rlibkind

Fish choices got more interesting today with herring at Yi's and Golden, though Yi's called them "herring" and Golden called them "sardines". But same fish, same size. That's the "herring" at John Yi behind the cod tails, priced at $2.99 -- same price as the "sardines" at Golden. Yi's also had spearing at $3.99/pound. Golden also had whole bronzino at $5.99 and arctic char at $6.99. One of the fishmongers at Golden told me it was wild char, which certainly is possible, although two-thirds of the char that reaches market is farmed. (If you haven't had it, char is a salmonid, like salmon and trout. Also, char farms are still small scale and are environmentally isolated, so they don't create some of the problems that can accompany salmon aquaculture.) Dry scallops at Golden up to $14.99/pound. Harry Ochs has started to carry White Marble Farms pork products. Haven't tried it yet, but it's purportedly a fattier, more marbled product. Produced by a consortium of Midwestern farms. I'll have to try it to see how it compares to local Country Time sold by Fair Food Farmstand; the latter is excellent pork. Neither White Marble nor Country Time, however, comes from heritage pig. At Iovine's, limes down to a dime apiece; lemons 20-cents. Avocados remain at $1 each. And there are still small red and yellow bell peppers at 99-cents/pound; the yellows are up to $2.99. The bulb fennel looked good this week. Hmmm. Pasta con sardo, anyone? You can still get prickly pear (cactus pear) at OK Lee Produce for 99-cents apiece; the margaritas I made from them last week were delicious (equal parts fruit pulp, lime juice, tequila and Triple Sec). What I did not see on sale at the RTM today was reindeer meet. Guess I'll have to visit D'Angelo has it on 9th Street for that!

I managed to resist a roast pork at Tommy DiNic's today (not that hard considering they were out of cheese at 1:15 p.m.) and got the brisket. Almost as good as my mother's!

Okay, I'll bite. What would have made it perfect?

Uh, how many fans of the late 60s/early 70s Knicks do we have here in Phialdelphia? (At least two.)

RTM manager Paul Steinke reports that foot traffic this past Sunday was double that of the previous Sunday, more than 9,000 vs. fewer than 4,500. Some of it no doubt came from a big convention, but Steinke believes there were increased numbers of locals as word as spread of the Sunday openings. This Sunday will be the last of the three scheduled for December.

Unless you've got got a good rotary slicer, any cut other than prime rib will make a less than tender roast beef. However, an eye of round or top sirloin cooked no more than medium rare, sliced just shy of paper thin on a commercial deli slicer, can taste wonderfully beefy. Cut it thicker, however, and it's shoe leather. The lesser cuts work only if you are careful not to overcook: no more than medium rare or, once again, you've got shoe leather. Prime rib is the only roasting beef that's at all palatable when cooked beyond medium rare thanks to its high fat content (some would contend anything beyond medium rare is unpalatable, but that's a matter of taste); the other cuts are quite lean with little marbling and are therefore tougher. I haven't tried winesonoma's cross rib suggestion, but it's similar to prime rib (different ribs) so it might be more forgiving than eye round or top sirloin. It's price will probably fall somewhere inbetween If you can't afford the prime rib (I certainly can't, at least on a frequent basis) and don't have access to a commercial slicer, follow Lori's advice and just do pot roast. I just cooked a chuck roast this afternoon I purchased from Harry Ochs at the Reading Terminal Market; it's now sitting the fridge and will be very gently reheated for Sunday dinner tomorrow. After initial browning, pot roast is no fuss, but provides big beef satisfaction. I also varies cook it atop the stove, covered, over a very low flame. The key is to avoid "boiling" the meat; rather, you want to slowly braise with only occasional delicate bubbles. I'd also probably use less liquid than Lori's recipe. Mark Bittman offers a good basic pot roast recipe in his "How To Cook Everything". He also has an interesting Pot Roast with Cranberries which I haven't yet tried, but it's a far cry from roast beef.

It's holiday time! That means candy. Mueller's Chocolates (opposite Termini's) specializes in chocolates molded in various shapes. You can also get marzipan fruit there. Of special interest is their licorice collection: lots of different shapes and styles for the licorice lover. I picked up some chocolate-covered molasses sponge for my father-in-law this morning; my wife calls it "fairy food". Another candy purveyor of note is Fisher's in the Pennsylvania Dutch section. Great little hard Christmas candies. I'm particularly fond of their orange slices; much more natural taste that most of the jell slices you can find. While it's not paté de fruit, it is good. Although they don't sell the variety of candies to be found at the other two purveyors, Pennsylvania General Store offers some interesting sweets, including its own "Keystone Crunch", a cracker-jack like concoction. I'm a sucker for the chocolate covered potato chips, as well as the Swiss chocolate truffles made in Lancaster County by a bona fide Swiss chocolatier (Albert Parisi of Neuchatel Chocolates. Onward to less intensively sweet items . . . John Yi's is taking orders for holiday fish if you're planning a Seven Fishes feast. Squid, sardines, etc. Today I picked up a nice looking hunk of wild stripped bass filet ($9.99/pound); I'll probably bake it with onions, olives, capers. What's available now at the RTM's three fish vendors is pretty much their standard fare. I'd expect to see the rarer items starting late next week. (Though squid is hardly rare; it's always available. Wan sells some fairly large squid -- I think it's labelled "sepia" -- which I had last June in Douglas, Alaska. It was prepared as a square piece of flesh, maybe 3x5 inches, then sauteed and served as a "steak". Quite delicious with a citrus sauce.) Harry Ochs still offers plenty of great cuts of beef, lamb, veal, etc., but it seems as if a bigger portion of the vendor's business is in ready-to-cook and/or eat items. The meat loaf, patés and pot pies always look good. A gent next to me bought a stuffed pork chop (small, because he only has a toaster oven). I went for a hunk of tied chuck for pot roast. Iovines still has boxes of large and refreshing clementines at $4.99 apiece. No porcinis when I arrived this morning, but the rest of the mushrooms were there. I picked up a "grab bag" of domestic whites, which worked out to $1/pound vs. $1.99 pound regularly; I checked them out when I got home and while they need normal cleaning, looks like they are 99% useable. Perfect to go with the pot roast, along with the parsnips I bought. Small red, orange, and yellow bell peppers all selling for 99-cents/pound; I might sautee strips to go with that stripped bass, or add them to the baking dish. Over at OK Lee produce I spied cactus pears for 99-cents apiece; I'll puree them for margaritas tonight. Benuel Kaufman out of cider today, but should have more during the week. Arkansas Black apples are no more. Earl Livengood still had chestnuts, which I've put in the 'fridge for roasting in a day or two. Nice variety of potatoes, and cute little cauliflowers maybe 4-5 inches across. Also Brussels Sprouts on the stalks. Earl also had green peppers out of his storage that looked good, though small: three for $1. Attention mrbigjas: They aren't booze soaked (that's a DIY project I can get into) but L.L. Halteman's offers three or four different types of "homemade" fruit cakes, each priced a $6.29. Paul Seinke, RTM manager, said the first of the new merchants to open shortly after the New Year will probably be Flying Monkey Bakery, which currently is a wholesale supplier to restaurants and also does retail baked goods catering. This is its first retail venture. Strictly sweets, not breads. (The Jewish deli that will open in the new year will feature breads, rolls, etc. from Kaplan's New Model.) ---------- Edited to add content

According to RTM Manager Paul Steinke, while traffic and sales were on the low side last Sunday, most of the merchants who opened felt it worthwhile. Nick of Harry Ochs said business was on a par with a Monday, a traditionally slow day. Steinke and merchants do, however, expect more volume this Sunday and next. Steinke said he thought the big crowds last week at the Down Home Diner (and at lunchtime at Rick's Steaks) were due to hotel guests. Many try the doors of the RTM every Sunday and find them closed, to their surprise; this past Sunday they were open.

Glad to hear Goodman's worked out well for everyone Dr. Susan! What did you think of Elmora Avenue?

Thanks!

Forty years ago (and then some) I was enjoying salt bagels from Watson Bagels in Irvington NJ. (They had moved there from Newark). They may not have had salt bagels in Montreal, but they did in NY and NJ.

Thanks for doing the test and reporint! Verrrry interressstinnng.

I second and third Bux and JohnL. It's all about crunch and adhesion, much more so than taste. And I also love Maldon which has wonderful flakes.

Krispy Kreme has been around since 1937 (obviously not in Philly but in the South) and I believe started using those Hot Donuts Now signs shortly afterward. Are you sure that many Hot Bagels signs really predate that? ← No. It was just something snarky to say.

"Hot Bagel" signs have been around for quite a while, and not just in Phila. North Jersey and NYC, too. Anyplace where they actually make bagels. Predates the lights at Krispy Kreme.

Pretty simple, really. Steam the separated ribs (over birch twigs, preferably) for a couple of hours until the meat loosens from the bones, then quickly grill/broil to brown. Serve with potatoes and/or rutabagas or turnips and, of course, Aquavit to cut through the meat's richness (it's a fatty cut).

Anyone know where in the U.S. (I'm in Philadelphia, but willing to mail order, etc.) I can find pinnekjøtt, Norwegian salted-cured lamb ribs, a traditional West Norway Christmas food?

Heirloom apple cider with clove sorbetto. Spice is nice! Also tasted the apple with calvados. The latter was considerably more subtle and refined, but I enjoyed the cider and clove more -- very winter festive. (20th Street).

They've got the right idea in Montreal, if this bakery is representative. Looks like slightly different shape, and I imagine there would be a subtle difference in using honey rather than malt syrup in the water.

Bingo. Sfuffy's got it right about the bagel-makers' union; that's why we had to travel 5 miles from Elizabeth to Newark for our Saturday night hot-from-the-oven bagels until the 1960s. The only place that's going to come close to having a good bagel is one that still boils the bagel. Also, look for the long wooden boards on which the bagels are placed in the oven (and then flipped to bake on the other side, iirc). Another key: the smaller (less humongous, not mini) the better; this provides a higher ratio of surface to bulk. Hopefully they've added a touch of malt syrup to aid in creating the proper surface texture and sheen. A bagel factory that's largley automatated won't produce a good bagel; you still need the touch of human hands at key points in the process. Bagels don't need to be hand-shaped (though that's a plus), but they do need to be hand-tended.

Alas, there aren't that many "real NY boiled bagels" in NY these days.

The bagel in Center City and environs that most closely resembles the bagel of my youth (Watson Bagels, Chancellor Avenue, Newark) can be found at Philadelphia Bagel in the strip mall along Columbus Blvd. (Delaware) at Washington. They even have bialys on weekends! My only complaint is that they are often out of salt bagels by the time I get there. I've yet to have a better bagel in Philadelphia.

Definitely not in the 'burbs, but "Pasta by George" at the Reading Terminal Market does a credible job. I really enjoyed the pumpkin ravioli I picked up a couple of weeks ago.

For photo and generic report on the Market's first Sunday opening, please see RTM Open Sundays In December topic. As to what I found on this first Sunday, offerings were abbreviated, at least between 10 and 11:20 a.m. when I was there. John Yi's, for example, didn't seem to have a full complement of fish, though Wan's did. Likewise, Harry Ochs' offerings in the display case appeared truncated, though I'm sure if you didn't seen a regular cut they could pull it out of the walk-in box for you; I purchased a pack of Boars Head cooked brats for dinner (I've got the kraut, which I think I'll cook in some riesling and juniper berries). The white tuna at Yi's may be getting a bit long in the tooth. Price was $7.99 today, down $2. Still waiting for all the holiday seafood goodies to show up. Iovine's was fully stocked, including the good looking assortment of mushrooms. Larger than normal clementines were $4.99 a box; I tried one when I brought it home and it was deliciously refreshing. Also bought a couple of rather tiny sweet red peppers, priced at 99-cents/pound, and some garlic, potatoes, juice orange, scallions. If you're craving fruit cake, Iovines still has the Claxton brand from Georgia at $3.99; if you like fruit cake (I do) it's quite good, even if it is better living through chemistry. Depending on size, navel oranges were either 3 or 5 for $1; lemons and limes still 20 cents apiece. Florida juicers 4/$1. Haas avocados $1 apiece; the bin had two different Mexican Haas sub-varieties: one very dark green, the other a lighter shade with a very slightly smoother skin. Both appeared ready to eat. Also picked up some lingonberry preserves at the Spice Terminal (an absolute necessity if you like Scandinavian-style waffles). Spice Terminal fully stocked for your holiday baking needs. Until about a year ago the Spice Terminal carried my favorite orange marmalade, "Tiptree Tawny Orange" from Wilkin & Sons. Haven't had any luck finding it until I was at the Columbus Blvd. Super Fresh a couple of weeks ago. It's not to everyone's taste since it is on the slightly bitter side and has rather thicker than normal shreds of rind.

Back from the RTM's first December Sunday opening of the season, and the above photo says it all. Hardly any food shoppers, at least between 10 and 11:20 a.m., when I was there. Weather may well have been a factor. And maybe this afternoon traffic will increase. The only busy vendors while I was there were two eateries: the Down Home Diner and Profi's Creperie. Since neither Metropolitan nor LeBus were open, I breakfasted on a cup from Old City Coffee and a decent, very sweet marble pound cake from Braverman's. The only other vendor doing decent business was Iovine's, and even they weren't that busy (3 checkouts were more than adequate to handle to flow). See the Reading Terminal Market: What I Found On My Most Recent Visit topic string for a report on today's offerings.