Chifa

In or around the Philly area, Jose Garces sets the bar for Spanish and Latino-influenced tapas restaurants. There's no denying that Amada, Garces' spanish tapas restaurant; Tinto, his Basque tapas restaurant; and Distrito, his Mexican tapas restaurant, are truly top of the line. We diners are fortunate to have his ever expanding empire (Village Whiskey is opening this Thursday! uh, make that Friday) right at our feet, but it is unfortunate for other restaurateurs serving food in the same vein -- they are going to be compared to Garces.

But it's not only other Spanish and Latino tapas restaurants that I compare to Garces, I also pit Garces against Garces. Will one of his restaurants be as good as his others? And so it is, I go to see how Garces' Peruvian and Cantonese-fusion tapas restaurant, Chifa, stacks up?
Pisco sour is the national drink of Peru, and I hear Chifa makes a mean one, but I cannot resist a drink with lima beans as an ingredient, so went with the Lima Bean Fizz, an eerily glowing blue-green drink mixed with cucumber infused vodka, lima beans, and Thai Basil. It's the cucumber and basil that really shines through in this drink, not the lima bean, so the legume leery should not hesitate to order up a Lima Bean Fizz.
These complimentary yucca-flour cheese rolls with sweet and spicy guava butter alone are enough reason to visit Chifa. Warm and aromatically cheesy with a chewy center, these rolls are addictive, and possibly the best part on my entire meal.

You know how people go to Olive Garden and order the cheapest item on the menu just to get the complimentary bread sticks and salad? Not to compare Chifa's rolls to Olive Garden's bread sticks (no comparison!), but I'd go to Chifa and order one of anything just to get these fried cheese rolls.

While I did have two meat eaters with me on this visit, I am not going to cover their meat dishes (other reviews out there have done a great job of this), but will stick to the vegetarian dishes. Be sure to ask your server what dishes can be made vegetarian that aren't under the 'Vegetable' section, because there are a couple.After such a high with the cheese rolls, these scallion pancakes were such a low. Uniformly round with small scallion bits, I thought they lacked the flavor and character of slapdash scallion pancakes packed with scallions found at many Asian restaurants. This is the only dish of the evening (meat dishes included) that we would not order again. Simply put, the scallion pancakes are boring. I asked for Chaufa, a stir fried rice dish with mango and edamame, to be served without the chorizo and scallops. Moister and sweeter than most stir fries I've ever had, I can't say that this sizable-for-tapas hot pot of rice blows stir fried rice from other Chinese restaurants out of the water. Excellent, tasty, sweet, savory? Yes. I'm sure it's the chorizo and scallops that elevate this dish above standard Chinese fare, but without those ingredients, you're looking at a bowl of stir fried rice.Under the vegetable section you'll find a dish called Aji Mushrooms with only Aji mushrooms, tofu, and potatoes listed as a descriptor. I ordered this without asking what the dish was like, and was completely surprised to have a puffy pastry dough baked in a bowl arrive, to which the server poked a hole in the center and poured cream over the mushrooms and tofu inside. It was like eating a pot pie filled with the best mushroom soup you've ever had. This dish even stood out amongst the meat dishes.
By omitting the King Crab, the kitchen can make a vegetarian version of Red Curry Del General with eggplant and tofu. Underneath the sweet and spicy red curry sits a mound of sticky jasmine rice. An excellent red curry, but I've had just as good from most Thai places for much cheaper.
With the recommended three dishes per person, we were too full for dessert, but these complimentary puffed rice bars, otherwise known as Rice Krispie treats, topped with and edible dragon printed paper did the trick of bringing our meal to an end.

As per my experience, I'd recommend staying away from the more classically Asian dishes (although, apparently the pork belly buns are to die for) and order the dishes that cannot be had at every corner Chinese or Thai restaurant, not because these dishes aren't great at Chifa, but because your average (really it would be above-average) Asian restaurant has already perfected these dishes.

With still a few veggie dishes on the menu untried, a return visit is definitely in order, if only to get those fried puffy cheese balls again!

Chifa
707 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19106
215-925-5555
Lunch: Mon-Sat 11:30am-2:30pm
Dinner: Sun-Thurs 5pm-10pm; Fri-Sat 5pm-12am

Dmitri's

The original Dmitri's (a second location is at 23rd and Pine, and a third location is in the works for Northern Liberties) is a tiny Greek BYOB on a corner in Queen Village, and is consistently on lists of top recommendations for anyone dining in Philly. Now, with a few visits under my belt, I'm scratching my head as to why.

But before you beat me over the head with comments, it's not that Dmitri's doesn't serve up some good food, it's just that I think the food and atmosphere are not flashing-lights-wow worthy of a visit from out-of-towners.

As an early forerunner in Philly's BYOB game, and with a quaint neighborhood location (if not tight and with a long wait), I will warn anyone with Dmitri's on their must-do-while-in-Philly list that Dmitri's is more of a beloved neighborhood institution, and not a destination restaurant. Although, devotees will surely disagree.

The one thing Dimitri's is renowned for is their grilled octopus, and while I don't eat octopus, on a recent visit three others at our table did. The unanimous sentiment was that the octopus was tough and over charred, with some bits burned to a crisp. Bad night for octopus at Dmitri's?
Dmitri's loves their grill, and they seem to grill things a bit too long, giving food an almost unpalatable char. The grilled pita bead was almost inedible. Thankfully there was also French bread. The baba ganoush also suffered from many charred bits, but not enough to make the roasted eggplant dish unpalatable.
Cucumber and dill soup was a special of the evening, and this huge bowl of what was more like a thick yogurt tzatziki sauce came out. Delicious, but not soup. We used it as a dip for the bread.
My favorite at Dmitri's are the beets with onions and vinaigrette. Simple, tangy, yet balanced...and huge! This 'little dish' was enough to feed our entire table, and then take some home. All of Dmitri's plates are on the large side. No small plates here, or going out for a late snack after eating at Dmitri's.
Dmitri's spinach pie is excellent, with flaky crust and ample spinach filling. Again, the portion is huge.

Back to the fish and meat eaters at our table, two of whom ordered the fried scallops and the seared scallops: both scallop dishes were cooked perfectly, with the fried scallops winning the taste contest (who doesn't like fried better?).

The seafood combination, an impossibly large bowl of garlicky broth containing shrimp, clams, mussels, fish, and scallops, was also ordered, and was declared winner of the entire evening not only for taste and variety (the whole ocean's in there!), but for value. Seriously huge!

So, Dmitri's serves up some good Mediterranean grub with simple flavors and ingredients at reasonable prices and large portions, and does a bang-up job with the seafood (octopus? meh). I can see why the place gets recommendations, but, still, if I had only a weekend in Philly I'd be miffed as to why I was sent here. Dmitri's really is a local love affair.

Dmitri's
795 S. 3rd St., Philadelphia, PA 19147
215-625-0556
BYOB

Awesome Person and New Header Alert

Meeting people, not eating food, is the best part about writing a food blog. I've met so many wonderful people online and in person because of this blog, and recently had the opportunity to meet in person Kristen Nichols, a blogger herself who posts 'musings and inspirations for weddings, style, and everyday life' on her aptly named blog All Things Lovely.

A couple of comments exchanged on each others' blogs, an email here and there, and a meeting in person, and Kristen offered to design a new blog header for me (RSS readers, you're just gonna have to click over to see the new header). At first, I was blown away by Kristen's generosity, but then took her up on the offer.

Working with Kristen is so easy; she's friendly, speedy, professional, and just all-around awesome. Kristen's also a workaholic with three (!!!) businesses to her name:

• Milkmade Press specializes in gorgeous custom stationary and letter press, and also assists businesses with branding and design.
  
• Jubilee Photography specializes in wedding and portrait photography.
  
• Haute Boudoir is 'a sexy, sassy and sweet little photo boutique focusing on intimate, fashion influenced fine art portraiture.' Listen up lovers: trust me when I say that a sexy photo session with Kristen makes the perfect gift for any occasion. Yes, even Thanksgiving. Want!
  

So, thank you, Kristen, for creating the fun, food-themed header for my blog.

Mojito Granita

Quick, quick! Before a cool front comes through and people stop complaining about the heat and humidity, and start complaining about the chill in the air, let's post a seasonally appropriate recipe for hot, sultry days.

While my Cuisinart ice cream maker is my most cherished kitchen gadget, and is still attached to me by an umbilical cord, I do realize that not everyone has an ice cream maker, so wanted to offer up an icy dessert that can be made with only a freezer, a container, and a fork. I also wanted to make a dessert that's not so rich and calorie laden (my eating has been sinful lately).

Enter the granita -- an Italian semi-frozen dessert that's refreshing, extremely light, and perfect for hot days when ingesting food seems like torture. Granita is akin to a snow cone, shaved ice, or water ice (it's a Philly thing), and is as simple to make as throwing a flavored sugary liquid in the freezer and periodically scraping the frozen edges to the center until you have fine grained icy crystals. After an hour in the freezer the edges start to freeze, then you scrape the frozen edges to the center, breaking apart large frozen bits.
Keep checking in on the mixture every 30 minutes or so, scraping the edges to the center.
At about the three or four hour mark, you have granita!

Mojito Granita
adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz
makes about 1 quart
serves 4

2 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
2 limes, zest of
1 cup mint leaves, lightly packed
1/2 cup lime juice (about 6 limes)
3 tablespoons rum

• In a small sauce pan, add water, sugar, and zest of 2 limes. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves, then remove from heat. Reserving 5 of the mint leaves, add the remaining mint to the saucepan, and let the mixture cool to room temperature.
• Strain the cooled mixture into a container you will be freezing the granita in, pressing the mint leaves firmly to extract flavor, then discard mint leaves.
  
• Finely chop the reserved 5 mint leaves and add to the mixture along with the rum and lime juice.
• Place container in freezer. After an hour in the freezer, scrape the frozen edges with a fork to the center of the container, breaking the large frozen chunks into smaller pieces. Repeat scraping of frozen edges to the center every 30 minutes until fine crystals have formed.

Raw Food Dinners and Potlucks

Thanks to a couple of friends that are into eating raw, I had the pleasure of being invited to tag along with them to a raw dinner in Newark, DE, catered by Kim Lemberg and Pat Umbel. Kim is a Certified Holistic Health Counselor. Pat is a Certified Natural Health and Holistic Nutrition Counselor. Both Kim and Pam are Certified Raw Food Instructors through the Alissa Cohen program, and together these two ladies host catered raw food dinners, and also host raw food potlucks.

For the extremely reasonable price of $20, I was treated to a truly delicious raw dinner that included a mango smoothie, chili, enchiladas, crackers with salsa, and key lime pie. If you're curious about raw food, these dinners are a great place to discover just how good raw food can be. And that would be seriously good!Kim and Pat are hoping to have one raw food catered dinner in the Newark, DE, area once a month, and one raw food catered dinner in the Gap, PA, area once a month. Here is the schedule so far:

August 27 - catered raw food dinner at the Kinzer Fire Hall in Kinzers, PA
September 11 - catered raw food dinner at the Newark Co-op Limestone Presbyterian Church in Newark Wilmington, DE

Pat holds a raw food potluck the third Monday of each month at the Kinzer Fire Hall in Kinzers, PA. Kim's first raw food potluck will be September 15 18 at the Newark Co-op.

To attend any of these events all you have to do is RSVP by email to Pat (paumble@yaoo.com). And be sure to get on their email list for monthly notices of events, or check Kim's events page (presently not up to date) and Pat's events page.

Donut Muffins

For a person that rarely eats donuts (it's most certainly for health reasons and not taste reasons), it seems that I have recently come into the donut phase of my life.

A couple of nights ago, I gorged on an array of fabulous vegan mini-donuts from the North Port Fishington Cookie Factory at a potluck (all of their vegan desserts are irresistible!). And just a week before, I made a trip to Reading Terminal Market expressly to chomp on glazed donuts fried up at the Pennsylvania Dutch Festival (glazed won favorite).

But even before that, I made donut muffins, a recipe that's been sitting in my bookmark folder for who knows how long. I blame these simple, and simply delicious, cakey donut muffins for my current donut cravings.

Baked and not fried, you could tell yourself that donut muffins are healthier than regular donuts, but lets not kid ourselves. As I was coating the mini donut muffins with butter to facilitate the sticking of the sugar coating, I was thinking, "Well, this negates any health benefits of baked donuts." But on my second batch (yeah, they're that good), I discovered that you really didn't need butter to make sugar stick to the muffin, especially if you use powdered sugar instead of superfine sugar.

Know what else I discovered? If you're bringing these babies to a gathering, don't sugar coat the muffins until right before. After a half day or so, the sugar (especially the superfine sugar) absorbs moisture from the muffin and crusts up.

This recipe is a keeper. Next time maybe I'll try a cinnamon sugar coating, or dropping frozen blueberries in the batter.
Donut Muffins
adapted from Baking Bites
makes 10 regular muffins

3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk (made one batch with rice milk to good results)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Coating
2 tablespoons butter, melted (optional)
1/2 cup superfine sugar (can pulse regular sugar in food processor to make), or powdered sugar

• Lightly grease a muffin tin with vegetable oil or spray.
  
• In a large bowl, beat together sugar and egg until light in color. Add vegetable oil, milk, and vanilla to sugar mixute and combine.
• In a seperate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Then pour into liquid mixture and stir to combine.
• Fill muffin cups 3/4 full, and bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
  

Orillas Revisited

Wilmington's downtown Spanish tapas restaurant, Orillas, opened it's doors November 2008, and my initial visit was only a few weeks after their opening, which, admittedly, is too soon to judge. On that initial visit I noted a few things that needed changing, and it seems that with my most recent visit almost all of those changes have been implemented.Orillas revamped their menu, and even included a section listing vegetarian dishes. Before I had to quiz my server on what was and wasn't vegetarian. I still think there are some items not in the vegetarian section that can be easily made vegetarian, so don't limit yourself to this one section of the menu.

You can now order a cheese plate with just cheese on it. Before it was a cheese and meat plate, or at least that's how the menu read.

The uncut flat bread served on a curved ceramic plate that I struggled to cut with a butter knife, now comes pre-sliced on a wooden plank.

Servers are still a little odd. This go round, our server asked if we had heard of tapas before, and also explained each menu page. Um...my Mom was eating tapas in her podunk hometown before you even entered high school, and I'm quite capable of reading menu headings. Pleasant server, otherwise.

These marinated wild mushrooms were not the marinated I was thinking of -- tangy vinegar-- but were straight-up earthy with oil and balanced seasonings with a squirt of roasted pepper sauce.
The breaded and fried baby zucchini paled next to the accompanying sweet and tangy tomato mango salsa. Really can't fault the zucchini, it's just that the salsa was so vibrant. And the squirt of roasted red pepper sauce, while pretty, is unnecessary with such strong flavors from the salsa. Squirts of roasted red pepper sauce made appearances on many dishes, and is a bit overplayed.I tried the crema Catalana, a Spanish version of creme brulee. Light citrus flavors were nice, but the custard was grainy, and the caramelized top was thin and only caramelized in the center.

Sampled but not pictured:

Mushroom, roasted garlic, and Manchego Flatbread - great flavors, but melted cheese made for extremely greasy finger food.

Tomato salad with sherry vinaigrette and Cabrales - bright tangy flavors, but some of the tomatoes were grainy, and this should not be so in the middle of summer.

Patatas - roasted fingerling potatoes serving as fancy french fries. I thought they were seasoned perfectly, another thought they needed more seasoning. It's true, no one can agree on salt levels!

Rice pudding - Oh my god, this was the best thing I put in my mouth all night long! This warm, buttery, raisin and spice-spiked rice pudding might even be the best rice pudding I've ever had. Get it!

I enjoyed the food a little more than before, simply because I sampled more things. Chef Julio Lazzarini is cooking up some solid tapas, but nothing arrestingly sublime like Garces is doing in Philly with his every expanding tapas empire that currently includes Distrito, Amada, Tinto, and Chifa. It is unfortunate to be serving tapas in a town so close to Garces.

But like Garces, Chef Lazzarini will be giving Wilmingtonians more -- or so that's what he told us when he visited our table to chat. Hot off his appearance on the Food Network's chef competition show, Chopped (I missed this show in it's entirety, including Chef Lazzarini's appearance), Chef Lazzarini mentioned offering a weekend brunch at Orillas.

Yes, y'all! Brunch! In downtown Wilmington! I swear, if this happens and y'all don't go and support what will be one of only a few businesses open in downtown on the weekend, I'll stomp around and make a pissy face.

Chef Lazzarini also mentioned opening a Nuevo-Latino tapas restaurant in the future. I approve.


Update: Orillas has moved up the street to 902 Market St.

Orillas 413 N. Market St., Wilmington, DE 19801
Lunch: Mon-Fri, 11am-2:30pm
Dinner: Mon-Thurs, 5-10pm; Fri & Sat 5-11pm

Tomato Pie

I've been waiting to make this recipe for tomato pie since last Christmas when I was back home in South Carolina riffling through my Mother's recipe box and stumbled upon this intriguing and unknown-to-me recipe using summer's king of vegetables, the tomato. Mom said this simple pie of layered tomatoes, onions, and basil topped with cheddar cheese and mayonnaise (don't flip your lids, kids, mayonnaise is the South's secret sauce, and it's a time-tested taste winner) stole the show at the small town ladies' function she brought it to.

Tomato pie is a Southern thing, and since I had never had it, I kept my eyes peeled for sightings of the dish on menus at restaurants, and sure 'nuf, I spotted it at multiple restaurants in Charleston, South Carolina. All I had to do then was wait for ripe summer tomatoes to make my own pie. Tomatoes have lots of juice, so to avoid a soggy pie, be sure to salt and drain the tomatoes in a colander for at least 30 minutes. De-seeding and squeezing out the excess juice will go a long way, too, in avoiding a pie of liquid. Peel the tomatoes if you like, or not. I didn't. Slice or chop the tomatoes if you like. I sliced, but next time I might chop them, since a whole slice tends to pull out of the pie when you stab it with your fork.
While the tomatoes are draining, roll out a single pie crust. Most tomato pies only have a single bottom crust, but I've seen versions with a top layer, too.
Thinly slice a small to medium sweet onion, and coarsely chop a handful of fresh basil leaves.
Par-bake the pie shell, then put down a layer of tomatoes, onions, basil, pinch of salt and crank of black pepper, than repeat with another layer.
Grate sharp Cheddar cheese and mix with mayonnaise. I lessened the amount of mayonnaise than most tomato pie recipes call for, creating a mixture very similar to pimento cheese (minus the pimentos), my very most favoritest cheese spread in the whole world.

Trust me, the results are not weird or gross. You know when you make that first, simple, homegrown tomato sandwich of just tomato, mayo, salt, and pepper, and the mayo you slathered on the bread mixes with the tomato juices to create the perfect summer sandwich? Same thing here, folks.
Bake in the oven, and this glorious pie is what comes out. So simple, the baked pie retains the freshness and just-from-the-garden tomato flavor that defines summer. I ate the entire pie by myself in one day, that's how good it is.

I can't think of a better way to use up the summer tomatoes that are coming in right now. The traditional recipe is great, but it's easy to make this pie your own. Substitute sour cream for the mayo, or just use grated Cheddar without a binder. Use a different kind of cheese. Use different herbs. Caramelize the onions. Add bacon, if you must. Just be sure to use sweet summer tomatoes.

Tomato Pie
adapted from "Putting on the Grits" by the Junior League of Columbia, SC
serves 4-6

1 9-inch pie shell
4-5 large fresh tomatoes, thickly sliced
1 medium sweet onion, thinly sliced
12 or so large fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
salt
pepper
1/2 cup mayonnaise (I'm loyal to Duke's)
1 1/2 cups sharp Cheddar cheese, grated

• De-seed tomatoes by squeezing or pushing out the seeds with your fingers. It doesn't have to be thoroughly de-seeded (that's where the flavor is), but you'll want the majority of the liquid out to avoid a soupy pie. Salt the tomato slices, and let sit in a colander for at least 30 minutes to draw out extra moisture.
  
• Bake pie shell for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Remove from oven and let cool a few minutes.
• Place a layer of tomatoes and a layer of onions in the pie shell. Dot each layer with the basil leaves, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Repeat until all onions and tomatoes are used (I got two layers).
• Combine mayonnaise and cheddar in a bowl, seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. Spread over the top of the pie (hands work best).
• Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the top of the pie is browned. Cool slightly and serve.
  

Haru

Update: no longer open.

Behold Haru's veggie sushi platter! I've eaten this ensemble on two different occasions, not because I'm a fan of Haru (I'm not a hater, either), but simply because Haru's Old City location is conveniently located near whatever it is I was doing (it's top secret...not really, but my coming and goings are utterly boring).

On the plank are: marinated mushroom gunkan, diakon nigiri, avocado nigiri, asparagus nigiri, shitake nigiri, eggplant nigiri, tofu nigiri, tofu by itself (!?), and a cucumber and avocado roll.

These are most of the usual veggie suspects offered at sushi joints that offer more than just avocado, cucumber, and daikon rolls. Presentation is simple; nothing stunning. Sushi is fine. When you don't eat fish, there's not much to nit pick (freshness of fish and knife skills). With veggie sushi, variety and flare is what counts, and Haru is only wearing fifteen pieces of flare.

At night, their formal dining room with bar in a bi-level bank building is dark and castle-like. Daytime, the formal dining room sees plenty of light due to the tall, vaulted windows. The back room with sushi bar is more modern and light. Sidewalk dining is also an option.

Haru
241-243 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19106
215-861-8990
Mon-Tues: 11:30am-3pm, 5pm-11pm
Wed: 11:30am-3pm, 5pm-12am
Thurs-Fri: 11:30am-3pm, 5pm-1am
Sat: 1pm-1am
Sun: 1pm-11pm

Frozen Chocolate Banana Pops

Cayenne and chocolate banana pop, peanut and chocolate banana pop, and plain chocolate banana pop.

Better get this post on frozen banana pops out before Summer is gone! Seriously, what happened to Summer? I feel like I wait all year long for Summer to arrive, so I can get around to fun outdoor activities (visit Bartram's Garden, picnic in the park, and a Blue Rocks baseball game, to name a few), and here it is August, and I haven't checked any of those activities off my list.

Enough bitching...wanna know what crazy memories are conjured up when I eat frozen banana pops? Caged monkeys in a mall!
The town I grew up in has a locally famous peanut and party goods store called Cromer's Peanuts that sells all sorts of tiny plastic toys and party favors, as well as their famous peanuts ("Guaranteed Worst in Town"), popcorn, and cotton candy. One of their locations was in a mall (the mall location has since closed), and the mall location had a large, glass-fronted cage of monkey on the upper back wall. Yeah, probably not the most humane setting for monkeys, but as a kid oblivious to the ills of the world, these monkeys ruled!

Combine a wall of monkeys doing all sorts of uncensored monkey acts with cheap plastic toys, candy and peanuts, a fun house mirror, and a scale you step on that tells your fortune and weight, and you've got a store a kid cannot resist!

Oh, and Cromer's had hand-dipped, chocolate-covered frozen bananas, too. The guy behind the counter would dip them right before your very eyes before handing the banana pops over the counter. My Mom would always buy us a chocolate-covered frozen banana before we left, 'cause she was awesome like that.Clumpy, ugly chocolate.

The original recipe I looked up had vegetable shortening melted in the chocolate, and I knew some would turn up their noses at that, so I tried melting straight up chocolate, and then chocolate with butter (saw recipes for both), but coating the frozen bananas with either of the two was difficult without having the chocolate get clumpy and ugly. So...I went back and tried melting chocolate with vegetable shortening, and the chocolate coated the frozen bananas beautifully!

To add vegetable shortening or not, is your choice. If aesthetics are a concern, I'd add the vegetable shortening. If you're going to roll chocolate-coated bananas in a topping such as crushed peanuts, ugly chocolate is not that much of a concern.

Frozen Chocolate Banana Pops
makes 12 pops

6 bananas (not overly ripe), peeled
10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
12 popscicle sticks (I used wooden coffee stirrers)
crushed peanuts, sprinkles, or other garnishes (optional)

• Cut bananas in half, and push popscicle sticks in cut end, halfway through bananas. Place on a parchment paper-lined tray in the freezer while preparing the melted chocolate.
• Melt chocolate chips and vegetable shortening in a double boiler on the stove top over low heat, stirring until completly melted.
• Dip individual bananas into the melted chocolate, holding for a minute or so, until chocolate has hardened before placing back on tray.
  
• If decorating the pops with crushed nuts or other garnishes, sprinkle garnish on pops or roll pops in garnish immediately after dipping the bananas in the chocolate, and before the chocolate hardens.
• Place pops in an airtight container and store in the freezer.