percyn

Didn't see the alligator sausage...maybe next time (hopefully soon).

Do you recall them checking the pH of the orange juice and alginate? I would have thought that OJ would be too acidic. I had marginal success with tomato puree, which I think has lower acidity than OJ.

Hey Bryan, If you have time to squeeze it in, the Palomar has a restaurant called The Fifth floor, which is a good bet, as is Flyer de lys. I was fortunate enough to visit both of these during a recent 5 Day visit to SFO Great blog... Cheers Percy

Takeout Jambalaya Fettucini from High Street Cafe in West Chester. Flavor was good, well seasoned, but not too overly so. Would have probably tasted even better if I ate it in the restaurant. BTW, they do have a liquor lic, but also allow you to bring you own wine (I don't think there is a corking fee).

Chefcrash, that looks awesome !! Kim, you should get a digital camera soon and post some pics. Here are some items I had for breakfast over this past week: Scrambled eggs topped with spicy Sichuan cold chicken and chicken with dried chilies. Corn Muffin (Baked by the wife) Jamacian Beef Patty (store bought)

Coincidentally, guess what I made this past weekend with sweet local corn? I left it a bit thicker, by not straining it too fine.

Hey Bryan...I might be late to the party, but glad to see you blogging. Suggestion - Feature some hot spring eggs in the blog

OK, I wanted to post this on the Sushi in Chester County thread, which I thought existed, but I could not find it, so here goes.... Went to Teikoku in West Chester and got the $20 Sashimi platter, which included Octopus, Fluke, Tuna, Salmon and Red Snapper (I think) along with an Asahi extra dry I initially asked whether they had Omakase, but they said they stopped after the Winter. There were a few more things on the menu, which looked interesting, including Kobe beef servered in various styles (carpaccio, tartare, cheesesteak, etc), but I was too full to try these.

Oops..wrong thread.

Went in again to put some more of the dishes to the test. Unfortunately, no Za Jiang Mein on the menu yet (I even asked the wait staff for it). Also seems like the lousy service is here to stay. My lone server decided it was more important to chat on his cell phone in the dining room for 15 minutes before taking my order (I was the only person in the restaurant at this time...around 5pm). I ordered an old favorite.. Cold chicken in spicy sauce, which was as good as I remembered it. Since I missed the spice of the old régime, I asked my server what he would recommend. He steered me toward the Chicken with dried chilies (I think that is the name of the dish on the Chinese side of the menu). Turned out to be a good recommendation as it had tons of Sichuan peppercorns, which gave that familiar tingle to the tip of your tongue. This had way more of a kick than the cold chicken....might become a new favorite.

Lakeside serves my favorite Dim Sum in Philly, but it's not really the traditional Dim-Sum experience, it's just a small, plain, bordering on dingy, restaurant where one orders from a menu, not a huge, festive place with carts. Sadly the dim sum scene here is just nowhere near the level of San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver, or NY. ... ← Sorry....joining the party a bit late. I agree with Philadining about Lakeside (you can see some pics of their Dim Sum here). Looks like you have the Cheestake and Roast Pork covered. How about some Sichuan at Sichuan Tasty House or Chung King Garden? Cheers Percy P.S: Congratz on the show...can't wait to see it. Are they giving the pilot any air time?

So...its not quite in Philly, but if you happen to be in the Malvern area, I would recommend trying the fries at the Classic Diner (352 Lancaster Ave., Malvern, 610-725-0515). Five Brothers, which now has a location on Wayne (Gateway shopping center) also has some decent hand cut fries.

Looks good Shaya, did you follow any particular recipe?

I swear I made this before seeing the post on the Thai omlette...what a co-incidence. I got some fresh Oyster mushroom from the farmers market, so I decided to sautee them with some left over Larb. and scramble it with an egg and some basil leaves.

Just kidding Katie Anyway, James has pretty good notes and I will pickup where he left off... With the Rabbit Gratin we had a 2000 (?) Rizzi Barbaresco and the float was made with Cascinetta Vietti Moscato d'Asti. Also, I think the pairing with the Escargot was a Louis Lator Montagny. Cheers Percy

Lori, was that "Are you being served?" that you were watching? That is my second favorite British comedy...right after "Mind your language".

I have some wine notes, which I will post later. Its may not be complete as I was not aware I was the "official" wine scribe.

Here is the NY style Pastrami I got from Murray's in West Chester last week. While the cut was thick, the meat was very very tender and juicy. I didn't notice the meat being microwaved (perhaps because I went during the day or perhaps because I was not paying that much attention to it...next time I will).

Are you saying the alginate made you feel ill? I just got my package from WillPowder yesterday and haven't tried out the alginate yet. I thought that since the alginate is just a seaweed extract, it should be relatively benign. Is it the calcium salts that cause the distress? ← It was more of the after-taste if you eat a lot of it (just as you would eat a lot of seaweed). It could have been the CaCL2, but I did dip each ravioli into a water bath before consuming it.

Got my "Trinity" from Willpoder on Friday, just in time for me to experiment over the weekend. One of the vendors, in the farmers market that I frequent on Saturdays had some good looking peas, so when I asked him whether it was good for "pea soup", he replied..."nah, these peas are too good for that". This I had to explain the concept of the borderless pea ravioli and that I was after the "essence' of peas, and a smile came over his face, endorsing the idea by saying..."these would be perfect for it". Anyway, so on to my first experiment.... Experiment #1 - The obligatory Pea Ravioli The first batch was a bit tricky, with the shapes looking more like tadpoles than ravioli, but after a few trials, it was easier and while the shape was not completely spherical in the CaCl2 solution, they do get rounder under their own weight when on the spoon. Yes, I copied Bryan's plating A small squeeze bottle seemed to yield good caviar results Experiment # 2 - Tomato and Basil ravioli Skinned, de-seeded and crushed some vine ripe tomatoes along with some cinnamon basil. These were a bit harder to set due to the increase in pH, however a bit more alginate and longer time in the CaCl2 bath did allow a few to set enough so that it would not rupture when removed from the solution. These were far superior in flavor to the pea ravioli, but alas, not many survived. I have to say, that after eating about 10-15 of these raviolis, I did start to get a bit sick from the alginate, so I guess moderation is the key here...as usual Cheers Percy

Great looking BLT Henry...I usually eat my burgers with a runny fried egg, but never had one on a BLT...now I wonder why not.

Went to Majolica yesterday and was treated to: Sweetbreads and truffle on truffled cabbage and parsnip puree - Crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside Softshell Crab on Citrus Fennel and Blood Orange Emulsion - Great summer dish. The sauce was excellent and the fennel shavings with citrus paired very well with the softshell crab. Cucumber Sorbet - Had to be one of the best sorbets ever !! It was so refreshing and yet so smooth and almost creamy. Striped Bass with Broccoli Rabe and Olive Tapenade Puree - The skin was crispy and while it was a good dish, the tapenade and sometimes the rabe can over power the fish. Mascarpone Sorbet with Strawberries and 30yr Balsamico - So glad I listened to my waitress and forced myself to have this dessert...just heaven !! Lets just say I was really full when walking out of there !!

Just ordered my goodies from Will Powder (am I the first web order?). Can't wait to get my hands on it (hint to Will...ship fast)

I haven't had hot dogs in a Cubana before either, but they tasted OK.

MrBigJas, for the past 6-7 yrs, I have been shopping at the Princeton and Downingtown Wegmans, ever since they opened. In my experience, Wegmans does not carry all items when they initially open a store and will "experiment" with the market by introducing a few different items over the next few months and see how they sell before adding it to their permanent list. They are also very open to customer feedback, so I would suggest asking the product manager for the peppers or whatever else you want. They also run some decent sale events (like specials on dry prime aged beef) to attract new customers and build loyalty. Don't worry about the crowds, they will settle down (but not too much) in about a month or so. I love Wegmans and am there at least once a week, if not twice. Try their bakery, chocolatier, seafood, aged prime meats, D'Artagnan counter and the International isle... it blows the competition away.