cjsadler

Hmmm.... the room we were in had a wine press and a steer's skull. Not quite sure what the theme was there.

Had a pleasant RW experience there on Sat (and I thought I'd pretty much soured on the RW thing). There was a very extensive menu of 8-9 choices for first and second courses and about 5 desserts. Ordered Salmon Tartare as a first course, but this was a mistake on my part. I was curious what they'd do with it, but it was basically just a quenelle of chopped salmon with chives and a couple slices of smoked salmon on the side. The other first courses at the table were much more interesting and tasty. However, the Cod with a Cracker Crust and Lobster-Sherry Butter I had as an entree was great. I forgot how good cod can be, and the lobster butter was fantastic ...and then a white peach crisp for dessert. Great service and a tranquil (if somewhat sterile) setting. I kept checking with our server if it was ok that we were lingering a bit over wine and then coffee, but she assured us it was not a problem in the least.

It is Tracy O'Grady and Kate Jansen's new place. Very nice people-- hope this works out for them.

Food for Thought was there in the Bistrot du Coin spot. Now it's in the Black Cat.

Had dinner on Sat at Alison at Bluebell. Definitely add this one to the list of great Philly BYOBs (though it's in the northern suburb of Bluebell). Things I had a taste of: Chili dusted skate wing with a cornmeal and avocado tart Best skate I've ever had and the tart (of sorts) was delicious. Monkfish with chorizo, potatoes and greens Interesting preparation, as the monkfish was pounded very thin, breaded and fried. Fresh fig salad with goat cheese dressing Mango tart tatin Blueberry-corn polenta cake This was really delicious. The 'cake' part of the ramekin had corn kernals and blueberry in it. It was topped with a creme brulee like layer containing more blueberries. I'm curious how they made this. Great service too. Alison came out to chat with us after dinner, as our server told her we were up from DC, which I thought was nice.

I really enjoyed a meal I had at Spring last time I was there. It's owned by the Green Zebra people, but don't rule it out because of that-- it's not really anything 'different'.

Another trick I've been trying is from the Zuni Cafe-- she says to cook a portion of the fruit-sugar mix, the point of which is to create invert sugars, which help with smoothness (she doesn't cook the whole mix, as she doesn't like the cooked fruit flavor vs. fresh). This doesn't seem to be making much of a difference, though. My goal is to achieve the sorbet nirvana of Capogiro or Icy-Icey without an expensive machine (probably impossible).

I've been working alot lately on getting my sorbets to come out better. I was told a syrup density meter would be a good thing to get, as getting the right density is key to a creamy/non-icy sorbet.

Every Tues, from 6-11. Half-price on all Belgian beers (they usually have about 6 different ones), downstairs in the basement/fake cavern (complete with fake stalagmites). Should be nice and cool down there. My father has some record that's "Bob Jablonski (or whatever forgotten jazz guy it is) Live at the Bohemian Caverns, 1959" and the cover of the record shows the cavern looking pretty much like it does today.

Belgian Beer Happy Hour at Bohemian Caverns?

A Thai stir-fry. Used blade steak, which is a cheap cut I really like lately (tender, fairly beefy). Right now Safeway has it on sale for $1.99/lb. And some peach and blueberry cobbler.

A friend and I had some beers at Bar Pilar last Monday, and man was it crowded! I'd advise getting there early. Decent taps, though. Haven't eaten there yet, but never having been too much for St. Ex's food, I'd probably head to Oohhs and Aahhs, Rice, or Ninth St. Ethiopian first. Or Ben's after?

I think the best dirt cheap rosé is the Georges Duboeuf Syrah Rosé. It's advertised this week for $5.49 at Calvert Woodley, but it's been that for quite awhile now. Surprisingly good at that low price. I bet in a blind tasting it would beat out alot of twice as expensive rosés. Perfect for serving up to a crowd at a summer party.

That's a nice rose. I first heard about it when Jarad Slipp (who else to recommend a Greek rose?) used it in one of Todd Kliman's 'Everyday Sommelier' pieces (can't remember what Jarad paired it with). Cleveland Park Wine carries it as well.

Circle Wine has it. Can't remember what their price is.

I forgot all about that. That is a pretty nice porch back there.

I need to cook dinner for a vegan in a few weeks, so I've been doing some experimenting. Been trying to copy Mandalay's ginger salad and got a little closer, but not quite there yet. Then, fresh corn polenta* with roasted mushrooms and red pepper puree. *I can't eat enough of corn this way. The simple version, from J. Pepin is just to puree up corn in a blender (add a little water if needed) and then cook it for a minute or so. The natural cornstarch thickens it up.

Dropped by tonight with a friend of mine and sat at the bar. Don't know if I was that excited about any of the food we had, but we certainly had a good time, enjoying the wines and being well taken care of by Chris at the bar. We drank: -Iron Horse Rosado. Very nice stuff -Maccario "Lavignone" Barbera d'Asti. Seemed just ok at first, but once we got to eating, we were raving about how well this wine was drinking (Barbera often seems to do that). -Some Moscato d'Asti for dessert. Can't remember the producer, but this was tasty. We ate: -Assortment of crostini, with the blue cheese/anchovy and salt cod being favorites. -Grilled baby octopus. A little tough, but good. The chickpeas accompanying it, however, were totally undercooked. -Plate of salumi. The prosciutto was great-- maybe the best I've had. -Mussels and clams. Very fresh and delicious. -Wild boar pasta. My friend had this, but I tasted it. Seemed very mild in flavor. Glad to see this place doing so well already.

"Grappa flight"-- that just has trouble written all over it.

Not sure. I don't remember it developing a skin, but I'll have to try using salted water again. I mostly use olive oil.

Good question. Sorry I can't be more helpful with this, as I haven't tried it myself, but one method is to heat the whey to 185 after you've removed the curds. Knead the curds a bit, then instead of microwaving, either ladle the hot whey over the curds or gently place the curds directly back into the pot of whey to warm and soften them. Then knead, drain and repeat until you get the cheese to come together in a pliable state.

One more thing that I forgot-- use pasteurized milk, NOT ultra-pasteurized. The milk I used was the regular Safeway brand.

The rennet was with over by where the organic/health food stuff is, near some baking ingredients, I think (sorry, but it was awhile ago that I bought it and I can't quite remember). I heard Rodman's sells the rennet in pellet form, which are supposed to work fine.

I forgot to add something about storing the cheese. You can either keep it in the reserved whey, some salted water, or covered with olive oil. Not sure what's the most effective. I usually use olive oil or salted water.

When you hit 105 degrees, take the pan off the heat and work quickly to skim out the curds, keeping them intact as much as possible: Drain off any whey that's accumulating and microwave the bowl for 1 minute (You may need to adjust the microwave times depending on the size/power of your microwave). Mine's a fairly new 1.2 (I think?) cubic ft model. Remove the bowl and knead the curds, while letting excess whey drain. Don your dishwashing glove, 'cause the curds will be quite hot (apparently guys in Italy who make the cheese have asbestos hands and don't need a glove) Knead for a minute or so until the curds start to come together a bit and cool slightly. Microwave again for 35 seconds. Sprinkle the salt over the curds and knead and drain again. Knead a minute or so-- the curds should be coming together now. Microwave one final time for 30 seconds. The cheese should almost look like it's melting. Drain the excess whey and knead until the cheese is shiny and can be stretched like taffy. Careful not to overknead or the cheese will get tough (However, the bit of chew that the cheese gets can actually be somewhat pleasant-- you might even prefer it kneaded a bit more). If the cheese is no longer shiny, you've likely over-kneaded. Now shape the cheese as desired. You'll end up with about a pound of cheese. I usually just shape it into a log. The cheese will still be hot, so you'll have to roll it around from time to time as it cools to ease into the right shape. You can use skim or 2% milk as well. Reduce the rennet to somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 tsp. The final product is surprisingly good. It's a bit denser and less tender, though.