Potatoes, Lobster, Cabbage and Butter

Fries made with Savoie Farm's 'Onaway' potatoes. Lobster and slaw from the Lobster House in Cape May. Lobster $7.95/#

Pear Fleur de Sel Caramel?

I'm testing out a pear flavored caramel. This batch used Poire Williams in place of the rum vanilla spirits.

I was thinking about a Calvados and Poire Williams combo candy box for holiday times.

These taste as rich and complex as our rum caramel but with candied fruit flavor notes. I don't think anyone would guess pear though. At markets this weekend.

"Midwestern Masticatory Musings"

I have my google alerts trained on the word 'canele'. Recently I was alerted to this post.

Midwestern Masticatory Musings is his blog. Doc ate his way through Philly in a truly impressive fashion. He manged to tap Zahav, Vetri, Le Bec, Lacroix, Garces, Tacconelli, Supper and more in a single visit.

Buffalo Butter

I spied this butter at Claudio on Monday and made an impulse buy. I was thinking it would be a good call to have bread, roasted peppers and butter with the Osso dinner. So some tasty butter would be just right.

When I unwrapped this butter I was kind of alarmed by the ungodly white color. I tasted it and the flavor I got was a little bit of white chocolate and a little bit of generic lard. I wonder if it would be more charming if it were browned.

I was psyched out so I didn't use it at all. It did taste better with a pinch of Fleur de sel. A dusting of smoked paprika helped a little bit too.

Harvest Cooking

We fixed some grub last night as a bon voyage for our bud who is off to Buenos Aires for a sojourn.


The first dish used fresh limas and corn from A T Buzby and scallops from WholeFoods. At market last weekend Aimee O. gave me a a jar of Talula's Table pickled shitakes. Those were excellent in this dish.

The second plate was the Basajo, guanciale, pea shoots and beet salad. The beets were fresh, flavorful tubers from Weavers Way. Basajo from Claudio and a hunk of guanciale from D'Angelo. Love this salad!


Osso buco was the main plate. Shanks were on sale at SuperFresh. The meat dept at SuperFresh is not shabby at all. I used some cippolinis from Beechwood and the lil lady made polenta with Reggiano that WFM was selling for $9.99. Spinach from Blooming Glen along with heirloom garlic from Beechwood was the green element.


Some champagne and also Bluecoat gin with fresh watermelon juice were the drinks of the night. Teuscher champagne truffles for dessert.


Hasta luego, Ean!

Children's Casino Coming to Philly?

You know lawmakers got so riled up about parents leaving their young'uns locked inside their cars at casino (PARX) parking lots that they wrote a new law! Another law, yeah right.

If those kids are out in the parking lot why not bring them some games? Before Sugarhouse even opens they ought to have employees leave their kids outside in the lot, with their allowances, while they are working. Then the slots and the tables could be rolled out for the little skippers. If it worked out then they could bring their customers in on the "win-win" fun.

Never Forget