This Year My Blog REALLY Wants A Pony

Happy first birthday, blog! Only a few more years until you're potty-trained!

Vegetarian Philly Cheesesteak

Here I go with another sampling of Philly’s contribution to the sandwich world – the cheesesteak. I do it meatless, though, ‘cause I swing like that.

All of the veggie Cheesesteaks I’ve eaten have either been made with tvp or seitan. I’ve never had or even thought of making a Cheesesteak with portobello mushrooms, but why not? They have a meaty and hearty texture, and are commonly substituted for ground beef burgers.

The veggie cheese cteak at Washington Street Ale House, an American pub-food restaurant in Wilmington, Delaware, uses portobello mushrooms along with Swiss cheese, and sautéed onions, and peppers. The smoky, char-grilled mushrooms and veggies make an excellent sandwich, although I’m sure it tastes nothing like a real cheesesteak (thank god). I was quite pleased with the mushroom version of the cheesesteak. I ended up dipping my sandwich in the ketchup I dumped on my plate for the accompanying fries, because all sandwiches need a sauce or a spread. Are you listening to me, great sandwich-maker in the sky?

Wahington Street Ale House, 1206 Washington St., Wilmington, DE 19801
Phone (302)658-2537
11am-1pm daily; Sunday brunch 10am-3pm

Baby Challah

My boyfriend has been blessed with the super power to tolerate old, moldy food in the fridge. He’ll even leave food out overnight and swear that it’s still good. I kid him about it, and have even gotten him a plushy of a moldy piece of toast. Really, though, I’m concerned for his health.

He buys loaves of challah for the Sabbath, pinches off a piece to have with wine and a prayer Friday night, and then the loaf sits around, goes stale and moldy. He resists my suggestions of putting the loaf in the fridge - ya know, because it might make it last longer. So, a large loaf of bread is wasted every week.

No longer! Jeering and deriding have had no effect on his behavior, so I completely changed my tactics - I made him baby loaves of challah. (Yes, I am the best girlfriend on this planet.) These things are so damn cute. I made some loaves with raisins, some with sesame seeds, and some plain. They’re sitting in the freezer, so he can just pull one out on Friday, have a pinch with the prayer, and there’s just enough left over to have as a pre-dinner snack or with dinner. I strive for maximum cuteness, so next time they’ll be even smaller – and cuter!

The last time I posted about challah, some one asked about vegan challah. I’ve never tried it, but PPK has one, and there’s also something called water challah.

I Love You, Pumpkin

I love pumpkin browsing in the fall - going to markets to ogle, point, and ooh and ahh over the many varieties of pumpkins. There are teeny-tiny pumpkins, red pumpkins, white pumpkins, warty pumpkins, speckled pumpkins, round pumpkins, long pumpkins, crook-necked pumpkins…well, some of these are technically gourds and squash, but all are in the cucurbit family.

I have a dream…of one day growing a record-breaking pumpkin. Ok, it doesn’t have to win a prize at the state fair, but nursing a pumpkin to obesity is on my to-do list. I currently don’t have the room or sunlight where I live to realize this dream. One day.

At Halloween, I can’t bring myself to carve my pumpkins; they’ll collapse within days to a mushy, stinky pile. I prefer to keep my orange orbs around as long as possible. Others ditch the pumpkin as soon as the holiday is over. One year I drove around on trash day and collected a trunk load of uncarved pumpkins that were kicked to the curb. That was a good year.

So, why am I writing about my love of pumpkins now? I just sacrificed the sugar pumpkin that has cheerily been sitting on my kitchen table since October to make pumpkin soup. The soup was good, but I appreciate the beauty of the pumpkin much more than its flavor. It’s going to be many months before I get to fawn over pumpkins again. Sigh.

Presto

Presto is the newest addition to Darius Mansoory’s virtual monopoly of downtown Wilmington’s 1200 block of Washington Street. (He also owns Washington Street Ale House and Mikimotos.) I can’t blame the guy for lining up his businesses; he’s reducing his commute and he’s reducing pollution!

After watching the slow construction of Presto over the past year or so, I finally walked all of two blocks from my house to check out the sandwich, pastry, and coffee shop. My first visit was about a month ago for Sunday brunch. Sunday brunch, you say? In downtown Wilmington? Inconceivable! All sandwich and coffee shops in the immediate downtown area close the second the suits go home. Not any more. Presto is open seven days a week from the crack of dawn ‘til long after the sun has gone down. I predict Presto is going to do well due to its operation hours alone.

The interior of the corner café is funky, yet clean. Green and orange tiles cover the lower half of deep red walls, and spiral backed chairs with bright green seats are tucked neatly under metal-edged tables. Blown glass lights, shaped like jellyfish, hang from the vaulted ceiling. The L-shaped counter features a glass case displaying sandwiches, sides, and pastries. An open cooler by the door holds beverages and ready-to-go foods like salads, dessert, mac and cheese, and even sushi from neighboring Mikimotos.

The pastries are made in house by a pastry chef, and are displayed up front under glass so you won’t drool on them. So far, I’ve had the sticky bun and white chocolate raspberry cheesecake square. I stopped myself from eating the cheesecake square with my hands and got a fork because it was so good; I felt it deserved decorum. The muffins look delicious, and I’m sure they’d compliment an afternoon coffee while typing on the computer (they have internet access).

The breakfast menu features bagels and panini grilled omelet sandwiches. I tried to order a sandwich from their lunch menu (times when breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served are not clear on the menu) at ten minutes before eleven, and was unable. I think they would have accommodated, but the person in the back kitchen was m.i.a. Instead, I ordered the spinach and feta omelet on ciabatta, which was tasty but could have used some special sauce.

I returned the other night to order the sandwich I originally wanted – warm, marinated and grilled eggplant, and roasted peppers with chili jack cheese, and cilantro aioli on a banquette. This sandwich smelled wonderful and was flavorful (see what special sauce can do). The marinated eggplant, along with the cilantro aioli, was tangy, and the cheese has just a hint of hot pepper. After trying a few sandwiches at Presto!, I’d advise getting a bag of chips or a cookie to go with your sandwich if you’re a Hungry Man, as I find the sandwiches on the small side.

Presto offers a dinner menu with appetizers and entrees. The sandwich shop atmosphere doesn’t seem to fit the pricey dinner menu ($16-$24), but, hey, they’re open and it’s out there as an option if you feel so inclined to order scallops or lamb chops. If not, you can order a sandwich from the lunch menu ($6-$10), which I feel is a tad over priced. (Am I cheap?)

Presto has a liquor license, so sidle up with a little hair of the dog in the form of an espresso martini for brunch, or a glass of wine with dinner...or lunch!

My one complaint with Presto is their packaging for to-go orders – lovely yellow paper gift bags, and sturdy plastic containers. It’s very nice packaging, but it’s so wasteful. I can recycle the paper bag, but the #5 plastic containers can’t be recycled in the area (if you know of a place, drop me a comment). They even put small, single pastries in a huge plastic container. I wouldn’t complain if they wrapped everything in paper. Whadda ya say, Darius? You’ve already cut down on emissions with your work commute, how about cutting down on trash?

Presto, 1204 Washington Street, Wilmington, DE, 19801
302-777-37-3786

Mac And Cheese Throwdown

Just the other day I made a written note to myself to check out Dilalah Winder’s famous Mac and Cheese (report coming when I get around to that list), and today I read that a mac and cheese bake-off happened in Center City Philadelphia between Food Network’s Bobby Flay and Philly’s Delilah Winder. Oprah has declared Delilah’s dish the best, but the judges for the yet-to-be-aired Throwdown With Bobby Flay say,”Nuh-uh”. I call foul on that tricky Flay-ster for throwing pancetta in the mix. Who can resist bacon?

Seed Starting Chart

It’s time to start planning your vegetable garden – browsing seed catalogs, circling interesting varieties, and even getting some seeds started! Yes, some seeds need to be started this early; namely, onions. Onions started from seeds (as opposed to sets) need to be grown in a greenhouse or indoors about 10 weeks before they go outside into the ground.

I’m familiar enough with vegetables to know when to start seeds, but if you’re not, there’s a really cool tool, the Lazy Gardener’s Automatic Seed Starting Chart, over at You Grow Girl to help you. Just plug in the last frost date for your region and sow dates will pop up on an Excel spreadsheet. There’s nothing more painful than sitting down with all your seed packets and counting the days on a calendar between sow dates, germination dates, transplant dates, and harvest dates in order to plan a perfectly timed harvest. I can attest. While at school, I was required to keep an extensive and anally detailed journal of such things for my vegetable garden.
I noted a few things from my experience to share if you plan on using this chart.

• The chart doesn’t account for planting a fall or second crop, so you’ll have to do the math if you want veggies into the fall.
• Some veggies have an easier time of it if sown in cell packs in a greenhouse and transplanted to the ground when a bit larger.Conversely, some seeds are better sown directly in the ground.
• In my experience, I would not transplant corn, as the You Grow Girl chart recommends, but start corn directly in the ground when the temperatures are warm.
• Also, I would not direct sow onion seeds, but plant in cell packs and transplant.

Happy garden planning! May your headaches be lessened with this tool and your harvest be bountiful.