Phoodie.info: The New Food And Drink Blog For Philadelphia » In Season

No Winter Doldrums At Greensgrow

tips — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:44:09 +0000

While many of us will no doubt go directly into a culinary winter doldrums starting this weekend, we were pleasantly surprised to see this update from the folks at Greensgrow Farms in Port Fishington, who are ripping into the post-holiday season just fine, thank you:

“We’ve got gorgeous NJ beets in red and gold, plus the last of the season’s leeks — turn them both into a warming borscht to keep out the chill. Also on hand are orange and rainbow carrots, good for chomping or chopping, and our selection of tasty ‘shrooms from Phillips Farm in the heart of mushroom country — crimini, oyster, shiitake, and portobello! Brussels sprouts may be the last of the season, too — get ‘em while they last!
On the fruit front, we’re stocked with cute little Seckel pears and apples — Pink Lady, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Mutsu, and Winesap for your (healthy) sweet tooth. ‘Tis the season to warm up the kitchen with baking — try a galette, tarte tatin, or crisp full of tasty local fruit.
Also on deck for Saturday: Our awesome local vendors, Wholesome Dairy Farms (for all your raw milk, yogurt, and marinated cheese curds), ReAnimator Coffee with delicious brews, and Earth’s Elements vegan baked goods and spice rubs! Plus our freezers and fridges full of delicious local meat, yogurt eggs, and cheese.”

That’s the spirit! Don’t mind if we do.

Greensgrow Farms, 2501 E. Cumberland Street.

Headhouse Heads Out

kwinks — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 21:08:23 +0000

This Sunday is the last day of the season for our beloved Farmer’s Market at Headhouse Square (photo above by Marisa McClellan of Uwishunu). It’s chilly out there, but fifteen vendors will still be there tomorrow, including Culton Organics, Birchrun Hills Farm, Beechwood Orchards, John & Kira’s Chocolates and Market Day Canele. So come grab some things you’ll need for the holidays, and maybe buy a few gifts. Headhouse Square is at 2nd and Lombard Streets, and the Farmer’s Market goes from 10AM-2PM. If you can’t make it out there’s the Piazza Winter Market going on all weekend!

The Best Pear You’ve Ever Had!

kwinks — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 02:39:37 +0000

After the Philly Food Tour on Friday, we headed straight back to the Fair Food Stand to pick up some of our own produce. Now, those of you who love pears know that at any normal grocery store its always a gamble. They might be soft and look really luscious and ripe, but as soon as you bite into them, they could be mealy and flavorless, and it just ruins your day. Fear no more. The pears at the Food Stand right now will have you, honest-to-god, falling to your knees. They actually feel a little on the hard side, but trust us. As soon as you get home, take a bite and you’ll be pleasantly surprised. They are so packed with juicy goodness, it seems unreal.

The Fair Food Farmstand also has locally produced flour, cornmeal, butter (that’s not shaped into blocks) and things like that, which have always been difficult for us to find locally. All kinds of potatoes and root vegetables are there for the picking too. Some of the goods may not look gloriously shiny and wholesome, for instance, their potatoes have dirt on them! But don’t dismay, it actually helps them keep their flavor while on the shelf! The ladies and gents that work the Stand are so genuinely nice and helpful too. We asked the cashier when checking out if they had anymore butternut squash (because I only saw the huge ones on display). She reached under the counter, and said “we have this little guy that no one wanted for whatever reason, and now it’s on sale for a dollar fifty!” Score!

Spend An Afternoon With Philly Homegrown Food Tours!

kwinks — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:47:05 +0000

Philly Homegrown has teamed up with City Food Tours, and they’re hosting a series of special Philly Homegrown Tours, for only three Saturdays. The tour is focused on sharing a taste of local food, that is produced within about a 100-mile radius, and in a sustainable way. The tours are $35 and happening on November 27th, December 11th and December 18th, so reserve your tickets here or call 800-979-3370, and hurry! They’re limited to about 15 people per tour.

The tour involves 4 stops. One is at the Fair Food Stand in Reading Terminal Market, where you’ll try some fresh local produce and the best yogurt ever (seriously) from Pequea Valley Farms in Lancaster County, and other goodies. Then, you’ll travel to another part of the Terminal, where you’ll have your own private tasting of cheeses from the famous Salumeria, and you’ll learn a bunch about where and how some of these cheeses are made. Our favorite: the Herdsman Cheddar from Cherry Grove Farm in New Jersey (it’s creamier than normal cheddar, tastes better, and apparently melts better too! Mac and Cheese anybody?). Then you’ll take a short stroll over to 13th Street’s Tweed, where Chef David Cunningham has three portions of his favorite dishes for you to try, with all the ingredients (down to the sauce) coming from local sources. Then, around the corner you go, to Midtown Village’s Capogiro, where most of the flavors are also made from fresh local fruits. You’ll participate in a really fun blind taste test, where you’ll try to guess all the flavors. It’s actually really difficult! There’s so much to savor in one spoonful! We’d tell you our favorites, but that’d be no fun when it came down to guessing them yourself.

Don’t worry there’s room for foodies of all walks of life. If you’ve good food preferences or allergies, they can tune their tours to suit your needs! Got a special tour or an event or other idea you’d like City Food Tours to help out with? They’re open to suggestions! Also check out their other tours, both public and private. Got a family of foodies you’ll be seeing over the holidays? This would be an awesome gift!

More to come on each of these local food stops and some other local must-eats soon!

Capogiro Embraces Fall With (Sweater-Clad) Open Arms

Elizabeth Malleus — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 17:00:26 +0000

Capogiro doesn’t just close its doors and slink away when the weather turns cold — they embrace the fall and winter months with open arms (and scarves and gloves). Though most people believe gelato to be a summertime treat, Capogiro says “No.” From their website, Capogiro’s new fall flavors include:

“Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkin – Lancaster County Long Neck Pumpkin gelato. Its a terrifying thought that flavor only lasts for a short while!
SIN-ammon - Violate the moral rule of restraint with our simple, sinfully good cinnamon gelato.
Pagan Pear with Bourbon – Every heathen deserves a nip of the spirits now and then… with sweet seasonal pear sorbetto.
Mummy Mascarpone with Shrunken Head Apple – Rich, imported mascarpone cheese gelato and seasonal Lancaster County apples.
Coffin Caramel Apple – Dulce de Leche gelato with a light delicious ribbon of apple sorbetto.
Alien Eyeball Sorbetto - it’s actually Kiwi sorbetto and it looks nothing like alien’s eyeballs. But, hey… its Halloween, go with it!”

Capogiro: Putting Mom’s pumpkin pie to shame since 2002, or at least willing to die trying.

Capogiro: Midtown Square 119 South 13th St. (215) 351-0900, Rittenhouse Square 117 South 20th St. (215) 636-9250, University City 3925 Walnut St. (215) 222-0252, Passyunk Scoop Shop 1625 East Passyunk Avenue (215) 462-3790

Hello Fall Brews, We’ve Missed You

Elizabeth Malleus — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:06:13 +0000

Fall beer overload!

Now that we have dried our eyes and stopped crying about summer being over, we can drink in the wonders of fall…. or, in this case, the wonders of fall seasonal beers. Our favorite local brewers put out some of their best seasonal brews during the fall and we cannot resist with flavors like pumpkin, coffee, and caramel. Dogfish Head’s Punkin Ale is at the top of our fall drinking list, along with Sly Fox’s Octoberfest Lager. Also, Saranac puts out two outstanding fall beers we cannot wait to warm up to: Octoberfest and Pumpkin Ale. Their Pumpkin Ale is brewed with a heap of fall ingredients (pumpkin, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, ginger and vanilla) and the jack-o-latern on the label makes us giggle with Halloween delight. And while we mourn our fallen friend Troegs Oatmeal Stout, we cannot complain about their replacement fall beer, Dead Reckoning, which rates highly with its featured flavors of caramel and chocolate, pilsner, and roasted malts.

And to kick off the fall beer season Joe Sixpack is hosting a Pumpkin and Fall Beer Sampling this Friday September 10, 2010, down at Bell Beverage (2809 S. Front St.). From 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM, stop in and sample a few fall favorites, and then bring some home to drink while you rake leaves.

How To: Green Beans With Apple Cider Redux

BrendanW — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:33:54 +0000

Here in the Phoodie Test Kitchen, we’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and we’re going all the f out. By “all the f out,” we really mean that we’re trying our best to find a happy balance of tastiness and easy preparation. Since the sides of Thanksgiving are the best part of the meal, that’s where we’re going to start. Sure, over the years turkey has come to embody the holiday but sides are the true stars of the show. So in the name of delicious/easy to prepare Thanksgiving sides, Phoodie presents to you, with the help of the internet, Greenbeans in Cider Reduction.

Here’s what you’re going to need:

· 2-16oz bags of frozen green beans (or a couple heaping handfuls of freshies)
· 1 small yellow skinned onion, finely chopped
· 1 1/2 cups of apple cider
· 1/2 cup of cider vinegar
· 1/4 cup of maple syrup
· a splash of extra virgin olive oil

The green beans can be prepared in the microwave if you so choose, you lazy philistine. (If so, microwave on high for 5 minutes, mix and then cook again for about seven minutes or until they reach your desired level of cookedness.) They can also be blanched or steamed, it’s up you; you’re a big boy/girl, just make sure they’re cooked.

The fun part is the reduction: First heat a skillet at medium low and add the E.V.O. and the onions. Keep the onions moving in the pan, it should take 10 minutes for them to caramelize.

Raise the heat on the stove to medium high and add the vinegar and cider. Mix the sauce until it’s reduced to 2/3′s or until it’s syrupy. Remove from heat and mix in the maple syrup.

Now it’s time to get your beans. Salt and pepper them to taste and then add to the skillet with your reduction.

Now all there is to do is serve, enjoy and try to get someone else to clean up!

Thanks to foodnetwork.com for adding a little zazz to the sauce.

The Quest To Tame The Wild Beach Plum

Rachael — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:30:45 +0000

The taste of beach plum jam, for those who have had the privilege to partake of such a delicacy, brings to mind spending summer down the shore. It is a long-standing tradition among beach locals to gather the tart, tiny, wild plums from mid-August to late September, and to make them into canned preserves for the winter. Not only delicious, the beach plum plant also plays a large part in the ecosystem of the dunes and has been increasingly monitored over the last two decades by ecologists. More recently, however, the science community has shifted its focus away from the plant’s ability to prevent erosion, looking now at cultivating the fruit for commercial farming. Cornell University has pioneered the study of the plum, known in sciencey-circles as prunus maritima, and recent findings show that it has extremely high levels of antioxidants (as well as extremely high levels of yum!) which can only help to boost its food profile. We say now is the time – get thee to the shore, specifically the Cape May area, and pick thee some beach plums before they lose their wild charm!

For more info on beach plums, and for a recipe for beach plum jam, go here

Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka: Lighten-ing In A Bottle

tips — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:05:55 +0000

The need for a refreshing drink that will keep a zen-like smile on your face has long been sought after. And then, along came Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka. The sweet tea transforms the vodka, like a party girl turned mom; here, the infusion of sweet tea lightens the heart of the hard liquor into a quite pleasant conversationalist. The summer delight is the brainchild of South Carolina Firefly distillery owners Jim Irvin and Scott Newitt. They have also added a few new members to the family — flavors spiked with raspberry, mint, peach and lemon. The naturally sugarcane-sweetened vodka is quite deceiving; at 70 proof, it will put hair on your tongue. Its recommended sidekick is lemonade, and you can find that concoction at the Octo Waterfront Grille. The southern charm is contagious and is a great way to simmer away these hot lazy days of July.