Creperie Beau Monde

As you can imagine, I wanted to see Julie and Julia. Sure, I had read the book, the blog, My Life in France, and have an actual autographed copy of The Way To Cook (thanks, Dad). I was there. I was also fully prepared to be craving French food after seeing the movie. Enter Beau Monde.

Beau Monde is like an old friend. Offering consistently delicious crepes, both savory and sweet, combined with sparkling cider in a cozy yet chic environment, it's simply lovely. It's also an inexpensive option for French food, offering crepes ranging in price from $6 to $18.

Upon admiration of the paneling, we're told that it is handpainted on gold leaf, reinforcing my thought that the best food is the product of love and effort. Of course, talent never hurts either, as evidenced here.

As much as I love Julie Powell, the movie didn't do her storyline justice, but it did pay homage to Boeuf Bourguignon. Lucky for us it's on the menu, wrapped in a buckwheat crepe. It may be too warm yet to love this, but I loved it. The flavors were there and hearty. Carol went for the coq au vin. Although enjoyable, the wine didn't fully permeate the chicken, but did overpower the taste.
Final kudos go to Carol. While I chose a simple dessert crepe with lemon butter pictured above, she designed her own. Fresh from a trip to Argentina, Carol went for the Dulce de Leche crepe, opting to add a scoop of hazelnut ice cream (I mean really, what doesn't go well with hazelnut ice cream?) and drizzle with chocolate sauce. I don't think anything I can write will adequately describe the level of decadence and taste associated with this concoction.It was as good as it looks, as was the meal. After reading the books, seeing the movie, eating the food, and a few glasses of wine, a trip to Paris was planned. Beau Monde is just that sort of place.

Creperie Beau Monde is located at 624 S. 6th Street, Philadelphia, Pa., 215-592-0656.

Engage with greengages

There are plums and then there are greengages. Bright green and round with greenish-yellow or golden flesh, they have a beautiful sweet scent when ripe and can be used instead of plums for desserts and preserves.

The blogger Pim Techamuanvivit (chezpim.com) has a recipe for greengage and vanilla jam made with 2lb (about 1kg) greengages, 1lb (about 500g) sugar, 2 vanilla pods and the juice of 1 lemon. When cooked down into compote or jam, the fragrant flavour of the greengages intensifies. There’s also a enough acidity to balance the sweetness and plenty of natural pectin in the skin so there’s no need to add extra.

Another blogger, Princess and the Recipe (princessandrecipe.blogspot.com), has adapted Pim’s recipe to make greengage sorbet, substituting lime for lemon and leaving out the vanilla beans. She cools the stewed greengages before they reach a jammy setting point, pushes them through a sieve to get rid of the skins, pops the sieved liquid in the fridge, then churns it in an ice-cream maker.

Restaurant Week Rant

One of the many reasons I love Philadelphia is its affordable restaurant scene. Where else can you get an interesting, well-executed meal for under $30, with appetizer? From gastropubs to BYOs, these kinds of meals are readily available. Which is why charging $35 to order off of a different, limited menu for three courses (did you really want the cheesecake dessert, too?) strikes me as a little silly. This year's publicized commercial sponsorship by TD Bank is plainly odd. From a public relations perspective, I get it, to a point. But why not move the price point down?

Sweet as... sweetcorn

The season is short but sweet for sweetcorn, running from now through most of September. A golden buttered corn on the cob is a seasonal delight. It has been cultivated in the south for years but with warmer summers has begun to appear further north, too.

When buying, choose creamy yellow kernels because they will be the sweetest. Eat fresh, as once the cob is cut the sugar starts to turn to starch and loses its sweetness.

Try putting whole cobs in their pale green husks in a roasting tin and roast in the oven preheated to 180C (Gas 4), or on the rack over a hot barbecue for about 30 minutes, turning once. Pull back the husks, add a knob of butter and freshly ground black pepper.

Also in season, baby corn is a specialised vegetable harvested before the kernels develop. The sweet, nutty cobs no bigger than a finger can be cooked whole or cut in chunks and are great in stir fries cooked with sesame oil and soy sauce.

Food for free - blackberries

Blackberries are such a good free source of antioxidants and vitamin C that during World War One children were encouraged to collect them for the production of juice that was sent to soldiers on the frontline.

Ready for gathering now, blackberries can be eaten fresh, used for puddings and pies, or preserved into jelly or “pippy” jam.

They team up particularly well with the first of the cooking apples, are a good match for rich or gamey meat such as venison, lamb or pheasant, and add a seasonal flourish muddled into a cold martini for a late summer cocktail.

For a simple blackberry and oat sundae (serves 2), whisk 150g Greek yoghurt, 3 tbsp crème fraîche and a few drops of vanilla extract together until thoroughly mixed.

Alternately layer lightly crushed blackberries with the yoghurt mixture and handfuls of granola to fill two sundae dishes. For best results chill for an hour.