Pennsylvania Food and Fun

We spent a good amount of November in Pennsylvania.  One weekend was spent in the Philadelphia area for visits with family and friends, as well as a cousin's fencing tournament.  Another long weekend was spent all over southern and southwestern Pennsylvania from Gettysburg to Pittsburgh and everywhere in between.  On both trips we ate EXTREMELY well.  We had Italian and Moroccan in Philly (and a cheesesteak of which there is no photo).  And we had Civil War cuisine and home-cooked Persian food in Gettysburg and Pittsburgh.  Let's just say that this was not very good moderation to prepare for the Thanksgiving calorie intake...but it was worth it.

Friday night dinner on Weekend One was spent at Modo Mio in Philly with my beautiful cousin.  If you live in or plan to visit Philly, this hole-in-the-wall BYO Italian restaurant is a dining requirement.  It serves legitimate Italian cuisine and offers a very affordable four-course prix fixe menu.  If these samples don't get your mouth watering, you are inhuman...

Italian bread with olive oil, ricotta cheese, and spices.  And good red wine!

Antipasti: Bruschetta with snails; Sformato (crab and ricotta cake); Lingue (braised calf's tongue)

Pasta: Raviolo (mozzarella stuffed with apricots and sage); Gnocchi with porcini and Gorgonzola cream; Agnolotti (veal and rabbit ravioli with sage butter)

Secondi: Melanzana Ripiena (tomato braised stuffed eggplant with mint and ricotta); Anatro (prosciutto wrapped duck breast with figs); Vitello (braised veal cheek with fruit chutney)

Delicious Desserts that I can't remember...

We graced the college fencing tournament at Temple University on Saturday of Weekend One...

And then we enjoyed Moroccan food (with an Italian twist) at the delicious BYO Novita Bistro (you can thank the Quakers and their limited liquor licenses for all of the fantastic Philly BYO restaurants): Delicious bread with olives and oil; Calamari and Merguez (Moroccan lamb sausage); Lamb Tagine; and Roast Duck Breast with Lentils

Our Sunday was spent at the Valley Forge National Historical Park and watching football while eating cheesesteaks.

Weekend Two was full of stamps for my National Parks passport.  Gettysburg National Military Park, David Wills House, and Eisenhower National Historic Site were visited on Veterans Day.  

We also dueled at lunch at McClellan's Tavern with the hubby's Confederate Burger and my Union Beef.

11/12 at the Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site, Johnstown Flood National Memorial, Downtown Johnstown, Flight 93 National Memorial, Fallingwater, and Ohiopyle State Park.  PS - I can't legally post photos of Fallingwater.  Email me if you want to see them!

11/13 in downtown Pittsburgh and Point State Park, as well as Oakland for the Learning Chapel (University of Pittsburgh) and the Carnegie Museums.  

11/14 at Friendship Hill National Historic Site and Fort Necessity National Battlefield.

Let's just say we had a great time in Pennsylvania - with both food and travel.  Hold tight for Tropical Thanksgiving details and recipes...

Comfort Food: Chicken Soup with Sweet Potatoes

As the weather gets colder, you really can't beat chicken soup.  A big bowl can comfort and cure.  Feeling a bit under the weather?  Grab a bowl of chicken soup to help warm you and clear your sinuses!  The lack of daylight hours post-daylight savings gotcha down?  Ladle out the chicken soup and light a fire (or, as in my apartment, flip the switch to turn on the gas!).  Chicken soup can be extremely simplistic, but this time of year gives you an excuse to gather a plethora of seasonal, delicious produce and other ingredients to put a twist on the old favorite.

Believe it or not, I am also keeping with the "Travel" aspect of my blog with this entry.  Chicken soup is one of the most versatile "foods" - it can be found anywhere there are chickens.  Each culture puts its own twist on the dish - from Colombian ajiaco to one of my absolute favorite soups, Thailand's Tom Kha Gai.  I'm keeping things relatively simple with this recipe, though - I like to think of it as pure American comfort food.

I frequent a college friend's blog, aptly named, "Get Off Your Tush and Cook."  If anyone is interested in easy, healthy cooking, make sure to visit!  The soup recipe that I have enclosed in this blog entry is adapted from her version of a Foster's Market recipe.  Anyone who went to Duke knows the significance of Foster's Market - if you are ever in the Durham/Chapel Hill area, make sure to pay a visit!

Ingredients (Makes about 3 quarts of soup):

- 2 tbs. butter

- 1 tbs. olive oil

- 1 red onion

- 3 shallots

- 1 green bell pepper

- 4 ribs of celery

- 6 tsp. minced garlic (6 cloves)

- 2 large sweet potatoes

- 14 1/2 oz. can of diced tomatoes

- 1 rotisserie chicken (I bought mine already cooked from my grocery store)

- 8 cups chicken broth

- 1 tsp. red pepper flakes

- 1 tsp. dried marjoram

- 3 bay leaves

- salt and pepper

Start chopping and dicing!  You should start with your red onion and shallots in one bowl, then your celery and green pepper in another bowl.  Feel free to dice or chop as finely/coarsely as you please.

It's helpful to have another helper to help with the chicken.  Help.  But seriously, this part is kind of fun - you basically get to rip apart a chicken.  Just pull off whatever chunks of meat you can.  Just remember that you will eventually put the entire carcass into your soup, and a lot of the remaining meat will just fall off into the soup (aka soooo good).  So don't spend too much time on the chicken!

Pull out a big pot or Dutch Oven and add the olive oil and butter.  Heat and melt over medium heat.  Then add the shallots and onion and sauté until soft and golden, about 10-15 minutes.

As the onion and shallots cook, chop up your sweet potatoes into 1-inch cubes.

Now add your celery and green bell pepper.  Season with a bit of salt and pepper.  Cook for another 5 minutes as the pepper and celery start to soften.

Now add the garlic.  Cook for another 3 minutes.

Add the sweet potatoes, tomatoes, broth, red pepper flakes, marjoram, bay leaves, and about a teaspoon each of salt and pepper.  Add the chicken pieces, as well.

Now add the big chicken carcass!

 

 

Simmer uncovered at a reduced heat for about an hour until the sweet potatoes are nice and soft.

Remove the chicken carcass and bay leaves.  Also try to remove any other chicken bones that may remain.

And now you are ready to serve, perhaps with a bit more salt and pepper to taste.  I highly recommend accompanying this yummy, comforting soup with a nice whole grain bread.  And it is GREAT the next day or the day after that...or later that week.  Just reheat and add a bit more broth if necessary!