I’m back!

My favorite pic from the trip.

While vacations are wonderful, I have to admit that I’m ecstatic to be back and to have gone to work today. Yep, I’m that annoying person that actually enjoys their work. After only working a day or two a week for the past three months, I am sooo happy that spring is around the corner, and to be outside all day in the sun working up a sweat and getting dirty. And to make my return even better, I’m getting an extra hour of sunshine this weekend. You get it, too!

A big thank you to all who left comments suggesting places to eat! It’s quite a list. Some of the suggestions were already on my list (Devil’s Den, and Udupi Dosa House), many I have never heard of (Border Café, Pope Pub, Blue Sage Vegetarian Grille, and Su Tao Café), and some have been visited, but need a revisit (Sovanna Bistro, and New Harmony).

I will try my best to get to your suggestions, although the way I work is I either get to things in a timely manner…or in about one year! For example, I said I’d treat myself to dinner at James last year when I sold my house, but I never did. Now, I’m telling myself I’ll treat myself to James when I file my 2007 taxes and never have to think about the sale of my house again.

This weekend I’ll post what I ate while in Portugal, but I’ll forewarn you that it ain’t pretty! In the mean time, here are my favorite photos from the trip.

Sun setting on port boats and Ponte de Dom Luis I bridge in Porto after four glasses of Port wine.

Portuguese tiled walls? Pssh! I enjoyed to mosaic stone paving in Lisbon better. I'm short and a down-looker, so was greatly entertained while walking around.

I'm also a graffiti-looker. There was plenty of graffiti, and occasionally it was charming.

The Portuguese love fish. Are you singing the same song I am? Eat them up, yum!

No More Blogging

Really, it's my chair. I just let you sit underneath me.

…until I get back from my trip to Portugal with Jennie.

I’m leaving M&C and the ‘puter throne in the capable paws of Miss. Kittah. While I’m away she will dutifully be keeping the throne warm and covered in a fresh layer of hair and nail casings.

Oh, you thought she’d actually be posting while I was away? That’s just silly. What she will be doing is taking names and making a list. But I need your help.

Tell me where to eat!!

You see, I only have a couple of restaurant reviews in my reserves, and nothing on my to-do list of restaurants is exciting me at the moment. Winter depression is in full gear, and, really, nothing is exciting me. Hopefully, this vacation will throw a cog in that wheel, and, when I get back, Miss Kittah will hand over the list of all the wonderful places I should meet and eat.

So…do you have a favorite restaurant, bar, coffee shop, bakery, food cart, bodega, or whatever in Philly, Wilmington, or the surrounding area that you just can’t believe I haven’t eaten at yet? Or maybe there’s a place you’re interested in, but would like me to take the plunge first. Do tell!

Sick Is The New Birthday

All fancy, decadent, piece-of-art cakes aside, my favorite cake is plain Jane yellow cake with chocolate frosting. I made a squee-like noise when the latest edition of Cook's Illustrated had a recipe for yellow layer cake with chocolate frosting. Squee!

I was saving CI's attempt at recreating a box mix yellow cake from scratch for my birthday, but I’ve been sick all week with nothing to do, so I jumped the gun by about a month. That’s OK, ‘cause I really want an ice cream cake for my birthday this year, anyway!How do they go about getting a light, moist, yellow cake like the ones from a box that you know your Sandra Lee-bashing self really loves? Delicate cake flour, whipped egg whites for lift, and egg yolks for color.

I ended up eating around most of the frosting. Don’t ask me how I could not love what was mostly butter, melted chocolate, cocoa powder, and confectioner’s sugar, but I didn’t. I much prefer the chocolate frosting (also from CI) I posted about a couple of years ago. I’m skipping the frosting intended for this cake and sending you straight to, in my opinion, the better frosting.

Yellow Layer Cake
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated

2 ½ cups cake flour, plus extra for dusting pans
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
1 ¾ cups sugar
1 ¼ sticks butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 large egg yolks plus 3 large egg whites, room temperature

• Move oven rack to the middle of the oven, and preheat to 350°.
• Grease two 9” round cake pans and line bottoms with parchment paper. Dust pans with flour.
• Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and 1 ½ cups sugar in a large bowl.
• In a separate bowl, mix together melted butter, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and egg yolks.
• Beat egg white in a small bowl until foamy, about 30 seconds. Then slowly add the remaining ¼ cup sugar to the egg white while beating. Continue to beat until whites hold peaks, but mixture still looks moist. (The original recipe calls for a mixing stand, but I did not have one. I used a hand held beater, and had to beat for much longer than the prescribed 60 seconds to get peaks.)
• Add butter mixture to flour mixture and beat until just incorporated. Gently fold in 1/3 of the egg white mixture, then add the remaining egg white mixture and gently fold in until fully incorporated.
• Divide batter between two pans, tapping filled pans gently on counter to dislodge air bubbles.
• Bake 20-22 minutes or until done.
• Cool 10 minutes before removing cakes from pan. Remove cakes from pan, and cool on a cooling rack for 1 ½ hours before frosting.

Sweet Basil

Update: no longer open.

I still haven’t found a favorite Thai restaurant in the area, but it’s not because of a lack of effort. The latest effort was at Sweet Basil, a BYOB Thai restaurant that opened up last year in a tiny, PA strip mall just over the border from DE.

The interior is sparse, yet clean and elegant. Part of the sparseness if because two of the four walls are windows looking onto the parking lot. We sat a few feet from a line of SUVs with blinding headlights on our visit, and, from that experience, I’d strongly suggest the owners move the blinds from the top of the window to the middle of the window – and pull them down!

The menu at Sweet Basil looks abbreviated compared to the menu books you get at most Thai restaurants, because Sweet Basil does not place the same dish under five different meat headings like many restaurants. There is no vegetarian section, either; you have to ask. You’ll find most of your Thai favorites on Sweet Basil’s menu, though.

We tried to start with summer rolls, and asked our server if they could be prepared without shrimp, but she finished our sentence before we could, and laughed, saying that she gets that question all the time, and, no, they can’t. Hmm… if you get that question all the time, you might want to consider making summer rolls to order!

If only I could have coordinated the picture taking with the headlights...

From there, we ordered two of our favorite Thai dishes – Pad Thai and Massaman curry – and my litmus test for new Thai restaurants.

I had to ask for the Pad Thai to be made vegetarian. There was definitely fish sauce in the Pad Thai, but I accept fish sauce when dining out. If you don’t, of course you already know about fish sauce lurking in vegetarian Thai dishes, and to be very clear when ordering.

The pad Thai came with slices of chewy fried tofu, and the sauce was almost near perfect to my liking (I'm in the sweet and tangy camp), but perhaps a little too salty. I would have liked a lime to squeeze over the dish, and maybe a few more leaves of cilantro other than the few that were obviously decorative. Really, these are small qualms!

You have to ask for the Massaman curry to be made vegetarian, as well. Vegetarian Massaman curry usually has fried tofu, potatoes, onions, and nuts. Cubed silken tofu strangely showed up in this dish, along with a ton of onions, a couple of cashews, and nary a potato. Silken tofu is squishy and disgusting, that’s why fried tofu is king. We love onions, but this was too much, especially since some still had a raw edge. The scant sauce covering the plate was actually very good – just the right thickness and balance of coconut, sweet, and spicy.

Normally, the reason I can’t find a favorite Thai restaurant is because the sauce on pad Thai and Massaman curry is just not right for me. With Sweet Basil, the sauces were near perfect, but there were faults elsewhere.

I just can’t win, but I'm not a quitter!

Sweet Basil Thai Cuisine
275 Wilmington-West Chester Pike (US 202), Chadds Ford, PA, 19317
610-358-4015
Tues.-Thurs, 11:30 a.m. -3 p.m. and 5-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. and 5-11 p.m.; Sun., noon-3 p.m. and 5-9 p.m., Mon., closed.

Geechee Girl Rice Café

Geechee Girl Rice Café is a BYOB in Germantown specializing in traditional Southern rice dishes. As a Carolina girl and rice lover, this restaurant has been on my “list” for a couple of years. A trip to Germantown last weekend allowed for a visit.

Geechee (and also Gullah) refers to descendants of Africans who brought their rice-growing skills from West Africa and worked the rice plantations of the Low Country and Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia as slaves. A rice eating culture developed amongst the slaves and non-slaves of South Carolina that is present to this day. Mashed potatoes and dinner rolls are not supper's star starch in South Carolina; rice is.

Carolina Gold is the rice once grown on the coast of South Carolina, and has been resurrected by those interested in heirloom grains. Carolina Gold is a long-grain rice, but seems rather short because it is subject to breaking during threshing. To get your hands on some Carolina Gold around here, you’re gonna have to mail order…or go to Geechee Girl Rice Café.

Not all menu items at Geechee Girl are purely Southern. Chinese, Thai, and other world cuisines influence the mostly Southern menu at Geechee Girl. The two salad specials we ordered fall into the category of “not Southern,” but were tasty nonetheless.

The Brie, candied pecan, pear, and mixed green salad was quite good. The pecans were perfectly candied, and not bitter from over roasting. The Brie lent heft to the salad, and the pears tasted delicately of roses (they were soaked in something – missed it, though).

The beet and goat cheese salad was also a special, and how can you go wrong with this classic pairing? Rosemary was noticeable, but not overbearing.

Vegetarian items are clearly marked on the menu, although most vegetarian items are sides. Not a problem here, as the classic Southern sides are what I came to get.

There are two Southern sides traditionally served atop rice, though, that I was upset not to find. I’m not sure how they could not include stewed tomatoes and okra, but it’s missing. While they do have the traditional meat-inclusive hoppin’ John, I was hoping for a vegetarian version. Vegetarians will have to settle for black beans. So...I went rice-less.

The buttermilk biscuit is perfect – flaky, tender, a tastes like butter! I don’t think you can improve their biscuit, except by ordering two.

Collard greens come two ways at Geechee Girl – the traditional slow-cooked way, or the more modern blanched and sautéed way. I went with the blanched and sautéed greens, as that’s how I cook mine. These collards rock! The greens are not bitter, and loaded with caramelized onions and garlic. The garlic breath is fierce!

The grits were thick, creamy, and seasoned perfectly with salt. I would have liked to have had black pepper on my grits, but Geechee Girl is one of those restaurants that doesn’t provide salt and pepper shakers on tables. Unfortunately, there were a few distracting lumps in the grits.

The fish-eater ordered the salmon special of the day atop Carolina Gold rice (jasmine, brown, and wehani rice are also an option) with a side of sautéed collards. No complaints from that side of the table.

We were too full for dessert. (Knew I shouldn't have ordered a salad!)

I’ve read complaints about the service speed at Geechee Girl, and I will confirm that it is slow. It’s not neglectful or unprofessional, it’s just not the speedy service you’re used to at most restaurants wishing to turn your table for profit. If you’re a water guzzler or have a movie to get to, you’re gonna be a little bothered. Otherwise, it’s best to sit back and take it easy.

My only real complaint with Geechee Girl is the irksome note on the menu that a fee of $3 will be applied to shared plates. No one comes to dining establishments of this level to wheedle their way into a cheap dinner by sharing; they’re sharing for the sake of experiencing all the fine food. (Edit - Please note explanation of charge in comments below.)

Oh, and note that it’s cash only!

Geechee Girl Rice Café
6825 Germantown Pike, Philadelphia, PA 19119
215-843-8113
Tues.-Sat., 5:30 p.m.-9 p.m.; Sun.-Mon., closed.

I Ate Tacos, and All You Got Were Cabbage Brains

J. Farmers

After the last few scrumptious posts, I hate to throw up these pictures of food found on the buffet at J. Farmers in downtown Wilmington…but life goes on, glamorous or not.

On one of my walks to the Riverfront Market last December, I poked my head into J. Farmers having never heard of or seen the place. What I saw when I walked in the door were two huge buffets – one hot and one cold.

Buffets are scary, yet compelling. It could be really bad, but the whole world is yours. The only reason I came back to J. Farmer’s is because on the initial walk through I spied sushi, tofu, snow peas, and sriracha sauce on the buffet – and a couple of Asian women running the place. I knew they had stuck some goodies on the buffet.

I brought the boyfriend with me on the return trip, because I knew I would need help sampling the hundred plus items on the buffet. These two plates only represent a smattering of what was available on the buffet, not to mention that you can order traditional breakfast, sandwiches (including a veggie burger and a veggie wrap), and fried sides from the grill counter.

My plate starting at 12 o’clock:
Mac and Cheese – Very Stouffer’s.
Asparagus – Nice, but didn’t like gobs or dried oregano sprinkled on top.
Marinated Mushrooms – I love canned mushroom and marinated mushrooms. It’s my thang. These were in Italian dressing. Eh.
Veggie Sushi – Normal for buffet sushi.
Hard Boiled Egg – Not many signs on the buffet. I thought these were deviled eggs. I love deviled eggs, but hate hard boiled eggs. Mayo works wonders!
Silken Tofu – I had to get the tofu even though I hate silken tofu. I knew no one in would eat it, and I didn’t want it to feel unloved.
Kimchi Radish – Yum.
Sesame Asian Greens – Yes, ma’am!
Chicken Salad – Need more signs. Cubed says potato salad to me; shredded says chicken salad. Oops.
Fried Plantains (center)– Can do no wrong.His plate starting 12 o’clock:
Rice and Potatoes – Don’t hate, but I forgot if I even tasted this.
Chinese Lomein – Greasy just like on Chinese buffet.
Mac and Cheese – Everyone’s doing it!
Avocado – Fresh.
Sushi - Avocado and fake crab.
Cucumber and Tomato – Yep.
Marinated Mushrooms – Again.
Date – Nice find.
Sesame Asian Greens – Great minds think alike.
Kiwi – Fresh.
Dolma – Sticky outside.
Spinach and Cheese Casserole (center) – Very Stouffers, but good.

I know. That was thrilling! By no means is J. Farmers a place I’d go out of the way to eat at, but if I were stuck downtown in one of the high-rise buildings, forgot my lunch, and was jonesing for a buffet (all things that will never happen), this would be my game plan …

Build a salad. It's light and $5.99/pound can get expensive fast. They had some fresh and interesting items on the cold buffet that you don’t normally see at salad bars – kiwi, dates, snow peas, asparagus, tomato and mozzarella salad, and a whole bunch of other goodies I can't recall.

Or, go Asian. Grab some steamed rice from the hot bar, then head back to the cold bar and pile on kimchi, sesame greens, snow peas, tofu, and sriracha sauce.

For dessert, get a few fried plantains.

Dude, someone needs to pay me for the investigative work I do!

J. Farmers
809 N. Market St., Wilmington, DE 19801
302-777-4459
Mon.-Sat., 7 a.m.-5 p.m.