On Day 4 of my staycation between jobs, I whipped up an umami-packed dinner for Dre & me. On Day 2, I took an Asia Mart adventure with Sarah in search of fun ingredients for the meal. I try to be somewhat adventurous each time I go to an ethnic market, so I picked up some bunashimeji (aka beech mushrooms), fresh vegetable noodles, & a new jar of hoisin. The beech mushrooms are so tiny and too cute! I filled them out with sliced creminis and enhanced them with the depth of fresh thyme from my Slug City.
Bunashimeji, Cremini, & Fresh Thyme
I begin by sweating shallots with a bit of olive oil in a pan and added the mushrooms & thyme. I tossed them as they sauteed for about 10 min and finished it with white truffle oil. I love truffle. I love the smell. I love the taste. I LOVE TRUFFLE!
Truffled Mushrooms
While my mushrooms cooked, I heated an awesome new grill skillet that Sunshine passed along to me. I marinated some chicken breasts in hoisin, ginger, & soy and seared them for deep grill marks on both sides until cooked through. The noodles took a quick dip in boiling water and were a perfect pillow for a pile of savory truffled mushrooms. This may be one of my favorite dishes I’ve made… and 5 years ago you couldn’t dare get a mushroom near my plate!
UMAMI!
Grilled Hoisin Chicken w. Truffled Mushrooms & Noodles
Saturday w/ Sarah: Ansill’s Menu @ Ladder 15
March 4, 2010
This past weekend, Dre & I went on a mission to the bookstore for Dalai Llama wisdom, food rules via Michael Pollan, & hopefully a continued subscription to Cook’s Illustrated. He headed off to work at 3 and I ventured across Broad is pursuit of a long-overdue Saturday w/ Sarah.
I’m glad I recalled that David Ansill (of Pif & Ansill restaurant notoriety) had revamped the menu* at the relatively new Ladder 15 – 1528 Sansom Street. Our waitress was great and beyond adorable, so I took her recommendation on the Pear Complex from their (also newly revamped) cocktail menu. DELICIOUS! We started off the meal with the Curried Lamb Empanadas. The three rich, crispy, & dense pockets were savory and perfectly paired with an Apple Chutney & Mango Yogurt.
Curried Lamb Empanadas w/ Apple Chutney & Mango Yogurt
Ahh, the new buzz menu item around Phily – the Ladder 15 Burger! This burger is on a new level of decadence. Eff a kobe burger… a sizzling bone full of marrow & truffle sauce are where it’s at! For those that can’t handle it, they have a classic burger, too. Both are paired with perfectly crisp fries & parmesan mayo dipping sauce… with caviar on top?!?!
Burger 15 - Prime Sirloin, Braised Short Rib, Red Wine Mushrooms, Grilled Red Onion, Bone Marrow, & Truffle Sauce on Metropolitan Bakery Brioche**
Ansill’s self-titled restaurant (that unfortunatley closed last Summer) had a buzz menu item of its own – Korean Tacos! I never had the opportunity to try them, so it was exciting to have a second chance. The order came with (2) soft tacos – a Pork Belly one & a Braised Short Rib one. They were of a richness beyond my imagination with a fatty Korean BBQ marinade, kim chi, scallion, & sesame seeds. I WILL be back for these again soon… and to try whatever flaming dish I envied as it was delivered to another table.
Ansill's Korean Tacos - (1) Pork Belly & (1) Braised Short Rib
The highlight of the experience was not one, but two visits to our table by Chef Ansill. He made a welcome point to show Sarah his vision on topping off the Burger 15 and popped over again to see how we were enjoying everything. Now that’s a chef I can surely respect & support!
*Check out Ansill’s full new Ladder 15 menu HERE!
**Thanks to Metropolitan Bakery for their Twitter shoutout of my Burger 15 pic on Flickr!
To Taste: Baked Toni
February 28, 2010
I prefer to cook what my dinner guest craves, so I indulged Dre’s request for baked ziti. I was low on spaghetti sauce and had some veggies that needed to be eaten. I blanched broccoli florets, sauteed mushrooms, onions, & garlic, opened a large can of crushed tomatoes, and warmed them together with seasonings in a saucepan.
Fat Rigatoni
While the sauce simmered, I decided on large rigatoni and boiled them until al dente in salted water. I like fat noodles when making baked pasta dishes as they tend to fill with your sauce when tossed. The jumbo macaronis for my Smokey Bacon Mac & Cheese worked great! I folded ricotta cheese & shredded mozzarella into the warm sauce, tossed it with the cooked rigatoni, and dumped it into a greased casserole. Once the sliced mozzarella I tiled on top began to brown & bubble, I pulled it from the over and served Dre a big, hot scoop of Baked Toni.
Baked Toni
Baked Toni
- Crushed Tomatoes – (1) large can
- Broccoli - (0.5) head, trimmed into small florets & blanched
- Mushrooms – (1) cup, sliced
- Garlic – (1) T, minced
- Onion – (1) medium, sliced thin
- Dried Basil – (1) T
- Red Pepper Flakes – (1) tsp
- S&P - to taste
- Ricotta – (1.5) cups, part skim
- Shredded Mozzarella – (1) cup, low moisture – part skim
- Fresh Mozzarella – (6) oz, sliced (or enough to cover most of the dish)
- Grated Parmesan - to taste
- Rigatoni – (1) lb, cooked al dente & tossed w/ olive oil
- Olive Oil - as needed
- Heat about (2) T of Olive Oil in a saute pan. Add garlic & onion and cook until caramelized, about (5) min.
- Add mushrooms & saute until browned on both sides, about (3) min per side.
- Dump entire contents of the canned crushed tomatoes into a sauce pan. Add cooked mushrooms mixture, blanched broccoli, dried basil, red pepper flakes, and S&P. Stir and bring to a simmer.
- While sauce simmers, bring a large stockpot of salted water to a rolling boil. Cook rigatoni until al dente, about (10-12) min.
- Drain rigatoni and return to stock pot. Add a bit of olive oil & toss to prevent sticking.
- Remove sauce from the heat and dump into a large mixing bowl.
- Fold in ricotta & shredded mozzarella cheeses unti combine.
- Add rigatoni and toss to coat completely.
- Pour the rigatoni & sauce mixture into a greased casserole dish.
- Tile sliced fresh mozzarella on top.
- Bake at 350 degrees for (25) min or until the cheese is browned & the casserole is bubbling.
- Let cool for about (3) min and serve with grated parmesan cheese.
@ Matt Mayhem’s (but, in my kitchen): Seared Duck Breast, Zucchini-Honeycomb Mushroom Egg Noodles, & Blood Orange-Mango-Dandelion Salad
February 3, 2010
Matt Mayhem is one of my all-time favorite people and my longest friend in my time living in Philly. Each year we get together to celebrate our friendiversary and this time it was a bit of reunion. Life gets away from us sometimes, but great friends never fade. There are very few people I truly trust to have my back, and, possibly even less that I trust in my kitchen. Matt’s a lucky guy to fall into both categories!
My Matt Mayhem
Matt scooped some ingredients from Reading Terminal Market and I scooped him on my way home from work. It was nice for once to focus on pics and eating, instead of always being the cook (not that I usually mind!). I was so pleased to sit down to a meal I wouldn’t usually think to prepare, either. Matt artfully seared Duck Breast, sauteed Zucchini-Honeycomb Mushroom Egg Noodles, & tossed a Blood Orange-Mango-Dandelion Salad with a Grapefruit-Shallot Vinaigrette for a truly fresh, delicious dinner. Thanks for the yummies & 6 years of friendship, Mayhem!
Seared Duck Breast w/ Zucchini-Honeycomb Mushroom Egg Noodles
Dandelion Salad w/ Mango, Blood Orange, Bean Sprouts, & a Grapefruit Vinaigrette
Quickie: Reading Terminal Market
September 8, 2009
While my mom was in town, we made a trip to Reading Terminal Market to have lunch & cruise the amazing food & such you can find there! Iovine Brothers Produce had some amazing & fresh product to admire, which made me question why I’m not splitting my produce shopping between them & the cheap finds at the Italian Market.
Iovine Brother Produce @ Reading Terminal Market
And no Reading Terminal Market visit is complete for me without a Turkey Sandwich on Homemade Sourdough w/ Mayo from Bassett’s Original Turkey!
Turkey Sammie w/ Mayo on Homemade Sourdough - Bassett's Original Turkey in Reading Terminal Market
Weekend Update: Asian Edition – Part 2
August 4, 2009
Thursday, I made a visit to my favorite (bc it’s close & I’m lazy) Vietnamese supermarket, aptly named Asia Market. Philly’s Washington Ave is lined with your choice of Asian markets, shops, & restaurants directly perpendicular to the famous Italian Market. I was certainly excited on this visit as now that I have a BlackBerry (aka my Frankenberry), I can look up all the crazy products encountered on my Asia Market excursions! This time was a quick trip for familiar dinner items for Friday night & some kitchen staples: Shallots, Fresh Ginger, Snow Peas, baby Bok Choy, Japanese Eggplant, & some chopsticks.
I had “plans” for a Friday night at home, cooking dinner & enjoying some TV/relaxation. A quick Google search for “chicken bok choy recipe” brought me to Food & Wine’s Ginger-Sesame Chicken w/ Mushrooms & Bok Choy, and thank goodness I had some fungi in the fridge! I always interpret recipes into my own taste, so I omitted the red peppers, prepared the baby bok choy on the side, & added my own splashes & dashes to the sauce. This recipe will def stay in my back pocket, especially for the brown sauce! I finished the meal with some white rice & good laughs via The Love Guru.
Ginger-Sesame Chicken w/ Mushrooms
Baby Bok Choy
Erin
