Santucci's Square Pizza

We ordered a mushroom and onion pizza for delivery from Santucci's Square Pizza the other week, and, yep, it really is as good as people say.

A small, local pizza chain with six location in Philly, Santucci's is known for it's square pizza with cheese on the bottom and sauce on the top. Not spending time north of the city where five of their original venues are located, I had never heard of Santucci's until they decided to open up shop near the Italian Market, and every person squealed with joy from print and social media.

A Santucci's square pizza starts with seasoned cast iron pan, which cooks up a sturdy and chewy crust. The crust is topped with mozzarella cheese, then the pizza is crowned with a deep red, thick, perfectly seasoned, herb-flecked sauce.

Santucci's makes a damn fine pizza. No, really. Every one at the table actually took a moment after eating the first slice to comment on how good it was. From crust, cheese, sauce, and toppings, there was not a thing to complain about.

As far as classic pizzas go, it's one of the best eat-in-front-of-the-tv pizzas I've had. They even managed to thoroughly cook, but not dry out the mushrooms!

Not sure I'll ever make it into their casual restaurant for a sit-down dinner, but I'm hoping for more rushed days to come around as an excuse to order another pizza from Santucci's.

They also do soups, salads, sandwiches, strombolis, pastas, flatbreads, and wings. If there are standouts on the menu other than the pizza, please let me know, and we might add it to a future delivery.

Santucci's Square Pizza
901 S. 10th St., Philadelphia, PA 19147
215-825-5304

Desi Chaat House

Sitting here in November with freezing toes and fingers, it's hard to believe that it was 100-degrees the day I visited Desi Chaat House in University City, but it takes extreme situations to get me to cross the Schuykill River into the western regions of the city. We were looking for a reason to get out of our un-air-conditioned house, so savory Indian snacks it was!

Desi Chaat House's searingly bright orange corner store is set up for take-out, although there are are a few seats at a window counter and a small table wedged near the door. A few outdoor tables along the sidewalk are available, too.
The affordable menu has odds and ends like wraps, soups, biryani, lassis, ice cream, and shakes, but the main draw at Desi Chaat House is obviously the chaats. Chaats are savory snacks made of various crispy little bits of fried dough combined with all sorts or toppings and mix ins like onions, chickpeas, yogurt, chutneys, and spices. There are twenty or so chaats at Desi Chaat House to choose from. I'm only familiar with about five chaats on the menu, so after choosing my favorite, we just pointed and hoped for the best.

Miss Rachel's Vegan Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is right around the corner! Don't let the thought of long hours in the kitchen stress you out. Have Miss Rachel prepare your vegan Thanksgiving meal this year!

Miss Rachel kindly dropped me off a sneak peek of her delivered Thanksgiving platter (it was delectable, comforting, and generously portioned). Each $22 individual dish includes:

• 'Turkey’-style seitan with mushroom-red wine gravy (or herbed tofu if you are gluten free)
• Garlicky mashed potatoes
• Green bean casserole
• Rosemary-thyme stuffing with cranberries (or rice stuffing if you are gluten free)

Plus, you can add an individual size homemade pumpkin pie to any order for just $8.

Deliveries will take place on the evening of Tuesday, November 22 and all day/evening on Wednesday, November 23. Pickup is also available from 2-6pm on Tuesday, November 22 at Greensgrow Farm Market.

The Deadline for ordering is Sunday, November 20.

For more details, and to place an order, visit Miss Rachel's site. Orders can also be placed by emailing missrachelspantry@gmail.com, or calling 215-285-7622.

CSA Next Year?

Week 24: bok choy, turnips, broccoli, crimini mushrooms, onions, daikon radishes, and sweet potatoes.

Well, that's it! The Lancaster Farm Fresh spring and summer CSA has come to an end. Instead of showing you what I did with the bounty (you've probably seen it before, since I tend to eat the same things over and over), I thought I'd run through some positive an negative observations from my first CSA experience.



POSITIVES

You know you're getting local, organic vegetables if you buy from a CSA. Sure, you can buy organic produce at even the big box grocery stores, but they aren't necessarily local.

You're eating what's in season right now. This means you're getting vegetables when they are freshest and taste their best.

Sweet Pickled Peppers

This past weekend was a pretty nasty one if you lived in the Northeast. Freezing rain, sleet, snow, oh my! Yes, snow is a bit out of the ordinary in October around these parts, but it's not unusual to have a first frost in October where temperatures dip down below freezing.

If you keep a garden (container gardens count!), those chilly temperatures mean it's time to put the garden to bed, and bring in any plants that can't handle the cold, as well as harvest the vegetable garden's last fruits. All I had left in the raised veggie bed were a few peppers and eggplants, so they came in the evening before the inclimate weather arrived.
These small, rounded, red peppers are actually Mini Belle peppers, but their color and size remind me of spicy peppadew peppers. Don't think I've ever had a fresh pepadew pepper, but I absolutely adore the sweet and spicy pickled peppadew peppers you get at cheese shops and olive bars (I was getting them at Claudio's in the Italian Market, but Superfresh on Columbus Blvd. has them for almost half the price of Claudio's). Goat cheese-stuffed pickled peppadews are the perfect pop-in-your-mouth snack!