butchers and bbq's (sorry... grills)

I have a dilemma. We have spent our first day exploring around Waynesville, the local sleepy town closest to our mountain retreat. It is just as I hoped it would be, full of thrift markets (which they seem to call primitives, which I think is a kinda word for vintage),  guys in plaid driving pick ups with huge mud rider wheels, a visitors centre run by a man called "big John" (who talks at length about trails, hiking and elk.. you simply can not rush a Carolinian conversation), small bars, local beers and above all, high hopes for great food.

My first proper introduction to Southern food (minus the peanuts, which I just can't stop thinking about) is at Frogs Leap in Waynesville, and I'm extremely hungry and very greedy. It's pretty quiet, as we are in between seasons, but the kitchen leap into action at our arrival. Any worries I have about eating in a near empty restaurant (which I loathe) are completely banished as large cones of crisp, golden Frickles (fried pickles) with buttermilk dip arrive and disappear in seconds. Frickles, I decide, are goood. More deep fried Southern goodness follows in the shape of chilli spiked hushpuppies, and popcorn shrimp which comes with the lightest creamy pickled slaw, slow cooked bbq pork belly sliders and creole catfish fish fingers. This is my kind of food. 

But here is where the dilemma comes in..... Eating out is amazing, there are, I know, many tasty  morsels to be had in both Waynesville and the near by much larger town of Asheville. But we are a family who loves to cook, and I have my eye on a butcher that I'm just itching to go to. So, to cook or to be cooked for? that is the question.

Cooking wins

The next day I can't resist the lures of The Chop Shop Butchery any longer. What is it about food shops in other countries that are so alluring? The Chop Shop has impeccable creds, all their meat is local (though in the States that can be an area of several hundred miles), sustainable and ethically reared. They do all their own butcher, smoking and curing on site and their butchers are the friendliest most knowledgeable bunch I've ever met.

I just can't tear myself away from the counters displaying the most beautifully butchered meat, perfectly minced beef and cuts I know little or nothing about. Luckily I have Farmer (yes, that is his name) on hand to give me the low down and to inform me that to be a true Southerner I have to learn the difference between by bbq's and my grills. What I'm after is meat for the grill... bbq meat is, he says, reserved for slow cooking, those big hunks of meat smoked and cooked low and slow over the coals. In short, if it's anything less than 24 hours, it's emphatically NOT bbq-ed.

After about an hour or perusing and intense meat education, we depart, our large brown bag fit to burst with cold smoked pork chops, Denver steaks, Wurst, Nuremburg sausages, English (back) bacon and most intriguingly of all... beef bacon.

The feasting

I'm not normally a fan of a one of those bbq's (sorry... grill) that pits meat against meat, all fighting on the plate but I'm making an exception this time as I just can't decide what not to cook. So we are keeping it simple so the meat speaks for itself.

First up it's the cold smoked pork chops. These babies are what drew me to The Chop shop in the first place. They smell so amazing, lightly smokey, floral and sweet that I decide not to do anything to them. The amount of fat they have is impressive and causes some epic flames on the bbq giving them an extra boost of flavour.

The wurst too are just cooked straight up, a really good sausage needs no marinating or other flavours and these bad boys are thickly meaty with a good amount of fat for extra juiciness.

I'm excited too about the Denver steak. A trendy new cut that is only recently making its way into the butchery and restaurant scene. A continuation of the short rib to the chuck, this steak is well marbled and really flavourful, ideal for grilling.

thyme and garlic denver steaks

6 denver steaks

olive oil to drizzle

thyme sprigs

whole garlic cloves, bashed a bit

lots of sea salt and black pepper

put the steaks in a dish with lots of olive oil, then thyme, garlic and a good amount of salt and pepper and leave for at least an hour. Cook on a hot bbq for 2-3 minutes each side then allow to rest for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

There is so much amazing produce here in NC that we are spoilt for choice so for sides I go for simple baked spuds with lots of salt, butter and natural yoghurt, bbq-ed corn, a pickled slaw of cabbage and raddish, and a juicy tomato salad which needs very little other than  a good drizzling of extra virgin olive oil and some sea salt.

Slaw of cabbage, radish and spring onions

1 white cabbage, finely shredded

a bunch of breakfast radishes, sliced

bunch of spring onions, finely sliced

200ml malt vinegar or cider vinegar

75g caster sugar

150ml Greek or natural yoghurt

good squeeze and lemon juice

mix the cabbage, radishes and spring onions together in a serving bowl. Heat the vinegar with a splash of water and the sugar over a low heat. Once the sugar has melted, bubble for a few minutes then pour over the top of the vegetables and toss well. Set aside for about an hour then stir in the yohurt, lemon juice and plenty of seasoning. Toss with fresh herbs such as parsley, tarragon or chives if you have them and serve.

The meat was every bit as good as as I had anticipated, the Denver was so tender and flavourful, the iron rich dish-gravy mingling with the smoky rich charred flavour of they pork chops and soaking into the fluffy innards of the baked potato. I may never go back to single meat bbq's again.

did someone say boiled peanuts??

Good God... How have I never tried these before? If there is snack heaven then this, surely, is it. How can something that sounds so simple, boring even, be so very delicious and addictive. Picture a styro-foam cup, filled with hot peanuts, just scooped from the pot from where they have been gently boiled in a salty cooking liquour until they are soft and creamy with the consistency of a cooked butter bean but all the flavour of the most peanutty peanut you have ever eaten.

The plain ones are amazing, the Cajun spiced ones are even better. This is going on my list of things I have to try and recreate at home - though i think you ideally need fresh green peanuts, which i'm doubtful I will find back home, but I will give it a go with the dried variety and let you know! If anyone hears of a green peanut making its way to markets of south London please do let me know!

cornbread and butterbeans

What on earth was i thinking?! A week is just not long enough to discover North Carolina.... no way... not even a little bit. I've barely scratched the surface and already i'm utterly hooked. The food, the music, the people, the scenery, I love it all.

Laurel Cottage, NC

To backtrack a little, I am here because of my dad. He turned 70 this year and we decided celebrate with a big family holiday, and through all the discussions and debates and probably rows, the destination materialised. Laurel Cottage, Waynesville, North Carolina.

Why didn't i arrive sooner?!

I arrived late on Sunday night into Atlanta to be picked up by my sister who had spent the last 2 weeks (much to my seething envy) travelling all over the south and is fully in the swing. As we start the drive to NC she is full of tales of amazing meals, of cornbread, grits, fried chicken and green tomatoes and drive thru 32 ounce daiquiris which are positively encouraged in the state of Louisiana, particularly it seems, before you go to check out the lounging alligators.

Apparently I have just the day before missed an epic meal in Atlanta at The Gunshow. Somehow inspired by  a mix of Brazilian churrascaria-style dining and Chinese dim sum, where a selection of chefs create dishes that they bring to you on a wheely hostess trolley to waft under your nose as you pick and chose which dishes take your fancy. The trouble being, once you have seen, smelt and heard all about a dish, it is very hard to say no to to the chef that is presenting it to you, you eat rather a lot more than you intended!

Heaven is a house on Cold Mountain

We finally arrive at Laurel Cottage well past midnight exhausted but buzzing, though that could have been the midnight pit stop at taco bell which was the only thing open having missed all the Five Guys en route. We find my parents drinking wine and eating steak, so it would be rude not to join in! The house is stunning, but that's about all I can see as its pitch black, but I know out there somewhere is a beautiful mountain. I'm lulled to sleep by the sound of crickets and a rushing river

outdoor kitchen and barn at Laurel cottage

cold bath

I'm woken by the lilting, Dolly Parton-esque tones of a lady called Kendra talking excitedly and welcoming us to North Carolina and urging us to swim in the ice cold mountain river, fish, eat and relax. The view is breathtaking. I love mountains, but these are something else. quietly undulating tree covered and so peaceful.

A swim before breakfast is definitely in order, to say it is cold couldn't possibly do it justice! Crystal clear and icy it blasts away the jet lag far better than any cup of coffee ever could.

I just know i'm going to love it here. I can feel it already. Next to explore... and eat... a lot.

sourdough September

This September is all about bread and sourdough in particular. The Good Bread Campaign wants to get us excited about sourdough.  Buying it and eating it (in my case slathered thickly in so much butter you can leave teeth marks) and even better, getting people to give sourdough making a go at home.

Bruce and Reggie in the Alps

I am still very much a novice sourdough maker. For a while (well, about a year)  I had two bubbling  starters. There was Bruce (all the best starters have names), given to me by my good friend and food writer, Rosie Ramsden. Bruce was a robust teenager of a white and rye sourdough starter, and there was Regginaldough, my own pure white sourdough starter creation. Bruce and Reggie were my constant companions, they travelled with me to the Alps on holiday and up and down the UK, people thought i was completely off my trolley but it was fascinating to watch and taste how they changed with every new location.

Sadly however, in a severe case of neglect on my part, the suffered an early and tragic demise. Something, I consoled myself,  that often happens to new sourdough converts. They do both still exist in some hybrid form in my mum's fridge and the new super Br-eggie is still going strong and is making the most amazing bread though that could be something to do with my mum's amazing skills as a baker.

I think it is about time I get back in the sourdough groove, and rather than taking the easy path of taking some well established starter from home i'm going to have another crack at making one from scratch. If you have never tried sourdough making before then give it a go with me and I will be posting my bread successes, failures, tips and recipes.

Sourdough making is a lot of trial and error and finding out what works for you as a bread maker but once you are hooked - and i promise you will be - you will never look back. Even if there are times when you are without a starter you will always come back to it time and time again. Think of your starter as a pet that need love, attention and understanding.

SIMPLE WHITE SOURDOUGH STARTER

Beginning a starter is so simple. Start with measuring 75g of unbleached flour into a container then add 75g of water. It is very important to weight the water as you want a perfect ratio of water to flour. Mix together with your fingers rather than a spoon as you have natural yeasts on your skin that will add to a good starter. Cover loosely with the lid without sealing so that the natural yeasts in the air can get to work on your starter, and leave for 12 hours. If it has started to bubble after 12 hours that is great, but if not, don!t panic, it may take up to 36 hours for your starter to get going. If nothing has happened after 36 hours I would say to start again, trying a different flour or putting it in a different place. 

Once your starter is bubbling it is time to feed. add another 75g each flour and water and mix again. leave fur a further 12 -24 hours until it is bubbling again then feed it again. You should find that your starter grows and expands after it has been fed, doubling in size.

Once you have fed it a good three times you need to start discarding (if you don't you will find your whole kitchen is taken over by large amounts of bubbling starter like some kind of bread monster!)

When you are ready to feed again, discard half the starter before adding your 75g flour and water. It may seem wasteful but once your stater is established you will use this to make the base of your bread. You now need to keep feeding your starter in this way every day, discarding half before every feed, until you have a well established starter. Most people recommend that you don't use a starter that is less than a week old to make bread as it is too unstable. it can take a month or more for your starter to reliably double in size between feedings.

My new little guy is bubbling away, i'm not going to name it yet in case i jinx it. Now all I have to do is wait, feed, and hope it survives a short burst of dormancy in the fridge when I go away on holiday. Fingers are crossed for survival.