rlibkind

The White Castle at Westfield & Elmora has been there at least 50 years (though it was rebuilt to the newer design about 20 years ago, I guess). It was right across the street from Mother Hubbard, which made great burgers in addition to the superlative aforementioned pies (buy 10 pies and return the tin plates and you'd get a free pie). And there was a third hamburger outpost at that corner (on the southeast side for 10 or 12 years in the late 1950s and into the 60s, called Charcoal House.

i've had to mostly stop buying from them--the last several times i've bought milk it's gone bad before its printed expiration date. i mean, i take it home and three or four days later it's all funky. and not that long ago i got a bottle that was bad when i got it home. i don't know if it's the lack of ultra-pasteurization you mention, or if their fridge is on its last legs or what, but stuff from there just doesn't last all that long. i mean, i know, it's dairy, it's not supposed to last that long. but their product seems to go bad especially quickly. ← I have had that problem with their milk, so I usually don't buy it except in a pinch. But I haven't had any problem with the cream. Then again, when I buy cream I've got a specific purpose in mind and usually use it within a day or two. Ultra-pasteurization will keep milk and cream drinkable for eons, and if it's in the right container it doesn't even have to be kept refrigerated. However, it tastes awful compared to the fresh stuff. The only Pequea Valley Yogurt I buy is plain, and I haven't had a problem. I'd rather add my own fruit, even if it's frozen. (Frozen wild blueberries are my standard; they are as good as fresh in yogurt, maybe even better because they are softer.) I saw a sign that they are now carrying raw cow's milk. Given their inability to keep commercial pasteurized milk one has to wonder about the advisability of purchasing raw milk from them.

Price of morels a relative bargain today, a mere $54.99 a pound at Iovine's, compared to the $69.99 price earlier in the week. The quality was better, too. Porcini also less expensive at $44.99/pound, Still, that's an awful lot to pay for a fungi. Bell pepper survey: greens 99 cents, reds $1.99, yellows $3.99, oranges $4.99. Gargantuan clamshells of end-of-season (in Chile) seedless green grapes, each containing four pounds and selling for $1.99; not the sweetest or most flavorful Chilean grapes I've had this season, but decent enough at that price. Throughout the winter, Iovine's has carried "Vidalia" onions. Of course, they weren't. They came from Mexico or other growing areas, but not from Vidalia, Georgia. Growers in other parts have learned the secret of the Vidalia (it's the composition of the soil) and they've done a good job of mimicing it to produce a very sweet, low sulfur onion. But if you want the original, it's available again and for the next couple of months. Iovine's had them today at 99-cents/pound. When you buy them, use them quickly. And for heaven's sake, don't cook with them. They are meant to be eaten raw, preferrably on a very rare hamburger. I picked up the ramps today and paired a bunch with half a pound (six ounces would have been sufficient for a single serving) of dry sea scallops ($15.99/pound at Golden vs. $16.99 at John Yi). Delish! Sauteed the white parts of the ramp until soft, then added the leaves to the hot pan and set aside. Dusted the scallops with flour and quickly sauteed in butter, no more than 90-120 seconds a side. Then plated over rice with the ramps. A nice Bernkasteller Riesling completed the dinner. Earl Livengood is now selling pork. Hard to imagine it will taste better than the Country Time sold at the Fair Food Project, but I purchased a couple of chops to try. Earl expects to be at the outdoor markets (South Street on Tuesdays, Fairmount on Thursdays) beginning in mid-May when the asparagus and strawberries come into season here. Today his dandelion greens and broccoli rabe looked good, as did the turnips and tiny rutabagas; the potatoes, however, look like they are at the end of their storage life. Lancaster County Dairy (along Arch Street side behind Golden Seafood) carries excellent heavy cream -- pasteurized, not ultra-pasteurized. They also carry the Pequea Valley Dairy Farm yogurt line, as does Fair Food Project. Salumeria ran out of gruyere by the time I stopped by at 9:45 a.m. Since I didn't want to also go to Downtown today, I picked up some Emmenthaler instead for a potato au gratin I plan to make tomorrow.

Yes, you're all right. The butt yields more meat than the leg shank half. (I guess we know which part of the lamb's anatomy my head was up when I made the prior statement.) But to those who have trouble hacking it, the butt is, as Russ notes, more difficult to carve.

The Finger Lakes are about a four-hour drive, so while it's too much for a day trip it works well for a weekend. Lots of wineries to visit, some of them even good (I'd recommend Hermann J. Wiemer on the west shore of Seneca Lake, especially for his rieslings and ice wines), and Ithaca -- which is probably where you'll find the largest range of accommodations -- has more good restaurants than any town its size deserves. The art museum at Cornell can be interesting, and lots of artsy-fartsy stores. There's usually some good music around, too, in almost any genre. A restaurant I'd like to try in the area is the latest incarnation of Dano's Heuriger, which existed five or six seasons ago at the Standing Stone winery and now has its own location nearby along the east shore of Seneca Lake. Based on past experience (admittedly about three years ago) Pangea in Ithaca's Northside neighborhood was always well beyond reliable. If you're there on a Saturday morning, stop by the Ithaca Farmers' Market. Be sure to buy some blue cheese or tomme from the sheep lady (Northland Sheep Dairy); it is a superior cheese, particularly the blue. Best of all is the scenery -- lush, rolling hills and jewels of water.

The butt half, a.k.a. sirloin, has more fat and marbling; the shank half is leaner. There's more yield from the shank due both to its leanness and its bone structure. The butt half not only has more bone by weight, but, because of the shapes of the bones, is more difficult to carve.

Ramps are back! Iovine's had small bunches today selling for $3.99 -- that gets you about 10 slim ramps with leaves, enough to flavor a salad or seafood dish for two to four eaters, depending upon how much they love ramps. You'll find them back in the corner by the bok choy and greens. Another sign of spring: morels. They were $69.99/pound. I passed them by in favor of the tray-wrapped bargain shitakes and a couple of big domestic whites. A warning: while Iovine's tray-wrapped specials are often very good deals, it ain't necessarily so. For example, the domestic whites priced at $1 a bag on the "bargain" rack weigh out at about half a pound, which is hardly different from to the bin price of $1.99/pound Also at Iovine's, navel oranges priced at six for a dollar. They seemed light, even for their size, which means not too much juice. In judging citrus fruit, it's best to find specimens that are heavy for their size. Hass avocados were $1 each, and limes are down to 3/$1. Bell pepper price survey: greens, reds and yellows $0.99; however, the only ones in the bin were the greens and the pricier orange bell peppers. Perhaps they'll restock Wednesday. In the fish aisles, there was no carp in the bathtub, but there was some on ice ($2.99 at John Yi and Golden), as well as pike at $6.95 (Yi) and whitefish ($6.99 at Yi, $5.99 at Golden). So go ahead, make gefilte fish. Or shad: bucks going for $1.99, roe shad for $3.49 at Yi's.

Found a current website for Dano's Heuriger on Seneca, including menu, wine list, hours, etc. Pretty much as I described above, salads, spreads, charcuterie, lots of white wine. Where the old Dano's in downtown Ithaca was a more formal (though hardly stuffy) fine-dining establishment, this outpost along the east shore of Seneca is decidedly casual, as was the former Dano's Heuriger at Standing Stone I visited about six years ago.

Further web research led to Dano's Heuriger which appears to be a reincarnation of a restaurant he used to run at the nearby Standing Stone vineyard and winery. It lasted for only one or two seasons circa 1999-2000 and was basically salads and cold meats (all yummy) served with the classic Viennese-style backyards white wine. No further info on the website other than it exists, or at least the website was put up in 2005.

In June you'll be able to get good, fresh king salmon just about anywhere. South of downtown, Jens Restaurant serves up some tasty fare with a Danish accent. Though located in a small strip mall, it's a relaxing room with good service. The menu, though not large, has something for everyone. The Danish dishes are more prominent at lunch.

Thanks for the report, Katie. I've been out of town pretty much since my last entry, but I can't wait to get back to the market next week and see what has arrived for spring. Gotta be ramps soon! That beet salad with the Carles Roquefort sounds delish!

That's Pangea. I haven't been there for a couple of years. but it was very good. It's eclectic rather than Italian: Nuevo American, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, whatever. But it works (or at least did when I was last there). Please tell me more about Dano's. Is it in Watkins Glen? Similar to his old Ithaca establishment? When it was operating, I thought it the best overall restaurant in the burg.

Strictly conjecture, but i would suggest that "old money along the Main Line" was underrepresented in the Zagat sample

Someone is pulling your leg. No Norwegian Norwegian eats lutefisk. Only Norwegian-Americans with a misplaced sense of taste.

The producer stopped making diet Cel-Ray about a year or so ago. The flavor is definitely acquired taste (one I acquired half a century ago at Ratner's on Second Avenue). Should this regrettable rumor turn out to be true, I'm going to start buying celery seeds and learning how to use them to flavor sugar syrup.

Salvator, accompanying carbonnades flammande.

I generally stay in a motel in the Lowell area on my car trips from Philadelphia to Down East Maine, since it's roughly the halfway point and I usually don't feel like 11-12 hour days of driving (six or so is my limit), so I'm interested in all suggestions here. In downtown Lowell itself, it seems like there are a couple of Hispanic spots. Any reports? How about classic New England diners?

Just in case you didn't know (highly unlikely), Good's chips are fried in lard. (As if you haven't had enough pig!)

DiNic's is staying put, Sandy. Spataro's is moving to where the Sandwich Stand had been. A Jewish-style deli replaces Spataro's. The new occupant of the Braverman's space will be Flying Monkey Patisserie.

Iovines still had those buck a box Florida berries today. Still very good for an industrial berry. Jimmy Iovine joked that he got on the PA Friday and shouted to his customers; "Strawberries, a dollar box. Limited to 20 boxes a customer." The Indian River red grapefruit, at two for a dollar, were heavy with juice and delicious. Here's something you don't see too often: the wild striped bass at John Yi's were selling for $3.99 today, but the farmed bass was $4.99. The farmed fish is actually a cross between striped bass (a.k.a. rockfish) and white bass. Sardines back at Golden Seafood, $2.99/pound. A sign and some equipment have been positioned at Flying Monkey Patisserie. Someday soon... Under the auspices of the White Dog Foundation, growers and producers confabbed with potential buyers (restaurants, etc.) at the market earlier this week. They object: to make deals. RTM Manager Paul Steinke said a similar session may be held during the growing season.

Where are you located? Find a farmer's market. Supermarket berries will never come close to the taste of your youth (though I did buy some Florida berries this week that were the best industrial berry I've ever had), but in season you should be able to find local berries. But not at the Acme or Krogers. And don't try to push the season. In the mid-Atlantic, decent local berries don't appear until the second or third week of May.

If you want to do a sauce, do a brown mushroom sauce. Presto, you've made made Jagerschnitzel. As previously suggested, some type of cabbage would be good (red, braised, kraut, etc.) as would spaetzel. A potato rosti would be fine, too. Consider a different rosti however, one made from shredded beets. A finger-staining prepration to shred the raw beets to be sure, but delicious.

For oysters and clams (live or fried), snapper soup (a rarely found classic served with a splash of sherry) and good basic seafood and finfish, Sansom Street Oyster House. Moderately priced, one of the last of the surviving classic fish houses., Even if it is only 20 or so years old, it's heritage goes back more than a century. Particularly good deals at Happy Hour (L.I. Bluepoints for a buck apiece, though lots of other oysters, East, Gulf and West Coast, priced up to $2.50, iirc.)

Most readers of my missives here would think there's only one produce vendor at the RTM. At one point there were three full service produce vendors (not counting the seasonal offerings by both farmers and merchants who primarily sell other food products). Today, only only other major produce vendor is at the market every day: OK Lee. Although there are exceptions, OK Lee's prices tend to be slightly higher than Iovines and it's quality, though generally quite good, just slightly less impeccable. Both of these characteristics are probably due to volume: OK Lee is a smaller store and doesn't sell nearly as much as Iovines. But OK Lee frequently offers what Iovine's doesn't, or offers it in a more acceptable way. Today, for example, you could get fresh Poblano peppers at OKL ($1.99/pound), but not at Iovine's. Where Iovine's offered bell peppers at 99-cents for green, red and orange varieties, OK Lee was 79-cents for green, $1.49 for red and $2.99 for orange (and $2.99 for yellow, which were $1.99 at Iovine's). The price for Haas avocados from Mexico has finally dropped: 99-cents at OKL and a buck even at Iovine. Comparative lemon prices: three for a buck at OKL, four for a buck at Iovine. Best produce deal I spied today: those Plant City, Florida, strawberries, back in one-pound clamshell cases at Iovine. One U.S. Greenback. And they are red, ripe and delicious. Other interesting fruit: very ripe and ready Altaulfo mangos a buck apiece and mandarin oranges $8.95 for a five-pound box, both at Iovine. This time last year, Iovine had fiddleheads from the Pacific Northwest. None this year. Jimmy Iovine said it will be a few more weeks 'til the fiddleheads and ramps appear. Tried a new cheese at Salumeria today: Borough Market Cheshire, which the cheese-monger said was distributed by Neal's Yard. Though I'm not at all confident of the provenance, it is a good cheese, with a slightly sour tang making it all the more interesting.

For some reason it only seems to be perishable in the States though. ← Just speculation on my part, but I agree with Kevin on both points. Roe is a "tough sell" here (even though, this time of year, the fishmongers' cases start filling up with shad roe -- for that there is a definite local market here in Philadelphia). As for perishability, most scallops here are treated with tripolyphosphate to increase water content and shelf life ("wet" scallops, vs. untreated "dry" scallops). The cooking/flavor impact of that additive is bad enough on the abductor muscle; I would imagine it's awful on the roe.