Brinner: Stuffed Challah French Toast

Aka Brunch for Dinner. Stuffed french toast inspired by Sabrina's with some apples because a certain someone loves apples. Fortunately, this took way less time to make than the lobster ravioli and there was still plenty left over.

1. Making the Filling:

First time cooking with mascarpone but I love it!Its much lighter than cream cheese and offered a nice contrast to the tartness of the cream cheese.

2) Stuffing the Bread: 

Egg mixture of milk, egg, vanilla, & cinnamon. Used a whole lot of eggs since the bread pieces were enormous.

3) Cooking the French Toast:

Have to be patient cooking these things since they're so big! Burnt the first batch when it was on medium high so turned the heat down much lower for the second batch. 

4) Plate with Lots of Goodies: 

Maple syrup wasn't really needed since the dish with the apples is pretty sweet already but the mascarpone on top definitely added to the dish. 

Homemade Lobster Ravioli

Step 1: Cooking the Lobster

The lobster we bought from the RTM wasn't just for fun (although we did have a fun photo op with it hehe), we also managed to do something useful and turn it into dinner.  We saved about 1/3 of the meat for the sauce and chopped in the rest finely for the filling. 

Step 2: Making the Filling 

We sauteed the lobster meat in some herbs, butter etc and then mixed it with ricotta cheese. 

Step 3: Making the Pasta

For more information on making pasta dough, you can check out the previous ravioli post. We've invested in some new pasta toys since then including a nifty scalloped edged pasta cuter which makes the end result look infinitely better. 

Step 4: Making the Sauce

The pasta sauce has almost all of the same ingredients as the filling except with the addition of some of the water we cooked the lobster in for coloring.  

End Result

2.5 hours later and here it is! 

Probably won't be making this again anytime soon since it was so much work but it sure tasted good. 

Reading Terminal Market Revisited

Reading Terminal Market Revisited

I haven't really properly explored Reading Terminal since sophomore year (a very old post here). Sure, I'll stop by to pick up some produce or get some Bassett's ice cream, but never really take in all of the eating options.So I spent the good portion of Monday checking out some new places.

The "Blitering Idiot" (11%) @ Molly Malloys. Didn't know they had a bar inside!
A medium sized lobster for us to make lobster ravioli. (post forthcoming! here!)

Corned Beef Sandwich with sauerkraut & spicy mustard from Hershels: I don't think I've ever had a corned beef sandwich before but man they are tasty (and filling).

2lb of cookies from 4th Street Cookie Company. I've picked up 1 cookie from here before because the smell of freshly baked cookies is too hard to resist but they've always carried a steep price tag (usually $2+/cookie). But apparently, they have a cookie sale right before they close where every cookie is only a $1! (cash only). So naturally, we bought 15.

Barbuzzo

I have been wanting to go to Barbuzzo since last fall and with the return of  V from Taiwan, I figured it was a good occasion to finally try it out. You could tell a lot of thought went into the ingredients for each dish which I really appreciated. Perhaps it was just because everything we ordered was more on the carby side I left feeling like I had just eaten a lot of bread, but the food was nonetheless delicious.

Sheep's Milk Ricotta: extra virgin olive oil, vin cotto, herbs, salt, & grilled bread.
The balsamic drizzle made this dish since the ricotta is more like a whipped cream - very light in texture and flavor.

Red Wine Sangria: Good balance of fruit and sweetness and perfect for a hot day like today.

Asparago Pizza: shaved asparagus, guanciale, white sauce, fior di latte, & truffled farm egg.
The truffled egg: gahh so good. The pizza was surprisingly light for having so much heavy creamy ingredients. The red chili oil drizzled on top added a nice extra punch.

Salted Caramel Budino: dark chocolate crust, vanilla bean caramel, & seat salt.
I was told this dish was a must try. It was indeed very tasty but a little too sweet for my liking.

Some New & Old

Since I was in major food withdrawal all week, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to do some exploring and check off some restaurants on my extensive "must eats" list.

West Philadelphia Exploration

I admit I am quite a bit behind when it comes to exploring and eating at the plethora of cafes, ethnic eateries and new additions of West Philadelphia. Inspired by all of the recommendations I have been receiving, I spent most of the week taking walks west of 40th and Spruce to see what was out there.

Quickly becoming a Penn staple, this tiny taco shop offers perfectly made tacos: everything from sweet potato to shrimp and carnitas (pictured above). I'm am definitely returning this week to try out the burritos which are supposed to be even better than the tacos.

Stopped by this BYOB after seeing Marigold Cafe was closed for brunch. The menu is quite creative such as the smoked salmon crepe with carmelized apricots and candied walnuts (above), but the portions were quite small and I left feeling a tad still hungry. Good for a lunch but not what I was expecting for a Sunday brunch.

Adorable cafe with wide-range of breakfast and lunch offerings. Wasn't impressed by my particular turkey sandwich but a good place to spend a sunny afternoon away from the crowd.

An oldie (Yogorino), and one of my all time favorite dessert places in Philadelphia & a newbie (Lil Pop Shop). Thought the $3/ tiny popsicle price tag was a bit overpriced but that was before I bit into my chocolate with salted caramel brownie fudge bar which included bits of freshly baked brownie. Definitely going back to try some of the other flavors such as green tea with mochi and earl grey with vanilla bean and black pepper.

Brunch Addition

Been dying to try this pace after I heard people raving about the lemon ricotta pancakes. Will admit it was a bit difficult to find but so worth the trip! The unlimited filter coffee instantly made me a fan of the place.

Huevos Rancheros: toasted corn tortillas, topped with refried beans, roasted peppers, jack cheese, and two fried eggs, finished with grilled chorizo and pico de gallo. [AMAZING, never much a fan of spanish inspired brunch dishes but this one has converted me]
Lemon Ricotta Pancakes: Light and fluffy, was surprised it wasn't more "lemony" but I liked how the dish was really light

All Time Favorite
I lovee Jose Garces and I love love love JG Trading Company (restaurant week post here). Probably has something to do with the wine shop in the store that lets you BYO every meal...Plus, this is probably his only restaurant that regularly changes the menu which gives me reason to keep coming back.

Finally tried to duck fat fries which were fried to perfection. They do taste a bit heavier even though the fries were light and fluffy thanks to the duck fat. 

Serrano ham pizza: Brussels Sprouts, Whipped Ricotta, Pear Balsamic. This pizza is great, all of the flavors work together so perfectly and the duck fat on the dough makes it taste like a cross between a cracker and cheesy bread, I'm usually the one leaving uneaten crusts on my plate but not this time.
The Spaniard: This sandwich came at the recommendation of our waiter but it was basically an underwhelming chicken club sandwich with very dry chicken. Probably won't be ordering any sandwiches next time I come back.