Good Food, Good Beer Saturday at Headhouse Square Shambles

A cool July night beneath the Headhouse Square Shambles...what better way to pass the time than a food & beer event for charity? Don't let the 'Do Not Enter sign fool you, there were quite a few interesting bites to be had here...local restaurants were presenting some delicious dishes and the beer, also provided by local brewers, was all-you-could drink.

I won't delve into the details about the beer...suffice it to say that you had a good representation of all the Philly locals (PBC, Yards, Sly Fox, Earth Bread Brewery, Dock Street) as well as regionals were on hand to help wash down the small-plates being served up by local kitchens.

We bought our tasting tickets and dove into the shambles. the event started at 6PM and by 7:30, when we arrived, several stations were already on their last-gasp. Here you've got a grilled peach and summer corn salad. The peaches were somewhat meaty and had a great char-taste. The corn also had a nice grilled flavor and rested on a peach sauce that had a bit of tang.

Here we had a quinoa & veggies salad, prepared by none other than Philly's own Next Food Network Star contestant Katie Cavuto. The salad was studded with little bites of flavor...earthy black beans, tangy cherry tomatoes, crunchy veggies. The only time we cooked with quinoa we botched it completely, so it's nice to be reintroduced to a summer rice-alternative.

Southwark had the most interesting of all the dishes we saw...a plump grilled shrimp, touched with a creamy orange-tinged sauce, resting atop a salad of green tomato and a paper-thin tostada. The shrimp was plump and flavorful (seemed like a gulf pink?), the green tomato salad was tangy and well-seasoned, like a salsa verde of sorts, and the tostada was super thin and crispy...almost like an Indian crispy cracker (paratha?poori?) that we've enjoyed...this one had a tinge of cinnamon which was very interesting...almost like a giant cereal flake.

Le Virtu was packing up as we approached their table...we nabbed some of the last squares of what seemed to be a veggies lasagna of sorts...it had a 'chicken-stock' flavor to it, kind of like a chicken pot-pie and a lasagna mixed together. The one thing that was obvious was that Le Virtu hand-rolls their pasta...the supple & thin, yet pliable and toothy layers of pasta were silky smooth and delightful. We are definitely headed down to East Passyunk for the authentic pasta that Le Virtu is rolling out.

We had two tasting tickets left, so we splurged and threw them both down on the table at the Rx stand. Living on the east side of Center City, I hadn't heard of Rx, a West Philly/ University City joint...they seemed to be serving up some great down-home classics though and we were sold on the spread. Here you've got a nod to southern slow/comfort food...slow-cooked brisket, corn-bread and slaw. Descended from a long line of Texans, an appreciation for good brisket is genetic. Rx's brisket didn't seem to go for those smoky notes and seemed to lean more towards a saucy/tangy BBQ taste family. The cornbread was simply good-eatin' and I used it to sop up the bits of brisket juice on the plate.

The real star of the show foodwise (again, this was a beer-forward event) was the blueberry cobbler from Rx. I saw these little pie-tins floating all around the shambles and we were lucky enough to cash in our last tasting ticket for a scoop. This dessert was not cloyingly sweet, which I appreciated, but had enough thickness and fruity filling to still deliver a tasty end to the evening's meals. The topping was halfway between a biscuit-top and a crumble...there were even bits of the dough mixed into the blueberry treat itself, providing a toothy chew to the fruity dessert.

All in all, I'd advise showing up a little earlier next year so you can get a first-shot at the offerings, but this was a great way to soak up some beer while experiencing local samples.

Mama Palma's Margherita Pizza

Got a tip from a workmate about this place after mentioning I haven't been able to find really good pizza in Philly. She mentioned Mama Palma's, on the corner of 23rd & Spruce.



Although they do carry out, this place seemed much more like the kind of pizza shop you want to sit down and linger in...families enjoying not only pizzas, but other Italian fare...couples & groups of friends enjoying the summer night w/outdoor seating.
The menu had a wide variety of gourmet ingredients and pies to choose from(Clam white pizza looked good!), even Belgian beers to drink...too bad tonight we were in the mood to Grab&Go.



This is a pretty accurate caricature of Mama on the box...in fact, she happened to put in a surprise appearance while I was waiting...with a young mother and slew of babies in tow, the place pretty much erupted into an"Italian baby bouncing" scene...what was already a family joint really went over the top...still, the place had a charm.



OK, enough about the establishment, let's talk about the pizza. Mama's has the classy brick oven cooking approach and you can taste the quality in every bite; we ordered a Margherita w/ Veal Sausage...pricey at $20 for 12 inch, but worth the flavor.

The aromas of this pie had been wafting out of the box for the walk home, promising a fresh, full flavored pizza.

On the first-bite you can taste the herb-dusted mozz...fresh and full of milky flavor...the fresh tomato chunks blend in perfectly and the fresh basil & veal sausage created a peppery-fennel richness in every bite. We drizzled a little bit of olive oil over the pie upon serving to spread those lovely flavors around.



The crust and those signature tiny bubble that signify crispiness...although the pie had sogged up a bit on the walk home, a few minutes in a blazing hot oven firmed up the crust.

The box proudly boasted Best in Philly 2001 and I'm happy to say that Mama's isn't lying to you. It's a little expensive, which makes it a luxury pizza...that's really the only bad thing I could say about it.

Thanks to M____ for the tip about Mama's! We'll see if Mr. Starr's experiment on Headhouse can deliver on the concept that Mama's seems to have gotten right...thin, crispy crust pizza full of fresh flavors.

Fiori di Zucca con Insalata di Polpo Estate - Crispy Zucchini Blossoms with Octopus Summer Salad

One of our favorite farmer's stand, Blooming Glen, is bringing back the "wow" produce from last summer...massive zucchini blossoms. We decided to take advantage of the large cavities of these blossoms to stuff them after a quick-fry and a light dusting of cheese.

The result is a Crispy Zucchini Blossoms Stuffed with Octopus Summer Salad.


Fiori di Zucca con Insalata di Polpo Estate

Why Octopus? We were going to go with something a little more light & sweet, like crab-meat, scallops or shrimp, but we notice that Whole Foods had baby octopus on sale for $5.99#.



Baby octopus, unlike their full-grown siblings, are much less of an ordeal to clean & cook; no need for elaborate tenderization procedures here...just cut the head off and make sure the body is clear of ink sacs and any odd bits. Discard the heads and rinse the remaining body & legs.



Next, the octopus bodies go into a marinade for about an hour; we used a mixture of lemon juice, capers & caper brine from the jar with a healthy dose of olive oil. I threw in a few green peppercorns after the fact just because I was curious what the milder spice would do...in the end it wasn't a noticeable addition of heat.



With the "polpo" marinating, it was time to prep the blossoms. We clipped the "fruit" off the end, a miniature version of what most people associate with being the zucchini. Next, we sliced the mini-zucchini into matchsticks, making sure to trim off any hint of seedy center...I probably could've used a veggie peeler or mandolin to get the same effect of thin green zuchini shavings.



Elizabeth seeded & finely diced some heirloom tomatoes from the farmer's market.

Next, the zucchini strands were blanched in hot water, then shocked in a ice-bath.



"Summer Salad" - The veg mixture was combined together with some kosher salt, cracked pepper, olive oil, lemon juice and diced garlic scapes...yes, garlic scapes. If you're not familiar with these, take a moment to brush up with this link...for the rushed reader, simply imagine a garlic-flavored crunchy green bean...these added not only crucnhy chew, but a pop of subtle garlic flavor to the intense tomato & zucchini flavors.



With the salad chilling it was time to apply soem heat. The marinating octopus went onto a super hot grill plate to char-grill. Just a few moments and these cephalopods were ready to be pulled off, cooled and chopped up.



While the octopus grilled away, Elizabeth prepped the blossoms for frying. Normally we stuff these with cheese or batter them before frying, but lately we've come to enjoy the simply delicate crunch of a lightly floured & fried blossom...naked blossoms is one way to describe it.

Elizabeth sprays them with some olive-oil non-stick before shaking the flower in a flour-filled bag to coat; we use rice-flour as opposed to all-purpose because it creates a tighter crust with more crunch, but regular flour is fine...just make sure to add a pinch of salt to avoid a bland coating.




Next, the flour-dusted blossom gets handed off to me for a quick dunk in the boiling oil; I use the tongs to maintain the right shape of the final blossom...in this case, I actually insert the tongs up into the blossom and spread the folds of the bloom back to prevent them from closing up as it bubbles away in the bath...after all, we're going to be stuffing these with the zucchini-tomato salad, then topping with octopus, so we'll need to have them splayed out for an easier time.




The blossom comes out of the fryer and then it's a race against the clock...a heaping spoonful of the zucchini-tomate salad goes into the blossom, the we top it with a sprinkling of chopped octopus and finally dust the entire plate with some mild pecorino cheese to give it some aroma and provide some flavor to the delicate crispy petals of the fried blossom.

The final result is a colorful tribute to the flavors of a high-summer garden with a little unusual protein thrown in to compliment the somewhat unordinary crispy texture & taste of the stuffed cheese-dusted zucchini blossom crisps.

Lunch @ Leila Cafe - New Middle-Eastern Option

fattoush salad

Leila Cafe is serving up Middle Eastern dishes in a relaxed atmosphere. Check out the Meal Ticket review for links to their menu and a little background on the owners.


Recently opened, this is a great corner spot on Pine & 13th.

We were early afternoon customers and were greeted with a warm and friendly service. We were the first customers of the day and one of the owners treated us to free pineapple, banana, blackberry smoothies.



We tried Leila Maza, a sampler of appetizers. The Baba Ghanoush & Hummus were lemony and spiked with smoky paprika...definitely not a mild spread and very refreshing on a warm summer afternoon.



The second wave of mezze appeared...falafel-like kibbeh, grape leaves, tabouleh all served over a bed of yogurt-dressed greens, onions & tomato.

There was also fattoush, a chopped salad with toasted pita chips scattered throughout.

The kibbeh was very similar to a falafel, but with a little more spice...the grape leaves were lemony as well. All in all, the sampler was a good way to taste your way around the menu.

The had a variety of sandwiches (Gyro, Shish, & many vegetarian options) and desserts as well...save those for next visit.


Outside seating & Hookahs as well.

Garden Growing

Tomatoes can't grow fast enough!

Over on Philly Market Cafe, Gaetano is reporting that tomatoes have finally arrived at Headhouse Row on Sundays. Not soon enough.


Here's some shots of our little green guys.

A Sweet 100 variety.


Another Sweet 100 cluster just starting to ripe.


Here's a shot of our butterbeans, climbing up some home-strung trellis.


More promising results...little bean pods.

English Pea Fettucine & Cheese Stuffed Blossom w/ Zucchini Cakes

Fun with market finds...Fresh English Peas, Prosciutto & Fettuccine.


Here we've got more cheese-stuffed zucchini blossoms..these are wrapped with little Prosciutto bow-ties.



Elizabeth shredded some yellow squash, mixed with an egg-flour batter and fried up some fritters to accompany the blossoms.



Final shot of the Pea & Prosciutto pasta.

South St Phad Thai

Unlike other cuisines, Pan-Asian is one that always ends up towards the bottom of our "Let's go grab a bite somewhere...where do you want to go?" list. We've been slowly visiting all the non-scary Asian places within walking distance of our house and one-by-one are working our way towards finding our favorite place.

Next up on the list was Pad Thai. I'd heard a few so-so reviews of this place and I suspected we wouldn't find anything beyond extraordinary...but it was a sunny Sunday afternoon just off South St, so the setting made up for the underwhelming offerings from Pad Thai



NO, that's not a massive fortune cookie on our table...it's just a napkin. The perfect weather and excellent service really made for an enjoyable time.



The steamed jade dumplings were decent...again, I know that there's probably a steamed dumpling just as good and a little cheaper lurking only a dozen blocks south of here around Washington Ave, but we were having a good time on the outside table so I wasn't too bothered by that fact.



The spring rolls were on the edge of being overdone, but they had plenty of crunch and perfectly flavorful & steamy innards. The side-sauce was leaning to the sweet-side (I like a little more citrus in my sauces), but the fresh salad accompanying the rolls helped take the sugary-sting off the accompanying sauce.

OK, here's the major complaint from every review I read about this place...if you're going to name your place Pad Thai, then the dish should be pretty damn good. The pad thai was a little sweet, like the aforementioned sauce, and the noodles were too tacky...they tended to clump up into a tangle and bring too much sauciness in each bite. Again, this isn't bad pad thai..it's just not noteworthy.

Service was top-notch, personable and prompt, but the food was pretty much in-line with your regular South St. expectations.

Check this one off the list and time to move on to clearing the next block...I saw Mustard Greens was next.

Varga Bar II

A summer evening outside at our latest local hangout, Varga Bar on 10th & Spruce. Here's a shot of the Czech Pils being served on draft...no better picture for an after-work summer evening relaxing.

This is NOT a summer dish, but was one of the few appetizers we hadn't tried yet...Truffled Mac & Cheese. Served in a little cast iron skillet, the truffled mac was creamy enough and not a fused together casserole like some others around town. Although the truffle-bits were more caviar, the cheese was beyond the normal white-cheddar. I had to refer back to the menu for the details (gruyere, fontina, marscapone) but the overall impression was a truffle-worth mix of white cheeses.

At the exact opposite end of the oozy, warm comfort food is the pot o'pickles...at $4, it's the cheapest dish but don't let that mislead you...this pot of home-pickled veggies is a rich mix of crisp & tart veggies. Waxbeans, normally bland and fleshy, soak up the pickling liquid and crunch like a Vlassic. The snowpea pods are another interesting pickled veg. I picked out all the little leek hearts and enjoyed them with a crystal clear, cool Pilsner. No pickled radishes like a German place, but the variety made for some great bar-food that was evocative of Bavarian beer-fare.

Fig Upsidedown Cakes

We spotted a humongous pint of Mission Figs down in the Italian Market this weekend and decided to spread them out across out menu one Saturday.

Blue-cheese stuffed, prosciutto wrapped and broiled, they made great appetizers. But the real must-make recipe was the mini Fig Up-side Down Cakes... link to the recipe.


Figs get doused in sugar, then go into a pan with butter.

A batter is mixed up with egg, flour, milk, and cinnamon, among other things.



The result is a fluffy batter that gets poured over the hot pans, coating the sizzling & sweet pile of sugared & buttered figs.




20 minutes later in a 400 degree oven, you've got a figgy-cinnamon muffin.

Flipping it over, you can see the butter-cooked sugared figs creating a sweet crust around the rim of a pillowy-soft cinnamon spiked muffin pastry.

Some people serve this with a gelato or ice-cream...it didn't last long enough to let the ice-cream come up to temp. Elizabeth used our mini tapas pans to create individual fig-cakes...you might be able to get away with this in ramekins as well...the mini-cakes would make a great end to a dinner party.

Coy Latin Offerings Peeking Out at Coquette

Adam Erace's review of the bistro Coquette left me a bit puzzled about what I could expect to find on the bar menu at this traditionally French establishment.

We had been deliberately avoiding the place after I heard rumors about the inconsistencies in the food coming out of the kitchen since they had acquired a new chef...the French-Thai fusion was a manageable combination that apparently wasn't producing any meaningful results.

However, when I saw this story about the new new chef and the addition of some latin-focused cuisine, I figured that it couldn't hurt to try out some small bites and test the waters.



On a warm, sunny Sunday afternoon we grabbed a table outside and ordered up a few dishes outside the French spectrum.

Elizabeth ordered the Gazpacho with Shrimp; this huge bowl, at $4, was a perfect savory selection to cool down with.

The chilled tomato broth was slightly spiced and the chilled, chopped shrimp helped give a refreshing sea-breeze character to the soup. The crispy fried strips of tortilla and diced pineapple bits helped to give a crunchy & crisp character to the soup that complimented the latin spices hanging around the edges of the gazpacho's flavor profile.



The Mexican Albondigas were the fire to the Shrimp Gazpacho's ice...at $2.50, these were great snacks, packed with heat and very filling. The sauce contained a noticeable amount of adobo pepper...giving these meatballs a one-two punch of smoky heat. The meat itself was mixed with rice and some diced veg & herbs. If it hadn't been for the fact that I was drinking a French lager I would've thought we were eating at a latin tapas bar.



OK, this is what hooked me...the PW article had a photo highlight of the roasted, spiced corn. Served with a spicy mayonnaise, cheese and lemon, the corn was a perfect summer snack. It wasn't as 'grilled' as the PW picture suggested, but my spice-stained fingers were proof enough that the new latin approach to Coquette's bar snacks is a welcome addition to the happy hour offerings around South St.