Something that needs to be brung out ...

A few weeks back, I found myself in possession of a coupon entitling me to a free small order of Wendy's chili. I'd never had Wendy's chili, which was surprising 'cause (a) I love chili, and (b) there's a Wendy's within walking distance from my home.

With cool winds now whipping 'round Nashville, I decided to make use of my free chili coupon ce soir. I wasn't expecting much when I began to dig in; and when I was finished, I wasn't too awful impressed.

Now, Wendy's chili has some good things going for it: a thick, rich "broth"; lots o' juicy ground beef; plenty o' beans; and big hunks o' onions, tomatoes and celery (!). However, I'd be willing to wager that all of the fish sticks and chicken strips served in Nashville's elementary schools today packed more heat than a cup of Wendy's chili.

I'm sure Wendy's corporate hacks long ago decided that "bland chili" would appeal to the vast majority of fast-food consumers who think black pepper is hot. (That's Marketing 101, and it's completely understandable to this former étudiant de sciences économiques.)

But what about Wendy's patrons who like their chili on the spicy side? How come the folks at Wendy's don't offer sliced pickled peppers, or hot sauce, or chili flakes -- or something -- to spice their chili up a bit?

As Goober Pyle might say, that' a question that needs to be "brung out."

Eggos 'n' Mayo's, 'n' Django, oh, my!

As broad as my palate is, I've never, ever (no shit) had an Eggo waffle in my life. Thus, the following news rolls off me like water off of a, well, like water off o' something ...

The Eggo Company has announced a nationwide shortage of Eggo Waffles.

The shortage is connected to problems in two frozen waffle producing plants.A plant in Atlanta closed after unprecedented rainfall hit the area in Sept., but has since reopened. Another plant in Tennessee has closed due to malfunctioning production lines and it is unknown when it will reopen .

Eggo states that the shortage will last at least until summer, 2010. Eggo representatives have stated that they are working round the clock to restore production to normal levels.

I guess the world’s stoners and children will have to resort to Pop Tarts until this crisis is rectified.

Forget Eggo waffles. Here's all you need to know 'bout how to have a proper AMGE breakfast:

The only - and I mean only - time I ever regularly ate breakfast was when I stayed with my grandparents in the country. My grandmother would get up at the crack of dawn to make sausage, gravy, grits, and biscuits for my grandfather, who needed a hearty breakfast before starting a long day of farming or carpentering. The smell of all that cooking would sometimes literally jerk me awake.

Read the rest here.

Hoo-ray for Mean Joe!

Almost thirty years after appearing in one of the best commercials of all time ...



"Mean" Joe Green is finally gettin' his. Check it out here.

Now THAT's a pizza pie!

I get blue in the face tellin' folks that the best pizza in Nashville is served at Picnic Pizza -- aka Angelo's Pizza, Pasta & Subs -- in Antioch. Indeed, one of the very first AMGE posts paid homage to Picnic Pizza. Check it out here.

Just so you know, you can get an extra-large one-topping pie for $10 at Picnic Pizza every Monday and Tuesday. If you order it in-house, you can watch it get tossed before it's topped and shoved in the oven. And when it comes out, it looks something like this:


That, my friends, is the XL sausage pizza I dined on ce soir. And it was better than any XL pizza pie I could've ordered from the Papa, the Hut, or the Whatever Piss-Poor Pizza chain.

Oh, did I mention that Angelo's has a M-F buffet, and on said buffet you can get the finest grilled sausage-'n'-peppers-'n'-onions known to man?

What are you waiting for?! Get thee here, as soon as you can:

Angelo's "Picnic" Pizza, Pasta & Subs
2713 Murfreesboro Rd
Antioch, TN 37013
615.399.0010

Think you know vin?

Test your wine IQ here:

I did very well -- ten outta ten -- thank you!

Kartoffelsalat!

Years ago, I happened upon canned German potato salad in a local Foodmax supermarket. I tried it several times and really liked it. When Foodmax disappeared from Nashville's grocery store scene, the German potato salad went with it.(Hell, I don't even remember the brand name of that tater salad, and a half-hour of Googling didn't help me none.)

Tonight, I endeavored to make a German potato salad as good at the stuff I used to buy at Foodmax. I kinda copied and pasted some recipes I found online which seemed to have ingredients that would yield a similar taste. Here's what I came up with:

Joltin' Django's Kartoffelsalat (German Potato Salad)

Ingredients

6-8 boiled red potatoes
5 tbsp. oil
5 tbsp. cider vinegar
5 tbsp. water
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 clove garlic, minced
3 strips bacon, fried and crumbled
Salt and pepper

Directions

In a saucepan boil potatoes until they are fork tender. Remove potatoes and allow potatoes to cool, 10-15 minutes. In same sauce pan, mix oil, vinegar, water, sugar, garlic, salt and pepper (to taste). Bring to a boil and then remove pan from heat.

Slice potatoes to desired thickness. Place potatoes in pan with crumbled bacon. Stir to ensure that potatoes are well-coated. Return pan to stove and warm on low heat until ready to serve.

Bar-B-Cutie straightens up its act

I had some pretty rough things to say about Bar-B-Cutie this time last year. Well, what a difference -- and a free meal -- a year makes.

My boss bought me a Bar-B-Cutie sammich on cornbread last week, and, oh, what a sammich it was:


First of all, the 'que in my sandwich was a whole lot more juicy and tender than the pulled-pork I bought last year. I don't know what Bar-B-Cutie's done in the last year to improve the quality of their pork, but they need to keep it up.

In addition, the cornbread on which my sandwich was served was very, very good. My Granny Katherine - my dad's mother - used to make cornbread like that (as opposed to the skillet cornbread that my Granny Ruby made with every meal). One thing you need to know 'bout cornbread like that is the fact that if it sits around too long, it gets mushy as oatmeal. Bar-B-Cutie's cornbread wasn't mushy at all. In fact, it was crisp on the outside, and moist on the inside, and served as a perfect substitute for a bun.

I will be going back to Bar-B-Cutie for another sammich on cornbread ... even though I'll be paying next time!

"I feel like chicken tonight, like chicken tonight."

Slashfood has up a post featuring the "10 Catchiest Food Jingles We Love To Hate." This'n' got my attention:



I remember trying Chicken Tonight, once, and it was bloddy awful. No wonder it didn't stick around very long as a product (but I remember it sticking real good to the pan in which I cooked it).

Wrap it up, I'll take it

I've told AMGE readers many times that Publix is my favorite supermarket. I now have another reason to like the place, which you see in the picture above.

I had to stop at Publix today to pick up a few things. As I was passing the deli, I saw some turkey and roast beef wraps that looked mighty fine, I tell you what. Since I hadn't had lunch yet, I quickly grabbed me a turkey wrap and never looked back.

What you see in that picture is a Publix wrap with Boar's Head turkey, marinated vegitables (onions, peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms), green leaf lettuce, and feta cheese. Oh, and a Boar's Head pickle.

My turkey wrap looked so good, I tore into it in the car. I ate half of it then and saved the rest for dinner. Rest assured, the second half of that wrap got a good dousing of hot sauce (Tabasco® green sauce) before I took a bite. When I did take a bite, I remarked, to no one in particular, "Damn, that's good!"

If you're ever at Publix, and you're hungry, I encourage you to try a Boar's Head turkey wrap.

Well, well, well

Well, well
Well, hell, WELL

-- Hank Williams, Jr.

Whenever I cook a dish that calls for Worcestershire sauce, I always use Lea & Perrins.

I've often wondered what makes Lea & Perrins-brand Worcestershire taste so much better than, say, Dollar General's $1 Worcestershire. Well, now I know ...

A 170-year-old food secret was almost lost to the trash heap.

The original recipe notes for Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce have been unearthed in a dumpster near the sauce factory by former company accountant, Brian Keogh. It was unclear why he was digging through the trash.

The accountant passed away in 2006, but his discovery only recently came to light after his daughter Bonnie Clifford brought the notes to Worcester City Museums.

The ingredient list originally read as vinegar, molasses, sugar, salt, anchovies, tamarind extract, onions and garlic. The secret ingredients -- until now unknown to the public -- were simply listed as "spices" and "flavorings."

The recovered notes reveal that the secret ingredients include soy sauce, cloves, pickles, peppers and lemon.

Read the rest here.

Another day, another ...

I just smoked the Perdomo 826 from my Cigars International stash. Here's the verdict ...

Before it was lit-up, the 826 tickled my nose with a very pleasant leather/pepper aroma. After it was lit-up, however, it affronted my tounge with a harshness -- a "I'm smoking burnt rubber" harshness -- that I'd not endured since I last smoked a King Edward, when I was an undergrad working nights at a Nashville trucking company.

I'm going on record to say that the Perdomo 826 is the absolute worst "premium" cigar I've yet smoked.

Period.