eG Foodblog: nolnacs (2011) - Pork, peaches and pie. Saying goodbye to

[Shelby]

Awwwww, I love Terry! I didn't know turtles would eat peaches. He's a lucky guy

[Jenni]

Aha, there is a turtle involved! (though in the UK we would call Terry a terrapin - so your name is well picked!)

Love the market photos.

May I ask you about your ice-cream? I have always gone out of my way to find ice cream made with good cream, sugar and whatever natural flavour additions are desired. Nothing else. That's also how I make ice-cream when I do it at home. My vanilla ice cream is good fresh double cream, sugar and vanilla (from high quality pods, not extract or "flavouring"). I am curious as to why you find cream cheese and cornstarch (or cornflour - damn us Brits eh?!) to be so much better?

I am by no means an ice-cream expert (I make it maybe twice a year) and this is an innocent question. You're going against everything I ever held to be true!

[nolnacs]

That is interesting on the format of the fruit affecting how much you enjoy it. As we come into pear season I know that sliced will be the optimal way. With dead ripe fruit there is a certain whole body experience in biting in and having the juices gush, the rush of sweet and texture of the flesh and the pull of the skin. With decent but not just before it is too ripe stone fruit like peaches and nectarines I also find the slicing more enjoyable.

On your earlier quinoa salad - it looks great - are you a recent convert to the grain?

I wonder if the juice is a factor in why I like sliced peaches better. Perhaps more juice escapes from the flesh of the peach when it is torn by teeth instead of sliced by a sharp knife.

I've made quinoa on occasion for a few years now. It's a nice change of pace but I wouldn't want to have it frequently (1/week).

[nolnacs]

Awwwww, I love Terry! I didn't know turtles would eat peaches. He's a lucky guy

Yep, he loves fruit and seafood. He also likes vegetables that are not bitter (carrot or sweet potato). He refuses to eat lettuce and instead just tears it into shreds.

[nolnacs]

Aha, there is a turtle involved! (though in the UK we would call Terry a terrapin - so your name is well picked!)

Love the market photos.

May I ask you about your ice-cream? I have always gone out of my way to find ice cream made with good cream, sugar and whatever natural flavour additions are desired. Nothing else. That's also how I make ice-cream when I do it at home. My vanilla ice cream is good fresh double cream, sugar and vanilla (from high quality pods, not extract or "flavouring"). I am curious as to why you find cream cheese and cornstarch (or cornflour - damn us Brits eh?!) to be so much better?

I am by no means an ice-cream expert (I make it maybe twice a year) and this is an innocent question. You're going against everything I ever held to be true!

Well, I tried making more traditional ice creams initially, but I had problems with them ending up icy and rock hard once I put them in the freezer. The texture was only good when they came out of the ice cream maker. That is why when I saw this technique using corn starch, corn syrup and cream cheese I decided to give it a try and it worked so much better (texturally) and I didn't notice any diminishment in the flavor. I'm not opposed to additives when they improve the quality of the product so it doesn't bother me to add those ingredients.

That being said, perhaps I didn't do a good job with the more traditional custard base. Others might be able to pull off that more successfully.

[Jenni]

Well to be fair, I've never made "custard base" (i'm assuming that means eggs). Just good cream, something sweet and something tasty!

[nolnacs]

Breadmaking has continued this morning

The biga has been chopped up into little pieces and will soon be joined by the rest of the ingredients

While waiting for the biga to lose its chill (it spent the night in the refrigerator), I decided to make my weekly oatmeal.

1 C steel cut oats + 3 C whole milk + pinch of salt

Cooking

Getting close - time to add about 1/2 C raisins

Raisins are now plump, adding 3 T brown sugar and 1/4 t cinnamon

Let it cook for just a bit more and it is all done

But where is the fruit?

I preordered a crate of peach seconds ($10) from Three Springs Fruit Farm who are one of the vendors at the Headhouse Farmers Market. They were kind enough to top off my crate with some less bruised peaches as well.

[heidih]

Beautiful peaches and generous farmer. That is why I love developing relationships at the farmers markets as opposed to sterile shops where the most they know about the produce is usually the code number.

[nolnacs]

I'm still working my way through the pictures of the Terminal Market from yesterday.

After getting produce at Iovine's, I usually go across the aisle to Giunta's for meat

I really should use their smoked meats more - I've really enjoyed them whenever I have used them

They also have a decent selection of poultry although I often go to Godshall's instead which is devoted entirely to poultry and has a wider range of options

[percyn]

nolnacs, your blog is off to a great start!

No stopping at DiNics for roast pork or Termini Brothers for cannolis?

Are you planning trip to other philly places? Han dynasty, Garces Trading Co, Osteria, etc?

What were your favorite places in Chicago?

Have a great week blogging.

[nolnacs]

Next stop in the Reading Terminal Market is Downtown Cheese

I do most of my cheese shopping here. I will also go to Di Bruno Bros. which has an even better selection of cheeses. However, I only stop by the Italian Market once or twice a month so Downtown is my main cheese source. When I was there yesterday I picked up some Chimay Grand Cru and some sharp provolone.

In addition to their cheeses, they have a solid selection of cured meats and olives

[KatieLoeb]

More great pics of some of my favorite places. Philly rocks the eating department. I love those guys at Downtown Cheese. They're so helpful and generous with tastes of stuff you're not sure about. Blog on, buddy. Looking forward to the pics from Head House...

[nolnacs]

Of course, this being the Terminal Market, there are other cheese vendors. While I didn't buy any cheese there, I did stop by Salumeria to pick up some olives. They also make some tasty hoagies there.

Going after some oil cured olives

They also have some dry goods which I find to be a bit pricey compared to where they can be found elsewhere - like the Italian Market

[nolnacs]

I should also mention that Salumeria has many more cheeses than are shown in the one picture - that's just the only one my wife took of the case.

[nolnacs]

I just pulled the bread out of the oven a few minutes ago so I thought I would let everyone see how it came out.

Formed into sort of the right shape

Risen bread - yikes! That was much faster than I had expected

Slashed - this dough was rather difficult to slash as it kept catching on my razor blade

Out of the oven

And on to the cooling rack

Shapewise these loaves ended up wider than I had wanted, but I think that they should still work as a delivery vehicle for (hopefully) delicious roasted pork.

[nolnacs]

Beautiful peaches and generous farmer. That is why I love developing relationships at the farmers markets as opposed to sterile shops where the most they know about the produce is usually the code number.

I agree. It takes me some time to build those relationships as I am not particularly outgoing, but they are well worth it.

[KatieLoeb]

Will you be making homemade Roast Pork Italiano sandwiches?? Garlicky sauteed broccoli rabe and sharp provolone are the only missing elements. I think everyone needs to see what a better sandwich it is than a cheesesteak. I remain on my crusade to elevate that sandwich to the same or higher status than the cheesesteak.

[nolnacs]

nolnacs, your blog is off to a great start!

No stopping at DiNics for roast pork or Termini Brothers for cannolis?

Are you planning trip to other philly places? Han dynasty, Garces Trading Co, Osteria, etc?

What were your favorite places in Chicago?

Have a great week blogging.

While DiNics is quite good, since I am going to make roast pork sandwiches this evening I decided to go with Chinese food instead. I actually prefer Isgros' cannoli to Termini. I am hoping that I will have a chance to stop by there before the end of the blog.

As far as other places, I was thinking about hitting a restaurant on Friday night, but haven't decided which one. I love Osteria and Han Dynasty but Garces Trading was a disappoint the one time I've been there.

Your mention of Chicago and Osteria has reminded me of my pizza rankings

Personal pizza rankings

1. Great Lake - Chicago

2. Osteria - Philadelphia

3. Stella - Philadelphia

4. Spacca Napoli - Chicago

5. Zavino's - Philadelphia

Not to get sidetracked, but in Chicago I did most of my produce shopping at Stanley's. Meat from either Paulina or Peoria packing.

[nolnacs]

Will you be making homemade Roast Pork Italiano sandwiches?? Garlicky sauteed broccoli rabe and sharp provolone are the only missing elements. I think everyone needs to see what a better sandwich it is than a cheesesteak. I remain on my crusade to elevate that sandwich to the same or higher status than the cheesesteak.

That is the goal, yes. I've not made them before so we will see how it turns out. I'm loosely following a recipe from Saveur. Although I am using spinach instead of rabe. I follow John's in that the rabe is just too bitter.

[Kim Shook]

My currently crazy life means that I missed the end of Soba’s blog and completely missed EatNopales’ blog, so I’m glad to get in at the beginning of this one. One of my step-sisters was actually born on Malta, so I was interested to see you’d lived there. My parents lived in Chicago for a few years while I was in college and I just adore that city. Mr. Kim, our daughter and I lived in Batesville, IN for a couple of years in the 1980’s. We’ve been to Philly a couple of times (cheesesteaks one trip and Morimoto the other) and really want to come back, so I’m very excited to see that. Seems like a tailor made blog for me!

I love the handwritten shopping list - now, if you’ll make sure to get a shot of your hands cooking all my idiosyncratic blog tastes should be taken care of. Others want to see your pantry and fridge. Me…I want handwriting and hands !

The hand drawn noodles were amazing! Those and soup dumplings are on my wishlist for our town. I’m with you on the texture problem with tendon and cartilage. Loved the market pictures – that is one of the places that I’m dying to see when we come back next time. I can’t imagine having that diverse choice and that sort of quality. Very jealous here.

Your rolls are gorgeous and I can’t wait to see the roasted pork sandwiches!

[KatieLoeb]

OK - that's fair. I like mine with either spinach or broccoli rabe as the green portion of the Italiano, with a slight edge going to the rabe only because I think the bitterness cuts the fattiness of the meat and cheese nicely. So I gather you're a fan of John's vs. any of the other possibilities? I love John's but the hours are so inconvenient. I usually hit Tony Luke's or DiNic's for my roast pork fix.

edited to add:

And the rolls are a work of art! Wish I was more of a baker, but things that rise make me skeered...

Edited September 11, 2011 by KatieLoeb (log)

[nolnacs]

My currently crazy life means that I missed the end of Soba’s blog and completely missed EatNopales’ blog, so I’m glad to get in at the beginning of this one. One of my step-sisters was actually born on Malta, so I was interested to see you’d lived there. My parents lived in Chicago for a few years while I was in college and I just adore that city. Mr. Kim, our daughter and I lived in Batesville, IN for a couple of years in the 1980’s. We’ve been to Philly a couple of times (cheesesteaks one trip and Morimoto the other) and really want to come back, so I’m very excited to see that. Seems like a tailor made blog for me!

I love the handwritten shopping list - now, if you’ll make sure to get a shot of your hands cooking all my idiosyncratic blog tastes should be taken care of. Others want to see your pantry and fridge. Me…I want handwriting and hands !

The hand drawn noodles were amazing! Those and soup dumplings are on my wishlist for our town. I’m with you on the texture problem with tendon and cartilage. Loved the market pictures – that is one of the places that I’m dying to see when we come back next time. I can’t imagine having that diverse choice and that sort of quality. Very jealous here.

Your rolls are gorgeous and I can’t wait to see the roasted pork sandwiches!

I did get a hand shot in a bit earlier so that is an easy request to satisfy.

One of my favorite parts about living in a big city is all the grocery/food options. This past Christmas my brothers and I had a cooking competition. Each of us was paired up with our respective significant other and needed to prepare an appetizer and entree. Since we were at our parents' farm in Indiana, we had to go to the local supermarket (Payless) to shop for ingredients. I wanted prosciutto for one of my dishes and I searched and searched but could not find it. I asked a handful of people at the store and they all looked at me like I was crazy. Luckily, I managed to find a packaged of presliced prosciutto hidden with the other deli meats. That was a long winded way of saying, I am very thankful for the bounty that is around me!

For soup dumplings, I like Dim Sum Garden (right across the street from the Terminal Market), but their other dishes are only so so. Sakura which is in Chinatown proper also has good soup dumplings but the rest of their menu is also tasty. So if you only want soup dumplings, I recommend Dim Sum Garden but if you want a full meal, go to Sakura since their soup dumplings are almost as good anyway.

[nolnacs]

OK - that's fair. I like mine with either spinach or broccoli rabe as the green portion of the Italiano, with a slight edge going to the rabe only because I think the bitterness cuts the fattiness of the meat and cheese nicely. So I gather you're a fan of John's vs. any of the other possibilities? I love John's but the hours are so inconvenient. I usually hit Tony Luke's or DiNic's for my roast pork fix.

edited to add:

And the rolls are a work of art! Wish I was more of a baker, but things that rise make me skeered...

John's is my favorite, DiNics is also great but neither is particularly easy to eat at....

At John's you have the hours but at DiNics you have the hordes and hordes of people. It seems like all the tourists at the Terminal Market want to eat at DiNics and I can't blame them. It just means I don't end up eating there very often either.

Edited September 11, 2011 by nolnacs (log)

[KatieLoeb]

True. John's is hard to get to when they're open, and DiNic's is overcrowded when it IS open. Neither has truly decent seating, but at least at the market there's hope of finding a seat in the central dining area if you've managed to wait out the line. Tony Luke's is by far both the easiest in terms of hours (open real late too!) and has a reasonable amount of seats right there. Best of both worlds.

[nolnacs]

There are a number of fishmongers in the Reading Terminal Market, but I typically go to John Yi.

Friendly fishmonger always happy to chat and recommend fish

In the top corner of this shot, they sell salmon pieces pretty cheap. I've used these to make salmon burgers or more frequently as treats for Terry. He really, really loves salmon.

He also loves shrimp. I have thought about buying him one of the gigantic XX jumbo shrimp just because I think it was be amusing to watch him attack a shrimp that is half as big as he is, but then I realize that he would probably eat the whole thing and that can't be good for a turtle.