6th Annual 'Good Food, Good Beer and the Rest is History' at Headhouse Shambles

Time for the 6th annual 'Good Food, Good Beer and the Rest is History' at Headhouse Shambles

What could be more beautiful than a flower? Free craft beer!

Fork restaurant was serving up a wax-bean, scallop summer salad - the crushed nuts that topped the salad gave it some great texture and the simple dressing let the scallop flavor come through.

East P'unk Italian dynamo Le Vitru was serving up their pork 'lasagna' - I know that there's a more accurate term for this dish but basically it's assembled from hand-made noodles like a lasagna with a sausage & cheese filling. Just as delicious as last year.

Speaking of sausage, Noble was serving up a well-seasoned sausage with peppered tomato sauce and a dollop of polenta; the polenta & sausage felt a little out of season but it tasted wonderful and went great with some of the craft brews being poured by Earth+Bread Brewery.

Another newcomer, Wishing Well on 9th and Christian put in an appearance with a straightforward chicken taco - well spiced and served with a salsa, this was a decent contribution to the food offerings, although with Wishing Well's southern-leaning menu, I was hoping for something a little more interesting. I will give them credit for having one of the most tightly run stalls at the event - dishing out tacos at breakneck speed, once the food ran out they were packed and away in half the time it took me to finish a half-pint sized beer.

Speaking of 'bringing it' Southern-style, here's our nomination for 'Best in Show', the Swarthmore Food Co-Op's BBQ pork sandwich.

They called it the 'Three Little Pigs  - what you're looking at is a pork loin, stuffed with a sausage....

...and then topped with pulled pork meat from a set of slow-cooked ribs...

...and then stuffed into a potato roll.  

Served with a dollop of slaw, this was hands down the most delicious thing we had all evening, and the swarm of people around the stand was steady until the last of the pork was served up. This sandwich was so appealing that random people asked me 'Where did you get that?" and a few of the other vendors even ducked away from their stalls to procure a sandwich of their own,

The Restaurant School of Philadelphia was on hand serving up the newest craze in desserts, macaroons.  Nearly every color of the rainbow, these little treats were also going fast. 

We ran out of tasting tickets before discovering their presence (yes, I NEEDED that second pork sandwich) but other folks were scooping them off the trays that lined the table.

All in all, we really enjoyed ourselves this time around - last year we arrived about a hour after the opening bell and fund that barely half the vendors had food left. We stayed for a bit enjoying the great local beers as well - my favorite was the darker offerings from Earth+Bread Brewery, whereas Elizabeth was hooked on the Prima Pils from Victory.

Southern Science - Adsum Opening Weekend in Pictures

Adsum, the new gastropub that opened in the old Coquette on 5th and Bainbridge, has been getting quite a bit of good press lately for its sous vide Southern-fried chicken.  We were on-hand opening weekend and saw several plates of the dark-brown fried chicken bits leaving the kitchen and they looked as good as they sound.

The space itself is very similar to the old Coquette, with much of the old, dark wood finish and wall-length mirrors preserved. We avoided the crowded dining room and grabbed  a table alongside the bar to order a few appetizers.

First up on the must-try list for us was the Grilled Octopus with black pepper caramel glaze - basically BBQ Octopus as the sweetness of the caramel and the peppery-ness of the the glaze gave the impression of a BBQ lacquer. On octopus though? Excellent...if the octopus had not been cooked properly this could have been a different story.

The chicharrones, on the other hand, were a complete miss.  The irregular sized nuggets of fried pork skin & fat were still a bit soggy and served at room temperature. Some were cooked thoroughly enough but many were still not fully rendered out. A quick glance at the menu and you could see the pork belly that I suspect these little bits of fried skin were attached to at one point - can't knock the kitchen fr being frugal, but I've had way better chicharrones...the best being those we had on a recent trip to Chicago at the Publican - Spicy Pork Rinds...shown here in all their glory.

[ UPDATE - We recently returned and noticed the chicharrones were gone from the menu..I wonder if other people had a similar experience with them ]

Damn the arteries and full steam ahead...

Next up on the must-try list was the Tater-Tots, Whiskey, Bacon & Green Goddess dish.  The potatoes used to make these monster tots were of a great quality, sweet and flaky. The bacon wasn't in evidence but it wasn't missed, while the Green Goddess sauce was a wonderfully trashy take on Ranch dressing that I recall people dressing their baked potatoes with when I lived south of the Mason-Dixon line.  Despite the resemblance to Patatas Bravas ala Dixie, the dish was very comforting and disappeared beneath a flurry of forks.

Here's a snapshot of the 'Whiskey' component - tiny gelatinized pearls of whiskey...a nod to the molecular gastronomy vibe that seemed to be featured here.  The flavor they imparted to the dish was minimal, so don't fear them if you're not a fan of whiskey. Did I mention that they bring out the wine in science lab beakers to ensure a measured amount? That, along with the vintage apothecary feel that the decor evoked made me wonder if a foam wasn't lurking somewhere in our future.

We finished with yet another spin on the southern classic of pickled watermelon rind, although this featured the flesh of the watermelon 'pickled' in Kool-Aid. Garnished with a sprig of tarragon, I thought it was a great dish, tart and sweet, the perfect summer dessert.

It's refreshing to see some great Southern renditions redone with some obvious thought as to how to amp up the flavor - next time we visit I hope to make it down to the entree section and those KFC Sweetbreads.

UPDATE:

We went back about a week ago and made it into the large plates...here's the highlights -

Fried oysters were deliciously crispy but lacked the creamy insides...maybe a plumper oyster would've yielded up more liquor. They definitely have nailed the crunchy/crispy coating though.

"That's right bad biscuit...you sit in the corner and think about what you've done!"

The much-talked about fried-chicken was also crispy & delicious...

...but the biscuit was TRAGIC. Granted, Elizabeth hails from a long line of Southern cooks who know their biscuits, so she may be a little biased, but even a suburban-raised Yankee like me can tell that something way off. The consistency was like something from a tube in the grocery store...cakey, dry and hard...lacking the requisite pillow, flaky softness that you would expect to accompany chicken & collards.

The lamb dish was very tasty, rich with spicy lamb sausage cause drizzled over perfectly cooked slices of lamb loin. I loved the green chickpeas - half spring pea, half chickpea.Thumbs up on this dish.

Summer Dinner - Seared Tuna & Tomato Water

Facing an excess of tomatoes and 98 degree weather, we decided on a light & refreshing fish dish - seared tuna served in tomato water and garnished with diced cucumber & heirloom tomato.

Tomato water was made by blending together a peeled cucumber and three large tomatoes with a pinch of salt. The resulting soup is then strained through a fine-mesh strainer that has been lined with a dampened paper towel. I had tried this recipe before without the paper towel and the water wasn't a clear as it was with the towel. The mix yielded about a cup of tomato-tinged broth, which is then simmered down by about half.

The tuna was portioned and flash-seared, then placed in the broth to rest and soak up the flavor.

Garnished with a fine dice of cucumber & tomato, then dressed with a splash of olive oil and a few cilantro sprigs, the dish was a simple and clean way to enjoy summer flavors.

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Fresh Tomatoes, 00 Flour & Handmade Pasta

Our tomatoes have started to arrive from our container garden and along with some extra tomatoes from Blooming Glen's stand at the Headhouse Market, we picked some herbs from the garden to make a simple pasta dish that incorporated handmade noodles.

I've never been blown away with our earlier attempts at handmade pasta - it was always OK but it seemed a little too soft, despite attempts to cook it al dente.  I had heard that using the right kind of flour can make a big difference, so we picked up a bag of 00 flour from Claudio's and made some dough using the standard 1 egg to a generous 3/4 cups of flour.

I noticed that the dough itself was a little firmer, less elastic than when we're used regular All-Purpose flour. I was a little worried when we began rolling the dough as it tended to jam up a little more than usual. However, we didn't need to use nearly as much flour to keep it from sticking to the roller bars and once we got down to the smaller sized rollers, the dough was looking beautiful.

The pasta cooked in under 5 minutes and retained a firmness that seemed to be lacking in previous attempts with AP flour.  We served it up with a tomato sauce and some tiny veal meatballs.

Alongside the pasta we enjoyed a green heirloom tomato, basil and fresh mozzarella salad.

Although the bag wasn't cheap - $5 for about lbs. - if you're going to go through the process of homemade pasta, it's worth the extra $$. You just need to be a little cautious about using the right amount of flour; my dough was a little too dry and hard to work with when I used the same amount that I normally would with AP flour.

Zucchini Blossom Tempura

Sunshine & Stuffed Blossoms - Perfect afternoon dish with a cold, crisp glass of white wine.

Another variation on the fried blossom - this one is stuffed with goat cheese, then dipped in a tempura-esque batter of flour, a touch of baking powder and sparkling water - you'll know it's ready when the slurry that forms is just enough to coat all the tines of a fork. I was talking with a friend at Headhouse market this Sunday and he mentioned his never-fail batter of 50/50 flour & cornstarch...next time I've got cornstarch in the pantry I'll give it a go.



The trick to keeping the cheese from exploding into the frying oil is to really twist & pinch the tops of the blossom before immersing them in the 375 degree oil.



On a side note, we've begun harvesting the first of our crop of Roma tomatoes from the container garden.

Gardening for Garnish Garlic Scape & Soup

Here's a snapshot of Elizabeth's parents nursery back in Virginia during high Spring. We were visiting at the end of their growing season and as always, on the hunt for interesting ingredients and flavors to take back to Philly.



This is the main growing greenhouse - you can see the tables filled up with pots of herbs and the odd ornamental plant. Earlier in the season, this house was choked with blooms, covering nearly every surface.



Growing just outside the greenhouse, at the edge of the field, was a huge patch of garlic with numerous garlic scapes poking out from the leaves.




We grabbed a knife and cut off several garlic scapes to take back home with us - having missed alot of the Spring veg at the market, these scapes offered up a remote opportunity to put in a few Spring-inspired dishes before Summer arrived.

We also harvested nearly 3 pounds of fresh asparagus from the garden - we settled on fixing a soup with all the garden offerings.



Back home, we slit the scapes down the center, reserving the pungent bulbs for another use.



Then I flash-fried the scapes into a crispy pile.



I sliced the tips off the asparagus and halved the spears. The rest of the asparagus I boiled until slightly soft in a broth of vegetable stock, along with a diced single small potato, then blitzed the mix a food processor.




The trick to keeping this soup velvety smooth was to push it through a fine-meshed strainer - here you can see the resulting liquid and solids have been separated.




The finished soup was dressed with three or four butter-poached shrimp and then topped with the crisped garlic scapes.



Another variation of the dish used fried bits of thick bacon, fennel fronds, a dollop of Greek yogurt and the asparagus tips to season the soup. Served with a crunchy bread topped with Pecorino cheese, it was a hearty Spring soup plucked straight from the garden.

The Other Kind of Awesome Blossom

Summer time is here again and that means one of our favorite ingredients are in full bloom - zucchini blossoms!

Here's an example of a typical harvest from our patio garden. It's best to pluck these early in the morning and then stand them in cold water in the fridge.

This year we went overboard planting the zucchini & squash in the hopes of extending our growing season.

Although we were careful to only harvest male flowers, we found that over-picking the blossoms caused the plants to give up early and yellow-out before any fruit appeared.

Often times we found several ants crawling around inside the flower, which called for a thorough cleaning - here you can see a flower that's been cleaned and prepped for stuffing.

Here's a typical full-on Sunday dinner incorporating the blossoms - Lamb with crispy seasoned onions, a simple grape tomato salad, a ramekin of squash, topped with bread crumbs & a fried blossom and then two cheese stuffed blossoms.

Here's a closeup of the goat-cheese stuffed blossoms. This year, instead of a heavy tempura-style batter, we're dusting the blossoms in seasoned flour and frying them up as-is. The result is a much lighter fried blossom with all of the great cheese filling.

I know that Headhouse farmer's market has been bringing in some great blossoms lately, so now is the time to experiment - stuff the blossom with a spoonful of your favorite semi-soft cheese, twist the blossom top closed, dip in a batter and then fry till it's golden brown.

Headhouse Pub Opening Review

Zot was a one-of-a-kind place. We dropped in one night, complaining about a dinner service gone bad and were spontaneously greeted with Belgian beers and a trumpet mushroom, lobster & salsify risotto at the bar.

So when we heard about Zot's unfortunate demise and the Headhouse Pub springing up in it's place, we had to stop in and see what was cooking. There have been a few stories covering this re-imagined space and they have mainly mentioned the concept of a beer-centric gastro-pub.


Here's a pic of what we think the Headhouse does well...Asian inspired bar snacks. These are the porcupine shrimp, a shrimp ball chock with crunchy water chestnut & scallions and served with a creamy dipping sauce. The vermicelli poking out from the fried balls gave it the signature 'porcupine' aspect, but overall this is the kind of dish we were expecting...satisfying and delicious small plates.




Alongside the shrimp, we ordered the fontina fritters. These were OK hot, but they quickly cooled into brownish doughballs that were unpleasantly greasy - Elizabeth enjoyed the accompanying cucumber slices & tomato creme fraiche dipping sauce more than the fritters themselves.

Before we go further into the food menu, I will mention the beer menu. There were some great beers on the menu, however the number of hop-oriented selections were sparse...I counted only 2 of over a dozen beers on tap that could be considered 'hoppy' and 3 of the selections were decidedly in the 'fruit'/'sour' category (Rodenbach Cru on draft is a HUGE bonus), which limits those hopheads ordering off the drafts. There were some great, light summer selections, like Fleur de Lehigh, a decent Hefe and Flying Fish Exit 6. The bottle menu was as deep as Zot's, so serious drinkers shouldn't be too worried...we eagerly drank up a bottle of Boon Gueuze that wasn't listed but proffered by the bartender when our request for gueuze lambic was placed with the waitress.



However, this was the biggest disappointment of the evening...mussels. Early predictions of Headhouse were of a fear that a wide menu would lead to problems executing dishes - read the comments on the news story here to see what I'm talking about- Insider

Mussels are kinda no-brainers in terms of a starting point for gastro-pubs, but I hate to say that these mussels were only mediocre and suffered from the pan-global concept.

The 'Spanish' mussels, one of four varieties available, had chorizo...fresh Mexican style chorizo which lacked the punch of a good cured Spanish chorizo. This lackluster sausage left a broth that resembled chicken noodle soup - absent were any flavors of pimenton, paprika or the other spices normally associated with Spanish chorizo.

I called this one Jewish Mother's mussels as it reminded me of a schmaltzy chicken noodle soup with mussels more so than it's namesake Spanish mussels. This oversight with ingredients, combined with so-so quality mussels ( undercooked and stringy - we left about1/4 of the mussels on the plate because they were unopened/barely opened) leads me to believe that there is some room for improvement on this dish.

To be fair, the table next to ours ordered the Asian mussels and was very pleased...more evidence than the pan-global reach of the menu may be a weakness of this kitchen.

One bright spot? The fries. Delicious. Golden Brown. Crunchy. Bring 'em on.



Although Elizabeth was full at this point, I wanted to be fair to the kitchen and test the final flavor profile advertised on the menu...Latin food. I ordered the pork carnitas with pineapple and cilantro. The pork itself was chopped and seasoned perfectly but overall it was a too dry. The creamy sauce didn't make up for the overall dry character of the pork. I can't help but wonder if the latest fad of Korean short rib tacos wouldn't be a better option on the menu in place of the carnitas?

Stepping back from the food, the space itself was beautifully remodeled; we actually dined in the front room which, those of you that remember Zot, used to house the foozball tables. The service was very attentive. One thing I noticed was that with every beer order, the waitress was quick to offer a sample before the order was placed. I can see this being a great way to ramp casual beer drinkers up into the quality offerings on tap.

Overall, I wasn't disappointed, but I wasn't impressed by the food either. It looks like the initial skepticism that I saw emerging about the kitchen may be well founded. To be fair, I saw several tables enjoying sandwiches and burgers, so there may be some better offerings towards that portion of the menu. I wish them luck and I look forward to the bar snacks, but I have some serious problems with the shotgun approach on the menu (calamari, fritters,satay,tacos,mussels, etc.). For now, this is a 'beer first' bar and I would skip it for any serious meals.

Memorial Day Dinner Party - Bebe's BBQ, Seared Scallops & Summer Corn, Balsamic Strawberry Panna Cotta

Clearing out the camera today!

We had a series of small dinner parties in our patio garden over Memorial Day weekend that was a mix of some previous favorites and a few brought in dishes.


Our brother-in-law is particularly addicted to seared scallops, so we grabbed these at WFM (Reading Terminal was closed) and applied a bit of heat. Regular readers will recognize the corn & poblano pepper salad. The little dollops of avocado mousse helped to keep these little guys anchored to the dish.

In the background you can see a bottle of Cantillon Vigneronne, a sharp gueuze that my visiting brother-in-law fell in love with at Monk's - we picked this bottle up at the Foodery...not cheap but we were splurging for our out of town guests.



Speaking of guests, here's a shot of some gorgeous flowers that a family friend brought from her garden (Thanks Michelle!)...perfect centerpiece for the table.




Did I mention that my family hails from Texas? I wanted to prove to them that Philly does food right across the map, even Southern standards like BBQ, so we stopped by Bebe's in the Italian market for some BBQ pork and brisket.

Bebe's doesn't normally sell brisket by the quart but when we told the lady chopping up the BBQ we were building some brisket sliders to go with the pork, not only did she load us up with excellent brisket to go, she also sold us a bag of slider buns...one-stop shopping. By the way, the brisket sliders went fast...what you see above were the lonely remnants of a once proud tray of sliders.




For dessert Elizabeth pulled out another tried & true favorite, the Balsamic Strawberry Panna Cotta. This uses whole milk Greek yogurt (Fage) along with some heavy cream. The strawberries marinate in balsamic vinegar and the panna cotta is topped with lemon zest and cracked black pepper - the little pops of spice and zing played great with the classic, sweet combination of strawberry and balsamic



The chef relaxes! As the evening came on we enjoyed plenty of good cheer & wine... a great start to the summer season. Had a great time everybody...thanks for visiting.