KatieLoeb

I made a delicious cavatappi with fennel, onions and tomato from what I had in the pantry tonight. Boiled the cavatappi for 8 minutes so it was still quite al dente, and then drained them. Sauteed chopped fennel until half cooked through in butter and EVOO, then added diced onion and 2 cloves of garlic. I let that saute for another five muntes and then dumped in a large can of fire roasted diced tomatoes and the dregs of a jar of spaghetti sauce from the fridge. I let this all cook and kept stirring until the veggies were almost soft. A big pinch of dried tarragon, salt and pepper and I was good to go. A nice sprinkle of grated cheese finished it off. I have oodles of leftovers I need to bring over to somebody's house soon. I really am no good at cooking for one. I always keep a couple of jars of commercial sauce, canned tomatoes in various forms and different shapes of pasta in the pantry. You never know when you'll only have time to just throw something together.

My standard "ginny" gin is Plymouth. That's my favorite with an olive. I'm usually about 8:1 on my gin:vermouth ratio - 3 oz. gin to a generous 1/4 oz./scant 1/2 oz. of Noilly Prat dry. For a twist, I like a citrusy gin. I gotta give a shout out to my local Philly Bluecoat gin. It's just delicious with a lemon twist. Pretty tasty with an orange twist and Lillet, too. I'm a bit more generous with Lillet than with dry vermouth. Probably an ounce of Lillet to 3 oz. gin. I don't know how to drink Hendricks except with an onion. An olive or a twist cover up all those lovely subtle aromatics for me. But it makes a fine Gibson or an excellent Gimlet with homemade lime cordial. Those would be my best combinations. Scott - I love the lemon Verbena idea! I'm going to have to play with that. I am fortunate enough to have a farmer at my disposal who grows lovely herbs. Summer is coming. This definitely requires further exploration...

I used a big old down and dirty handle 1.75L bottle of Tortilla Gold. Cheap but tasty enough and since it's getting infused I'd not waste a good sipping tequila on the process. Almost all of the color has leeched out of the berries. The tequila itself is a glorious deep rose color now. This was a quart of strawberries, hulled and quartered, one vanilla bean split and cut into pieces and one 1.75L of tequila. All that's required is patience...

After a long evening of fussing with spreadsheets, looking up pricing on the antiquated and often inaccurate PLCB website and typing out drink recipes and preparation instructions I made myself a faked up Strawberry Margarita with some of this glorious batch of Tequila por mi Amante I started about four weeks ago: I've been enjoying this just for sipping, but tonight I splashed a little Creole Shrubb and some lime juice in, just so I could take a tall drink up to my office and sip contentedly whilst I surfed eGullet and finished some of my typing up of beverage directions for my new job. It was just what I needed. Sweet, goes down easy and very delicious in a doesn't-taste-like-a-cocktail sort of way. Just getting back from a short vacation and still trying to get my sleep schedule back to normal. This is certainly helping to sedate me ever so slightly and make it easier to go to bed at a reasonable hour...

There's good goat to be had at Restaurant Acapulco (1144 South 9th Street), I'm told. It's that place with the neon goat in the window across the street from Taquitos de Puebla. There's good curried goat on the menu at Jamaican Jerk Hut too. Just sayin' this isn't a goat-free zone or anything...A whole roasted goat is a different matter. I would try the lamb or the goat, truth be told.

Agreed! Such a feast would be positively epic. Not so much for the lamb.. If anyone wishes to inquire about the feasibility of this, I'd be totally in. My schedule is as yet unknown for the foreseeable future, but I'm certain with enough notice almost anything is possible. I'd be happy to bring lamb-appropriate wine as well.

I agree. I remember thinking the "special" stuff was a little spendy compared with some of the other items, but the overall price was quite reasonable for the feast we had, the service and the pleasure of chatting personally with the chef for the better part of the end of our meal. I definitely felt like an honored guest, a feeling that's far too rare in most restaurants. We did walk in and give them carte blanche to "feed us", so we really have no room to complain. It was delicious. They couldn't have been nicer. It was worth what we spent. End of story.

Todd I'm certain your family is rejoicing at having you back full time. Their gain is most certainly our loss. I'll look forward to your contributions here as well as seeing you and enjoying your charming guidance on my next trip to NOLA. See you 'round the forums and most definitely in New Orleans...

Chris beat me to the exact reply I was planning. Do what he said. Also add Chinatown dim sum to that list, or coffee and pastries at Payard for an inexpensive but high level treat.

Y'think??

I'm currently working up a menu of house infused oyster shots for a new employer. The infusions don't take long, are far more cost effective than the available commercial products and taste fresh and amazing. Good enough to sip over ice and even better with an oyster plopped on top!

The newest edition of the Food & Wine cocktails book has just been released. Included within is a list of America's top 100 bars. I'm proud to say that Philly has four of them, one of which is my beautiful little bar at Chick's! I'm also pleased to see that there's quite a few other bars manned/owned/managed by eG folks mentioned on that list. Congrats to PDT, Pegu Club, Death & Co., Clover Club, Little Branch, The Violet Hour and everyone else. I am truly honored to be in your company. I can't seem to find a link to the entire list. If anyone can find that link or has the patience to type it up, please post it, because I'm sure there's a lot of places on there I'd like to know about and visit when I travel to other cities.

David: We could have warned you. It's not only chain BBQ, but BAD chain BBQ. What on earth were you thinking?? I hope you digest well... I had a rib platter from Bebe's for dinner tonight. Delicious! Dry rubbed ribs with a nice crust, and a not too spicy sauce on the side. I have enough varieties of hot sauce at home to jazz it up with, so no problem there. Big serving with two sides and a hunk of cornbread for $10! A steal. Next time I have to try the pulled pork...

Forget downtown Philly and head over the bridge to Haddonfield and sit at the bar at Fuji. You won't be sorry. Make a reservation for the bar. Those few seats fill up fast...

Assuming the customer's tipping habits don't vary, the bartender makes the same on a $9 drink, whether it's a vodka & tonic or something fussier and non-vodka based. But the bar makes more money on every fool that walks in and orders a vodka & tonic instead of one of the house specialties.

I had some oysters at XIX last night at an Absolut sponsored event. The quality of the oysters was fine, but I was surprised by how poorly served they were. The ends of the shells were stuck into the pile of crushed ice which allowed the ice to tumble into the oysters, melt and wash away all of the oyster liquor. WTH is up with that?? You'd think they'd know better at a place of that caliber. Looking forward to OH reopening. I know Greg will make sure the oysters get served properly.

Katie, the greens are actually vegetarian, no porkiness in the recipe... ← Seriously?? Awesome. Aside from magical mystery porkiness, the al dente-ness is what got me. Texture was perfect. I loved that the corn was grilled, but I just don't think that it's meant to sit in a steam table like that after cooking. Honestly, I'd be just as happy if you were lifting the corn out of a pan of hot water. It might be a tad overcooked, but it would still be juicy. If you had melted butter on the side that could make up for a multitude of sins...

I missed the market today but I'm really happy that they're back! Nice to see the mayor supporting the market as well as Whole Foods handing out the reuseable bags. Great idea.

It can last for weeks, but it never does...

I've made this many times. I like brandy and Sailor Jerry spiced rum as my base spirits, a Demerara simple syrup to bring that molasses flavor to the party and a better quality apricot brandy like Brizard Apry instead of low level peach schnapps. Adjust simple to taste since the apricot brandy is less of a sweetening agent than the schnapps would be. DO NOT oversteep your tea or it will ruin everything. I'm certain the brandy you have will be fine as long as it isn't too "woody". A glug of orange juice is often good in this recipe in addition to the lemon. I'd be cautious of adding any really high proof spirits to this. I presume this isn't for a frat party, but for a group of adults with discerning palates. This goes down easily enough already without intentionally spiking it for drunkeness and debauchery. And it's so unattractive when folks hurl in technicolor.

So Restaurant Week has finally crept northward to Port Richmond, Fishtown and Kensington. Starting on Friday, several restaurants will be offering prix fixe menus or bargain priced entrees. Full list of participating restaurants can be viewed HERE. If anyone want to go hit up Jovan's for dinner on Tuesday night, feel free to PM me. It's been far too long since I've darkened their doorstep. Or I could be convinced to go try out Bistro Juliana, as I've not been there yet either...

Tried a take out brisket platter from Bebe's for lunch today. Good stuff! Brisket was appropriately smoky and tender. Side of cole slaw was zingy and yummy. My side of corn was a little dried out, but I suspect that it was a victim of steam table violence. They were almost out of collards so I got a little taste on the side. Really good, definitely cooked with some sort of porkiness in it and still just a bit al dente, not boiled to mushiness, which I hate. Sauces on the side were tasty, but I wish I'd had more. Thumbs up for Bebe's. I'll definitely be stopping by to check out ribs and pulled pork in the near future.

Heavy duty commercial cotton napkins, sewn together thusly ought to work just fine. If your mallet doesn't have teeth on it like a meat tenderizer that will help keep the fabric intact...

Erik: I was actually replying to Matt, and should have quoted him to make that clear. Sorry for the confusion. I am certainly thrilled to bring an iteration of the brandy old fashioned to Philly. It is a delicious drink, even the test one I made with regular brandy before swapping it out for the Jerez. Whether and which parts of Wisconsin muddle is totally moot to me, having not ever had the pleasure of visiting there yet. I always thought the muddling was crucial to the end result. I've never seen a not muddled Old Fashioned, but perhaps that's an East Coast thing?

The Old Fascist is where my mind went after reading the Imbibe article about brandy old fashioneds in Wisconsin. I had no idea that was the tradition there. Since my current place of employ features Spanish wines and foods as part of the menu, switching up for the Jerez brandy seemed an easy enough thing to make the drink thematically appropriate and sort of our own. The name was just an added bonus from hanging out with folks that have a twisted sense of humor.