Crab Cakes with Mango Salsa

Now I don't want to start off tonight's post with a downer, so I will begin with the statement that what we had was absolutely fantastic in a peasant meal sort of way that pleases the palette and causes the subsequent craving of more food. To the dismay of my father, however, the canned crabmeat was the most economical way to put crab cakes onto the table for dinner this evening, resulting in moist, delicious cakes of crab and different vegetables including beautifully roasted corn that were not filled with decadent lumps of crustacean meat but strands of shredded crab from the can. They baked nicely, developing quite a crispy crust in our untrustworthy oven despite the low fat content of such a meal.

Though the crab cakes were delicious, we all agreed that the winner of this dinner was the mango salsa upon which we simultaneously gorged ourselves, and the recipe is included below. I was going to take a picture before I dug in, but having tasted the salsa before its resting/chilling period, I simply couldn't wait. It was too late for the picture-perfect presentation once my stomach growled for the last time. The salsa was a perfect accent to any seafood dish, defining itself with a pefect ratio of sweetness from the mangoes and the red onion to heat from the jalapenoes and pepper. The lime juice, with its subtle acidity in the background, tied the salsa together with the cilantro mixed throughout giving both a piquant scent and aura of freshness. Now you might be thinking this dish is certainly too busy with its intense flavors, but heed well my readers: this was certainly not the case. Each flavor in itself was rather present, but in combination, the flavors mellowed in order to accent one another rather than to fight and die for domination of the tongue. The sweetness of the mangoes was altered by the different sweetness of the red and green bell peppers, while the lime and cilantro added a depth to the already two-dimensional crispy and moist crab cakes.

A final disclaimer -- steamed broccoli was served on the side in concession to my amorous obsession with the poor vegetable, which was steamed to the point of crunchiness without bitterness and accented with herbes de Provence. These herbs surprisingly did not conflict with the distinctly tropical salsa and the richness of crabmeat, and the cakes served to tie together these Mediterranean-herbed greens and the slightly more Eastern salsa of cilantro and mangoes. All in all, this was a fantastic meal despite the trying circumstances facing my father throughout its preparatory period.

Spicy Mango Salsa

2 Mexican mangoes, peeled and chopped

1/2 medium red onion, finely minced

1/2 each red bell pepper and green bell pepper, minced

handfull of cilantro, roughly chopped

juice of one lime

salt & pepper to taste

Mix ingredients with lime juice to combine and allow to chill for an hour before serving (preferrably just below room temperature). Pairs wonderfully with any seafood dish or as an appetizer/snack/fridge binge : )

Black Beans and Rice

I must confess that I have a HUGE soft spot for legumes and rice, and the Mexican flair in this dish just really hits home. My parents ate this with freshly steamed basmati rice from my love, the rice cooker, and I had brown medium grain rice thawed and microwaved, in the true college-student fashion, no? Regardless, this meal takes a while to cook due to the dried beans, but let me tell you that it is mouthwateringly worthwhile! Instead of the standard Mexican red beans and rice, we had black beans seasoned with cayenne, celery, onions, garlic, etc. in a more Louisiana style. Usually it is loaded with poblano peppers, jalapenos (which were included in this particular rendition) and cumin, coriander, and dried ancho chilies. I missed the classical Mexican twist, but was rewarded with a mouthful of black beans and my favorite grain nonetheless. My dad really knows what he is about when it comes to this sort of lovely peasant dish.

We spooned the rice into shallow bowl/plate dishes and ladled the black bean concoction on top. I must confess that any beans cooked dried from the bag are so much better than anything canned, that there really is no comparison! The beans were partially immersion-blended to allow for a thicker, stickier consistency that I love in a sort of stick-to-your-ribs fashion, such as I eat my (Old Wessex 5-grain multigrain) oatmeal in the mornings : ). The beans held a bit of their firmness even after having been simmered in the pot for quite some time, and they lend such an earthiness to the whole meal. Legumes are basically a love affair of mine, and this dish is no exception, with the lip-tingling heat from the cayenne and the corn, lime, red pepper, and cilantro garnishes only heightening the experience to truly new levels. I couldn't resist the lime despite my dad's remarks that he strayed from the standard Mexican fashion of beans and rice for this particular dish....

Newtown, PA - Cafe con Leche

This is a standard place for my family to frequent when we want home-cooked style food for a relatively inexpensive price compared to other local places. They offer many specials as well as two special soups of the day and a quiche of the day. I'm not much for quiche, but the soups are generally good. I did not indulge in soup tonight due to my lunch and my snacking on fruit in "post-work munchies" mode. One of the best things about con Leche is that they are willing to substitute their staple side dishes: rice / mashed potatoes and steamed / sauteed vegetables. I generally go for the spiced rice and the steamed vegetable variety. This eatery boasts an Asian-Mediterranean-South American fusion cuisine that never fails to meet expectations for Newtown fare.

Today's dishes to be sampled were Cajun spice-crusted Tilapia with rice and steamed vegetables (me), Mussels al Ajillo (dad), and Penne w/ broccoli in a white wine garlic sauce (mom). The penne dish was actually a creation the cook made for us, replacing the cream sauce described on the menu, since our family isn't so fond of unnecessarily rich dishes, especially on nights where we go out simply to avoid cooking and cleanup.

The tilapia was sauteed beautifully and served, crusted, on top of the rice, which did not lack in its own South American-styled spices with carrots, peppers, and shallots mixed in (though not enough emphasis on vegetables for me : P). The vegetables provided a nice healthy stroll from the protein and starch staples as well as the crunchy texture I enjoy to accompany any good meal of varied textures. They serve sizable portions; however, most are generally manageable for me, if no appetizers or desserts are in symphony.

Dad's mussels were very plump and provided excellent flavor and texture. According to the taster, the linguini was good, and the broth made moreso by the two thick crusty rounds of toasted bread sprinkled with cheese that accompanied. Mom's pasta with chicken and broccoli, which I tasted, was excellent with some freshly cracked pepper, light penne pasta in a sauce similar to that of dad's dish, and crunchy broccoli. The ample sprinkling of parmesean cheese yet again gave a nice savory-salty note to the garlicky meal in its entirety.

All in all, we were rather impressed with oour visit this time and relied on things we knew we would like. Tonight was not the night for gastonomical curiosity, and who can blame us, right? We ended the evening with espresso at Starbucks from some of my favorite baristas and discussion of what money-saving meal on which we would be indulging the next night.... Black beans and rice it shall be!

Chinatown Excursion - Imperial Inn

We ended up early to the Imperial Inn so that we were the third couple in there...luckily. The place fills up rather quickly for a lunch joint from what I have both heard and seen, and we really wanted to get our hands on some classic dim sum. We were summarily seated and given the option of tea. When we were asked if Jasmine would be okay, we assumed that a "no" would result in no tea; plus, we both love jasmine tea to accompany such fare.

We began our adventure with the first cart pusher placing the cart at the edge of our table somewhat gruffly but rightfully so: they offer rather swift and down to earth service there. She pointed to each cute metal steamer basket, each filled with different dim sum favorites, saying the title of the dish in not the clearest of English -- I was in heaven :) This cart was obviously the meat cart, and we decided it was necessary to test the chicken feet, shu mai dumplings, and Nhi's favorite - steamed doughy shrimp dumplings - placed between us. Chopsticks in hand we dug in.... the chicken feet were not very chewy, thankfully, and they were rather tasty with a very interesting texture. The skin was still slightly crispy from the frier even though they were doused in a sweet sauce. All in all, I'm glad that I was able to try chicken feet, but I do not see them becoming a staple of my culinary life anytime soon, especially fried as they were. The shu mai were pretty standard fare with a combination of pork and shrimp steamed in the delicate, yet doughy wrapper. They were surprisingly good and may have contained a vegetable or two. They were very nice when dipped in the tableside condiments: soy sauce and chili oil. The shrimp dumplings had a doughier wrapper than the shu mai did, and they were much lighter in taste as well. We actually ordered a second basket of these as the cart carrier stopped by a second time within the next ten minutes. Like i said; they have surprisingly frequent rotations of the food for a dim sum tyro such as myself! We did not try the tripe, spare rib, or beef meatballs simply because I do not eat beef.... I'm sure they were fantastic, and perhaps in the future I may sample the tripe simply for the culinary experience.

As we snacked on these meaty morsels, the next cart came by - the rice cart I later labeled it - and we chose sticky rice mixed with rather sweet pork wrapped in individual bamboo leaves in the steamer. It was a bit more oily than its counterpart, another dish of pork and sausage within sticky rice. Both dishes were quite sticky, and enough was served to us that I had a cute pint-sized takeout of the leftover. We both agreed that the sticky rice was a necessity as part of an East Asian meal: I love rice more than I can say.

The next cart to go by we did not really take much from, for we had become somewhat stuffed, resulting in choosing a steamed rice dough-wrapped baby shrimp doused in soy sauce before being placed on the table between us. The shrimp was rather sweet and the chewy rice flour wrapping complemented the texture of the shrimp rather well. This was a lighter dish, even though the dough was thicker than we would have either suspected or liked at first bite, but I went back to the plate for seconds. I decided to go for the vegetable soup off of the menu to get a bit of non-meaty goodness in my stomach to accompany such hearty dishes we had been served. Unfortunately, we passed up the crab claws fried and put in a sort of dough, shrimp balls, and some sort of bun. We did, however, take glazed eggplant with a helping of duck sauce drizzled over it along with a plate of mochi-style rice cake sauteed on both sides and filled with sweet pork. I considered it almost a desert, until my eyes were directed to the dessert tray being pushed in our direction.

This cart we did not actually take from, but it contained any chinese-style steamed dessert you could hope for: buns of various styles, sesame balls, rice jello with what seemed to be lychee or longan, fried dumplings, deep-fried taro root, spongy cake that reminded me of really light-looking cornbread, and egg custards. Apparently I did not see a mango jello-styled dessert that Nhi mentioned later, or I would have certainly found some inch of room in my already-packed stomach for such a rare treat. Another thing I missed was some sort of squash-based (other than eggplant) food such as pumpkin, kabocha, you name it...I would have eaten it. Regardless, it was a great experience that resulted in the two of us wobbling out of the restaurant, me with my little takeout container, and a belly full of tea and food. I almost ran us out of tea, and they really give you quite the sizable portion in the steel kettle that stays warm throughout the entire dining experience. I love the down-to-earth methods of the waitstaff in Chinese restaurants and the homey air of neighborhood eateries and bakeries. They make me feel like I am part of the town more than being wined-and-dined like a complete outsider like we were when we went to China last year. This was a great local introduction to dim sum that only resulted in embarrassment when I dropped a chopstick because I was cleaning it of a sticky sauce, and the waiter asked if I wanted a fork. I was so insulted I could have died, since I am the one who carries around his portable stainless-steel chopsticks in his pocket all of the time: I even had them there with me just in case I needed them. To end this dining experience, we toured around Chinatown, poking into butcher shops and bakeries, and buying kitchen necessities at a local hardware store. It was a day I shall not forget as my first dive into the wonderful world of dim sum in Philadelphia!

Amada Restaurant -- Excellent Introduction to Tapas

Entering the restaurant literally as the first group to be seated at on the friday night, we felt slightly isolated in one of the rear dining chambers. We quickly realized that the place must get packed, since our reservation could have been what it was, or hours and hours later. Regardless, we began by perusing the menu, entirely unsure of what to get, since sharing was an absolutely necessary part of the tapas experience.

We began with a complementary tuna-caper spread accompanied by wonderfully crisped flatbread. This was accompanied by a special that night which I absolutely adored, lenora(sp?) goat cheese accompanying baguette rounds, granny smith apples, and fig preserves. This dish was an all-star winner, unfortunately baguette’s crust was not up to par with that which I have baked in my own oven, and it could have fared with a nice crisping in the oven so it served as a sturdier base. We also sampled lemon-cured sardines in a wonderfully fruity olive oil, olives, and pine nuts accompanied by microgreens, enjoyed thoroughly by all parties. The texture was amazing, since it was cured rather than cooked, and the fruitiness of the oil was indeed out of this world. This was followed by a flatbread with manchego cheese, black truffles, microgreens, and wild mushrooms. It was unfortunately oily, ruining some of the interplay of the more delicate flavors.

The next several dishes were brought out simultaneously as well. deep fried spicy potato cylinders, having a delicately crunchy crust and some sort of cream-based sauce dolloped on the top. Though tasty in their own respect, they were much more bland than any other dish presented and would not have been missed. This accompanied my favorite main dish of the evening: spanish baby octopus, sauteed in a very good olive oil and accompanied by potato rounds. The complementary textures really dazzled the mouth, and it was pleasantly spicy. It was a nice light contrast to the all-too-many heavy, rich dishes we ordered unknowingly in succession. The octopus was very, very tender. The clams and chorizo were in an unfortunately buttery sauce, which masked some of the excellent richness of both meats with butter—something that was less present throughout the rest of the meal due to the use of olive oils. The chorizo was smoky and of fantastic taste and quality.

The next dishes only got heavier from there: medium-done lamb meatballs, which on their own were AMAZING. The lamb was so tasty and pleasant; however the rich manchego sauce accompanying the meatballs seemed out of place with such a juicy meat to be savored better on its own. This accompanied a garbanzo bean and spinach saute (excuse my exclusion of accents; my computer is slightly limited) which was refreshing due to its lack of meat and relative lightness. This was slightly spicy and some of the garbanzoes were deep fried to become crunchy. It was a nice textural note. This accompanied the homemade (twice-per-week) rabbit sausage with chantarelles, fava beans, and sheep cheese cavatelli in an (unfortunately) butter sauce. It looked beautiful table-side all foamy and delicious, but I felt that the richness of the rabbit sausage and the flavor were certainly overpowered by the sheer weight and presence of the butter: I really could only handle half of a slice at the end of such a feast.

An almond wafer to be shared arrived complementary along with the dessert port. Overall, not exactly a cheap feast, but an enjoyably varied feast nonetheless. It was a night to remember, and a lovely introduction to tapas-style dining with the family. Next time, we will be sure to experience the best the restaurant has to offer either by selecting more varied plates or even requesting the chef’s selection tasting menu (something I would do on my own but to which my parents would most likely object).