Snapelove
I have so much to say about
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, both good and bad, but my main issues with the book revolve around
Severus Snape. I won't say any more for those who have yet to read the book/series, but i'll just leave you with a link to this
Snape awesomeness!
Harry Potter and the Testing of Patience
Harry Potter is so on the brain. It's all we've been thinking about at work, home, over IM and in our sleep - for the past week! We're definitely taking part in the events tonight in Philadelphia, and certainly staying up all night to get a head start on finishing the book. As decided, we're turning off all phones, TVs, radios and computers, as well as not venturing out of the house until we're done, in case someone ruins the end of the book by blabbing "X died!" or "X lives!"
In preparation for this weekend, i'm going to run the oven to make
vegetarian Shepherds Pie. (It's a large dish that equates to many servings since we won't have the desire to cook while in the middle of reading!)
I assume by Sunday morning we all should be done with the book, so i plan to make
Egg in the Basket, which i thought was called "Toad in the Hole," along with fake sausage for breakfast.
Throughout Sunday afternoon over our HP7 discussion, i'll make some nice little sandwiches to eat with scones, little cakes and tea. I'm intrigued by
lemon curd so perhaps i'll make a batch of that for the first time.
Sadly for be, i'm not into pumpkin juice and pretzel "wands" dipped in frosting, nor those horrific
Bertie Bott's beans (of which apparently rotten egg is worse than vomit... ugh!)
I CAN'T WAIT!
We Don't Eat Jook?
Some silly person got to my site by Googling, "Asian Americans don't eat jook."
WHAAAAAT?
I was just hankering a big steaming bowl of House Special Jook from
Buddha Bodai in Manhattan Chinatown. Since it's hard eating that from Philadelphia, i was wondering if be would eat a bowl or two if i made a pot of jook. You can get the yu ja gue (super deep fried giant bread sticks) in frozen form from Chinese markets; throw in some cilantro, fake ham, pickled mustard greens, peanuts, hot oil, whatever and EAT UP.
Unfortunately, we're in the middle of summer so i don't want to use the stove/oven for anything but kettle corn, so a pot of rice simmering for hours is out of the question. So poo on that weird jook-hater.
PS: I just found out that we prematurely snipped three of our giant Thai Dragon peppers! You're supposed to wait until they turn bright red, but we snipped them when they were light green and about 3.5" long. I sure hope the plant produces enough red peppers for my crushed chile experiments later this summer!
Pad Thai Twice
be and i have finally found some delicious Thai noodle dishes in Philly! Granted, we haven't been to every single Thai restaurant around, but
Pad Thai on 2nd near South is: 1) within walking distance from our house, 2) run by extremely friendly folks, 3) very good about vegetarian-friendly adaptations, and 4) open late; so i don't see why we would go anywhere else. Their dishes are a few dollars more than other Thai restaurants around (ie: pad Thai is $12 instead of $10) but i think the quality of the food definitely makes up for it.
We first ate at Pad Thai Friday night around 10:30pm. As we are noodle lovers, we each ordered our favorites: vegetarian pad Thai for me, and pad si eew with fried tofu for be - i know it's anti-family style to have 2 noodle dishes but we just can't help it. We also ordered Thai iced teas and som tum (green papaya salad) sans fish sauce.
First off, the Thai iced tea hit the spot: strong, sweet and creamy without any flavor overwhelming the others. If you've had it with cavity-inducing sweetness or so much milk it weakens the tea, you know what i mean. Also, it was served in a good large glass.
Next, YAY for papaya salad! What is up with Philly and all the Thai restaurants making som tum with cabbage? Is it because green papaya is hard to find? Because Philadelphians are weirded out by green papaya? Is it traditional and i don't know it? Is it like how banh mi are called "Vietnamese hoagies?" Som tum is "Thai coleslaw?" Thankfully, Pad Thai makes it with shredded green papaya with no cabbage in sight, so we're glad. Make sure you order it HOT. It's strong on the lime. So addictive and crunchy. One of my favorite salads, and one of the only things be admits is better "very hot."
Finally, our noodle entrees were both excellent. I abhor overcooked, saucy noodles and find it sad that so many restaurants (Chinese, Thai, Italian) serve noodles soft and sauce-laden as most Americans prefer. Pad Thai's noodles were cooked just right, with a great bite and flavored very well. be's pad si eew contained slightly-smoky Chinese broccoli and chunks of fried tofu (he's not eating shrimp these days) and sprinkled with black pepper which smelled amazing. My vegetarian pad Thai included the same chunks of fried tofu but you can also order plain tofu. Our portions were quite large so we had enough for leftovers the next day. Overall, we enjoyed everything immensely.
So immensely, that we went again Sunday night! We were tempted to order the same exact dishes, but be changed his mind last second and chose a red curry dish with fried tofu instead of pad si eew. Like Friday, everything was tasty but even better since we requested the som tum HOT. The red curry dish was richly flavored and delicious. be says the jasmine rice was very good, too. Unfortunately, the leftover rice wasn't included in his to-go container so he cried a little at lunch today.
Verdict: we have found our regular Thai place in Philly! (I must add, however, that
Tamarind on South at 1st is also quite tasty. We went there once for dinner and another time for Thai iced tea. They offer tasty mock duck dishes which Pad Thai does not, but unfortunately only cabbage som tum.)
Sweet Tea time
I agree with Southerners about iced tea served in the North. Now, i don't consider myself a Southerner even though everyone north of Maryland considers Virginia "the South." I also surely didn't grow up drinking sweetened iced tea, save for
Lipton iced tea mix! But the Southerners are right to say that "iced tea" should be homemade and pre-sweetened. Most restaurants in the Northeast offer unsweetened, tannic iced tea that needs 14 packets of sugar to sweeten, half of which doesn't even fully dissolve.
I love sweet tea. It's so refreshing and delicious. I've been making a version adapted from
here online. It's very simple although i changed it for 3 main reasons:
1) My iced tea is never cloudy so i don't find the baking soda necessary. It's always a beautiful clear deep brown so i don't know how it could cloud. Some people say baking soda takes out the "bitterness" in tea. I don't get this either since my cheapy Lipton bags haven't brewed up bitter, even with such a long steep time!
2) 2 cups of sugar for 2 quarts of liquid, even the 1.5 cups minimum the author listed was TOO SWEET. I love sugar. I can handle sweet - ask anyone who knows me how much candy and dessert i can chow down - but the amount of sugar listed was so sweet, i couldn't even taste the tea! I first made it with 1.5 cups, which was drinkable but barely. The next batch was 1 cup = totally good! For the third batch however, 1/2 cup of sugar was just right for me. It's still sweet but the tea taste shines through more clearly. For special occasions i'll use 3/4 cup, but for regular batches i think 1/2 cup is good.
3) Sweet tea = good use for crazy mint garden bounty.
be's Philadelphia Sweet Tea6 black tea bags (i used Lipton*)
1/2 cup white sugar
8 cups water
a 2 cup glass measuring cup (helpful)
fresh mint sprigs and a little extra sugar (optional)
Boil 2 cups of water. Pour the water over the tea bags in the glass measuring cup. Let steep for 15 minutes. Lift out the tea bags (don't squeeze them) and compost/discard. Pour the strong tea into a 2 quart pitcher. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Add 6 cups of cold water and stir. Refrigerate until cold and serve. For sweet mint tea, i like to crush a few mint sprigs with a little sugar in the bottom of each glass and pour the cold tea over it.
* I don't use my good black tea for this because it's not necessary. With a cold beverage, all the aroma of good tea is dulled, plus think of all the sugar you're adding! I hear that Luzianne brand tea bags are the way to go, so i'll be sure to make a batch once i get somewhere that actually stocks it! Lastly, i don't want to deal with "cold brew" and "family size" bag complications. Who doesn't have some regular black tea bags laying around?
Kettle Corn Batches #1 - 3
Kettle corn is not the same as caramel corn. First of all, the sugary coating is ultra thin and barely visible. Second, it's popcorn that's barely sweet, barely salty and well balanced with both flavors. Caramel corn explodes in a thick sweet crunch and leans more towards the realm of
candy than a popcorn snack. Now, i love caramel corn, especially with a buttery toffee coating and peanuts, but kettle corn is utimately the superior choice. The addictive crisp, the toasty corn, the not-quite-sweet and not-quite-salty flavor that satisfies both cravings... just thinking about it makes me salivate!
I read a LOT of recipes online. They ranged from overly simplistic to totally wrong - stuff like no mention of salt, steps like cooking butter and brown sugar into a syrup and pouring it onto popped corn (like faux Cracker Jack!), and the insistence of special machines, (not to mention one site that claimed it couldn't be made at home!). Of the ones that sounded decent, 3 echoed similar ratios. I tried a half-batch of that first.
#1: 1/4 c popcorn kernels, 2 T canola oil, 2 T white sugar, salt; 3 qt steel pot, large electric stovetop burner on 6.5 heat.
I shook that pot constantly, but unfortunately the sugar burned a bit at the bottom. The batch was 65% surprisingly excellent and much like what i recall real kettle corn to be like, although the remaining 35% of the batch was coated in burnt sugar and not delicious although still edible. be and i ate it shockingly fast and wanted more immediately.
#2 (a few hours later): 1/4 c popcorn, 2 T canola oil, 1.5 T white sugar, salt; 3 qt steel pot on small electric stovetop burner on 6 heat.
Now THIS batch hit the jackpot! By lowering the sugar and heat slightly, i experienced no burnt sugar. I did get splatted once in the face with hot oil, but i guess that's part of the danger. be and i ate this batch even faster. Even O who hates popcorn liked this!
#3 (a few more hours later): 1/2 c popcorn, 4 T canola oil, 3 T white sugar, salt; 8 qt heavy steel stockpot on large electric stovetop burner on 6 heat.
My attempt to make a larger batch was successful, although even more dangerous! Since the pot was so large and heavy it was difficult to shake, so we ended up trying to stir it while using the cover as much as possible. be got hit by oil a few times, i freaked out and O says he wish he had a video camera. I saw a tiny amount of kernels with almost-burnt sugar but picked those out. I think if it was left on the heat any longer it would've totally burned. Verdict: still excellent. Too bad i have to save it for the beach tomorrow. Would rather eat now.
be's Insanely Addictive and Dangerous Kettle Corn1/4 c popcorn kernels
2 T canola oil
1.5 T white sugar
fine-grained salt
Pour the oil and popcorn into a 3 qt steel pot. Heat over medium. When you see the oil start to sizzle, add the sugar and stir it with a wooden spoon. Cover and shake every 2-3 seconds until you hear the first pop. (A glass cover really helps here.) If possible, crack cover slightly and stir again with the spoon, otherwise constantly shake the pot using oven mitts. Even if you do stir it again, keep shaking. When the kernels are popping like crazy, lift the pot off the heat and keep shaking. Once the kernels are all popped (this will take <1 minute), immediately dump into a large bowl and shake on salt. (One person can sprinkle the salt while another shakes the bowl to coat evenly.) Makes 2 medium servings.
Tips:
1) Be very careful of splattering hot oil and sugar. Hot sugar keeps burning if it touches your skin. Use the cover at all times.
2) Once a majority of the kernels have popped, it's impossible to stir with the spoon so it's up to the shaking.
3) To take off unfortunate burnt sugar, first cool the pot. Add water and bring to a boil. Pour out the burnt sugar water and cool pot again, then wash as usual.
4) When you pour out the popcorn, it may seem slightly sticky at first - this is when you must salt it - but as it cools it will break apart with shaking. We like to toss it over and over in a large metal bowl.
5) Get all the ingredients and supplies ready. Once it starts popping, you have about a minute until it's time to salt it. A second person is very helpful here.
6) To clarify, "shaking" is moving the pot quickly back and forth over the heat. I don't mean for you to lift it off the stove entirely, until the kernels are going crazy and lifting it off won't make a difference anyway.
Good luck and happy eating! I know i'll make 1,000 more batches by the end of the year.
Popcorn 24/7
I've always loved popcorn. It was such a treat when the teacher would lug in an air popper and pass out handfuls on brown paper towels once or twice a year. (Yeah, i'm that old for popcorn to make a school day totally awesome...)
In my teenage years i'd down an entire bag of
Orville Redenbacher's microwave popcorn a few times a week. I really didn't mind the way it coated the back of my throat with a layer of undissolveable grease. It was salty tasty addictiveness. I even loved the complicated 2-part microwave caramel corn, the bright orange fake cheese sprinkles and the chewy bagged popcorn. (I did draw the line at the movie theater "butter." Even as a kid i knew that sure wasn't real butter! Maybe i would've pumped it on if they accurately called it "oily topping?")
During the last few years, we made a few batches of air popped popcorn in be's two ancient machines circa 1982. The popcorn was good but needed a lot of butter for the salt to stick, even the small-grained specialty popcorn salt. Occasionally i'd pop a bag of
Newman's Own microwave popcorn which i found much more palatable than Orville Redenbacher's.
Then we discovered the large bags of popcorn at
Nuts to You at O's housewarming party this past spring. We snagged a bag whenever we could, but found some bags to be spectacular while others not as crisp. They all beat microwave and air popped, though.
Suddenly, our popcorn epiphany hit in June. The Rices gave us a bag of real
kettle corn - slightly sweet, slightly salty, super crispy fresh and possibly the most addictive food ever. It was nothing like the fake kettle corn i had tried from bags, all of which seemed more like
Fiddle Faddle or light-caramel corn. Just before the kettle corn, i came across a bulk food aisle at a natural foods store and bought a tiny bag of popcorn kernels to try making regular popcorn on the stove.
Three nights ago we found a few directions online and i popped my first real, stovetop batch of popcorn. Not to be braggy, but shit was amazing! When compared to microwave, pre-bagged or air popped, it's just leaps ahead in terms of crispness, freshness and flavor. I made another batch last night and will probably pop a batch every night for the rest of my life. It's so delicious and i'm looking forward to trying different toppings (chile garlic popcorn! cinnamon popcorn! 5-spice popcorn!) and maybe even kettle corn, if that's even possible to make at home.
be's Stovetop Popcorn1.5 T canola oil
1/3 c popcorn kernels
fine-grained salt
1 T melted butter (optional)
Pour the oil in a 3-4 quart pot. Dump in the popcorn, cover and heat over medium-high. Using oven mitts, pick up and shake the pot every 5 seconds or so. Within a few minutes (our first batch took <1 min) the kernels will start popping. Keep shaking and lifting the lid ajar until all the kernels are popped, about a minute or so. You'll hear the kernels stop popping. At this point, immediately take off the heat and dump into a large bowl. Sprinkle on the salt while stirring or shaking popcorn to ensure an even coating. (If you're using melted butter, add it also at this point.)
Tips:
1) Use the freshest popcorn kernels you can find. Older kernels will lose their water content and won't pop.
2) You really don't need the butter. The oil makes it possible for the salt to stick, plus butter will make the popcorn soggy and softer.
3) The oil and popcorn measurements are just estimates. I didn't measure either and all my batches have ended up great. Just note that a larger amount of popcorn equals a larger pot, more oil and more time to make.
4) 1/3 c kernels is enough for 2 jumbo servings or 3 regular bowls worth of popcorn. 1/4 c makes enough for 2 bowls worth.
5) I used a 3 quart steel pot on an electric stove on the "7" setting on the large burner. Cast iron will be too heavy to shake. A stock pot is probably too big.
6) After kernels have started to pop, you want to keep the lid mostly on so the popped corn doesn't escape, while allowing enough steam to escape so the fresh kernels don't absorb the moisture. (But even if you leave it on, it will still be so great!)
Next up, besides the flavor combos, are: popping corn over the charcoal grill, the great kettle corn stovetop experiments, and real caramel corn. This is going to be a great snack summer!
Rice Visit
Two weekends ago we were graced by a rare
A&
L visit. We hit
Capogiro,
Horizons,
Honey's Sit 'n Eat and
Brown Betty among numerous other fun stops.
As always, Capogiro and Horizons did not disappoint. ("Oh my god" was the most-uttered phrase at Horizons).
The next day we shared a chocolate cupcake and a pineapple cupcake from Brown Betty, a very cute & sunny cake shop in
Liberties Walk. Honestly, the cupcakes didn't look spectacular - pretty simple and perhaps plain - but upon tasting we all found them to be deliciously moist and flavorful. The cake part of the chocolate cupcake was so rich and dense without being pasty and fake-tasting like some other "super chocolaty" ones. The icing wasn't crazy sweet and matched nicely with the tasty cakes. I can't wait to go back to check out more desserts, especially that Sweet Potato Pot!
Before our cupcakes we had a brunch at Honey's Sit 'n Eat in Northern Liberties. I had heard about the numerous vegetarian options and that the food was good. We unfortunately arrived at prime brunch time so our wait was very long (almost an hour!) but we were finally seated at a large table in the cavernous, breezy place. The food mix was mainly American diner with a good chunk of Southern and some Jewish; we were all very excited and couldn't decide on what to order. be chose the vegetarian chicken-fried steak, i settled on an egg & biscuit plate, A got pancakes and L got another breakfast plate. L's brother L got the chicken fajitas while S got the whitefish salad on a bagel. Sadly, they had already run out of vegetarian sausage patties but the adorable tiny Mason jar salt & pepper shakers on the tables made up for that.
Overall i liked Honey's. It wasn't the best but it wasn't the worst. My breakfast was quite tasty although the grits a tad bland - nothing butter & salt couldn't fix. (I liked the biscuits at Honey's better than the sky-high ones at
Morning Glory, although
Geechee Girl's are my favorite in Philly so far.) be's mac n cheese was quite good, not quite casseroley but definitely creamy and satisfying. However, the latkes were fried ultra-hard to dark brown triangles and be's veg chick steak was so crispy and oily he could barely finish it. I'll definitely still give Honey's another try; perhaps an earlier visit will reap vegetarian sausage patties and a less-insane fry cook!
The Rices gifted us with very noteworthy items!
1) a loaf of crusty, tasty, tangy sourdough bread from Cenan's Bakery in Vienna, VA
2) a jar of "Aloha Rose" pineapple rosemary jam from Crackpot Gourmet
3) an insanely addictive bag of real kettle corn from Colonial Kettle Corn
I love the way all the products were from small VA companies. All i know is that the next time i'm in VA, i'm stocking up on bread, jam and a carload of kettle corn!
