Yes. Basically take a shitload of melted lard or cooking oil, add a royal fuckload of cayenne and some salt, black pepper, and maybe garlic powder to it (or just use Slap Ya Mama), and paint it on your fried chicken when you’re done. Don’t be thrown off and say “oh, it’s just cayenne, how hot can it be.” Well, put enough of it, and it can be really hot. I can drink El Yucateco hot sauce and this stuff I had from Prince’s was deadly. And I did not taste anything but cayenne in there.
Serious Eats actually has this pretty well covered.
Seconded on the cheesesteaks, with grilled onions and peppers. I gew up in the Chicago area, but my family is all form the East Coast (we moved here when I was 2). So every year we would go visit my mom’s parents near Atlantic City and go to the White House for cheesesteaks. Lord, I miss that place. I had a free evening in northern NJ a year and a half ago before a family gathering and was seriously considering a road trip just to have one.
Good North Carolina BBQ. East, West, it doesn’t matter to me. People out here just don’t get the purity of whole hog chopped with a vinegar and red pepper based sauce. I can find some half-way decent Texas style BBQ, and a whole bunch of crappy KC-type places, but not NC Q.
Bleh I hate North Carolina barbecue. Western Kentucky barbecue is where it’s at. Hot sauces, mutton … oh man. Meet me in Owensboro and I’ll change your life.
I’ve done the Owensboro circuit a couple of times. Ole South, Old Hickory, Moonlite, and, shit, what’s the place that’s not there anymore? Had some fantastic burgoo. Can’t remember the name. I’ve always wanted to get out there for one of the church festivals with the mutton, because I wasn’t really wowed by any of the stuff I had there. (Old Hickory was the best of the bunch.) I did like the Worcestershire-vinegar dip they had, though. (In fact, I have some in the cupboard from my last visit to Old Hickory a couple months ago.) Sorry, but doesn’t compare to NC, KC, or even Memphis barbecue to me. But it’s absolutely worth a visit for any barbecue aficionado, due to the unique nature of the barbecue (and I did try the pork and other meats there, too.)
The Worcestershire dip is my favorite. I’ve never had KC barbecue so maybe I’m too regional. But we don’t have any barbecue in Central Ky like they do out there.
What’s Fancy Farm? ETA: George’s! That’s the place I was thinking of! Had the best burgoo of the bunch. Probably my second favorite barbecue behind Old Hickory.
There’s amazing seafood available from the Texas gulf coast that I enjoy frequently, but it’s just not the same animal as the soft shell crab and oysters I crave when visiting family on the Chesapeake Bay.
I lived in Cincinnati for about 4 or 5 years. I miss Skyline and Graeter’s! You can get a limited selection of Graeter’s in the supermarket here (St. Louis area), but it’s not the same.
Thankfully, Dewey’s has expanded here. That’s good pizza.
Grits, the perfect dish for every meal.
Also, the one time I went to Ft. Polk for a few weeks, there were these guys selling shrimp out of a cart (think hotdog vendor type thing) that were hmm, delicious is an adequate descriptor but doesn’t really do the food justice.
Everybody in my family except my dad(cause he like em too) thinks I’m weird for liking okra of almost any variety…pickled, breaded and fried, as a snack, or a side or an ingredient in a larger dish etc…
Shrimp & Grits is the most divine food pairing since PB & J!
I stopped ordering it at restaurants when I started making it better myself, using a variation of thisrecipe. Cast-netting your own shrimp when they’re running makes it even better.
Eva, we may have crossed paths in Atlantic City back in the day. I’ve eaten scores of delicious cheesesteaks from choice Delaware Valley grill shops. But, so long as you score fresh Amoroso rolls, you can make the best cheesesteaks at home with little effort. My Bryn Mahr raised, culinary school trained chef nephew taught me how:
Thin shave a well-marbeled ribeye steak and grill to pink, chop in with your already caramelized onions and top with Cooper Sharp cheese till melted, then scoop into a lightly grilled Amoroso roll along with the condiments of your choice (i.e. salt, pepper and ketchup).
Confession: While I admit Cooper Sharp tastes better on cheesesteaks than provolone, I still prefer low-rent Cheeze Whiz! Don’t tell my nephew, he may disown me.
Piquillo. Lit. “little beak” or “little pick”. It’s an interesting combination, you seem to be aiming for a recipe from Calahorra or thereabouts… fresh piquillos, I assume?
In my case fideuà. Legend has it that fideuà came into being one day that the cook of a fishing boat went to make paella (fish, of course) and realized he didn’t have rice. Since he did have thick noodles, he substituted those.
It’s been 30 years since I lived in Cleveland, but the best deli food I ever ate there was at Corky and Lenny’s, Cleveland Heights. Their corned beef sandwhiches riveled those from Katz’s, NYC, but my favorite was their chopped chicken liver—mmm mmm good!
I see they arestill in business. If they are as good as they used to be, I highly recommend visiting this fine “mistake on the lake” establishment.
And, if you visit Miami Beach, you’ve got to go to Joe’s Stone Crab and order…what else?–stone crab!
IIRC a Nashville restaurant famous for it was highlighted on Triple D. The basic recipe seems simple enough but there’s a way to tweak it just so that it can be done at home. I wish I could remember that episode because I thought it’d be interesting. Alas, my husband dislikes hot so I’d be setting myself on fire eating it, LOL.
The best corned beef/pastrami in Cleveland is Slyman’s . Don’t go to their recent locations–visit their original hole in the wall on St. Clair. BYW, no chicken liver. Not a Jewish deli. Coptic Christian I think.
