way more than cheesesteak

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Tuesday, September 21, 2010 @ 8:21 PM

beef. it's what's for dinner [ala Minella's]

When it comes to food, I'm an incredibly indulgent person. I'm not a fan of mindless eating. I don't like eating just for the sake of eating. Mind you, I used to be, but that was 30 lbs. ago. Now, I eat with intention. I eat what I want when I want (mostly). I have food cravings like a pregnant woman (though maybe not as strange. I've never craved pickles and ice cream, but I may have more bizarre hankerings some day in the distant future when I find myself about to procreate [God help us]). When I have a certain food on the brain, I have to have it or it'll stay at the forefront of my thoughts until it meets my tastebuds.

Lately, I've been craving a cheeseburger. Actually, scratch that. I've been craving a cheeseburger since halfway through my Ireland trip. When your sustenance is solely composed of sandwiches, it's not uncommon to crave something heartier than a few slabs of deli meat and cheese. I wanted a burger crisp on the outside, slightly pink in the middle, covered by a slice of cheddar and sitting on a soft kaiser roll that would catch any calorie-laden juices that made their way out of my burger.

So, after a rousing Philly Union Game--my first pro sports game ever, can you believe it?--I headed over to Minella's Diner to put an end to my burger-craving madness.

And wouldn't you believe it? Minella's delivered.

Salty bacon, crisp iceburg lettuce, sweet tomato, red onion, yellow cheddar cheese, smokey BBQ sauce, soft kaiser roll.

Even my friend's gyro looked good (and I'm usually not into eyeing up other peoples' food when I'm stuck on something).

(Just look at that feta cucumber tomato salad... oh boy)

You may have noticed that my cheeseburger looked a bit lonely on that plate with nothing but cole slaw to keep him company. French fries and burgers were meant to be together. I'd consider it a sin to keep them apart... unless of course I had good reason.

Meet dessert.

I've walked by the amazing dessert counter at Minella's on more occasions than I can remember, always stopping to wistfully sigh at their ganached mini cakes and flaky ethnic pastries. Yet somehow, in my countless visits, I've never ordered anything from the case. I think maybe I was too tempted by giant omelettes and fluffy pancakes slathered in syrup (I'm a big fan of late-night breakfast). My inaugural dessert? Raspberry cheesecake.

I have to say, it was not what I expected. I wasn't a fan of the bottom chocolate cake in the least. I'm a visual person and if something doesn't look appealing, chances are, it will have to assault my tastebuds with delicious to win me over. This cheesecake was not up for a fight, I guess. The cheesecake was (as you can probably tell) plain and so I felt a little mislead. The raspberry element was heavy on sweetness and lacking a little in the raspberry flavor department. I wasn't wowed, but I'd probably eat it mindlessly if my boyfriend just broke up with me and I was eating my feelings.

As for the chocolate peanut butter number... well, that's another story. The dark chocolate ganache had that sexy sheen that clings to every crevice of cake, leaving no crumb exposed. The peanut butter was super rich and, combined with the dark, dense cake, it was quite the mouthful. Had I not eaten half my cheeseburger a few minutes before, I would have gone to town on the cake and celebrated my efforts with a cold glass of skim milk and a stomachache.

Labels: bacon, cake, cheeseburgers, chocolate, dessert, diner food, gyro, peanut butter

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Saturday, August 28, 2010 @ 8:01 PM

THE PHILLY CUPCAKE TRUCK!!! (finally!)

Just as I was about to move to Pennsylvania from Connecticut, I heard about the New Haven cupcake truck. It offers several decadent flavors, such as salted caramel and hummingbird (pineapple and banana), as well as a variety of toppings like standard sprinkles or edible gold flakes, if you're feeling fancy. They even offer shots of frosting if you'd rather skip the cake altogether (that's my kind of truck!). I was pretty bummed that I didn't have time to check it out before I moved, but after a quick Google search, I realized that Philly had its own cupcake truck, Buttercream.

I'm ashamed to admit that despite my excitement, it took me a year to finally stalk out the cupcake truck. I came close to visiting a few times, but for one reason or another it never happened. A few days ago I took a look at my "Things to do in Philly this summer" list and realized that I only had a few weeks left. So, I made myself a hair appointment at the Aveda Institute (on my list), found out where the truck was parked and was off!

I headed over to Clark Park in University City. I was greeted by an array of vibrant vegetables, jars of jams and jellies and beautiful bouquets of wildflowers at the farmers market that was going on.

I quickly brushed by the stands, on a mission for one thing and one thing only: cupcakes. I had the white van in sight and nothing could deter me from the allure of bright colored sprinkles and the promise of year-anticipated cupcakes.

At $2 a pop, flavors were selling out fast (the truck had only been parked for an hour before they ran out of ganache!), so I settled on two flavors: banana with nutella buttercream and chocolate with peanut butter buttercream.

Let's start with the chocolate cupcake. As you can tell from the photo above, there wasn't much frosting for such a big cupcake. I was worried that the peanut butter frosting wouldn't have a strong flavor and that it would be lost amidst all that chocolate.

The peanut butter flavor was perfect. The buttercream was silky and light. It's no wonder why the Cupcake Lady chose Buttercream as the name of her operation. It was so smooth and perfectly blended... I was surprised at how beautiful the texture was. As for the chocolate cake, it was moist and soft, but a little messy. If it had been a little more moist or maybe a tad denser, it might have stayed together better.

Let's move onto banana.

Banana can be tricky. Too little and it lacks flavor and can be dry and crumby. Too much and the cake will be flavorful but dense or worse--undercooked. This little guy was denser than the average vanilla cupcake, but was too light to be confused with banana bread or even a banana muffin. It had just enough banana and the perfect amount of buttercream. The nutella was delicious on its own (I sneaked a lick), but, despite the amount of it, the hazelnut flavor was so subtle that it played second fiddle to the banana flavor of the cupcake.

I had such a lovely time hanging out in Clark Park today; the sky was brilliantly blue and cloudless and everyone was enjoying cupcakes and the farmers market in the lovely weather. Tracking down the cupcake truck forced me to take a detour from my normal weekend routine--I got to relax and poke around the city by myself at my own pace. I wish I had found the cupcake truck sooner!

Labels: banana, chocolate, cupcakes, nutella, peanut butter