Back in Philly

Lavendar Farm

When I don’t blog, I get, “where have you been”, messages.  I’ve been enjoying fine dining in Pennsylvania.  We started our vacation in the Yardley/Newtown area.  Our first evening there we ate in a charming restaurant called Manon in Lambertville.  I had the most delicious scallop dish, but the potato accompaniment was over salted.   The next night we were in Philly, the guest of my former boss, at a restaurant called Tallulah, good food, lively atmosphere and a great garden for warmer evenings.  

Our Place setting for the Shower

 I have already blogged about the cookies we made for the shower at Chef Jean Pierre.  Chef Pierre has a party place in Newtown with a u-shaped counter surrounding his demonstration kitchen.   I believe that all that attended had a very good time watching him demonstrate the Asparagus Compose Salad, Coulibiac of Salmon, Beef Wellington and all the wonderful sides he had as accompaniments to the main course.  

A cooking lesson for the Bride-to-Be

Not a person left the Trio of Desserts on their plate.  I bought his cookbook and plan to try the Coulibiac of Salmon in the near future along with other entrees that seem to be very clearly explained.  

Before leaving the area we went to an amazing shop in Peddlers Village called Casa Casale.  Fabulous gourmet shop filled with every pasta, cheese, and sauce you would desire.  I tried to buy out the store, but I will have to go back to complete that mission.  We also visited a Lavender farm in Mechanicsville.  It was so beautiful.  Lavender, my favorite fragrance, in every form was for sale.   

Next stop was Berwyn.  We lived in this area for 25 years and I have to admit to still missing it.  Although the Philly area has always been a culinary delight , it has gone up several notches since in the suburbs.  Our first dinner was at TiraMisu.  They have on their menu under the name, Roman Jewish Cuisine.  Not real sure of what that means, but I believe the chef should get notice by the James Beard group.  I had a specialty called Grilled Calamari with Fresh Herbs.  It would be worth the price of a plane ticket to have this dish again.  Jim started with the mussels in seafood broth and couldn’t stop talking about them.  He also did not share. 

Our next evening was at Nectar.  What a beautiful décor.  Nectar is an Asian restaurant and they are good.  I ordered Pork Buns, Edamame dumplings and Foie Gras Sushi for the table to share.  Jim had Scallops and our friend Penny had striped bass.  I had more sushi, just the regular kind, and felt I had done wrong.  I should have gone for the more exotic fare as their dishes were fabulous.  We had all had desserts.  The dessert specialty is donuts.  They were not the kind from a donut shop.  If I lived near, I would be there every night for dinner.  Dinner the next with other friends was at Aneu.  It would have received a better review, if we had not been to TiraMisu and Nectar.  Before dinner we had drinks on the deck of their new home overlooking lake.  Our hostess added one of those crystal sugars on a wooden stick to my gin.  It was delicious.  Joyce and John are so creative, always something new and different.

Our last night with Mary and Carl was Philly Cheese Steak night.  I know, you are thinking there are Philly cheese steaks on every menu in every state.  If only those outside of Philly would learn how to make a proper Philly cheese steak before they put it on the menu, I would not have to travel half way across the US to get one.  We also had a She Crab Soup that comes in a bag from Gullah Gourmet, Inc. Charleston, SC.

Alas, we had to leave our old haunts and return home.  But before cooking again we met Jim’s cousin for dinner at Margot.  It is in the east end area of Nashville and the food is very good.  They have olives to die for.  When my friend Carole visits me we are going to Margot and we are going to dine on their olives and Focaccia bread.  This will be accompanied by the fabulous fume blanc we had.  It will be enough for happy dining. 

Ok, dining out cannot continue forever so for my first venture back in the kitchen, I tried a combination of back recipes.  In March I blogged a Five-Spice Broth with Salmon dumplings.  At the time Jim commented that it was the best wonton broth he had ever tasted and he wanted to have it with regular wontons.  The next blog is titled Traditional Wontons.  I made these the next day, but froze them.  Last night I made the broth again and took the frozen wontons out and cooked them in the broth.  He was right, this is a winner. 

Directions:

1.      Follow the directions for making the soup. 

2.      After step 4, add the frozen wontons to the soup.  I added 20, the same quantity as the salmon dumplings.

3.      Turn up the heat to bring the soup with the frozen wontons in it to a boil.  Then reduce the flame to a simmer and cook the wontons for 6 minutes. 

All made ahead and I guarantee you rave review.