Lan4Dawg

Alpha Soda right off the main drag in beautiful down town "Alpher Tater" used to be a great little "meat & three" type that we used to frequent quite often when we lived up in that direction but I have not been that way in a while so can not vouch for it. Hopefully some kind soul will give a report. Also check out Sia's, Rainwater, Red Garlic (I think is the name but can not remember--if not it is similar--for pretty decent Italian food).

Katie, recipes into RG are most appreciated. ← I second the motion. Blueberry sorbet? ← I need the receipt for blue berry sorbet! or a good blue berry ice cream. I have about a quart fr/ our two bushes w/ at least twice that much ripening on the bushes as I type. We are having blue berry pancakes for brunch today and a blue berry sorbet or ice cream would be phenomenal.

What? no stew? I can not believe no one mentioned Brunswick Stew. We just can not have a barbecue in Georgia w/o Brunswick Stew (& I do not care what those Virginians say. Brunswick Stew was first made in Brunswick, Georgia!) I smoke the meat and Fuss does the stew--equal parts smoked turkey, smoked pork, smoked chicken, and smoked beef (I always make extra and freeze left overs for stew the next time we do a barbecue) ground together then blended in a stock pot w/ equal parts tomatoes, limas, corn, onion (Vidalia preferred), and celery, some vinegar, hot sauce, black pepper, a couple of bay leaves, red pepper flakes and salt until it tastes right and simmered together until it looks right.

I enjoy AB & Good Eats (esp. since he is a good Georgia boy--GO DAWGS!) and much of the reason is b/c I enjoy learning why certain foods, preparations, means, methods, &c work and others do not. That stuff fascinates me but it can get very tedious and he makes learning it entertaining, albeit silly. Now having said that I do get some what frustrated when he spends an entire show preaching about how terrible canned broth is and how easy it is to make the real stuff and then in another show lauds the ease of using canned broth in a receipt. Add to that some times you just have to say, "why? why are you going to all of the trouble of doing this? It is not as if building a brick oven in your garage is going to make the pizza that much better or who would go to all of the trouble and expense of putting together a card board box smoker?". But then again some of the bizarre twists and turns are sheer genius--using the ironing board for making pasta (the only problem is explaining to some one why there are holes in the ironing board cover and it is coated w/ flour.....)

I was going to have an "empathy" smoke for c'bagger today and tomorrow but realized I do not have enough wood. I am too cheap to pay some of the exorbitant prices charged around here for wood when my parents--who have 100 +/- acres in NW GA--have more than I can ever use sitting there for the taking. There is always a stack of oak, hickory, apple, pear, and usually some peach sitting around the farm fr/ trees felled or trimmed for one reason or another and it is just a matter of bringing it home to Larry Town. And I am kicking my self as I was just there on Fathers' Day and did not even think to fill the bed of the truck. Luckily I checked the wood supply before I started de-frosting, purchasing, rubbing, brining, marinating, &c. I suppose we will celebrate the 4th w/ some thing else American like shrimp & grits. Of course hearing Big Hoss talk about how hot it is up there manning the smoker and just checking the temp here (96*) perhaps it is wise that I wait.

exchange the lentils for black-eyed peas and that looks remarkably like some thing we make around here and call Georgia Caviar--of course when in Mississippi it is known as Mississippi Caviar and in 'bama, &c..... It is yumptious w/ a big basket of tortilla chips and also works well as a reception food.

that is a pretty good idea actually. I imagine there is a receipt some where for pancakes made w/ graham flour. Add chocolate and marshmallows and you would be in business. The only things missing are a couple of verses of "Kum Ba Yah" and a camp fire.... ← Still havnt tried cause one of my friends whose out of town wants to do a mini foodlab (including Orange Buffalo wings, which I have to say sounds like a wickedly good idea.) That recipe i said I found on google (w/ the marshmallow cream) was actually for smore pancakes. =p ← "orange" buffalo wings? (I know this is completely off topic fr/ the original post, but...) What makes them "orange"? Is there orange zest in the breading? or sauce? or marinated in orange juice? or is it just the color? & is it some thing that could be translated to a chicken breast or even a whole chicken? ← We were thinking something along the lines of squeezing a couple oranges into the hotsauce and letting it reduce before adding the butter. Probably have to add a couple other things as we go to get it where we want, but I really want to avoid it coming out to a simple syrup (ala chinese orange chicken.) My goal is to remove the need for a dipping sauce entirely. ← dude, try making an orange butter. zest of 3 oranges, one stick of butter, heat up add zest, let infuse for a day or so. melt, strain, proceed. post pics please. or an orange chile oil. a few thai chiles, some good low flavor oil, some zest. a few days...youre set. ← add some cracked coriander seed in there as well.

you are welcome and, again, good luck. I love the white sauce at Hog Heaven. Let me have a dish of that and a spoon and I will be happy--the chicken just might be an after thought. ":^) There are so many great places to eat in/around Nashville (& now BigHoss is opening his joint just South of there) that we never have enough time to visit all of them.

those little Brinkman cookers actually do a decent job. I used one for years before I got my off-set smoker and still take the little one for tail gating, &c. Keep the water reservoir full and an eye on the thing and you should be okay (a neighbor got one of those for Christmas a few years back and kept complaining that it did not work. We made a point to help him smoke on a Sunday and I found out the problem almost immediately. He kept removing the lid to watch it cook!) As for brining nothing works better than a large ice chest (or if you have room in a fridge then one of those ten gallon buckets). If using the ice chest fill some liter bottles w/ water and freeze them then replace them as necessary to keep the meat cool or freeze part of your brine solution. If you have room you might consider throwing a couple of whole chickens on there (if memory serves it comes w/ a couple of racks so you should be okay). When ever I am smoking I fill the blasted thing as much as possible and freeze what ever is left over. The up side w/ chickens is you have extra (just in case some one does not eat pork or you do need extra) and dinner for the next night. Brine them as you would the pork and they should be good to go. I am not 100% in agreement about the basting of the meat--at least the timing but I am not a big fan of basting any way. Granted BigHoss is the professional but if you marinated the pork and are using a water bath then you probably do not need to baste it--at least not every 45 minutes. I would think about it every hour or there abouts and then only if you wish to add a particular flavor of sauce. Some thing else to consider (& I realize this is sacrilege to many) is that if you get really desperate and after you have smoked the pork for 12 hours it has taken all the smoke it could possibly take so you can finish it in the oven if so inclined (if you do so then wrap it heavily in foil & bring your water bath w/ you.) Another suggestion is to get a couple of "remote" thermometers w/ alarms--the ones w/ the probes on a cord. Set one for 225* & the other for 190* and place both probes in the smoking chamber. At least you do not have to be quite so diligent just keep an ear peeled for the alarm (that is also quite handy if you have one too many beers). Good luck and if I did not have to work on Saturday I would smoke some thing just to assist vicariously (they have been doing some work on the water pipes in our neighbor hood and last week I was smoking a couple of chickens, a small brisket, some pork chops, and a pork loin. It was about noon and I put the meat on the smoker at about 8.00am so things were going along pretty well. I went to check temps &c and sensed that I was being watched. When I turned around there must have been about half a dozen of the construction crew just standing there staring at the smoker. One of the guys finally spoke up, "That smelled so good we just had to see what was going on back here." I had to apologize that things would not be ready for a while yet so no sampling despite it being lunch time.

interestingly enough I thought of the same thing a while back and almost posted a similar thread. Granted I have to agree w/ slkinsey how ever assuming this post is all in fun..... you watch the bar tender's every movement after he takes your drink order--including when you order fr/ a waiter at a table certain bar tenders are glad to see you walk in to their bar & almost as happy as others are when they see you leave their bar. you base where you are going to dinner on the type of vermouth they carry you are actually concerned about what type of vermouth the bar uses the waiter takes up more room on his pad writing your cocktail order than your dinner order you use ratios when placing your cocktail order other patrons are watching the cocktail waitress w/ the incredible figure and you are watching the bar tender to make certain that he uses the gin you requested you have been "invited" behind the bar to mix your own cocktail you have gone behind the bar to mix your own cocktail you have been "invited" to leave the bar after going behind the bar to mix your own cocktail you have Fee Brothers on your speed dial the young lady who answers the telephone recognizes your voice all she has to say is, "the usual order?" you have a ten minute conversation w/ her about your respective families you have been stopped at customs b/c of tree bark you brought in to the country you have actually used the phrase, "but Guffy says...."

my wings are similar but--and a hint--add some freshly grated ginger to the mix. That seriously perks things up! No one has mentioned "scorpions": Shrimp & cream cheese stuffed jalepeno peppers that are then battered and fried (kind of like those "poppers" but w/ shrimp). Edited to add that they are called scorpions b/c they look like the little insects when they come out of the fryer--not to mention the sting.

Thanks, I think I first asked about the "Allen" in the Maraschino thread when I noticed the similarities between it and the "Aviation" and was actually going to ask about the "Hoffman House" when I spotted a receipt for it in a book I recently purchased and noticed its similarities to what most of us make as a martini. Such name changes make sense I suppose but will drive bar tenders nuts, "No! I did not ask for an "Affinity"! I asked for a perfect Rob Roy w/ equal parts of vermouths and Scotch!" (I once had a customer become angry when I presented a perfect Scotch Manhattan and called it a "Rob Roy" claiming he did not want a "Rob Roy" and would I please bring him what he wanted.)

accepting that the total is the sum of its parts you have to get the simple dishes correct in order to make the complicated dishes. Take a Salad Nicoise--not necessarily a complicated dish but it works as an example. If the tuna is over-coooked and mushy (assuming you are using fresh tuna) then the dish does not work. If the egg yolks are green--as per McDuff's example--then you have ruined a key element of the dish. If the potatoes are hard or soft then a basic part of the dish is wrong. If the green beans are soggy or the salad greens them selves are flat or the vinaigrette is overly spicy or bland....well, you get the point.

that is a pretty good idea actually. I imagine there is a receipt some where for pancakes made w/ graham flour. Add chocolate and marshmallows and you would be in business. The only things missing are a couple of verses of "Kum Ba Yah" and a camp fire.... ← Still havnt tried cause one of my friends whose out of town wants to do a mini foodlab (including Orange Buffalo wings, which I have to say sounds like a wickedly good idea.) That recipe i said I found on google (w/ the marshmallow cream) was actually for smore pancakes. =p ← "orange" buffalo wings? (I know this is completely off topic fr/ the original post, but...) What makes them "orange"? Is there orange zest in the breading? or sauce? or marinated in orange juice? or is it just the color? & is it some thing that could be translated to a chicken breast or even a whole chicken?

are we, essentially, looking at a perfect Scotch Manhattan w/ increased vermouth? or am I missing some thing?

Fuss refers to that as the "Protestant salad" b/c a version of it shows up at just about every Protestant church social we have ever attended. I make a similar one called a "Weeping Salad" that must sit over night. It is good and every one raves about it. It is fr/ Cane River Cooking (I think) but uses Swiss cheese, red onion, mayo, &c.

I had such a "Jones" for a Nicoise the other day that I purchased all of the ingredients on the way home and made it as soon as possible. I suppose it was b/c the mercury had just topped 90* for the fourth day in a row but it was ideal. As for favorite salad----depends on the day/time/setting/season/&c. The Nicoise was just a craving and I have no idea what prompted it.

that is a pretty good idea actually. I imagine there is a receipt some where for pancakes made w/ graham flour. Add chocolate and marshmallows and you would be in business. The only things missing are a couple of verses of "Kum Ba Yah" and a camp fire....

amen & amen..... Tito's flies off of our shelves but then so does Grey Goose. (I actually had a couple come in to the store and the woman picked up a bottle of Beaujolais and said to her husband "Look, this is the wine we saw on the television show the other day; do we want to get some?" Her husband was aghast and said quite loudly, "NO! That is from France and you know how I feel about French [stuff]. Let me get our Grey Goose and we need to get out of here." I will leave the irony to the rest of you.) One of the other old-timers here at the store and I were wandering through the vodka section a few weeks back and I asked him if he ever thought he would see the day that a 750 bottle of vodka would cost $60 (Stoli Elite--which I suppose replaced their Cristal). He laughed and said he never thought he would see the day that there were more vodkas on the shelf than scotch not even thinking about it being more expensive.

the Rev has used this same topic in several sermons (God gives the receipts and the ingredients to us. Both are ideal and what we do w/ them after we have been given them is our own doing.....) and uses the story of his grand mother (my great-grand mother) as an example. Known through out Stone Mountain and DeKalb County for her baking she made a pound cake that was phenomenal and we cherish her receipt to this day. When any one asked she was delighted to share the receipt and certainly enough a woman once asked how to make her pound cake. She responded w/: take a cup of cream and a cup of whole milk, six large eggs, &c. &c. &c......and gave the receipt to the woman. A couple of weeks later the woman was heard in church complaining that "Miss Lola" had not given the right receipt to her as the cake she made came out wrong. Word got back to my great grand-mother who queried the woman about the cake. The woman admitted that she did not have cream and whole milk so she substituted half & half and two per cent and not having large eggs she used medium. She did not take the time to make her own vanilla extract so substituted some store bought fake substance. Instead of cake flour she used A/P and got tired of beating every thing together by hand so used a mixer and so on and so on. After a while my great grand mother just looked at her, patted the woman on the hand and said, "Well honey, then you did not make MY cake." edited to add: when she passed the church--as is usual in the South--had dinner for the family. The Rev was at the dessert table and turned to one of the woman who had organized the dinner and mentioned that he was surprised that there was no pound cake. She looked at him and got some what teary-eyed (note it was not the same woman as mentioned before) and said, "Tom, no one had the courage to make it as we knew we could not have done it right by Miss Lola."

not really embarassing....more like taking a preventive measure..... I had been wanting to visit a relatively new restaurant in Atl since the place opened and finally found a night where both Fuss & I could leave relatively early fr/ work (she fr/ the hospital and I fr/ the restaurant). I called the restaurant late in the after noon to make reservations and spoke w/ the manager whom I knew but not well. We walked in to the restaurant for our reservation and as we were seated I told Fuss, "we have to leave." She looked confused and then started on the, "but you have wanted to come here.....", "we have the night off....", &c. As we were leaving a confused hostess followed us out w/ the usual apologies and questions. I told her that I would call her manager in the morning but it was nothing she had done. Fuss demanded an explanation as we got our car and I told her that just two weeks ago I had fired the waiter who was approaching our table for several reasons--among them was a report that he had done some thing to a customer's food---and I was not about to stay at the restaurant whether he waited on us or not. I got to my restaurant the next a.m. and was about to call the manager fr/ the other place to explain the situation when my phone rang. We had a lovely dinner at his restaurant about two weeks later w/ no problems at all and no sign of the waiter in question. HDHD

I have seen several cocktail receipts which substitute orgeat for simple syrup and usually in similar proportions. I remember a daquiri receipt right off hand that uses orgeat instead of sugar and is actually quite tasty.

I was pushing my teen years before I realized that you could purchase drinking tumblers at stores. I thought they were available only at gas stations and came free w/a fill up. At one time I think all of our dining utensils were courtesy of various service stations. One gave away drinking glasses. Another offered flatware and still another gave away place settings (if memory serves you got a card and after "X" number of fill ups you got a place setting). Throw in the dish towels you got fr/ Breeze & Duz detergents and you never had to pay for any thing in the kitchen but the food.

we have eaten at Porterhouse on several occasions and you are correct--it is boring--and our last two visits were disappointing which is why we do not return. There is a niche for a great steak house in Athens and I wish Porterhouse would fill that niche. Five & Ten proved that "cutting edge" could work in Athens so one would think you could branch out some what. You are stifled by being in a "college town" in addition to the other problems you mentioned. The first step to achieving greatness would be to up-grade to prime beef (that was part of our disappointment the steaks kept getting worse instead of better). The second would be to do some unusual appetizers or perhaps considering wild game. The possibilities are endless and good luck.

I let one bunch go to seed early this season and already have a pretty good sized patch of parsley growing fr/ the seeds (it actually seeded the ground near the pot). It should be enough to keep me in parsley through the summer. I also have some little basil plants growing where I missed pinching a couple of blooms back and hope fully they will continue to sprout w/ the same abandon as the parsley. There is also a patch of wild oregano growing near the deck fr/ seeds that blew off plants on the deck. I hesitate to use it b/c the cats like to roll in it. It makes for interesting smelling cats but useless oregano.