KatieLoeb

This thread got me going over to Trader Joe's today to stock up on a few items. Since I'd taken a turkey breast out of the freezer to thaw I had some room to purchase a few things. I bought an Alsace Onion tart, a chicken and noodle bowl thingie and a Tamale pie topped with cornbread they were sampling. I also picked up some of that awesome Total Yogurt with Honey. That's going to be breakfast tomorrow...

Books are definitely worthy. In fact, thanks for reminding me that I also want to find a Jones Bar Guide for myself!

*bump* I was wondering what had happened to this thread. I went and searched for it so I could show off my latest prize: I nabbed this on eBay for $10.50. With shipping, just under $20. I really like the very Deco-esque Empire State Building skyscraper lines of it. Anybody else find anything cool lately??

Dennis, Mike, et al: I have edited the name of this topic to include Spirits in the discussion. Any great bargains at the PLCB are worth talking about here! Dennis, my thanks for the heads up on the Auchentoshan. Sounds like a great holiday gift! Carry on...

Yuzu

I was back at my local Lebanese grocer today for lunch and some shopping. I picked up a bottle of Kassatly Ajyal Tamarind syrup and decided to fool with it this evening. 2 oz. Tequila (I used Certeza Anejo) 1 oz. Kassatly Ajyal Tamarind syrup .75 oz. fresh lime juice splash of pineapple juice Shake and drink on the rocks. Which I'm doing right now... The tamarind syrup isn't as strong as I thought it would be, but perhaps would show better mixed with a less powerfully flavored spirit than the tequila. Gives the drink a nice tartness though. More experimentation is necessary.

Archer Farms (? I think) Potato chips. God help me. They're kettle chips too, which I think means they're fried in LARD. They're from Target and I can't resist the flavors. Buffalo Wing, Black Pepper & Sea Salt, Parmesan Garlic. They're all good. Oh the humanity!

Mofongo. It's just melodious. And Maggie, I think Honor is a beautiful name, and one of the virtues that is oft overlooked, both in naming, and in general!

Trader Joe's tamales, Smart Ones Macaroni & Cheese (Less fat and calories than the others and still taste good) and Stouffer's Spinach Souffle. I LOVE Stouffer's Spinach Souffle! It's my favorite go to side dish for steaks or roast chicken. I always grate a little fresh nutmeg onto the top and stir it in. Yum!

Yeah - I'd like to think that's true, but Rachael Ray was already a proven commodity. Oprah didn't get where she is by taking risks on complete unknowns. Even Dr. Phil had a bit of a following before she threw money at that show.

Oh man...I would have paid money to see that! Chateau corkscrew....$109.00 Bottle of 2001 Cod d'Estournel....$200.00 Bourdain-style butt reamings....Priceless! ← Oh yeah. That had the potential to be one of those, "Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy" moments. I'd have loved to have Bourdain show Stephen up for the pompous ass that he is. Does anyone know what Stephen is doing now? Last I heard he'd been blackballed on the east coast for making such an ass of himself on the program.

I love Torrontes. It's like a riesling with less acidity, or a lovely floral Muscat with more backbone. It's the perfect dry, yet aromatic wine both by itself or with food. It goes great with Szechuan food...

Daniel: They work closely with importers and have personal relationships with many of the winemakers whose products they carry. They maintain these relationships through annual visits to the wineries and having the winemakers come here to the US as their guests. Greg always used to say he'd rather buy the wine from the guy with dirt under his nails driving the tractor than some dude in a fancy suit with manicured hands. Many of the wines they carry are exclusive simply because there isn't enough product for national distribution. Many of the producers are small "boutique" wineries. The importer they work most closely with is Fleet Street wines. You'll see their products in the Moore Brothers stores and better restaurants in NY, NJ, PA (Philly) and DE. Now that you're in their computer system you should be on the e-mail list to receive notices of sales, tastings, classes and visiting winemakers. Avail yourself of that and check out your online portfolio as well. It's a wonderful customer service and I think something you'll find quite useful.

Which I had for lunch today in two stages, there was so much of it. But dang, it was good. All gone now and I wasn't hungry for hours...

OK - that's the story. I knew it was something like that. Makes sense.

Sandy: There are TWO Cary Neffs. The one in Philadelphia is most certainly not African American. They even did one of those "naked with a blender" ads together. You can draw whatever conclusions you wish as to who needed the bigger blender.

I think the thing we're calling "riblets" was actually the arepas with chicharrones. So it's little bits of pork and skin stuck to the bone and deep fried. Oh yeah! My arteries are still recovering and I'm about to go have some of my leftover arroz con pollo for lunch. That isn't as bad for me I suspect. Great pics as usual Uncle Phil...

After searching fruitlessly for a prior topic on this I was stunned to find that Tierra Colombiana didn't have it's own thread. Hard to believe because it's been referenced in a lot of other threads (many times by ME!), but apparently no reviews of its own. Time to fix that! A bunch of intrepid PhilleGullets braved the pouring rain for a Cuban and Colombian feast this evening. Tierra Colombiana does food from both countries equally well. I think the story goes something about a Colombian owner and a Cuban chef duking it out and deciding to keep both cuisines on the menu. Tierra serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and is the gold standard IMO for great Latino food in Philly. We tried lots of different appetizers to share. The aranitas, or little spiders, are shredded plantain fritters that are served with a lemony garlic aioli sauce that's positively addictive. Both the chicken and beef empanadas were delicious, but I think the flakier pastry on the chicken made them the favorite. Ham croquettes and arepas con chicharrones were also delicious. The house hot sauce was quite spicy but went really well with the crispy pork skin and the arepas. Entrees included a couple of orders of Arroz con Pollo Estilo Cubano (the best comfort food on a rainy night, ever!), Ropa Vieja, a Bandeja Tipica of Colombian specialties that included round steak and two fried eggs, and two different varieties of roast pork - Masa de Cerdo in chunks and Montuno, served sliced. All entrees come with your choice of rice, beans and plantains or avocado on the side. Yes. Your choice of all THREE! Needless to say, we all came home with leftovers. It's an obscene amount of food, but it's all very good. The bar at Tierra also makes a pretty mean mojito and there's a very reasonably priced wine list and a small bottled beer selection. We were too full to even think about dessert, but they make several classics, including flan, tres leches cake and tocino del cielo. I'm hoping Philadining has time to upload his pictures soon so you can all see just how delicious everything looks. Service at the tables is friendly and efficient. The total damage for all this food and a few drinks for seven people was $22/person. It's crazy. If it were closer to home I'd have an account there. Tierra Colombiana 4535-37 North 5th Street 215.324.6086

I wonder how the cherry vodka would pair with maraschino liqueur. So, perhaps, a cherry Aviation? This is either one of the best ideas I've ever had, or one of the worst. ← But I'm not sure I'd call it an Aviation seeing as how the gin flavor is crucial to that drink. That said, it would probably be quite tasty. Cherry and lemon is a good combo too.

Good luck. Depending on how sweet the pear liqueur is your proportions with the cognac could be 1:1 (1 oz.:1 oz.) or up to 3:1 (.5 oz.:1.5 oz.). The rest of the Sidecar is whatever your usual proportions might be to your taste. I tend to use just a hair more lemon juce than Cointreau to counteract the sweetness of the pear in this particular application. Let me know how you liked it.

Thanks dj, I'll keep that in mind. Next bar I'm sitting in front of where I see the Three Olives I will definitely order it to try. Actually, I've heard that all of the Three Olives flavors are quite good, so if that is true I can't imagine why folks are stocking other flavored vodkas that are 1.5-2X the price. I'd rather make a drink and charge someone 8-10 for it than 10-12 for it. The bar still makes money. The customer orders a second one. Win-win for everybody. I was thinking of a Cherry gimlet as the beta drink. Cherry and lime go so well together, and it's a simple enough preparation that the flavor of the vodka really matters. Any other suggestions?

David: You beat me to it!! I was going to say barnyard or "horse blanket" or "gaminess" or any of those other lovely descriptors that are spot on but inappropriate "tableside" language.

Nathan: The pear liqueur makes for a nice Sidecar variant as well. I sometimes make a sidecar with Belle de Brillet which is a pear flavored cognac. You can sub half the cognac in your regular Sidecar with pear liqueur to a simliar effect. Quite tasty. You could possibly also do this with a Calvados Sidecar and have it be an "Obstler" Sidecar, named for the Apple-Pear schnapps that are ubiquitous in Austria and Germany.

You know - I haven't had the pleasure of trying the Effen vodka yet. I've heard it's good, but not too many places in Philly carry it so I just haven't gotten around to tasting it yet. I'm actually more intrigued with tasting the Black Cherry flavor. If it were good I have some drink ideas for it. However, the Three Olives cherry flavor is considerably less expensive, so from a commercial standpoint it would make more sense to use that to keep cost under control. I definitely love their ad campaign though. "Give me an Effen Martini!"