percyn

Thanks for the detail Brian... So how did you end up securing the reservation?

Have been eating my way through a cantaloupe I bought at the farmers market

Wednesday - Grilled bone-in ribeye, cut from a standing roast I bought Before... After... and plated with mushrooms sauteed in duck fat, mushroom and spinach risotto, onion confit and grilled spring onion this meal didn't compare to the wonderful meal a few eGulleters met for yesterday at StudioKitchen Cheers Percy

Once again, I am in awe of not only Shola's creativity, but also Jeff's stamina to stay up and post this at 5am !! Given that I had to be at work in 5 hrs after getting home, I was out like a log. A small sampling of the wine the motley crew brought (the Whites and Mead were in a ice bucket) The amuse bouche ..(see Jeff's great descriptions for all courses) paired with Piper Sonoma Blanc De Noir Somewhere between the amuse and the first course, we opened the 2002 Thierry Triolet Brut The master chef at work... The 1st course - Foie Gras two ways with silver corn juice paired with 2000 Chassagne-Montrachet 1st course without the corn juice after the corn juice 2nd course - Dayboat scallops... paired with 2003 Pierre Sparr Reserve Gewurztraminer (the ravioli is covering up a huge scallop) 3rd course - Tomato water Risotto ... ( which many considered the star of the evening ) paired with 2004 Kim Crawford Sav Blanc 4th course - Australian lamb sous vide... paired side-by-side with 2003 Langhe Nebbiolo and 200? Arrowood Syrah 5th course - aka "cheese course" paired with 1989 Aigle Blanc Vouvary 6th course - dessert paired with Sky River [Dry] Mead (does mead have a vintage?) and 1998 Chateau Haut Bernasse Monbazillac A few ingredients used in our meal.. And finally...the debris trail we left behind...(our version of tagging "eG was here") The wine/person ratio was 10:10 (current record holder is the Birchrunville dining outing at 9:6) Many thanks to all for their wine and mead contributions and company.

Pictures from my visit to Happy Day's Family Bistro in Thorndale / Ingleside can be found here.

On Sunday we tried a new local diner, Happy Day's Family Bistro

Saturday's dinner was Chicken & Shrimp Pad Thai w/macamadia nuts Dessert - Fresh strawberries and whipped cream (from my new iSi whipped cream maker I have been wanting to try)

Yesterday's dinner started with appetizers of pinwheel salmon on dense, whole rye bread, topped with chives and seasoned cucumbers and tomatoes on the same bread (I actually added some coriander chutney after taking the picture). I had prepared this rack of baby back ribs the previous night and planned to smoke it with hickory. ...unfortunately mother nature had other plans and I was unable to smoke it outside and I ended up trying to smoke it in the oven, which did not work out as well. Topped 3 different sections with 3 different sauces (Bone Sucking Sauce, Tony Roma's Original and Stubb's Original).

Pan, The thread you found was me asking the name of these dumplings (I always called it "dumplings in hot oil" when I visited a Sishuan restaurant I visit and they knew what I meant. These are my favorite dumplings. It has spices which hit you in the back of the throat more than the tip of your tounge. I understand there are some places in NYC chinatown that make good versions (I have not experienced them from there), but I highly recommend it. The pic of the dumplings I posted had come from the fridge, so the liquid had gathered on the bottom. plus I used some on the eggs (very light and hard to see). Please report back if you find a place with good ChaoShou. Cheers Percy

I have tried Tex's pulled pork sandwich and it is quite juicy and good. I had not tried the ribs before, so I am glad philadining posted about them. Hope this is not off topic.... For those in Chester County, there is a relatively new BBQ place in West Chester called Mabel's (no website that I could find) and I will post my review on their eats shortly. The best ribs I have found so far in Ches Co were NC style ribs from Crepe Myrtle in the Downingtown Milltown Markets. They have great sides of sweet potato and collard greens too. Anyway, will have to make a Tex run soon.

Pizza - 1/2 Margherita and Bacon, 1/2 Meatball Time to make the meatballs The pizza before it went into the oven And after... Also made some "indian style meatballs" (with kebab mix and cilantro) which were great with some chappati.

Here is another version of Chaoshou

Ling sounds good...Valrhona Manjari is my favorite.....so did you eat the whole thing? Yesterday I made scrambled eggs topped with Maitake, drizzled with Chaoshou dumpling oil and a croissant on the side. Call it an East meets West breakfast Then I got hungry and ate the Chaoshou dumplings. Today I made a similar breakfast of scrambled eggs, maitake, chives and a side of smoked duck breast. ETA - Also tried a piece of famous grilled sticky buns

Swiss cheese burger with a slice of red onion ETA - Some Dogfishhead IPA to wash it down

On a slightly different note....has anyone been to their headquarters? A few years ago I did some consulting for them and it was one of the most unique "corporate headquarters" I have been to. On one side they have a working dairy farm and in a large shed like complex is their office, with an old-school style board room with pictures of the founders. One nice perk is that all the wawa products in their cafe are free. I wish it were a publicly listed company

Lobster Bisque w/Truffle Butter - made from homemade lobster stock Lemon ginger pork with mushroom napolean and roasted organic carrots - pork was marinated in soy and ginger confit. Mushroom napolean was inspired by Brian Z and included sauteed baby bella, satueed shallots and some ricotta. Organic baby carrots because I came across them in the farmers market that day. Lemon Sorbet with fresh basil and olive oil - sorbet is store bought, but organic. The basil gives that summer food taste and EVOO takes the edge off the acidity of the lemons giving it a rounder mouth-feel.

Ok, I need the recipe for the Coconut Curry Beef Brisket. Is it like a dry version of Thai beef curry?

Pics of progress along the way would be appreciated !!

Yesterday - Maitake scrambled eggs topped with Moroccan Lamb and a side of smoked duck (ahh...the world is in balance again ) Today - Croissant with Swiss cheese and Serrano ham. Side of fried egg for me.

After all this wonderful advice, I feel obligated to report back...so here goes... Unfortunately, most of the discussion and advice started pouring in while we were in transit on our way into Philly, so I have some better tips for next time. We started at the Reading Terminal around 11:30am. I wanted them to try the roast pork sandwich, but my guest said they were not ready for lunch yet so we got a coffee and vowed to return back later. So we wander around the market for a bit and marveled at the bounty. I did get that chicken-on-a-stick thingy in a sweet and spicy sauce from the Thai place..it is one of my favorites, but alas I do not recall its proper name. We then went with the kids to the Constitution center and Independence hall. Sometime around 1:30pm they started craving for a cheesesteak, so we went to Geno's and Pat's to get these babies: My guests seemed to prefer the "Cheesy flavor" of Genos. I ate them both and enjoyed each. I did like the hot pepper bin outside Genos and munched on a few. By the time we were done it was around 3:30pm and everyone was getting tired, so we broke our promise of returning to RTM. Next time I will not let them leave without tasting a roast pork sandwich (after all, I want to try one too ) Thanks again for all the advice. Percy

Philadining, It was my pleasure to set this up. As expected, this trip was fun and I am looking forward to Katie adding the wine notes for the 8 (or was it 9) bottles we consumed. Pensage, welcome to eG and if you are local to Chester County, PM me if you are interested in future outings. Cheers Percy

Last night some eGers got together for a trip to Birchrunville Store Cafe. Pics and review are here.

Made scrambled eggs with Maitake mushrooms and smoked cheddar....was in a hurry, so no pic...sorry.

Liebestrauben - A wine from Warner Vineyards in MI. It tastes like a reisling, but with a little more body. I had discovered this wine in college and still enjoy it. We also enjoyed a spicy Rioja with our July 4th BBQ.

Another box of mixed goodies just arrived from India