Notes from the Weekend: Dec. 13

Notes from the Weekend is a Monday feature that sees the members of Team Meal Ticket compiling all the food/drink highlights uncovered during prime eatin' time, Friday to Sunday. Consider this a place for good deals, great dishes, wicked cocktails, recipe triumphs (and tragedies), bizarro conversations and more. We're eager to share our notes, but especially excited to read yours.We encourage you to leave notes from YOUR weekend in the comments. Have at it! (View past NFTW installments at citypaper.net/notes.)

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Notes from the Weekend: Dec. 13

POSTED: Monday, December 13, 2010, 9:48 PM

Filed Under: Notes from the Weekend

Notes from the Weekend is a Monday feature that sees the members of Team Meal Ticket compiling all the food/drink highlights uncovered during prime eatin time, Friday to Sunday. Consider this a place for good deals, great dishes, wicked cocktails, recipe triumphs (and tragedies), bizarro conversations and more. Were eager to share our notes, but especially excited to read yours.We encourage you to leave notes from YOUR weekend in the comments. Have at it! (View past NFTW installments at citypaper.net/notes.)

Adam Erace: AE Drew Lazor: DL Juliana Reyes: JR

Photo | Drew Lazor

Stopped by Zavino (112 S. 13th St.) for a late lunch Friday afternoon, and tried this very nice new pie tender red wine-braised beef shortrib, lightly dressed argula and super-funky Toma Primavera from Cherry Grove Farm in Lawrenceville. DL Friday all I had was the dry pepper style chicken at Han Dynasty (108 Chestnut St.), and somehow, it was enough. No. 8 on their spice level is perfect when the meal isn't piping hot (and when you don't eat the dry red peppers ... ). Super-impressed by the spice level. Gotta return and try the No. 10 spicy dry pot style. JR Friday night hello, Sidecar (2201 Christian St.), you old friend! Hadn't been to my favorite bar in a little bit for some reason. Saw my fave employees, downed a Ballast Point Big Eye or two and ate a tasty roast pork sandwich special on the late-night tip. Shoutout to server Steve for recommending I dip it into tangy/spicy Asian chili sauce. DL

Photo | Adam Erace

Friday, cooked up one of my favorite quick breakfast-for-dinners, Eggs in Purgatory. Just heat two cups gravy (you heathens may call it tomato sauce) in a shallow saucepan and crack a few eggs right in. Cover, cook5 minutes or until whites have set and yolks have glazed over (but still have an over-easy jiggle) and serve topped with parsley leaves, grated Parm, good olive oil and lots of red pepper. Do it right and the yolks will run when you pierce them, lending the marinara an exquisite richness you wouldn't expect from this poor man's supper. Anyone know a restaurant that serves eggs in purgatory? RoseLena's, which for years lived in the Passyunk space that currently houses Capogiro and the upcoming redux of Salt + Pepper (1623 E. Passyunk Ave.), used to do them on their brunch menu, but I haven't seen 'em anywhere else. Get at us in the comments! AE

Photos | Drew Lazor

Saturday day meatball parm with the girlie and her parents at Paesano's (901 Christian St.) before taping this Talkadelphia podcast (lots of fun). Then I found myself at the bar at Percy Street Barbecue (900 South St.), where the always-sweet Erin O'Shea treated us to two little tastes of stuff she's working on smoked bits of turkey tail ("Best part of the turkey," says O'Shea of the ultra-fatty, chewy little nuggets she's right!) and the smoked roast beef she's doing for holiday pre-order (deadline is Dec. 17). Both quite nice with a neat pour of Johnny Drum. DL

Photo | Adam Erace

For a late-afternoon snack on Saturday, I slid into the sushi bar at Izumi (1601 E. Passyunk Ave.), where the specials list is long and worth listening to. Scarfed fresh uni on an urchin-shell pedestal; butter-soft anago (salt-water eel) alight with lime zest and chives; and aji, a silver-skinned Japanese horse mackerel served by the whole or half fish as sushi or sashimi. When so many Japanese joints slice their sushi from loins butchered during morning prep, it's refreshing to see Izumi's guys showcase their knifework on a whole specimen. Aji is the mackerel for people who don't like mackerel (read: me): mild and sweet, with the subtlest of marine tang. AE Saturday night, shamelessly ordered everything AE had last week from Sky Cafe (1540 Ritner St.) I initially couldn't find the website and used NFTW as my menu. Chicken wings were definitely all-stars, and the same went for the curry rice noodle soup. I think the boyfriend and roommate were freaked out by the fish balls, though. Washed it all down with Breckenridge Lucky U IPA in their funny little six-packs (looks like Campbell's Soup covers). JR


Photos \| Drew Lazor

Ever had lane cake? It's an Alabama specialty that I had the pleasure of trying for the first time at a holiday get-together thrown by Friend of Meal Ticket (and 'Bama native, roll tide!) Clint F. on Saturday night. You basically take a very yellow cake base and slather it with a holy-crap-that's-sweet frosting of egg yolks, raisins, pecans, coconut, walnuts, butter and sugar. Folks tend to stack these up with multiple layers, but Clint ran out of time, which is why this was only one layer. He has already put in a request into Montgomery for an official pardon from the governor. DL Sunday the boyfriend made huevos rancheros, a dish I've wanted to try for years now. Then leftovers from Sky Cafe with Ballast Point Yellowtail Pale Ale, during which we discovered the fried anchovies under the beef rendang. I believe I am an anchovy convert. JR

Photo | Drew Lazor

For dinner on Sunday liver and onions for me (it's too brownnnnn for a good pic), and spicy tofu and scallions, Tampopo-style, for girlie. Based it off this recipe. I would recommend, though, doubling every quantity of the outlined sauce for best results. Also, tack on a fresh jalapeno, and ample Korean chili powder, and red pepper flakes, and cayenne, and lots of cracked black pepper. We like spicy things at our house. DL

Photo | Adam Erace

For Sunday dinner, cousin made amazing lasagna and chocolate-cream pie (recipe from Saveur) and invited over the extended fam. I contributed by harvesting a ton of snow pea greens from my outdoor containers (thriving in the cold!) and sauteeing them with shallots, parsnips and red dandelion greens. AE

Drew Lazor

Posted 2010-12-14 00:57:17

I KNOW. Can't help it. At least I didn't put sriracha on/in it.

Drew Lazor

Posted 2010-12-14 00:58:37

Second the shakshuka @ La Va pick ... awesome stuff!

Drew Lazor

Posted 2010-12-14 00:59:39

MellodyBrew, what'd you think of Kennett's cocktails? I haven't had any yet but I'm sure they're nice if the list was worked on by barkeeps Christian and Phoebe.

Posted 2010-12-13 17:42:06

Not exactly like Eggs in Purgatory, but both Cafe Ole and Kanela have Shakshuka - "eggs poached in a cumin scented tomato and pepper stew served with grilled bread."  It is very yummy and sounds pretty close.

Nancy Gershman

Posted 2010-12-14 16:19:06

Attn: Adam Erace

After I read about your "Eggs in Purgatory", I realized we must get acquainted. My partner Marlene Samuels and I have created the only community cookbook dedicated exclusively to gourmet rescues of perfectly good food in six categories: Negligible Quantities; Stems, Skins & Stalks; Past Peak; Once Cooked; Nearly Expired; and Ill-Fated Creations. The website is www.ExpendableEdibles.com.

Would love to publish your recipe, just as you have it here, but maybe also with a byline and a link back to whereever you like. Can you contact me at nancy@expendableedibles.com or ExpendableEdibl on Twitter or Expendable Edibles on facebook. 

Cheers,
N & M
773-255-4677 (Chicago)

carolyn

Posted 2010-12-14 11:06:33

FRIDAY: Introduced a friend to Han Dynasty  started off with wontons in chili oil (my personal fave; in the past, upon seeing me try to slurp every drop, Han has asked me if I would like a straw), then ordered spicy noodles with pork and scallion chicken as a throat-cooler. Next time I will break her in to something drier and more face-numbing. Ran out to Devil's Den for a late seasonal flight/cheese plate/french fry dinner. Very healthy. Somehow they still had the Weyerbacher Pumpkin on tap and it was awesome.

SATURDAY: Breakfast at home, late-afternoon linner at Maru Global Takoyaki. New favorite thing: Spicy Octopus balls. Yep. 

SUNDAY: Bussed up to NYC for the BUST magazine Holiday Craftacular, and ate well while I was up there. Brunch was in Chelsea Market, at Friedman's. I got the chicken and cheddar waffles, which was awesome, but my favorite dish was my friend's, a latke-poached egg-smoked salmon-hollondaise take on Eggs Benedict. Yum x 1,000.

barryg

Posted 2010-12-14 06:56:56

Not to start a culture war but yea I think Shakshuka is the superior of the tomato stew + runny egg dishes.  I've had La Va's and Kanella's, both good stuff.  I don't think they serve it at Zahav but Solo has an awesome recipe with harissa and paprika that I use at home: 
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/tomato-pepper-stew-with-poached-eggs-and-harissa

Michelle

Posted 2010-12-14 00:21:01

Went to the Sidecar post work on Friday and it was lovely.  Saturday at Paesano's was fun with the fam, but I didn't love my sandwich as much as I wanted to.  Didn't eat again until the delicious lane cake ( thanks Clint!) paired winningly with Miller High Lifes and a ROOT beverage.

Sunday dinner was the highlight of my weekend food consumption.  Crispy, spicy tofu with rice and broccoli? My fav! Hopefully though, next weekend will involve more Christmas shopping and less booze/food enjoying...

poncho

Posted 2010-12-13 23:54:17

The shakshuka at La Va is also a viable alternative, very delicious

poncho

Posted 2010-12-13 23:55:06

"Only complaint  Could have used more bun to hold in all that meat."

That's what she said-

MellodyBrew

Posted 2010-12-13 17:03:05

I started the weekend out at my new neighborhood bar, Kennett.  I drank plenty of Yards and had their cheese and meat platter.  It was enough for two, but I munched on it all night while sampling their cocktails and beers.  Saturday was spent hoping all the Christmas events around city hall where we did the Comcast Holiday Spectacular, Christmas Village and the light show at Macy's. This was supplemented by Brauhause sausages at the Christmas Village and the warm Holiday Spice wine. We then hit Nodding Head for 3 Triples, then ended with dinner at drinks at the Khyber Pub.  The pulled pork BBQ at the Khyber was amazing, paired with Port Brewing Mongo DIPA.

Tweets that mention Notes from the Weekend: Dec. 13 :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper -- Topsy.com

Posted 2010-12-13 17:10:15

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Philly City Paper and Meal Ticket, Meal Ticket. Meal Ticket said: New NOTES FROM THE WEEKEND is live. Share your notes in the comments! http://ow.ly/3oz9M [...]

juliana

Posted 2010-12-13 17:29:52

"tack on a fresh jalapeno, and ample Korean chili powder, and red pepper flakes, and cayenne"

drew, that is SO MUCH SPICY

Kenya

Posted 2010-12-13 19:21:30

On Saturday I had the pork belly bun from the Tyson bees truck.  It was moist and juicy from brazing and the generous  dollop of hoisin made the whole thing just perfect.  Only complaint ... Could have used more bun to hold in all that meat.

Notes from the Weekend: Jan. 10 :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper

Posted 2011-01-10 21:25:47

[...] All nine of us did the all-meats, all-sides Lockhart jawn, plus Percy’s killer smoked wings, DL-endorsed turkey tails (!!!) with pulpy cranberry sauce and my fave mac ‘n’ cheese in town. [...]

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Founded in October 2008, Meal Ticket is a City Paper blog about food, drink and assorted other things that make you go mmm. We do recipes, interviews, restaurant news, commentary and much more. We don't do restaurant reviews here — those are handled in print, mostly by our critic (and Meal Ticket contributor) Adam Erace. Got a tip, question, thought or concern? Just want to say hello? Please shoot a note to caroline@citypaper.net.

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