PJ's & Coffee

IT’S BACK!!!!!!

2011 Contestants compete in Mussel Bowl 8

Chick’s Tavern’s

9th Annual Mussel Bowl

Sunday, January 29, 2012

CONTEST BEGINS at 3PM ~ GET THERE EARLY!!

Chick’s Tavern has been owned and operated by the Chiccarine family since 1935. On Sunday, January 29, 2012, Chick’s Tavern will host their 9^th Annual Mussel Bowl at 3:00 pm.  The Irish Thunder Pipe Band will also perform.

Last Year’s Event was a HUGE success and each year’s Mussel Bowl draws a larger crowd, and a more exciting competition! Last year, the 8th Annual Mussel Bowl, held on January 30, 2011 was a record breaking day. Tim Kinney, representing the AOH, ate 280 mussels in ten minutes!

The Irish Thunder Pipe Band performed before and after the competition.

2011 Mussel Bowl winner, Tim Kinney with Chick’s owner, Amy Chiccarine.

Also in last year’s Mussel Bowl at Chick’s Tavern,  the youngest competitor ever, at the age of 12, eating 143 mussels in 10 minutes, was MY SON, Tanner. One year later, and significantly larger, he will again seek the title.

My 12 year old son, Tanner, excitedly anticipates the start of Mussel Bowl 2011

THE YEAR’S COMPETITION

Sunday, January 29, 2012

3:00 PM

• The competition will feature two rounds of eating, 5 minutes each, with a ten minute break in between.
• The winner will receive Free Mussels for one year on Monday nights.
• The Irish Thunder Pipe Band will perform prior to the event start, so get there early!
• The entry fee for contestants is $20, with those proceeds donated to Retired Officer Steve Savo, Badge # 40 of the Bridgeport Police Department and the AOH Irish Club.

RULES AND ENTRY FORM

Chick’s Tavern

231 East 4^th Street

Bridgeport, PA

610-279-9606

 For more information, please contact Dave Chiccarine or Amy Young

Follow Chick’s Tavern on twitter

Chick’s Tavern on facebook

Trattoria Totaro presents:

CHRISTMAS EVE FEAST OF THE SEVEN FISHES

Take out menu

Pick Up December 23,24^th, 2011

GARLIC SHRIMP COCKTAIL

Jumbo shrimp sautéed in olive oil, garlic, butter and basil, served chilled

$8.45 ½ dozen

SCALLOPS WRAPPED WITH BACON

$6.95 ½ dozen

CLAMS CASINO

Stuffed littlenecks topped with bacon…$8.95 ½ dozen

FRIED SMELTS

A tradition! …$9.95 ½ pound

BACALA (CODFISH SALAD)

Finely diced celery, onions and carrots tossed with flaked codfish in olive oil and garlic vinaigrette…$9.95 per pound

STUFFED SHRIMP

Jumbo shrimp stuffed with crab imperial, breaded and fried

$5.95 each

STUFFED CALAMARI YOLANDA

Vince’s mothers recipe – calamari tubes stuffed with sauté of vegetables, bread crumbs, herbs, pistachio nuts and raisins in marinara sauce or aiola sauce

$8.95 ½ pound

FLOUNDER PORTO

Flounder stuffed with lump crabmeat and spinach in a port wine cream sauce

$10.95 each

FRUTA DI MAR

Shrimp, scallops, mussels, clams and calamari tossed with celery and onion with a garlic, olive oil, vinegar and herb dressing

$10.95 pound

PESCATORE

Sauteed shrimp, scallops, mussels, clams and calamari in marinara sauce over pasta. Also available in garlic, olive oil, white wine sauce…$12.95 pound

Dine In Menu

CHRISTMAS EVE FEAST OF THE SEVEN FISHES

Friday December 23 and Saturday December 24, 2011

First Course

Seafood Sampler – A sampling of fried smelts, clams casino, garlic shrimp cocktail and bacala (codfish salad)

Second Course

Fruta di Mar (Cold Seafood Salad)

Shrimp, scallops, mussels, clams and calamari tossed with celery and onion with a garlic, olive oil, vinegar and herb dressing, served over greens

OR

Crab and Seafood Bisque

Third Course

Pescatore – Sauteed shrimp, scallops, mussels, clams and calamari in marinara sauce over home made pasta.

Also available in aiola sauce (garlic, olive oil, white wine sauce)

Flounder Porto – Flounder stuffed with lump crabmeat and spinach in a port wine cream sauce, then baked.

Calalmari Yolanda – Vince’s mothers traditional recipe: calamari tubes stuffed with sauté of vegetables, bread crumbs, herbs, pistachio nuts and raisins in marinara sauce or garlic, olive oil and white wine sauce

Dessert Sampler

Cannolies, Biscotti, Pizzelles and Cookies

$50.00 per person

Trattoria Totaro

639 Spring Mill Avenue

Conshohocken, PA 19428

610-828-7050

The most magical day of the year! Christmas Tea 2010

Do you have a precious holiday memory from your childhood? I have worked diligently to create so many for my children, from the smell of cinnamon and cloves throughout the house from Thanksgiving to New Years, to all of the home baked cookies we make, peppermint bark, decorating with fruits, cutting down our tree (yeah, forget that this year), decorating with fruits and greens, and The Wonderland Tea at The Four Seasons in Philadelphia.

If you have never experienced this event, or have never heard about it, there is a reason: it is the best kept secret in Philadelphia! Nearly impossible to obtain a reservation, throughout the month of December, this is the HOTTEST ticket in town. Wonderland Tea is only available on Saturdays beginning the Saturday after Thanksgiving through December. It is a children’s tea. There is only ONE day to make reservations. It is usually the 2nd Tuesday (don’t quote me) in October. There is a hotline # setup for tea only and the entire month is booked in an hour after the phone lines open. It is a very small window and makes for an exclusive event!

The desserts!

We first attended when my youngest was 3 or 4. She was a little squirmy, although she enjoyed every minute. We felt the next year that we would do something else, so we left the youngest at home and went to The Rittenhouse. As we passed The Four Seasons, my older daughter, probably 6 at the time, sighed, “That’s where I am supposed to be.” The rest is history! The Wonderland Tea has been a tradition ever since.

The day begins with my girls’ favorite; vanilla tea and champagne for the ladies. but of course…

Everyone is dressed to the nines! I am searching as I write this for a picture from their younger years where they were still cute enough to get decked out! Tea sandwiches are served, followed by assorted scones and desserts. Alice in Wonderland roams the room taking pictures with all of the girls. Each girl receives a copy of the photo in a paper frame. After dessert, the Nutcracker Dancers perform. Since we are pros, we know just the perfect time to strategically move the girls into position for the best seat.  The children are enchanted by the performance and when it ends they rush forward with their paper framed picture and pens to gather autographs from the dancers.

Always a treasured gift

Each child receives a wonderful take away. Amongst the gifts have been: A Four Seasons Christmas Bear, A Royal Tea Set, The Nutcracker the book and last year’s gift; an MP3 player engraved with “Four Seasons Philadelphia.”

YAY! I found past pictures:

Enjoying marshmallows

With Alice!

With Mom Mom!

Ready for show!

Getting autographs

A great day! Excited for today!

I use apples and oranges as candle holders on our mantle

My centerpice is apples, with a pineapple top filled in with boxwood greens.

My grandfather made the mold from wood.

I add cloves to oranges for a great look and smell

Sugared Fruits are MY FAVORITE and a great activity with the kids!

Sugared fruits are used with greens and pine cones throughout the house

Sugared Fruits

Egg whites

Sugar

Assorted fruits such as red and green apples

pears

grapes

ornages and clementines

Roll the fruits first in egg white using a basting brush to cover

Then add to a bowl of sugar

Use a spoon to coat and lightly roll in sugar.

Let the fruits dry on wax paper.

Sugared fruits look beautiful in a crystal bowl or scattered amongst greens.

Thank you to Hillary Chybinski for motivating me to finally get this post done by posting her 12 days of Christmas blog.

Merry Christmas!

Peppermint Bark

I made this last night and someone asked for the recipe. It made me realize that I had never shared the recipe! It is so eacy and fun for the whole family!

Peppermint Bark

3 bars of Ghirardelli Semi Sweet Chocolate

3 bars of Ghirardelli White Chocolate

1 pack of peppermint candies or candy canes

Melt chocolate over a double boiler

Take a cookie sheet and line it with parchment paper. Spread chocolate flat across paper until smooth. Stick cookie sheet into fridge to cool and harden.

I have my children open the candies and place them in a ziplock bag. Seal the bag and on floor (our floor is stone, no harm no foul, if your floor is tile, you may want to do this outside), lay down a towel, followed by bag of candies, followed by another towel on top. With a kitchen mallet, have the children slowly smash the candies. The candies shouls be in small pieces and sandy. They love this!

This picture is for effect. Make sure you have a towel under and over candy!

Melt the white chocolate in the same manner and spread over the white chocolate.

Spread melted white chocolate over cooled chocolate VERY quickly as to not melt 1st batch of chocolate. Press scattered candies on top and refrigerate until hardened.

Tear into pieces and serve!

Trattoria Totaro

Hosts a December

Wild Game Dinner

Thursday December 15th

Five courses of exotic wild game such as quail, kangaroo,

wild boar, elk and duck

Each course paired with micro brewed beers

$55.00 per person

Open seating, but seating is limited!

For reservations call: 610-828-7050

Trattoria Totaro

639 Spring Mill Avenue

Conshohocken, PA 19428

Conshohocken Italian Bakery Installs New Oven

CONSHOHOCKEN, PA – Conshohocken Italian Bakery recently acquired and installed a new Alitech thermal tunnel oven.  The oven will allow for increased production of their Italian roll varieties including Hoagie, Steak and Kaiser Rolls distributed throughout the region. Bakery owners, Domenic and Michael Gambone, expect to have the new oven fully operational the week of November 21^st.  As customary, a blessing ceremony will be held on Tuesday, December 6, 2011 at 11:00am at their 79 Jones Street location; his Reverend Father Gasper A. Genuardi of SS Cosmas & Damian Church will officiate the ritual.

The new Alitech oven, endearingly named “Irene”, replaces a 25 year-old Thermotun oven. The breakdown/installation process took nearly 9 weeks to complete with an additional 4 weeks for calibrating and testing. The new oven is expected to reduce energy consumption by 10 – 15% in addition to providing more efficiency by reducing baking times while maintaining product consistency. The oven is expected to bake up to 25,000 Kaiser Rolls per hour and nearly 6,300 Hoagie Rolls per hour.  The overall dimensions of the oven are 16 meters long X 4.8 meters wide X 2.6 meters high or 52.5ft X 15.6ft X 8.5ft, which is about the length of a humpback whale. For more information on Alitech bakery equipment, please visit their website at www.alitech-online.com.

During the transition, the bakery was using a similar, but smaller Thermotun oven to keep up with production demands.

Established in 1973, Conshohocken Italian Bakery has been manufacturing and supplying wholesale and retail baked goods to the greater Philadelphia five-county region.  The bakery continues to focus on producing freshly baked artisan products.

Conshohocken Italian Bakery

79 Jones Street

Conshohocken, PA 19428

610-825-9334

www.conshybakery.com

Follow Conshy Bakery on TWITTER

Conshy Bakery on FACEBOOK

BE PREPARED!!!

THIS POST IS LIFE CHANGING!

Do you make the Thanksgiving Turkey? How is your gravy? Do you struggle with making it smooth, not lumpy? Is your gravy shiny and takes a while to thicken? This trick will change your life and make your gravy better than ever before! Wait for it…wait for it…… SCHMALTZ BALLS!

Schmaltz Balls

I bet schmaltz balls is not something you hear every day. You will do yourself a big favor if these become a staple in your home! So, here’s the story, if you have ever made a turkey or chicken and tried to make gravy, you know it can be difficult to create a perfect consistency. Schmaltz balls change that forever.

First thing you need to do: Before we get any closer to your Thanksgiving turkey, BAKE A CHICKEN!

Schmaltz balls are a combination of flour and chicken fat. So, bake a chicken now so you can make schmaltz balls for Thanksgiving day. Sounds crazy, I know, but seriously, it will change the way you make gravy forever. I am fortunate that I roast a whole chicken every week as a general practice, but for those of you who do not, it is a great practice a few weeks before Thanksgiving. You can do a dry run on a much smaller bird, while also producing the chicken fat you will need for your schmaltz balls. Schmaltz balls are an equal combination of chicken fat and flour.

After you remove your chicken from the pan, set aside the drippings. Once cool, the fat will solidify. Measure the solid chicken fat and add the same amount of flour. Mix together well. Roll the combination into 1 1/2 inch balls. They can be frozen for later use. As a matter of fact, I keep schmaltz balls in my freezer year round.

The theory? When you make gravy by adding in flour directly to the pan, it gets lumpy. If you use cornstarch, gravy appears shiny and unappetizing.  Instead, the schmaltz balls, when added to your turkey’s drippings, will gradually “melt” into the drippings and gradually thicken into a perfectly even and smooth gravy.

Molasses Turkey Gravy

I baste my turkey with molasses, giving the bird a dark beautiful skin and adding tons of flavor to drippings

Strain pan drippings, eliminating as much fat as possible (I use a fat separator)

Return drippings to pan over low heat

Add a little milk

Stir well

Add 1st schmaltz ball and stir until completely dissolved

Continue to add milk and schmaltz balls until desired consistency is achieved

Season as needed (Molasses usually creates a saltiness as it caramelizes in pan)

Other Great Thanksgiving posts:

My Turkey and Chestnut Stuffing Recipes

Turkey Brine

Fun Thanksgiving Ideas

Pumpkin Margaritas

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Thanksgiving Caviar Display

My most prized culinary possession is my caviar staircase! I was searching through my photos from previous Thanksgivings to post some additional recipes from my Thanksgiving repertoire, but when I found this picture, I just had to share!

Thanksgiving is my FAVORITE holiday, and it is the only day each year, unless we have a spectacular cocktail party, which we have not done in years, when the staircase appears. This glass staircase is from TRU in Chicago, my favorite restaurant, second only to Picasso in Las Vegas. I fell in love with the staircase the 1st time I dined there, but after multiple experiences, I had to have it. They shipped me one from Chicago and now it is the premier appetizer at my Thanksgiving Day feast.

Most would claim Beluga Caviar is the best, but my preference is Osetra. It is priced between Beluga and Sevruga. I find it to be  little more briny than the Beluga and slightly sweeter. Sevruga is my least favorite of the premium caviars. It seems to have a smokey taste, in my opinion. Unfortunately, with the restrictions on Russian Caviar imports over the last few years, the costs have risen dramatically. American sturgeon is a joke and anyone who says otherwise is fooling themselves. I have tried to serve it, and I’d rather eat the flying fish roe from the grocery store than American Osetra. But, I digress…..

The staircase has 8 “steps” and the way it is used at TRU is to serve all three caviars, along with creme fraiche, capers, egg yolk, egg whites, diced red onion and sour cream. *mouth waters* Since I only serve one type of caviar, I double up on the caviar and sour cream. I made my own blinis once, but given how extensive my menu is (as you will see in upcoming posts), I now purchase them instead at Di Bruno Brothers when I buy my caviar.

Every year when I pull the staircase from the cabinet, it puts a smile on my face!

Do you like caviar?