eG Foodblog: Percyn - Food, Wine and Intercourse..(PA that is)

[Alinka]

...and I was just about to ask you to cook some of your lovely egg dishes for breakfast .

Great job, Percy, I enjoy reading your blog (although we do feel a bit lonely over in the dinner thread ).

[handmc]

Sorry to here about your aunt.

Dinner looked very nice. Does the mushroom crust interfere with the flavor of the fish at all?

[Cleo]

I'm so glad to see you blogging this week...I always look forward to your pictures!

[Megan Blocker]

Oooooh, the first of the egg dishes makes its appearance. Yippeee!

Percy, you've made my morning. Yum, eggs.

[Genny]

Percy, sorry about your Aunty, god speed in her recovery.

That dinner looked yummy, especially the halibut. How beautiful! Thanks for describing the enticing porcini "perfume" - ah- almost like I was there!

I love the wine tote, where did you find it?

[percyn]

Genny/Megan,

Thanks...and I really should use a spell checker

The wine tote was bought on eBay I believe. I am an avid user of eBay since 1997 and feel that if you do your research, you can find some great deals.

Thanks to all for the well wishes for my Aunt (posts and PMs). Unfortunately, it looks like I will be making trips to the hospital for the next couple of days, so please bear with me as I may not be able to make all the dishes I had planned to for the blog.

Thanks

Percy

Edited September 30, 2005 by percyn (log)

[percyn]

Made it to Reading Terminal Market, which is in the heart of Philly, on my way to the hospital.

There are so many vendors selling such great items, that I welcome RTM regulars (Katie, MrBigJas, rlibkind, etc) to provide additional commentary on the pictures posted in this thread or point out other key highlights, that I may not have.

It was close to lunch hour rush by the time I got to RTM, so it had crowd from the neighboring convention center, local office crowd and crazy eGulleter’s taking pictures (oh wait, that last one was just me ).

A great place for breakfast.

Ahh !!! Dinic's Roast pork sandwich with provolone and spinach

Got some brisket meat from them as well, which I could only eat a few bites of due to no space being left in my tummy until I walked around a bit. This was not the type of brisket I had in Texas. This one was covered in an onion and tomato sauce/gravy.

Lot of tourists at the cheesesteak place

Picked up some great fruits and vegetables while I was there - Asian pear, grapes, lemongrass, cilantro, organic carrots, parsnips, micro-greens, etc.

Thought about buying some flowers for my Aunt, but did not as I did not know if they would be allowed in ICU.

Good looking turkey being carved for sandwiches. Too bad I was still full from the pork sandwich.

Not too full for a little dessert though

Bassett's has been making great ice cream since 1861 (didn't get any on this trip)

The "little Thai market" sells excellent Thai food. Their BBQ chicken dipped in sweet chili sauce is the closest to the street food version I ate in Bangkok last month. Images of what I ate in Bangkok can be found here.

Also picked up some jumbo lump crab and sushi grade tuna, which I will hopefully get to make for you (OK, us) soon

What? Did you expect me to walk past these freshly baked cookies and the smell of fresh roasted coffee?

I also visited other vendors not listed here, such as the Spice Terminal, Andro's Fine Prepared Foods, Delilah's at the Terminal, Salumeria, Sang Kee Peking Duck, etc to name a few. You literally need a week to be able to sample all the great stuff in this market.

I wish I lived a bit closer to this place so that I could visit every couple of days.

Edited September 30, 2005 by percyn (log)

[percyn]

It was getting late and I was tired so the I had planned to cook myself, turned into a stop at Johnny Rockets. I love their old fashioned burgers, dogs and shakes.

Decided to get a float

and a chili cheese dog with onions....ohhhh yahhh !! They have an amazing all meat chili sauce

[percyn]

Beerenauslese is not Icewine style. Eiswine is icewine, pressed from frozen grapes.

Beerenauslese is botytis affected (like Sauterne) but where the individual bunches of grapes have been selected. Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) is where the individual berries are selected.

Let me decode the label for you:

Rheinhessen is the wine growing area to the west of the Rhein

2000er is the vintage. "Plagued by rain and rot, with outstanding results from a handful of growers. Variable quality; choose carefully"

Bechtolsheimer is the area of the vineyard, near the village of Bechtolsheim

Sonnenberg is the actual vineyard name where the grapes were grown

Siegerebbe The grape variety. A cross between Gewurtztraminer and Madeline Angevine, it can achive high levels or ripeness and richness

Beerenauslese: See above, but indicates sugar level in the must.

Qualitatswine mit Pradikat (QMP). Top German quality designation for wine made in defined areas and, more importantly , from grapes not requiring any additional sugar to achieve the correct alcohol level.

Amtliche Prüfungsnummer (AP Nr). The final two digits give the year in which the wine was approved (not the vintage), and the two digits before that give the running number of wines to be approved from the producer in question. Producer and region are coded in the remaining initial digits. The first digit is the testing station.

Erzeugerabfullung Estate bottled

9.0% alcohol by volume; 375ml (half bottle)

Weingut Ernst Bretz. The producer, Ernst Bretz is a family owned and run winery in Bechtholsheim founded in 1721, hnce the gold crest.

I'd expect to pay between $10 and $15 for this retail.

Sweet, botrytis and peachy fruit, but fairly simple. It would keep at least 20 years, drying a little.

Thanks for the clarification Jackal10 (BTW, great blogs).

I am not an expert in German wines by any strech of the imagination, but I could have sworn it was labeled as "Icewine style" in the store I bought it at.

In any event, I prefer to use a this wine in making some sauces/dishes instead of a $95 Inniskillin ice wine.

[percyn]

Wow, since I don't frequent either the dinner or the breakfast threads (why not, I wonder) I had no idea how gorgeous your food would be.  That fabulous duck dinner looked like you were cooking for one - did you actually do all that just for yourself?  I bow to you.

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Thanks Abra

On that particular day, I was cooking for one, as my wife was at a spa getting a massage. Oh well, that means 2 pieces of foie gras for me (comes in a pack of 2 and I can't freeze it).

Edited September 30, 2005 by percyn (log)

[percyn]

Would like to add a vote for an Amish restaurant, something we absolutely do not have here in Australia.

OT - love the coffee table, what sort of wood is that?

Blog on!

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Have to answer a query which comes all the way from Australia....

I will try my best to get the Amish restaurant trip in.

As for the "coffee table", it is about 60 years old and made free form from redwood. I bought it from an estate of a senator after hunting for one for several years...they just don't make them like this anymore .

[Daniel]

Thats a great report on Reading Terminal Market!!! Awesome pictures, that sandwich at Dinic's looks ridiculous.. I want to carry one of those roasts around my neck in a baby carrier..

[KatieLoeb]

I want to carry one of those roasts around my neck in a baby carrier..

I'm not so sure you wouldn't do it.

[mrbigjas]

nice market report, percy! you're a powerhouse of consumption.

i'll just mention the brisket from dinic's is roasted for about 6 hours, and is a relatively recent offering. it's a really good sandwich, but if you only had one to get i'd stick with the pork.

the produce place you pictured is iovine bros. (pronounced eye-oh-vine, i finally confirmed recently after years of wondering), a really fabulous place. if any of you are interested in the market and what all is there, you can check out (mostly) me and rlibkind yappin about our finds on this thread here.

that's interesting about the thai place--i had no idea it was that close to the real thing over there.

one or two other notes: i love old city coffee, which is the roaster you picture. i know a couple of people who don't like their style, but i think they do a great job.

and bassett's peach ice cream is the greatest ice cream in the universe.

[KatieLoeb]

and bassett's peach ice cream is the greatest ice cream in the universe.

True 'dis if you're only talking about commercial eyes'cream. I still have foodie porn dreams about the Lemon-Brie ice cream at StudioKitchen though...

[percyn]

Ohh...that was good.

Hold that (creamy?) dream thought...

Edited September 30, 2005 by percyn (log)

[Abra]

Lemon Brie ice cream? Swoon!

Percyn, that is one awesome market, and that pork sandwich looks like it should be illegal. Two for me, please.

By the way, I have to say that I'm disappointed to learn that your name is Percy. Whenever I've seen your name in the forums, I've pronounced it "person." You're the person of the moment, that's for sure!

[mizducky]

Percy, best wishes to your aunt for a speedy and full recovery.

That roast pork sandwich looks marvelous. Somehow I never thought of putting cooked greens of any sort in/on a sandwich. I'll have to try that myself some time.

[ludja]

Thanks for the great blog Percy... and for torturing us with the DeNic roasted pork, aged provolone and sauteed greens sandwich. Are the greens always spinach or do they also have broccoli raab?

Also, what was the "little dessert" pictured in the photo above the Basset ice cream shot?

Best wishes for your aunt's recovery and convalescence.

[KatieLoeb]

Percy - good thoughts to your Auntie. There's a lot of folks praying for her so that should help.

I didn't know you were a "spinach" kinda greens-on-your-pork guy. I had you pegged for a Broccoli Rabe dude for sure. The sandwich looks awesome nonetheless. I just had a Nick's Roast Pork sandwich for lunch earlier this week. It was gooooood. :drool: I hadn't had a roast pork sammie in far too long.

[mrbigjas]

when it comes to greens, dinic's only has spinach, to my knowledge, so it's not like percy had a choice there. it's excellent garlicky sauteed spinach, slightly spicy with red pepper. i would eat it plain if they offered it as a side. in fact, i do, at home, a couple times a week. (edited to clarify that i make sauteed spinach; i don't buy dinic's)

for those of you who don't know, several of us have been on a campaign for years (for me, it's been since before my chowhound days, which were before i signed up here) to make the roast pork sandwich the true ambassador sandwich of philadelphia, replacing the cheesesteak.

you could say it's all part of a great sandwich culture--the troika of cheesesteak, roast pork, and hoagie is pretty unassailable--but the king is the roast pork, if you ask me. with aged provolone and greens. you can't forget the greens, because they make it a complete meal in a bun. a sloppy bun, soaked with pork juice.... oh man. guess what i'm having for lunch tomorrow?

Edited September 30, 2005 by mrbigjas (log)

[percyn]

Percy - good thoughts to your Auntie. There's a lot of folks praying for her so that should help.

I didn't know you were a "spinach" kinda greens-on-your-pork guy.  I had you pegged for a Broccoli Rabe dude for sure.  The sandwich looks awesome nonetheless.  I just had a Nick's Roast Pork sandwich for lunch earlier this week.  It was gooooood. :drool: I hadn't had a roast pork sammie in far too long.

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Katie,

You had me correctly pegged, I did ask for Broccli Rabe, but as mrbigjas indicated, they only had spinach , but was good though so no complaints, but I wonder how much better it might be with Broccoli Rabe.

[KatieLoeb]

for those of you who don't know, several of us have been on a campaign for years (for me, it's been since before my chowhound days, which were before i signed up here) to make the roast pork sandwich the true ambassador sandwich of philadelphia, replacing the cheesesteak.

I'm right there with ya', Jas. However, I know for a fact that there are more eGullet visitors to Philadelphia seeking out roast pork sandwiches than cheesesteaks due to our mission. We're succeeding one eGulleteer at a time. And now they'll be looking to go check out RTM as well. The thread is interesting but Percy has such a way with photos that I can't imagine someone not wanting to check that out if they were to find themselves here visiting or passing through.

[ellencho]

Original Turkey makes some obscenely good sandwiches. They have some delicious soft crumbed, crusty bread that they cut fresh with each order. The bf and I usually go half and half on their turkey club and their stuffing and cranberry sandwich. They're pretty big sandwiches, but you make room.

And I'm a bit confused, I could have sworn Dinic's used kale instead of spinach. Maybe they switch on and off?

[Abra]

So, you slice some roast pork, put slices of provolone, then top it with warm, garlic-sauteed spinach, which melts the cheese? Or does the whole sandwich get some heat? Toast the bun, or no? I want that sandwich!