Brown Hornet

My standard shrimp & grits methodology is almost identical to BadRabbit's and seems to be one of the more common preparations here in Georgia. The red pepper and tomatoes provide a nice balance of sweetness and acidity. For the grits I like to simmer equal parts whole milk and chicken stock with some garlic and fresh thyme and then use this liquid to cook the grits. I generally finish the grits with some butter or cream and maybe some freshly grated parm. I'm not sure what others do, but I typically season grits at the end of cooking -- when I season at the beginning they tend to get too salty at the end. Last, the use of stone ground grits (as opposed to quick/instant grits) can't be overemphasized. As a transplanted midwesterner, I used to hate grits until I was exposed to real stone ground grits when I moved south about 16 years ago. As others have noted, Anson Mills produce great stone ground grits.

No fair quoting a book I have on pre-order! Seriously, thanks for sharing this, I can't wait to get my copy.

I love roasting and braising, but with one exception I don't baste anything. For poultry especially, basting seems to do more far more harm than good, at least when I do it. My one exception is that I do like to finish thick steaks by basting in butter in an iron skillet just before resting and serving.

As a kid in the 70's living in small farm towns I wasn't exactly exposed to the best the 70's had to offer. There are probably more foods from the 70s that I never want to see again than I miss -- surely I'm not the only person who remembers choking down a tuna salad jello mold. Still, I do miss a few things. No one seems to make London Broil anymore -- it's still my favorite use of flank steak. I also remember cod being relatively inexpensive, plentiful and tasty, even in the midwest.

Depending on the length of your stay in Napa/Sonoma, you may want to consider a day trip to visit some of the wineries in El Dorado County (it's about 2 1/2 hours east of Napa). At the time I visited these wineries (1997 - 2002) I found them to provide a more rustic laid-back experience than the more popular Napa/Sonoma wineries. The country is also a bit more scenic as it's right in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada range. At least at that time, I don't recall ever paying for a wine tasting and again if memory serves me right at several of the wineries (I believe Boeger, Latchum and Lava Cap) I remember spending an hour or two talking wine with the owners. It's possible that some of these places are now "big time" like their Napa/Sonoma brethren. Sorry for being off-topic but wanted to throw another idea out there.