Barcelona & it's Boqueria

I'm obsessed with Barcelona - it's this crazy and awesome combination of a big city and a beach town and you see it in the fashion, architecture and definitely the food.

I'm convinced that there is no better way to eat than tapas style. A couple montaditos, a cava (or two) and you're on your way to the next place to have some langostines and an Estrella, then on to the next place to have a plate of hams with some tomato rubbed bread and a glass of red wine, then on to...you get the idea, right?

But - before we get into the specifics of what and where we ate. Let me tell you about where the chefs go to get their ingredients and where we found ourselves every morning in search of hangover cures and caffeine boosts. La Boqueria.

The market is full of incredibly fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, meat, legumes, dried fruits, candy and a handful of little tapas joints.

It's also full of tourists but make our way past the crowds at the front entrance and you'll have more room to see, smell and TASTE the goods.

Next up - the meals we had in the Boqueria and my possibly unhealthy bocadillo obsession.

Sandwich Smash '09

I'm super excited to be attending Sandwich Smash this Sunday, October 4th. The event was created by the Jeff Vogel and Ben Kessler from Unbreaded, the Best of Philly Food Blog 2009. Chefs from Zahav, Paesano’s, Parc, Rick’s Steaks, and Bebe’s Barbecue will be creating their signature sandwiches on stage while chatting with Esquire Food Editor, Ryan D’Agostino. Guests will enjoy a meal that includes all five sandwiches, drinks from Anheuser-Busch, snacks from Herr’s and dessert from Capogiro. Oh AND it's a fundraiser for Philabundance!

Sandwiches, beer, snacks & gelato all for a good cause? I'm so in and you should be too - go buy your tickets!

Check out the little write up I got over at Unbreaded about the sandwich party that Gerry and Carla threw a little while back, pretty cool. High five Philly bloggers!

PS: The I'm-gonna-married-sometime-soon-and-have-to-wear-a-dress diet starts right after I eat these five sandwiches. I'm going out with a bang.

I'm Back!

Oh, you didn't know I was away? I was! Ron and I were in Barcelona and Paris - the sights, the food, and the drinks were all so fabulous that I don't know where to start. But I'll be posting A LOT very soon.

This was our first real, not work related vacation and there was plenty of reason for bubbly. That's cava in Spain:

And champagne in France:

Ooh what's that on my finger? Ron asked me to marry him and I said "Oui!"

Crabfest 09!

Our buddies MB and Otis put on quite the Crabfest! Otis and Mike drove down to Maryland the morning of the party to pick up these guys:




Steamed crabs and Jersey fresh corn on the cob (thanks Mark!) were the stars of the show. Messy and delicious!

There were some great sides too - couscous salad with veggies by MB, an awesome potato salad with buttermilk dressing by Rita, jersey peaches, and fried plantains with dipping sauce. I didn't snap a picture of Katie's butter cake but, as you'd guess with a name like that, it was really good pretty darn rich.

Potato, Corn and Cherry Tomato Salad

On our way back from the shore a couple of weeks ago we stopped at a farmers market and bought all of the ingredients for this salad - except for the basil that we grew in our backyard.

Boiled potatoes, halved cherry tomatoes, blanched corn, thinly sliced onions and basil were tossed with a dressing of lemon, honey, olive oil, salt and pepper.

When ingredient are this fresh then don't need a fussy dressing - super simple is the way to go.

Philly Sandwich Party

As you might know from reading this blog our friends LOVE a theme party. This one is at the top of the list! Our friends Carla and Gerry were threw a goodbye party for a couple of their friends with a Philly Sandwich party.

That's Carla in the picture - the brains behind this delicious party.

Philly has some really awesome sandwiches - some more well known then others. Ron and I brought Nick's Roast Beef sandwiches and gravy fries with long hots and horse radish on the side, of course.

Some of the others included cheesesteaks from Cosmi's, Randazzo's & The Artful Dodger, Roast pork from Tony Lukes, Chicken Milanese from Little Italy, and a few others I can't remember!

We're now one step closer to our goal of having a "This is why your fat" party.

Sea Bass with Garlic Scape Pesto

I know, I know - garlic scapes? Their season came and went a long time ago. My computer has been a little under the weather and I'm obviously VERY behind on my blogging. But this was so tasty I felt I had to share! The sea bass was seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper - I put it under the broiler flesh side up for a couple minutes then I flipped it over and broiled it until the skin was crispy and the fish was cooked through.

The pesto was garlic scapes, olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon and parmesan cheese all blended up in the blender. The lentils were cooked in salted water while I sauteed onions and garlic, when the lentils were done I mixed them with the onions and garlic and added a little white wine and dijon mustard.

You should make this - just replace the garlic scape pesto with maybe some green pea pesto or broccoli rabe pesto. Yum.