chicken fried steak and other local favorite foods

Theo R Cwithin · Dec 8, 2009

Janx said:
when I got here, it was all about Shipley's donuts. They called the "normal" kind cake donuts. Everybody had to have those potato flour things from Shipleys. Heck if you brought in donuts that weren't shipley's, there'd be donut snobs who'd turn them down.

Funny, people can be awfully defensive about their baked goods!

Here in houston, they seem to like BBQ sauce. And so do I. BBQ Sauce has replaced ketchup as my standard condiment.

Oh yeah, you get the sauce out here, too, it's just not usually used in quite the quantities. Dunno, maybe it just evaporates quicker or something

ANd real meat gets cooked over fire. I prefer charcoal, but I'll do gas if I'm short on time. I've never done slow cooked brisket (don't have the rig for that), but my steaks are quite popular. I have been invited to dinner on the premise that I would grill the meat.

Good man! Meat done a flame, not like that NC-"would-you-like-some-meat-with-your-sauce"-style BBQ. But, shhhh, don't tell Freyar I said that! Though I gotta admit pulled pork is reeeeeeeaal nice...

Dannyalcatraz · Dec 9, 2009

Ahhh...BBQ.

I like Pulled Pork, Ribs (beef or pork), brisket, chicken, sausage, venison, razorback...

A well-seasoned/marinated piece of meat done over open flame, with real wood & coal (no propane, please)...and a nice sauce to top it off.

Currently, while I do some standard sauces, I currently favor my homemade cherry-mustard pepper sauce. Its appearance and flavor are very much like a standard BBQ, but its a bit healthier.

Dannyalcatraz · Dec 9, 2009

freyar said:
(Plus: unsweetened? That's just wrong! )

My friend, there are few things better for cleansing your palate and refreshing you than a tall glass of iced black tea with about half of a lemon (or more, depending upon your tastes) squeezed in it. Its good for you, too.

There is a beverage called an "Arnold Palmer"- named after the famous golfer- that is tea + lemonade.

Minus the sugar, I guess you could call it a Bitter Arnold.

freyar · Dec 9, 2009

the_orc_within said:
Good man! Meat done a flame, not like that NC-"would-you-like-some-meat-with-your-sauce"-style BBQ. But, shhhh, don't tell Freyar I said that! Though I gotta admit pulled pork is reeeeeeeaal nice...

I think what you're calling pulled pork is what Carolinians call BBQ. Pretty dry, small pieces (almost flakes) of meat that can be served as a sandwich, slow cooked in a fire pit. That's one food I wish I could find a veggie substitute for.

Dannyalcatraz said:
My friend, there are few things better for cleansing your palate and refreshing you than a tall glass of iced black tea with about half of a lemon (or more, depending upon your tastes) squeezed in it. Its good for you, too.

There is a beverage called an "Arnold Palmer"- named after the famous golfer- that is tea + lemonade.

Minus the sugar, I guess you could call it a Bitter Arnold.

Hehe, I've had Arnold Palmers, and I went to the same college he did, too, which I will note is definitely in a sweet tea area.

As for the health benefits, I know! I drink a lot of tea, mostly hot, really, but (except for green teas) I prefer at least a little sugar. It brings out the flavor in tea, hot or cold. As an aside, never get that garbage that Starbucks calls iced tea. The herbal stuff is weird, and the black tea is horribly, horribly oversteeped.

Strange, I can't believe that I've gotten sucked into defending NC food so much when I haven't even lived there in over a decade.

Pbartender · Dec 9, 2009

freyar said:
I think what you're calling pulled pork is what Carolinians call BBQ. Pretty dry, small pieces (almost flakes) of meat that can be served as a sandwich, slow cooked in a fire pit. That's one food I wish I could find a veggie substitute for.

Yep... It's also called Shredded Pork in some areas. It's what happens to super tender slow-cooked meat when you pull it apart by shredding it with a fork or tongs. I've seen it served "dry" (a bit of a misnomer, since the meat should be pretty moist, if it's cooked right), or soused in BBQ sauce or a sweet Bourbon-style sauce.

Very tasty.

Theo R Cwithin · Dec 9, 2009

Pbartender said:
Yep... It's also called Shredded Pork in some areas. It's what happens to super tender slow-cooked meat when you pull it apart by shredding it with a fork or tongs. I've seen it served "dry" (a bit of a misnomer, since the meat should be pretty moist, if it's cooked right), or soused in BBQ sauce or a sweet Bourbon-style sauce.

Very tasty.

Shredded pork shows up in a lot of Mexican cuisine, too. A really common one is carnitas, which is basically just seasoned shredded pork, usually served with some sort of salsa in a tortilla. Personally, I like it with fresh pico de gallo, lots of cilantro and a squeeze of lime, wrapped in a thick homemade tortilla. That's a Heaven Roll-up right there...

ssampier · Dec 10, 2009

shredded pork, mmm.

I won't claim that I know what Southern bbq is but I do like low and slow cooking over a fire. I have a Weber grill and usually the fire is much too hot.

Janx · Dec 10, 2009

ssampier said:
shredded pork, mmm.

I won't claim that I know what Southern bbq is but I do like low and slow cooking over a fire. I have a Weber grill and usually the fire is much too hot.

a weber grill's mostly good for steaks, and other quick things. I do my steaks 3-4 minutes per side, maybe twice per side at most. These are 1" thick at least. I usually brush A1 or other sauce on them before they hit the grill. A1 is better cooked on it, than as a table condiment. Plus, it's kind of like fire armor...

never ever fry a steak in a pan. Every time you do, a cow dies needlessly.

Pbartender · Dec 10, 2009

the_orc_within said:
Shredded pork shows up in a lot of Mexican cuisine, too. A really common one is carnitas, which is basically just seasoned shredded pork, usually served with some sort of salsa in a tortilla. Personally, I like it with fresh pico de gallo, lots of cilantro and a squeeze of lime, wrapped in a thick homemade tortilla. That's a Heaven Roll-up right there...

I spent the whole of last summer practicing and perfecting my carnitas and barbacoa recipes... Yummy yum yum yum.

cattoy · Dec 10, 2009

I spent some time in Atlanta and developed a taste for pulled pork there.

I spent a year in Missouri and enjoyed the St. Louis style pizza.

The rest of my life has been spent in California and my local faves are really imports from Hawaii (both parents born there) like laulau, lomilomi salmon and spam musubi. On the mainland, there is Tommy's if you're in socal. I had a friend in college that would drive 6 hours one way to get his tommy's fix.