Happy Birthday!

   

     Yesterday the Tasty Baking Company of Philadelphia celebrated its 100th birthday.  It was on February 25, 1914 that Philip Bauer and Herbert Morris began baking and selling their products to locals.  But it was in 1927 that they experimented with a small sponge cake topped with butterscotch icing.  Originally baked in the shape of a small rectangle it frequently broke apart when removed from the mold.  A solution was found to crimp the sides of the metal mold thus making it easier to remove the cake and in so doing creating small indentations in the baked goods.  And of course we know them today by that iconic shape, and the name that was derived from the process, Krimpets!

Vinny note:  To warm up a bit after this very cold and snowy winter I will be headed to the Fiery Foods Festival this weekend in Albuquerque.  Stay tuned for a full report when I return!

An Old Date

     Dates have been around for a long, long time.  It is commonly believed that they were first cultivated in Iraq around 4,000 BCE and are mentioned more than 50 times in the Bible.  But fossil records indicate that the date palm tree has existed for at least 50 million years.  While native to the Middle East and the Indus Valley, they were spread by traders into southwest Asia, northern Africa, Spain and Italy.  Eventually they were introduced into the New World in the 18th Century and are still grown in Mexico and California.  Egypt is the largest producer of the fruit worldwide.

     The name "date" comes from the Greek word daktulos, meaning "finger" which the small fruit resembles.  They range in color from bright red to bright yellow when ripe.  They are very versatile and can be eaten out of hand, pitted and stuffed, or chopped and used in any number of sweet and savory dishes.  One popular use is in the holiday favorite date nut bread.  Dates can also be dehydrated, ground and mixed with grain, used as stock feed for camels.  And in Pakistan a thick syrup is made from the ripe fruit and is used on leather goods as a coating and also applied to pipes to prevent leaks.

     There are 3 main types of dates: soft, semi-dry, and dry and are a good source of both iron and potassium.  They also contain a healthy amount of dietary fiber with a sugar content of 80%.  In 2008 an interesting medical study was conducted that discovered that women who consumed 6 dates a day in their final 4 weeks of pregnancy had less difficulty delivering their child.

     Fifty varieties of dates have been cultivated over the centuries in the Middle East and North Africa.  All have names dating (no pun intended) back into antiquity.  But ironically the largest and sweetest of them all, came to be known as the Medjool, Arabic for "unknown."

     So if you want to have a good time with an old date, consider a meal with Medjool.

Too Late

     I was first introduced to Poutine, the traditional Quebecois dish, or at least a form of it, at the Minnesota State Fair back in 2012 (read VinnyPost "Canada Invades Minnesota").  It is the plat nationale of our neighbors to the north.  The name is derived from Acadian slang for "mushy mess" but prepared properly is anything but that.

     Simply put, poutine (pronounced like the name of the Russian president) is fries, cheese curds and gravy.  But there are certain strict qualifications.  The fries must be from red potatoes, hand-cut and double fried for crispness and tenderness.  The cheese curds must be fresh and squeaky when bitten into, and the gravy is a combination of both chicken and beef stock that is thick enough to make a spoon stand up.  Anything less is an poor imitation.

     Over the weekend I received from my daughter out on the edge of the Prairie, an e-mail informing me that I missed La Poutine Week.  I was crushed to learn that for the first week in February restaurants in Montreal were rising to the challenge of creating their own spin and pushing the boundaries of the Canadian classic.  It was indeed an intense time for poutine lovers.

     As I read the descriptions of various offerings I was amazed.  Consider the following:

 

Poutine au Phoque-gnocchi, seal merguez (sausage), Brussels sprouts, cheese & jus

La Royale-pulled pork, red cabbage, green apple coleslaw
Donuts & Coffee-potato donuts, red eye gravy, smoked ham & cheese
Jewish-Matzo ball 
Moroccan-sweet potato, squash, zucchini, chick peas, tomatoes, spices & feta
La Nordique-duck confit, blue Benedictine cheese infused sauce, pickled red onions, arugula
Watership-braised rabbit, grainy mustard & honey gravy
Pookie Tang-rosemary fries, sorblege & maple sauce, bacon slices, fried cheese curds
The Lobster Monster-fries, lobster, squeaky cheese, bechamel sauce & shallots
Posh-roasted cipollini onions, bacon brisket, smoked pork, beef juice, peppers and Scotch ale gravy over fries

     One restaurant, La Banquise, cuts a ton of spuds daily to serve in their 28 different versions of poutine.  And for the week they served up a Poutine Reggae made with fries, cheese curds, Banquise gravy, ground beef, cubed tomatoes, guacamole and spicy peppers.

     I've already marked the event on my 2015 calendar and will be in attendance to see and taste this Canadian culinary treasure for myself!

     

Dinner at Supper

     I was very fortunate to receive a special gift card for a dinner for two at Supper, a restaurant on iconic South Street in Philadelphia.  Last night I was there with my gourmand companion to take advantage of their chef's tasting menu.  It's not a large place, but with two floors can seat about 75 people comfortably in their countrified setting.  We had the classic "table for two by the window" as we looked over our menu options.

     I began my four course meal with miniature stuffed pastries stuffed with a spicy pimento filling, served with a slice of dill pickle.  Smooth and creamy with just a hint of heat they were exceptionally good.  That was soon followed by a velvety sweet potato soup caressed with marshmallow and accented with a fried sage leaf.  

     It wasn't long before the entree appeared, a healthy portion of seared halibut in a pool of oyster sauce and a raft of kale with two spools of rye bread.  The fish was tender and moist and flaked nicely when touched by my fork.  It was perhaps the best seafood I've ever tasted.

     And as a fitting conclusion to the meal, the pie of the week was a tantalizing baked pear drizzled with chocolate sauce, accompanied with a tiny dollop of butterscotch ice cream.

     It was indeed an evening well spent!  And as parting gift I was presented with a jar of their own homemade tomato jam.  Can't wait to try it on some scrapple.

PB

     We all know what PB stands for in the classic kids lunch of PB & J.  But peanut butter is far more than just a sandwich filling.  Here are two suggestions for you to try that includes the old stand-by in new ways:

Green Peanut Butter Smoothie

Blend 1 banana, 1 cup almond milk, 1 cup torn kale, 2 Tbsp peanut butter, 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon and 1/2 cup ice in a blender until smooth.

Salted Peanut Butter & Jelly Blondies

Whisk together 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1 tsp kosher salt.  Whisk together 2 large eggs, 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter, 1/2 cup melted unsalted butter and 1 tsp vanilla extract.  Fold in dry ingredients.  Scrape batter into a buttered 8x8" baking pan.  Dollop with 2 Tbsp strawberry jam and top with 1 Tbsp chopped honey roasted peanuts.  Bake at 350F until a tester comes out clean, 35-40 minutes.  Sprinkle with flaky sea salt.

Old is New

     Despite arugula's trendy position atop pizza and under goat cheese disks, it did not just burst onto the American scene.   Sometimes known as rocket, particularly on the west coast, arugula was found in colonial gardens and has been a familiar entity in both the culinary and medicinal lexicon.  In fact, it was even mentioned in the Bible, as oroth.  It is well known as a spice, a food and a medicine.  Arugula was used as a treatment for eye infections, an aphrodisiac, a deodorant, a protection against dog bites, a digestive aid, a garden pest deterrent, and a salad green.  But what is new and noteworthy is its presence on the shelves in markets throughout the United States due to the increased interest in Mediterranean cuisine.

     The tender, mustard-sharp, bitter green is  standard fare as a seasoning leaf.  A relative of the radish, arugula is related to water cress and is more intense than most leafy greens.  It transforms any mild melange of salad greens into a tantalizing mesclun salad.  It balances sweet, sharp, salty, rich, and acid.

     Available year round, arugula varies markedly in size, tenderness, and bite.  It varies in heat and size with the season and climate.  Hot weather makes for hot leaves.  Usually sold in bunches, avoid those that are bruised, waterlogged, or yellowed.  The leaves hide sand no matter how clean they appear.  Swirl the leaves in plenty of water, then allow to stand for a moment and gradually lift them out of the bowl so that the sand is left in the bottom.  Spin dry the leaves and wrap in toweling and chill until ready to use.

Not just for breakfast

     It was officially Bacon Week at the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City last week.  And as you might expect, bacon was on the menu for breakfast lunch and dinner.  On the extensive menu there were the usual items, like bacon blueberry pancakes and a BLT made with a full half pound of bacon.  And not surprisingly things like maple bacon apple fritters, bacon burger sliders, bacon wrapped fillets, bacon jalapenos corn bread and fried bacon wrapped jalapeno shrimp.

     But some restaurateurs got creative with things like chicken bacon cheesesteak tacos, bacon chocolate lava cake, bacon milkshakes and sundaes, and even a BLT pizza.  It went even further with a bacon banana sub and bacon wrapped bangers.  And also available were things like bacon candy, toothpaste, floss, and mints, not to mention all manner of bacon libations.

     If your taste buds needed a break you could shop for bacon images on clothing, bacon band-aids, bacon air-freshener, and even a bouquet of bacon covered bacon roses for Valentine's Day.

      The Tropicana was offering a special Bacon Week hotel package that included admission for 2 to their health club.  After consuming all that pork fat you would need to stay on the tread mill for quite awhile!