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KatieLoeb

eGullet Society staff emeritus
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Everything posted by KatieLoeb

  1. KatieLoeb

    Lunch! (2003-2012)

    Today I had a toasted whole wheat bagel with hummus spread on it and a very large vanilla latte. From my favorite little cafe in South Philly - Benna's at 8th & Wharton Streets.
  2. Katie, did you try it? With whipped cream on top? And a sprinkle of nutmeg? ← Not yet. I don't have either vanilla liqueur in the house at the moment. Lately I've been indulging in a bottle of Buffalo Trace bourbon and it's various possibilities. Had some Old Fashioneds last night and decided that was a great way to get the non-brown liquor drinkers to give it a try. I bought some sparkling Martinelli's Apple-Pear cider at the store today that is cooling in the fridge as I type this. I might try make something autumnal and sparkly out of that later. Not necessaily a cold weather drink, but any good drink warms me up somehow.
  3. House of Tea, which is local for me, has a wonderful selection of loose teas, tea accessories and great customer service.
  4. Yup. I've defintely heard them referred to that way at a couple of restaurants.
  5. I'm drinking a nicely muddled Old Fashioned. A couple of thin slices of orange, two maraschino cherries, 1 Tbs. of demerara sugar and two dashes of Fee bitters muddled at the bottom of my glass. 2.5 oz of Buffalo Trace bourbon and stir until sugar dissolves. Add two ice cubes and a big splash of club soda and stir one more time. Delicious!
  6. I gotta get up to this place. I was intrigued when I first read about it and now between you and philadining I'm certain it's on my soon to do list. That rice drink you had is called horchata, and it's delicious stuff. Kids really like it too. It's like a rice milk dessert almost. Like drinkable rice pudding!
  7. Who? Me?? Not my fault! Actually I think the wine press calls this a Super Tuscan white. Basically that's any big tuscan wine that isn't following the DOC rules and is blending grapes together or using barrels or vinification techniques that aren't strictly by the book. I think you're going to like this. You can hate me now and thank me later.
  8. I'll talk to Chef Todd about it. I'd think if we were to commandeer the place he'd want to do a limited menu for us. Not sure what the cost would be, but I'll certainly check into it. I think this could be a great spot for a get together.
  9. Teruzzi and Puthod Terre di Tufi 2003. Currently on sale at the absurd price of $12.99. Enjoyed this with my dinner at Mandoline last night (review HERE) and it was spectacular. I actually had picked up several bottles of this last weekend at 12th & Chestnut on Corey's recommendation. I grabbed one a couple of nights ago out the case without looking, thinking it was a red. I recorked it right away and put it back in the fridge. Wasn't what I wanted with my steak, however it was the perfect thing to go with my dinner at Mandoline. This wine has been a "cult wine" since 1984 when it first came out. It's described as a white Super Tuscan and it definitely doesn't disappoint. This year's blend is mostly Vernaccia (80%) with Chardonnay (7%), Malvasia(7%) and Vermentino (6%) which undergoes sur lie aging and fermentation in French barriques for 4-5 months. End result is a full bodied white with lots of aroma and texture. Luscious is a word I'd use to describe this. Lots of fruity flavors both in the nose and on the palate as well as a nice vanilla edge and smoothness from the time in barrel and the aging sur lie. Delicious white even for those that are normally not fans of white wine. This might be another one for those of you purchasing for moms and significant others that don't share your tastes. This could be one that you'll both like.
  10. Lisa1349 and I enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Mandoline last night after "Girl's Night at the Movies" around the corner at the Ritz. Although we had eaten half a bag of truly amazing toffee covered cashews that Lisa had brought along from DiBruno's (ohmigosh! These are sooo much better than popcorn!) we were indeed hungry when we arrived for our 9:30 dinner reservation. Mandoline is a cozy space, but it's decorated very nicely with pretty artwork on the walls and a warm feeling about it. Service was quite friendly and helpful. We asked our waitress for some recommendations and she deferred to Chef Todd Lean. His suggestions were right on and we enjoyed a very nice meal. We started with the Goat Cheese Pistachio cake with Mission figs and Balsamic glaze. WOW! Very tasty and savory rendition of a light cheesecake. The figs and balsamic were perfect with the tangy cheese. We also tried a stuffed Quail with Applewood smoked bacon stuffing and Cherry-port reduction sauce. Also a winner. There were little bits of crunchy salt on the skin of the quail and the cherries and port went very well with the little bird, which had been mostly deboned so you could slice right into it. A small salad of microgreens was lightly dressed alongside. Very elegant presentations. For our entrees we shared Seared Dayboat Scallops with Parsnips Puree and braised Chanterelle mushrooms and a Prosciutto wrapped Monkfish with roasted Tomato and Leek jus and Fig Polenta. Both entrees were cooked perfectly. The scallops were ENORMOUS and very tender. The parsnip puree was sweet and a little chunky, just how I like it. I forget how much I love parsnips sometimes, but this was a an excellent reminder of how tasty they can be. The chanterelles added a lovely touch of earthiness to the dish. The monkfish was also a great choice and the fig polenta (our second visit with figs this meal) was delicious! Everything on our plates was presented beautifully and the sauces and sides worked perfectly with the main dishes. Really an excellent meal. I had brought along a bottle of Terruzzi Terre di Tufi 2003, a really delicious Super Tuscan white vernaccia blend that's got to be the best fish and seafood wine I've tasted in a while. It was great with the entire meal, but amazingly well matched to our entrees. Chef was kind enough to send us dessert, and we shared a Nizza, which was a small cylinder of chocolate and bananas with layers of a light sponge cake and pretty chocolate curls on top. This little restaurant is flying under the radar, folks. You need to get yourselves here for a meal that will completely surprise you. I would compare this place favorably to any of the BYO places we all love like Rx, Django or Marigold. It's convenient to all of the Ritz theaters (I dropped our wine off before the movie, and they were kind enough to keep it chilled for us while we were watching Pride and Prejudice and eating cashews) and is another great choice in the long list of BYOB establishments we're lucky enough to have available to us and should be thankful for. The perfect choice for dinner-and-a-movie. I know I'll be back soon.
  11. It might be that they meant it was "discontinued" as in not being carried as a regular listed product in their store anymore. "Listed" products are warehoused by the Commonwealth of PA. It is THEIR inventory. Any item that is listed is supposed to be in every single PLCB store in the state. "Specialty" and Special Liquor Order (SLO) products are warehoused by the purveyors that represent that product. It's the purveyor's inventory. If they work in a "regular" store, then all they see are the listed items. If the product gets "de-listed" from the "regular" stores and is only being carried in the "Specialty" stores then for all intents and purposes, it IS discontinued in their world. Either the Specialty store has to order it individually ("Specialty" items) or the consumer has to order through the PLCB (SLO) and it comes from the purveyor with the PLCB acting as middleman. Make sense? It's always best to check the Product Search link. You should be able to find the Luxado that way too.
  12. Very Nice!! Looks gorgeous in the glass too. Well done.
  13. I'm guessing this was the Ropa Vieja (Old clothes) because it looks so raggedy. A shredded spiced beef dish, yes?
  14. You're missing some spectactular suds, my friend. Really. You need to get over whatever the mental block is. The Royal Weisse is outrageous. And the O'Reilly's Stout is amazing. And I normally don't even like dark beer.
  15. Hmmm... I'm trying to imagine the flavor combination of coffee vodka, lime juice, and vermouth with a maraschino cherry. I can't quite bring it together in my mind without feeling a little ill. Especially if I imagine the lime juice to be Rose's. ← I didn't say they were good. Merely proving their existence is all. I thought the very thing you did when I read that recipe. Feh!
  16. You can cheat and have Glühfix around. The single serving tea bags of mulling spices are quite convenient for just popping a mug of wine into the microwave and having an individual cup as a nightcap.
  17. I have asked everybody, and I'm running out of time. ← Have you tried calling your local caterers and seeing if they have anyone on staff you could hire for the night?? Sorry, that's my last flash of genius. I thought the supermarket sushi chefs would be the answer.
  18. In "Vintage Spirits...", Ted Haigh suggests a more film noir way to ask for it at the bar is as a "Bronx with Bitters". :-) It got me wondering if there were cocktails named after all 5 boroughs. Manhattan and Brooklyn, of course, but, I couldn't find anything for Staten Island or Queens. ← Staten Island Cocktail Queens Cocktail
  19. Do you have a Whole Foods, Wegman's or gigantic supermarket that has a sushi section nearby? Go ask one of those guys if they want to make a little extra holiday cash. They already have the appropriate uniform!
  20. The Noilly Prat is available in PA, but only at the Specialty stores. Seems there's one on McKnight Road and one on Perry Highway in Pittsburgh. Don't know how far that is from you. You might find this link to the PLCB Product Search page useful in the future. I have it bookmarked of course.
  21. Besides the dust, usually the jar of whatever infusion I'm in the midst of making (often limoncello, but today the makings for a cranberry liqueur), my foil wrapped bricks for weighing down gravlax or whatever needs it, and a couple of random empty liquor bottles I'm saving to refill with some creation or another.
  22. Quite right. A quick search of the PLCB website shows two rye (Jim Beam and Old Overholt) that are listed products and readily available, two rye (Michter's 10 yr. old and Sazerac 18 yr. old) that are listed as having "limited distribution" and one rye (Hirsch 13 yr. old) that is available by SLO. That's it. That's all the rye in the entire state of PA. Pretty sad state of affairs, I'd say. I wish we had a better selection available (is anyone listening...) Although that Hirsch is freakin' delicious, I must say. Used to have it at the bar at Striped Bass. Always made me happy when I saw a Hirsch rye had been sold on the weekly sales report. And this was before it was even supposedly fashionable.
  23. Yep, the book is "The 100 Classic Dishes of Austria", produced for the Kuratorium Kulinarisches Erbe Osterreichs, edited by Ewald Plachutta and Christoph Wagner. ← I'd be curious what their "classic" take on recipes for Tafelspitz and Marillenknodel would be. Those are two of my favorites in addition to any of the pastries and cookies!
  24. Wow. This sounds interesting. A non-corn and rye bourbon for all intents and purposes. Because it's really the charred white oak barrels that give the spirit it's color, flavor and character, moreso than the mash, I'd expect this product to be quite "bourbon-like" in the end. Maker's Mark is probably the best known wheated Bourbon whiskey, so I'd be curious to do a side-by-side taste test between those two.
  25. Awesome! Too bad it's filmed already. We have an entire cast of extras for the pie eating scenes lined up. There are two other places specializing in Tomato pie we haven't tried yet mentioned in the article - Papa's and Palmero's. Sounds like another Trenton road trip in the making. Rich - can you do the reconaissance mission for us on that?
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