Vichyssoise and Gooey Cakes

[Holly Moore]

Fighting injustice and protecting the American way of life does cause one to work up an appetite. Yet with all that is wrong that must be made right there is never time to cook.

Along with justice I find myself passionately craving such hackneyed avant gardeless dishes as classic vichyssoise preferably presented in an ice filled supreme dish and gooey cakes of any denomination prepared from scratch and adorned with true butter cream icing glopped on in peaks and valleys with none of the anal precision of a 3 star pastry chef.

Must I fly against the world's spin and back in time to the fifties, or can such fare still be found in twenty first century Philadelphia?

[cinghiale]

I had a plain ole run-of-the-mill vichyssoise, albeit w/out ice boat, at Freeman's in NYC last weekend, and it was just great. I found myself asking the same question - why has it gone missing from menus pretty much everywhere these days? Then I remembered that a home-made version is pretty easy and delicious. Come to think of it, that's what I'll do for dinner tonight.

ETA: Also at Freeeman I had iceberg salad w/buttermilk dressing, also a dish in that 50s camp that is slowly crawling its way back to respectability.

Edited August 4, 2007 by cinghiale (log)

[cwdonald]

Fighting injustice and protecting the American way of life does cause one to work up an appetite.  Yet with all that is wrong that must be made right there is never time to cook.

Along with justice I find myself passionately craving such hackneyed avant gardeless dishes as classic vichyssoise preferably presented in an ice filled supreme dish and gooey cakes of any denomination prepared from scratch and adorned with true butter cream icing glopped on in peaks and valleys with none of the anal precision of a 3 star pastry chef.

Must I fly against the world's spin and back in time to the fifties, or can such fare still be found in twenty first century Philadelphia?

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I didn't order it, but the soup of the day last Tuesday at Shanachie pub in Ambler was Vichysoisse. Of course I settled for true Irish pub fare with an ulters fry up complete with bangers, rashers, beans grilled tomatoes, and black and white pudding. The best part was the toasted brown bread... washed down with a pint of Guinness and a pint of Magners.

Food up at Shanachie is quite good btw. Brian Duffy does some very imaginitive dishes. Try his salmon dumplings sometime.

[KatieLoeb]

Back when it first opened, Meritage had a retro Country Club menu. Nowadays I think your best bet might be somewhere like Oceanaire, that seems to have that old school cruise ship feel about it. They have Baked Alaska (served flaming!) on the dessert menu, so it might be a good start.

Homemade Vichyssoise sounds like the most workable solution. I often make big pots of potato-leek soup and eat it either hot or cold, depending on my mood that day. It's pretty easy and the farmer's market or RTM produce vendors will surely have all you need to accomplish it.

My trick is to use fat-free half and half and a bit of lowfat sour cream in it for texture.

[cinghiale]

FWIW, a search on epicurious turned up 12 recipes, with a variety of leek substitutions, including cucumber, watercress, zucchini, fennel, and mushroom (?, though with onion). One old school recipe has peas added, which I've enjoyed and believe works. But, there's only one true, straight-up vichyssoise recipe on the site: House and Garden, 1962. I've made this often. My tweak is poaching salmon in the soup, and then removing it prior to blending the soup, returning the fish to it during chilling. Alternatively, I add smoked salmon directly into the pureed soup. I'm doing the latter tonight, on this very hot evening.

[Diann]

Cafe Lutecia (23rd and Bainbridge) often has vichyssoise as one of their soups of the day ... they also have a croque monsieur I need to try. The sandwiches are delicious!

[Holly Moore]

Cafe Lutecia (23rd and Bainbridge) often has vichyssoise as one of their soups of the day ... they also have a croque monsieur I need to try. The sandwiches are delicious!

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Thanks. I totally forgot about them.

Now, how about a source for a good and gooey cake?

[Diann]

Cafe Lutecia (23rd and Bainbridge) often has vichyssoise as one of their soups of the day ... they also have a croque monsieur I need to try. The sandwiches are delicious!

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Thanks. I totally forgot about them.

Now, how about a source for a good and gooey cake?

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What about the Bakery House on Lancaster Ave in Bryn Mawr? It's a great straightforward American bakery: moist and fluffy chocolate cake, brownies, carrot cake... nothing fancy, just down-home and delicious. Does that fit the gooey requirement?

[Holly Moore]

What about the Bakery House on Lancaster Ave in Bryn Mawr? It's a great straightforward American bakery: moist and fluffy chocolate cake, brownies, carrot cake...  nothing fancy, just down-home and delicious. Does that fit the gooey requirement?

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Real butter cream icing?

Edited August 16, 2007 by Holly Moore (log)

[mattohara]

lutecia's croque monsieurs is one of my top 5 sandwiches ever. (we should have some top five threads here)

i just went to brown betty for the first time. it's not a gooey cake but damn, it's a *little* gooey cake. those cupcakes are ridiculous. and they make cakes.

[Diann]

What about the Bakery House on Lancaster Ave in Bryn Mawr? It's a great straightforward American bakery: moist and fluffy chocolate cake, brownies, carrot cake...  nothing fancy, just down-home and delicious. Does that fit the gooey requirement?

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Real butter cream icing?

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Honestly, I can't remember. You should call them and ask. I do remember their cakes being delicious.

I second Matt's mention of Brown Betty, too -- the red velvet cupcake is one of my favorites.

[gbredben]

The pound cake from Stock's Bakery are great. You can get them iced with butter cream frosting. Your choice of vanilla or chocolate. Don't forget about their great german butter cakes too.

[serpentine]

Probably not too helpful, Holly, but I thought of you while enjoying a lovely, classic, cool vichyssoise at La Bonne Soupe in NYC this past weekend.

[Andrew Fenton]

Holly, if you still want vichyssoise, head on over to Matyson ASAP. They have it as a special (and, according to the waitress, will for a couple more days). No ice-filled bowl, but it's infused with bacon and truffle, and is rich, creamy and cool.