my receipt. I would have bought it up had I looked at the receipt before I got all the way home. But today, I had to go to THE place to get clams, Hatfield Seafood in Delaware. Not Delaware county PA, Delaware the state. 60 miles round trip from my home in the 'burbs. In doing so I saved some $$ because Whole Foods has the unseen 'Gourmet Tax' added into it's prices. At Hatfield Seafood the only ambiance is a huge lobster tank and a smell that will stay with the building forever. The offerings were expansive, crayfish, all kinds of shell fish, shad roe, shark, monk fish and bacon wrapped everything. All restaurant ready picture perfect. I also picked up 2 stuffed crabs, a nice appetizer before we dig into the clams.

First I saute some spicy cured Spanish chorizo in a good amount of olive oil so it permeates all ingredients. Then I add to the chorizo a large diced onion to sweat and a goodly amount of garlic. Clams love garlic so when you think you have enough, add a few more cloves. Add a fresh bay leaf and salt and pepper. Yes, clams are salty, but if the other ingredients aren't seasoned the clams will taste bland and not clammy. Half a bottle of dry white wine - I happened to have around some of West Point Military Academy's finest 2005 vintage from my Sister in law the alumnus. Bring to a simmer and let the alcohol cook off. Last week I used a splash of clam juice, which isn't highly regarded for it's flavor, but I wasn't sure if the clams would yield enough liquid to form a broth. They did so this week I'll leave it out. Add some parsley stems to flavor the broth as well. Add clams. Cover tightly. When they are wide open, portion into large bowls. Sprinkle chopped parsley (for flavor here not just eye appeal) and a squeeze of lime juice for freshness and to compliment the spicy chorizo. Sit back and wait for the moans of "yummy" to begin. I will do my best to capture a photo to follow up with you, but that means delaying my dinner which could be problematic.

PETA to "Have it Their Way"

2007-03-29T00:14:00.000-04:00

My apologies for two political food posts in a row, but someone must be on the frontline. I admire fast food giants as the streamliners of labor and cost effective change in the workplace. Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald's invented fast food and franchising. The Holy Trinity of burger joints - McDonald's (not McDowell's) Burger King and Wendy's are also home to my least healthy guilty pleasure foods. My guilty progressive dinner consists of a BK double whopper with cheese no tomato, Mickey D's fries when they swam in beef fat and a Wendy's chocolate frosty.

Now Burger King says it will buy a whopping 2% of it's eggs from cage free chickens and source frolicing pork. Two percent of Burger King's eggs amounts to a whole bunch, and the pork is in the form of ham, bacon and sausage mostly for breakfast sandwiches. A good move to go after the same PC diner who ate at Spago last night. Yet, aren't those diners who are so concerned with humane treatment of animals also those who don't frequent these places? BK saught PETA's approval before making this announcement to ensure they all but got the PETA SEAL (ha ha) of approval. As tasty as BK is, it is McDonald's that sets the retail prices of eggs in this country. McDonald's purchases eggs as a commodity, and any unforseen costs in production end up on our supermarket shelves. Why does the McGriddle have to be so divine? Moves like this are certain to bring about change in the way chickens are raised.

I must comment on the difference of the terms "free range" and "cage free". By law, free range allows the chickens to be in cages as long as a door to the outside is open. There's a slight possibility the chicken may get to run. Most reputable companies do allow their chickens the kind of free range we romanticize about - running along a hill pecking at the sun. Cage free is gourmet free range. No cages allowed on premise, guaranteed free range. A food spin zone similar to the Bourbon term small batch. No restrictions to the actual size of the batch, 100 barrels or 1,000. Single batch is the new vogue.

Coming soon: single origin chocolate frosties and heirloom potato fries. Lola rosa lettuce to replace iceberg shreds, and organic onion rings. Artisanal paper wrappers and lattes made to order. I'd settle for a malt vinegar option for fries, little packets of vinegar instead of treacly kethcup.

Puck the Foie Gras

2007-03-24T22:28:00.000-04:00

Wolfgang Puck will no longer serve foie gras. He's also revised his protein offerings based on how animals are treated before they make it to his table. While I don't agree with his move, I applaud taking a stance with a culinary empire as big as his. I'd rather see chefs make personal decisions as opposed to the government stepping in and telling me what I can and can't eat. This has been done in Chicago, California, and soon New York.

Puck and other high profile chefs have been under pressure for years to stop serving foie. I don't see his decision as bowing under pressure to these groups because they have been active for so long. I see it as a headline grabber to attract more customers for whom dinner is a political statement rather than a meal. He's popularized California Cuisine, and is now popularizing the earth friendly mentality born there. I wish the San Andreas fault would really show us what it's capable of!

This article in the Boston Globe quotes Puck as saying happy animals yield tasty food. Didn't I hear that in a cheese campaign? A baby cow that's been running around will not taste like veal but rather bland beef. The Japanese and their love for tuna have proved that seafood that has been put under stress does suffer in quality. If everyone flushed their prozac, would that help? You can have animals running around cage free in masses. If they're eating grass that has had acid rain fall on it, and breathe carbon monoxide, and will still receive lots of antibiotics - it doesn't matter if it had the pleasure of frolicing or not. It costs a lot more to have cousin Billy Bob chase down a chicken to sell than pluck one from to coop, and you can bet that cost will be added on to your dinner at Spago.

The Night of Many Feasts and a Magician

2007-03-24T15:25:00.000-04:00

Many think long and hard about what to have for dinner. Last night our dilemma was which of many planned feasts to choose. I had planned a meal of pan roasted cod, clams and chorizo in a saffron broth. Captive husband was thoughtful enough to think I might not want to cook on a Friday night (often correct) and went out of his way on the journey home from work to secure some of the best BBQ in Philly from Tommy Gunn's. I would link to their website but it keeps crashing Internet Explorer. After securing the treasure, pal Steve calls to invite us to join him and his wife at their new favorite Asian spot, Wild Rice. We now had 3 meal options, all delightful. We chose to go to Wild Rice because we love to get together with Steve and Cyndie. Our choice wasn't even based on food!

Wild Rice has Chinese, Japanese, and Thai food. We started with an app of pork potstickers, wonderfully crisp on one side and steamed on the other. We then had a sushi deluxe plate and individual rolls eel and tempura shrimp. Steve and Cyndie had cooked items - Kung Pao tofu and a teriyaki dish. Wild Rice has a great cocktail menu so I ordered a Mango Long Island Iced Tea aka Bankok Tea and the guys had Thai Iced Tea. This might be the only place in King of Prussia to get the ubiquitous chewy bubble tea. Something I still haven't tried. The sushi was prepared well and service was attentive. When the meal was over we weren't done yapping so we went around the corner to Michael's, a terrific Jewish Deli with a few hundred beer options by the bottle. Cue the magician.

After choosing our brews, of which I opted for a Framboise Lambic, a perfect after dinner Belgian, we got a booth. Since we are there about twice a month we recognized our waiter as a new guy. No problem. He delivered chilled beer glasses and one had a large crack in the rim so I asked for another. It would be my luck to lose a lip on a chipped glass so I had to remedy the situation. We open our beers and I forgot small Lambics come with a cap and a cork so I had to ask for a corkscrew. I couldn't get any part of this visit to go smoothly. He was easy going and made light of the situation. We order dessert, Jewish apple cake with ice cream. The waiter didn't question what Jewish apple cake was, a baked item that this deli is known for, so we had no reason to think we would get anything else. Two slices of apple pie a la mode arrive. Thanks to Little Miss Sunshine we've all been schooled what a la mode means. We were tired of feeling like nuisances and having a good time anyway so we didn't send it back. We were looking forward to it because Steve and Cyndie never had Jewish apple cake. Instead we got Jewish apple pie. We did have to wait longer than normal for the check to arrive, but we were treated to a card trick on the way out by the new waiter. It was some funny comic relief but if I were his boss I wouldn't appreciate it. What an interesting night. The weekend is only beginning!

Food TV and How it Influences a Chef

2007-03-21T22:08:00.000-04:00

Before culinary school, I learned my cooking techniques by watching PBS every Sunday afternoon. There was Yan Can Cook, The Ragin' Cajun who "gua-ron-teed" his food was tasty and New Jewish Cuisine. On the extra special days there was an episode of Lidia's Italian Table and it made me wish she was my own Grandmother. The Food Network existed, but wasn't offered on Brooklyn cablevision. This lineup enriched the meals I made for my hard working single Mother and ensured I wasn't clueless on day 1 of learning to cook professionally. At that time I was still in the stage of "make everything exactly as seen on TV".

Two years of culinary school left me qualified to make salads in Manhattan's premier restaurants. I ached to handle the "real food" and experience the adrenaline of the cooking line. In the time I was Queen of Salads I watched, worked hard, and learned even more from what was going on around me. How to adapt a menu item when the main ingredient isn't delivered. How to evolve menu offerings in tune with the season outside the door that I was too busy working hard to notice had changed. Listening for the sound of food that was cooked perfectly over the screaming of new orders entered by waiters. Learning how to prepare fine ingredients was worth making almost no money. After a long time and serving the sweat off my forehead that dripped into vinaigrette (common in every restaurant) I made it to the line. I was elated. I endured splashing grease, burning pan handles, and even accidentally tossed a completed hot plate at the sous chef's groin. Yes, this recipe led to quick burnout.

After being in the food business without cooking in a restaurant everyday, my outlook on food has changed. Now, food is just that. Breakfast/lunch/dinner - not a dish that evokes the second coming of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, a restaurant critic in disguise. No reason to have an anxiety attack over chicken breasts.

Everyone who knows me knows I am a harsh critic of television chefs of today. Now I get the Food Network and it's often on as background noise. With my training I am free to expand upon their dishes and make them great. Most food presented is dumbed down for the (below) average home cook. It is a learning experience to see what's important to the main meal makers of today. It seems no one wants to make a meal that takes longer than 30 minutes. Sandra Lee has a whole book about 20 minute meals and Robin Miller even has a 10 minute meal section. According to Chefography, Sandra Lee has sold more than 1 million cookbooks. No longer having to adhere to a printed menu, I ponder what to make for dinner. Robin Miller provided the flavor profiles and a difficulty rating easy recipe. I made it professional and tasty. Her recipe for a Thai chicken dinner salad featured a vinaigrette of peanut butter, fish sauce, a lot of sesame oil, chicken stock and lime juice. Not bad but it looked like thinned out peanut butter. What's interesting about that on a pile of lettuce? The vinaigrette I created after watching that episode included ginger, garlic, rice wine vinegar, sriracha chili sauce, natural peanut butter, lime juice, sesame oil and canola oil. I tried to adhere to the Asian credo of the 'hot-sour-salty-sweet' aspect of a successful dish. Poured over marinated stir fried beef, sugar snap peas, bean sprouts and lettuce, dusted with cashews, my palate was thrilled. The real kind of thrilled, not the fake yumm-yumm the presenters make when tasting their dishes at the end of the show. I never thought I'd have Robin Miller to thank for a dinner idea. More on this topic in the future.

A Salad of 4 C's

2007-03-20T13:07:00.000-04:00

New lunch creation: curry chicken salad with cashews and cucumbers. Having made a pot of chicken soup with kale last night yielded me with leftover poached chicken. I thought about this salad even before I went to sleep last night. I love curry.

I made curry mayo by mixing lime juice & hot madras curry powder into Hellman's. I added shredded chicken, a handful of cashews and diced cucumber. I placed it atop a bed of lettuce inside a whole wheat wrap and blammo... something I would pay $7.99 for was born in my kitchen. Also, only 5 net carbs. Spicy, crunchy, crisp and juicy - all in the palm of my hand.

Even more leftover chicken will go into a poached chicken Caesar alongside dinner tonight. I over compensated for not adding noodles to the soup with vegetables. After making and straining chicken stock, I sweated parsnip, onions, mushrooms, carrots and celery. Added the chicken stock and simmered. Added fresh chopped kale and simmered, and simmered as kale isn't naturally tender. Added some fresh broccoli and shredded chicken. I had to re season often as all those vegetables demand a healthy amount of salt to taste proper. Adding Parmesan cheese rinds to the stock and grated parm into the bowls before serving with a healthy dose of black pepper kicked it all up a few notches from bowl of vegetables to wonderful, hearty soup.

The Yolk's On Me

2007-03-19T12:17:00.000-04:00

I rarely buy Jumbo sized eggs, but they were on sale this week. This morning, I got a double yolked egg! This oddity is as rare as finding a four leaf clover, that needle that's been in the haystack for such a long time. Maybe I should play the lottery? A sign like this, a sign that something is a little extra special about today, is a true gift. The eggs were a part of my crimini mushroom omelet with shavings of parmiggiano reggiano on top. I needed a change from the scrambled eggs and chicken apple sausage breakfast of late. All this is to maintain my high protein low carb diet that I desperately want to make a way of life. It sure does work and you can see results. But there's pasta, and bread, and the food group of mashed potatoes!

A Slice of Heartache

2007-03-15T13:47:00.000-04:00

I've sent this topic in an email to my vast reader base but I'm so enraged I need to expand upon it here. We endured the $50 burger at DB Bistro, the $100 cheesesteak at Barclay Prime, and now, for your viewing pleasure, the $1,000 pizza. I say, "Your viewing pleasure" because this is a side show. A stunt simply for publicity.

It is comprised of 8 ounces of 4 kinds of caviar. From Petrossian, a well respected caviar retailer who has it's own restaurant. The people at Petrossian are elegant and classy and I'm sure don't appreciate being mentioned with this dish. To put salmon roe (commonly used as fish bait, really large and unappealing) next to fine caviar is like garnishing your fine cheese tray with cheesy poofs. A little creme fraiche with caviar is nice, but a whole sauce like layer of it? And look at all that wasabi. Wasabi is grand, used in moderation with sushi and especially with Tobiko - but I daresay it ruins whatever morsel of taste might have been salvagable. Looking at the crust, I'd rather have a Boboli. The people at Totonno's are hopefully lauching hot coals through the windows of Nino's Bellisima. I'd love to hear from anyone who's eaten there, is anything edible? Check out the thread about this menu offering on eGullet.

Pantry Cooking

2007-03-10T23:01:00.000-05:00

Once again I was sabotaged by my fridge. This time, it was a package of chicken thighs purchased well within sale date. Ancient ice box of a fridge couldn't keep then cold enough for 2 days. When I began to cook tonight... gotcha! Spoiled chicken. I was going to make crispy Asian chili sauced thighs. Now, I needed immediate backup. Too hungry to venture out and delivery to Norristown is limited, because it's Norristown. No other raw proteins in the fridge because it does often sabotage me. What's on the pantry shelf that's a satisfying Saturday night dinner?

Shelf stable spinach tortellini. Yes, yes, this will do. Not in the mood for tomato sauce either. Ooh, and here's a can of Stilton and Port soup from Scotland that I hadn't developed the nerve to eat by itself. And a hunk of Roaring 40's blue from Australia left over from a cheese plate a few weeks ago, voila! Spinach tortellini with blue cheese cream sauce was born. I added some other left over cheese bits (a small piece of La Tur from my last post), some parmiggiano that my fridge is never without and some Emmenthaler for a rich melty-ness to the sauce. Super tasty, and didn't seem like a pantry desperation dinner.

What other pantry staples do I keep around for just such an occasion? Cous cous - add anything and you have a meal. If the tortellini didn't jump out I was going to make curried eggplant cous cous for dinner. The Captive Husband wouldn't have even missed the meat. Stocks and broth equal instant soup. Add some leftover chicken or a handful of pasta and arugula to wilt in it and you have a simmered all day flavor. Speaking of pasta, multiple shapes are a definite pantry staple. A no cook sauce of extra virgin olive oil, grated cheese and fresh basil puts dinner on the table in 10 minutes. Stir warm penne into a mixed green salad dressed with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and goat cheese, and I'm content. Canned chick peas. Whiz them in the food processor for quick hummus, add to a salad to make it hearty, toss them with a can of diced tomatoes and feta cheese and lemon for another quick pasta meal. Cured meats. Spanish chorizo, andouille sausage, Italian salumi. They all last forever, even in my fridge. Not only can you slice up a quick antipasto plate, but they can be added to eggs for a quick omelet, sauteed with potatoes for a hearty meal. Cheese. There's usually some American for the emergency grilled cheese, but there's also the leftover bits that happen there seemingly by accident. These bits that wouldn't constitute a platter end up in polenta, mac n cheese, another famous omelet and even fondue. Cheesy grit souffle. No need to specify a type of cheese, mixed with creamy grits it all becomes sublime.

I could go on and on but the message is the same. When you think there's nothing in the house for dinner, unless you're a bachelor who keeps only empty mayo containers and whipped cream in the fridge - you have more meals at the ready than you realize.

I Didn't Leave Him Cookies, I Left Him Cheese...

2007-03-03T14:39:00.000-05:00

Of all the things to leave for Santa, when he's tired of Nutter Butters here comes a little present for him. La Tur always makes a splash on my cheese plate. While being soft and occasionally nice and runny, it won't smell up the car on the ride home. Made in Northern Italy of the milk trinity - cow, sheep and goat that is, there's something for everyone to like. The fresh center has that goaty crumble, the rind has a fresh bloom but is less chewy and pungent than heavy brie, all with the tangy smile of pecorino flavor throughout.

When perfectly ripe la Tur has a beautiful halo of ooze (a technical term) just flavorful enough to keep it intriguing without reaching for the sock spray. The edible rind is bloomy and wrinkly like a hairless pug and not at all imposing in the mouth. The label on top is made of rice paper and is edible, but I prefer to put it on the side of the plate as food art. The scene it contains of a woman selling cheese and bread from a small stand makes me think I'm back in Bologna, in the little alley that has the food shops normally kept away from tourists. Janet Fletcher writes about cheese weekly in the San Francisco Gate. See what she thinks of La Tur.

Most cheese is best eaten with fresh crusty bread. La Tur is memorable alongside Pecorino Ginepro and Gorgonzola Dolce, also from the same region. Add some Prosciutto di Parma, dried fruits and nuts, maybe some crostini and a glass of wine and you have a meal.

Mmmm... Beer

2007-02-27T21:54:00.000-05:00

"Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer
the world."- Kaiser Wilhelm

Beer is much less pretentious than wine. Generally less expensive by the glass, too. Don't get me wrong, I like wine just fine but my palate takes to beer more easily.

This past weekend I attended the Best Beers of 2006 event at The Drafting Room in Exton, PA. Given that it was the same weekend as the famed Oscars, I liken it to be the Oscar Awards of the brewing industry. No actual awards are bestowed, just lots of good drinking of rare beers. What I like most about events at the Drafting Room is that the beers are offered in a 5 oz. option so I get to taste everything and still drive home. Captive Husband does not like to be the designated driver!

My favorite of '06 was 10 years alt from Victory Brewing Co. It's no longer available, brewed to mark their 10 year anniversary. The style is native to Germany, specifically Dusseldorf and Rhineland. The term Altbier translates literally to old beer referring to it's ancient past. Today it refers to a beer brewed for a special occasion, usually a bit darker and stronger than the breweries normal output. It's not common among artisan micro breweries either, making this incarnation extra special. Victory's brew had a wonderful balance of bitter and malt and floral hop flavors and aromas. You knew it was special the moment it passed your lips. It was available in a 3L format, known as a Jeroboam larger than a magnum. The bottles were signed and dated by Bill and Ron, the brewers. We picked one up intending it for our wedding reception which was to be later this year. Since we sped things up, we'll save it for our anniversary. When consumed, it will be one and a half years alt!

The photo is a perfect pour of stout floating atop hard cider. It was a wonderful greeting from my brother in law on a recent visit to DC. While we knew it as a Snakebite, Wikipedia states it's more accurately a Poor Man's Black Velvet. A Black Velvet is a mix of champagne and stout. Whatever you call it, sipping sweet cider through chocolately stout is divine.