The Corner Bodega Just Seems So Far Away Now

Among the excellent wedding party gifts I've received, the Beer of the Month club membership from Dave is the first I can post to the blog. The mix of beers have a pretty wide range of geographies (Maryland, Michigan, Kentucky, and Georgia), types (Saison Ale, Belgian style wheat, English style dark ale, and an EPA), and levels of development. The Celis White Belgian style wheat comes with a label, but it's capped with a generic non-branded bottle cap. I receieved three of each of the followign. Hopefully reviews will ensue:

- Red Sky at Night, Clipper City Brewing (Saison Ale) Baltimore, MD
- Celis White, Michigan Brewing Company (Belgian Style Wheat) Webberville, MI
- BBC Dark Star Porter, Bluegrass Brewing Company (Traditional English-Style Robust Dark Ale) Louisville, KY
- 420 Extra Pale Ale, Sweet Water Brewing Company (Extra Pale Ale), Atlanta, GA

Milk Thistle Farm

Several months ago I switched buying milk from Ronnybrook Farm Dairy (though I still get my butter from them) in favor of Milk Thistle Farm. The main reason for the switch was that Milk Thistle is organic whereas Ronnybrook is not. In fact, in the beginning I slightly preferred the richness of the milk produced by Ronnybrook's Holsteins over that of Milk Thistle's Jersey Cows. However, that's not the case anymore. The Milk Thistle milk this week was just incredible. I don't know what the cows have been eating, but this is the most incredibly milk I've ever tasted. It's rich. It's creamy. It has more nuances of flavor than I could begin to describe. I first caught a change in the taste of the milk a few weeks after the cows were probably spending more time in the pasture, but that was nothing compared to this. If you're in the NYC area do yourself a favor and pick up a half gallon. Their green market schedule is below:

• Fridays: Union Square
• Saturdays (8am-3pm year round): Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, NW entrance of Prospect Park
• Saturdays: (8am-3pm year round): Inwood, Isham Street between Cooper and Seaman
• Sundays: (8am-3pm June–Nov) Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn Carroll street between Court and Smith
• Sundays: The Columbia Market, 114th & Broadway

Kansas City, MO: The Grand Finale!

So it all built up to this. As we traveled from St Louis, down the Mississippi, through Texas, and then toward the North again, all we heard over and over was...."Have you been to Kansas City yet?"

And now some history on Arthur Bryant's: In the 1930's, Mr. Arthur Bryant built a BBQ palace in an industrial district of Kansas City, MO. The word spread around, but as generations passed and word continued to spread, one wonders, could the meat really live up to the reputation? These were the thoughts running through our heads as we approached 1727 Brooklyn Avenue, K.C., MO. As the pictures show, we had to wait in a long line to find out. We had to make it through a pretty rough and tumble gauntlet of meat cutters and packers, as locals elbowed their way to their sliced brisket and rolled their eyes as we hesitated on whether we wanted a "combo" or separate orders of beef brisket, pork ribs, and sauced-up "burnt ends" of pork shoulder. We opted for a separate order of each. With much sweat and near tears we brought the bounty to the table, as depicted above.

The verdict: all that you hear about Arthur Bryant's is true. This is THE BEST BARBECUE THAT WE EVER TRIED, AND IF WE HAD STARTED HERE, WE WOULD HAVE BEEN DISAPPOINTED BY EVERYWHERE ELSE. Meat: all tender in a way that was like a revelation, smoked slow with a deep and smokey dry rub. Sauce: truly unique paprika, cayenne pepper, cumin flavor with almost no sweetness. All dished up on slices of Wonder Bread with a side of french fries done up in PURE LARD. Just awesome. We really hope you all have the chance to make the pilgramage one day. If you want to expereince some of what Arthur Bryant's has to offer, check out the video at: http://www.arthurbryantsbbq.com/our_restaurants/brooklyn/photos.htm

Pit Stop: Oklahoma City

On a 12 hour drive from Austin to Kansas City, MO, we stopped in the stockyards district to have a steak at the well-known Cattlemen's Steakhouse. DANG! was that good steak! Have you ever had au jus degalzed with sherry to accompany your rib eye or sirloin? Try it. By the way, amazing service too.

Texas Dossier

Texas barbecue is distinctive in two ways: an emphasis on beef and a disdain for sauce. Most of this derives from the frontier/cowboy experience. If we come back in a century or so, we might see the Mexican spice influence starting to entrench itself. But alas "BBQ" and TexMex are different institutions today. We got a taste of both, with emphasis on the BBQ of course. (Though Nicole disputes this point, given that we did have 6 TexMex meals in a row.)

In Houston, we were very graciously hosted by Nicole's Uncle Charlie and Aunt Anita, who sheparded us to the local standard bearer, the County Line BBQ. It was there that we met our first beef rib of the summer, and we must say, quite intriguing. Aunt Anita insisted that what we were eating was not the best the County Line was capable of---we suspected that service and preparation were a bit lax after the intensity of the July 4th weekend. Afterall, we were there on July 5th. Nonetheless, the big meaty beef rib was a welcomed change: thick, smoky, and succulent.

Next stop was San Antonio, where we detoured a bit from BBQ a la Americain for a sampling of the finest TexMex fare that the state had to offer: Taco Taco. What makes their tacos so good, we determined---and much to our surprise---were the *tortillas*. Honestly, we had never experienced anything like the fluffiness and crispiness that Taco Taco had to offer. Apparently these tortillas are a vehicle for a breakfast that is to die for. We were in for lunch, and the carne guisada, fire grilled steak, and the "puffy" chicken taco were knock outs.

Houston and San Antonio, however, were both preparation for the main event: the BBQ captial of the Lone Star state (nation?), Lockhart.

Let me try to paint the picture here. The town is about 40 miles off the main highway, beyond expansive ranches and reedy hills. It's all American, with painted wood signs and colorful town hall in the middle of the square. It is here that specialists in texas BBQ have been plying their trade for generations. The style is beef-centric, slow cooked and smokey, and, generally speaking, sauceless.

We sampled the fare at Smitty's Meat Market, where you enter into a smoke-filled hall and walk past open fires that prepare the hickory and oak charcoal that are then loaded into the base of the 20-foot wrap-around pit. You are basically standing over the pit, with smoke coming into your face, when you are asked to order your meat by the pound. We went with a hunk of their brisket and their smoked beef sausage. The taste was good: The brisket had a "jerky-like" finish, the classic red "smoke ring", and was pretty (although not greatly) tender on the inside. The sausage was nice: we appreciated the beefiness. It did taste a bit like a desperate bratwurst, perhaps without the necessary pork and veal compliments necessary to make the real deal. In the end, the experience was fun and unforgettable, but we wondered: would Texas be able to outshine what we knew was on the horizon: Kansas City? Stay tuned.

A Very Special Mint Julep

Quite a while back my gastronomic mentor, Winnie, had me over for dinner and afterwards we broke out the small batch bourbons and ryes. Aside from the Tutthilltown Distillery's rye, which I believe was made from all local grains, the real standout for me was the Prichards Double Barrel Bourbon.

Now all bourbon is aged in oak. However, most bourbons are aged in oak and then cut down from cask strength to the 80 to 100 proof we all know and love. Prichards works a little differently. They feel that you're cheating yourself out of some of that good vanilla oak flavor by giving your bourbon just one trip through oak land. So after they age their bourbon in oak and cut it down to bottle strength they give it another jaunt through oak town by aging it in barrels just one more time, hence the double barrel of the name.

This bourbon is a little hard to come by and whenever I'm near Astor Wines I like to give their incredibly respectable bourbon and rye shelves a once over and a month and a half ago I picked up some Prichards myself. I had been enjoying its rich vanilla overtones with one rock for a while, but then earlier this evening I read about mint juleps in passing, recalled that I had some mint leftover from my zucchini, mint, and honey dish from Friday, and thought that it might go well with the rich Prichards I've been stocking. I improvised a little simple syrup, bruised some mint in it and added a healthy dose of Prichards. Divine, my friends. My own private Kentucky Derby. Instead of a minty sweet bourbon, it's a rich combination of the mint, vanilla, and something like brown sugar.

Food Coma

Breaux Bridge, LA - On the 4th of July, Cyrus and I fell into a deep food coma after eating etoufee at Prejeans in Lafayette, Louisiana. As a result, we fell behind on our postings. Not to worry, we will catch up. Just give us a few days.

After our swamp tour the following day, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast at Cafe des Amis in Breaux Bridge, LA. Their etouffee served over catfish was not as heavy Prejeans'. We also enjoyed some turtle soup, served with a little sherry of course. Though I'm still not convinced that the meat must be turtle. I think you could use chicken.

We ended out short tour of the bayou with a stop at Charlie T's for some boudin. The pork and shrimp boudin are pretty good. However, as a Wisconsin native I have to question anyone who puts rice in their sausage. But if you are interested in boudin check out boudinlink.com.