161 replies to this topic

[percyn]

Pan, ....shh....you are raising the bar too high

Anyway, I could not go grocery shopping this weekend, so I will swing by my favorite grocery store (Wegmans) and give you a tour later this evening....

[mizducky]

* Lunch at an Amish restaurant
* Visit to an Amish farm
* Tour of Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market
* Philly Cheesesteak Kings
* Breakfast Bonanza
* Special "Parsi dishes" like Dhansak or Sali Gosht or Machi (Fish) nu Sauce
* Typical Indian dishes like Tandoori or Goan Curry Rice
* Other food topics of your choice (please specify)

Oooooh! Love the Pennsylvania Dutch Country, and their food! Love Indian food! Always up for seeing the innards of any major food market. Always up for learning more about the cuisine of a culture I'm not yet familiar with (although I had at least heard of Zoroastrianism before). Heck, all the above choices sound lovely.

And also--love that cute little kitty! (The photo of your deck where she's serenely enthroned in its exact center just cracks me up--so typically cat-like.)

[Pan]

Pan, ....shh....you are raising the bar too high   

Don't sell yourself short. I wouldn't have written what I did if I wasn't sure you merited my confidence. But if it makes you feel better, even if your photos in this blog suck, I'll still like it.

[MicBacchus]

I am so jealous; your wine cooler is gorgeous - who makes it? When we move, this will definitely go on my list.

My vote is for Parsi, Amish and, oh I don't care - they all sound great! We live near the Amish community in S MD and I frequent the Amish market all summer. It'll be interesting to see what they do with the produce.

[misgabi]

Would like to add a vote for an Amish restaurant, something we absolutely do not have here in Australia.

OT - love the coffee table, what sort of wood is that?

Blog on!

[Jake]

Great to see you blogging, your photos are always hunger inducing.

My votes go for parsi food (please include whatever info and/or links you feel cofortable with that go into the culture, please, please please), and Amish lunch and anything else you would care to regale us with.

Oh, and Peanut looks much more manageable than my 27 lb master of the house - he even bosses the dogs around!

[Susan in FL]

Judging from previous blogs, I guess I am supposed to add the obligatory pictures of kitchen, etc, so here goes...

Your cabinets are the ones we had in our big remodeled kitchen in Delaware, or at least they look just like them (except some of ours had the glass fronts)! Are they QuakerMaid?
Love your deck, of course, and your Man's Room and wine cooler, too... All of it looks beautiful.

I lived in Media for three years and.....

Speaking of Media, Percy and/or Kathy, is the Towne House restaurant still in Media? It was owned by a relative of my father's years ago. I have no idea if it is still in the family or even still there.

[percyn]

I have been shopping at Wegmans for the past 6-7 years or so, ever since they opened their store in Princeton, NJ, where we used to live.

While I still visit the farmers market almost every weekend when it is open, I find that Wegmans has a good variety of high quality products.

I appologize in advance for the quality of these pics, as I was not aware of Wegman's policy on taking pictures in the store and did not want to be banned from the store

Towards the right is the bakery with brick oven, center is a sushi bar and on the far left is hot food that their chef's prepare everyday.


Clearer view of the brick oven


Got a little Caramel apple cider frappe freeze as a late afternoon pick-me-up


A variety of mushrooms, which you may see appear in the blog, but unfortunately, they were out of truffles, which I was planning to use in dinner today....oh well, change the menu on the fly..


This is only a very small sampling of their cheese and caviar selection. I remember being at a fromagerie in Paris last year and recognized many of the cheese selections from Wegmans


A decent size International section


And my favorite...the little D'Artagnan section, which is where the ingredients for tonights dinner came from


Some fresh baked bagels which you will see me consume


Great meat and fish selection


Including these bad boys, which were larger than a baby's arm


Also bought some Parisian bread and truffle cheese


OK, should be set for a few days....now on to the cooking...

[KatieLoeb]

Percy, I am so glad you're doing this. And it reinforces that which I already knew - you're a true and passionately dedicated foodie (as well as a gracious and charming dining companion) and a very interesting person.

Blog on, my friend. This is going to be fascinating...

Love the kitty!

[percyn]

On to making dinner.

The menu tonight features duck 2 ways - Foie Gras with fig reduction and Duck breast salad. (I was going to make it Duck 3 ways by adding a duck leg confit served on lentils, but got all ducked out ).

Get knives ready (my current favorite is the Japanese Kershaw Shun 8" Chef knife on the top. The bottom one is a Wusthof Trident 8" Chef's knife)


Score the Foie Gras


Sear in hot copper frying pan (see the smoke?)


Remove foie, sear fresh figs (purchased at farmers market over the weekend), deglace with ice wine


Toast a slice of the Parisian bread, top with some spring greens or firsee, foie and fleur de sel


Drizzle with some of the melted foie and fig reduction and serve with ice wine


Look who came running for some foie


For the main course...a nice healthy (err...yeah... ) salad

Score the duck breast and sear


Chop up some fennel (I know it sounds crazy, but I warned you about my weird tastes)


Finish the duck breast and fennel in a 350F oven


Make a vinaigrette with the rendered duck fat and some truffle oil


Let the duck breast rest and slice


Dress lettuce, top with duck breast and serve


Optionally serve with diced raw fennel and crouton made by toasting a slice of bread and dipping it in the rendered foie fat



You see what I mean by "ducked out"? I was too full and tired to roast the duck leg confit...perhaps one day this week.

[percyn]

I am so jealous; your wine cooler is gorgeous - who makes it?  When we move, this will definitely go on my list.
...

Thanks, I bought it over the Internet from some company in Canada a few years ago. Works great and is cheaper than the $5000 ones in Wine catalogs.

I still have a few cases of wine stored in my basement. Most of the other loose bottles are in here or in a smaller cooler in the kitchen. I am thinking about buying a second one or a larger one as this is full, despite my best attempts to keep it empty

[percyn]

...
Your cabinets are the ones we had in our big remodeled kitchen in Delaware, or at least they look just like them (except some of ours had the glass fronts)!  Are they QuakerMaid?
Love your deck, of course, and your Man's Room and wine cooler, too...  All of it looks beautiful.

Thanks Susan
I have no idea who the cabinets maker is. Unfortunately, I bought this house when it was 1 yr old, otherwise I would have worked with the architect and builder to put in a lot more features, especially a gas stove. Since everything is less than 5 yrs old, I would feel guilty were I to rip everything out and replace it (though I have done that on a few items).

Speaking of Media, Percy and/or Kathy, is the Towne House restaurant still in Media? It was owned by a relative of my father's years ago. I have no idea if it is still in the family or even still there.

I am not familiar with that restaurant or to be honest that area in general. However, I found this via a google search. http://www.townehouse.com/

Edited by percyn, 27 September 2005 - 07:19 PM.

[Daniel]

Percyn:

So excited to read your blog.. I really enjoy the food you make and post.. That duck is gorgeous...


My vote:

Is for anything Amish..

[Chris Amirault]

You see what I mean by "ducked out"? I was too full and tired to roast the duck leg confit...perhaps one day this week.

My goodness! I'm tired just thinking about that post. Bravo!

What wine did you serve with that meal, Percyn?

[bleudauvergne]

Dude, that is sweet.

[Susan in FL]

I am not familiar with that restaurant or to be honest that area in general. However, I found this via a google search. http://www.townehouse.com/

Why thanks, I never thought of searching. Duh.

[percyn]

You see what I mean by "ducked out"? I was too full and tired to roast the duck leg confit...perhaps one day this week.

My goodness! I'm tired just thinking about that post. Bravo!

What wine did you serve with that meal, Percyn?

Thanks Chris.
I served a 2000 Siegerrebe Beerenauslese (German Icewine style) with the foie. I was about to open a Pinot Noir for the duck salad, but decided against it...saving it for tomorrow...

Edited by percyn, 27 September 2005 - 07:52 PM.

[Megan Blocker]

You see what I mean by "ducked out"? I was too full and tired to roast the duck leg confit...perhaps one day this week.

My goodness! I'm tired just thinking about that post. Bravo!

What wine did you serve with that meal, Percyn?

Thanks Chris.
I served a 2000 Siegerrebe Beerenauslese (German Icewine style) with the foie. I was about to open a Pinot Noir for the duck salad, but decided against it...saving it for tomorrow...

Icewine, Eiswein - however you spell it - YUM!!!! Gorgeous duck, Percy. Can't wait to see what tomorrow holds!

[Mottmott]

There's the duck, where's the eggs? Looks spectacular.

[percyn]

There's the duck, where's  the eggs?    Looks spectacular.

Patience my friend

[slight offtopic]
BTW, for those watching the season premier of "The Amazing Race" on CBS, the episode was shot in my back yard, so to speak....what timing, to correspond with the premier of the blog
[/slight offtopic]

[mrbigjas]

On to making dinner.

The menu tonight features duck 2 ways - Foie Gras with fig reduction and Duck breast salad. (I was going to make it Duck 3 ways by adding a duck leg confit served on lentils, but got all ducked out  ).

holy moly, percy. if it weren't for your posts on the dinner thread, i would think you were fancifyin' things just for the blog. good on ya.

i don't think the duck/fennel thing is all that weird, though. one of the first times i went to studiokitchen he did a star anise scented duck breast, so i learned that the whole duck/licorice thing ain't a bad thing at all...

[Pan]

Wow, what food porn -- nay, porn erotica. A comparison to anything raunchy or sleazy would be totally inapt. Anyone but Percy think I set the bar too high?

[percyn]

Glad I met your expectations Pan

Tomorrow is going to be a long day at work, so I may not be able to post until later, though I will try.

[Abra]

I'll cast all three of my votes for Parsi food.

Percyn, in the "man's room," you didn't actually choose that wall finish and those curtains, right? Or have I got the whole wrong idea about men?

[SeaGal]

Adding fennel to almost anything is never weird, in my opinion. I love fennel and I bet it goes well with the richness of the duck. Lovely pictures--I want to eat it now!

I also vote for parsi, with breakfast second and lunch at an Amish restaurant third.

[tejon]

I am not familiar with that restaurant or to be honest that area in general. However, I found this via a google search. http://www.townehouse.com/

Why thanks, I never thought of searching. Duh.

Thanks, percyn. I remember that resteraunt well - a friend of mine lived close by and we had many meals there. That and the Lamb Tavern over in Springfield bring back many a happy memory.

[M.X.Hassett]

From another duck and D'Artagnan fan let the food porn start.

[Anna N]

I keep aiming for duck breast that looks like yours but miss every time. Of course, I can't easily obtain such quality duck so I guess I have to cut myself a bit of slack. Nevertheless, duck breast is on the menu for Friday.

[Chufi]

well well.. I don't visit EGullet for one day and here's percyn, already 2 pages into his blog.. I'm looking forward to this! Your dinners always have a very elegant and glamorous feel.. very far removed from my own cooking... but lovely to see.. so keep the truffles coming please..

Oh and it's nice to see where you get all those mushrooms that keep popping up in your scrambled eggs

A variety of mushrooms, which you may see appear in the blog, but unfortunately, they were out of truffles, which I was planning to use in dinner today....oh well, change the menu on the fly..

[jackal10]

Thanks Chris.
I served a 2000 Siegerrebe Beerenauslese (German Icewine style) with the foie. I was about to open a Pinot Noir for the duck salad, but decided against it...saving it for tomorrow...

Beerenauslese is not Icewine style. Eiswine is icewine, pressed from frozen grapes.
Beerenauslese is botytis affected (like Sauterne) but where the individual bunches of grapes have been selected. Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) is where the individual berries are selected.

Let me decode the label for you:

Rheinhessen is the wine growing area to the west of the Rhein

2000er is the vintage. "Plagued by rain and rot, with outstanding results from a handful of growers. Variable quality; choose carefully"

Bechtolsheimer is the area of the vineyard, near the village of Bechtolsheim

Sonnenberg is the actual vineyard name where the grapes were grown

Siegerebbe The grape variety. A cross between Gewurtztraminer and Madeline Angevine, it can achive high levels or ripeness and richness

Beerenauslese: See above, but indicates sugar level in the must.

Qualitatswine mit Pradikat (QMP). Top German quality designation for wine made in defined areas and, more importantly , from grapes not requiring any additional sugar to achieve the correct alcohol level.

Amtliche Prüfungsnummer (AP Nr). The final two digits give the year in which the wine was approved (not the vintage), and the two digits before that give the running number of wines to be approved from the producer in question. Producer and region are coded in the remaining initial digits. The first digit is the testing station.

Erzeugerabfullung Estate bottled

9.0% alcohol by volume; 375ml (half bottle)

Weingut Ernst Bretz. The producer, Ernst Bretz is a family owned and run winery in Bechtholsheim founded in 1721, hnce the gold crest.

I'd expect to pay between $10 and $15 for this retail.
Sweet, botrytis and peachy fruit, but fairly simple. It would keep at least 20 years, drying a little.

Edited by jackal10, 28 September 2005 - 01:45 AM.