Tuesday, July 26, 2011

"I don't like gourmet cooking or 'this' cooking or 'that' cooking. I like good cooking." - James Beard

The past couple of weeks we have enjoyed some delicious home cooked meals.  Last Monday B made fish sandwiches.


He simply dredged turbo filets in flour, egg, and panco/pistacio/garlic breadcrumbs before pan frying and serving on whole wheat rolls with chipotle mayo.  To make the asparagus he just covered it in olive oil, salt, and pepper and roasted at 400.  It was simple and delicious.

The following night we made pesto shrimp pasta from Giada's Everyday Italian cookbook.


We just tossed the whole wheat angel hair (which we were thrilled to find at Whole Foods) with the pesto, and then topped with shrimp that had been pan fried in olive oil, salt and pepper.

Then Saturday at the shore my mother in law made a great lunch of homemade pickles, wheat berry salad, and lobster rolls.



The entire meal is surprisingly simple.  For the wheat berry salad:

4 cups water
1/2 c dry wheat berries
1/2 of 15 oz. can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup shelled edamame, thawed
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt and pepper
Cook the wheat berries for 55 mins and then combine with the rest of the ingredients.

The lobster salad was made by mixing frozen lobster meat, thawed and chopped, with chopped celery, lemon juice, and mayo to taste.  It was wonderful served on toasted and buttered split rolls.

Sunday night we made black bean veggie burgers with kale chips and a homemade wild blueberry pie with almond topping for dessert.


Just a tip for the black bean burgers - make sure to drain the water from the pepper/onion/garlic mixture before combining with the black bean mash.  Otherwise the "patties" will be too liquidy.

The wild blueberry pie was delicious and simple to make (we used purchased pilsberry pie crust).



It was extremely runny when we first sampled it because we couldn't wait for the pie to cool entirely before diving in.  Hopefully you can have more restraint than we did :)


I am, however, happy to report that after we let the remainder of the pie sit overnight, it solidified nicely.  If you are going to try the recipe I would suggest an alternative topping because the almond mixture is far too sweet.

Happy cooking!

Monday, July 25, 2011

"What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance." - Jane Austen

The northeast was hit by a "heatwave" last week and most everyone could talk of nothing but the "unbearable" heat.  The South Carolinian in me couldn't help but laugh a little at the ridiculousness of the continued complaints because at its worst I think it was 102 with 50% humidity.  That said, I welcomed the excuse to try Old City's new frozen yogurt spot Sweet.Tart.Smart.  Essentially a Pink Berry rip off, down to the color scheme, Sweet.Tart.Smart. allows you to choose from 10 frozen yogurt flavors (or mix and match) and a multitude of toppings, including fresh fruit and crumbled candy bars, to build your own fro-yo creation.  All but two of their flavors are fat free, and at 49 cents an ounce its much more affordable than Old City's flagship ice cream parlor Franklin Fountain.  I had a mixture of chocolate and cheesecake fro-yo with strawberries, chocolate chips, and graham cracker crumble on top.  Delightful.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

"In summer, the song sings itself." - William Carlos Williams

This Saturday B and I enjoyed a great summer night.  After an afternoon iced coffee/tea at the Race Street Pier, we took our bikes and headed to Cantina Los Caballitos in South Philly for an early dinner.  The sister restaurant to Cantina Dos Segundos, Los Caballitos shares a similar menu but with a great outdoor area.



While planning our meal we ordered some drinks: a blood orange margarita on the rocks for me and a "La Perla" (Specialty Cocktail) for B.  Both were delicious.


We finally decided on small order of nachos followed by the pork carnitas tacos and the beef and cheese flautas.




The nachos - topped with black beans and queso fresco and layered underneath with mozzarella, corn, tomato, union, and pickled jalapeno - were fantastic, but gigantic.  Although we probably didn't need to follow the nachos with two additional dishes, I'm not sure which I would have bagged as both were great.  The pork in the tacos was perfectly cooked and worked perfectly with the homemade corn shells and simple onion, cilantro, and cheese toppings.  The flautas were just as good - the flour shells were perfectly crispy and filled with a deliciously creamy beefy/cheesy mixture.  Yum.

Despite having to leave a flauta and half a taco behind we really enjoyed our meal, and the trip down to South Philly.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

"A man may be a pessimistic determinist before lunch and an optimistic believer in the will's freedom after it." - Aldous Huxley

The opportunity to enjoy free lunches with summer associates is one of the main perks of law firm life during the summer time.  Interestingly, these summer lunches often include appetizers and/or desserts - even when dining with attorneys who usually reserve lunch for a simple salad.  Last week, for example, I attended a summer lunch at Hoolihan's.  Despite the fact that we were all relatively full after our soup and half a sandwich meals, we decided to order not one but two mammoth desserts - caramel apple pie with vanilla ice cream and a chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce - between the three of us.


Needless to say we were in somewhat of a food coma for the reminder of the afternoon.

There is, however, one lunch that a partner in my firm organizes every summer which tops all others - the P.F. Chang's lunch.  Each year a group of 6 or so attorneys takes the summer class to P.F. Chang's for what is inevitably a 2 or 3 hour eating extravaganza.  The partner in charge orders a variety of appetizers, entrees, and desserts for the group - the only requirement is that you come with an appetite.  Among the multitude of plates sampled this year were lettuce wraps, the appetizer sampler, crispy honey shrimp, dan dan noodles, kung pao chicken, mongolian beef, the great wall of chocolate, and the banana spring rolls.








Although there were additional dishes on the table, the plates were passing too quickly for me to get a shot of everything.  That said, I think you get the gist - yum, yum and more yum.  P.F. Chang's may not be "high-end" but for a chain restaurant they do a pretty great job.  Can't wait until next summer.

"Liberty is the breath of life to nations." - George Bernard Shaw

Most years we spend Fourth of July weekend with my in-laws to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday (July Fifth).  While we always have a great time, and great food courtesy of my mother-in-law, this year the in-laws were at Wimbledon and we had their shore house to ourselves!  It was extremely relaxing and, to my delight, we were able to enjoy the air conditioning all weekend long (my in-laws prefer to open the windows and forgo a.c. - to my southern heart's dismay).

The first night, B and I went to Plantation Restaurant for dinner.  To start B ordered the clam chowder.


Plantation is known for a fantastic New England clam chowder - creamy with plenty of clam and topped with a couple crispy clam strips and a drizzle of parsley-infused olive oil - and our order did not disappoint.

For dinner I had the crab cakes with a side of tempura mushrooms and B selected the salmon special.



Both of our entrees were fine, but nothing to write home about and certainly not worth $28.00 a pop.  The fried mushrooms, on the other hand, were delicious.

The rest of the weekend was filled grilling out, soaking up the sun, and enjoying a beverage or two.

 [beautiful sunset over the bay]

[special addition American flag Budweiser - necessary...]

Happy Fourth of July one and all!

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

"All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt." - Charles M. Schulz

About six months ago I was experiencing was turned out to be stress-induced abdominal pain.  In addition to cutting out stress (unlikely if not impossible), the doctor prescribed me some mild medication and recommended that I cut dairy and caffeine out of my diet.  Although I gave it the old college try, I have found it almost impossible to cut caffeine out of my diet (although I have cut back to one caffeinated drink a day since I completed the juice cleanse).

Eliminating dairy, on the other hand, has proven much easier - particularly with the discovery of almond milk.  The consistency, akin to that of heavy cream, takes some getting used to, but I find it a wonderful addition to my morning cereal -- especially granola.  I do, however, have one main complaint with almond milk: because of the consistency it does not easily blend with chocolate sauce or powder to make chocolate milk. 

That said, those who know how much I love a good chocolate milk with my breakfast can imagine how delighted I was to find individual servings of dark chocolate almond milk in the grocery store last week!
Score!  It is delicious, and only 120 calories per 8 ounce serving.  If you want to know more about the cow's milk v. almond milk comparison, you can find some helpful insights here and here.  Happy drinking!

Sunday, July 3, 2011

"A hot dog at the ballgame beats roast beef at the Ritz" - Humphrey Bogart

Last weekend B and I went to see the Philadelphia Phillies host the Oakland Athletics.  Although PETA named Citizens Bank Park the #1 ball park for vegetarian options in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 (and #2 in 2011), we opted to go as unhealthy as possible.  We started our night splitting a McNally's Schmitter - cheese, special sauce, grilled salami, fried onion, tomato, and steak on a kaiser roll.


It was good, but, not as good as I'd remembered from last fall - maybe its just a bit too heavy for summer weather.

After watching a few innings we had a "second course" of hot dogs and Chickie and Pete's fries.

Ball park hotdogs are always delicious and Chickie and Pete's fries, crinkle fries with crab seasoning that you dip into melted American cheese, are my personal heaven.  Even though the Phillies lost, we had a great time and enjoyed some great eats.

“A fine beer may be judged with only one sip, but it's better to be thoroughly sure.” - Czech proverb

Wednesday I attended a firm beer tasting mixer hosted at Little Tuna in Haddonfield for our summer clerks.  Little Tuna provided three courses of heavy hors d'œuvres, and each course was paired with two types of beer.  We arrived a bit late so the first and second courses were sort of lumped together for our group (they were kind enough to make sure we got to taste all of the action), but nonetheless delicious.  For starters we were served jalapeño poppers, spicy chicken dumplings, and goat cheese "balls", accompanied by Stoudt's Gold Lager and a ginger peach wheat Dogfish Head.

The poppers were a bit bland, and the goat cheese balls were just too much cheese without anything to cut the taste (which is particularly difficult to swallow - pun intended - when dealing with a dry, crumbly cheese like goat cheese).  The spicy chicken dumplings, on the other hand, were tender and had a nice zip without being overpowering.  The Stoudt's was good but the Dogfish Head was a little too reminiscent of carbonated Arbor Mist for me.

The second course included salt-and-sugar pan seared sea scallops over a zucchini and butter puree, crab cakes made with blue cheese, spinach and red bell pepper, and chicken satay, and was served with Victory Hop Devil (my favorite) and a Flying Fish.


Although the satay was bland, the scallops and crab cake were to die for, and paired perfectly with my Hop Devil.

The final course consisted of lobster and sweet corn quesadillas with a smoked chipotle sauce, oysters rockafeller with crispy prociutto, parmesan, spinach, and garlic, and seared tuna, and was served with a Tripel Karmeliet and a Troegenator Double Bock.



I steered clear of the tuna as I unfortunately despise the taste of cooked tuna, but, the quesadillas and oysters were delicious (though the quesadillas were a little short on lobster meat).  The Double Bock was a little wintery for me, but, I found the Karmeliet delightful and plan to pick some up next time we are at the speciality beer spot on Columbus Blvd.

All-in-all a great time and assuming the tasting menu was just a preview of the great ditties on Little Tuna's full menu, I would definitely recommend stopping in for a bite.