Phoodie.info: The New Food And Drink Blog For Philadelphia

Reclaiming Valentine’s Day For Food Aficionados

Aired February 8th, 2010 on Roundups and Seasonal. 0 Comments

With less than a week until Valentine’s Day weekend obligates the fiscally solvent among us to take their significant others out to an übercouple-y dinner, reservations are undoubtedly beginning to fill up with love-matches looking to share a traditional filet mignon or lobster tail over a bottle of bubbly. However, unique options abound out there to allow you to reclaim this holiday for your very own. So in case you haven’t put any thought into your plans yet, we decided to compile a list of some of the more unusual ways to enjoy the holiday:

· Gypsy Saloon in West Conshohocken will be serving a special Aphrodisiac Menu Friday-Sunday, ideal for ballers on a budget. Options include Cinnamon & Coffee Rubbed Scallops served with Sautéed Spinach and Crispy Chick Peas ($26). Plus, on Friday, there will be a pajama dance party starting at 10 pm. Fun! (?)

· If you’re looking for a more traditional French experience, Bistrot La Minette’s Chef Peter Woolsey will be serving up a special menu of decadent continental goodies from Friday-Sunday, including an appetizer of Velouté des Crustacés (Lobster bisque, crayfish meat, cepes infusion, croutons, crème fraîche -$17); it can be had with a 2 ounce seared foie gras supplement ($8 extra).

· Bar Ferdinand is offering both a brunch and dinner menu on Valentine’s Day. Brunch ($30) includes the choice of Goat Cheese Crepes with Apple and Pear Compote, Toasted Walnuts and Local Organic Honey. Dinner ($65-$75) is equally scrumptious; if you must go for the clichéd filet, go with their Ham Wrapped Filet Mignon with Truffle Smashed Potatoes, Foie Gras Butter and Sherry Gastrique.

· Further afield, you might choose Rat’s Restaurant at the Grounds For Sculpture (just outside Trenton); Executive Chef Kevin Sbraga will be serving an $80+ Valentine’s Tasting Menu Friday-Sunday. Any meal that begins with Pheasant and Chestnut Soup with Cranberries and Black Trumpets and concludes with Chocolate Macaroon with Raspberries, Thai Basil and Pistachio Ice Cream sounds positively blissful.

Gypsy Saloon: 128 Ford Street, West Conshohocken, 610.828.8494
Bar Ferdinand: 1030 North 2nd Street, 215.923.1313
Bistrot La Minette: 623 S 6th Street, 215.925.8000
Rat’s Restaurant at the Grounds For Sculpture, 18 Fairgrounds Road, Hamilton, NJ, 609.584.7800

I Feel Like Chicken This Century

Aired February 8th, 2010 on Phoodies and Uncategorized. 0 Comments

After all of last week’s talk about chicken tetrazzini, we were naturally craving its creamy deliciousness over the weekend, but with all the time we spent watching the news coverage of the big storm, we didn’t have the time required to whip up Giada’s recipe. What to do? If only there was a pre-made sauce that could be added to fresh chicken for a quick and easy meal! Oh, wait…there is. Or rather, there used to be. Back in the ‘90s, Ragu’s Chicken Tonight sauces graced us with an advertising campaign for the ages. Our memory might be a little fuzzy, but America’s steady diet of Chicken Tonight may have led directly to the rise of 1-800-94-Jenny… or maybe just hours spent eating Chicken Tonight and making prank calls to that number. Regardless, Chicken Tonight’s star burned brightly and briefly before disappearing from the marketplace. In the UK and Australia, however, it was another story: Marketed under Unilever’s Knorr brand, it is apparently still available to our overseas neighbours! Strangely, it’s not for sale on Amazon.co.uk, but good ol’ ‘merican Amazon.com has an entry for Knorr Chicken Tonight Creamy Curry Sauce. Sounds so tempting! Amazon says that it’s not currently available but allows you to sign up to be notified when it is. That means there’s a chance it will someday be available on these shores! Let’s try setting the gears in motion: If we all sign up for the Amazon notification and then email the fine people at Unilever, maybe they’ll take some action. We have the right to feel like chicken EVERY night!

Helpful Recipes! Provocative Farmers! Dawn Wells! It’s The Idaho Potato Commission’s Website!

Aired February 8th, 2010 on Phoodies and Props Is Due. 0 Comments

idaho potato farmer We’re still riding high on Gordon Ramsay’s makeover of the Hot Potato Café; an unexpected side effect of the episode was that we also have a newfound sense of goodwill toward the Idaho Potato Commission, which donated three months’ worth of potatoes to ensure the success of the Café’s relaunch. Their donation was evidently just one part of their potato publicity push, as adverts starring fitness expert Denise Austin have also been in heavy rotation on TV. ~~Procrastinating at the office today~~ In our free time over the weekend, we spent some time poking around the Commission’s rather glossy website, which turned out to be surprisingly kooky! The highlights?

· Idaho denizen Dawn Wells (Mary Ann from Gilligan’s Island) provides video instructions on the right way to peel a potato!

· A photo gallery, which includes some shots of Idaho farmers manhandling their goods provocatively at crotch level. Sort of the northwest’s version of Lookbook.

· An FAQ that asks the question we’ve all been wondering for years: Can I make a recipe for mashed potatoes that contains cream cheese a week in advance and then reheat to serve?

· An online store that doubles as our birthday wish-list: A four-in-one clock? A potato pin?! A compact mirror with an Idaho Potatoes logo? A plush toy of the Commission’s adorable mascot, Spuddy Buddy?! YES, PLZ!!!1!

Amidst all this goodness, perhaps the only real disappointment was the website’s Harvest Game. The talents and star power of Spuddy Buddy seem wasted here, as too much of the “game” is just a cartoon potato propaganda sequence, and the gameplay is limited to arranging six pictures of said propaganda into chronological order. C’mon, Commission, is this the best that you can do? Maybe we’ve been spoiled by summers spent riding Hershey’s Chocolate World, which manages to be educational, propagandistic, and fun, but surely the young folks of the great northwest deserve a bit more from their potato funtime. We respectfully suggest an interactive game with Spuddy Buddy AND Dawn Wells modeled after Paula Abdul’s critically-acclaimed collaboration with MC Skat Kat. One can never be reminded enough times how to dance the mashed potato.

[Photo credit: The Idaho Potato Commission's photo gallery]

Chop Your Way Through The Kitchen

Aired February 4th, 2010 on Events and Top Chef. 0 Comments

After watching Top Chef and your favorite Food Network shows, do you ever notice how much you suck at chopping, slicing and dicing? ‘Cause we do. It’s a good thing that Philly Kitchen Share will be hosting “Mirepoix Madness: Basic Knife Skills” on Saturday, February 20, at 1514 South Street, from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. For all you folks that are uninformed on the French language, mirepoix is a combination of onions, celery and carrots. Imagine it now: Vegetables flying everywhere! The instructor, Tim McGinnis, will be teaching basic skills — everything from how to properly hold the knife to the fine arts of julienne and chiffonade. Hurry up and buy your tickets now at only $35 a pop (all supplies included) since there are only 10 slots open. Karate-CHOP!

Under Construction: Xochitl To Come Back With a Bang

Aired February 4th, 2010 on Mexican, New Chef and New Menu. 0 Comments

The owners of Zahav and Percy Street Barbecue will be renovating their trendy restaurant, Xochitl, located in Society Hill. After it closes this Sunday, February 7th, Xochitl will bring on a new chef, new menu and a more casual look serving up cuisine seven days a week. When it re-opens on February 21st, the dining area will have undergone minor construction, tearing down the wall that separates the bar and dining area, going for a more casual dining experience. Chef Lucio Palazzo, formerly of Zahav and Percy Street Barbeque, will replace Dionicio Jimenez, who decided to leave and take on other endeavors. Palazzo and the owners have been revising the menu and prices to complement the new atmosphere of the restaurant. One thing that will stay the same is manager Sergio Ruiz’s famous cocktails and margaritas with a few new additions. Thanks to Ruiz, Xochitl was voted “best margarita in town” by US Airways magazine; in its soon-to-be ended present life, the spot also garnered acclaim from Philadelphia Magazine as one of the “Top 50 Restaurants of 2009.”

Gems From The Dollar Book Bin: Penn Family Recipes

Aired February 4th, 2010 on Books and History. 0 Comments

recipes Penn Family Recipes comes to the Phoodie Library by way of a dollar book bin, but is surely worth its weight in gold. Upon cracking open the 40-year-old book, the reader is greeted by that musty smell, as well as a brief explanation of its contents: William Penn’s first wife, Guli(elma), kept a handwritten book of family recipes which had been handed down from her mother and grandmother. The book contains 144 recipes written by Gulielma Penn’s own hand, and believe us when we tell you that Guli was a hilarious speller. The publisher made a point to reproduce her “quaint spelling and word usage” exactly, resulting in some truly adorable misspellings worthy of a Phoodie intern. Just observe her recipe titled “Too Make Whigs”:

“Take 1/2 a peck of flouer by mesure,
then take a pound of butter
and breke it into it with your hands,
the quantity of an oz: of nutmegs,
mace and sinomen together in fine pouder,
3/4 of a pound of Caraway comfets,
a pint and a 1/2 of yeist,
the same of milke, it must bee bloode warme,
be suer you to not over bake them.”

According to the bottom of the page, a “wig cake” is a wedge-shaped bun or cake made of fine flour. But there’s something mildly disturbing about milke that bee bloode warme. This book covers everything from baking to custards to beverages and (dear God) preparation of meat. According the account of the life of Gulielma Maria Springett Penn by Evelyn Abraham Benson included in the back of the book, Guli was a looker, too:

“[...] her hand was sought in marriage by suitors of high degree and title. The beauty of her person and character were, of course, of prime significance, but the gentlemen were not unaware that she was an heiress in her own right, worth ten thousand pounds clear.”

Without sounding too chauvinist, way to go, William! While the book is available at Amazon, it may not be worth the thirteen dollars that it’s going for; but for a buck, it’s totally worth the pickup.

Readers Cameraphone: Baconnaise!

Aired February 3rd, 2010 on Bacon, Readers Cameraphone and Uncategorized. 3 Comments

Dear God, it’s like they’re trying to kill us and make sweet love to us at the same time. Spotted by devoted Phoodie reader Sean Callahan at DiBruno Bros. in the Italian Market. Thanks, Sean!

Seeing some phoodie stuff around town of note? Cameraphone it to: phoodieinfo[at]gmail[dot]com.

Superbowl Roundup: What To Eat?

Aired February 3rd, 2010 on Roundups. 0 Comments

With XLIV fast approaching, we must consider what to pack into our bellies as we watch expensive commercials broken up by snippets of pigskin. Many who gather to watch the Superbowl fall under the category of fair weather fans, hopping on the bandwagon for one Sunday a year to enjoy the company of friends as well as the tasty and oft unhealthy refreshments that go hand in hand with the big game. We’ve got a few suggestions, both hands-on and low-prep, that could make for a memorable refreshment table even if you don’t care if the Annapolis Celts defeat Louisiana Fluer De Lis:

For some reason, Jim Coleman rubs us the wrong way, but the host of Chef’s Table on WHYY really comes through with some badass recipes. His Super “Not” Nachos recipe is a prime example of this; what an annoying name for a dish from which we would be unable to restrain a double dip.

If you’re willing to make the hike, Iron Hill Brewery is offering a pretty sweet take-out deal on fancy beer and pizza. In exchange for $25, you can roll up and promptly leave with a half gallon of their craft brewed beer and two pizzas. The pies don’t have to be boring plain pizzas either; some of their specialty toppings sound pretty legit: Black Forest Ham and Brie with rosemary-infused caramelized onions, stone-ground mustard sauce and mozzarella or Lejon with rock shrimp, bacon, green onion, horseradish sauce and mozzarella. Craft beer and fancy pizza made just for you; it doesn’t really get easier in terms of pregame preparation.

Actually, it does get easier than that. One word: Primo’s. The folks at Primo understand that all football fans in this fair city love to eat hoagie samplers. It’s in our blood. You administer small doses of hoag without feeling the need to put away a whole sammich and fall asleep before the third quarter. Hoagie trays from Primos; Easy, cheap, yummy.

If you’re feeling somewhat more ambitious than a tray of mini hoagies and somewhat less ambitious than preparing nachos from scratch, then Supper has that perfect middle road for you to walk. For $25, they’re offering their signature Supper Dog Kit, including four house-made bacon-wrapped hot dogs, vacuum sealed and ready for the grill or deep fryer; four house-baked buns; one pint each of barbecued onions, sauerkraut and house-cured pickles; and a half pint of beer mustard. But that’s not all, sports fans; Supper’s smoked birch beer glazed chicken wings with black pepper and buttermilk dressing are also available for $12 per pound. You gotta make moves though, the orders must be placed by high noon on Friday in order to be ready for pick up on Superbowl Sunday.

Get after it, Phoodies; whether you care about the game or not, you can still have a smash-mouth Superbowl.

Proud Moments: This Year’s Wing Bowl Eaters And Their Supertalents

Aired February 1st, 2010 on Animal Rights. 0 Comments

Oh dear. Via Philebs:

Jenny Cross Represents Philly Tonight On Food Network

Aired February 1st, 2010 on Animal Rights and TV. 50 Comments

In what could be described as a Battle of the Alt-Grrrrls, some hot embers are bound to get tossed on the age-old Philly-NYC rivalry tonight when local waitress Jenny Cross takes on Brooklyn’s Rachel Coleman, a marketing website editor, for victory on Food Network’s Worst Cooks in America. In case you haven’t been watching, the twelve contestants selected from a pool of nominees were the creators of some of the most spectacularly crazy, ill-conceived, inedible kitchen concoctions ever. Cross’ was a peanut butter-coated cod seasoned with an ample amount of cayenne pepper. The contestants studied the instructions of Chefs Anne Burrell and Beau MacMillan to improve their skills to become the “best of the worst.”

Cross, who has endeared herself to fans thanks to her ’50s pinup-girl aesthetic and tearful reminders that losing would mean going back to waiting tables, has progressed dramatically since the peanut butter and cayenne cod. Last night, the Jersey native and onetime Gigi waitress, crafted a near-perfect Thai-inspired cod. Tonight at 10:00 PM, she will go head to head with indie-chic Coleman (whose initial dish, three cheese mac and cheese, included the “special” ingredient of cottage cheese) to cook for a panel of experts; the winner gets the $25,000 grand prize and will bring eternal glory to her city.

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