Tonkatsu

In the Feb issue of Food and Wine, Salma Abdelnour details a very fortunate assignment. Her account of 7 days dining at the temples of cuisine in Tokyo pressed me to test out tonkatsu.

The Tokyo pic is of a Buddhist plate at Daigo. The tonkatsu in my pic was tasty but I need to track down some kurobuta considered essential in authentic versions of the dish ....From wiki:"Kurobuta (黒豚, black pig) is the Japanese term for a breed of Berkshire pig given to Japan by English diplomats in the 1800s. Like the kurobuta's beef analogues (Wagyu beef) the pork is renown for its superb meat marbling. Kagoshima prefecture is known for its kurobuta pork production."

Cannuli

Simply supreme sausage.

Surf n' Turf

SuperFresh with the Cote de veau. Total deal @ $9.99#. Orzo with brown butter, spinach & shallots.


















Ken at WholeFood$ fish gave me this slice of Corvina. $14#.

Delectable, firm with a large flaky texture and mild and buttery flavor. It seared beautifully, the skin was quite tasty, we used just lemon and butter but you could get saucy and it would work nicely

Wholefood$ Markup -- more white bread (n butter)

People relax!
Now you can trust WholeFood$ with your heart AND your wallet.



This afternoon WFM was offering samples of these Chilean bread, WFM colby and Kerrygold butter grilled cheese sandwiches.

Eastern Promise

Promised I'd share this "sent from home" special with my gf. The dish is grouper with cellophane noodles and mushrooms and then served with cucumber, lettuce, banh trang and nuoc mam. I didn't keep my promise. Sorry Thu,

Comfort Food Saturday

Comfort Cook-off At Reading Terminal today. The jazz band was real good.

Half snow day

Items from Claudio: fontina, prosciutto, capicola, Eiffel tower triple creme.



The eiffel tower is a French Cremeux, 72% fat, "additional cream is added in the process resulting in delicate, fluffy and velvety interior reminiscent of whipped butter." It's addictive like crack.

On the way to Claudio's

Full Moonmeal

Last night the moon was full. Cats were screeching, and snow was on the way.

We stayed in and had Talluto's.

SuperFresh Fowl

'Made in France' from James Martin.
An authentic Bresse chicken dish made in Bresse, France!!!












I read an article in Cook's Illustrated about different breeds of chickens coming onto the culinary market. I wasn't looking for a Bresse bird at SuperFresh. The article piqued my interest about quality in chicken products.

Made in Philly is a b/s bell & evans breast, not exotic but lite flavor, clean, great texture and nice freshness $5.99#. PollyO mozz was 50% off! Marinara sauce from WholeFood$. Kaiser also SF.

Sarcone 'The American Italian'

More than words can ever say.

More Market Mofo's

At Reading Terminal Market the Amish stuff the pretzels with all kinds of stuff. Dang it, they're so good I cannot eat just one. That's a mofo.


Never frozen shrimp 21-25 at market in Cape May were $7.95. Ya gas is expensive but that's a mofo. Frozen 21-25's are about $12 in philly and farmed shrimp no.


Another mofo, potato chips. Wise chips do rule and they are pretty much unavailable here. Sample a few Wise chips if you can find any. They will bring you back to simpler times when chips tasted like crisp salty potatoes.

Market Mofo's

Cranky and impatient for spring more and more stuff is falling under the mofo category. Where did WholeFood$ find ripe fruit? Surprised? Check out the Sailor Jerry fruit wall. I wondered if they were importing it from a cheap labor location? No, the Mofo's have a little lady cutting it up BOH! 2 pineapple slices in a much larger plastic container $4.20.




Need a 2pound, $4 onion from South America? Got ya covered. Need a ripe banana? LOL, that's a mofo.

A Bloody Heart Done Your Way

Seduce a tigress on February's red day with a heart shaped steak from WholeFood$ Markup

On $ale!

Not the Christina O.

South St. Souvlaki has that 'closed for renovation' sign posted with some regularity. It's weird because they must be talking about renovations somewhere else since little has changed at the restaurant since the 70's hence the authenticity of the 70's vibe there.
The cooking at SSS is not bad at all, we had mussels, calamari, souvlaki, and pasticcio. the mussels were especially nice and the souvlaki sandwich is an incredible deal for about $5.
In nice weather grab a souvlaki from the window on South St. Walk up to Whole Food$ Market, grab a drink and eat alfresco at one of their tables. Folks eating WFM prepared stuff will be green for real, with envy.

Dazzled

Last night we dined at Lacroix. The cooking was brilliant.

The culinary inventiveness was dazziling, the ingredients pristine, and the hospitality superb.

Pacific and Atlantic oysters with caviar and the house champagne, splendid. Cured, smoked, seared foie gras with raisin bbq, a squirt of ranch dressing and truffled crispy corn bread, ethereal. Veal cheeks with amaranth, sublime. Riz de Veau and kumquat, wow.

A dish with Kobe beef and cashew ice cream was the first of 10 plates that we shared, not a missed step along the way. Luscious lamb belly, clam and cucumber! Scallop with pistachio risotto YES --- hamachi, pesto and chicory YES YES!

Lacroix $pecial and $pectacular.

Korean Olynean

I don't know much (about Korean) but I know I loved this. Kim's BBQ at 5955 N 5th St.

My GF has a friend who grew up eating at Kim's. They went to dinner a while back and I heard all about it. Same friend called last night to go for a drink. The timing was perfect to plead for a trip to Kim's instead.

So grateful that she was amenable to guiding us through Kim's cooking. It was astoundingly delicious.

On the Grind

This mill took on larger than life proportions as my GF stalked it on Ebay, Williams Sonoma and every kitchen supply spot around town. She ended up sniping it on Ebay ($61+ shipping) and she was ecstatic when it got here yesterday.

It is French, and they supplied a cache of peppercorns. Those peppercorns, superior to what we get at Spice Terminal or WholeFoods Mkt, went through the mill smoothly. The settings for texture are precise like clockwork and the mill provides a spot of light. The Perfex is retired for now.

Sea me, Feel me, Touch me

Nicest ingredients from Lobster House Market. Pristine quality and pricing !!! ---> scallops 16-20 $8.95, shrimp never frozen 21-25 $6.95, spectacular quality frying oysters $7.95 pint.

There is no substitute for freshness.

Ice Cream Gone Green

At a diner we like, pistachio ice cream was the special. We couldn't resist the temptation. It tasted OK but what about the color?

I was told that it's Jack n Jill brand!

Hash from Hershel

My GF made corned beef hash for Friday B'fast. She got a pound of fresh scraps from Hershel and cracked The Joy of Cooking.

Completely superior to anything I've sampled.

Favorite Coffee shop

Love this coffee shop! It's not in Philly and the coffee is barely OK.

Here, Cape May Salts are the standard 1/2 shell oyster. Snapper soup is hit or miss but better than anything I know of in Philly. The fishermans plate and the fried shrimp plate MMMM.

The Bloody Budget

It's messy work but WholeFoods Market has directions for you!