The Mrs. Brother Benny afforded me two Christmas presents for this past weekend.
First was a cooking demonstration with Konstantinos Pitsillides the Chef/Owner of Kanella Greek Cypriot Kitchen at 1001 Spruce Street, Philadelphia. A wonderful morning (even though we had to walk around downtown Philly in the single digit temps and pretty good breeze). We arrived early and had a chance to chat with Konstantinos for a bit before he set up. He seems like a pretty nice fellow, with a really strong passion to create authentic, simple, wholesome foods and to also make the best use of everything that he uses in his kitchen. This is truly a dichotomy when comparing his philosophy with that of other big name Chefs or Restaurants. WHYY was on hand and videoed the presentation and interviewed him after the class, the show is supposed to air in the spring, if I can find out the airing date I’ll post it, you can see Brother Wheels and I gawking in the audience. :)
His demonstration included dolmades (stuffed grape leaves), baklavas, another phylo appetizer stuffed with goat cheese and herbs, a broiled whole striped bass wrapped in grape leaves seasoned with fresh thyme, lemons, pepper and olive oil. All of it was awesome, and maybe not very easy to make, but not impossible now that I have seen it done, so I see some Greek Cypriot Cuisine coming to our dinner table soon.
Brother Wheels and I venture out into the cold after the class and wandered off to Eulogy for some lunch. A nice cheeseburger and a beer or two: Theakston Old Peculier and a 2008 Tomas Hardys Ale, the walk back to the train station was certainly a bit warmer, that’s for sure.
Sunday Mrs. Brother Benny went with me to a paired dinner at The Yardley Inn. The weather tried to conspire against us, but we made it there and back home safe and sound. The Inn is a wonderful establishment and the menu was outstanding as each course was paired with a different beer from Victory Brewing Company.
- Endives, blood orange, pickled red onion & mustard dressing – paired with Victory Prima Pils
- Skate Salad, garam masala, leyer lemon, fried garlic & ginger – paired with Victory Golden Monkey Tripel
- Quail stuffed with prunes & giblets on a bed of oat risotto – paired with Victory V-12 Quadrupel (best beer of the night)
- Chestnut Roasted Venison, faro, cocoa nibs, brandied cherries – paired with Victory Storm King Stout
- Shortbread, dried fruits, dark chocolate – paired with Victory Old Horizontal Barleywine
It was a very nice evening out, and many thanks go to Tracy from Victory who spent a bunch of time chatting with our table, she’s such a beer geek and a great pleasure to talk with. :)
