Darling clementines

A clementine is so much more than just a stocking filler.

Easy peeling small citrus fruits are in their prime right now and make a refreshing antioxidant-rich snack during the feasting of Christmas as they tend to contain even more vitamin C than oranges, tangerines and satsumas.

Try segments in a winter salad with either goat’s cheese or grilled chicken, with rocket, shallots and walnuts.

Shaun Hill, chef at the Walnut Tree, near Abergavenny, in Wales makes a steamed Clementine pudding using baking powder rather than suet to keep the dish lighter.

Jamie Oliver adds clementine zest along with cranberries and sweet chestnuts to his mince pie mix and Allegra McEvedy creates a pithy Byzantine salad out of thinly sliced clementine segments, pistachio halva and pomegranate seeds with a splash of orange blossom water and runny honey – delicious served with Greek yoghurt.

Or simply savour a juicy clementine with a classic German Riesling such as a 2003 Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Auslese, Saarburg (£13; waitrosewine.com; £13).

Shabby chicory

An antidote to the saccharine excess of the Christmas table, chicory’s crunchy, bitter leaves are not to everyone’s taste.

Chicory is more popular on the Continent where it is commonly known as witloof (from white leaf) and in the US, where it is called Belgian endive. The French even have a museum dedicated to the vegetable in Orchies, in the Calais region.

The commercially-grown vegetable has a pure white colour because the roots sprout in complete darkness but other varieties have a burgundy flush.

Citrus fruits, such as grapefruit and orange, work as a natural foil to the zesty bite of chicory leaves in a winter salad. The leaf also matches well with strong cheeses such as Roquefort or gorgonzola and can be poached, braised, stir-fried or baked and served with bacon, ham and pheasant. The website chicorychallenge.co.uk has scores of recipes using chicory in an audacious range of global dishes.

A raw chicory salad needs a dry, crisp acidic white wine such as a Soave or Lugana from Italy. The 2007 Soave Classico, Ronca (£3.98, Asda) is a bargain bottle made from hand-harvested garganega and trebbiano grapes, with a fresh, unoaked citrus palate.

YummySoup!

YummySoup! Quick and easy recipe management for OS X..


Recipe Management for all you mac users is now a breeze. YummySoup ($15) is a super affordable, elegantly designed, and useful piece of software. The download has a bunch of delicious looking recipes to start you off, with mouth watering photos in a strip across the top of the window, and the recipes below..all categorized in a familiar Cocoa style in the left column.

Importing recipes is as simple as dragging an Epicurious link from your browser toolbar into the photo strip of YummySoup.

I'll be trying it out for the next few weeks and will share any further developments!

Organic Vegetable Boxes in London

I was just wondering which are the best Organic Vegetable Boxes you can get delievered in the London area. There are some listed in the link but What's the different between organic vegetables delivered on a regular weekly basis and a one-off order for an organic veg box?

Do you get fed up with the same vegetables arriving in teh boxes or do they vary a lot?

Are box delivered vegetables that much more expensive than supermarket veg from the organic section and are the the same quality?

So many questions, but it's important to get the right delivery scheme or whatever isn't it.

Martha, Martha, Martha

Last Friday night, at the Williams Sonoma at the Bellevue downtown, I met one of my heroes, Martha Stewart. Although to be clear, when a colleague asked me incredulously, "do you like Martha Stewart?" I responded, "well, not in a friend way."

But certainly in an icon way. Martha's recipes have provided me with great food; her decorating efforts have inspired me. There are times when I have had to draw the line at the level of effort, or as described in my "Pumpkin Soup Meltdown" entry, simply not been able to rise to her challenges. Nevertheless, she has been a consistent role model in my adult, home-making life.

Which is why seeing her seemed like the only choice for me on Friday. Martha was doing a book signing of her new "Martha Stewart's Cooking School," a large and colorful book, full of step-by-step instructions for classic recipes. In the same vein as The French Laundry Cookbook and Julia Child's The Way to Cook, this type of cookbook was long overdue for Martha. After some confusion about needing tickets and Williams Sonoma graciously calling me (thanks, Anna!) when a ticket freed up, I waited in the long but well-organized line. The store even served us samples of some of its Thanksgiving options, which were delicious.

Then the moment of truth. Martha was handled by no less than two people before you could approach and three (plus one security guard) to see you out. I was reminded of the part of the movie, "A Christmas Story," when Ralphie finally meets Santa only to be herded in and out by pushy-but-smiling elves. Everyone seemed kind, but they were clearly there to make sure you did not linger, nor pose for photographs, nor ask Martha to make out the signature to you, personally (she wasn't doing that).

Martha greeted me with a "hello" that made me want to somehow connect with her, a sentiment likely echoed by each of the hundreds of people that came before me. I responded, "how are you hanging in there," which could have only been some product of an IQ-dropping adrenaline surge. She gave me a look and shrug that to me said, "you know, it's a book signing, not prison" but could also perhaps be read as "fine." I recovered to spout my rehearsed line, "Your Quick and Healthy Cookbook revolutionized the way I think about cooking." [While nerdy, this is a true expression on my part, reflecting how impressed I was with the way the book is organized by seasons and uses the simplest combinations of ingredients.] To which Martha responded, looking directly into my eyes, "good, good." With a solemn seriousness only someone that reserved can convey in the fewest of words.

As I turned my head slightly, the three post-signing elves smiled and gestured for me to move along. For the record, Martha Stewart is more beautiful in person, perfectly put together with the right hair and lovely outfit, complemented by a modern, grey jacket. I felt heady as I left, as though I had encountered more greatness than my small brain could handle. After all, I just had a conversation, however small, with this woman, whose books grace my shelves and whose magazine arrives in my mailbox monthly, all telling me how to live my life just a little bit better. So I continue to adore her -- just not in a friend way.

Williams Sonoma is located at 200 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia.

The Greenwich Union Meantime van

The Greenwich Union Meantime van
Originally uploaded by Andyrob

The Greenwich Union is the only pub operated by the Greenwich Meantime brewery although their interesting modern beers can be found in many other pubs and other outlets.

Eggs in a Basket

My wife, Amy, loves the 'Eggs in a Basket' dish at Cracker Barrel and wanted to try to make them at home. I have not had them at Cracker Barrel before but these turned out really well. It's part fried eggs and part french toast (I bet they'd be good with some maple syrup!).

Here's how we did it:

Ingredients:

• 2 slices sourdough bread (we didn't have any but a good Tuscan bread worked fine)
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbsp butter (we used Smart Balance)

Process:
Cut 2-3 inch round holes in the center of the bread slices. Heat butter in a frying pan and put in bread slices with holes. Crack 1 egg in each bread hole. Cook for about 1 minute, then flip. Cook on second side for about 1 minute. Serve.

Make sure to use the round bread cut-outs to mop up the extra yolk!

Jalapeno and Sweet Banana Pepper Hot Sauce

This was the first hot sauce recipe I ever tried and it turned out wonderfully. It's based on the classic process used by McIlhenny's for Tabasco sauce. I first encountered it in Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky (fabulous book!) and have used it twice so far with great results.

This one has a pure, fresh jalapeno flavor that will remind you of the garden in summer no matter what time of year you eat it. Bruce says "You can taste the sunshine in it!" The banana peppers add just a little bit of sweetness to it to round it out.

Ingredients:
2 to 3 lbs. jalapeno peppers
1 lb sweet banana peppers
(peppers should fill a 1-gallon container)
a little less than 1/2 cup kosher salt
2 cups white vinegar

Process:
Wash peppers and remove the stems. Rough chop peppers so they will fit easily into a food processor. Run chopped peppers (seeds and all) through a food processor until coarsely ground. Add a little of the vinegar to get it going if need be (most likely). Transfer batches of ground peppers into a very large bowl or container. Once all of the peppers are ground and in the bowl, add salt and stir in well. Transfer ground peppers with salt to a 1-gallon+ container that can seal as airtight as possible and close.

Let the pepper/salt mixture sit in the airtight container for 4-6 hours. The salt will leech the pepper juices out a bit. Once there is a little liquid in with the peppers, press the solids down so that they are below the surface of the liquid. (I use a flat plastic lid from a takeout container or food storage container. You can usually cut them down to the right size with good scissors.) If there is not much liquid from just the salt and peppers you can add a bit of the vinegar to cover.

Once the pepper/salt mixture is pressed down under liquid/vinegar, close the container and let sit for 3-4 weeks. Then add the rest of the vinegar on the top and let sit another week or two.

Once the aging process is complete (your discretion), put the mixture in a blender and puree. You will probably need to do this in batches as well unless you have a very large blender. Put each batch in a large bowl. Once the pureeing is done, run the pureed mixture through a sieve to strain out whatever little bits may still be present. This also gives the sauce a nice smooth consistency.

Bottle/Jar and serve.

Methods of adding the vinegar vary so there is some leeway with how much you put in initially and how much to add later. Any way you cut it, the longer it ages, the better.

Enjoy!

How to make Cider at home

An interesting way of making a home made apple press for anybody wanting to learn how to make cider at home.

Japan - Kaiseki

Recently, I spent 15 days in Japan. Hence my absence from this blog. The experience really rearranged my palate. Or at least that's how I can best articulate what happened after my steady diet of fish, rice, noodles, and various things I cannot name (because, to this day, I have no idea what they were). I currently find myself disdainful of the heavily portioned, rich, somewhat boring, American diet. I am hopeful for my overall health that this outlook will last for at least a couple of weeks, but it remains to be seen. In any case, I offer the following description of the best meal I had in Japan in lieu of a Philadelphia-based review to make up for lost time.

The meal was consumed at the "the good Kaiseki place," as my friends currently living there call it, in Misawa, located in the northern part of Honshu (about three and half hours north of Tokyo). Most restaurants in Japan, except for McDonald's and KFC, post their names in Japanese - in Japanese characters. As a result, we went to places like "the best ramen place" and "expensive sushi restaurant." We don't know their actual names.
This meal, as I came to think about many of my meals in Japan, was amazing. Not only for taste, but also for diversity, precision and size. This first dish - sesame tofu with wasabi, was delicious. A perfectly silken but firm piece of tofu, topped with just enough wasabi to offset the sweet soy sauce. I don't even like wasabi, and I loved this.
The next course consisted of (clockwise from left), egg with shrimp and sea urchin, "seafood" (a bit like escargot, maybe) served in a seashell, salmon roe with daikon, chicken with black sesame, and "fish." All of it was unlike anything I've ever tasted. Even though I had salmon roe before, this batch seemed especially flavorful, as though little bubbles were bursting in my mouth. It was also amazing to have a series of such diverse tastes that clearly reflect considerable effort, all in small portions on my plate. Apparently Thomas Keller was not the first to think of the multi-course amazing tasting menu.
Next was - you guessed this one - sashimi. But also perhaps the best sashimi I have ever had. It consisted of scallop (causing me to question why I have never ordered scallop sashimi here), tuna, and flounder. The scallop possessed all of the excellent qualities of cooked scallop in terms of texture, but in an intensified way.
The grilled fish entree course, common in kaiseki meals, was mackeral with spring onion and miso. We were instructed to dip the onion in the miso bean mixture. As expected, the contrast was delicious and the fish done to delicate perfection. Because scale is not always clear, I will tell you that the fish was about three bites big, the perfect size for an eight course meal.
The next course, although not entire clear from the picture here, consisted of an amazing soup that featured crab, fish, squid and mussels topped with this odd rice-like grain (and another great addition of a little wasabi). The taste of seafood soups was always extraordinary in Japan, infused with a rich flavor. This was no exception.
The sixth course remains perhaps my favorite of anything in Japan (although I do tend toward both exaggerated and superlative descriptions, I did love this course). It consisted of crabmeat and cucumber wrapped in soy paper served on top of sliced persimmon, with rice wine vinegar and topped with chrysanthemum. A tremendous effort and a great result - all for two perfect bites.
The seventh course was a combination -- one of rich rice, infused with a mushroom that we were told was "very expensive" and prized by the Japanese, and clam soup. I wasn't sure what the fuss was about the rice, although it was rich and flavorful in an almost meaty way. But the soup was flavored simply with the clams and shiso leaf, a particularly interesting combination that was quirky and satisfying.

The last course was a perfect finish - apples poached in red wine and sugar. Refreshing but sweet, the perfect end to the meal. All in all, the meal, much like my trip, was unsual and inspiring.

Japan is a group of islands in the Pacific, east of China, Korea and Russia.

Saving Money with Organic Boxes

Organic Boxes save money?

I've been having organic boxes delivered for many years on and off and I'm convinced that the advantages include saving money overall as well as all the other benefits. How can this be when organic vegetables are more expensive than non organic, and home delivery is an added luxury you may well ask. Well the way I see it, it's all about cultivating good habits. However independent, intelligent and resistent to advertising you might be, the big international supermarkets chains have spent millions on research into how to influence our behaviour. Once we step inside their stores we are vulnerable to all sorts of unconscious triggers and associations which will sooner of later cause us to by something that isnlt really needed, and will almost certainly fail to live up to its promise. So the less times you set foot inside a supermarket the more money you save, and having organic boxes delivered to the doorstep is one excellent defence mechanism.

Don't just believe me though, see this report as well, that backs up similar ideas and gives five good reasons why Organic Boxes save you money:

Organic Boxes Save Costs

Organic boxes can actually save you money as well as save the planet, according to the Manchester Evening News. A recent article suggests that many people are cutting back on buying organic in supermarkets and are looking round for cheaper solutions.

Organic Boxes - 5 ways they save you money

Zento

In preparation for my upcoming trip to Japan, I have tried to immerse myself in all things Japanese (especially food, of course). I should not have waited for such an excuse to try Zento, however. I might blame its unassuming exterior, which unfortunately blends with the row of other restaurants on the 100 block of Chestnut. In any case, it's well worth adding to your list of best sushi restaurants in Philadelphia. It is a little pricey, but offers unique combinations of exquisitely fresh fish.

Speaking of combinations, we decided to forgo Zento's extensive other options (including a bento box) in favor of its rolls. Its list of rolls is extensive but not overwhelming, offering appealing, fish-centered options. I chose the Green River Roll, which included toro, eel, avocado, and plum paste with dried seaweed outside. The plum paste was a nice compliment to the fresh fish and richness of the roll without being overpowering, offering a peaceful sweetness. I also tried the Love Roll, with salmon, tuna, eel, asparagus, and yellowtail wrapped with soy paper. The soy paper was reminiscent of the doughy coating to mochi, although more subtle. Check out the presentation of two of the pieces, which managed to be both lovely and tasty. Again, the flavors worked well together and were quite fresh. My dining companion ordered the Center City Roll, with broiled yellowtail, tuna, salmon, white fish with crab, asparagus, scallion, and spicy sauce and Zento Square Sushi, with eel, avocado and plum paste inside, tuna or salmon on the top glazed with sweet and spicy sauce. Or at least I think that's what was ordered. Darn my inability to take notes while dining. In any case, rave reviews all around. Although at $15/roll, we had limited ourselves and both ended up a bit hungry. At our waiter's suggestion, we ordered the highly recommended black sesame mochi, which was delicious. The green tea was equally good and provided a nice accompaniment to the meal.

Zento's chef/owner, Gunawan Wibisono, worked his way through sushi restaurants, including Kisso, before becoming a sushi chef at Morimoto. His talent is readily apparent. I would highly recommend Zento; hopefully its BYO status will offset the high prices of its sushi.

Zento is located at 138 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa, (215) 925-9998.

The Dartmouth Arms

I shall miss the Dartmouth Arms during September this year when the London Overground is having engineering works. We like to take what we call "the little train" to Gospel Oak and then walk across the bottom of Hampstead Heath to the Dartmouth and we invariably eat there as well as enjoying the fantastic range of draught and bottled ciders.

Favourite food items are

Six Oysters as a shared starter. Yum

Fish and Chips supper on a Friday

The Spanish Platter with serano ham and lovely pickles

Ah, and I've just remembered last time we ordered the English platter and this included a small mutton pie which was sublime. We'd like to know whose pie that was to see if its obtainable elsewhere at all.

Chinese Take Out - Sang Kee

Help! I am desperate for suggestions on decent Chinese food take-out. After craving the mashed beef soup, I discovered that my favorite place, Shiao Lan Kung, is closed on Mondays. Opting instead for Sang Kee Peking Duck House, I was disappointed. Aside from the Peking Duck Rolls, it was not good. Clearly, stick with the specialty here.

The House Special Soup offered nothing special, steamed dumplings, chicken, pork, shrimp and spaghetti-like noodles, which were all then covered with fairly flavorless broth. The Peking Duck rolls, consisting essentially of duck, hoisin sauce and a wrapper (so exactly how you might prepare your Peking Duck entree order), were very good. In fact, you might want to order these instead of Peking Duck, which scared us off price-wise at $20/half and $40/whole. The watercress dumplings, which I mistakenly thought would be wrapped in watercress, were instead stuffed with watercress, along with shrimp and pork. I thought the taste was off, tasting a bit frozen to me, although this seems unlikely given that I witnessed fresh dumplings being moved from the back of the kitchen.

For an entree, we ordered Salt Baked Shrimp, Scallop and Squid (pictured above), in an attempt to satisfy the craving we had for Shiao Lan Kung's salt baked shrimp. Unfortunately, the dish merely provided battered and fried seafood. The scallops were unpleasantly mushy, although it was honestly hard to tell the scallop apart from the squid. Here's the interesting part -- I couldn't taste any salt. The sauteed snow pea leaves with garlic were an equally pale comparison, featuring what was distinctively not fresh leaves with a very mild garlic taste.

The duck was good and a decent beer made everything a bit better, but I'm still left looking for good take-out. Is this a failing of Philly or my own ability to find something? Suggestions, anyone?

Sang Kee Peking Duck House is located at 9th and Vine Streets.

Chima Brazilian Steakhouse

It's no Fogo. When a restaurant with an identical concept opens seven blocks away from the first, comparisons are inevitable. When Chima (pronounced SHEE-ma), another Brazilian steakhouse chain, opened in late May, those of us who enjoy Fogo de Chao (admittedly, another chain), were intrigued -- was the town big enough for both of them? I think the black button sums up my answer.

Having made reservations, printed out two-for-one coupons (something you can do by registering as a preferred customer on Chima's website), we presented ourselves at the front door. On the way to being seated, we noticed the din and, as my one friend put it, the "mess hall" feel. Carpets were vacuumed immediately as diners vacated, something I remember seeing last at ... Denny's.

Then came the service. Or the realization that there may never be service. After ten or so minutes of waiting without anyone presenting themselves, including just to give us water, I asked a man in a suit (who, luckily, worked there) for help. He took our drink orders, promised us water, and told us we could go to the salad bar if we wanted. He also explained the Brazilian steakhouse system, where diners put the orange side of the coaster/button up to have "gauchos" bring you meat on long skewers, and black side up to stop the gauchos from serving.

After we had made it to the salad bar, and ate most of what we got, we had still not received drinks or water or, most interestingly of all, seen our waiter. We began to think that maybe people don't get waiters here. After our drinks were delivered, we asked once again for water and got that. The salad bar itself was okay, with several unusual options like blue cheese mousse and corn mousse, neither of which were particularly good, tending to be less rich but bland. The carpaccio tasted more like a rare cut of roast beef, but wasn't too bad.

Onto the skewered meat. The meat was good, but what I would expect. There was one garlic sirloin offering that was unexpectedly flavorful. No filet mignon was ever offered. The prime rib though, was delicious. Lamb chops, sirloin, ribeye, marinated chicken, and chicken wrapped in bacon all made their way onto our plates. The side dishes -- mashed potatoes, polenta fries, and fried bananas -- left a lot to be desired. The mashed potatoes had been pureed to a thick, gluey consistency and the fries, although once very hot, I'm sure, were no longer resembling anything warm.

At several points, a man who looked like he was a waiter nodded approvingly toward our table. Later, this same man surfaced to ask us if we wanted more food or desserts. Our waiter! At long last! He kindly brought more fried bananas, one of the complimentary side dishes, as a dessert. I should have stuck with that, but ordered the cream caramel, which was oddly firm and not very tasty. I should have known better.

Even with two-for-one coupons, Chima failed to deliver value for the experience. Thanks to the service, the meal amounted to a two and a half hour experience, which was about two hours and ten minutes too long for my tastes.

Chima is located at 20th and JFK Streets, Philadelphia.

Audrey Claire

When it opened over ten years ago, Audrey Claire ushered in Philadelphia's wave of excellent, cozy BYO restaurants. Proud to be living a few blocks away at the time, I dined there frequently, when I could get a table. Although I hadn't been there in several years, I was looking to show off some of the true gems of Philly this past weekend and it came to mind as an affordable, beautiful restaurant, in a great location. While I am pleased to report that Audrey Claire is still those things, the food suffered a few missteps.

We began with a dish I remembered enjoying, the spicy hummus with house-cured salmon and herb-vinaigrette mesclun flat bread. Just as I remembered, it was amazing. The salmon was delectable, with a fresh, rich finish to the taste and nicely balanced against the remaining ingredients. The flat bread was exquisitely fresh and thin, providing the right backdrop to the ingredients.

For appetizers, I ordered an item off the antipasta menu, the beets with truffle oil and caramelized shallots. All of those ingredients sounded pretty good to me, but together, the earthiness of both the beets and truffles was too much. The caramelized shallots didn't cut those flavors enough for balance or contrast. I found it disappointing.

MOR's octopus salad was better, in that the octopus itself was fairly tasty, with a hint of balsamic that nicely offset the grilled flavor of the meat. It was a bit overdone, though, for my taste.

In keeping with my sense that appetizers are always better, our entrees, or "bigger dishes," as the menu names them, were less appealing. Pictured below, MOR's crab cake reportedly tasted like it was once frozen and failed to deliver on the delicious crab cake front he was craving. (This, I should add, supports my theory that Philadelphians don't know how to make crabcakes, although that could be my snobbish Marylander background talking.) My rainbow trout crab florentine was better, but not spectacular. The fish was unevenly cooked and the flavors, while good, weren't extraordinary enough that I wanted to finish the dish.

I still love certain things about Audrey Claire that have not changed: the hipster clientele that remind me how urban and wonderful a city Philly can be, the bustle of the place, even though the din can be overwhelming (and somewhat typical of the BYO scene), and the open kitchen and prep areas. The setting is amazing; the restaurant embodies beautiful weather with its green windows, open to the expanse of the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood corner. Next time, however, I might just stick to admiring it from a distance.

Audrey Claire is located at 20th and Spruce Streets, Philadelphia, http://www.audreyclaire.com/.

Manyunk Brewery and Restaurant

I am not outdoorsey. But in weather like this, the transitional time between summer and fall, all I want to do is be outdoors. Manayunk Brewery offers an excellent venue in which to appreciate the outdoors (at least in the way I like to appreciate it) -- a sprawling, huge back deck, overlooking the Manayunk Canal and bridge that makes for a relaxed, pleasing way to spend an evening.

Its brewery options are pretty good, too. I opted for the Manayunk Lager, an "octoberfest" style beer that was rich without being overpowering, flavorful with a sweet undertone. MFDC went from the lager to the "Schuylkill Punch," a raspberry lager with a 7% alcohol content. It was a bit too sweet for my tastes, even tasting sweeter than an average framboise, but this was to be expected given the description. Manayunk Brewery offers about 6 beers as daily specials, in addition to a few American beers.

Although the menu seems to have been updated, featuring ambitious-sounding entrees, I got the feeling that I shouldn't branch out. Beer pairings are suggested on the menu, but many of the beers were not being offered that evening, which was curious. We started with the crab dip (pictured right, in dim twilight with my apologies). It tasted better than it looked, which was oddly dark for a creamy dip. With notes of Old Bay and hints of lump crabmeat, however, I liked it, although the toast squares had turned more into hard croutons long ago.

I'm sparing you pictures of the Brew House Burger ("8oz of grilled Certified Angus Beef, tomatoes, lettuce and Onions on a brioche, served with beer-battered fries & spicy pickles"), which MFDC reports was very good and my Brew House Cobb Salad ("iceberg lettuce, diced tomatoes, marinated chicken, bacon, hard-boiled eggs, Roquefort cheese and avocado"), which was also good. You probably already know what those things look like. I have no idea why they are called "Brew House," considering the particular take on these dishes was far from novel, but they were adequately executed and tasty.

Not all restaurants are gourmet destinations. But Manayunk Brewery delivers good beer and a great view, a pretty perfect offering this time of year.

Manayunk Brewery and Restaurant is located at 4120 Main Street, Manayunk, http://www.manayunkbrewery.com/.

Parc

Stephen Starr's latest installment, a sprawling, cavernous French bistro, has captured Philadelphia in an extraordinary way. Perhaps it's the location, across from Rittenhouse Square, with plenty of open windows to appreciate the view. Perhaps it's the food, a good mix of expensive and less expensive, casual but trendy, tasty but familiar. Whatever the combination, it's become a tough reservation and the subject of all restaurant conversation in the last month.

Which made celebrating my birthday there all the more fun. Armed with plenty of warning about the din, I nevertheless decided it could accommodate my seven friends and me. It did, comfortably so. Told it was a bit more quiet, we were seated on the Locust Street side of what essentially occupies the space of two restaurants, forming an L around a bar. Starr seems to have toned down the schtick for Parc, instead embracing a straightforward rendition of a French bistro, devoid of neon and unisex bathrooms. The atmosphere was bustling but refined.

The service however, was a little off. Our server had an odd, slow-motion quality to her voice and reiterated twice (over the span of what felt like five minutes) that we should be sure to ask her any questions if we had them. When one of our drinks was wrong, she said, "it would be my pleasure to get you the correct drink," slowly enough to suggest sarcasm, although I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. When served correctly, all of the mixed drinks were delicious except for the Gingembre, a gingery mix that was way too strong for my tastes. The Citron Glace was a wonderful play on lemonade and perfect for the weather.

All agreed that the appetizers were amazing. From the Pissaladiere (a goat cheese, caramelized onion and nicoise olive tart, pictured first above) to my warm shrimp and avocado salad (pictured second), served with a lemon caper beurre blanc, they were dead-on for concept and only slightly off for delivery. My shrimp were overcooked, a disappointing misstep. Note the handsome "Parc" plates, a good sign that Parc may be around for a while. Many folks got the grilled sardine salad, with roasted tomato, arugula and parmesan, which was reportedly very good (I am, sadly, scared of the oily whole-fish nature of the sardine as a concept, but I support my friends in their passion).

The entrees were equally French, interesting and tasty. I ordered the roast leg of lamb with creamy polenta. The lamb and accompanying sauce were sublime. The polenta achieved a gelatin-like creaminess with the addition of what must have been cheese. Spread rather thin on the platter, it had dried out a bit, but did taste very good. I tasted my Chocoholic Friend's Coq Au Vin (the "plat du jour" for Sunday) and was impressed with how the richness of the red wine had permeated the dish, making it both homey and special simultaneously. The Moules Frites were delicious as well, although my chiles rellenos friend opined that the fries could have been better (although neatly served in a small, silver bucket). VBF's Poulet Roti was also deemed to be delicious.

Not to be missed are Parc's raw bar offerings. My Funniest Friend Ever (FFE) decadently ordered the lobster, which was a fun spectacle to receive and done to his liking. With an extensive offering and (my favorite) two sampler options, this section of the menu is sure to draw me back on a hot summer day.

The desserts weren't as spectacular as I would have expected but seeing as they did, after all, involve things like puff pastry and chocolate, I was still pretty happy. The profiteroles (kindly topped with a birthday candle) were very good, although the ice cream seemed to detract from the pastry flavor a bit. Served with its own small pitcher of chocolate sauce, however, I can't really complain. The baked chocolate mousse with a raspberry sauce was as delicious and decadent as it sounds. The tarte tatin was reportedly equally good.

Surrounded by great friends, in a beautiful setting, being served delicious French food, I couldn't ask for more.

Parc is located at the corner of 18th and Locust Streets, Philadelphia, http://www.parc-restaurant.com/.

Pershore plum festival

The Worcestershire town of Pershore champions its plums throughout August with a month-long festival, concluding with a plum fayre on August Bank Holiday.

The festival starts today with a market and the crowning of a plum princess. There’s also a touring heritage exhibition tracing the history of plums in the area and a plenty of plum varieties to savour, including Pershore Purples, Yellow Eggs and Emblems, as well as trees to grow your own.
Pershore began its association with plums in 1833 when a pub landlord found wild plums growing in a nearby wood. The Pershore Egg variety was developed and, because of its high pectin content, soon became the basis of much commercially sold jam in the UK.

Homegrown seasonal plums are a prize worth relishing fresh from the tree but local butchers also use their famous fruit to make the Pershore “plum” sausage using pork, spring onion, ginger and plum puree.

The town’s Abbey Tea Rooms has a range of plum-themed dishes on the menu such as homemade plum charlotte and a savoury roasted plum tart made with courgettes, peppers and topped with stilton all available with a plum flavoured black loose leaf tea.

Finally, eyes peeled for Churchfield Farmhouse plum ice cream at the farmers’ market on the August bank holiday. It’s a regional rival to the country’s only asparagus ice cream made by Spot Loggins on a nearby Evesham dairy farm.

Hot Dog Island

Some places sound too good to be true. Take Hot Dog Island, for example, a place heavily promoted by Delaware River Tubing, a company that offers to put you in an innertube, put you upstream in the Delaware River, and pick you up later. Midway through your happy float, you arrive on Hot Dog Island, a floating oasis of hot dogs, barbecue, veggie burgers and floating picnic tables. As I planned for this excursion, I began to think of HDI as a special, mythical place. Which is of course what it turned out to be.

When we arrived at Delaware River Tubing, we were warned that due to the high level of the water, HDI was closed. We were still, however, charged for the full price, which would otherwise have included a meal there. In fact, all of the prices at the tubing company say that the meal was included. But wait! One lost lunch was not the extent of the problems.

Cognizant of the weather forecast, I asked what the procedure was if there was a thunderstorm. We were told that boats would come by and pick us up. Armed with this protection, we happily floated for two hours before the clouds rolled in. No boats appeared. No boats appeared when it started to really pour. Oh and no boats appeared when lightning hit the hill across from us. Scrambling out of the water and up the embankment, things got even worse when one of my more outdoorsey friends noted, yes, that is poison ivy. When we flagged down the Delaware River Tubing school bus, we were immediately asked by the driver where all of the innertubes were. Survivalists that we were, we dutifully hauled up the tubes through the poison ivy. My conversation with the owner next day went equally badly, as he relayed his lack of sympathy in light of the business he lost due to the weather.

Hot Dog Island will remain a myth for me, and perhaps for you, if you take my advice and avoid Delaware River Tubing company altogether.

Photo credit to the Delaware River Tubing company website.

Blue Smoke

Part of the beauty of Philadelphia is being able to travel easily through the northeast. So easily, in fact, that I have come to regularly enjoy the day trip to New York. An hour and a half on Amtrak, and you can be in the middle of one of the most awesome cities in the world. It's still nice to come home, however, but it doesn't hurt to enjoy the trip.

On this particular trip, after some time at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Central Park, my omelette rival and I headed to Blue Smoke, a self-described "urban barbecue." I chose this among MOR's proffered options because, well, it looked fun. It looked like a place where you could comfortably unwind after negotiating your way through a city that simultaneously drains and feeds your energy.

And it was fun. As is the case in all of New York City, I am constantly amazed at how great the service usually is, followed up shortly by a revelation that most of the servers in the city are, in fact, auditioning for their next acting gig. Hey, I'll take it. I don't care.

After ordering a dark rum mojito (an interesting twist but still quite good) and a Peak Organic beer (reportedly very tasty), we started with the calamari, which was about 50% fried batter and 50% calamari. I like fried batter as much as the next girl, so it wasn't the worst thing, but it was a little strange for a dish called "calamari." From there, MOR ordered the "Rhapsody in 'Cue," a pun-ny twist on the all-we-make-on-a-plate concept featuring Kansas City spareribs, pulled pork, smoked chicken, and sausage. The spareribs were too spicy for me, but the pulled pork and chicken were delicious, offering a good mix of moisture and smokiness. Blue Smoke offers a lazy susan of sauces at each table with which to dress everything, making me think that perhaps I, too, should get a lazy susan of sauces for my dining room. Everything's a little better with barbecue sauce, you know?

I opted for the sliced Texas beef brisket, with a 50/50 mix of marbled and lean. The ability to mix (or choose one) was ingenious, in my opinion, and I'm glad I got the mix. The marbled was delicious and rich, but an entire plate would have been too much. The lean was -- you guessed it -- a bit more dry, but still very good, especially with the Kansas City barbecue sauce. Accompaniments of fried onions and mashed potatoes were appropriate and delicious, if not more than a little rich.

Which made dessert all the better. I opted for a refreshing key lime pie, which was just that. MOR got a peach and blackberry cobbler, interestingly topped with small drop biscuits. The fruit was fresh, but dessert after that meal was a little much for both of us.

In addition to bubbly wait staff, Blue Smoke also offers live jazz downstairs, lots of seating and a handsome bar. All in all, a fun place to stop and eat -- and within walking distance of Penn Station. What's not to like about a place with its own handi-wipes?

Blue Smoke is located at 116 E. 27th Street, New York, http://www.bluesmoke.com/.

Apricot

In these climate-changing times, the home-grown English fruit bowl gets more exotic each year. Apricots join grapes, walnuts and blueberries as the latest hot-weather crop cultivated on these shores.

The majority of apricots are still imported to the UK from the US and Europe, but there are a number of small producers in Southern England.

A member of the peach family, the apricot is a small golden-orange fruit with velvety skin and juicy flesh. They are at their peak in July so catch them why you can – although you’ll be hard pushed to find English ’cots, the lack of steady sunshine and February frosts when the plants flower have all but zapped this year’s yield.

The longer the fruit is allowed to ripen on the tree the more sweet its flavour. Note, contrary to the supermarket trend of selling “ripen-at-home” punnets of bullet-hard fruit, apricots don’t mature once picked. But you can always halve and poach under-ripe fruits in a little dessert wine and vanilla or bake with a splash of orange juice, zest and a drizzle of honey.

Apricots are delicious hot and gooey in pastries and custard tarts, and are a good match with chocolate and almonds or served alongside roast pork with the ripe fruit and spicy notes of a 2006 Heartland Viognier Pinot Gris from Oz available in Selfridges (£20.50; 0207 318 2375; selfridges.co.uk).

Cherry aid for Britain

Saturday (July 19) is the first British Cherry Day, a rallying cry to get the cherry out of a jam and back on top. In the past 50 years England has lost 90 per cent of its cherry orchards and now imports about 95 per cent of its cherries.

Organised cherry orchards were a Tudor invention, but the Romans brought the first cherry trees to Britain from Persia. It is said that you can trace old Roman roads by the wild cherry trees that grew up from the stones spat out by legions as the marched across the country.

Backed by chefs such as Raymond Blanc and Mark Hix, Cherry Aid - the campaign not the medicinal coloured pop – aims to get everyone to bite into at least one home-grown cherry this year and help save traditional orchards.

Cherries are delicious eaten fresh or dipped in melted chocolate. Kent’s Simply Ice Cream makes an ice cream from local cherries (01233 720922) and Mrs Huddleston sells a luxury black cherry and cranberry preserve with kirsch (01296 712005). Carr Taylor’s rose-red cherry wine (£4.95; carr-taylor.co.uk) mixes well with brandy or vodka and can be added to desserts or gravy when serving duck.

At Borough Market in London, try specially-made Cherry Down Cheese from the Kent Cheese Co and Sillfield Farm’s wild boar and cherry pie.
The Ludlow Food Centre in Shropshire will be selling traditional variety cherries and cherry ice cream.
Several cherry orchards are open this weekend in Kent, including the National Fruit Collection at Brogdale which will be hosting cookery demonstrations, tastings and walks. For information on cherry-themed events around the country and a guide to where to pick and buy fresh cherries visit foodloversbritain.com.

Fennel for beginners

People are puzzled by fennel. It’s the mystery guest of organic boxes and the vegetable about which we most commonly cry: “How on earth do I use this?”.

Bulbous Florence fennel has a distinctive aniseed flavour and can be eaten cooked (trimmed, cut into quarters and braised or roasted) or raw when its flavour is more pronounced.

Shave it thinly into salads or as a contrasting crunch added to fish in ceviche. Soak strips in lemon juice and olive oil and serve with roasted fish or simply tossed with orange segments.

The folk at Riverford organic vegetable boxes (riverford.co.uk) suggest tips on how to use fennel for its consumers. Recipes from its new book and website include aniseedy cabbage soup, fennel baked with Parmesan and pork with braised fennel.

Fennel’s fresh bite teams up well with dry Italian wines such as a Lugana Soraighe 2005 (£9.35; purplewine.co.uk), made from Trebbiano grapes in the area between Lombardy and Veneto. It’s a delicate white with fresh but not overpowering acidity, great with fish.

The Perfect Omelette

It only seems fitting that now, mere weeks before my 35th birthday, I have finally mastered the art of making an omelette. It came to me suddenly -- I no longer had to push in the cooked egg on the periphery, creating a swirling maze of overdone and done egg. Rather, I could use patience, let everything cook evenly, and, with a little bit of confidence, flip the whole omelette straight to perfection.

I share these tips with you, with some trepidation that maybe you, and everyone else, already knows these things. Nevertheless, here goes. Start with three eggs. De-shell (you knew that one, I know). Beat them in a bowl, with a fork, until they achieve a uniform consistency. In the meantime, melt a slab of butter in a non-stick pan, being careful to make sure the butter covers all of the pan and as much of the sides as possible.

Like so. When the butter is melted and is covering the entire pan, dump the three egg mixture into the pan. Turn the heat from high to medium. Let the eggs start to set a bit and then -- this was my revelation, so brace yourself -- start swirling. Initially, this will look a lot like the first picture, above. The idea is to get everything evenly cooked. Swirling the uncooked portion on the sides, around the cooked, will help this along. Don't be panicked by air pockets; they work themselves out. When you get to something that looks a little like this (in the course of less than a minute),

start swirling enough to loosen the entire omelette from the pan. Here, you're judging whether or not it's solid enough to flip, to finish off that last little uncooked portion. Try to have as much cooked as possible before your flip. The trick to flipping is to, while holding the pan handle, push forward very quickly, so that the omelette starts to lift, then immediately jerk your hand back, so the omelette flips back on to the plate. Practice with sauteing vegetables if it's easier. Confidence is key. As are two cups of coffee.

You may want to ignore what appears to be, but no one has yet to definitively confirm is, the spattering of raw egg around the pan post-flip. I have no idea where that could have originated, and am sure has nothing to do with prematurely flipping the omelette before it was cooked enough. Nothing to do with that. The important thing is, what remains of my flipped three eggs look very pretty in the pan (and, for the record, did land in the pan).

The next part is all up to you and is all, mercifully, downhill from here. I wimped out and used my pre-grated bag o' cheese from the store, and ended up with a straightforward cheese omelette. I enjoy putting some freshly cut chives on top, with a little salt. Variations on the theme can include yesterday's roasted vegetables, or mixing in fried onions into the initial egg omelette and adding lox as the filling, or whatever sounds good to you.

Okay, it looks a little overdone to me, too. I've got a couple of weeks until my birthday, I'll work on it.

Chinese food, British ingredients

Chinese food gets a bit of a boost this month as an appetiser for the Beijing Olympics with two new TV series and books.

Ching-He Huang, a delicate new face among the grizzled mugs of celebrity chefs, has recast Chinese food as an msg-free blend of the traditional and modern. She uses seasonal pak choi grown in the Fenlands, fresh chillies from Chorley and even soy sauce brewed in Wales.

Gold-medal TV dinners she recommends for the Games (for viewers not athletes) include steamed sea bass in hot beer and ginger lime, refreshingly chilled drunken chicken soaked in Mijiu rice wine or gin or vodka, and the gloriously named and alcohol-free Empress Dowager Cixi’s longevity peach pudding. Chinese Food Made Easy is on Mondays on BBC2; watch exclusive videos at timesonline.co.uk/realfood.

Later in the month Gary Rhodes packs his wok for China where he guzzles snake bladders as he masters regional dishes, including pockmarked grandmother’s bean curd, to cook for a banquet back home (UKTV Food 28 July).