Prince's Hot Chicken

I had read that one thing we needed to try in Nashville was Hot Chicken and that the place to get it was Prince's. So, on a blisteringly hot day we made the pilgrimage. We joined a bunch of other sweating customers patiently waiting for their food as the kitchen meticulously cooked up one order at a time.

Finally, our order was up. I got a leg quarter, medium spicy with extra pickles and bread. I knew from my research that I probably didn't need to go spicier than medium, and sure enough it was very hot (both in temperature and spice level). It was also very tasty - nice and crunchy outside and perfectly moist on the inside.



Sherry got a breast quarter, mild. It was still plenty hot, though - not a bad way to go if you don't like really spicy food.



Good eats. Definitely not to be missed when visiting Nashville.

Prince's Hot Chicken
123 Ewing Dr.
Nashville, Tennessee
(615) 226-9442‎

Meat and Three in Nashville at Arnold's Country Kitchen

Although we'd been traveling through the South for several weeks, somehow we had neglected to hit a Meat and Three place so far on the trip. Now was the time to remedy the situation and Arnold's Country Kitchen was the place to do it.



Arnold's was busy, but very efficiently run by a friendly staff. We soon had our food and were happily chowing down. Everything we tried was fantastic.

Roast beef and turnip greens (with mashed potatoes in the back):



Fried chicken, mac 'n cheese, green beans and a dish of pinto beans:



Corn bread served two ways - muffin and griddle cake.



While I'm sure this wasn't the healthiest lunch we've ever had, it did not feel heavy or greasy. Just very flavorful and highly satisfying.

Arnold's Country Kitchen
605 8th Ave S.
Nashville, Tennessee
(615) 256-4455‎

Defeated...

We always make an effort try to eat interesting, local fare when we travel. Kentucky made this very hard to do. Looking for dinner on our second night in Bardstown, we finally lost the battle. We saw a Mexican place, but we had already learned the hard way that you don't go to random Mexican places in Kentucky. I won't go into the gory details - just trust me on this...

Not up for another hot brown, we didn't have many other options - Kentucky is national chain restaurant central. We eventually gave in, and ended up at A&W. And not just any A&W - this one was a joint A&W / Long John Silvers establishment. Complete with a disaffected teenage girl running the till.

I hate to say it, but the food tasted pretty good...

Jim Beam, Hot Brown, Liquor World

Our final distillery visit was a quick stop at Jim Beam - the largest producer of bourbon. Nice setting, with some fun exhibits like the above statue of Booker Noe and this fire truck:



The tasting was very pleasant as well. They were pouring two of their premium whiskeys: Booker's and Basil Hayden's. We enjoyed both, but preferred the Basil.

While bourbon was our focus in Kentucky, we did manage to try some local chow as well. What qualifies as local chow? A Kentucky Hot Brown, of course:



This version is courtesy of Mammy's Kitchen, a restaurant on the main drag in Bardstown. Substantial hunks of smoked turkey and thin slices of nice, salty ham sat on top of two thick slices of toast, completely smothered in a rich, cheesy, Mornay sauce. The turkey was very good quality with a great smoky flavor. Not something we would order every day, but pretty darn good comfort food.



Also in Bardstown, and not to be missed, is Liquor World - a small liquor store that just happens to have the most jaw-dropping crazy huge selection of whiskey I've ever seen in my life.

Jim Beam Distillery
149 Happy Hollow Rd.
Shepherdsville, Kentucky
(502) 543-9877

Mammy's Kitchen
114 N 3rd St.
Bardstown, Kentucky
(502) 350-1097‎

Liquor World
93 N Salem Dr #C
Bardstown, Kentucky
(502) 349-7560‎

Maker's Mark and Four Roses

Our visit to bourbon country continued with Maker's Mark Distillery. Like Woodford Reserve, they also do a tour of their production facilities (the tour at Maker's is free, though).



If you've seen one distillery, you've pretty much seen them all, but we still enjoyed the tour.



One thing unique to the tour at Maker's was the dipping area where they add the signature red wax coating to each bottle of whisky (note the spelling - Maker's is the only American brand that uses the Scottish "whisky", rather than the Irish "whiskey").



And, of course, the tour ends with a tasting. It was more interesting here than at Woodford Reserve since they let you taste the unaged spirit ("white dog") as well as the finished product.



We also stopped in at Four Roses Distillery.



Although they were not doing tours (they shut down production during the summer), it was probably our favorite of the distilleries we visited. They gave a very interesting description of their bourbon-making process. They distill ten different "flavors" of bourbon - combinations of two grain bills with five strains of yeast - that are then blended in various ways to produce their various offerings.

We tried three of their whiskeys - Yellow Label (their primary brand), Small Batch, and Single Barrel. The Small Batch was our favorite - more complex than the Yellow Label, and more mellow than the Single Barrel. Good stuff.

Maker's Mark Distillery
3350 Burk Spring Rd.
Loretto, Kentucky
(270) 865-2881‎

Four Roses Distillery
1224 Bonds Mill Rd.
Lawrenceburg, Kentucky
(502) 839-3436‎

Woodford Reserve Distillery

The first stop on our Kentucky Bourbon tour was Woodford Reserve Distillery. It is located in a beautiful setting amid the sweeping green fields of Thoroughbred farms. We took a very nice tour (5$) of the facility that goes through all of the phases of the operation.

The massive fermentation tubs boiling with yeast activity are fascinating to watch.



They do a three-stage distillation using copper stills brought over from Scotland.



It is hard to beat the atmosphere of a whiskey warehouse, with barrels of aging spirit stacked from floor to ceiling.



Here is Sherry getting a pour straight out of a barrel. Unfortunately, we were only allowed to smell and not taste (some song and dance about "health regulations").



Watching bottling machines is mesmerizing...



And let's not forget the tasting part of the tour. This was the first time we'd had Woodford Reserve. The taste is difficult to characterize, but if I had to describe it I would say that it had notes of toffee, roasted nuts, delicate butterscotch, vanilla, peach and aromatic spices...

Woodford Reserve Distillery
7855 Mccracken Pike
Versailles, Kentucky
(859) 879-1812‎

Beer And Brewing

We love a good craft beer. We seek it out when we travel, and we're lucky enough to be blessed with a lot of it at home here in San Diego. We've also been known to brew up a batch or two ourselves.

Here is a round-up of some of our beer-related posts:

Beer At Home
San Diego Pale Ale
Liars' Club R.I.P.
Liar's Club Alpine Tavern and Alpine Beer Company
San Diego Strong Ale Festival
Ballast Point 12th Anniversary Party

Beer On The Road
Great Divide Brewing Company in Denver
Beer Tasting in Sonoma County
Toronado and Magnolia in San Francisco
Beer In Austin - Beer Alley, St. Arnold Elissa IPA, The Ginger Man
Moon River Brewing Company in Savannah, Georgia
Beer Blessed in Asheville, North Carolina

Favorite Beers
Racer 5, Bear Republic Brewing Co.
O'Brien's IPA, Alpine Brewing Company

Brewing
On The Importance of Late Extract Addition

Cooking With Beer
Beer-Braised Lamb Shanks

Breakfast at Waffle House in Lexington, Kentucky

It is hard to get through a 6 week road trip across the Southern United States with just one post on Waffle House. So here is a second one - but this time we actually went inside.



We were in Lexignton, Kentucky (getting ready to plough through bourbon country) and we needed breakfast. There was a Waffle House virtually in our hotel parking lot. Fate had come calling and would not be denied.

First up, a waffle - not great, but edible.



The country ham, on the other hand, was actually pretty good.



As was pretty much everything else we had (although the "smothered" hash browns were a bit disappointing, with just a few onions scattered underneath).



As advertised, they had the jukebox complete with the left column of songs all about Waffle House.



Bellies full and Waffle House virgins no more (although does it count if you go before midnight?), we hopped in the car and headed out in search of bourbon.

Charcuterie At Home

We are big fans of charcuterie in all its forms. Cured meats, sausages, pâtés - we buy them online, seek them out when dining in restaurants, and have had some modest success creating them at home. The picture above is our home-cured pancetta. We covered the process in detail in this post:

Homemade Pancetta

Another fascination of ours is head cheese. We have made testa, the Italian version, twice now.



You can find all the gory details here, along with a few ways to use it:

Coppa di Testa
Warm Testa with Waxy Potatoes
Testa On Toast

Probably the most simple thing you can do to enter the realm of charcuterie is make your own sausage.



Have a look at the following post for details on sausage making and our recipe for a basic Italian sausage.

Making Sausage

Smoked meats is something we are getting more and more interested in. Until recently, we didn't have any dedicated smoking equipment, but we managed to do pretty well on our barbecue. Smoked chicken is one of our favorites.



Technique and recipe can be found here:

Smoked Chicken

Although we've had good success smoking on the grill, we recently stepped things up a bit and got a dedicated smoker - a Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker. So far it has been fantastic!

One of the first things we made was Smoked Andouille:



And our latest foray into curing and smoking has been Homemade Bacon:

Venison Four Ways at the Old Post Place

While enjoying a nice visit with Elise and Tom at Tom's old family home in West Virginia, we put together an impromptu venison tasting menu. With a decently equipped kitchen, but not much in the way of ingredients, here is what we came up with:

• Venison Puntas al la Mexicana, doctoring up some red sauce left over from breakfast pizza the day before.
• Venison kebabs, wrapped in bacon and cooked on the barbecue.
• Venison with a red wine reduction, using a bottle of wine that had been steaming in our trunk since we left San Diego.
• Orange-marinated venision, with an orange and red onion relish.
  

All of the dishes came out really well, particularly the orange-marinated venison that Elise put together. The citrus juice was a surprisingly good complement to the venison flavor, and the marinating gave the meat a nice, soft texture.

So, why the plethora of venison dishes? Given that this area was obviously deer country, I happened to mention in passing that it would be great if we had some. Word spread, neighbors-brother's-friend-style, and soon we had a bunch of venison on our hands:



When we thawed it, it turned out to be pre-cut in thin slices:



Here's a shot of venison prep in full force:



When not cooking and eating, the most popular activity while we were in West Virginia was Porch Sitting.



Porch Sitting is always a good way to spend time, but it is even better when your view looks like this:

Blue Ridges, Boiled Peanuts and Belly

We didn't spend all of our time in Asheville eating a drinking - we did get out and experience some of the lovely surrounding scenery. One day we took a nice drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Ok, back to food. On the way, we stopped in at the WNC Farmer's Market. Just outside of Asheville, it is open 7 days a week.

Here we tried boiled peanuts for the first time. Once you get past the initial shock of soft peanuts, they were actually pretty good.



There was a lot of nice pork product for sale, including big hunks of cured pork belly:



And cured hams:



We bought some really nice ham hock and a big slice of country ham. In retrospect, though, I wish we'd gotten a whole ham to take home with us.

Riding the Purple Bus - LaZoom Tours in Asheville

Not to be missed if you are visiting Asheville is a ride on board the purple bus operated by LaZoom Tours.

One part historic city tour and two parts zany "children's theater for grownups", the bus runs on biodiesel and the energy of the three-person crew.



In addition to the bus driver there is "Babs", your tour guide:



The third member of the trio plays a host of characters you meet along the way, including this bear (I'm not even going to try to explain):



and a floating djinni:



Not to mention a squirt-gun fight with a crazed bicycle rider on the streets of downtown Asheville (we were too busy participating to get a picture).

And, of course, there is a grand finale:



Great fun, made even better by the fact that you can bring tasty adult beverages on board. Not to mention a brief stop partway through at the Thirsty Monk for a quick Belgian beer fix.

Beer Blessed in Asheville, North Carolina

We spent several very enjoyable days in Asheville, North Carolina, and were surprised at the wide variety of very good beers available in the area.

Our first visit was to Barley's Taproom & Pizzeria. While the pizza was pretty mediocre, the taps were excellent with a wide variety of local options. Among the beers we tried were the Solstice Belgian Tripel and Vortex Triple IPA from Pisgah Brewing Company:



The Solstice was particularly good. We're really starting to enjoy the Tripel style, and this was a nice version - prominent, but not too heavy belgian yeast flavor.

Another great spot is Jack of the Wood, a comfy pub with live music several nights a week. They serve their own Green Man Ales which, while not our favorites of the local offerings, were pretty good.

We caught two shows here - a fantastic performance by a band called The Belleville Outfit (definitely check them out if you get a chance) and this bluegrass band whose name I can't remember:

On an evening bus tour with LaZoom Tours, we had a 15-minute break at the Thirsty Monk - a great little Belgian beer bar tucked away around the back of this building and down some steps.



We had just enough time to partake in a Houblon Chouffe and a Pisgah Solstice before we had to get back on the bus.



Fridays during the summer, Asheville has an outdoor concert series called Downtown After Five. A number of the local breweries were represented:



Served in compostable cups, of course.



In addition to the great options on tap around town, there was a fantastic little bottle shop a few blocks away from our hotel. Brusin' Ales had a great selection and let you buy individual bottles from six packs.



They had a number of beers I had been wanting to try but hadn't been able to get my hands on. We picked up a Double Simcoe and a Hops Infusion from Weyerbacher, and a Two Hearted Ale from Bell's:



The Double Simcoe was very good - it tasted a lot like the San Diego Pale Ale we have been making. The Hops Infusion was ok, but didn't have nearly as much flavor.

I have been wanting to try Bell's Two Hearted Ale for quite some time. I was worried that it would be on the maltier side (like the offerings from Dogfish Head) and I wouldn't like it. Turns out that it is fantastic. Nice, light color. Complex taste, with hints of apricot. Wish we could get it in San Diego...

Barley's Taproom
42 Biltmore Ave.
Asheville, North Carolina
(828) 255-0504‎

Jack of the Wood
95 Patton Ave.
Asheville, North Carolina
(828) 252-5445‎

Thirsty Monk
92 Patton Ave.
Asheville, North Carolina
(828) 254-5470‎

Bruisin' Ales
66 Broadway St. Suite 1
Asheville, North Carolina
(828) 252-8999‎

Western North Carolina Barbecue at Barbecue Center in Lexington

The day after our Eastern-style barbecue at Allen & Son, we headed west to Lexington - the home of Western North Carolina barbecue. Our destination was Barbecue Center:



Unlike Allen & Son, here there were many options when ordering your barbecue. We settled on a small tray of coarsely chopped outside brown.



The tray, as advertised, was small but it was *packed* - there was a solid layer of pork underneath the slaw. The meat was in nice-sized chunks, with lots of charred outside goodness. Best pork so far.

We liked the hushpuppies better here than at Allen & Son. They were rather funny looking, but much less sweet and they were good dipped in sauce.



We also had a sandwich, but this time tried it with sliced pork instead of pulled. It was good, but not as good as the sandwich from Allen & Son. I am definitely coming to believe that different styles are best suited to sandwiches vs straight barbecue.



The extra sauce served hot at the table was thin, spicy and tomato-vinegar based.



It is hard to compare Barbecue Center with Allen & Son as we had different items, but overall, I would give the nod to Barbecue Center because of the variety of options available and the taste of the chopped outside brown we tried.



We had planned to stop in at Lexington #1 as well, but just didn't have the stomach room (I told you there was a lot packed into that "small" tray...)

Barbecue Center
900 N Main St.
Lexington, North Carolina
(336) 248-4633‎

Eastern North Carolina Barbecue at Allen & Son in Chapel Hill

North Carolina barbecue has two major styles - Eastern and Western. Eastern is whole-hog meat, with a mostly vinegar sauce. Western is pork shoulder, with a tomato-vinegar sauce. We wanted to try both.

Our first stop was Eastern style at Allen & Son Barbeque in Chapel Hill. We ordered a BBQ and stew plate. No chopped vs sliced options were listed. My research indicated that asking for "outside brown" was the way to go, but when I asked for it I was rebuffed with "it's all mixed together". Not sure if this is a consequence of whole-hog barbecue (this post by Bisquit on RowdyFood would suggest not), or if it is just time-saving on their part.

Anyway, here is the plate:



Although my first impression was lukewarm (the texture was soft and soggy), it began to grow on me after a few bites. The smoke flavor started hitting me - especially when I got the odd crispy edge bit.

The "stew" part of the combo is Brunswick Stew, which I didn't expect to like but was actually pretty decent.



Their hushpuppies were not that great, but then I don't think I've ever had hushpuppies that I would call great...



We also ordered a pork sandwich which was very good. The vinegar mixed in with the meat really accentuated the smoked pork flavor and helped it not get overpowered by the bun - something that I often find a problem with barbecue sandwiches.



Next stop - Western North Carolina Barbecue at Barbecue Center in Lexington.

Allen & Son Barbeque
6203 Millhouse Rd.
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
(919) 942-7576‎

Overnight in Georgetown, South Carolina

We had some time to burn before our scheduled meet-up with friends in West Virgina, so we did a quick hop from Charleston to Georgetown. We had lunch along the harbor at Buzz's Roost, where Sherry had a not altogether unrespectable soft-shell crab sandwich. I couldn't really taste the crab in it, but Sherry swears that she could.



Beer-wise, we didn't have much to work with and ended up with Beach Bum Blonde Ale, a "seasonal" offering from our friends at Anheuser-Busch.



Buzz's isn't a destination spot by any means, but if you're in Georgetown...

Definitely worth a stop is the Rice Museum. Our tour guide was a very nice lady who seemed quite pleased to have guests. She gave a very interesting overview of the history of the area during the times of rice production.

The museum also houses the remains of an 18th century ship hull that was discovered on the bottom of the Black River. It provides evidence for American shipbuilding nearly fifty years earlier than was previously known. They took the roof off of the building to lower it inside in one piece.



Our hotel was not in walking distance of downtown Georgetown. Not wanting to drive back in, and frankly a bit weary of restaurants, we decided to eat in.

Here is Sherry's hotel-room prep area:



The result was very nice - some expertly microwaved country ham along with some much-needed raw veggies.

Buzz's Roost
717 Front St.
Georgetown, South Carolina
(843) 545-1595‎

Rice Museum
637 Front St.
Georgetown, South Carolina
(843) 546-7423‎

Happy 4th from Memphis!

Even though it reveals the fact that we are way behind on road trip posts, happy 4th from Memphis - our current real-time location.

Fast & French in Charleston - Gaulart & Maliclet

Walking around Charleston one afternoon, we stumbled across an the interesting storefront of Gaulart & Maliclet French Cafe. A little research revealed that it is a well-loved place, known to the locals as "Fast & French". We stopped in the next day for lunch.

It is all counter seating, with a main counter area in the front looking into the kitchen, and an additional couple of U-shaped counters in the back area.



We were among the first lunch patrons to arrive around 11:30, but by noon the place was packed. The lunch menu is predominantly soup and salad. All lunch specials come with a free beverage, which includes a glass of house red or white wine. Nice!

I had the "O'Salmon" sandwich - smoked salmon and goat cheese on rye. The salmon was on one piece of bread,and the goat cheese on the other, and they were quite good eaten individually. With it, I had a very nice bowl of gazpacho.



Sherry had the Croq' Baguette with smoked turkey and a bowl of vichyssoise. Although I was familiar with vichyssoise (a chilled leek and potato soup), neither of us had actually had it before. It was a very enjoyable combination of flavors that we both look forward to having again.



Service was fast and friendly, and the whole place had a very nice feel about it. Great little spot.

Gaulart & Maliclet "Fast & French"
98 Broad St.
Charleston, South Carolina
(843) 577-9797‎

Tomato Tasting at McCrady's and Dinner at S.N.O.B. in Charleston

I got turned on to McCrady's in Charleston from positive reviews on chowhound, so we stopped in one night for their tasting menu. During the summer they are doing a shorter tasting menu than their normal one. Currently it features tomatoes from their garden - $50 for four courses.

Amuse - Tomato Crab Salad with an Avocado Purée
Served nicely chilled. Good tomato and crab flavor.

Salad of Summer Berries and Tomatoes
Attractive dish. The single, well seasoned tomato slice was very good, as were the berries. I didn't feel that they complemented each other particularly well, though, and would rather have had another slice of tomato instead of the berries. I'm picky about sweet things in a salad, though - Sherry liked the pairing better.

Tomato Braised Halibut with Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Jam
Described as the chef's take on a BLT, this was the best dish of the evening. The Halibut was perfectly cooked and the tomato sauce had great flavor. The fish was sitting on a bed of cooked down lettuce that was a really nice addition. The bacon came in two places - the addition of a foam (it's not molecular gastronomy until someone adds some bacon foam...) and a very tasty sliver of crispy toast that had been infused with smoky bacon fat.

Caw Caw Creek Pork with Tomato Confit, Celeriac and Tomato Bordelaise
The pork was small loin slices that were perfectly cooked (sous-vide, maybe?). It had the flavor of loin, but a nice soft texture more like tenderloin. It was topped with celeriac "noodles" that I didn't think worked at all. They took away visually from the pork and tasted more like paste than celeriac. The tomato confit was very good, and was sitting on top of some more celeriac purée - this time with great celeriac flavor.

Tomato Custard with Chocolate Ice Cream and Tomato Caramel
Decent dessert, but not much tomato flavor that I could discern. The tomato custard was just sweet and the tomato caramel tasted mostly like caramel. There was a dusting of tomato/chocolate "dirt" that was interesting, but still mostly just tasted like chocolate.

Overall, a fairly enjoyable, but somewhat lacking meal. Less experimental than I was expecting given reviews I had read and not very successful as a tomato tasting menu. Service was fine, but fairly perfunctory and did not show much interest in the food. This was only the second day they had been offering the new tasting menu, though, so perhaps it will improve with time.

On our second night in Charleston we had dinner at the bar at Slightly North of Broad (S.N.O.B.), another well-thought-of establishment. We liked the place immediately - it had a really nice, active atmosphere for a Monday night.

We had the Charcuterie Plate and the Carolina Quail Breast. The quail was fantastic - it had a really nice, "grilly" taste to it and the meat was perfectly cooked. It was served on a dollop of cheese grits that were different than most that we've had - more grainy and less creamy. We liked them a lot.

The house-made charcuterie was a steal - great, generous assortment. The contents of the plate vary, but this time it was country paté, pork rillettes, head cheese, ham and chicken liver mousse. The head cheese was particularly interesting - very different than we've had before. It reminded me more of a slice through the jowel than the normal conglomation of pig face bits.

So, two very enjoyable dishes. If we ever return to Charleston, we will definitely go back and sample some more.

McCrady's
2 Unity Aly
Charleston, South Carolina
(843) 577-0025‎

Slightly North of Broad
192 E Bay St.
Charleston, South Carolina
(843) 723-3424‎