Jell-o Fruit

Mmmm. Pretty, shiny, faux, fun!

I saw these at Not Martha. These would be so cute to bring to a party - civilized or otherwise.

I've never made jell-o shots, but I think I will now.

Sushi with Chef Joseph Poon

As a gift, I enrolled myself and my man in Chef Joseph Poon’s sushi class. I’ve never taken a cooking class, so didn’t know what to expect.

Just by chance, I happened to see Chef Poon on the local morning news show the very day of my class. He’s a bit of a celebrity chef and has been dubbed the unofficial ambassador of China Town. He’s also very involved in community charity. He is cute and very energetic.

After spending an evening with him, lets just say that energetic is an understatement. This man is incredible, and not in an annoying way. He is full of life, jokes and smiles. He is genuinely driven and happy. I cannot gush enough about his personality.

There were about ten people in the sushi class. We all gathered around a long table in his restaurant and followed his directions while drinking and laughing. His teaching style involved many jokes, animated demonstrations, and running back and forth to the kitchen to fetch us beer and wine.

He playfully reprimanded us by saying, “I kill you,” if we did anything wrong. Trust me, he can get away with it. He also liked to remind us not to squeeze the rice, but wait till later for “hanky panky” and squeeze our “honey” at home. Cheesy. But, again, he can get away with it.

There’s no skimping on ingredients or his giving of himself. Before we knew it, we had assembled an ungodly amount of sushi to take home. We weren’t eating the sushi –a meal would await us after the lesson and a quick walking tour of a few locales in China Town.

Chef Poon and his restaurant will accommodate any food request you may have. His kitchen prepared me a vegetarian dinner.

As we ate dessert, he continued to share his knowledge. He demonstrated candy pulling and simple food sculpting.

Laughter abounded, wine was spilled, and knives were wielded as we learned sushi secrets and dined.

I can’t recommend enough giving the gift of Chef Poon to yourself or someone else. It was the most entertaining, fun and enjoyable class that I’ve ever taken, and it’s all because of Chef Poon. If you don’t take one of his classes, “I kill you.”

Gushing over.

Wine Appreciation Class II

photo by svanes
I was an excellent student and didn’t ditch my second Introduction to Wine Appreciation class. The whole thing is sort of a Friday happy hour held in an academic setting - industrial carpet and dry-erase boards. Wine and marker huffing!

The second class was devoted to discussing and sampling red wines. I enjoy both white and red wines. My only problem with red wines is that many make me horribly sleepy and some give me headaches. I haven’t figured out which ones to stay away from.

We tasted six wines made from different grape varieties, starting from the lightest to the heaviest: gamay, pinot noir, tempranillo, sangiovese and canaiolo blend, and a shiraz.

2004 Domaine de la Madone Beaujolais – France
2004 Castle Rock Pinot Noir – California
2000 Lan Rioja Crianza – Spain
2003 Renzo Masi Chianti Rufina – Italy
2001 Heritage Road Shiraz – Australia

I was expecting to walk out finding at least one love, but I didn’t. The Beaujolais was a little too sweet. I also did not care for the Chianti, which contains sangiovese. I’ve tried other sangioveses, and I just don’t care for that grape - perhaps because of its high acidity and bitterness.

I was not disappointed, though. I would purchase the other four wines, especially since most cost less than $12.

Favorite Experience – Smelling and tasting. The wine selection evoked sweet grape juice, nutmeg, almond, vanilla, coconut, chocolate, caramel, prunes, and hazelnut – not all in one wine.

Favorite Wine of the Night – Lan Rioja Crianza – Made from the low-acid tempranillo grape, this wine tasted of vanilla, chocolate and coconut.

New Vocabulary Word – The small space of air in a wine bottle is called ullage.

Ansill

Update: no longer open

After sampling wines at our wine class Friday, my companion and I decided to continue sampling - but with food. We dropped into the newly opened Ansill on the corner of Bainbridge and Third in Philly.

Ansill occupies the space where Judy’s used to sit for 30 years.Judy’s closed last year to the sorrow of die-hard, neighborhood regulars. I’ve been waiting to see what would take its place. Ansill opened a couple of weeks ago, but we waited a while to let them get the kinks out.

Ansill reworked the interior into a warm and elegant space with a mahogany bar, soft lighting, and warm earthy walls - the perfect atmosphere to continue our wine drinking. They offer wine by the glass, bottle, or carafe. You may also bring your own bottle, but a $15 corking charge applies. The wine list was broken down into red and white, with fruiter and lighter wines at the top and heavier wines at the bottom.

Ansill serves small plates with most ranging from $3 to $10. The most expensive plate is Venison Loin ($17). The menu’s offerings are broken down into: Raw and Cured, Eggs and Roe, Meat and Fish, Hot and Cold Vegetables, Cheeses and Charcuterie, and Breads and Sandwiches.

The descriptions of the dishes are minimal, with only one or two ingredients listed. I needed the help of our waitress to determine what was vegetarian. She was very helpful, as were the cooks who deleted ingredients from dishes to accommodate me.

We also had wonderful, warm fingerling potatoes with onions ($6). The potatoes were cooked without the veal stock for me, but they still had complex flavors. I was excited about the spaetzle with spinach and mustard ($5), but found it a little oily and the mustard bitter.

My fish-eating companion tried the Spanish mackerel ceviche with radish and mint ($6). He said it was good, but craved the more traditional cilantro and a power-punch of lime, which this dish was lacking.

All of the cheese plates looked good, so we let our waitress decide for us. She rightly chose the taleggio cheese plate with sour cherry compote ($5). Taleggio is a soft, stinky, Italian cheese and went well with the sour and sweet cherries. There could have been a few more slices of bread, as we ran out of bread and still had cheese and compote left. In general, we found most of their plates on the small side. I know the food is served in the tapas style, but these plates were tiny.

The owner’s wife makes all the desserts. My companion had the rice pudding ($6), which he cleaned right up. I had the chocolate cake with a mouse-like top layer ($6). The cake was topped with lime wedges and surrounded by a lime sauce. I took a bite, closed my eyes, pushed all thoughts away and had a little orgasm. The chocolate was bitter, yet sweet, and the tangy lime made my mouth water. Perfecto. I am always torn between chocolate and key lime on dessert menus, and this combined my two favorite dessert loves.

I will definitely go back to Ansill, even though the plates were a little small. “Small plates” vary from one place to the next, so it’s hard to know how many to order. Be sure to order many plates when you go to Ansill. You’ll sample many flavors and find a favorite. With sampling, you can have it all. I’m currently into sampling.

Ansill, 627 S. Third St., Philadelphia, 19147

Wine Appreciation Class

I’m taking a three-part Introduction to Wine Appreciation Class at Temple University with my boyfriend. We decided to forgo the edible underwear for Valentines and get each other a wine class and a sushi class. It’s a little classier gift.

Temple offers a few wine classes. I wasn’t sure where I fit in, so I started at the beginning. I should know loads more about wine than I do. My dad is a wine aficionado and a wine judge. We had a wine cellar in our house and I’ve been sipping wine since I was a wee one. My sister is a wine and cheese buyer. I contribute my small wine knowledge to sticking my fingers in my ears whenever my Dad speaks. If only I could go back and not be a pissy teenager.

John McNulty, who has been teaching wine for over 20 years, teaches the class I’m taking. He also has a wine shop in New Jersey and a radio show about wine. He’s quite a fun guy and made the two-hour class on Friday evening go by in a flash.

The first class was devoted to white wine. We sampled six varieties and discussed the look, aroma, and taste of the wines. We filled out a sheet on each wine and noted our impressions. It was interesting to see what others thought. I particularly had a hard time pinpointing smells, which is odd because I have a good nose. I can tell you a wine is fruity, but which fruit exactly…? When another student yells it out, a light goes on. Ah yes, grapefruit! I’ll need practice with the smells, but John notes that no impression of a wine is wrong. Taste is subjective.

After tasting six wines and discussing, the evening was over. We had all loosened up a bit from the beginning of the class, thanks to the wine and good times. The wine did me just right as I somehow found myself in the men’s bathroom. Embarrassingly the teacher ran into me as I was heading out. I hope he had enough wine to erase that memory.

Favorite wine of the night – Annabella – a buttery, smooth Chardonnay from California that I thought smelled of gardenias, but no one else did. I know a gardenia, that’s for sure. What do they know?

Favorite piece of information - The metal screw cap that’s becoming more popular with good wine is called a Stelvin closure. Add that to your vocabulary.

Buckley's Tavern

Are you looking for a cheap place to eat Sunday brunch? I found one, but the one stipulation is that you must embarrass yourself in order to get the deal.

Buckley's Tavern is located in an old white house on Route 52 in Centerville, DE and they have a Sunday “half-price pajama brunch”. I was only up to wearing my pajamas once out of the three times I’ve visited. I would say that maybe about a quarter or less of the patrons on Sunday wear their pj’s, so check your wallet and then decide on what to wear.

About two years ago I had a to-die-for French toast at Buckley’s. It had melted chocolate between the slices of bread and an orange glaze. It really was more of a bread pudding than French toast and that’s why I almost died.

I returned last Sunday in hopes of finding the French toast, but it was M.I.A. I sadly gazed at the menu. Three of the thirteen selections were vegetarian – Belgian waffles, Johnnycakes, and an omelet. Surprisingly, six of the selections had poached eggs – the vilest form a cooked egg can come. Variety, people, variety!

I had the Belgian waffles that were supposed to come with orange scented strawberries and powdered sugar. I guess they were out of powdered sugar and orange scented strawberries. I got plain strawberries - I didn’t detect any orange - and no powdered sugar. The waffles were luke-warm and dry. I questioned whether they were made in the kitchen or bought frozen. Not a question you want your diners to ask.

My companion had the Blueberry Johnnycakes. These were moist and delicious. There were four to the stack, which was way more than he could eat. This is where you can be thrifty. Wear your pj’s, order the Johnnycakes and split them with someone. The Johnnycakes are $7.25. At half price they’re $3.63. Split that with another person and you’re eating brunch for $1.82 apiece.

Not sure if splitting a menu item will fill you up? They have a sideboard in the dinning room that has fresh fruit and mini-muffins for you to eat before your order comes. They offer melons, pineapple, and yummy little poppy seed, cranberry, and blueberry muffins.

I have also tried dinner at Buckley’s. I had a salad with pecans and peaches. The pecans were toasted too long and the peaches came out of a can. Southern cuisine pops up in their contemporary American offerings, but they definitely did the salad incorrectly. You never send a burned nut out of the kitchen and you never serve peaches from a can - unless they’ve been spiced and pickled or you’re going for Southern-low-budget. I also had a calzone with the salad. It was very dry due to a meager amount of filling and sauce.

On another occasion I had a cheese quesadilla that was perfectly fine, but it’s hard to mess up a quesadilla. I also had sweet potato fries tossed in a Szechuan salt and pepper. These were good – awesome if they had not been cut so thinly. I don’t mind a greasy fry, but cut it thick enough so that it doesn’t flop.

For me, it seems to be hit and miss with the food at Buckley’s, but I will say that the restaurant has a great atmosphere. In the spring and summer, people are crowded on the porch and roof deck after hours enjoying drinks. The dining room towards the back of the house is very cozy and romantic with dark wood and a fireplace. If you’re feeling a little grittier, you can dine and drink in the tavern at the front of the house. At least they have variety in dining atmosphere. Maybe next time around they’ll be off the poached egg kick.

Buckley's Tavern, 5812 Kennett Pike, Centerville, DE, 19807, (302) 656-9776. Lunch, Monday-Friday 11:30 to 2:30, Saturday to 3. Dinner nightly, 5:30 to 9:30 or 10. Sunday, brunch 11 to 3, dinner 5 to 9.

Boca Negra Cake

Last weekend my boyfriend was moping about being bored and unproductive. He wanted to cook something. I said, “Well, get your ass up and be productive.” We flipped through “Baking with Julia” – Child, that is – and found a Boca Negra cake by Lora Brody. Translated from Spanish, this means “black mouth”.

The cake contains lots of chocolate, so get good chocolate. It also contains bourbon, so get good bourbon because you can taste the bourbon in the finished cake.

Learn From our Mistakes
We made the mistake of putting the batter in a 7-inch pan instead of a 9-inch pan. This caused the cake to not bake in the directed 30 minutes. We baked it longer, with no effect. We then measured the pan and discovered the mistake. We scraped off the partially cooked top, leaving an aesthetically unpleasing top on the cake and baked longer. If you have a pan smaller than 9 inches, just don’t use all of the batter – wisdom that came late to us.

About an hour and a half later we had one baked cake – that did not come out of the pan. You’re supposed to line the bottom with parchment paper, which we did not have. We improvised with a coating of butter and flour on the pan with no results.

The cake was ugly – due to our scraping off the top of a half-baked cake – but it was sooo good. We did not make the cream since it's supposed to be made a day ahead. The cake was most definitely dense, rich and chocolaty. I inhaled the entire cake over the next two days, eating it for breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, and midnight snack. I have so self-will.

Boca Negra Cake
adapted from Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan

"The cake is meant to be served warm or at room temperature, when it is as moist, dense and dark as the chocolate you use to make it. Chilled, it has all the appeal of fudge. The white chocolate cream, which is made a day ahead, is one you can use with other desserts, and neither the cake nor the cream is a challenge for beginner bakers. In fact, if you make it in the food processor; it takes only 5 minutes." Makes 12 servings.

Cream
12 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup bourbon (or more to taste)

• Prepare the white chocolate cream at least 1 day in advance.
  
• Put the white chocolate into the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade or a blender container. Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan until small bubbles form around the edge of the pan. Pour the cream over the chocolate and process until completely smooth. Add the bourbon, taste, and add up to a tablespoon more if you want.
  
• Turn into a container with a tight-fitting lid and chill overnight. The cream can be kept covered in the refrigerator for a week or frozen for up to a month. If you've frozen the cream, thaw it overnight in the refrigerator.

Cake
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 cup bourbon
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 10 pieces, at room temperature
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350.
  
• Lightly butter a 9-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment or waxed paper; butter the paper. Put the cake pan in a shallow roasting pan and set aside until needed.
• Put the chopped chocolate in a medium bowl and keep close at hand.
  
• In a 2-quart saucepan, mix 1 cup of the sugar and the bourbon and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture comes to a full boil.
• Immediately pour the hot syrup over the chocolate and stir with a rubber spatula until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth.
  
• Piece by piece, stir the butter into the chocolate mixture. Make certain that each piece of butter is melted before you add another.
• Put the eggs and the remaining 1/3-cup sugar in a medium bowl and whisk until the eggs thicken slightly. Beating with the whisk, add the eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until well blended. Gently whisk in the flour.
• Pour and scrape the batter into the prepared pan, running your spatula over the top to smooth it.
  
• Pour enough hot water into the roasting pan to come about 1 inch up the side of the cake pan.
  
• Bake the cake for exactly 30 minutes, at which point the top will have a thin, dry crust.
  
• Remove the cake pan from its water bath, wipe the pan dry and cover the top of the cake with a sheet of plastic wrap. Invert the cake onto a flat plate, peel off the parchment and quickly but gently invert again onto a serving platter, remove the plastic.
• Serve the cake warm or at room temperature with the chilled white chocolate cream.
• Once cooled, the cake can be covered with plastic and kept at room temperature for 1 day or refrigerated for up to 3 days; bring to room temperature before serving. For longer storage, wrap the cake airtight and freeze it; it will keep up to a month. Thaw overnight, still wrapped, in the refrigerator.