mrbigjas

ok reporting back: due to a funeral i was upstate that day, so i ended up not going. but they went to irish pub @ 20th & walnut. reports were that on the plus side, the atmosphere was nice enough, they were more than accommodating with the group and everything went smoothly. on the minus side it was kind of hard to hear, and the only food group available was fried. after a reconnaissance with twenty21, the organizer decided it was a little formal for our first meeting, but we may hook it up in the future. thanks to all.

of course. however i might request one thing: bulleit bourbon. it's good for drinkin by itself because it's not as sweet as most bourbons and has more structure to it, if you can say that about liquor. it mixes well for similar reasons, it's 90 proof, it's $22 a bottle. my favorite booze. and i love how quinces turn that candy apple red when they're cooked. harold mcgee says it has to do with tannins and acid and converting one blahblahblahcyanozinitholoideneane to something else, but i just think it's neat. those things can be--no, need to be--combined somehow. not sure how. edited yet again to add: it could be the reason your thoughts are turning to fall booze is that it's cold outside right now. don't worry, it's still august! we still got a month and a half before the real fall weather comes...

haha yeah, but they're not open when i can go! he was asking where he should go in the interim. i'll get there one of these days though. promise. p.s. i coulda sworn there was a pho thread here somewhere that these non-cafe-diem posts could be moved to, but i can't seem to find it.

i have always and still do like the pho at xe lua, 9th & race. but if you wanna stay down in your hood, i've liked what i had at viet huong on 11th street. i like their banh mi too. pho 75 is fine as well. but what i think you should do is go to the place on 11th where porky & porkie was, and tell us how it is.

excellent. it seems so small from the outside. damn this job of mine! i wonder if i can get down there for lunch.

ok i hate to be this guy but can i drag the boy there, or is there no room?

this is true. it's a fantastic drink. everyone go now. edited to expand on this: chick's is a nice place, feelin' retro inside. the earlier comments about the wine being too hot should be solved now; katie has a wine fridge over on the side now keeping things at a nice 56, i assume. she also makes a great cocktail, as we all know. watch out for the contractors drinkin irish car bombs, though...

i had another thought: would it be heresy to use a cuisinart to make this dough? stirring/beating it for 15+ minutes is exhausting, and after all i've never used that plastic dough blade that comes with the thing.

i made that focaccia again the other day, and in the process reread most of this thread. momentous goings on last year at this time! anyway, you know, it's way better than it has any right to be, just dough and tomatoes and oil....

north star orchards rules, don't they? their tomatoes aren't the best, but their other produce definitely rocks. i love those summer blaze apples.

right? as soon as i saw that stand i was like, GAME SET MATCH everyone else loses. then i realized that since i was alone maybe i should stop yapping. that guy has like five things he sells, but what little he has is all really good. i've eaten vast quantities of that purslane, and the chinese chives, and the mushrooms, which are totally expensive, unlike his other items. last night i stuffed some pork chops (not the ones i got when i saw you, wkl, but some chops i got from the saturday market on rittenhouse, which were super good) with an oyster mushroom stuffing. damn good. last week i made chinese chive dumplings from this recipe. niiiiiice.

as of yesterday, taquitos de puebla had a stand at the farmer's market, complete with pineapple gyro spit.

i'm pretty sure the aguibal oils are pretty widely distributed. they produce arbequina, picual, and manzanilla varietal oils. http://www.aguibal.com/oliveoil.php

gardenweb rarely steers me wrong: click here for more

looks like a crenshaw to me, but i could be wrong. photo here. the little stripey ones next to it look like korean melons, which i love. they taste like a mix between cantaloupe and cucumber.

for a really great cocktail you could head to bob & barbara's and ask for a 'special.' shot of beam, can of pabst, $3. classy!

considering mercato is BYOB, yeah southwark would be better.

hm, i know i got the idea from you, but that doesn't look like exactly what i remember -- did you do a step by step picture series or something on here or another board or something? i remember talking about whether to use lard or oil... well, whatever. i mooched the recipe and have made it numerous times, including last night. katie, i got it from the farmer's market this past week. $1.50 for a big ol' bunch--probably a pound and a half or so--which, you know, i know it should be free since it's a weed and all, but i can't complain about $1.50. RG, you should really try puerco con verdolagas sometime. it's fantastic.

ok it might be easier to try and list who's NOT on there. well, easier for me. not for whoever's putting it together.

the #1 problem with this show is not cultural insensitivity, or gross-out factor. the problem is that apparently the sound guys have implanted the microphone directly into andrew zimmern's jaw, and every time he eats something, you can actually hear his TMJ clicking and popping as he chews, and you can hear his tongue mashing the food around his hard palate and his pharynx and trachea moving when he swallows. it's horrifying. it's like sitting in a silent room with someone eating, and you're not allowed to eat yourself, or talk. i shudder just thinking about it.

haha bob & barbaras! now that would be a scene. we could set up the ping pong table, and order in from pico de gallo!

i sure do. trying to describe how to prepare an artichoke is always confusing, and i've seen people do it on TV all the times, and it always seems to take a long time. but with that one cut, he just took care of everything. it makes me want to buy some artichokes and give it a try. I think i will. gennarino.org does seem to be a good site -- franci was always recommending we read it. unfortunately, i don't speak italian, so it's pretty hard for me...

wow, that's the most useful artichoke-related video i've ever seen.

that's why you should eat more of it--just think of all the omega-3 fatty acids! you won't have to eat fish oil pills, so you can save the world fish population and your garden at the same time...

purslane tacos. rancho gordo posted this recipe sometime last year. heat up some lard or vegetable oil. put in a couple cloves of garlic, and some sliced onion. when it's soft, add the purslane, cook till wilted, serve on fresh corn tortillas with some kind of cheese (i use cotija) and maybe a squeeze of lime. it's damn good. i have it relatively often throughout the summer. in fact i have some in my fridge right now waiting for this treatment.