"sandwiches that you will like!"

I wasn't sure what to get on my tripe sandwich, so I followed suit of the woman in front of me: onions and a big hot pepper!

Mnnn.

Cheesesteak & Phở

We're in Philadelphia for the weekend. Last night I had a cheesesteak down the street that was pretty good; today I had some really good phở with flank steak, eye round steak and tripe (phở tái, nạm, sách). They warned me of the tripe, but it had a really great texture, although not much flavor (it tasted like the soup broth, mostly). No photos, just some good food.

sour

Meanwhile, I've stared Hamelman's Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes and been working on my sourdough. I've been experimenting with oven moisture, among other thing. More moisture and steaming for the first few minutes really helps it rise more and get a better crust. It's a process. This one needed deeper cuts, I think. It split lower down, as you can see.

octoberish

It's been a busy few weeks with a handful of highlights foodwise. I'm making mead: it just went into a carboy today. My sauerkraut came out wonderfully -- it's really quite good. I also made sauerrüben -- fermented turnips, usually, but I used rutabaga since it's a cross between cabbage and turnips. To the right is sorrel soup: sorrel, potatoes, leeks and a duck stock from that roasted duck last month. It was real good.

Then LD wanted fried eggplant. Fried eggplant reminds me of soggy eggplant and other parmaseans -- all of which trigger my gag reflex. So I salted and drained the slices and tossed them in this batter (a departure from the fish batter I made with rice flour): two egg whites beaten until stiff into which two yolks, salt and half a cup of brown rice flour are folded. I battered the slices and fried them in grapeseed and sesame oil. They were really wonderful.

I also discovered this incredible Italian rabe at the farmer's market: I have no photo of it, but to the right is a tortilla of rabe and potatoes.

And this is beautiful purple cauliflower with lentils (it really does taste better than the white stuff, it's got more depth and nuttiness. It's just roasted on a bed of lentils cooked with celeriac and carrots and leeks) :

"...until the spatula becomes your third hand"

I've started baking two shifts at a local bakery -- first shift pastry, so baking muffins, cookies, scones and danish and preparing all but the latter for the next day. (2nd shift has the skills - and degree - for danish).

It can be a little grueling, but it feels really good. (My first two shifts took eleven hours, starting at 4 a.m.; they'll be more reasonable with time).

And they make some damn fine bread. So maybe I'll get some pointers on mine.