Tag Archives: tell them you read about it on chestercountyramblings

photography show….

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photogpraph of art in philadelphia restaurant

This is a cool painting inside a restauarnt in Philadelphia called Tietra

Yours truly is the next Local Artist Spotlight in a completely digital art show to go up shortly and run  through June at One Commerce Square in Philadelphia.

Ok wow – what fun validation of my work!

My work will be on display every Monday and Wednesday for the duration of this show. Thank you Thomas Properties Group. How this came about is someone in marketing from Thomas Properties Group saw my Classic Towns Photos through the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission!

Here is a link to the photos submitted to the show: Commerce Square Digital Show.  Pending final approval, this is what will go up.

The photos are of things Philadelphia – yes I do take photos of things other than barns :<)

So now they produce my show and it all gets displayed on a ridiculously large sized screen….will update when it is live!

april 1st

Image

spring

risotto with caramelized onions, chicken, and mushrooms

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photo5I love risotto.  It takes a bit of time to do it right, but so worth it.  Here is a recipe I have been doing for years.  It has lived in my head because the impetus for it came from one I ate growing up that came out of our family kitchen and not a cookbook.  Intuitive memory cooking if you will. Hope you can follow.

Gently simmer 5 1/2 cups of chicken broth covered on low on the stove. ( I make my own stock incidentally. I find it easier)

Take a smallish sauté pan and cut up into thin rings one medium regular onion and one medium sweet onion and three cloves of garlic (minced).  Toss into a panphoto7 with 4 tablespoons of butter, a pinch or two of sea salt and swirl around and cook until nearly caramelized over medium-low heat.

Add 2 cups of sliced baby bella mushrooms – and yes cut your own, don’t buy pre-sliced. Add 2 medium ribs of celery minced. Add 2 medium grated carrots.  Allow it to cook down.  Remove pan from heat and just move to corner of stove.

I had leftovers from a chicken I roasted, so next I cut up the cooked chicken (skin-photo6free) into bite sized pieces.  I think about 2 cups, maybe a smidgen more.

O.k. now the fun part.  Pull out a large fry pan and put a few tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom.  Add the 1 1/2 cups of uncooked abrorio rice. Stir around on lowish heat until rice grains are translucent.  Add 1/2 cup of rosé wine (NOT white zinfindel – YUCK!), stir around until rice absorbs wine over medium-low heat.

photo2Now start ladling in your simmering chicken broth, one cup at a time.  Last night I only used 5 cups of broth, but sometimes I use 5 /12. The broth needs to be absorbed ONE cup at a time into the rice.  If you just dump all the broth in your risotto will be mushy, gluey and gross.photo4

When you hit the 3rd cup of broth almost ready for the 4th add in the sautéed onions and veggies.

photo1Half way through the 4th cup of broth being absorbed, toss in the chicken. Also toss in a few pinches of tarragon, basil, and oregano.

After you add the final broth and it is almost all absorbed, stir in 1/2 cup of grated parmesan or grated romano cheese. Stir in 1/3 cup rough chopped flat leaf Italian parsley five minutes before serving.

The whole add broth process takes about 30 to 40 minutes. I hope I have not left photo3anything out….again….have never written this down – always just done it.

Serve with additional grated cheese on the side and a nice green salad.

Enjoy!

favoloso!

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fiorelloI don’t want people to think I am a cranky restaurant reviewer, so I thought I would tell you about where we went Friday night for dinner.  It was to sum it up in one word: favoloso!

Favoloso is fabulous in Italian.

I am half Italian and from a family of amazing cooks so I am more than a bit of a snob when it comes to Italian food.  Even pizza.

I have longed for a place that had true high-end trattoria Italian specialties. I am sick of places that lob slabs of lasagna or overly doughy and otherwise tasteless salty pizza on a plate enough to feed and army and say “that’s Italian.” You know how people used to rave about Totaro’s in Conshohocken, PA?  Or  if you were ever in NYC in the late 80s or early 90s, Trattoria Foffe on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights, NY? This place puts the memory of those  places  to shame, and they have a decent wine list of some interesting Italian wines.

fiorello-s-cafeSo on Friday evening, my sweet man  took me to a place I have literally driven by for years, but had never gone into.  We went to Fiorello’s Cafe on Gay Street in West Chester.

The food was fabulous.  And fresh.  And authentic.  None of that half-baked garbage places like Fellini Cafe in Ardmore pass off as Italian trattoria food.  The real deal served in a clean restaurant with knowledgable and pleasant wait staff.

We had a lovely waitress and another woman, probably more of a bus person who waited on us.  They were cheerful and so nice.  One of them brought me a rose at the end of dinner because they were celebrating International Woman’s Day which has been around since the early 20th century but largely ignored here in the United States.

The salads were fresh and crisp and served with an actual and real balsamic vinagarette.  Not that overly sweet and gloppy emulsified goop that a lot of places serve, but a fresh dressing made with good olive oil and an an obviously good grade of balsamic.

For dinner I ordered the pasta with a sauce of tomatoes and white wine and calamari.  The sauce was light a flavorful and neither weighed down nor overpowered the dish.  And the calamari was perfect.  Too many places it is served not only when it is not particularly fresh, but it is cooked to death and rubbery.  Not Fiorello’s calamari.  It was sautéed to perfection.  And they even had no problem with adding a dash of capers for me.

My sweet man had another seafood pasta with bay scallops and shrimp.  I can’t eat scallops but he said it was delicious.

For dessert I was torn between Nonna’s cake and cannoli.  I ended up with the cannoli.  One perfect cannoli all homemade.  And it had the real cannoli cream that is slightly fluid and not all bound up with extra sugar and gelatin that some places serve.  And it was lighter than most cannoli.

They also had real espresso.  Not Nespresso which many restaurants now pass off as true espresso – don’t get me wrong I have and enjoy a Nespresso machine but that is for everyday coffee.  I love coffee and this espresso was the perfect blend of rich and dark.

I intend to make Fiorello’s more of a habit.  And oh yes in true Eurpopean Cafe style they had a delightful man singing Italian and other love songs while we all ate.  He was so sweet and the joy of sharing his music with us showed on his face.

f2The one drawback with Fiorello’s is it is a bit noisy. And it feels even closer than the tables in Cucina di Pesce in New York City in the East Village.

They could rectify  the noise if they chose by maybe changing out the ceiling for some sound absorbing tiles, or exploring something similar for some of the walls.  They could also do that by taking a few tables out of the restaurant.

They pack them in due to consistant popularity and good food, so I know that is the thought process behind the arrangement and placement of  tables, but I think they might benefit by cleaning up their interior space with a simpler look and fewer tables.  But by cleaning up I mean interior design – making the walls look less busy because this place is so clean it is amazing.

Anyway, the food is so truly good that it is worth going again and again.

So if you haven’t been there, or haven’t been there in a while, go. We walked in without a reservation, so I do not know their reservation policy but would ask. I have also heard they are delightful for lunch.

Fiorello’s has a Facebook page and a website.  I hope you check it out.

Fiorello’s Cafe:

730 E. Gay St.
West Chester, PA 19380
610-430-8941

Mon. – Sat.: 11 – 10
Sun.: 4 – 10

hello pumpkin…bread

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4Cold days are meant for baking, so today I whipped up a couple of loaves of my pumpkin bread – I had a container of Pacific Natural Foods Organic Pumpkin Puree left in the cupboard from Thanksgiving (it really IS the best pumpkin to cook with).

There is just something so homey about the smell of something wonderful baking in the oven, isn’t there? And by the way, one of my secret 3ingredients is Jayshree Spices’ Tea Masala spice blend.  It works well when making chai spiced tea, and you can bake with it too. I wanted something fun to accompany tonight’s dinner which is my hybrid cross between black bean and lentil soup and a spinach salad with a tangy apple cider-mustard vinaigrette salad dressing.  (And no, I have not written down my soup recipe it is a dash of this, a pinch of that, but I can tell you it is quasi pureed, made with tomatoes and my secret to its smokey fabulous flavor is good ham and minced orange peel.)

Anyway, I thought I thought I would share my recipe, which is a constant evolution. Pardon the haphazard way I list ingredients, but when something comes out of my head sometimes the whole codifying a recipe isn’t perfect…

Pumpkin Bread 1

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour two loaf pans and set aside.

1 15 or 16 oz container of pumpkin puree (I have seen both sizes – just pumpkin, no sugar or spice added)

3 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup milled bran (yes that again – love it in baked goods- makes chocolate chip cookies extra yummy too!)

1 cup Smart Balance oil

4 eggs

1 1/4 cups organic white sugar

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2/3 cup of orange juice

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons buttermilk powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt (regular not sea salt)

3 tablespoons Jayshree Tea Masala Spice Blend

2 tablespoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon green cardamom

2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon mace

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon allspice5

shredded coconut, quick oats, and turbinado sugar for dusting tops of batter in pans before it goes in the oven.

1. Mix pumpkin, eggs, oil, vanilla, orange juice, sugars, spices

2. Mix in all dry ingredients except milled bran.  Mix well.

3. Add bran.  Stir again

4. Pour batter into prepared pans and dust top with plain quick cooking oats, turbinado sugar, shredded coconut.

Bake at 350 for at least 60 minutes (my oven went 70 minutes on this recipe today).  If a wood or stainless steel small skewer comes out of center clean, pumpkin bread is baked.

Cool in pans on baking rack about 20 minutes.  Carefully remove loaves from pan and cool completely.  This bread does need to sit at least an hour after coming out of over before slicing. (just my opinion)

Enjoy!

 

 

don’t go bananas now…

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6…But it has been ages since I gave you a recipe.  So today, dear readers: banana bread.

It is another recipe born out of leftovers/things to use up.

Seriously, it is the only time I make it. Today, it was either use the super ripe bananas hanging on their hook or toss them. So Banana bread it is.  This is not super sweet.  I did not include nuts because I think that is so banana bread cliché but if you like nuts, use 1 cup chopped pecans or black walnuts.

Banana Bread

3 Mashed bananas (super ripe)

1 1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup Smart Balance oil4

3/4 cup 2 % milk

3 Tablespoons buttermilk powder

2 1/4 cups flour (white all-purpose not whole wheat – whole wheat makes it chewy as in overly glutenous)

1/4 cup milled br3an

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon cardamom

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup raisins2

1/2 cup dried cranberries

grated peel of medium orange

***************

Pre-heat oven 375 degrees.

Oil and flour loaf pan.

Mix milk, brown sugar,oil, eggs.  Add buttermilk powder. Add mashed bananas, mix until smooth. Add spices.  Add rest of dry ingredients. Mix until blended and smooth. Fold in raisins and dried cranberries (and this would be where you added nuts if you want them). Add grated orange peel.

Pour into pan.  Bake at 375 for 50 minutes (50 minutes is with my oven, yours might be more or less – keep an eye on it)

When bamboo skewer (looks like a giant toothpick if you do not know what I am talking about ) comes out clean, your done.1

Take out of oven and cool 15 minutes.  Then take out of pan and cool on a baking rack until completely cooled.  Enjoy!

This is not super sweet, but using brown sugar gives it a richer flavor I think. And yes, I love Nordic Ware pans.

barn treasures…

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DSC_0248So do you all know that Smithfield Barn is on Facebook now?  DSC_0299Have you liked them yet? You should as they are getting many treats and treasures ready for spring!

I had a preview today and had ever so much fun photographing some stuff! Follow them on Facebook now and get ready for their spring time opening!

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east goshen farmers market holiday market – thursday december 20!

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**NOTE*** MARKET LOCATION FOR 12/20/2012 IS EAST GOSHEN PUBLIC WORKS BUILDING 1580 PAOLI PIKE FROM 3:30 PM TO 6:00 PM

(Don’t forget to like their new page on Facebook!)

smithfield barn open this weekend!

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chairsMy favorite barn is open this weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So that is December 7th, December 8th, December 9th!

See:

Happy December!  Just a quick note that the barn will be open rain or shine this weekend Fri-Sun 10-4.  We have great new items and lots of great old items too!  Some new include bar height table and chairs, small black cabinet, bar height chairs, new holiday items,unique wood crates, new pictures,  older baseball/basketball/hockey cards and so so so much more!  As winter approaches (you’d never know it this week) our quest to empty the barn continues so come stop by and find a treasure or two to take home!!  Hope to see you this weekend! 

                                              
              Smithfield Barn 425 Little Conestoga Road
On most GPS devices the Smithfield Barn comes up as Downingtown.  When you come through the center of Eagle PA as it exists (complete with it’s Victorian style CVS) you turn right on “Ltl Conestoga Rd” (that is what the sign says) and thenthe road does a quick left and you keep on Little Conestoga until you see the barn sale signs.

the kris kringle of it all

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ornamentOk, I admit it: I have been watching waaaayy too many holiday movies.  However, in my own defense, sometimes human kind is just so crappy to each other that the escapism in a movie where people are kind to their fellow-man and Santa Claus is just a nice way to get the warm and fuzzies.

So Chester County, here is what I am after: I would like to know what local charities and churches are doing what between now and Christmas.

Who is collecting toys?

Who is making care packages?

Who is collecting warm coats?

Who is collecting food to feed the hungry?

Who is collecting to help homeless animals during the Christmas season?

Who is accredited and collecting funds for various programs?

Please leave a comment and tell me.  I would like to be able to share that information via the blog.

‘Tis the season of goodness and good tidings, so let’s pay it forward. Tell me who has the Christmas spirit in Chester County. (And yes, it is Christmas in my neighborhood.)

Thanks!