Wingin' It

In Atlanta you can find a variety of chicken wings at places like Wild Wing Cafe, Taco Mac, Hooters, and the best of the ghetto, J.R. Crickets (holla!). The wings found at most restaurants are deep fried, and while that generates absolutely NO complaints on my end, it's fun to do you own wings at home using your grill. The grill method eliminates any large pots of gurgling hot oil so you can (somewhat) safely enjoy a few beers and not worry too much about burning down your house at the same time.


As you can see in my picture above, I like to have a mound of hot coals in the middle of the grill and then place the wings around the outside of the main heat source in a ring. This allows me to slowly grill a couple dozen wings (or more) over indirect heat while avoiding any flare ups. The fat renders out of the skin and crisps up wonderfully. You'll never know they weren't fried aside from the fact that they will have great smokey, grilled flavor. I've managed to squeeze in 32 wings in this grilling venture.

After they come off the grill, you'll need to apply your favorite wing sauce. I make a mixture of regular Texas Pete and melted butter, maybe with a few herbs mixed in. Texas Pete has a great balance of heat and flavor. Wings should be spicy but not overpowering. I'm not into the "I have bigger balls just because I like hotter wing sauce than you" - that's crap. I want taste, not mouth numbing heat! Here I have a mix of about 1 part butter and 3 parts hot sauce with a pinch of dried thyme added in. Toss the wings and sauce in a large bowl and you're good to go.

Add in a cheap American lager and you've got yourself a night in front of the TV. Enjoy!

Dining in Brevard, North Carolina

So it's been a while since my last post. Most of that is because I've been in Brevard, NC the past couple of weeks working at the site of the now defunct Ecusta Paper Mill. It is a very large project and the environmental cleanup and demolition that is going on is quite extensive. While I was there I was able to eat at a few restaurants of course, so here are a few short reviews of some local fare. Good or bad, I will preface these reviews by saying I only visited these places once or twice during my stay.

Jordan's Street Cafe
Jordan's was probably where I had my best meal. We stopped here for dinner one night and I was impressed with the food and the bottled beer selection. I had a pan roasted chicken breast sitting on top of a bed of kale and broccoli rabe ravioli. The seasoning was spot on and the chicken was moist and crisp. I had a Dogfish Head 90 minute IPA to accompany my meal... maybe a bit hoppy when sidled up to a chicken breast but I'm not complaining - the 90 minute IPA is killer.

Stars: 3.5 out of 5

The Falls Landing
Another restaurant with a decent beer selection. I had local trout topped with candied pecans, and served with blue cheese mashed potatoes and green beans. Being so close to Asheville, I was pleased to see a couple of local brews on tap from Highland Brewing Company. I opted for the Gaelic Ale which was a good match with my dinner. The fish was OK, it was maybe a little too sweet with the candied pecans but it was certainly edible. Nice bartender and the chef was accommodating.

Stars: 2.5 out of 5

Poppies Gourmet Farmer's Market
This place is an absolutely WONDERFUL little store nestled along Asheville Highway. They close shop at 7 PM so dinner is an option for the early-ish birds, but the lunch I had was killer. The lunches here consist of custom made sandwiches, hot entree specials like beef stew over noodles, and personal pizzas cooked in the stone oven. Everything here is upscale, crunchy-granola organic and super tasty. From the looks of things they try very hard to source everything locally. They also have a very large beer selection that would make most liquor stores in the Atlanta area blush. If you're looking for a great lunch for a fair price, stop here.

Stars: 3.5 out of 5

Twin Dragons Grand Buffet
Yep, it's a Chinese Buffet. Surprisingly the food here is pretty good and the selection is incredible. Items range from the typical Chinese-American dishes, soups, to cheese quesadillas (for the kids or for the timid), custom stir fry where you pick the ingredients and they cook, salt and pepper frogs legs, sushi, and even a nice dessert bar complete with it's own self serve ice cream. I mostly stuck with sushi which was by no means the best I've ever had, but it was always fresh and tasty. There were sides of kimchi and seaweed salad too which was nice. Perhaps the best attraction to this place aside from the friendly service is the price. Lunch was about $8 and dinner was $9.50. For all you can eat sushi, I'm in.

Stars: 2.5 out of 5

The Clock of Brevard Fine Food
Funny name, great fried chicken. This was a lunch stop for us one day. The fried chicken was great. No heavy breading, just a light coating that is fried to a crunchy, crispy crust. Served with a side salad, cole slaw, fries, and a buttery toasted piece of bread, it was a good lunch. The sweet tea was surprisingly good here too. I was pleased that it lacked the sickening, super-sweetness that some sweet teas have.

Stars: 2 out of 5

Ed Boudreaux's Bar-B-Que
The better of the two BBQ places I visited while there but that doesn't mean it's anything extraordinary. I opted for the beef brisket which arrived shredded rather than sliced. I'm not a brisket expert, but I'd rather have mine sliced with a nice fat layer on top. Instead this one arrived dry with no evident smoke ring at all. Perhaps the best part about this place was the TV trivia we enjoyed with some co-workers and friends... that or the few pints of Lagunitas IPA I had.

Stars: 1.5 out of 5

Pisgah Fish Camp
We stopped here for lunch and dinner on two separate occasions. The atmosphere is kind of dismal but at least the service was nice. For lunch I had the buffet which on this particular day consisted of calabash shrimp and various sides. Not great, but dinner a few days later was better. For dinner I had the local trout entree which was actually pretty good. The trout itself rivaled the trout I had at The Falls Landing. I opted for the baked potato and something else (can't remember) as a side. Good stop if you're looking for something quick. I'm knocking a half star off of this due to the cafeteria/retirement home atmosphere.

Stars: 1 out of 5

Hawg Wild Bar-B-Que
Not my favorite BBQ in the world but then again, as with all these places it's hard to fairly judge them after just one visit. I had the pork BBQ plate with the Eastern BBQ sauce. The pork was kind of dry and had no discernible smokiness. The Eastern NC BBQ sauce is usually a tangy, tart, vinegar based sauce with the typical sugar and spices that one would expect in this neck of the woods. This one however was dull and watery. No surprise considering the first ingredient in the sauce was literally water. If you're looking for good BBQ pork, keep searching.

Stars 1.5 out of 5

Ingles
This Ingles is indeed the Southeast grocery store chain that we all know of... you know, the Ingles Advantage. Walking into this store, I was immediately impressed: clean, fresh, good selection of produce and meats - everything you want in a grocery store. I stopped here one night for a sandwich and a salad while my co-worker opted for leftovers from the night before. I was more than impressed with the salad bar and my sandwich was pretty good too. This grocery store was better than some of the restaurants! If you're in need of a quick, late night sandwich while in Brevard, look no further than here.

Stars: 2 out of 5

Sagebrush Steakhouse
It's a chain. It wasn't good. Don't go here unless you want a sodium-induced coma the next morning. This place makes Applebee's look like the Ritz. My meal was likely prepared by a high school student. I had the prime rib with smashed new potatoes and a salad. The prime rib was mealy and had a weird beefy shellac on the outside crust. The potatoes were OK but the salad had an inedible mildewy mustiness that only pre-bagged, far out of date lettuce can have. I would have sent it back at any other restaurant (and I usually don't send things back unless something is really wrong) but I know it would have done no good.

Stars: 0 out of 5

Flat Iron Tacos

Liv was working late last night so I cooked dinner for myself: grilled flat iron steak tacos. The flat iron cut is FULL of beefy flavor but it's also very cheap so it works great as a fajita or taco meat. Sliced thin, it's as good as it gets.

Here are a couple pictures of my Tex-Mex dinner for one: flour tortillas, Mexican crema, some pre-mixed shredded cheese, and some grilled onions and tomato. OK, I'll admit the rice on the side was from one of those little bags, but given the few beers I had in me I wasn't willing to make much from scratch!

ESB

It's not Extra Special Bitter, Extra Strong Bitter, or Extra Special Brew, this one is Early Spring Beer. Turns out beer companies like acronyms... who knew? Anyway, this is the latest seasonal offering from Sierra Nevada: ESB 2009 edition. It's not quite early Spring just yet but I'm not complaining - it's good! Nice hops, nice malt, nice color, 5.9% ABV. As with most Sierra Nevada brews this one has pronounced hop flavor. As a self-proclaimed hop head, that's not a bad thing in my book. In fact, I would go as far as saying this one almost tastes like an IPA (there's that acronym thing again) but this one is a little heavier on the malt than an IPA. So if you want a nice late winter or early spring beer, check out your local grocery or liquor store. This is a seasonal brew so it won't be around forever.

P.S. For future reference, I won't just post any old beer up here. If it makes the blog it's worth checking out. Enjoy!

Cast Iron Grilling

Here's my new grill toy: it's a cast iron grill grate made by Lodge. I've been wanting this for quite a while now but I finally gathered up the $30 needed to buy it. In other words, it's fairly cheap to purchase but I've just been lazy and haven't clicked the few buttons on Amazon.com so they could send me one. You might ask, What's so good about cast iron? My grill works fine just as it is. You're right. This item isn't a necessity and that's partly why it took me so long to order it to begin with. Your grill probably works fine, as did mine, but what if you could help it work a little better?

Some higher end grills already come with cast iron grates. Some of them even come with enameled cast iron grates but sadly, my Weber charcoal grill does not - one of the very few pet peeves I have about Weber charcoal grills.

Whether it is a cast iron pan on the stove top or a grill grate like this one, cast iron heats up relatively slowly and evenly but it also holds on to that heat once food has been placed onto it. The advantage is that compared to a thin, wiry grill grate, (like the kind that comes with Weber charcoal grills) food placed on one of these thick cast iron grates will not cool off the metal as quickly. A deeper, darker sear is attained much more easily because the grate says hotter longer.

For our Super Bowl Sunday dinner I grilled a steak. As is evident from these pictures, our super-thick ribeye has dark, smokey, crispy grill marks. Yum! I can easily say that it was the best steak I've cooked on this grill.


The picture above is taken after just one turn so you can clearly see the grill marks made by the cast iron. The steak turned out great; a crisp salty-peppery crust.


Because this ribeye was so thick I only cooked one and sliced it. Served with it is an endive, mushroom, and sweet pea melange that I saw on Jacques Pepin: Fast Food My Way, and a simple baked sweet potato with butter.

Scraps the Fox

If I do say so myself, here are a couple great shots of our resident red fox that we have lovingly nicknamed Scraps. She (or he) has been visiting our backyard for the past year or so. She is a beauty and I'm really happy that she comes to visit every now and then. We think it is a female because neighbors have spotted her with a couple other foxes, possibly her kits.

Last summer, Scraps appeared rather regularly, every other day or so, whenever I happened to leave her a tasty squirrel. I got into the habit of laying the "dispatched" squirrels at the back of our yard near a large oak tree (in the right of the picture), sharing in the bounty. Scraps would come by, grab the squirrel, then trot off to areas unknown. Our hope was that she was feeding her young and, again, based on the reports from neighbors, she may have been doing just that. Enjoy the pictures!

Squirrels & Beer

There comes a time when each blogger comes into harmony with the title of his or her said blog... Today is that day. Below you will see the remnants of squirrel #69. That's right, I ate one.



If you can't tell from the pictures, I only used the legs. The squirrels are so small that actually breaking down the animal is rather difficult. Especially when your butchery is regulated to the backyard patio and a plastic cutting board. I've had this guy in the freezer for about 6 weeks or so until I gathered up the gumption to actually defrost it and cook it. Part of my encouragement came from a New York Times article on squirrel cookery in Great Britain. Turns out that squirrels are being served on restaurant tables all over the country and people are loving it. You can read the article for more interesting and useful squirrel cookery information.

I cooked this squirrel in a very simple braise of carrots, onion, celery, garlic, and herbs. The braising liquid was of course... beer (and a little water). I used a Redhook Winter Hook brew with plenty of good flavor. The squirrel was pretty damn good - not at all gamey or musky. While avoiding the "it tastes like chicken" cliche, if I were to compare it to other meats I've had in the past, I would say it is most similar to rabbit with a hint of squirrel, I guess! So next time you're in the mood for something different, stop on by our house. I'll try to keep a squirrel or 2 in the freezer for some drop-in dinner guests.

Throw Dinner in the Fire

Here's a fun idea for all you kids: cook your dinner in the fireplace! While the idea might sound kind of silly, it's not much different than cooking over a wood fired grill. This technique was first brought to my attention by my good friend The Caveman. Only joking. Seriously though, the fireplace is a perfectly acceptable place to cook your dinner provided you have the right equipment... like a fireplace. Instead of just dropping food directly on the fire I used a nice cast iron grilling grate that I bought a couple weeks ago Amazon.com (more on that grilling grate in later posts).

Step one was to prep the vegetables. I wrapped some medium sized carrots and radishes in a foil packet which would later steam/roast in the fire. The foil obviously protects the veggies from absolute annihilation in the heat of the fire and keeps those dirty ashes off your prized produce. You can season your veggies any way you want but I sprinkled in some thyme, olive oil, a squeeze of fresh orange, and salt & pepper.

Step two is to arrange the logs off to one side of the fireplace. It helps if you've given the fire ample time to burn to create a nice bed of hot coals. This fire was burning for about 6 hours before I started cooking. It's hard to see here because of the camera flash but believe me, there's plenty of heat going on. The cast iron grilling grate fits PERFECTLY on top of my fireplace grate which was a nice surprise considering I was doing this on the fly. Anyway, I would suggest keeping a fire going on one side of the fireplace. Obviously it generates additional heat and coals during the cooking process, but after you're done cooking you probably want to spread the fire back over the entire fireplace again to help burn off any grease.

Step three, cook that chicken. Below is the main course: a Poulet Rouge chicken from Harry's. This particular chicken is from a farm in North Carolina. As far as I know the farm supplies all the Whole Foods stores in the Atlanta area. They are quite different from your usual supermarket chicken. To achieve the Label Rouge status they have to be a slow growing breed, and have to be a minimum of 81 days old, among other parameters. Check out the website above for more info. The meat is more firm and has a distinct, chickeny flavor that is a far cry from the boneless skinless breasts from Tyson or Perdue.

The final result is below after about 45 minutes over the fire. Even if you don't cook your entire dinner over the fire, you can still have a little fun and toss in some foil wrapped sweet potatoes or other veggies.

Jamie at Home

For those who are still sleeping at 7:30 on Saturday mornings, you're missing out on a great Food Network show. No, I'm not talking about "garbage bowl" Rachael Ray or the soft porn that is Sandra Lee, I'm talking about Jamie at Home with Jamie Oliver. OK I'll admit, the show is on real early for a Saturday and I'm usually sleeping too (unless an unlucky squirrel catches my eye - kill count now 72) but my DVR is a great friend and records it for me.

The show is a real gem. Jamie bases each episode on a particular ingredient and develops 3 or 4 or 5 dishes based on that ingredient. The dishes are often simple to prepare but the inspiration is based on seasonal produce, much of which comes directly from his home garden. For those who aren't willing to get up that early on a Saturday and don't have a DVR never fear, there's now a cookbook to go along with the TV series. I got mine from Mom as a Christmas present. Thanks Mom! The book is full of gardening tips, good recipes and lots of colored glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explainin' what each one was... just kidding, Arlo!

So enjoy the show or grab the book but take a lesson from Jamie: some of the best cooking is often a combination of seasonal ingredients and simple preparation, all treated with respect.

Sweetbreads

Organs. Offal. Variety meat. Whatever you want to call them, I find them delicious. Just ask Peyton, he made it a part of his Best Man speech at my wedding. I think it's unfortunate that others don't have the guts... hmm... I mean desire to try some of these items. They are not necessarily offensive tasting or gross to look at, OK some are gross to look at, but they are part of animals that we eat everyday.

The American food culture has weaned us off of these tasty and frankly very nutritious meats and replaced them with boneless skinless chicken breast, ground beef, and supermarket pork chops. Don't get me wrong, every food item has a place where it can shine, but I think people should venture out of their comfort zone a little and try something new. It won't hurt you, you might even like it! After all what's more gross: eating hot dogs (by the way when they say "All Beef Franks" on the package, that mostly means ground up and re-formed bull penis) or eating something like... sweetbreads!

Why are they called sweetbreads? Because if you saw them on a menu called pancreas and/or thymus gland then people would probably throw up a bit in their mouths. Here's my most recent journey cooking and enjoying this tasty offal. Maybe I'll inspire a few folks to try something new?! If so, you can follow my steps below for a real treat.

Step 1: Remove the sweetbreads from the package and give them a quick rinse under cold water. This is the step where most people will freak out a little. They are kind of soft and gooey and don't exactly look appetizing.



Step 2: This step is entirely optional, but it helps remove some of the blood in the organ itself which helps with presentation. Soak the sweetbreads in cold, acidulated (lemon or vinegar added) water for about 1.5 to 2 hours changing the water a few times.

Step 3: Take the sweetbreads out of their soaking liquid and add them to a sauce pot containing clean water with the juice of one lemon and bring them to a simmer over medium heat. When the water begins to simmer cook them for 2 to 5 more mintues depending on their size. After the required time, remove them from the pot and plunge them into ice cold water. This stops the cooking process. Allow them to cool for a few mintues in the water.

This is the sweetbreads in the ice cold water after simmering.



Step 4: We're finally done with all the water and all the pots! Now remove the sweetbreads from the chilled water and remove any fat, connective tissue, veins, sinew etc. that is on the surface of the sweetbreads. I've never had any significant problems with this, I think the sweetbreads I buy are already fairly well cleaned.

Place the sweetbreads on a plate lined with a thick wad of paper towels or a kitchen towel. Place another plate on top and then place a weight on top of that to press the sweetbreads (canned goods work well here). This step removes some of the water and firms the sweetbreads. It is also optional but without this step you will end up with a more spongy, less desirable (in my opinion) texture. Put them into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.



Step 5: Cook! This is where you can get creative. Sweetbreads are very versatile and can be cooked via several applications. Common methods are to fry them, saute them, grill them, or braise them. I find that when sauteed over high heat with butter or bacon fat, they are superb. I like the thin, brown crispy exterior contrasting with the creamy interior. Grilling would also work nicely. With mine, I dusted them in flour and sauteed them in butter.



Step 6: Enjoy! Now I'm not the best at presentation, so bear with me here, but I served the sweetbreads for our Saturday lunch over a mixed greens salad with grape tomatoes (most of the tomatoes are hiding) dressed with extra virgin olive oil, a balsamic vinegar reduction, and salt & pepper. On the side is a sliced bosc pear and a couple slices of toasted and buttered baguette. Hey, Olivia ate it so it can't be that gross...

Heritage Turkey for Thanksgiving

Me in the AJC!

Bourbon Red Turkeys

Photos by Jamie Gumbrecht

This year for Thanksgiving we got an extra special bird. We bought a heritage breed turkey from Tim & Liz Young of Nature's Harmony Farm in Elberton, Georgia. If you don't know what a heritage breed turkey is, search for it in Google - there's plenty of info out there. Tim and Liz are new to the farming scene but they are most certainly doing great things. I won't simply repeat all the newspaper info, but if you're interested in reading more about these guys, visit their website above or check out this AJC article here.

Finally... Beer!

Never mind the scary looking thing on the bottom left, it's just a beet trying to steal a taste.

So I've been going a little overboard on the squirrels and I've been ignoring the obvious: beer. The title of the blog is Squirrels & Beer after all, and I do drink gallons of the stuff each week...

My first beer blog is about Terrapin's latest "Side Project" beer called Gamma Ray. Terrapin is by far my favorite local brewery out of Athens. Sweetwater gets lots of fame and larger distribution, but Terrapin has bigger balls! Take this beer for example: Terrapin has been brewing a series of what they call "Side Project" beers. These are limited release, hand bottled, one-time, small batch brews. Once they're gone, they're gone. This one is aptly named Gamma Ray because this stuff shoots right through your system at 11% abv (alcohol by volume). Other beers with that high an alcohol percentage are big, heavy brews that take a while to get through. Surprisingly though, while no sissy light beer, it is quite drinkable and quickly sneaks up on you! It is a wheat wine style which I had never heard of. If you've ever had a barley wine style beer, this one is similar in body but has the soft amber color and taste of a wheat beer. Oh, and they added 700 lbs of tupelo and sourwood honey from the Savannah Bee Company to the tank so it's got a nice, but not overpowering sweet honey flavor. It has all the usual wheat beer flavors coming through; banana and citrus are the most prominent that my palate detects... and of course the honey. So if you're looking for a nice sipping beer go by your nearest liquor store and grab a bottle or 2. This one will not dissappoint!