BBQgeek

The Pit - Raleigh, NC

 

Business took me to Durham, NC this past week, but it was my love of great BBQ that took me to downtown Raleigh to visit Ed Mitchell's retaurant, The Pit.   Ed is one of the true superstars of the BBQ world.  He has been featured many times on TV, including the Today show and Throwdown with Bobby Flay (in which he beat Bobby in a spare rib contest).  Ed is not only famous for his traditional NC style BBQ but also for his belief in cooking with local and sustainable vegetables and meat.  Ed has organized a co-op of local hog farmers that raises free range hogs (I was told they eat better than most humans) which he then uses for the BBQ in his restaurant.  He also sources his vegetables in the same manner.  In addition to fantastic BBQ and vegetables, the wine and beer selections are better than most high end restaurants I've visited.  I've spent a lot of time in this blog talking about the idea of taking BBQ to the next level and presenting it in a quasi-fine dining format.  Unquestionably, The Pit is the closest I have come to seeing that idea manifested.  Continue reading The Pit - Raleigh, NC here...

Yeah, Yeah

Yes.  I've been bad.  Very bad.  No posts since...last year.  3 years into this blogging thing I have enough experience to know that these are the fallow months.  No light and cold temperatures are not exactly inspirational when you are a BBQ guy.  I'm past the guilt.  Trust me when I tell you I have your best interests in mind when I don't publish just for the sake of publishing.  That said, Fate has shined upon me and you and stoked the fire this fine evening.  Business brought me to Durham, NC, but my BBQ mania took me to The Pit in Raleigh, NC.  I've got a humdinger of a post coming for you as soon as I get off the road this weekend.  This blasted work laptop won't let me download this evening's photos and share the way I'd like to...so, you will have to wait.  But, I'll give you a tease.  How about smoked bourbon and cola?  How about friendly local chocolatiers (Star and Sam) offering a taste of Ed Mitchell's delicious smoked wings from the Pit simply because they love them and want to share in the joy (and they love them so much they ordered 300 for their wedding in May!)  Tune in this weekend for the full report.

Community Q Sneak Peak

David Roberts (in the blue apron) hangs out with the Cains and various friends at the soft opening of Community Q.

I was lucky enough to get to bring my family to the very first service at Community Q in Decatur, GA.  An intimate crowd was treated to delicous sampler plates of barbecued pork, beef, and chicken as well as cole slaw, potato salad, french fries, and the world's greatest mac-and-cheese.   I've been eating David Robert's BBQ for years now, and I can tell you that my meal todaywas fantastic - smokey, juicy, and just plain delicious.  After a couple more friends and family style events, Community Q intends to open this Tuesday or Wednesday, November 17 or 18th.    Feel free to check back here for an official announcement.  Please enjoy a few photographs and plan to put Community Q on your list of things to do.

   
 

When I'm not BBQ'ing

....here's what I'm cooking.  Pan roasted halibut, veal demi glace, mushrooms and thyme, glazed baby carrots, frisee.  Thanks to Stephen, Scott, Matt, and David for teaching me how it is done.
 

Barker's Red Hots - Marietta, GA

 In researching this article, I broke the first rule of food photography.  I ate the food before I took the requisite sexy food shot.  It was just one bite, and I felt terrible about it.  But can you blame me?  Look at those dogs!  Charred on the outside and smothered in chili or original hot relish.  Barker's Red Hots in Marietta, GA is, without a doubt, the best hot dog in all of Atlanta - bar none.  Barker's secret is that the owner, Glenn, grills off his dogs over ripping hot Royal Oak charcoal - blistering, and charring the outside while coaxing it into something otherworldly.  But the hot dog isn't the only thing that's incredible at Barker's.  Pretty much everything on the menu is cooked to perfection and complements each other really well.  Onion rings, fries, loganberry juice.  Barker's offers a slice of the Northeast boardwalk via Buffalo, NY right here in the heart of suburban Atlanta.  We may not have any great NY style deli's in this town, but at least we've got Barker's and that's good enough for me.  Continue reading Barker's Red Hots here.......

Smoked Chicken Salad Recipe

Chicken salad is one of those things that divides people and families like the Hatfield's and McCoy's.  Lite mayo or heavy mayo.  Bare bones or jacked up with grapes, nuts, and other sissy ingredients.  After many, many years monkeying around with my recipe, I finally landed on a preparation that I felt separated me from the pack.  How many times have you run across a smoked chicken salad?  Read on if you want to learn how to take your chicken salad to the next level.  Continue reading Smoked Chicken Salad recipe here...

More Patak Meats Fun

I recently received a great email from a reader named Garvey that had picked up on my original Patak Meats post. Apparently Garvey currently lives in Charlotte, but occasionally has to pass through Atlanta.  When his travels bring him this way, he packs a cooler with him and visits Patak.  The photo to the left is his receipt from a recent visit.  $152!  I've never gotten any higher than $60.  Garvey says he "grew up near Chicago (no slouch in the sausage category) and am of Eastern European descent (Hungarian, Slovak, maybe Rusyn, too) and have even been back to the "motherland," and Patak's is by far the best I've ever had."  This is such a typical thing to experience with Patak.  Every time I visit there, people are wheeling boxes of meat out on carts.  People stand in line with coolers in hand (it makes a nice seat when the line is long).   And everyone seems to speak some Eastern European language in addition to English.

Garvey asked a interesting question about Patak's liverwurst and spoilage.  Since Patak does a fresh style liverwurst, it does not hold long.  In fact, I can tell a difference within just hours once you expose it to air.  When I discussed this with one of the ladies at the meat counter, she explained the best method is to poke a little hole in the tube and squeeze it out.  Since the iron content is so high in the liverwurst, it oxidizes and spoils very quickly.  The less air exposure the better.  Generally, you only have 3 days to consume their liverwurst once you have opened it.  I have only found this fresh "deli" style liverwurst in one other place here in the South.  I think it is much more common in the Northeast. 

Thanks to Garvey for the photos and the inspiration for the post.

 

The National - Athens, GA

    Lamb sweetbreads with lima beans, bacon, and sherry

While in Athens, GA this week attending a seminar presented by the GA Beef Board, I was lucky enough to dine at The Nationalwith my chef buddies - Stephen, Matt, and Guillermo - from Havenand Valenza .   We pulled up to the bar around 4pm and ordered a round of suds.  Ten minutes later we had made all our choices and the plates were on their way.     Continue reading The National here...