Maybe you’ll be inspired to try putting some raised beds in your own yard. Our goal is to have as much food to eat and as little mowing to do as possible.

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When I was growing up, we went to Dicosmo’s for fresh ricotta and Parmesan, Centanni’s pork store for meat (it sold everything but we called the pork store), Saracino’s for bread. These things were too important to trust to the A&P.

So I was at the Regional Market and bought a chicken and a hen. Just because they were there, they were reasonably priced, and I didn’t know the difference, not really. I knew the hen was older. That’s all.

So tonight I tried making a sort of Indian curry-like Old Hen stew. In the pressure cooker.  First I cut up the hen and seared the parts in some coconut oil (so healthful!), then I removed them and sauted a bunch of mirepoix in the same oil. I added some kind of Indian readi-spice mix, some ground cumin and turmeric and stirred. Deglazed with white wine, added the chicken back in, some golden raisins, some chopped up apples (using up calories I find lounging in the refrigerator) and a ton of hot water. Let ‘er cook in the pressure cooker for 10 minutes.

Well. Everything came out yummy, soft, voluptuous (from all the schmaltz). Except that bird. Expecting the meat to fall off the bone after this treatment, I had to take her out of the pot, tear off that rubbery skin and actually saw off pieces of meat… what meat I could find. As I cut this bird apart, I thought of the life she must have had. With muscles like that, she must have done a good deal of walking around, maybe doing some of that powerlifting Dave thinks I should do some day. I could even imagine her flying, with wings that just wouldn’t part with even a bite of meat. Wow! She was a tough old bird.

But the fact is, I got many chewy bits that taste like chicken! Into the pot they’ve gone. And we’re really hungry by now. The tastings were promising. There’s a small pot of cous-cous to pour the stew over. I think we’ll love it. Even if it’s only because la mejor salsa es el hambre (the best sauce is hunger).

Do you have a story about a surprise ingredient?

Steaks of Cheese

It would almost be unfathomable to experience Philly cuisine without mentioning the venerable cheesesteak.  We tried some early in our trip.  For our first taste, we went to the famous Jim’s on South St.  I ordered a steak “prov wit”, which, I was led to understand, means added provolone cheese with onions.  Amusingly, the cook said “with what?”, so there went my attempt to use the local jargon.  He probably felt he had to ask that because they get so many out-of-towners there.  Anyway, the steak was finely chopped and quite tasty, and on that day the one steak was plenty for both of us.  A couple days later we tried Tony Jr’s, and this time I ordered “wiz without”.  Despite my cheese snobbery, I decided to go with Philly tradition and get Cheese Whiz.  This proved to be a good decision – the whiz melted better than the provolone had at Jim’s, and this made for a nicer texture.  I also left out onions, because I like them carmelized, and the onions at Jim’s had been barely cooked.  Finally, we thought the bun was better at Tony’s, a nice slightly chewy Italian roll.  So this was my preferred steak.  It was fun doing the steak thing, but we had, oh, 10 more national cuisines to work on.  It’s worth noting that Philly residents do not agree on which cheesesteak place is best, nor do they even agree on what’s the proper method of preparation.

Pizza

I had heard very good things about Gianfranco Pizza Rustica.  Near the end of our stay (sniff!), we happened to be right near the one on 11th street.   It looks quite modest, very much like your typical pizze takeout place with a few tables.  Not needing a full meal, I asked them what they’d recommend.  They were non-commital, saying everything was good, and I ended up choosing a slice of broccoli pizza.  They heated it for me, and just like the decor, it looked like any other broccoli slice.  But then, whoa, the crust!  Delicious, light, thin, just slightly crunchy without being at all carbony, a perfect texture in your mouth, I’ve never had better.  The cheese and topping were excellent, and we both loved it.  Next time I’m there, I’m going to have to get a very large pie. Or two.  Or three.  Those people were right!