Reading Terminal Market (Part 1)

[rlibkind]

Only enough time for a quick trip to the RTM yesterday (Saturday, July 8), but here's what I spied:

At Benuel Kaufman's, those long cylindrical beets are back at $2.49 a quart box. He also has a profusion of peaches, $1.99/pound or $3.95/quart box. Large red raspberries, $4.95/pint. Yellow plums, $2.75/pint. Smallish ears of corn. His tomatoes are still of the hothouse variety. Apricot, currants, blueberries still available, but no blackberries yet. I walked away with corn, beets, yellow wax beans, blueberries, sweet cherries (no more pie cherries) and plums.

Over at Earl Livengood's there are plenty of local tomatoes, $3.95 pound, both organic and heirlooms. I picked up a meaty heirloom (I'm unsure of the variety) and paired it with Earl's leaf lettuce and bacon from Fair Food Project for a much welcome seasonal BLT. Earl also had both sweet and pie cherries along with his usually selection of greens, lettuces, and root vegetables.

Scallions (green onions) were hard to find anywhere yesterday. Both Iovine's and OK Lee were sold out before noon, and the farm stand purveyors didn't have any either. Had to settle for overpriced $1.19/bunch organic ones I picked up at Whole Foods today.

At Fair Foods local eggplant is in evidence, both black and purple at $3/pound. Also available, both red and black currants.

OK Lee still had the cactus pears.

Jersey peaches at Iovine's selling for 79 cents a pound. Jersey tomatoes 99-cents. The tangerines that last week went for 10/$1 are twice that price now.

I invested in a good steak at Harry Ochs -- one of the long-aged rib steaks, on the bone ($16/pound, iirc). I sure hope I don't overcook it on the grill this afternoon! That would be a waste. May the gods of grilling be with me.

Over at John Yi the Pacific sockeye priced at $11.99, king salmon at $12.99. The whole Jersey fluke looked very good.

[Dorine]

What does one do with fiddleheads, anyway? I saw them yesterday in Whole Foods. They were intriguing, but I've never come across any recipes or recommendations on how to consume them.

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I blanch for 10 seconds and place in cold water. Then I sautee with garlic and oil. Before all that, I also defrizz them in cold water to get rid of the brown little leaves. You can probably find more recipes on google

Evan

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Steam and serve with a bit of lemon butter or hollandaise sauce--not too much or you will overwhelm the delicacy of the fiddleheads.

[Dorine]

Kirby cucumbers are in season, and Benuel has some nice small ones, perfect for pickle-making. (I do mine in a salt-only brine [no vinegar] with garlic and coriander seeds. Dill is nice, too.)

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Can you explain in more detail please? I'd like to try this.

[Dorine]

today at the terminal: mirai corn at the farmstand.  it's bred to be as sweet as the supersweet varieties, but as tender as the old stuff.  and it's bright yellow instead of white.  damn good.

i'm still looking for the old school yellow corn though.  someday.

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You and me both! This wimpy white corn just doesn't have the flavor I remember!

Edited July 9, 2006 by Dorine (log)

[Dorine]

Did anyone else read Rick Nichols piece yesterday? He said what I couldn't, because I only had it second hand: at least a few of the merchants whose leases won't be renewed were behind in their rent..

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I am devastated that Braverman's was one of the targeted stands. I spoke up about it last November. I have since checked out the replacement vendor and think the action was a net loss. The replacement has failed to even interest me in trying anythig. His offerings are a total yawn.

[Dorine]

sometimes it pays to ask about less common ingredients

Absolutely. And at Och's, what they don't have they are bery good about getting--and telling you exactly when you can expect it.

I like to use real suet for certain recipes, especially traditional British ones. Very hard to find! But Och's will always save i for you--and priced very cheaply--if you ask. You buy the whle ppiece from him and then it keeps very well in the fridge.

[Dorine]

Same owner also operates Mezze in the center court.

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oh! that explains why their slices cost the same...

Hmmmmm . . . sounds like a definite Pizza Club outing. Perhaps coupled with a quick trip to or from Fairmount for Rembrandts and Illuminare, perhaps.

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Ooooh! There's a pizza club??? How do I join??!!

[Dorine]

We visited RTM this morning, and just like Bob, we were at the candy stand to get chocolate covered pretzels.  I was eyeing up the wild striped bass as well, did not make the purchase as we were not heading right home and did not want to keep the fish too long.

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All the fish vendors will pack your purchase in ice for the homeward trip upon reuest, and at no extra charge. Golden's is quite wownderul and thorough about it.

[Dorine]

For posterity's sake, here are photos take today of Braverman's, the Sandwich Stand and Tokyo Sushi Bar:

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Thanks for the pictures. I *really* miss Braverman's and do not understand why they were not renewed. Several pases by the replacement have failed to interest me in buying anything. I do not understand why the snot-nosed young MBA who now runs the place saw fit to deprive us of Braverman's--who was there before he was born!

I hadn't bought sushi at Tokyo's for years after a bad experience with some that wasn't very fresh. However, they sold canned *not sweetened* green tea, which I adore--loathe the sweetened form, so I miss buying that from them. And they were nice people.

[Dorine]

New this year are Galia melons from Brazil. This variety was first popularized by Israeli growers and later brought to the New World. $1.49 per melon.

have you tried these? i considered buying one last week but when i picked it up it had a super floral almost papaya-ish smell to it, and sometimes papaya smells like cat pee to me, so i put it back down.

John Yi's still had sardines at either $2.99 or $3.99, depending on the size; spearling are also still in stock.

what do you do with those spearling? i saw them last week and was intrigued--any idea? just flour and fry, like smelt but snackier? do they need cleaning or do you just eat them as is?

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I love Galia melons! Try them the way they are eaten in Portugal. Halve, remove seeds and fill the cavity with port wine.

[KatieLoeb]

New this year are Galia melons from Brazil. This variety was first popularized by Israeli growers and later brought to the New World. $1.49 per melon.

have you tried these? i considered buying one last week but when i picked it up it had a super floral almost papaya-ish smell to it, and sometimes papaya smells like cat pee to me, so i put it back down.

John Yi's still had sardines at either $2.99 or $3.99, depending on the size; spearling are also still in stock.

what do you do with those spearling? i saw them last week and was intrigued--any idea? just flour and fry, like smelt but snackier? do they need cleaning or do you just eat them as is?

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I love Galia melons! Try them the way they are eaten in Portugal. Halve, remove seeds and fill the cavity with port wine.

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Yeah Baby! I like the way you think!

Welcome to the PA forum. Keep those great suggestions coming!

[Dorine]

e they're from. Avocados $1 apiece, a little soft.

Again, for posterity's sake, here's a photo of one of the vendor stalls whose lease is not being renewed, A. Halteman:

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This is another vendor I simply donot understand their not renewing! For yers it has been a regular stop for me.

[Dorine]

The freshest sardines I've seen this side of Portugal were on display Friday at Golden Seafood at $2.99 ($3.99 if the fishmonger guts them). At John Yi's white tuna (sometimes called butterfish, though there are at least two other species that also go by that name) was back in stock at $9.99. Not the best time of year to buy salmon. All the fillets, both the formerly frozen wild king and the farmed product from Scotland, Norway and North America, were on the thin side (I prefer a thicker cut), though they were all of acceptable quality. Same with the $14.99 halibut: if a halibut filet is less than an inch and a half thick, I don't want it. Spearling still available at Wan's, which also featured baby octopus.

Citrus and pineapples

Fungi delecti

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The first time I had fresh sardines, I was a university student gone to Madrid to study and the next summer visited the Marseille home of a classmate. We took a boat out to an island near Chateau d'If for a day of swimming, first stopping by a fishing boat to buy a bagful of freshly caught sardines. When noon came, we gathered sticks and bult a fire. We rubbed the sardines' scales off in the water then speared them on sticks, otherwise uncleaned, and held them over the fire to roast. Bliss!!

In subsequent years, I have bought them on the beach along Costa del Sol from vendors who roast them over their fires much the same way. More bliss!

I returned to Philly to marry my sweetheart and missed fresh sardines for three decades. I even asked vendors, including the owner of Golden, and was told they were unavailable--that he liked them too and didn't understand why.

It has een pure joy to find them at the RTM in recent months!!!

I get them whole and just clean off the scales under running water at home.

Then I broil them. You can pick your own flesh off them at the table. Not quite as good as fire-roasted right next to the Mediterranean, but still very tasty.

I have a picture of some of thse lovely fresh sardines from Golden's but am unable to figure out how to insert it in this msg. Keep getting error msgs. If you want to see it, it is in my ImageGullet folder called Fish by Dorine and the sardines are at:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=mo...md=si&img=60609

You can find bronzino ner it.

[Dorine]

But OK Lee frequently offers what Iovine's doesn't, or offers it in a more acceptable way. Today, for example, you could get fresh Poblano peppers at OKL ($1.99/pound), but not at Iovine's. Where Iovine's offered bell peppers at 99-cents for green, red and orange varieties, OK Lee was 79-cents for green, $1.49 for red and $2.99 for orange (and $2.99 for yellow, which were $1.99 at Iovine's).

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OK Lee is my preferred vendor. I go there first. That is where I get beautiful Korean kimchi made by the owner's mother. They always have tomatillos, but I've never seen them at Iovine's. You can always count on OK Lee for nice kirbies, but not Iovine.

Yes, I do go to Iovine's after my OK Lee stop for things Iovine's has such as the exotic mushrooms. a larger choice of fresh herbs, etc. Buy I still really like OK Lee.

Perhaps it's also because of the personal relationship; we call one another by name and they remember my late husband with affection.

And they do what they can for you. A couple of years ago, in autumn, they had fresh, raw olives i small packages. I wanted an entire case so as to cure them as I learned h in Malaga, Spain in the early 1970s. They got me the case within 2 weeks. Joy!

[Dorine]

Lancaster County Dairy (along Arch Street side behind Golden Seafood) carries excellent heavy cream -- pasteurized, not ultra-pasteurized. They also carry the Pequea Valley Dairy Farm yogurt line, as does Fair Food Project.

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They also sell *real* buttermilk from Maplehof dairy! The best! Pequea Valley really is the best yogurt, too. :-) Sometimes they have raw milk.

[Dorine]

What's your nominee for What You Can't Find At The RTM But Should?

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Common table salt! Baking powder and baking soda.

[Dorine]

Margerum is a familiar name to anyone whose memory of the Reading Terminal Market goes back more than four years. From the day the market opened in 1892 until 2001, a member of the Margerum family sold foodstuffs there. That tradition continues at some of the city's farmers markets through Noelle Margerum and her sister Carole.

The Margerums have been at the Clark Park Farmers Market for the past few years, and this summer added the Fairmount & 22nd Street market. Carole was there today with fresh produce (beets, greens, bing cherries, etc.) as well as the Margerums flavored vinegars, which take on a colorful glint in the afternoon sun.

Noelle comes in from South Jersey, Carole, in photo with the sisters' infused vinegars, hails from near York.

At today's Fairmount market Earl Livengood and his neighbor Sam Consylman urged buyers to take advantage of any cherries they see, because the recent rains have played havoc with the crop. The torrential downpours have caused many cherries to split, which ruins them for the fresh market. The bing cherries I found at Margerums were in fine shape, though, as were Earl's pie cherries.

Earl doesn't expect the rains have caused damage to the other stone fruits. As long as they get some sun as they ripe the apricots and peaches should be just fine. I finally tasted the apricots I bought Wednesday from Benuel Kaufman at the RTM, and although they were juicy they lacked flavor: the rains have diluted the fruit's subtle flavor. Sam Consylman thinks that will be cured with a few days of sun.

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I really miss Margerum's!

[Dorine]

boiled peanuts and sweet tea for an afternoon snack.  aaaaw yeah.

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For us geographically challenged, how long does one boil peanuts (and is there anything else involved in the process?)

Thanks!

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wash them real good and put them in a pot of water with a buncha salt. bring to a boil. cook till they are soft, like a cooked bean--you have to keep taking them out and tasting; it'll take anywhere from an hour to three or so, depending on how green and soft the peanuts are to start. these were real raw, so they cooked in just over an hour. if they're cooked but not salty enough, turn off the heat and let them cool in the brine and they'll absorb more. that's pretty much all there is to it.

eat with rc cola or sweet tea.

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So you boil them in the shell and remove the shells as you eat them?

[Dorine]

At Benuel Kaufman's, those long cylindrical beets are back at $2.49 a quart box.

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I've always boiled beets and would like to try roasting. What temp and how long? Do you peel them first? If after, do you shock them in ice water to peel as you do with boiled beets?

[Dorine]

I love Galia melons! Try them the way they are eaten in Portugal. Halve, remove seeds and fill the cavity with port wine.

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Yeah Baby! I like the way you think!

Welcome to the PA forum. Keep those great suggestions coming!

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Thanks. I love finding this group! I live in Center City and have been shopping the RTM since the late 1960s. I often describe it in my international culinary ezine and readers write back thqt they wish they had such a good market!

[lancastermike]

We were in Saturday morning July 8 as well. Got some limes at Iovines at 10 to a buck. I have the sugar and the cachara. Breakfast at Down Home diner was good. They make great pancakes. The servers seemd a little stressed, as if someone did not show up, but it was really pretty good.

Got some bread at LeBus to take home. Did not do a whole lot of shopping as this was early after a long night on Friday.

However the RTM is a treasure. Every time we come to town I have to at least stop in.

[mrbigjas]

boiled peanuts

So you boil them in the shell and remove the shells as you eat them?

yep.

[rlibkind]

I've always boiled beets and would like to try roasting.  What temp and how long?  Do you peel them first?  If after, do you shock them in ice water to peel as you do with boiled beets?

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I do them either on the gas grill (indirect heat) or the oven. Temp should be about 425. Wash, but do not trim or peel beets, other than leaves and excess stalk. Leave about one-half to one inch of leaf stalk; don't cut it off in its entirety. And be sure not to trim off the root, either.

You can either wrap the beets individually or a meal's worth together. (Yesterday I used an aluminum foil pan and sealed it with foil.) Roast until just tender, which could be anywhere from 40-70 minutes, depending on the beets and the oven/grill. If I've wrapped them individually or in meal-sized packets, I just let them cool in the foil, then place them in storage bags (in case of leakage) and in the fridge, pulling them out as needed. Then just pull the peel off with a little help from cold running water and trim. You could, of course, also shock and peel them right after their cooked.

[rlibkind]

Kirby cucumbers are in season, and Benuel has some nice small ones, perfect for pickle-making. (I do mine in a salt-only brine [no vinegar] with garlic and coriander seeds. Dill is nice, too.)

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Can you explain in more detail please? I'd like to try this.

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Here's one recipe. Mine is similar except I don't pour boiling water over the pickles. I combine salt and all but one cup of the water over heat, then pour into a bowl and add ice cubes to cool to room temp. Then I add the spices, garlic, dill, etc., and the pickles. You can leave the pickles whole, if they are small, or cut them longitudinally in halves or quarters. (The smaller the slice and quicker they pickle; I prefer to keep them whole if I can find small enough cukes.) Once done to your taste, refrigerate; they'll slowly continue to ferment even more.

[rlibkind]

I am devastated that Braverman's was one of the targeted stands.  I spoke up about it last November.  I have since checked out the replacement vendor and think the action was a net loss.  The replacement has failed to even interest me in trying anythig.  His offerings are a total yawn.

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I disagree about Braverman's. Its stuff was okay but nothing special. As for its replacement, Flying Monkey Patisserie, it needs work. But I'll give it more time before passing judgement. The owner is may be relatively new to retailing but shows fine talent as a baker. And the breakfast brioches are a nice addition to the RTM. She's already made some changes to try to respond to the market. No guarantees of success, either business-wise or culinarily, but she's only been open a little more than a month

As far as Braverman's being "targeted," they weren't. They didn't meet the terms of their lease. Management had "targeted" other vendors, as well, and gave them chance to meet the lease terms (either pay back rent or make required improvements). Those that did are still in business. Others chose not to, among them, Braverman's.

Edited July 10, 2006 by rlibkind (log)