Varmint

Why, yes there was, part of Fat Guy's "All About Eggs" class in the eGullet Culinary Institute. Click here to go to the class.

Canada is currently up in the air. Let's make that a firm commitment, OK?

Cool. Louisiana is now officially represented! We have people from the following states who have made their contributions: North Carolina Virginia Maryland Delaware Illinois Louisiana Utah California Florida West Virginia We have commitments from the following states: Pennsylvania New York Georgia South Carolina New Jersey. That's 15 states. God, wouldn't it be cool to have half the states represented. Now that would be most excellent.

There's a LOT that was forgotten that night! I also made a tea-infused rum shooter, IIRC. But we all remember the limoncello, the dark & stormies, and you, dear Katie!!

I am plum out of shine, however. Time to get the still back in action, as long as I can keep that revenooer man away.

Of course, if we can get a kudzu distillate . . .

Treat bourbon as merely a suggestion, as we should not limit anything at this early stage. This should be fun, and I'll be sure to sample a few of these!

Yeah, we're just a "group hug" sort of community. Seriously, when I used the term a "ridiculous premise", I was referring to the notion that one could actually crown a single champ. Now if you really want to get contentious, start debating about the best barbecue joint in NC!! Zeb, many people think Magnolia Grill is too loud, too pretentious, and some folks don't care for the Barkers' style of cooking. One eGullet Society member whose tastes I totally respect thinks they go too far with the ingredients and flavors. He doesn't hate it there, mind you, but it's just not his cup of tea. But there are those who do hate it and wouldn't go back if they were to receive a free meal. That's usually attributable to several possible problems: they were the recipient of an extraordinarily "off" meal, or incredibly bad service, or more likely, unrealistically high expectations. I've run into a lot of reverse snobbery at a place such as MG where diners are going to dislike the place no matter what. As for me, there are few places that I hate. Hell, I'll eat at any restaurant for free!

That's what's fun about this thread, foodie. It's a ridiculous premise to begin with and part of the reason why I called this an experiment. Some people love Magnolia Grill, while others hate it. You'll always have disagreement, so the point of this thread is to discuss what are considered the top restaurants in the Triangle. We'll never get a consensus, but we'll end up with some good conversation and -- who knows -- maybe an idea of the cream of the crop.

Take a look at this thread of our 2004 family vacation in Maine. There's no fine dining, but some good follow-up discussion.

We'll handle the permitting -- it's a simple one-shot deal for tax-exempt organizations. As far as the in-kind donation, you'll need to seek your own tax advice on this, but it's my understanding that unless you're in the business, you could only deduct the cost of your ingredients. But then, I'm no tax lawyer! Even if people are generously donating goods to the pig pickin', we're still requiring everyone to purchase a ticket as specified above. That ensures we'll cover our costs and make some money to benefit the eG Society.

Campbell's Chicken with Rice soup (a childhood favorite that won't go away) Canned clams for quick clam sauce Tomatoes, tomato paste Ro-tel, but only to go with Velveeta for Redneck Queso! Tuna Canned corn Lotsa beans Curry paste Condensed milk Coconut milk Peas (blech, but the kids like them -- blechhh blechhh blechhh) When I was growing up, my mother frequently served canned asparagus and canned mushrooms on "special" occasions. I loved their taste back then. I'm not sure I could eat them today, but I just might!

Now that our 501 ( c )3 status has been approved by the IRS, won't you consider joining us in North Carolina for the pig pickin'??? Much of the ticket price is tax-deductible, and we want as many states represented as possible. Here's the sign-up information: Please consider choosing one of the donation amounts above the minimum contribution – the Society relies on donations to carry out its mission. Pig Pickin’ Basic Entry -- $30 per person ($12/meal + $18 donation) Pig Pickin’ “BBQ Lover” Entry -- $50 per person ($12/meal + $38 donation) Pig Pickin’ “Boss Hog” Entry -- $70 per person ($12/meal + $58 donation) If you wish to make a larger donation, an in-kind donation or an offer to match donations, please contact me by PM or e-mail. Payments are not refundable. This event will be held rain or shine.

That's the beauty of dining -- there will never be consensus. I can't tell you how much I want to like this restaurant. It's close to home and the chef comes up with concepts that are quite creative. It has all the elements I look for when going out for a nice meal, but not once have I walked away satisfied.

Don't get me wrong: Bloomsbury Bistro isn't a bad restaurant and Chef Toler is quite successful and has an impressive following. It's just that this restaurant and this chef's offerings have never worked for me.

Review of Raleigh's Bloomsbury Bistro has been added here.

There are some chefs who are able to take awesome ingredients, give them a slight tweak, and come up with a divine dish that is elegant, sophisticated, and ultimately, more than the sum of its parts. Tom Colicchio of New York's Gramercy Tavern and Craft come to mind, as does Ashley Christenson of Raleigh's Enoteca Vin. There are also chefs who venture down the path of "flavor explosions," where they're not afraid to put together lots of flavors to create a completely new, incredibly complex taste sensation. Ben Barker of Durham's Magnolia Grill is the best local example of that, and when a single ingredient is omitted from one of his dishes, it's noticeable. Mastering either approach is difficult, and few chefs are able to pull it off. However, I'm finding a trend where more chefs are trying to overwhelm the diner, to dazzle her, to show off their culinary licks. John Toler, chef of Raleigh's Bloomsbury Bistro is one such person, and after dining at this acclaimed restaurant for the third time in the past couple of years, it's finally dawned on me that Chef Toler simply tries too hard. I like to dine at restaurants where the chefs create dishes that I wouldn't necessarily make at home. Bloomsbury Bistro fits that category, but this is because I wouldn't even want to make them at home or have someone make them for me. Too often, his dishes are ill-conceived combinations where the resulting taste is not some sensational explosion of balanced flavor, but they're just muddled mixtures with no rhyme or reason to their approach. For example, I had an vichyssoise-like soup with asparagus and potatoes, served with pickled shrimp and sweet potatoes, dilled croutons and crème fraîche. This sounds great, but the soup itself lacked a flavor of asparagus, the pickled shrimp added nothing but texture, and the only dill flavor I got was from the frond of fresh dill atop the soup. The flavors here were dull. On the other end of the spectrum was a large slab of grilled ono (overcooked, unfortunately), with a roasted pineapple risotto and a salsa of mango and macadamia nut, all served with a very spicy sesame oil. This dish wasn't bad, but it was overkill. The fruit was too sweet and it was if the sesame oil were added almost as an afterthought to offer some form of balance to the dish. The first 3 or 4 bites were fine, but after that, I had trouble eating the dish. It was too much. Mrs. Varmint had an interesting appetizer of calamari "steak," stuffed with ricotta and spinach, deep-fried, and served atop a Sicilian style sweet and sour tomato sauce (sort of like a caponata, without the eggplant). Here, the calamari was essentially just a big, stuffed serving of your everyday fried calamari. This wasn't a bad start -- the flavors worked just fine. But then the sweet and sour sauce totally interfered with the earthiness of the cheese and spinach in the calamari. A little less sweet and a little less sour and it would have worked fine. But again, Chef Toler is out to impress us, and it just didn't work for Mrs. Varmint and me. Fortunately, Mrs. Varmint ordered a vegetarian dish for some strange reason, and that worked out very well except where the Chef tried to show off. This was a well-executed dish of sauteed spring vegetables with an asparagus coulis and goat cheese, served with panko-encrusted fried portabello strips and spinach ricotta dumplings. The vegetables were wonderfully prepared, and the contrasting flavors of the tangy goat cheese with the fresh asparagus coulis worked perfectly. The crunch of the mushroom "fries" was a nice addition as well. The centerpiece of the dish, the dumplings, were completely unnecessary and added nothing to the dish. They were just "one more item" that the chef had to throw in there to show that he could create something unique. We ended our meal with an interesting sounding dessert: Chocolate chip banana pudding creme brulee. Even here, the chocolate overwhelmed the bananas which overwhelmed the custard, resulting in some nice flavors that just didn't work well together. He should have omitted the chocolate, resulting in a lovely Southern twist on a classic French dessert. I'd love to say that last night was an anomaly, but every time I've eaten at Bloomsbury, I've walked away dissatisfied. The prices are incredibly reasonable, the service is as good as you'll find in the region, and I enjoy the feel of the restaurant. I actually think that Chef Toler is a very talented chef, but ultimately, I also believe that he thinks he's more of a culinary genius than he actually is, which leads to the problems I see on every visit. Here's a link to the Bloomsbury Bistro website: http://www.bloomsburybistro.com/. Bloomsbury Bistro 509 W Whitaker Mill Rd Ste 101 Raleigh, NC 27608 (919) 834-9011

What a great house. I think I'd not worry about it until you re-do the kitchen. It's a very bright space from the other windows. Ultimately, I can envision the sink being under the window, but for now, just enjoy. It's actually a great little space. Congrats!!!

HEV-ee

So, who here wants to comb through this thread and compile all the words and apparently correct pronunciations for a single list? Now that'd be a helpful thing to do.

Pig Pickin' merchandise now available here. This will not be available after the big event. All profits will benefit the eGullet Society.

Pig Pickin' merchandise now available here. This will not be available after the big event. All profits will benefit the eGullet Society.

And the problem with shipping them is . . . ?????

Much of the menu came from Mario Batali. I made tweaks here and there. The chocolate cakes are so cliche, but they're still damn good -- plus, one of my colleagues wanted to learn how to make them, so I just did it. I was going to serve them with hazlenut gelato, but I got lazy. We had 24 people eating, and they offered a lot of help. The guests made the ravioli, buttered and floured 24 ramekins (twice!), made the cake batter, plated the dishes, served, cleared and even washed some dishes. The flow worked perfectly. The smartest thing I did (other than renovating my kitchen!) was to rent the china for 6 of the 7 courses. That's 144 plates, and it only cost me (or rather, cost my firm) $56. That made the clean up very easy. I also learned to love my hood even more. There were a couple of occasions where my skillets got so hot that they briefly caught fire from some of the volatile oils in the food (not entirely unintentional). The hood sucked up the smoke like a champ.

Calling them wild mushrooms might be a stretch, as over here, anything other than white button mushrooms could be considered "wild". It was a mix of dried porcini, cremini, and shiitake. I reduced the porcini soaking liquid, too. It was a heavenly dish, but a bit too strong-flavored for several in the crowd who had never had truffles before. And I added a bit of good white truffle oil to each plate to really boost up that aroma. I have one truffle left over, so I think I know what I'm having for dinner tonight!