Lan4Dawg
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Posts posted by Lan4Dawg
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We do not carry the "Modern Spirits" but some thing called "Infusions 667" or some similar number. They are flying off the shelf. Vodka, Rum, or Tequila infused w/ pearl onion & lemon, cranberry, grape fruit, citrus, &c. There is an entire line. They come in an attractive package w/ the fruit showing in side an almost flat bottle which is why, I am sure, they sell. I did notice that the proof is incredibly low--as in 60* or there abouts but no one reads the fine print on liquor bottles except a few of us here.
Edited to add that the flavors are rather standard and nothing as unusual as "celery/pepper corn" or "lavendar/honey".
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grits......i've got good news and ive got bad news. me, when someone tells me that, i gotta have tha bad first.....so i hope you dont mind my order, just know that better news follows.
BAD NEWS: Can't (or cain't) cook barbecue in a crockpot or oven!
this isnt a traditionalist trying to be traditional either (welll yeah it kinda is, but not totally!). without going through the whole mcgee/alton brown scientific elplanation, what i can tell you is that using either process you are basically going to have to braise your pork, which is NOT the process of barbecue! just like there is cooking method of braising or roasting so there is a method of barbecue. barbecue is not what you eat.....its the process of HOW it was cooked.
GOOD NEWS: Get a webber grill (kettle shape.....or any other grill really....NO GAS!!!!) and you can cook authentic barbecue! if you read this and respond and want to know how to do it i will be MORE than happy to give you step by step instructions on the process. so PLEASE TELL ME YOU WANT ME TO TELL YOU!
anyway....you cant replace the process of really slow heat (wood heat of course) with proper air flow chemically breaking down the collagens/muscle tissues and the process of braising with liquid or the process of roasting in an oven. yes they both taste great and yes i love using a crock pot for a bunch of things, but you ask for AUTHENTIC BARBECUE, so i tell you. there are many, many, many foods/ingredients in southern food culture that speak of who we are. there is NO food in southern culture that so defines who we are as southerners as barbecue. whether its the process, the sauce, the lack of sauce, the choice of meat, whatever. it is who we are.....period. no matter if we know it yet or not.
and the congregation rose as one and said, "Amen!"
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I like to take the dijon mustard jars--you know the ones where you just can not quite get the last table spoon of mustard out of it and hate to waste it--and fill them about a 1/4 full w/ white wine. Shake well and then add some olive oil, garlic, fresh rosemary, salt & pepper and throw the entire thing in the food processor until a paste is formed (yes, you might have to add more mustard and do not ask for measurements b/c I have absolutely no idea I just add until it looks & tastes right). Coat the pork (it also works exceptionally well on chicken and lamb) and then roast per usual or grill and add some fresh rosemary stalks to the coals. Since I am of the opinion that you can never have too much rosemary I also like to roast potatoes in olive oil w/ minced garlic and rosemary to serve on the side.
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Oh man! but do not ever cross one. I swear that elephants will forget that they like peanuts before GRITS will forget that they have been wronged. And the wrath of a charging elephant is nothing in comparison.
You will wish that YOU had been used to feed the hungry folks at the Whistle Stop Cafe after a GRITS is finished w/ you should you ever commit the sin of angering one.
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We got home a little later than expected tonight and could not decide what to have for dinner so realizing that there were plenty of eggs left over fr/ Easter festivities and some sausage in the fridge fr/ a casserole I made the other day we decided to have breakfast for dinner. I made sausage gravy, cheddar grits, and eggs (over easy) while Fuss made biscuits that I slathered w/ grape jelly not only made by my mother but fr/ grapes grown by her as well. We opened a bottle of cheap bubbly and threw some cranberry juice in Fuss' for poinsettias and oj in mine for mimosas and just thoroughly enjoyed our selves (esp. since the Braves destroyed the Mets tonight). Any others get a hankering for good old-fashioned, artery-clogging breakfast food at dinner time? It should be a requirement that you partake at least once a month or so.
To make matters even better we have left over biscuits for my lunch tomorrow.
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thx Jason. They even serenade you when perusing the web site. I should find what I need there but any other suggestions are appreciated.
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I will be doing alligator sausage for our game v. the fla gators--thinking of a sausage and pepper type thing and will, of course, have other sausage for those who will not eat the gator. I will not need it until the fall but am trying to get things together now. Perhaps the kind folks fr/ Louisiana are my best source but thought I would post here and see what happens. Mail order is fine but if there is some thing around Atlanta even better. I want some thing good but also reasonably priced. Any help is appreciated in finding the stuff as well as any ideas for preparation.
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I just saw Luxardo Maraschino at Tower Package in Buckhead (Atlanta). They did not carry it for the longest time but it was there last w/e. I do not know if so many folks had begged for it that they finally got it in the store or what.
Of course it figures that it is now available in Atlanta after I went all over the South East looking for it and now have two + bottles (inc. one I got for Dave the Cook who if he does not stop by and get it soon....)
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different rumors on that. i know for sure that he sold out, rumor has it the buyer went chapter 11. i know that bud was selling fish out of a vending trailer in the area of grassland (between nashville & franklin, tn). last fall he opened up a new fish place up in ashland city at a marina on the cumberland river. the guy makes great fish. best fish (catfish) ive ever eaten at a rest. was at ed shaw's in shiloh park (civil war battlefield) down near counce, tn.....unreal!!! hagies up the road is a close second.
was wondering what had happened to Uncle Bud's as they always got great reviews and had just opened a 2nd & 3rd location here in metro Atl then just as suddenly disappeared.
I can second Hagies--talk about in the middle of no where! We were staying at Corinth and stopped on our way back fr/ spending the day at Shiloh. I had read about the place and wanted to try it. We drove down the dirt road for a while when the Fuss said, "I really do not think there is any thing back here."
Good food but one of the best places we ever had cat fish was at a state park in Mississippi. It could be just the fact that it was as unusual and unexpected as it was but we enjoyed it. We were over for the UGA/Ole Miss game and I had rented a cabin at Geo W. Cossar (I believe it was) State Park just South of Oxford. I asked the lady at the park when I made the reservation about a place for cat fish and she said I should just stick around the park for their Friday fish supper. Figuring "why not" we did so and I swear half the county showed up for the cat fish buffet--fried catfish--whole and fillets, slaw, hush puppies, fries, mac & cheese, &c. And it was cheap too! We ate our fill and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
HDHD
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I think the problem people are having here isn't so much with "marketing wine to women" as with "marketing wine" period.
I think you have hit the proverbial nail on the proverbial head.
If "Madison Avenue" thought that there was a wine market (or any other market) for one eyed, one horned, flying, purple people eaters there would be a wine specifically marketed to them. Luckily for "Madison Avenue" there are just enough folks who fall for their marketing schemes to make them work and inundate us--the public--w/ every type imagineable.
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Comparing Charleston to New Orleans is like the proverbial argument about apples and oranges. Not to malign Charleston's food in any respect but Ch'ton is one of the world's great, gracious cities; "where the Cooper and the Ashley Rivers meet to form the Atlantic Ocean". New Orleans, on the other hand, is "The Big Easy" where "the good times roll". I mean just think about the differences-- Charleston has Spoleto and New Orleans has Mardi Gras.
Charleston has some great food but just does not have the different back grounds that made--and make--New Orleans New Orleans. I do not think I have ever heard any one say, "I make New Orleans food w/a South western influence".
Both are great cities w/ great culinary back grounds and wonderful history and are a delight to visit for various reasons but I really do not think you can make serious comparisons between the two. My prediction is that over the next few months and may be even years we will be reading articles by food writers/pundits/&c describing their "amazing food finds" and discoveries--Savannah, St. Augustine, Baltimore, &c--places that were virtually ignored in the past but are now in the forefront simply b/c they either do not wish to visit or think their readers will not go to New Orleans.
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Remember Lewis Grizzard's book, "Don't Sit Under the Grits Tree With Anyone Else But Me?" I had some yankee going one day after she asked about grits. I had her convinced that the mimosa trees she had passed on her way fr/ the air port were actually "grit trees" and we harvested grits by just running our hands down the branches and collecting them. She was absolutely enthralled w/ the idea and wanted to take her husband on a "grits harvest" (our version of a "snipe hunt")before they returned home. He, on the other hand, had lived in the South for a while and was about doubled over w/ laughter and trying to keep a straight face so as not to ruin the little joke we were playing on her.
As for personal take on grits: water, chicken stock, cream, salt & pepper, lots of butter, and some times cheese.
I have never spent more than seven days in a row out side of the state of Georgia (& am some what proud of that fact)
And this thread raises the age old question, "Grits is or grits are?" or as Louis Jordan and Billy Austin so eloquently put it in their 1944 song, "Is you is or is you ain't my grits?".
As for the Mason-Dixon line, well...let's just say it separates more than two states.
To answer Caroline's question it could be the Georgia Agrirama near Tifton or perhaps Westville ("where it is always 1850") near Lumpkin in the South west part of the state (Al-binny and 'mercus--note: that is how they are pronounced--are the closest towns of any size) The jam is probably mayhaw but might possibly be scuppernong or muscadine depending on where this place is.
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I swear I have seen Paddy's in the US (in a bar in Georgia) but can not for the life of me remember where (& might be confusing it w/ another brand but I am almost certain it was Paddy's).
We just received a new product called Michael Collins (Cooley Distillery/Sidney Frank Importing). It is getting a big push--lots of promo materials--that is probably related to St. Pat's. I do not ever remember seeing it before and would appreciate any info.
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South of France! thx Melissa (one of these days you will be old and your rememberer will work only when it wants ":^) ).
& yes I do fondly remember The Coach and Six.
As for The Colonnade I read about them at least once a month or so in various publications which is why I did not include them. We do, how ever, need to remember them in our fried chicken search as they are well known for their preparation of that dish.
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We were at a book signing at the Margaret Mitchell House last night and the food was catered by The Pleasant Peasant. I heard at least a half dozen people say some thing along the lines of, "Is that place still open? I forgot about it. Ya know, I remember when....." These conversations led to a discussion between Fuss and me on the way home about the restaurant it self and "forgotten" restaurants in Atlanta (in our case). We remembered when the Pleasant Peasant opened and was "cutting edge"--at least for Atlanta. They had chalk board menus and the wait staff was openly gay and wore some thing besides the usual black & white out fits--plaid shirts in their case. They did not take reservations and seated on a "first come, first served" basis. The food was some what cutting edge and not the typical stuffy, stodgy, and expected restaurant food and the concept was so popular that they grew and opened almost a dozen "sister" restaurants in and around the city yet it, apparently, has been some what forgotten.
Are there places in your city that fit this description? Some place where you went for your prom night or a date. You remember when it was the "in place" and people lined up to get reservations or just go there and be seen. May be you or a friend had your rehearsal dinner or wedding dinner there or you remember your parents going there for an anniversary or special event. The restaurant is still open for business but no one seems to talks about it any more.
Is it the neighborhood? or did other restaurants just surpass it? Is it b/c the restaurant is in the city and most folks live in the suburbs? Have they they just not changed w/ the times? Do management/service/food/setting/ambience just not quite cut it any more? or do we just take them for granted?
There are several in Atlanta I know--the Pleasant Peasant, Pittypat's Porch, Bugatti's, the Mansion, the place at Tara Shopping Center off Cheshire Bridge whose name I can not remember, and I am certain I am forgetting quite a few (& this does not include the "dearly departed" such as Herren's, the Abbey. What restaurant in your city is still open but is "forgotten"? A place that when some one mentions it the first thing you think is "are they still around? & would you go back there?
(edited to point out that we are lucky to have micropundit's list of restaurant comings and goings to help us keep up w/ openings and closings.)
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Melissa you did not ask the most important question--at least for most of the men on this board--is Cat Cora as hot in person as she appears on television? ":^)
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has anyone else tried brokers. i found it at a store in brooklyn. very inexpensive and i think very good. very smooth. almost plymouthesk.
We have had the Broker's on several occasions and enjoyed it. I find it closer in taste to Beefeater than Plymouth but not tasting them side-by-side can not say for certain. Interestingly we were shipped some Broker's and some how it was mis-priced so that the litre bottles were $1.00 less than the 750's. As you can imagine I snapped up several of those bad boys right on the spot.
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Treat the customer w/ professional courtesy and understanding and expect the same treatment in return.
Of course you can actually say that about any position or profession.
I have had several tell me that you should treat the customer the way you would want to be treated but think it goes beyond that. You should treat the customer the way that the customer wants to be treated. That is not necessarily easy nor is it the same as the first sentence.
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since Fuss decided to pass her upper respiratory infection along to me I was not able to do any thing this past w/e. Hopefully things will be back to normal enough to experiment this Sunday.
I was considering the pork roast or the short ribs unless some thing else caught my eye or there was a request to try some thing else since those two have already been prepared. Any suggestions?
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Speaking of grain whisky, Compass Box makes an absolutely amazing blend called "Hedonism" that is nothing but grain whisky. No malt whisky at all! Definitely worth a try.
I am a big fan of all the Compass Box products. He does four main scotch blends--one of which reminds me of Irish Whiskey (I believe it is the Hedonism), another is blended to be much more 'peaty" (the "Big Peaty Monster"), &c. He also does some thing called "Orangery" which is like Grand Marnier (but better) but made w/ scotch instead of brandy. It is exceptional.
If memory serves the man who started the company (& his name escapes me right now) was a former blender for Johnnie Walker.
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I propose that we choose a day in the very near future and each of us make some thing fr/ one of her cook books in her memory and report back here about the experience.
I think you have hit upon a great idea, Lan4Dawg!
If anyone interested can send me a PM, we can discuss the particulars and what recipes of Edna Lewis would make for a great Southern tribute to a fine lady who knew her cooking!
I am willing to notify Scott Peacock in case he is willing to participate in a new thread dedicated to Edna ... sound good?
Their book, once again, is The Gift of Southern Cooking : Recipes and Revelations from Two Great Southern Cooks and it is both the 2004 James Beard Award Nominee for Cooking of the Americas as well as the 2004 IACP Award Nominee for American Category.
And do not forget Edna Lewis' mid-70's book, The Taste of Country Cooking. I see it occasionally in used book stores.
& btw, most Sundays work for me.
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The ending of a beautiful love story for Scott Peacock and Edna Lewis ... and right before Valentine's Day ...
May God rest her soul in peace for the joy she shared with her many food lovers.Edna Lewis, the beloved food writer who was the South's answer to Julia Child, died at her home in Decatur early Monday. She was 89. Scott Peacock, the Atlanta chef who had been Lewis' companion and caretaker for years, was by her side, according to Nicholas Latimer, a publicist for Lewis' publisher, Alfred A. Knopf ... "He was so glad that he was there with her and that she went peacefully," Jones said. Lewis — a slave's granddaughter who turned a tiny New York cafe into an artists' mecca where Garbo and Faulkner went to dine on oysters and chocolate souffle — was considerd by many to be one of the best cooks in America.she will be missed.
I propose that we choose a day in the very near future and each of us make some thing fr/ one of her cook books in her memory and report back here about the experience.
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Other than the Aviation our favorite maraschino cocktail is probably this one:
Fancy-Free Cocktail
2 ounces Bourbon.
1/2 ounce maraschino.
1 dash Angostura bitters.
1 dash orange bitters.
Stir and strain, stemless cherry garnish.
Chuck
thx Chuck as this has become one of my favorite "winter" cocktails. How ever to be fair I do play w/ it a hint using just a touch less maraschino and, not being a fan of cherries in my cocktails I skip that step but the bitters round out the bourbon and the maraschino very well and make it a wonderful cocktail.
btw, I had to go to Tennessee in order to find Luxardo Maraschino. Luckily there is a store just out side of Knoxville that, according to the Luxardo distributor in Tenn, orders a case of it every month or so. He has no explanation for their unusual sales but says it is one of the few places that orders it w/ any regularity.
Southern Traditions
in Food Traditions & Culture
Posted
as a "PK" (that is preacher's kid to the un-initiated) I have been on the receiving end of many, many a show of adulation by the congregation and, trust me, they were very much appreciated. Especially in rural congregations preachers did not get paid a whole lot (The Rev and I were perusing the conference pay scale the other day and all I could do was stare bug-eyed at some of the salaries and wonder why he did not make all of this when he was still holding down a church) so the congregation would make up for it by, as racheld mentioned, a "pounding" where by the preacher would get (at least) a pound of some thing fr/ members of the congregation. Early on it was home-grown vegetables or fruits or fresh-milled corn or every and any manner of pork, chicken, beef or even fresh caught fish or milk or on occasion some just-churned butter or home-made jelly, jam, preserves or what ever they had to share. Later it was store bought goods such as flour, sugar, shortening, &c.
We still laugh at the story of a friend of the Rev's who was living in the middle of no-where. One day a member of the congregation dropped off a chicken for the minister but there were two problems: one, the minister was not home only the pastor's wife was and two, the chicken was freshly dead--as in still alive and clucking shortly before the farmer dropped it off at the parsonage. The poor city girl come country had no idea what to do w/ a freshly dispatched chicken. Not wanting to upset the proverbial apple cart she graciously accepted the gift and, according to the story, stood there on the porch holding it scared to move until the minister who, luckily for her, returned shortly and handled the situation.