mrbigjas
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Posts posted by mrbigjas
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i stopped by on saturday during the rittenhouse row festival, and it was a mob scene. a few things i saw but didn't buy because the line was too long:
1. fee bros orange bitters and mint bitters
2. underberg!
3. lots of expensive european mineral waters. as i am addicted to expensive european mineral waters, this is a bonus for me.
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seems to me a zin might be kinda big and alcoholic to take not knowing what's on the menu. what if the best looking thing turns out to be a nice piece of poached halibut in some kind of light sauce?
ok i got nothin, except maybe you could call and ask them to fax or email one to you, or at least give you an idea?
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Byob, we brought two bottles and left a half bottle for the waiter.
(Paris has a new rule that you can bring home unfinished wine, what's the rule in Philly? --Not that I mind, the staff seems to like it!)
to my knowledge the rule is: if you brought it, you can take it--in fact, i read the actual laws about alcohol in restaurants without a lcense and it kinda surprised me how strict it was about how you couldn't even have open wine in the kitchen for cooking, and other pretty harsh restrictions.
apparently no one pays attention to that.
but anyway, yeah, if you bring it, you can take it. if you buy it, you can't.
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just to clarify: matyson is BYOB, southwark and fork have bars. but there's a liquor store right around the corner from matyson.
brasserie perrier is a great suggestion--i knew i was forgetting somewhere obvious. rouge is right along there as well, and has always been solid.
i would recommend sansom street oyster house like i do for everyone, but i have a feeling 'old school philly seafood' might not be what they're looking for.
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anywhere in center city is good, then, as far as cabs go. places in south philly would also be good.
how about an early dinner at matyson? interesting contemporary american. take a cab to 19th & chestnut. stop in the liquor store there and buy a bottle of wine. matyson is on 19th between chestnut and market.
another place i went to recently that i really enjoyed is the new-ish southwark--very good food, also contemporary american, and they have a bar. 4th & bainbridge. (i posted about this last week)
fork is always reliably good, food-wise, at 3rd & market. they also have a bar.
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ok that narrows it down some--now, another question: what time of day? are you talking dinner, a sit down lunch, brunch, late-night?
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what do they like? i mean, do they want a full on dining experience, or 'authentic' philly experience?
for the latter i always recommend tony luke's--a very quick drive into south philly.
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what do they like? i always recommend tony luke's--a very quick drive into south philly.
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here's how i do it (and keep in mind here that this procedure isn't exactly 'authentic' but since you're using a different cut of meat to start with, this approximates the flavor)...
Dagnabit, I'm hungry now. You bastard, you.
ha!
well, look at it this way: you and i could just go BUY one, rather than having to approximate the experience in our home kitchens.
p.s. everyone: don't think that i think what i described up there is definitive. if you have better ideas/modifications/more specific recommendations/reasons i'm wrong, have at it!
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So -- what do I need to know about roasting pork to make it "Philly Style". Anybody?
here's how i do it (and keep in mind here that this procedure isn't exactly 'authentic' but since you're using a different cut of meat to start with, this approximates the flavor):
basically you cut and 'unroll' the pork loin so that you have a flat piece about 1/2 inch thick or so*. then you make an herb/garlic paste with a bunch of garlic, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper, maybe some marjoram if you like that. spread that all over the pork loin, and then re-roll it. roast it in a slow-ish oven at about 300-325 or so on a rack over a pan that has some water and/or white wine (this will catch the fat that drips off and make the juice) until it's done. it takes a little longer than you might expect, and you'll probably have to put more water in the pan.
*this is where, when they do it for real, they season the shoulder inside when they debone it, before re-tying it
OK while it's roasting, clean a bunch of broccoli rabe, blanch it/shock it, and then saute it in olive oil with a bunch of garlic, seasoned with salt (and hot pepper flakes if you like it a little spicy--they do with their spinach at dinic's; i'm not sure they do with the broccoli rabe at tony luke's). set aside. if you can't get broccoli rabe, just do a massive pile of sauteed spinach.
so then when the meat is done, let the thing rest for a while, and in the meantime get the pan with the juice in it (which will have all kindsa grease on/in it), and heat that up with any other juice that comes out of the meat while it's resting, and a little more water if you need to--you want a nice greasy flavorful juice. slice the meat thin, return it to the juice and keep it all warm in a chafing dish.
then get aged provolone, and slice it.
when someone orders a sandwich, put in the provolone, put in the meat with a slotted spoon, don't worry about the fact that you're soaking the roll with the juice, and then top it with some broccoli rabe. put it on waxed paper or deli paper. serve it with a fork. eat it fast--the longer it sits around the more the bread disintegrates.
jmcgrath is right about the temp--that's the other main difference between the cuts. since shoulder has so much fat and connective tissue, you have to slow-roast it, and you can take it to a much higher temp than loin. so your loin will remain a little pink, while a real roast pork sandwich is always ... not pink. however, consider that you're serving it sitting in the juice, so it won't hurt the sandwich too much if it dries out a little.
how's that for a starter?
edited to clarify and to add that last paragraph
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awesome. the sign on the old store said friday, but someone else emailed that it was open today, and i'm going to stop by on my way home.
and really, gbredben, torture? more like a dream come true.
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How did he poach that duck? That thing looks sweet.
Pan sear followed by a quick poach?
i would bet it's the other way around. poach till medium-rare and then either sear in a very hot pan to crisp the skin, or possibly broiled/torched.
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my dad says he's been eating fiddleheads raw, off the plant, for years. and he's not known for having an iron stomach.
last time i made them, we just cleaned them and sauteed them in butter with lemon. no blanching, no nothing.
but we live on the east coast of the u.s.--if the food poisoning is only taking place on the west coast, that would explain it.
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Your desserts look fabulous.
In your Steak & Shake photo, what's in the bottle to the right of the picture? It looks like a bottle of yellow pickles.
pickled hot peppers in vinegar. the top has a little hole in it and you shake out the spicy vinegar on things, leaving the hot peppers in the bottle. it's especially good on greens.
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"Attention Chestnut Shoppers": 4 cases of Cakebread Cabernet 2002 are at 12th and chestnut - well, a few less now. They are the only ones in the state at the moment according to the lcb site but I assume more will come eventually. $50.99 each - I am a huge cakebread fan so I am biased but I think they are well worth the price and can cellar for years. I just drank a '94 which is still terrific.
Evan
Tru dat: generally speaking, there's all kinds of high-flyin' crazy stuff at 12th and Chestnut for the Festival. Buy it, drink it, love it.
does the poorhouse have nice cellaring facilities? because you people are gonna drive me there right quick. but at least i'll have a metric buttload of wine to drink.
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very quick one, is there any particular you should score the skin on a snapper fillet to stop the blooming thing from curling into a fishy swiss roll. any help very much appreciated.
Alex.
alex, i think you're missing a word in your post and i can't quite figure out how to respond.
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good point. i think i'll head over this week.
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i always wondered about lidia's. i have one of her cookbooks, and it doesn't have a bad recipe in it, and she's one of the few tv chefs i still watch. but searching around the web turns up a lot of really mediocre reviews.
i'm going to be in pittsburgh in mid-june; i hope i'm not disappointed.
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hey elie, tonight i made the fried stuffed kibbeh, yogurt tahine dip, zucchini and tomatoes, pita, and cucumber salad--all from your course. it was great. thanks for doing this.
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well, we went last night for dining out for life, and had a great time and a great meal.
good sign number one: when i ordered my martini 'not too dry' the bartender put in a good glug of vermouth. sweet.
good sign number two: sweetbreads on special for an appetizer. of course i got them. they were great--paired with a bread pudding of sorts and a cranberry-based sauce... man oh man
others got a delicious porcini fettucine--which was a bit light on the pasta, but that was fine because it meant waaaay more porcini.
i got the pork chop that craig laban raved about. it was excellent--maybe a leeeeetle sweet for my tastes, but then again i'm not a sweets lover. and it was MASSIVE. i took half of it home. that can be either good or bad, depending on what you think of giant pork chops. my wife got the halibut with a beet/grapefruit salad, which was good. the salad definitely complemented and even really outshined the relatively simply cooked fish. someone at our table got the shad and enjoyed it, although i didn't taste it.
also everything was very professionally and smoothly-run, and really fairly priced as well. good stuff. i'll be back, and probably sooner rather than later, assuming i'll still be able to get a reservation once word really gets out as to how good it is. maybe a restaurant will be able to survive on that corner for a change.
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I feel so weak asking this. I am looking to make the perfect french fry. I am looking for what the right potato is and the right cooking temperature.
I have Yukon Golds and Russets in house. I am using Russets right now but am just not satisfied with the final product. I have 100 % Canola oil in the fryer.
We cut the fry in a 3/8ths cutter and soak in water. We change the water a couple of times to rinse off excess starch.
I blanch the fries in the fryer and let them rest and finish for a few more minutes. I only have the one fryer so I can't have two different temperatures going.
Suggestions ? Questions ? Solutions ?
my only suggestion is to make sure that you cool them completely before finishing them in the 375 oil. i usually do this in the refrigerator, spread out on a tray.
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Y'all know that if you eat them, you will smell like them for 3 days, don't you? Just curious
you say that like it's a bad thing...
but seriously i've eaten a pile of ramps sauteed in bacon grease once a week for the last three weeks and haven't noticed any residual effects. but then again, i do eat a lot of onions, garlic, shallots, scallions on a near-daily basis (nearly everything i make starts with something from that family) so maybe i always smell kinda funky.
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I made a first pass at the ramps tonight. butter and a little beefy evoo int the pan then white parts cut like scallions. Gave them a minute and then the green parts chiffonade with some rabe. let it go for a minute more put in a little chx stock and gave it 5 or 10 more min. S&P. booya! It was really great. Thanks for the guidance Dryden.
you might wanna try bacon fat next time, if you don't have a problem with that sort of thing. a lot of the recipes i've read said that's the tradition.
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Wishniak soda would make a decent mixer with Bourbon I think. Kind of an alternative to Jack & Coke. Has absolutely nothing to do with Philadelphia though, other than the substitution of the soda as a mixer.
how about any cocktail with jacquin's!
edited to say: for those who live other places, jacquin's is a local liquor maker--you know all those bottles of dekuyper mixers you see in bars? in philadelphia they're often made by jacquin's. creme de menthes, cassis, cacaos, butterscotchs, berry brandies, cheap vodkas, all that kinda stuff....
The new Di Bruno Brothers store
in Pennsylvania: Cooking & Baking
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it's a gentian-based german bitter digestif. comes in a little bitty portion-sized bottle that's covered in brown paper. Here's their website.