Bitter Whiskey Hot Fudge

Whiskey is delicious. Hot fudge is delicious. So why not put them together when given the opportunity, an opportunity like, say, the birthday of one of your best friends?

Sarah's birthday was last week. I'm all about handmade gifts, but May isn't the best time of year for knitting a pair of fingerless gloves. So I opted to make her a hot fudge sauce. I found a recipe suitable for refrigerator storage on The Wednesday Chef. The only change I made was to substitute Jack Daniels for the more refined brandy or cognac suggested in the recipe.

Nancy Silverton's Hot Fudge Sauce from The Wednesday Chef
Makes 2 cups

7 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into 2-inch pieces
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 tablespoon instant coffee granules
3 tablespoons Cognac or brandy

1. Melt chocolate pieces in large stainless steel mixing bowl (or top of double boiler) over saucepan of gently simmering water. Be sure water does not touch bottom of mixing bowl to prevent chocolate from burning. Turn off heat and keep warm over warm water until ready to use.

2. Bring sugar, corn syrup, water, cocoa powder and instant coffee to boil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly to dissolve cocoa powder and sugar and to prevent burning on bottom of pan.

3. Whisk in melted chocolate. Boil hot fudge for few minutes to reduce to consistency you desire. It should be quite viscous and surface should have glossy shine. Cool slightly and beat in Cognac or brandy.

The steps for sterilizing glass jars can be found here.

Sarah hosted a potluck on her porch in West Philly and good eats abounded. Everything was vegetarian and options included a Gorgonzola and mushroom quiche, Mediterranean platter and garlic and herb cheese spread (all from Di Bruno Bros.); a salad of quinoa, sunchokes and strawberries; and even gelato from, my favorite, Capogiro.

We even stumbled upon one of the rogue miscapped bottles of Yards. That's a Washington Porter bottle cap on a bottle of Brawler.

A Silk City Birthday

Ants pants is an Australian expression akin to the bee's knees, describing something as totally awesome. It's also a tiny brunch place in Philly. And it's an apt description for my birthday celebration this past weekend, which included a jaunt to Ants Pants Cafe.

The centerpiece of the weekend was Saturday night at Silk City. It was my first time there since they reopened under new management well over a year ago, with a more upscale menu and higher price point. To be honest, I was resistant to giving the new place a chance, missing the old days of 24-hour service and cheap-but-delicious chocolate bread pudding. But it's been getting great reviews (in just the past week it was featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and a NYT article on Philly), and Silk City is one-stop shopping when it comes to wanting a night of food and dancing.

So six of my besties and I went there for dinner. Half of Silk City is a traditional diner car set up with booths and a long counter. The other half is a dark lounge and bar, with a dining area that morphs into a dance floor around 10pm. Since our party was on the larger side, we were seated in the lounge. Sadly, no pictures are available since our best camera was Eleanor's camera phone which lacks a flash. So you just need to trust that the food was great.

I got steak frites with parmesean truffle fries and shallot red wine butter. I'm not always a skirt steak fan, but it was very flavorful and not overly tough. I also got it rare, which may have made a difference. Other plates included the braised short rib sandwich, the grilled portobello mushroom burger (really super tasty), a pizza off the specials menu, and the Asian spiced tuna burger. Across the table, the french fries, even the basic version, were a hit... crispy outside, soft inside, perfectly salted. Daniel got the smothered chorizo string beans which were basically the texture of a crispy green bean but with the flavor of chorizo sausage. And they didn't disappoint on the dessert front, bringing out a warm brownie topped with chocolate ice cream and strawberry sauce (and yes, a candle) for the birthday girl. The drink highlight of the evening was the Jaded Ruby... grapefruity and alcoholic in a sugar rimmed martini glass.

And then we danced. Nonstop from about 1o pm till 1 am, ringing in my 29th year with the sounds of DJ DeeJay... a man with both a strong knowledge of the oeuvres of Michael, Madonna and Prince and the ability to do a mean split on the dance floor.

After not getting quite enough sleep and grabbing a coffee at Brew/Ultimo, I met up again with Alice, Melanie and Eleanor for brunch at Ants Pants Cafe. The Australian-themed spot is adorable (think more vegemite and less Crocodile Dundee) with some great smells coming from their microscopic open kitchen. It's known as a place with a long wait and good food (like practically every good brunch spot in town). The wait for a table wasn't so much a problem as the wait for the food, which did seem to take excessively long considering what we ordered and when we got it in relation to the other patrons. But everything was delicious. I ordered the dill scrambled eggs with feta, adding salmon. Eleanor went the salad route, with a spinach salad. Alice opted for an egg and bacon sandwich, on a croissant with slices of avocado. Melanie chose the spinach, goat cheese and caramelized onion omelette.
Highlights? The delicious balsamic vinagrette from Eleanor's salad that managed to have a thick, creamy consistency but still maintain a vinegary tang. The perfectly red and round slices of Roma tomato accompanying my thick slice of white feta and just-wilted spinach leaves. Alice's sandwich was a perfect storm of crispy bacon, soft avocado and flaky croissant. And we ordered a bowl of sweet potato fries for the table, crispy curls of burnt orange, served with sides of sour cream and thai chili sauce. I don't always like sweet potato fries for being cut too thick to crisp up properly, but these had a nice ratio of soft to crisp.

Between the dancing and the food, it was a perfect birthday.

Happy Birthday kitchenplay!

It was a year ago today that I wrote my first blog post on kitchenplay. It was a spotlight on the emotional struggle faced by one woman as she had to make a choice: Thin Mints or brussels sprouts?

66 posts later, kitchenplay is still going strong. It has gotten noticed by Foobooz, Foodaphilia and Meal Ticket. It has its own group on Facebook. It's starting to be read by people outside of my immediate friends and family! It has definitely made me a more adventurous, creative cook and shown me just how central of a role food plays in the way I live and interact with people.

I hope you continue reading and contributing to kitchenplay!

Want kitchenplay to write about something specific in the coming year? Or do you have a suggestion for something I should try out? Let me know and I'm sure we can make something happen.