For the Love of Barbecue

Thankfully the reason I traveled back to the east coast when I visited in July was for a different reason than the last time in April.  To get back as quickly as possible, I took the red eye as to not waste any time traveling the whole day.  I landed at 6 am east coast time bleary-eyed and still a little cracked out on Tylenol PM, but I was glad to get back in NC.  My sister text me to let me know they were up and ready for us with coffee and biscuits with sausage gravy.  We arrived at 7:30 am and sat down to the start of the 4^th of July weekend with family.  Promptly after breakfast and a cup of coffee I declared I needed to lie down since I was unable to sleep on the plane despite taking the Tylenol PM.  I slept for four hours. 

Usually my father’s side of the family gets together each July for the yearly family reunion.  We missed last year’s reunion since we were moving to Portland and it’s one that I won’t forgive myself for missing.  I could’ve hugged my aunt Kay one last time before she passed away suddenly this past April.  I knew I didn’t want to miss this one.  Normally, we hold it at the family farm in East Tennessee, but it was decided we would do it differently this year and would hold it in NC.  My cousins came in from Georgia and Alabama, and my aunt and uncle came in from Tennessee, dividing themselves among my sister, dad and nephew’s homes for the weekend.  Friday night was barbecue at my nephew’s house, which was a request I had made far in advance to acquiesce my need for North Carolina cue’.  Two different styles of Boston butts were prepared: one on the smoker and the other on the grill, both of which were doused in the heat-laden vinegar sauce of the East.  Two slaws were prepared, one red and one white, as well as a side of baked beans, which I didn’t eat.  After my red-eye fog had lifted, my sister and I had made a heaping portion of Krispy Kreme bread pudding to feed the barbecue stuffed crowd.  Since living in the barbecue barren land of the west, I only had a few days to satisfy my overwhelming need for real barbecue. 

I spent the next few days seeing as many friends and family as possible, but there is never enough time.  The next few days flew by and before I knew it was time to head back to Oregon.  On the way back to airport I stopped in at the Charlotte institution the BBQ King.  In all the years that I lived in the area I am embarrassed to say that I had never eaten at this long running, iconic Charlotte establishment.  BBQ King is famous for their barbecue (hence the name) and also their fried chicken dipped in barbecue sauce.  The “King” has been around since 1959 and not much has changed since.  If you want to “eat in” the restaurant, it is curbside only, or you can place your order inside and take it away.  Choosing from the menu wasn’t terribly hard, since I knew I needed to try to barbecue and the chicken.  There are several typical sandwiches and burgers on the menu, but when one eats at a place you should always go with the namesake dish.  I made eye contact with the carhop who said he would be right over.  The carhop, an older gentleman, limped over to my rental to take my order.  I settled on the barbecue combo, which includes barbecue and chicken.  Would you like white meat or dark meat he asked?  What would do you think?  He said to order the white meat, and I dutifully took his advice.  Since there was no Cheerwine on the menu I settled on ordering lemonade.  He proclaimed that I ordered an awful lot of food to eat for such a little thing, to which I replied that he might be surprised by how much I can eat.  Are you telling me that big things come in small packages?  I laughed and said you got it.  Minutes later he brought my food on a tray.  The first bites were some of the best I had all trip.  The chicken was still hot and crispy, even after being dunked in sauce and the barbecue was smoky goodness with a smattering of Western style sauce on top.  Along with the protein there were two dense little golf ball sized hushpuppies, a small container of white slaw with a pickle on top and a hand full of French fries.  Since I hadn’t eaten breakfast and by the this time it was way past my typical lunchtime, I devoured almost all of my barbecue along with a wing and breast of fried chicken, both hushpuppies and half the fries and slaw.  I told him he might be surprised.  I washed my salty lunch down with the lemonade, put the tray on the curbside ordering stand and backed out to head to the airport.  The carhop and I waved to each other as I pulled out of the parking lot.  I didn’t get a chance to talk to him before I left but I think he would have been proud. 

It's So Hard to Say Goodbye

Normally, I write about food, wine and travel, but not this time.  This time, I feel compelled to write about the trip I took to bury my aunt who died suddenly three weeks ago.

I received a text from my oldest sister that said "I need you to call me." I knew someone was dead, but I didn't know who.  I called her immediately and she shared the unfortunate news of my aunt's untimely passing early on a Tuesday morning.  Reeling from the news, my thoughts turned to my cousin Ben and cried even harder thinking of how he was going to deal with this.  As my aunt's only child, she and Ben had always been extremely close and in later years he had become her caretaker, checking in on her from afar.  I knew he was going to be devastated from her sudden loss, especially since they had just been in Las Vegas celebrating her 64th birthday days before she died.  I called him and couldn't get him so I just left a weepy message on his voicemail saying that I loved him and was so sorry.  That night I had planned to see friends who were in town during the Craft Brewer's Conference in Portland.  I couldn't muster the energy to be with friends, so my husband suggested we go to dinner at the Woodsman Tavern that evening to make me feel better.  He knew that this was the only thing that might help me feel better since after dining there last summer after we moved to town I proudly proclaimed the Woodsman to be my happy place.  The menu is small and simple, serving expertly executed American classics like deviled eggs, fried chicken served in a bucket, and a riff on a Big Mac cheeseburger that will haunt your dreams.  During that first visit we devoured our cheeseburgers and perfect fries served with Sriracha and mayonnaise and drank down bourbon, all the while old school country music played in the dining room. 

It had been years since I had been to Knoxville and unfortunately the time before was for my Nana's funeral, my mom's Mom.  I booked my ticket as soon as I could for my journey to Tennessee.  I wanted and needed to be with my family during this time of grief.  I left Portland Thursday and got into Knoxville airport at midnight.  My sister and brother-in-law were waiting to pick me up at the small airport to then head on to the hotel we were staying at in Oak Ridge together.  I couldn't sleep when I got into to the hotel even though I was exhausted from the travel and a little buzzed from the alcohol I had consumed on the plane to try to numb the pain I was feeling.  I felt guilty about missing the family reunion last July.  We hadn't missed it in years and missed it this time to make the move to Oregon.  Each July my dad's side of the family gets together to share a meal at my grandmother's house in Greeneville, Tennessee or picnic at Horse Creek Park down the road.  This tradition has been going on for years now, and really has become the only time everyone can commit to seeing each other.  The periods of time in between seeing family on my dad's side seems to have gotten longer and longer as the years have gone on, each time making it a little more difficult to talk with people you share the same blood with.

I've always loved my aunt Kay and I've always loved Ben, even though we didn't get to see each other that often growing up.  I hadn't seen him in years and finally got to see him Friday night at the funeral home.  We embraced and after we let go, he introduced me to his new partner Jonathan.  I am glad I finally got to meet this new guy that makes him so happy and it comforted me to know that he has someone that will help him get through the most difficult time of his life.  He's so unbelievably strong and put together that he was able to eulogize his mom during the service that evening.  That night Kay's former coworkers provided a meal for us from one of her favorite spots in Knoxville: Calhoun's Barbecue.  We sat in the break room of EdFinancial services eating barbecue and Ben commenting on whenever he would ask Kay where she wanted to go she would always just want to get takeout from Calhoun's.  After dinner, we met at Outback Steakhouse in Oak Ridge for beers and fellowship with my other cousins, Ben too exhausted to join us.  The burial was Saturday at Oak Ridge Memorial Park at 11:00 am.  It was sunny and warm that day.  All of the immediate family were in attendance for the burial.  We greeted each other without hugs, all of us quiet and solemn.  It seemed more real than the evening before at the funeral home, even seeing her lying there in the open casket.  We all huddled in around the burial tent, most choosing to stand and no one moving to sit in the chairs closest to casket.  The preacher had us bow our heads to pray, trying to speak loud enough for everyone to hear over the passing highway traffic.  Afterwards, I hugged Ben tight not wanting to let go, letting him sob into my shoulder.  How will he move on from this?  That evening my sisters, brother-in-law, and I met at Kay's favorite watering hole to toast her life.  She would have liked that.  Ben joined us later for one more drink at the Copper Cellar, leaving a weary Jonathan behind at Kay's condo to briefly catch up with us before we all went our separate ways again. 

I know it's cliche to say this, but I'm going to say it anyway: hold the ones you love dear, and don't take it for granted that you'll get to see them soon.  You may not.  Tell them you love them and forgive them for mistakes or things they've said.  I didn't get to say goodbye to my aunt because I thought I would see her again.   I left not knowing the next time I would see my family again but in my heart I hoped it would be soon. 

Home for the Holidays

My heart is full.  I am so happy that over the nine days I was home for the holidays I was able to see so many friends and family, that my heart fills so utterly and completely full that it may burst.  In fact, this may go down as one of the best Christmas holidays I think we’ve had in a long time.  After spending time with family for the first half of the trip, we then booked it back to Greenville for a few days to see friends.  The order of the day was to catch up with as many people as possible during happy hours, dinners, and lunches.  It is almost impossible to see everyone, but I will say we came pretty close.  We drank loads of Rosé Champagne with close friends and burned pieces of paper with our wishes written on them to ring in the New Year.  On New Year's day, we got to enjoy a traditional Southern New Year’s Day lunch of black eyed peas, collard greens, cornbread, and braised pork shoulder.  Not only is this meal a longstanding tradition in the South dating back to the Civil War era, but also a tradition we celebrate among friends and have done so the last four years.  We put our best foot forward each New Year's day, each of us vowing to do better than we had in the previous year, and also hoping that by consuming this traditional meal it will actually bring us good luck and money. 

As far back as I can remember growing up my mother made sure that each New Year's Day we ate our traditional meal of pork with Hoppin' John and the addition of either spinach or mustard greens.  We didn't eat the Southern green of choice, collard greens, since she didn't like them and she was the person cooking.  It wasn't until I was well into my 20's that I realized that I actually liked collard greens.  According to Southern lore the pork and peas are for luck and the greens are for money and prosperity in the New Year.  I've also read that the peas are representative of coins, but either way, eating this meal is meant to bring you luck and money.  It wasn't until last year that I actually made Hoppin' John for the first time.  Hoppin' John is a heritage dish with roots in the Low Country of South Carolina.  Like many dishes in this area and the rest of the South the roots run further to the origin of West Africa.

On a weekend visit to Charleston, SC we stopped by the farmer's market, where I found an heirloom variety of peas called Sea Island Red Peas and and an heirloom variety of rice called Carolina Gold from Anson Mills.  According to Anson Mills Carolina Gold rice is:

"The grandfather of long-grain rice in the Americas, Carolina Gold is a delicate non-aromatic rice with rich chameleon properties that allow it to produce fluffy, individual grains; creamy risotto; or sticky Asian-style rice, depending on how it is cooked.  Exclusively new crop and milled to emulate fresh, hand-pounded rice, Anson Mills Carolina Gold rice has a clean, sweet flavor and mouthfeel superior to modern long-grain rice." 

Southern Chef Sean Brock of Husk and McCrady's fame has been using Carolina Gold rice and other Anson Mills products for years now.  And rightfully so, you can taste the difference in using quality ingredients such as these in the final product.  Once we got home, I trolled the internet for Sea Island Red pea recipes and I came across the delicious one below from Anson Mills website.  It's a great recipe that can be made anytime of the year, but particularly on New Year's day.  Serve with collard greens and cornbread, and you've got yourself a wonderful meal.  

New Year's Day Hoppin' John (recipe slightly adapted from Anson Mills)

Serves 4-6 people

• 1 quart Chicken Stock 

• 1 cup Sea Island Red Peas or Black Eyed Peas, covered with water, soaked overnight, and then drained

• 2-3 slices of bacon or 1 ham hock

• 1/2 yellow onion

• 1/2 carrot, peeled

• 2 garlic cloves, peeled

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 tsp Curry powder

• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

• Kosher salt to taste

1. Bring the stock to a simmer over medium-high heat in heavy-bottomed 3-quart saucepan. Stir in the soaked and drained peas, the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, bay leaf, bacon and curry powder. Return the liquid to a simmer, and then reduce the heat to low. Cover the pan partially and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the peas are tender, 1 to 1¼ hours.
   
   
2. Remove and discard the vegetables and bay leaf. Season with the red pepper flakes and salt to taste. Remove ¼ cup or so of peas and broth and puree them in a blender or food processor or with a burr mixer. Return the puree to the pot with the peas. (Alternatively, you can mash the peas directly in the pan with a potato masher or fork.) If the gravy is too thick, thin it with a bit of water. Cook just until heated through. Taste for seasoning and serve hot over long-grain rice (Carolina Gold if you can find it) or  Simple Buttered Carolina Gold Rice Grits.

Ashley Christensen's "Luck and Money" dish of peas and greens at Poole's Diner Raleigh, NC.  Photo taken from Garden & Gun

I have my own resolutions and wishes for the New Year.  I want to explore the wonderland of the Pacific Northwest, I want to focus on my fitness, and I want to do the things that make me happy like cooking, writing, and spending time with friends and family.  Here's a toast for the New Year: I wish everyone happiness, health, and wealth in 2015.  May the New Year give you the courage to try new things in your life, face your challenges head on, and may your hopes and dreams come true.

Salud!

Southeast x Northwest

It's hard to believe that it's almost time for Christmas.  As cliché as it sounds the time has blown by since we moved to Oregon this summer.  I have been meaning to write for some time now but have lacked the inspiration to do so, despite that I am living in a new place.  It has been nearly six months since we moved out West, and it has given me some time to reflect.  There are many things I miss about living in the South: the manners, the food, but most of all I miss the people.  In Portland, people don't look you in the eyes as you pass by them on the street, and they most certainly don't say hello.  If they do, you can bet they're from somewhere else.  I've gone through periods of thinking perhaps we'd just go back home as if it never happened and pick up where we left off.  I've been sad a lot, and not because of S.A.D (seasonal affective disorder) but because I sincerely miss having old friends and family close by.  I'm okay now, and I am happy that we did it.  Now, I will never have that nagging feeling of never giving it a try.  We did it; we picked up and moved all the way across the country away from friends and family.

I never thought I would be a South Carolinian, but then I became one in early summer 2007.  I resisted at first, thinking all sorts of judgmental thoughts people from the Old North State have about their neighbors to the South.  I settled in slowly at first but after many years I became ingrained in a community I had once prejudged.  By the time of our big move rolled around this summer I was very sad about saying goodbye to friends we made, and questioned whether this was the going to be the best for us.  We soldiered ahead anyway and day-by-day made our way West with most of our belongings and two cats in tow.  It's been challenging getting used to all of the quirks of Pacific Northwesterners and other transplants like me who inhabit the city of Portland.  It is also challenging getting used to a new place without my husband, who has been traveling almost non-stop since our move.  While he is here we try to take advantage of what the city has to offer, namely the dining. 

Since living out here I've run into people from North and South Carolina countless times while working at Winderlea.  Some people are just visiting and others picked up and moved here for a different way of life.  I've also noticed how many North and South Carolinians there are in the wine business in Oregon, as well as the number of chefs in Portland who hail from these two states.  Six time James Beard Finalist Chef Cathy Whims of Nostrana is from Chapel Hill, NC.  This restaurant has quickly become one of my favorite places to eat in the city, not because of where she's from but because the food is simply amazing.  The wood fired pizzas are fantastic, but what draws me in each visit is her simple, sinful preparations of pasta.  On my last visit, my friend Russell enjoyed the Dungeness crab pizza (which are now in season) and I enjoyed goat-cheese stuffed pappardelle with sage butter sauce and prosciutto.  The time before that, my husband and I split the iconic Nostrana salad made of radicchio, Caesar-style dressing, parmigiano, and rosemary sage croutons and a pasta dish of fettuccine noodles, pork meatballs tossed in a garlic cream sauce.  After lunch was over I promptly went home and took a nap.  Upon doing research I also found another famous Portland Chef John Gorham of Tasty N Sons and Toro Bravo lived in North Carolina at some point too.  Another Carolina connection was made once this summer while having a beer at Bunk Bar on one of my days off.  We met one of the owners Matt Brown, who grew up outside of Fayetteville, North Carolina.  The whole conversation started because I had on an ECU t-shirt on that says "Pirates Have More Fun" and he asked if that was in fact referencing the East Carolina Pirates.  We indeed said yes, and he bought our next round of beers, even though he went to NC State.

The McIsley Chicken Biscuit

Another one of my favorite spots in the city, Pine State Biscuits, is also owned by a trio of guys from North Carolina.  This wildly popular breakfast spot has three locations in Portland, none of which are ever without a line out the door.  They serve lunch and dinner as well, but we have only been for breakfast.  The first time we went I had a sausage biscuit with gravy and a Cheerwine, North Carolina's finest cherry flavored soda.  The next time I had their fried chicken biscuit topped with pickles, honey and grainy mustard, and of course to drink a Cheerwine.  The food is good enough to bring a tear to the homesick girls eye. In fact I was feeling particularly homesick the morning of our second visit and I cried in Pine State Biscuits.  That's right, I actually became weepy in a restaurant because it made me think of the South I had been missing so.

Sausage Biscuit with Sausage Gravy and a Plain Biscuit

The food-obsessed city I now call home has some restaurants I can retreat to when I'm feeling a little homesick.  Along with Pine State Biscuits there is The Screen Door, which is rumored to have some of the best fried chicken in the city, the overhyped Country Cat, and Podnah's Pit.  I haven't yet made it to The Screen Door since every night they're open, there's an hour and a half wait, even from the minute they open.  I dined at Country Cat a few months back and I have to say, I was very disappointed.  I ordered the deviled eggs, which were good and tangy, and also the fried chicken plate.  The plate came with two boneless skinless pieces of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and collard greens.  The collards and the deviled eggs were the two best items

from the meal.  Sadly, the fried chicken wasn't crispy, it was chewy and almost kind of stale in a way.  Because of the open kitchen, I could surmise that they weren't cooking the chicken to order, but rather they were just keeping the chicken warm in a hotel pan by the stove.  I haven't been back since.  I did have a really good meal at Podnah's Pit.  My husband and I split their sampler plate, aptly named the Pit Boss.  It came with brisket, Texas-style sausage, pulled pork, smoked chicken (they were out of pork ribs) cornbread and two sides.  I've read that Podnah's Pit is known for the brisket, but I was blown away by the

Sad Fried Chicken from Country Cat

pulled pork.  I consider myself pretty picky when it comes to the barbecue subject, but they passed.  All of the sauces were great too.  Podnah's offers a South Carolina mustard barbecue sauce, East Carolina vinegar, and a thicker Texas-style barbecue sauce, all to suit your sauce needs. 

The Pit Boss from Podnah's Pit

It is mind-boggling to me there are so many of us North and South Carolinians out here, it's truly hard to believe.   It feels like portions of both states just picked up and settled out here.  I think living out here has made me more Southern than I ever thought possible.  It's kind of hard to explain.  I'm very much looking forward to coming back South for the holidays to see family and friends, but I am so glad we have landed here in Oregon.  We tried for so long to move here but it was never the right time.  They say timing is everything, and this is something I truly have grown to believe.

East Carolina in My Mind

A couple of weekends ago I went back to my Alma Mater for an alumni dance weekend.  I was on the dance team for two non-consecutive years at East Carolina University and each January, as of six years ago, dance team alumni of all ages get together to learn a routine Friday evening that we perform during half time at the basketball game the next night.  I don't participate every year, but I do enjoy going back to visit, reconnect with old teammates, and believe it or not eat.  Eastern North Carolina is home to some of the best barbecue on the planet.  Period.  Barbecue can be the subject of much heated debate, especially if you grew up in North Carolina.  Some would compare Eastern vs Western styles of barbecue to the Duke Blue Devils/UNC Tarheels rivalry.  We all know which team is better.  Unlike the mustardy cousin South Carolina produces, the North Carolina version is smoked low and slow with a brush of vinegar, salt and black pepper or perhaps crushed red pepper.  Typically barbecue cooks in the Western part of the state choose to cook Boston Butts over whole hog cookery, sometimes using wood smoke but mostly coal smoke and ketchup.  Eastern style barbecue typically uses whole hog cookery and wood smoke.  The defining differences are the ketchup, meat choices, and the sides.  Slaw is dramatically different in the East than it is in the West.  Again, it's that ketchup thing.  

I mostly didn't eat barbecue growing up because my mom didn't like to eat barbecue in restaurants, but preferred to make her own at home.  I loved my mother's barbecued ribs and chicken but it's so different than that wonderful chopped barbecue my home state produces.  Each November I was privy to an occasional Western style barbecue sandwich from a firehouse or high school fundraiser held usually in November.  It wasn't until I was a freshman at college that I experienced the true joy of barbecue at its best.  We would pile into my friend's Cabriolet to go pig out at Parker's Barbecue on coma-inducing barbecue plates that consisted of chopped barbecue, fried chicken, slaw, Brunswick stew and corn sticks.  I thought I'd died and gone to barbecue heaven.

The Skylight Inn

Since we were back in my favorite barbecue country, we decided to head out to lunch at The Skylight Inn in Ayden, North Carolina--just a short 20 minute drive away from Greenville.  This beloved barbecue institution has been smoking it up since 1947.  It is considered to be one of the best, if not the best, barbecue joints in Eastern North Carolina.  This family institution seems as basic as they come, but I can assure you the barbecue is anything but.  The Skylight Inn prepares their whole hogs with just a little water to loosen up the skin and a dusting of salt, that's it.  Simplicity can be a beautiful thing.  After pigs have cooked for hours and hours they chop the meat on wooden blocks, dousing the hot meat with vinegar.  Your options are small, medium or large barbecue plates, which as far as I can tell don't vary that much in actual size, or a barbecue sandwich.  The barbecue plates, which actually aren't plates at all, come in two separate red and white containers, one for the barbecue and one for slaw, a dense slab of unleavened cornbread, all placed on a sheet of wax paper to use in lieu of a tray.  The barbecue on first bite was smoky, vinegary, and perfectly salty.  The next bite came as a surprise, with chunks of puffed crispy pork skin intermingled with the chopped meat.  Wow, this is a first!  The application of the water during the cooking process blows out the skin
making it almost tooth breakingly crunchy.

Barbecue with Crunchy Bits of Skin

The slaw is a sweet contrast to the salty smoky barbecue, not my favorite style on its own.  I much prefer the ketchup version of the West better than the sugar and mayonnaise version of the East.  The unleavened cornbread brings all of the contrasting flavors and textures together into a very satisfying barbecue experience.  If you ever want to experience the magic that is Eastern North Carolina barbecue, then you should make it a point to visit The Skylight Inn or head to one of the spots in Greenville like Parker's Barbecue or B's Barbecue. 

The Skylight Inn's Mantra

Small Barbecue Plate

The Woodpile Behind The Skylight Inn

After my performance at the basketball game, we left Greenville to eat at The Chef and the Farmer in Kinston, North Carolina.  I first heard of the restaurant when I started watching the show "A Chef's Life" on SCETV last summer.  The show chronicles Chef Vivian Howard and her husband Ben Knight's journey of moving back to Eastern North Carolina, starting a family and opening their own restaurant after having lived and worked in New York City for years.  Kinston, in Vivian's words on the show, "Is a place I thought I would never return," but her parents dangled the carrot of funding their own place, a dream that could be realized in Kinston.  Each episode highlights a myriad of topics such as collards, tomatoes, a North Carolina oyster farm featuring the backstory and sometimes a farmer, then Vivian writes a menu utilizing the ingredient featured to its fullest. The show has become one of my favorites because it takes you inside and exposes the hardships of owning a restaurant and all daily stresses that occur.  Each time I watch it, it makes me want to move to Kinston to work with these people.  It makes me homesick for North Carolina in a way that I can't even describe and really can't make sense of.  The challenges they face come from the remote locale, pushing people outside of their comfort zone and unreliable employees, a common problem in the restaurant industry. The restaurant is truly a "farm to table"concept, even though that term is now grossly overused.

We didn't get to Kinston until about 9:30 for our reservation.  As we drove through downtown we discovered the same scene many towns in the South are going through, the slow revitalization of the once abandoned downtown.  We arrived at the restaurant to find a bustling restaurant even for Saturday night standards.  We were kindly greeted at the door, observing the setup of the restaurant; it was much larger than I expected.  We were quickly sat at a lowly two top in the middle of the restaurant next to a large pole.  A medium sized bar stands to the back left of the front door and an open kitchen to the back right corner, and at least thirty tables in the dining room.  Through the doors and past the restrooms on the left is the wine bar.  We didn't check it out because it seemed there was a private party going on.  Food was hurriedly moving from the kitchen through those doors as we were waiting for our server to take our drink order.  We waited 15 minutes or so for our server to come and get our drink order and by the time she did, we had already selected cocktails and appetizers.  We selected the flash-fried collards with sea salt and pork belly skewers with blueberry barbecue sauce, jalapenos, and cilantro microgreens. We started with cocktails: a Negroni for me and sparkling cocktail with bourbon for my date.  Our table kept getting bumped by servers in a hurry and it seemed like everyone was in the weeds in a big way that night.  Our food hit the table first and waited a long twenty minutes for our cocktails.  Our server spent much of her time taking care of the needy table of six behind us, and I noticed the table's host calling out to her "sweetie or honey we need another bottle of wine." Annoyed, we devoured the fried collards, a little greasy from being flash fried yet crispy and addictive like potato chips.  The thick squares of pork belly were tasty, a contrast of sticky sauce and melty fat to crunchy on the meat side.  When the cocktails finally arrived we drank them quickly.  We waited even still for our server to come back to order entrees and wine, and then what seemed like an eternity for her to come back and present the wine after we'd ordered.  As she presented the Domaine Raymond Usseglio et Fils Chateauneuf-Du-Pape, I asked if the chef and her husband were in, even though I already knew the answer to my question.  To my disappointment our server tells us they're in Utah promoting the show and from the way it sounds they travel a lot.  On the way to North Carolina, I had fantasized of telling her/them that I am such a fan of the show and this leading to a new friendship.  I know it's a little crazy.  I forgot to order the shoestring fries with "kitchen sink mayonnaise" and mistakenly stopped another server to put in the order.  They rang it in as mid-course, but I really meant for them to be a side and had failed to mention this.  There was still much chaos in the restaurant and it was hard to concentrate on the meal.  Entrees finally made it to our table but by the time they did we were so full from the mid-course of french fries.  The restaurant's noise level started to die down and we kept eating like good little piggies.  I much

Braised Leg of Lamb with Merguez Sausage

preferred the braised lamb leg and merguez sausage I ordered to my husband's pork dish.  I can't, in fact, remember what his was exactly, but what I do remember it was a very unpalatable bite of something porky.  My dish had the addition of crispy brussel sprouts, pickled figs, cauliflower puree and pistachios.  After the entrees were cleared we were tempted with dessert, however, they were out of every single one except for ice cream.  This saved us from overdoing it even more.  All in all, the restaurant does a good job on the food but the flow of service and the rhythms of the kitchen seem to be overextended.  Perhaps it was just a busy night, or the restaurant has a hard time working efficiently with absentee owners.  Either way, I support their effort and would dine there again.  Especially if we lived in Eastern North Carolina.

Chef Vivian Howard Digs Into a Tomato Sandwich
Photo taken from Garden & Gun Magazine's Good Eats Issue October/November 2012

Stuffed

Thanksgiving.  A time for us all to give thanks for what we have in our lives no matter how big or small.  This year I was happy to spend the holiday at home with family, cooking at our house for the very first time.  We got an organic bird and dry-brined it with just salt for a couple of days in the refrigerator and I made the decision to not stuff the turkey.  My mother, who always does Thanksgiving at her house, usually buys a 20 pound (or bigger) turkey since there are so many of us and makes enough dressing to go into the cavity of the bird as well as a separate pan to cook on its own.  She does this because some people in our family eat the "wet" dressing and others only eat the "dry."  The only person eating Thanksgiving at our house this year that eats the wet dressing is my stepdad, so with a little debate between my mother and me, she relented to let me cook Thanksgiving how I wanted.  I didn't stuff the bird but did compromise and stuff the bird for 30 minutes with a little dressing after the bird came out of the oven to get some of the flavor and juices from the turkey while it was resting.  It seems like it takes forever to cook that huge bird because of the size but also because it's stuffed.  The reason I didn't want to stuff the bird was because I didn't want to get up at the crack of dawn to put the bird in the oven or deal with the dressing that could be like salmonella soup.  And....to answer the question about whether it stuffing or dressing, in my family we call it dressing versus stuffing, even though once it goes into the bird it's technically stuffing.

Inevitably, my family always makes too much food, and this year was no exception.  We had broccoli casserole (a favorite of mine), mashed potatoes and giblet gravy, brussel sprouts gratin (a new favorite of mine), and my mother's recipe for cornbread dressing.  I had made this recipe last year for the first time since I wasn't home for Thanksgiving.  Just the two of us celebrated a traditional Thanksgiving in Oregon wine country.  My mother uses pecans in her recipe, but I used hazelnuts (known as filberts in Oregon) in mine so you can make this with a nut of your choosing or not at all.  Whatever you choose, just know it will be delicious.  The recipe is best when the cornbread is slightly stale, so go ahead and make cornbread the night before so it has time to dry out and go a little stale.  If you want, it can be made a couple of days in advance.  

Hannah's Cornbread Dressing
1 cup Cornmeal
1 cup All Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda 
1/2 tsp Salt
2 eggs 
1 1/2 cups Buttermilk
4 Tbsp Butter

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Once oven has come up to temperature put butter in a cast iron skillet or a 9x13 pan and melt.  
2. While the butter is melting, whisk all dry ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl.  
3. Whisk buttermilk and eggs together in a separate bowl.  Once the eggs and buttermilk are combined add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.  Mix well but do not overmix.  
4.  Remove the skillet from the oven and add the hot butter to the wet mixture.  Add the mixture back to the hot skillet and cook until the cornbread is springy to the touch or insert a toothpick in the middle of the cornbread and comes out clean.  

1 pound Breakfast Sausage
2 Tbsp Butter 
4-6 Slices of Day Old Bread
1 diced Onion
5-6 Stalks of Chopped Celery
1 pound Mushrooms
2 Apples diced
2 Tbsp. chopped Sage
1/4 cup Italian Parsley
1/2 cup Pecans
3 Tbsp. Poultry Seasoning or enough to make the dressing fragrant
1 cup Chicken or Homemade Turkey Stock 

1. Preheat oven to 350.  While the oven is preheating, heat a saute pan and cook sausage, breaking it up into bits.  Cook sausage until browned and crispy then drain onto a papertowel lined plate.
2. While sausage is cooking remove the cornbread from the skillet and crumble into a large bowl.  Pulse the bread slices in a food processor until fine and add them to the bowl of cornbread crumbs.
3. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in the pan and cook onions and celery until soft, about five minutes or so.  Add this to the bowl with the cornbread and breadcrumbs.
4. Melt another tablespoon of butter in the pan and add mushrooms and saute until the liquid has gone from the mushrooms.  Add the mushrooms to the cornbread mixture.
5. Chop apples, sage, and parsley an add this to the cornbread mixture.
6. Measure pecans and the poultry seasoning and add them to the bowl. 
7. Mix all the ingredients together and put the cornbread mixture into a 9x13 casserole dish.  Pour chicken stock over the dressing and cover it with foil.
8.  Cook covered for 30 minutes.  Remove foil and cook uncovered for an additional 30 minutes or until the dressing is lightly browned on top. 
9.  Enjoy this warm with turkey and gravy! 

In Memoriam

I have been mourning the loss of one of the restaurants that made a difference in the culinary scene here in Greenville.  That restaurant is none other than the late Devereaux's.  I find it completely ridiculous how this restaurant came to a close but that isn't what this blog post is meant to be about.  It's meant to be a celebration of the restaurant and my own personal experiences there over the years.

The first time I dined at Devereaux's was shortly after the restaurant opened in 2005.  My friend Beth Callaway asked me to come to Greenville for the night so she could show off the town she grew up in.  I remember being so impressed with downtown and wondered why my native Charlotte hadn't done a better job with making the "uptown" more of a destination spot like Greenville had.  We stayed at her parents house in Greer and made the trek downtown for dinner at Devereaux's for what would turn into a wild evening on the town--little did I know it would be the first of many the ended up at either Connolly's or the Cazbah.  I remember dining on duck and drinking Chateauneuf du Pape that first experience at Devereaux's.  Fast forward two years later, my husband and I moved to Greenville and I started my job selling wine and beer with a distributor then called Piedmont Beverage now known as RNDC.  I was two weeks into my job and I had been tasked with tasting wines with Steven Greene and Justin Tilley so they could write a menu for the upcoming Fisher Vineyards wine dinner.  I received the samples late one afternoon, my boss frantically drove them back from Columbia on a particularly hot June day.  The samples were warm when they arrived at Devereaux's, both the reds and the whites and had no time to cool them down, I had to taste them with Justin and Steven as they were.  Needless to say I was embarrassed!  Justin didn't say much, but Steven was very vocal stating that the wines clearly were not a fit for the kind of food that he cooked.  Me, still being pretty inexperienced at that point didn't know what to do, I had nothing to offer other than I had been instructed to taste the wines because the dinner had already been set up and was being held the following week.  Juelle Fisher, one of the founders of Fisher Vineyards was coming into town to work the market and then to host the wine dinner that evening at Devereaux's.  After working the day with her I rushed home to freshen up for my first of many wine dinners to come at Devereaux's.  That evening the guest chef was friend and former mentor to Steven Greene and Spencer Thomson, Michael Kramer from McCrady's in Charleston.  Albeit a rocky start, the dinner thankfully turned out to be a smashing success!  The sold out dinner was held in the restaurants' private dining room, always a tight squeeze for popular dinners.  That evening I fell in love with Steven's cooking as well as the wines from Fisher Vineyards.  I ate everything on my plate and drank everything in my glass.

In July 2012, I hosted my own sold out wine dinner at Devereaux's but this time the wines featured were wines from the Gallo portfolio, but once again the guest chef was Michael Kramer.  Very cyclical and somewhat poetic for me since I started my career at RNDC with a dinner at Devereaux's and basically ended my career with RNDC with dinner at Devereaux's.  Two months later I was driving across country to Oregon after the conclusion of Euphoria. 

I missed all of the excitement of the 2006 Leatherheads filming in Greenville with George Clooney and Renee Zellwegger while they frolicked about Greenville at night with the commoners.  Both George and Renee were often regulars at Devereaux's and other fine dining restaurants in town.  I did, however, stalk Thomas Keller, Michael Mina, and Grant Achatz one evening at Devereaux's when they were here on a BMW/Michelin tour.  I had dinner in the dining room with my husband Alan but barely paid attention to him while we ate because I was so star struck by the chefs dining across the restaurant from me.  I never had dinner at Devereaux's during Euphoria, but it was always the hot ticket in town each year, being the VIP ticket holder dinner featuring most notably chefs such as Thomas Keller and Guy Savoy, and many others as well.

Last week my husband and I dined one last time before Devereaux's closed its doors to the public the following day.  We shared wild mushroom risotto to start, and for our entrees he had the Bethel Trails lamb with cumin scented pearl pasta, carrots and eggplant fries and I had the stuffed rabbit loin with fava beans, carmelized onions, and cauliflower puree.  How fitting that we drank Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf du Pape over dinner and finished with the cheese plate and over-sized profiteroles for dessert.  We went out in style....just like the restaurant deserved, because dining there was always dining in style.  Devereaux's will always have a special place in my heart having made a lot of professional memories there as well as personal ones, dining on some of finest cuisine in town while sharing lots of wine.  Cheers to you D Unit!

Fisher Vineyards wine dinner menu from June 14, 2007 featuring guest chef Michael Kramer and proprietor Juelle Fisher of Fisher Vineyards.