Quickie: Yogurt & Granola w. Blackberries + BLT w. Sriracha Mayo

Posted by Erin L. in Quickie and tagged with bacon, blackberries, blackberry, blt, bread, breakfast, brunch, food, granola, lettuce, lunch, mayo, mayonnaise, sammie, sandwich, sriracha, toast, tomato, vanilla, yogurt April 25, 2010

Seeing that I work 6 day weeks for 5 weeks straight, I had to make the most of my one & only day off this week. Once I peeled myself out of bed after a much needed sleep session (interrupted too often by allergy/cold induced coughing fits), I knew I needed some fuel to get through the chores on my list. I set out for the kitchen on a quest for Sunday Brunch for 1. 15 minutes later, I came out with a bowl of Dannon Light & Fit Vanilla Yogurt topped with Cascadian Farm Oat & Honey Granola and fresh whole blackberries for the breakfast half of brunch.

Vanilla Yogurt & Granola w. Blackberries

A classic BLT with Sriracha mayo was a perfect match to complete my brunch couple. And so the rainy day laundry & cleaning & bloggin begins…

BLT w. Sriracha Mayo

Restaurant Rewind: Varga Bar w/ Sunshine

Posted by Erin L. in Restaurant Rewind and tagged with apple, baguette, blue cheese, cheddar, cheese, crab, crab meat, dinner, fries, goat's milk, gouda, grapes, jumbo lump, parmesan, Philadelphia, platter, restaurant, Varga Bar April 11, 2010

Easter came & went and I’m finally resurrected from the blogging dead. Between a full hardrive and an external crash, I was graciously interrupted by a perfect vacation to Miami with Dre. I’m back in Philly now with some catching up to do, so here goes!

In early March, Sunshine suggested meeting up for dinner snacks at Varga Bar. I’ve been wanting to give it a try and surely looked forward to catching up with one of my favorite people. There was some Yelp! drink special going on so I went for the Cadillac Margarita & Sunshine chose the Renegade Root Beer, both $4 apiece.

Soon after our cocktails arrived, the waitress presented a marble slab with 5 cheeses & accoutrements. I’ve blanked on the specific cheese varieties, but I know we had (2) raw goat cheeses, a goat’s milk sharp cheddar, a creamy blue, and a gouda that was definitely not a gouda (but still delicious!). The platter included pairings of garlic dolce de leche, some other dolce de leche, bourbon honey mustard, grapes, granny & gala apple slices, & a fruit relish. We each had our favorites and surely appreciated the server who graciously brought us a 3rd plate of baguette.

Next up, a tower of crisp fries topped with melted white cheddar, parmesan, & tender jump lump crab. With or without the peppery homemade ketchup, they were quite tasty. Overall, the service & ambiance were ok, the food was good, & the company was certainly great!

Cheese Plate & Jumbo Lump Cheese Fries - Varga Bar

Quickie: Grilled Somen Tuna Steak & Chili Oil Bok Chok

Posted by Erin L. in Quickie, via Blackberry and tagged with bok choy, chicken stock, chili oil, cooking, dinner, entree, garlic, grill, grilled, macadamia, sauteed, seaweed, sesame, somen, soy, tuna, tuna steak, vegetable April 6, 2010

Waiting on the new external, so here’s a quick little treat to hold you over! I defrosted an individual tuna steak, marinated it in Somen dressing, & seared it on each side. While my grill marks set, I tossed baby bok choy in my wok with Somen dressing, chili-infused macadamia nut oil, minced garlic, chicken stock, & a splash of fish sauce until wilted and flavorful. In under 15 minutes, I had a perfect, healthy dinner for 1.

Grilled Somen Tuna & Chili Oil Bok Choy

Quickie: Everything Bagel w/ Homemade Veggie Cream Cheese

Posted by Erin L. in Quickie and tagged with bagel, breakfast, cream cheese, cucumber, everything, food, herbs, peppers, snack, toasted, vegetables, veggie, work April 2, 2010

I’m alive, I promise! I’ve had to take a temporary hiatus from blogging between computer issues & a much needed vacay. Thought I’d share some quick food love with you this great Friday in Spring. I fell in love with my chef’s veggie cream cheese at the Philly Mag Martini Madness event this past week at work. Man, I was thrilled there was some leftover to schmear on my toasted everything bagel this morn. I loved the ample cucumber & peppers (a few years ago you’d never hear that out of my mouth, or in my mouth for that matter) and it’s fresh veggie taste has me excited to start my garden this weekend.

Everything Bagel w/ Homemade Veggie Cream Cheese

Happy Spring, readers! I promise to be back in the swing soon with lots of amazing food love to share!

Saturday w/ Sarah: Ansill’s Menu @ Ladder 15

Posted by Erin L. in Restaurant Rewind, Saturday w/ Sarah and tagged with ansill, apple chutney, blog, braised, brioche, burger, burger 15, cocktail, cooking, curried, curry, david ansill, empanada, food, french fried, fried, kim chi, Korean BBQ, Korean taco, ladder 15, lamb, mango, mango yogurt, marrow, marrow burger, Metropolitan Bakery, mushrooms, onion, parmesan mayo, pear, Phila, Philadelphia, Philly, pork belly, red onion, red wine, restaurant, scallion, sesame, sesame seeds, short rib, sirloin, taco, tortilla, yogurt 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!

In other news…

Posted by Erin L. in In other news... March 3, 2010

Sorry for the schitzophrenic “gravatar” changes. Seems that 99% of the pics I have from the last year are of food, not me. Need to take up my man Snapkracker‘s offer for a pic for dinner trade off soon! Bear with me folks…

Quickie: Sauteed Pierogies & Brussels Sprouts

Posted by Erin L. in Quickie and tagged with blog, brussels sprouts, cheese, cooking, food, monterey jack, pierogi, pierogies, Polish, potato, recipe, sauteed, sour cream, swiss March 1, 2010

Tuesday night, I found myself with an empty house and a surplus of Brussels sprouts inching their way to the trash bin. My Polish heritage inspired me to rescue the mini cabbages by pairing them with pierogies. I followed my usual Sauteed Brussels Sprouts recipe. Lazy & hungry, I resorted to boiling some frozen Poppy’s Potato, Swiss, & Monterey Jack Pierogies and quickly browned them in butter. I think I just discovered a new comfort dinner!