Breakfast of Champions

Photo by hundrednorth

Update: No longer open

I remember exactly what I did for my last birthday. I woke up and indulged in an entire Boston creme cake from Pink Rose Pastry Shop for breakfast, and then went and worked the ropes for an arborist for nine hours.

The Boston cream cake at Pink Rose is my favorite. I’m a sucker for creamy middles and chocolate, and this has both. The cake is individually sized, maybe a little larger than an index card, but best if shared with someone. The chocolate ganache covering the cake makes this Boston cream cake truly rich and the reason why is should be shared.

It was my birthday and I wasn’t sharing, though. Feeling guilty, and a little ill from my huge sugar breakfast, I was ready for work.

I'm also in love the Pink Rose's éclairs. Again, I’m a sucker for creamy middles and chocolate. The larger ones are huge. I know myself, and I would eat the large ones in one sitting, so I get the small ones. Other sweets in my mouth include the lemon bars, raspberry bars, black and white cookies, carrot cakes, and various cookies from their gift tins.

Not in my mouth, but on my mind, is their banana cream pie. I’ll quote their description: “A piled high dome of banana cream covered with fresh banana slices in our delicious fresh crust with a baked banana filling. You just won't believe how good it looks and tastes.” I just want to tie some ribbon to the pie, strap it on my head and wear it as a hat. It looks that good.

I always go to the counter and order my sugar package to go, but the Pink Rose has tables where you can sit and have tea or coffee and dessert. I’ve seen people forgoing dessert after dinner at nearby restaurants to grab dessert at the Pink Rose. They’re open most nights until 10:30 or later.

They also serve breakfast until 4 p.m. I’ve never been, but a friend has taken her mother there and said she thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s definitely a “mom” place with tea, cute curtains and sugar in the air. I’m just not sure I could eat eggs when the Boston cream cake was staring at me.

The Pink Rose is fortunately/unfortunately located around the corner from my boyfriend's house. I found myself stopping by on the way to clubs, before he got home from work, or after dinner. I found myself there a little too often.

In college, I used to stop by a restaurant and get a huge chocolate chip cookie almost every day. I put a stop to that when I realized that everyone knew exactly what I was going to order. Coming out of denial about the fact that a huge cookie every day is fattening was the other reason I stopped.

Well, I had to put a stop to ducking into the Pink Rose whenever I walked past it. Now I walk past their air vent on Bainbridge St. and breathe deeply, exclaiming dreamily, ”Mmm, butter and sugar.” They really do push the best smelling air in Philly, and it’s low cal.

This year I’m eating my Wheaties for my birthday breakfast and going to work to cut back 15-foot tall grass in a gully. Yes, I am a champion!

Pink Rose Pastry Shop, 630 S. 4^th St., Philadelphia, PA 19147
1-800-ROSE-383

Passion Fruit Mojito

Photo by A30_Tsitika
My birthday is a few days away and I’m depressed. Not because I’m getting older – I still rock it! – but because my birthday sucks in the Northeast. I’m used to it being warm, having azaleas in bloom and leaves on the trees. You know, spring!

But this has not been the case for the past 4 years since I’ve left warmer climes. It’s really miserable having my birthday when it’s cold outside. I just want to jump up and down, have a fit and pout about it.

Since I’m not moving someplace warm in the next few days, I’m going to pretend it’s warm and have a mojito. Come drink the cold and my pain away with me.

Passion Fruit Mojito
Makes one drink

sugar
water
2 oz. light rum
1 oz. Passion fruit juice (more if you like it more tart)
1 oz. simple syrup
1 lime
mint leaves (4 or so sprigs)
crushed ice
chilled lemon-lime flavored club soda
tall glass
spoon

• Make simple syrup: Heat equal parts sugar and water in a saucepan until just before boiling and stir until the sugar has completely dissolved
• Place the mint leaves and 1 oz. of the simple syrup (cooled) in the glass, then squish it all around with a spoon to release the oils. Leave the mint in the glass.
• Pour in the rum and passion fruit juice and stir.
• Add plenty of ice, then top off the mixture with lemon-lime flavored club soda.
• Garnish with a sprig of mint and a lime wedge and enjoy!

Brothers Ain't Cheap

Di Bruno Brothers specializes in cheese, meats and specialty foods. I’ve been in the original and claustrophobic store in the Italian Market, but it’s really hard to take in all the offerings when some one is constantly rubbing up against you. This really turns me off when shopping - I don’t care how hot you are, and the public is generally not hot.

I’ve been curious about the larger Di Bruno Brothers store in downtown Philly for a while, so I stopped in the other day in route to meet someone downtown.

What a beautiful culinary store…to have my wallet raped!!!

Oranges 99 cents each! Tofu for $4.99!! A bag of chips for $5.99!!!

Please. I don’t care what finery you’re selling. I’m not stupid enough to purchase your fine cheese if you’re going to rip me a new hole when I pick up a staple to make my meal complete.

I understand the concept of offering gourmet products and having staples conveniently available at a higher price than a suburban grocery store, but your mark up is out of control.

I’m sure there are people who would rather pay than be inconvenienced by making another stop or people who just don’t care or don’t need to care about the their finances, but your prices offend me. I won’t be purchasing a single thing from you; I don’t care if it is some rare cheese that no one else carries.

Tempeh Salad

One of the only meat dishes I crave is chicken salad. I like my chicken salad with lots of pepper and celery. The tiny containers of vegetarian chicken salad are way too expensive, so I usually grate seitan to make my own.

I’ve never made a veggie chicken salad with tempeh, but I saw this the other day and decided to give it a go since I already had a fresh baked olive roll from Fork:etc. The olive roll, by the way, was perfect - crusty on the outside, soft in the middle and had large hunks of olives.

Tempeh Salad
adapted from Yoga Kitchen: Recipes from the Shoshoni Yoga Retreat
serves 4

2 tablespoons sunflower oil
4 cups cubed tempeh(the smaller you dice the tempeh, the better it stays on the roll)
3 tablespoons Bragg Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce)
1 to 2 cups mayonnaise (regular or vegan)
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1/2 cup diced red bell peppers
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced celery
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
salt and pepper

• Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the tempeh and fry until golden. Sprinkle the Bragg Liquid Aminos over the tempeh and sauté for 1 minute longer.
• Transfer to a serving bowl and stir in the mayonnaise, scallions, bell peppers, carrots, celery, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. (I also added garlic powder and lemon juice to make it a little zippier.) Mix thoroughly.
• Let marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour before serving. Use more or less mayonnaise depending on your taste.

Fork it Over

Fork:etc. went unnoticed by my eyes until a few weeks ago, even though it has been in existence since 2004 and I have peered into it’s neighboring and mother restaurant, Fork.

Fork:etc. is a prepared foods offshoot of Fork. It’s sort of like a deli where you can order pre-made sides and sandwiches from the counter or snag a prepackaged salad, wrap or dessert from the refrigerated display. Take home the sides and serve them like you made it yourself or sit and eat a quick bite at their minimal, yet homey, chic digs.

Since the weather was so nice this weekend, I decided to grab a sandwich to go and eat it in a park. I ordered the standard one vegetarian sandwich option. That day they were offering a fried eggplant sandwich on their homemade focaccia. At least it wasn't the usual non-meat option of hummus or portabello - great friends, but a bit overdone.

They slid the pre-made sandwich out of the deli case and grilled it to warm it up. The sandwich was good, if not a bit greasy, but we’ll blame that on the ingredients – fried eggplant and focaccia. They could have skipped the leaf of bitter endive, but the sandwich hit the spot and quelled my mid-afternoon hunger.

Here’s my rant: Where’s the sauce?

I’ve always been a proponent of “special sauce” or “secret sauce.” A sauce so good you just want to sop every drop up with your bread can turn a sandwich made with every day ingredients like lettuce and tomato into something divine.

Don’t put enough sauce on a sandwich and, I don’t care how good it is, it will get lost amongst the bread and filling. Of course, a sandwich with no sauce is hard to swallow. Glass of water, please.

This sandwich did have sauce, but since it was pre-made the sauce soaked into the bread. Not putting a lot of sauce on a sandwich that may sit a while is a good idea, since soggy bread in unpalatable. I’ll give them credit for thinking ahead on that construction detail, but could they have not thrown a little sauce on the sandwich to revive the flavors before they gave it to me.

I realize this is an absurd request for pre-made sandwiches at gas stations, busy delis and grocers, but Fork Etc. is essentially an upscale deli/sandwich shop. They did go through the trouble of heating, cutting and wrapping the sandwich for me, so maybe they could have a little ramekin of sauce to throw on the sandwich before it passes across the counter.

Rant aside, the sandwich was good, all of their offerings looked appetizing, their prices are reasonable and their baked breads are soft and yummy.

See what I did with their olive loaf on the next post.

Fork:etc.
308 Market St., Philadelphia, PA, 19106
215-625-9425

Found...Veggie Hot Dog Street Vendor

I once asked my seemingly understanding, local hot dog street vendor if she would consider selling veggie hot dogs. She looked up from her knitting and scowled, “That’s a novel idea.”

From that moment on – about 10 years ago - I’ve been on a quest to find a street vendor peddling veggie hot dogs. I never researched or specifically hunted for a vendor, but made a point to check any vendor that I passed.

How novel could this idea be? I thought for sure there would be a veggie hot dog street vendor in New York city. How could there not be…millions of people and corners to park a cart? Nope. I did not find one in my wanderings of NY.

After more than a decade with this novel idea rattling in the back of my head, by some silly chance I found a veggie hot dog street vendor in Lawrence, Kansas, of all places! Actually, it was a veggie bratwurst, but that’s close enough

I was so ecstatic, I sat down and chatted with the vendor and told him how he had made one of my dreams come true. I’m sure he talks to lots of freaks.

Sadly, he told me that selling the veggie brats is not lucrative for him. Some days no one is interested and he throws them out with the dog water. Other days, he sells out and disappoints potential customers when he has no more to offer.

Even though I wasn’t hungry, I ordered my long sought after veggie hot dog. Thank you Mr. Hot-dog-vendor-on-Massachusetts-St.-in-Lawrence. I forget his name, but I won’t forget his help in the realization of my novel idea.

Now if that dreams-do-come-true story doesn’t stop you from killing yourself, I don’t know what kind of hope there is.

If you know of any veggie hot dog street vendors, let me know.

Keep the dream alive.

Deviled Eggs

My last dining experience reminded me of my love for deviled eggs. I tried a few recipes this week and now I’m deviled egg-ed out.

I tried the standard mayo, mustard, vinegar recipe. This is the base to any variation you want to make, and there are lots. I made one with garam masala and one with bits of pickled mushrooms. They were both good.

I also tried one recipe with no mayo, but olive oil and vinegar. The flavor was good, but I found the filling to be too dense. I prefer the fluffiness that mayo gives the yolks.

There are some tricks to know, though. Don’t boil the eggs too long or the whites turn rubbery. Ten minutes of gently boiling water always works for me. Also, cool the eggs off after cooking by setting the eggs in cold water to avoid a green yolk.

Some people do all sorts or crazy steps to center the yolk or avoid air bubbles and cracking, but it’s just not that hard. Follow those steps if you have lots of time and are a control freak.

Bring a tray of these retro hors d’oervres to the next party and make Brini proud!

Deviled Eggs
adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book
serves 12

6 hard-cooked eggs
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1 teaspoon vinegar
paprika or parsley sprigs (optional)

• Halve hard-cooked eggs lengthwise and remove yolks.
• Place yolks in a bowl; mash with a fork.
• Add mayonnaise, mustard, and vinegar to yolks; mix well. If desired, season with salt and pepper.
• Stuff egg-white halves with yolk mixture.
• If desired, garnish with paprika or parsley.

Deviled Eggs sans Mayo
serves 12

12 hard-cooked eggs
1/2 cup olive oil
1/8 cup vinegar
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
paprika
salt and pepper

• Halve hard-cooked eggs lengthwise and remove yolks.
• Place yolks in a bowl; mash with a fork.
  
• In a cup to the side mix olive oil, vinegar, and lemon juice.
  
• By tablespoons full, add the liquid mixture to egg yokes and mix. If you do it by tablespoons full you can control the consistency of the yokes. You may use just a little less, or add a little more. Add salt and pepper.
  
• Stuff egg-white halves with yolk mixture and garnish with paprika.