monavano

Originally posted on DonRockwell.com: Mr. Monavano and I went to Amada, an authentic Spanish tapas restaurant, last week. Amada is located in Old City, and features 3 seating areas; a large bar and high table area, restaurant table seating, and a few seats looking into the kitchen. We sampled about 10 dishes ( I can not remember one) and the red sangria. The sangria had small diced pears and apples with a cinnamon stick to swirl in the aroma. Our dishes included: Complimentary flat crisps to scoop up a tuna, caper and balsamic dip. Charcuteria mixto - I'm not a connoisseur of serrano ham, but it was delicious and freshly sliced to order and paper thin Tortilla Espanola - This came with a saffron aoili, presented in a mortar and pestle. More saffron was sprinkled on top to be ground in. Fun. The "tortilla" was more like a big potato pancake with onions. It was fantastic. It's filling, so consider that. Almejas con chorizo - Tiny clams and chorizo in a broth just begging to be sopped up with the bread. Albondigas - soft bite size lamb meatballs and fresh peas in a creamy manchego cheese ? sauce Flat bread with manchego cheese - this was good, but we ordered it without knowing we'd be getting gratis crips with tuna dip. Probably redundant. Kobe beef carpaccio - This was a special. Seared kobe slice thin and fanned out. Topped with truffle emulsion and garnished with candied carmelized onions. This was melt in your mouth good. The emulsion lent an earthy tone to the dish. Even though it was Kobe beef, it was only priced a few dollars over the regular menu items. Arroz con leche - warm creamy rice pudding with current compote. Served in an old fashioned glass, this was totall comfort, not your mom's rice pudding! (at least mine, sorry ma) Almond crips - complimentary after the meal. I will not make the mistake of being in Philly and NOT eating here again. It will be interesting to go to Jaleo now to compare and contrast. eta: all this for $85 before tip. Our server (Stephanie) and runners were very hospitable and kept the meal going at a perfect pace for us.

There is a Maggianos Little Italy directly across the street from Reading Terminal Market. Maggiano's; http://www.maggianos.com/locations/detail....id=001.025.0168 Map: http://maps.yahoo.com/;_ylc=X3oDMTExNmIycG...39.953191&mag=3

Sunset's Campari tomatoes are quite good actually. I get them as Costco in bulk of course, and use them for anything. Sliced, stewed, sauted, oven roasted....I've seen them at my local supermarket, but for far more money than at Costco. http://www.camparitomatoes.com/

Wisked eggs with parmasean poured into Wedding Soup is delicious. Of course, the point is to cook the egg. Really, learning the concept of tempering the eggs will be far more helpful than to say they can't be added to anything hot. Think of the dishes that would eliminate. Vinegar added to milk makes a great tenderizer for chicken in leiu of buttermilk. Hot oil and water is a good point. Morever, be sure that food is patted dry before adding to hot oil.

Hi and welcome to DC! I'm from Philly too and do crave some good pizza. Alas, you live in Arlington, where you can get very, very good pizza by the slice or pie. If you haven't heard of The Italian Store yet, let me tell you. The thin crust pizza has nice gooey, greasy cheese and the slices are big. And, bonus, the Italian Store had the closest thing you will get to a hoagie. They call them subs there, and do not use Amorosso or Sarconne rolls, but the subs are really good. I like the "Philly," by no coincidence! It satisfies my craving for Philly food. The frozen pasta, canneloni and tortolini are just like P & S Ravioli. If you just want a slice, go to the back and you'll see the pizza displayed. If you want a hoagie, grab a number at the counter as soon as you walk in. This place is NUTS on the weekend. The line moves fast, so hang in there. It's worth it. A discussion on WETA recently provides this feedback from listeners.

Cedar Knoll Restaurant, overlooking the Potomac, is one mile north of Mt. Vernon, at GW Parkway and Lucia Lane. http://www.cedarknollinnrestaurant.com/cedarknoll_009.htm

Happy Birthday Sandy! I can't wait to see you blog about my home town. I am looking forward to reminiscing and learning. Cheers!

You're right. You can use cream of tartar, or lemon juice or white vinegar. For a cup of milk, add 1 3/4 tbsp. of cream of tartar, or one teaspoon of lemon or white vinegar. Let it stand for a few minutes to set up. I use the substitute for chicken all the time and it makes it so tender.

Well, I guess I learned a lot of how to do this first from my parents. They purchased a brownstone in Brooklyn and did a similar gut rennovation on it. This was when I was about 14 years old, and lasted until I was about 17. Needless to say I was recruited for a lot of the manual labor during that time. I also have a background in computer and mechanical engineering, both being things I studied in college, so that definately came in handy, along with many, many hours of studying the local building codes. We had an architect friend help us with some of the layout for the kitchen, but I pretty much had the layout already planned, he just polished it up, and helped with the cabinet layout. I had 3 basic requirements. A 48" stove A kick-ass exhaust system A huge amount of counter/prep space. So the kitchen was basically built around that! I learned most of my cooking skills and style from either my mother/sister who are both bakers, from classes at the French Culinary Institute, or most recently my crazy cookbook collection. Regardless of growing up with 2 bakers, I really don't like baking. I think it is because I don't have the patience to be that precise and to be so hemmed into a specific recipe. I am much more of the type that will take a basic recipe and twist and turn it to make it something different. ← I'm totally with you about the baking thing. I wish I were that meticulous. I have made some good attempts, but I'm no Ling!. Exaust fans are so important. Our kitchen was renovated by the previous owners, and they put in an externally vented, suck white off rice fan. The other night, I grilled a cowboy ribeye steak 2.5 inches thick. I had the cast iron grill screaming on the gas cook top, and the smoke was billowing off. And I tell you, I got a char like an outdoor grill, beautiful med/rare steak and all the smoke sucked up and blown out where the neighbors could only drool.

John, I love how your kitchen is comming along and really admire you for tackling all those tasks on your own. What would you say is your level of carpentry/electrical accumen? Do you have any type of training? I just couldn't imagine taking on those projects, I really admire your abilities. Great start to another fantastic blog! Looking forward to the rest of the week.

Kerry, Thank you for your blog. I have anxiously checked in to follow it all week. Really, I was hooked immediately. I enjoyed learning about a place I've never been. You seem like an amazing woman, doctor and mom. Thanks for your inspiration! Ramona

The William Penn Inn is always a nice choice, and serves brunch. http://williampenninn.com/ Skippack Village is nearby and has some nice choices of restaurants, lovely place to shop and stroll as well: http://www.villageofskippack.com/

Disco Fries!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco_fries

I can almost conjure up the smell of chocolate by looking at the photos. That smell plus coffee is heavenly. Looks like it was a beautiful day and drive. "The bones of old trees". Great allusion.

I sure didn't feel like I had any energy left last night after the post disappeared into the ether. But I'm back again this morning. I am whining a bit today however. I seem to have developed a bit of arthritis in a couple of joints of the middle finger of my right hand and I'm totally screwed trying to get the lids off things. I know, I know, I should see a doctor, but they are all quacks you know! Instead I'll wander into physio this morning and see if someone can do a little accupuncture or ultrasound and make it feel better. What's the line - physician heal thyself? ← Thank you so much for blogging. I also feel like I'm escaping when reading and seeing the pictures. What a beautiful place! And reading about your poor arthritic finger, the physio in me(physical therapist here in the states) wants you to get an oxo can opener and a paraffin dip stat! Looking forward to the rest of the week.

Beautiful hoagies. Looks absolutely mouthwatering. I've never had a hoagie from Carmens....but I intend to!

If you're leaning towards the White Dog Cafe, I'd recommend the Piano Bar, ask for one of the tables next the window I've always got it when asked for. They also have nice table for up to 6 at the other end of the room which is quite nice, a bit separate.

RTM to open on Sundays: http://foobooz.com/2006/09/reading-termina...ndays/#more-860

Put me down for making eggs a la Parmhero this weekend. I even have this fancy little egg cutter from Williams-Sonoma, which has been hanging from my pot rack for 2 years. I will put it to work! The china is probably "Delftware", particularly the one on the right with the toast on it.

Thanks Spikemom for the information about who uses which rolls. So many conversations and threads I've seen discuss who makes the best cheesesteak. Beyond that, I know that shops and customers have preferences about the breads too. It's another dimension that is usually not realized outside Philly. Like here in the DC area where the version of roll call goes something like this: http://www.rollcall.com/

It does sound familiar, thanks. They're HQ is in Glassboro, NJ.

Thanks for the replies. The bread is so important and it makes recreating a cheesesteak outside of Philly so tough. I forgot to add DiNic's: what bread do they use? I did ask on a recent visit, but forgot. It was one I hadn't heard of before. The Dinic gal said that Amoroso is too soft, and the the RPI needed a roll with more heft to stand up to the jus of the pork (excuse me for a sec, gotta wipe the drool from my mouth) OK, I'm back.... Backstory to this is the food editor for the Washingtonian mag recently visited Philly and found a cheesesteak in the Rittenhouse area, Tony Jr's, which he proclaimed "the best" . He has the impression ,and relayed this misinformation, that Amorosso is the be-all-end-all roll of Philly. I know this ain't so, but wanted some specifics to set the record straight. My ass + that stool= complete bliss in 3 weeks

dude, it's sarcone's! ain't no better hoagie rolle available than their own! ← Ah, not a dude and didn't realize they made thier own. But, thanks for the info.

This is a great topic! I truly love the "old" dishes which were used for family and entertaining friends. Some favorites are Chicken a la King, Country Captain Chicken and Apricot Chicken. I have 2 cookbooks that my husband brought to the marriage, which I love because of thier "retro" type recipes. Nothing is stacked, cooked in a bag, arranged or deconstructed. The books are from a series of cookbooks entitled 365 (fill in cuisine or low fat or vegetarian...). Mine are 365 Ways to Cook Chicken, and 365 Easy One Dish Meals. I love them! Consider "Chicken a la Nancy", "Chicken Veronique", "Empress Chicken" and "Bombay Chicken". The names are succint and evocative. Not literal like today's recipe names which describe in sometimes excruciating detail, every element in the dish. Anyway, if you see one of these cookbooks at a garage sale or such, check it out!

Ooooh, that looks good. What/Who's roll does Sarcone's use? How about Tony Lukes? I ask because it's a common misunderstanding outside of Philly, that ALL hoagies and cheesesteaks/RPI's are made with Amorosso's rolls. Thanks!