nolnacs

Dumplings first, followed by noodles. No wimping out when you're blogging... . Sorry, wimped out. Only noodles - pictures will be forthcoming.

Part of my Saturday morning routine is a visit to the Reading Terminal Market to begin my grocery shopping. I do almost all of my grocery shopping at the Terminal Market, the Italian Market and the Headhouse Farmers Market. A few staples like sugar and flour I will go to Superfresh or Target to pick up, but that is about it. As I mentioned in the intro, I like to work with raw ingredients and supermarkets (at least the ones around here) are not the best place to do it. As I briefly mentioned in the intro and have discussed in other threads in eG, I am a menuplanner. Every Friday night, I decide what dishes I will make for dinner for the rest of the week and create a shopping list.

Why Italian? I think that it is partly because it was one of the first cuisines I started exploring, but it is also because of the flavors - garlic, rosemary, basil, tomatoes, cured meats and so on. All of those flavors really resonate with me in a way that flavors typical of other European cuisines (for instance tarragon, dill & mint) don't. It may also be that I just really like pasta (and pizza). You're probably right about the difficulty level of Chinese food. I just haven't devoted the time and energy necessary to understanding what I need and need to do. That being said, my wife has convinced me to try my hand at mapo dofu this week so I will be making a trip to the Chinese grocery store to pick up the necessary ingredients. On the subject of Chinese food, we are going to be stopping in Chinatown for lunch. Either soup dumplings (xiaolongbao) or hand pulled noodle soup. Any votes for one or the another?

Ah, morning. I don't really care for mornings as I would much rather stay in bed. However, during the week I work and during the weekends there are things to do so get up I must. To avoid getting up any earlier than I need to, each week I make a batch of steel cut oatmeal with fruit and portion it out ready to quickly reheat This past week's oatmeal was cooked in whole milk with some brown sugar and cinnamon. I added some golden raisins towards the end of the cooking time as well so that they can plump up. I added the peaches after it was done cooking to keep more a fresh fruit flavor which I prefer that early in the morning

Hello everyone and welcome to my foodblog. I'm a relatively new member of eGullet so I will follow in EatNopales footsteps by providing a short introduction. I grew up in rural Indiana on my parents' farm which my dad is still operating to this day. When I was younger we raised hogs (commercially) and chickens (our own use) as well growing corn and soybeans (~900 acres), but now he only does the corn and soybeans due to the plunge in the hog market in the mid to late 90s. Growing up in that place and time (80s/90s), my exposure to food was rather narrow. My mom taught me and the rest of my siblings how to cook and bake, but in mostly typical midwestern ways - cookies, cakes, pie, meat & potatoes. I had and still have a great deal of fondness for the desserts of my youth and I will certainly be sharing my pie making with you this week, but as for the savory side of things.... well... it's a bit different. I cook and eat more ethnic food than I had ever imagine existed as a child. For instance, I never had Indian food (what a revelation) until I was in college. Speaking of college, I spent my junior year studying abroad in the island nation of Malta. For those of you who are not familiar with Malta, it is a small island south of Sicily with strong Italian/British/Arabic influences in the cuisine and culture. One of my fondest memories of my time in Malta was walking to the local bakery and devouring the still warm bread. As a side note, I like warm bread and I don't care what the experts say. It is so much more enjoyable that way. Cuisinewise though, Malta is rather forgettable. My apologies to any of you who are passionate devotees of Kinnie or pastizzi. After college, I moved to Chicago which was where my interest in food truly blossomed. Living truly on my own for the first time, I began cooking to save money and to eat somewhat healthier. As time went on, I became more and more interested in cooking and attempted every more ambitious projects and dishes. I also began exploring the restaurant scene of Chicago - from fine dinning to the multitude of ethnic restaurants scattered throughout the city. Two years ago, I moved to Philadelphia to be with my (now) wife who is in medical school here. While I was disappointed to leave Chicago in some ways, I was excited to be able to do a great deal of my shopping at the Reading Terminal Market. For all of its size and grocery options, Chicago lacks a great public market. Enough history - on to the food. I don't really have a cooking philosophy or theme other than I like to do things myself so I tend to buy very little that has been prepared or processed already. In terms of cuisine, I tend to make whatever strikes my whim while doing my menu planning but most of what I make is Italian or Italian influenced to the dismay of my wife who sometimes longs for the Chinese food that she grew up eating and I have little notion how to make. Charcuterie has also been an interest of mine for the past 4 years or so hence the antique meat slicer. I've made, with varying degrees of success, guanciale, pancetta, salami, chorizo and a number of fresh sausages. I have noticed that many of the people who are interested in charcuterie are also interested in molecular gastronomy/modernist cuisine and I am no exception. I'm not sure if I will be doing anything in that vein this week, but it is something that I enjoy dabbling in. One of my roommates in Chicago referred to me as the cookie monster due to my proclivity for vacuuming up any homemade cookies that were around. I must admit, I have an incredible sweet tooth and I enjoy making desserts. I have already mentioned my love of pie but I do like making other desserts as well. I have been making a tremendous amount of ice cream this summer ever since we were given an ice cream maker as a wedding gift. It's interesting how much I crave ice cream now since before I had the machine, I ate ice cream perhaps once a month and only during the summer. This will be a mostly typical week from me. I tend to attempt more ambitious and time consuming projects on the weekends and cook simpler meals on weeknights. Since I cook nearly every meal my wife and I eat we usually only go out to eat a couple of times a month. That being said, we're going to be going out a couple of times this week to give everyone a taste of the Philadelphia restaurant scene.

Good guess! For those of you who were speculating, the beastie on the pie is a pig - not a turtle (there might be a turtle appearance later this week though). The pie was one I made for an apple pie competition back when I lived in Chicago. It was a pork and apple pie with the bottom being apple then a layer of applewood smoked bacon and then apple cider braised pork shoulder. Oh, and EatNopales was correct, the pie crust was made with lard - according to my mom's recipe. I have yet to meet the crust that can equal what I can produce with that recipe. The second image is of Headhouse Square which is a couple of blocks from where I live in Society Hill (a neighborhood in center city Philadelphia) and the location of a farmers market that takes place every Sunday May through December. I procure most of my fruit from there during the summer as well as some vegetables, milk and other tasty things. The final image is of the antique handcranked meat slicer that I restored a few years back. I'm planning on starting a charcuterie project this week but I don't know if I will have an opportunity to show the slicer in action.

Han Dynasty is fantastic. I also like Kabul (afghani food) which is just a ways down from Han Dynasty on Chestnut. I don't remember there being any steps there. If you are willing to go a bit further south, I am pretty sure that Zahav has a ramp up to the restaurant.

I saw that too, but I wonder if the quantity in grams is correct. I don't have my copy at hand, but I believe it called for 12 g...

I love roasted leg of lamb with garlic and rosemary. I would just chop up the garlic and rosemary, add salt, pepper and some olive oil, spread it on the leg and then roll it up.

I fall into the weekly shopping bucket for a couple of reasons. First, the place where I do most of my shopping (Reading Terminal Market), I can only get to during the weekend due to their hours. Second, I think daily shopping would take an inordinate amount of time compared to weekly shopping. I plan out the menu ahead of time and make a list. That makes going grocery shopping much faster. Third, I already don't get home from work until 6:30-7:00 PM. I can't imagine taking another 15-30 minutes to go to a store to pick up ingredients on a regular basis. Oh, and I live in center city Philadelphia. There is a crappy Superfresh about .25 miles from my apartment but I only buy things there when I don't have the opportunity to go someplace else. It's expensive and lower quality.

I've had good soft shell crab at Sakura in Chinatown

Greater Philadelphia also has a small but lively Polish neighborhood, a huge Russian supermarket, and a cluster of very good Korean restaurants. These neighborhoods are a little bit outside of center city, and not easily accessed by public transport, but there was some talk a few posts up about a bus... Of course, there's only so much time, so perhaps those neighborhoods would be a distraction, but they're certainly a part of what I find exciting about Philly's food scene. Where is the huge Russian supermarket?

I was there last week (getting a root beer float incidentally), and I seem to remember there being a sign that stated that any of their shakes could be malted

Not the prettiest picture, but here is a shot of the tomato pie that I had for dinner last night. You can't see them below the tomatoes, but there is a layer of sharp provolone and parmesan on the bottom and in the middle are some caramelized onions.

This sounds awesome (and I am not just saying that because I live in Philadelphia). Katie definitely has a lot of great ideas for activities/meals. As I am not a drinker, I would probably skip the cocktail crawl, but everything else sounds like a lot of fun. I have a couple of other ideas (as a relative newcomer to Philadelphia) of interesting things to do. Claudio's in the Italian Market makes the best mozzarella I have ever had - I don't know if they would agree to it, but it would be interesting to watch them make some or even get to try it ourselves. On the subject of dairy, Capogiro's (local gelato shops) factory would be another fascinating tour. In any case, I'm looking forward to it.

Did she wash the cutting board afterwards?

Count me in - I don't know much about confectionery but I would love to learn and DC is so close to Philadelphia.

Interesting. I actually prefer my blueberries with some acidity as I find the sweet ones to be somewhat insipid. To that end, my preferred method of eating blueberries is a small handful of large and small berries tossed into my mouth all at once. Delicious.

The texture of gelato is pretty close to soft serve and it certainly isn't being looked down upon. Perhaps soft serve just needs a fancier name.... Personally, I have always preferred the texture of soft serve ice cream - it is just more pleasant to eat. Of course, I did grow up in the midwest eating frozen custard so that probably has something to do with it as well.

This topic has been percolating in my head for awhile, but has been brought to the surface lately by the Vegetarian for the Week thread and a recent article by Josh Ozersky. Over the past few years, it has become fashionable for those who eat meat to be deeply concerned about the ethics of eating meat to the extent that meat eaters (such as Fat Guy and Josh Ozersky) start the conversation by conceding the questionable ethics of eating meat. I find this to be interesting because I have absolutely zero guilt or concern about eating meat - even that which comes from a factory farm (I do have quality concerns but that is another matter entirely). I know that many Americans do not feel any guilt either but I think that is more from never considering that matter rather than a conscious position. I have read Singer and Pollan; I have watched Food Inc and I have slaughtered a pig (incidentally, rather being some sort of transcendental experience that made me want to thank the pig for the sacrifice that it made, I just found it to be interesting). In short, I have thought about it, I have read the arguments and I remained wholly unmoved. Am I the only untroubled omnivore out there? Or do the others simply not bother entering the conversation? I think that sharing my background might help explain my position a bit further. I grew up on a farm that raised pigs (~750 head) commercially and chickens for our personal use. We engaged in a number of practices that "ethical" eaters might find objectionable. For instance, we used farrowing crates, castrated piglets without anesthetic and once weaned, the piglets were put into what is now referred to as CAFO before being finished in outdoor lots. Looking back on these experiences, I do not find them particularly troubling. Did those pigs live perfectly idyllic lives until they met their end? No, but neither were they particularly horrific in my estimation either. Perhaps my lack of concern about eating meat comes from being desensitized to the suffering of animals from a very young age. Yet, I still feel sad when I see a dead dog lying by the side of a road (although perhaps that sadness is from the thought of someone losing their pet rather the suffering of the dog). In any case, my point in starting this topic is less to argue the ethics of eating more and more an exploration of those who have considered the vegetarian/vegan/ethical eater case and remain unconvinced.

I tried the starch paste a second time. This time I made sure that the solution was evenly spread out across the bag so that I didn't end up with huge clumps. It ended up looking much clearer that way and but the end result was the same - consistency of thick syrup. Is the 400 grams of water too much? I blended the water with the cooked "paste" in my blendtec - can you over blend the paste?

Has anyone tried making the pregelatinized starch paste on 4.29? After cooking the tapioca and water, I ended up with a hard, not quite translucent rubbery mass. It didn't resemble the picture in the book at all. I tried blending it with the rest of the water in my blendtec which worked to some extent, but now the consistency is closer to a syrup than a paste. Any thoughts about what I did wrong?

Thyme is another good choice. It is quite hardy, but you will probably need to bring it inside for the winter.

I'm not at all familiar with these publications so I checked to see if there is a Philadelphia edition. It turns out that they will be starting one next spring. I'll have to check it when they start publishing.

In my opinion, the problem at Headhouse is not so much the number of people there (although there certainly are a lot) but rather the number of gigantic strollers and dogs (small to gigantic) which really clog up the flow of people. I also want to add to your excellent summary that Three Springs Fruit farm is selling seconds this year via their website. They were selling strawberries for $1 a pound the past weekends. Not quite as aesthetically appealing as the regular fruit, but work just as well for jam, ice cream & pie. I've converted ~30 lbs of strawberries into said desserts and frozen puree for the winter. It's a great way to stock up cheap.