June 2009
12 posts
Review: Smokin' Betty's
It was fate from the get-go at Smokin’ Betty’s. bda and I sat down, and called out our possible picks. Because they just opened, and I figured the chef would have some things he was pushing, I asked the waitress, “what are your can’t miss items?” 3 of the 4 things she mentioned, we had already picked, so we went along with the fourth.
Smokin’ Betty’s...
Giving the conventioneers what they want.
Living in Chinatown, I get an above-average number of tourists looking for advice. “Which way is the Liberty Bell?” “Do you know where I can buy a six pack around here?’ “Is there anywhere good around here to have dinner?”
There are many good places around here to have dinner. However, I recognize that the average pack of 4+ tourists may have different...
2 tags
Greensgrow cheese love.
The best part of the Greensgrow CSA, at least for me, is definitely the cheeses. I’m definitely a cheese fiend, but it’s also a delight to have the opportunity to try so many great local cheeses. There is an occasional dud, to be sure, but they are usually quite delicious. To date, they’ve served up:
XX Sharp Cheddar, Le Rayesville Cheese Factory, Le Rayesville, PA
Fresh...
Veggies - raw or cooked?
It’s a fairly well-known fact that I was an outright vegetable hater until 25, and definitely suspicious of anyone harboring strong vegetable sympathies until nearly 30. I avoided cruite plates like they were trays of moldy berries. So, vegetables that are totally straightforward to those of you who do not deem broccoli a contaminant are somewhat opaque to me.
Take the zucchini. Do...
2 tags
Week 3 of the CSA box is....
Cherries - Lancaster County, PA Baby Spinach - Graiff Farms, Newfield, NJ Kale - Flaim Farms, Vineland, NJ Zucchini - Lancaster County, PA Carrots - Flaim Farms, Vineland, NJ Turnips - Lancaster County, PA Cheese - Telford Tomme - Hendricks Farms, Lancaster, PA Meat Shares - Fennel OR Rosemary Sausage - Meadow Run Farms, Lititz, PA
Plus butter as the dairy option for this week. Cherries, baby...
Our new blogger: Anna!
After sampling many of her tasty treats, and enjoying her handiwork in a previous culinary adventure, I was able to coax baker extraordinaire Anna to change blogging venues (at least for her baking posts!) Not only has she officially picked up the bake-off mantle, she is phillyfoodie.com’s newest blogger. Welcome, Anna!
Marcie Blaine Chocolates
Verde is the newest shop by my two favorite Philly gals, Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran. Open House is my go-to spot for all gift-giving occasions, so a flower, home and chocolate emporium by the same team has to be good, right?
The shop is gorgeous. Go now. Try not to spend a fortune on flowers. The chocolates, however….
The packaging is lovely. The chocolates themselves are my...
Summer dinners and the return of the cheese plate.
Oh, summertime. The nights of light dinners after a bike ride are back. The CSA is on, and with it comes fresh veggies, and light dinners, and evenings of the cheese board!
(Photo courtesy of varmintbites.com - my plate is very carved up right now.)
Currently on the board:
fresh chèvre
double creme brie (Fromager d’Affinois)
Parmeggiano-Reggiano
aged gouda (not Prima Donna, my...
What's the difference between a muffin and a...
Hint: It’s no longer “frosting”.
After a special request for chocolate chip muffins, I pulled out The Muffin Book. Normally, I don’t feel compelled to make a recipe as-is, but after I saw that it called for a chocolate ganache icing, I felt it would just be wrong somehow to not honor the author’s original vision. (Actually, that’s not true. I didn’t...
Capogiro loves me: sea salt gelato!
I was getting dinner today at a pizza/ice cream parlor, and, while I partook of the pizza, I passed on the ice cream, as I’m not really an ice cream person. My friend said, “but you love capogiro so much!” And I said, “That’s not ice cream, that’s gelato.”
If you haven’t been to Capogiro before, you are missing out on one of the great Philadelphia...
Co-cooking stuffed pastas: sauces!
After all that hard work, it was time for a delicious pasta dinner. But, who wants to make a time-consuming, heavy sauce after spending so much time making the pasta from scratch? Not I (especially because I had been nibbling on cheese all day!) Paul made not one, but two, fast and delicious sauces, starting with pesto.
Pesto
1 cup torn fresh basil
2 cloves garlic roughly chopped or...
Co-cooking stuffed pastas: three cheese and crab
Once we had perfected the art of making ravioli, Paul and I moved on to new shapes and fillings. Both the demi-lunes above and the tortellini below used a traditional three cheese filling, so we could smush the pasta into place without piercing worries.
Three cheese pasta filling
1 cup Ricotta cheese
1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tsp. Oregano
1 Egg
...