Pie: part II

Liz Marden and her pies were so inspiring, I made a peach and blackberry pie tonight to bring to a party tomorrow. I think it turned out pretty well and the house smells great!

Just one thing: Liz recommends using a ceramic pie dish instead of glass, mostly because she likes the presentation. I usually use glass so I can make sure the bottom crust browns.

Just say no to soggy crusts!

So I pulled out a pretty ceramic pie pan that I use mostly for decoration and used it tonight. The top looks good and this baked at 400 degrees for an hour. I guess I'll find out tomorrow if the bottom crust browned enough. I'm not an experienced enough pie maker to trust my instincts on this....

Pie recipes coming Wednesday....

That's Prince Chunky to you!

OK, so this has nothing at all to do with food. Unless, you look at the obesity side of the story.....

But I can't get enough of the Princess Chunky tale. Now, it turns out this oversize lub of kitty love (photo above) is actually Prince Chunky. (Well, his real name is Powder.)

Why does this story hit home for me? I have my own plus size white cat at home. His name is T.C., but mostly we just call him Big Boy. (He usually sits on the kitchen floor and watches me cook and twitches his whiskers when it smells good. He's a very cool cat.) I've already gotten a few calls and emails today from friends/family saying how much the 44-pound Prince Chunky reminds them of Big Boy. And that's not really a good thing.

Last time Big Boy was weighed at the vet, the scale hit 21 pounds. That's half the size of the Prince. But, well, I know, I know. We put Big Boy on a diet and he has lost some weight. But it's going to be a long road.

You try getting a 13-year-old very spoiled cat to change his eating habits.

Clifford Wright, pies and pickles.

What's shakin' food friends?

Been in a food frenzy lately - and loving it!

I had a long phone interview with Clifford A. Wright. He is one of my favorite cookbook authors. Wright's "A Mediterranean Feast" cookbook (William Morrow, 1999) is definitely shelf worthy. (If you love Paula Wolfert, you'll love Cliff's cookbooks.) He takes an academic approach to the culinary arts and his books are always so well-researched. I'm making his eggplant and yogurt dish, will take a photo and share the recipe soon. Here's his web site. Wright has written 11 cookbooks.

I spent part of yesterday morning hanging with the always fabulous Liz Marden at her dessert shop in Hockessin. Next Wednesday's main food story is about making fruit pies and Liz and her fellow pastry chef Tom Brown shared some great tips. Stay tuned.

Baking in the summer may sound bizarre, but fruit is just bursting with flavor. I bought some wonderful peaches recently in Sussex County and was so inspired, that tonight I'm going to bake a peach pie for a Friday night party. Well, that's the plan now. We'll see after work. Maybe I'll be buying one of Liz's beautiful lattice-topped pies.

Another story to come: Homemade pickles. Seriously. My neighbors (thanks Anthony and Virginia!) recently brought over a bunch of cucumbers they grew in their garden.

What to do? Then, I remembered I had been holding onto an Emeril Lagasse homemade pickle recipe for some time - no canning involved. But inside my bulging recipe folder, I came across another pickle recipe that I liked even better. This was my first attempt at pickles and I must say, I'm quite pleased with the results. They're much easier than you'd think.

I brought in a jar for Eric Ruth to try - he's loves pickles and honestly I was a little worried he was going to hate mine - but Eric gave them big thumbs up. Wahoo!

Stories and recipes coming soon.

Anyone else out there make their own pickles? Chefs? Home cooks? Let me know on the comments, or email at ptalorico@delawareonline.com or call me at 324-2861.

Pickled anything has been really hot in New York restaurants.

Pricey crabs, no more Steak and Ale, ice cream

Plenty of food news today. If you're a crab lover, read my Diner's Digest column. After my friends encountered a dozen medium size crabs for $72 - yep, 72 beans! - at a beach crab house, I decided to make a few calls to see what other crab houses were charging. It's not a complete list - just a sampling.

News Journal reporter Maureen Milford writes about the closing of Bennigan's and Steak and Ale. While Steak and Ale seemed stuck in the 70s, I actually kind of liked the place on Kirkwood Highway for a steak dinner every once and while.

Features desk reporter Shruti L. Mathur tries to make her own ice cream and runs into all kinds of problems. It's apparently not as easy as it seems.

We made ice cream when I was a kid with one of those old-fashioned crank machines (though it had an electric crank). We used it exactly ONCE. I actually forgot doing this until I found the cob webbed covered machine recently in my mom's garage.

Cool right? Wrong. After reading the directions, I decided to buy a pint at Woodside Farms instead.

The net

(Regular Guy Grub, by Buddy Hurlock) Anyone order pizza online? When Sandra Bullock did so in 1995's The Net, it got a laugh. Now I think it's the best way to order pizza. There's no being asked to put on hold as soon as they pick up the phone, and there's no being rushed through placing your order.

Papa John's was ahead of the curve when it came to placing orders online, making it an option well before the others. Only recently have Domino's and Pizza Hut come up with sites that make the process easy. The Domino's Pizza Tracker is mildly entertaining. After you finish placing an order, the Tracker lets you know when the pizza is put in the oven, when its put in the box and when it leaves the store. It even gives you the names of the cook and the delivery person, a nice touch. Pizza Hut has a feature that estimates delivery time before you order, though the last time I used their site to place an order, things were a little uneven. The pre-order estimate was 35 minutes, but after I placed the order I was told delivery time would be 100 minutes. Egad! Thankfully, the order was delivered in about 40 minutes.

At least one local joint is joining the world of online ordering. Seasons Pizza has it available for most locations, and it worked just as well as the others, though when I recently made an online order at its Midway Shopping Center location, paying by credit card was the only option. Hopefully, they'll start accepting cash via online orders, at least if you're going to the store itself to pick up the order (which I was).

So, don't be scared to order pizza online. It's easy. It's fun. It's the future. Try it once and you won't ever go back.

In some other observations from this week, I stopped eating Pringles for a while after realizing they are just "potato crisps" and not potato chips, because of their true potato content. Anyway, now that Pringles Minis come in a nine-ounce bag, my addiction is returning. They just need to make the bag resealable.

Additionally, in another plug for candy, I tried the new Mike & Ike Lemonade Blasts, and give them a thumbs up. A portion of the sales benefit Alex's Lemonade Stand (http://www.alexslemonade.org/) which has become a nationwide charity seeking a cure for childhood cancer.

Lastly, try this fun quiz: www.walletpop.com/quizzes/spot-the-fake-product. I scored a 17 out of 20. Here's one hint: On some of the examples, look for some clues that make the fake choice more obvious. For instance, would suntan lotion be advertised as greasy or non-greasy?

A Tale of Two Chefs

For your reading pleasures, we offer recent stories on Delaware chefs.

Jay Caputo (to the left) runs the very classy establishments Espuma and Porcini House, both in Rehoboth Beach. He travels between the restaurants on either his skateboard or motor scooter.

Jay was on the long list of chefs being considered for this year's James Beard Foundation's Best Mid-Atlantic Chef award. He sat down recently for a story by Victor Greto.

Danny Profita, chef at Cafe Scalessa's in Wilmington, is heading to Beijing to cook for NBC during the Olympics. He also cooked at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

Danny is a super guy. I met him last year when he was working at the Chef's Table in old New Castle. Here's Shruti L. Mathur's story.

Reader mail

A very busy week - along with a sick day - has kept me from regular posting. So sorry!

I hope you get a chance to look at the 55 Hours cover story on local farmers' markets. The "buy local" craze is just getting crazier. And that's great news for "locavores" and for Delaware farmers who need our support. Always buy local whenever you can.

And here's a side bar on U-pick places. Picking peaches at Bennett Orchards in Frankford is one of my favorite Delaware experiences. A family member recently picked blueberries and blackberries at Strawberry Lane Farm in Frankford and brought an unbelievable sweet homemade blackberry cobbler to our beach house. I love summer foods!

Eric Ruth chows hot dogs at the new Johnnie's on Concord Pike.

Here's what's in the mailbag. (If you sent me email while I'll was on vacation, my apologies if I haven't gotten to it yet! I hit the ground running when I got back into town and I'm still not yet caught up.):

QUESTION: Dear Ms. Talorico,

I've seen several lists of U-Pick farms in the area and am always surprised that no one ever mentions our family's favorite, Walnut Springs Farm, off of Blue Ball Rd. in Maryland. My husband and I started going there for U-Pick strawberries when we were still in graduate school (10 years ago!) at the University of Delaware. We've been there this year for strawberries, cherries, blueberries, and black raspberries (with a 7-, a 4-, and a 1-year-old, no less). We're pretty serious about picking fruit and are not fans of the entertainment extravaganza that is Milburn, so we like the quiet of Walnut Springs Farm. It deserves to be mentioned in any future U-Pick articles--we hope you will do so.

Thanks for your time,

Libby Jonczyk

ANSWER: Thanks Libby. I didn't know about this place. Thanks for the suggestion. I just checked the web site and it shows that the last picking day is this Saturday. We'll keep it in mind for next year, though.

QUESTION: Hi, Patty. Every few years I hear a rumor that Cavanaugh's on Market St. in Wilmington is still open. Recently I heard this again, but that they're only open for lunch -- and my source said that lunch was actually very good. Can you confirm this? I enjoyed dinner there, maybe during a city art loop, about 20 years ago. I thought they closed down years ago and am always surprised to hear they're still open. If the food is decent, why is it that we don't we hear more about it? Just curious. Maybe I'll have to get over there one of these days.
Nancy

ANSWER: Hi Nancy. Thanks for the letter. Cav's is still open and last time I was in downtown Wilmington it seemed to be thriving at lunchtime. Haven't stopped in there for some time, but I will soon .

At the movies

(Regular Guy Grub, by Buddy Hurlock) During a quick trip Monday to visit my brother in New York City, we went to see The Dark Knight and then a Yankees game, my second and probable final trip to Yankee Stadium.

I didn't end up getting any pizza up in New York this time, and the hot dogs at the game were just fine, but going to the movies led to some observations.

Has anyone noticed that more movie theaters are pre-bagging their popcorn? This is no good. When they do this, you get popcorn that isn't nearly as fresh, and it makes me question if it's popcorn that was even popped within the last hour, or even popped on site at all.

Note No. 1 to movie theater owners: We want to see you put our own popcorn into our own bag. And if your answer is that pre-bagging makes the lines move faster, that's not a good excuse. We don't mind missing the 20 minutes of commercials.

Also, whenever you get anything larger than a small bag of popcorn, it disappointingly means you're only getting butter on the very top and, nothing more.

Note No. 2 to movie theater owners: Cut us break when we order the larger sizes of popcorn. Fill it up halfway, put on some butter and proceed. Go ahead and charge us 50 cents more. We're already paying a lot anyway.

As for candy, what candy do you like to get at the movies? I went with Mike & Ikes on Monday. And OK, you caught me, I hardly ever do this, but this time I brought in the candy from outside. But usually, I don't mind buying my candy right at the theater.

Note No. 1 to movie-goers: Don't get too mad about the high prices of food at the movies. Theater owners make very little off ticket sales.

In another issue, I always be sure to take my trash with me when I leave, since the bins are right there when you exit. Since when did it become OK to just leave your trash on the floor at the movies, or on the ground at baseball games? You should see all the trash that's left after Blue Rocks games. Disgusting.

Note No. 2 to movie-goers: Clean up after yourselves.

Anyway, make your case for the best movie candy. Is there a certain candy that you only get at the movies? For me, that's Sno-Caps, a perfect fit with salty popcorn. Milk Duds and Sour Patch Kids are two more of my favorites.

Lastly, I still want to hear about Delaware's hidden hot dog places. I know there's one in Seaford right on Rte. 13, but the name escapes me. Anyone know?

Vacations, photos and food

I'm thinking about writing a story and asking people "What I Ate On My [Summer] Vacation..." Going through a photo card, I came across some pictures I took on my trip to Slovenia last October before making my annual trek through Italy. The photo above was the bedroom view from the lovely Hotel Kendov Dvorec in Spodnja Idrija.

The placard below was on a building in the town of Ljubljana. For real.

You gotta love a country that has a society that recognizes the importance of sauteed potatoes and onions. The Slovenia guy showing us around Ljubljana couldn't really explain what the society does besides eating potatoes and onions or why there are bugs etched on this placard......I'm going to chalk it up to a Lost in Translation moment.

The pix below was taken at the farmers' market in Ljubljana. Those are giant vats of freshly made sauerkraut. There is no escaping the Slavic influence in Slovenia, which borders Italy and Croatia. Grandma types were buying big bags of it. I visited several vineyards and some of the wine from Slovenia is quite wonderful, especially Tokai and Rebula, but a local one called Teran, which was fine with the local foods, tasted much too much like the kraut once we opened a bottle of it in Tuscany.


One of my favorite stops in Slovenia was to the Piranske Soline salt store. (See below) Yep, a whole store devoted to salt. The salt is stored in canvas bags tied with red ribbons. You can also buy little wooden salt spoons for serving.


But this is not just any salt. Slovenia salt kicks that Morton babe's butt.

The salt is harvested from the Secovlje Salina Nature Park, on Slovenia's Adriatic coast using techniques dating from the 14th century.

Their slogan: Salt is the sea that could not return to the sky.

The salt's flavor and texture is prized among European chefs, including Alain Ducasse. I bought several bags for friends and family who cook - and, of course, the little spoons. The culinarians went nuts. It's that good. No one wants Italian scarfs or handbags from me anymore. It's Slovenia salt or nothing at all. Well, no one has ever said no to a bottle of freshly harvested Tuscan extra virgin olive oil.

(At customs, however, I did start to have some anxiety about an agent rifling through my luggage and finding all these bags of salt and little wooden spoons. I'm not sure if anyone would believe I was really muling salt for a bunch of sodium-craving Americans.)

I'm getting near the end of my salt and I need a Slovenia salt hook up very, very soon.

-Patricia Talorico

Back from beach bumming

It seems like I've been gone much longer than a week. Then again, it doesn't feel long enough.

A week's vacation at the beach has me re-energized.

Good friends, family and lots of good food. That's the ticket.

However, that old saying, "You'll never know how many friends you have until you get a place at the beach" was certainly true last Sunday. I stopped counting when I got to 23 bodies crowding the sand, and, later, the decks, of our house. Thank God, the cold brewskis, bottles of sparkling wine and plates of pulled BBQ pork were flowing freely....

We're a group that enjoys cooking on a vacation (I'm a wacky food writer, what do you expect?) but I did get a chance to get out and about. Not as much as I would have liked, but, well, here's a few quick notes:

- Best doughnuts in the world: The Fractured Prune near Rehoboth Beach. Soft and hot with really funky flavors. (Lemonade doughnut? Why not? And hey, who counts calories on vacation?)

- I can't let the summer go without a vanilla and chocolate twisted frozen custard cone from Kohr Bros. And the next day I got an orange and vanilla twist just to make sure I had all my bases covered. I get all Corey Haim when it comes to frozen custard. It's my addiction, my version of crack.

- Really spicy, tasty Bloody Mary on the deck of the Rusty Rudder. Don't eat there though - the Rudder is not known for good food. We had breakfast first at the Sunrise in Dewey. Not bad pancakes and bacon, though we were really glad we didn't see the ants on the table until AFTER breakfast. Order a drink at the Rudder and enjoy the view of Rehoboth Bay. Be prepared to pay for it, though. A Grey Goose Bloody was $8.50, (plus 50 cents for the Bloody Mary mix.) Seriously. That's what it read on the bill.

- The peaches from Bennett Orchards in Frankford (bought at a farm stand on Rt. 26 near Bethany) are insanely juicy and sweet this year. This farm is a Delaware treasure.

- Local corn and cantaloupes are outstanding too. Local tomatoes are just starting to gear up. And I saw the Tomato Sunshine stand is back in business after a fire earlier this year.

- Friends went for hardshell crabs at Mickey's Family Crab House in Bethany Beach one night and left, sans crabs, - in a STATE OF SHOCK. One dozen medium-sized crabs were $72.

No lie! That's 6 beans PER CRAB. You people crazy? They had dinner at the Bluecoast instead and couldn't have been happier. (Just had takeout steamed hardshell crabs from Feby's Fishery on Lancaster Pike, which, I believe, were $38 a dozen for large...so c'mon now.....72 beans is highway robbery.)

- Beautiful Foods in Rehoboth hooked us up with a wonderfully creamy gorgonzola - to eat with those peaches- and a smoked salmon, goat cheese and sundried tomato spread to eat with crackers.

- The Sussex County resort area restaurant scene seems to be doing OK in this economy - still the same old lines outside of Nicola Pizza and Big Fish Grill - though I had to shake my head at places like the Back Porch Cafe that are still charging $35 plus for entrees - and weren't filling seats in the dining rooms.

- Really want to check out the new Shag restaurant on Wilmington Avenue - right next to the Planet X. It looks very funky and had a good Sat. night crowd. Didn't get a chance to get over to Stingray, new sushi spot from Mikimotos owner Darius Mansoory. Saving them both for another beach trip very soon.

- Had a wonderful tomato salad and grilled mahi-mahi one night at NorthEast Kitchen in Ocean View.

-NorthEast Kitchen/Bluecoast owner Matt Haley's new Lupo di Mare Cucina Italiano in Rehoboth Beach is definitely worth a visit.

It's Italian, but the cuisine is much closer to what you'll find in Italy rather than a Italian-American restaurant. The stuffed squash blossoms with ricotta and pork were excellent ($6) as was the grilled balsamic marinated lamb leg steak with zucchini strings and rosemary potatoes ($20.) I wish the wine list was a little deeper with Italian vinos, but Lupo shows much promise.

MORE TO COME - i.e. a Taste review - ON THIS RESTAURANT SOON. Stay tuned.

- Patricia Talorico