A Tale of Two BBQ’s
Hudson Denney has just handed me perhaps the most memorable bite of BBQ I’ve ever had. It’s beef brisket; tender as a poem by Byron, more complex than a fine Bordeaux, redolent with spice, smoke, acid, sweetness, and cherry wood overtones. Hudson can tell I’m impressed by my wicked smile. I’ve been coming to […]
A Honey of a Smile
Patrick Square’s Farmer’s Market was buzzing with activity yet the sky behind Liydia Vdovichenko had grown menacing. The threat of a thunderstorm was in the air yet she wasn’t fazed. There were shoppers with money in their hands and she had something precious for sale. Honey. Made by her family’s bees, gathered by the […]
I’ll have St. Pete with a Squeeze of Lime
The rain pelted against the house, sounding like rocks tossed by an angry neighbor, waking us well before our six am alarm went off. I trudged out of bed, turned up the heater then returned with two cups of strong coffee and crawled under the blankets. A strong gust lashed against the windows as my […]
Raising Six Grand
For the last four years I’ve made a donation to our local Juvenile Diabetes (JDRF) fundraiser. This is a great charity, the local group raises hundreds of thousands of dollars, and they always score very high for efficiency and effectiveness. And our community gets very involved in the fundraising. This group never sits still; they sponsor […]
Get Back on That Horse!
“Goodnight John. Goodnight Tommy. Oh, and in the morning, before you get out of bed make sure you shake out your shoes real hard before you put them on, just in case a scorpion crawled in during the night. And if one does comes out, squash it with your shoe. I love you.” And with […]
Would You Like to See my Cleaver Collection?
We’re a peculiar lot. Professional cooks often have quirks and idiosyncrasies that most rational people would find perhaps, circumspect. Yet we earn those quirks sincerely. It comes with our territory. Long hours in a brutal environment, late night trips to the emergency room and looking at all those tattoos and piercings can make anyone a […]
A High Note
Finally the rain had abated. The last four or five Saturday mornings have been awash in combinations of rain, lightning, wind and thunder. However, this past weekend the biggest meteorological threat was sunburn. We all slept in to what I consider late, 7:30 for the adults, 9:00 for the teenagers. After sharing coffee and […]
Goliath vs. David
Want to compete in a big time BBQ contest? $275.00 is all it takes to enter the NC BBQ Championships and that gets you a 25 by 30 foot piece of grass with water and electricity. The only thing left to pay for is meat, fire, spice and beer. A few days prior to […]
Bovinova!
Anyone can cook a whole hog, it’s not as daunting a task as it may seem. In the South, that kind of cooking happens every weekend. Whole hog BBQ is usually done in support of a big event such as a birthday party, church gathering or a fundraiser for a local charity. But if one […]
Flours for Amy
I love the aroma of butter and flour, eggs and sugar, gently mixed together then properly baked. These four simple ingredients offer so much possibility, especially in the hands of my wife. Breads and biscuits, cookies and cakes, scented with vanilla bean or cinnamon, orange or chocolate. As a young culinary student she tempted me […]