Django hearts Ron's

It wasn't that long ago when I wrote an obit for Ron's BBQ & Fish. Only Ron's didn't die, er, close. The place just re-located to a more business-friendly -- due to leases and sich -- locale.

A friend o' mine was kind enough to treat me to a "plate" from Ron's on Saturday ('cause mon père is in the hospital). I had grilled chicken, turnip greens, and boiled cabbage ...


Lemme tell you something 'bout Ron's grilled chicken, turnip greens, and boiled cabbage: I ain't never had grilled chicken, turnip greens, and boiled cabbage at a meat-and-three, er, two, that's as good as what I had from Ron's. Period.

The grilled chicken was juicy with a crispy skin; the turnip greens were well-seasoned and plentiful (as you can see in the pic above); and the boiled cabbage was crisp and full o' black pepper ... and hot paprika, if I'm not mistaken.

Ron's is as good as it ever was. Hell, it's better than it ever was. (Does that make any sense?)

Next time I eat a meal from Ron's, it's gonna be when pulled-pork is on the menu -- Sundays only. I have it on good authority that Ron's pulled-pork is 'que-contest-winning quality.

We'll see.

Ron's BBQ & Fish
5359 Mt. View Road
Antioch, TN 37013
615.731.6766

Next stop: Nolensville

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Food-writing is about the only thing the Tennessean can do right these days.

Today's Tennessean has a great piece on Patrick Martin, owner of Martin's Bar-B-Que in Nolensville, TN. You can read it here. A sample:

When Pat Martin of Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint in Nolensville gets ready to smoke a whole hog, it makes a Memorial Day weenie roast look downright sissy.

On a recent Friday night, he struggled to hoist a 200-pound hog from the back of a pickup onto a steel table. He rubbed it down with spices (deep-tissue style) before wrestling it into a smoker for a 20-hour stay. Chainsaws and small axes were involved.

"That's the thing about these pigs," Martin said ... "They're slicker than deer guts on a door knob."

By preparing whole hog barbecue, Pat Martin and his cohorts practice a time-intensive art that Martin learned from old-timers in West Tennessee, where he attended college. He's been dabbling in barbecue for years, but he didn't open his Nolensville barbecue restaurant until he'd spent time as a bonds trader, a job his father had held on Wall Street. On June 13, Martin also will hit the streets of New York, but he'll have a 32-foot smoker in tow. And he'll join just 13 other pitmasters from across the country in the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party.

"I'm not a young guy," said Martin, who just turned 37. "But I'm kind of the rookie guy up there."

I've dined at Martin's one time ... 'bout two weeks after it opened. I remember the 'que being very tender and juicy, and I remember drinking a Falls City beer with my meal (that impressed me more than the 'que).

I'm gonna have to get out to Nolensville and give Martin's another look-see, and thus give it a proper review.

Stay tuned.

From the vault

This is a thing that makes me go "hmm" ...

In the December 17 issue of the American Conservative, John Zmirak discusses his recent visit to a Dallas-area Whole Foods grocery store. This quote stands out:

"[T]here ... lingered in me a sense of excess. Did one really need this many choices of chard, and was it really healthy to cultivate such delicate sensibilities? It's one thing to shop at farmers markets because you want to support the folks who grow apples in your area. It's quite another to learn how to care, really care, about whether your sea salt comes from Brittany. C.S. Lewis dubbed such exquisite awareness the 'higher gluttony,' which consists not in excessive consumption but undue attention to food. He smelled it in vegetarians, food faddists, and others who made of their bodies not so much a temple as a fetish."

"He smelled it in vegetarians, food faddists, and others who made of their bodies not so much a temple as a fetish."

I can think of [several] people I know in whom I smell such, indeed.

Re: La prima pizza

GQ's Alan Richman has compiled his list of the 25 best pizza joints in the USA. Check it out here.

Mr. Richman conveniently, or ignorantly, forgets NYC's Lombardi's. Lombardi's still cooks its pizzas in a coal-fired oven. And let me tell you (I speak from experience), ain't a pizza on earth that tastes as good as a pizza that's been cooked in a coal-fired oven.

Indeed, when a pizza's been coal-cooked, the crust gets little smokey black spots - flavorful smokey black spots - on it; and the mozzarella -- oh, the mozzarella -- melts until its golden brown on the top, and full of whole milk goodness underneath.

It feels kinda good when I can tell an expense-account-wielding foodie that he don't know as much as he thinks he does.

"... looks better than it tastes."

I've had a bad week, a very bad week. I made an executive decision this evening that I needed some quality beer in my snoot. The beer I chose was Boddingtons Pub Ale, which I purchased at Publix.

Boddingtons Ale is a decent beer. That's about the best way I can describe it. Boddingtons ain't as good as Abbott Ale, and it certainly ain't as good as Samuel Smith's Pale Ale.

Boddingtons has a great amber color, and the "nitro" contraption gives each pint a creamy head. However, Boddington's lacks the subtle sweetness of a quality ale, and the more you drink the more you begin to notice a bitterness that just shouldn't be in a British ale that's supposed to taste like it was just poured from a tap. (We'll leave the bitterness to Samuel Adam's Boston Lager, thank you.)

Boddingtons looks better than it tastes. It looks like it'll be a while before I taste Boddingtons again. So there.

Sriracha is hot! (redux)

The New York Times' John T. Edge tells us 'bout something I told us, er, you 'bout back in October 2007:

A woman told of smearing Huy Fong’s flagship product, Tuong Ot Sriracha (Sriracha Chili Sauce), on multigrain snack chips. A man proclaimed the purée of fresh red jalapeños, garlic powder, sugar, salt and vinegar to be “the bomb,” and thanked Ms. Lam’s employers for "much joy and pleasure."

Another caller, hampered by a slight slur, botched the pronunciation of the product name before asking whether discount pricing might be available. Finally, he blurted, "I love rooster sauce!" (A strutting rooster, gleaming white against a backdrop of the bright red sauce, dominates Huy Fong’s trademark green-capped clear plastic squeeze bottles.)

'I guess it goes with alcohol," deadpanned Ms. Lam, who, like David Tran, the 64-year-old founder of Huy Fong and creator of its sauce, is both proud of the product’s popularity and flummoxed by fans’ devotion.

Read the rest here.

I ♥ Sam's Kabab Gyros

There's a new gyro joint in my neck of the woods: Sam's Kabab Gyros. I decided to give it a whirl this evening, and boy was I glad I did.

The two fellers who were manning the counter at Sam's were friendly cuss , I tell you what. I was only ten steps in the front door when they offered me samples of their beef, lamb, and chicken. I already knew I wanted a gyro; after gobbling up my samples I decided to go with the lamb.

As soon as I placed my order for a gyro combo -- gyro sandwich, fries, and a drink -- a large fistful o' hand-cut fries were dropped into the fryer; and then one of the Sam's guys went to work on my gyro. He cut a hole in a pita; stuffed it with lamb, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, tabouli, lots of jalapeños (per my request), and more lettuce, tomato and tabouli.

When my fries came out of the fryer, they were dusted with a spicy seasoning. This seems to be standard procedure in most gyro restaurants, and, unfortunately, a lot of restaurants go overboard when it comes to fries-seasoning. That ain't so at Sam's. My fries were dusted with just enough peppery spice so's not to overpower the starchy goodness of the expertly cooked fried taters underneath.

So, how was the gyro? Very damn good. The lamb was juicy. The tabouli was heavy on mint, parsley and olive oil. The jalapeños were crisp and plentiful. And the yogurt sauce was excellent.

Chicago Style Gyrosis, and has been for several years, my favorite local gyro joint Sam's Kabab Gryos, however, is a close second ... a very close second.

Sam's Kabab Gyros
2500 Murfreesboro Pike
Nashville, TN 37217
615.367.5027

Cajun-lovin' ...!

CM, aka The Nightly Daily, tells us 'bout a great eating spot up in Sumner County. To wit:

Last Saturday, a friend and I went to Gallatin on business. After we completed our task, we asked some local folks where we could find a good place to have lunch. They recommended Larriviere's on the square, and it was an excellent experience.

The restaurant is a cross between a meat and three and a burger joint. I took the burger joint option and had a cheeseburger. It had a generously thick cut of Angus beef that was quite juicy. It was piled high with trimmings, and the french fries were also good. They were thick but retained their crispiness.

My friend had crawfish etoufee, and his portion was so large that he could not finish it all.

I highly recommend eating there if the opportunity presents itself. One note: Gallatin is currently refurbishing its town square, so the streets are torn up. However, there is ample parking within walking distance of the eatery, so there should be no problem there. Additionally, there is a Larriviere's located in Mt. Juliet for those who live in that area.

Smothered crawfish ... that's right up my alley. Indeed, there ain't nothing in this world, eatin'-wise, that I love more than boiled or broiled or stewed or baked écrevisse.

So there.

Re: Bœuf déchiqueté

I found this recipe for shredded beef on Jennifer Iserloh's Web site:

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 pounds beef stew meat, trimmed of fat
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon mild chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 star anise pod
1 (15 ounce) can fat free, reduced sodium beef broth

Directions

Warm the oil in a large stockpot over high heat. Brown the beef 5 to 6 minutes turning once or twice. Reduce the heat to medium and add the cumin, chili, paprika, and star anise. Cook an additional minute until the spices become fragrant. Add the beef broth and bring to a slow boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover.

Cook 1 to 1/2 hours until the beef is tender, adding a little water if the beef starts to stick. Cool slightly then shred with your fingers or two forks.

Ms. Iserloh, aka The Skinny Chef, recommends using her shredded beef on "burritos, tacos, and enchiladas."

I think expertly-cooked shredded beef would go better on a buttered Kaiser Roll with green leaf lettuce, thin slices o' ripe tomatoes, and a big-ass dash of a quality horseradish sauce. Oh, and a good pickle should be served alongside.

Lest you think I'm busting on Ms. Iserloh, I'm gonna try her recipe soon. We'll see if her shredded beef is better suited for tacos or sammiches.

Stay tuned.

Gonna sauce you up and work you like a rib ... (what's that from?!)

Like Jerry Seinfeld and coffee, I've always preferred getting my barbecued spare ribs on the outside. I picked up some St. Louis-style spare ribs (cut into three "sets" o' ribs) at my favorite local grocery store on Friday, and I spent about three hours cooking 'em this evening. They were so damn good ... I've been inspired me to try cooking spare ribs at home more often. Here's how I did it:

I have two grills. One is a charcoal grill on which I cook nothing but beef and pork steaks. My other grill is an in-ground gas grill that's hooked into my natural gas line. It preheats faster than an oven; thus, its great for cooking things like hamburgers, chicken breasts, brats and Italian sausages. I decided to cook my St. Louis ribs on the gas grill 'cause I figured I could regulate the heat better. What a great decision I made.

When I started my grill, I only lit one half; and instead of allowing the lit side to preheat on high, as suggested by the manufacturer, I let it heat for about 25 minutes with the heat dial sitting on 1.5 (outta 5).

Meanwhile, I let my ribs warm to room temperature. I rubbed 'em with a mixture of paprika, onion powder, garlic salt, and course-ground black pepper. The ribs rested for another 10-15 minutes, and then they were ready for the grill.

I put my ribs on grill, and not on the side that was heated. They cooked for about 45 minutes before I disturbed 'em. I rubbed both sides of my ribs with liberal dollops of Stubb's Moppin' Sauce, and I closed the lid. When another 45 minutes had passed, I repeated the Moppin' Sauce-moppin' and I closed the lid again. I let the ribs cook for another hour, and I removed them to a shallow baking dish.

While Stubb's Moppin' Sauce is very flavorful, it's also very thin ('cause it's mostly vinegar). I knew my ribs would require a think 'n' hearty sauce prior to serving. I mixed a half-cup of Howton Farm's BBQ sauce with a half-cup of Hunt's ketchup, and I poured it over my ribs -- turning and turning them to make sure every square inch was covered. I put foil over the baking dish and then waited 15 minutes before serving, er, devouring.

My ribs were so tender, the meat was literally following off the bone. And my sauce concoction was damn good, too. You know, if I didn't have any scruples 'bout me, I'd get a lot of Howton Farm's and a lot of Hunt's and market the mixture under the Joltin' Django name.

I'll never be afraid to try spare ribs, baby back ribs, or any other type of rib that needs to be slow-cooked outdoors again. I'm already looking forward to my next rib-grillin' experience. Promise to bring enough beer and you can join me ...!

Love me some Queen City chili!

In honor of the "four-way" Cincinnati chili I made ce soir -- I didn't have any kidney beans, and that's why it was four-way chili -- please to enjoy this A Man's Gotta Eat post from January 2008:

I was 12-years-old the first time I went to Cincinnati. A kid who played on my baseball team that year was from Ohio, and he and his father were huge Reds fans.

One sunny summer day, my friend, his dad and I drove to Cincinnati to take in an under-the-lights Reds-Cardinals game. We stayed at a hotel near the stadium that night, and we started our journey back to Nashville at noon the following day.

Before leaving Cincinnati, however, my friend's dad insisted that we stop at Skyline Chili. Neither my mother or my father were big chili fans (I don't remember my mother ever making chili when I was growing up), and I'd sort of adopted their indifference to the stuff. I don't remember exactly what I ordered, but I know it wasn't chili.

I remember when my friend's dad's chili arrived. It did not resemble any chili I'd ever seen. First of all, it wasn't in a bowl, which was how I'd always seen chili served. And it wasn't just chili on the plate. It was spaghetti noodles and chili and cheese and beans and chopped onions. I was intrigued, to say the least.

My friend's dad asked if I'd like to try his chili. Since what he was eating looked more like a plate of my mother's spaghetti than any chili I'd ever encountered, I probably said, "Yes, please" (I was full o' manners when I was a young boy), and boy was I glad I did.

The first thing you notice about Cincinnati chili is its slightly sweet taste. That's 'cause it is made with cinnamon, cocoa and paprika (Texas-style chili it ain't). I know the sweet taste is what I enjoyed most about my first few bites of Cincinnati chili. I'm sure others feel the same way.

My two traveling companions and I made two more trips to Cincinnati that summer. We saw the Braves play during one of those trips; I don't remember who the Reds played during the other. What I do remember is this: I just begged my friend's dad to take us back to Skyline each time, which he did. I suspect he would've taken us there whether I'd lobbied for the trip or not.

Since those first three trips to Skyline during the summer of my 12th year, I've been a confirmed fan of Cincinnati chili. I've been to Cincinnati a couple-dozen times over the years for business and pleasure, and I've always - and I mean always - go to one of the myriad chili parlors that serve the fine citizens of the Queen City (Skyline, Gold Star, Empress, Dixie Chili, etc.).

Now, if you don't want to drive all the way to Cincinnati to try this unique American dish, you can drive to your nearest Kroger grocery store and get a package of Cincinnati Recipe Chili Mix. (Kroger is the only grocery store in which you're likely to find the stuff, which makes sense considering Kroger is headquartered in Cincinnati.) I've made Cincinnati chili from scratch, but it didn't taste as much like the real thing as the chili I've made with Cincinnati Recipe's mix.

Publix has its mojo workin' (redux)

Back in October 2007, I endorsed Publix's Mojo Chicken as a great from-the-deli entrée. To wit:

Having no plans for dinner this evening, I decided to get something from the Publix deli. What I got was a fresh-roasted Mojo Rotisserie Chicken. Man, what a damn fine chicken it was.

I'd never had a roasted chicken from Publix before; and, to the best of my knowledge, I'd never eaten anything that'd been mojo-seasoned. (Mojo seasoning consists of onion salt, garlic, pepper and spices, and it gives whatever foodstuff upon which it's been placed a tongue-satisfying zip and zing.) ...

I'm very glad that I decided on such a simple dinner. If I'd added anything else to my menu, I may not have noticed how freakin' juicy a Publix roasted chicken is; and the crispy skin may have escaped my attention as well. (Crispy skin and juiciness is a mark of a quality roasted chicken, indeed.)

Next time I get me a Publix chicken, I'm going to make mashed potatoes and fry some corn. Hell, I might even fry up some cornbread to make it a culinary hat-trick, plus one.

Tonight, I paired a Publix Mojo Chicken with French-cut green beans, Mrs. Renfro's jalapeños, and Publix's red potato salad:


I feel kinda bad that it took me so long to try another Mojo chicken. And I feel equally bad that it took me so long to tell you that Publix's red-tater salad is the best store-bought tater salad in the land.

For the record, my mojo's workin' real good right now, and then some.

The power of Pancho!

Let me tell you about a new eatin' place I know. It's a Mexican restaurant in Antioch called Pancho. Sounds like the beginning of a song, don't it?!

I visited Pancho for the first time last week. After my second visit yesterday, the place moved to the top of my Favorite Music City Mexican Restaurants list. Here's why:

Pancho has a buffet Monday-Friday from 11 am to 2 pm ...


... and it's the finest Mexican buffet I've ever visited. Wait, I'd never been to a Mexican buffet restaurant prior to visiting Pancho.

Pancho's buffet "tables" ain't real big, but each and every thing on those tables packs big, big south-of-the-border flavor: warm 'n' fresh lard-filled tortillas; juicy hunks of chicken and beef, served with sautéed onions, tomatoes and green peppers; seasoned ground beef, and spicy seasoned ground beef with onions and carrots; homemade tamales wrapped in corn husks; juicy hunks o' chorizo sausage; black beans bursting with earthy black-bean flavor; and fluffy Mexican rice.

And then there's the pico and the hot and mild salsa and the tomatilla green sauce. Pancho's pico de gallo has lots o' tomatoes, onions, and peppers ... and a whole lot o' cilantro. Same goes for Pancho's salsas. As for the tomatilla sauce, it not only tastes very "green," it tickles the tip of one's tongue with a muted heat; and then it leaves a hot spot in the back of one's throat which lingers for several minutes -- several "Oh, this is good!" minutes.

A Mexican buffet sounds like a real, real bad idea. Thank God Pancho was able to pull it off.

Pancho Mexican Restaurant
1001 Bell Road
Antioch, TN 37013
615.891.3166

Re: Vegetable-Cheese Pie

AMGE reader KH sends us this recipe for vegetable-cheese pie (sounds great!) ...

KH's Vegetables 'N' Cheese Pie

Ingredients

3 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt, if desired
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper or more, to taste
2-1/2 cups skim or low-fat milk
1 tbsp butter or margarine
1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced (about 2-1/2 cups)
1 bunch scallions, sliced (about 3/4 cup)
1-1/2 cups shredded Jarlsberg (about 6 ounces)
2 cups sliced carrots, steamed for 7 minutes
2 cups sliced parsnips, steamed for 3 minutes
3 cups sliced zucchini, steamed for 2 minutes
Single crust for 9-inch pie

Cooking Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, combine the cornstarch, salt, and pepper, and whisk in the milk until there are no lumps. Set the mixture aside.

2. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter or margarine, and saute the mushrooms and scallions, stirring them often, for about 3 minutes.

3. Stir the reserved cornstarch mixture, and add it to the mushroom-scallion mixture. Stirring constantly, bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, and boil it for 1 minute. Remove it from the heat, and stir in the cheese.

4. Add the carrots, parsnips, and zucchini to the cheese sauce, and combine everything well. Transfer the mixture to a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate.

5. Place the pie crust on top of the vegetable-cheese mixture, flute the edges of the crust to form a decorative rim, and cut slits in the top of the crust to let the steam escape.

6. Bake the pie in a preheated 375 oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned.

How to make a great steak

The Atlantic tells us how to make a great steak ...

Argentina has a reputation for being a "steak only" type of place, a country where the cuisine doesn't really extend beyond a grilled slab of meat, with a little salt (if any) added to the mix.

Yes, on nearly every block, you'll find a steakhouse (parrilla) that uses a wood-fired grill, but next to those steaks on the grill, you'll find short ribs (a prized cut here, but the last one I would ever think of throwing on the grilll), chorizo sausage, blood sausage, kidneys, intestines, and sweetbreads.

As with the steaks, these are all prepared by grilling with just a little salt. There's no brining, marinating, or sautéing, just the grill. There's no black pepper, no option of a mushroom sauce or burgundy reduction. Things are kept simple: Meat. Fire. A Little Salt.

Read the rest here.

Pour ma mère

For Mother's Day, ma mère put in a request for my patented I-talian-style sketti. I happily obliged. And here's how I did it:

Joltin' Django's I-talian-style Sketti

Ingredients

1 lb ground Italian sausage
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cans Cento peeled tomatoes with basil
3-4 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 small white onion, chopped
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1/2 cup red wine
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
Salt and course-ground black pepper (to taste)
10-12 frozen Italian meatballs (I used homemade meatballs from my freezer)

Directions

Over medium heat, brown Italian sausage in a large heavy-bottomed pot. Remove sausage to paper towels to drain.

Add olive oil to remaining drippings. When pot returns to medium heat, add onions. Cook until clear, 3-4 minutes, and then add garlic. Stir repeatedly for 1 minute.

Pour tomatoes and juice into pot, crushing tomatoes with the back of a large spoon. Return cooked sausage to pot, and add tomato paste, wine, sugar, salt and pepper. Stir, stir, and stir until sauce begins to slowly bubble (10-12 minutes).

Turn heat to low and add meatballs. Cover pot and allow to cook for 15-20 minutes (stirring every 3-4 minutes).

Serve with al dente spaghetti, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, and a large glass of red wine.

Enjoy!

Good scene, fellas

I picked up Goodfellas on DVD this afternoon -- to replace a so-worn-out VHS tape of the film I've had for some 10+ years. I stayed up very late watchin' it.

I blogged about my favorite scene from Goodfellas 'bout six months ago. Now that I'm in a serious Goodfellas "mood," I'm gonna re-post what I said. Right here:

Screen Junkies has comiled a list of the nine life lessons every guy can learn from Goodfellas. One of 'em is food-related:

Don't use too many onions in the sauce.


When you learn it: When all of the guys are doing their time together, Vinnie is always putting too many onions in the sauce.

Why it's important: Balance is important when you're making a marinara. You don't want to overpower the other flavors with too much onion. And three small onions is too much when you're only using two cans of tomatoes. That's day one stuff.

Naturally, the jailhouse cooking scene is my favorite in the whole movie. Since I'm sure some folks who're reading this have never seen Goodfellas before, I won't ruin it by describing the scene. One thing I will say, however, is this: Paulie using a razor blade to slice garlic so's it will melt when cooked in a little oil ... it works. Try it sometime.

Fiasco

Unless you were living under a rock last week, you know that KFC 'n' Oprah Winfrey offered everyone with access to a computer and printer a free "grilled" chicken meal. You also know that the promotion turned into a big KlusterFuCk, with customers near-rioting, and staging sit-ins, when they didn't get their free chicken. Hell, some folks even cried "Racism!" when over-taxed KFC outlets refused to take their coupons. (Don't even get me started on that!)

I could pontificate for days on whether or not it was wise for KFC to promote a "free meal" coupon on The Oprah Winfrey Show. I'm of the opinion that it wasn't very wise, given that KFC didn't seem very prepared for what happened after Oprah said, "Go get ya one!"

That said, KFC's new grilled chicken is very, very good. I know this because one of my co-workers was brave enough to head to KFC -- with coupon in hand -- for lunch the day after Oprah said, "Have some grilled chicken on me!" (or something to that effect). He got a breast and a wing in his free meal, and he let me have a big pinch o' meat from each of 'em.

The small portions I had were very juicy; and my co-worker, I'll call him "Skippy," said that each and every portion he consumed was not only juicy, he stated that KFC's grilled chicken tasted like something that came off his backyard grill.

I couldn't agree more. And I'll have some pics after I get my rain check.

Good gravy!

Dr. Hibbert: Well, your cholesterol level is lethally high, Homer, but I'm more concerned about your gravy level.

Homer Simpson: Now, wait a second. You doctors have been telling us to drink eight glasses of gravy a day!

-- The Simpsons, "Bart Star"

Today's Tennessean has an excellent article about Southern-style gravies -- with recipes. Check it out here.

I can make one hell of a gravy using dripping from a pork roast. To wit:

Don't say I didn't warn ya!

Now blogging at A Man's Gotta Eat, Erick J.:


They tasted as good as they looked. I prepared these spare ribs on Sat the 2nd, and I must say that I am getting sooooooo good at this;-) I took 2 racks of ribs, apple juice, Grillmasters Pork rub, Salt, pepper, Onion, at least 5 Bud lites, and 5 hours of my life (in no particular order) and came out with a RACK that Ms Parton herself would be proud of. I am a pretty damn good rapper too. Django for President.

Come check me out on MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/6yx5izzle

Pepperoni Bread, that's what I said ...!

I like pepperoni and I like bread ... and I love the sound of this (from The Skinny Chef):

Pepperoni Bread

Ingredients

Non-stick spray
1 (1 pound) loaf frozen pizza dough, thawed
6 ounces sliced turkey pepperoni
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons olive oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a large baking sheet with nonstick spray. Cut the dough in half. Roll each piece out into a 2-inch by 12-inch log. Divide the pepperoni between the two pieces. Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan. Starting with the longer side, roll the dough up and press the edge to seal in the ingredients. Transfer to the cookie sheet, seam side down. Tuck the ends under and drizzle with olive oil. Bake 10 to 15 minutes until the bread is cooked through and lightly brown on the top. Cool 5 to 10 minutes before slicing.

Get Thee to Uh Wool Lim!

When I find something I like, I stick with it. More specifically, I tend to return to my favorite restaurants over and over again. That's why you'll never find me doing a restaurant-a-day thing here at A Man's Gotta Eat. Hell, I'm lucky to get around to a half-dozen different restaurants a month; and with penny-pinching at a fever pitch these days, that trend is likely to continue.

One restaurant I have visited several times in the last few months is Uh Wool Lim Korean Restaurant in Antioch. Not only is the food incredible there, the service is impeccable. Indeed, the folks who own and work in the place are some of the most gracious hosts I've ever encountered in a restaurant.

A big bunch from my workplace went to Uh Wool Lim on a recent Friday night. I was the first to arrive. I told 'em that there were 12 coming, and they immediately started moving tables to accommodate our large group. As soon as we were all there, and had an adult beverage in hand, we were served two large plates of complimentary fried dumplings.


The dumplings were filled with slivers of juicy pork, and they were served with a spicy soy-sauce based dipping sauce. It took all of about six minutes for all traces of the dumplings to vanish.

When the dumplings were gone, banchan came to our table(s). If you've never been to a Korean restaurant, banchan - sometimes spelled panch'an - refers to small dishes of pickled vegetables, potato pancakes, and steamed rice which are served alongside Korean entrées. (At one point, I counted 18 banchan bowls spread out in front of my buds and me!)


At Uh Wool Lim, kimchi is the banchan dish that stands out most (see oval dish in foreground). In fact, it might very well be the best kimchi I have ever had -- and I've had kimchi in several different Korean restaurants, as well as homemade kimchi that was made by a friend's Korean grandmother.

Now, for those who've never heard of kimchi, here's what it 'tis: fermented cabbage that's been seasoned with chili peppers and salt -- and in some instances brined seafood. Uh Wool Lim's kimchi is of the non-seafood variety and is very, very spicy. Of course, that's alright by me ... and it goes a long way toward explaining why I like it so much.

When it came entrée-orderin' time, I decided I wanted me a spicy soup. I settled on the yook gae jang, which is a stew of spicy shredded beef, clear noodles, egg, bracken fern (talk about authentically Korean!) and green onions.


The soup you see in that picture is one of the best soups, ethnic or domestic, I have ever had. Ever. I asked for it to be "super spicy," and that's just how it was delivered. The heat, however, was not of the sweat-inducing variety; instead, it was the kind of heat that takes a moment to make itself known on the back of your tongue before settling in for a while. In addition, there was lots of beef in my soup, and every - and I mean every - sliver was as tender as butter. That's no lie.

Hopefully, you're now thinking about when you're gonna get out to Antioch to visit Uh Wool Lim. If you need further convincing, check out this simmering pot of squid, shrimp, mussels, tofu, mushrooms, cabbage, radishes, watercress, zucchini, green onions and hot peppers (Hae Mool Tang):


Four of my co-workers ordered the seafood soup you see pic above, and it was brought to the table in a large pot to simmer on a mini hot-plate. I sampled it, and I know what I'm by-God ordering the next time I visit Uh Wool Lim.

Who's going wit' me?!

Uh Wool Lim Korean Restaurant
940 Richards Road
Antioch, TN 37013
615.333.3308

A good day for a Parade

Yesterday evening, I bestowed upon my next-door neighbor a bottle of Parade Louisiana Hot Sauce. My neighbor'd informed me he needed "a good hot sauce" to put in some chili he was cookin'; I told him I had just the thing to spice it up. Thus, I gave him a bottle of Parade.

What's so good about Parade Hot Sauce you ask? Well, I 'splained it a few months back. To wit:

I collect hot sauces like Dean Martin collected hangovers. Whenever I see a hot sauce I've never tried before, well, I just gotta have it. Like yesterday ...

I came across Parade Louisiana Hot Sauce at a convenience store on Nolensville Road. At $.50 a bottle, the price was certainly right to give it a try. I was mighty impressed by my half-buck bottle o' sauce; indeed, I was so impressed that I went back to that little store today and bought four more bottles!

I sure am glad that my tobacco craving led me to that convenience store yesterday. Otherwise, I may have never had a chance to try Parade's fine sauce.

At this point, I guess I should tell you how the sauce in my 4 3/4 bottles of new hot sauce tastes. Well, it has a great cayenne pepper flavor with a subtle "tang" that tickles the sides of your tongue. It packs more than a little heat - a heat that kinda sneaks up on you - but the heat in no way interferes with the taste of aged cayenne peppers.

One final thought 'bout Parade's Louisiana hot sauce: A lot of "Louisiana" hot sauces are just too damn salty -- Bruce Foods' "Original" Louisiana Hot Sauce immediately comes to mind. The same can't be said about Parade-brand Louisiana hot sauce. It has salt in it, of course, but you don't feel like you need to take a blood pressure tablet after each teaspoon you consume.

Il est gratis!

I'm a sucker for the Taste of Home magazines. I can flip through one at a newstand, and it takes me about 10 seconds before I find a recipe that reminds me of a dish I sampled at a church supper when I was a yout.

If you'd like a FREE Taste of Home mag, go here.

Down in mud-bug land ...

If the southern-third of Louisiana wasn't home to oppresive heat and humidity nearly year 'round, I could see myself living there. (I too-vividly recall being in New Orleans in November 1999 and sweating like like I was in Tennessee in August.)

That said, I almost -- almost -- wish I was living down there when I read stuff like this:

Every foodie worth her salt knows New Orleans is a destination for eats all year 'round, but the last weekend in April and first in May are something extraordinary.

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is about far more than the music. Though craftsmen display their wares all around the fairgrounds and music saturates the air, the food provided by about 70 different vendors is a huge draw. For some, it's the main draw -- so it's worth knowing that tickets to the second weekend of grub and tunes are still available.

Jazz Fest, which since its debut in 1970 has become the second most popular party in New Orleans, takes place during the beginning of the hot, sticky season in bayou country. This spell lasts about eight months, so it's no shock that good food and strong drink are so popular. Though NOLA is not technically a Cajun city, during the Fest one would be hard-pressed to find a better place for Louisiana's Cajun grub.

There's gooey, cheesy crawfish bread hailing from Marksville, classic spicy Cajun boudin (sausage) from Belle Chasse, rich crawfish etouffee from Gramercy that marries tender crawfish to a roux-based tomato sauce, and a beautiful, dark pheasant, quail and andouille gumbo from Prejean's restaurant in Lafayette.

Read the rest here.

Good ol' knaidel soup

As promised, I made a big ol' pot o' matzo ball soup last night ... about two and a half weeks late. Here 'tis:


I don't want to toot my own horn, but my latest batch of matzo ball soup was pretty damn good. I toted about 90 percent of what I cooked to work with me today, and my co-workers devoured it with smiles upon their faces (ask Eric J. if you don't believe me).

Here's my recipe for simple matzo ball soup, for those who wanna know ...

Joltin' Django's Matzo Ball Soup
Ingredients

4 split chicken breasts
5 carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
2 medium white onions, large-diced
2 tablespoons kosher salt (more to taste)
1 tablespoon course black pepper
1 tablespoon dried thyme
8 cups water
1 1/2 cups matzo meal
1 egg

Directions

Place chicken breasts in a deep backing pan lined with foil. Cook for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Place cooked chicken on a plate to cool for 20-25 minutes; reserve rendered juices.

Lightly beat egg in a mixing bowl. Add matzo meal and chicken juice. Mix well and let stand for 15 minutes.

Pour water into a heavy-bottomed pot and add carrots and onions. Place pot on stove and turn to "high." While pot is heating, shred chicken (discarding skin and bones). When pot begins to boil, add salt, pepper, and thyme. Turn heat to medium-low and cover.

Meanwhile, roll matzo mixture into balls 1/2-inch in diameter. Drop balls into pot until all of the mixture is gone. Lower heat to slow-simmer.

Simmer soup for 25 minutes. Add additional salt and pepper as needed, and serve with seasoned matzo "crackers."

So deserves repeating ...

From April of last year ...

We'll get a slawburger, fries and a bottle of Ski
Bring it on out to my baby and me

-- "Dumas Walker," The Kentucky Headhunters

When I was a young'un, my dad worked at the Tennessee Farmer's Co-op in Lavergne, TN. There was a little market next to his office that always had a big "barrel" of Double Cola - in glass bottles, of course - chilling on ice. Whenever I went to his office, he'd always take me into the market for a Double Cola and some chips or something.

I remember one day I peered over into the iced-down Double Colas and spied something in a green bottle, something called Ski. It kinda looked like Sun-Drop, which my grandparents always had on hand, so I decided to give it a try. It was sweet and tangy, but I quickly noticed that it wasn't quite as carbonated as the soda pops I was accustomed to drinking. Thus, I didn't particularly care for it.

A few years later when I was playing Little League baseball, one of my teammate's parents would bring a big cooler of cold drinks for after-practice refreshment. What did they always bring in their big cooler? Bottles of Ski and Sprite. I couldn't stand Sprite so I would drink the Ski. The more I drank it the more it grew on me. It didn't take long before I was asking my mom to pick it up at the grocery store (and since I was an only child, she usually obliged).

By the time I graduated from high school, Ski was getting harder and harder to find in Nashville-area markets and grocery stores. In the years that followed, I would find it from time to time in little markets when I was traveling 'round Tennessee - especially West Tennessee - on business. Eventually, I couldn't find it anywhere.

Imagine my surprise when I found Ski in a convenience store over the weekend ... about two miles from my house. I was toting beverages of a more adult nature toward the cashier when, out of the corner of my eye, I seen something that looked subspecialty like little bottles of Ski. I turned on my heel and returned to the soda pop cooler. Sure 'nough I had seen Ski! I probably had a smile on my face like I'd found a $100 bill.

I walked out of that store with four bottles of Ski and six bottles of ... well, that's not important. What is important is that the Ski I drank sitting in that convenience store parking lot tasted every bit as good as the ice-cold bottles I drank after baseball practice when I was 9-years-old.

Learn more about Ski here.

Turn-up the green-ee-ohs ...

The thing I hate most 'bout cooking fresh turnip greens is cleaning 'em. Now comes these clean things ...


Simmer such -- for about two hours -- with some thick-slab bacon, and you get bowls like this:


Now you know what I had for dinner ce soir. And my "dinner" was drenched in this.

Big shock, n'est-ce pas ... ?!

Highball du nord

Take off!
To the Great White North
Take off!
It's a beauty way to go

-- Bob & Doug McKenzie

Back in 1992, I spent three weeks in Québec -- Montréal's Old City, to be specific -- learnin' how to speak good French. Ever since then, I've been particularly attuned to things that happen in the Great White North.

Like this:

In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008, Canadians boosted alcohol sales by 4.3 per cent, funnelling more than $18.8-billion into the economy. Sales of red wine more than doubled and white wine experienced a 44-per-cent hike.

I'm ready to go back North. Who wants to come with?!

Phở-nominal homemade soup

If you're a regular AMGE reader, you know how much I love Vietnamese phở soup. I got me a wild hair recently and purchased a couple of jars of Por Kwan Phở Vietnamese Beef Flavor Paste from an outfit in Los Angeles ...


... I decided to give it a whirl tonight.

While I was getting my broth going -- I added about half of my jar of Por Kwan Phở paste to about 8 cups of water -- I thinly sliced a small white onion; I sliced 8 Vietnamese meatballs, which I purchased at my favorite international market, in half; I chopped three green onions; and sliced-up a jalapeño pepper, seeds and all. All that went into a pot with some thin Vietnamese noodles and some bean sprouts (both of which were also procured at my favorite international market). To wit:


When the soup was done I poured me some in a bowl I specifically purchased, at the Nashville Flea Market, for homemade phở-eating purposes. I added a big dollop of my favorite Asian hot sauce, and I went to town.

This, my friends, was pretty damn good:


Come by my place if you want left-overs. I won't promise you that there'll be any left!

An interesting concept ...

One of my favorite things to eat is a bacon, lettuce and tomato sammich (with Duke's mayonnaise, of course). Indeed, I reckon I make a me a BLT about, oh, once every eight days or so.

On this morning's Bob & Tom Show, the B&T gang talked about a product called Baconnaise, which, apparently, is a bacon-flavored mayonnaise. They talked about how it's now possible to have a BLT sans bacon.

One of my favorite things to eat is a bacon, lettuce and tomato sammich (with Duke's mayonnaise, of course). Indeed, I reckon I make a me a BLT about, oh, once every eight days or so. Now, as much as I'm intrigued by the prospect of bacon-flavored mayo, I can't imagine why anyone would eat a "BLT" with just bread, lettuce and Baconnaise. That's just plain wrong, especially considering that a house in which bacon has been fried smells great for the next four or five hours.

Lest you think I'm not up to trying Baconnaise, hold it right there. I'm gonna get me a jar of the stuff to see how it peps up some grilled hamburgers. Stay tuned for a review.

Check out the Baconnaise Web site here.

Buon ristorante

The folks at Slashfood have up their list of the best Italian restaurants in the U.S.A. Knoxville's Savelli's Italian Restaurant is included in the list. To wit:

Blink and you'll drive right past the hole-in-the-wall where Mama Savelli's Chicken Surprise, bursting with artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes and a creamy lemon sauce, will take up permanent residence in your best food memories bank. We really amore the BYOB policy.

I've been to Knoxville many dozens of times; but this is the first I've ever heard of Savelli's Italian Restaurant. The place kinda reminds me of Nashville's Mama Mia's hole-in-the-wall Italian joint ... which is my favorite in-town Italian restaurant. (Note to Slashfooders: Mama Mia's has a strict BYOB policy, too.)

Next time I'm over near where the Tennessee River begins, I'm gonna make it a point to head to Savelli's. You'll hear about it when I do.

"Help" yourself ...

If you're a regular AMGE reader, you already know how much I, ahem, love Hamburger Helper. To wit:

I have a confession: I love Hamburger Helper. No, I freakin' love Hamburger Helper. If'n I ever decide that I would look quite smashing as a 400 lb. tub, I will go on an all-Hamburger Helper diet -- Cheeseburger Macaroni or Double Cheeseburger Macaroni, of course.

All kidding aside, let me say this:

Whenever I want something fast and simple for dinner, I'll whip up a box of Helper, open a can of peas, and drench the whole shebang in Trappey's Louisiana Hot Sauce. Heaven in a single skillet, indeed!

Kansas City Star columnist Jill Wendholt Silva ain't too keen on Helper; thus, she recently came up with a recipe for a one-skillet meal a la Hamburger Helper.

I'm gonna try this soon ... and I'll let you know how it turns out:

The Star’s One-Skillet Italian Meal takes a worthy concept and freshens it up: Add sliced mushrooms (buy them pre-sliced in the produce department), green pepper (buy chopped in the freezer case), fresh zucchini, canned tomatoes and fresh spinach.

Finally, substitute Italian vermicelli (ver-MIH-chell-ee) noodles, literally "little worms," for regular noodles. Vermicelli is thinner than spaghetti, and it’s easy to break up the noodles and add them to the pan. They cook through as the meal simmers on the stovetop.

•Spinach tips: Feel free to substitute alternative vegetable combinations to suit your family’s tastes. Instead of 1 cup fresh spinach, try adding an equal amount of chopped Swiss chard, small chopped broccoli florets or frozen peas. Or use frozen spinach, thawed and drained well. Be sure to adjust cooking time accordingly so the vegetables remain crisp tender.

•Cooking tips: The ground round used in this recipe was 90 percent lean.

If the kids aren’t crazy about tomatoes, use kitchen shears to snip the tomatoes (while still in the can) into small pieces that cook down and nearly disappear.

One-Skillet Italian Meal

[Ingredients]

1 pound ground round
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1 zucchini, cut into 1/2 -inch cubes
4 ounces dry vermicelli, broken into 2-inch pieces
3 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added whole tomatoes
2  1/2 cups sodium-reduced tomato juice
1 cup fresh spinach leaves, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

[Directions]

Spray a large (12-inch) skillet with nonstick spray coating. Cook ground round, onion and garlic in skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until meat is browned and onion is tender. Drain and set aside.

Return skillet to heat and add olive oil. Add mushrooms, green pepper and zucchini; stir-fry 2 to 3 minutes. Add dry vermicelli pieces. Cook, stirring occasionally and very gently, until pasta is golden-brown and vegetables are crisp-tender.

Spoon cooked meat into skillet over pasta and vegetables. Add seasonings, tomatoes and tomato juice. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 20 minutes.

Stir in spinach, cover and continue to cook 5 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan just before serving.

Not very Damm good

I was visiting a local international market today when I stumbled across a beer I'd never seen before: Estrella Damm.

Estrella Damm is a Spanish beer. Its packaging says it as a lager, which it is. If you go to Wikipedia, however, you discover that Estrella Damm is a "pilsener." Well, I'm here to tell you that Estrella Damm ain't no damn pilsener. (Hell, the picture on ED's Wiki page shows that it's a lager. So much for relying on Wikipedia for any-damn-thing.)

Estella Damm has a nice, deep color. It doesn't have a deep flavor, though, and that was disappointing. I didn't detect much hoppiness up front, but ED finished very, very bitter. And not a good kind of bitter. It kinda reminded me of Budweiser. Again, not good.

Needless to say, I purchased my first and last six-pack of Estella Damm lager today.

Gyros, Chicago-style

Let's talk about Chicago Style Gyros on Harding Place. I first stumbled across this fine establishment, which is housed in an old Long John Silver restaurant, 'bout 3 years ago. I'm ashamed that it's taken me this long to tell you about the place.

I love me a good gyro. Always have. When I was a kid, the closest thing to ethnic food that I knew was the gyro joint in the food court at Hickory Hollow Mall. I can still remember how out-of-the-ordinary it was to watch a feller slice meat on a grilled pita from a spinning vertical meat-tube. That kinda thing will stick with you, indeed.

I still love me a good gyro. (Friends and family who've been to Nashville's Greek Festival avec moi can attest to such.) And every time I want a good - nay, a great gyro - I head over to Chicago Style Gyros.

I've probably been to Chicago Style Gyros 20 times, and every time I've ordered the same thing: gyro 'n' fries 'n' a drink ($5.49) ...


Chicago Style's gyros come on grilled pitas just bursting with juicy grilled meat -- and lettuce and tomatoes and cucumber sauce, and hot peppers upon request.

Chicago Style's fries are not only, well, fried to order, they are dusted with a spicy seasoning prior to being served. I've tried to figure out what's in that seasoning, but I've come up short at every taste-filled turn. (Oh, well, just means that I need to try and try again ...!)

I don't think I've ever left Chicago Style Gyros without exclaiming - either to myself or to those with whom I've dined - "Damn, that was good!" And I've never, ever left the place hungry. Indeed.

Get thee over to Chicago Style Gyros sooner rather than later. And tell 'em Joltin' Django sent you.

Chicago Style Gyros
346 Harding Place
Nashville, Tennnessee 37211
615.834.8500

"HP" sounds good to me ...

Given that I grilled some cheap steaks for dinner this ev'ning, and given that I drowned each bite of said steaks in HP Sauce, this needs repeatin' ...

If I were to compile a list of my Top Ten Favorite Condiments -- I'm talking about condiments here, not hot sauces -- HP Sauce would surely be in the top five. If you've never had HP Sauce, son, you're missin' out.

A Scottish fellow with whom I used to work, name o' Craig, turned me on to HP Sauce (HP stands for "Houses of Parliament) some six or seven years ago. Craig was eating a turkey sandwich one day, and he was absolutely coating it with a bottle of something that looked like store-brand A1. "What is that?" I asked. "HP Sauce," he replied. (In his quick-talk Scottish brogue "HP Sauce" was one syllable.)

Craig told me how folks in the United Kingdom put HP Sauce on everything: potatoes, chops, steaks, fish, vegetables, and, yes, sammiches. At that point, I just had to try it. He put a big dollop on a Lay's potato chip and handed it to me. As soon as the tangy, sweet , and spicy brown sauce hit my tongue ... let's just say I was immediately hooked. Indeed, it didn't take long before I was pouring HP Sauce on potatoes, chops, steaks, fish, etc.

HP Sauce has a pretty exotic ingredients list: dates, malt vinegar, tamarind extract, sugar, and spices (among others). I'm not a big fan of dates, so it's kind of funny that I enjoy eating something that features dates as a main ingredient. Enjoy it I do, however, and every time I break open a new bottle I can't help but think about Craig the Scotsman and his turkey sandwich.

In Nashville, you can find HP Sauce in the "British section" at your local Publix supermarket.

"It's only natural to combine them ...."

Food and sex. Those are my two passions.
It's only natural to combine them.

-- George Costanza
Seinfeld, "The Blood"

The Hardee's/Carl's Jr. commercial featuring Padma Lakshmi was just bound to get some "sensitive" folks all worked up. Like Los Angeles Times columnist Dan Neil:

The sexualization of fast food takes us down the same path of old cigarette advertising that showed doctors, athletes and cowboys smoking like crazy and living active, aerobically challenging lives; or beer commercials, in which everybody is as sleek as ferrets. These products have definite, measurable health consequences, and it's the job of the advertising's imagery to push these consequences as far offstage as possible.

Neil closes his column with this:

And so you have the impossibly lean and beautiful Lakshmi wolfing down a 1,000-calorie burger. Now that's hard to swallow.

I have a good friend whose wife is a personal trainer. She'll flat-out tell you that she heads to Krystal two or three times a month for a ten-bagger -- that's a sack of 10 "small, square" Krystal burgers for those who've never heard of such. She's 5'7" and, like, 120 lbs and she'd probably have a few bones to pick with Mr. Neil vis-à-vis his "hard to swallow" quip.

So there.

Me so saucy

I recently received an e-mail from a young lady who wanted to know what's my favorite store-bought BBQ sauce. I told her Sauer's, which is available at any Nashville-are Publix supermarket.

While I'm talking about Sauer's BBQ sauce, please to enjoy this classic A Man's Gotta Eat post on the subject from 2007 ... before a feller could easy find the stuff in Music City. To wit:

I usually shy away from BBQ sauces that feature sugar as a major ingredient. Sauer's does list sugar amongst its ingredients; however, Sauer's has enough pepper and spice in its blend to burn away its already muted sweet flavor.

The only grocery store in the world in which I've been able to find Sauer's BBQ sauce is a little food mart in Camden, TN. I cannot drive through Camden - which I do quite often on my way to my aunt's cabin on Kentucky Lake - without stopping to get me a half-dozen bottles of my second-favorite BBQ sauce in the world (click here for my favorite).

Last night, I cooked a small pork roast with new potatoes, onions and peppers. While the meat - which I'd seasoned with a rub of cayenne, garlic salt, and Cavender's Greek Seasoning - was plenty flavorful by itself, it was absolutely mouth-watering when I added a couple o' squirts of Sauer's.

If you spy Sauer's BBQ sauce in a Nashville-area grocery store, drop me a line and tell me where. Joltin' Django will appreciate it.

Yesterday, Mr. Jimmy gave me a big container of his "Camp-Style Beenie Weenies." I heated 'em up and ate 'em tonight, and, Boy Howdy, what a meal ...!

Mr. Jimmy's bean-dish had big sausage chunks and lots o' onions it, and it came in a delicious red sauce. (It looked like ketchup; it tasted (kinda) like ketchup; but, brother, it wasn't ketchup!) Oh, and it had just -- and I mean just -- enough heat to get a feller's tongue tinglin'. (I needed more tongue-tinglin' so I added me some additional hot sauce.)

If Mr. Jimmy wants to be a peach of a feller, perhaps he'll give us his recipe for camp-style beans.

Re: Taste of Russia

After reading Gots to get over there, Mr. Mordecai reports:

Professor Django:

Indeed, I have already visited Taste of Russia with Mrs. Mordecai and Little Miss Mordecai. Alas, I was underwhelmed.

I've visited two Russian cities twice each, and have enjoyed a good bit of Russian eats.š Maybe I set the bar a bit high for Tennessee Russian food. Maybe it's because Kvaternyuk is ÕËÒÁÉÎÅÃ (a Ukrainian). Whatever the reason, I found the pelmeni too thick, with bland meat filling (though the pork was slightly more interesting than the beef... ain't that always the case?), and they were served only with sour cream, whereas mayonnaise, spicy mustard,šor melted butter would have been authentic additions.š And if that hole-in-the-wall in Moscow was the standard, there should have been a ratty-lookin' cat roaming around the place.

The piroshki were dry. The "meat" filling was almost grainy it was so dry, and the crust was baked, where fried would have been better (a real shock, I know). They reminded me of the piroshki I picked up at Aleksey's on Thompson Lane (where, incidentally, I once ran into the lead singer from Bering Strait). But the cabbage filing was pretty good. Sweet. Could have been cooked a tad less, but alright. Mrs. Mordecai ordered potato piroshki, and was more pleased than I was, whatever that's worth to you.

The borsch was good; nothing to criticize.š More beef than you'd find in a genuine Russki place in Russia, but that's a good thing. There are lots of versions of borsch, but the kind I had at Taste of Russia was the only kind I've ever had. Tasty... beetalicious. The brown bread served with the borsch was dead-on. Just like Aeroflot serves! That's a bad thing.

Two Russian food stories. In Vladivostok, our driver disappeared. He showed up a little later with beef piroshki and strawberry juice for everyone. I don't mean a strawberry-flavored drink, but little "juice boxes" of pureed/strained strawberries. The piroshki were fried dough stuffed with (what seemed like) minced McDonald's burgers with the onions. We had been warned DON'T EAT STREET FOOD but I did and it was frappin' delicious. No Stalin's Revenge, either.

Same town, different day: Our translator took us to a Chinese place named "KAFE." (Keep in mind this place was about eighty miles from the Chinese border.) She ordered for us. They brought us several mystery items with french fries instead of rice. I guess they figured Americans eat fries with every meal. Anyway, Mrs. Mordecai asked what one dish was, and Svetlana said "It's squash salad." I said, "That ain't squash!" It was squid salad, Korean-style with a nice sesame sauce. Methinks Svetlana confused her "squ-" words.

Cordially,

Mordecai

I'm lovin' THIS ...

I've been boycotting Hardee's ever since their "big burger" re-tool began (I'll explain at a later date.)

This ad has convinced me to end my boycott:



Wow. That's all I can say.

Oh, and I'm going to Hardee's tomorrow. I'll post a review soon.

Gonna make Viper-room for this in my pantry

Last week, a co-worker told me about a hot sauce I'd never seen nor heard of before, Mama Rose's Viper Venom Hot Sauce. He brought a bottle of Ma' Rose's Viper Venom to work today, from which he allowed me to take a generous sample, and I told him: "I gots to get me my very own bottle of this stuff!"

Viper Venom ain't the hottest hot sauce I've ever tasted, even though it has three different hot peppers in it (santack, jalapeño, and habañero). However, Viper Venom might just be the most flavorful hot sauce I've ever tasted, mainly 'cause its list of all-natural ingredients includes vinegar, water, chili powder, cilantro, salt, garlic, onion, cumin, and oregano.

As regular AMGE readers probably already know, I love chili powder and onions and cumin, and I just can't get enough garlic, vinegar and cilantro. Couple them ingredients with the peppers in Viper Venom hot sauce, and no wonder my knees almost buckled when I tasted the stuff.

Here's where you can order you some Viper Venom.

Happy Day Before Passover!

Sometime this week, I'm gonna make a big pot of matzo ball soup. Stay tuned for a recipe/picture.

In the meantime, check this out ...

Passover starts at sundown tomorrow and we've got you covered over at AOL Food. Check out our Matzo Ball 101 (the secret ingredient, as we reveal, is schmaltz -- more than a sentimental moment, it's literally chicken fat!) and oodles of other recipes including a delectable-lookin' merlot-drenched beef brisket. So take a gander before you hustle out the door to do your shopping tonight.

Gots to get over there ...

I missed the story in the Nashville City Paper 'bout Williamson County's newest -- first? -- authentic Russian restaurant:

Tucked in the back of an unassuming strip mall in Cool Springs, Taste of Russia may be Williamson County’s best kept culinary secret. But with an extensive selection of authentic dishes served at reasonable prices, this charming restaurant already has attracted a loyal following within the local dining scene.

"Everyone seems to like to try something new," said owner and chef Yuriy Kvaternyuk, who relocated from the Ukraine nearly seven years ago, bringing with him a culinary degree and a knack for Old World flavors. "We bring in the best ingredients to make the best dishes."

Three years ago, Kvaternyuk and his wife purchased Aleksey’s Market on Thompson Lane, a popular grocery/delicatessen specializing in foods from Russia and Eastern Europe. But he received so many requests from his customers regarding traditional dishes and recipes that he decided to open Taste of Russia in November.

Read the rest here.

Mr. Mordecai and I are gonna have to get over to Taste of Russia, soon.

Boneless bliss

Regular AMGE readers know how much I like country-style pork ribs. Yesterday, I purchased a big ol' package of boneless "country" ribs at Sam's Club. I think I might have a new favorite ...!

As far as I'm concerned, there ain't a better way for a feller to spend a Sunday than to cook a big dinner for family and friends. I did just that today. I made mashed potatoes and homemade gravy, scratch-made macaroni 'n' cheese, and a big pot o' green beans. And I cooked-up my boneless ribs, like this:

First, I made a barbeque sauce. I put about four and a half cups of Hunt's ketchup in a saucepan. (Hunt's is preferable for bbq sauce because it's sweeter than most ketchups.) I added two cups of cider vinegar, a tablespoon of black pepper and a tablespoon of red pepper flakes, and small pinches of onion powder and garlic powder. I brought it all to a boil, covered the pan, and slow-simmered it for about an hour.

After that, I seasoned my boneless pork ribs on both sides with salt and pepper. I put 'em in my Crock-Pot®, covered 'em with sauce, and turned 'em several times to make sure they were well-coated. I put my Pot on "low" and just let it be for four hours.

My ribs were fork-tender when they finished cooking. You shoulda been here!