Friday PM, we sampled Philly restaurant week at Chef Joe Poon (yes POON) Kitchen. FOUR courses, sampling from his whole menu, we tried a total of 12 items i think! He was a crazy bastard but the food was good (yes I think we can and should swear Hannah).
Saturday PM we went to Parc, a brassiere bistro that sounds like it should be a quaint French place but is actually a colossal Restaurant biz mogul. Dan, Mom and I sampled Tuna carpaccio (an impossibly thin yet delish presentation) and all ordered the same entrée...Sea scallops braised with hen-of-the-woods mushrooms, spaghetti squash, and pancetta. Yes, we could all definitely make that and definitely should.
Also, for brunch we went to a Gluten-free friendly (for mama) restaurant and I had a fish omelet, fresh squeezed Guava juice, and real Venezuelan cacao and coffee, complemented with Arepas...a Venezuelan corn patty. Now, help me Colleen if you know anything about these. The Arepas were so delicious; light and fluffy, while crispy fried, delicate flavor, mmmmm. They were also stuffed with cheese. yep. I could not even fathom how they were made, being that they were gluten free yet had the consistency of something created by flour...i could only imagine that they were made with potatoes. The waitress told us the secret of how to craft these amazing creations and I have to try it!
Arepas:
Boil fresh white corn with salted water. Drain and grind the corn with "a grinder" (food processor or by hand i do not yet know). Add water with salt as necessary to form a paste. Fry in corn oil when it has reached the appropriate consistency.
She said that corn meal sold in the US is not high enough quality to make the correct consistency. I looked up many recipes and they seemed to state that you could use cornmeal instead of crushing your corn but I think I will try the old fashioned way first and get back to all of you.
Another job for THE HOT DISH test kitchen....Colleen asked me for the Curry Mayo recipe from the grassroots sweet potato fry vendor. Unfortunately Grassroots ensued after I got the recipe from the vendors and I didnt write it down or remember it properly. The good thing is that I know what it tastes like and I pretty much remember the ingredients. Also, the vendor admitted that she just makes it to taste (even though it always tastes perfectly amazing) and doesn't have exact measurements.
But, never the less:
ingredients (in order of amount used from greatest to least)
-mayonnaise
-curry powder
-salt
-lemon juice
perhaps...
-paprika
-garlic powder?
-pepper
I'll get back to ya'll after I have the answer. If anyone wants to attempt, feel free!
Now, time for dinner...Pestoooo!
Meggoo!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing about all the great eats!!
I have never heard of arepas but in Costa Rica we made empanadas with mesa which was a flour made of corn maybe you could use that?? We'll have to give it a try!
as for curry mayo Allison and I are gonna whip some up and we're thinking Sweet Potato Salad.. just like traditional potatoe salad with the substitutions of sweet potatoes and curry mayo...
We'll post the results!!!
Dude the arepas sound amazing. I can't wait for a trip to phillyyyy.
ReplyDeleteThe sweet potato salad idea actually came to me in a dream. It's rough when you can't stop thinking about food long enough to sleep.
I was thinking roasted corn, sweet potatoes, red peppers, and onions all tossed with the curry mayo. For the main event maybe a little chicken or fish a la Billy Idol from the wedding singer. (anyone?)