Category Archives: Table

… Or Maybe You’d Prefer to Leave it in the Experts’ Hands

DRINK/SERVICE

Everybody loves to eat these days, but the proposition of thoughtful cocktails served in antique glassware is too easy—and distinguishing—of an upgrade for your next dinner party to ignore. And we’re making it even easier by telling you how to pull it off.

By Scott Edwards · Photography by Matthew J. Rhein

Before we move forward, think back, back to your last dinner party and the way you let your guests have at your wet bar. Left to their own devices, a gin and tonic became a highball brimming with Bombay Sapphire, a glass of red became a goblet so full it needed to be sipped before it could be moved. In hindsight, their reception of each course was a little overly enthusiastic, even considering the care you invested in every morsel you plated.

Now imagine your next party, only this time, instead of saying hello and immediately retreating to the kitchen, you’re saying hello and escorting your guests, one by one, two by two, to a properly manned bar—your co-hosts for the night. You’re still dipping into the kitchen, but you’re doing so with a finely crafted cocktail in hand. Your guests are enjoying the same—in antique glassware, no less. And they’re actually enjoying them, not just getting blitzed.

Welcome to a night with Spirit Forward, a craft cocktail caterer.Welcome to a night with Spirit Forward, a craft cocktail caterer. Yes, the “craft cocktail” part is worth noting because this is not a simple bartending service, like the kind you’re relegated to at a wedding. With all due respect, those are hired hands being paid to pour heavy (or light, depending on your budget). Spirit Forward, on the other hand, is Dan Hamm, who works as the bar manager at a.bar, which is pretty much the epicenter of Philadelphia’s craft cocktail scene, and Stephanie Smith, a consummate hostess who cut her teeth at the revered Vernick Food & Drink. Hiring them for your party is akin to recruiting Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid to fill in for your next rec-league game.

Cocktail catering is such an easy and distinguishing upgrade, it seems impossible that it’s not more prolific. Because it’s not, the inquiries that Smith and Hamm field are fairly simple: I’m having a party, and I’d like to do more than vodka and sodas and wine. What can you do? We tend to marry ourselves to the same drink or two for no real reason other than it’s what we’ve been drinking for as long as we can remember. Really, the idea of sifting through prospective candidates is exhausting, and we just want a drink, our drink. But what if you had an expert do the sifting for you? That’s essentially what this is like. They’ll ask you for the details of your party—how many people? What kind of vibe?—and then they’re going to ask you what you like to drink. And even if, try as you might, all you can come up with is “vodka and soda,” they’re going to be able to dig a little deeper to flesh out a full-on flavor profile. That way, you’ll end up drinking a revelation, even if it’s just the best vodka and soda you’ve ever tasted.

Hamm possesses a rare ability to elevate both the most tried and true and obscure classics with novel-but-appropriate twists, and always with an eye toward fresh and seasonal, not unlike a French-trained chef. He started bartending in the deep end. Overnight, he was expected to memorize the recipes for and accurately reproduce hundreds of cocktails, classic and contemporary. He responded by digesting it all remarkably fast and then promptly riffing on that newfound knowledge. In short order, finicky regulars started seeking direction from him. They’re the same ones who planted the seed for Spirit Forward. Can you teach me how to make this? Can you tend bar at my wedding?

Stephanie Smith and Dan Hamm make it look easy. It’s not.

He met Smith around the start of all this. And the more he began to conceptualize Spirit Forward, the more he realized how ideal a complement she was to him. “She has an amazing palate and she has that eye for design,” he says.

Smith’s fully capable of jumping behind the bar and thinning a thirsty crowd, but her stamp’s all over everything else—booking, planning, organizing, marketing and the staging. “When we go to an event, we really want our bar to look custom-made, as custom as the drinks themselves,” she says.

That’s right; they design their own bars. In fact, the only thing they don’t supply is the booze; it’s prohibited by law. So what they do instead is provide you with a detailed list of what they’ll need. If you were doing this on your own, you were going to stock the bar anyway.

Another reason we tend not to stray from our limited repertoire is a bar of any kind can be an intimidating and pretentious place. If you don’t have the ingredients and preferred brands of your drink of choice down, there’s a high degree of likelihood that you’re going to be sniffed out as a fraud. This isn’t that. For one, Smith and Hamm also teach cocktail-making classes through Spirit Forward, so there’s a conscious, gentle way that they go about enlightening. For another, this is your home and these are your friends. Should you or anyone else ask how a drink’s made—and you will—Smith and Hamm are obliged to stop what they’re doing and write it down. Experience has taught them that “that stays with them more than any drink you’ll make them,” Hamm says. The same will be said of the night as a whole.

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Thirsty Yet?

DRINK/DIY

We figured you would be, so we asked our favorite new hangout, The Dinky Bar & Kitchen in Princeton, to mix us up a stern cocktail that could hold up to a bitter chill and was low-maintenance enough that we couldn’t screw it up when we went to replicate it at home later on. This is what they offered up. The Coffee Cocktail looks like a latté and tastes like one, too. But you’ll notice the total lack of coffee. Magic. At least, it was in 1887, when this recipe was published in the reprint of Jerry Thomas’ seminal tome, How to Mix Drinks.

And that’s what we love about The Dinky: Everything old is new again. Which seems to be the predominant theme among this set of pages. The bar sits across the street from the McCarter in a 1918 stone building that housed a Dinky train station for the better part of a century. There’s still plenty of the original character there to encourage a deeper exploration of an impressively wide-ranging drinks menu that reaches from sake and hard-to-find ciders to smartly crafted cocktails like this one. Basically, there’s no going wrong. Here, either.

The Dinky’s Coffee Cocktail

1½ ounces port
1 ounce brandy
½ ounce simple syrup
1 whole egg
1 dash Angostura bitters
Freshly ground nutmeg, for garnish

Combine the ingredients, shake hard, then strain into a wine glass. Garnish with nutmeg.

 

Photography by Josh DeHonney

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The Low-Maintenance, High-Reward Super Bowl Party

ENTERTAINMENT

Spend less time prepping and cleaning up and more time gawking at Lady Gaga with your friends.

By Scott Edwards

Another entertaining season, rife with drama on the field (one step forward, two steps back for the Eagles) and off (this sport has to be hanging by a thread, right?), comes down to one last, opposite-of-entertaining matchup. The Patriots in the Super Bowl: Never saw that one coming. And, Atlanta has a team?

The silver lining: The less invested we are in the action on the screen, the more invested we can be in the action around it. After all, the communal watching experience is the real lure, not the game itself. The Super Bowl Party is more widely celebrated than any religious or national holiday in this country. Why? Because, as unaffected as a lot of us like play it, we all experience FOMO deep down, and the Super Bowl, sadly, is the most universal conversation we’re likely ever going to have. Miss out on the spectacle and you’re stuck on the outside looking in for the next week. And a week in pop culture is like five years in dog years.

If you’re hosting a Super Bowl Party, you know all of this already, have been hip to it since Janet and Justin. Less clear is how to pull off your party without losing weeks of your life to the prep and cleanup, only to end up watching all of the pivotal moments (again, rarely having anything to do with the game) later on, like a hermit. We can help with that. What we have here is a plan for the Low-Maintenance, High-Reward Super Bowl Party. It’s nothing revelatory. Just a whole lot of common sense. But when you’re planning the biggest gathering of the year, common sense can be in short supply.

Invitations
Evites over a mass text or email. And send immediately. As in, make it the first thing you do after you finish reading this. It’ll take less than five minutes. Sure, everyone’s aware of the date, and it may go without saying that you’ll be hosting, but a simple head’s up is just common courtesy.

In that vein, your guest list has probably long since been established. But that shouldn’t mean it’s closed to any editing. Think back to last year’s party. Were there any odd men out? Was it too crowded? Always be aware of balance. You don’t want to invite a couple of casual observers into a pack of rabid fans, nor do you necessarily want to include a new coworker in a tightly knit group, regardless of his or their levels of enthusiasm. It’s not total harmony you’re going for. You just don’t want any wallflowers. They’ll swallow your night whole.

Food, Drinks, Ice
Yes, this is a low-maintenance guide, but wings and pizza aren’t even trying. A few simple finger foods (see below for a couple of recipes that fit the bill perfectly) and a crockpot dish or two, like pulled pork and vegetarian chili, will leave everyone full and appreciative of the effort. And they’ll keep you out of the kitchen during the party, for the most part.

As for stocking the bar, read the room. If the majority of your guest list is arriving with the intent of blacking out by the third quarter, you need new friends. Also: Buy the cheap stuff. They’ll object at first, but by the second or third beer, they’re not going to notice. If it’s a slower drinking crowd (read: adults who act their age), invest in a quarter-barrel keg of something craft-y—it’s the equivalent of 82 12-ounce cans, so it should be more than enough—along with a few bottles each of red and white wine. (Nothing over 20 bucks.) You’re never going to satisfy a liquor drinker, so don’t even try. Put word out beforehand that if anyone feels compelled to drink anything other than beer or wine, they’re on their own.

Ice: Buy a few 20-pound bags, two or three for the quarter-keg and one for a cooler stocked with the white wine. Keep both just outside the deck door. You’ll be set for the night.

Plates, Utensils, Cups
Disposable all the way around. End of discussion.

Seating
Your Super Bowl Party is not a sixth-grade recital. In other words, you don’t need a seat for every ass in the room. There’s going to be the handful of diehards who claim their posts a half-hour before kickoff and never leave them, save for beer runs and, hopefully, bathroom breaks. But everyone else is going to move around a lot and sit and stand at equal turns. So don’t fill your living room with folding chairs. They’re only going to impede that process. And, really, who wants to sit on a folding chair? Instead, toss a few large pillows around the room. It’s a much savvier use of that valuable floor space.

The TV
I never got the multiple TVs in multiple rooms. You’re inviting everyone over to watch the game together. Or, at least, hangout while it’s on. If you’re going to feed them to separate rooms, you may as well save yourself a whole lot of trouble. You wouldn’t throw a dinner party and divide the guests between the dining room and the kitchen. If there’s not enough room, cut your guest list.

The lone exception to the rule: a playroom. If there are going to be kids under the age of 12 at this thing, dedicate a separate space. That’s not to say they can’t watch the game with everyone else. It’s to say they’re not going to want to. There can be another TV turned on in this room. But if you (and their parents) have any expectation of keeping them there, something other than the game should be on.

Games
The Super Bowl brings out the gambler in all of us. Encourage it. It’ll keep everyone at least minimally interested in the game. The easiest avenue: Set up a football squares sheet and have your guests place their bets as they arrive. Winnings are doled out at the end of each quarter. (In the evite, include a reminder to bring cash. There will be no IOUs.)

If you’re feeling ambitious, or you have a friend or family member who’s OCD- organized and dependable, open up the action to a handful or two of prop bets, and don’t limit them to the game—How many commercials will Peyton Manning appear in? Will Lady Gaga reference Trump during her halftime performance? Zero skill, infinite fun.

A few low-maintenance, high-reward Super Bowl Party recipes

By Yelena Strokin

The Deviled Egg
Makes 12.

6 free-range eggs, hard-boiled and peeled
Juice from a jar of pickled beets
¼ cup mayo
2 tsps. Dijon mustard
Cilantro, minced (reserve some)
Paprika to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Soak the eggs in the beet juice anywhere from a half-hour to overnight. If you like pickled foods, longer is better. After their bath, remove the eggs and cut them in half lengthwise, then gently remove the yolks and set them off to the side.

In a small bowl, combine the yolks, mayo, mustard and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper. Stir until the mixture achieves a smooth consistency, then transfer it to a Ziploc bag.

Cut off a bottom corner and pipe a bit of the yolk mixture into the hollow of each egg half. Sprinkle with paprika and garnish with cilantro or a small beet slice.

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
(Vegetarian, gluten- and dairy-free)
Makes 12.

1 large cabbage
1 onion, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and shredded
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 cups cooked quinoa
2 tsps. fresh parsley (or dill), finely chopped
¼ tsp. paprika
1 cup crushed tomatoes
½ cup white wine
½ cup water
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Carefully separate the leaves from the cabbage head and set aside the 12 largest ones. Cut the stems from each, then blanch the leaves for a few minutes. From there, arrange the leaves on towels to dry.

Add the vegetable oil to a frying pan and sauté the onion and the carrot just long enough to retain a little bit of crunch. Then, in a large bowl, mix them thoroughly with the quinoa, the parsley (or dill) and the paprika. Spoon the mixture evenly onto each leaf, then roll it up and tuck in the ends. Stick a toothpick through the center to hold them in place, if they need it.

Mix together the tomato, the wine and the water. Place the rolls in a baking dish, then pour the tomato mixture over them. Bake for a half-hour. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Pistachio Cookies
Makes about 24.

8 tbsps. (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsps. cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
¾ cup white chocolate chips
1 cup and 2 tbsps. coarsely chopped unsalted pistachios, 2 tbsps. reserved
¾ cup dried apricots, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line with a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner.

In a bowl, combine the butter and brown sugar and mix them, either with a stand mixer or a handheld, at a medium speed until the consistency is smooth. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Incorporate the eggs one at a time at a low speed, then the vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Add it to the other bowl, mixing at a low speed. Stir in the chocolate chips and then a cup of the pistachios and the apricot.

Place heaping tablespoons of the cookie dough about an inch-and-a-half apart on the baking sheet. Sprinkle the remaining pistachios over top. Bake until the cookies set but still soft to the touch, about 10 minutes. Repeat the process until all of the dough is used.

Fear of Over-stimulation

NAVIGATOR
There’s nothing subtle about City Works, a sprawling gastro pub that opened earlier this month in the King of Prussia Town Center with no less than 90—nine zero—beers on tap.

By April Lisante

Remember when ordering a brew was as simple as, “Gimme a Bud, please”?

The past decade has seen a national explosion of microbreweries, craft beer houses and specialty gastro pubs, but City Works Eatery and Pour House, which opened earlier this month at the King of Prussia Town Center, is over-the-top by even the aficionado’s standard.

We may never really replicate the intimacy of the Euro pub experience in this country, but good luck bellying up to any bar over there and finding 90 beers on tap, each poured at its optimum temperature into the proper vessel, because that’s what you’re getting at the 9,000-square foot City Works. Ninety. Nine. Zero. A third of which is set aside for local breweries. The remainder comes from far and wide.

Sidle up to the 50-foot bar and take your pick from a 40-foot see-through “cooler.” A fine Scottish ale in a tulip glass. A Belgian dark ale in a pub glass. A flight of brews from a half-dozen countries. Eighty-two to go.

A third of the taps is reserved for local breweries. The remainder comes from far and wide.

City Works joins nearly a dozen other restaurants in the King of Prussia Town Center, which has been billed as a “lifestyle center” that recreates an aesthetically pleasing downtown in an area that’s notoriously lacking one. Designed by the Washington, DC-based The J.B.G. Companies, the Town Center features hundreds of residential apartments that encircle a landscaped retail and restaurant cosmos behind Wegmans and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia inside the Village at Valley Forge. At completion in July, the Town Center will include an LA Fitness, 10 restaurants, and Starbucks, Ulta and XFINITY stores, among others.

The concept behind City Works originated in 2001 as a tavern called Trace in Chicago. It was the brainchild of three Wesleyan University friends who wanted to create an architectural ode to ale on the grandest scale. After opening several gastro pubs in the Chicago area, they debuted their first City Works last year in Minneapolis at—true to their word—a massive 10,000 square feet. (Keep in mind, Minnesota is also home to the Mall of America. So it’s go big or go home there.) The King of Prussia location is part of an unfolding (and ambitious) national expansion that will see other City Works open in the coming months in suburban Miami and Pittsburgh.

“We certainly loved our beer (in college),” says Chris Bisaillon, the CEO of Bottleneck Management Company and a self-professed “beer geek” who joined friends Nathan Hilding and Jason Akemann for the venture. “But it was after college that we saw the growth for the craft beer segment.”

The concept behind City Works is simple: create a beer nirvana that also serves comfort food staples in a classic pub environment. Or, at least, the American-ized, grandiose version of one.

The restaurant seats 279, including 85 on a patio flanked with 25 removable windows to mesh the lively atmosphere inside and out. And there are, of course, TVs. Ten 65-inch flatscreens, plus four 110-inch HD video walls. If you start to find yourself over-stimulated, ground yourself with the bar. The copper shingles were brought in from Utah, the stone, from El Dorado.

Carmen Cappello, an Ambler native who’s traveled the world cooking at high-end, high-volume restaurants, pubs and hotels, including Atlanta’s Ritz Carlton, is charged with ensuring there’s something in your stomach to sop up all that all that alcohol. The grazing ranges from pretzel bites served with an IPA-gouda sauce to filet mignon sliders to an Angus meatloaf with red eye gravy and mashed potatoes. (It’s a menu after a Midwesterner’s heart.)

The menu runs about as deep as the beer list, which means that City Works is destined to become many things to many different people. Much as you may be inclined to settle into a routine, resist the urge and play the field. The longer you can maintain an open mind, the more likely you are to stumble across flavors you wouldn’t otherwise. Not without traveling much further afield than King of Prussia, anyway.

Photos courtesy of Bottleneck Management Company

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How to Not F*** Up Your Turkey

With the counsel of a few seasoned pros, we amp up the flavor (and the moistness) while also simplifying a notoriously overwrought recipe.

By Kendra Lee Thatcher

Thanksgiving 2002. My best friend, Lisa, introduces me to what will become my new holiday obsession. The evening is a perfectly orchestrated scene from Martha Stewart’s playbook. Summoned to the dinner table, we gather around the glistening turkey, a fire roaring behind us, Bruce Springsteen roaring over the fire.

Until tonight, I’d only known flavorless, white breast meat drowned in gluey gravy. With ninja-like swiftness and precision, Lisa grips a leg, rips it from the carcass, places it on my plate, then repeats the process and places the other on hers. Sisters in legs. Not really. I stare at mine for a good while, trying to figure out the best way (read: the least embarrassing way) to go about this. Finally, I look over at Lisa, who’s already polished off hers. No help there. Screw it. I pick it up and start gnawing away like I’m at Medieval Times. The skin, caramelized and crisp, seduces me at first bite. The dark meat’s so, so moist and laced with herbs, nutmeg and orange. This is what turkey’s supposed to taste like?! How did I make it into adulthood without realizing this?

Every year since, I’ve had dibs on the leg. It won’t be so clear-cut this year, though, because I’ll be playing the role of Lisa for the first time. Those legs aren’t naturally that moist, and nutmeg-y and citrus-y. Which means I’m in trouble. So I called around and asked a few friends who should know, flat-out, “How do I not f— up my turkey?” The following is the step-by-step plan I assembled from their advice and tested during a recent trial run.

Step 1: Buying
Convenient as those massive grocery store-birds are, shell out for a fresh, local, heritage turkey. They tend to be smaller and more manageable.

“The smaller the bird, the less time in the oven. The less time in the oven, the juicier the meat,” says Ian Knauer, who established The Farm Cooking School in Stockton, New Jersey.

I bought an 11-pound, Lancaster-raised turkey at None Such Farm Market in Buckingham. I had it quartered, based on the recommendations of Emily Peterson, the host of “Sharp + Hot” on Heritage Radio, and Matthew Martin, the owner/chef of More Than Q BBQ Company. The butcher broke down my bird into two breast-wing and leg-thigh segments, bones-in, skin-on and odds and ends packaged to make stock with.

Step 2: Prepping
Pour yourself a glass of wine. Proceed.

I’m a fan of adding fat under the skin. So when Ian reiterated this, I felt completely validated. I mashed up zesty-herb butter and massaged it into the meat. But I didn’t stop there. I then slathered the reserve fat from smoked bacon all over the skin and seasoned it with salt and pepper.

Also: “Lightly trussing the quarters will ensure the skin stays on and the juices stay in,” Matthew says.

I mixed brandy, fresh orange juice and star anise to roast and baste the turkey in. I picked that little cocktail up from Diana Paterra, the owner/chef of DeAnna’s Restaurant and Bar in Lambertville, NJ, and now I’ll never use another.

Step 3: Roasting
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. In two large roasting pans, place a “veggie rack” comprised of carrots, parsnips, onions and citrus and cover it with a bed of herbs. Add your breasts to one pan and the legs to the other. Pour the brandy-OJ-star anise mixture evenly over both pans and then stick them, uncovered, in the oven.

Step 4: Timing
Never—seriously, nev-er—lose track of your bird. Roasting it hot and fast is the way to go, but it requires constant attention. It’ll take about 30 to 40 minutes for the turkey to turn golden brown, which seals in those juices that make so much of the difference between a remarkable turkey and a blah bird. (Note: The breasts will cook about 10 minutes faster than the legs.) At that point, pull the pans from the oven and brush the turkey with the drippings. I then reduced the heat to 375—my oven runs a little hot—and basted every 20 to 30 minutes for the next hour or so.

In an hour and 45 minutes, my turkey had hit the sweet spot—crispy on the outside, tender on the inside—so I slid it out and let it sit for another 45 minutes, as per Diana’s counsel. From there, I sliced it up with an extremely sharp knife, as per Emily’s counsel, arranged the pieces on a platter and drizzled them with the remnants of drippings.

I still reached for the leg out of instinct, but, really, there was no boring bite with this turkey. And that’s not to say that I’ve mastered Thanksgiving. The turkey, it turns out, is actually a very small piece of that headache. But, dismantling the intimidation was as critical as any step in this, ultimately, fairly simple recipe.

Eat the Lehigh Valley

Nowhere else do the increasingly sophisticated flavors of the region come together as well as they do at the Easton Public Market. The trick is not filling up too fast. Follow us for the way.

By Kendra Lee Thatcher  ·  Photography by Jennie Finken

If I’ve learned anything, it’s that everyone should have at least one person in her life who embodies these three qualities:

1. He/she is nonjudgmental, especially in the presence of slurping.

2. He/she is always down to eat, no matter the time and place.

3. He/she is always thinking ahead.

That last one proved especially valuable, because I approached the Easton Public Market with the singular (and narrow-minded) ambition to eat as much as I could, where my Ride or Die thought to bring a large cooler.

Culinary halls may be all the rage (even though the concept is old-old-school), but Easton Public Market is not a loosely wrought trend. It’s smart (the cooking demos arm you with ideas so you don’t get home and stare blankly at all that delicious food), conscientious (it’s grassroots, but it’s designed to be self-sustaining, and the vendors are all local) and on point (the diversity rivals that of any urban hall). It’s also overwhelming. With all those aromas competing for your attention, it’s very easy to walk in and fill up on the first thing that catches your eye. But a little poise will carry you far. So here’s a field guide that’ll ensure you hit the most appetizing spots with a little room to spare.

Begin at Mister Lee’s Noodles (1) for kick-ass, authentic ramen. The dishes don’t lend themselves to sharing, but you won’t want anyone else hanging their heads over your bowl anyway. The ingredients are local and the noodles are made by Sun Noodle Co., which supplies revered ramen houses in Manhattan and Brooklyn. If you’re the kind who appreciates the astonishing amount of labor and the time-honored technique that go into constructing that bowl, grab a seat at the bar.

The Kitchen proved to be a good palate cleanser. We walked in on a juicing demonstration and sipped the extracts of beet, ginger and kale while we plotted our next meal.

Welcome as that little detox was, it had to be five somewhere, so we headed to Tolino Vineyards (2) next to sample some chambourcin (which happens to be the official grape of the Lehigh Valley). It’s a not-too-bold red that paired well later on with our Chocodiem (3) truffles and the live acoustic music.

(More on those truffles: Chocodiem collaborated with other Easton Public Market vendors on several varieties. I fell in love with the More-Than-Q BBQ (4) and the Fieldstone (5) Espresso truffles, both of which were unlike any truffle I’ve had before.)

We indulged next in the arnabit at The Taza Stop (6). It’s breaded, fried, mildly spicy cauliflower served with a scratch-made garlic sauce. Think cauliflower calamari. From The Taza Stop, it’s an easy walk to Youseff’s and Olive with a Twist, between which you’ll find deep inventories of hard-to-find spices, unusual balsamics and handcrafted soaps and body butters.

At this point, I strongly advise checking your parking meter. Time has a way of getting away from you here. That’s not, however, a legitimate defense in a Northampton County court. Also: You’re going to need to grab that cooler.

Now, let’s get down to some shopping. Don’t be afraid to ask the butchers at Dundore + Heister what’s good. They’re likely to turn you on to cuts you’ve never heard of before, but’ll become your go-tos from here on out. Then, stock up on produce, Alderfer eggs and Apple Valley Creamery raw-milk cheese at Highmark Blue Shield Farmstand (7). There should still be room in the cooler, but not much, so head back to Chocodiem for macarons.

Your appetite’s probably returning by now. A beer and Neapolitan-style pizza at Scratch (8) will satisfy those pangs. Scratch is the epitome of the Easton Public Market experience: comfortable and familiar, yet elevated. And don’t think that a pizza joint is going to be held to any less of a standard. Nearly every ingredient comes from Apple Ridge Farm and the beer is from nearby Shawnee Craft Brewery. (The taps rotate often, so be adventurous. Even if you luck into a new favorite, which we did with the lambic, it likely won’t be there your next time through anyway.)

The women manning the wood-burning oven flick pies in with a fluid motion and lunge after them without so much as a flinch. We split the Garlic 3 Ways pie, which arrived with a large, artistic swirl reminiscent of aged balsamic. Really, it’s pureed black garlic and worchester sauce. The crust was beautifully charred. And the ricotta was so impossibly creamy, I’d a been happy eating it alone with a spoon.

As we wheeled our cooler toward the exit, our stomachs full to bursting, we hesitated and wondered aloud whether we maybe should try something else before we called it a day. You will, too. The market starts to feel like an amusement park for adults. Dizzy from being knocked about ride after ride, you still want to hit the rollercoaster one more time because the moment you step outside the gates, the next decision you make isn’t going to be determined by your id.

Easton Public Market, 325 Northampton Street, Easton;
eastonpublicmarket.com.

A Long Time In The Brewing

With an opening date finally set, we surveyed the scene at La Cabra Brewing, in Berwyn. If it sounds familiar, it’s because its brewer’s been testing the waters for a while now.

By Mike Madaio        Photography by Matthew J. Rhein

In recent weeks, Dan Popernack’s found himself reflecting often on the circuitous route that’s led him, a home brewer once upon a time, to the cusp of opening his own craft brewery and gastropub.

“I’ve been developing this concept for 10 years,” he told me last month, as we surveyed the construction-in-progress at the future home of La Cabra Brewing in Berwyn. Though, later, I’ll find an interview he did back in 2013 in which he quoted the same duration. “Ten years of thinking, planning, researching, talking to every bartender, brewpub owner, distributor that I could before I felt confident enough.”

What he’s created is a compelling lineup of beers that deftly walks the line between and adventurous, paired with a Latin-inspired menu that runs much the same, served in a dramatic setting in which every intriguing, historic feature’s been restored and accentuated.

“We probably could’ve been open by now, but we don’t believe in rushing,” Popernack says. “We’ll open exactly on time.”

That time came Tuesday.

Popernack taught himself home-brewing in college. “My parents wouldn’t let me drink in the house, but they gave in when I said I’d make it myself,” he says. Later, he worked at The Beeryard, in Wayne, while he pursued his master’s at Villanova. La Cabra started to come into focus in 2013, while he was teaching at The Phelps School and home-brewing in his spare time. It was then when he launched a mailing list that quickly found a cult-like following. In it, Popernack described his latest experimentations and made available “samples” to the recipients. The arrangement is officially described as a “brewery-in-planning.” Aspiring craft brewers can make and share their beer with the public, but they can’t sell it. Think of it as a means of fostering a grassroots following with the expectation that it’ll lend some momentum to an eventual brick-and-mortar opening.

Popernack’s since built his reputation, and, in turn, La Cabra’s, on sour, funky beers crafted from wild yeast and barrel-aging, the kind that the nerds seem to make the most noise about. But they tend to not play as well with the casual-drinking crowd. “Of course I’m going to keep doing that,” Popernack says, as he shows me around an aging room in the basement. “But if that’s all I wanted to do, I would have stayed home.”

One of his aims is to riff off the food menu. “Playing with food pairings is actually one of my favorite things,” he says. And he’s quite talented at it. La Cabra’s Juno Pale Ale, infused with lime zest and rosemary, may be the best taco beer I’ve ever had.

Popernack’s, of course, devoted as much intention in partnering up and assembling his staff, from the chef to the servers, as he has to every tangible component. But while their missions may be aligned, they’re not singular.

“The bottom line is that we want people to feel welcome here, like they’re walking into our home, whether they’re really into beer or not,” Popernack says. “I’m obviously passionate about it. I’ve devoted my life to it. But beer isn’t everything. If we can be good neighbors, great members of the community, then we’ll really have achieved something.”

La Cabra Brewing, 642 Lancaster Avenue, Berwyn.

 

5 Fall-inspired Beers You Need to Try—And Not a Hint of Pumpkin to be Found

La Cabra Brewing Belma

The inherent berry flavor of the Belma hop, the banana esters of a wheat beer, united by the comforting spice of a traditional witbier.

Conshohocken Brewing Company Puddlers Row ESB

It’s not seasonal and it’s not especially trendy—the extra special bitter was big at the inception of the craft movement, back in the nineties—but this ale’s a near-perfect match for this schizophrenic weather. Toasty, mild sweetness up front, crisp and dry on the back end.

Flying Fish Brewing Co. Exit 7 Pork Roll Porter

The true meat here is a robust, dark-roasted malt which forges a beer that tastes closer to a Tootsie Roll than a pork roll.

Free Will Brewing Co. Coffee Oatmeal Brown

Crafted by cold-steeping an already-rich, brown ale with freshly roasted coffee beans, the resulting flavor is fueled by waves of sweet raisin and molasses with a pleasantly bitter undercurrent.

Victory Brewing Company Moonglow Weizenbock

Rich caramel complemented by the warmth of clove, the sweetness of banana and the brightness of apple. —MM

The Holiday Survival Guide, 2.0

HEALTH + FITNESS
This time around, what you can eat. Plus, a fresh, fast-but-effective workout you can take on the road with you.

By Todd Soura

Piggybacking off of last year’s column, where I highlighted the most notorious of the holiday dinner table mainstays, this time around, I’m going to carve a clearer path. Health-conscious as we’ve become, we cling to our traditions come the holiday feasts, and that means a whole lot of butter, a whole lot of sugar and a whole lot of booze. But there is a way to navigate those minefields without sabotaging your diet and fitness. And, really, let’s be clear: One indulgent meal is not going to break you. But the holidays are more of a month-long series of indulgent nights. So, while I’m tailoring this guide to one big meal, it can easily be applied to every other situation you’ll encounter over the next couple of weeks—parties, snacking, parties.

Proteins
Let’s start where we all naturally begin: with the protein. Turkey isn’t just the smart choice for holiday gorging, it’s the smart choice period. A three-ounce serving of breast meat contains a yuge amount of protein (26 grams) and very little carbs and fat, all in a mere 120 calories.

Beef is almost as high in protein and low in carbs as turkey, but it carries a much higher dose of fat and calories per serving. Ham, you’ll want to avoid as much as you can, but not for the reason you’re likely thinking. Pork is not inherently bad for us. A pork loin, in fact, is high in protein, low in carbs and relatively low in fat. But ham is not pork loin. Nor is it really pork. It’s a highly processed slab of factory-made fillers and chemicals. As a general rule, avoid any kind of boneless meat in an unnatural form.

Sides
Salad is a no-brainer. If there’s one on the table, consider yourself fortunate. You’ll want to heap it on your plate, not in that tiny little bowl. Those greens and all those veggies are loaded with fiber, which is going to help you feel fuller faster and longer than three helpings of sausage-spiked stuffing. Just be mindful of any potential landmines buried within that lush foliage—candied nuts, fist-size croutons, marshmallows.

Veggies, likewise, are all too frequently the casualties of some sinister doctoring in the name of bolstering their appeal or remaining true to Aunt Joanne’s tried-and-true (and 40-year-old) recipe. Don’t be scared off by a little seasoning. But if they’re drenched in butter, you’re better off passing. And if they’re embedded in a casserole, definitely pass. The casserole is a staple, but its time has come. Regardless of whatever vegetable is featured in its name, understand that there is no nutritional value whatsoever.

If you’re given the option, reach for the sweet potato or the yam over the Russet potato. Sure, they’re all technically veggies, but they’re not created equally. The sweet potato and yam are packed with nutrients. The Russet, not so much. Mind you, that rule does not hold in the case of candied yams and pretty much every other traditional variation. In fact, unless it’s naked, just let it be. Otherwise, the brown sugar and butter it was slathered in has long since drowned the nutritional value.

Dessert
It’s impossible to turn around this time of year and not walk into a plate of cookies, or brownies or a rack of cooling pies. You can navigate your day like an Olympic slalom skier only to be handed a plate of homemade truffles on your way out the door. You’re only human; go ahead and enjoy one. I would. I do. But cut yourself off at one. Dump the rest of those truffles off on your family after dinner, or just dump them. The longer they linger, the more the temptation will grow.

The same holds for dessert spreads. Pick one and move on. Whether you load up your plate or hang out within grazing distance of the table, you’re going to continue to munch without thought or reservation—until later on that night. Savor those few bites. You earned them. They bring you no ill will. But the others will haunt you.

When we’re hosting, it’s my chance to flip the script. There’s an entire corner of the Internet filled with healthy dessert recipes. My go-to is apple crisps, one, because they’re delicious, and two, because they’re simple as hell to make.

No one gets through the holiday season unscathed. Not even me. But if that’s your objective through the rest of the year, you’re probably living a very sheltered life. For these next couple of weeks, and the new year beyond that, aim simply to eat clean 80 percent of the time. You’ll feel healthier for it, and those occasional indulgences will taste even better.

 

 

The Holiday Express Workout
The holidays mean unyielding schedules and lots of travel. This workout can be done almost anywhere and in 15 minutes. Get your sweat on and then get on with indulging the in-laws.

Perform three rounds of the following circuit. Rest as little as possible.

15 pushups
15 plank jump-ins
15 jumping lunges
15 ground jacks*
:60 plank

(*Position yourself as you would for a pushup, only move your hands and feet together. Simultaneously—and quickly—move your hands and feet to your sides, about a shoulder-width apart. And then snap them back to the starting position. That’s one rep. If you have difficulty with the movement, just move either your hands or your feet.)

Todd Soura is the owner of the Doylestown-based Action Personal Training.

Holiday Decadence

HOME COOKING

In spite of the prevailing trends, traditional (read: decadent) dishes continue to anchor our holiday dinner tables, from Thanksgiving right on through New Year’s Day. The likes of stuffing and any kind of casserole almost sound foreign in our modern vocabulary. Yet, the thought of bellying up and not reaching for one or the other (and then, instinctively, the gravy boat) would be downright sacrilegious. In that vein, we’re offering up a dish for your consideration that may not be as familiar but should fit in quite nicely with your rotation. If we’re going to indulge, why hold back?

Recipe + photography by Yelena Strokin

Chicken Liver Pâté with Red Wine and Cranberry Jelly
Serves four.

FOR THE PÂTÉ
3 tbsps. extra-virgin olive oil
4 tbsps. unsalted butter
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
5-6 white button mushrooms, sliced
1 small garlic clove, crushed
1 lb. fresh chicken livers, cleaned and trimmed
2 tbsps. dry Marsala wine
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

FOR THE JELLY
1 cup red wine
½ cup cranberries (fresh or frozen)
2-3 tbsps. sugar
Pinch of salt
½ tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
Zest from half a lemon
1 tsp. gelatin

TO SERVE
1 baguette, cut into inch-thick slices

To make the jelly
In a small saucepan over a medium heat, mix together the red wine and cranberries and let them simmer for 10 minutes. Then, add the sugar, salt, nutmeg and lemon zest and mix well. Add the gelatin next and stir until it dissolves.

Turn the heat off and let the mixture sit for a minute or two. Then, carefully strain it through a fine sieve into another pot, where it will sit and cool.

To make the pâté
In a large frying pan over a medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onion, carrot and mushrooms and sauté them until they soften, about five minutes. Then, add the garlic and cook until it becomes lightly fragrant, about two minutes.

Add the chicken livers next, season with salt and stir to coat them in the olive oil. Then, add the Marsala wine and allow the alcohol to cook down, about three minutes. Reduce the heat to low and cook uncovered, occasionally—and gently—turning the livers until they achieve a rich brown on the outside and a light pink on the inside, eight to 10 minutes.

At that point, allow the livers to cool slightly. Then, using a food processor, blend them until they reach the consistency of a thick paste. Blend in the butter next until it completely dissolves into the paste. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Divide the pâté among small glasses. Reserve the last quarter of the glass for the jelly. Once you’ve topped them off, stick the glasses in the refrigerator so the jelly can set.

To serve, simply slather the baguette slices—toast them lightly first—with generous portions of the pâté, making sure to get a good dose of the jelly on there, too.

Yelena Strokin is a Newtown-based food stylist and photographer and the founder of the blog Cooking Melangery.

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Mother of All Media

Ayesha Curry is everywhere lately, as a lifestyle expert, a blogger, a magazine contributor and now, an author and a TV personality. We caught up with her ahead of her appearance at the Philadelphia Taste Festival this month to discuss all that she’s got cooking.

By Jessica Downey

It’s already been a whirlwind fall for Ayesha Curry. Aside from holding down the homefront with her husband, reigning NBA MVP Steph Curry, she’s been promoting her first cookbook and shooting her new Food Network show. She’s also likely been squeezing in some shooting practice. Video of a three-pointer Curry sank during a pickup game last August in China promptly went viral. And there’s more to come. Later this month, she’ll be headlining the Philadelphia Taste Festival of Food, Wine and Spirits October 22 at the Valley Forge Casino Resort.

If you’re already on familiar terms with the 26-year-old Canadian-born, Charlotte, North Carolina-raised mom of two daughters, just wait. You haven’t seen anything yet. This may be that elusive moment when we’re able to pinpoint the precise turn when someone becomes a household name.

Her cookbook, The Seasoned Life: Food, Family, Faith, and the Joy of Eating Well, published in September, and her show, “Ayesha’s Homemade,” is scheduled to debut this month.

Already, Curry’s lifestyle blog and YouTube channel, Little Lights of Mine, where she shares her love of food, family and her approach to living a balanced life, have quickly become go-to resources for millions looking for a lift in and out of the kitchen. Curry also contributes to TheBump.com and CALLED magazine, and she’s been featured in Food & Wine, Time, InStyle, People, USA Today, Brides, POPSUGAR, Hello Beautiful and Diablo Magazine. And, she launched her own brand of extra-virgin olive oil in 2014.

Before her trip to Valley Forge, Home + Table talked with the San Francisco resident about growing up in a foodie household, how she makes her family her top priority and her cookbook, a collection of about 100 of her favorite recipes, many of which she learned growing up, including Cast Iron Biscuits and Smoked Salmon Scramble.

And, of course, we asked if she’s hiding some serious game in deference to Steph.

What were you first introductions to food, growing up in Canada with a Jamaican mom?

AC  At my house, we always had ginormous family get-togethers with incredibly flavorful food.

What kind of influences did your mom’s heritage play on what you ate as a kid?

I think all those flavors really helped to broaden my palate and my taste buds.

What was your favorite thing to eat growing up?

I loved my mom’s oven-roasted, brown-sugar chicken, which I made this spring on “Rachel Ray.”

The food industry has been revolutionized in the last decade by so many celebrity chefs and cooking shows. Where do you fit in?

I’m a young mom of two whose passion for food really stems from family togetherness. My whole message is about cooking with love in an effort to gather your family together. I hope it will help people communicate with each other and keep their sense of family alive.

What do you love most about cooking, especially now that you have your own family?

I absolutely love getting the family involved in making the meals and then seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces when we’re done.

During the NBA season, which is pretty long, are you able to have regular dinners together as a family?

Yes! It’s actually the time when life is the most normal for us. We try to keep an everyday-regimen in place. Most nights are spent together unless there’s a game.

What made you want to write a cookbook?

I really wanted to put my love for food into words. I also wanted to share my joy of cooking for my family and getting everyone to gather together in hopes that one day they would do the same. And I wanted to leave a legacy for my girls.

How does your family-first approach translate to the recipes?

Many of them are family favorites that have been passed down from generation to generation. The others are some that I created over the years. Everything that went into this book is meant to be quick, easy and approachable.

We can’t let you go, of course, without discussing that three-pointer. Was it a fluke, or are you hiding some serious game?

In my dream, it goes in every time. But that shot was a little luck along with some pointers I got from someone I know.

Photo courtesy Little, Brown and Company / Coeur de la Photography