REBECCA’S DUMPLINGS WILL HOST CHINESE NEW YEAR LUNCHEON TO BENEFIT THE CHESTER COUNTY FOOD BANK

West Chester, PA – Rebecca Li Jordan, the chef behind a new taste sensation sweeping the region, will share her mouthwatering dumplings and other traditional dishes at a Chinese New Year luncheon on Saturday, February 6th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Artisan Exchange in West Chester. Costs range from $7.50 to $20 and proceeds will benefit the Chester County Food Bank. Guests may enjoy lunch on site or take home one or more servings. Registration is not required and walk-ins are welcome.

Jordan, who launched Rebecca’s Dumplings last year, has experienced early acclaim from numerous audiences, including the Food Network. She was born in Nanjing in Eastern China. A family tradition was making dumplings, which took an entire weekend. “We went to the market early in the morning to purchase fresh ingredients and then spent all day Saturday preparing hundreds of pork and vegetable dumplings,” she reminisces. “Everything was made by hand. My job was to flatten the dough.”

Years later, Jordan delighted her husband Jim and two children, Rachael and James with the delicious dumplings. “We used to go on dumpling hunts seeking the best tasting products and quickly discovered that mine were better than anything offered in China Town. For years, I made them for friends and family and decided that it was time to let the world have a taste.”

Early success of the budding business proves she is right. The Chinese New Year Luncheon will introduce even more people to Rebecca’s Dumplings. The products are: Original Pork, Vegetarian, Gluten-Free Pork, Gluten-Free Vegetarian, Breakfast and Cheese Steak. The celebration of the Year of the Monkey menu will also include other family favorites including Chinese ribs, Rebecca’s Dumpling Soup, gluten-free Chinese noodles and various fresh vegetable dishes.

Rebecca’s Dumplings are created by hand at the Artisan Exchange commercial kitchen at 208 Carter Drive in West Chester. To keep up with demand, staff has grown from one to four in just a few months. For more details on products or the Chinese Year New Year Luncheon, visit http://www.rebeccasdumplings.com, Facebook or call 610.570.6487.

Rebecca’s Dumpling Soup – Serves Four

Ingredients

3 Cups pre-cooked beef, pork or chicken stock

½ Shitake mushroom, sliced

1 Cup fresh spinach (You can add more if you prefer.)

8 pieces of Rebecca’s Dumplings of your flavor choice

½ teaspoon salt

Instructions:

Combine the three cups soup stock and three cups water. Heat to a temperature of 180 degrees. Add the mushrooms and cook for two minutes. Stir in the spinach and Rebecca’s Dumplings. Cook for one minute. Add the salt. Turn off the stove. Cool the soup briefly and serve.

In Copenhagen, Noma Restaurant Offers Food For Thought

Few consider the faith of the food writer. And this is probably a good thing. I won’t say that to worship food and drink is to pray to a false god. But even with all the high-minded talk of farm-to-table or Slow Food movements, of molecular gastronomy or urban gardening, of locavorism or fruitarianism or whatever-the-latest-ism, in my experience it rarely leads one down the shining path of enlightenment.

Or at least that’s what I believed until this past spring, when I spent one of the most glorious weeks of my life eating my way through Copenhagen, capped off by a 25-course, five-hour lunch at Noma, considered by many to be the best — and most thought-provoking — restaurant in the world.

“Some people see going to Noma as a religious experience,” said Michael Bom Frøst, a food scientist and director of the nonprofit Nordic Food Lab, which was established by Noma’s owners. This was several days before my own meal at Noma, and we stood in the lab’s shiny test kitchen, inside a houseboat moored across the canal from Noma. The brilliant Nordic sun shone in the bluest Nordic sky as we ate a pink ice cream made from seaweed and looked across the cold water toward Copenhagen’s center.

Copenhagen has become the epicenter of the “new Nordic” cuisine, which has supplanted Spain’s formerly avant-garde molecular gastronomy as the latest, buzzy Big Idea in international cuisine.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/food-for-thought/2012/09/10/66300e1e-ed3a-11e1-b09d-07d971dee30a_story.html

Cities Across The United States Gear Up To Celebrate The Centennial Of Julia Child’s Birth

Signature of Julia Child (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Julia Child loved to socialize almost as much as she loved to cook.  So nobody would have enjoyed the big celebration fans are cooking up in honor of her centennial next week more than the Grand Dame of American Cookery herself.

Cities all across the U.S. are paying tribute with special Julia-themed dinners and cooking demos, and her longtime publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, who introduced the towering French cook (she was 6 feet, 2 inches tall) to the world in 1961 with the publication of the groundbreaking “Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1,” is whooping it up in a big way, too.

In May, the New York publishing house launched a 100-day celebration on various social media sites called JC100.  Meant to provide something for every Julia lover out there, it includes themed events in bookstores along with written tributes and links to special recipes re-created by more than 100 food bloggers (one recent seasonal example we just had to try was Tomatoes Provencale; see recipe on page E-2).  It also has released the first Julia Child app, from iTunes ($2.99).  It brings to your fingertips 32 recipes from her seminal “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” plus clips from the DVD version of “The Way to Cook” video series, grocery lists, audio pronunciations of some of the difficult-to-pronounce French dishes, and rare photographs.  It also comes in a Nook version.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/life/food/cities-across-the-united-states-gear-up-to-celebrate-the-centennial-of-julia-childs-birth-648163/#ixzz235waT7P8

Jakes’s Wayback Burgers Opens At Upland Square

Image via Wikipedia

If you live in the Pottstown area and enjoy a freshly made, hand-formed burger and real milkshakes in a “Route 66 burger joint” atmosphere, then you should head over to Upland Square on Route 100 and lay a lip on some “comfort food” sooner than later.

Jake’s is next to Petco and owned by a Lower Pottsgrove couple, Darryl and Linda Hendershot.  The Upland Square store is the 30th location for the franchise.

The Wayback Burger chain started out in Newark, Delaware as a single restaurant in 1991.  It is now that is expanding into several states.  Fortunately for our area, Pennsylvania was one of those states.

Check out their website and menu.  I assure you that it will entice you to head over to Upland Square!

website: http://waybackburgers.com/menu/

voice: 484-300-4246

Spyro Gyros Lancaster – Restaurant Review

I found myself in downtown Lancaster at 11:30 am Sunday morning.  The restaurant I was going to eat at did not open until noon so I decided to walk around for a half hour and build up an appetite.  As I turned the corner and started walking up Queen Street, I remembered there was a Greek place I had heard about some where up the street.  Having time to kill, I started walking north.  After a few blocks, there was Spyro Gyro and it was open!!!  The rest they say is history.

First of all, Greek or Mediterranean food is a favorite of mine.  Secondly, I had only heard good things about this place and have wanted to try it for a while.  The door was open and a nice young lady was washing the windows which impressed me (cleanliness is very important to me) so in I went.  The interior is funky.  There are energy efficient light bulbs everywhere but they are different colors.  I felt drawn in and was welcomed right away and seated.  The server took my drink order and when she returned I knew what I wanted – a Spyro Salad.

A Spyro Salad is what I would call a deconstructed Gyro.  In addition, there are other veggies and a pickled egg (love that touch) along with the Gyro ingredients.  The salad was served with pita triangles around the outside of the bowl along with what tasted like “homemade” Greek dressing and Tzatziki on the side.  Everything was delicious and no skimping on the Gyro meat or the Feta (or anything else, frankly).  As they say in Louisiana, “Tastes so good, makes you wanna slap your mama”.  Best $8.99 I have spent in a long time!

I was further impressed that my salad was not pre-made and pulled out of a cooler then topped with the last few ingredients.  It was made right then.  I would rather wait a few minutes and get something fresh!  Gave me time to look around and drink some iced tea.

The menu is very large and features dishes from many nations (not just Greece) and they have vegetarian fare.  They serve breakfast, lunch, dinner and have a kids menu.  Spyro Gyro delivers and is open until 4 am on Friday and Saturday.  They even have gluten-free Pita available!

I am already planning my next visit and trying to narrow down what I want before I get there!

Another cool thing is this place has regular customers.  A young guy came in and the server asked if he wanted “the usual”…how cool is that?  They had a interesting conversation which I listened to one and off.  Yet as friendly as she was with her regular customer, I never felt neglected and was frequently checked on to make sure I did not need anything and was happy with my meal.  I actually think my server was the owner.  The bathroom was clean, which is important and a good indicator of overall cleanliness.

Spyro Gyro is at 241 N. Queen Street Lancaster, PA 17603

Voice: (717) 397-3939

Internet: http://spyrogyros.com/index.html

The entire menu can be viewed on the website.  Warning!  Reading will cause salivation!

To view a Google map and a picture of the outside of the restaurant, click here:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=241+n+queen+st,+lancaster,+pa&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=53.87374,112.851562&ie=UTF8&ll=40.053702,-76.315756&spn=0.05145,0.110207&t=h&z=14&g=241+n+queen+st,+lancaster,+pa&source=embed

Two Roy’s Rants thumbs up for quality, quantity, price, service and cleanliness.  OPA!!!