marinade

Sandy you're right on the hog about the National Pork Board. I was interviewed last week by Dolores Kostelni who does an AM Radio show called "The Happy Cook", out of Lexington, VA (near the Blue Ridge Mts.) The issue of present day pork breeding came up and I went off on the breeding policies on her show. Turns out she sat on the National Pork Board for eight years and left for the same reason. What's gratifying is that she mentioned that some of the local farmers in her area were turning their breeds around to the old style. They're not connected to any "movement". There are people who won’t eat pork for religious or for health reasons. And there are people who prefer not to eat any meat at all. Fine, I can understand and respect that. But I’d like to figure a way of keeping the nutritional “fundamentalists” off my plate.

It's frustrating to be fresh from the farmer's side as well. I got to know Paul and Ember Crivellaro of Country Time Farm by way of a dinner I'm involved with that’s part of the "Buy Fresh, Buy Local Week"events next week. I had seen their stuff at Fair Food Farmstand at RTM. I called them and put in an order for two shoulders, two tenderloins, and 4 racks of baby backs. I wanted to try a range of their meat before the event so I can say I know what it taste like (I’m just funny about things like that.) I didn’t asked to be comped and I didn’t ask the restaurant to order and pay for it (again, I’m funny about things like that). Their pricing is less than some of the similar items I’ve seen at Whole Foods. They deliver on Thursdays in the city so I told them I’d meet them outside of Rx and they cell phoned me when they were about a half-hour away. They make their deliveries themselves from a white pick-up truck with the meats in coolers (with ice). I spent about 45 minutes talking to them. Paul has a more than a thing or two to say about the “movement”. He’s a bit tired about the double standards. For example, he’s considered not “organic” enough for some pc restaurants, he’s docked by some of the buyers because of his fat content, and some of the more wholesome grocers won’t carry their meat as well. Let me tell you about their fat content or can I say fat balance. This is some of the most succulent meat I’ve played with in years. The racks and one of the shoulders went into my smoker. When I pulled the shoulder’ it broke apart nicely into juicy, silky fibers. It had great bark, and held the flavor of smoke and the identity of the meat nicely. That’s all I ask from’ cue. At some of the Barbecue contests I’ve judged, some of the crap that they plop down in front of you tastes like smoked shredded wheat. It’s so tough and dry that they should be stuffing mattresses with it. I could rave on. What dark, evil, insanity launched the “Pork: The Other White Meat” campaign? Who ever thought of the idea of breeding out the fat out and flavor to make pork politically correct is on the top of my list for walking reasons for birth control. If I wanted to eat white meat, I’d chase after feathers. Those foul bastards have people thinking that pork should taste like chicken. Paul and Ember Crivellaro sell from the Phoenixville Farmer’s Market most Saturdays if you would like to meet them. Get there early, they do sell out.

I’d give a serious pass on Dwight’s. The ribs are par-boiled and then grilled. The fat isn’t rendered but comes back to you studded around the meat. I’m in walking distance from Hymies. It’s not that much different food wise from Murray’s across the street. They sort of run a Pat’s Steaks and Geno’s rivalry. There may be (or once were) better examples of Lower East Side deli’s in the Delaware Valley, some other folks may be able to chime in. My favorites were the ones in the Overbrook section of the city. You can smell the real thing as soon as you walk in. I never heard of the Lakeside restaurant referred to as Lakeside Chinese Deli. Lakeside does good dim sum. They’ve picked up some Best of Philly (Mags) hits in the ‘80’s and maybe the ‘90’s. Again you’ll get a range of opinions as to which is the best dim sum house. Jim

I have to agree with Holly. The Holy Grail of Frite is a warm potato chip exterior with a warm mash potato interior and hearing it snap in your mouth. That requires girth and timing. Shoestring cuts are a children's crusade. You need to taste potato over the fat it's been fried in. Prefrying the suckers and letting them rest under a heat lamp before you flip them onto a plate is only going to tell the world about the process and nothing about the potato. Jim

They had some of the finest specimens of soft shells I’ve seen. in a while. These bruisers were Blue Claw Maryland males that were packed with back fin meat. The claws were the size miniature pop-sickles. Since I like “cleaning” right up to the last minute before cooking them, I wanted them live. The fish guys didn’t smother them in a wrapper but placed in a paper tray and then into a large grocery bag and put the scanning label on that. Class, in spite of the mobs. Jim

I've burned out more grinders over the years than I can count. This is what does it for me Girmi This beast can take on just about anything and it's easy to clean. Jim Ed. for broken link

Lance Toastchee Crackers. Every other peanut butter-cheese cracker wannabee suffers from peanuts envy. Nothing even comes close. I was in seventh heaven when I found them on vacation at Mast General Store in Valle Crucis, NC. Then I found out they're made in Charlotte, NC and were they ever fresh. I plan to visit the plant one day, till then I'll just have to kneel southward during my evening prayers.

Weber Grill, Smokey Joe (sorta Weber junior), and New Braunfeld offset smoker. The only thing I'd upgrade would be the smoker. I have my eye on the Meadow Creek line. These cookers are made by an Amish family in New Holland, PA. I had a chance to tour their plant. There is no electricity in the building and you can only contact them through their distributers. But the smokers are as high tech as they get. The Amish have been smoking food long before BBQ became faddish. Jim Tarantino

Y'all got an address and some cross streets?

I mess with something similar to that but use a pizza screen instead of a cookie sheet, until I got a dehydrator. Jim

Fantes

I think BYOB’s are an extention of the same pioneering spirit that kicked off the Restaurant Renaissance in the ‘70’s. Storefront restaurants which opened with very little capital which were some of the same restaurants that Aliza cut her teeth with. If you consider Studio Kitchen a small West Philly BYOB, that pioneering spirit is still intact and the lesser quality of wine argument doesn’t hold up.

Actually my middle name is Danger (no relation to Nick). Really loved that dinner. I was hanging out downstairs with Olivier for a little bit and he was gushing at all of the empty cassoulet crocks that were heading back to the kitchen. My wife says that a sure sign when a group of people like something is that the chatter stops, and sounds of utensil clatter builds. The lamb sausage had a slight garlicky kick to it but what seemed to balance that and some of the flavors in the dish was what I thought was quartre épices in that ever-so-smooth and perfectly emulsified sausage forcemeat. Olivier confirmed it, a pate in a tube. Thanks for the nice acknowledgements and most of all thanks to all of you who came. I think it’s more dangerous eating without y’all and a lot less fun.

We were there last Saturday having exactly that. A worthy contender! If you ask Holly nicely, he'll show you a picture of exactly what I ate. (Hol', don't post the picture of the live chicken).

Ummmm.... I'd send you to North 3rd. The Happy Hours in Old City are more Morose Hours IMHO. Chip in for a cab and take Liberties. Better 'tude, food, and booze in that neck of the woods.

I'll be up inthe same area in a couple of weeks and I was wondering about Firefly BBQ? I have a lunch and two dinners to burn off plus, I could use a good take-out on Sunday for supplies to survive a ride back to Philly. I'll be hanging close to the Sheraton. Thanks in advance.

That's been the same problem for me. When I was in outside sales, I could scoot into RTM pretty much any time I could grab a parking place during the day. Now that I'm desk bound and out of work around five-ish (by way of Bensalem). I can't get there from there. Whole Foods (with parking) and some stores in the Italian Market are my drive by alternatives. You would think that RTM, sitting on top of one of the city's largest commuter hub would want to take advantage of post 5:00 pm sales. The marketing campaign could be so simple: “Take Us Home For Dinner”. Let the food stalls do platters with the “ingredient” stalls filling in the blanks. I need 8 quail for a Saturday night dinner as well as some lead time to prep them, Godshall’s at RTM would be the first place to stop.... if it were open.

No way!!....way? ← Yeah way... the Turkish restaurant's name was Dardanelle's. If you sent something back he'd send you out the door!!! His wife, who worked the front of the house was a practising dominatrix. Can't imagine how they tenderized chickens. The Fish Nazi edited for link

VanWinkle bourbons are also wheated. ← So's the William LaRue Weller. Just bottled in October at Buffalo Trace and is unfiltered barrel proof. Got a bottle today out of State Line Liq, in Elkton MD.

For a pretty good list of Texas cookbooks click here. There is a used copy of "Texas on the Half Shell" by Phil Brittin And Joseph Daniel. This rare gem is extremly hard to come by. Just buy it. Janet Jarvits Bookseller (edited to include homepage)

Hi Laurie. I've been an early AC subscriber since day one and happy to have a complete set. Really glad you're pinning this. Is there anything in the future for indexing (on or offline)the issues by topics? Any possibility of releasing earlier editions on CD-Rom?

You’re in the right company; any of those bottles could warm my heart. I happen to like the 12-year old Van Winkle too. The 19-year Old Weller is almost non-existent over the counter in Louisville. I have a ¾ of a bottle left which I’m sipping with an eyedropper. If you can find it, snap it up at any price. That line is 86. The Elmer T Lee is what I pour for folks just getting into bourbon. Then when I get them hooked I pour the big stuff. While I was at Buffalo Trace distillery last week they were labeling and bottling for November release the William Larue Weller 12-year old. It is uncut and unfiltered wheated bourbon weighting in at 121.9 proof. The barrels were aged twelve years on the fifth floor of Warehouse Q and to see this nice rich caramel colored juice pumped into bottles was a real treat. Keep an eye out for it. Should be a monster. We have family in Louisville and I get down there twice a year and stock up. If you have a chance to visit the city, check out Bourbon Bistro in the Frankfurt section. It has over 150 bourbons available for the tasting and they do flights. I like their selection better than the Galt House. While I was there I confirmed what I always suspected: The Bourbon Underground. I had a sense that some stuff never makes the liquor stores. I wondered if there were private stocks sitting in rickerhouses. Woodford distillery was a little cagey about admitting to it. Buffalo Trace on the hand simply said, "How much do you want"? You can buy a barrel from anywhere from $3,000 to $8,000 depending on warehouse location, batch, and age. It is a risk. One group of "investors" bought futures of a very expensive batch (Well (er) they wouldn’t mention the name) When they went to bottle it after it’s 21-year old sleep it only yielded about a dozen bottles (due to evaporation, these barrels expand and contract). Pretty expensive stuff. The low yield small batch bourbons are sometimes sold privately (oversees to the Japanese for example). There’s not enough yield in them to warrant retail distribution, price wise it’s a few hundred and upwards to a grand a bottle for this caramel gold if you “know” somebody. Jim

For B&B’s I’d recommend The Yellow House in Waynesville. http://www.theyellowhouse.com/ It’s centrally located to Asheville, the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, and the barbecue pits along the main drag in Maggie Valley. My wife and I will be heading into the Asheville area in October for two days, and then up the Blue Ridge Parkway to Boone, NC for a night. The following night we’ll be in Floyd VA for the Friday Night Jamboree and then we’ll end in Front Royal, the top of Skyline Drive for an overnight before we return to Philly on Sunday morning. This is the third time for us along this route, which we call the Blue Ridge, Bluegrass and Barbecue Tour. I’m a musician and we try to hit jam sessions along the way. The Blue Ridge is really coming on to its own as a culinary destination for us. Cuisine wise I’d call it Down Home Haute in some of the white tablecloth places, but the ones we really like are the formica counter-tops down home cooking. You just can’t imagine the breakfasts. Generally, we fill up on breakfasts and snack off the roadside stands and farmer’s markets off the parkway. Dinners can run the gamut to Sims Barbecue in Lenoir or the Games Keeper in Boone Blowing Rock (if you’re there, order the Smoked Antipasto it’s a smoked mixed game featuring buffalo flank steak, rabbit tenderloin, venison andouille and Italian boar sausages with Italian accompaniments) The barbecue that we’ve had in the High country can be hit or miss. It’s not really known for it but every year when we go back there are new joints popping up. I’ll get back to y’all at the end of October and let you know what we find. Jim

Flip me a few ears of corn and we're even. Why buy it when I can conive a site manager to grab it for me. Your welcome.

Yes!! When goog-hoo fails, directory assistance rocks. 610-399-9080 Hol. PM me off line or call me if you're going out. Might be a dinner in there some where.