Local Cooking Classes

The holiday season took me out of writing commission. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t cooking and eating and enjoying what the local food scene has to offer – quite the opposite! Now I have some catching up to do.

As an end of the year celebration, my workplace organizes an office outing followed by a meal together. As we are an architecture firm, the outing usually involves something design related, such as a studio or house tour. During the planning this year, Scott looked across the table at several of us and said “Since we have so many people who love food, why not do something related”. Someone else then suggested a cooking class. In a subsequent internet search I discovered that La Cucina in Reading Terminal Market offers group cooking classes that they promote as good team building exercises. Perfect. We’d get to select our menu, cook together and then enjoy the meal communally. This activity would not be appropriate for every office’s holiday celebration, but it was a good fit for our group. I think I’ve said this before, most architects I know are good cooks and really enjoy it. A meal is a mini building project involving raw materials, creativity and problem solving.

We have a group with several food restrictions, particularly when it comes to eating animals, fish and animal products. Anna, the owner of La Cucina, was quite accommodating. She allowed us to customize our menu from her various preset options. The fabulous part of being located in the Market, is that she sources all her food right there. We were able to request that as much as possible come from the Fair Food Stand, which sustainably sources all its products. Being that Anna’s family is from Italy, the menu trended heavily towards food from that region. The first course consisted of two crostini’s – one a white bean puree and the other a carmelized onion with fig jam and gorgonzola. One of her pasta offerings was sweet potato ravioli with a sage butter sauce. At Blue Hill Restaurant at Stone Barns Center in November I had eaten the most memorable sweet potato gnocchi; light and airy with what seemed to be almost a filling of sweet potato. Ever since, I have been wanting to make it myself; however my success rate with gnocchi as been about as great as my efforts with homemade pasta. We asked if we might be able to substitute sweet potato gnocchi for the ravioli. Anna thought that would be an even better choice given its simplicity. The entrée was steamed branzino with capers. I love fish but had not heard of this particular fish. It’s the Italian name for what is also known as European seabass. It’s not exactly “local” if it’s the wild variety; although most of this salt water fish for sale is farmed. I am not even sure if it is a sustainable fish to eat based on my quick research on Green Living Ideas’ site that indicated you should stay away from farmed, carnivorous salt-water fish which included branzino on that list Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch’s site didn’t list this particular fish at all. Anna very generously included a second entrée, chicken marsala, which was a good thing given some of our group doesn’t like fish! The dessert was nice and simple – poached pears with marscapone cream.

The organization was straightforward. Anna had us break into groups around the long counter and some off to the side. We paired off depending on what dishes we wanted to help make. Of course I wanted to make gnocchi. I learned I need a food mill or potato ricer for starters – to make the puree from the baked sweet potato to be mixed with the flower. I also learned that sweet potatoes typically make the gnocchi a little denser than the standard baking potato. But most importantly, the big tip is to handle the dough as little as possible to keep the texture from becoming dense and gummy. That part seems like an art – rolling the ropes evenly with as little handling as possible. The end product was delicious, although I will still be searching for the perfect replica of the Blue Hill recipe. Another benefit of the class is that the participants are provided with copies of all the recipes made during the session.

Everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves while cooking as much as eating it afterwards. Of course the imbibing of wine and Root cocktails, munching on the crostini right upon their completion, and ribbing of fellow co-workers cooking techniques all contributed to the festive spirit. It was definitely an end of the year party that will be well remembered.

Post Script: La Cucina offers all sorts of interesting cooking classes like sausage making, knife skills and a traditional chinese feast for chinese new years. They cater to both groups and individuals. Definitely worth checking them out.

Eating Animals

It was with much trepidation that I decided to go see Jonathan Safran Foer speaking about his recent book, “Eating Animals”, at the Philadelphia Library. I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to hear someone expound on the horrors of animal husbandry. I’ve spent many a day thoughtfully justifying my choice to eat meat and didn’t necessarily want someone contradicting my decision. However, given that I was feeling confident with my current approach of eating meat that I know how it was raised, I was curious to hear his points against this ideology. What I heard in advance from the book referenced factory animal farming not sustainable farming techniques.

After a short reading from the book about his grandmother’s values, the discussion focused on questions from the audience, which in the end didn’t significantly address this approach. I came away feeling as if nothing very new on the topic of eating meat was revealed, particularly on the wake of Michael Pollen’s “Ominvore’s Dilemma”. But as I sat there listening to the conversation I was reminded of my own earlier thoughts that gave me pause about eating animals for both ethical and environmental reasons. The first, which first came to light while reading Pollen’s book, is that we may be able to say with a fair amount of confidence that our animal food was raised humanely, but the weak link comes in the slaughtering of pigs and cows which are processed at the same slaughterhouses as factory farmed animals due to USDA requirements. (It also applies to poultry, however the regulations are such that birds may be processed where they were raised if proper licenses are obtained). This was confirmed during my recent trip to Stone Barn Farms, the ultimate example of a sustainable farm where their livestock (other than chickens) is sent to NJ for processing.

While I haven’t read Foer’s book, I understand it covers the inhumane treatment in the typical slaughterhouse. In the book “Humane Livestock Handling” the author, Temple Grandin, illuminates how her autism has helped her understand animal instincts and behavior and has been able to use this awareness to develop recommendations for humane animal slaughtering. So while I know the capacity and knowledge for creating humane slaughterhouses is there, I don’t have much faith that is the standard practice and I have know idea how and where my locals farms are processing their meat. It made me recognize that this is a point I should be inquiring with the farmers, to show that it is important to me as a consumer.

The second personal reminder was that we Americans, including myself, eat too much meat / fish and to have an impact we should be focusing the discussion on moderation. There simply isn’t enough farm space to sustainably raise all the meat and fish at its current rate of consumption, never mind the health implications. I do believe that humans are genetically developed to eat meat; but not in American’s current quantities. Having access to sustainably raised meat has made me lax about the amount of meat I personally consume. While living in Berkeley with a biweekly subscription to a produce box from a Central Valley CSA, Farm Fresh to You, my effort focused on cooking tasty vegetarian meals at home and treating myself to meat on the occasions that I went out, particularly as many of the more sophisticated eateries were identifying the origin of their meat and fish right on the menu. I am aware though that there were many times that I ate meat out when I had no idea of how it was raised, but made the decision simply because I craved it. Now living on the east coast, with less access to an abundance of fresh local produce year round, I find myself infilling my menus at home more and more with meat while offsetting that by eating mostly vegetarian meals out. Part of the justification for this comes from the ease of ordering locally, humanely raised animals through Mugshots’ local buying club. In the days after the discussion, I made a personal commitment to eat less meat and fish.

I believe that more restaurants need to increase their efforts at offering several menu options of dishes that use little to no meat in order to encourage others to minimize their meat intake. Many will argue that people won’t order it; however, restaurants can be leaders in this arena if the creators believe in the mission. Just as Chez Panisse inspired a legion of diners to realize that they create simple, tasty dishes at home using local, seasonal ingredients without being overly complicated; dining establishments can also inspire a minimal approach to meat and fish, one where these ingredients are used to season a dish rather than being the central focus. This approach is very much in keeping with most home cooking of cultures outside the US. Here in Philadelphia, a recent edition to the restaurant scene, Horizons has gained attention for its exceptional all vegan menu while Zahav provides a stellar example what is possible with an emphasis on vegetables and grains without being vegetarian.

There seems to be a fair amount of attention on the topic of meat eating in the media recently. In the NYTimes alone in the month alone I’ve come across three articles expressing differing perspectives, in part inspired by Foer’s book. The first one is titled Carnivore’s Dilemma from a sustainable cattle farmer, followed by the review of Foer’s book and concluding with one from a vegan’s perspective, Animal, Vegetable, Miserable.

In the most recent seasons of Top Chef and Top Chef Masters, challenges included all vegan and vegetarian dishes. The resistance from the young chefs, the uncertainty from the masters and the fairly uninspired outcomes, had me realizing we have a long way to go to modify eating habits; but I appreciate that it was given high profile attention, along with other challenges involving sustainable fish and small, local farming.

While I may not feel that much new on this topic is coming out of Foer’s current book, that these topics have been discussed in well researched detail in “Omnivore’s Dilemma”, before that works by Marion Nestle, and before that “Diet for a Small Planet”, I appreciate the reminder to pay attention to my food choices and their impact on the earth. It is all too easy to forget this when confronted with the smell of bacon, the desire for a hamburger, or the appeal of inexpensive spicy chicken wings at the nearby pub. As Foer is younger than I am, I realized that with each generation comes a need to explore age-old topics from their own perspective and express those thoughts in a contemporary way that appeals to their peers. During the discussion, Foer made note that dictatorial expression of ethical choices is not likely to change behavior; that the most inspiration comes from those who are living examples of what is possible. This I truly believe.

Simple White Bean Soup and Spinach Quiche

Fall is upon us evoking the desire for a comforting bowl of warm soup. I love making soup. It can run the gamut from very simple to quite elaborate, but no matter what, the outcome is a meal in a bowl. There is lots of room for experimentation and it’s pretty hard to completely screw it up.

Recently Erika invited me over to dinner using ingredients she had sourced from Mugshots which included a quiche, sautéed green beans and peanut butter bacon cookies. I offered to make a soup as my contribution. In my cupboard I had several cans of different kinds of beans, including white beans. I grabbed the can of beans, a box of vegetable broth, some onion and garlic, a spring of dried rosemary, bay leaves, a jar of truffle olive oil and one of my favorite kitchen tools, the hand emersion blender. I am not one for fancy kitchen appliances and particularly ones that only do one task while taking up room in your cupboards. My very first immersion blender actually belonged to an ex boyfriend. I made all sorts of fun of him for what I deemed a useless appliance. Yet, but the time we split up I was a convert and got to keep his blender which lasted me nearly 15 more years. There’s a lot to be said for a small appliance that saves you from having to pour a vat of hot liquid into another appliance; it saves on the cleaning and is less hazardous. Having an option to make a blended soup adds a level of refinement to the dish and provides for more variations.

Arriving with all the ingredients, I was able to make the soup in 20 minutes. Here’s how to make it. Saute some chopped garlic and onion in olive oil and then add the can of beans. Don’t bother draining them as the liquid makes a great base for the soup. Add 3 cups of broth, a sprig of rosemary (a shorter sprig if fresh), 2 bay leaves and some salt. Let every boil and then simmer for 15 minutes to absorb the flavor of the herbs. Remove the whole herbs. Blend the soup until creamy. Add more broth if necessary for your desired consistency. Then ladle into bowls and serve with a dash olive oil (I used the truffle oil) and fresh ground pepper.

Since the soup was so quick, I was able to help Erika with the quiche. The quiche was so delicious and surprisingly quick that I want to share the recipe for that as well. The original recipe from Gourmet magazine but the filling we completely changed to winterize it as it was a recipe for a summer squash quiche. Erika pulled a recipe off the web for a quick easy crust and whipped that together while I was making the soup, so I don’t have that information to share. I was impressed by the recipe though as it was quick and the end product tasted flakey and crisp. I’ve typically been using the Pilsbury pre-made dough for my pie crusts, but seeing how easy this was I might have to reconsider next time. She didn’t have a rolling pin, but a full bottle of wine works pretty well for rolling out the dough. Once the dough was rolled out, she laid it in the pie plate. In order to save some time, we did not pre-cook the crust as the recipe indicated. It still turned out wonderfully. We sautéed onions together chopped bacon (about 1/3 lb) in the same pan and then drained off the excess fat (saving it for use at another time). Then we added a bunch of chopped spinach to the pan, cooking briefly until wilted. In a bowl we mixed 3/4 c of gruyere cheese, 3/4 c of whole milk, 3./4 c of half and half, two eggs, along with a pinch of nutmeg and cayenne and whisked together. We then added the spinach mixture and poured into the pie crust and baked at 375 until set and the crust was browned, about 30 minutes. It needed a little time to cool before cutting during which time we enjoyed the soup as our first course. The bacon could have easily been eliminated from this dish for a vegetarian option.

I brought over a bottle of Root (mentioned in previous post, Reinterpreting Pedestrian Dishes), so we mixed up an appropriately autumnal cocktail using 1/3 Root and 2/3 fresh apple cider (from a local farm and pesticide free as apples are particularly prone to retaining the chemicals). It was served over ice with fresh ginger slices.

We ran out of time and steam to bake the peanut butter bacon cookies. Erika did bring me a few the next day. I was dubious about the concept, but if you think about carmelized bacon or honey ham it’s not that far off the mark. I enjoyed the smokey flavor in conjunction with the peanut butter; although was a little less thrilled about the pieces of chewy meat. I wondered what the cookie might taste like if only bacon lard was used and not the meat….it gives me another option of something to do with all my saved bacon fat.

Reinterpreting Pedestrian Dishes

I recently had the opportunity to dine at two relatively new Philadelphia establishments, Village Whiskey and Midatlantic Restaurant and Tap Room. Both places share a similar approach to their menu, which is to take traditional, pedestrian dishes and elevate them to a finer dining level. Village Whiskey’s spin on this borrows from southern, style comfort food while Midatlantic’s interpretation comes from typical Pennsylvania Dutch fare with influences from surrounding mid-Atlantic regions, such as crab from the Chesapeake.

Village Whiskey is the brain child of Jose Garces who is the hot chef du jour with 6 restaurants, 5 of them here in our city of brotherly love and one in Chicago, and a contestant spot on the most recent Next Iron Chef. My first encounter with Garces’ food was merely by chance. Passing Amada on the way to a show, a friend and I noted how appealing the place seemed with its dark wood interiors, candlelight and Spanish tapas menu. We returned after the play, took seats at the bar and were treated to an unexpectedly wonderful meal beginning with the tuna and caper amuse-bouche all the way to the almond tuile finale. For quite some time it’s been my favored restaurant here and the go-to place for friends from out of town. I was super excited to hear about Garces’ latest endeavor, especially given my penchant for whiskey.

Robert and I headed over there on a Friday night during his recent visit. Village Whiskey is located on a corner in Center City right next to one of Garces’ other establishments, Tinto. The place is small. The long, narrow space with its high booth seating and whiskey wall display has more of a cozy bistro feel than formal restaurant. Robert had a beer while I ordered a classic old-fashioned highlighting their signature alcohol. I think Robert preferred my beverage choice. The appetizer menu is rife with comfort food; tater tots, cheese puffs and spicy popcorn shrimp. We ordered the deviled eggs which did not disappoint. The most unique starter options however, are the pickles; baby carrots, golden beets, cherry tomatoes, artichokes, and even white anchovies. I would have liked to try the anchovies while Robert’s choice was the beets, so we compromised on the artichokes. All the pickles are served in a glass pickling jar with whipped marscapone, tapenade and bruschetta on the side – definitely refining the notion of pickles. The starters also include raw oysters. Next time I think I will try the Cape May Salts.

Burgers and specialty toppings figure prominently on the menu. As my deconstructed bacon cheeseburger raviolis, previously blogged about, didn’t really satisfy my craving for a hamburger, we ordered a burger with carmelized onions, blue cheese and bacon to share. Not for the diet conscious, but so satisfying. The beef is from sustainably, farm-raised cows in Maine.

The menu includes a pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw, but I had read so much about their short ribs with Sly Fox cheddar sauce and duck fat fries that we had to order that. With the current trend of embracing fat rather than avoiding it, duck fat potatoes don’t seem so unusual these days. Tasting the dish, which comes to the table in a black cast-iron skillet, I had a strong sensation of eating a familiar food. The intensely rich cheese sauce is made with local beer from Sly Fox and a special ingredient, Cheese Whiz! It finally came to me that the plate was reminiscent of eating a gourmet, baked potato with bacon and cheese toppings. The dish was so rich that between the two of us we couldn’t finish it. We asked the waitress to box it up for us and she gave us the great tip that this particular left-over is delicious for breakfast, which indeed it was with eggs over easy and sautéed tomatoes with harissa.

Even the dessert options are refined variations on low-brow, kid-appealing choices – sundaes, strawberry shortcake and smores. With all the rich food we had earlier, I don’t think we could have handled the chocolate dishes, so we went for the shortcake, which didn’t have any difficulty being consumed.

The Midatlantic Tap Room’s interpretation on pedestrian dishes is similar, but the concept goes farther with the seasonal, local and sustainable effort marrying well with the regional dish theme. Being with a larger group this time was a plus as it meant we were able to try more dishes on their substantial menu. The notably, unique option this time came from the cocktails, particularly those using Root. Root beer when first crafted, pre-temperance, was an alcoholic beverage called root tea made from birch bark, sarsaparilla, and other roots and spices. A small Philadelphia business collaborative consisting of mostly artists has now reformulated this old recipe and it is distributing it commercially in PA and online in some states. The alcohol at 80 proof, is not for the faint of heart. It smells sweetly but has a very herbal, almost medicinal taste when drunk straight over the rocks. It does pair well in mixed cocktails. Their website has a wonderful collection of drink recipes. The cocktail I ordered was the Root mint julep, which tasted very much like it’s namesake mixed with traditional root beer.

The menu is so full of comfort food options and dishes with unusual items, like salsify (a native root vegetable) and spicy pig wings and welsh rarebit fondue and broccoli steak that it was impossible to know what to order, so we asked our chatty waiter. He was definitely a pork man and recommended several dishes with pork. Scrapple, a famous Philadelphia dish, figures prominently on the menu in several variations; traditional pork, crab, chicken and veggie style. Liz recalled having welsh rarebit fondue growing up and recommended that as one of the starters. I still don’t really know what the name has to do with it, but it’s basically a fondue that was served with soft pretzels for dipping. The gravy fries, more like fried hash browns, were extra rich when dipped in the fondue. The spicy pig wings were like eating szechaun pork but the molasses gave it a specific regional flavor. The broccoli steak was not a steak but a whole, sliced broccoli plant, grilled and shaped into a patty and served with a cheese sauce and a spatzle like noodle casserole on the side. It was a very comforting, fall option. Others ordered the seafood stew and the crab scrapple cakes. The stew was more like a casserole than a stew, but still hearty. Crab scrapple is in essence a crab cake, just shaped differently. It’s good, but with so much on the menu to order it might not be my first choice other than it’s uniqueness. The pork is sourced from Berks county and so based on the waiter’s recommendation Liz and I both ordered the roast pork with apple fritters and sauerkraut. The flavors of the dish were very complimentary, but my issue was with the ratio of the ingredients. The amount of meat to the sides was a little overwhelming for my taste. I hadn’t been expected a thick pork chop, but something more like sliced, slow-roasted roasted pork. There were hardly any apples or fritters on the dish and the sauerkraut was really more like sautéed cabbage. Despite that, I really liked the concept of the dish. I ended up taking home half my plate and reinventing my leftovers into a something more like what I envisioned when ordering. I sliced up the pork and cabbage, added some more butter sautéed apples from the farmer’s market and heated it up in frying pan then served it on baked puff pastry shells topped it with raw, organic sauerkraut from Wills Valley Farm in Lancaster.

They also have prix fixe options and specials that correspond to the night of the week. Some in the group were commenting about coming back on Wednesdays for the hot dogs or Tuesdays for the chicken and dumplings.

The desserts were really fun…and humorously named. We had a good laugh about how the root beer sticky buns are really meant to be ordered with the apple long john. The table shared a Peach Buckle, which is like a cobbler, served with buttermilk ice cream and a “Philly-style” butterscotch bread pudding. The latter brings in its local flare as it is made using Tastykake’s Krimpets for the bread base. Tastykake is a homegrown Philadephia company making products similar to Hostess cakes. Apparently the restaurant scrapes off the icing from the Krimpet, cooks it into a bread pudding and adds its own butterscotch icing and maple dipping sauce. Again I loved the concept but was a little less wowed by the actual product, which was a little dense and bland. I was surprised that shoo-fly pie, so traditional of the Pennsylvania Dutch, was not a dessert option.

The restaurant itself is in a beautiful space with tall ceilings, reclaimed barn wood panels on the walls and inventive light fixtures made from old fluorescent light tubes to create the outer barrel casings befitting of the local and sustainable food theme. The service was top notch as well. I sure hope it thrives despite being on a rather under-populated stretch of Market between 37^th street and 38^th. I’ll definitely be back – next time with my mother to celebrate her birthday.

In uncertain times, it’s nice to have restaurant options that offer comforting foods reminiscent of growing up and particular to a certain region. And something even nicer when their presentation, ingredients and flavor profile are refined but still recognizable as that satisfying dish that you find yourself craving.

The Food Trust Fundraiser

The Food Trust is a Philadelphia based non-profit that has achieved national recognition for its efforts to promote and ensure access to affordable, healthy food for everyone, particularly low income individuals and school-aged children. The Comprehensive School Nutrition Policy and Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative are two of the organization’s well-known efforts. The latter initiative centers on encouraging supermarket development in communities with little to no access to nutritious food. It also provided me direct experience with the organization as our firm, Re:Vision Architecture, was selected by the non-profit to develop a report on Greening Grocery on which I became the primary author. This involvement gave me personal insight to the group’s vision, dedication and energy while reinforcing my personal beliefs and efforts around sustainable food practices.

So, I enthusiastically accepted Erika’s suggestion that we attend a wine, chocolate, and cheese tasting class, featuring all local products, and fundraiser for the The Food Trust’s farmers’ market at Headhouse Square in Philadelphia. Initially the class was scheduled to be at the shambles, the covered outdoor plaza, at Headhouse, but with the forecast northeastern storm heading in, The Food Trust scrambled to find another location. The restaurant, Supper, generously offered free use of their communal dining area on the second floor for the event. With its warm, and inviting interior, a bit like a contemporary farm home, Supper, was the perfect location for the event. My boyfriend, Robert, and I sat at the bar, sipping wine while we waited for the first class to finish. I’ve never dined at the restaurant, which serves New American cuisine, but after experiencing the space, it’s definitely on my list. I am particularly excited about their Sunday Suppers, a family-style, prix fixe meal served on the first Sunday of each month also benefiting The Food Trust.

The class was run by Rolling Barrel, an event planning group, that focuses on showcasing food and drink of the Philadelphia region. The very effusive host, Corey, explained the various items we tasted. We were served a plate with an assortment of cheeses and chocolates aligned on the dish to correspond with each of the five tasting courses, that were also paired with a local wine. The cheeses included a raw cow’s milk cheddar and a creamy goat feta while the chocolate range included a solid dark, truffles and fudge made with blue cheese from Birchrun Hill Farms. My favorite cheese was the raw cheddar, while the most remarkable chocolate was the madras truffle that had a creamy center flavored with cardamom. I wasn’t a big fan of the wines, finding them to sweet or too young, although I appreciate the concept of pairing the food with local wines. I am not quite convinced that we have a region conducive to growing wine grapes. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and the family style seating was conducive to conversation with the other attendees. I was floored to find I was seated across the table from the mother of very good high school friend!

Both before and after the class, most of the vendors were selling their products that we had sampled. As with a farmer’s market, it’s nice to have direct contact with those creating the products. Ironically, Shellbark Farms, makers of chevre and feta cheeses, can not get a stand at the West Chester Farmer’s Market, even though they are located in that very town, as the market is so popular. That’s a good sign for farmer’s markets I suppose. I purchased an assortment of spicy fudges from Betty’s Buttons, the blue cheese that was used in the fudge and a raw milk horseradish cheddar from Hillacres Pride. Perhaps the cheddar will make a hearty macaroni and cheese or a grilled cheese with jalapeno peppers.

Below is a list of the cheeses, chocolates and wines and their makers that were sampled during the evening.

First pairing:

Crossing Vineyards Blush NV, Washington Crossing, PA

Hillacres Pride Cheddar, Peach Bottom PA

LoveBar 68% Dark Ecuadorian Chocolate, Philadelphia, PA

Second Pairing:

Pinnacle Ridge Blanc de Blanc NV, Kutztown, PA

Patches of Star Dairy Cream Feta, Nazareth PA

Marcie Blaine Artisanal Chocolates Madras Truffle, Philadelphia, PA

Third Pairing:

Chaddsford Pinot Noir 2007, Chadds Ford, PA

Shellbark Chevre, West Chester, PA

Fourth Pairing:

Stargazers Dornfelder 2007, Coatesville, PA

Birchrun Hills Farm “Fat Cat” Raw Cow’s Milk Cheese, Chester Springs, PA

John and Kira’s Starry Night Truffle, Philadelphia, PA

Fifth Pairing

Chaddsford Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

Bettys Tasty Buttons Blue Sue, Philadelphia, PA