Updates and Local Yum

Post scrip to the Panamanian Schooner - replace the bitters with 1/2 oz. of Cynar. Way better.

I also found that Malta makes a great marinade for Rib-eyes when split with Worcestershire sauce 50/50.

This week saw some interesting additions to the local food choices. My favorite being Underwood Farms now offering Veal in the forms of ground and cutlet. And before you squeamish kill joys start on me about veal, this is not caged and mistreated, and anyhow baby cows are delicious. Anyway, I prepared a full farm to fork dinner this week around the veal. Sides were some roasted potatoes and blanched rattlesnake beans. But the Veal was lovingly coated with a cornmeal batter lightly fried and topped with a ragu of tomatoes, onion and eggplant. It was tender and light and so good.

Thursday was a night on the town with The Whisk(e)ys. Drinking, what else, whiskey, well bourbon anyway. We met them at Andrew Blairs for a Makers Mark event. Makers is rolling out a new bourbon called "46". It is the original Makers Mark that is then re barreled with toasted french oak staves suspended in the barrel. It is a much spicier bourbon with what I found to have a cherry note. It was ok. I'm sure Mr. Whisk(e)y will do a full round up of th event so I will not belabor the point. I will however give major props for the food. It was so good. There was a creamy Mac and cheese and bean dip as well as pulled pork sandwiches. The best thing was the fatty brisket cooked in the bourbon.

And last but not least, we went out to the Yorkmont market this morning and picked up some Pineapple Tomatillos from Rosemary Pete. They are small like grapes and very tasty. Not sure what we are going to do with them yet but I'm sure it will be good. As I write I am in the process of making pickled okra. I'll give an update on that when they're ready.

Meat and Beer

Beef, it's whats for dinner. And suds to wash it down.

So, we have wanted to order a large quantity of beef for quite some time now and finally rounded up enough people to share in this endeavor with us. We spoke with our favorite meat purveyors at the market, Underwood Family Farm, and originally decided on a half cow which we were told would be around a hundred pounds. When they decided which cow to bring to the processor Christy told us it was a big'un so we moved to a quarter cow which would be about seventy-five pounds. Wednesday we got the email that the quarter cow came in at ninety-three pounds. It was very exciting and mildly terrifying. How the hell were we gonna get all that home to separate. We borrowed a large cooler from our neighbors and brought a couple of our own and at eight A.M. Saturday morning we set out for the market. Wow, that's a lot of beef. It was glorious, when she opened the cooler i felt like I was finally getting a glimpse into the Pulp Fiction Briefcase. Grassfed goodness of every variety. We split it up amongst five couples and families and I was perfectly happy to reserve for us, the oddball cuts. We got a couple of steaks but more importantly there was a piece of flap meat and ox tail and a soup bone and a tri-tip, oh happy day.

In other news I am very happy to report that Revolution Pizza has moved ever closer to becoming the best bar in Charlotte by removing from its taps the last of the large brewery beers. It is all craft brew all the time. The Guinness was replaced by Pisgah Nitro, a beautiful example of a Nitrogen conditioned stout. Other new additions include Pisgah Valdese, Great Lakes Edmond Fitzgerald, Left Hand 400lb monkey, and Flying Dog double IPA.

As mentioned above, Great Lakes Brewing Company has finally made its entry into the Charlotte Market. I would strongly recommend picking up a six pack. I myself am a big fan of the Eliot Ness, but they are all tasty. I was lucky enough to visit their brew pub last fall, in Cleveland, and I can only hope that they ship their seasonal brews, last years Octoberfest was the best I had all season and the Nosferatu is a dangerous thing. So go pick some up.

Finally, I would like to thank Brawley's for being awesome, I picked up a bottle of Avery Brabant, a beer of which there was only 694 cases made. It is a wild yeast beer, with no style precedent that was aged in Zinfandel barrels. I'm now hoping I can get another bottle so I can taste it and save the other bottle for a rainy day.