REPORT: eG "Heartland" Gathering 2012 (Philadelphia)

[Jim the Server]

Dinner at Zahav:

Hello everyone, I just wanted to take the time to give you some details of the meal from last night. These descriptions will reference Philadining's photos.

1.) Hummus Tehina with smoked paprika, parsley and olive oil.

2.) Hummus Tehina with house baked Laffa Bread.

3.) Salatim - (starting with at the top and working around clockwise) Salt Roasted Beets with Tehina, Israeli Salad (Cucumbers, Tomato, Parsley, Olive oil, & Salt), Taboulleh Salad (Parsley, Bulgur Wheat, & Tomato), Green Bean Salad (Aleppo Peppers, Tomato, Cilantro), Twice Cooked Eggplant, and Spiced Moroccan Carrots with Mint.

4.) Sweet Bread Schnitzel (dredged in all purpose flour, challah bread crumbs and white sesame) served with a Black Garlic Carib Molasses and Cauliflower Two-Ways (pickled & sauteed), and finished with a dash of Za'atar (wild dried savory, sumac, & white sesame).

5.) Fried Cauliflower with Herbed Labaneh - The cauliflower is fried in canola and finished with Volcanic/Black Sea Salt & Micro Chive. The Labaneh is herbed with garlic mint and dill.

6.) Watermelon Salad with Bulgarian Feta Cheese Crumbles, Black Olive Tapanade, Spiced Iranian Pistachios, and Sliced Breakfast Radishes.

7.) Chicken Liver Mousse over Challah toast with Sumac Onions, Pickled Carrot, Gribenes, and Micro Bulls Blood.

8.) Duck Hearts Al'Haesh served over a Date Tehina, with Goose Berries, and Cippolini Onions Two-ways.

9.) Spiced Eggplant (brined, fried, then grilled) over Israeli Couscous with Button Mushrooms and Mizuna, Finished with a Mushroom Tehina.

10.) Spiced Eggplant from a different angle.

11.) Messibah Lamb Shoulder (smoked at Percy Street Barbecue and then braised in a mixture of Pomagranite juice, Fennel, Whole Chickpeas, Black Pepper corns and Brown Sugar) served over Crispy Persian Wedding Rice with the chickpeas from the braising process.

12.) A bonier shoulder.

13.) Messibah Chicken with Sumac Red Onions, Green Tehina (Parsley & Cilantro), and a sprinkle of Za'atar.

14.) Rugelach with Date and Hazelnut paste

15.) Roasted Apricot with a Brown Sugar Sauce, house made Turkish Delight, Apricot Sorbet, and Ribbons of Cucumber Poached in St. Germaine (elder-flower liquor).

16.) Pavlova - Baked Meringue Bowl filled with Malabi (orchid root mousse) then finished with Crushed Iranian Pistachios and a compote of Blueberries and Strawberries.

17.) Konafi - Honey Sweetened Ricotta Cheese wrapped in Shredded Filo dough. Finished with a Peach compote and Labaneh Ice cream.

[Holly Moore]

Great and thanks Jim. What was the cooked cheese dish? Also the Sweetbread dish? Thanks again.

Edited August 11, 2012 by Holly Moore (log)

[rotuts]

Stunning! What was that sandwich above that sort 0f crumbled?

[jsmeeker]

Looks delicious. I wish I could have made it this year.

Did any body get a good root beer float?

[Holly Moore]

Sunday brunch at Han Dynasty, 108 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. Katie bats 1000 for throwing one hell of a weekend.

I may have a couple of names of the dishes wrong. Let me know and I'll edit the post.

Cold Sesame Noodles

Spicy Crispy Cucumber

Scallion Pancake

Fryed Taiwanese Sausage with Raw Garlic

Wontons in Chili Sauce

Dumplings in Chili Sauce

West Lake Beef Soup

Cumin Style Lamb

Double Cooked Chicken

Sauteed Greens

Tripe

Double Cooked Fish

Three Cup Chicken

Sauteed Green Beans

Crispy Rice Style Shrimp

Hot Sauce Style Pork

Salt and Pepper Shrimp

Edited August 12, 2012 by Holly Moore (log)

[Mummer]

Yeah, Holly, Katie hit a home run. Great to see everyone & happy to boost my pal Linda's heat scale a couple of points. You Heartlanders can come to Philly early & often!

[cdh]

Agreed, Charlie! Big kudos to Katie for planning and executing a great weekend of showcasing Philadelphia's tastiness~! And thanks to Holly for the able documentation of the goodies.

[KatieLoeb]

Thanks everybody! It really was a pleasure. Glad I recovered in time to make it to the feastivities!

Holly, the only mistake I see is the chicken is the Dry Pepper Chicken, not double cooked. The fish was the only double cooked style item.

I'm having West Lake Beef soup leftovers for dinner...)

[Holly Moore]

Too late for me to edit, Katie. People should see your correction.

Thanks again for organizing all of this..

[janeer]

Amazing menu and food pics from Zahav.

[nolnacs]

Thanks again to Katie for organizing the gathering. It was great to meet everyone this past weekend. Now it is time to recover from all the food that I ate...

[curls]

Any pictures or stories from Saturday's potluck?

[philadining]

Great and thanks Jim. What was the cooked cheese dish? Also the Sweetbread dish? Thanks again.

In the flurry of (late-night) posting I somehow left off the Haloumi photo, that was the fried cheese - perhaps we can get a more Zahavified description from Jim or someone...

I'm not sure whether some powerful admin can go back and revise earlier posts to integrate all this info, but if not, maybe I'll just make a new post that intersperses photos and descriptions.

I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing about the pot-luck on saturday. I'm sorry to have missed that, and brunch on sunday, and general mingling and socializing. I hope all the visitors enjoyed Philly!

[Chris Hennes]

Here are some shots of the Saturday Feast:

[adey73]

really enjoyed seeing those photos and putting names to faces.

Are the Tommy Dinic's beef sandwiches as good as Adam Richman rates them?

[Chris Hennes]

I can't speak for DiNic's beef, but the roast pork is fantastic... that said, I think if you twisted my arm I might admit to liking Paesano's better, and South Jersey Epicure insists that Tony Luke's is better as well.

[nolnacs]

And I'll say that John's is the best, but DiNic's is pretty tasty too.

[rlibkind]

Chris, Katie and Kerri Saturday at RTM

As for roast poems, I live 'em all. to paraphrase Yip Harburg's lyrics in Finian's Rainbow: when I'm not near the pork sandwich I love, I live the one I'm near.

[weinoo]

Hennes - whose chef's knife are you using on that aluminum pan?

[Chris Hennes]

Mine - and as you can see by the sloppy cuts, it needed sharpening anyway.

[heidih]

I have those white figs coming over my back wall - I see the honey - what cheese did you guys use?

[Pierogi]

Looks like a grand time ! Sure wish, however, that there were captions/explanations to some of those photos, so us non-insiders could tell who was who and what was what.

[Kerry Beal]

I have those white figs coming over my back wall - I see the honey - what cheese did you guys use?

Used a fresh goat cheese.

[philadining]

I don't see any enchiladas!

[Shelby]

You have me at the figs *drool*