Varmint

Paul, the politics of barbecue is often what makes it such an interesting sociological study. Whereas you'll find segregationist places such as Maurice's, you'll often find barbecue joints to be the greatest examples of integration in the South. You'll find your rednecks, your businessmen, black, white, Indian, Latino, men, women and everything else right there in most of the places I frequent. I like the towns that have at least 2 joints where one is the "White Republican" establishment and the other is for the "Black Democrats." Disagree with proprietors' politics, boycott the places if you want, but keep the stories coming. And, apparently, Maurice found religion and doesn't see his customers as being black or white. I think he just focuses on the green of their money.

mj- Please tell us more about this joint in Henderson. Do they cook with wood? What sides (other than the slaw) do they serve?

Thanks, Mark. Dave's information could use a bit of updating, however!

Although the Wright Brothers took their invention to North Carolina, and my state proudly claims that it was the First in Flight!

Thanks for the info, maf. And welcome!! We look forward to more great information such as this.

Swordfish and eggplant were both cubed. The eggplant was quickly fried in hot olive oil and removed. So was the fish, but very, very quickly. I used fresh tomatoes, but good canned ones would work. I had seeded the tomatoes but left skins on. I didn't cook the sauce very long. I used most of the mint about halfway through the tomatoes being cooked, and then added a touch more just before serving. I stirred the fish back in and then the eggplant and then sprinkled more mint on top of each dish for presentation.

Well, it was some party! We had 20 people here for dinner, and I'm very glad that everyone came ready to cook. The guests arrived at 6:00 and the dinner ended at 10:40. When the grappa and limoncello came out, people did not want to leave. The last guest headed out shortly before 1:00. I think I was sound asleep on the back porch, as it was a beautiful night in North Carolina. I spent all day finishing my shopping and prepping. I peeled 8 pounds of peaches. I made a raspberry sauce. I cubed, julienned, chopped, diced, and grated. I made risotto for the arancine. When I realized that I hadn't made enough, I made another 4 cups of arborio worth of risotto. That's a lot of rice. I had 4 or 5 people on an arancine-making assembly line, two making them, one doing the egg white wash, one with the bread crumbs. The smoked mozzarella may not have been the best option for a filling, only because it's fairly hard to melt. Anyhow, I'll give details on the dish later. We started with the Sicilian pizzas. I made three large sheet pans worth of dough, and I let it rise on the back porch in the sun. It was warm and humid yesterday afternoon -- perfect for bread proofing! Toppings? One had Sicilian olives, onions, raisins, and pecorino plus EVOO. The next had tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, capers, and half anchovies. The final had sun dried tomatoes, some dried sausage, and cacciacavollo (sp?). They were pretty damn good, even though two of them got a little brown on the bottom when we forgot about them while making the arancine! The salad was OK, but it could have used more grapefruit. I had quickly cooked the shrimp earlier in the day and then marinated it in grapefruit juice. The juice really didn't affect the shrimp's flavor, which was unfortunate. It would have made an awesome combination. The dressing was excellent and complement the dish -- grapefruit and lemon juice, mint, EVOO, S&P. We tossed it with the greens, added a bit of dressing to the shrimp and grapefruit segments, and plopped them on the greens. The arancine were a big hit. I made a ragout of porcini and shiitake mushrooms with red wine, onions, garlic, and tomatoes. I put that on the bottom of a shallow black bowl, put the baseball-sized arancine in the middle, and dusted the rims with grated pecorino. We served a 2001 Argiolas Perdera made with Monica grapes. It really went well with the dish, as it was a fruity but full bodied red. It was, however, a Sardinian, rather than Sicilian wine. No one cared at that time. We then moved onto the pasta, and everyone was already starting to get stuffed. We all get so used to a combination of tomato and basil that we forget how different tomato-based sauces can be when using other herbs. For this, we used mint. Mint and tomato is just an excellent combination. Adding the swordfish and fried eggplant made it fantastic. I need to think of using mint in my dishes more often. We actually served a great white wine with this, simply because the pasta was lightly sauced (we did want to taste the pasta, the mint, and the swordfish! We served a 2002 Planeta La Segreta Bianco. This was a pretty bold white, having a strong flavor of pear to me. It was very well-received. Now everyone was stuffed, but they had room for the beef. Beef tenderloin isn't my favorite cut, and I'm pretty confident there isn't a ton of tenderloin in Sicily, but I was looking for easy-cooking, tender meat here. Plus, if I asked every one of my guests what their favorite steak was, they'd all say filet mignon. Thus, that's what they got. I sauteed onions, red bell pepper strips, fennel, hot cherry peppers, celery and garlic in olive oil. I took that out of the pan (I was actually doing this in a large baking pan over two burners) and then added butter, got it good and hot (but before the butter browned), then seared the steaks (I got all 19 steaks in a single pan -- Mrs. Varmint passed on the red meat). I removed the steaks, added 2 cups of dry Marsala and 2 cups of white wine, and cooked that down until it evaporated. Add the veggies back, put in the steaks, and then added zucchini and halved grape tomatoes. We served each steak on a bed of the original vegetable saute, and topped with the zucchini and tomatoes. It was quite a good dish. I served another Argiolas -- the 2001 Costera, made with Cannonau grapes. This wine was probably a bit too young, but it had a ton of fruit, with just a touch of herbaciousness. We finally went to dessert, where I changed my mind and went with a peach tart that I served with raspberry gelato, raspberry sauce (ah, the powers of a squeeze bottle) and fresh blackberries. We served this with a Moscato d'Asti, which was a nice way to finish the meal. Folks were truly overstuffed, as there was a ton of food and drink. However, about 8 of us had lots of room for grappa and my mother-in-law's homemade (and ice cold) limoncello. Damn good stuff. One of the great things about this event (other than having everyone involved in cooking, plating, and serving the food), is its cost. I used top ingredients. We drank 22 bottles of wine. We served 20 people 8 different dishes (if you count the pizza as 3 dishes). The cost per person was $29. Yup, I spent a total of $580 on this meal. I need a nap.

(head banging, lights too bright, mouth horribly dry) Will provide it later. Unfortunately, forgot to take pictures. Too much limoncello. 20 guests, 22 bottles of wine. Plus that limoncello. Why did I have 4 children? They wake up way too early. Must deal with the pain.

Dinner was outstanding. We ended up drinking both Sicilian and Sardinian wine. I'm too drunk to type. Gotta go. V.

Thanks, Popcorn, but I'm now an old timer at Scott Howell's Q-Shack. See this thread: The Original Q-Shack Thread Why do you think it's more evolved from an integration standpoint? Is it location?? Cuisine?

I agree, as long as you include any chess pie and any sweet potato pie

Weigh in was 214. That's a drop of about 2 pounds from last week (probably a pound and a half) and a total of 14 pounds since I started. I'm doing my interactive Italian dinner today, so I won't be online much.

I still worship my Turkish coffee grinder that I use as a pepper mill. It grinds more pepper in less time than anything else I've tried. Plus, it sits in a base that collects all the excess ground pepper.

Yes it was.

I'm not real good with my winespeak, but the wine was incredibly grassy -- overly so. I've never been a fan of highly herbal wines, as I can't think of what food to serve with them. It also was overly strong in the finish, like most of these wines. I think they've been stored well, but the grapes just weren't good enough to maintain the fruit and body that I'd like. Whenever I taste a wine, I don't really think of how it tastes in the typical terms. I'm just not sufficiently educated to do so. However, I focus on the food that would go with it. Nothing lept out at me for any of these wines. They were all just a bit too harsh.

OK, here's the scoop. These wines were given to CWC by the importer as part of a fund raising effort. They were probably stored appropriately, but all are certainly past their prime. The fruit has faded quickly, well before any tannins have had a chance to mellow. The zin was a very bold wine, but the lack of fruit couldn't allow me to spend even $50 on a case. Ultimately, I decided, none of these wines would really go with the food that I cook. The pinot wasn't too bad and neither was the Saturny, but I'd really only want to serve them with cheese. The Pic St. Loup's color wasn't too inky, but it hadn't softened much, either.

I'll head over on my lunch break and report back. Thanks.

It's from Carolina Wine Company, one of the most reputable retailers I know. I'm confident it's been at 55 degrees, as that's where they keep all their wines.

I just got an email from one of my favorite wine shops regarding a sale they're having on some fairly low-end wines. Any advice of what to buy: Thanks.

Call me an overly soft-hearted wuss, but this thread really makes me feel good about humanity. Making cheese this way, treating the cows so well, is just damned civilized. Oh, and can I take home the one with the pink nose?

I had breakfast for dinner tonight, as Mrs. Varmint was out and I wanted to use up some somewhat old potatoes. Thus, hash browns with garlic, onion, thyme, and rosemary. Plus 2 fried eggs. And a Negra Modelo.

Nero, you can start by finishing those half drunk cans of Pabst in there.

"You're having Stove Top Stuffing?!?!?!? I'll be right over!"

And if I were to use public transportation, because your driving scares the bejezus out of me?

We do a lot of entertaining, because I love to do it. We frequently are told by guests that they need to have us over some time. I generally respond by saying that they're doing us a favor by coming to our house, allowing me to cook, and we don't have to get a baby sitter. Reciprocity is not expected at all.