rlibkind

Here's the link to the Ha'aretz article.

What? No one's mentioned pastrami and fake orgasms at Katz's?

Thanks for starting this topic, Fudy. About six years ago, when my wife was running a small company in Ithaca, we attended a guest chef meal at the Statler under the supervision of Marcus Samuelsson. (Back then I think the price including wine was $105, IIRC.) It was wonderful. Love hearing about all of this year's events though this topic.

Adam, my mouth is watering. The spring mackeral run is about to start in the northeast U.S. I might add, the Spanish mackeral (Scomberomorous maculatus) is also an excellent member of the family. But rather than the alphabet-like markings, this one is spotted.

When I lived in Hoboken in the mid-1970s I frequented a live poultry market in Jersey City (I have no idea whether or not it's still there). Should you buy a very recently deceased bird, let it sit in the fridge for a day before cooking. A bird that's too freshly killed isn't quite as fine to my taste.

99-cent red peppers (rear) and oranges at Iovines

It may only be late January, but spring can't be far away. Or so I infer from the presence of shad at John Yi's: filet for $5.99, jumbo roe for $6 a set, whole roe shad at $3.99 and buck at $2.99. But don't look for these anadromous fish to be hauled out of the Delaware; these specimens come from South Carolina. The unpasteurized cider season is over at Kaufmans. New at Tommy DiNic's: Italian style pulled pork sandwich, $6. Haven't tried it . . . yet. New at Iovine's, their own version of sous vide. Well almost. They've packaged various vegetables in vacuum-sealed bags suitable for boiling. Among the varieties found Thursday afternoon: mixed sweet peppers with garlic and herbs; string bean medley; roasted garlic; red potatoes with herbs, oil and garlic; squash medley; baby carrots. Just the sort of thing an office worker would want to take home after work for a quick veggie side dish. Or would if the RTM stayed open late enough (see Sandy's Too late to stop at the RTM on the way home topic. (Congrats on the new job, Sandy.) Instead, I opted for a head of cabbage. Last night I quickly braised a chunk (thinly shredded and slightly chopped), added chopped scallion, then mixed it with some buttery mashed potato (made from a leftover baked russet) and added salt and pepper. The result: colcannon, a root veg fav in the British Isles (you could use rutabaga instead of or in addition to the potato if you were so inclined; I can't abide rutabaga). I'll be using up the rest of the cabbage in various permutations during the week, including a quick pickle slaw. Good-looking red bell peppers imported from Israel going for 99-cents a pound, as are Mexican orange peppers. The Greens and yellows are selling at $1.49. Avocados nudging up to $1.29 apiece. Also found fresh bay leaves along with the usual tray-wrapped herbs. If you have a craving for banana bread, the bargain rack was the place to look Thursday afternoon, with very ripe but perfectly good bananas at 19 cents a pound vs. 39 cents for regulars. Limes, Meyers lemons and blood oranges all selling at three for a buck; regular lemons five for a buck. I spied fresh peanuts next to the regular bananas; $1.99/pound IIRC. Pizza By George has been selling a tomato pie, both in Neapolitan and Sicilian styles. I loved it, but the seasoning is not for the timid. And some might complain there's too much sauce on the pie. I happened by the Fair Food stand just as they were getting in a delivery of Country Time pork product, all unfrozen. Brought home a boneless loin roast ($7/pound), cooked it with rosemary and garlic; delish. Served with the above referenced colcannon. Last week I brought home some of Harry Ochs' scrapple, as recommended by mrbigjas. Tastes just like the scrapple served at the Down Home Diner. I'll check, but my guess is it's from the same supplier, Godshall's of Telford (not the RTM poultry purveyor).

Here's a link to the WABC-TV Channel 7 video page. When you get there, scroll down to the list of videos and click on Neighborhood Eats: A Super Hot Dog. It probably will only be there until the next evening newscast.

I'm no expert on the subject, but heavy government involvement in the industry dates back to the late 18th century, in the first decade following independence, when Washington and Alexander Hamilton imposed an excise tax on whiskey. That was the proximate (though hardly the only) cause of the so-called Whiskey Rebellion in southwestern Pennsylvania in 1794.

About three or four years ago we did a blind taste test at the Saturday Morning Breakfast Club at the Reading Terminal Market. Metropolitan won. I don't remember the full list of competitors, other than LeBus.

This story has an inner truth: that the Queen is a pretty down-to-earth person, well, as least as down-to-earth as someone that rich and idolized can be. Alas, the facts of the story do not have the ring of truth: the Queen and the heir to the throne do not travel on the same plane.

I don't keep powdered buttermilk in the house, so I only go with the milk/vinegar concoction. Then again, I only need it for pancakes, waffles and biscuits since I'm not a big baker. I certainly think that if it's a recipe that calls for dry buttermilk powder with an amount of liquid to make it akin to fluid buttermilk, then the milk/vinegar trick would also work. Then again, sometimes I use yogurt instead: in pancakes, biscuits, etc. I find them interchangeable with barely detectable taste differences. I'm sure there are dishes, like the Italian cream cake cited by shaloop, where it makes a difference: but the difference would be between fresh buttermilk on one hand, and its substitutes, whether they be dried buttermilk or milk/vinegar or yogurt, on the other. But for pancakes, biscuits, etc., use whichever you like or find handier. It's not worth fretting about.

Whole Foods frequently carries skirt steak. Alas, the closest one to you is in Charlottesville; others in VA suburbs of DC. Pack a cooler for your next visit.

Acchhh! Responded before I got to your last message. Good luck in your search (and keep Blooming Glen in mind).

Upthread, mrbigjas suggested jamon serrano, then rejected it as unrealistic. Ham, however, is a terrific idea, especially since you are located near, IMHO, one of the premier ham producers around, Bob Moyers' Blooming Glen Pork in Perkasie. Moyers operated a pork pavillion at the Reading Terminal Market for years, but gave it up to concentrate on his core business. I consider that one of the RTM's great losses, because Moyers' no water added ham is a superlative product. Nothing like a bar offering good ham sandwiches! I served one of his traditional bone-in hams for a party and guests were astounded -- they just didn't know what real ham could taste like (especially after cooked over indirect heat on my weber). Hmmm. Fresh ham sandwiches aren't a bad thing, either.

Yes, omit the rosemary. Consider add ing a whole clove or two (just for background, not to shout, and remove prior to serving) as a possible new dimension. I think a little clove might work very well with pomegranate.

Poached pilchards Potted porcini Pickled persimmons P'cha Paté (Jewish calf's foot jelly) Poutines

I'll vouch for DiCosmo's (didn't I mentioned it upthread?). When I was a kid they also sold pieces of coconut that they kept in a huge jar of water to stay fresh after cracking and stick pretzels. The lemon ice is perfect to "fill in the cracks" after pizza at Spirito's. As for poultry markets, since I haven't lived in Eizabeth since 1973 and moved out of the area entirely in 1979 I'm hardly up to date.

That sounds like a heckuva dinner party! Yum. Next time, though, in addition to inviting me you might want to try Golden Seafood for the scallops rather than Wan. Golden (across from Fair Food) is the only purveyor that sells the dry scallops (no water-retention chemicals added), at $14.99/pound, which, although more than the $11 they used to charge, is still a couple bucks cheaper than Whole Foods. Wan, on the other hand, is the only fishmonger at the RTM selling skate. That's one of the beauties of the RTM: Three fishmongers, but neither their stock nor their prices are identical. Love it.

Good bread (baguette, Jewish rye or pumpernickel, I don't care), sweet butter, Maldon salt.

Tuna niçoise: hollowed out baguette filled with light tuna (olive oil) mixed with olives, etc., tightly rolled into the sandwich and allowed to mellow overnight. Salmon salad: not done nearly enough! Make it like your favorite tuna salad sandwich. Better quality canned salmon is perfectly good, though poached or roasted salmon is better. Ham salad: again, a sandwich filling that's neglected even though it can be superb. Start with a really, really good ham (easier to say than find). Among the items I like to mix in: little cubes of roasted beets, cornichon or homemade dill pickles, etc. Shrimp & Dill salad. Again, simple but sophisticated. Hey, try potted shrimp, making your own potted shrimp, of course. If you're a knife & fork establishment, consider Danish open face sandwiches. Talk about variety! But labor intensive to prepare. Your own version of bahn mi. Have you done Cubanos? How about a version with corned beef and roast beef instead of ham and roast pork? (Would then be a Reubeno? Marinated fish sandwich: Fried flounder or just about any other thin/medium fried filet (even, perhaps especially, herring) which you marinate overnight with sliced onions and a thin vinegar/sugar pickle solution spiked with a clove (very Scandinavian). Serve it as a Danish open face on Danish rye, or on a Portuguese long roll.

A lot of the baked goods that call for buttermilk need the acid buttermilk provides. This is especially true in recipes using baking soda. (Baking powder, by definition, includes baking soda and an acid, usually cream of tartar and, in the case of double-acting baking powders, another chemical acid.) That's one reason why you can easily substitute yogurt, acidified milk and other products for buttermilk: it's not so much the flavor of buttermilk per se that the recipe requires, it's the acid.

I purposefully delayed my visit to the RTM until 2 p.m. today in an attempt to avoid the lunch crowd. Mistake. Just prior to my arrival it appears that 6,000 convening soccer coaches were released from their meeting and every single last one of them wanted a sandwich at the RTM. Didn't matter what vendor you went to (although the ones on the 12th Street side like Carmen's and Rick's were the busiest), there was a 20-minute wait everywhere. Tommy's ran out of everything by 2:30. Mike Holahan of Pennsylvania General Store said that the market was pretty empty at noontime, but when a meeting lets out, there's mad rush for food. The soccer coaches are still in town for the weekend, so you might want to adjust your RTM time accordingly on Saturday (get out before 11:30 a.m.). Instead, I ate at the new Crown Fried Chicken around the corner at 11th & Filbert. At Iovine's California clementines available for $5.99/box. They taste great, but they are very ripe, so don't be surprised if one or two get squished in transit. Bell peppers back down in price. Reds and oranges $1.49, greens and yellows $1.99. English "seedless" cukes $2 apiece. Limes still up there at 3/$1. Avocados $1 apiece. The fresh porcini looked very good ($39.99/pound). Galia melons $1. I picked up another pack of strawberries at $1.49; they smell good. Lots of variety and prices on oranges, grapefruit. The russet baking potatoes were of better than usual quality, slightly pricey at 59-cents/pound. Good looking product at all three fish mongers. Spearling still available, as are frozen langoustines (scampi): $9.99 at Golden for Indian farm raised langoustines, $19.99 at Wan for Kiwi product.

There's been a live poultry market in Elizabeth since I was in knee-pants in the early 1950s. For many years it was located on First Avenue near 7th Street, just off Elizabeth Avenue, where the open air market was held every Wednesday and Saturday (not far from Tommy's and Jerry's). Is that where this poultry market is?

Any Philadelphia-style "Surf 'n Turf' on the menu, i.e., hot dog with a deep fried fish cake smashed with it on the bun?