Results tagged “eatingin”

Sometimes, you wear a certain outfit only because you really want an excuse to show off a certain pair of shoes. And sometimes, you cook a certain dinner because you really want an excuse to use up something in your kitchen. In my case, the something was a large quantity of dill, leftover from this recipe that Ross and I really wanted to not go bad for once. "What uses a lot of dill?" he asked. My mind jumped to tzatziki: strained non-fat Greek yogurt, cucumbers, garlic, salt, pepper, lemon juice and zest, and as much dill as we wanted. (Everyone makes it differently. I'd suggest starting with the yogurt and adding everything else in small quantities till you're happy.)

Philadelphia Cream Cheese might not have been invented here, but since it bears our name, we like to keep informed about its, er, evolution. That's why we were happy to read that they recently came out with two new flavors: Sun-Dried Tomato and Basil, and Spinach and Artichoke. It's not exactly hard news, but bagel fans take their toppings very seriously, even if cream cheese isn't the healthiest condiment around. Read a review at Yumsugar and visit the Philadelphia Cream Cheese web site here. And remember that, although times are tough and the world is a crazy place, at least Philadelphia Cream Cheese has its own web site.

I'm not a baker. I like to throw things together in a kitchen, taste, see what it needs, and taste again. You can't do that when you're baking, because (a) flour and raw egg does not a tasty combination make, and (b) baking is a science wherein you have to follow a recipe closely or risk... something other than what you were going for.

I love Brussels sprouts, which is probably news to Mamaist, who tried to make me eat them for years. The trick, I discovered, is eating them fresh (not frozen)—and with meat, preferably bacon. I had this epiphany while I was in college, and I've never looked back. This has led me to amazing finds, like the Brussels sprouts and bacon salad at Alison at Blue Bell and the duck fat-fried, lardon-enhanced sprouts frequently served as a special at St. Stephen's Green in Fairmount. It's also led me to experiment in my own kitchen, and this time of year, when the cute little veggies are in season and readily available at Iovine Brothers in Reading Terminal Market, my love of trying new things with Brussels sprouts knows no bounds. Below is the recipe for my most recent concoction. I think it's a keeper—and because I'm still weight watching, it's a keeper that's not too bad for your diet!

Anyone else noticed how damn cold it is outside?

For me, Thanksgiving is rarely about the turkey. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the turkey is generally a let-down.

Click here for the first installment!

DiBruno Bros. is a really dangerous place for me. I visited their Center City location yesterday because I was in the neighborhood and I thought maybe I'd pick up some fresh pasta. I was planning on making a quick pomodoro sauce to go with it... and then I got inspired. What I ended up serving alongside the porterhouse steak I ended up buying at DiBruno's (not part of the original plan, but it just looked so good) still resembled pasta pomodoro in the end... only better. The combination of crispy proscuitto and fresh goat cheese lend the dish an interesting texture, and the red wine helps the dish to have a more robust flavor. Recipe, or an approximation thereof, is below.

We all know one or two. We don't agree with them, but they're our friends anyway, even if Anthony Bourdain likens them to terrorists, some courts have called them murderers, and Roger Clemens doesn't know what they are. They're vegans—or at least really serious vegetarians—and their numbers are growing.

Sometimes, to quote that awful Taco Bell commercial, you just want something cheesy and melty. But if you're like me, there's little—short of being very, very broke or very, very drunk—that will persuade you to patronize Taco Bell, so when the craving hits, you must look elsewhere. And as entertaining as it was to watch Mayor Nutter really enjoy his margaritas at the Love Park Mexican Post last week, I didn't find my meal there to be nearly cheesy or melty enough. (Odd, because looking at the menu, you'd think there was nothing there but cheesy and melty.)

I don't usually plan my dinner menus out ahead of time. Rather, I buy whatever protein (a) looks fresh or (b) is on sale at the grocery store/farmer's market, and plan my menu from there. Once in a while, it means cooking things that I've never cooked before. On rare occasions, it means cooking things I'm not sure I've ever before. (I'm a rebel like that.) Recently, I found myself at Whole Foods trying to decide between shrimp (which I'd both cooked and eaten before) and turbot (which I may have eaten once upon a time, but definitely had never cooked). But shrimp is so... shrimp. So turbot it was. Noticing that it had a flaky white texture like a halibut or snapper, I decided that it would benefit from some sort of acidic preparation, and away I went. The below recipe was entirely improvised, but it turned out so well that I'm definitely making it again!

I don't eat eggs (unless they're in a cake or something), so that limits my breakfast options quite a bit. It also forces me to be creative. I created this hash using chickpeas (garbanzo beans) because they're higher in protein than potatoes, thus making me feel better about the fact that I'm not topping it with eggs. Beware, though: chickpeas are also more caloric and higher in carbs than potatoes, so you'll want a smaller serving than you'd get with ordinary potato hash. That's why I put lots of fresh veggies in the recipe – better for you per bite, and no less delicious.

I'm back from a two week stint in Texas, full of Mexican food and tequila and happy to be back with this guy and this guy. While I was home, Ross came to visit for a few days, and somehow, we got to talking about comfort food with Mamaist and Papaist. Surprisingly, it was a phrase that Papaist wasn't familiar with.

At this point, I guess most of you readers out there know that I don't eat to live – I live to eat. So it stands to reason that I've had a few dining experiences this year that have been especially memorable. Some of them appeared on Phillyist, and others did not. But gourmets and gourmands alike rejoice: they're all here, in all their mouth drooling glory.

For some people, it's chicken soup. For others, mac'n'cheese or mashed potatoes. For me, it always comes in the form of something spicy and Mexican. Enchiladas, usually. One problem: enchiladas are decidedly diet-unfriendly, and, well, I'm dieting. So what's a girl to do when she's craving some good ol' South of the Border comfort food but can't allow herself all that oil and cheese?

, also starring Rick "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" Moranis. Phillyist re-watched the movie recently and were struck by two things: (1) It's exactly as funny as we remembered it being. (2) Despite the funny, it's beginning to show its age. Case in point, a dialogue between Vinnie (Martin) and the manager of a supermarket. On his way out, the manager asks if Vinnie has any suggestions for things he'd like to see the store carry:

I can’t seem to leave Reading Terminal Market without stopping at Iovine Brothers. And I can’t seem to stop at Iovine Brothers without making a purchase. Yesterday, I saw that strawberries were on sale for a dollar. I have trouble passing up berries during the summertime anyway, but make ’em cheap enough, and you’re lucky if you’ve got any left when I’m through.

Okay, maybe not really Greek. My version of Greek. Because I'm not Greek. That's a lie, actually: somewhere far down the family tree, there are Greeks on my maternal grandmother's side of the family. But I didn't learn Greek cooking from them. So I just try to replicate and/or improve on Greek food I get in restaurants. I've made this recipe a few times, and I change it every time I do. What you see below is my most recent incarnation.

It got cold last night, so I cleared some space in my kitchen with the intention of making soup, but changed my mind when I opened my fridge and saw all of the corn tortillas I've had in there for a while and really needed to get rid of. So I decided to dip into my special store of Mexican food ingredients. I bring them back from home, whenever I'm in Texas. But I have discovered that Old El Paso Red Enchilada Sauce is available at FreshGrocer (albeit the mild variety only), and once in a while I notice that Trader Joe's is peddling red enchilada sauce of their own. (Unfortunately, any time I want green sauce, I've got to get my mother to ship it.) You're not going to be able to find the good stuff, I fear (even the Mexican grocery stores don't always have it), but you can definitely make passable chilaquiles (essentially, unrolled enchiladas) with the sauces you can find around here. The amount of each ingredient is variable, depending on how much food you want to have. What's important is that the sauce coats the tortillas thoroughly, without making them too soggy. The amounts included below are approximations of what I made last night.

I am writing this post in El Paso, Texas, from the bedroom that was exclusively mine from the ages of just-turned-thirteen to nearly-nineteen. My mom has since taken it over as sort of an office/storage space for all her teaching supplies. I can't blame her: I'm home, at best, three weeks out of the year these days.

No matter how perfectly you try to calculate the amount of turkey-per-person, you always end up with leftovers. And there's really only so much leftover turkey, or so many turkey sandwiches, that a person can eat. You're stuck for ideas, but you don't want all that food to go to waste. What follows is Ma Phillyist's surefire way to make sure that the leftover bird gets eaten—and that people will like it. (The recipe works really well with chicken, too, if you decide to make it again but don't want to mess with the turkey.)

Know how, on Thanksgiving, we tend to eat (and decorate with!) a lot of corn?

Okay, I'll admit it: I love meatloaf. This oft-beleaguered food tends to get lumped with fruitcake in the category of "foods that it is rude or disgusting to offer to your guests," but I think that that's because people have been eating bad meatloaf for way too long. So, I'm going to ask you to please step away from the Stouffer's, avoid Boston Market, and try making your own meatloaf. Bonus: if you make your own, using lean ground beef and fresh ingredients, it's also going to be a lot healthier for you.