Bradd's Executive Chef Debut

Happy Birthday Bradd!

For his own birthday this year, Bradd decided that he wanted to cook a five-course meal for the immediate family. After weeks of discussing and planning the meal with his dad (another cuisinaire), they settled on a menu and invited Bradd's mom, sister, sister's bf, my parents, my brother, and me over for a home-cooked meal. With top quality ingredients in hand from DiBruno Bros and Reading Terminal Market, Chef Bradd and Sous Chef Lou set out to deliver an opportunity to not only enjoy great food, but great company, too. What ensued was a true masterpiece.

(click on the Slideshow to view it larger in Picassa)

The opening act was an Ahi Tuna and Shrimp Ceviche with Orange Habanero Sauce. Using recipes from a Jose Garces' Latin Evolution cookbook and the memory of his favorite yellowtail ceviche from our Valentine's Day meal, Bradd tackled the sauce with a little less habanero and a little more orange this time. It turned out to be a great match for both the thinly sliced, sushi-grade tuna and the shrimp. Ceviche was an excellent choice for starting off the meal with great flavor in a very non-filling type of food.

Next up was Sous Chef Lou's choice - a Fennel and Fresh Fruit Salad. I always thought fennel looked little green sticks but apparently it doesn't have to. The salad was made up of oranges and cranberries, plus onions (they uses vidalia onions so it was less oniony and more sweet) and fennel somewhere, although you couldn't really see it. Additional cranberry-flavored dressing was available for even more taste. Everyone really enjoyed the salad. It was different - you forget that salad doesn't just have to be about lettuce and veggies and dressing. This version focused on fruit was a fresh and summery alternative.

Mozzarella in Carozza, followed - Bradd's favorite, he claimed. It was like a grilled cheese with buffalo mozzarella (from Di Bruno's), but the bread (plain white from DiBruno Bros) was soaked in egg batter before being grilled just right. They garnished it with a few blueberries, another nice touch for dinner on a steamy summer Sunday.

As the Italian restaurants would call it, the Primi course came next as Sweet Potato Gnocchi. I'm a big fan of gnocchi and of sweet potatoes, but had never had them combined into one food item. This one was a recipe from Marc Vetri, chef and owner of Philadelphia's Vetri and Osteria. I've also had Bradd's homemade gnocchi a couple times, and this round was one of his best. The texture was just right, and the sweet potato base gave them a unique flavor from typical gnocchi. The sauce was a very light mix of butter and sage. It could have been a little more potent, but the sweet potatoes delivered enough flavor on their own to make it my favorite part of the meal.

Finally, as his main dish, Chef Bradd served Pecorino Crusted Lamb. Sous chef Lou also added some grilled vegetables on the side. Wow. A several stop process that combined grilling, then topping, then baking the lamb chops in small racks lead to total perfection. How Bradd and Lou managed to get them all done and ready to serve at once, using one normal house kitchen, I'll never know. I like lamb but am normally not enthralled by it. But top it with crusty baked pecorino, and add a little sauce with mint (because Bradd's grandmother says you can't have lamb without mint) and it was heavenly.

What did everyone thing of the meal? Why did he do all this? You'll have to watch and find out (after enjoying a quick off-key round of Happy Birthday).



More on Michael Pollan and his book, In Defense of Food.


Thanks for coming to Chez DelMuto!!

Philly Beer Week

Philadelphia has the biggest and best "Beer Week" celebration in the entire U.S. In fact it's so popular (and efficient) that by the time I got this post up, the official website was already switched over to tout the 2011 event. According to that site, Philly Beer Week was only started in 2008, but it's been so successful that 25 other U.S. cities have emulated it and launched their own.

We didn't pay too much attention to Beer Week this year (which is actually 10 days not a week) until the last few days when we decided we better check it out somehow. From examining the online schedule, Philly Beer Week had all sorts of specials, tastings, specialty brews, meet n' greets, and dinner pairings. You can drink all day and all night if you want! There must have been well over 100 area bars and restaurants participating, most offering one special or event during the day, then a happy hour 5-7pm special, and then a nightly 8-10pm special. Most bars would pick a theme too - like all Belgian beers or all Pennsylvania breweries.

Bradd and I decided to focus on one area of the city to make it easy to hit up a few Beer Week events in one night - Fairmount. Our first stop was Bishop's Collar. It's always good for a quick, cheap and tasty dinner, but at about 7pm they didn't have any Beer Week things going on so we just ordered off the regular menu. At least our tummies were full.

Then we tried Brigid's, a little dive up the road from Bishop's Collar that was featuring beers from the Breckenridge Brewery. It appealed to us because last summer we took an amazing vacation to Colorado and stayed in Breckenridge, just a stone's throw from the brewery. They have some great beers and the place was really a cool spot to hang out, even in a ski town during the summer. It was a clear mix of year-round local and travelers, sharing in their good times.

Anyway, back to Brigid's. I don't think I'd go back to the bar itself - its super tiny and you have to squeeze past the actual bar stools to get to the tables in the bar. Some reviews I'd seen online said it was all cozy and had a lot of character, so maybe it was just overcrowded for Beer Week, but I found the tight squeeze a little annoying. BUT the fun part was that we got to meet one of the brewmasters from Breckenridge! Told him about our trip and we learned about how he got from growing up in South Jersey to Colorado, and then stayed there. I remember that there was a girl involved, and some friend who was desperate for help making beer, so the guy just up and went and never looked back for 30 years. Nice, friendly Philly Beer Week experience. As for the beer, I tried Breck's SummerBright Ale but it was a little heavy for my taste, even though its a wheat beer. My favorite is still the brewery's Agave Wheat, which I had out in Colorado.

Then we headed down to The Belgian Cafe, where I love to eat for brunch or dinner. Steak Frites Salad is perfect for a not-too-filling-meal-that-includes-french-fries and the burgers are the same as Monk's so they are just awesome. The 8-10pm special there was all Norwigian brews that I could neither pronounce nor spell, but I know the brewery was called Nogne. I ordered whatever seemed like a 'whit' but what I got was really dark and thick. I wasn't a big fan but dealt with it cause I think it cost $14. Yeeesh. And that was the special price. BUT the fun continued here when we got to meet the brewer - who came allllll the way from Norway for Philly Beer Week. We had a short conversation with him, during which I remember his saying he liked Philly, but otherwise he was tough to communicate with. We got a great pic though, which appropriately depicts how absolutely giant this man was. We didn't even come up to his shoulders.

Philly Beer Week 2011 starts June 3 of next year. Until then, the website lists all sorts of other beer-related events around the city. Cheers!

Some food links

Starting today, I will occasionally post some food related articles to read.  These could be recipes, trends, reviews, industry news, etc.  Basically, anything food related you might want to read.

1. Is There Still Hope for Syrah: Article in New York Times about rise and fall of syrah. Maybe rise again?

2. 28 Best Philadelphia-Area Beers: Extensive review and ranking of local Philly beers by Philadelphia Inquirer.

3.  Nutella Cupcakes: Let me know if you make.  

Sorry.  I had more links, but Chrome crashed and lost them all.

Garden in Center City

Memorial Day has come and gone, which means many gardens are now in full swing.  Well, not fully grown, but most everyone has planted and is seeing growth.  This is year two of our city garden.  In year one, we had two tomato plants and we had some beans and zuccchini.  We learned we have some bug problems so now we have the tomatoes in pots.  Also, we learned to be careful when you grow zucchini.  It's a vine so it grows all over unless you cut it.  This year we have three tomato plants, a pepper plant, asparagus beans, rosemary and thyme.  All are in pots.   

I grew up having a garden in our backyard and the yearly garden is something I look forward to.  See the video of our garden below.  I'll update you as it grows and showcase some of the things we cook.  If you live in the city and don't have much room for a garden, you are not alone.  Listen to this podcast from NPR for some helpful tips to maximize value and space.  Hanging tomato plants are all the rage.