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.
Author Archive
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.
A Griddle
Monday, April 26th, 2010
Two longtime friends of ours were very, very, very kind in giving us a [early] wedding gift. It's something Picky has wanted for a little while now – a Lodge Logic Pro Grid/Iron Griddle. We quickly put it to use a couple days after lugging it home when a hungry friend came over. Picky cooked up a pair of double egg and cheese sandwiches on the flat side (we used the grill side for asparagus a couple days later).
Anybody out there have one of these as well? Any favorite things to make on it? Picky is not a fan of pancakes so he won't be making any of those. The griddle sits very low on our rage so it's hard to see just how high the flame is underneath. It's gonna take a little bit of getting used to, but given our experience with cast iron cookware, we should get the hang of this beast fairly easily. This is going to be a great alternative to firing up an outdoor grill and this one's all season!
National Food Bloggers Bake Sale
Thursday, April 15th, 2010You've been reading our blogs for a week, a month, a year, since the beginning… We've been posting about food because we love it. Well, here's a chance for us to get together, eat some food and do good things. e contacted us last week about a blogger bake sale and e, being one of our favorite-est bakers in the land, putting out the call gets attention. It's this Saturday April 17th between 10a – 3p at A Full Plate Cafe in Liberties Walk in Northern Liberties. The bake sale will benefit Share our Strength, an organization fighting to end childhood hunger in the United States.
e's posted a rundown of bloggers who have already signed up to bake for the event and there are more on the list and more to come. Picky's going to bake some cookies for the event. They might be e's famous coconut, toffee, almond, crunch cookies a.k.a. the most delicious cookies in the entire world or some chocolate chip, dried cherries, sea salt cookies. While e's given her blessing to bake her cookies and hawk them in front of her own workplace, we'll see how comfortable we are to go ahead and do so 
.
See you there!
National Food Bloggers Bake Sale: Philadelphia
A Full Plate Cafe
1009 N. Bodine St Philadelphia, PA 19123
(215) 627.4068
Saturday April 17, 10a – 3p
Yards Brewery Tasting Room
Thursday, April 1st, 2010
What is made of a boatload of sustainable/reclaimed materials, pumps out 12k barrels of brew a year and makes cheap grilled cheese? The new Yards Brewery, of course. We headed up to the new[ish] location of Philly's 15-year-old brewery for one of Picky's co-worker's surprise going away party (and we kept it a surprise!) last week for a potluck in the new tasting room. We also got to tour the facility with one of the head brewers, Frank.
We were treated to a flight of brews on tap. From right to left: ESA, General Washington's Tavern Porter, Poor Richard's Tavern Spruce Ale, Philly Pale Ale. They didn't have Picky's current Yards favorite, Brawler on tap. Messy, who is not a beer fan, had a Yards root beer instead. It was tasty: a little spicy, not too sweet, but sadly, also a little bit flat.
It was our first visit to the new tasting room and we saw that they had a nice big menu to order from. We were there for a potluck so we had our own food to nosh on, but the menu looked great. There is a great selection of mix-and-match grilled cheese sandwiches ($3), soups and other tasty treats.
The brewery itself is a sustainable beast. Read up more about it here. That gorgeous bar above is made from reclaimed bowling alley planks.
Here's a shot from the back of the bar towards the entrance (and there's the surprised co-worker at center). There's a wall of recycled booths with a really cool vinyl wallpaper of all the logos of Yards beers.
To the left is a really nice, 100-year-old, made in Philly pool table. It has real pockets, as in "8-ball, side pocket" and no ball return – old school.
Right, the tour. Here's a shot of what the Yards crew calls Yards One: the original kettle from which beer under the Yards label was made.
Here's Frank showing us where the malt is kept, right in the room to his right. When he opened up the doors, it smelled luscious. The whole tour could've been just that room and Picky, a malty beer lover, would've been happy.
Frank took a seat next to the keg filling line. He talked us through the assembly line process which has several steps to make sure everything's nice and clean and sterile for beer to flow into.
And here is a very cool experiment: barley wine being brewed in some oak whiskey barrels. Small batch stuff for sure, but we're sure it'll be worth the wait. No, we didn't get to try some.
Giant stainless steel kettles and tanks within which the proverbial magic happens.
Some more info on the brewery and the tasting room from the site:
Tour Hours:
Saturday: Noon – 4 pm
(Tours are on the hour. Last one begins at 3:00 pm.)The Tasting Room is open for business, pleasure, and special events. From floor to ceiling, the entire room reflects our commitment to environmental sustainability. We have bar tops made from old bowling alley lanes, recycled booths and lighting, and a pool table built here in Philadelphia more than 100 years ago. Come say hello and have a pint, or two, and purchase six-packs, cases, and kegs.
Tasting Room Hours
Monday – Saturday: Noon – 7 pm
Sunday: Noon – 4 pm
For Special Events, please call 215.634.2600.Brewery Facts:
- Pennsylvania's first 100% wind-powered brewery.
- Current production capacity of 12,000 barrels a year.
- Hot water collected and recycled whenever possible.
- All glass and cardboard recycled through the Pedal Co-Op.
- Grains and dregs donated to local farms as feed.
- Earthen clay walls in the Tasting Room.
- Floors made from recycled concrete and coated in SoyCrete sustainable compound.
Yards Brewing Company
901 N. Delaware Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19123
215.634.2600
ForkYou Live at Foster's
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010
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?
Revisiting Miran Korean Restaurant
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
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
