seahawg

Here is a good link on home dry aging. http://www.askthemeatman.com/is_it_possibl...eef_at_home.htm

You can also get them at Cliff's Meats in Carrboro.

Don't know how you are getting to the Outer Banks, but if you are flying into Raleigh, I'd get the cake there at Edible Art. It will be a work of art. I would fist fight my late mother for a piece of their chocolate pound cake!

I've heard nothing but good things about Sharpies. What wasn't to like? ← zchef2k, I'm not a chef, or trained in culinary arts, just a guy who knows what he likes. That area has a wealth of great restaurants, some better than others. The ambiance, the presentation, the texture, the waitstaff, were all dead on. But the taste was lackluster. It wasn't bad, it just didn't grab you. All these restaurants use the similar product for their beef, seafood, and veal dishes that I gravitate towards. While the base product is the same, the differentiation is in the preparation and the sauces. Maybe I'm just spoiled by the likes of Trateotu and Blue Moon, where the flavors of their sauces is close to a religious experience. Again, the food at Sharpies wasn't bad, it just wasn't great. Again, take my review with a grain of salt, as I am definitely untrained. I figure anyone can have an off night, hence me trying them twice, with different dishes. Just cause it didn't rock my world, it may work for you. Will I give them a third chance? Probably. But with so many other great choices of restaurants, it will probably be a while. Doug

The Fetco Extractor would be another great option. It gives you more control over the brewing process.

Stillwater/Front St Grill in Beaufort is still good. They have a great menu. One of our favorites is Aqua next to Back Street in Beaufort. They have great tapas. Beaufort Grocery is big on a lot of lists, but not my favorite. Go next door to Blue Moon Bistro for a better meal. Ribeyes is an interesting steakhouse on Front Street, with great aged Omaha beef. Sharpies on Front Street is the new hot restaurant in town. I've eaten there twice and wasn't impressed. Be sure to go to the Royal James for a great burger, beer and game of pool. The Sandbar Restaurant on Town Creek has a great menu and is consistently good. Be sure to get a BBQ sandwich from Rolands (take out only), and go to the picnic tables by the public launch ramp on Taylors Creek and watch the people launching boats. That can be entertaining. Amos Mosquito's in Atlantic Beach has a great menu. Sandy Howard, their CIA trained chef/owner is top-notch. Island Grille has a great menu with two for one specials on one night. Check out the free newspaper The Gam. It will tell you the special nights on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday's. Check out Shepards Point in Morehead City. Also Trateotu in MC. It is short on ambiance, but real strong on menu. Another good choice in MC is Bistro=by-the-Sea. They are consistently superior. Go down Bogue Banks to Carlton's in Indian Beach. Always, always, good. Another good choice is Tortugas in Emerald Isle. For good burgers, go to El's in MC and get a Superburger. Eat under the live oaks at the picnic tables. And it wouldn't be a trip to the beach without a stop at Big Oak Drive-in (take out only) in Salter Path. Their Shrimpburger is out of this world. It's been written up in Southern Living a half dozen times. Don't know where you are staying, but the Citgo station around mile marker 13, makes a mean fried bologna sandwich. Have a great stay.

Warren Keller (may he rest in peace), made a great slug burger in Spindale NC. He mixed his hamburger with crushed soda crackers and instant mashed potatoes. He dropped the little balls into the hot grease from previous cooked slugs, in frying pans on the stove. When they floated to the top, they were done. Add mustard, chili, and onions to a steamed bun, and you were in heaven. Warren's chili was the best. He said it took two pounds of hamburger to make one pound of chili. I'd love to have that recipe. He also made a "beef dog". Pressure cooked stewed beef, forked into a hotdog bun, with the same mustard, chili, and onions. Now that was something special.

Adding to the comment about Dillsboro above. The BBQ place they mention is good, but your best bet if you are there, is the Jarrett House. Greta home cooking served family style. Not to be missed, if you are in that neck of the woods.

Might want to try the Harvey Mansion. Beautiful setting and great food. Not on the caliper of much larger cities, but good solid offering. Morehead City and Beaufort are less than an hour away, and that opens the offerings considerably. Doug

Just sent mine in. Dear Representative Miller, I ask you to support the proposed legislation to raise the alcohol limit for beer in North Carolina. This would allow a much wider selection of specialty beers. It is ridiculous that I can purchase 190 proof grain alcohol with an alcohol content of 95%, but I can't buy a specialty beer with an alcohol content above 6%. A friend just returned from a beer tasting in Charlotte, where a beer from Avery Brewing of Colorado was served. It had an alcohol content of 18.1%, and was judged one of the best. Even at that, it was half the alcohol content of a mixed drink. The 15% proposed cap is still restrictive, but will expand our choices of good beer at least ten fold. Please lend this measure your support. Thanks, Doug Smith

Wanted to find out if anyone is familiar with a turnkey brewpub equipment company called Specialty Products International, out of Chapel Hill NC. They market a set of brew equipment that brews, ferments, and serves out of the same vessel. They use a malt extract they sell, eliminating grain storage and grinding. The total time to produce is only 6 days, which seems short. Anyone used this? Anyone know someone that does use this? Anyone tasted the end product? I'm interested in opening a brepub, and find this intriguing. Thanks, Doug

I know it's not for the purists, but I like two slices of Italian bread. One covered in Pimento cheese, the other with a slice of bologna. Broil open faced until brown and bubbly. Assemble, and brown the outsides. Good and easy!

I had a great dinner at Mario's, corner of Broadway and Division in the West End near Vandy. Great northern Italian cuisine. http://www.mariosfinedining.com/index.cfm

Looking forward to that dose of culture, Carrot Top. Speaking of culture, check out "Carve that Possum" off the Plastic Seat Sweat CD, by Southern Culture on the Skids.

Roadkill is fine, as long as it's fresh. You don't want to dally with leftovers from someone else's misdirection. Nothing like a Michelin to tenderize!

Clark's Restaurant in Santee, NC. Good home cooking and a nice family atmosphere. Exit 98 off of I-95. From their website: http://www.clarksinnandrestaurant.com/default.asp Take a look at the menu sampling below. There are many more mouth-watering dishes from which to choose. Breakfast Start with our Homemade Country Breakfast: Sugar Cured Bacon, Smoked Sausage, Country Ham, Southern Style Grits, Home Fried Potatoes with Onions, Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits with Sausage Gravy and Eggs cooked just like "you like". Our Ham and Cheese Omelets are famous and we have the Best Pancakes and French Toast you have tasted. Try our Old Fashioned Oatmeal or sample some Fried Green Tomatoes with Chutney. Lunch Homemade Soups Daily: Tomato Herb, Beef Barley, Chicken Noodle to name a few. Wonderful Sandwiches! Smoked Turkey Delight, Clark's Triple Decker Club, Homemade Tuna Salad Croissant, Grilled Reuben, Clark's Classic Burgers! Super Salads including our Honey-Glazed Grilled Chicken Salad (You'll come back this!), Taco Salad and Rasberry Delight with ham and swiss cheese. All-time Favorites! Clark's Famous Baked Chicken, Southern Fried Chicken, Chopped Steak, Liver and Onions, Roasted Pork Loin, local Catfish Filets and much more! Lunch Buffet Monday - Friday includes our Famous Fried Chicken, Southern Casseroles and Pastas, plenty of Vegetables, a loaded Salad Bar, our Homemade Soup and Homemade Desserts! Dinner Start with a "make your own appetizer platter" of Fried Oysters, Catfish Filets, Fried Green Tomatoes, Crab Legs, Buffalo Wings or try our wonderful "Million Dollar Bread". The Best Seafood and local Catfish: Filet of Flounder, Gulf Stream Shrimp and Scallops, Blackened Tuna, Honey Glazed Grilled Salman, Fried Oysters and Crab Legs. Our Steaks are the finest! All Angus! Slow Roasted Prime Rib, Angus Porterhouse T-Bones, Filet Mignon, Deluxe Rib-Eyes, and New York Strips chosen for flavor, tenderness and quality. Clark's Famous Baked Chicken and Southern Fried Chicken are "Musts"! Try our Roasted Pork Loin, Beef Liver and Onions or Chicken Parmesan. Our Seafood Pasta is outstanding or you can eat a light vegetarian pasta or one of our wonderful stir frys. Our Entree's are served with one of our homemade soups, Caesar Salad or Garden Salad, choice of potato or Clark's Original Savory Rice and our delicious Homemade Vegetable Casseroles (you will want the recipes!) Desserts include Clark's Famous Apple Crisp, Hot Fudge Sundaes, Homemade Pecan Pie, Cheesecakes, Old Fashioned Banana Splits and Milkshakes.

Say it ain't so! Only went once, but it was quite an experience. You don't see many beachfront bars, strattling two states. Like no other place on earth....

How right you are Gifted. Where are those two places? Why, on either side of a hog's a*s!

Six ounce Cokes, followed by 10 ounce Pepsi, followed by 12 ounce RC Cola. You can imagine what a poor boy from the south drank. Go RC! Sun-Drop has to be the most perfect mixer ever created. How many of you know what a Presbyterian is? Bourbon, with half ginger ale and half club soda. Not as sweet as a Bourbon and Ginger. And who can forget moonshine. Twice the kick and half the price of bonded liquor. Scottie, I've had some really good Damson Plum and Blackberry Brandy from Franklin County! Back in Rutherford County NC where I grew up, there was a man named "Uncle Amos" who owned Cherry Mountain, which was covered in cherry groves. Every year he had a one week festival where people came from adjoining states to camp and party on Cherry Mountain, and enjoy Uncle Amos'es Cherry Bounce! Uncle Amos was taken many times before the federal judge in Rutherfordton for illegal moonshine manufacture. One time the judge admonished him and said "we are going to put an end to moonshining in Rutherford County." Uncle Amos replied, "as long as baby boys are born, and water runs downhill, there will be moonshine made in Rutherford County." As far as I know, Uncle Amos was right!

Absolutely nothing like good red-eyed gravy to dress up grits. You knew it was Sunday, when my dad fried up ham slices and made red-eyed gravy. These were hams he cured himself, rubbed down in salt, pepper, and saltpeter, then placed in a brown paper sack and hung in the barn. He used to delight in telling people, "there's only two places you can get country ham these days." Anyone care to guess where those two places are?

If you are traveling on I-95, stop in Nashville NC, (just outside Rocky Mount), at Doug Saul's BBQ. Hard to find, not well known, but really good Q!

I don't know if Clyde ships, but it might be worth a phone call (area code 919) Best Cracklins It's gotta be Clyde Cooper's Barbeque, the legendary barbecue spot in downtown Raleigh that's one of the few reminders of the old days, when you had to decide whether to go there, the Mecca, the Upstairs, the cafeteria at Belk's, or Poole's Luncheonette for lunch. The cracklins (fried pork rinds, to the uninitiated) are served with every meal, the way hot, sweet hush puppies are at other fine barbecue establishments and bad white bread is at the chains. These cracklins aren't out of a convenience store bag, they're fresh and crunchy and tastier than their gas station counterparts. And you can get some good 'cue or Brunswick stew to go with them. Just make sure to pick up a peppermint patty on your way out. Cooper's Barbeque, 109 E. Davie St., Raleigh. 832-7614.

If you really want to sample Southern cuisine, skip Mama Dip's, and head over to North Raleigh to a restaurant called "The Forks", (because of it's proximity to a fork in the road. Best d@mn home cooking ever. It's an old gas station, made into a restaurant. Little old ladies cooking in the kitchen. You look in through an opening and give them your order. Meat and two with drink for less than $6.00. Only serve lunch. Dining room is full of big tables covered with red-checkered grease cloth. You will be setting elbow to elbow with a mix of bankers, construction workers, and everything in between.

The cheese are two large crocks of spreadable cheese. They have a cheddar and a blue, both of which are made by them. This is accompanied by an assortment of crackers, pickles, celery, and pickled peppers. You may find you fill yourself up on these, and don't have room for the large servings of everything else. My wife and I will often go to the Wild Turkey Lounge (the upstairs bar), and just have the cheese tray and appetizers.