Reading Terminal Market (Part 1)

[rlibkind]

It would be great fun to do a cook-off of steaks from Ochs, WF, and a Waygu for good measure. Our own little America's test kitchen? 

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Sounds like fun, but I don't think Waygu would be a fair comparison. That's practically a different animal!

[Tim Dolan]

Don't have much time to post, but my steak from last weekend was excellent. I suspect that it may have been Choice, not Prime, though. No matter, it was still damn good. I think it was Choice because the strip section didn't knock me off my feet as Prime meat would have, but the filet portion was sublime. While the porterhouse itself was very good, I'm going back to rib-eyes, my true love.

[rlibkind]

Those strawberries I enjoyed so much were missing at Iovine's today. There were clamshell boxes of Florida berries priced at $2.49 for 16 ounces (looked like about a quart), but I passed them by. If someone tries them, let's have a report, please.

Last gasp of the season for clementines ($6.99/box for California fruit) and Meyer lemons (2 for $1.49). I don't quite understand the fascination with the Meyer lemon; it lacks the pungency (acidity) which is why I like lemons and how I use them. I suppose in a couple of dishes it might make sense, but a lemon without the necessary level of acidity is just a citrus. Regular lemons selling 5/$1; limes 3/$1.

Bargain fruits this week appear to be pomegranites ($1 apiece for smallish ones) and three red grapefruit for a buck (also smallish). Larger white and red grapefruit also available at, iirc, $0.89 and $1.49 apiece. Other citrus fruits included navel oranges (small Sunkists at 5/$1, larger California navels (the ones I bought last week which were very sweet) priced 3/$1. Florida juicers 5/$1.

Half pint (5.6 oz) clamshells of imported blackberries were on the bargain rack at $1 apiece; when I tried them a couple weeks ago they were pretty tasteless. Green and red peppers both priced at $1.99/pound. Asian pears were prominently displayed up front for $1.29/pound. Don't know where they're from. Avocados $1 apiece, a little soft.

Today's selection of bananas was pretty thin, but Iovine's does have bagged organic ones at 59 cents/pound; according to a recent issue of Consumer Reports, while it can make sense to buy some produce in its organic permutation, bananas aren't one of them.

On the mushroom rack something you rarely see: fresh wood ears. $14.99/pound.

Dinner this evening was cottage pie (a.k.a. shepherd's pie if you use lamb instead of beef) using Yukon A 'taters, 59-cents/pound. In addition to onion, carrots and celery, I added a leek purchased from Fair Food product ($2.50/pound).

For meat, I asked went to Harry Ochs, but instead of buying the pre-ground sirloin, I got a pound of stew meat (very lean chuck pieces) and asked them to run it through the grinder just once (rather than twice, which is standard for ground beef). Reason: after quick browning I was going to slowly cook the meat with the veggies in liquid for more than an hour, which would create the necessary tenderness, but single-grinding would retain some "chew", which I like. If you're making chili or any meat pie from ground meat, this is technique worth trying.

When I stopped by the Fair Food Project this afternoon, manager Ann Karlen was busy consuming some Capogiro chocolate hazelnut gelato. Since their freezer failed a couple weeks ago and the ice cream melted and refroze, they can't sell it. But the staff can eat it. As Ann remarked, "It's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it." Jamison lamb is back in stock, and Ann anticipates they'll be getting deliveries monthly. It's pricey stuff, but looks very good. The lamb shanks, at $10/pound, sounds exorbitant, and they are, but they are the meatiest shanks I ever did see -- practically a little leg.

Benuel Kaufman has back from a week off. Since he started opening year-round two or three years ago, he doesn't have any fresh produce from January until the first crops (and greenhouse tomatoes) come in. He does, however, still have that heavenly unpasteurized cider.

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

[ellencho]

I bought two boxes of Iovine's strawberries for 1.99 each on Wednesday and ate them for dessert tonight. I guess I was lucky because I didn't have to do anything but wash and trim the leafy stems off. They were perfectly sweet and perfectly delicious.

[rlibkind]

I purposefully delayed my visit to the RTM until 2 p.m. today in an attempt to avoid the lunch crowd.

Mistake.

Just prior to my arrival it appears that 6,000 convening soccer coaches were released from their meeting and every single last one of them wanted a sandwich at the RTM. Didn't matter what vendor you went to (although the ones on the 12th Street side like Carmen's and Rick's were the busiest), there was a 20-minute wait everywhere. Tommy's ran out of everything by 2:30. Mike Holahan of Pennsylvania General Store said that the market was pretty empty at noontime, but when a meeting lets out, there's mad rush for food. The soccer coaches are still in town for the weekend, so you might want to adjust your RTM time accordingly on Saturday (get out before 11:30 a.m.). Instead, I ate at the new Crown Fried Chicken around the corner at 11th & Filbert.

At Iovine's California clementines available for $5.99/box. They taste great, but they are very ripe, so don't be surprised if one or two get squished in transit.

Bell peppers back down in price. Reds and oranges $1.49, greens and yellows $1.99. English "seedless" cukes $2 apiece. Limes still up there at 3/$1. Avocados $1 apiece. The fresh porcini looked very good ($39.99/pound). Galia melons $1. I picked up another pack of strawberries at $1.49; they smell good. Lots of variety and prices on oranges, grapefruit. The russet baking potatoes were of better than usual quality, slightly pricey at 59-cents/pound.

Good looking product at all three fish mongers. Spearling still available, as are frozen langoustines (scampi): $9.99 at Golden for Indian farm raised langoustines, $19.99 at Wan for Kiwi product.

[TarteTatin]

Rlibkind-We were there the same time as you and the million soccer coaches.

Delilah's had run out of mac and cheese, so I thought I'd try their wings. Should've gone for the pork sandwich. Hubby tried the "Paris" crepe across the way. It was such a madhouse, the things we tried just weren't that great...

For our dinner party:

Got that fabulous Fair Food bacon and wrapped them around prunes we brought back from France. Put them on Rosemary skewers that we got at Fair Food, delicious! ($2.00 a bunch for the rosemary)

I had already made a Potiron/Potimarron soup last week (combination of Pumpkin and Butternut squash that we bought from Fair Food with Livingood's leeks). Made my own chicken stock with chicken pieces from Halteman's... Topped the soup with slices of roasted chestnut that we got at Trader Joe's.

Oh-used the pumpkin and squash seeds roasted with curry powder for cocktails.

We bought some huge scallops at the place near Iovine/Salumeria. Hubby wanted to buy 18 of these humungous scallops for 6 people, I talked him down to 15. We could've ordered 6, one each...they were so huge and no one could finish them. Good, though.

I think it was $12.99 a pound.

He made them with a Champagne sauce with Hedgehog mushrooms that we got a Iovine. (wanted Chanterelles but no one had them, the Hedgehog's were a decent replacement. $19.99 a pound. I think that price scares some people, but, in all honesty, the amount we bought for the sauce was around $3.50)

Hubby made real Potatoes Dauphenois from Livingood's Yukon Gold potatoes and Downtown Cheese's Comte and Emmenthaler, with Fair Food's heavy cream...got haricot verts from Iovine.

Also bought a stinky, perfect Epoisses from Downtown Cheese at $11.99. And a little truffle goat cheese, around $7? I forgot the price..

He also made a Tarte Tatin (of course, his specialty!) from apples from our Winter Harvest.

The Champagne's and wines were delicious too, but we didn't get them from Reading Terminal!

We brought back most from our recent trip to Champagne!

So, Reading Terminal is perfect for that one stop shopping for lunch and a dinner party!

P.S. I forgot to buy flowers for my table, but could've gotten those at the Terminal too!

P.P.S. Obviously, hubby is the cook except for Soups which I make. Aren't I lucky?

[rlibkind]

So, Reading Terminal is perfect for that one stop shopping for lunch and a dinner party!

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That sounds like a heckuva dinner party! Yum. Next time, though, in addition to inviting me you might want to try Golden Seafood for the scallops rather than Wan. Golden (across from Fair Food) is the only purveyor that sells the dry scallops (no water-retention chemicals added), at $14.99/pound, which, although more than the $11 they used to charge, is still a couple bucks cheaper than Whole Foods. Wan, on the other hand, is the only fishmonger at the RTM selling skate. That's one of the beauties of the RTM: Three fishmongers, but neither their stock nor their prices are identical. Love it.

[mrbigjas]

He made them with a Champagne sauce with Hedgehog mushrooms that we got a Iovine. (wanted Chanterelles but no one had them, the Hedgehog's were a decent replacement. $19.99 a pound. I think that price scares some people, but, in all honesty, the amount we bought for the sauce was around $3.50)

yeah chanterelles are pretty much done till summer at this point.

as far as mushrooms go, lately i've been kind of obsessed with the mushrooms that iovine's is selling as trumpet royals. the reason i say "is selling as" is because i suspect that they're actually king oyster mushrooms. they're pretty similar, but this page over at cook's thesaurus and this page at hormel have photos that make me think they're the king oysters. especially the cooks thesaurus page, which shows the little bitty starter mushrooms that are around the base.

but it doesn't matter! whatever they actually are, i slice them into planks (the entire stem is edible, meaty-textured, and mildly earthy flavored), sautee them in butter/olive oil till browned in spots, and serve them as is--or last week, doused them with a little cognac and served them over a romaine salad. they're great. and they're often packaged up and discounted to $12.99 from the usual $19.99 or $24.99 or whatever.

[rlibkind]

It may only be late January, but spring can't be far away. Or so I infer from the presence of shad at John Yi's: filet for $5.99, jumbo roe for $6 a set, whole roe shad at $3.99 and buck at $2.99. But don't look for these anadromous fish to be hauled out of the Delaware; these specimens come from South Carolina.

The unpasteurized cider season is over at Kaufmans.

New at Tommy DiNic's: Italian style pulled pork sandwich, $6. Haven't tried it . . . yet.

New at Iovine's, their own version of sous vide. Well almost. They've packaged various vegetables in vacuum-sealed bags suitable for boiling. Among the varieties found Thursday afternoon: mixed sweet peppers with garlic and herbs; string bean medley; roasted garlic; red potatoes with herbs, oil and garlic; squash medley; baby carrots. Just the sort of thing an office worker would want to take home after work for a quick veggie side dish. Or would if the RTM stayed open late enough (see Sandy's Too late to stop at the RTM on the way home topic. (Congrats on the new job, Sandy.)

Instead, I opted for a head of cabbage. Last night I quickly braised a chunk (thinly shredded and slightly chopped), added chopped scallion, then mixed it with some buttery mashed potato (made from a leftover baked russet) and added salt and pepper. The result: colcannon, a root veg fav in the British Isles (you could use rutabaga instead of or in addition to the potato if you were so inclined; I can't abide rutabaga). I'll be using up the rest of the cabbage in various permutations during the week, including a quick pickle slaw.

Good-looking red bell peppers imported from Israel going for 99-cents a pound, as are Mexican orange peppers. The Greens and yellows are selling at $1.49. Avocados nudging up to $1.29 apiece. Also found fresh bay leaves along with the usual tray-wrapped herbs.

If you have a craving for banana bread, the bargain rack was the place to look Thursday afternoon, with very ripe but perfectly good bananas at 19 cents a pound vs. 39 cents for regulars. Limes, Meyers lemons and blood oranges all selling at three for a buck; regular lemons five for a buck.

I spied fresh peanuts next to the regular bananas; $1.99/pound IIRC.

Pizza By George has been selling a tomato pie, both in Neapolitan and Sicilian styles. I loved it, but the seasoning is not for the timid. And some might complain there's too much sauce on the pie.

I happened by the Fair Food stand just as they were getting in a delivery of Country Time pork product, all unfrozen. Brought home a boneless loin roast ($7/pound), cooked it with rosemary and garlic; delish. Served with the above referenced colcannon.

Last week I brought home some of Harry Ochs' scrapple, as recommended by mrbigjas. Tastes just like the scrapple served at the Down Home Diner. I'll check, but my guess is it's from the same supplier, Godshall's of Telford (not the RTM poultry purveyor).

[KatieLoeb]

I knew those shad weren't from around here. We don't get those local ones until at least April usually.

I'm quite fond of shad. The roe, not so much. I find it a bit too fishy and the texture is kind of weird. But I only like caviar in small doses too, so it makes sense.

[mrbigjas]

New at Tommy DiNic's: Italian style pulled pork sandwich, $6. Haven't tried it . . . yet.

you don't say! will report back tomorrow.

[philadining]

Last week I brought home some of Harry Ochs' scrapple, as recommended by mrbigjas. Tastes just like the scrapple served at the Down Home Diner. I'll check, but my guess is it's from the same supplier, Godshall's of Telford (not the RTM poultry purveyor).

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You could always turn it over to CSI:Philadelphia.

Yes, that's right, the Crispy Scrapple Investigators.

Hey, that's all my time, you guys have been great, give yourselves a hand, and don't forget to tip the cocktail waitresses...

[rlibkind]

99-cent red peppers (rear) and oranges at Iovines

[Rebecca263]

That photo is beautiful.

[mrbigjas]

New at Tommy DiNic's: Italian style pulled pork sandwich, $6. Haven't tried it . . . yet.

you don't say! will report back tomorrow.

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as promised: this is a pretty good sandwich. i'm not sure i like it as much as either the original roast pork (obviously) or the brisket, but it's good nonetheless.

the meat is quintessential pulled pork in texture--shreds of meat, held together by its own seasoned gelatinous juices, with an occasional crusty bit and browned glob of fat.

man, pulled pork doesn't sound so appetizing when you describe it like that, eh?

anyway,the seasoning, as near as i can tell, is pure dinic's. similar to their regular roast pork.

would it make sense to say that it's basically the same as their roast pork, except instead of being a picnic shoulder that's seasoned and roasted, it's a shoulder butt, and therefore pulled instead? probably different roasting times/temps too, but basically that seems to be the difference.

one thing i've noticed the last few times i've been there is that their rolls have seemed different lately. the last few months, i mean. i wonder if they changed suppliers or something. but they seem more... supermarkety or something. softer, without the chew that they used to have. i mean,dinic's never used really crusty rolls, but they used to be pretty solid, chewy sandwich rolls, and they've seemed different lately. i was going to ask about it today, and about the new sandwich itself, but they were so busy i felt bad pulling them away from the thronging crowds.

[rlibkind]

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.

If guacamole is on your menu for Super Bowl Sunday, the price of avocado at Iovine's is holding steady at $1.29 apiece; the samples I saw today needed at least a day of ripening. Small navel oranges (about six ounces each) priced at four for a buck; other navels were 2/$1, but temple oranges (see photo) and some other varieties could be had at the 4/$1 level. The pink grapefruit, at 3/$1 for medium sized fruit, looked like a decent deal if you need your Vitamin C. Persimmons two for a buck. Those strawberries from Plant City, Florida, are back. priced at $1.49 for a one-pound clamshell. No porcini today, but the trumpet royals, hedgehogs and other varieties of fungi delecti were of excellent quality. Limes and meyers lemons still 3/$1. All bell peppers now sell for $1.49, except the oranges ($2.49).

Citrus and pineapples

Fungi delecti

Stopped by Harry Ochs for my chili meat today (chuck roast, ground once) and learned the scrapple of which I sang the praises last week is supplied by Dietz & Watson. Nick also told me that Down Home Diner now uses Hatfield. If you don't want to make your own chili, Ochs will sell you their own prepared version.

I'm not a big turnip fan, but Fair Food had some nice looking "pink" turnips. On the large side, though.

It's not even Valentine's Day or even Ash Wednesday yet, but Mike Holahan of the Pennsylvania General Store is displaying some Easter chocolates on the counter. He said one woman ran away screaming when she saw them; another complained about Easter candy so early, then bought a half dozen chocolate covered creme eggs.

If you're planning on visiting the RTM tomorrow (Feb. 4) be prepared for crowds. The auto show opens at the convention center tomorrow and parking along Arch Street will be curtailed. Get there early.

Put it on your calendar: the RTM will hold its annual American Roots Festival Feb. 18, featuring cooking demonstrations, samplings, live bluegrass music and kids activites. As I've averred before, I say it's rutabaga and I say the hell with it. And for Valentine's Day Feb. 14 the market will do its annual thing: music by the Reading Terminals jazz combo to celebrate the marriages of six local couples, all performed in center court by Judge Jeffrey Minehart.

[mrbigjas]

Stopped by Harry Ochs for my chili meat today (chuck roast, ground once) and learned the scrapple of which I sang the praises last week is supplied by Dietz & Watson.

that would explain why it tasted so familiar to me, i bet.

[mrbigjas]

i've sung the praises of iovine's 'not ready for prime time' packages of wild mushrooms for a while now. to give an example, here's a pic of a pan full of a mixture of yellowfoot, black trumpet, and hedgehog mushrooms. my point is: this is a 12" fry pan, and the mushrooms cost about five bucks:

now that's a deal. i read so many recipes that call for large amounts of wild mushrooms, and i always think--do they really expect me to spend that kinda dough on mushrooms? this is the answer.

if you're interested, be sure to go early-ish on a saturday, because they're mostly gone after lunch or so.

[rlibkind]

Thicker salmon filets today, especially at John Yi's. Someone must have heard my complaint last week (or my timing was just off then). Sardines still available at Golden, and plenty of roe shad available ($3.99 whole at Wan; don't ask them to bone it at that price, besides, boning shad takes a post-graduate education).

Organic avocados at Iovine's priced cheaper than conventional? Yup. The organics were packed two-to-a-tray at $1, v.s $1.29 apiece for the conventionals. The organics, btw, were on a rack with other organic products next to Iovine's office.

New this week at Iovine's: purple cauliflower from California, priced at $1 for a small head. You'll find them in on the floor opposite the cash registers.

On the dollar rack, bunches of asparagus. I passed them by. Although at first glance they looked good, a check of the bottom of the stalks showed dried out gaps. Perhaps if you were just going to use the tips they'd be fine, but they looked a tad long in the tooth. Or I've just been spoiled by in-season local asparagus which, after all, is only about 10 or 12 weeks away!

Also on the dollar rack were button domestic white mushrooms for a buck; they weighed out at just under a pound, so they were almost half price. I love the wild and wild-cultivated varieties, too, but we tend to forget that a good old fashion agaricus bisporus is a wonderful thing. And adding them to the more expensive fungi makes the latter go a lot further. But even by themselves, the domestic white (or its slightly pricier sibling, the brown or cremini) makes fine eating. I'll be mixing them with bargain tray-wrapped yellow-footed chanterelles and dried porcini from the cupboard.

Three varieities -- count them, three! -- of sweet potatoes at Fair Food: Jewel Yam, Jersey somethingorother, and Beauregards.

Betty Kaplan, who coordinated the demonstrations at the RTM's kitchen when it opened and continues in that capacity for Foster's, has taken on an additional task: she'll be at Iovine's most Saturdays dispensing advice and answering questions from shoppers. Now, Betty, what are you going to do about getting paper bags for the mushrooms?

[rlibkind]

It's the doldrums of winter at the RTM, which spurred the creation of its "American Roots" festival a few years ago, and which will provide music and rutabaga tomorrow, Feb. 18. Alas, the signs of spring are far and few between, other than the shad at the fishmongers.

Somehow, Iovines has gotten hold of decent beans: green string beans at $1.29, cranberry beans at $0.99, and yellow wax and flat green beans at $1.49. Not many price changes this week, though red and green peppers now both up to $1.49, and Temple oranges have gone to 3/$1 from 4/$1. Featured this week, mango at a buck apiece.

Likewise, stable pricing and varieties at all three fishmongers though, at least this morning, there was a scarcity of mackerel at John Yi's.

[taoseno]

Somehow, Iovines has gotten hold of decent beans: green string beans at $1.29, cranberry beans at $0.99, and yellow wax and flat green beans at $1.49. Not many price changes this week, though red and green peppers now both up to $1.49, and Temple oranges have gone to 3/$1 from 4/$1. Featured this week, mango at a buck apiece.

i was at Iovines this morning as well and saw the cranberry beans and had absolutely no idea what they were, tasted like, etc. do you eat them whole or shell them? raw/cooked? thanks in advance for the help.

[mrbigjas]

i was at Iovines this morning as well and saw the cranberry beans and had absolutely no idea what they were, tasted like, etc.  do you eat them whole or shell them?  raw/cooked?  thanks in advance for the help.

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i bought some today too, and was wondering the same thing. i peeled them and ate one of the raw beans, and it wasn't too hard--i bet 1/2 hour or 45 minutes of cooking would make them soft.

one dish i had them in at lacroix this past weekend was 'two celeries with cranberry beans and chanterelles' -- diced cooked celery root, sliced, lightly blanched stalk celery. sauteed chanterelles and cooked cranberry beans, all tossed in some sort of dressing. as with most dishes at lacroix, it was excellently executed, and its flavors were not forward, and in such balance that it was really difficult to tell what exactly the dressing was.

anyway, it was fantastic. god i love side dishes.

[-sheila mooney]

Somehow, Iovines has gotten hold of decent beans: green string beans at $1.29, cranberry beans at $0.99, and yellow wax and flat green beans at $1.49. Not many price changes this week, though red and green peppers now both up to $1.49, and Temple oranges have gone to 3/$1 from 4/$1. Featured this week, mango at a buck apiece.

i was at Iovines this morning as well and saw the cranberry beans and had absolutely no idea what they were, tasted like, etc.  do you eat them whole or shell them?  raw/cooked?  thanks in advance for the help.

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shell them and simmer for 35-45 min -- they turn out creamier than dried beans, so very good! toss them with a dressing of olive oil, garlic and rosemary with a good dose of sea salt and cracked black pepper. wish i could find some up here in the (literally) frozen north -- i'll be cooking out of my cupboards this weekend...

[mrbigjas]

thanks sheila--i appreciate it. if my experience last week was any indication, i think it's interesting that fresh cranberry beans end up whitish when cooked, while dried cranberries end up kind of reddish brown when cooked.

[MarketStEl]

Actually, I have a "what do you do with these?" question from a recent RTM trip (but not my most recent one).

Iovine's had Meyer lemons on sale a week or so ago at 3/$1. I've read about these critters before but had never seen one in the flesh. So naturally, I bought three.

I used half of one to squeeze over some chicken breasts after sprinkling them with tarragon and marjoram. I noticed that these lemons have thinner skins and smell a good bit sweeter than regular lemons.

The breasts turned out pretty tasty.

I wasn't as impressed with the cod filet over which I sprinkled Old Bay and squeezed the other half lemon. Personally, I think it was too much Old Bay, and I'd want to try again with some less aggressive seasoning.

But I imagine that Meyer lemons are not simply used in place of regular lemons. So: What do you do with them?