Restaurant Rewind: Green Eggs Cafe

Posted by Erin L. in Restaurant Rewind and tagged with artichoke, berries, berry compote, breakfast, brunch, compote, cream, creme anglaise, creme brulee, egg, eggs, french toast, green eggs cafe, maple syrup, mushroom, Philadelphia, prosecco. orange juice, South Philly, toast, truffle, waffle, waffles, whipped cream April 8, 2011

While a I fully agree with Saveur that there’s no better place for lunch on a roll than Philly, I think we’re also a serious contender for best brunch, too. There’s notorious waits at Sabrina’s & Honey’s Sit-n-Eat and Carman’s eccentric interpretation of “down home” at her Country Kitchen and a South Philly spot proud to where its heart on its chef sleeve, Green Eggs Cafe.

Green Eggs’ namesake is about taking care of our Mother Earth, as noted in their mission. Their full commitment to conservation, sustainability, & environmental responsibility deserves respect as does the locally-sourced food they gracefully deliver. They don’t even have freezers so they’re certainly not faking the funk like many other places w. their guarantee of freshness.

As most solid brunch places go, a wait is expected on the weekends. Green Eggs alleviates that with comfy couches & free coffee in their next door waiting room. Finally seated, Dre, my sis, & I mulled over what deliciousness to order and indulged in a “complimentary” bottle of prosecco paired with a carafe of chilled fresh-squeezed orange juice. Just as the mimosa buzz hit, our youthful server delivered the best of their sweet & savory breakfast selections.

Creme Brûlée French Toast w. Fresh Berry Compote

Artichoke + Mushroom Frittata w. Truffle Cream

Cheddar Grits w. Scrapple Toast

Waffles w. Berry Compote + Crème Anglaise

Green Eggs Cafe
1306 Dickinson Street | Philadelphia, PA 19147 | 215.226.EGGS (3447)
http://www.greeneggscafe.net/

CSA: Greensgrow Farm Share

Posted by Erin L. in CSA - Community Supported Agriculture and tagged with aubergine, basil, beet, beets, blog, brown rice, carrot, carrots, cheese, cooking, csa, cucumber, dinner, eggplant, eggs, entree, farm, farm share, farms, farmshare, feta, food, greensgrow, herbs, kale, mushroom, mushrooms, onion, parmesan, pasta, peach, peaches, pepper, Philadelphia, photo, pics, pictures, plum, plums, produce, radish, red pepper, rice, saute, scallion, scallions, shrimp, snap peas, spicy, squash, strawberries, strawberry, stuffed, Superior, tomato, tomatoes, vegetables, white wine, wine, yellow August 25, 2010

This summer, I had an especially good reason to be in my kitchen – my share from Greensgrow Farms. An urban farm tucked amongst residences off of Port Richmond’s Aramingo Ave., Greensgrow Farms is a shining gem of hope in the effort for more farm to table/home options. Lush latticed chain link fence surrounds a full city block of greenhouses, vegetable starters, fresh herbs, flowering & fruit plants – just about anything you could imagine to fulfill your urban gardening needs.

Every other week, my sister and I split a surplus of vegetables, fruit, & dairy from the self-serve farmstand. I had alot of fun exploring the freshest of ingredients, especially those I’ve never cooked with before. Along the way, I managed to capture some moments for your viewing pleasure and in the hopes of encouraging you to eat & buy local.

Urban Greenhouse

Courtesy of Cactus Dan

Plant Pots

Welcome to the Greensgrow CSA

CSA Week 1

(1) bunch each of Scallions & Asparagus - Week 1

(1) bunch of Radishes - CSA Week 1

Greensgrow CSA - Week 3

Beet, Carrot, & Squash Saute w. Brown Rice

CSA Week 9

Spicy Red Pepper Pasta (Superior Pasta Co.) & Pesto

Spicy Shrimp Stuffed Aubergine

I love every part of the current surge in farmer’s markets, CSAs, urban farms, eating local, and eating fresh. It feels good to be a part of the Greensgrow CSA and to cook with meaningful ingredients. I’m just as excited to be hosting a Farm to Table Dinner at Marathon in early October with produce supplied by and benefiting Emerald Street Urban Farm.

To Taste: Grilled Hoisin Chicken w. Truffled Mushrooms & Noodles

Posted by Erin L. in To Taste ~ Recipe and tagged with blog, bunashimeji, chicken, chicken breast, cook, cooking, dinner, entree, food, grill, grilled, herbs, hoisin, mushroom, mushrooms, oil, pan, portobella, saute, shallot, shallots, thyme, truffle, truffle oil, truffled June 17, 2010

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

Leftover Lightning! Smoked Mozz, Bacon, & Roasted Chicken Hoagie!

Posted by Erin L. in Leftover Lightning! and tagged with bacon, chicken, chicken breat, hoagie, mayo, mozz, mozzarella, mushroom, Philadelphia, roll, sammie, sandwich, Sarcone's, smoked mozzarella, sriracha, sub, tomato December 15, 2009

While out shopping for my Black Friday dinner, I popped into Chickie’s Italian Deli in South Philly to finally try their Fried Tomato Special. The base is Fried Tomatoes, Bacon, Roasted Peppers, & Lettuce on a famous Sarcone’s Roll. I added on Turkey, Fresh Mozzarella & Mayo. DELISH! And on top of that, the kind lady behind the counter handed me a complimentary full Sarcone’s Roll. They’re perfect – soft and airy on the inside, with a crusty sesame seed crusted shell. It was like the sammie gods were calling upon me to create a delicious one of my own!

Sarcone's Roll

I had some Roasted Tomato, Mushroom, & Smoked Mozzarella Chicken Breasts left over along with some cooked Bacon and extra Smoked Mozz. I sliced the roll, whipped up some Sriracha Mayo, and piled on the goods. And, oh, was it GOOD!

Smoked Mozz, Bacon, & Roasted Chicken Hoagie w/ Sriracha Mayo, Roasted Tomatoes, & Sauteed Mushrooms on a Sarcone's Roll

To Taste: Roasted Tomato, Mushroom, & Smoked Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Breast

Posted by Erin L. in To Taste ~ Recipe and tagged with basil, Black Friday, chicken, chicken breast, chicken stock, cooking, garlic, mushroom, onion, recipe, roasted, smoked mozzarella, stuffed, tomato November 30, 2009

I love Thanksgiving! Family, friends, turkey/stuffing/gravy-filled meals, and four days to fill with whatever I felt like doing. I went Black Friday shopping, but dodging salespeople & shopping bags got old pretty quick. I just wanted to be in my warm kitchen cooking yummy food!

The grocery store was pretty empty (whew!), so I quickly grabbed my ingredients… and some Stoli to get me thru a long evening in the kitchen. I’ve got nothing to do tomorrow! I kicked off my prep work at 4pm-ish to have the meal almost complete when Dre got done work. The components of the main dish took up most of my time: roasting grape tomatoes with garlic & fresh basil; sautéing mushrooms with minced onions & butter; and, gleefully pounding chicken breasts to a 1/4 inch thick. Every smokey, juicy morsel of the resulting Roasted Tomato, Mushroom, & Smoked Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Breasts reminded me that it’s always worthwhile.

Tomatoes with Garlic, Basil, & Olive Oil to be Roasted

Just Stuffed

Roasted Tomato, Mushroom & Smoked Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Roasted Tomato, Mushroom & Smoked Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Roasted Tomatoes

Grape Tomatoes – (1-2) pints, halved
Minced Garlic – (2) T or more
Fresh Basil – a few chopped leaves
Olive Oil – (3-4) T, to grease dish & coat tomatoes
S&P

Coat baking dish with olive oil or line with non-stick sprayed foil.
Add all ingredients and toss with olive oil.
Cook 30-40 min in a 400 degree oven. Stir a few times until tomatoes are bubbling, but not burnt.
Make a big batch, leftovers are great on French bread and added to pasta sauce

Sautéed Mushrooms

White Mushrooms or Creminis or Baby Bellas -(2-3) cups, cored and sliced
White Onion – 1/2 med onion, chopped
Butter – (2) T

Melt butter in a saucepan on Med. Add onion & cook about 2 min.
Add mushrooms and give them room to breath. Julia says so.
Stir and cook until tender.
Use leftovers on a quick pizza or in pasta sauce, red or alfredo.

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast – (3-4) breasts – trimmed, sliced lengthwise, & pounded to 1/4 inch thickness
Smoked Mozzarella or Gouda – 1 oz per breast
Roasted Tomatoes
Sautéed Mushrooms
Chicken Stock – (1) cup or so
S&P
Stovetop to Oven Sauté Pan
Long toothpicks or Bamboo picks

Pound filleted chicken breasts to 1/4 inch thickness between sheets of plastic wrap.
Add a few spoonsful of tomatoes & mushrooms onto half of each chicken breast.
Layer slices of smoked cheese.
Fold chicken breast in half and secure by sewing a toothpick or bamboo pic to secure. S&P each side of the breast.
Pan sear breast in olive oil on Med-High until golden brown, about 5 min on each side.
Add chicken stock to pan and bring to a boil.
Cover pan with lid or foil and tranfer to 375 degree oven.
Bake for 20 min, let cool for 5 min, and serve with pan jus.
Leftovers make one KILLER sandwich!