Pat

green salad with anchovy-balsamic vinaigrette cordon bleu-ish chicken baked sweet potatoes with soy spread and maple syrup

I know I've posted about the Alpine around here somewhere. When we redid our kitchen (the planning of which took seemingly forever, plus the execution), the cabinet store we used was Voell Custom Kitchens, in the strip mall next to the restaurant. We ate a number of meals at the Alpine while visiting Voell, and I have a soft spot for it. It reminds me of Italian places I went to while growing up in PA.

We spent the day up in the Philadelphia area yesterday and stopped at Fork for dinner before the drive home. I mentioned my interest in the place upthread. I loved the decor and feel of the place, though the seat cushions are so soft that I felt like I needed a booster seat . I'm very short, so those kinds of things affect me more than other people. I really liked the diner tables. The service was very good, though they had to get creative when it hit a brief packed full period--not too much room there to circulate. I loved my warm escarole salad with brussels sprouts, bacon, poached egg, and sherry-shallot vinaigrette. The sprouts were perfectly done and worked wonderfully with the other flavors and textures. The vinaigrette had just the right bite to it. I polished off the entire large bowlful of salad and could have eaten more. My husband had a bowl of black bean soup with ham, sour cream, and scallions, which was good, but I was quite happy with my escarole. For a main I had braised lamb shoulder, cooked with red wine, cumin, and maybe (?) tomato. It was fork tender and delicious. The accompanying polenta was a bit on the dry side but worked nicely for mopping up the lamb juices. The broccoli rabe that came with it was fine, but maybe I'd just had my fill of bitter greens by that time. My husband had the braised free range chicken with the giant corn posole, mole, corn tortillas, and cucumber salad. He ordered without really looking at the description--just going for chicken--and I don't think it was probably the best choice for him. I might have said that if I had noticed it on the menu. I had only a bite--to identify the posole--and the mole seemed pretty heavy on cinnamon. Hard to conclude much from one bite, though . He thought the chicken slightly dry but that didn't stop him from cleaning his plate. We needed to get back on the road and were pretty stuffed, so we didn't have dessert. I had a beer early on but mentioned to the server that I'd probably order a glass of red wine with my lamb. It got so crowded, it was too hard to track her down to get the wine before the lamb arrived. I'd decided I didn't really need it, but as soon as she got back to the table to check on how our meals were, she recalled my earlier comment and asked if I wanted to order the glass of wine. She suggested a glass of, I believe (consulting the online bottle menu) M. Ercolino, “Memo”, Montepulciano D’Abruzzo, 2006, which I received promptly, with plenty of time left to enjoy it with my meal. It wasn't too easy to get there at Friday rush hour on the route we were taking (an hour to go 7 miles ) but I'd love to head back there again on the way north on 95, since it's right by the exit at Penn's Landing.

Green salad with balsamic anchovy vinaigrette Pizza bread* using striata baguette pieces Leftover baked chicken legs, rice pilaf, and peas *Homemade pizza sauce from the freezer, roasted red and yellow peppers, and fontina cheese

My brain isn't working today. The results it gave were wrong for me, but not as wrong as I first thought.

That's it. Thanks for the answer. Maybe zpizza is an allusion to that?

striata baguette with olive oil for dipping baked rigatoni with basil-tomato-roasted pepper sauce with two meats; cinnamon and black pepper; grated Romano

I was wondering if there was a reference to zpizza.

If I'm recalling correctly, Hogs on the Hill used to be where Kenny's is now, by the old hospital.

Other than using them for the pork dish (which I haven't made but should turn up if you search on the ingredients), I'd say maybe use them for a vinaigrette or salsa. I don't know how much juice 2 of them will give you.

Baked chicken legs Rice Pilaf Baked peas

Isn't there still food served for United games and other events, though? Maybe there should just be an additional thread for the new stadium.

Beef vegetable soup made from leftover pot roast (with peas and tomatoes added to the potatoes and carrots) Leftover macaroni and cheese The broth from that pot roast was so good that it seemed destined to be turned into soup. I added several spoonsful of mac and cheese right into my soup bowl and ate it all together .

cold macaroni and cheese I love cold starches and fats in the morning .

pulled pork sandwiches macaroni and cheese

leftover steak and baked potato...cold from the refrigerator

Apple and Manchego salad with Marcona almonds Pot roast with potatoes and carrots Mini baguette with soy spread It was a rough afternoon and I started the pot roast kind of late. I'd been planning to do something a little fancier with it but just ended up making a plain old pot roast. It came out well, though, and was good comfort food. The salad was quite good, better than I expected. I'm annoyed, however, that I can't find the original magazine version even though I know I have that issue of the magazine somewhere in my house .

Yes. I guess could have been clearer in my phrasing, but I knew what I meant . That was my choice in reverse. I'd already picked up a package of 3 t-bone steaks and 2 hunks of chuck for pot roast. I picked up the lamb and thought, eh, overkill. We split one steak last night, and I froze the others. I'm making one of the pot roasts tonight or tomorrow and freezing the other..After Costco, I stopped at Harris Teeter and was drawn in by "buy one, get one free" on pork loin ends. I'm planning to wrap and freeze both of those, or I might cut the smaller one up for chili. I've largely depleted the meat in the freezer, so I'm slowly restocking.

Usually, I put it in the refrigerator overnight and then skim the fat off, but I had decided to make the soup at the last minute for that night. It would have been smarter to take the skin off to minimize fat going in, but I didn't think of that at the time. I had hoped freezing would speed up the fat separation/congealing process so that I could have a quick turnaround and make the soup that night. It did separate into a distinct layer within 2 hours, but it wasn't congealed. It still enabled me to get a lot more fat out than I could have otherwise in such a short time.Either that soup was a miracle preventative/cure or we were just both having a really draggy day and not actually getting sick. We had lots of wonderful soup and felt fine the next day. I prefer to think it was the soup that made us feel better . I almost bought a boneless leg of lamb yesterday at Costco, but I decided I already had enough meat. I'll probably pick one up on my next trip there, though, and will file this idea away for then.

Rancho Gordo has a crimson popping corn that I like. I don't know if it's technically heirloom. Their beans are, but I'm sure about the corns.

baked brie topped with peach pepper jelly and coated with pecan crumbs; baguette slices medium-rare t-bone steak baked potatoes and butter creamed spinach

What about Montsouris, or is French too exotic for your boss?

Jill sent out an email saying they are closed today through Thursday (Feb 19-21) to move to their new location two doors down at 2411 Mt. Vernon Avenue. Just an FYI. I had been planning a trip there today, so I got the email just in time . I guess my next visit will be to the new store.

I recall it being Breyers too. I used to like that every now and then. Hadn't thought about it in a long time.

We seem to be getting sick, so I pulled a few pounds of chicken backs out of the freezer and made some stock (using star anise and szechuan peppercorns, ginger and carrot greens, in addition to my typical onion-carrot-celery-bay leaf mix). After a couple of hours, I strained it and froze to make it easier to get the fat off. Once I did my best to skim the fat, I made a soup with the stock and some water, adding more onion, celery, and carrot, plus garlic and shallot. At some point I added black pepper and salt, plus a bit of dried marjoram, since it seems lemony to me, and I thought that worked with what I was doing. I chopped up some leftover duck breast and soaked shiitake, oyster, and wood ear mushrooms. Those went in near the end of the cooking time (30-40 minutes from the end), with the strained mushroom soaking liquid. It ended up being a sort of hot and sour soup (with rice vinegar, hot pepper sesame oil, and pepper flakes), topped with red onion slivers and cilantro. It was a very satisfying soup. Unless he is desperately sick, my husband has a solid appetite, so I also made some penne with creamy poblano sauce, topped with romano. I wasn't sure how well that worked--he loved it, me more "meh"--but I haven't done a thorough grocery shopping trip recently and that was my best backup.