monavano

The Spanglish sandwich. Rustic white bread (farmers market) tomatoes (farmers market) mayo bacon red leaf lettuce Keswich Creamery cheddar (farmers market) Burp....

Gorgeous photos David. Nice knife skills too . I think I'll make the peach brown betty after the farmer's market tommorow.

Caprese bruschetta with tomatoes, basil, fresh mozzarella and grated parm/provolone. Finished with a little evoo and kosher salt.

Chufi, where do I begin with your post from yesterday? Everthing looks amazing. So fresh and seasonal! Well, we ordered in some Thai food yesterday, however, i did make dessert! Berry blueberry chocolate chip gelato.

It's a sore spot for me when I arrive at 3pm (not a Sunday) and have slim, slim pickings for a sandwich or such! DiNic's-natch, Delilah's -natch. One time I have to settle for a Carmen's Famous (why?) hoagie. I get better "subs" in VA!! I'm firmly in the " be open when the market is open" camp. Except for the Dutch.

I generally like my sandwich with toasted bread, mayo on the tomato side, then cheese and lettuce. I generally have on hand "light" wheat bread and "light" mayo and "light" cheese. But, on occasion, I get a full on BLT and then the eye rolling begins!! To wit: BLT porn, from a recent deli visit (which is 3 hours away, thank you my cholesterol). I removed half the bacon and gave it to my husband to have with his pancakes. And still, had more than enough! Bacon, bacon, bacon.... OK, sorry......back to the tomato as the headliner!

Monovano, I have 5 huge peaches given to me by my neighbor. Can you share your recipe for the peach crisp? ← Sure, I'd be happy to and it's incredibly easy. 1 cup flour 1 cup sugar 8 tbsp. butter (one stick) cut into 8 pieces 1/4 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. cinnamon Place all ingredients into food processer and pulse until butter is incorporated and texture is like small peas. Peel peaches with sharp paring knife or sharp vegetable peeler (this is what I do). Remove pit and slice. Arrange on the bottom of a 10x7 (or approximate) baking dish, which has been sprayed with Pam or other like cooking spray (or use butter to grease). Evenly spread topping over peaches. Bake in the middle of a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 40-45 minutes. At the end of baking, I turn on the broiler to get the top extra crisp and brown!!

Ted, that chicken skin is lovely .

Had lots of peppers, zucchini and san marzano tomatoes from the farmer's market so tonight I made chicken cacciatore. Finished with pecorino romano cheese.

I'm happily working my way through this week's farmers market haul. Summer, you have to love it! Cheddar corn chowder using Ina Garten's recipe, with a few twists of my own. Peach crisp.

Kingstowne farmers market was bustling yesterday. The peaches from Allenberg Orchard are fantastic, as are the many varieties of tomatoes. The prices can't be beat and are a whole bunch less than what you pay at Dupont. There was a line 20 deep for those peaches yesterday! Totally worth it. I also got some pastries from Cenan's Bakery (Vienna) and highly recommend the coffee cake and any of the croissants. Here's the bounty: Some of that corn will go into Ina Gartens cheddar corn chowder, and some will go into succotash with the shelled lima beans.

Moi? This recipe is so easy! You can read about it on my blog. http://www.piealamona.blogspot.com Enjoy!

Grilled flank steak with orange vinaigrette.

edit: OK, all pics are displayed! See post #1.

Appears that slutterfly is doing the same kicking. A password is required to just view them. SW used to be just a truck in the parking lot. High quality 'cue that we would eat a few blocks away in the park. Haven't been back since she got "walls". Looks like it's still good. ← I'm gonna upload to eG. Technology kicks my ass some days!

Don't get me started on that KC Messterpiece gloop. Most Kansas City 'cue joints serve their meats sauced, so even though you were served Texas brisket, it sounds like the proprietors engage in some BBQ fusion. (Edited to add: Similarly, burnt ends are also closely associated with Kansas City.) Whether or not they're aware they do, given how they came into the 'cue life, may be another matter entirely. ← I know you're very talented in the kitchen, Sandy (great food blogs). Have you tried The Barefoot Contessa's bbq recipe? It's a lot of ingredients, but it makes a generous amount of excellent sauce.

Wow, we tried Sweet Lucy's recently (since we now drive into town thanks to SEPTA's almost 100% fare hike in family fares. Aside from great cornbread and chicken, the other stuff we tried (ribs, pulled pork, greens, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and baked beans) were just so-so. And the sauce that day seemed like tomato paste. Perhaps we hit it on an off day? ← Wow, that sounds very different from our experience. We're not pro's, but being in Virginia where bbq has a bit more presence, we were wishing we lived a little closer! Maybe it was the timing. We were there on a Sunday afternoon.

Tha MAC machines are programmed for Polish! Sitting in Krakus luncheonette, you can catch up with Polish soap operas. In fact, the Karate studio (I think that's what is is now)across from Syrenka's used to be a Polish club, where as a little girl, I'd go to with my family, in full Polish dress. Port Richmond's skyline is punctuated by 3 iconic spires. St. Adelbert's, an anchor for the Polish Community for generations, is the east-most church with double spires. You've probablly seen it a million times while driving up and down I-95, past the Allegheny Ave. exit. The trolley runs right down Richmond St., Sandy. Lots of markets, eateries and bakeries are within a few blocks of Allegheny and Richmond. On a nice day, it would make for good walking. Next visit I'm going to try to put Taconelli's into my schedule.

I asked a guy walking his dog about Krakus. Fortunately he knew that they re-opened this past Monday. Katie, their stuffed cabbage is the best. I've been making them at home for years, but never attained the tenderness of meat and cabbage that you get with babcia's golabki. Until on a visit to Syrenka's last year, as I was standing in front of the counter and watching her plate my golabki from the steamer it hit me. Viola! Must braise low and slow! Must parboil cabbage until very tender and not cut out the "vein" so I can roll like a fajita and make those softball size wonders. Syrenka's= inspiration! Now my golabki are big, tender and delicious. I use a combination of 2 mom's recipe's: My own, and Martha Stewart's..

Update: I changed the original pic link to shutterfly since Flickr was kicking my ass: http://monavano.shutterfly.com/action/pict...e21b353173084b1

I got my Polish on this weekend in Port Richmond. During an unexpected plan to Philly these past few days, we managed to do a couple of my favorite foodie things. I wanted to go to Krakus Market to stock up on mustards (because I'm obsessed with mustards....like Bubba can rattle off shrimp dishes, I think there ought to be that many mustards. Just because), but alas they were on vacation. So, Mr. MV and I thought to wander across the road to Syrenka's Luncheonette, a cafeteria style, informal, no frills restaurant serving good comfort food. Get anything but the canned veggies. We ordered a golabki (stuffed cabbage), a kielbasa sandwich with sauerkraut on rye, and potato cheese pierogie. Waddling out, we wandered over to Julia's Bakery and Cafe to see if anyone else besides Krakus Market sells Polish cookies called cruschiki. Well, no actually. But, we got a good look at the menu which serves not only sweets, but savories such as crepes, soups and sandwiches. Walking back to the car, we spotted Piast Market, a typical corner store. It is all Polish, all the time. I mean, not one sign in English. So, I got some kielbasa; kabanosa which is skinny kielbasa, and pointed at a very dark smoked kielbasa (well, they all are, but this one looked very dark and actually smells incredibly smokey) which I ordered a pound of. I bought a package of Borowick (the king of) mushrooms and we set out. Last night's dinner was beer braised kielbasa with sauerkraut and buttered marble rye (from Stein's in Krewstown).

I probably assumed it was Texas sauce because they called the brisket 'Texas" brisket and it came sauced. I was a little surpirsed that all the meats were with sauce already, as I know that's blasphemous in some parts due south. The q sauce was tomato based with a good balance of sweet and tang. Definitely homemade,not your KC Masterpiece gloop. Actually, looking at the online menu, I can only see that they call it "bbq sauce". Yeah, the ribs...how 'bout that smoke ring! Thanks for the public transit info too!

The lines are as long as ever, if not longer. Evidently taking the Rick's Steaks location of the Reading Terminal Market website map and merchant list hasn't had all that much impact. ← Wow! What does this mean? I imagine TPTB at RTM could have closed him down forcibly by now. Why has this not happend? I'm pulling for Rick. Whether or not his cheesesteaks deserve a place in the pantheon of greatness; probably not. But booting an 25 year business, who's owner is passionate about staying, seems ridiculous. Numbers don't lie. This place is popular and stronger than ever.

I've wanted to try Sweet Lucy's Smokehousefor some time now, and it did not disappoint. Outside, there is plenty of off street parking. Lucy's catering truck marks the spot, and is surrounded by hickory wood. Your olfactory affirms this as you get out of your car and the smoky air wafts up your nose. The restaurant, an old warehouse space, is light and airy with a touch of kitsch. The large windows allow plenty of warm light in and are augmented with hanging wash basin "chandeliers". There are tables and wooden booths which are spaced comfortably. Entering Lucy's, we were faced with several signs displaying the menu and specials. After ordering at the counter, we filled our soft drinks and found a booth. In under 10 minutes our name was called and Mr. MV brought our orders ,in styrofoam containers, to the table. For under $6, you can get a sandwich and 2 sides. I ordered a pulled pork sandwich with baked beans and coleslaw. Mr. MV got a pulled brisket sandwich with mac and cheese, corn bread and collards. We split an order of 4 ribs (for investigative purposes and to be thorough, of course ) The moist pulled pork was a combination of shredded and chunky meat (including a couple burnt ends). The beans were absolutely delicious because they mingle with a generous amount of smoky pork. The coleslaw was fresh, crisp and creamy while not being too sweet. The corn bread was moist and tasty, with a bit of crunch from corn meal. The brisket, also moist, retained an assertive beef flavor. I'd skip the mac and cheese as it was flabby and not cheesy enough. The collards were quite good, but could have been sent into greatness if they were cooked with a ham hock, which I did not detect. Instead, the collards have a nice tang and heat from crushed red pepper flakes. The ribs were tender, but not falling off the bone. All had a beautiful smoke ring. A special note is the brioche-type buns which the sandwiches are served on. Lucy's could have easily skimped on the bun and used the ubiquitous kaiser roll found in Philly. The meats come dressed with Sweet Lucy's bbq sauce and you can help yourself to more of the same, or Carolina style vinegar sauce. I found that adding the vinegar sauce (also with red pepper) cut the slight sweetness of the bbq sauce nicely. There are pickles, pepperoncini and sliced cherry peppers also available at the condiment table. Note: Sweet Lucy's is about 10 minutes north of Center City, on I-95. Take the Cottman Ave. exit and make a right at the first light onto State Rd. Sweet Lucy's is 2 blocks up on the left side.

I've been reading this threat diligently, and am really impressed with the love and dedication to the tradition of RTM. I admire all of your passion. My question is; is Rick's still operating at RTM?