The Cooking Channel's Ice Cream Truck Tour Has Taken Philadelphia

A little while ago, my coworkers and I took a wee walk from our offices to the corner of 12th & Arch where The Cooking Channel's Ice Cream Truck has been parked all day.

To celebrate the launch of The Cooking Channel, they have been traveling the country in their ice cream truck handing out sweet treats from the area's tastiest vendor to heatstroke induced pedestrians. Bassets Ice Cream, located in The Reading Terminal Market, was handing out a delicious confection called Guatemalan Ripple Fudge, a blend of coffee ice cream, coffee filled chocolate peanut butter cups, and chocolate sauce. Yum. My personal perk was a free American Apparel t-shirt that says "Food Person" on the front, courtesy of being so damn happy and nerdy about food that I have a food blog. Love it!

The next and final stop of the Ice Cream Tour is this Saturday in Atlantic City for the Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival.

Nada to Gourmet Basil-Lemon Butter Chicken

Okay, so it wasn't actually gourmet, but it was pretty impressive given that I wanted to cook something tasty and flavorful but had neglected to grab anything. This happens a lot, I would imagine and what I can advise is to scrounge around in your cabinets and garden, maybe even your freezer, for easily paired components for your plate. In this case, I had hastily taken the chicken breasts out to thaw before leaving for work and confronted the question mark when I got home. I attacked our wilting basil plant and finely chopped what was left. We had two lemons sitting in the basket with a few potatoes. I squeezed the juice of both, added some zest to the basil, and two tablespoons of butter to a saute pan. Once the 'sauce' was viscous, I tossed in a handful of the end of some Parmesan cheese and a pinch of salt and pepper. A few leftover baby red potatoes diced also went into the pan.

While the main course was simmering under a lid, I pulled the rest of a bag of frozen green beans and cooked, drained, and tossed with a bit of butter, salt and pepper, serving alongside some leftover bread I warmed in the oven to soften, and Voila! The sauce was absolutely divine, just the perfect amount of tangy which was great on the potatoes and chicken as well as a dipping sauce for our bread.

Chicken, Spinach & Mushroom Quesadillas

I know what you're thinking - why, during this, the sixth heatwave of the summer for those of us on the East Coast - are you even suggesting cooking? The truth is that even as the mercury climbs, we still need to eat AND since this is a stovetop dish, it won't even heat up your kitchen more than maybe two or three degrees.

I took two chicken breasts and diced them into bite size pieces and sauted them in a wee bit of olive oil. This is pretty flexible - you can add some cumin, cayenne, garlic, salt, and chili powder to give it a kick, leave the chicken out altogether for a veggie dish, or just keep the chicken in its natural juices.

Once the chicken is cooked through, add about 6 ounces of sliced button mushrooms (I went with brown baby bella mushrooms). Once tender, add about 2 packed cups of fresh baby spinach until the spinach is wilted. Generally I warm my tortillas in the toaster oven while the mushrooms and spinach are cooking so when everything is finished, the monterey jack cheese that you will sprinkle on the bottom half of each, melts quicker. Layer your chicken-mushroom-spinach mix on top of the cheese and fold the tortilla in half to enclose the filling, pressing closed firmly.

Wipe out your frying pan with a paper towel and add each quesadilla to the pan one at a time, cooking until each is golden brown on each side. You can brush each with some oil, but I've found it isn't necessary. Plate, top with some sour cream and salsa fresca, and serve.