So we went and got ourselves a cool little gadget, a Kodak Zi8 pocket video camera. Picky took the opportunity to show off our awesome range and show how he likes to prepare an egg sandwich, in this case an egg sandwich like the one in this post with the addition of some double hickory smoked bacon from Gap, PA (the best bacon in the land). There's no narration, just the sounds of cooking and clanging in the kitchen. We might be doing some video stuff in the future, pending on how much Picky wants to render files.
Archive for May, 2010
Video: Cooking Duck Eggs
Sunday, May 30th, 2010Philadelphia Wine Fesival 2010
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010
The good people at Chase Sapphire once again extended a VIP invite to a wonderful event. This time around, it was the 2010 Philadelphia Wine Festival at The Marriott Downtown. We got dressed up for the fan-cay wine sipping crowd and made our way to the halls of Bacchus. We happily made the rounds with Taylor and her man Matt from Mac and Cheese Review and Baker E herself and her friend (and co-owner of A Full Plate Cafe) Liz.
What does one need to sip wine? A glass. There was no shortage of them in the giant hall. While there were rinsing stations at each winery, I guess one might misplace a glass or three after a few (okay, 15) samples of wine and champagne.
As fancypants VIPs, we got to go behind the velvet ropes and help ourselves to some extra goodies. All one needed (other than an event sponsor hookup) was a Chase Sapphire card to buy a ticket — that's what got you into the VIP section. They had these awesome plates with a cutout for a wine glass. Genius. Ah the life of a VIP.
Each of us got a spiral bound book, a solid half-inch thick. Each page featured a different winery highlighting the selections they brought to the festival, and extra room for tasting notes. Well done. But an easier way to take notes was via these 3"x4" cards at each tasting station. It listed the winery, the wines featured and PLCB numbers. Unfortunately, there were some wines there which are not available in PLCB stores. Picky checked off each wine we had and jotted down some quick notes. All in all, we hit up 8 wineries trying out 13 different bottles (along with some bubbly cocktails in VIP!).
The wineries were divided into regions — Italy, Germany, Spain, France, CA, US non-CA — but it seemed busiest in Italy. So busy that we didn't bother trying to muscle our way into more than one booth. But Picky chose wisely and went for the San Guido Sassicaia 2006 which was a VIP-only selection. It was a nice and peppery wine. Even though it was the last wine we tasted, it still stuck out, and that's saying a lot. It sells for $160 a bottle in PLCB stores, but it's not in stock right now.
While there were some stations of food around the hall (Garces Trading Company, Capital Grille…) we saw Walnut Hill College's pasty station and settled in. Little cakes, tarts and macaroons filled the table.
A shot of four of the five flavors of macarons. The raspberry was the best one.
We spoke at length with one vendor there, Gerry Catanzano, the Northeast Division Manager for Parducci, America's first carbon neutral winery. Parducci offers a 2006 Sustainable Red and a 2008 Sustainable White ,which are both available in PLCB stores for $10. These organic wines have a lot going for them in the area of sustainability. Check out the info on their Green section. The bottles have recycled paper labels with soy and water-based inks. They reclaim the water they use in their cellars. They have solar panels used for 15% of the facility's power needs, wind power purchased through the grid, bio-diesel vehicles on the premises and they purchase offsets to mitigate shipping pollution. From the website:
Parducci is locally owned and operated in California's Mendocino County. We are committed to sustainable wine growing practices that yield top quality grapes and wines while protecting the environment and supporting our communities and local farmers. Locally owned and operated Grapes from family farms Sustainable farming practices 100% green power Earth-friendly packaging 1st US carbon neutral winery
All that environmental stuff is great, but really, how does it taste? Gerry brought out a copy of The Wine Trials, which listed 150 top wines under $15 based on blind taste tests. The 2005 Sustainable Red finished #2 in New World reds. The 2007 Sustainable White was #1 in New World whites. Not bad, eh? Messy started with the whites while Picky tried the reds. We really liked all the offerings. The sustainables were nice, the 2005 True Grit Petite Sirah had some oomph to it and the 2006 Deep Red (Merlot) was Messy's favorite and of course, it's not available in PLCB stores. (On a related note, check out this article about the apparent stigma associated with organic wines.)
An interesting part of the festival was the PLCB store right in the middle of it all. You could take your cards with PLCB codes on it and buy what you liked right then and there. Easy moneymaker for sure.
Our merry group kept our eyes on the clock for the 7:00 Möet & Chandon Nectar Imperial tasting back in VIP. It's actually our favorite bubbly. It's sweeter and juicy instead of the extra brut that many like. The twist was that they were served on ice with a lime, a champagne cocktail of sorts.
Along with the champagne were chocolates from Antoine Amrani Chocolates based out of King of Prussia.
There were about a dozen different flavors of bit sized chocolates available. Here's a list of some of their signature flavors. Amrani offers tours and tastings at their facility — we think we're gonna have to take a trek up there soonish to see everything behind the scenes.
After a couple of hours, Picky had to get going for a photo gig down in South Philly so we had to say goodbye to all the wine and our velvet rope area. We didn't leave empty handed though. Our awesome gift bag — which was a 6-bottle wine tote — was filled with goodies. A rotary foil cutter, Built neoprene wine caddy, a wine stopper and the newest Philly Mag.
Ramps for Breakfast
Thursday, May 13th, 2010
Today was the first day I was able to sleep in (no work, no photo gigs, no wedding planning, no nothing) in several weeks and it was grand. I planned to make myself a decadent breakfast/brunch and it was going to include the hot ingredient of the season: ramps. I really like the taste of ramps, not to the craziness some people have over fiddlehead ferns and ramp season, but I do enjoy them. We've prepared ramps with asparagus, sauteed greens and other dishes over the last few weeks, but I had recently read that ramps go well with eggs and I was hooked on the idea. Above is the cutting board loaded up with sliced ramps up top (leaves separated from cleaned bulbs), sliced shiitake on the left, on the bias sliced asparagus on the bottom and farm fresh eggs in the middle.
The ramps were foraged by a friend of mine and his friend, LJ and Lou, in Chester County. Where you ask? They could tell you, but then they'd surely have to kill you – perhaps even before they told you. Locations for ramps, which grow wild, are like old family recipes or locations for chanterelle and morel mushrooms. Closely guarded secrets which one can enjoy the fruits of, but never can the secrets be revealed. The asparagus from Buzby Farm in South Jerz. The shiitake from the mushroom capital of the world, Kennett Square. The eggs from the man with 16 heritage breeds of pastured hens, Mark Skinner of Natural Meadows Farm.
I melted some unsalted butter in a pan and dropped in the ramp bulbs (3 or 4) to cook for a minute and then added in the asparagus slices (3 or 4 spears). A pinch of fleur de sel and fresh cracked pepper are added to the mix. Let the ingredients cook for another minute and add in a handful of sliced shiitake (I have big hands and love the strong flavor of shiitake) and another pat of butter into the pan. Toss them around for another minute. Sometime around when you add the mushrooms to the pan, start up another flame for your eggs. I love cast iron for eggs and I cook them in unsalted butter, always. Lightly beat the eggs with some salt and pepper and few sprigs of chopped chives if you have them handy. Once the pan is hot, pour in the eggs and stir them around a bit to get them cooking. Slivered up some Hillacres Pride habanero cheddar with a veggie peeler and spread it over the cheese. Now I add in the ramp leaves to the pan of veggies to wilt them. Above is a shot of all the veggies removed from heat for a sec for me to get a pic in.
After a final minute of sauteeing, add all the veggies atop the eggs and let them warm up the cheese below. Fold over the other edge and presto, you've got an omelet fit for a king.
Ode to the Buttercream Cupake Truck
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010
Some shots of a cupcake truck outing from last month. On my way into work, I saw on twitter that the Buttercream Cupcake Truck was gonna be in my hood just in time for me to pick up some treats for my co-workers. I biked over and got a half dozen for my friends. Now on with the food porn.
Vanilla cake with peanut butter buttercream.
Chocolate cake with Ghiradelli chocolate ganache.
Vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream.
Red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.
Banana cake with Nutella buttercream.
Chocolate cake with Nutella buttercream.
If you haven't had a cupcake from Kate, aka the Cupcake Lady, you're bonkers. Find out where to get them here. She'll be driving around town all week and her cakes are in stores. The Cupcake Lady is a goddess in M&P's heart of hearts.
Duck Eggs
Friday, May 7th, 2010
In continuing with my quest to become some kind of quasi egg aficionado, I prepared some Mallard duck eggs. Above, is a shot of a soft fried duck egg in the foreground and a Natural Meadows chicken egg in the background. The white of the duck egg is much whiter.
Here's a duck egg, a chicken egg and duck egg in a row to give a sense of scale. It's the same size as a chicken egg. But there is a big difference: the feel of the actual egg. The exterior of the shell is a lovely satiny texture as if a chicken egg was sanded down.
The duck eggs are either a very light creamy brown or a very light greenish color with splotches of white throughout like in the egg above.
Side by side, the cracked eggs are the same size. The duck egg's yolk is just slightly bigger, but not by much in this case. I think it's just a slightly smaller egg and not proportionately bigger than the chicken egg. But the white is very clear, just like with goose eggs.
I fried it up just as I would a chicken egg: in a cast iron skillet with butter, salt and pepper. They taste exactly the same to me. I had two duck eggs in the last 2 weeks and I can't taste a significant difference in them to the über awesome Natural Meadows chicken eggs I've been eating for the last year and change, but those are some super eggs. I've had other people tell me they think duck eggs are the strongest out of chicken, duck and goose; not me. But the shells themselves are the prettiest by far. The mottled color, the silky finish…
Mallard duck eggs are available at Fair Food Farmstand in Reading Terminal Market for $6.50 a dozen.
