USA vs MEXICO

12 oz. bottles at the pub.

American Coke

Water, high-fructose corn syrup, caramel color, phosphoric acid, natural flavors, caffeine.

Mexican Coke

Carbonated water, sugar, caramel color, phosphoric acid, natural flavors, caffeine.

As you can see, there’s only one key difference. The American Coke uses high fructose corn syrup, which is probably one of the worst things on the planet in terms of health. The Mexican Coke uses real cane sugar, which is at least natural.

Design & Taste.... Mexico wins.

How NOT to order a Drink

moda botanica wins again!!!

All of us at the Pub want to say congratulation to Bailey, Armas & Judith for winning "Best in Show" for the second year in a row at the Philadelphia Flower Show.

Bailey has been doing the Flowers at the Pub since we opened & He is also our favorite Vegetarian.

www.modabotanica.com

Michael Persico did the photos (Bailey said I could use them)

I love you MAN

My good friend Mike Ojeda's Birthday is coming up on Wednesday 03.03.10 -

If you are planning on throwing Mike a party, just a heads up... He will probably be late, over sleep or just not show.

I have known Mike for a good number of years now. In this crazy business its tough to keep friends. I'm lucky, I get to work with one of my best friends.

Achtung!

Next week we will be getting 2 kegs of Schwarz Bier from Slyfox.

Schwarz Bier - A medium bodied dark German lager that balances smooth, roasted malt flavors with moderate hop bitterness.

This beer is great. Jon & Rob are putting together some German style menu specials for next week, so check back in a couple days to see what is going on.

Tonight's Menu

Buy Local

Red Tettemer from Philly teamed up with their friends at Colorado-based Ska Brewing Co. to launch Tub Gin, a new spirit that appeals to martini drinkers and gin joint patrons alike. Tub is distilled by Ska Brewing Co.’s custom Peach Street Distillers.

www.tubgin.com

a little history on the Martini...

In 1870 at Julio Richelieu's saloon in Martinez, California a small drink was mixed for visiting miner. Julio placed an olive in the glass before handing it to the man, then named it after his town. Martinez, California continues to hold claim as the birth place of the Martini.

Jerry Thomas of San Francisco printed a bartending book in 1887 with a Martinez recipe. It called for one dash of Bitters, two dashes of Maraschino, one wine glass of Vermouth, two jigs of ice and a pony of Old Tom Gin, served with a slice of lemon.

There is a story that claims the drink's name came from the Martini and Henry rifle used by the British army in 1871. The hook was that both the rifle and the drink "shared a strong kick."

In 1896, Thomas Stewart published Stewart's Fancy Drinks and How to Mix Them. The book contained a recipe for a drink called the "Marquerite" which called for "1 dash orange bitters, 2/3 Plymouth Gin, and 1/3 French Vermouth."

1888, was the magical year that the word Martini was first mentioned. Martini appeared in the "New and Improved Illustrated Bartending Manual."

Finally, in 1911 at the Knickerbocker Hotel in New York the head bartender, a gentleman by the name of Martini di Arma di Taggia, mixed half and half London Gin, Noilly Prat Vermouth and orange bitters. He chilled the drink on ice and strained it into a well chilled glass. Many visitors to the Knickerbocker asked for variations of the drink and added the olive.

thanks martini boy

Mr. February

Kurt is one of two people I know that reads this blog, thanks for the support.

Branzino [mediterranean seabass]

I would say my favorite fish to eat whole is Branzino (I love it when I can get it at dimitri’s 23rd & Pine). I really enjoy the clean fresh flavors of this fish. Jon ordered a dozen for the weekend. I hope we do not sell out, because I would really like to have one for Sunday dinner.

The name "branzino" comes from Northern Italy; in other parts of the country it is called "spigola" or "ragno”. In Spain it is called "lubina" or "róbalo".

Whole Branzino (2lb) for 2
roasted fingerling potatoes, broccolini & tomato jam $38

Getting Pumped for the Weekend

Nice Photo

i stole this photo from flicker.com - i like it

Home Brew

If you get snowed in before you have a chance to make it to the liquor store. You could always try making some "Back Hills Punch"

The basic ingredients:

corn meal
sugar
water
yeast
malt

The basic process:

Mix all ingredients together in a large container. After mixing, move the mixture, called "mash," into a still and leave it to ferment. How quickly this process occurs depends on the warmth of the mash.

Heat the mash to the point of vaporization at 173 degrees. The mash will produce a clear liquid, often the color of dark beer. You must watch this process with careful attention.

Trap vapor using a tube or coil. The vapor will be transferred into a second, empty container. The resulting condensation is the moonshine. It is then ready to drink or sell.

Keep mash in container. It is now called "slop." Add more sugar, water, malt, and corn meal and repeat the process.

Repeat the process up to eight times before replacing the mash.

Buy this Book

With all the new trendy books about cheese being published these days, it’s easy to forget about the book that started it all. The Cheese Primer by Steven Jenkins is still referred to by many as the cheese bible. First Printed in 1996.

Anatomy of a Classic Cocktail

DARK & STORMY

All it takes to make this fresh tasting, backyard cocktail is a few simple ingredients and the ability to count. Fill a classic 8 oz. highball glass with ice cubes and add equal parts Gosling Black Seal (dark) Rum and Reeds' Ginger Beer, about 2 and ½ ounces of each (pour each and slowly repeat: "one thousand one, one thousand two"). Add the juice of half a lime, stir, and garnish with a lime wedge.

"Dark and stormy" is an old nautical term, and this drink came about during the rum runs between the English Virgin Islands and the UK. When we opened the P&K, we wanted to offer a British-style cocktail that people didn't necessarily realize was British at first.

{old P&K stuff from VALET.com & francine maroukian}

Tonight's Special - West Coast Corvina

The ear bones of the Corvina have long been considered good luck charms and were used as wampum by early California Indians. Ear bones have been found in Indian middens throughout California and even to this day many fishermen save these large calcareous ear bones for ornamentation and good luck charms.

Cast-Iron Seared Corvina
parsnip puree, marinated fennel & tangerine $23

This must be why I am still standing.....

The old advertising slogan "Guinness is Good for You" may be true after all, according to researchers. A pint of the black stuff a day may work as well as a low dose aspirin to prevent heart clots that raise the risk of heart attacks. Drinking lager does not yield the same benefits, experts from University of Wisconsin told a conference in the US. Guinness were told to stop using the slogan decades ago - and the firm still makes no health claims for the drink. The Wisconsin team tested the health-giving properties of stout against lager by giving it to dogs who had narrowed arteries similar to those in heart disease. They found that those given the Guinness had reduced clotting activity in their blood, but not those given lager.

thanks bbc

the WEATHER

Get me out of Febuary!!

IPA Draft 2.20

Hop Meadow IPA

Style: India Pale Ale

ABV: 6.5%

This pale ale was originally brewed in 19th century England to survive the long ocean voyages to India - hence the name India Pale Ale. To keep the beer from spoiling during these four- to six-month journeys, a stronger, more generously hopped ale was produced.
Hooker's creamy IPA emphasizes traditional West Coast Chinook and Cascade hops which produces a hophead's delight of a brew: just-right complexity that's not too sweet or over-the-top with hops.

Time to PARTY

Upstairs at the Pub

Today's Menu 2.18.10

Wine & Cheese 2.22.10

Monday 22, 2010

Order a bottle of our P&K White or Red [$40] & get a free cheese plate.

CHEESE PLATE
{el trigal manchego : boucheron : cashel blue} pear membrillo & truffle honey

P&K Pochetta Style

Porchetta is a savory, fatty, and moist boneless pork roast of Italian culinary tradition.

Rob took a nice center cut pork loin, wrapped it in pork belly and stuffed it with truffles & herbs... roasted it for HOURS.

Tonight it's on the menu breaded & fried with bitter greens. $16

Valentine’s Day at the Pub

No overpriced drinks made with grenadine. No his + her menus.
No Aphrodisiac dishes. No heart shaped candies. No balloons. No cry-babies.

P&K Valentine’s Day special starting at 5:00pm is…..

$5 beer & shot [miller highlife + heaven hill]
Sometimes that is all the love you need.

Jon on NPR this morning

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123635336

Getting Pumped for SUMMER

P&K Opens at 4:00 with HAPPY HOUR

Happy Hour from 4:00 - 6:00

$3 Drafts - Yards Brawler & Stoudt's Pilsner
$5 Glasses of Wine
$1 Oysters

5:54

You should be with us, feeling how we do, how you know you want too.
- PERRY FARRELL

Thanks ZAGAT

America's Top Restaurants 2010
Check out P&K on PAGE 232

OPENING AT NOON ON WEDNESDAY

CALL OUT FROM WORK & COME TO THE PUB FOR LUNCH

HAPPY HOUR TODAY STARTS AT 3:00

SNOW DAY HAPPY HOUR
3:00PM – 4:00PM

$3 Pints of Yards Brawler & Stoudt’s Pilsner

$5 Glasses of Wine

$2 Bar Snacks

hooray, its snowing

Please Save Merlot, Mr. Clooney

If George Clooney bought a vineyard and started producing Merlot...Everyone would think it was cool again and start drinking Merlot.

Merlot is the red that has come racing up the popularity stakes. It's the variety - especially if it's made in the New World - that you can enjoy without food, so it has won a place in our hearts as one of the choices for a Friday night in front of the TV.

It is very easy to lose sight of the fact that Merlot is a serious 'noble' varietal that blossoms when it is fermented and aged in oak barrels. To the ripe berry fruits can be added real complexity from the oak, giving notes of tobacco and cedar, or vanilla and rich coconut.

In Chile, Merlot was long confused with the Carmenère grape and today there are still mixed plantings. Chile specialises in ripe young ready-to-drink merlots.

California has long made ultra-ripe and glossy Merlots - now South Africa and New Zealand are producing serious versions too.


Main characteristicsColour: red; medium garnet to deeper ruby

Body: medium to full bodied

Tastes: red-fruits, plums and blueberries, often with relatively soft tannins. When aged in oak it acquires cedar (French oak) or vanilla and coconut (American oak) characters

Often blended with: Cabernet Sauvignon, providing ripe fruit and softness, as well as the other Bordeaux varieties Cabernet France and Petit Verdot

Spotter's guide: France, in Bordeaux on 'the Right Bank' it is the predominant grape variety in St Emilion and Pomerol, also Langedoc Roussillon; Spain, Navarra, Penedès; California, Washington, USA; Australia; New Zealand; Chile; South Africa

Keep or drink? Many Merlot are ready to drink; but it has the structure and backbone to cellar for 10 years or more


Thanks Olive

Weekend Dinner Menu

Getting PUMPED for the weekend

“BOOMER” or “Hurricane”

Who do you think is going to be more annoying this weekend???

FREE Snow Angels

We Open for Brunch at 11:00am Saturday and Sunday - Kitchen Closes at 1:00am. So after you get sick of watching the snow storm or 48 hours straight coverage of the Super Bowl on TV- Get to the PUB.

Anybody else hear about snow this weekend???

I still think Snow Forts are Cool

Existing each year between December and April, the Icehotel in the village of Jukkasjärvi, about 17 km from Kiruna, Sweden was the world's first ice hotel. In 1989, Japanese ice artists visited the area and created an exhibition of ice art. In Spring 1990, French artist Jannot Derid held an exhibition in a cylinder-shaped igloo in the area. One night there were no rooms available in the town, so some of the visitors asked for permission to spend the night in the exhibition hall. They slept in sleeping bags on top of reindeer skin - the first guests of the "hotel".
The entire hotel is made out of snow and ice blocks taken from the Torne River - even the glasses in the bar are made of ice. Each spring, around March, Icehotel harvests tons of ice from the frozen Torne River and stores it in a nearby production hall with room for over 10,000 tons of ice and 30,000 tons of snow. The ice is used for creating Icebar designs and ice glasses, for ice sculpting classes, events and product launches all over the world while the snow is used for building a strong structure for the building. About 1,000 tons of what is left is used in the construction of the next Icehotel.
Thanks wiki

Superbowl Recipes for Home

Our friends at 6-ABC asked us if we would share some bar inspired recipes for Superbowl Sunday. We are pleased to extend 3 options which are available in some form on our menu. You can watch the us demo them on the 6-ABC Morning News on Thursday, February 4 starting at 6:00 AM. Enjoy guys!

The 3 we have selected our some of our favorites: Welsh Rarebit, Buffalo Deviled Eggs and a Sausage, Onion and Swiss Sandwich.

Welsh Rarebit
The Welsh Rarebit is a U.K. open faced grilled cheese. We offer a version of this on our bar snack menu.

6 slices thick country toast
10 oz sharp English cheddar
8 1/2 oz creme fraiche
1 tbsp colmans mustard powder
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 each whole egg

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Toast thick slices of bread and spread the cheese mixture on top. Place the rarebit under a broiler or toaster oven and let the cheese melt and just brown on top. Cut into pieces and eat straight away.

Buffalo Deviled Eggs
THIS IS HOW YOU BOIL AN EGG: bring a wide pan full of water to a boil. Gently layer the eggs in at the same time. Cook at a moderate boil for 10 minutes. Remove them from the water and plunge into an ice bath. Once they are cool (about 15 minutes) peel them UNDER THE WATER. This will help remove the shell.

12 each farm fresh eggs
4 oz franks red hot sauce
4 oz crumbled blue cheese
2 oz smooth dijon mustard
2 oz mayonaise
pinch cayenne pepper

After the eggs are peeled, cut them in half lengthwise and remove the yolks. Place the yolks in a bowl with the remaing ingredients. Mix well, making sure to incorporate all the items evenly and as smoothly as possible. Scoop the mixture back in to the egg whites and top with a pinch of celery salt and a few celery leaves. you will have some of the mix leftover--thats ok because it makes a great sandwich!

Sausage, Onion and Swiss Sandwich
This sandwich is on our brunch menu and your crowd will go crazy for it. To get great homemade sausage, go to the Reading Terminal Market and shop at Martin's Sausage Stand. He has TONS of varieties. Feel free to use your favorite.

2 each Amoroso long rolls
12 each Martins garlic sausage
4 each spanish oninos, sliced
8 slices alpine lace swiss cheese
2 cans Slyfox Dunkellager
pickles, mustard and ketchup to garnish

Carmelize the onions by sweating them slow and low over medium heat in a heavy bottomed pan until the onions are dark brown and smell sweet. If they get away from you, splash some beer in the pan to stop the burning. Bring the beer up to a simmer and place the sausages so they are submerged. Gently simmer for 15 minutes. Remove them and slice lengthwise. Toast the rolls and layer the sausages down first, then the onions, then the cheese. Fold over the top and place 6 toothpicks evenly across. Cut in between the toothpicks and serve with pickles, ketchup and mustard. And potato chips. We love potato chips.