Gaul & Co. Malt House

3133 Gaul Street
Philadelphia, PA 19134
(215) 423-7878
Website

Up near the Polish area of Port Richmond is a hidden gem of a bar.  When I first walked in, there were a couple of locals having some bottled domestics and talking over the TV. While this is my typical type of respite, I thought maybe I was in the wrong place for the famous kielbasa cheesesteak that had come so highly recommended by a reader. I decided to persevere and was brilliantly rewarded from the previous neighborhood hang known as Shenanigans.

The wings smelled fantastic, so I obviously indulged. Perfectly crispy (I ordered them well done) and rendered to their bare essence, the sauce was a kicked up version of the traditional Frank's and butter.

The portion was fair for the price, and the sauce was perfect.

Cheese fries were also of interest (I am obviously cutting carbs). Perfectly fried and the American cheese sauce was just delicious.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good orange Wiz, and I do usually get my cheese sauce on the side. This application was perfect because not only was the cheese sauce white and deliciously tasting of American and cheddar, it was just the right viscosity to lightly coat the fries, make them glisten, and not lose their crispy outer shell.

Now the star of the show was undoubtedly the "Wit or Witowski". A cheesesteak, made of kielbasa. Yes.

Local 'bassi sliced thin and fried. Like a cheesesteak, just around fifty times better. It brought to mind the fried pastrami cheesesteak at the late great Cisco's in Flourtown. Topped with fried onions and American cheese wiz. It is spicy, salty, and one of the best sandwiches I have ever had.

Look at those thin bits of beautiful kielbasa meat. This might be my death row meal. I know it looks a bit like a creamed chipped beef, but believe me, this was well beyond and took me sailing through Polish flavor town.

The roast beef with au jus was good sandwich, just not as great as its counterpart. I would order two kielbasa next time. Just because. But the beef was well cooked, nicely seasoned, and would ordinarily be a hit. It was just outclassed this time.

The thinly sliced fold of beef was nice and tender.

Gaul & Co. Malt House features a somewhat compact menu, but they execute everything just right. Although it's a bit up there, I'll be back, you can count on that.

Sam's Butcher Shop | MEATSRAVAGANZA GIVEAWAY! *CONTEST CLOSED*

[FREE shipping on 8lbs. if you mention this post!!!]
322 N. Main Street
Moscow, PA 18444
(570) 842-7392
Website

***UPDATE, APRIL 15, 12:30PM***
NEW WIENER ANNOUNCED!

We did not hear from CT in time, so we randomly generated another winner!

TJGersh - please email PhillyPhoodie.com@gmail.com to work out the details!

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April 9, 2014
WINNER ANNOUNCED! Email me at PhillyPhoodie.com@gmail.com to work out the details! Thank you for playing everyone and look for another contest coming soon! If CT doesn't contact by 12pm EST on 4/14/14, we will draw an alternate winner.

If you read the review of Sam's Butcher Shop, you know it's no joke. Rather than tease you with pictures of meat, Sam's has offered a prize of shipped meat for the newest (and hottest!) Philly Phoodie contest. 4lbs, your choice, shipped to the winner selected at random who leaves a comment on this post with their favorite type of meat. Whether it's smoked, cured, raw, poultry, beef, etc. Just let us know what you love, and be sure to check back on Wednesday to see if you won. See below for official details and become Sam's newest, most satisfied customer!

Contest details:
When: Start-Friday, April 4, 2014 at posting. End- 4/9/14 12pm EST. 
What: 4 pounds of your choice of meat from Sam The Butcher shipped to your door.
How: Leave a comment on your favorite meat product, and be sure to email your contact info or check back on Wednesday to see if you win! Comment within the parameters set forth, subject to my sole discretion. Winner to be chosen at random. 
Who: Anyone can enter, but to be eligible for the prize you must have an address within the parameters of Sam's shipping radius ( those in a 1-day radius which covers NY, NJ, CT, DE, MD, Eastern half of PA, and DC Metro Area (includes parts of VA and WV).  Again, eligibility for shipping  is subject to Sam's discretion in conjunction with Philly Phoodie. 

Sam's Butcher Shop

322 N. Main Street
Moscow, PA 18444
(570) 842-7392
Website

Back in the cold and lonely days of March 2014, I received a warm and fuzzy email from a fellow by the name of "Sam The Butcher". His message was riddled with words like "smoked sausages, kielbasa, andouille, two types of bacon, pork shoulder, porchetta, pulled pork, and old fashioned smoked hams," and I knew my winter gloom was about to seriously improve.

Sam is an 'artisan meat processor specializing in smoked and cured meats,' and his shop is located north of the city, closer to the Poconos, but he does not have a storefront. In other words, all of his sales are done via the internet at www.samsbutchershop.net, and like magic, the delicious meat products are then shipped to your front door. Sam offered to let me try a sampling of his artisan meats on a Wednesday (of course I couldn't say no) and then Thursday morning I was greeted with a compact Styrofoam cooler packed full of beautifully wrapped butcher paper presents.

All of his items come already cooked/smoked/cured, so everything is ready to go on arrival. My care package was a selection of those mouthwatering items Sam had mentioned a week before, which was A LOT, so I figured that a meat-tasting party was in order. I called over my closest, most meat-appreciative friends and got to work on the spread. First things first, I decided to put out the ready-to-eat finger foods for some light snacking.

These are the smoked kielbasa sticks, AKA gourmet slim jims. Who doesn't love a good snap in every bite of the old meat stick? I know I sure do. They were a mild variety, with a decidedly kielbasa flavor. Firm and salty, these boys are smoked for four (4) hours with cherry wood, which adds to their reddish color.

Next sampler was the smoked andouille: a Cajun sausage loaded with spices and ingredients including ancho chile powder, garlic, red pepper and gumbo filé; they are also smoked for 4 hours using cherry.

These dark and luscious little coins hit you with a powerful heat, a low and smoky ancho flavor that sneaks up on you moments after chewing through the savory meat.

Definitely a good one for a cracker, mustard and cheddar platter. Think of it as a fancier, more flavorful version of ring bologna - a refined version with a grown up heat. I'd serve these at every party on my appetizer plate, and will surely be stocking up for Memorial Day. Did someone say Father's Day presents?

After the first course of room temperature light bites, it was time to fire up the flat top for some more serious meat prep. I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but I can't speak highly enough of the Blackstone 36" griddle station. I'm talking game changer. I purchased one back in the summer of '13 and my life will never be the same again. Seriously.

It's a free standing, propane-fired griddle, so you can do your manly things outside, make a mess, and your wife will be none the wiser. But she WILL swoon when you decide to have hibachi night for her friends. But back to the matter at hand. First up, I threw on some of the smoked kielbasa grillers: a skinless (no casing) version of kielbasa that is more finely ground than the original and ideal for sandwiches.

In addition to the meats in casings, Sam also offers his version of porchetta: an Italian version of pulled pork seasoned with garlic, dill, and pepper. Traditionally the pork is rolled with herbs and seasonings inside, roasted and then sliced to serve. (I know it looks strange in a Ziploc bag, but see below and watch this stuff transform.)

The only way to cook the grillers is split down the middle and face down on a greased skillet. You could 'grill' them over open fire, but I much prefer a buttery browning via the Maillard reaction, giving the meat a richly caramelized surface. Delicious.

It turns out I have a lot of meat-centric friends, so I had to maximize the meat-to-person ratio by cutting the grillers into pieces for all to enjoy. Multiple times.

And boy, did we! All it takes is a little hot and sweet mustard and a simple saltine vessel to serve these up. Smoky with a mild spice to it, these kielbasas are a winner. Of course, if I had more of them (or fewer friends), we'd be eating them whole on a Liscio's roll with spicy mustard and maybe some cheddar or kraut.

The porchetta also browns nicely on a lightly greased skillet - just look at how beautiful it is.

The dill and garlic melt into the tender pork, and again, getting some of the caramelization on the pulled bits is key to making the flavors pop. Rich with the flavor of fresh herbs, I would serve this porchetta time and time again to my closest friends and family - they don't need to know that it came in a box through the mail, nor will they ever find out...

Porchetta is frequently served on a roll with fixin's, as you would find a traditional roast pork style sandwich, but sometimes just tasting the meat on its own is all you need.

Next item to hit the griddle is the BBQ pork: pork shoulder that is coated with a barbecue rub, smoked over cherry wood for twelve hours and then pulled. This came the same way as the porchetta, tightly packed into an air tight bag, and as soon as it hit the flat top, I could tell it was going to be another success.

You could hit it with some of your favorite barbecue sauce, but it doesn't even need it. The meat is tender, moist and full of BBQ flavor on its own. It had a mild spice, but was mostly smoky and sweet – we were literally grabbing it by the handful off the communal tasting plate.

That was all I could handle for the 'tasting' party (it was getting dark and I was ready for some drinking), so I put the remaining two products away for another day's meal. Fast forward 2 days, I decided on some BLTs for dinner to make the most of the 2 packages marked "buckboard bacon" and "keilbasa bacon."

Much to my surprise, they weren't what I had in mind when thinking "bacon." It turns out that Sam (to quote the butcher himself) 'uses the pork shoulder to make bacon rather than the pork belly, which is used to make slab bacon. His pork shoulder bacons have less than a third of the fat of slab bacon but with the same crispiness and flavor. They are also not as dry as Canadian Bacon.'

I still chose to go the BLT route and pulled out my cast iron skillet to fry up some ham. Above is the buckboard bacon: shoulder that's marinaded in molasses which imparts a dark brown color and sweet flavor. And below is the smoked kielbasa bacon: made with the pork shoulder and flavored with kielbasa seasoning. It pretty much speaks for itself.

These are also ready to eat right out of the package. The buckboard reminded me of a honey baked ham, sweet and crispy outer rim with a smooth and salty interior with fat that just melted on my tongue. Delicious. The kielbasa 'bacon' was more like a smoked bologna that definitely tasted like kielbasa.

What's not to love about fried bologna?

Throw it on some white bread with mayo, lettuce, tomato and a little bit of mustard hitting the meat and voilá! You have yourself a healthy fried ham sandwich!

Many thanks to Sam for opening my eyes to the joys of mail-order cured and smoked meats. His prices are completely affordable for such a high quality product and this dude is legit. If only mail-order brides could be as reliable...

Check back Friday for Sam's MEATSRAVAGANZA GIVEAWAY!

Swiacki Meats

3623 Salmon Street
Philadelphia, PA 19134
215-634-0820
215-634-5456
Website

I was recently contacted by the much loved Swiacki meats about an article I had written a couple of years ago. They wanted me to try some new products, and invited me up for a visit. I was obviously flattered and got there as soon as schedules permitted.

This place is tucked away in Polish-centric Port Richmond and is, without doubt, a true Philadelphia treasure.

If you want any sort of Polish meat product, don't fear, you've come to the right place. Old school and friendly, it's the kind of place I hope is around for perpetuity.

One thing to note is the difference between fresh sausage and smoked sausage. The fresh should be boiled for about 10-15 minutes then grilled, while the smoked version can be kept whole or (preferably) sliced up the middle to create a flap and thrown on a (charcoal) grill.

The "hot and cheesy" are a new item, and they were my absolute favorites. I mean, spicy, smokey, cheesy sausage is impossible to beat.

This is Eddie, who contacted me with the invite. He said that some readers told them about my initial review, and it drove them there. That makes me about as happy as I can possibly get, truthfully. Eddie is an amazing guy, who took the time to show me where the magic happens, while slicing off tasting samples of meat right out of the smoker. The fact that it was around 10am was irrelevant, and my hangover was (almost) instantly cured.

Below are the smoking racks with freshly smoked kielbasa ropes just hanging around. It's a good thing Eddie was there because I would have been mighty embarrassed to be caught trying to smuggle these out to my car.

This is the meat grinder. It is from another time, that has long since past, and they have to get an old school machinist do the maintenance and repairs. This thing is literally irreplaceable and so majestic. Simply amazing.

What do you use to mix ungodly amounts of freshly ground meat? Answer: this thing. Just awesome. It means so much that the rich history of Swiacki's authenticity is present in everything that they do - from the equipment all the way through to the personal interaction.

Here is Eddie giving instructions as to how things should be reheated, including the insanely good pierogies (available with fillings from farmers cheese to cheesesteak) and the ready-to-bake frozen golumpkis.

They even have lunch meats like fresh smoked ham and freaking kielbasa loaf. Yes.

From left, smoked kielbasa, skinny spicy cheese, and regular spicy cheese.

I can't say enough about this place. It is truly Polish heaven. Many thanks to Eddie and the staff for an amazing visit and for the generous sampling of products. Please, go here and see for yourself.