Just a quick invitation, as I know a lot of friends and friends-of-friends (and soon to be friends) read this blog from time to time. Our 5th annual chili cook-off is coming up next month – it will take place Saturday, February 18 from 4-8PM at 5 Seasons Westside.  We moved it from Red Brick Brewery (formerly Atlanta Brewing) because they increased the cost and last year their service was terrible.

For $20 a person we have the whole upstairs (indoors and patio), a few beers, and hopefully lots of tasty chili competing fiercely in three categories – spiciest, best unusual, and best overall. If you want to enter, please let us know at lpchilisociety@gmail.com so we can plan accordingly (we provide trays, sterno, serving utensils, cheese, chips, etc). If you have tailgating style tables you can allow us to use it is much appreciated. Also check our evite to RSVP so we can plan resources.

All profits will go to Hands on Atlanta. And a big shout out to Jaimie Cohen from Estoria Social Wedding & Event Planning who has been assisting with the event.

Check out cook offs from prior years – Feb 2011 | Nov 2009

Earlier this month I got together with Brad over at Creative Loafing for a little fried chicken. Check his post on it.

Shamefully, the only fried chicken of the five I’d previously tried was Carver’s. On the plus side, I had no predisposition to any of these chickees. Brad and I pretty much agreed on everything, though I could see that some people could easily feel differently based on the experience they are seeking. Chicken to go? High quality bird? Star Provisions was the clear winner; affordable too.

Star bird too small? Looking for an honest country vibe and outrageously sized breast? Carver’s it is.

Many people visit Colonnade for the sake of tradition and ambience, but damn the chicken was good. By far the hottest and crispiest and most tender; not a touch of dryness in the breast – the only time I could say that of our tour. Large portions too.

JCT was terrible. So bland and soggy, the texture of the meat was pulverized like it had sat in brine for too long, which doesn’t make sense as it was devoid of salt. It’s worth mentioning that the mac and cheese they served with it was a shameful mess of soggy noodles sitting in a unnecessary pool of warm cream. Years ago JCT was my go-to spot on that side of town – the last two years have seen an odious, unfortunate decline.

Smothered chicken – Busy Bee

Fried chicken – Busy Bee

The Colonnade

Chicken fried chicken with gravy - The Colonnade

Fried chicken - The Colonnade

JCT Springer Mountain Fried Chicken

Unfortunately, no photos from Star or Carver’s – forgot my camera!

So this is fantastic. A restaurant in Atlanta featuring dishes with punny rap names? I hope this is real. Personal favorites include the Wu Tang Clams and Snoop Doggy Corn Dogs, which of course is “4 fresh fried corndoggs that ain’t leavin til six in the mornin. So what you wanna do?”.

On another note, I’ve been eating Las Vegas for the last 48 hours and it’s nuts here. So much good food. You know the fatty cap side of a ribeye steak which many people love? In Vegas, for $60 and a little piece of your soul, they’ll make you a Kobe ribeye steak that is a cross cut of JUST THAT PIECE. Ridiculous.

I’ve been traveling all over the place, for work and for pleasure, hence the lack of restaurant and cooking project posts in January. Once I got back from Savannah yesterday afternoon, I spent the rest of the day cooking and watching football, and it was pure pleasure spending some time in the dojo.

As I’ve been getting settled in this morning, I realized I do have a bunch of miscellaneous photos from the last few weeks. So here you go, get ready for a bunch of ‘em.

First up, my brother and I took my father to Bern’s for his birthday. The wine and service were amazing, as was this large strip steak that we split three ways (pictured is just part of my portion).

The next day we went to Arco Iris, where these crispy braised pork nuggets were the jam.

The next week I visited Miso Izakaya again with some friends. I loved the oden dish they were trying out (I don’t think it’s on the menu), though we ate it early in the meal and it sat quite heavy. Tons of luscious soft bone marrow and firm root veggies.

I finally tried their ramen, which was good, though a touch sweet for my tastes. I have no idea if this was a good representation of this dish though; the kitchen was slammed and we were told they didn’t have ramen, then they brought it out later in the evening.

Last week I took a tour of Inland seafood. They sent me home with some crab dips and such, though I was hoping for a case of these Shigoku oysters. Shit, I would have even accepted a case of beau soleils from Nova Scotia. I requested this tour for a post I’m working on – more on that in the coming weeks.

I also got together with friends for some home cooked pizza and wine. My friend John is apparently on a mission to keep me in the poor house, as he continues to introduce me to expensive things which I desire. Old Barolo is amazing. It’s like dirty, mulchy, tar-laden Burgundy.

I stopped at Chat Patti (Vegetarian Indian) for the first time in a while. The thali special is always a good deal. Not as flavorful (or spicy) vegetables as I remember, but still chock full of great breads and vibrant sauces.

There’s now an excellent coffee shop in Columbia, called Drip. They serve breakfast and lunch too – I tried a duck confit biscuit with honey that is crave-worthy. Flaky, sweet, fatty, etc.

On the way to the coast I stopped in Orangeburg SC at the famous Duke’s Bar-B-Q. They told me it was the best I’d ever try, though in my experience 90% of SC BBQ is terrible (I’ve yet to try Sweatman’s or Scott’s). It’s mostly buffets and steam tray pork. Duke’s was no different. The tomato-rich hash was fine, in a I-don’t-get-to-eat-this-very-often sort of way. It was like a pureed Brunswick stew. And look at that sweet and cloying yellow mustard sauce – looks appetizing, huh?

I ate mussels and fried shrimp at 11th Street Dockside in Beaufort, it was serviceable. I’d order the shrimp again.

And I took a boat ride in Savannah, then ate steamed oysters and drank $3 margaritas at Bonna Bella Yacht Club. It was 77F and sunny with a gorgeous sunset and plenty of frosty Miller High Life on the boat. Perfect day.

Finally I got home and cooked. During the dreary ride back I was struck with a craving for Beef Bourguignon. It was fairly well done though the sauce wasn’t quite on point. Hopefully the flavors came together a little more overnight, and I may add more demi-glace today.

I have another 1.5lbs of beef chuck in my sous vide machine, which has been running at 140F since 4PM yesterday. Tonight I’m going to compare with the four hour braised beef and see who wins.

I never met my great grandfather and quite enjoyed this rare connection to the past. He didn’t relay much personal sentiment in his journal; most of it is a simple chronicle of events, often a sentence or two, and he wasn’t wildly consistent. There is no reference to the horror of war. It makes me wonder if the gaps in time were spent in trenches, and if he didn’t mention it because he wanted his thoughts elsewhere when recording them.

When he isn’t talking about the death of Teddy Roosevelt, or how five men were swept overboard and lost from the U.S.S.G.W., he frequently talked about food. Quite often, in fact. There truly is nothing like a great, warm meal.

Subsistence: Bacon, Beans, Beans Baked, Bread, Coffee, Flour, Fruit, Lard, Meat – Fresh Beef, Milk, Onions, Potatoes, Salt, Sugar, Vinegar, Tomatoes, Pepper

On foregoing page 16 is giving list of subsistence of the main food stuffs as used in the Army. To follow this list closely is not only a good principle for the army but also for the home. To buy staples, especially flour, dry groceries, potatoes, etc in quantity is a big money saving proposition, also a time saver as it does away with ? daily shopping trip which time could be used by better advantage. It is also a good idea to follow the army’s way of planning supplies and meals four or five days or more ahead, will save a lot of worry. 

December 25, 1917

Saw <> steamer towed in torpedoed, bow sunk, stern in air. Christmas dinner. Menu on board U.S.S.G.W.
Steak – Ham – Onion Sauce
Mashed potatoes – Peas – Bread – Butter
Coffee – <?> and Pumpkin Pie

Jan 1 1918 (in France)

Had dinner in a restaurant. Menu. Ham omelett, bread, butter, leg of chicken, French fried potatoes, coffee, rice pudding. 

]]> http://www.eatitatlanta.com/2012/01/18/world-war-i-dining/feed/ 5 http://www.eatitatlanta.com/2012/01/10/record-setting-unprofitable-tuna/ http://www.eatitatlanta.com/2012/01/10/record-setting-unprofitable-tuna/#comments Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:07:46 +0000 Jimmy http://www.eatitatlanta.com/?p=5299

The most expensive tuna ever was sold last week in Japan, at the famous Tsukiji market in Tokyo. Tsukiji is not only the largest supplier of fish in the world, but like the options for goods traded on the floor of the Merc in Chicago, the auctions at Tsukiji have a global impact on the price of fish around the world.

A blog called Sushi Otaku points out that the fish, which was purchased for $736,000, or $1238 per pound, is going to be sold at a loss to consumers. The WSJ estimates that each sliver of tuna will be sold to consumers for $1.75 to $5.45. Resources I’ve found online estimate there are 15-25 pieces of nigiri per pound of fish. Depending on the thickness of cut, a sushi chef would have to charge between $50-100 per piece just to cover costs.

Sushi Otaku points out, part of the reason for the exorbitant cost is the celebration of the new year at the market, where the record setting auction is symbolic for prosperity, buoyed further by the public desire to support an industry which has been greatly hurt by last year’s disasters.

But this got me thinking about high quality tuna (such as the otoro pictured below-left from Sushi Huku), the best of which is quickly disappearing from our menus, and not just because of overfishing. Many chefs simply cannot afford to put it on their menu anymore. At a meal at MF Buckhead last year, Chef Kinjo told me the bluefin otoro he was serving us cost about $400 for a 1.5lb piece, which means he would have to charge $20-30 per piece of nigiri to even make it worth their while. Many wouldn’t even bother putting it on the menu at this price, so the loss is subsidized by the profit on other items (as is the case on this sashimi platter below), the tuna seemingly used as a reward for excellent customers.

I recall an online review of Soto (in NYC, formerly Atlanta) where a customer was complaining that he ordered fatty tuna, having seen another customer order some, but Soto told him no, he didn’t deserve it. The customer was pissed. I think this shows respect for the fish on the part of Soto-San. But it’s also a financial decision. If Soto is rewarding a regular customer who drops thousands on fish a year, the tuna is a very valuable tool to him.

Of course this argument/discussion of price is moot if restaurants cannot find good tuna anymore. I’ve seen Taka lament on his blog that he may have to learn how to operate without tuna.

Tuna ? There is no hope this year. This is the true story. Let’s say they had 100 of big eye tuna before. 40 went to NY, 20 went to and there 5 came to Atlanta. But the total amount of tuna is not much now. Let’s say they have 30 of big eye tuna. 20 go to NY, 5 go to LA and we can get less than 1. And the price is high and restaurants owners don’t want to buy. We do not want blue fin tuna because of high price. But we can buy big eye tuna.

Which restaurant can buy these kind of good tuna? Taka, Tomo, MF and maybe Nakato. only 4 restaurants can buy. And if they get a large size tuna, they cannot sell all of them. And they do not want to take a risk.

I buy O2 tuna from Philippine and buy farm raised and frozen blue fin oh toro from Australia. This buying will continue for a while.

Some may object to eating bluefin tuna due to scarcity and overfishing, but I think the chances of convincing Japan (which consumes 80% of the world’s bluefin tuna) to stop eating it is somewhere between slim and asking Tebow to renounce Christ. I personally don’t crave fatty tuna much, but I appreciate the gesture and am certainly not going to turn it down when it’s offered my way. It would be downright disrespectful.

Both photos in this post by @atl_legend.

Check out this good tuna breakdown video from Eater.

It’s a question I’ve visited frequently over the last few years and half a million page views. When I first started doing this, I didn’t really fancy myself a dining authority, or a photo journalist, or even a decent cook. I just wanted to learn a bit more and take my hobby to the ethernet streets. Of course I started with the “hey, I made this dish” and “look at my breakfast” that plagued the blogs (and now Twitter), but once in a while I felt I had something worth while to say, an experience to offer, or a challenge to myself  I wanted to throw out there.

Being the first to a restaurant and offering up some snappy photos is the surefire way to get instant traffic and exposure on a blog – the stats don’t lie. Months in which I visit a brand new restaurant, visits skyrocket. December was my most trafficked month ever. This is misplaced success.

I’ve become lazy. I can keep a timeline of restaurant openings. My work schedule is generally flexible enough where I can skirt out for a meal on day one. And I often try to visit new restaurants at lunch, because natural light makes for great photos, and Google Analytics will tell you, that’s what people want. And yes, I sometimes decide where I’m going to sit based on the lighting. This is not satisfying.

My most visited post ever? Chili Sauces Explained: Sriracha, Sambal Oelek, and Chili Garlic Sauce.

I had a question, I researched it, and put up a post with crappy photos snagged from an image search. And people appreciate it, and disagree, and improve upon it, and it’s lasting.

I’m looking for inspiration. Stories that are interesting, not a chronology of what opened this week. One idea has been to focus not on restaurants, but on the very cool people that make them. Maybe dig into dishes – how they came to be, their muse and motivation. I have a few ideas about how/where restaurants source their product. The economics of the industry interests me.

On the cooking front I need some good ideas. My sous vide cooker is working now, so I’ll play with that. But how useful is that to a reader? I want to dig into Indian cuisine, which could be fun. My favorite part of when I went through Fuchsia Dunlop’s Sichuan cookbook was sourcing the ingredients, wandering around the dingy Dinho market in Chinatown, learning how to identify an English-less Shaoxing rice wine label.

If you aren’t already face down drooling in your keyboard by now, don’t worry, I’m not sure where else to go with this. But I guess questioning my motives and self criticism is a good thing. It’s what drives me.

There’s always room to be better. If I want this blog to be worth a damn, I need to get back on that path.

We had good food and wine. I assisted with dinner, and for the morning-after I made the same Mexican breakfast casserole I’ve been making for years. My camera is a little better than my initial post on this dish, which is one of the most popular all-time on the old blog.

I didn’t know the origin of the recipe for years as it was emailed to me in plain text, but it turns out it’s an Emeril recipe. Bam!

Next time I do this I’m going to use two smaller casserole dishes instead of a single large one. The outside edge is cooked well before the center. If you cook the casserole until the center is no longer soggy, the outside edge of egg is a little burnt/crispy for my taste. I also like to cover mine for the first half of cooking, then remove the foil so the exposed top doesn’t overcook. This aluminum foil cover could mitigate moisture loss, which is perhaps why the casserole is still soggy in the center. Always tinkering…

(Click here for Flickr slideshow) or click the image above for full size shot.

Moving on from Cooking and Booze, these are some of my favorites dishes from 2011. Similar to last year, it’s a solid mix of Atlanta and out-of-town dining, with NYC and my honeymoon heavy in the rotation. I’ve been blessed to have consumed, digested, and excreted a crap ton (nice visual, huh?) of stunning food this year. I still spend more money than I should, but I love dining, talking about previous dining experiences, planning my next dining trip, and even talking about the next course to come in the middle of dining. And that’s why I blog – all my friends are tired of hearing about it in person.

Most people have been going with nine or ten favorites, but I’m going to cruise through 36. Yeah, it’s a lot so I’ll be brief. And I’ll try not use to the word delicious more than twice.

Oh and check out these lists from friends, there’s some good stuff here.
-Decatur Wine & Food Dude’s Top 11
-Besha’s Top 9 Dishes
-Gene’s Top 10 on the AJC International Beat
-Jeff’s (Green Olive Media) Top 12 Meals

1. Matzo ball Tom Kha soup at Baan Sawan
2. Cauliflower at Eleven Madison Park
3. Nigiri at Soto in NYC
4. English breakfast with blood sausage at The Breslin, Ace Hotel NYC
5. Margherita Pizza at Jim Lahey’s Co. – NYC
6. Nucci at Varasano’s – still the best in Atlanta
7. Crawfish Shack Po’Boy – It’s not NOLA, but it’s pretty damn good
8. Heirloom BBQ – Everything, especially the brisket
9. Ikura at Sushi Huku
10. “An evening in Kerala” 21 course vegetarian dinner by Asha Gomez, whose Cardamom Hill opens next week on Northside
11. Chicken confit at the Glass Onion in Charleston
12. “California style sushi at Sushi Huku – I love it when Jey-san gets creative
13. General Tso’s sweetbreads at McCrady’s
14. Mirza Ghasemi (eggplant/tomato puree)at Sufi’s
15. Crudo at Customshop, Charlotte
16. I dined many times at Waffle House this year, but this moment was the best. Runner up Waffle House moment: seeing Bill Bellamy at a Columbia location around 1:30AM.
17. Wine dinner at Park 75. They killed it.
18. Blue tilapia at Pura Vida
19. Dessert at Double Zero
20. More awesome Cuban food at Arco Iris
21. Macaroons from Pierre Marcolini, Paris
22. Our forward and fun meal at L’Agape Substance, Paris. This “Caprese salad” rocked.
23. Cabbage root at L’Arpege, Paris
24. Veal wrapped in seaweed risotto at Le Chateaubriand, Paris
25. Spicy potato tapas on the beach at Pez Vela, Barcelona
26. Tuna tartare at Comerc 24.
27. Bean and quinoa bowl at Cakes & Ale Bakery
28. Chicken liver mousse at One Eared Stag
29. Most everything at H&F. There are still occasional misfires, but I always greatly enjoy my meals there. Charcuterie roxed it this particular night.
30. Japanese snapper nigiri with sea salt at Tomo Buckhead
31. Carrot Cake at Ocean Prime
32. Trout/potato/salmon roe pastry at M. Wells / BATON
33. Kimchi fried rice at Miso Izakaya
34. Lamb soup at Xi’an Famous Foods, NYC
35. Eponymous “Fuoco di Napoli” spicy pizza at Fuoco di Napoli
36. Octopus and marrow fusilli at Marea

I love to cook. Be it alone, where I find an afternoon of solo chopping to be quite therapeutic, or tackling major menus with friends, there’s nothing better than wielding the knife with some music blasting (dub-step was a popular cooking choice of mine this year) and a cold beer next to the cutting board. I’ve learned much more, but have so far to go. I mean, I’ve never done a souffle! Or a standing rib roast! I want to learn Indian cuisine, and how to clean and filet fish, and charcuterie, and…the list goes on. For now, here are a few of my favorite cooking lessons from 2011.

Pasta dishes like aglio e olio, cacio e pepe, and carbonara made many appearances this year. Simple enough in design, to obtain the perfect texture and sauce consistency requires experiential timing and touch. I finally feel like I can make a proper pasta. Beautiful fresh pasta nests like these definitely help.

My favorite pasta all year was a quick pan sauce of salty pasta water and ‘nduja, a hot Calabrian spreadable salami I obtained from Jason at Cured Meats. I must have made that dish four times that week. I did spare a little to make a stunning grilled cheese with basil.

Cooler sous vide – I finally got my pastured pork at that exact right temperature.

Flannery beef. Still the reigning champ of steak in my book. So expensive. But so good. Look at the marbling on this strip!

Lasagna. My ultimate comfort food. I made many in 2011, including a few vegetarian versions so Katie could enjoy it along with me. But my heart belongs to Bologna. I made the bechamel (which I’ve finally nailed) and meat ragu version a couple of times, including once with calf livers, which made it extra funky and interesting. Lasagna for breakfast (with an espresso, in this one photo) is the best. Marone!

Soups. I’m making them quite regularly these days. They used to intimidate me for whatever silly reason, but now I know I can dig around my fridge and pantry and make SOME sort of soup. The Vitamix helps (understatement). This soup below is a mix of frozen peas and water and herbs. Nothing more.

Over the last week I’ve knocked out cheese sauces. I had a mac and cheese break (greasy, grainy) a few weeks ago, so I spent some time researching why this happens, then played around with a few variations of recipes. I wanted a cheese sauce that could take a real sharp cheese, melt smoothly, and hold up even when reheated. I’ve found my easy, no cream method – bechamel held with xantham gum. Mix in small quantities of grated cheese over very low heat.

The veggie plate. Chili oil marinated squash. Gently simmered pink eye peas. Yuzo kosho mashed cauliflower. Tomatoes with chives. No recipes, just preparing things simply and properly and seasoning in a way that makes sense.

Homemade biscuits. Buttery (but not soggy), flaky, crusty on the outside, made with buttermilk and frozen butter. Maybe not the prettiest, but I nailed the texture. It made my day.

Porchetta. Or a version thereof. This one was a picnic pork shoulder, with herbs, roasted for hours, the skin finished under the broiler.

2011 was the year I broke the oven in my kitchen. I began cooking my pizzas at 800F+ on the clean cycle, which is a process that requires some trial and error. I became a little more familiar with making, aging, and working with doughs, though I still need lots of practice there.

Moving on to other people’s food – my brother made some extremely impressive gougères. Better than the last time I tried the French Laundry recipe, and better than any I’ve tried outside of my meal at Per Se.

My friend Brad and I tackled a Momofuku meal. While I wasn’t overly impressed with the dishes, it was once again a great learning experience. This time we got to break down a whole pig’s head, debone chickens, and assemble this dish with meat glue.

And while I learn a lot by trying to follow complicated recipes word for word, my friend Rowdy continues to rock it in the kitchen and be an inspiration with his freewheeling style. I still can’t touch his hot chicken. How did he know that dish of cured, but uncooked bacon with a thyme dressing would be brilliant at 1:30 in the morning? I don’t think he did. But he just gets in the kitchen and experiments, and more and more I think that’s the way to do it.