Food Links: Pasta Recipes

Time for another dose of food links. This time the focus is on pasta recipes. We plan to try all of these and will report on how they turn out. Let us know if you make any and send pics!

1. Spaghetti with Lemon and Olive Oil.  A simple pasta recipe, which is often the best. This one is from Smitten Kitchen.

2. Bucatini All’Amatriciana. A staple of Italian food. This recipe for the spicy pasta is from Babbo, Mario Batali's flagship restaurant in NYC.

3. Pasta, Potatoes and Chorizo. This is from famous food writer, Mark Bittman, and is a recipe he made up on the go. This is a passion of mine and pasta is perfect for make-as-you-go experiments.

4. Short Rib Ragu. From the good folks at Food52, this recipe uses short ribs as the foundation of the sauce.

That's it for this edition of food links. Enjoy!

It's coming! Philly Beer Week, June 3 - 12

Last year, we totally missed the memo on Philly Beer Week and didn't get out to partake in the festivities until the final weekend. Glad we did because we had the chance to meet a real live viking Norwegian brewer, next to whom my very average 5'5" build was completely dwarfed. His brewery was called Nogne, but don't ask me how to pronounce that. According to its website, Nogne is Norway's leading and largest supplier of bottle conditioned ale and the first and only producer of unfiltered sake in Europe. Sweet.

Philly Beer Week is a massive affair, drawing thousands of people and brewers from all over the world. They don't have 2010 stats up yet, but in 2009, Philly Beer Week included 700 different events spread over 10 days, making it the largest festival of its kind in the world. Approximate total attendance was 35,000 people!

Best conversation we had during our single Beer Week night out was with a guy from the Breckenridge Brewery in Colorado where we had stopped on vacation a few summers ago. Love their Agave Wheat. I believe their Avalanche Ale is pretty popular as well.

Turns out he was a South Jersey native who dropped everything on a whim and moved to Colorado to help a friend "get started." Some 20 years later, he's still there. Gotta love the randomness and of course the Jersey connection.


(P.S. If you need a good summer vacation idea, go to Colorado. Denver, Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park, horseback riding, coal mine tours, Coors Brewery, Frontier Days in Cheyenne, WY, white water rafting... all amazing. It was our favorite trip to date and highly recommended.)


Looking forward to this year's Beer Week - any 22nd&Philly fans want to plan a Beer Week outing? Can you say, guest post??

Here's the full schedule so you can start planning now: http://www.phillybeerweek.org/.

The Wishing Well Gastropub in Bella Vista

Last weekend my father and I were wandering around Bella Vista and the Italian Market areas during some down time between sessions at the NCAA Wrestling Championships (Penn State won for the first time in 58 years! Go State!).

Luckily for us we stumbled upon The Wishing Well in the mid afternoon to drink some beers and watch March Madness.  The beer selection was solid as I enjoyed a nice Stoudt's Gold Lager and my father sampled an IPA he never heard of. 

The bartender, Chris Ineson, was conversational and even checked out our blog while we chatted.  He is definitely good people.  During our conversation, he told us about their legendary Shame Burger and the Shame Burger Challenge.

The Shame Burger

The Shame Burger is a burger topped with an egg and homemade scrapple.  It's the brainchild of founders and Philly natives Chris Martino and Carmen Cappello who actually first served the burger in Atlanta before returning to Philly.  

We both tried a Shame Burger and firmly agreed on two things.  First, the burger is delicious, unique and everyone should try.  Second, it sits in your stomach like a ton of bricks and we have no idea how someone could finish the Shame Burger Challenge.

The Shame Burger Challenge consists of two double Shame burgers each with two beef patties, two pieces of scrapple, four cheese slices, two fried eggs, two orders of fries and two pints of beer.  Absolutely insane.

The record is just under four minutes, which both Chris and another bartender saw live.  Even more remarkable is the second fastest time is under six minutes and was done at the same time (two competitive eaters gave it a try one day).

Bartender Chris mentioned they are trying hard to get Adam Richman and Man v. Food to do the challenge.  They even have a Facebook page to try to make it happen if you want to join the campaign. More than 100 people have attempted the challenge and less than 10 completed.

The Wishing Well is a excellent spot for anyone to visit. We love gastropubs and the Wishing Well is certainly one we will add to our list go to places.  I am already itching to go back to try the southern fried chicken.

Some pics of pops enjoying his Shame Burger below.

Guest Post: Harvest Seasonal Grill and Wine Bar in Glen Mills, Pa.

This is the first post from our new suburban contributors – my sister Julie and her co-worker Rebecca.  There are excellent places to explore all over the Philly region and since we cannot visit them all, Julie and Rebecca will occasionally share some of their experiences from Delaware County and beyond.

First up is Harvest Seasonal Grill, a seasonal, organic restaurant that is supposed to be one of the hottest places in the 'burbs right now. Here is Rebecca's take.

Located somewhat in the middle of nowhere Delaware County in an up-scale strip shopping center, Harvest Seasonal Grill and Wine Bar draws a huge crowd on a Saturday night.  After our visit we found out why.

We had to wait a few minutes before being seated and the little waiting area looked charming with a modern fireplace and cozy leather seats, but it was overflowing on the freezing midwinter night we visited.

The offerings at the bar more than made up for the wait and the crowd.  There was an extensive wine list, decadent cocktails, and a sizable selection of beer including several local offerings and even one seasonal organic. Wines are available in small (4 oz) and large (7 oz) sizes, which is not something often available at restaurants.

We were seated in a cozy elevated booth at the back of the restaurant where we could survey the entire scene and see into the bright open kitchen.  Our server was chatty and personable (although he told us his co-workers don’t like him), and very attentive.  He was not shy about making recommendations and obviously had a great affection for all the fare he was peddling.

He explained to us the seasonal nature of the menu (and thus the need to come back in another few months to try the newest offerings). The local farms from which they purchase their supplies are listed right at the top of the menu, and show just how local the food really is.

First we debated over appetizers.  The waiter highly recommended the flatbreads, their specialty, so we ordered the steak & wild mushroom variety featuring the locally-famous Birchrun Blue cheese.  I am not generally a fan of blue cheese, but this variety was so creamy and sweet, and melded so lusciously with nutty flavors of the wild mushrooms and the saltiness of the bits of steak that I may yet be won over.

We also ordered the organic hummus trio (which was unremarkable) and the nut encrusted goat cheese (which was transcendent – I could have eaten a whole plate of it.)

Moving on to the entrees, we were once again in the position of deciding among an abundance of equally delicious-sounding choices.  Add to that a handful of exotic-sounding specials and some of us were positively stumped.  Thank goodness for our server who was able to aid in the decision-making process.

I went with the cedar-roasted Atlantic salmon with asparagus, roasted carrots, and fingerling potatoes (health fans, most items on Harvest’s menu are less than 500 calories each). My fish was very good, but everything tasted a little too salty since it seemed they tossed a handful of sea salt flakes on there before serving.

My boyfriend went with the seared sesame tuna which he said was very good.  Julie and her boyfriend both went with the rack of lamb which was apparently SO good that they had to resort to rather unrefined eating practices in order to pick every last savory bite off the bones.

I have to say I really appreciated the reasonably-sized portions of the entrees at Harvest once it was time for dessert (I usually don’t have room for three courses).



Harvest has struck upon a brilliant concept for dessert: the six choices they have – key lime pie, white & dark chocolate mousse, peanut butter mousse, s’mores, apple crisp, and seasonal fruit & organic yogurt – all come in little tumbler glasses just the right size for an individual serving.  They just bring the whole lot out to your table on a tray and you take your pick.

The common theme throughout our visit to Harvest – from the first taste of the wine to the moment the dessert tray was brought out – was that there's such an array of delicious looking options that it was tough to make a pick.  Luckily, everything is so good it’s hard to go wrong.

As a restaurant focused on fresh seasonal food, Harvest changes its menu often and I would definitely go back to see the next season’s offerings.  There were also so many things I wanted to try that I didn’t get a chance to taste that I would love to return before the menu changes!

From the Annals of Disgusting Food: BK’s Stuffed Steakhouse Burger

The annals of disgusting (and fake) food are long and sad.  Food marketing and innovation is a massive industry and unfortunately many of us eat this crap.

Take baconnaise.  Ingredients include soybean oil, gluconic acid, smoke flavor, eggs, and calcium disodium edta.  That’s right.  No bacon in baconnaise.  For some amusing Daily Show segments on baconnaise click here.

Another one is the crab meat you buy in cans for cheap and use in all those crab dips.  It’s not crab, but white fish paste that is frozen, shaved into flakes, ground in a vat with eggs and flavorings to make it taste crab-like, then cooked and finally formed into crab-like appearance.  Check to see if the crab meat you buy is real before you purchase it.  See how the fake stuff is made below (sorry for the awful music).

The latest food innovation is Burger King’s much-hyped Jalapeno & Cheddar Stuffed Steakhouse Burger.  BK says it is the first of its kind menu addition.  Press release here.

Now I’ve seen worse items in the annals of disgusting food, but the pictures of this “stuffed” burger make me vomit.  See if you can tell which is the BK photo using some food photography tricks.

Burger or nasty meatloaf?

Something you would eat?

Nice job BK photographers

Inspiration for the burger?

And as you can see, this burger isn’t even stuffed.  Apparently the food innovators could not figure out how to actually mass produce a stuffed burger so they just chopped up the jalapenos and cheese and added them to the beef to make it look like a nasty pimento loaf.  (Inspirational pimento loaf at right.)

Check out the nutritional information for the Stuffed Steakhouse Burger - a whopping 600 calories and 34 grams of fat.

Now, I am not one to avoid fatty foods, but when I do eat them I’ll try to actually eat a stuffed burger without super processed ingredients.  I’ve been searching for the ingredient from Burger King list to no avail.







Eating real food and most importantly making, cooking and sharing your food with friends is a simple concept leading to healthier eating and happier people.  Here is a novel idea: make your own stuffed jalapeno n' cheese burger. A few recipes below. Give one a try.

http://lighterrecipes.blogspot.com/2010/05/bbq-jalapeno-and-cheddar-stuffed.html

http://www.greenthumbgeeks.com/2010/07/recipe-cheddar-stuffed-jalapeno-burger/

http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2011/03/03/jalapeno-cheddar-stuffed-burgers/

Guapos Tacos Food Truck: Bringing Jose Garces to the People

Jose Garces' latest project, the Guapos Tacos food truck has only been out and about for two weekends now, but is generating quite a buzz. 22nd&Philly tracked it this Friday night to 2nd and Poplar Streets, thanks to Twitter. Here's how it went down, and why I think the Guapos Tacos Truck is a home run, for now.

The most amusing part of the experience was running into the truck (figuratively speaking) at about 7:10pm, when it pulled out onto 22nd St. right in front of our cab en route to our mutual destination. The truck drives a little slow though, so we arrived at 2nd and Poplar first and got to be the cool kids who informed the small crowd already gathered for the advertised 7pm opening that it was on its way, but apparently running late...

As soon as it arrived and parked just south of Standard Tap, the more zealous Garces groupies made a mad dash to be first in line, only to find out the truck still needed about 10 minutes to get ready. So we waited...

It was somewhat amusing to watch the staff of four open everything up and start cooking (or at least heat stuff up, I couldn't tell). Others in line helped us examine the funky design on the truck's side, which is actually thousands of beer bottle caps glued into hexagonal shapes. No, they are not all interesting Spanish or Mexican beers. Saw lots of Corona caps but also plenty of Bud, Amstel and Miller Lites, too.

The first chick in line was super anxious to get her tacos. She had tried last weekend but said the truck  "broke down" by the time she got there and wasn't able to cook. Guess they are still working out some kinks. 

The line kept getting longer as we waited for the truck to be ready, but it was a fairly patient crowd. Couple dogs, a few pregnant girls, some vegetarian UPenn kids, a handful of cameras, and plenty of growling stomachs as it started to smell real good...

Think they need a permit? It kind of just pulled up wherever there was space...

Guapos Tacos was finally ready after 15 minutes and the whole order/food pick process seemed to work well. You order from this fresh-faced fellow and pay up front, then they call your name and hand your food out the left hand window. Here's the best shot I got of the menu. They also passed out paper copies of it to people in line - smart move to keep the order process going faster. Bradd was nice and patient until it was our turn. We were probably about 16th in line.

And finally, the food!! We got the Esquites, typically found in Mexican streets or at fairs. It's sweet corn mixed with onions, chiles, salt and a handful of herbs, served warm. Though "spicy" is stretching it, the esquites were the spiciest thing we ate and really tasty as a starter. Bradd ate it so quickly I had a hard time stealing a photo where the container wasn't in motion. Saw others with the guacamole/chips which looked very good too. 

We got the Chipotle Short Rib (at right - short rib, white onion, radish, cilantro, crema, queso fresco) and the Carnitas (below - chicken, black beans, and pinapple-habanero salsa) and. Both yummy, I liked the short rib better. Neither totally blew me away on taste, but at least half the reason you go to Guapos Tacos is for the experience, not just the food.

The tacos are served very fresh on hot tortillas, so be prepared to scarf them down right there on the street before they get soggy. They likely won't taste great cooled down.

There are plenty of napkins and utensils available at the truck and Mexican sodas for sale if needed. The tacos definitely will make you super thirsty so buy something or plan ahead for the nearest bar to wash it down with a cold beer.




Analysis: The Guapos Tacos truck from Jose Garces is a home run novelty for Philadelphians and visitors alike. Since I didn't go to college in the city, and I don't work in town, the whole food truck concept is a little foreign to me. This was something different to try on a Friday night and though it doesn't take up too much time (depending on the line), the experience makes for a tasty little dinner and better yet, a good story. I'd be curious to revisit the Guapos Tacos truck late at night to see how big the crowd of drunken sailors gets - and what the truck's max is before running out of food.

Guapos Tacos was a very smart move by the Garces empire, if to do nothing else than generate social media buzz among the Twitter, Facebook and blogger crowds (1700+ Twitter followers already) and attract new fans that don't regularly spend the money a full meal takes at one of his restaurants. Love, love, love them all, but honestly, they aren't cheap.

The food truck concept brings Jose Garces to the people, and I hope he'll make random appearances at the truck to keep it that way. It may not stick around for years before the novelty wears off, but by then I am confident the smart marketers at Garces Restaurant Group will have come up with five more home run ideas, and that Bradd and I will be one of the first in line to try it.

Mark your drinking calendar! Yelp Cocktails Week

Now here's a good way to get rid of the late winter blues... From Monday, April 4th to Sunday, April 10th, Yelp is hosting Yelp Cocktails Week, a sampling of cocktails at Philly hotspots for 50% off the regular price.

To me, this is a perfect excuse to try new places. We are big fans of eating dinner at a restaurant's bar, often because that area is more lively and you don't feel the pressure of a waiter peering over your shoulder. But whether you order food or not, who doesn't like cheap drinks?!

One half-off cocktail will be offered per location from opening until midnight. No coupons or tickets needed, you just have to ask for the Yelp Cocktails Week pricing when you get there. Here is the list of participants.

Davio's
Martini (regular price $12)

El Camino Real
Margarita (regular price $5)

Haru
Agave Cooler (regular price $12)

Knock
TBD

Kokopelli
Kokopelli Margarita (regular price $10.50)

Lacroix
Blackberry Bourbon (regular price $12)

Le Castagne
The Philadelphian (regular price $12)

Locust Rendezvous
Pinnacle Chocolate Whipped Vodka shots (regular price $4.75)

Noble
The Run Tell That (regular price $11)

Opa
ANTHO (regular price $10)

Percy Street Barbecue
Percy Punch (regular price $8)

Positano Coast
Salvia (regular price $10)

PYT
Honorable Mention (regular price $9)

Ranstead Room
The Rumble (regular price $12)

Ristorante Panorama
il bar Champagne Cocktail (regular price $12)

Sampan
Junmai Fizz (regular price $8)

Smokin' Betty's
Berry Betty (regular price $9)

South Philly Bar & Grill
South Philly Tap Water (regular price $7)

Twenty Manning Grill
Cucumber Lime Caipiroska (regular price $10)

Valanni
Sangria (regular price $8)

Zavino
Root Bean Soda (regular price $8)

Philly Mag vs. Village Belle: A Rebuttal.

The recent issue of Philadelphia Magazine has a fairly scathing review of new Queen Village spot, Village Belle. I give Trey Popp, the critic, credit for saying that he did want to like the place, but in the end, he could only say that it has "room for improvement." 

For atmosphere, yes, I agree. On food, I don't. Let's start with the food.

Our friends from the fabulous fashion/lifestyle blog Damn I Like That! invited us to dinner at Village Belle because they loved co-owner Joey Campanaro's the little owl in New York and were psyched to see the Philly-area native return home to open a restaurant locally with his brother. (Pssst... if you like The Four Seasons [the singers, not the hotel], click on that little owl link for a quick smile.)

With that invite came not only lovely conversation with friends and plenty of good laughs, but also a key insider tip for Village Belle: it's not on the menu, but ask for the meatball sliders appetizer. It was our friends' favorite dish at little owl, and the brothers Campanaro do serve it at Village Belle if you ask. It's beef, veal, pork and pecorino mushed into three little sliders that are pretty excellent.

Fortunately for us, when Popp hoped he "was the only one whose crabcakes were plated burned-side-down," he was right. One of our dinner companions and I both opted for the crabcakes and really enjoyed them. Nothing was burnt, and in fact they were perfectly crispy to my liking. Plus that tangy lemon sauce drizzled around the plate was a great compliment to the fish.

Popp also didn't care for the "one-note tomato risotto" which, I have to say, we thought was freakin' delicious. Hey, we've never claimed to be educated or trained food critics, we just know what we like. And we all really liked the tomato risotto.

Bradd had the capellini, which is a mish-mosh of seafood in a light broth. He thought it was good but was more impressed with the waiter's recommendation on how to eat it. Normally with shellfish you go one-by-one picking the fish out, drowning it in the sauce, and eating it. Then repeat. This waiter recommended pulling everything out of the shells first so the pieces of fish could soak up the sauce a little before being consumed. And it's less work as you go. 

What did disappoint us about Village Belle was the lack of a crowd. On this particular Friday night, it was less than half full, which is rare in this town. It's got a great location in Queen Village, parking nearby (and valet), a nice bar area to hang out in and cozy decor. I assume in the nicer weather they'll open the full wall of floor-to-ceiling windows to let a ton of fresh air through. Not sure if they are allowed to spill out into the park along Front Street there, but if so Village Belle would be a welcome addition to the growing list of outdoor eating options in Philly. But, the restaurant must be missing something from a marketing standpoint to draw a crowd. I'd actually never heard of it until the friends invited us, so maybe that's indicative of the problem.

The weirdest thing was the "entertainment." There was a DJ playing upbeat, modern dinner music and we realized after a while was actually singing along. He was talented, yet subdued enough to blend in with the recording fairly well. It was too loud, though, and an older gentleman near us had to ask for the volume to be turned down. Ok, so that's manageable but then the host started singing. It was kind of like a awkward American Idol audition. He serenaded us to a bizarre collection of Neil Diamond, Billy Joel and other adult contemporary hits.

I just didn't get it. The singer was really into it and I appreciated his enthusiasm, but it was an odd, unexpected way to entertain the small dinner crowd. Maybe we would have felt differently if the restaurant was crowded, so the noise of conversation drowned him out a little or people got up to dance. Not happening when half the tables are empty.

Switching back to the positives... for the record, I like the little notebooks they give you along with the check. It was fun to leaf through the pages to see what others wrote and then sign our own page (citing 22nd & Philly of course). I didn't feel obligated to write in it, and if I really didn't like the food I probably would have just ignored the book and moved on.

So, I have to disagree with the Philly Mag take on Village Belle's food, but do think the new restaurant needs to find its groove in terms of marketing and atmosphere. It has all the potential to be a new Queen Village hotspot (like Kennett, the new wood-fired pizza joint that took over Lions Den's spot a few blocks away and was packed this Saturday night) with a few adjustments.

I hope Village Belle makes through the summer, because I would go back if they have outdoor seating, or at least all the big windows open. And to eat more of the risotto.

[All the photos in this post were originally published on the Philadelphia Inquirer website. More in a slideshow here.]