With Easter approaching, here's a shot of some colorful eggs that aren't dyed. Above is a rainbow dozen from Mark Skinner's Natural Meadows Farm hens. Mark raises 16 kinds of heritage breed chickens on his farm out north of Harrisburg. He makes the trek into Philly several times a week going to various farmers markets to sell direct and some other spots around town where he wholesales.
The eggs come in the coolest colors from your plain white and light/medium/dark brown to cream, maroon, brown speckled, blue-green and what one person exclaimed to me at the Farmstand: "like Mississippi mud". A few months ago, I got Mark to sit tight after dropping off an order of eggs at RTM to scribble down all the varietals of hens he keeps: Light brown eggs: Speckled Sussex, Russian Orloff, Turken / Naked Neck. Brown eggs: Wyandotte, Buckeye, Delaware. Dark brown eggs: Marans, RI Red. Speckled brown: Welsummer. White eggs: Hamburg, Ancona, Blue Andalusian, Leghorn, Black Rosecomb (more of show bird), Old English Redcap. Green-blue eggs: Ameraucana.
If you'd like to grab a dozen or few of these eggs, you can catch Mark at The Piazza Farmers Market on Saturday 10a – 2p or at Weaver's Way Co-op up in Mt. Airy or at Fair Food Farmstand in Reading Terminal Market.
And one final tip: if you're looking to hard boil eggs, use older eggs. The egg shell will separate from the egg easier with older eggs.
The first Saturday of every month is when Fork You! takes their show on the road, or at least down the street, to Foster's Urban Homeware for a live taping of Fork You! Scott and Marisa have been doing the live tapings since January of 2008 (check out all of them here).
For March's taping, the duo (well, Marisa) cooked up some kale colcannon in honor of the upcoming St. Patrick's Day. To go along with the colcannon, some beer braised sausage and shortbread cookies. Everything was cooked up in the new kitchen demonstration space downstairs at Foster's. The colcannon and sausage was delicious. It's a very interesting dish that sounds like a big mishmash of stuff, but it works! And how can you go wrong with shortbread cookies?
Cherry Grove Farm makes some amazing cheese. Their raw milk cheeses are all aged at least 60 days (US regulation, so even their brie isn't a true brie) in their "cave." They make a decent variety of it too as you can see on their site here. Their cheeses also look nice too which doesn't hurt. Above is their Maidenhead cheese:
Semi soft cheese washed with local beer from Flying Fish Brewery in Cherry Hill, NJ. Super flavor and creamy texture are but a few of Maidenheads' attributes!
To me, it's like a harder, stinky brie. I'm no super cheesehead, but I like me a good cheese so forgive my lack of a proper cheese lexicon. It's definitely a creamy cheese, like Cherry Grove describes it as being, not dry and brittle and not buttery like a brie. Cutting into the wheel, the aromas are released and all that are within a few feet of it will smell it. It's not one of those take a step back because the nose hits you so hard cheeses, more of a pleasing stink to it.
Next up is their Herdsman which, I believe, they just started distributing last year. From the site:
Most often compared to cheddar, this creamy raw milk cheese is our best melting cheese for anything from an omelet to fondue. Unlike cheddar, Herdsman does not separate when melted.
I couldn't tell you about the Cherry Grove recommendation to use it as a melting cheese in omelets since it's so delicious on its own. I don't recall the flavor being as complex as it is this year. Last year, it was more of a fluke cheese from what I recall. They didn't intend to make it, it just happened. Perhaps one of those happy accidents in the cheesery.
And here's how we cut wheels of cheese at the farmstand. For perspective, that's your typical 8" – 9" chefs knife. This wheel of Cherry Grove's Toma Primavera is about 17" in diameter.
This washed rind recipe comes from the Piedmont Section of the Italian Alps. Toma has a deep, creamy flavor and can be best be described as "tangy." It melts beautifully and releases a stronger aroma and flavor when melted.
The Toma is my favorite of the Cherry Grove line. It's got a delicious, old, aged flavor, but without the crumbliness. It's got a richer color to it than the Herdsman (which I didn't take the time to distinguish enough while taking and editing the photos, d'oh) making that much more pleasing to the eye. I'm told that DiBruno Bros. further ages and washes the Cherry Grove Toma to a more brilliant red (bacteria) colored exterior. Very cool. This will lead to a distinctive taste different from what you'll find when purchasing Cherry Grove Toma elsewhere (like at Fair Food).
Cherry Grove has a really cool operation just north of Princeton, NJ. I really want to take a field trip up there to see everything. Reading the description of their farm lifts my spirits. Pasture raised cows producing luscious milk which makes delicious cheese. The whey from the cheese making process going to the pigs which live in a forest in the middle of the property. 1,000 pasture raised chickens roaming free. Even the wood they use for heat and hot water is from a great and sustainable source: tree surgeons drop off piles off wood on their property. This saves the surgeons money from dumping fees at landfills and this gives Cherry Grove free fuel! Awesome.
All of Cherry Grove's cheeses are available at Fair Food from (I think) $14.99 – $21.99 /lbs. We also have the Shippetaukin Blue, but I didn't cut any of it the other day, so no photos. It's an incredibly salty blue. Also on the crumbly side. I prefer my blues much creamier. A co-worker of mine couldn't finish the little chunk I cut for her as it was too salty. I'm pretty sure Whole Foods carries Cherry Grove cheeses and DiBruno Bros definitely does. I'm no good at pairing foods together, so you'll have to go somewhere else for that. I like cheese with just about everything. Happy munching!
Just a quickie post on a veggie I've never seen before: baby fennel. It's just what it sounds like. I'm not a fennel fan (nor anything fennel/anise/licorice flavored) so I won't be having any of it, but well, it's available at Fair Food Farmstand in Reading Terminal Market. The crazy Saturday rush crowd may have already swooped in and grabbed all that we got in during the week (3 lbs), but we might get some more on Tuesday.
They're not even 1.5" wide at the base. The stalks are a solid 18" long with those familiar Apiaceae family leaves (think dill, carrots and parsnip).
Last Monday I attended this really awesome event at Reading Terminal Market put on by my employer Fair Food. It was the gathering of dozens of local farmers, dairies, bakeries and value-added producers showing off their wares to hundreds of buyers in the Philly area. It's called Local Grower Local Buyer and this was the 7th wonderful gathering. Bob over at Robert's Market Report got his writeup up promptly. Well, better late than never. Above is Sue Miller of Birch Run Hills Farm which makes some of my favorite cheeses in the land. Her recently reformulated foil-wrapped Birch Run Blue is my current favorite cheese out there. We actually just melted some for an overly decadent sauce for dinner last night. She had samples of her Blue, Alpine and some new fromage blanc samples – one with tarragon, one with honey and salt; the honey and salt was sublime and it's currently unavailable.
Local chocolatier John&Kiras piled up their colorful square boxes filled with little treats for all to peer into.
Market Cafe's canele are among the best single or two-bite items in the entire city. What is a canele? It's this delicious pastry with a just-slightly crispy exterior with a decadent, custardy soft interior. I've had a couple of Market Cafe's canele and they're worth every penny. Check out Gaetano's post on the LGLB event.
Wanna know who also loves the Market Cafe canele? Jose Garces. That's him in the blurry shot above about to shake hands with the garlic man Tom Coulton of Coulton Organics. But more on the Iron Chef in a bit.
Daisy Flour built a mini walled fort showing off their many many varieties of flour. I have some serious baking friends and many of them swear by this stuff. It's expensive, but the lightness of their pastry dough and the high gluten content of their bread flour are the real deal.
Here are the samples at the Birch Run Hills stand. I wanted to eat one sample and just keep going down the line of mini spoons, but I had to keep clicking away.
Mark Skinner is one of my favorite farmers in the area. His 16 varieties of heritage chickens produce the coolest rainbow dozens of eggs you'll ever see. Brown, white, cream, maroonish-pink, speckled, blue-green. They're sooo cool. I always love chatting with him at markets and when he delivers to the farmstand. He was doing double (or was it triple) duty sampling some other stuff including the Apple Tree Goat Farm chevre he's cutting up with that mini cleaver above.
And here's Coulton. He's a character. He's got lots of cool hats, most with feathers in them. Come summer, he'll be bringing dozens of varieties of garlic to market along with his other heirloom varietals of everything under the sun. Here, he's jabbing at the air while holding a Jerusalem artichoke which surround his land – once you plant those, you'll never have to do so again, they're crazy growers.
Keeping in line with local characters with great products, Ryan, the elder brother of the duo behind the best ice cream in the city, Franklin Fountain, was there. They're always coming up with cool new things every year in their Old City shoppe. I hope he went home inspired.
With all this delicious food all around, there had to be something to drink, right? Philadelphia Brewing Company came through with samples of their full lineup of brews.
So let's get back to the newly minted Iron Chef Garces. We knew his head buyer, Adam DeLosso, was gonna be there, but Garces himself showing up was extra cool. Garces is committed to bringing the farm to table in his yet to be named spot, under construction eatery at the Cira Centre. He took a full tour of every single vendor there and stayed well over an hour. Above, he's sampling and taking a look at Shellbark Hollow Farm's chevre (which is delicious!). The sharp chevre is the famous "Obama cheese" people have been requesting all over town since not-yet-President Obama picked up a helping at DiBruno Bros during a campaign stop.
Trickling Springs Creamery brought out all kinds of [pasteurized] milk to the event. I've had their buttermilk, whole and chocolate varieties and they're all incredibly rich. Most likely thicker than any kind of pasteurized milk you've had before. Closer to raw milk than store bought ultra-pasteurized milk. If you're scared of raw milk (there's no reason to be scared!), but want a creamier product, search out TSC milk at Whole Foods and Fresh Grocer in Philly. Fair Food might carry some of their stuff down the line.
Here's Ryan trying out some of the colorful, filled chocolate from John&Kira's.
Nicole from Quince and Garces listening attentively.
And yes, there were many PA Dutch vendors there. Here are two of them talking to Coulton. See that feather in his cap? I told you this guy has lots of feather'd caps.
Here's Garces talking to Chris of Common Market Philadelphia, a wholesale consolidator, marketer and distributor of food produced in the Philadelphia region. While Garces has made it clear he wants to pursue local sourcing, the pure volume of his eateries poses logistical problems. People from various local foods organizations are brainstorming to remedy that situation.
Ever wonder how eggs are graded? Coulton brought along an old school egg grader and a big fat goose egg.
And for a parting shot, here's a closeup shot of the brick of Shellbark sharp chevre Pete created. This pesto-tomato-chevre brick is as delicious as it is gorgeous. It's almost a shame to break the brick for serving, but then again, it would be a waste to have it for art's sake so it was eagerly eaten by all those who passed by.
I missed last year's event, but I'd be stupid to miss it next year. I've never heard of an event like this before and I'm not sure an event like this, at this scale, is done in other cities. I'd love to hear about it happening in NYC, DC, Chicago, Boston, LA, SF, Seattle, Portland and elsewhere, but I have no idea. Anybody know? If not, it should be done. If there are people in areas outside of the Philly area who want to do this, get on it. Gather up everyone on a night restaurants aren't too busy in your area, in Philly it's Monday when many eateries are closed, in a nice big space like Philly's RTM (another thing I haven't seen elsewhere is a RTM-esque spot) and have at it. Stand back and marvel as local buyers meet local producers. Good things will happen, I gua-ran-tee it.
A slideshow of the images above and more up on flickr. Click on the slideshow below to see them full screen.
We first tried Miran Korean Restaurant back in 2005 and enjoyed our meal there. But for some reason, Picky convinced himself that his review was incorrect and he didn't actually like his meal, causing him to avoid it ever since. Messy corrected him a couple weeks ago while we were jonesing for some Korean food and he happily obliged a trip back. He was happily reminded of the deliciousness that is Miran. After sitting down in a mostly empty space (we got there for a late lunch), we were greeted by a bevvy of traditional Korean panchan, complimentary appetizers. Front and center are merruchi, dried anchovies in a sweet and spicy sauce. Oh how Picky loves him some merruchi and it was all for him!
For his entree, Picky opted for his standby at Korean restaurants: dol sot bibimbap, the hot stone bowl of mixed rice topped with a fried egg. The bowl is crazy hot and you mix in the hot pepper paste – he asked for a second plate of it – and the rice gets nice and crispy and the veggies cook down a bit while in contact with the scalding hot stone bowl. This is a shot of the dish before the paste is added.
Messy really wanted the jajang myung, buckwheat noodles in brown sauce with freshly chopped veggies, but they were all out, so she opted for the tofu chige, soft tofu soup in spicy broth. It ended up being a little too spicy for Messy's still-adapting-to-Picky's-heat-tolerance-after-seven-years palate. She added in the bowl of rice to bring down the heat to a more approachable level. Although she found it a little too tofu-heavy, the dish did well to warm her up for the rest of the afternoon of errands about Center City.
Here's a shot of Picky's halfway mixed bibimbap after adding in the hot pepper paste. He gobbled this up quickly and had plenty of room to have about a quarter of Messy's soup.
A shot of the empty restaurant as we were about to leave. By that time, it was when they were getting ready to change over to the early dinner crowd. Usually, there are much more people in there.
Messy ***1/2
Picky ***1/2
The final, final word: Authentic, spicy Korean food at a nice price.
2034 Chestnut St
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 569-1200
Mon – Sun 11am – 9pm
The good people at Chase Sapphire were kind enough to extend us two VIP passes to this event. We, of course, said yes, got out of our requisite blogger PJs and headed off to the Loews Hotel for the big bash. Above is a shot of the new Italian restaurant up in Northern Liberties, Apollinare [1001 N. 2nd St]. Chef Andrea Scatacci won for Best Dessert that night and we can verify that they were delicious and fun to watch being prepared. He's mixing up fresh ice cream with liquid Nitrogen for a quick freeze sans ice cream maker.
We made it over to the Davio's Northern Italian Steakhouse table (where we're getting married!) for another dessert. The event had 40 restaurants and a ton of them had desserts, making it especially friendly for vegetarian Messy — there weren't any meat pie desserts that we saw.
Eventually, we stopped by the Chase Sapphire Lounge where we walked by the velvet rope with our badges. No, we didn't do the Wayne's World bit of flashing it all over the place (but maybe we should have?). We checked in at the table to pick up an awesome schwag bag. A signed copy of Susanna Foo's Susanna Foo Fresh Inspiration: New Approaches to Chinese Cuisine, Max Brenner's Chocolate: A Love Story: 65 Chocolate Dessert Recipes from Max Brenner's Private Collection (Brenner was there, but we didn't catch him in time to sign), a mini bottle of Cîroc vodka, a Chase labeled Built wine tote, a coupon book to all 40 participating restaurants, a bag of Melitta Blanc et Noir coffee and a copy of the latest Philly Mag all in a nondescript black tote bag. Yes, we got two bags. Commence hating.
And here's Chef Foo signing books in the lounge. We got one signed to Messy's dad who loves to cook Asian food. While in the lounge, Picky helped himself to a Cîroc cocktail. It was a Cîroc Cobbler. He can't remember exactly what was in it, but Messy noted that it reminded her of the sweet, strong drinks she had in college. Picky can't argue with that assessment.
There was so much to eat and see and we could barely make it to every table just to see what was being offered. In addition to the main room, there was a hallway full of tables and an additional room with more delicious offerings. We had a delicious tiramisu from what we think might have been The Dining Car.
And while we didn't get our picture taken in front of the Philly Mag backdrop to be all up in the society pages, Picky did get Messy to (grudgingly) pose for a frame. Check her out with her exclusive access badge and fan-cay bottle of Perrier!
Thank you again, good people at Chase Sapphire! And now, how about hooking us up with one of those big willie status credit cards?! Kidding, kidding. We're having a grand old time paying off our debt as it is!
