EricMBloggie

I went to Di Bruno Brother’s in Center City last night for some cheese, olives, bread, and cured meat. Walking by the small packages of meaty goodness, I noticed a ‘Buy One, Get One Free’ sign. I bought a ticket for that salty Meat Parade right then and there, copping some Coppa and bagging some Bresaola.

I was greeted warmly at the regisiter, and told the lady, “These were buy one, get one.” She eyed me up, untrustingly, “There’s a sign over there by the counter,” I assured her. She went to check. It was taking a moment too long, so I went to mediate. The Counter Guy pointed out that the sign was for sandwiches. “I don’t want two sandwiches…I don’t even want one sandwich,” I said lightly. Then, in an act of Customer Service, unheard-of in most companies, The Counter Guy said, “Y’know, it’s my fault, the sign was on the meat. Just give it to him.”

Amazing! I thanked them thoroughly, and went on my way. If only Bally’s could have been so easy.

I show you how to make Banana-Nut Muffins.

What do you think about this? Let me know…

 Banana-Nut Muffins Audio Slideshow [2:29m]: Download (98)

I’ve come across two remarkable different ways of preparing the ‘perfect’ scrambled egg.

Owner of ‘Egg’ Restaurant is Slow
Gordon Ramsey is Slower

The ones by ‘Egg’ owner, George Weld come out great. I’ve been experimenting with variations on this one for the last couple of months, and it’s been great.

I’ve yet to follow Ramsey’s approach by the letter, but the other morning I did something similar. You can see what I came up with below.

Eggs warmed to room temperature before cooking, with some milk added, yolks broken up a little bit, sauteed onions mixed in, seasoned near the end of cooking, cooked slow-and-low in butter, off the heat just as the whites turned opaque.

Sometimes I like to julienne some carrots and saute them until crisp-tender right before doing the eggs, then add them as a little bonus garnish.  The texture and sweetness works well with the eggs.  I can see you looking at the screen skeptically.  Try it, it’s good.

While on my way to El Fuego, the rightfully popular faux-Mexican burrito place, I paused to check out the menu at the Tuscany Cafe.  I knew I’d end up spending a little bit more than if I’d continued on to El Fuego, but the curiosity of trying something new got the best of me.

Despite the name, the place looks like a coffee shop, and does not evoke anything from my travels in Italy, save for a few pre-made plastic wrapped sandwiches sitting out front.  It was closer to Panera than Pompeii.

Many of the sandwiches look good.  I almost went for the safe bet; a Chicken Waldorf number, but couldn’t decide.  I asked the lady behind the counter what she recommended, and she went with the special: A Prosciutto and Brie Sandwich with Roasted Red Peppers and Pesto.  I should have trusted my instinct and steered away– where did they get their prosciutto and brie from?  I know the peppers and pesto are coming from a bottle–  but I went with the suggestion.

It was promptly served on a flour-dusted, industrially-made ciabatta bread with Ruffles-style chips and a thin loser of a pickle.  This special should be stricken from the record.  The brie was domestic, cheap, and cut too thick.  The heat of the microwave intensified that odd chlorine taste that brie can have.  The prosciutto followed suit with the cheese, and was all salt and no pork; a far cry from DiBruno Brothers’ good stuff.  This pig didn’t know Parma from Cleveland. (Ohh, snap!)  The roasted red peppers must have come from a bottle, which is fine, but that bottle was stored in the fridge, so my peppers were cool and rather tasteless.  Aaaand the pesto, oh, the pesto.  Geeee-ROS (gross.)  Real pesto is made with fresh basil, olive oil, toasted pine nuts, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and garlic.  This tasted like McCormick dried herbs mixed with canola oil and garlic powder.

The best part is, I finished the sandwich.  I left some lumps of brie and potato chips, but I still ate the damn thing.  I wonder what would have happened if I brought the sandwich up after one bite and said, “This is gross.  I’d like to trade it in for a new one.”

Despite this REALLY bad sandwich, I might go back to the Tuscany for the Chicken Waldorf.  Or I’ll just pass by and eat at El Fuego.

For user reviews, check out the mixed ratings at Citysearch, the good ones at Yelp, and a write up in the City Paper.

Ashley Bade is a Registered Dietician, a Licensed Dietician/Nutritionist, and a Certified Nutrition Support Dietitian. That means two things: she has a lot of letters after her name, and she knows what she’s talking about.

She weighs in on the Fruit Smoothie debate:

I’d have to concur with my fellow RD’s… even if they are British:)

Smoothies can have a whole lot of other things in them as well- hidden sugars, fats even, and it loses a lot of the fiber by pulverizing the fruit.

Your best bet is to go with eating regular, no frills fruit. It’s got the fiber- which helps with blood sugar control, as well as lowering your LDL (bad cholesterol) and helps you to feel full longer which can lead to wt loss.

If you want to have a smoothie, enjoy it. But try and make them at home so you can control what you put in it; i.e. fresh fruit, nonfat yogurt, no sugar added fruit juice in minimal amounts.

When out and grabbing a smoothie, get a small size (it packs a punch in calories) and for the love of God- no whip cream on top!!

p.s. the whole “worse than Coke” thing.. it depends on what you are looking for. As far as calories- yes, a fruit smoothie can have more. But if you are looking for cancer fighting antioxidants… you won’t find it in soda.

Thanks, Ashley.  I’m going to drink a Coke Smoothie.

An interesting take on smoothies by British dieticians from a Guardian article, “The myths of fruit.”

They are expensive, says Sanders, “and bloody holier than thou”. With whole fruit, the cell structure is still intact, and you swallow pieces. They take longer to digest and the sugar in them is released slowly, rather than the rapid spike in blood glucose produced by drinking juice, or a smoothie. “If you liquidise it into goo it’s just like drinking ordinary Coke. Or worse, actually,” he says. “It’s still a sugary drink. A lot of people on diets don’t realise that if they’re drinking loads of apple juice or orange juice, it’s got a lot of calories in. If you drink a litre of apple juice a day, it’ll be 400 calories.” Saunders particularly objects to labelling that implies that drinking these concentrates substitutes for three or four portions a day: “They don’t. They only count for one.”

Is this true, that it’s “just like drinking ordinary Coke?” That seems a bit harsh, but maybe something happens with the glucose, sucrose, or you-crose.

There are a lot of processed and prepared foods out there that are big, fat liars. Next time you pick up a Kellog’s Nutri-grain bar, don’t just look at the stats, but at all of those weird ingredients. Then put it down and get something that’s not made out of chemicals.