Everyday Is Not Like Sunday: Memphis Taproom & Headhouse Square

Memphis Taproom
The recently opened bar and restaurant opened just a short walk from Brian’s house in East Kensington (or Port Fishington, according to the peeps at the Taproom). We first passed by Memphis Taproom a few months ago when they were still working hard on renovations. The friendly owners and workers told us to stop by soon and that there would be plenty of vegetarian fare and we didn’t even tell them we were vegetarians. Maybe we had a look about us?

This past Saturday evening, we came off the 25 SEPTA bus schlepping new pillows and a mattress top for Brian’s bed when we ran into Laura Semmelroth of Flat Iron Wildcats—a local feral and homeless cat trap and rescue and adoption organization—and her boyfriend. They were heading off to Memphis Taproom and told us it would be their third weekend in a row at the place. Go, food is good.

After Laura’s endorsement, we vowed to finally head over to the Taproom for Sunday brunch and boy, was it worth the wait. Our waitress could not have been nicer or more attentive. In fact, it was she who offered to take a picture of Brian and me when she saw our camera out. The menu clearly labels what items are vegetarian and vegan (all items contain meat) and will substitute tofu scramble for any egg dish. Our waitress read us the specials, which included a tofu omelet stuffed with veggies. I eyed Brian and said, “Oooh, get that. It’s not just tofu scramble! And I’ll get the barbeque seitan sandwich and we can share and have breakfast and lunch!” So we did. I also got a beer mimosa, which is just like your regular champagne mimosa except with, you guessed it, beer. It was delicious and pretty much tasted like a champagne-based mimosa to my mostly undiscriminating booze taste buds.

When our food our arrived, the plates were heaped with crisp, thick, salty and peppery French fries. Yum.
The tofu omelet looked like an egg omelet and tasted delicious to boot. Brian also got a small cup of berry and wine jam made by Trappist monks, which really hit the tongue with sweet and sour berries and lush wine.

The seitan was slathered in tangy and spicy barbeque sauce and topped with crunchy slaw, which was perfect for me since I hate mayo-y and soggy salads. I gave half to Brian and was still more than satisfied. I’ll have a hard time trying anything else off the menu in the future because I’ll always want this sandwich.

By the end of our meal, we were stuffed and very happy. Our waitress asked if we’d like dessert, which included vegan chocolate cake with almond crust. I so wanted it but I could barely move at this point. Perhaps I should not have overdosed on the fries but I could not help but pop them in my mouth. Next time we’re there, we’re getting dessert.

Headhouse Farmer’s Market

Our next stop was the Headhouse Farmer’s Market, which was bustling even though we got there just about an hour before closing time. There were tons of green leafy vegetables and some berries and tomatoes. Other than produce, this market has lots of cheese, meat, and milk. Fittingly, one of the cheese tables was also selling ground veal. At least they’re keeping it real and not hiding the fact that veal is what all those dairy cows’ male babies become. I would have loved to have sampled and bought some baked goods but even the plain white bread had milk in it. Judging from the Trenton Avenue Arts Festival a few weeks back, I know there are plenty of Philly people making delicious vegan baked goods. I’d love to see a table or two of them representing at the farmer’s market.

After the market, we walked down South Street, got a Rita’s Ice, and sat in a park, watching some squirrels chase each other and a cute toddler relishing in her lunch. It was a nice day and over way too soon.

Memphis Taproom

2331 E. Cumberland St. (corner of Memphis)

Philadelphia, PA 19125

215-425-4460

info@memphistaproom.com

Headhouse Farmer's Market

2nd and Lombard Streets

Philly

10 am to 2 pm on Sundays

NPR Interview with Veganomicon's Isa and Terry. And are fish finally safe around me?

While I don't post a new entry, why don't you listen to "Secrets of the Ultimate Vegan Kitchen" on NPR's Weekend Edition? "Host Liane Hanson speaks with vegan chefs Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, hosts of the TV cooking show The Post Punk Kitchen. The pair have authored a new book, Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook."

Coming soon, am I still a pescetarian? Doesn't look likely after I saw gutted dead fish and very large and alive fish swimming in very small captivity at Spring Garden Market in Philadelphia. However, Brian came home from the market with a very large log of Vege Chicken Ham. It scares me and pleases him. Oh, he deserves it because he also bought some eggplant, plaintains, bananas, apple, and spinach.

Anyway, off to eat some beans and corn and whole grains and, well, some cheese. Which makes me only marginally less evil than when I had what may have been my last piece of salmon on Friday.

My Food Resolutions for 2008

One of its main tenets of Brazen Careerist's latest post on making resolutions you'll keep is that you should make only one or two goals. As someone who has made only one resolution that I've ever actually kept (vowing to lose weight January 8, 2005, doing so, and then keeping most of it for those three years), I've learned that a goal is not unlike writing an outline for a school paper: break down one idea into smaller, manageable parts. My overall culinary aim this year is to eat consciously, to really think about what I eat. Not obsess or create an eating disorder but to, as often as possible, think about if what I'm eating is what I want and if it supports my beliefs. To that end, here we go:


1. Learn how to grow a container garden
I don't know what happened this New Year's Eve but while my mother and stepfather were out partying (with silly string, no less) until 3 AM, Brian and I spent the evening making and eating hot-sauced glazed tempeh (recipe courtesy of Veganomicon), roasted sweet potatoes, and too-bitter rappini; doing a crossword puzzle; watching an episode of My So-Called Life; and then setting the alarm for 11:30 PM so we wouldn't miss the ball drop at midnight. The next day, I spent a few hours at Barnes and Noble looking through gardening books and decided that, this year, I really want to grow a plant of some sort without killing it in a few weeks. I'm very much settling into my slide into domestic middle-age. Anyways, I don't want to spend $4 for a bag of out-of-season sugar snap peas anymore. And I'm sick of buying fresh parsley and only using a few sprigs of it. With the world as crazy as it is, peak oil and all that stuff, I'd better learn to grow at least some of what I eat.


2. Eat more fruit (and a little dark chocolate in moderation) and less refined, processed sweets
Before I started Weight Watchers in 2005, my downfall was greasy Chinese takeout and lots of it. I enjoyed sweets but never gorged on them. Then after dieting for a while, my sweet tooth grew. Most of the extra weight I've put on this last year is due to my need for two desserts: one after lunch and one after dinner. I'm vowing to eat more fruit throughout the day and substituting my after lunch treat with fruit and if I want to be really decadent, maybe some dried mango (yum).

3. Eat out less and cook at home more
The rest of my weight gain is due to weekends of greasy vegan Chinese takeout, not bringing my lunch to work and eating out, or bringing an Amy's Organic frozen meal or another paltry serving of food to work and supplementing it with vending machine goodies. A main culprit of eating out more is not because I have an aversion to cooking but my lack of sleep and poor menu planning. To make sure I have the energy to cook at night, I'm aiming to go to bed just an hour earlier so I am less tired and have more energy and time to devote to properly planning what I'll eat all week.


4. Eat less cheese
This gives me no pleasure but it is an attempt at virtue. Do it for the cows. Besides, cheese has no nutritional value whatsoever, unlike eggs and fish (says the pesceovotarian). Any calcium and protein in cheese is negated by all the fat. Oh, the luscious fat. I'm no monk though so I think I'll start by just eating less of it. Rather than buying grocery store cheese every week and melting it on anything edible, I'll save my cheese indulgence for the really good stuff, the stuff that isn't neon and melted.


5. Eat more beans
Listen to the recent Food for Thought podcast on beans (the episode from December 14, 2007). Beans are a staple in many culinary traditions, including the Puerto Rican one I come from. As a child, I wasn't a fan of beans. I would only eat pigeon peas, or gandules, which my grandmother would make for me. Now there isn't a bean I won't eat. I'm particularly fond of pink beans, black beans, chickpeas, and cannellini beans . Canned or fresh, I'm going to make an effort to eat beans everyday. There's really no reason not to since canned beans are readily available, priced right and just a can opener away. My lunch salad today was elevated with the addition of chickpeas with sauteed onions (recipe below). And I'm not hungry nearly three hours later, miracle of miracles.

6. Cook and more soups and chilis
I'll concentrate on making soups, chilis, rice and beans and other large servings of beans, grains, and veggies that can go for a few days. If it tastes good, I don't mind eating the same thing three days in a row but I'll keep on hand some avocado, nuts, different sauces, already cooked tofu, an egg, etc. to keep things interesting for lunch and dinner.

7. Make my own granola and trail mix bars
This might be one of those pipe dream resolutions. I may just continue to buy Clif Nectar bars. But considering bars are just some grains, nuts and dried fruit binded together with some sticky syrupy sugar, it would be much cheaper to make it. If I get around to it, I can follow this recipe from Mother Earth Living.


8. Sign up for community-supported agriculture
With Philly's own Greens Grow right in Brian's neighborhood, we have no excuse not to buy shares in a local farm and pick up weekly boxes of fresh produce. Here's more information on their CSA.

Quick Chicks with Onions (vegan)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
¼ medium yellow onion, diced
1 can (15 ounces) organic chickpeas, drained and rinsed
sprinklings of the following spices to taste:
ground cumin
ground cayenne pepper
dried Italian seasoning
salt
freshly ground pepper

Heat olive oil in small saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until translucent and just slightly browned—about five minutes. Add chickpeas, cumin, cayenne pepper, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Stir well, cook for another 5 minutes or so (until chickpeas start to pop open) and taste and adjust seasonings to your liking as you go along. I like a lot of cumin and a generous dose of cayenne for flavor, bite, and a nice orange tinge. Chill and serve over salad or eat immediately.

Seven Ways to Host a Vegetarian-Friendly Cocktail Party

1. Focus on Cocktails: Cocktail parties are much easier to vegetarianize or veganize since the emphasis should be on the drinks and the finger-food, not on a main dish that must seemingly be meat-based. Perhaps you’ll decide to make wine the centerpiece of the event. Have a few bottles of white, a few bottles of red, and you’re done. If you’d like to make an actual cocktail, focus on making one or two rather than buying enough hard liquor bottles to stock your neighborhood watering hole. The point is to welcome and share time with loved ones, not to overwhelm yourself and your guests with choices. Make a pitcher of pomegranate margaritas or green apple martinis. Have some ice-cold beer on hand for those who want less sweetness in their life. An even cheaper and particularly festive cocktail option is making bellinis. Buy a few bottles of Asti Spumante or Prosecco at around 12 bucks a pop and a few cans of Goya apricot, peach, or mango nectar for less than a dollar each. Fill a champagne flute about a quarter way with nectar and top with the fizzy wine. No need to stand around pouring, shaking and stirring various liquors as you consult a mixing bible. A bonus is that everything always looks more delicious and bright when there are champagne flutes involved. Whatever the main cocktail will be, be sure to have some sparkling water and ginger ale spiked with grenadine or cranberry juice on hand for the teetotalers and for booze breaks. Also, not all alcohol is vegan. Stella Artois and Yellowtail wines apparently are. Check company web sites and the following resource on vegan liquor for more information.

2. Hello Hummus: Vegans are notorious for loving hummus. I never even really ate much hummus until I started dating Brian and I am now addicted to it to. Hummus is also one of those "naturally" vegan foods, meaning that meat-eaters don’t give much thought to whether or not it is vegetarian as they might with, say, tofu. They just know it tastes good. Hummus is a wonderfully nutty, creamy dip can be made in classic form-just tahini, chickpeas, and olive oil-or enhanced with red peppers, sun dried tomatoes, fresh garlic cloves, or kalamata olives. The possibilities are endless. Hummus complements cut up, raw vegetables, crackers, pita wedges, bagel chips, sliced and toasted baguette, anything you can dip. Mixing up a batch at home is not difficult but there are many quality brands you can pick up at your local market. I like Sabra, as it is the creamiest and most vibrant-tasting store-bought brand I’ve come across and is sprinkled with fresh parsley or paprika.

3. The Grapes of [Having a] Blast: I’d consider this option no matter what drink you choose to highlight, but a plentiful bunch of plump black grapes draped onto a simple white dish is a no-brainer choice for the wine party. Sumptuous on its own or with cheese, grapes signify abundance, sweetness, and a true party. Bacchus, often depicted as surrounded by grapes, was not the god of wine and getting down for nothing.

4. Cheese-One Word Says It All: Cheese is not vegan. Unfortunately, I cannot yet endorse an edible vegan cheese substitute, particularly ones that can be eaten without having to melt it and hide into other ingredients first. Certainly you can have a cocktail party without cheese and no one will notice but if you choose to include it along with myriad other plant-based options, I don’t see a problem. If you want a truly vegetarian cheese-meaning it is made with microbial rennet rather than with the stomach lining of baby cows-there are plenty that are easy to find. I just found a great one, Andes Panqueche Cheese with Chive for less than three dollars at Stop and Shop . Cabot, Organic Valley, Horizon, and kosher cheeses have varieties that do not contain animal rennet. Alouette, makers of herby cheese spread, do not use any enzymes so it’s entirely lacto-vegetarian, no cow tummies whatsoever.

5. Put the Vegetable Back into Vegetarian: Meat-eaters often think of tofu, veggie burgers, and oddly formed Tofurky when they envision a life without eating animal flesh. They forget that there are no vegetables that are off limits. There are hundreds and thousands of vegetable varieties that are all for the taking. They are delicious raw, steamed, grilled, roasted, stir-fried, or spiked with garlic, lemon juice, oil, and sea salt. For a cocktail party, stick to varieties that are naturally finger food-sized or can be easily cut and served raw, like crudite standards carrots, broccoli, grape tomatoes, and celery. But don’t discount other less obvious choices such as sliced radishes; sugar snap peas; olives brined in gin and stuffed with whole garlic cloves; glistening platters of ruby-red and savory peppadews; caramelized red onions; blanched asparagus turned in a small amount of balsamic vinegar and tamari; peppers roasted into sweet, charred blackness and seasoned with sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and olive oil (you can buy them frozen and just reheat according to package directions if you don’t have the time or wherewithal to torch them yourself); fried green beans; even fried onion rings. The options are as infinite as your imagination or recipe library. The salty, savory notes of these dishes go great with alcohol. Besides, these are guaranteed to go so much faster than any half-hearted vegetarian cocktail sausage that just ain’t gonna cut muster with avowed meat-eaters (believe me, I tried and failed at tricking one with mock meat).

* This is me, pre-party, as Hostess Bear. Whenever I make this face, I turn into a bear, any kind of bear I choose. It's a really long story. It's also one of those Couple Things that only Brian and I find endlessly hilarious. My mother too. But that's the sorta story behind this picture.

6. Relax and Enjoy Your Guests: There’s nothing wrong with being ambitious in the kitchen but if you’re having people over to eat with the sole mission of impressing them, consider becoming a caterer. The whole point is to be with people you love and perhaps don’t get to see very often. If some dishes are eaten up more than others, don’t take it personally. Food left behind is a sign that people were thoroughly enjoying rather engorging themselves. And if anyone complains that there wasn’t enough or any meat or that the queso-less quesadillas taste bad without cheese, don’t give up throwing parties. Consider having a talk with or even getting rid of a “friend” who’d judge you and your hospitality so harshly.

7. Always Serve Dessert: Especially when dessert is a vegan chocolate ganache chocolate cake from Whole Foods that you surprise your Christmas baby girlfriend with. Other lovely cocktail party desserts: brownies or rice krispie treats cut into mini, bite-sized squares and stacked like a pyramid; cupcakes; dried fruit dipped in dark chocolate; roughly cut shards of bittersweet organic chocolate with almonds and dried blueberries; a big bowl of clementines alongside small plates and more than a few napkins; spritz cookies.

Needed: Vegetarian Cocktail Sausages

This isn't so much a post as it is a plea. If you're reading this and know who makes vegetarian cocktail sausages and where I can pick some up, please share the info. I am dying to make the sticky sausages in Nigella Lawson's Nigella Express for a cocktail party I am starting to plan in my head. Thank you much!

By the way, Brian and I made a black bean, corn, and avocado lasagna and blueberry carob pancakes with spelt flour from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan and the German apple cake from The Joy of Vegan Baking this weekend! More on those dishes soon.

Random Fridays: For Some Reason, A lot of Butts

* I don't need coupons for Clorox bleach or Rice-a-Roni. I need coupons for Amy's frozen pizza and Tofurky. But I never see them in newspaper circulars (mayhaps because I don't read the newspaper?). So I have discovered a super, top secret, incredibly byzantine money saving scheme. You go to the company's web site. Ok? You see if they have a link for coupons or something. They don't? Ok. You click on "contact us." You send them an e-mail and ask for coupons. They say, "OK! No probs!" And then they mail you a buttload. You can also sign up for Mambo Sprouts, whose coupon booklet I picked up at Whole Foods one day and proceeded to buy Clif Mojo bars, which I now am addicted to, San-J tamari, and other organic comestibles and junk food.

* I got PJ Harvey's new album, White Chalk, a few weeks back and I just couldn't get into it on first listen. I love PJ most when she's bugged out and sexual. But I popped the CD in on my drive to work today and it complemented the early morning, underwater, slightly disgruntled grog I'm usually in when fighting traffic. Sad but peaceful. Repetitious but hauntingly melodic, deceptively simple, songs like mantras. I just trust and believe that Polly Jean knows what she's doing more than I do.

* It was, however, love at first scent for Marc Jacobs' Daisy and me. It's perfectly floral and sweet but not treacly so. The mild citrus notes give it a tiny bit of bite. It's my favorite scent in a long time. I'm very picky about fragrances and can't wear strong, musky ones because they give me headaches just like espresso and really dark chocolate do.

I love Sephora's descriptions of fragrances, which is appropriate to post on a food blog since they read like wine descriptions (you know, crisp, buttery, like dew upon a baby platypus' buttocks--crap like that): Notes--Strawberry, Violet Leaves, Ruby Red Grapefruit, Gardenia, Violet Petals, Jasmine Petals, Musk, Vanilla, White Woods. Style--Bright. Alluring. Eternal.

Here's how they describe the Prada fragrance, which I got a sample of when I purchased Daisy: Notes--Bergamot Oil Italian, Orange Oil, Bitter Orange Oil, Mandarin Flower, Mimosa India, Rose Absolute ABS, Schinus Molle ABS LMR, Peru Balsam, Patchouli Oil LMR, Raspberry Flower, Labdanum Resinoide LMR, Tonka Bean ABS LMR, Vanilla Absolute, Musk, Sandalwood Oil. Style--Classic. Pure. Addictive. I like this one too and I am wearing it today.

I also received samples of Chance by Chanel and Lolita Lempicka (an old favorite) and L.A.M.B. by Gwen Stefani. I want to like L.A.M.B., which is full of yummy notes such as frangipani, jasmine, and violet, but also musk, which makes it smell, for lack of a better term, slightly ass-y. Brian detested it and pretty much said that the sweater I sprayed it on was now ass-y and therefore, I was too.

Picture courtesy of Sephora.

Baking Power!

If you've never made a cake from scratch, you have to try it! What a rush!

Joselle walked me through my first, full-fledged lesson in cake baking this past Saturday. It was a real high; something we both needed after a two-hour literal walk along the trails of Center City Philly (i.e., the relatively new and forward-thinking Schuykill River Park and City staple Boathouse Row, along a sculpted Kelly Drive and Fairmount Park). We felt winded from rock climbing at the Water Works, and made our way over to the nearby Whole Foods before nightfall. Joselle and I sought out some dinner comestibles (as she would say) and a bunch of ingredients for a cake recipe selected from How It All Vegan, one of the two whole entries in my dusty collection of cookbooks. It was kind of like we were squirrels in search of sweet treats. And sweet treats we did uncover!

After a simple dinner experiment of pasta elbows slathered with Aldi tomato sauce and carmelized onions mingling among Trader Joe's Meatless Meatballs---accompanied by fresh salad and cooked broccoli blanketed in a layer of Earth Balance and salt---the Mutual Menu was prepared to bake. We were all set with utensils in hand, when Joselle shocked this cookie rookie with a single blunt statement: "We forgot the baking powder." I quickly replied with obvious naivete that there was a box of some in the back of my fridge. A few things I neglected to mention to my culinary queen: 1.) This box had been in the back of my fridge for more than two years; 2.) This box had been open for an equal amount of time; and 3.) This box contained baking soda, not baking powder! Neither of us was entirely sure of the difference, but Joselle's experience suggested there's a method to all this madness.

Off came the slippers as she and I put on our hiking sneakers to trek all the way across the street from my building to the Quick Stop, a cigarette-smoke infused former 7-11; the frequent rest stop for neighborhood vagabonds and junkies-with-the-munchies. Case in point, Joselle noticed that you can actually buy a pancake-sausage breakfast sandwich there for $.99. What a steal, I suppose, if you're not in the market for a vegan cake's missing baking powder like we were. And, although we never found said baking powder, we stumbled upon a fresh box of baking soda from said Quick Stop. The fact that the trusty Arm & Hammer logo was defending other nearby bakery sale items on the shelf sustained our optimism. The plan would proceed!

The next hour or two invited new experiences for me and increasing yawns for my instructor. A bleary-eyed Joselle advised her student on the importance of fresh ingredients and a gentle mixing form. And, since I consider myself a gentleman, I mixed the select contents of my retro-pink ceramic bowl, and we heated things up! We also licked all of the utensils in sheer abandon, considering there seems to be less of a threat of salmonella poisoning with vegan recipes. As for the vanilla cake with maple walnut fosting...it's all good! The baking soda didn't kill us. Instead, it just gave the candy-sweet cake a dense flavor similar to a soft pretzel. Since I'm from Philly, I guess that should taste like home, right?

Joselle later researched this arcane difference between baking soda and baking powder. It seems that baking soda---although a considerable subsitute for the similar powder format---has a unique quality that helps to neutralize the acidity of traditional baking ingredients like buttermilk or citrus additives to make a recipe come together cohesively. Baking powder, on the other hand, is self-reliant in this regard. As a hypothetical solution to Saturday evening's dilemma, Joselle suggests adding a teaspoon of vinegar to the mixture to give baking soda something to neutralize; just a little source of satisfaction that we're all looking for in this world. If you find yourself in a similar scenario, give it a shot!

I've already managed to enjoy quite a few voluptuous slices of our creation since Joselle headed back to New Jersey on Sunday evening---but I tend to eat when I get depressed. And I get sad because---even more upsetting than watching such a sweet treat disappear with each passing meal---it makes me feel downright blue to see a woman so sweet suddenly retreat to her seemingly distant life once again. One day, the Mutual Menu's members will be able to be together without having to say goodbye to each other for another week every single Sunday night of the year. I just wish there were a way to eternalize such a great-tasting cake like the one we made together. Well, I guess it's back to the old mixing bowl and oven mitts!


For the Mutual Menu's take on this recipe, please get in touch---or pick up a copy of How It All Vegan to add to your own dusty collection!

Balance in the Distance

A long-distance relationship poses all sorts of challenges, particularly when it comes to sharing meals together. For Joselle and me, the last few weeks of summer have been quite the rollercoaster in the way of our mutual menu. It's not always funnel cake and water ice. When we meet up for condensed weekend time together, we typically pack those too-few hours with unconventional mealtimes and restaurant excursions (e.g., recent trips to Greenlight, Red Bamboo, and Zen Palatte). This can all be very exciting, but oftentimes much more expensive and somewhat less healthy than homecooked meals.

When we're apart---which is a good bit of the time---mealtimes for me are extremely lonely, and homecooked meals are few and far between. I don't enjoy shopping and cooking for myself; something that basically equates with understocked cabinets, bland meals, and poor nutrition. This hits me hardest when I experience an onset of Epstein-Barr Virus symptons (stemming from adolescent mononucleosis), which seem to be recurring more frequently with each passing year. These are the times when I need to take the best care of myself, but I typically feel the least motivated to prepare food, clean up, and do it all over again. Lethargy and mild depression often go with the territory, and it becomes a real pain in the neck to whip up meal after wholesome meal.

I'm sure when Joselle and I eventually find a way to be closer to each other, meals won't seem so far away. They probably won't always be as perfectly prepared and timed as we like them to be; but we'll definitely work to establish nourishing systems and structures for ourselves that will help to better define our life together (we've already discussed the importance of sitting down to eat dinner as a family). For now, the adage of "you are what you eat" is so very true; a lonely meal that leaves my stomach empty also leaves my spirit feeling pretty much the same way. And, let me tell you: As tender as Trader Joe's Soy Nuggets can be when properly nuked, they'll never be able to take the place of a meal with my main squeeze, Joselle.