A Philly Feast Day

Celebrating the Superbowl alfresco in Miami with Philly foods

Stone crab and cod empanadas with Philadelphia cream cheese.

Excited about the football game on Super Sunday, we decided to go with a Philly menu. A Philly cheesesteak is the most obvious choice, but we went one better and tried to recreate a Roast Pork with Broccoli Rabe—the distinctive sandwich that is the South Philly favorite. Cheesesteaks are everywhere; the roast pork is known only by the In Crowd. And it tastes way better.

What else to put on the menu? Soft pretzels. Check. French Onion Dip with potato chips. Check. And Tastykakes for dessert. Check again. We will try. Scarcely a vegetable in sight, but that is the retro Philly way. We can sneak them in.

I picked up pork tenderloin for the sandwiches two days ahead and gave the four tenders a dry rub with what I found in Mary and Al’s well-endowed spice drawer. It was a pork rub from Wild Fork in Miami, mainly salt and sugar, with dried onion and garlic. The loins got their dry massage on Friday and rested until Saturday evening, after we came back from a boat ride up the Miami River to where Al used to live, near a park. The river was bustling, with large groups of beautiful people stretched out on the top decks of sightseeing boats. John’s eyes were rolling. We are from Wyoming and unaccustomed to seeing flesh. It’s all over Miami, glistening and roasting.

A boat ride across Biscayne Bay and up the Miami River.

Saturday evening, I seared the loins and snuggled them into a Dutch oven on top of sauteed onions and garlic and tossed on a lot of minced rosemary and thyme, then drizzled on about a cup of vegetable broth to ensure a nice, juicy finished product. The aroma that filled the house was intoxicating—or maybe that was the beverage that Mary and I sipped while cooking. In a couple of hours, the loins were tightened up and registering 165°F, so done. They emerged to come to room temp and chill overnight before slicing while cold.

Dry rubbed pork tenders are seared and braised with herbs, then chilled, sliced, and reheated with sauteed broccoli rabe.

I searched for a proper roll on Sunday morning at Milam’s grocery store—the Miami cousin of Broulim’s. There were no Amoroso rolls to be found, so I settled on the local Cuban bread, which seemed neutral and acceptable, though it was way too gordo. A slender hoagie roll was not available. It was interesting to see the aisles that morning. The produce section was deserted, and all the action was in the snack food aisle and around the refrigerated beer cases. No action in the baking aisle.

Some of Milam’s aisles were deserted early Sunday morning, and some were packed.

I did have to make a separate trip to Publix to track down two essentials—frozen soft pretzels and Tastykakes. It was later in the morning, and the shoppers there were jubilantly stocking up on prepared trays of wings and nacho fixings. Eagles and Chiefs balloons gently battered each other at the check-out aisles.

Home: time to get on it. We had leftover stone crab (how did that happen?) and some leftover cod from our fish taco night, so I combined the two for an empanada filling bound with the great stabilizer—Philadelphia cream cheese. I also used the Philly cream cheese for a Buffalo chicken dip served with celery and carrot sticks to encourage a modicum of vegetable consumption.

After a quick float in the pool, it was time to turn on the pre-game.

The Menu:

Soft Pretzels with French’s mustard (our everyday snack at St. Athanasius school in West Oak Lane) and German mustard for the outliers

Al and CoCo sample the frozen soft pretzels. “It’ll do” was the review.

Lipton’s French Onion Dip with Wise potato chips (though Lipton’s was not available, we made do with Knorr’s onion soup mix and Ruffles wavy chips)

John reprised his dip-making roll from his childhood with Knorr French Onion Dip.

Buffalo Chicken Dip with Carrot and Celery Sticks

The Hot Buffalo Chicken Dip was popular even without blue cheese.

Stone Crab and Cod Empanadas (a Miami nod with Philly cream cheese as the binder)

CoCo joined the kitchen crew and brushed the empanadas with egg wash.

Watermelon (not typical football fare in Philly, but this is Miami)

Roast Pork and Broccoli Rabe Sandwiches on Cuban Bread

Bitter broccoli rabe is the perfect counterpoint to the sweet and succulent pork with or without long red peppers for spice.

Tastykakes (Peanut Butter Tandytakes and Cream-filled Chocolate Cupcakes since no Butterscotch Krimpets were available)

The Tastykakes were not as fresh as the ones John and I remember growing up in Philly.

This was a menu for game-watching because once it started, there was no looking away. We were glad not to be tending a grill and hopping around with various items into and out of the oven. We even used paper plates, so that clean-up was Swift. (Sorry, Taylor, but they are known as the Boo-Birds.)

CoCo enjoyed dancing to the explosive half-time show. Ah, America, celebrated in hip-hop red, white, and blue. Americans, rejoice! The Eagles won it. We now have a year of bragging rights. Bye bye, Tom Brady. It’s a new day.

CoCo gives a thumbs up!

Stone Crab and Cod Empanadas, Philly-Style

Makes 12

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

¼ cup red onion, minced

¼ cup of red pepper, minced

¼ cup of yellow pepper, minced

¼ cup of orange pepper, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 ounces Philadelphia brand cream cheese, cut into bits

½ cup of crab

½ cup of cooked cod

1 tablespoon lemon juice

½ cup chopped cilantro

12 empanada wrappers

1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Melt butter in a small saute pan; add the onion and peppers, and saute a bit. Add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the cream cheese and lemon juice and stir until mixed. Then put in the crab and cod (or all crab or all cod or another fish entirely—or chicken if you are Joe Torrell and you are fish-phobic). Add the cilantro. Fill the empanada wrappers with a heaping tablespoon of the mixture and fold over to seal. Press the edges with a fork and brush the filled empanadas with beaten egg. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown and serve hot.

Sauteed peppers, onion, and garlic mixed with Philadelphia cream cheese and then flaked seafood. A Philly fusion empanada.