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2010-04-30T01:27:00.001-05:00

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Skittles-crazy

2009-06-01T11:28:00.004-05:00

FYI Skittles are now gelatin-free and i've been making up for almost two decades of missing out! (Note the (discontinued?) Chocolate Mix was apparently always gelatin-free, but you'll still have to read the package in case your store hasn't gotten a new shipment of the other flavors.) An interesting list of all their flavors ever can be found here.

Top to bottom, left to right:

Original: strawberry, orange, lemon, lime, grape
Wild Berry: berry punch, raspberry, melon berry, strawberry, wild cherry
Chocolate Mix: vanilla, s'mores, chocolate caramel, chocolate pudding, brownie batter
Tropical: strawberry starfruit, mango tangelo, banana berry, kiwi lime, pineapple passionfruit
Crazy Cores: blue raspberry/lemon, strawberry/watermelon, mango/peach, melon/berry, cherry/lemonade

I Love Pink Grapefruit Mentos

2009-02-04T15:16:00.004-05:00

I was cleaning out the chocolate & candy tins and came across an old, old roll of Pink Grapefruit Mentos. I don't recall where i even got them since they were never officially sold in the U.S. I ate one and remembered how delicious the flavor was. It's probably why i saved half the roll instead of just polishing it off!

So, i've been popping a PG Mento every few days here and there. Down to only four, i went online to order more. And crapin A this is what i found here on Candy Blog:

UPDATE 5/31/2008: I have word that Pink Grapefruit Mentos are discontinued. They are no longer listed on the Mentos website and I got confirmation from Mentos North America (as if they ever carried them here).

Since it's been many months since the discontinuation, everyone who ever sold them is now out of stock. This is horrible news since Pink Grapefruit is the BEST flavor Mentos ever created. It's perfect. And now i only have FOUR left. I know i should be glad i even got to try this awesome flavor, but i'm extremely sad that i didn't eat that one i just popped, really really slowly to get the maximum amount of flavor out of it.

BOM

2009-01-31T00:01:00.004-05:00

On 1/26/09 (New Year's Day) i finished making my first attempt at Blood Orange Marmalade. Unlike the Blood Orange Jam, this time i strained the juice (of 13 blood oranges!) and mixed it with apple water as per Christine Ferber's recipe in Mes Confitures. Unlike her recipe, i used the julienned peel of 4 blood oranges instead of two thinly sliced whole oranges. I'm not super into peel and neither is be, so thin strips sounded more appealing than whole messy orange rounds.

Another huge change was my reduction of sugar from the 4.66 cups she recommended to the 1.33 cups i used, which was the same 3:1 ratio as the BOJ. That ratio of orange to sugar was perfect for me -- not too sweet and very very orangey. I know a lot of jammers out there love making it really sweet, but i tend to like the least amount of sugar possible while still allowing it to gel. So far everything before has gelled fine, once even too hard (blueberry)! The grapefruit marmalade as per CF was very good in my opinion -- but a little too sweet -- so cutting out some sugar for blood orange marmalade didn't seem like a big deal.

The problem with this batch was that a 3:1 ratio of juice to sugar was MUCH too little. For a chunky jam it worked but this batch wasn't having it. I boiled it like nuts for almost 30 minutes, hoping it would gel. At 222 degrees it still looked like red water and had reduced from over 4 cups of liquid to around 2.5. I plate tested twice hoping i was wrong, but shit was not gelling. The only thing i could think of doing was to dump in another 1/3 cup of sugar. And luckily, the batch immediately thickened and plate tasted fine. I only got 1 half-pint and 3 quarter-pints out of the batch due to so much of the water boiling out... but at least it made the marmalade super concentrated. And yes, it gelled up shockingly nicely, like wiggly jelly -- no powdered pectin at all!

The next morning we tried some of the BOM on toast. It was tasty and somewhat sour but sadly, not as "fresh" tasting as the BOJ. It tasted more "cooked" in comparison to the jam, which contained pips and chunks and seemed to contain more of the essential oils. Perhaps i just cooked and reduced the BOM batch too much, so if i try again i'll use 1.66 cups of sugar for every 2.5 cups of juice and see what happens at 10 minutes of boiling.

Overall, though, the BOM is a beautiful dark, opaque blood red. I filled the half-pint jar first so all the rind floated to the top, but the quarter-pints have a more even distribution. Not a failure but not a grand success, either. It seems to have grown on be the more he ate it, so maybe i'll think the same when i eat it again.

BOJ

2009-01-23T00:13:00.004-05:00

The blood orange jam came out good yet bad. It's technically a "jam" in my book since it's chunky and contains the juicy orange bits because it's not strained. I added some julienned peel strips, too. It's not a marmalade, which according to my research, should be only citrus juice and peel. Thick or thin peel is up to preference. It does get confusing, though, since some marmalades use the fruit part without detaching it from the pith and peel. Well...whatever i made came out fine.

I didn't find many recipes for blood orange things so i ended up winging it, using multiple jamming ideas from my past attempts. The gelling ended up fine since i boiled it ferociously. It tastes amazing: bitter and sour, punchy and bold, just a little bit sweet since i reduced the sugar majorly. Overall it's really good. The problem, however, is in the looks. The dark red color is beautiful but it's ruined by chunks and pips and bits of whitish pith. Now i totally understand why one strains the citrus!

Next attempt (using the additional 24 blood oranges i bought yesterday) i'll go back to Christine Ferber's 2 day marmalade recipe and strain that shit with some sour apple juice. I'll reduce the sugar but otherwise make it like i did the grapefruit.

'70s Dinner

2009-01-16T10:44:00.003-05:00

Brown and orange soup next to my (newly acquired vintage) avocado green slow cooker. The 16 bean and barley soup came out much, much better than i expected!

Scurvy Prevention

2009-01-15T19:39:00.005-05:00

We bought another 50+ blood oranges this week! (BTW the 10 for $1 tangerines at Iovine's are delicious. I forgot how intense a regular tangerine was compared to a sweet Clementine.)

A Citrus Weekend

2009-01-11T12:10:00.007-05:00

1) Bought a copy of Mes Confitures by Christine Ferber a few weeks ago. It's a really interesting book, organized by seasons and containing unusual combinations.

2) Grapefruit is all the sale rage; picked up three at Iovine Brothers and five at Whole Foods.

2.5) We've also gone through three cases of clementines and countless lemons and limes!

3) Ran to Reading Terminal yesterday morning to check for blood oranges again. We've been checking every few days since the beginning of the year! HIT THE JACKPOT again at Iovine, 4 for $1.00. We load up on 20. Peeled and shared one on the walk out = so delicious and raspberry. Must go back for more...

4) Spent 2 days making the "Pink Grapefruit Jelly" recipe from Mes Confitures. It's my 1st marmalade but overall 7th fruit conserve project*. This recipe involved multiple steps like making clear sour apple juice, poaching citrus rind strips in salt water and tying the seeds in a little bag for the extra pectin. The batch took a long time to set (much longer than the 10 minutes the recipe suggested) but it's a good honey-like consistency now. The marmalade is not overly bitter and has a sparkling sweetness. It's very clear with an orangey hue, with slivers of suspended rind. Overall it's good and i like it, but for batch #2 my changes would be as follows:

a) Find intensely delicious grapefruit. The ones i used were good but not amazing.
b) Use a little less sugar. Even though this marmalade is bittersweet, i think i would prefer it more bitter than sweet.
c) Boil it harder for less time. I should have maxed out on heat at a crazy boil instead of a regular boil.
d) Get a decent thermometer. The one i have is crap. Even though i'm getting the feel of when the gelling point is, it doesn't hurt to back it up with a thermometer and the freezer plate test.

5) Current plan: make blood orange jam or marmalade.

6) Future plans: strawberry jam, megaload black raspberry jam**, blackberry jam.

* For the record. In 2008 i made (in order): blueberry jam, blackberry jam, peach jam, black raspberry jam, peach jam #2, peach jam #3. In 2009 i've made: grapefruit marmalade.

** This is the best jam i've ever had. The berries were perfectly amazing and i'm going to pick POUNDS this year.

Snapply Grause

2009-01-07T21:40:00.003-05:00

This past Sunday i cleaned out the fridge. It's really scary what accumulates (and how it changes) in the darkness.

A few of the apples from our Fall 08 picking were still good n crisp but about a dozen of them were wrinkly and not so fresh. Applesauce seemed to make sense, so be chopped, cored and peeled the lot. Into a pot with a little water, he cooked them down and crushed the mass with the potato masher. Upon tasting it wasn't sweet enough, but the magic of a little cinnamon, ground ginger and nutmeg did wonders. No added sugar, chunky, delicious applesauce. The jar is almost done!

The Linux of Food

2009-01-07T21:18:00.002-05:00

Check out this awesome article at Restructure about Jennifer 8. Lee's video breaking it all down:

...Jennifer 8. Lee’s Italian friend was surprised to learn that fried gelato did not originate in China, and remarked, “It’s not? But they serve it at all the Chinese restaurants in Italy!” This incident illustrates the limitations of anecdotal experience as a source of knowledge... This incident also reveals that when the national culture is so pervasive, the cultural aspect of a practice that comes from the national culture is invisible to the ethnic majority. For example, White Italians do not see the Italian influence of fried gelato, only the perceived Chinese aspect of it. To Americans, however, the Italian influence of fried gelato is apparent, while fried gelato’s Chinese influence is not. Similarly, Americans generally do not see the American influence of General Tso’s Chicken, only the perceived Chinese aspect of it... The dish known in the United States as “General Tso’s Chicken” is 100% American...

I've read The Fortune Cookie Chronicles and loved it. Definitely check it out! (I saw the article first at angryasianman and Racialicious.)

Cookie Exchange Party 2008

2008-12-25T01:56:00.003-05:00

Sat 12/20/08: 1st annual Cookie Exchange Party. Six parties showed up and swapped 4 dozen each. Clockwise: spritz flower chocolate ginger molasses with M&M, spritz heart chocolate ginger molasses with sanding sugar, Pfeffernüsse, Earl Grey tea cookie, raspberry Jammie butter cookie, Chewy Cherry Choc Roca bar, and peanut butter cookie with Hershey's kiss.

Awesomely, ALL of the cookies were delicious and luckily, very different from one another. (There was the chance that 3 people could've brought chocolate chip cookies or that 2 would show up with the same thing since i didn't implement strict rules. I did not specify "only holiday cookies" nor "no duplicate recipes allowed.")

We served mushroom puffs, 3 kinds of little sandwiches, assorted cheeses, artichoke dip, tangerines and pepp patts. The party was a good length at about 1.5 hours. The *only* thing i would change for next time is: MORE COOKIES. Our bunch was barely enough for ourselves plus a little for both of our families -- and since be and i baked separate batches, we netted a combined 8 dozen+! The cookies were all so delicious i didn't want to give any away! Anyone up for a spring swap? I really don't feel like waiting a whole year to do this again!

Cheap

2008-12-22T12:49:00.003-05:00

Saw this article from the NYTimes on Jenny 8's blog:

...there’s a good chance that your deliveryman is being paid almost nothing, with cash tips being his only real source of income. And restaurant delivery workers — particularly Asian-restaurant deliverymen — labor under brutal conditions. These are not union workers at hotel restaurants shrieking about the loss of a pedicure benefit or some other luxury.

Asian-restaurant deliverymen risk their lives every time they set out on their bicycles and travel miles to deliver orders. When they are robbed, a Saigon Grill worker reported, they have to compensate the restaurant for the lost money. When the weather is bad, the workload increases because more customers order in — and then complain if their food takes longer than usual to arrive.

Consumers are largely to blame for this state of affairs. We demand rock-bottom prices. Plenty of New Yorkers are happy to pay extra for organic groceries of dubious merit, but if pork fried rice goes up a dollar at one place we order from any of the five other places in the same delivery radius. We expect free cold sesame noodles, quartered oranges and cans of soda.

And because the price of the food is so low, even the tip isn’t high as an absolute number. There’s only so much money a deliveryman can make $2 at a time.

Not to mention the extremely high murder rate for deliverymen, particularly Chinese immigrant men working in urban areas.

It's interesting to me how people refuse to pay more than $5 per entree at Chinese restaurants or for delivery. These are the same people who routinely pay upwards of $20 for Italian entrees that consist of nothing more than mushy pasta.

Pepp Patts

2008-12-20T03:03:00.008-05:00

It's 3am / can't sleep / had an annoying day. Good thing i'm still in the mood to bake and cook; our first ever cookie exchange party is tomorrow in about 13 hours. I'm serving tea sandwiches, hot drinks and savory appetizers since it's between meals.

Tonight i baked 8 dozen Earl Grey Tea Cookies which came out awesomely crumbly, citrusy and a wee bit salty. So far, all the Martha Stewart cookie recipes i've tried have been delicious. I really wanted to make the Chocolate Crackle Cookies but have had no luck finding Dutch processed cocoa in Philadelphia. If i don't find it at Fantes in the morning then no Crackles! (Note the online version of the recipe is different than the one published in the special Holiday Cookies magazine i have.)

While the EGTCs froze, i made a batch of DIY Peppermint Patties. J sent me the recipe a while back and i LOVE peppermint patties. Annoyingly, my hand mixer busted in the middle of whipping the middles -- anyone recommend a decent hand mixer? -- so i had to finish it by hand. Shockingly, the middles are quite tasty. "Shockingly," because it's basically a ball of buttery, minty powdered sugar. If i did it again i would actually temper the chocolate and perhaps use a different kind. The 70% Gran Saman from El Rey is good on its own but too bitter with the sweet creamy middles. Overall i would say they're good and i would definitely make them again. I got 43 patties, each larger than a Junior Mint but smaller than a York.

But what i REALLY want to make are the SNICKLES from Chow's Make Your Own Halloween Candy Bars. All of the bars look awesome but the Snickles picture makes me salivate. Perhaps i'll attempt that later this month!

Fruits

2008-12-17T23:52:00.004-05:00

I think my two most favorite fruits of all time are Moro blood oranges and black raspberries. They've bumped Champagne mangoes, persimmons and crispy Pink Lady apples from the top. Blueberries and Bing cherries are up there somewhere, too.

I'm resisting myself from ordering boxes and boxes of Fruit Delights from Liberty Orchards. While Trader Joes sells the same thing for much less, they don't offer a Tropical, Fiesta (sweet hot & sour!) or Locoum assortment. I'm salivating thinking about the Locoum flavors: Cinnamon-Walnut, Rose-Pistachio, Orange-Blossom-Almond, and Lemon Delight. be and i are almost done with our Trader Joes Fruits of Fancy box and i'm getting worried...

I'd also love to check out the Pates de Fruits from Whole Foods. They also sell the Charles Chocolate version which includes: Raspberry, Blood Orange, White Peach, Papaya, and Passion Fruit. Damn, i'm going to have to personally indulge in that $22 box of craziness.

Am i lacking vitamin C or something? All i want to do is gorge on fruits!

Candy!

2008-12-05T14:34:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago we attempted to watch the giant pinata get demolished. Good thing we left early! The only positive thing about the day was FREE CANDY. Sure, most of it was Frooties (fruit Tootsie Rolls) and Caramel Creams but free candy is free candy. We also picked up some Big Hunk, Abba Zabba and Look! made by the Annabelle Candy Co. I wasn't into the Look! and Abba Zabba, but the Big Hunk was strangely delicious -- i think it was the peanuts.

Last weekend be and i stumbled upon old skool candy jackpot bizarreness. It seems that someone at the $5 Below store at the Gallery Mall is a fan of candy; one could find the typical movie-sized boxes of everything, alongside old skool candy, gimmicky candy and some small-company candies. We walked away with a Peanut Butter Goo Goo Cluster, a Zero bar and a Zagnut. The Zero and Zagnut bars are now manufactured by Hershey's but the Goo Goo is still independent.

I love nuts and peanut butter but the Goo Goo Cluster didn't do it for me. Perhaps it was the cheapy chocolate coating? I'll give it another try just in case. Zagnut is basically a crispier Butterfinger with a coating of toasted coconut flakes. Definitely sweet and delicious. The Zero was strange at first but as i kept eating it, it really, really grew on me. Once you get over the "white fudge" coating (aka fake white chocolate), the inside is a nice, chewy, nutty, roasty, caramel stripey block of goodness. And now that i've taken this picture, i can finally consume the remains of my candy!

Hot Soupness

2008-11-24T18:25:00.004-05:00

As i've stated before, the best vegetarian sausages are from Field Roast. We love eating the Smoked Apple Sage sausages grilled or pan-fried, and using the Mexican Chipotle ones in recipes that call for chorizo. Luckily, my repeated requests to Philadelphia-are stores have been answered! Essene stocks all of the flavors and Bella Vista Natural Foods stocks two. We even saw Celebration Roast at Whole Foods; we'll get around to trying that soon.

Recently, i've been making an awesomely hot and hearty soup using the Mexican Chipotle sausages, two per pot of soup.

707 Kale, Potato & Sausage Soup
Serves about 6

2 T olive oil
1 small onion, diced fine
2-3 medium waxy potatoes, peeled and cubed
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lb kale, washed well, stalks removed and leaves chopped
1-1.5 qts (4 - 6 cups) vegetable stock
1 small can tomato sauce
1 can chickpeas
2 Field Roast Mexican Chipotle sausages, cut into half lengthwise and then rounds
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a big stockpot on medium heat. Add onions and potatoes. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and kale, cover to wilt for 1-2 minutes. Add stock, tomato sauce, chickpeas, Field Roast and bay leaves. Add a few cups of water if it's not soupy enough. Stir well and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a full boil, then lower heat back to low and simmer 5-10 minutes until potatoes are done. Caution - soup will be very spicy hot!

Huitlacoche, Essene, and Free Stuff from Philadelphia

2008-10-27T11:25:00.003-05:00

1) At Headhouse Farmers' Market i've eaten at the Los Taquitos de Puebla stand a few times. Usually we order a plate of three tacos filled with either squash blossom, mushroom or corn smut, generously top them with hot sauce and devour. I didn't think anything of this "corn smut" except that it was a "corn fungus," similar to mushrooms. It looked like finely chopped up black bits and tasted like mushrooms. No big deal. Squash blossom was better, anyways. Okay, but now thanks to O and his internet forays, i cannot bear to think of corn smut aka Huitlacoche without feeling ill. The Steve Don't Eat It series, although hilarious, does not even show the worst of Huitlacoche. Don't believe me? Google "Huitlacoche" and check out the images of this disgusting-looking bizarre alien mold podness. Apparently people are trying to rename "corn smut" to "Mexican Truffle" but i'm not sure it's going to take off unless no one ever sees what it really looks like. But yes, it does taste like mushrooms. Would i choose to eat it again? NO! But if it was chopped up fine and called "mushrooms?" I guess?

2) The Madame X fudge from Betty's Tasty Buttons was the bomb! L and i wanted to purchase some but they were already sold out!

3) I'm going to make the "Rutabaga and Leek Chowder with Crisp Smoky Croutons" from Deborah Madison's Vegetable Soups book. I've never used rutabagas before but our CSA was offering them last week, so i thought we'd try something new. I bought 2 leeks from Headhouse and kept smelling delicious onionness wafting from my bag as i walked around the rest of the day. I *may* try to make the stock from scratch, as L strongly suggests, but i may take the lazy route and use bouillon cubes.

4) YAAAY to Essene for stocking Sweet & Sara vegan marshmallows! I bought a box of the coconut ones and we're rationing ourselves to two per day.

5) A little booness to Essene for not stocking the Mexican Chipotle flavor of Field Roast vegan sausages. (But Essene does deserve props for stocking Field Roast at all!) I'm going to send them an email right now. I love the Smoked Apple Sage ones the best, but i need the Mexican Chipotle ones for my vegetarian chorizo soup!

6) I am in love with Smokehouse Almond Nut Thins.

7) be harvested over 20 gallons of compost from our Earth Machine composter! It's amazing how all of our vegetable scraps, peelings, coffee grounds and dead tomato plants + leaves have turned into black compost for our garden. To get your own backyard composter in Philadelphia, check here for upcoming workshops. Sadly, there are no more workshops for a free rain barrel this year, but we're so there in 2009!

8) Sometime this week i'm planning on making: apple butter (from our recent apple picking trip), biscotti, Earl Grey tea cookies and meringues.

Treats Truck

2008-10-24T12:33:00.004-05:00

Yesterday i was walking up to Cafe Zaiya for onigiri when i came across the Treats Truck. This sugar mobile was such a find! The line was very long on my first pass, but on my second it was much shorter. I asked the owner Kim Ina what she recommended and finally walked away with a peanut butter sandwich cookie, a homemade "Oreo" and a chocolate chip cookie with walnuts. The truck that day also carried cupcakes, ice cream cone cupcakes, Rice Krispies treats, little pies, bars and brownies. It was quite hard to decide but in the end it didn't matter -- each of the three cookies were EXCELLENT. Excellent to the point of restraining myself from polishing them off in a second. I wanted be to try them so i saved half of each one. I kept thinking about the half cookies the rest of the day. I even felt bad not mentioning the Treats Truck to my office in case they wanted to try the remains of my cookies!

That evening, be had a bite of each cookie half and thought they were good. I couldn't understand why he wasn't crying from deliciousness but when i finished them off, i realized that the cookies had lost some of their wonderful texture from sitting around for many hours. The homemade Oreo was crisp when i first ate it, but last night it was soft. The melting crumble of the peanut butter cookies was changed to a soft bite. The chocolate chip cookie held up the best but lesson learned: EAT THE COOKIES FAST. Another lesson: SHARING IS FOR LOSERS.

The Treats Truck makes various stops throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn during the week. You know where i'll be each Tuesday and Thursday afternoon!

3 Quick Reviews

2008-10-07T17:03:00.005-05:00

1) Almaz Cafe on 20th at Sansom. We must've walked past this place a billion times on our way to the 20th St Capogiro location and always thought it was just a cafe/sandwich shop! If you read the menu closely you'll see that they have meat and vegetarian Ethiopian dishes. We shared the vegetarian sampler which was more than enough food for the two of us. All five dishes were very tasty (and the servings were super generous), the injera was delicious and the service was ultra friendly. My only complaint was that the spicy dishes could've been much hotter, but according to be it's because i'm insane. Definitely going back to have more vegetarian dishes here. I would love to compare it to the much-loved Dahlak in West Philly but we've only been there once with a group with picky eaters, so our choices were limited.

2) Mustard Greens on 2nd btwn South and Bainbridge. We've been meaning to try this place for the longest time! The menu isn't huge at this neighborhood-institution Chinese restaurant, nor are there many vegetarian options, but the service is knowledgeable and friendly. Our waiter asked us to clarify if eggs were okay when we inquired about a noodle dish being vegetarian -- so this isn't a place where the answer is automatically "yes" and i like that! We had the sauteed Chinese broccoli and the noodles with vegetables. Both dishes were amazingly simple and delicious; we finished both quickly and contemplated ordering a tofu dish just to try something else. The noodle dish was one of the best i'd had in a years! Definitely going back to check out more!

3) Cedars on 2nd btwn South and Bainbridge. Again, we'd been meaning to check this place out for the longest time. Too bad we were the only ones there that night because the food was great. We shared the vegetarian plate (hommus, falafel, baba gannouj and grape leaves), spanakopita, tabouli salad and two desserts. Everything we had was delicious but the tabouli salad was out of this world -- crazy fragrant abundant parsley in a perfect lemony tomatoey juicy dressing with barely any bulghur (cracked wheat) at all. We both agreed that the tabouli was the best dish of the evening. Next time, we might try the $25 sampler of everything they serve, depending on whether that's worth it for vegetarians or not. Otherwise, we'd probably order the same but each get our own order of tabouli salad.

And for the record, our two blueberry bushes (Saul Tigh on the right and Lucy Lawless on the left) [don't ask us to explain the names] made approximately 112 and 30 more berries since the first major pickings from early summer.

Midtownies

2008-09-25T15:11:00.002-05:00

This morning i was on a rampage for onigiri/omusubi/rice balls. I've been meaning to check out oms/b but since it was too far to walk to before work, i settled for Chiyoda which was only 9 blocks from my office. The seaweed salad i had was tasty but the only vegetarian rice ball available was edamame/seaweed, without the seaweed wrapper (just plain in a plastic triangular box), and they claimed they weren't bringing out any more ume ones (pickled plum, my favorite). While the rice ball was good, i really missed the crispy seaweed contrast. But i'm not a quitter, so i did more internet research and found a place called Cafe Zaiya (also on 41st) with a good post about it from Midtown Lunch. I'm so there, right after work but before the bus! Check out this useful rice ball locator for New York City. Now only if i can find them in Philadelphia...

Today i also tried Red Mango, Pinkberry's main competitor in the frozen yogurt war. Working in the middle of 32nd St, i'm pretty much in the literal middle of it. I got a small plain with blueberries and my serving seemed more generous than the 4 oz i paid for. Overall, i liked the creaminess of Red Mango more than the icy tartness of Pinkberry. I'm not a loyal frozen yogurt addict like some -- i'll eat anything sweet as long as it's vegetarian -- but if i had to choose i'd go with Red Mango.

Sal(i)vation

2008-09-19T14:35:00.003-05:00

Everytime i open the jar, all hell breaks loose in my mouth.

Fresh Hot Pepper & Garlic Sauce

8-10 very hot peppers (i used a mix of Czech Black, Bulgarian Carrot and Habanero peppers from the CSA)
3 cloves garlic (i used our very own homegrown hardneck garlic)
1/4-1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 t sea salt

Wash and destem the peppers, peel the garlic. In a blender or food processor, chop the peppers and garlic with some of the vinegar. You'll have to stop and push the mixture down a few times. Add the salt and more vinegar to your liking. Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator, and use it in ramen, on beans or wherever you want a hot, garlicky, vinegar kick. You can do this with jalepeno peppers but it won't be the same.

Peach Reductor = Jammer

2008-09-02T15:07:00.012-05:00

On Saturday the Peach Crew and i headed over to Highland Orchards in West Chester, PA, for a mega Pick Your Own trip. Our first trip out there was in June for blueberries and black raspberries; be and i picked over 10 lbs of berriness, a quarter of which is still in our freezer for unspecified usage. This 2nd trip was mainly for peaches but we ended up picking blackberries as well.

The peaches were "hail kist" meaning that most were scarred from a recent hailstorm -- the Orchard was offering a $12.50 box you could fill with as many peaches as possible. I'm not really sure how many lbs we picked but the final tally (not including the ripe ones we found and ate) was 131 peaches, ranging from small to large. The 131 was just for be and i! The Rs and the KAs each filled their own boxes as well! Peach overload for sure.

Next we sampled a few blackberries and ended up picking a few lbs of those too. The buses near the ends of the rows were picked over, but if one braved the overgrowth and spiderwebs, the middle of each long row held delicious berries ranging from medium to mega large. be and i picked 3.4 lbs and the others ranged a little higher and lower.

(After fruit picking, we headed into town for lunch at Iron Hill Brewery, chosen for its interesting beer offerings. Note the sampler is much fun.)

So... back at home we first processed a bunch of the ripe peaches, cutting them into chunks. Then we separated the nice looking peaches to give out to friends. Another trayload stayed on the kitchen table to ripen for us to eat, while the majority went into the fridge. Apparently one is supposed to refrigerate peaches and take them out to ripen (in about 1-2 days) as needed.

My usual peach reduction recipe is Peach Crisp from Pillsbury Best Desserts but that really only uses 8-10 per dish. I needed more ways to reduce peaches so i decided to try making jam. Since the blackberries were going bad fastest, i froze half of them and used the rest for blackberry jam. The recipe i used was a pectin-free one from Martha Stewart; i halved the recipe, used only 1.75 cups of sugar and left out the bay leaf. The plate test really works, too! I tested the jam four times before it wrinkled correctly, and now the jam is a nice, spreadable yet firm consistency. I love the faint lemony hint due to the lemon rind. Overall a delicious jam -- so delicious i can't believe it was that easy.

The peach jam recipe search was harder. Most recipes used pectin, were too simplistic or overly complicated. I wasn't going to sterilize jars to preserve the jam on my shelf, nor was i going to shell out $ for a box of pectin when plenty of people have made successful jam in the old skool method. I ended up using the Martha Stewart recipe as a basis and tweaked it from other information online. The jam cooked up nicely although it's a little looser than i would've liked; i plate tested twice and it seemed okay, but perhaps a little more cooking would've made it just right. Regardless, it's the best peach jam i've ever tasted. I'm not even that into jam -- but the last few days have had me eating toast & jam, baguette & jam, crackers & jam, just spoonfuls of jam...

This weekend i'm really tempted to find some small canning jars or jam jars to really try to make JAM, as in, the jars you sterilize and boil until they vacuum seal themselves so you can store them forever on your shelf. We still have a thousand peaches so if it doesn't work out, no big deal. If it does, then everyone's getting homemade jam for the holidays!

be's Peach Jam #1

6 cups peaches*, peeled and chopped
2 cups white sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon

Put two small plates in the freezer to get cold. Use a potato masher and crush up the peaches until it's half mush, half chunks. Add the peaches to a heavy pot with the sugar and lemon juice. Heat on medium high until boiling. Skim off the foam (this will take a few minutes) and boil the jam for 10-12 minutes until it looks syrupy. Take the pot off the heat, drop a spoonful of jam onto one of the cold plates, freeze for 2 minutes and test. If it wrinkles a bit and is not super liquidy anymore, it's done. Otherwise put the pot back on the heat and cook for another 1-2 minutes and repeat the test. Keep repeating this cycle until the jam is the correct consistency. Put the jam into glass jars and keep refrigerated. Use within a few weeks. (This made about 28 oz of jam for me: one 24 oz Classico pasta sauce Mason jar, one 4 oz glass jam jar.)

*Some people online state that slightly underripe fruit makes better jam since it has a naturally higher pectin content.

Polystyrene Thermal Insulation

2008-08-27T23:14:00.002-05:00

YAAY to Phileo Yogurt for switching their bowls from styrofoam to paper! A bunch of us headed over tonight after Liz Phair's 15th anniversary concert of "Exile in Guyville"* and were happily surprised to notice the change. be even told the owner he was glad for it! This time we counted exactly 16 flavors offered. I got a mix of blueberry tart with fresh blueberries, and peach with blackberries and Oreo bits. be stuck with plain tart yogurt + fruit, while dude got a mix of plain, blueberry and strawberry + fruit. be's sister had a small bowl of peach while her bf R got cheesecake with cheesecake bits, Cap'n Crunch and other cereals.

But on a bad styrofoam note, our lunch at Bitar's was served on a multitude of foam bowls, plates and platters. How is it that foam is so acceptable now? Maybe i'm old, but wasn't there a huge fight to convince McDonald's and other fast food joints to get rid of foam in the '80s? Is it cheaper to buy than paper? BTW the "bitzza (or was it "bizza?") was sprinkled with an awesome zaatar (spice mixture with herbs and sesame seeds) that i can't stop thinking about!

* This album defines my first year of college! Great concert. Now i must upload the album to my iPod to listen on the bus.

Yogurt Love

2008-08-24T22:59:00.000-05:00

Tonight be, the Rice House and i checked out the new Phileo Yogurt on South Street (btwn 4th & 5th Streets) in Philadelphia. The frozen yogurt + toppings concept is not new -- i have plenty of experience with eating that thanks to Pinkberry in Midtown, New York -- but what makes Phileo Yogurt BETTER is that it's 100% self serve!

First of all, the decor is ultra modern but quite nice in a kiwi-green kind of way. There are a few small tables and stools for you to eat in the shop but most customers we witnessed opted to take out. At the back of the shop is an incredible row of yogurt machines, offering every flavor from plain tart yogurt to strawberry to things like snickerdoodle and taro! I asked if i could sample some flavors and was given two tiny paper cups to do so. Once you fill up your bowl with frozen yogurt, you walk over to the toppings bar, which had many kinds of chopped fruit, candies and cereals, but also chocolate syrups, cheesecake bits, cookie dough bits, crushed graham crackers and red bean sauce! Right next to the toppings bar are two registers where your bowl is weighed. At 49 cents per ounce, you can keep it under a few bucks by using restraint, or go nuts and pay a hefty sum. All of us pretty much filled our bowls and the prices ranged from $4-5 each. Note that fruit chunks are definitely the heaviest topping but totally worth it.

I ended up tasting mango, plain, blueberry and taro yogurts. I finally decided on a bowl of mainly plain yogurt with granola and Oreos, with some blueberry yogurt with fresh blueberries and kiwi chunks. I LOVED the blueberry on blueberry -- the blueberry yogurt was so flavorful and tart -- while the plain was a solid standby. I thought granola and Oreos would be neat but i actually could've just done with one or the other, not both. Dude ate his yogurt the quickest and spent the rest of the time looking sad while watching us finish, while be ate his very quick and convinced himself to be satisfied with the amount he ate (instead of getting another bowl). Maybe that's why it's a good idea to take out; watching numerous other folks making their fro yo creations is just too tempting.

We all loved Phileo Yogurt. Great concept, addictive yogurt, fun place for a treat. We're going at least once a week, although we all really would love to go every day! My *only* complaint is the use of styrofoam bowls. Hopefully they'll switch to paper and/or offer an edible bowl soon!

Pizzito

2008-08-24T09:57:00.005-05:00

I'm happy to report that we've finally discovered "our" pizza and burrito joints in Philadelphia!

1) L's friend tipped everyone off to La Fourno on South Street. We must have walked past it dozens of times without giving it another thought; it looks like your average Italian restaurant and not particularly like a neighborhood pizza joint. Our waitress was extremely nice and helpful. We opted for half Margherita and half Pesto because we couldn’t decide. The small pie was cut into 6 slices, the equivalent of 1.5 regular big pie slices for each of us. Both be and I loved the pizza. The problem we’d been having with pizza in Philly was the crust – toppings, cheese and sauce were usually fine to great, but all the crusts we’d come across were soft, floppy and lacking in salt. La Fourno gets it right, with a thin crisp crust, flavored well and a pleasure to eat. Note however, if you’re ordering a saucy or topping heavy pizza, you’d better eat fast lest your crust gets soggy and wet!

2) Yesterday, on L's recommendation, we had burritos at Santa Fe Burrito on 11th Street. We've had good burritos all around Philadelphia but nothing so far had been exactly what we've wanted. For instance, the guacamole at El Fuego was excellent but the beans and hot sauce were lacking. Walking into Santa Fe, we were delighted to find numerous vegetarian, vegan and unusual burrito options that included things like tofu, jalepeno hummus, roasted vegetables and even FAUX MEAT made from wheat gluten! I opted for a "mini" burrito with beans, rice and cheese while be pounced on the faux meat large burrito. Both were very well flavored and delicious. The wheat gluten was cooked in a spiced sauce and was so meaty that we were a bit worried they mistakenly gave us real meat! My rice was real rice (not converted as many places tend to use) and the black beans were addictive. Next time i'm going to ask for hot sauce or chiles but otherwise my burrito was perfect!

New New Samosa

2008-08-14T13:01:00.003-05:00

Last night we decided to try New Samosa again. This all vegetarian Indian restaurant recently added an ice cream counter in the front and revamped their menu. When it first opened last year, we checked out the buffet and proclaimed it fine -- nothing excellent but nothing horrible either. be's coworkers (none of whom are vegetarian) went a few weeks ago with him, all got the buffet and loved it. be ordered two samosas and really liked them, so we went again to try the menu items.

Two things really make New Samosa stick out: 1) they have SOUTH Indian specialties like dosas and uttappam! and, 2) they use various soy proteins (fake meats) to create vegetarian versions of meaty dishes (ie: tandoori grilled meats, chicken tikka masala). The only other Indian restaurant i've ever seen use soy protein was Madras in New York.

Two other small things: 1) ice cream with mix-ins can be purchased in the front! We didn't confirm this, but it seemed that the ice cream was made in-house. At the very least the owner made all the cones herself. and, 2) they offer vegetarian chicken cheesesteaks, wraps and sandwiches. Basically think of an Indian restaurant with a Cold Stone and mini Govinda's Gourmet To Go up front.

The bottom line is: definitely order off the menu. The samosas we got were so freshly fried they were too hot to touch, but not oily or greasy at all. My dosa came with a deliciously spiced potato filling. (I'm glad there's a place even offering dosas at all in Philadelphia!) be ordered a mixed tandoori grilled meats plate, containing fake shrimp, fish, chicken and lamb. He really liked it except for the red peppers and onions. We're certainly going back to try more dishes.

Choco Fest Taste Test #1 Results

2008-07-11T15:43:00.009-05:00

Last month we bought 12 chocolate bars as evidenced here. (You can find links to the manufacturers there as well as a picture of the stack.)

Over two dinner parties, 9 individuals of various chocolate-loving backgrounds sampled, rated and reviewed the dozen. Of the individuals, most claimed to "love" chocolate but overall had no other similar tastes. Some claimed to like "plain" chocolate, some "didn't like bits" in their chocolate, and others "didn't like fruits and spices" in their chocolate.

Here are the results:

1) The two bars that tied for 1st place in averaged scores were the Ginger bar from Green & Black's, and the 35% Dark with Roasted Salted Peanuts from Vintage Plantations. (7.5/10)

2) The bar earning the lowest score was Hachez's Cocoa D'Arriba Mango Chili. (3.2/10)

3) When asked to pick 1st place and 2nd place favorite bars, when tallied the results were as follows: Green & Black's Ginger (7 points), Lindt's Intense Pear (4 points) and Frey's Supreme Cinnamon & Blood Orange (4 points). Although the Lindt and Frey bars did not overall score high, it was named as a favorite at a higher rate than bars that scored better.

For anyone who needs the details, you can see a quick PDF i made here.

Comments:

a) Dark Chocolate Raspberry Lemon Biscotti Truffle Bar by Choxie: "i always hated getting the choc w/a cherry in it" "too strong raspberry" "a bit like candy"

b) Cocoa D'arriba Strawberry & Pepper by Hachez: "bad temper, okay fruit taste" "bitter, soapy, what's stuck in my teeth?"

c) Tropical Fruit Bits Passion Fruit by Santander: "it's not for me but it's very zingy which other folks might like" "odd, cherrylike weirdness"

d) Cocoa D'Arriba Mango Chili by Hachez: "tastes like suntan lotion" "bad temper, gross taste" "interesting but artificial like potpourri"

e) Ginger by Green & Black's: "yum!" "wow" "i like ginger"

f) 35% Dark with Roasted Salted Peanuts by Vintage Plantations: "just the right mix of nuts & cocoa" "a better Mr. Goodbar" "nostalgic flavor"

g) Oaxaca Bar by Vosges: "bitter & gross" "sharp aftertaste" "nice complexity but not delicious"

h) 65% Dark with Cocoa Nibs by Vintage Plantations: "good choc but needs to be harder" "good but too much debris"

i) Red Fire Bar by Vosges: "i like the smokey flavor which is unusual" "overwhelming at the end" "complex, but not smooth enough"

j) Crave Comfort Apricot by Newtree: "too sweet" "i have no idea what's going on" "creamy, surprising flavor"

k) Intense Pear by Lindt: "eh. had potential but crashed" "too grainy, artificial tasting" "great texture"

l) Supreme Cinnamon & Blood Orange by Frey: "candied orange peel red hot weirdness" "smooth, creamy, complex" "sparkly, resplendent, lasting"

Analysis:

1) Originally we bought the bars on a whim. be and i were in the mood to try unusual chocolate bar flavors and we had no rhyme nor reason to the ones we chose, besides the fact they sounded good, even though we both have stated our preference for different types of chocolate bars.

2) When taste testing, one group was vocal during the test, sharing opinions and trying to guess flavors together. The other group was absolutely silent like during a real test at school. Although each group took the test differently, the results were still all over the place.

3) Surprisingly, a few of the bars that one group HATED, were LOVED by the other group and vice versa. Is taste learned? Does living with a partner who loves chile or hates creamy white chocolate, affect you eventually? Or is it because what we served for dinner beforehand one night, ruined the subtle flavor of a certain bar while what we served the other night, enhanced it?

4) If i had to do it again, i would've served nothing beforehand, offered better palate cleansers in between, had the entire group of testers taste at the same time, and chosen bars that were more similar. These bars were all over the place but next time, a test of the best plain 75%+ bars from different manufacturers would be fun. Or perhaps a single manufacturer but chocolate of various regions.

5) The ONE single thing i learned from this was that there's a chocolate bar for everyone. Something you hate is certainly loved by someone out there. And the bar you love is despised by someone else, maybe the person sitting right next to you who sleeps in your bed. The next few things i've gotten out of this test are: a) good temper and texture are key, b) childhood combos like peanuts and chocolate are generally acceptable to everyone, c) what you claim you like best is not necessarily the one you decide to choose under pressure.

So, there you have it testers! I hope you enjoyed taking the choco test as much as i did! And for the record, i liked Voges' Red Fire Bar and Vintage Plantation's 35% with Peanuts the best. But for my most favorite ever bars, check my post here.

First Blueberries

2008-06-27T11:13:00.003-05:00

Last year we planted two blueberry bushes. Two little scrappy twiggy things that didn't look like they'd grow, much less produce berries. They were of two different varieties because apparently that leads to better pollination or something. Our yard dirt is mainly comprised of trash and rubble under an inch of topsoil, so we built a big raised box for the blueberry bushes, filled it with a mix of soil (hoping it was acidic enough) and sat back.

Over the winter they hardly looked different, but they did end up growing, producing flowers and berries this year. be even built a wire cage over the bushes to protect the berries from birds and squirrels. The bush on the left had berries ready to eat first while the right bush is running a few weeks later. Lefty had about 100 total berries and be picked 30 of them two nights ago. The test is if they come off easily when you rub them lightly. That means we have about 70 left to go on Lefty, and even fewer on Righty.

The berries were ultra plump, larger than your average store-bought berries, very firm and crisp, and totally delicious. 15 berries for each of us lasted about a minute, and we were eating slowly. Makes you realize how mass production affects the quality and flavor of things. Can't get any more local than your own backyard!

I'm really worried though. All the blueberry wisdom out there says we have to pluck blossoms the first 2 or even 3 years so the bushes have more energy to grow large instead of producing fruit. Then one is rewarded with tons and tons and tons of berries, apparently. Well, as you can guess we didn't pluck blossoms because be wanted fruit so badly this year. The berries are so excellent, but i don't know if 175 berries is enough. Does anyone know if it's too late to pluck blossoms next year? Our bushes are still small but look healthy. I'm happy but sad. Ugh.

Quadates

2008-06-23T12:40:00.003-05:00

1) The CSA is kicking our botts. Untuffly, we roped in the Rice House to share it with us. Now, both houses get 5 vegetables every Tuesday, but we get the sole fruit share every other Tuesday. Even with less produce we've still been freaking out. Last night i cooked up some collards and mustard greens, 2 bunches of kale into colcannon, and random things like peach crisp, cornbread and Quorn Chik'n cutlets. A few nights before that, i cooked up the baby bok choy while be cooked the swiss chard. Currently, we still have in the fridge: green garlic, green leaf lettuce, a handful of small turnips, and swiss chard; and (not from the CSA): garlic scapes, a bag of carrots, 1 watermelon, 3 mangoes, 7-8 bananas, 1 cucumber, and 2 limes.

2) I've been hearing rumblings about the results of Capogiro Gelato's Pick Me Pick Me Flavor Contest! Nothing's been confirmed yet, but i'll just say that some people won a free pint... More later at our blog.

3) The second round of the Choco Fest Taste Test was completed last week. I promise i will tabulate the scores and post the results soon!

4) We finally finished the dining room and kitchen this weekend! It's painted a deep red, like oxblood but not as brown, and we've installed better lighting, storage shelves and a pantry/bartop. Now we just need to reduce unitasker appliances, food we're never going to eat, and random knickknacks; finish organizing the pantry and paint that last wall. (What color goes with deep red and lavender ice at the same time?)

More Bits

2008-06-16T14:14:00.006-05:00

1) GRILLED garlic scapes are insane! INSANE! It took away the garlic hotness, but left a strong garlicy roasty charcoal smell which permeated everything. We loved it and kept smelling the scapes over and over. The texture softened a good amount. Some parts of the scapes (the lower stalks) were too stringy to bite into so we just gnawed on them, sort of like sugarcane. Highly recommended!

2) Chocolate Tasting Part One went very well! As soon as Part Deux with a whole new crew happens, we'll tabulate all the scores and i'll post the verdicts on these twelve bars. Some of the comments were hilarious!

3) I love Chapterhouse Cafe in Philadelphia! I just finished an annoying questionnaire for work that was taking me weeks, in under 45 minutes. Don't get the Thai style iced tea, though. It's not that great. Stick to the coffee, brewed teas and sodas.

4) OMG i wish someone stocked all the Tofutti Cutie flavors. KEY LIME PIE? COFFEE? STRAWBERRY WAVE? I love the Mint Chocolate Chip ones, but sure wish i could try the others.

5) I finally got into Battlestar Galactica after years of be whining and begging me to watch the series. We're watching 2-3 episodes per night!

6) Pantryness. Since the move, we've been using a white bookshelf and another white cabinet thing -- which weren't cutting it on the attractiveness nor the functionality levels. We did a lot of math and finally chose pieces from the EFFEKTIV system at Ikea. Now we just need to paint the dining room so we can install the pantry! (Oh, and also get rid of crap!)

Summer

2008-06-13T09:42:00.004-05:00

You know what kicks ass? Vegenaise! This animal-ingredient-free mayonnaise is so seriously good. Unlike other vegan mayos, Vegenaise has no soy aftertaste. It even looks like egg mayo. I used to eat Kraft mayo with a spoon as a kid. I sometimes want to do the same now with Vegenaise.

There is nothing better than old-fashioned potato salad in the summertime. Here is my version without eggs. Celery is optional; i love it but be hates it. Overall he really likes this potato salad, too. Sucks for me since it's polite to share.

be's Potato Salad

Can easily be doubled.

1 pound small red potatoes
2 plops of Vegenaise*
2-3 squirts of Dijon mustard
3-5 cornichons or 1 small pickle
1 stalk celery (optional)
1 splash white vinegar
generous amounts of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1) Scrub and de-eye the potatoes. Leave the skins on but peel of bad parts, if any. Place them in a pot of cold water and bring to a boil. Cook potatoes until you can pierce with a fork. Do not overcook! It's better to err on the firm side than mushy for potato salad.

2) Meanwhile, finely chop the cornichons. Optional: wash and trim the celery stalk. Chop into tiny cubes.

3) When the potatoes are done, remove from water and let cool for a few minutes. When you can touch them without crying, chop them into chunks like the size of cherries, or a bit larger or smaller.

4) While the potatoes are still hot, gently mix them with the Vegenaise, Dijon mustard, pickles, celery and vinegar. Taste and add the salt and pepper. Taste again to adjust the vinegar or salt to your liking.

5) Cool in the fridge and served chilled. But sometimes i just eat it warm because i can't wait.

* I used Original Vegenaise, but they have a Grapeseed Oil version for those health fanatics.

It's funny how picky people are with potato salad. I know lots of folks who prefer it with a sweetish dressing. Others who want it with bacon. Some like it with olive oil and herbs instead of mayo. Me, i just like it old-fashioned because i love my mayo. Serve this with some grilled Yves hot dogs and sweet tea to wash it all down!

CSA Box #2

2008-06-11T00:28:00.003-05:00

Sweltering heatwave. Much produce. Box #2 from Red Earth Farm contained: (left to right)

1 quart strawberries (fruit share)
1 bunch collard greens
1 bunch green garlic
1 bunch Easter Egg radishes
2 large baby bok choy
1 pound arugula
1 bunch Swiss chard
1 bunch turnip greens
1 bunch dinosaur kale
1 bunch curly kale
1 head red leaf lettuce

One thing that's nice about Red Earth is that you can access your account online to choose what items you want the following week. We didn't have that option for Box #1, but for Box #2 we stuck to long-lasting greens like kale and collards and only got one head of lettuce. I was very excited about the arugula but honestly, the crop we grew last year in our garden was much hotter and spicier. It was still good though, except for the one SLUG i found on a leaf! I was quite grossed out but i ate the arugula anyways. At least i saw the slug first...

As for Box #1, we were out of town half the week so we gave our friends all of the lettuce and half of the scallions. I did manage to cook everything else. The bok choy was amazingly sweet and crispy while the kale was probably the best bunch i ever dealt with. And i was wrong about the beets -- they were actually hugenormous RADISHES that looked like beets. We still have a few of those in the fridge, as well as some leftover stir fried greens, but overall Box #1 has pretty much been reduced. Oh yes and the unnamed vegetable was leafy Chinese cabbage.

Great Scapes

2008-06-10T11:02:00.008-05:00

We were terribly worried last fall/winter about garlic. Neither of us had grown it, nor knew anyone who tried. The only information i got was from dude who was planting his first batch as well. All i knew was that real, fresh, hardneck garlic was to kill for, and that we were late to plant.

We were so late that Peaceful Valley was already sold out of some varieties and what was left was discounted. I bought a pound each of Music and Legacy, and we planted 16 big cloves of each in our two Square Foot Gardening boxes.

Over the winter, they did sprout and grow. Every single clove sprouted, too! Right now all 32 garlic plants are over 2 feet tall. Some of the tips are slightly brown but apparently this is normal. I don't know if we're lucky gardeners, if the SFG method kicks ass, or if garlic is really just that easy to grow -- but we're definitely growing it again this fall.

Phase two (one was planting) is harvesting the "scapes" or flower stalks of the garlic plant. Our garlic grew such beautiful curvy scapes i felt bad cutting them, but it had to be done. Apparently you need to cut the scapes so more energy goes into growing the bulb instead of making a flower. Scapes are a delicacy known to few, so if you see them at the farmers' market and love garlic, definitely check them out.

Cutting the scapes was insane. be was using pruning shears and i was using scissors. I harvested the longer scapes of Music while he cut the shorter Legacy. The air was crazy heavy with garlic, like a perfumey blanket. You could actually see the glistening garlic juice on the cut ends. I was sniffing a stalk when i accidentally bonked my lip with it and i was smelling garlic for a whole day!

So what does one do with 32 garlic scapes? We gave some to my mom, some to the Rices and have some saved for Jomar. I made the rest of the Legacy into pesto. Online everyone raves about pesto and i love it so. Some people online suggest stir-frying it, which changes the texture into something like green beans; perhaps i'll try this with the Music. What i didn't get was how everyone online described garlic scapes as having "all the garlic flavor with none of the bite." I tried a few pieces raw and my scapes certainly had "bite!" Sure, it's not exactly like biting into a crispy clove of hardneck garlic but it had a hot bite and left us with major garlic breath!

The recipe i tweaked was from the Washington Post here.

Harley's Garlic Scape Pesto

1 cup chopped garlic scapes (10 garlic scapes, more if shorter, less if longer)
1/3 cup walnuts or pinenuts
1/2 cup or more of extra virgin olive oil
1/2-1 t sea salt
1/4 t freshly ground black pepper

1) Wash the scapes. Cut off the flower and discard. Trim the stalk end if it looks dry. Coarsely chop up.
2) Break up the walnuts, or leave pinenuts whole, and heat in a skillet over low heat until toasted, stirring frequently.
3) In a food processor or blender, process the scapes and nuts until combined.
4) Add the olive oil and process until pastelike, scraping down the sides if necessary. Add more oil if you need it.
5) Put the pesto into a bowl and stir in the salt and pepper.
6) To freeze cubes for later use, use an ice cube tray. Freeze the cubes and then put in an airtight container to use when needed. My batch made 11 cubes after eating some of the pesto fresh on toasted bread.

The garlic scape pesto certainly is delicious! It's different from basil-based pesto but the garlic flavor is all there. Now, i just hope phase 3 (harvesting and curing of the bulbs) goes just as well!

Greedy

2008-06-10T10:50:00.000-05:00

YES we bought 12 chocolate bars. No one should have a problem with that. Top to bottom:

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Lemon Biscotti Truffle Bar from Choxie

Strawberry & Pepper Cocoa D'Arriba (77%) from Hachez

Mango-Chili Cocoa D'Arriba (77%) from Hachez

Passion Fruit (70%) from Santander

Ginger (80%) from Green & Black's

38% Dark with Roasted Salted Peanuts from Vintage Plantains

65% Dark with Cocoa Nibs from Vintage Plantains

Oaxaca Bar (guajillo and pasilla chilis) (75%) from Vosges

Red Fire Bar (ancho and chipotle chilis with cinnamon) (55%) from Vosges

Crave (apricot) (33%) from New Tree

Intense Pear (pear with almonds) from Lindt

Cinnamon & Blood Orange (white chocolate) from Frey

Needy

2008-06-06T13:15:00.000-05:00

My favorite chocolate bars right now:

82% Cacao Extra Dark from Scharffen Berger

Barcelona bar (dark milk chocolate with hickory smoked almonds and sea salt) from Vosges

Chai (milk chocolate with ginger and spices) from Dagoba

Cherry (60% with dried tart cherries) from Green & Black's

Grand Noir 85% from Michel Cluizel

Guanaja (70%) from Valrhona

Sisa's Secret Special Edition Extra Dark Roast (70%) from Kallari

Tranquility (milk chocolate with lavender) from New Tree

And might i just add that we came across a bodega with loose candies just like when we were kids! L and i got mini Reese's peanut butter cups for 10 cents each, while be picked up a mini Peppermint Pattie for 15 cents. They were the best tasting candies in a long time!

Flashing

2008-06-06T12:04:00.004-05:00

The butt one went moldy, but be ended up eating the male genitals one after breaking the weirdness off. Overall the cherries were excellent.

CSA Pickup #1

2008-06-03T20:02:00.003-05:00

In a grand effort to eat more produce, we joined the CSA at Red Earth Farm. It was a stressful moment a few months ago when we ran from brunch in an effort to register and pay before they sold out of shares. Luckily, we made the cut and have just picked up our first box of the season. I don't know why, but we chose the Full Share ... a 23 week season of 10 items each pickup (a Partial is 6 items) PLUS an additional bi weekly fruit share. Now that i've seen the produce on the counter, i've realized we surely are dunderheads.

Box #1 contained:

1 basil plant
1 head bok choy
1 head red leaf lettuce
1 bag mixed baby greens
1 bag spinach
1 bunch red winter kale
1 bunch scallions
1 head green leaf lettuce
1 bunch beets
1 head something i don't know the name for - white stalks and leafy green tops

That means we'll have to consume at least 2 items each day, not even including the produce we already have in the fridge! That's a lot of greens. Better get some of those produce bags. Wish us luck.

First Bunch

2008-06-02T14:25:00.004-05:00

Saturday morning be was tending to the garden when he spied a few bright red berries on our three little strawberry plants! We had actually picked and eaten one sole berry a few days before that but this was the first real bunch ready. They were impossibly fresh and beautifully red, and the flavors ranged from intensely sweet to intensely sweet with a little sour. The texture was like slicing through butter. So unlike store-bought berries!

Over the past few weeks, some of our plants have suffered with the drenching rains and flip flopping temperatures, but the three berry plants only grew larger and heartier. The plants are from Greensgrow and i highly recommend buying from them since their plants are very healthy. We have them planted in a long plastic rectangular window box in potting soil from Organic Mechanics with some stones on top to keep out stray cats in search of litterboxes. Now that the berries are starting to ripen, we have the strawberries inside of the blueberries' wire netting cage which be built to keep out squirrels and birds. I guess one cannot keep a Taurus away from his hard earned fruit.

Sweet & Sara Kicks Major Ass!

2008-05-21T08:35:00.010-05:00

I am in love with these Sweet & Sara marshmallows. I'm forcing myself to a daily limit of only two coconut marshmallows or else the whole package would've been gone days ago. Unfortunately for me, be is in love with them too. I guess the only option is to order more!

As a kid, i ate marshmallows but they laid quite low on the candy-love scale. I didn't really like Mallow Cups but ate them anyway, didn't really enjoy toasted coconut covered marshmallows but yes, ate them anyways... the exception was Peeps, which i totally despised. I never liked the ultra fluffiness, the way they squished in the mouth -- it reminded me of the way the aliens on V would eat those soft-looking mice. I did, however, love Rice Krispies treats and made them often.

When i went vegetarian in January 1992, giving up marshmallows was not a big deal. The only exception was those Rice Krispies treats but ever since the discovery of Fluff, i've satisfied my cravings. (Perhaps i've even overdosed on Fluff as i haven't touched that Fluff tub in the pantry for quite a while!) [FYI Fluff is vegetarian but not vegan; i'm going to soon check out some vegan marshmallow creme brands.]

Now as for actual marshmallows, i missed out on trying the vegan brand that popped into Whole Foods a few years back. When i first saw them, it was during the whole "homemade" marshmallow craze and since i wasn't that into marshmallows, i wasn't quick to buy a package. Then seemingly overnight they disappeared. I noticed their absence once we bought a charcoal grill and got hit with s'mores cravings. But after viewing these videos (part one, part two) it all made sense. (Short version: seemingly vegan jel used by indie marshmallow companies was tested and found to contain animals, manufacturer disappeared after being found out.) The videos then focus on Sara Sohn's quest to create a truly delicious vegan marshmallow.

Okay, not only are these the BEST marshmallows i've ever had, they're vegan, from a small independent company, and owned and operated by a vegan Asian American woman from Queens! If your natural food store stocks Sweet & Sara marshmallows you should run out a get some immediately! I've already written my local stores in Philadelphia but until they get on the ball, i'm ordering from Vegan Essentials or buying in New York. YES they are that good. I didn't think i really liked marshmallows until now!

The coconut marshmallows are absolutely incredible. The coconut isn't overly toasted and dry like most other brands. The interior is creamy, soft, firm-pillowy and nicely sweet. Seriously, i could eat a whole box in a sitting. The vanilla marshmallows have a strong vanilla flavor and seem a bit sweeter to me. I love these as well but prefer the coconut ones when eating straight out of the package. I've been trying to grill for two weekends now but have been rained out both times! So we haven't had a chance to roast the vanilla ones to make s'mores. I know they're going to be amazing and cannot wait!

Serious props to Sweet & Sara for the best marshmallows ever!

We're Losers

2008-05-19T17:55:00.004-05:00

A few weeks ago, J brought us some cinnamon fiddlehead ferns from her mom's place in upstate New York! We've only ever had them once before, sauteed with some oil, salt & pepper. I was very excited to try these ferns out, which were much smaller and brighter green than the ones i bought from Whole Foods a few years ago. However, problems arose: we were so busy the next few nights and didn't have time to cook, we weren't sure exactly how much of the ferns we could eat, and even freaked out a tiny bit when doing online research about the long cooking methods needed to prevent possible food poisoning! Some of the ferns are currently still fine in the fridge, so if all goes well i'll cook them tonight!

Kicking the Crap Out

2008-05-13T14:25:00.005-05:00

Okay so i'm jumping on the Vrapple bandwagon. I don't remember where i read about this vegan scrapple first, but it's been all over the vegan/vegetarian and Philadelphia-region blogs recently. I wouldn't have tried it if not for Omar's neverending love for scrapple. He's the only person i know who eats it regularly. From wikipedia, scrapple is:

... a savory mush of pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal and flour, often buckwheat flour. The mush is formed into a loaf, and slices of the scrapple are then fried before serving. Scraps of meat left over from butchering, too small to be used or sold elsewhere, were made into scrapple to avoid waste. Scrapple is best known as a regional food of Delaware, South Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.

Vrapple is a vegan version of scrapple made from seitan, cornmeal, buckwheat and spices. It fries up very nicely in a cast iron skillet, with a nice crunchy outside and soft meat-like inside. It's quite peppery and has a sweet mapley taste which i didn't expect. I'm not sure i like it, but i like knowing there's a meat-free version if i ever want it. For breakfast faux meats, my favorite is still the non-organic* Breakfast Links from Boca, of course fried up in a skillet until nice and browned. FYI i bought my small block of vrapple at Essene in Queen Village.

*I've tried the organic Boca Breakfast Links a few times from different stores and every single box has been mushy and weird. The non-organic Boca Breakfast Links, however, are so tasty and much firmer. Scary.

Essentially Excited

2008-05-08T22:01:00.004-05:00

I cannot wait for my Vegan Essentials order to come in next week! In it are two things i've been salivating to try: vegan marshmallows from Sweet & Sara (go Asian Americans!) and vegan cheeses from Sheese (we ordered the smoked cheddar, medium cheddar and the blue) and Teese (mozzarella). Too bad they're out of stock of Chocoreale, which i learned about from the Urban Vegan. We love our Nutella so it's good to know there's a delicious animal-ingredient-free version out there.

If all goes well, i'm so roasting the marshmallows over our trusty grill to make s'mores! I'll report back on the vegan cheeses soon!

Lastly, check out this website Vegans of Color!

Bibiscotti

2008-05-02T10:58:00.005-05:00

I'm going crazy and eating 5-10 biscotti per day. This is what happens when you bake your own and suddenly have 60 pieces instead of a tiny container that cost $4.00 from the store. Well, except in my case the count was closer to 120 since i made two batches in one week. I gave a lot away, brought some to work and shared it amongst 3 offices, and even saved a few pieces for be!

I had never made any biscotti before, so in my research i found that biscotti is divided into two types: with butter and without butter. Traditionally, biscotti is made without butter, resulting in a crunchier, harder cookie. The ones containing butter make a crumblier, softer cookie. I used this recipe and followed it closely, except that i cut my slices 1/2" thick instead of 3/4". I also couldn't find Dutch-processed cocoa so i used regular, and instead of instant espresso powder i used regular espresso grounds.

The first batch was insanely delicious. I love crunchy cookies and these were perfectly nutty, roasty and chocolatey. The chocolate flavor was from the cocoa as well as ground up bittersweet chocolate, but i missed having actual chocolate chunks. For the second batch, i did the same as the first except i added an additional cup of chocolate mini chunks to the batter. As you can see in the biscotti to the right, the second batch ended up darker and denser. The chunks were too small to affect the crunch or texture of the batch, but it did affect the flavor immensely - much more roasty and toasty, with a stronger espresso-like flavor.

Next up, i'll try the same recipe but with larger chocolate chunks, settle on a good lavender citrus biscotti recipe, and perhaps try a regular plain almond one. Some people are stupidly hilarious; recipe comment sections occasionally contain a complaint about the cookies being "too hard" and "not sweet enough," when that's the whole point of biscotti!

Short is Better Than Nothing

2008-04-28T12:43:00.002-05:00

1) KOV non-dairy frozen dessert! Check it out at your nearest natural food market! (Currently only available around Philadelphia.) Two great flavors: Chocolate Garden Mint and Ginger Sesame.

2) If you can't make your own, the next best kettle corn is surely Ike & Sam's. Beats the others hands down! Thanks P!

3) I love Gardenburger Riblets. The BBQ sauce is incredible!

4) Any good soy yogurts out there? Silk is not bad. So Delicious was too thick for my liking.

5) For some bizarre reason, we can't get chocolate to temper. I'm thinking it might be due to warmer temperatures. I really want some salt choc. I'll write about that once i snap off a piece from a good batch.

Sad Monday

2008-04-28T12:37:00.003-05:00

I just got the confirmation that Giant Foods is no longer selling Dreamy Tofu! Back in the '80s, it was the only decent brand of soy ice cream around. A pint of smooth whiteness swirled with peanut butter or raspberry (and other flavors which i'm forgetting), shunned by most not only because it was soy, but also because it was store brand (Super G) and not name brand. Apparently it hasn't been sold for years, but since i haven't been around Northern VA much i didn't notice. Poor Dreamy Tofu - this is my ode to your deliciousness.

The Sweet Tea Line

2008-02-28T18:33:00.003-05:00

I love stuff like this! Check out the Sweet Tea Line, which i saw on A Full Belly's post about Barbecue and Sweet Tea. Like i've always said, we didn't grow up with sweet tea in Northern Virginia!

Cilantro Storage Test Method

2008-02-10T16:17:00.000-05:00

This is not an official test as i did not compare 2 or more methods at the same time, with the same cilantro batch in the same refrigerator. What i did was check out one of the recommended methods from the comments from my original 10/13/05 post.

As the anonymous poster suggested, i put the cilantro (with roots on) in a glass of water in the refrigerator with a spoonful of white sugar. I covered the cilantro with a gallon-sized plastic bag and sealed it with a loose rubber band (not airtight). It's been on the bottom shelf of the fridge for about 2 weeks now and it's still doing very well! I've been picking off cilantro leaves as needed, and weeding out the spoiled slimy ones.

So far this method has worked very well so i'm curious to compare it to the aluminum foil one. I will certainly post the results once they're in!

THANKS anonymous poster!

Unified Democratic Party Petition

2008-02-08T13:57:00.000-05:00

Last night be created an online petition. Please check it out and sign here!

To: The Presidential Campaigns of Senator Clinton and Senator Obama
Feb 7th, 2008

As evidenced by the primaries of the past weeks it is clear that the Democratic Party and the nation are excited by the two top Democratic Candidates. We the undersigned ask that whomever wins the Democratic nomination for President in this 2008 primary election pledges to ask the second place candidate to be their Vice Presidential running mate. This Democratic ticket would be the ultimate change ticket for this country. It would signal to the world and the to the people of the United States that the Democratic Party is ready to lead; that it is ready to put aside political and personal considerations and do what the country needs. It would mean hope and experience would be on the same ticket. It would mean that the Democratic party would be united and energized and more important than it has ever been. We ask that both Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama see past the political advisors and pundits and listen to the people that have signed this petition as well as the millions of Americans that would benefit from such a union.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

Pad Thai #1

2008-02-03T23:01:00.001-05:00

To me, Pad Thai always seemed to be something one did not attempt to make at home. Unless you grew up with it, the closest one could get to making it was from a microwavable packet or perhaps with one of those pre-measured complicated kits. I don't really know why it never occurred to me that i should try (especially since an average order of Pad Thai runs $12-13 in Philadelphia!) but when i came across Chez Pim's Pad Thai for beginners i was immediately inspired.

We headed out to the Hung Vuong Supermarket in South Philly for ingredients. We found everything we needed after two small snags: there were SO MANY kinds of dried rice noodles we got overwhelmed but chose a Thai brand that seemed to be the right width; and in the pickled jarred things aisle, it was difficult locating pickled turnip but eventually found it. We picked up the recommended Healthy Boy Brand thin soy sauce (instead of fish sauce), palm sugar, tamarind pulp, fried tofu puffs and bean sprouts. I already had crushed Thai chiles, pressed tofu and the fresh ingredients.

Luckily, a few months ago i resurrected by carbon steel flat bottomed wok with a harsh scouring and multiple doses of seasoning with grapeseed oil. I've been cooking with it often and the bottom has turned into a shiny black but the sides are still silvery blue. It's great - the hot steel cooks green vegetables with a great smokey char that a nonstick can't produce. Hopefully in the next few months the whole inside will be seasoned glossy black!

Chez Pim's detailed directions were excellent. The sauce was perfect - super flavorful with a wonderful balance of sweet/sour/salty/deep/hot (i used 2 t Thai chile powder) and the step by step instructions made so much sense. She includes helpful vegetarian suggestions; instead of chicken or shrimp i used fried tofu puffs cut in half with a little bit of pressed tofu cut into slim rods. I didn't add any vegetables besides the recommended bean sprout and scallions.

Overall, the 2 servings i made were shockingly delicious. I was so surprised that my first attempt came out so well! My only criticism was about the rice noodles - they were a bit too al dente so next time i'll soak them in the hot water a little longer. But besides the noodles everything was perfect. The mixture of flavors was great. The crisp bean sprouts, the chewy crispy tofu, the flavorful noodles, the peanuts, the squeeze of lime ... all i can do is thank Chez Pim for the excellent directions! And make more tomorrow!

I cooked up another batch of the Pad Thai sauce to have a jar in the fridge for my attempts later this week. I'll soak the noodles longer next time but besides that, it was totally delicious! Also, up later this week: Pad See Ew, be's favorite Thai noodle dish!

Blogging Yaay

2008-01-22T21:31:00.000-05:00

OMFG this is so awesome!

1) Monday, January 21st, 12:30pm: O calls us with emergency news. Our favorite gelato joint, Capogiro, has Sea Salt on the menu! We head over and blog about our experience. Here's mine.

2) Tuesday, January 22nd, 12:15pm: O calls me at work to say that "Kmart" left a comment on our ilovecapogiro site about how they actually made Sea Salt from my request! See my original lament.

3) Tuesday, January 22nd, 12:20pm: I read owner/chef Stephanie Reitano's musings on boredom at Capogiro's official site under the "News & Updates," which totally verifies the truth about Sea Salt and the power of blogging!

SALT - Our friends at www.ilovecapogiro.com wanted to remind me of this flavor. I've made salt gelato before, always paired with Margarita sorbetto in the summer. They must have missed it. This version is just for you, made with Maldon Sea Salt and it's incredible with something sweet like warm bread pudding.

Click here to read her whole post, which contains very excellent suggestions on assorted pairings, as well as information on a PICK ME flavor contest!

BOEMs

2008-01-15T22:36:00.000-05:00

At our house we tend to get obsessive about things. I've been known to play certain songs in endless repeat loops, eat the same meal for days and wear the same outfit for years (with frequent washings, of course!)

Right now we're all about the Moro, or Sicilian blood orange. From our January 2006 trip out to California we knew winter was the prime season for these amazing things. Our last few days have gone exactly like this:

Sunday, 1/13/08, approx 2pm: walk to Reading Terminal Market. Check produce stands for blood oranges. Hit the jackpot at Iovine's, which has 1 giant bin and a smaller display priced at 3 for $1.00. Buy 6 blood oranges.

Sunday, 1/13/08, approx 4pm: eat 4 blood oranges and lament we did not purchase more.

Monday, 1/14/08, approx 5pm: run to Iovine's and buy 30 blood oranges. Cashier does not even bother to count.

Monday, 1/14/08, approx 7pm: eat 4-5 blood oranges each.

Tuesday, 1/15/08, approx 1pm: give 1 blood orange to P, who agrees on its incredible deliciousness and intensity.

Tuesday, 1/15/08, approx 1:30pm: be runs to Iovine's during his jury duty lunch break and purchases 32 blood oranges, now priced at 4 for $1.00

Tuesday, 1/15/08, approx 3pm: i offer to get P some blood oranges and call be to get the update.

Tuesday, 1/15/08, approx 4:30pm: be goes back to Iovine's and buys another 32 blood oranges.

So, if my math is right, we have purchased 100 blood oranges in the past 3 days. 20 are for P (and she ate 1), and right now i'm counting 57 left on our kitchen table and countertop. That means we've already consumed 22 blood oranges between the 2 of us!

These blood oranges are small and don't look special save for a slight reddish tinge - but this certain crop is so intense and savory. Some of them have very strong raspberry hints, too! I love these things. They're the perfect balance of sweet/sour, light/dark, bitter/sugar, plus you can't beat the color nor the tuff name. Definitely check them out since they won't be around much longer! be is ALREADY fretting that we don't have enough and is planning to get MORE tomorrow!

Perfect Cold Weather Meal

2007-11-02T23:21:00.000-05:00

I don't know why i'm such a wimpling these days. It's not really THAT cold but lately i've been fucking freezing. And when i'm cold i want two things (in addition to blankets, knee hi socks and snuggly cats): fried foods and soupy foods.

This has meant deep fried mini spring rolls (premade, we just deep fry), grilled cheese sandwiches with Red Leichester, mustard and black pepper; and pan fried Trader Joe's bean & cheese taquitos.

For the soupy side, i've made 2 pots of jook (rice porridge or "congee") and they sure hit the spot. It's a good way to use up some greens, PLUS i like to eat it with deep fried bread aka yu ja gue, thus fulfilling both the FRIED and the SOUPY at the same time!

Jook 707

1/2 cup white rice
1/4 cup shelled raw peanuts with skins on
6-7 cups water
1 t sea salt

1 scallion, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1 handful cilantro, chopped
2 thin slices ginger, cut into thin shreds
some jarred pickled chile Chinese mustard greens or other vegetable

1 T veg oil
1 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1/2 lb choi sum
2 thick slices fake ham, cut into thin slabs
a few dashes of soy sauce

store bought yu ja gue

1) Put the rice, peanuts, 6 cups of water and salt into a heavy 3-4 qt pot. Heat on medium high until boiling. Stir occasionally and let boil for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to low, partially cover and let simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Stir occasionally, especially near the end of the cook time. The rice should be broken up and have the consistency of loose oatmeal/porridge. You can use a whisk to break the rice up even more. If it's too thick, add 1 cup of water.

2) Meanwhile, wash the choi sum well in 3 changes of cold water. Slice off the very end of the stalks, then cut the stalks into 1.5" lengths and set aside. Cut the greens into 2" pieces and keep separate from the stalks. Heat up the oil over medium high in a stainless steel pan or wok. When hot, add the garlic and the stalks. Stir around until they start to turn bright green and get a little charred. Add the greens and stir around until slightly wilted. Add 2-3 T water and quickly cover. After a minute or two, life the cover and stir. Check the greens for doneness (if a fork goes in with a little bit of resistance, and the stalks are still crisp). Add the fake ham and flavor with a few dashes of soy sauce.

3) When the jook is almost done, preheat the oven to 350. Heat up the yu ja gue (frozen or refrigerated) for a few minutes until hot and crispy. It's pretty oily so use a baking sheet. Each person should get 1 stick, 2 if very hungry. Usually the package contains 3 double sticks, which you can separate into 6.

4) Once the jook is done, add the scallions, cilantro, ginger and pickled vegetables to the pot. Stir around for a minute. Remove from heat.

5) In each serving bowl, place a scoop of the choi sum & fake fam. Ladle on the jook. Each person should have a stick of yu ja gue in one hand, and a Chinese soup spoon in the other. Dip the yu ja gue into the jook and eat some alone with the spoon.

Serves 4-6 depending on how large the bowls are!

I know most people eat jook kind of plainish, but this is how i like it. Usually it's served very plain and each person chooses which additions they want in their bowl. I think the peanuts are imperative, as are the cilantro and ginger. It would still be good without the choi sum but note the fake ham adds a nice saltiness.

Vampires Lunch

2007-10-29T15:13:00.001-05:00

Just in time for Halloween:

Look no further for the best gummies ever! Seitenbacher Natural Foods Factory has a line of gelatin-free gummi fruits with cute names like "Smooch Lions" (apple flavored) and "Roses for You" (rose scented), but their very best product is none other than black currant and black pepper flavored "Vampires Lunch." I love these things!

As you can see, they come in ultra dark-red colored blood drop and skull & crossbones shapes (although i would've preferred a fat bat to the skull & crossbones). They taste exactly as they're described, with a strong black currant flavor ending with a tiny kick of black pepper at the end - not enough to discourage the anti-savory-fruit people, but just enough for you to notice something.

Most importantly, they contain no animal derived gumming agents, instead using fruit pectin to create a nice firm chewy gummy. Unlike some other vegetarian gummies, these are not pasty, powdery or grainy. They aren't as hard as some gelatin gummies but definitely firmer than those squishy gummy bears.

So where to get them? We've only ever seen them at Essene in Philadelphia, so try your independent natural market first. You can also order them online direct from Seitenbacher. Note the "Sunhats" gummies with vitamins are not as good. Totally stick with the Vampires Lunch and you can't go wrong. I always want to eat the whole bag in one sitting, without sharing!

Knitting Marzipan!

2007-09-25T22:51:00.000-05:00

You gotta check out these pics of "knitted" marizan cupcakes! A great combination of two loves, knitting and food.

Then here's a tutorial so you can make your own!

From VeganYumYum, thanks dude.

Tornado Potato, I Want

2007-09-25T21:50:00.000-05:00

OMFG does anyone know if i can get this in New York, Philadelphia, Washington or anywhere up and down the Eastern seaboard? Even though i have yet to taste it, i already know it's the best street food, ever.

Via Adam <- DJ <- Serious Eats <- superlocal.

Aussieness

2007-09-17T16:49:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Shaptowicz, we scored two awesome Australian food items this weekend! The first was a jar of Pear Vanilla Ginger jam from Jam Lady Jam. It was so unbelievably delicious; slices of real pear with gingery vanilla goodness. All we could think about was the poor sad state of American jam products after eating this. Next was a box of Tim Tams, Dangerous Liasons Black Forest Fantasy flavor. I love the cherry/dark chocolate combo in these yummy cookies. Too bad we can't get either of these things here!

I'm a food hoarder due to my Taurus ascendant, but i'm trying to break away from "saving" food items and just eating them while they're fresh and delicious. Hence, i'm stuffing my face with Tim Tams and having pear jam sandwiches. Poor be better start eating too or he'll miss out!

Sharps

2007-08-24T14:59:00.001-05:00

Q: What's the coolest thing in the world?

A: Sharpening knives in the old skool manner!

I must admit my poor knife collection was suffering from a severe bout of dullness. Some even had nicks from cutting who knows what, amongst the usual soft edges that mushed tomatoes instead of slicing them.

The knife sharpening tool i purchased years ago was a hand-held bar with two ceramic rods held at the correct angles to run knife blades across. This thing didn't work that well but it was better than nothing, plus my knives weren't in that bad a condition yet. But after years of chopping and slicing, my chef's knife was useless and the smaller knives had lost their original edges. I thought back to my mother's old sharpening stone and how i used to watch her as a kid, sharpening her knives on the stone with a little water. I had a few discussions with assorted people about sharpening stones and finally, just recently, bought a $2 stone from Chinatown.

This afternoon i spent a good amount of time sharpening all my kitchen knives. It took a few tries to get the angles correct, but overall it was a super-satisfying activity. I loved drawing the blades over the stone, the noise it made, the visual difference it gave the knives. When i tested them, they certainly stuck into my thumbnail instead of sliding off; not bad for a first attempt! I felt like i was in a 1980s knife commercial, slicing paper, tomatoes and canned goods with the utmost ease.

I'm encouraging everyone to get a real sharpening stone and get those baddies back to their usual selves!

Need! Now!

2007-08-04T11:38:00.000-05:00

B A C O N S A L T !

From Seattlest:

Vegetarian and kosher certified? Like artificial bacon bits? Yes, this product strongly resembles a fine-grained version of same, and is probably manufactured in a similar manner. But granting the equivalence, Bacon Salt is far better than any artificial bacon bit product I've ever had. There's a care to the flavor balances I don't get from the ordinary fake stuff. If this is nothing but an artificial bacon bit, it's the best artificial bacon bit I've ever had. This stuff has punch and character. There's real personality here.

I so have to try all three varieties immediately!

Snapelove

2007-07-29T17:51:00.000-05:00

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

2007-07-20T09:59:00.000-05:00

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?

2007-07-17T23:40:00.000-05:00

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

2007-07-09T14:05:00.000-05:00

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

2007-07-06T09:25:00.000-05:00

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 Tea

6 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

2007-07-04T01:21:00.000-05:00

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 Corn

1/4 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

2007-07-03T22:03:00.000-05:00

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 Popcorn

1.5 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

2007-07-02T22:28:00.000-05:00

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!

N. Vegan

2007-06-08T11:51:00.000-05:00

Last Friday we finally made it to Horizons, the famed upscale "new vegan cuisine" restaurant everyone's been telling us about. The group was comprised of myself, be, Bonesli, L and X. No one was vegan but 3 were vegetarian, 1 pescatarian and the last was a general meat-eater who didn't know how to cook.

Yes, the restaurant looks nice. Yes, the service was good. Two bars. Feels like you're in the Southwest or California. Bright and airy, even during rainstorm. Big tables. Etc.

Okay, now the important part: the food. Damn dudes, the food was INCREDIBLE. You could tell that with every single step of the preparation, from selection to cutting, pairing and plating, searing roasting condiments flavor layers - whatever it was - the chefs really knew what they were doing. I haven't had food that good in a restaurant in a long time. Sure, the prices are a tad higher than the average we spend on dinner, but when you consider the quality and skill, it's totally worth it.

For starters, B chose a Jamaican bean soup with mango creme, be had the chilled cucumber avocado soup with toasted pumpkin seeds, L had Yucatan spinach salad, X had the chile cauliflower and i chose the Jamaican BBQ seitan. Everything was truy amazing. Each dish was layered with numerous levels of flavor; for instance, be's soup started out smooth and creamy, then you notice the roasted pumpkin, the hints of cumin and the herbed oil all working together for each spoonful. And i cannot truly explain how good my BBQ seitan was. One must take a bite. It was sweet, hot, tender, blackened perfectly, porklike - yes that is weird to type! - with a wonderful cucumber dipping sauce and a side of habenero cabbage slaw. This is the one dish X really seemed to like, probably because you couldn't tell it wasn't really meat.

The main dishes were just as drool-inducing: B and i both ordered the portabella trio with enchiladas and jicama salad; be chose the pan seared tofu over wild rice, L got the hearts of palm paella, and X had another appetizer, mushroom carpaccio. My grilled portabella cap was simply the best one i'd ever eaten - smokey, tender, juicy - and paired perfectly with the cilantro sauce and tofu enchiladas. be's seared tofu was crusty, dense, flavorful and creamy - unlike any other (unfried) slab of tofu. I would've never thought to get the paella, but L's dish was excellent: a round of paella with a "salmon" flavored hearts of palm cake on top, crowned with a stuffed pepper and lined with asparagus. Wow. And lastly, the carpaccio was excellent as well, although i think X wished he'd ordered differently.

Sadly, we were all too full to get dessert. The portions were all much heartier than we thought and most of us brought home leftovers, too!

Last story: as we were waiting downstairs before dinner, guess who walks in and looks me straight in the eye for a brief split second and heads upstairs? My brain went through the usual ticklist: someone i know. Workshop? other Asian American organization? did i help once in the bookstore? And then it hit me a moment later: M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN! Everyone downstairs was in a tizzy all buzzing "Did you see who that was?!" He ended up sitting at the table right next to ours, but no, we didn't talk to him or ask for an autograph. We all just enjoyed our food like everyone else (but we kept glancing over, of course!)

ilovecapogiro

2007-06-04T22:43:00.000-05:00

Check out our new group blog!

Subject: Addictive gelato & sorbetto from Capogiro Gelato Artisans
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Official Members: A, be, K, O and yours truly

We hope you enjoy our reviews and ramblings as much as we run to Sansom Street.

(For the record, my All Star Flavors so far are: Chai Tea, Thai Iced Tea, Peanut Butter, Rosemary Honey Goat Milk, Carambola con Limone Verde (Starfruit and Tart Lime), Ananas Con Menta (Pineapple and Mint), Fior Di Latte (Sweet Cream), Chrysanthemum Tea, Menta Stracciatella (Mint with Chocolate Slivers), Blood Orange, and Pompelmo Rosso con Campari (Grapefruit with Campari).)

Oh Crap!

2007-05-25T10:49:00.000-05:00

Right before our first visit to Great Tea International on Wednesday, i read this:

In The Book of Tea, his treatise on Japanese tea's relationship with the Western world, Okakura Kakuzo explains that the tearoom is an ephemeral structure based on poetic impulse — not intended for posterity. It should be no surprise, then, that on June 9, Charlotte Lin, owner of Great Tea International ... , is closing the space she consecrated almost five years ago as an escape from her accounting career. The sanctuary was immune to the vulgar hustle of busy streets and cafes, but apparently not Philadelphia's dreaded business privilege tax. ... —Sam Tremble

Bonesli and i really liked GTI. The space was cozy and the other customers seemed to be regulars. The selection of imported teas (mainly from Taiwan, it seemed) was quite large, and my $4 order of Oolong was enough for 3 cups worth. To eat, i chose the light lunch of 2 lotus leaf rolls and 1 bun, while Bonesli had pistachios and pumpkin seeds with green tea powder with her herbal tisane. (They were out of the tofu sandwich that day.) The lotus leaf roll was filled with sticky rice and a few kinds of mushrooms, very tasty and fragrant. The red bean bun was good as well. Bonesli couldn't crack open the pumpkin seeds very well, so i ended up opening the majority!

I adore pumpkin seeds. Wait, clarification: pumpkin seeds with the shells ON. The fun is cracking open each little seed with your teeth, tasting the salt on the shell, extracting a perfect seed to eat, and repeating until you develop two matching sore spots on your lips from the salt.

I bought a 1 lb bag of salted shell-on pumpkin seeds from Nuts to You, but any Chinese food store will have a few varieties. The dish at GTI was comprised of the very large seeds, roasted in green tea powder - a very different yet also addictive version.

In addition to the tea house, GTI also sells clay teapots, ceramic teacups, loose tea to go and tea accessories. It's so different from the 2nd generation tea houses who focus on mixed tea cosmos and tea lattes with fake flavors. So be sure to check out GTI before June 9th. It's on Sansom at 17th Street. They're still going to operate the online shop, but Philadelphia is sadly losing a great place next month.

Only 70 Miles!

2007-05-21T21:52:00.000-05:00

We love Govinda's Gourmet to Go and frequent it often, especially for fake chicken cheesesteaks and chimichangas. Tonight we attempted to eat at Govinda's Vegetarian, the fancier sit-down upstairs of GtG but sadly discovered that they're closed on Monday nights. But on a happy note, we bought mk a slice of the "Boardwalk Fudge" cake, made by Vegan Treats and sold by GtG - and it was purely the best bite of chocolate cake ever! It was very chocolately, moist and rich with a delicious icing. I can't wait to try more of their cakes. Most importantly, i can't wait to get the car share and drive up to Bethlehem where Vegan Treats has an actual store front! OH YEAH whole cakeness!

Next places to check out: Horizons, the Basic 4 Vegetarian Snack Bar in Reading Terminal, Cafe Nhu Y for vegetarian banh mi and Great Tea International, who has toasted pumpkin seeds on the menu (very old skool tea house snackage!)

Lastly, Snausages and i checked out the new T Bar on 12th St today. The owner and staff were extremely nice and helpful. Airy, open space, lots of tea options and snacks. I had the Moroccan mint tea while S had the herbal "Safari" blend. Both were iced and refreshing. I'll definitely go back for more!

Bestucce

2007-05-21T09:52:00.000-05:00

Originally uploaded by sudama.

No, this is so not what our garden looks like although i sure wish it was! It's the lettuce & greens bed from the Rice house in Northern VA. We had the opportunity to eat some of their homegrown romaine, red and butterhead lettuce recently - and i realized how flavorful, crisp and fresh lettuce truly could be. I mean, come on, lettuce is lettuce right? Well hell no kids! After eating some fresh picked greens grown with care i can never justify paying $6.99/lb for organic baby greens that suspiciously all taste the same, or $1.99/ea for waterlogged, flavorless fluffy lettuce filler. The Rice lettuce was leafy, hearty yet tender and very flavorful. It even stood up to multiple washings to get the little bugs off. It undoubtedly is the best lettuce i've ever had!

Now be is really upset that we didn't dedicate an entire box to lettuce!

Our First Garden

2007-05-15T00:14:00.000-05:00

We're lucky to have a good-sized backyard. Most of our neighbors' backyards consist of little patches of grass with a concrete patio block, but our lot was an oddball - amounting to a 30' x 60' back with plenty of room for fun stuff. Eventually we're going to design the backyard and incorporate the great antique bricks we got off freecycle, make a fire pit and a few seating areas, plus a small (mosquito-free) "fountain" of some sort that be wants, but for now the only thing we've started is the garden.

be and i basically knew nothing about gardening a few months ago. Our main reasons for reading a ton of books, scouring the internet for information and constantly harrassing dude over IM are as follows: 1) We need an insane amount of delicious tomatoes, 2) A constant supply of fresh herbs makes food so much better, and 3) Plants are our friends.

The technique we followed was the "Square Foot Gardening" concept - a space-saving, non-traditional approach to growing produce. The book was very easy to follow; the only set backs were finding affordable vermiculite and decent compost in the amounts needed to fill the boxes. (We're going to start making our own compost shortly!) We made two SFG boxes, amounting to 16 squares. Everything we bought was organic (seedlings and seeds) and majority non-GMO. Most of the seeds were from Botanical Interests and the seedlings from Greensgrow in North Philly.

As you can see in the picures, we planted a bunch of seedlings and sowed the remainder from seeds directly in the ground. As of now, everything has come up (yay!) but it's going to take a lot of watering and care to keep the seedlings growing and not drying out. The location offers the garden full sun - about 9 hours a day - so we might even have to shade some of the greens so they don't fry.

be absolutely loves gardening. He's been waking up extra early each morning just to water everything. Every night after work, we inspect the squares to see any new sprouts or changes in the seedlings. It's been exciting and i can't wait to actually eat something we've grown!

Items in SFG Left:

Cucumber
Tomato: Sweet 100
Tomato: Cherokee Purple
Tomato: Pineapple
Radishes
Quinoa
Basil: Siam Queen
Soybeans
Marigolds
Carrots: Tonda
Kale
Spinach
Arugula
Lettuce: Marvel of the Four Seasons

Items in SFG Right:

Tomato: Brandywine
Tomato: Green Zebra
Tomato: Better Boy
Tomato: Sun Gold
Sage
Basil: Cinnamon
Basil: Asmin
Watermelon: Sugar Baby
Marigolds
Carrots: Nantes
Lettuce: Speckles
Lettuce: Black Seed
Watermelon: Crimson Sweet

Items in Containers:

Hot Pepper: Jalepeno
Hot Pepper: Thai Dragon
Eggplant: Cloud Nine
Eggplant: Ping Tung
Lavender
Rosemary
Lemon Thyme
Cilantro
Bunny Tails
Oats & Wheatgrass
Catnip
Mint: Common
Mint: Chocolate

Items we still have to plant somewhere:

Early blueberry bush
Late blueberry bush
Raspberry bush

I really hope all goes well. be says he's found some "bugs" on a few of the seedlings so we're now looking into non-toxic pest control. Otherwise, it's been fun getting the garden started. Seeing those tiny sprouts poke through the soil is something i can't describe, except that it makes us so happy. Right now we count 5 tiny green tomatoes on the Sweet 100 plant. The cats love the oats & wheatgrass. The herbs smell fantastic (and the cilantro sure tastes good!). Hope we'll be wallowing in tomato goodness by summer!

Yowzers!

2007-05-08T23:54:00.000-05:00

The school sells Kool-Aid pickles from the popular red flavor family at its fund-raisers. “They’re easy to make a gallon,” Ms. Williams said. “You pull the pickles from the jar, cut them in halves, make double-strength Kool-Aid, add a pound of sugar, shake and let it sit — best in the refrigerator — for about a week. The taste takes to anything. A while back I made a mistake and bought a jar of pickle chips instead of halves or wholes. Came out fine. This whole Kool-Aid pickle thing is going so good, you wonder why somebody hasn’t put a patent on them.”

This article from the NYTimes sure was an interesting read! I can't wait to make some Kool-Aid pickles of my own!

A Shaptowicz Year

2007-04-16T22:14:00.000-05:00

In the past year we've shared quite a few food moments with Shaptowicz, occurring from Queens to Philadelphia with a nod to Australia, even!

Our first ever Oscar night party in 2006 was essentially a food gorging festival. Between my correct guessing of "Song of the Year" (that would be for "It's Hard Out There for a Pimp") and Cristin's win of the golden foiled chocolate bunny trophy, we filled up on Cristin's mom's yummy secret recipe Fiesta Twirls and Asparagus Rolls! Trying to guess the secret ingredient in the Asparagus Rolls was very hard and we didn't get even close!

This past summer, be apparently invented Third Desserts when he served Shaptowicz not one, not two, but THREE desserts after dinner at our house! Sadly, i missed the first two but "Third Desserts" is now part of the regularly used vocabulary here.

In the Fall, be and i were treated to two different kinds of Tim Tam cookies from Australia during Shaptowicz & Kim's high school reunion! They were really good chocolately covered cookies, filled with either latte or raspberry filling. The hardest part of eating them (besides the resultant empty bag) was correctly doing the "Tim Tam Slam" whereby you bite off each end of the cookie and slurp coffee through it like a straw, melting the filling and softening the cookie. Apparently we can buy Tim Tams renamed as "Arnott's Biscuits" at World Market in the States, but it doesn't seem like they carry all the flavors.

During our last two Shaptowicz visits, we ran out of time to sit down and make some Ro*Tel and Pepper Jack Velveeta. Shaptowicz swears by the deliciousness of this cheesy, tomatoey concoction - plus we have mega amounts of tortilla chips waiting! be and i have been really into good tortilla chips recently, namely from Garden of Eatin, so we can't wait to dip them into some Ro*Tel.

Lastly, the Pear Vanilla Ginger jam Shaptowicz left here is patiently awaiting with some brie cheese and crackers for the next Shaptowicz visit - hopefully this month!

Quick Cupcakes

2007-04-16T20:46:00.000-05:00

1) The "Little Lolita" cupcake at Grocery is really good although it sounds a bit unusual: chocolate & ancho chile cupcake with goat's milk caramel-cream cheese frosting topped with chopped chile toffee peanuts! What a great combo! (Thanks K!)

2) We also liked the peanut butter chocolate cupcake at Grocery. The chocolate cupcake part was very soft and flavorful. Apparently they make a peanut butter & jelly cupcake?

3) We split a mega Lavender cupcake from Flying Monkey Patisserie in Reading Terminal. The icing was smooth and deliciously infused with lavender. The cake part was a little dry but otherwise tasty.

4) The first recipe i tried from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World was the Chai cupcakes! They smelled so great while baking (be thought i was making carrot cake due to the spices!) and tasted very yummy too. I'm definitely going to make more cupcakes from this book (plus the "Faustess Cupcakes" from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's other book, Vegan with a Vengeance).

5) A while back, we were gifted some cupcakes from The Night Bakery in Germantown. They were very delicious and i particulary enjoyed the lemon cupcake!

6) I tried the vanilla cupcake from Naked Chocolate Cafe which was very tasty as well. Note if you're part of Philly Carshare, the desserts are 2 for 1 with the special keytag!

7) Lastly but not leastly, we LOVE Tartes. It's this tiny little house on Arch between 2nd and 3rd Sts in Old City ... and they churn out the BEST cookies, cupcakes and baked goods ever! The only night they're open late is First Fridays, otherwise you have to go early. I can't recall everything we've tried. I just remember it's all been excellent.

Nuts to Me!

2007-04-02T20:18:00.000-05:00

WHY is the popcorn at Nuts to You so addictive? It's perfectly salted, not oily, very crisp and slightly toasty. For a measly $1.25 you get a giant bag about the size of 3 microwave popcorn bags. Plus, it's freshly popped and AWESOME. The guy behind the counter told me it can keep fresh for only 2-3 days however, so make sure you eat the whole bag like i do in one sitting. (Alright, probably more like 5 sittings -- it's a bigass bag!) They also sell an unsalted bag which would be perfect for popcorn balls or chocolate drizzle!

While you're there, be sure to get a pound of "Sweet Cream Almonds" which a few of us have appropriately dubbed "Cracknuts." The fresh almonds are roasted with a sweet/salty coating that's pure amazingness. If you like sweet roasted nuts, you'll eat the entire pound in 2 days. Happiness for $6.99!

I wonder what other addictive goodness can be found at Nuts to You...

On another note, i just made a raw beet and apple slaw that came out quite tasty! Originally i bought the beets for the tops. I wasn't sure how to make the actual beet roots and didn't want to run the oven or boil them forever. The slaw is very crunchy, fresh and tasty. Note i used apple cider vinegar (1/3 less than the recipe suggested) and pink lady apples instead of Granny Smith. It's a lot of grating but well worth the pink hands. I wonder if be the beet hater will attempt to try them.

Crackogiro & Pinkberry

2007-03-27T17:33:00.000-05:00

While Pinkberry's frozen yogurt is in no way a replacement for Capogiro's gelato, it's still quite addictive and delicious. I love the slightly sour yogurt and fresh fruit. It's my new Ice Cream Break treat!

So in New York i down spoonfuls of Pinkberry but in Philadelphia i scarf pints of Capogiro. Damn this shit is the absolute best frozen treat in the world! Like many addictive products, once you start you can't stop. And when i say "can't stop," i mean you're snapping at coworkers and scratching your face until that first little plastic spoonful hits your tongue...

My favorite Capogiro flavors are:

Rosemary Honey Goat Milk
Carambola con Limone Verde (Starfruit and Tart Lime)
Ananas Con Menta (Pineapple and Mint)
Fior Di Latte (Sweet Cream)
Chrysanthemum Tea
Menta Stracciatella (Mint with Chocolate Slivers)
Blood Orange

The sorbetto flavors are actually vegan, with the exception of those containing honey! Best vegan treat ever -- even better that Tofutti Cuties!

(They really should make a Frequent Pinter Club or at least a Frequent Eater Club Card. Perhaps they really don't need to, though. Shit's addictive.)

I Want This Lunch Everyday

2007-02-20T23:24:00.000-05:00

Last weekend G&G, be and i were in North Philly looking for a tasty bite to eat. We had tried to get a table at Isla Ibiza during the Girard Nights event but the wait was just too long. Luckily, Tiffin was nearby and still open. I had heard a few mentions of it before (most notably, from the smart tongue of K) and everything was quite positive. be and i love Indian food so it was a go.

They were soon to close for the night so our meal was a little rushed. Besides a large table finishing their meal, the four of us were the only ones there so late. The place was bright, full of Ikea tables and the open kitchen wafted out delicious smells. Our waiter (an older white British guy) was knowlegable and funny.

Between us, we ordered: Aloo Gohbi (potatoes and cauliflower), Kaju Mattar Paneer (cheese and peas in a cashew sauce), Baingan Bharta (roasted eggplant) and Aloo Vindaloo (potatoes in a hot & sour sauce), along with freshly made Naan breads. Our food came with fluffy, soft Basmati rice. Everything was so awesome! I can't explain it but to say that it seemed "homemade," super fresh, with clear flavors and good textures. It was so damn good that be craved it for the following week, so much that he ordered dishes for lunch today with 3 of his coworkers - and even took the train a few stops to pick it up!*

I gladly finished his leftover lunch for dinner tonight: Aloo Gobhi with a side of dal (lentils) and rice. I could taste the ginger, mustard seeds and fresh cilantro in the sauce. The cauliflower was soft yet crisp. The potato chunks were flavored all the way through with a great, floury texture. I'm usually not crazy about cauliflower but this dish was just so yummy. I'm totally going back and trying more dishes. It definitely is "Fine Indian at Affordable Prices!"

* Unfortunately, Tiffin doesn't offer delivery nor tiffin box lunches to be's work area in North Philly. Hopefully, they'll expand to include many areas of Philadelphia ... especially Hawthorne where we live!

Must Eats

2007-02-11T00:44:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday - my NYC food gorging celebration - we ate the best dish we'd had in a long time! Not surprisingly, it was at my beloved Vegetarian Dim Sum House. We had just placed our orders for the usual suspects (pan fried noodles with mushrooms, ham and baby bok choy; mashed taro treasure boxes; rice flour rolls with cilantro and ham; corn jook; and monk dumplings) when they dumped a GIANT box of fresh snow pea shoots out onto the table across from us to pick through in time for the dinner rush! be and i were staring at the wonderful pile of beautiful greens, practically drooling and completely mesmerized. Then with a sudden urgent tone - like we had only 2 seconds left to do so, he added a plate of sauteed snow pea shoots to our order. The main waitress was slightly amused by our emergency addition but i think she totally understood; they were some damn good snow pea shoots.

The dish was sauteed in a very light broth. The greens were perfectly cooked, crisp and tender. A generous sized plate was enough for 5 of us, although secretly i could've eaten half of it by myself! Be sure to eat them now - it's season! I love you, snow pea shoots!

Here's my old post and picture from 2005 in case you don't know what they look like.

Quick Reviews - Manhattan

2007-02-09T03:12:00.000-05:00

As you know, i've fallen terribly behind with posts. Blogging a few times a day turned into once a day, then a few times a week, but in 2006 my posts were few and very far between. I mainly blame the move and all the messy work associated with uprooting your life. If you haven't already figured it out, be and i took 2 Uhaul trips + 1 car trip with 4 howling cats and became Philadelphians last September - a choice we don't regret at all, although it's been a hard few months getting settled and paying all sorts of new bills!

So in this past year, i've been collecting long lists of places and items to blog about. In my effort to catch up (so i can really start blogging about the great eats that Philadelphia offers!) i'll be posting super quick reviews, separated by location. First, Manhattan since it's the longest list:

Acme: Super crowded and loud, but decent Southern food - not amazing, but tasty and filling. Lots of hot sauce for you to try!

Babycakes: The apple muffin was AMAZING. The cupcakes were okay (but hey, at least there's something that diabetics, hypoglycemics and those with wheat allergies can eat!).

Black Hound: Such a cute bakery! Tons of samples. Little cookies, little cakes. Definitely want to try more!

Chennai Garden: Good and tasty buffet but not outstanding. Next time i must try the Chat Corner.

Chinese Mirch: Must order the cauliflower dish! Tasy fried okra, okay noodles. I'll certainly go back to try more Indo-Chinese dishes!

Cones: Why didn't i try the CORN ice cream?

Curly's Veg Lunch: Who doesn't love vegetarian diner food? Filling, homey and oily.

Gobo: Good but seems overpriced. Not spectacular, however the avocado starter was delicious.

Grand Sicuan: I hanker for their smoked pressed tofu in a spicy red stew. Very tasty!

Hip Hop Chow: Awesome mac n cheese! Amazing cheesy grits! Very tasty waffles! Totally underrated. Check this place out! Very cool owner.

Il Laboratoria de Gelato: Sterile-seeming shop, but refreshing clean flavors!

Indian Bread Co: Tasty kati rolls! (Especially since Kati Roll Co's been going downhill recently.)

Jacques Torres: He actually came out and passed around samples of chocolate cookies! I love their sugared macadamia chocolates!

S'Mac: Great concept, but i really wanted the mac n cheese to be better. A little too bland and mac was overcooked!

Tien Garden at Taste of Chinatown: Vegan rolls were very good! I want to check out the actual restaurant soon.

Wild Ginger: Vegetarian restaurant in Little Italy/Chinatown. Really nice people, cozy decor. Better than your average "pan Asian" place. I'd go back to try more!

Zen Palate: Some dishes great (like the eggplant), some dishes okay. Long waits around mealtimes.

Excellence

2007-01-10T13:03:00.000-05:00

At around $6 for 4, these vegetarian sausages are not cheap - however, they're the best sausages ever! E.V.E.R.

I took the early bus just to have enough time to grab some Field Roast sausages from the Union Square Whole Foods before work. Right now they're on sale for $5 a package so i loaded up on 4: 3 Smoked Apple Sage and 1 Mexican Chipotle. The smoked apple sage are delicious, not too sweet and very flavorful while the Mexican chipotle ones are quite hot & spicy (as the package claims) and what i expect real chorizo to be like. The third flavor is Italian, which i find have too many whole fennel seeds.

Unfortunately, i can't find any Field Roast sausages in Philadelphia. Our local Whole Foods sells the Field Roast Deli Slices (the mushroom ones are quite tasty!) but my request to stock the sausages remains still unanswered. So for now, i have to pick up sausages in New York but believe me, it's worth it. My sister - who i've dubbed "Snasages" - would be fine just eating these for the rest of her life.

We've only pan fried them but i'm positive they'd be excellent on the grill. From their site:

GRAIN MEAT SAUSAGES
From our family to yours! Field Roast sausages are made using traditional, old-country, sausage making practices. We begin, where all sausage lovers begin; with a grind; ours of grain meat. We chop our own fresh vegetables; eggplant, Yukon Gold potatoes, onions and garlic. Add some liquids; zesty lemon juice, rich red wine from a local winery, organic apple cider vinegar and finally the seasonings; fennel seed, sweet red pepper, rubbed sage, ginger, Chipotle and Chili de Arbol peppers and voila!; an artisan vegan sausage with sizzle, texture and personality! 3 flavors:

Italian: traditionally seasoned with fresh eggplant, zesty red wine, pungent fresh garlic and plenty of fennel

Mexican Chipotle: a spicy-hot blend of smoked Chipotle peppers, Chili de Arbol peppers, fresh chopped garlic, sweet onions seasoned with cumin seed and oregano

Smoked Apple Sage: unique combination of sweet granny smith apples, savory Yukon Gold potatoes and pungent rubbed sage and ginger.

Yay to Field Roast Grain Meat Co for making such a great product!

June in January

2007-01-07T00:35:00.000-05:00

Under normal circumstances, firing up the grill in January should not enter the mind. One should be preoccupied with snowstorms, below-freezing temperatures, scary wind chill estimates and being outside for the least amount of time possible - not standing outside in a tshirt preparing a summer meal after a beautifully sunny, 70+ degree day. Sure, we took advantage of the warm weather but it's simply wrong we weren't huddling under blankets drinking hot chocolate instead. I miss winter, and seasons, and am very concerned about where we're heading. I can't say the meal wasn't delicious, but it would've felt better in June!

Perhaps we went overboard but our grill is so new, shiny and novel. On the top is a grilled baguette with butter from Miel Patisserie. Left to right: fennel chunks, white eggplant with honey & vinegar marinade, firm tofu chunks with my special soy/tahini marinade, cherry tomatoes, button mushrooms with special marinade, zucchini slices, corn, strawberries, pineapple.

Out of season corn is not very tasty, but that was no surprise. Grilled strawberries taste alright but develop a sickly soft texture. Everything else was super delicious. We had planned to grill some fake hot dogs and burgers as well, but there really was no more room in the digestive system. I even passed on the yummy potato salad i made earlier in the week! Yay for our 3rd BBQ! Hopefully next time this winter, we'll have to wear our big jackets and fight about who has to go outside to turn the mushrooms over.

** I have to stress the amazing ability of the charcoal starter. In about 10 minutes you can have hot coals ready to grill on, without the use of lighter fluid or starter cubes. You just need 2 measly sheets of newspaper! It's so simple, i don't know why anyone would use a gas grill.

Bestnuts

2007-01-03T16:11:00.000-05:00

On December 23rd we headed into Manhattan with be's mom, sister, cousins and crew to see the Rockefeller Center tree. A strangely warm night with mobs of tourists reaped a small bag of roasted chestnuts from a street vendor, a warm, tasty sweet treat that be kindly shared with everyone.

The street vendor chestnuts awakended the deep inner cravings within the majority of us. The following night, be and his mom roasted about 1.5 lbs of chestnuts purchased from 2 supermarkets - i was in charge of the cleaning and the cutting - but the experience left us in utter disappointment. Not only were the chestnuts overcooked to the point of hard rockness, some of the chestnuts seemed powdery and moldy under the shells! I cried a little, inside of course.

As you know, be and i are quite stubborn people. I did a lot of research and attempt #2 rewarded us with 25 steaming hot, soft and easy-to-peel roasted bestnuts of goodness! They were so amazingly delicious but i could only eat 10 before giving up!

Now, about that mold issue (from Empire Chestnut):

At harvest time, chestnuts have a bland, starchy flavor and a crisp, carrot-like texture (they are about 50% water). As they dry, in a process called "curing", they become softer and some of the starch converts to sugar. At about 30% moisture, they are sweet, soft, and at the best stage to eat. Unfortunately, such cured chestnuts are very susceptible to mold, and should be promptly consumed. Fresh chestnuts should always be refrigerated in order to delay molding. Chestnuts will keep longer in the crispy, high-moisture condition than if they are stored in a cured condition.

Considering that most supermarkets offer chestnuts out in the open, no wonder mold develops! When we asked for chestnuts at our local Whole Foods, they retrieved them from the back and the nuts were kept very cold; good thing they know what's up. The chestnuts they had were also very large and blemish-free, deep brown and fresh looking.

I cleaned each chestnut with a damp towel and cut a long slash into the flat side with my small serrated knife. Many people suggest cutting an X into the rounded side, but having done both methods, the long slash on the flat side made it easier to peel. Next, i put them on a baking sheet into a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes, checking after 15 minutes by sticking a few chestnuts with a fork. At this point i also stirred them around a bit. At 20 minutes they were soft enough so i took them out to cool slightly. It's so rewarding when the shell peels off in 2 nice pieces to reveal a whole nut. Some of ours peeled perfectly but a few sticklers appeared in the bunch. They were all creamy sweet delicious, thankfully.

Check out this beautiful picture of Marrons! Chauds, chauds les mar-r-rons! With our second pound, we're going to roast them using our charcoal grill!

Relief

2007-01-01T15:55:00.000-05:00

There are 5 pure* vegetarian Chinese restaurants in Philadelphia, 4 are in Chinatown and 1 is near Rittenhouse Square. Over the past few months be and i have eaten at 4 of them: Cherry Street Vegetarian Restaurant, Singapore Vegetarian, Kingdom of Vegetarians and Su Xing House; the last one is New Harmony Restaurant which we'll try soon enough.

Generally speaking, all the ones we've tried are in the range of "terrible" to "okay" except for Su Xing House. Whew! We were so happy to find actual delicious vegetarian Chinese food in Philly that we've eaten there twice and plan to make it part of our regular restaurant rotation!

1) Cherry Street was the first one we tried and it was pretty terrible. be's dumplings were tough and doughy. I asked for a recommendation and received super deep fried nuggets with a dipping sauce ... i'm not sure what Chinese dish that was supposed to be!

2) Singapore was decent the first time we ate there. The second time, our eggplant was dish was merely alright while our tofu dish was tasty - however it only contained only 4 chunks of tofu! I had asked our waiter if they could make us something with choy sum or Chinese broccoli and they didn't have either! I'd go again but it seems like the type of place where you have to know what's good; just randomly choosing from their extensive menu might turn up duds, or you might hit the jackpot.

3) We ate at Kingdom of Vegetarians twice, once for lunch and once for dim sum. The lunch specials were good, nothing to rave about but they made a few authentic attempts that Cherry and Singapore didn't. The dim sum special was a neverending parade of numerous dishes at $10 per person. You definitely get your money's worth and the dim sum was not bad, although my main criticism was the overabundance of fried items. The dim sum also lacked some of our favorites - no rice flour rolls, no taro balls, no sticky rice - but if you like fried dumplings and good hot & sour soup, check them out.

4) Su Xing House is definitely the star of the 4 we've tried. The first time we ordered tofu and black moss soup, which came out too cornstarchy and with peas & carrot bits - alright but not delicious. We also ordered a tofu and peanuts dish that was quite tasty, with smoked pressed tofu chunks; and sauteed snow pea shoots with an "As You Wish" roll (fried bean curd skin filled with shredded golden mushroom, black mushroom, dried bean curd and Chinese celery) that was awesomely delicious. I love snow pea shoots and the fact they even served them was so key! The second time, my sister Hummersloth was in town so we took her there for her opinion. The 3 of us ordered: winter melon soup with black mushrooms, dried bean curd with spiral seaweed and the aforementioned snow pea shoots and an As You Wish roll.

a) the winter melon with black mushrooms soup was absolutely delicious, perfect for a cold day. The broth was so flavorful, containing a few shreds of ginger, white pepper and little red berries that i don't know the English name for. Most importantly, it wasn't cornstarched-up but made thin and clear like it should be! The black mushrooms were the expensive thick kind, perfectly rehydrated and tender. The winter melon was sliced thin and translucent, so yummy and delicious. We're totally getting this soup all the time!

b) the tofu and seaweed dish contained the same smoked, pressed tofu diced into cubes, served in a very tasty sauce. I loved the tofu and sauce! However, the spiral seaweed was a little too chewy for me although be and Hummersloth Bonesli enjoyed it immensely. be would definitely get the dish again.

c) and again, the snow pea shoots with an As You Wish roll was delicious. I love the contrast of the tender green snow pea shoots with the crispy, mushroomy roll. The roll is sliced into 10 pieces and slightly resembles "mock duck" that some places serve.

I'm totally getting hungry writing about Su Xing House! The waitstaff are really helpful and are good about refilling your jasmine tea. I think the tall woman might be the owner and she's really nice. The cooks are obviously knowledgable and the food is much more authentic if you look for it. My only complaints are minimal: you get a cup of tea instead of a pot, and everyone gets a glass of water and a set of silverware so you have to request chopsticks - but these are not big deals. Let me call them now and see if they're open today!

* In addition to the pure vegetarian places, there are a few that also offer extensive vegetarian menus complete with fake meat: Golden Empress Garden and Hong Kong Cafe are two. We plan to check them out as well!

Grill in Chill

2006-12-19T00:43:00.000-05:00

Earlier this fall, be and i bought a Weber One-Touch Silver 18.5" charcoal grill - which sat on our floor for a month before being locked in our tiny shed for 2 more. Since we bought the grill after the summer season, we couldn't easily find a chimney starter and hardwood charcoal but be lucked out a few days ago and actually found a bag at the local supermarket!

A new grill + a bag of good charcoal + freakingly warm weather + some ingredients = a Grilling Sunday! The menu was comprised of: St. Yves Veggie Skewers, portobello mushrooms two ways (olive oil, basalmic vinegar and herbs; and tahini with soy and sesame), white eggplant slices with a honey & vinegar marinade, salad with oranges and grilled garlic bread. We love the skewers but they ended up being our least favorite item since the grilled vegetables were so excellent!

Without a chimney starter, be started the charcoal with a lot of newspaper and patience. Note you must use real charcoal and not briquettes and lighter fluid! Our glowing coals smelled so good - like a wood fireplace - instead of lighter fluid and toxic fumes.

I'm suspecting we'll be those neighborhood weirdos grilling in the middle of winter or the middle of the night.

PS: Oh yeah, i forgot the poor banana. be grilled one of the two overripe bananas we had sitting around. He claimed it was good but i thought bananas for grilling should be slightly underripe.

Vegetarian Chicken Noodle Soup

2006-12-11T19:58:00.000-05:00

I just love this soup! It's enough for many servings and reminds me of the canned stuff i used to eat as a kid.

2 quarts stock (I used 1 qt Imagine No-Chicken, and 1 qt Rapunzel vegan bouillon with herbs)
2-3 T olive oil
1 clove garlic
3-4 carrots
3-4 celery stalks
1 cup Quorn tenders (fake chicken, not breaded)
bay leaf
a few whole peppercorns
1/2 pack egg noodles (I used Manischewitz fine)
white pepper
salt
dill

1) Make the stock from the boullion cubes, if using.
2) Finely chop the garlic, peel and slice the carrots and dice the celery.
3) Heat the oil in a large soup pot, add the garlic, carrots and celery.
4) Meanwhile, defrost the Quorn tenders (I used the microwave) and chop into chunks.
5) Add the Quorn to the pot and stir everything around for a few minutes.
6) Add the 2 quarts of stock, bay leaf and peppercorns to the pot.
7) Bring to a boil and let simmer for 20 minutes.
8) Meanwhile, make the egg noodles according to the package (be sure to undercook the noodles!), drain and set aside.
9) Taste the soup and adjust salt and pepper, add the dill.
10) Add the egg noodles and serve!

The Best Candy Ever

2006-10-31T21:53:00.000-05:00

I love my candy corn but only during Halloween - none of this Bunny Corn or Reindeer Corn stuff - and my favorite way to eat those deliciously tri-colored morsels is slightly stale. (Give it a try, it develops a chewier texture! But don't let it get so stale that it snaps; that's terrible.) A candy corn history:

...did you know that they were invented in the 1880's? Who the first person to make these tasty treats was is unknown but the Wunderle Candy Company of Philadelphia was the first to go into commercial production. However, the company most closely associated with this wonderful confection is the Goelitz Confectionery Company. Founder Gustav Goelitz, a German immigrant, began commercial production of the treat in 1898 in Cincinnati and is today the oldest manufacturer of the Halloween icon.

Goelitz confections are now being produced by Jelly Belly and their candy corn is one of the only vegetarian brands, containing no gelatin. And apparently yesterday was National Candy Corn Day!

On a strange note i checked out Jones Soda's candy corn-flavored soda and it really wasn't as bad as i expected. The half-sized can was very cute and the soda, although an electrifying shade of yellow, tasted sort of like creme soda - super sweet vanilla and a bit of honey. I still have 3 cans if anyone would like to try!

Plus be got 2 trick or treaters tonight!

A Bad Habit

2006-09-22T13:21:00.000-05:00

I nearly cried when i had a mini cone of Honey Rosemary Goats' Milk from Capogiro. Luckily, it seems that you can buy pints across the country if you aren't in Philadelphia!

Still Longing After One Year

2006-08-04T11:56:00.000-05:00

Today AAM posted an article from the LA Times about David Mas Masumoto, aka the most famous fruit farmer in the U.S. Freakingly, i mentioned his book epitath for a peach: four seasons on my family farm exactly one year ago and i'm sadly STILL longing to eat a Sun Crest peach! From the article:

In truth, peach connoisseurs regard the Sun Crest variety when grown by most farmers as a very good, but not great peach. But variety is only part of the secret to great fruit; farming is not manufacturing. Grown under Masumoto's skillful hand, the Sun Crests are firm but juicy, almost meaty and with a high-toned acid backbone that nicely balances a powerful sweetness. It's no wonder they have such a cult reputation. But in spite of their quality, even Masumoto will acknowledge that his affection for these peaches isn't based just on flavor. Partly, it's family tradition. Mas loves his Sun Crests because he and his father planted them and because they are the peaches he grew up farming.

There's no way i'm flying to California twice a year to eat produce, so unless i move next to Berkeley Bowl i'm just gonna have to keep longing. At least we're still lucky enough in New York City to have access to some crazy corn, berries, apples and tomatoes, too!

PS: Check out this very interesting article (excerpted below) about the search for the perfect peach!

Peaches and nectarines picked before they are completely ripe will never ripen properly off the tree. ... Here's what happens as a peach ripens on the tree: It becomes sweeter and sweeter; its green chlorophyll fades, and the underlying red and golden hues assert themselves, both in the background color of the skin and in the flesh; its aroma becomes ethereal and inoxicating ... it softens, beginning with the shoulders (the plump flesh around the stem); it loses much of its acidity and astringency; and it becomes voluptuous and juicy.

When a peach is picked, everythig changes. It stays alive for days, even weeks under refrigeration - but in a wholly different way. Disconnected from its roots, it can take in no water. Separated from its leaves, it burns its own stored sugar for energy and never develops the full range and quantities of aromatic compounds. ... The one way in which a peach picked unripe does improve is by growing softer and more juicy as the pectin that glues the cells together begins to dissolve. It "ripens" into a weak-tasting, yielding, somewhat juicy, completely forgettable sphere.

... Everybody agrees that peaches and nectarines do not further develop their God-given sweetness and aroma once they are picked. The problem is that most peaches must be harvested unripe and very firm if they are to withstand mechanical picking, sorting, and packing, and at least a week of transportation to supermarkets across the country.

Even worse, if these peaches are refrigerated at temperatures between 36 and 45 degrees F for more than a week, their flesh becomes dry and flavorless and "woolly." Again, everybody knows that this sort of "chilling injury" can be avoided by intermittent warming - by bringing he fruit to room temperature every so often. ...

The absolutely worst peaches and nectarines are those pickes not only unripe but not even mature or fully grown. They will never soften. You can spot a mature peach by seeing whether the shoulders and the suture (the bulge along the line that runs from top to bottom) are fully filled out, and whether the background color of its skin has lost all tinges of green. Pay no attention to the red blush - some fine varieties never show it, and many others have been bred to turn red prematurely. The only purpose of this is to fool the public. ... No matter how hard and long you try to ripen an immature peach at home, it will always be tasteless, dry, and either mealy or spongy or rubbery. Then it will shrivel.

Shuck & Awe

2006-08-01T22:35:00.000-05:00

All last week i hankered for fried green tomatoes. It's that damn cashew chutney combined with cornmealy fried goodness that i love! I can't seem to find any green tomatoes outside of the Union Square Farmers' Market, so last Saturday i forced us to wake up at an insane 7am in order to get there early for the good stuff. (Keep in mind i usually go to sleep around 3am, so this is quite a grand feat!)

Getting there early was such a good experience. The crowds aren't stifling and neither is the weather; basically your only competition for the best tomatoes are early-rising senior citizens and produce-hungry shoppers. We spent about $30 and came home with 2 bulging bags:

1 large bunch collard greens
1 large bunch kale
3 medium green tomatoes
4 assorted heirloom tomatoes
1/2 lb baby bok choy
1/2 lb okra
2 large jalepeno peppers
1 pint tiny strawberries
cilantro
basil
common mint
9 ears of corn

I wish i remembered the name of our corn vendor - all i recall is that he was on the west side of Union Square, with a table of corn on the end of a stall, $1 for 3 ears - because you gotta RUN this Saturday and get 18 or 24 ears of corn like i will. It was cut so recently that the ends still glistened, and so sweet that people were eating it RAW, juice down the chin and encouraging others to buy quickly.

When we got home we shucked and microwaved* 2 ears. We were pretty sure they were going to be good but definitely not as good as the little ears we had in Hawaii, and we were so wrong. All we talked about for the rest of the day was how excellent the sweet yellow corn was: so sugary, so tender you barely had to exert a forceful bite. We somehow didn't tire of turning to each other and going, "Fuck! Why was that corn so good?" for hours. Absolutely no need for butter or salt. Now, i ate my 3 ears within a few hours of purchase but be saved his last one for 2 days later. It was less sweet and little more starchy, but still excellent according to him.

You must get some corn. It's time for tomatoes. The peaches smell perfumey. And i finally got my green tomatoes! So good!

* How To Microwave Corn

Ever since our complimentary microwave from the bank (back in the 80s when banks actually gave you gifts for opening accounts) my family has microwaved fresh corn. It's faster and more flavorful than boiling, plus it's super easy.

1) Shuck corn and remove silk as best you can
2) Place 2-4 ears on a microwave-safe plate or glass dish
3) Cover with plastic wrap and vent in a few places
4) Microwave on high for approximately 1.5 minutes per ear, a bit less time if corn is super fresh
5) It's gonna be HOT - use mitts to take it out and to lift off plastic wrap, be careful of steam

Carbonation

2006-06-12T00:05:00.000-05:00

Today i had my second-ever real egg cream and this time i really liked it! Both egg creams were from Gem Spa on 2nd Ave and St. Mark's Place in the East Village. First time, okay but weird. Eight years later = carbonated refreshing chocolatey goodness! Check out this Great Egg Cream Caper!

I've also been reacquainting myself with root beer floats. Now if i just add some salsa & chips and cheese & crackers, i'll be eating like my high-school self again.

Over dim sum, we had a funny conversation about college food. My specialty was monterey jack cheese quesadillas from my trusty toaster but i mainly filled up on capellini pasta & tomato sauce. Apparently, be loved those Lipton packets of pasta or rice + sauce. (Okay, i'll admit those were tasty, too.) What did you subsist on? Hopefully it was better than napkin sandwiches.

Dumbass

2006-06-08T19:38:00.000-05:00

... Situated in a South Philadelphia immigrant neighborhood, Geno's - which together with its chief rival, Pat's King of Steaks, forms the epicenter of an area described as "ground zero for cheesesteaks" - has posted small signs telling customers, "This Is AMERICA: WHEN ORDERING `SPEAK ENGLISH.'" ...

Talk about racist (and not to mention, idiotic!) business practices! And if that wasn't enough, here are even MORE reasons to boycott this place:

... Vento [owner of Geno's], a short, fiery man with a ninth-grade education, arms covered in tattoos and a large diamond ring in his ear, also sells "freedom fries" to protest France's opposition to the Iraq war. He rails against Mumia Abu-Jamal, the black man who was convicted of killing police officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981 and has become a cause celebre among some death penalty opponents. Memorials to Faulkner are posted at his shop. ...

Instead, check out O Sandwiches, a totally tasty, friendly, Asian American-owned spot right nearby. Banh Mi are the tastiest sandwiches ever invented! (They also have a vegetarian version, too!)

Link to the article about Geno's here.

Blues

2006-06-06T23:24:00.000-05:00

We just polished off our container of excellent blueberries. These things were so tasty, they've redefined "blueberry" in my book! Unlike the usual mealy, flavorless, somehow powdery-coated bluberries, these were crisp, juicy and exploding in sweet tartness. Sadly, we bought 2 more containers but most of them ended up being the usual. As of this moment, i'm fanatically researching blueberry farms so we can pick a few bushels for ourselves!

This site has some blueberry picking tips as well as listings of "pick your own" farms, sorted by state. If anyone has recommendations, do share!

From a Mix!

2006-05-31T17:35:00.000-05:00

Lack of posts; long story, more later...

Meanwhile, i made a batch of the Trader Joe's cornbread mix last night. I must admit it's the best cornbread mix i've tasted - although it's quite sweet & soft so die-hard cornbread fans might be hateful. It reminds me of when Boston Market's cornbread was good, (which apparently can be replicated with half Jiffy mix and half yellow cake mix!) but slightly less crusty and definitely more fun since you get a whole pan, not one measly piece. be's been devouring it - but as you knew, he's a fan of sweet cornbread while i like it hot & cheesy.

I also bought a box of the Trader Joe's jalepeno blue cornbread mix so i'll report on that shortly. And on a non-cornbread note, the Trader Joe's lemon cake is really, really tasty. I whipped up a batch of cream cheese frosting from Jim Fobel's Old-Fashioned Baking Book (Thanks, LIP!) and it was like lemon cake awesomeness!

But as much as i seem to like TJ cake mixes, i certainly despise going to the Union Square location. It's like enjoying mini-cart aisle wars.

Can't Stop

2006-05-04T00:28:00.000-05:00

I just tried the Pirate Booty with Caramel and it's so good! Who knew pirates ate such great snacks? I'm so ordering the large sampler case.

Hardcore

2006-03-23T01:30:00.000-05:00

Tonight be, P, Doey and i checked out the Grand Sichuan on St. Mark's Place. In sum, we all enjoyed our dishes but we realized how little we know about Sichuan and Hunan cuisine. Sure, there's some overlap with Cantonese and they offer "American style Chinese food," but we weren't too familiar with a good portion of the menu. I was surprised to see that all the other patrons were Chinese groups and families (especially on St. Mark's!) but as you know, that's always a good sign.

be had the conch in black bean sauce (which really grew on him), P had the string beans with beef (which was too sweet for her liking), Doey had egg drop soup and a chicken dish and i had a dry sauteed tofu dish with black beans and chiles. The tofu was pressed and smoked so it was reminiscent of ham and diced into small cubes. I really liked the flavor but the chiles weren't very hot; they were quite large and green instead of the smaller, dried red ones. Our waiter was really nice and patient, considering that we each asked for recommendations and opinions.

An older couple at a table near us ordered a few dishes, and one was a large platter of chiles. Only red hot chiles. That is hardcore if i ever saw it.

Cookbook Day

2006-03-15T02:47:00.000-05:00

Thanks to my friends in the publishing industry, we got a slew of new cookbooks today!

Barefoot Contessa Parties! by Ina Garten
Eat This Book by Tyler Florence
The Greens Cookbook by Deborah Madison
How to Break an Egg, ed by Fine Cooking Magazine
Serves One by Toni Lydecker
Vegetable Soups by Deborah Madison

We quickly flipped through them on the subway on the way home. At first glance The Greens Cookbook recipes look fresh and flavorful, Barefoot Contessa Parties! contains good ideas for get togethers and Serves One - with recipes specifically written for one serving - looks very useful and tasty! Thanks P and ZZ!

Atlantis

2006-03-08T00:52:00.000-05:00

Azeez is careful to explain that he is not selling Native American food. He says that cuisine would involve elk, deer, and buffalo, which would probably not go over well with his customers. He describes his food as simply American, but points out some traditional elements, like corn and beans, which make it unique. When newcomers approach the cart, they usually glance around for a menu, but the only sign is a hand-painted one that reads "From Atlantis with Love," which Azeez did not care to explain. He has grown accustomed to curious faces, though, and always greets the clueless with: "I make sandwiches—like wraps—for $5."

I know someone - who shall remain nameless for the moment - who frequently treks out of Brooklyn solely for one of these sandwiches. Another friend of mine says that cart-owner Moneer Azeez once explained the name "From Atlantis With Love" to him, which makes a lot of sense when you think about lost lands. Check out this review from the Voice (quoted above), plus this new fansite i secretly found. I'm definitely going to try a vegetarian sandwich the next time i'm downtown!

According to the Voice, Moneer Azeez's food cart (New York's only Native American street vendor) can be found on the SE corner of 2nd St and the Bowery from 6pm to 2 or 3am during the week and often later on weekends.

26

2006-03-02T00:30:00.000-05:00

If you're in proximity to great produce in the Bay, know that we are currently envious.

be's Easy* Fried Rice

2006-03-01T00:36:00.000-05:00

1-3 T vegetable oil
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 scallion, washed and sliced into thin rounds (both white and green parts)
2-3 cups leftover white rice, refrigerated at least 1 night
1-2 cups "stuff"*
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 T soy sauce (optional)
1 egg (optional)

For "stuff," you can use whatever bits of vegetables and fake meats you have around. I used baby corn pieces, diced fake ham and frozen peas. Growing up, my mom would use frozen peas and sliced breakfast sausage rounds - a bit unconventional but very Chinese American, no? Some other suggestions: fake chicken pieces, green beans, carrots, chile paste, frozen soybeans (without the pods), fake hot dogs - just use whatever you have around that goes together, dice or slice into rounds.

Heat your wok until hot, then add the oil and swirl around to coat. Add the garlic and scallions, stir for a minute. Add the refrigerated rice and use the back of your spoon/spatula to press the lumps and separate the grains. If it's not strong enough try a potato masher, which worked for me when the rice was once embarrassingly old. If you're using anything frozen, add it at this point and stir the rice around a few minutes to heat it up. (If your rice is really dry, also add a sprinkling of water.) Once the rice is heated but not overcooked, use your spoon to make a little "well" in the rice until you can see the bottom of the wok. Add a little more oil and then add the optional egg. Wait a moment for it to slightly set, then stir it around to make loose scrambled eggs. Incorporate the egg into the rice, then add the remaining "stuff," salt & pepper and soy sauce to taste. Stir and heat through, then serve!

Note you don't have to use the egg, just skip that part and go right to adding the non-frozen "stuff." Also, sometimes i like it without soy sauce, it just depends on how salty the other ingredients already are.

*This is an easy recipe because traditional fried rice is supposed to be made with an egg "crepe," sliced into strips and incorporated into the rice.