rlibkind

There's a bit of a discrepency in the prices of a particular poultry at the Reading Terminal Market. At Godshall's Poultry, capons are priced at $3.99/pound while across the aisle at Giunta's Prime Shop they are $1.99. Giunta is selling birds produced by Eberly, which are free-range and surgically altered (which is more expensive for producers than chemically altered). I don't know whose birds Godshall's is selling, they they were marked free-range and naturally-fed, so I suspect they were surgically altered also. If the birds weren't so big (capons usually run somewhere around 8-12 pounds), I'd do a taste test. If you haven't tried one, do so. particularly if you favor breast meat, since capons, due to their alteration, have significantly larger breasts. Roast them just like a chicken; they'll just need more time because of the size.

American industrial agriculture, in its never-ending quest to sell more and meet perceived needs that really aren't, has unveiled a new fruit, the plumogranite. Vinnie Iovine of Iovine Brothers Produce, Reading Terminal Market, says it should arrive sometime in July from California. It's basically a pluot (a plum-apricot hybrid) which has been endowed through botanical science with high anti-oxidant levels similar to those of pomegranate, hence the triple-combo name.

WiFi back in service.

One more reason to reference dry ingredients by weight rather than volume, i.e., teaspoon, tablespoon, cup, etc.

Aquavit! Yeah! I probably won't be able to try it for another month or so, but save some for me. What flavor? Caraway? Dill? Coriander? Other? There are so many possibilities. Here's a photo showing just some of the 100+ bottles (and a few other spirits)at my favorite Akavit bar in Oslo, Fryet Mat & Drinke: While the common conception over here of Aquavit drinking is that it has to be iced cold, the proprietor of Fryet (Lighthouse) told me it should be consumed at room temperature, otherwise the flavor nuances are hidden. He's right. After years of storing my Linie in the freezer, I've moved it to the liquor cabinet. Besides oysters (or cured salmon or, better yet, herring -- is that on the menu?), Aquavit is best served with beer. Here's how it was served at Fryet:

Seth Kalkstein, manager of the Fair Food Farmstand and former cheese manager for DiBruno's Chestnut Street, was educating me a bit about goat cheese at the Local Growers, Local Buyers event Monday evening, and it goes long way to explaining why goat butter is a rarity. It all comes down to homogenization, or the natural equivalent thereof. Cow milk easily separates into cream and non-cream portions, as anyone who remembers milk before the days of homogenization can attest. Goat milk, and to a lesser extent sheep milk, do not. That means that rather than just skimming the cream off the top of a container of milk, goat milk must first be separated because the cream and remainder are pretty much homogenized to begin with. So to produce goat butter you've got a significant extra step requiring a centrifugal separator, a significant investment for most goat milk producers. This extra step alone makes goat butter more expensive.

Fair Food held its seventh annual gathering of local producers and local buyers at the Reading Terminal Market Monday evening, bringing together buyers for about 175 restaurants (including Jose Garces, above), food stores and institutional kitchens with about 50 different growers and makers of produce, meats, seafood, baked goods and other food items. "There's been more and more interest each year, it's amazing," said Deb Bentzel, who runs Fair Food's outreach to institutional food buyers, including hospitals. Another Fair Food staffer, Leticia Garcia, called it "the best year yet" for the annual event, which affords producers and buyers the opportunity to hook up, making it easier for farmers and producers to sell their goods, and local buyers, primarily restaurants, to find sources aimed at pleasing locavores. The Garces Group was well represented, and not just with the eponymous Iron Chef. The chief buyer for his Philadelphia operations, Adam DeLosso, and Robert Scully, manager of Village Whiskey and Tinto, were also roaming center court. A number of representatives from Whole Foods could also be found making the rounds, tasting the offerings and discussing possibilities with suppliers. Lankenau and Cooper hospitals, LaSalle and the University of Pennsylvania were among the institutional buyers attending. Restaurants, which represented about 80 percent of the buyers attending, represented the full range of Philadelphia eateries, as well as chefs you would expect to support local food endeavors, like Mitch Prensky of Supper. Among the locavore "wholesalers" attending were James DeMarsh of Common Market, which distributes local produce out of its Hunting Park Avenue warehouse, and Casey Specht and of Lancaster Farm Fresh Coop in Leola (whose produce is displayed in photo below). DeMarsh and Specht both agreed that the annual gathering gives them a chance to meet new potential customers and let them know how they can meet some of their supply needs. Although institutional customers represent a small market for local growers and producers -- they've been most successful in supplying restaurants -- hospitals, schools and other institutions with food service responsibilities represent significant growth potential. Schools look to be a particularly important aspect of this market, as the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the White House (through the First Lady Michelle Obama's efforts) are beating the bushes for better nutrition, and more produce, in school food programs, according to Fair Food's Bentzel.

iirc, the daily news had the story last friday, maybe saturday.

Wifi Whiffs at RTM The free WiFi network at the Reading Terminal Market has been down for about a week. So bring your 3G card if you want to surf or retrieve your email.

For years I've been looking at "Mountain Trout" displayed as filets at the Reading Terminal Markets' fishmongers, knowing full well they weren't trout, but not quite sure what they were. Down in Baltimore they call this "Lake Trout". Today I noticed (at Golden Fish) a sign which identified them, parenthetically, as hake, which is a member of the cod family, as is its very close cousin, the Whiting, which is usually found hereabouts as Silver Whiting, but sometimes called Silver Hake, as if things aren't confusing enough. All the varieties are interchangeable, as least as far as culinary purposes are concerned. All are suitable for frying, steaming, poaching and baking, though broiling or grilling would be too extreme for these delicate and very mild-tasting fishies. Hake are the most popular fresh fish in Spain, and take particularly well to parsley and potatoes. In other seafood news, Golden Fish is carrying a new item, head-on shrimp, $7.99/pound. You could probably save a bit by walking over to Chinatown, since that's where Golden procures these formerly frozen farm-raised crustaceans from China. Nobody asked me, but . . . Why is farm-raised striped bass more expensive that wild striped bass, a.k.a. rockfish: $6.99 vs. $4.99 at John Yi. In the event you're wondering, the King salmon at John Yi (and just abou anywhere else) is farm-raised from British Columbia. Like it's Atlantic cousin, it gets its color from feed. The Produce News Cucumbers galore at O.K. Lee, including two seedless (or nearly so) varieties: Japanese and English. The former are a buck for what appears to be a one-pound bag with about six of the five or six-inch cukes. The latter are two 16-inches for a buck. OKL also has bags of green seedless grapes for a buck (a tad more expensive if on trays) and Hass avocados at 49-cents apiece (essentially the same price as Iovine's where they're two for a buck). Another cucumber-like item normally found in Chinatown made its way to the RTM today: Iovine Brother's had Bitter Melon sitting next to the bell peppers, $2.99/pound.

The Herbiary opened for business Wednesday at the Reading Terminal Market, just in time for the Flower Show. They specialize in medicinal herbs, tinctures, essential oils, dietary supplements and other plant, and nature-based remedies. The Herbiary is located adjacent to Contessa's French Linens, across from the Cookbook Stall.

Head downtown to Shapiro's Deli. It's about 20 minutes via I-465 and I-70. It's cafeteria style, but something for everyone. Great corned beef and pastrami (not as good as Katz's, but pretty darned close), lox and bagel, variety of other sandwiches, good quality hot plates, gargantuan desserts. I don't think they do pancakes, but they do offer omelets for weekend brunch. (PS: The downtown location is better than the one in Carmel.)

In early December at the Headhouse Square Farmers' Market Beechwood Orchards featured Newtown Pippin apples, a variety that dates to the early 1700s, first found in what is now the New York City borough of Queens. It is regarded as one of the great storage apples, i.e., it improves with age. And February is regarded as the peak month for its eating. So the other day I pulled one out of the fruit bin of my fridge (stored in a plastic bag with plenty of air holes). It was superb, and a contradiction of complex flavors: sweet and tart, crisp and tender. It's an apple with depth. Much superior to when I tasted it immediately after purchase. And it stored beautifully, with no soft spots or blemishes beyond those present when picked. I'll be sure to lay in a supply again next December.

The bargain of the week at Iovine Brother's Produce at the Reading Terminal Market appears to be lettuce. Displayed front and center yesterday were four varieties, each priced at two heads for a buck: Romaine, Green Leaf, Red Leaf, and Iceberg. Although there's nothing wrong with a nice green salad, or a wedge of Iceberg with freshly made blue cheese dressing, it seems a good time of year to consider making Lettuce Soup. Cooked with some potato, one of more members of the allium family, and herbs, pureed and finished with a wee bit of butter, it's a fitting dish for winter, but a relief from root vegetables. The Chilean grape harvest is approaching peak, and prices have dropped accordingly at Iovine's. One-pound clamshells of white seedless were available for a buck, tray-packed bunches for $1.49. Iovine's also had a variety labeled "Tomcat", but at $5.99/pound I passed them by. They are a variety of Muscat, one of the original grape varieties, and are sweeter than the norm. It might be a good week for making guacamole. Iovine's also featured ripe and ready avocados (don't store them for long!) at 50 cents apiece. Limes were a reasonable four for a buck. Over to the fishmongers. I haven't done a taste comparison, but Golden Fish has been selling "dry" scallops for $13.99, a considerable savings versus John Yi, where they sell for $17.99. Golden also has something I haven't seen at the other stalls: unagi, Japanese barbecued eel, $6.99 a pack.

This being the winter doldrums, at least as far as fresh produce is concerned, my posts normally decline in quantity this time of year. This winter of near-blizzards is no exception, but the weekend before last caused me to alter my opinion, slightly, about a root vegetable I've regularly slighted: the humble rutabaga, a.k.a. Swede, a.k.a. Yellow Turnip. The cause of my conversion is the delicately-flavored smallish specimens which have been on sale at the Reading Terminal Market's Fair Food Farmstand since the onset of winter. They hail from Vermont's Deep Root Organics. a cold storage coop on the northern climes of the Green Mountain State. Along with parsnips from the same coop and supermarket "baby" carrots, they became the vegetable component of a Valentine's Day dinner I composed for my Valentine, who has always held the rutabaga in high esteem (must be her Scandinavian heritage). I cut the veggies into half-inch dice, tossed with a minimum coating of olive oil, along with a little thyme, salt, pepper, a scant teaspoon of sugar (to encourage browning) and roasted them in the oven. To my amazement, the rutabaga actually tasted good! Maybe it was the sugar, maybe it was the roasting, since my previous encounters with rutabagas had always been simply mashed with butter. But these roasted rutabagas had a more subtle countenance than the mash, so that the flavor note I previously found offensive became appealing. Will wonders never cease? The veggies accompanied filet mignon, a cut she enjoys but I rarely prepare for myself because of its lack of flavor compared to other cuts of steaks, though its tenderness is always to be admired. This beef came from Harry Ochs, and the combination of high quality beef and the method of preparation made it a hit, even with me. I simply seared it in a pan, three minutes on a side over medium high heat to get a nice char (not disturbing the meat except once, to turn turn it), then finished it off in a 450F oven for another four minutes for medium, my Valentine's preferred doneness. While it rested on a warm platter under foil, I made a pan reduction with cream sherry finishing with a small knob of butter. Although I prefer my steaks rarer, this retained just enough pinkness to remind it came from a living thing, and had great flavor. Dessert was a sampling of truffles from Neuchatel Chocolates of Oxford, Pennsylvania, every bit as good as any truffle we've had. The creations from Swiss chocolatier Albert Lauber can be had at the Pennsylvania General Store.

While yogurt will add an additional flavour dimension, lemon is an acid, which to the best of my knowledge will tenderise meat. I'm not sure why you think a lemon-based marinade won't tenderise the meat. Perhaps I should have been just slightly more circumspect in my comment, but the basic point holds. Acid-based marinades don't really tenderize. Acid based marinades can soften the surface of meat, but use too much of the acidic ingredient and you'll actually toughen the meat. Just look what happens when you make a ceviche. Enzymes you add to meat (like papain) are much better at tenderizing meats. In fact, they're too much better. Unless used carefully and just immediately before cooking, they tend to turn meat to mush. Yogurt and buttermilk, while slightly acidic, aren't strong enough to toughen the exterior of meats. Because of their calcium content they initiate an enzymatic reaction within a piece of meat that mimics the natural aging process, activating enzymes within muscle and connective tissue which loosens the bonds of muscle fibers. I don't find that yogurt and buttermilk add a lot of flavor. That's why with some recipes of meat I'll use yogurt for tenderizing, followed by a dry rub. Acid-based marinades alone can add wonderful flavors to meats and fishes. Just don't expect them to tenderize any but thinly sliced meats. And remember that using too much or too strong an acid can be counter-productive if avoiding tough meat is your goal.

Any of the marinades posted earlier in this thread will work, but unless I read too fast an essential first step is missing. A day before you plan on cooking the lamb, mix it with plenty of full fat yogurt. Let is sit in a fridge overnight. In the morning, remove the yogurt with paper towling as best you can, then prepare one of the marinades a and let it sit for at least a few more hours. Then cook. The yogurt, I find, both tenderizes the meat (which a marinade won't), and makes it more accepting of the marinade's flavors. As an alternative to the marinade, when I'm doing a leg or shoulder (after a 24-hour yogurt bath, given the large size of the meat) I use a rub/paste with plenty of garlic (turned into a paste by mashing with kosher salt under a chef's knife blade's side), fresh ground coriander, cumin, pepper and a fresh chiffonade of sage, then let it sit in the rub/paste for another 24 hours before cooking. Maybe not classic Greek or the flavors you are seeking, but very good. Greek seasoning is much more than oregano and lemon. Try the cumin and coriander in one of the simpler marinades in place of oregano.

RTM is pretty much strictly breakfast and lunch. The exception is the Down Home Diner, which is open until 7 p.m. (After 6 p.m., enter via Filbert Street under the Convention Center bridge.) As for RTM recommendations: whatever suits your fancy. The overwhelming majority are good, and a few are outstanding. Among the latter: any sandwich at DiNic's, though most folks go for the roast pork with greens and aged provolone; brisket, corned beef, pastrami or latke at Hershel's East Side Deli; a hoagie at Salumeria (get it with house dressing and marinated artichokes among the fixings); fresh-baked pretzel at Miller's Twist; a simple plate of roast pork or duck with greens and rice at Sang Kee Duck (alternatively, you can get the protein and greens in a bowl of soup with noodles); New Orleans style foods, including muffaletta, at Beck's Cajun Cafe; South Asian fritters and similar filling fare at Nanee's Kitchen. Pizza by George is also good (for pizza, sandwiches and hot platters, but it is Italian). Certainly one of the best values would be the Dutch Eating Place in the Amish section of the market (open Wed.-Sat. only); though I'm not terribly fond of their food, it is filling, and lots of folks enjoy it. The one place I'd steer you away from would be Profi's Creperie; the one time I tried it I only tasted cardboard. But they seem to be busy, so maybe they've improved, or I don't have reliable taste when it comes to crepes. As you note, Chinatown is nearby. I'll leave recommendations to those who frequent there more often than me, but you should be aware of Rangoon, one of the few Burmese (Myamar) restaurants you'll find anywhere in the Northeast and Mid Atlantic. Kind of a cross between Southeast Asian and South Asian, in some respects, but quite tasty and excellent value. Folks kill over the thousand layer bread. If you want to spend just a tad more than you would at the RTM or Chinatown, head south of Market, particularly the block of 13th street between Chestnut and Sansom. Among the hits here: Bindi. Indian done just a tad upscale with New American sensibilities. Dinner only. BYOB. Lolita. Not your average Mexican. The two-lamb entree is a killer! Dinner only. BYOB. If you bring Tequila, they have the fresh squeezed mix for a great margarita. Same owners/exec. chef as Bindi. BYOB note: There's a Pennsylvania liquor store around the corner, at 12th and Chestnut, for wine and spirits purchases. El Vez. This Stephen Starr outpost helped kick off the more-than-a-taco-joint Mexican trend in Philadelphia (there were a few earlier, but not in center city). iirc, Jose Garces was the first chef here. Lunch and dinner. For dessert, Capogiro, for gelati and sorbetti. So many flavors it's too stressful to just choose one! I particularly like their darkest chocolate flavor, and chose a different one to go along for variety's sake, though usually a nut flavor, like pistachio or hazelnut, depending on what's available. There a few others in the neighborhood I haven't tried, so I'll leave others to give thumbs up or down on Vintage, Raw, McGilligan's Old Ale House, etc. Within walking distance (say 10-15 minutes) beyond this immediate area the choices increase exponentially, even excluding Italian. Let us known if you're interested in a particular cuisine or style and we can narrow it down, but we're talking everything from Five Guys Hamburgers to Le Bec Fin and everything inbetween.

Certainly true, and I know what you mean. But when you get down to it, all baking is chemistry (plus physics).

What about Old Fashioneds? Isn't that the Official State Cocktail in Wisconsin?

Brauhaus Schmitz on South Street. Hearty German food (not fine food, definitely not gastrpub fare, but perfect for the beer and plenty tasty) and, of course, good German beers on tap.

Not a gastropub per se, but London Grill, just a couple blocks from the Art Museum, always has a nice selection of brews and very good food. When I first moved to the neighborhood in 1979 I was enthralled to find John Courage on tap. They don't carry that now, but they always have Willie Sutton (named for the bank robber who served time and briefly escaped from the world's first penitentiary, now a museum, across the street), which iirc is brewed by Stoudt's. Right now their on tap list includes cask condition Victory Hop Devil, Rogue Chocolate Stout, Fullers Mr. Harry's, Flying Fish Imperial Espresso Porter, Palm Ale (Belgium, 1st time in America), Magic Hat #9, Sierra Nevada Wet Hops Harvest Ale, Brooklyn Black Chocolat Stout, Victory Donnybrook Stout, Flying Fish "Hopfish" IPA, Carlsberg (I drink it with a shot of Aquavit, though London doesn't have the latter), and Yards Philly Pale Ale. Good representation in bottles too: a couple of Stan Smith's from England; Innis & Gunn from Scotland; from the U.S. various selections from Dogfish, Victory, Stouds, Anchor, Sierra Nevada, Philadelphia Brewing, Weyerbacher, Slyfox, and Arcadial; plus a few Belgians, Chimay, St. Martin Blonde, and Lindeman's Framboise. The food is always well-executed with something for everyone. They've always had one of the better burgers in the city, good fries, a lunch menu that ranges from classic but exceedingly high quality sandwiches to fish-n-chips to hanger steak to gnocchi pancetta to potato pizza. Dinner menu is, of course, more expansive: starters like cheese or charcuterie plates, scallops, grilled ocotpus or fried clams, veal ribs with peach salsa. Mains can include gnocchi rabbit-chorizo sausage, linguine with crab and guanicale, braised veal breast, as well as duck, beef, pork, chicken and veggie selections of equal interest. If you plan on visiting the Art Museum or Rodin Museum, work in a lunch, dinner or weekend brunch here. The same folks have owned and operated it for nearly 20 years, and the service is neighborly and efficient. Website: London Grill

What, no cured or otherwise preserved fish? That's what I look forward to when I'm in a Scandinavian country. In the words that fictional Swede of The Producers fame, Ulla: "From eight to nine Ulla eat big Swedish breakfast. Many different herrings." Toast! We don't need no stinkin' toast! The traditional breakfast would be accompanied by flatbread, not bread to toast. The French bread and bread slices at hotel breakfast buffets in Scandinavia are primarily there for outlanders...or those who take advantage of the buffet to pack a lunch (it's acceptable if you check and, usually, pay a bit extra). The hotel breakfasts in Israel aren't that much different from those in Norway. The preserved fishes might be a bit different, and you won't get cold cuts; you will get a whole lot more in the way of very fresh and good fruits and vegetables, particularly tomatoes, and there will be Middle Eastern and Eastern European style dairy (cheeses and yogurts) rather than Northern European

I love rare burgers (Pittsburgh rare: absolutely raw in the center square centimeter, charred on the exterior. Gotta be careful when you eat even a little raw meat. So when I'm not grinding myself or having it ground to order at my fav high end butcher (Harry Ochs, RTM, Phila.), I go to Wegmans in Cherry Hill and pick up a pack of 90/10 irradiated ground beef. There's usually a pack in my freezer. The 90/10 is a leaner ratio than I'd use with fresh ground beef, but if you're cooking to rare, it's not as big an issue. The beef has excellent flavor, much better than anything ground and packed in a supermarket, and I haven't started to glow in the dark yet.

The farmer's market at The Piazza at Schmitt's held its second session today with 18 vendors, including 10 farmers and four bakers. The market, directly sponsored by the rental apartment complex's developer, Tower Investments, is the only farmer's market in the city I know of which not sponsored or affiliated with either Farm To City or The Food Trust. Kyle Perry, a hospitality industry veteran who has volunteered with The Food Trust for the past three years, thinks the easy availability of free off-street parking, across Germantown Avenue from the Piazza, should help it become a "destination" as well as a neighborhood market for Northern Liberties and Fishtown residents. Root vegetables, of course, dominated at the produce stands, but leaks could still be obtained, also, at Livengood's and Culton's Organics. Earl Livengood, who hangs out the Reading Terminal Market and Clark Park during the season, said he's still got two rows of leeks to harvest back at farm on the outskirts of Lancaster, so expect to see them at least for another week, maybe a bit longer. Storage apples were also available from a number of the farmers, along with some cold weather greens. Culton was also pushing his organically raised quails. Other produce, meat and dairy farmers who showed up today included Griggstown Quail Farm (though most of their items were their pot pies), Shellbark Hollow for goat cheese, Landisdale Farm (which also had a stall at Clark Park today), Natural Meadows Farms (poultry, meat and eggs), Savoie Farm (potatoes), Birchrun Hills Farm (cheese, veal), Highland Orchards, and M& Farview Farm (beef, lamb, goat, pork and dairy products). Bakers were Big Sky, La Baguette, Wild Flour and Market Canele (which shared a stand with Joe Coffee). The other vendors included Northern Liberties' own Penn Herb, Just Dogs Gourmet, Beautiful Blooms Boutique and Summer Salsa.