TarteTatin

There really isn't a decent thread on ice cream, so I'll post here: Franklin Fountain last week was decadent. We had a scoop of freshly made New Jersey Blueberry ice cream. They said it was the final week for it. Very tasty, lots of blueberry taste. AND, a scoop of -made the night before- local Peach ice cream. This tasted very creamy, but almost not enough of a peach taste. The lady who served us said she and others had made the 300 lb. puree the night before from local peaches. I'm not sure if that means 300 pounds of peaches or 300 pounds of puree! I think it must be the former. They do try to incorporate a few local flavors from what is in season. Very dangerous to have this place a half block from our office!

We've gone for years between Christmas and New Year's. Lots closed, but have had a super time! Oysters are everywhere. On the street, in restaurants... Not on a food note, but it is so fun to go to the department store windows and window shop! Rent an apartment and go to the Christmas markets. Lots of festivities, have a Nutella crepe. If you are there at New Year's: walk onto a Pont, any Pont, with a bottle of champagne around 11:30. Watch the fireworks, and at Midnight, kiss your partner and drink the champagne out of the bottle as do hundreds of others. Very romantic! New Year's Day bring a little picnic into the Jardin du Luxembourg. Sail a boat. Nothing better.

I wish the Asian market at 4th and Spring Garden was still clean. It was, at the beginning. And the fears of the neighborhood association-I fear have come true. They were worried, I had heard, about it becoming not as well kept up as it should be. (Part of another store in northeast Philly, I think). Unfortunately, the past few times I have been in there to shop, the smell isn't wonderful, nor are the fish tanks as clean as perhaps they should be, etc. Although you can still get a huge bottle of siracha for $2.99!

WOW. just WOW.

Yes, it worked great, Andrew! REALLY DELISH! And, totally worth it!

It was magnificent! Wahoo! Congrats!

We drink it all the time in Philly. Delicious.

Ridiculous. Lots of rehearsal, I'm sure. Unbelievable. Shane should have won.

They have two rabbit dishes, one app, one entree. Both sounded amazing. And quail. But it was hot and we were with others that we were sharing with that weren't as adventurous, so... Oh, the panna cotta thingy we had for dessert was a lemon mousse in thyme syrup with preserved cherries. I stand corrected by today's review in the City Paper. Tasty.

I really dislike Lisa, but she is going to win, I think. I live in Philly, and I know that Adam is waiting tables and I read that he and Aaron have a little BBQ thing going to start soon-out of Adam's house. They aren't allowed to say anything yet, and haven't, (I know Adam, and he really won't talk). However, would Adam be waiting tables and would he and Aaron be looking to open something together if either of them had won?

I really do like Urban Girls produce on Wed afternoons in front of Standard Tap. Last week and today I got the absolute best black raspberries I've ever had. Her shallots are super, she proudly grows her own okra, and today I got the best little tiny cherry tomatoes. Just pop them in your mouth like candy. A couple of ears of corn, and I was good to go. Very reasonably priced, I like the quality and the price much better than Headhouse on Sunday. Unfortunately, she is just one little stall. Along with her is the bakery/cracker people from the south end of the Headhouse market. Just the two stalls, nothing else. But, her stuff is amazing.

I thought it was pretty good, Mr. Tarte Tatin can't stop raving. Four of us shared the dipping plate, pita, baba, I think a bit of salmon tartare, I think a garlicky, hummusy/onion dip. Then came the amuse which was this AMAZING Cyprus carrots or something: cardomon, cumin, wonderful. After, we had our two vegetable dishes; the beets were very good with yoghurt and red onion, their haloumi cheese wasn't ready yet, so there was a special cheese app. Then the four of us split three entrees: the stuffed pepper was really good. Came with a delicious pilaf... the kebab was huge, with sirloin and sausage (wish there was lamb as it was titled "mixed" kabob). Ordered medium rare, overcooked, but good. Came with thick homemade fries. The third was three pork medallions with peas (really good thick peas) and potatoes. We had four desserts, a walnut cake, an almond and date cake, a panna cotta with cherries, and some sort of creamy flan thing served in a martini glass. They topped it with rose water. I really liked this, the others thought it was too savory. Nice mix of neighborhood, families, etc... BYOB, total for four was $125 plus tip. We'll go back...

A friend is taking us to this Greek byob tonight. Anyone been?

We got incredible blackberries this past Wed at the Nolib Farmer's Market. Opposite Standard Tap, Wed afternoons. Only two stands, but good stuff... Urban girls produce, and the bread/cracker guy from Sunday Headhouse market at the south end.

I don't really know. All I can say, is, from the ones I picked up from our local farmers market: the orange ones were delicious. And, although I really wanted to love the purple and the off white/tan ones, I don't think they taste as good! Raw, that is.

Nopal Salad-Cactus paddles, pepitos, mixed greens, jalapenos, onions, tasty dressing. Side of good, chunky guacamole. Sopes-corn cakes with black beans, etc. Goat tacos-nicely goaty, strong but good. sides for tacos- sour cream, guacamole, etc. Ribeye steak-cooked rare as ordered, could feed a family of five-came with fried plantain fritters. Banana & chocolate empanadas Flan-the unbelievable best. Carmelized and almost burnt in a good way, texture was absolutely wonderful. Impossible to get it better.

We were there last night too! Missed seeing you two! A full review was to come this weekend, perhaps with pictures (we brought our camera). However, a brief summary: cactus paddle salad -nopal salad sopes - corn cakes goat tacos ribeye steak flan choc/banana empanadas sangria more later!

Fortunately, we are in the midst of cherry season right now, so I'm able to bypass the juice and go straight to the source. Otherwise, I was pleased to determine that pizza is approved, as well as cheese and broccoli, so I'm able to buckle down to a weird but tasty diet. Thanks everyone for all the tips, I'm hoping to get through this without having to hit the doctor for drugs or abandon sweet breads for life and will report back, in case I learn anything of use. ← Warning: This is a long post. And if you have gout symptoms, talk to your doctor. Thank your ancestors for gout, the gift that keeps on giving. (Insert sarcasm smiley here) I had my first attack of gout about 18 years ago, after consuming a two pound lobster, some shrimp and quite a large quantity of wine. I didn't realize that it was a gout attack though. I thought that it was a spider bite as we were staying at a friends beach house. My big toe was swollen, red and extremely painful, as if someone had struck it repeatedly with a cast iron skillet, slammed it in a car door and then for good measure stomped on it. After several days, my toe went back to normal and I was fine. I never went to my doctor. Just thought it was a spider bite. About eighteen months later I suddenly developed pain in my heels. I went to the doctor this time and he told me to stop wearing flat, unpadded shoes. "When we reach this age, we need to change shoes. Get something like Earth Shoes or Ecco's," he told me. I did and the pain went away. I continued to drink beer, eat offal, drink wine and not worry about my diet. Over the years I had a few more instances of extremely painful joints - knees, toes, fingers, elbows, heels and ankles - but chalked it up to increasing age, possible hereditary arthritis and being on my feet a lot. About two years ago I woke up in the middle of the night after consuming a lot of beer with the sharp shooting pain that gout sufferers know and fear but that I had not associated with gout. I thought I had sprained my ankle. The next day I went to a party for a friend of mine and was describing the symptoms and how quickly they appeared. He looked at me and said, "You've got the gout. I know because I have the same symptoms sometimes." I did some investigating, made an appointment with my doctor and sure enough, I was diagnosed with gout. "Change your diet," she said. I did and for awhile didn't have any trouble. Drank lots of water, ate pounds of cherries, drank cherry juice, drank pineapple juice and stayed away (mostly) from offal. I even stopped eating as much meat as I was. Then around March of last year I had a flare up that kept me at home, with my feet up, for 10 days. I drank lots of water, ate ibuprofen like they were M&M's and swore a lot. Finally my doctor gave me steroids for a week, but that didn't help. At last she gave me Indomethacin and I was able to walk again. This relieved the symptoms but did nothing to the underlying cause: The way my body deals with purines and uric acid. Even though I knew several people who have gout I wasn't on Allopurinol or Colchicine, though several of them told me to get my doctor to me put on them. I was going to change my diet, drink more water and beat this thing "naturally"! Was I ever wrong. At Christmas last year I had the worst flare ever. I was on crutches because my foot and ankle were swollen so badly. I wanted to either self amputate or score some heroin, the pain was so terrible. When the pain finally went away I called my doctor and got a prescription for Allopurinol. It has helped, a lot. Caveat: It took several months to really start working. That's not to say that I haven't had some minor flares of gout, because I have. But they certainly have been less painful than before. I'm told that once you start Allopurinol, you are obliged to keep taking it. If you stop, back comes the gout. Also it isn't effective unless you drink lots of water, at least three or four pints a day(And yes drinking that much water will definitely cause you to get up at night). You also need to keep an eye on your kidney function. As to diet: There is lot of information out here on the "Intrenets"(sic) but you will find that many "Gout Sites" contradict each other about what you can and cannot eat: No meat, meat, mushrooms, no mushrooms, spinach, no spinach, etc. There seems to be a lot of guesswork out there. The best that I can suggest is that you talk to your doctor, do some research on your own and drink lots of water. The one thing that seems to be consistent among the "Gout Sites" is that you should keep your diet at around 55% carbs, so losing weight with an Atkins type diet is out. I still eat everything you're not supposed to eat, but only in moderation. And if I've overindulged I will split one of my Allopurinol tabs and take a little extra(I don't tell my doctor). I still have a big bottle of Indomethacin which I use occasionally as well. Good luck.

I'm bumping this thread up, as we just came back from the Farmer's Market and bought two quarts of beautiful, darkish red cherries. We have a dessert to make this weekend for a dinner party. Any new and interesting ideas? Also, any advice for easily pitting them (besides going out and buying a pitter)?

L'avant Gout near Place de Italie, not far from the Mouffetard, off of the Butte aux Caille. Not sure if it is open on Sunday.

Has anyone been there recently? I wanted to go next week, but friends said it was not really hot weather cuisine? Seems to me that India gets hot, and hot, spicy food is especially good in this type of weather.

I'm on the other side of the street. Vietnam Palace. Less showy. More tasty.

We bring ours back from France. It's different, a mix of mayo and mustard. Lately, it's squeeze bottles from Maille. We like it. However, its not Hellman's or homemade! Just unique.

Dacor customer service is HORRIBLE. Dacor product, full stop is HORRIBLE. We got rid of our Dacor which we hated, and bought a Blue Star, which we love. See our posts, above.

"But I disagree completely about a foreigner trying to use slang. It is like a 12 year old trying to look cool by smoking a cigarette." For gosh sakes, I'm only talking about things like, "Chouette" for cool. My friends love it.