hodge podge 2014
t says: I was looking through old pictures, and I happened to be reminded of a few new food experiences that I had not yet posted … get ready for a hodge-podge!
So … let’s say you were sitting on the beach, baking in the sun, getting some rays in your bathing suit. As you think to yourself, “gee, I’m kind of hungry”, what foods might pop into your mind? Perhaps some boardwalk pizza, or a sandwich or fruit you may have packed, or maybe the bathing suit has made you self conscious, and all you’ll take in is water … Well, this is the opposite of all of those options: mac and cheese balls from Steve’s Grilled Cheese in Sea Isle City. They guys were absolutely crazy. Never have I seen g lose control over a fried food item. Sure, they’re sloppy, and sure, consuming any more than 1 will cause an instantaneous heart attack, but there’s nothing like a fried ball of cheese and starch. And the best part: I believe you can even have these suckers delivered to the beach! OH – did I mention there’s a cheese dipping sauce, too?
I also happened across this cool little PB&J themed food truck on Market street in University City. It had a pretty interesting looking menu, with lots of attractive options (lookin’ at you, ‘The Elvis” and “The Stoner”) …
… be that as it may, I went for a PB&J&Cheese&Apple. Not a bad combo – definitely worth checking out if you see the truck hangin there.
a and I also hit up Cozara, the new place in Uni City done by Zama. We were quite impressed. There was top-notch gyoza involved …
… as well as a very eggy katsu-don (Fuji Mountain does it a little bit better) …
… and a ramen that tasted like actual ramen! yay! All too often, the ramen at places lacks the alkalinity that ramen is supposed to have (like, the noodles will taste like a plain ‘ol flour-egg-water Italian pasta, and lack that ramen’y kick). I feel like there could have been some other additions to the broth to give it a bit more flavor, but it wasn’t bad, overall! I do have to say, however, that the gyoza was probably the best dish we had.
Ok … so now that I’m caught up to date … prepare for the barrage of posts from our vacation …
a fitting last meal
t says: Last meal? Really? Maybe I’m being a little dramatic, but let’s just say that I was really impressed with the meal that Talula’s Garden served up for my 32nd Birthday celebration! Maybe it’s a “fitting last meal before we go on vacation …”
June 2014, Wednesday Dinner, Party of 4. There were several more dishes than these … but here are the highlights … with one exception – we had these boquerones over herb-infused tomatoes that were absolutely amazing! We ate them so fast, I forgot to take a picture!
Talula’s Garden now has a “pasta” section on the menu. It’s pretty awesome, because now I can find the gnocchi dish even faster! (I used to have to search the mains and appetizers for it). While the crab-and-spaghetti wasn’t quite as good as pop-pop’s, the above gnocchi over peas and a pea puree were delectable pillows of heaven. So good.
g and my mom went for the tuna crudo (g? tuna crudo? surprised, right?) It hit all the right signature Talula’s crudo notes: herbs, veggies, bright accents, scrumptious fish. No wonder g falls into the crudo trap every time she goes.
yes, there’s still a scallop dish … yes, it’s still amazing … and no, there wasn’t any left.
but now … it is my honor to introduce the new pork belly champion of adsz. A title previously held by greats like Fond (I look forward to it on every Fall/Winter menu) and Bibou (it was one of those ephemeral Pierre Calmels specials that came and went in a blink of an eye), Talula’s healthily-unhealthy-sized portion has that oh-so-addictive crunch and sweet-sweet-pig-fat flavor that make this pork belly the poster boy of hedonistic meat (I know, I know … people like foie and caviar and wagyu … but come on – how you gonna dis’ pork belly like that? why you gotta be such a gold-digger with your deep, benjamin-lined pockets? think you’re too good for pork belly? that’s ok – more for me.) I’m sure there will come a day when I will not be able to consume such rich dishes like this … and that day will be sad indeed … but for now, I will count pork bellies on my way to sleep, ready to dream of the next opportunity to go back. Oh, did I mention that there were some superbly prepared greens and beans underneath? I ate all of those, too. So it’s healthy, right?
every time there’s a s’more-themed dessert, talula’s kills it. this one was called “s’mores cake”, and it was excellent. The moist, chocolate-laden cake melted in my mouth, giving way to the scorched marshmallow and smoke-infused ice cream. Desserts like this make me regret having eaten so well during apps and main courses (well … except for the pork belly above).
But this little bugger was the big surprise. Don’t be fooled by this slab of white sitting atop a pile of crumbs; this marscapone cheesecake was un-real. I would have expected Talula’s to try and make their cheesecake all light-and-fluffy with cutesy fruit accompaniments. But no. Forget that. They went for rich-and-delicious. ha declared it her new favorite cheesecake – and that’s with 28 years of cheesecake-tasting experience (inside joke).
You know, it’s meals like these that make me wonder why no one’s writing about Talula’s anymore. Hell – it makes me wonder why it’s been so long since the last time I’ve gone! But of course, we always come crawling back to beg for forgiveness for our absence … and Talula takes us in with open arms, feeds us delicious food, and sends us on our way with full bellies and obliterated expectations.
where have we gone?
t says: It’s been a very long time since a substantial post here on adsz. What gives? Things are busy busy busy indeed. And as our CSA has kicked in, we’ve been doing more home-cooking – nothing that’s quite pretty enough to photo, though.
But with all this work, it’s time for a vacation! To where? You’ll find out soon enough: 5 days until the pictures start flying!
here’s your clue …
we all scream for …
t says: Bring it on.
http://philly.eater.com/archives/2014/06/06/ice-cream-social-arts-league.php
mission: sprouts and fennel
t says: g and I were in the mood for a veggie-centric dinner, so we were set on grilling up some fennel and Brussels sprouts … until it rained. Damn! No outdoor grilling for us … To the broiler!!
Because I’m trying to cook anise and Brussels sprouts at the same time, I have concocted a pretty involved manner of cookery involving broiling … but it’s not just “broil for 20 minutes, and you’re done”. That’d be too easy. AND, it’d result in unevenly cooked food! So this is how I choose to do it …
0) Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
1) Arrange halved sprouts in the center of a lipped baking pan, as above, such that all of the sprouts (~30 Brussels sprouts, therefore ~60 halves) have their cut side facing up. Place the layers of fennel bulb (~2 bulbs worth) on the extreme right and extreme left of the pan, and arrange them such that they all curve upwards. Drizzle with olive oil and aggressively season with salt and pepper.
2) When ready, change the oven over to the “BROIL” setting, and get ready to start cooking with the oven door propped slightly open. Now it’s time rock and roll: the cookery is a 4-step process …
2a) Place baking sheet on oven rack ~6″ from the heating element, all the way to the left. In a normal sized oven, this will place the right-most Brussels sprouts directly under the heating element, while the left-most fennel will be all by their loansome, barely getting any love/heat. Continue until the sprouts right underneath the heating element are golden brown (~5-7 minutes).
2b) Move the baking sheet all the way to the right. Now the left-most sprouts will be directly under the heating element, while the right-most fennel (which has also been nicely browned) will be cooling off way away from the heating element. Continue until the sprouts right underneat the heating element are golden brown (~5-7 minutes).
2c) By now, all the sprouts are beautifully browned, but as usual for broiling, they are not yet cooked completely (you can try one to see how it is, and unless you got some really small sprouts, they’re probably very raw-crunchy (as opposed to cooked-crispy). Thus, remove the baking pan from the oven and flip all of the sprouts over, so now the cut side is facing down. Repeat steps 2a and 2b in an effort to brown this side of the Brussels sprouts. When you are done, this is what you’re left with!
Voila! Beautiful fennel. And almost-completely done sprouts!
3) Remove the fennel and arrange on a plate in a dramatic fashion … like this:
Sure is pretty!
4) Now, the sprouts have one problem left … when you turned them upside down to broil their undersides, the beautifully browned cut sides are now a little mushy!! Boooooo! Having crispy leaves is the best part!! So now what you do is turn them all back over … stick them back under the broiler for a few minutes … and when you see that they’re getting to an almost-but-not-quite-burnt state, you take ’em out … and, of course, arrange them nicely on a plate:
Brussels sprouts can handle this amount of char – they taste awesome this way!
And there we go – roasted fennel and a broiled Brussels sprouts! It seems like I’m nit-picky [and I am!] but it’s worth it!
2014 CSA Week 1
t says: Our West Philly CSA just starated – welcome to week 1! (It’s a half-share).
terakawa ramen
t says: bw and I were trying to brainstorm Asian eateries in Philly. You see, sometimes you want Asian that will be so spicy it’ll rip a hole in your stomach, and so salty that you’ll have pitting edema in 12 hours flat … and in those instances, you want Han Dynasty. But other times, you’re in the mood for noodles … and not some Lo Mein takeout noodles, but something … ramen-y. And not overhyped, overrated ramen (like Cheu, or nom nom), but real ramen. Unfortunately, bw and I just had no idea where to go. So we consulted the recent article and eventually settled on Terakawa – it’s in Chinatown!
May 2014, Friday Dinner, Party of 3. bw, g, and I rolled up into Terakawa after having called and telling them we were “15 minutes away”. Alas, it ended up being 20 due to taxi nonsense, so they gave away the free table. BUT … then they asked, “do you mind splitting a two-person table?”. The three of us looked at eachother for 30 msec before saying, “no! Let’s do it!”. And that’s how we got in Terakawa on a Friday night with no wait – booyah!
steamed pork bun: great pork, great bun, but not sure where the tomato comes in – next time, no tomato, more pickled veggies. we also trialed some gyoza that were very nicely done with a good crisp outside and a refreshingly vegetably interior.
the mayu ramen was savory upon savory upon savory, with roasted leaks, mushrooms, pork, etc. it wasn’t so much a complex dish, rather, a hit-you-in-the-face with homey goodness, making you wish you were eating a bowl by a fire in the middle of snowy winter night. it won’t win any awards for fancy-shmancy … but who needs those when you have perfectly al dente noodles?
I’d go back to Terakawa without reservation. But next time … I’d bring wine! Did you know it’s BYO? No one told me! I can’t imagine what would have happened hitting up this place with a bottle of Riesling in hand … (whatever would happen, it wouldn’t have a steamed pork bun involved.)
after dinner sneeze 