rlibkind

Beyond Soulard, The Loop and Clayton, any recommends for farmers' markets and stands? I'm asking on behalf of my sister in University City, who craves good fresh sweet corn, tomatoes, etc. She's willing to drive half-an-hour or so from UCity.

Got back to Bell's Market for the first time since winter and they've expanded into substantial space next door. Most of the new space is devoted to produce, but also organic dairy and lotsa olives. I counted 28 different varieties. Priced considerably below what you'd pay at DiBruno's, and even beats Wegman's and the RTM. I don't remember the previous store layout perfectly, but I think with the produce space freed up in the older part of the store, it appears they've significantly expanded the dairy offerings . . . which is what I was looking for, since I'm making Liptauer, a Hungarian cheese spread based on feta-like Lipto cheese mixed with butter, paprika and other stuff (a very variable recipe depending on who's making it and which region of central or eastern Europe they hail from). No Lipto, but there was Brinza, which is pretty much the same style fresh sheep cheese, just from farther east. Lipto,Brinza and similar cheese are feta-like, but are supposed to be a tad saltier and sharper. Hence, the recipe calls for creaming the cheese with an equal amount of butter and perhaps some farmer cheese. It will keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge, but it's best to let it come to room temp before serving. Other scores: Krinos taramosalata for half they price I'd pay at Whole Foods, sliced veal tongue (in gelatin) from Gaiser's, an old-fashioned wurstgeshaft in North Jersey, Bulgarian red pepper spread (with eggplant, tomato, onion, etc.), and olives. There was lots more I would have liked to by (especally those cherry dumplings), but my larder at home is already pretty full and I didn't see my schedule freeing up to utilize the more perishable items, like more cold cuts and cured fish. Gotta get back more often than ever six or seven months.

Yeah! I stopped by there late this afternoon on the way back from Bell's Market to see they're only open now on Thursdays and Fridays (presumably, that's just for the summer).

You might mean Pesche - peaches - instead of Pesce - fish. A fish cream confection would be "interesting" though. ← Yup. But creamed fish is good! Creamed Finnan Haddie over toast points for all! Better than Sh*t on a Shingle.

I have GOT to find my way back to Lodi!

I was so overwhelmed by the depth, variety and volume of produce this weekend that I've combined my fruit and vegetable report for the Reading Terminal and Headhouse in one. You can find it here. On matters of protein, however, the RTM demands its own account. John Yi didn't have fresh mackerel, but offered salt mackerel at $2.50/pound. I've purchased, cooked and enjoyed pre-packaged filets from Shop Rite in the past; these were dressed (headed, gutted, de-finned) and, like the packaged item, require overnight soaking in several changes of cold water (try running the tap real low) before baking or sauteing. That takes out the salt, but the flesh remains nicely firm. If fresh fish is required, Alaskan sockeye filet was a bargain at $9.99, as was the Spanish mackerel at $1.99 (whole). Softshell crabs were $6 apiece. Of course, it's really grilled meat season. Giunta's Prime Shop was selling their hearty, deeply-flavored rib eyes on the bone for $9.99 last week, as well as hanger steaks for $6.99 and flat irons for $7.99. Lamb breast ribs, one of my favorite summer grills, were $2.59, short ribs $4.59 (or five pounds for $19.95). Dinosaur beef ribs were $1.99.

I was so overwhelmed by the depth, variety and volume of produce this weekend that I've combined my fruit and vegetable report for the Reading Terminal and Headhouse in one. Here it is: Beets, one of my favorite roots, are plentiful and colorful. Over at the RTM, Benuel Kauffman's Lancaster County Produce finally has those deep red cylindrically-shaped beauties I so adore.It's one of the sweetest varieties you can find. He was selling then in quart boxes, sans leaves, for $2.50. Chiogga beats could be found at the Fair Food Farmstand. Lots of other beets were available at Headhouse, too. Most colorful were the "rainbow" beets at Northstar, $5 for a quart of the babies and $2.50/pound for larger versions. I made my second batch of kosher garlic pickles this week, using fairly small kirbies found at Kauffman's, prined at $3.99/pound; O.K. Lee was selling larger but fresh, glistening local kirbies in 1-3/4 pound bags for the bargain price of 99-cents. I couldn't find samples as small at Headhouse, but there were still plenty of nice fresh kirbies, some priced as low as $2/pound (Weaver's Way, which featured slicing cukes at the same price). A variety labeled "Gherkin" could be found at Yoder and at least one other Headhouse vendor, but these aren't the kind of cucumbers you'd find a jar of midget sweet pickles. Instead, these are a very small and spiny variety also known as West Indian or Burr cucumbers. Seedy but great for eating raw, according to one of the vendors. Local corn and sweet bell peppers are also making their appearance. Prices hover around 60 to 75 cents an ear right now. The green bell peppers at Buzby (Headhouse) were selling for a buck apiece. Eggplants, in all their wonderous variety, are also becoming plentiful. Buzby's big Jersey eggplants were priced at $1.50 each. The tomatoes aren’t quite where they’ll be in a couple more weeks, but Iovine Brothers Produce (RTM) featured Jersey Ugli’s at $1.45. Kauffman’s red and yellow field tomatoes were fetching $3.99. Over at Headhouse, one vendor was selling heirlooms at about $4.50, iirc. That's Some Spicy Blueberry! Blueberries are in abundance right now, as are red and black raspberries. The raspberries were selling from $4.50 for a half pint, blues for $3.50/half-pint, $5.50/pint by the Wenks (Three Springs Fruit Farm) at Headhouse. The fat berries in the pint I brought home were pristine, fresh, sweet and deliriously spicy. Over at the RTM, Fair Food’s blues were going for $2.75/pint, Livengood’s for $3.95, Kauffman’s for $4.95 (or three pints for $12). Raspberries do tend to be pricey, but they are lovely. Kauffman’s offered reds for $4 a half-pnt, blacks for $3. Fair Food’s purple berries sold for $3.75. Over at Headhouse Wenk's was charging $4.50 for a half-pint of black raspberries. Next week we might see the wineberry variety at Livengood’s, gathered by Sam Consylman. Blackberries should arrive in a couple of weeks, too (they usually appear at the same time as peaches; it’s no accident these two fruits make a great combination). This week has got to be the peak of the cherry season. Beechwood Orchards (Headhouse) featured two varities of yellowish cherries, Napolean and Emporer Francis. The Napoleans I purchased were even sweeter than the dark sweet cherries; they are more apt to bruise, but don't let that stop you from enjoying these delicious stone fruits. All the sweet varieties at Beechwood were priced at $3.75/pint or $6.50/quart. Over at Wenk's dark cherries were $4/$6. Sour pie cherries could be found at Livengood's, Kauffman's and Fair Food at the Reading Terminal Market, and Beechwood, Wenk's, and Northstar Orchards at Headhouse. Prices ranged from $4.50/quart at Beechwood and Fair Food to $6.95 at Kauffman’s. Northstar's Morellos were selling at $6. 'Cots, Peaches and Plums Another stone fruit now starting to peak is the lovely, spicy apricot. Ben Kauffman had them at the RTM for $3.99/pound, while over at Headhouse they were featured at Wenk's ($4/pint) and Beechwood ($6.50/quart). Peaches made their first appearance of the season at Headhouse. Noel Margerum selling Jersey whites and yellows at $3.75/quart (4 to 5 peaches). Yellows were $4/quart at Buoni Amici. Another sure sign of summer, plums, could be found at Northstar (Early Golden and Jewels, $2/pound) and Buoni Amici (sugar plums, $3/pint, $5/quart). Summer may just be underway, but signs of autumn could also be detected, even if one of them came from the other side of the equator. Locally, an early summer apple, Lodi, could be obtained from Wenk's for $1.49/pound; its highest use would be for sauce. By no means local, but at Iovine's you could find lovely Abate Fetel pears from Argentina, a large, long-necked variety priced at 99-cents. Black figs from California were selling for $3.99 for a pack of about 10. Mexican red, black and green seedless grapes were being sold in bags for $1.99, each bag containing about 1-3/4 pounds.

Slightly off topic, but . . . There are "supper clubs" and then there are "supper clubs". In the Upper Midwest, at least, the term "supper club" refers to an over-decorated, plush establishment serving dinner, usually heavy on the steaks and chops, and cocktails. The chairs will usually be leather, and there's sure to be a chandelier or two. Places like Ray Rattigan's in Kenosha, WI, or The Hob Nob in nearby Racine. A midwest "supper club" is what the locals consider the epitome of swank. Those I've dined in always offer better-than-average grilled meats. And there's something about the unbiquitous "relish tray", with iced celery and carrots, radishes and olives, that's appealing, refreshing and reassuring.

Wherever there's a substantial German heritage, you'll find butter cake, a.k.a., butterkuchen. We've got what is essentially the same cake in Philadelphia, usually found at old style German bakeries like Haegele's. Only difference is we prefer our topping not quite as gooey, so it has an extra egg and no corn syrup. Otherwise, it's the same cake. Bet you'll find it in other cities with German influence. Maybe Cincinnati?

FWIW, here's what Laban said on his chat board a couple of weeks ago: As info, there is another cheesesteak vendor. Spataro's has been making them since they moved to their new center court location. Anyone tried them yet?

A belated report on my finds from last Saturday: Benuel Kauffman's Lancaster County Produce offered sweet cherries (and a few sour pie cherries, too) at $3.95/pint. We should start to see more pie cherries this weekend; the pie cherry season is short, usually no more than two or three weeks. Ben also has red and yellow pear tomatoes ($3.95/pint) and sun golds ($4.95). Those bargain limes at Iovine Brothers, which had been 10/$1, were 5/$1 last time I checked. Still less pricey than the lemons @3/$1. The Fair Food Farmstand expects a planoply of fruits and veggies this weekend. Its weekly newsletter said they'll have pie cherries, red and yellow sweet cherries, red currants, gooseberries, red and black raspberries, blueberries, sweet corn, and Brandywine tomatoes among other goodies. A couple weeks ago I mentioned the wild Alaskan king salmon selling at John Yi's for $22.95/pound. I should have waited a few days. Since early last week it's been $19.95. And for you shrimp 'n grits lovers out there, John Yi has some outrageously sized extra jumbos from the U.S. South Atlantic coast (that means South Carolina or Georgia, folks) for $22.99; they come in at four to six to a pound. Actually, these big shrimp look ideal for the grill. Now that spring is officially over, the price of mackeral surged a bit to $3.99 from $2.45-$2.99. Wild and farm-raised striped bass (the latter are actually a cross of striped bass and white bass) selling for an identicial $5.99 for whole fish; a very similar marine bass, farmed European Branzino, is $8.99.

The trickle of summer fruits I wrote about before the summer solstice is turning into a rivulet. Soon we'll have a raging torrent. Over at the Fairmount & 22nd Market today, Sam Stoltzfus offered black raspberries at $3.95/pint; Earl Livengood had his organic raspberries for a little bit more. Bill Weller was selling what may be the season's last strawberries, $4.50/quart, along with blueberries and dark, sweet cherries, the best I've had so far this season: big, plump with juice, flavor and sweetness. Livengood also had the first Lancaster County corn I've seen this season (not his own but from another Lancaster County farmer). The fourth vendor at Fairmount today was Versailles Bakery. At last Sunday's Headhouse Square market, Culton Organics featured haricots vert, pricey at $7 but delectable looking. Sweet cherries at Beechwood Orchards were $6.50/quart or $3.75/pint, with blueberries at $4.50/$2.75 and strawberries $3.50/quart. Margerum's was selling blues for $3.50/pint, Buoni Amici for $3, with cherries priced at $5/quart or $3/pint. Every vendor's lettuces and greens looked inviting.

High-end Scandinavian did not work for him and Håkan Swahn in Minneapolis, of all places! But chops and fish (at least the chops) are a natural in Chicago.

I'm going to look silly if this is wrong, but didn't the Swiss Pastry Shoppe reopen? ← Wow, that tells you how often I get to that block in Center City! Same spot? Edited to add: Just googled it, and now it's the Swiss Haus Bakery.

It's not new, but no dessert is surer to please than a cobbler with some good, vanilla ice cream (Bassett's french vanilla?).When the pie cherries arrive (I saw some a few days ago, but they didn't look quite ready), I will be making sorbet; it's one of the finest uses of pie cherries I know (besides pie, of course).

As you mentioned earlier, Salumeria does it for me. There are a lot of good hoagies in town -- I love the Old Fashioned Italian at Sarcone's and the Old Sicilian (at least I think that's what it's called) at Primo -- but Salumeria is my fav, especially when you go for the house dressing (an herbed vinaigrette) and marinated artichokes among the garnishes.I don't think of Italian pastry shops like Isgros and Terminis as the best places for cakes, though I mildly disagree with mrbigjas about the cookies. They aren't meant to be extraordinarily sweet or with pronounced flavors; instead, they are designed to be simple accompaniments to a nice cup of coffee. (Though I'd rather have a simple anise biscotti). As for the pastries, I generally stick to the sfogliatelle or canolis, though I have occasionally indulged in something like the Pesce Alla Crema to much delight; that last item bowled over a visiting friend from Devon (UK) last September. As for cakes and general baked goods, I've said it before and I'll say it again: what Center City lacks is a good all-purpose bakery. Alas, they hardly exist anymore, a bakery where you could get good breads and rolls well as better-than-average cakes, pies and sweet rolls. Kaplan's New Model Gold Medal in Northern Liberties comes closest as far as bakeries in/near Center city go, but iirc they really don't do cakes. A place like the German-stlyle Haegele's (though it lacks much in the way or breads) or the kosher bakeries like Lipkin, Weiss and Hesh's Eclair in the Northeast (which generally do better on breads than sweet items) come closer to my ideal. Flying Monkey does a great job with what they do: cupcakes, brownies and cookie bars. But that's pretty much all they do. Where, pray tell, can one find a Dobish torte in Center City? (Some of the Jewish bakeries in the Northeast have them. Similar items can be found at the Russian/Eastern European supermarkets, but they come out of commercial bakeries and are only passable.) If only Rindelaub's and Swiss Pastry Shoppe were still around!

"From eight to nine, Ulla like to have big Swedish breakfast. Many different herrings."

Before the big Rick's Steaks brouhaha emerged nearly a year ago, there were hardly any comments about his steaks. The one comment I found in an eGullet search was negative. I had posted that while there were better examples of cheese steaks to be found, Rick's version was a reasonable example of what a cheese steak is and that, if you had your heart and tummy set on a cheese steak but weren't able to leave the convention center area, it would do, but that the RTM offered better sandwich choices, particularly Tommy's roast pork and Salumeria's hoagies.

Capaneus, you read too many New Yorker cartoons! Even if you say it's spinach and you say to hell with it, I say it's also mighty tasty. Different from the rabe, but mighty tasty in its own right. You don't get the bitter-vs-sweet counterpoint that you would with the rabe, but spinach makes for a richer sandwich. But I think we can agree: don't skip the provolone!

No breakfast? Or do you have another commitment? If you've never had scrapple, you must take breakfast at the Reading Terminal Market. Either the Down Home Diner or the Dutch Eating Place . I tend to eat it plain, but others top with ketchup or syrup. Great side dish for eggs. The Down Home Diner does a wonderful job with pancakes. Overall I prefer the Down Home Diner to the Dutch Eating Place (the quality of the ingredients isn't as good at the latter), but it's a matter on which honest people can disagree. The Down Home Diner also serves incredibly good biscuits. (Should you stop by for breakfast Saturday, you'll probably find me schmoozing with Tommy or Joe at DiNic's soon after the market opens at 8 a.m.; yes, you can get a pork sandwich for breakfast!) And at lunch, save room for dessert from Bassett's, est. 1861, and serving at the RTM since it opened in 1893. Any flavor of their high-butterfat ice cream will do, though I'm partial to French vanilla, rum raisin and raspberry truffle. If you can get high quality Jewish-style hot pastrami where you live, you can skip Hershel's at the RTM and get DiNic's roast pork; but if you can't, you should get a sandwich there...and the roast pork at DiNic's as well! You could also stop by Hershel's on Sunday morning for lox and bagels. The Down Home Diner is also open Sunday, but the Pennsylvania Dutch places are not. If you wish to avoid excessive meat consumption at lunch, you could get a hoagie at Salumeria or Carmen's, since although neither is skimpy on meat there are lots of veggies to go along with the prosciutto, etc. I prefer Salumeria which makes a unique tasting hoagie (ask for the house dressing, marinated artichokes and aged provlone on your sandwich), but others rightly argue the cause of Carmen's picture-perfect sandwiches. Neither, however, is quite as good as the hoagies from Sarcone's Deli at 9th and Fitzwater. But decent hoagies, subs, italians, etc., can be found in many cities, not just Philadelphia.

Hail The Summer Solstice! As the solstice approaches (this coming Friday, 7:59 p.m.), summer fruits are trickling into the marketplace. Local cucumbers (yes, it's a fruit, not a vegetable, though we tend to treat it as the latter, just as we do the tomato) could be found at Headhouse Square (A.T. Buzby, among others). I used the salad cuke yesterday as a garnish to chicken and cold noodles in sesame sauce. The kirby cukes, which were fairly large, have been quartered and, since last night, have been sitting a brine with lots of smashed garlic and coriander seeds, well on their way to becoming kosher pickles. (By this morning they had reached the "new pickle" stage; I figure they'll be halfies by tonight.) In the realm of fruits that we think of as fruits, Buzby also had the first Jersey blueberries of the season, $3.50 a pint, iirc. Also at Headhouse, Noel Margerum featured pretty good tasting sweet cherries, $3.25/pint; another vendor (sorry, didn't write it down) had a semi-sweet cherry that I tried and thought a bit on the tasteless side. We're approaching the end of the strawberry season, but fine examples can still be had. The $6 quart I purchased from Culton Organics at Headhouse were particularly good: the best I've had this season, large, but deep red, sweet all the way through and strong in strawberry flavor. Buzby and Buono Amici also had good-looking strawberries. Culton also has a huge crop of tunnel-grown apricots; the traditional orchard variety are still a few weeks away. This little piggy . . . Dwain Livengood has added pork to the frozen meats available at the family's stand (Tuesday afternoons at South & Passyunk, Thursday afternoons at 22nd & Fairmount, all day Saturdays at the RTM). The offerings include no-water added ham steak slices and bacon cured by one of the few remaining family-owned processors in Lancaster County, Smuckers Quality Meats of Mount Joy. Lancaster Farming had an excellent article on the decline of the small meat processors in April. Birchrun Hills is offering veal as well as cheese. The ground veal was selling for $7 when I last checked two weeks ago.

Hail The Summer Solstice! As the solstice approaches (this coming Friday, 7:59 p.m.), summer fruits are trickling into the marketplace. Local cucumbers could be found at Benuel Kauffman's Lancaster County Produce. Benuel just had kirby cucumbers (the type that makes the best pickle). Haven't seen any locally grown salad cukes at the RTM yet, but they are available at Headhouse, so they should be at the RTM soon. Earl Livengood has got some tasty, freshly dug new potatoes. They were selling for $2.50 a half-pint, $3.20 a pint and $4.50 a quart. The pint weighs in at about three-quarters of a pound, so the effective price is about $4.25 a pound, pricey for potatoes, but when you can get them fresh dug, a luxury worth trying. (Ben Kauffman was selling red new potatoes at $2 a pint.) All the farm vendors at RTM (Livengood, Kauffman and Fair Food Project) featured peas both in and out of the shell. Salmon Expensive To go with those potatoes and peas, I splurged and purchased a wild Alaskan king salmon filet from John Yi at $22.95/pound. It was delicious, especially when gently slow-roasted as recommended by eGullet poster Vadouvan. A classic early summer meal. Even though the salmon season has been underway about a month in Alaska, prices remain very high. Copper River king just couldn't be had here; in Seattle the going price has been $40 a pound. Copper River sockeye is considerably less pricey, and a delicious fish in its own right, but my fish mongers haven't had it yet, though Whole Foods has it for $21.99, but the end of the Copper River season is upon us; other runs will replace it and the price should go down, we hope. What's keeping the prices elevated is the closing of the California salmon season this spring because stocks are so low. Reduced commercial catches are also foreseen in Oregon and Washington, so Alaska (and British Columbia) are the only wild salmon games around, and prices have rising in response to market conditions. My advice: learn to love bluefish. (Taras Grescoe wrote a recent op-ed article in the New York Times entitled Sardines With Your Bagel? that I highly recommend.) Quick notes. Broccoli is much in evidence at the markets, cauliflower can't be far behind. . . . Didn't check this week, but last week the Hass avocados at Iovine's were selling for $1 each, Vidalia onions 50-cents a pound. . . . Time for limeade. Iovine's featured some juicy limes with heft at 10 for a buck; lemons remain relatively dear at 3/1$. . . . Hardshell crabs $2 each or $19.95/dozen at John Yi. Musical stalls at RTM A deal is in the works to fill out what had been Dutch Country Meats. Although negotiations are continuing, there's an agreement in principle for Benuel Kauffman to expand his produce stand across the aisle and take over the walk-in refrigerator that served the butcher, and for the manager of the Dutch Eating Place, Roger Miller, to buy Fisher's Soft Pretzels from Paul Fisher and move it to the remainder of the Dutch Country Meats space. Fisher would then expand his candy and sweets business to the part of the stall now occupied by his pretzel bakery. A cheese steak operation won't necessarily replace Rick's when he vacates October 31. RTM GM Paul Steinke would like to place a more traditional market purveyor in the space, maybe even an expanded Fair Foods Farmstand. The idea, he said, would be to showcase the market as a venue for purchasing food for home consumption. Market promotion The Reading Terminal Market is emulating the city's "no questions asked" campaign to get residents to turn in illegal firearms. Only the market wants your shopping bags. Steinke abhors seeing his regular market shoppers carrying cloth bags advertising competitive food vendors, such as Whole Foods. So he and the merchants are trying to do something about it. Beginning today, shoppers who turn in cloth bags from the other venues will receive a replacement bag with the RTM logo and $5 in Market Money to be spent with RTM merchants. The "No Questions Asked" promotion is limited to the first 200 customers who bring their bags to the RTM office, located up the stairs across from Tootsie's Salad Express. An ad campaign touting the program starts this week in the Inquirer, Philadelphia Weekly, Citypaper, South Philly Review and Weekly Press.

With a moniker like that, it should be a dog with fried clams on top! A true "surf 'n turf". Actually, what you should expect is the roll you got. Sounds like a classic "New England" hot dog bun, which is a squared off verson of the more familiar bun, but split on top rather than along the side. The "white bread" sides are frequently buttered and grilled. As for the type of hot dog, New Englanders tend to be all over the lot, but up in many parts of Maine, the favored dog is very red, courtesy of food coloring.

Definitely made it back in one piece . . . and a newfound appreciation for whisky, which I hadn't tried before my visit four springs ago. Hard to avoid twisty drives. The twistiest was crossing Bealach na Ba (Pass of the Cattle) on the Applecross peninsula -- it's an alpine road in Wester Ross with lots of hairpin turns and great views across the Inner Sound of the Isle of Rasay and the Isle of Skye. Lots of sheep here. Less demanding with fewer sheep but nonetheless curvy was the route from Ballater to Inverness via Speybridge across the Grampian mountains. Our weather was amazingly good, except for two on-and-off rainy days on the peninsula. I actually didn't take up my whisky habit until the end of the trip in Glasgow. You can find my travel report here. Scotch whisky is pretty much an autumn-winter thing for me, though I indulged in some McCallan 12 at a cigar event earlier this month. This time of year I enjoy my cigars with any one of a number of beers (pils or other lighter [not "lite"!] beers) or fruit-spirit concoctions of my own devising, like the pineapple-orange-lime juice cooler earlier this week with brown rum.

Was the salad billed as anything other than dressed romaine? What were you expected? If what you ordered as a green salad, seems to me you got a fine version of one: fine quality lettuce in an excellent dressing. When I order a house salad, I wouldn't expect anything more nor would I really want more, especially if you are also ordering other apps, like the octopus. I don't need sub-par tomatoes and cukes to call it a salad.