AUGUST 19, 2009 PAGE: 4 CONCIERGE CHRONICLES C H PAGE: 9 E S CHEF T Q&A E R PAGE: 18 C O SOUND U CHECK N T Y WWW.DAILYLOCAL.COM/CC C U IS IN E & N IG H T L IF E BEER AND BBQ PAGE: 22 OXY E M OT : 7 HE E N AGE T S TH P PLAY 0543715 xxx xxx /PAGE 3 TABLE AUG. 19, 2009 MAGA xxx ZINE CHESTER COUNTY CUISINE & NIGHTLIFE xx xxx OF www.dailylocal.com/CC xx STAFF: xxxCONTENTS Randall P. Notter Publisher Andrew M. Hachadorian Editor Justin McAneny PAGE: 4 Contributing Writer/Editorial Coordinator Concierge Chronicles Dixie Picnic Arlene McGranaghan Advertising Director CC is a magazine of the Daily Local News, published ev- ery other Wednesday and distributed free throughout Chester County. Our offi ces are located at 250 North Brad- PAGE: 5 ford Avenue, West Chester PA. Copyright 2009, Daily Lo- Buy Fresh Buy Local cal News. Reproduction of CC, in part or in whole, is pro- hibited without written permission. Pickle Me Pink PAGE: 9 Chef Q&A To advertise in CC, call Gastro-Pub Jim Steinbrecher at 610-430-1138. MARY’S MESSAGE: PAGE: 10 It’s the cold ice tea on the porch part of the summer and it Chester County is HOT. With the rising temps CC Cuisine and Nightlife is pleased to give you info and events to help cool you Road Trip down. Check out our Chester County Beer News, Top Foodie Movies for 2009 and all the entertainment and bands that you can handle in Chester County. Take ad- vantage of your summer bounty and preserve it for the PAGE: 18 colder months with our guide to pickling. Soundcheck: Make the most of what’s left of the summer everyone Sky Drops with great food, tasty drinks and hot music! Cheers everyone! PAGE: 27 Mary Bigham Contributing Editor Sassy Suppers www.wcdish.com UPCOMING: Make sure you pick up the next issue of CC. We’ll be in- troducing details of the Chester County Choice Awards 2009, sponsored by CC: Chester County Cuisine & Night- life, Dailylocal.com and WCDish.com. Also, look for Con- cierge Chronicles, Chef Q&A, Buy Fresh, Buy Local and more! PAGE: 30 Send comments to: Bar [email protected] Tender [email protected] We’re on Facebook! search for CC Cuisine & Nightlife PAGE: 7 On the Town PUBLISHED BY: PAGE: 12 Top 5 Foodie Movies PAGE: 14 Inebriated By Art POWERED BY: PAGE: 16 In the Studio PAGE: 20 He Said She Said PAGE: 19 Chester County Beer News PAGE: 22 Beer & BBQ x xxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxx AUG. 19, 2009 /PAGE 4 x xxxxxx x xxxxxx xxxxxx xx xxxxxx xxxxxx xx xxxTHE x xx B xxx xx CONCIERGE xxCHRONICLES xxDIXIE PICNIC BY KEN ALAN WC DISH WRITER, CORPORATE CONCIERGE, AND SUNDAY, AUGUST 23 FOOD WRITER 0539715 SPONSORED BY: AAA Mid-Atlantic, ACAC Fitness and Wellness Center, Krapf Coaches Main Line Concrete Supply, INC., Mitch’s Market Street Gym Pennsylvania Council on the Arts: A State Agency, Pepsi Bottling Group of West Chester Cooking Up Memories of the Past It was an Ocean City rain-out on a re- So, I hopped in the car on that wet Picnic stands out among the dozen cent cool, summer Saturday morning. weekend day, looking for a take- or so eatery options in this busy Fraz- Plans for beach-bumming and board home lunch bite for the family, re- er shopping center. walking were washed away like sand, membering the one taste of summer as were those favorite S. New Jersey fla- I recall from shore days gone by: Di- Tracey, along with her husband, vors we had been craving. My kids: “Aw! xie Picnic, newly transplanted from Dean Prescott, who part-times-it ami- No Mack & Manco pizza, no curly bustling Ocean City, NJ to unassum- ably behind the counter (he’s a real fries!” ing Frazer, Chester County - a move estate appraiser on most days), has that took the business from 8th invested deeply into her vision of a Street during in-season, to 12-months remembered past - one filled with a year out here in suburbia. DelVal recollections of grand mothers’ and Shoobies (like me) are celebrating great aunts’ and their fresh, South- with mouth-watering joy! ern-touched boxes filled with lunch- es and dinners-on-the-lawn. Forkfuls You can still order those fresh, of Aunt Bertha’s macaroni & cheese, steeped-in-nostalgia breakfasts and bites of Virginia baked ham platters, lunches Dixie Picnic made so well- or, maybe a tall, cool glass of freshly- known down the shore, the lovingly squeezed lemonade… from-scratch goodness brought about by Dixie co-owner Tracey Des- “I try to bring back the taste of warm chaine. memories” Tracey smiles with remi- niscence in her shiny pale blue eyes. This happy cafe is Tracey’s blue ging- “Nobody makes food like this any- ham, canary yellow and old B/W more.” photo-wrapped storefront ode to bringing good people and good food Her menu is a sun-kissed sampling of together. Its new nook within Lin- the South, a mouthful of Americana coln Court off Rt. 30 is a far cry from in each bite. Tangy-sweet Georgia 0543659 her former O.C. cottage. Still, tiny CONTINUES ON PAGE 8 R xxxx xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxx xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxAUG. 19, 2009 /PAGE 5 xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx xxxx xxxxxxxxx BxxxxxxxUY FRESH BUY LOCAL PICKLE ME PINK BY I came to pickles late in life, needing Cider Vinegar (5% acidity) and 2 1/2 LYNEA experience with bitterness before I cups water; 12 cloves garlic (peeled), NEWCOMER could develop desire. Sweet foods? 1/4 cup pickling salt; lots of fresh WC DISH No problem. That must be a natural dill or your own concoction of pick- FRIEND for most of us. I never believe it ling spices (recipe below.) when people say they don’t like x sweet stuff. Super sweet frosting? In a very large soup pot, bring water Yeah, I understand. But how could to a boil (enough so that placing the you not love the natural sweet of 3 Jars in this water covers them by a x x fresh berries or best of all, a peach? 1/2 inch). Using sturdy tongs, dip Back to pickles, those reincarna- the Jars into the boiling water to tions of the abundant cucurbit sterilize. Do the same with the lids. x x x plants. I am under the impression of Then, in 3-quart saucepan, combine having planted a mini Gherkin vari- water, vinegar, garlic cloves, and ety put out by Happy Cat Organics. pickling salt. Bring to a boil. Now di- x x x They’ve turned out to be anything vide those garlic pieces between the but miniature due in part to my ev- Jars, and add your pickling spices of ery-other day harvest schedule and choice and/or dill. Slide in the cu- x x x abundant rain. Further, the rampant cumber slices (or whole, tiny, cukes). see if they turn out mushy. Might cracked in small pieces vine syndrome of Lynea’s Gardens. Take the boiling vinegar/water and have to do more ’sweet’ pickle reci- 1 teaspoon cardamom It was a typical case of mistaken pour it over the contents of the three x pes despite limited refrigerator x x identity; I planted what I thought to Jars, filling each to within a 1/2 inch space they require. Mix together and store in an airtight be three cucumber plants in one of the top of the glass. Slide a slim container. area . two of those plants have ma- utensil down into the Jars to help x x x A pickling spice tured into honeydew melon-bearing release air bubbles. Next, place the vines. lids on the Jars firmly, screw down recipe to try: Interested in several times. Place the Jars into the 2 tablespoons mustard seed x x x Moving on. Neighbors have gra- boiling water bath and process for 1 tablespoon whole allspice how to preserve ciously accepted some cucumber 15 minutes. After removing them, 2 teaspoons black peppercorns more local gifts, resisting their urges to throw allow to sit, and follow-up check to 2 teaspoons whole cloves x x x excess zucchini at my windows I am see that the lids popped ‘down’. 1 teaspoon ground ginger produce? sure. And I have set the gas range a- I also tried this recipe using white 1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes Check out the Kimberton Whole roaring with boiling water baths vinegar and green beans. I’ll write of 2 small bay leaves, broken up Foods Local Preserving and Canning x x and vinegar/water concoctions to the result when I pop open the jars 2 inch piece of cinnamon stick, Workshop Series CONTINUED ON transform summer’s abundance in months to come. I am curious to PG 6 R into food we’ll eat during winter. x x Here is a pickling recipe with a cou- ple options, earnestly passed along by a new acquaintance eager to x share her mother’s wisdom. I just may receive another on-farm visit from this gal, so eager is she to get x her own two hands back into such time-honored rituals. x You’ll need three clean large mouth 1-qt. Ball, Mason or Kerr Jars with new lids, and as many cucumbers x (cleaned and sliced) as will fit in them. Also: 2 1/2 cups Heinz Apple R xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxAUG.