Italy Comes to Leonardtown!

The Bottom Feeder has long touted The Cow and the Fish Restaurant as the top source of quality dining food in Southern Maryland.  Michael and Sylvia Chase turned one of the many “Cap’n so and so” places situated on Route 235 into a place that turned out the best chef made food in the County.  They have decided to open an Italian Ristorante in closer by, in Leonardtown! in what was once Smokey Joe’s on the Town. Michael will turn his talents to producing “real” Italian food such as handmade ravioli, and believe it or not, Osso Buco! If his Bolognese Sauce served at the original place was any indication, he will accomplish this admirably. After all, his first culinary degree was from Girona, Spain where he was taught Mediterranean-style cooking using fresh herbs and spices to bring family and friends together around the dinner table, which will continue to be it’s model. So it’s not just another “Pizza Joint” link in a chain, peddling pre-made pies with manufactured ingredients. The Slice House has put others to shame and currently remains the only purveyor of credible Pizza in town.  They expect to open around the first of the month.  Authentic Italian cuisine has long been a missing component of our local options.

 

For those familiar with the layout of their new home, “Smokey Joe’s on the Town”, there was a big honkin’ Smoker in the middle of the place. It will continue to be of use for Sunday Lunches, producing Smoked Rosemary Chicken, herb lemon butter Chicken, and Prime Ribs. Once they have moved, be sure to go in and talk to Sylvia who has many stories and experiences to share.

 

The Feeder has received no compensation of fried oysters for this recommendation!

 

I am afraid “DFD” will remain dark for a while.

 

 

 

 

Told to Comeback!

Want to run down a side road for a minute, while Mr. Keller’s chicken sits and waits a bit.

Funny how things work..you start intending to write about Fried Green Tomatoes, and end up in Louisville.

  I keep thinking I’m leading the field and somebody “up there” reads my blogs.  Look what appeared in the Washington Post

AResized Keller One wcm t6s 2001001 – 5996

I was intrigued by the subject of course, but on the second page was this sub-headline

With “comeback sauce”.  Huh?

So, start of side road.  Starting down the road, various signposts tell us:

 

The name comes from the tradition in Mississippi that any time you leave a place, people don't say "goodbye" or "see you later," they say "Y'all come back." So I'm betting this sauce was made to seal the deal. It worked!

 

Comeback sauce is a dipping sauce for fried foods or as a salad dressing in the cuisine of central Mississippi. Similar to Louisiana remoulade  the base of the sauce consists of (presumably Duke’s) mayonnaise and chili sauce (or some approximation of that combination).^[2] The origin has been credited to The Rotisserie, a Greek restaurant that was located in Jackson, Mississippi.  Jackson was one of the many Southern towns where Greek immigrants found cafe jobs beginning in the 1920s. They learned the trade and English, eventually opening their own businesses. By midcentury, most of this city’s mainstay restaurants were owned by Greek families

The version from the article:

Another fancier version:

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup chili sauce
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1 teaspoon prepared spicy brown mustard (or Creole mustard))
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons onions (minced)
• 2 cloves garlic (finely minced, or 1 teaspoon garlic powder)

Gather the ingredients.

 

Add all of the ingredients (mayonnaise, chili sauce, ketchup, mustard, oil, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, onions, garlic) to a jar and mix well to combine. Seal the jar with a screwcap lid. Refrigerate the jar overnight before using.

Serve in individual portions for dipping or spread the sauce from the jar and enjoy!

 

Got me to wondering about various “regional” sauces;  Of course in the realm of BBQ there are too many to recount, Carolina alone has variations with in the state, mostly vinegar based;  Alabama boasts “white” mayonnaise based sauces;  Texas has a bunch of ketchup based and so on….

 

A singular sauce is bound to Louisville Ky., and the Annual Derby: Henry Bain’s Sauce:

 

Henry Bain was a maitre d' at Louisville's all-male Pendennis Club in the early 20th century. This recipe was obtained through the current president of the club. This is a steak sauce. Some people add a small (yeah, you bet)  amount of bourbon whiskey (Duhh, Kentucky, Bourbon?, Duhhh)

 

1 (17 oz jar) Major Grey Chutney

4 ½ Ounces pickled walnuts

1 (14 Oz) bottle ketchup

1 (10 Oz) bottle steak sauce (such as A1)

1 (10 Oz) bottle Worcestershire Sauce

1 (12 Oz) bottle tomato-based chili Sauce

1 Dash hot pepper Sauce or to taste

Let me just reach in the pantry and get those Pickled Walnuts!

 

At any rate it is just another example of the wide variety of American Food!

Y’all come back now!

test

tests

goin' down South

Some people know I’m on the “Editorial Board” of the St. Mary’s County Historical Society’s quarterly newsletter we call: “The Chronicles”.   I am mostly dead weight, being thrown in with a bunch of folks who have lived here for years and years and hence have lived a lot of history for this county, gaining several interesting stories and experiences along the way.  Only arriving in ’96 I am considered far from a being a “County Boy”.  So my knowledge is derived from a keen interest in our history and from rubbing off the County Archivist, i.e., MFO. So my role is mostly relegated to punctuation, sentence structure and helping with the flow of a given story.

Part of my responsibility should be to produce a “Story” for inclusion in the Chronicles.  One of the editors suggested I do something on food, a subject with which I have some degree of knowledge and familiarity.  SO years ago I thought I would do something like “The evolution of fine dining in St Mary’s county”.  I’ve done a couple of interviews of local long time restaurateurs.  Question is: how far back should I go?  I think it should begin with plantations (like Sotterley) and the enslaved people who were living there.  Many brought with them the foodways of their country of origin where they were forced into slavery, and adapted them to what was available in this country.  With just a little bit of poetic liberty, you soon find yourself with recipes for things like “Fried Green Tomatoes” which I decided to try.  

Step one, obtain some!   Fortunately, I have a friend with an extensive garden which produces a lot of tomatoes and of course they go green before turning into red.

AResized Green tomatoes wcm t6s 200823 

I selected one to begin

Sliced it up

(fairly thick as the recipe specified)

And did the Mise en Place for the batter, etc.

And even decided to “kick it up a notch”

Got out the fryer

 got the oil to the specified temperature

and fried them and served along side local corn

They were pretty good.   I think they’re done for the season.

Well what does one drink with/for a classic southern dish????\  To borrow a phrase from the Gorilla… Of Course!!!

An interesting aside, thrown in here. I purchased this rather expensive bottle of Absinthe (substitute).  If you read many cocktail recipes that call for that ingredient of Herbsaint, most of them want you to either use miniscule amounts or: “spritz or rinse the inside of an iced cocktail glass with the Absinthe (or Herbsaint), Remove the ice from the glass and coat the glass with the Herbsaint, then discard”..  the darn bottle costs a lot, and so you are literally throwing your money away. 

So…

• 1 cube sugar
• 3 dashes bitters
• 1 1/2 to 3 ounces of Rye whiskey  (to taste)
• 1/4 ounce absinthe
• Garnish: lemon twist

Rinse a chilled cocktail glass with the Absinthe and discard

Muddle the sugar cube with the bitters

Add whiskey and stir

Gently squeeze the lemon twist over the drink to release its essence.

Serve

Enjoy, ya’ll and with COVID who cares about

DFD

Did you know that IHOP is gone?? i didn't

Time Marches On

Are you reelin' in the years

Stowin' away the time

Are you gatherin' up the tears

Have you had enough of mine

Steely Dan

57 years ago TODAY these two began a 57-year journey along a road filled with bumps and potholes, yet here we are. MFO’s father and our friend and minister G. Robinson Lapp fired the starting gun.

These people 

joined our caravan along the way, MFO’s sister on the right, and FOJ’s with their lovely wives nearby (reacting to a “look Goofy!” request on our 50^th anniversary celebration in the OBX).

The long and winding road that lead me to this door was

filled with friends, family, and people who care a lot about us.  We were blessed by Chefs who made things I can only wish for.   Some had achieved Three Star Michelin status, people with more talent and love of food that I can imagine.  Thank God they’re in our sphere once in a while.

Would we follow the same path again?  Who knows? as we near the Stop Sign at the end of the journey, I wouldn’t trade it.

Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me

Other times I can barely see

Lately it occurs to me

What a long strange trip it's been

Grateful Dead

Bon Appetit, my friends.   
thank you for all the well wishes

Isiasis and Happier Times

August 4, 2020:

FDR:  “It is a date that will live in infamy”

Charles Dickens: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

However you phrase it, it was one of the strangest weather days I’ve ever experienced: worst of times: Torrential rains, high winds,

and then: (best of times) sunshine! All within 8 hours or so…. despite being well prepared (see previous posting) using emergency supplies at 0530 doesn’t seem very wise.  So we toughed it out.  We watched Channel Four coverage, who said in the wrap-up that: “St. Mary’s was hit the hardest of any county in Maryland”..  Tough to argue with that… we had a Tornado on the ground toppling trees near Leonardtown, roads being washed out, etc.,…uncomfortably close!!

The mighty weather station recorded a 52 MPH gust, 5.13 inches of rain in a short period of time, easily outstripping similar statistics for the State.

Although now somewhat overshadowed, what I originally wanted to yak about was… hmm let me see…wait, I know!  Food!!   and..

Recently, there has been a spate of (I think) relatively new publications.  They are singular in subject, one called “Scotland”

Another for Britain”;

we have been a long time subscriber to “Ireland of the Welcomes”

Hey!  I know that Beverage

One of the pleasures (living in the past) we enjoy is remarking “We’ve been there” to several of the articles.  I’m SO glad we traveled when we did (self pity)

Anyway, one of them is devoted to a country who appreciates and produces some of the best (Okay, I used the “word”; it’s true!)) food and wine in the world.

Although most of them do have some pages devoted to Food, “France” has a whole section for food, wine, and cheese.  

I was particularly taken with a photo in the most recent issue (of "France")which kind of highlighted the city of light, and civility.  Upscale restaurants in our country are attracted (for the most part) to sleek, stainless steel, interiors for fine dining which is fine

But what could be more inviting than the (two star) dining room in Le Clarence hotel:

Opulence old world charm, gorgeous.  It had a review attached:

And not your yellowtail, I think it will set you back four figures, on top of the ($US) 153 up to 380 depending on how many courses you pick. 

More living in the past… most of our trips to France was to enjoy a week cruising the Canals of France on French Country Waterway’s barges, holding a max of 12 people.  They concentrate on local culture, food, and wine, and have a chef aboard.  The usual practice is to gather at some luxury hotel in Paris

Naturally one has to have sustenance for the journey to the barge.  In my case a wonderful Hendrick’s Martini and Gimlet for MFO

For Lunch, the feeder indulged in Parma Ham and greens

And MFO enjoyed Blini with smoked salmon…

As FOJTE says: “living well is the best revenge”.. so right on many counts!

We then bused to where we boarded the Barge and began the cruise. Here’s a typical lunch aboard while cruising

I didn’t mean to get this deep, but this is where we had dinner at “Bernard Loiseau”

The tragic story:

Le Relais Bernard Loiseau formerly La Côte d'Or is a Michelin Guide two-star French Restaurant.  The Michelin Guide bestowed a coveted 3-star in 1991, largely due to the fanatic attention to detail, frenetic work ethic and discerning palate of Loiseau. His fanatical attention to detail, propelled him to the top of his profession, and earned him a knowledgeable and loyal, but unforgiving and demanding clientele.

Eventually, there were rumors in Le Figaro that the Michelin Guide was planning to remove one of La Côte d'Or's three stars. Loiseau committed suicide in 2003.

No matter how many stars were attached, it was a lovely 

meal.

And many more courses, followed by “dessert”

And, of course as it should be in France:

What a wonderful world out there.  We had 4 or 5 more such voyages. memories, memories!

And OF course we were 

habillé pour le dîner

Bon Jour and Bon Appetit!

be safe.

disaster preparedness

Attention!!

A word about preparedness for tropical storms and the like.  It is important that you make sure you have survival equipment, so you can “weather the storm”.

The main posting will be about Paris, and guess what? Food! I might just wait until Iasisaissias passes…  Meanwhile here are the minimum essential supplies you should have at your fingertips

Please be sure you have ample amounts to last you a few days if necessary.  Be safe.

Here and There, This and that

Hello again!  The problem with letting time lapse between posts is (for me) remembering what the heck I said then and wondering if this is a repeat.  So, maybe shorter sooner is the best (isn’t that something OKU football related?)

So just a couple of snippets to keep the ball rolling:

Irony

You MAY remember that I got a request to post more the other day, resulting in the little primer on Cheese of Blue.  Ironically the individual who jabbed me does not even like Blue Cheese!

Endless Summer

Eleven out of the last thirteen days has had high temperatures above ninety degrees.  Maybe that Tropical Storm whose name nobody can pronounce will shove some of the awful stuff away.

 Mars!

Today a vehicle was launched with a payload meant to explore a certain ancient river delta on Mars for signs of early life (billions of years ago). I was interested to see that it incorporates a helicopter.  It is expected to land in February of 2021 after a seven-month journey through space.  Amazing.  Just imagine.

Snark:  the weather channel somehow gets involved in these operations, and they sent the ebullient “Steph” (Abrams) to cover the story.  I, well, to be frank, cannot stand her.  Every third word is “right?” or “okay”; “All right?”, trying to tell us philistines something about those little white lines on a weather map are something called “isobars!  See? They denote lines of equal what we meteorologists call “atmospheric pressure”, okay?”  “the air has weight, see?”  Anyway during the whole launch sequence, she kept squealing “wow!”  “ooooohhhh!” “you can actually feel the power of the engines!” Sorry.

 Good Stuff

Obtaining and maintaining the menu and (bless her) she does an admirable job of being creative (there’s only so many boneless skinless (low sodium) chicken breasts in the world..  Since I am supposed to ingest as much liquid as possible (to fuel the Lasix) she found something really good in the liquids.

Both are really good, tart and bracing

Good Stuff II

On those days when MFO and/or I am involved in things Zoomy, we often have a “light” dinner mostly carcuterie like put together by MFO

During which we graze and enjoy more adult liquids

More Serious Department – FOJTY and "kids"

Hopefully you were paying enough attention that you know FOJTY is very involved with training and owning dogs. And not just any mutts mind you, he specializes exclusively in American Wirehaired Pointing Griffons:

Griffs are medium-sized, all-purpose gundogs standing no higher than 24 inches at the shoulder. They’re known for an extremely harsh and bristly coat that gives them a natural, unkempt appearance. The preferred color is steel gray with brown markings. A lavish mustache and eyebrows frame large, rounded eyes that gleam with a keen intelligence. Griffs are the very picture of an honest, hardworking sporting dog, whose handsome looks are the result of a noble and unaffected ruggedness rather than fussy grooming.

Like any group of devoted enthusiastic “pet” owners, there is an organization for announcements of field trials, shows, and the like. This year marked to 30^th anniversary of the AWHPG Association. Which was commemorated with a special 30^th Anniversary edition of publication: 

The Griffonnier

As part of the content for the special edition, they wanted to present the history of the organization, So prior to publication, they sought donations from members, advertisers, owners, friends, etc., to help defray the cost of publication.  As part of this effort they wanted any history associated with special pups, and so forth.  So, I thought it appropriate to honor FOJTE’s first Griff, Stanley.  Stan had a tragic life, cut short by an aggressive infection that eventually could not arrested. So I created a little tribute to him when he arrived at a much devoted FOJTY and family.  There is no more special friend of the family than the first addition a new “member”

Since Stan’s passing, they now are ”parents” to Smoke and Duke who could not have a better set of owners.  His talents and training efforts bear fruit at various trials and shows.   Smoke in 2019

Okay enough rambling for this day.  These days

DFD

Often means a stylish mask

Stay Safe, please!