The Endless Road Trip: Philadelphia’s Top 10 Eats 9. The New Cupcakes

Ever since the cupcake trend died down (at least a little bit), everyone has been looking for “the new cupcake.” I found it.

I never particularly like the cupcake trend because there didn’t seem to be flavors in a cupcake I couldn’t get elsewhere. Red velvet cupcake? Yeah, I can just get red velvet cake. Move along. Nothing to see here.

So I was a little apprehensive of the new, “trendy” donut and fried chicken place opening in South Philly. Another baked good trend? Meh. But on Monday morning I headed down to the opening of Federal Donuts, the brainchild of Philly chef Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook (of Zahav), BODHi Coffee owners Thomas Henneman and Bob Logue, and local food-and-drink expert Felicia D’Ambrosio (aka the tour guide on the Philly episode of Bizarre Foods). This place already had an advantage in my mind, since the hummus and salatim at Zahav is my kryptonite. When I die, I want to be slathered in that hummus. Preferably by Solomonov himself. Or any of the male servers from Zahav. I’m not picky.

I went along to Federal with my former flame (The Artist), because he has a few fabulous qualities for an eating partner: he shares, he knows what he likes, he’s been to Zahav and he isn’t afraid to park in the city. But then we walked in, and The Artist asked if they had decaf coffee (they did not) and then I remembered why it didn’t work out between us. One point for Federal, though.

Read More

America’s Top 10 New Sandwiches — Veganized

Our recent article on America’s Top 10 New Sandwiches has caused quite a stir in the blogosphere, but no one was more riled up  than a group of spunky vegan bloggers. Their de facto leader, Namely Marly, explains:

We read this article with great curiosity but it didn’t take long until the curiosity faded and was replaced with something else. OK. We were grossed out. Particularly at one sandwich that referred to an ingredient called suckling pig. We hoped this was a reference to something other than the obvious, but it appears it is exactly as it sounds. Only one of the 10 sandwiches appeared to be vegetarian. We felt like a cross between Stan Laurel and Rodney Dangerfield, scratching our heads with a half whimper and half scowl thinking, “Why don’t we vegans get any respect?”

So they decided to demand their own respect, teaming together to create tasty and healthy versions of each cholesterol-laden entry on the list of America’s Top 10 New Sandwiches. Hence, America’s Top 10 New Sandwiches — Veganized. Here are all ten of ’em. Follow the links for recipes.

10. The Vegan Spuckie

We called this olive-carrot-mortadella goodness from Cutty’s in Boston “the one sandwich that most successfully merges the old-school method of overdoing it on Italian meats with the new world of artisan, veggie-centric goodness.” Drop the meat part and it’s still drool-worthy. Trina Jaconi Biery of Your Vegan Mom made her own meat-free mortadella, featured here on a ciabatta roll topped with vegan mozzarella and a sweet carrot-olive salad.

Recipe: The Vegan Spuckie

(Photo: Trina Jaconi Biery)

9. Vegan Bulgogi Steak Sandwich

When Allyson Kramer of Manifest Vegan learned there was a Bulgogi Steak Sandwich (from Koja in Philly) on the list, she jumped at the chance to veganize it. As a child she used to eat bulgogi steak sometimes twice a week. Now a vegan, she’s been hankering to try a veggie-friendly version. Served on a hoagie roll (Allyson even provided a recipe for gluten-free hoagie if that’s to your liking), marinated tofu is topped with caramelized peppers and onions, chili garlic sauce, and melted vegan mozz.

Recipe: Tofu Bulgogi Steak Sandwich

(Photo: Allyson Kramer)

Read More

Chocolate and Beer Filled Donuts

What could be more loving than breakfast in bed with a serving of chocolate and beer deep fried to donut perfection? Yep, it’s time to bring your romanticism (and gluttony) to the forefront this Valentine’s Day with these Chocolate and Beer Filled Donuts.

I know one dessert does not fit all, so of course you can couple your chocolate with just about anything — Scotch, Cognac, or even no alcohol at all. This recipe is highly adaptable, so throw in what you like. Shoot, throw in a mini Snickers Bars if that’s your mix for a bit of joie de vivre on your love day celebration.

Chocolate and Beer Filled Donuts

Read More

America’s Top 10 New Sandwiches

Forget who piles pastrami highest or fits the most varieties of cold cuts onto one hero roll. A great sandwich has come to mean more than just bigger, better and meatier. Across the country, a new breed of sandwich artisans are taking lunchtime to a whole ‘nother level. From California to New England, here are Endless Simmer’s top ten favorite new sandwiches.

10. The Spuckie — Cutty’s, Boston

spuckie sandwich cuttys

Spuckie is a term used by old-school Bostonians to identify any sub sandwich, but it’s increasingly associated with this year-old Brookline shop. It’s also probably the one sandwich that most successfully merges the old-school method of overdoing it on Italian meats with the new world of artisan, veggie-centric goodness. Super-thin slices of fennel salami, hot capicola and mortadella are layered on an oversize ciabatta, then topped with gooey, hand-pulled mozzarella and a fresh olive-carrot salad. For even less traditional sandwich-lovers, there’s also an eggplant spuckie available.

9. Bulgogi Steak Sandwich — Koja, Philadelphia

bulgogi steak sandwich

At the risk of outraging an entire city, we’re going to say it: the Philly cheesesteak is boring. With no disrespect meant to the age-old art of slathering fake cheese on top of a mound of meat, we just think this is one classic sandwich that is ready for a creative update. Enter University City sandwich truck Koja, where the chewy cheesesteak meat is replaced with bulgogi, Korea’s signature thinly-sliced, spicy BBQ beef. It’s served on a hoagie roll that’s coated in sweet chili oil and accented by sauteed peppers and onions. Koja also offers bulgogi pork and bulgogi chicken variations, but the best part is the unbelievable price — $3. Read more about this amazing sandwich at My Inner Fatty.

8.Crispy Drunken Sandwich — Baguette Box, Seattle

crispy drunken chicken baguette

Have you ever dug into a steamy styrofoam container of General Tso’s chicken and thought, “this is delicious, but it would be even tastier on a bun?” Of course you haven’t, that’s the most insane thing we’ve ever heard. But crazy is sometimes genius, as is proven at this tiny Seattle sandwich shop, where hunks of tender chicken are deep-fried and glazed in a tangy brown sauce, then served on a crispy baguette with caramelized onions and cilantro. The result is a supremely sticky, but utterly satisfying sandwich. (Photo: Sevius)

7. Cheesy Mac and Rib — The Grilled Cheese Truck, Los Angeles

cheesy mac and rib

Another new West Coast outpost that achieves genius results by thinking outside the bun, LA’s great cheese-on-wheels purveyor offers several list-worthy grilled sandwiches, but none is more awe-inspiring than this. Sharp cheddar mac-and-cheese, strands of sweet BBQ pork and caramelized onions are all stuffed into two perfectly buttered-and-fried slices of white bread. Yes, it sounds like the horrifying 3 a.m. creation of a stoned college student. Yes, it actually works. 
(Photo:
Grilled Cheese Truck)

6. Pibil Torta — Xoco, Chicago

XOCO Pibil

Upgrading Mexican street food has suddenly become a hot task of haute chefs around the nation, although the results often have us pining for the real thing. Not so at Rick Bayless’ Chicago sandwich shop, where tortas baked in the wood-burning oven take Mexican to levels we didn’t know existed. In this sandwich, silky strands of roasted suckling pig are served on crusty bread spread with black beans and achiote paste, then finished with a layer of pickled onions and habanero salsa. The Pibil may be one extra ingredient away from being a Top Chef disaster story, but as is, it’s perfection on bread.

Next: The top 5

Feed Us Back: Comments of the Week

img_9447-1024x682

Dan, for one, is stoked about taint-y donuts:

I have been laughing about this for probably 10 minutes. I read it with an obnoxious monster truck type voiceover. The subtle underlining of the word ‘everything’. The caps and spacing on ‘taint’. what is that comic sans? everything about this is perfectly awful.

Frieda brings us more things to do with a banana:

I use mashed bananas in marinades for chicken and shrimp, with orange juice, soy sauce, oil and seasoning – then grill. Also throw them sliced into stir fries – a touch of sweetness is always appreciated in these dinners.

– And reaching way back, Niki has lots to say about eating shrimp heads:

Read More

Adventures in Unappetizing Advertising

donuts

While doing some research for an upcoming article, I stumbled upon this bare-bones website teaser for an upcoming donut truck.

I know that donuts have been getting crazy and crazier lately, but um, this marketing plan doesn’t exactly make me hungry. Anyone else?

Endless Contests: We Have a Donut Winner!

12390004_b9a6bdc9eb

The donut is already darn near close to the perfect food item, so when we threw down the gauntlet to our readers to come up with the greatest donut combo ever assembled, it was no small task.

The folks at Dunkin” Donuts were running a contest that was a little more closely tethered to reality, and it looks like they came up with some fantastic suggestions that you can vote on in the hopes of seeing them turn up at your local store.  Of course, we loosened the constraints a bit and let you add any ingredient you wanted, and you certainly pokies 88 didn”t disappoint.

Though the thought of a cardamom/vanilla buttermilk donut or a bananas foster version were fantastic, we had to hand it to reader Alex, who took the already indulgent donut and turned it into a cholesterol bomb of epic proportions:

Lightly glazed plain donut (whole wheat flour? Can you do that? For fiber) filled with creme de brie and homemade, fresh blueberry jam. The glaze is largely for sticking the crushed hazelnut topping to the donut. It’s kind of like a personal-sized baked brie.

Good to see that you worked in the whole wheat “for fiber.”  We wouldn”t want this to be unhealthy.

Congratulations, Alex, a brie donut sounds delicious.  Your $60 Dunkin’ Donuts Gift Card is on its way!

(Photo: wader)

« Previous
Next »