MISSISSIPPI MEDITERRANEAN

Petra, a Mediterranean restaurant and one of our favorite places to eat in town, closed not too long ago. (Sadly, it's now a steakhouse, of which this town has far more than its share.) Kurt and I mourned the loss. But then we got over it. We started cooking Mediterranean food! Kroger started offering dolmas as part of their antipasto bar! So our social loss soon turned into our gastronomic gain.

Saturday night, I put together this plate of lamb kebabs, tomato and cucumber salad with fresh basil, grilled squash, olives, and yogurt with cucumber and mint. It was an incredible spread, if I do say so myself.

Petra schmetra!
And I hate to even write these words, but Sunday did not see a single pancake. Instead, there were poached eggs with Parmesean and basil atop fresh tomato sauce with olives and capers.

Tonight, it's going to be Mississippi Masala: a yummy chicken curry. And if you haven't seen the movie Mississippi Masala, add it to your Netflix list. And take note of the scenes filmed in Greenwood, MS (the Delta town where Kurt and I got married). Denzel Washington's character's father is a waiter at Lusco's. And if you ever make it to Lusco's, which you should, make sure to order the shrimp (hot), onion rings, and the homemade flan.

THE SCIENCE OF FRIED CHICKEN

I recently ran across some old photographs and found this: an image from a project on fried chicken that I worked on, oh, back in 2003. My witty approach to the project was met with some furrowed brows. As you might guess, this one didn't make the cut. Still, I'm glad I held on to all of the photographs because they're really quite funny. At least I think so.

This photo reminds me of all of those health-and-science filmstrips I had to watch as a kid, which remind me of the AV Geeks, who have a giant archive of those filmstrips. Have a look at Let's Make A Sandwich from 1950.

And for you Flickr fans out there, there's an entire Flickr group dedicated to Vintage Science. This is pretty interesting. But I'm a fan of this.

MMM, FRIED PIE

Also at the festival was Mrs. Armstrong of Centerville, Tennessee, and her fried pies. Mrs. Armstrong brought 600 of these beauties with her, and she sold the lot of them. I sampled (and shared) a coconut and a chocolate fried pie. I have to say, while I am a complete chocoholic, the coconut had me on my knees. That's coconut custard in there! Pure heaven. And lucky me, Mrs. Armstrong sells her pies on her website, Sweet Nothings Fried Pies.

A SPICY WEEKEND

Behold an example of some of the shenanigans I got into while attending the Franklin Food & Spirits Festival. This photo was taken by my friend Jeff Moore (thanks, Jeff!), who happened to step up to the window for an order of hot chicken, while I was in the truck taking photographs as part of the oral history interview I did with Bolton's Spicy Chicken & Fish of Nashville. Below is a photo of their spicy chicken-on-a-stick. Yep, it's pretty darned hot. Almost as hot as it was at the festival. 

THE GREAT TORTILLA CAPER

The other day, I casually mentioned that I would try making handmade tortillas for a fajita dinner. Well, I really did it. And--to my complete and utter surprise--they were spectacular. And spectacularly easy.

Part of my excitement related to the idea of making tortillas was the opportinty to use my tortilla press. This thing has a pretty odd story behind it. You'd think, being from Texas, I'd have one of these handy gadgets as a basic kitchen necessity. Well, you'd be wrong. I bought this tortilla presss in--of all places--Baltomore, when I was in college. My roommate and I (Hi, Katie!) were frequent visitors to the Disabled American Veteran's Thrift Store on North Avenue, and I happened to find it on one of our visits. No idea what I paid for it but rest assured, it was a bargain. The thing is, though, that I've lugged this thing around since 1991--from house to house, city to city--and I'd never used it before last weekend. Shocking, I know.[Side Note: also on North Avenue in Baltimore is the Blacks in Wax Museum.]

Okay, so, the tortillas. I couldn't begin to tell you where/when/how I got the recipe. I can tell you, though, that there's nothing to these things, just water, flour, and shortening. I've seen some other recipes that don't use shortening, which I might try one day, but these just might be too good to push aside.

But now, a confession: I hate my tortilla press. Sure, it looks cool, but it is a headache to use. Maybe I didn't have the right technique. All I know is that the thing makes a thick, lopsided tortilla. To get anything like what I wanted, I had to press-and-turn, press-and-turn, press-and-turn too many times. So I eventually cursed the thing and got out my rolling pin. The rolling pin made quick work of the dough and got it right thin, but my next problem was making them perfectly round, as you can see from the picture here. But I'll have you know that an oblong tortilla tastes the same as a round tortilla.

And the chicken fajitas that went in the tortillas were pretty awesome, too. The Ninfa's-esque green sauce and marinated carrots sure didn't hurt.

So the Great Tortilla Caper ended with a feast--a feast that would have made Mama Ninfa proud.

MMM, COOKIES

Buttermilk cookies made from this recipe.

Homemade tortilla recap to come.

A STORY ABOUT VERMICELLI

I love Vietnamese food. You know that. When I moved to Mississippi from Texas, I thought I'd miss all of my favorite Tex-Mex restaurants the most. I was wrong. I missed Van Loc. 

A couple of weeks ago, Van Loc came to me. Kind of. Poppy and Liz, two of my high school girlfriends, came to town. (That's the three of us pictured above: Poppy, Liz, and me.) One night, Poppy made us dinner: Bun Heo Xao (stir-fried pork with vermicelli). It was awesome. Somehow I never realized that vermicelli noodles could be found at our local Kroger. I had to catch my breath as Poppy picked up a package of vermicelli from the bottom shelf on the Asian Food aisle. I had never--not once--noticed vermicelli in my Kroger. I felt like an idiot but was certainly glad to know vermicelli could now be had any time I wanted it. What a revelation.

 So last night, after Kurt and  went grocery shopping, I came home and made Bun Tom Xao (stir-fried shrimp with vermicelli, pictured up top). It was awesome, too. There are a couple of things I'll do differently next time, but for my first time out of the gate, I must say, it rocked. 

Kurt and I ate our supper of Bun Tom Xao on the front porch and had this captive audience drooling the entire time. Jerry Lee has only appeared on the blog once before. He's settled into things here at  the homestead quite well, as you can see. Although Jackson still doesn't understand why Jerry Lee insists on nipping at his butt all of the time.

Also last night, I made some marinated carrots. Something inspired me to recreate the spicy marinated carrot salad they have at one of my favorite taquerias in Houston, Taqueria Tapatia on Richmond. I have to say, I don't know why I never tried this before. It's so very easy and so super awesome. It'll be just the thing to go with the Ninfa's chicken fajitas I'll be making tomorrow night. I'll also be trying my hand at making homemade tortillas. Wish me luck.

Okay, so I do miss the Tex-Mex.

HOW 'BOUT A HOECAKE?

My colleague, John T. Edge, has just written a little ditty about hoecakes for Gourmet magazine's blog. If you like--or are curious about--hoecakes, then you'll enjoy his piece. Check it out right here.

The real news, though, for you Amy Art fans out there is that one of my photographs introduces the story (above). It was taken at Papa KayJoe's Bar-B-Que in Centerville, TN. I've included another photo from that visit here for your viewing pleasure. The beauty of Papa KayJoe's is that they serve their barbecue sandwiches on hoecakes, not buns.

Hoecakes can be hard to find, but I'll have you know that there are hoecakes--very good hoecakes--at Edna's Restaurant in Chicago, of all places. I enjoyed a couple--and some fried chicken and coconut cake--when I was there in back in March. 

Kind of makes you want to belly up to the griddle, doesn't it?

ROAD TRIP REWIND: THE SILK ROAD

If you visit this blog often, you're well aware that I have an obsession with not only pie, but Vietnamese and Thai food, too. So Portland, which was home to the second largest Asian community at the turn of the nineteenth century and is home to a considerably large one still, is now officially my personal Heaven on Earth--as far as my belly is concerned, anyway.

On our first full day in the city, after our tour of the Chinese Gardens, we hoofed it on over to the Pearl District. We'd heard tell that there was a great Vietnamese restaurant in this part of town, so I set my spring roll radar to high, and we soon found our destination.

Silk is a pretty swanky joint, far from the hole-in-the-wall, family-owned little places that I usually frequent. Even so, they definitely know how to make a spring roll and a great bowl of Phở .

Portland is a funky, interesting, livable city. I tell you, though, there's a Vietnamese, Thai, or sushi restaurant on every block, reason alone for me to consider calling Stumptown home.

No worries. I'm not hitting the silk road to Portland any time soon. I'm content to stay rooted in my little dirt road here in Mississippi. Phở can be found just an hour away in Memphis--far enough to keep my cravings strong but close enough that I don't suffer withdrawal. Thank goodness.

ROAD TRIP REWIND: THE TAO OF TEA

Mom and I left our hotel early Friday morning to begin discovering Portland on foot. The first thing that we discovered was that, being such eager beavers, we were out and about before anything was open. So we made our way to Chinatown, thinking we could at least start doing some lunch scouting. We eventually stumbled upon Portland's Classical Chinese Garden. And it was open.

Touring the garden was a fabulous introduction to the city. The place takes up an entire square block, and once you're through the gate, you feel like you've stepped into another world. The morning was quiet and the sky heavy with rain clouds, so the peaceful beauty of this place was made all the more magical.
After meandering down each and every path, we made our way to the tea house (the two-story building in the photograph above), which is also known as the Tower of Cosmic Reflections. Inside, it was dark and cozy, and musicians were playing traditional music. We settled in and ordered some tea. Mom got rose petal, and I ordered a tea flight: a selection of three white teas delivered with every tea accessory you could imagine.

And, of course, we had a little something sweet: a taro root mooncake.

SO YOU KNOW I'M ALIVE AND WELL. AND FULL.

After a grueling but productive work trip to Chicago that was filled with lots of pork and lots of cake, I came home and had more cake. Pancakes, that is. A lazy Sunday morning after a long week away definitely calls for pancakes.

Usually, I'm a pancake purist: made from scratch, preferably buttermilk, with lots of butter and syrup. Sunday, I felt like getting a little fancy, so I broke out the lemon ricotta pancake recipe and served them with a maple cream (equal parts syrup and yogurt) and fresh strawberries. Pure heaven. I guess all of that on-the-road-eating inspired a little time spent in my own kitchen. Eating the pancakes on my grandmother's Fiestaware, with a perfect view of the pond and, of course, my husband across the table, made for a fantastic start to the day. Because you know what comes after pancakes: Nothing.

I must confess, though, that my time in Chicago wasn't just filled with pork and cake eaten on the run. My fabulous hosts, Leslie and Mike, treated me to more than a few fine meals. Leslie made some incredible homemade pizzas, we had ceviche, and there was Thai food. Thanks for the warm--and filling--hospitality, y'all. And Mike, thanks for stepping up to the barbecue plate and helping me with all of those rib tips.

I definitely look forward to another jaunt on up to Sweet Home Chicago, but for now, I'm really glad to be home.

A DELTA GOOD TIME

Our anniversary weekend in the Delta did not disappoint. In fact, there must be something magical about wedding anniversary number three because this weekend ranks as one of our very best trips to the Delta, ever. It was a perfect storm of food, fun and yes, snow. Behold our snow-covered shack at the Shack Up Inn.



The university closed early on Friday because of a winter storm warning that was heading our way, so Kurt and I loaded up the wagon and headed for the Delta a little early. Still, we hit that winter storm head-on. I've been in Mississippi for seven years and have never seen as much snow as I saw on Friday. It was so magical to see the Delta covered in a blanket of white. By the time we got to our shack, it was a regular blizzard. We felt like we were in Michigan all over again. That is, uuntil we were sitting at Chamoun's Rest Haven, eating our fill of kibbie, dolmas, tabouli and, of course, their killer chocolate meringue pie. After dinner, we headed straight back to our shack to get warm and play some cards. Kurt kicked my butt.

The weather cleared on Saturday, and we didn't let a moment go to waste. We went back to Chamoun's for a hearty breakfast, spent some downtime at the shack, and then hit the road for Rosedale in the early afternoon.

Rosedale is home to Joe's Hot Tamale Place, which is run by Joe's sister Barbara. Barbara has become a good friend, so we wanted to make sure to pay her a visit. We also wanted to make sure to have some of her hot tamales, which are, hands down, my number-one favorite. Before we knew it, we devoured two dozen and had a dozen more packed up to take back with us to Clarksdale.


Saturday evening we headed to Ground Zero, so Kurt could get his pool game on. I tried to be a good opponent but eventually offered my cue up to another bar patron. Kurt was kicking my butt yet again.

From there, we headed to dinner at Ramon's: oysters, shrimp, steak, fries and pasta. I didn't take any photos at Ramon's but rest assured, the the meal was out of this world.

After dinner we headed back to Ground Zero, where we cut a rug to Big T and the Family Band. They rocked the house. They even gave us a little shout-out from the stage. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.

And then Sunday came, and brought with it the end to our magical anniversary weekend. And, to our surprise, Daylight Saving Time.

Thanks to each of you who took the time to send us your well wishes while we were away.

And now, it's off to the studio.

ROAD TRIP REWIND: ATLANTA

ROAD TRIP REWIND: BIRMINGHAM

A MAGICAL DAY IN MEMPHIS

Me. Memphis. Mediterranean food. My day began with a trip to the Mediterranean grocery store, where I loaded up on everything from halva to harissa. The only thing I passed up was the saffron brittle, and I regret it. Next time.

Then it was off to various retail havens to pick up some frames, shoes for Kurt and finally, some jasmine tea from the Asian grocery store. After the Asian grocery store, my Vietnamese lunch. It did not disappoint.

After filling up on spring rolls, I headed over to David Lusk Gallery to experience Tim Crowder's work in person. Incredible. So incredible, in fact, that one of his pieces came home with me.

And then, upon my return home to Oxford, Kurt and I headed to the film festival, where we saw three wonderful films. If America Unchained or The Listening Project come to a festival or theater or DVD player near you, make sure to catch them. But the highlight of the evening, I must say, was meeting Adrian Belic, who was there to screen his new film, Beyond the Call. Adrian, together with his brother Roko, made one of my very favorite films, Genghis Blues. And if you haven't seen Genghis Blues, rent it immediately.

It was a very, VERY good day.

BLOG OF UNNECESSARY QUOTATION MARKS

My photograph of the deep fried snickers sign in Monroe, LA, can now be seen on The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks. Check it out and get ready to be sucked into the hilarity that is the phenomenon of random punctuation. (Thanks, Bethany!)

LEBANESE FOOD IN THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA

The Kitchen Sisters aired a new piece on NPR this morning called "Kibbe at the Crossroads" about Lebanese food in the Mississippi Delta. They spoke to Pat Davis of Abe's Bar-B-Q in Clarksdale, whom I interviewed a few years ago for the Tamale Trail; Chafik Chamoun from Chamoun's Rest Haven, also in Clarksdale, where Kurt and I ate last Saturday; and my friend and colleague Jimmy Thomas, who's Lebanese and wrote his Southern Studies thesis on the history of the Lebanese in the Delta. It's a fantastic show, so make sure to check it out. And get ready for a kibbe craving.

FOR THE LOVE OF TACO TRUCKS

Taco Truck | Santa Fe, NM | 2007

Taco trucks in Carrboro, North Carolina, are in danger of disappearing. A friend emailed me this article in the Carrboro Citizen today, which describes the threat against purveyors of handmade Latino street food there. One of the taco trucks in jeopardy stands next to Cliff's Meat Market. I interviewed Cliff last summer. He's an incredible guy, and he's doing quite a lot for both the local community and that of the growing immigrant population. He's allowed Tolo, one of his Latino employees, to operate a taco truck in his parking lot on weekends, so he can make extra money to support his family. I had a few tacos al pastor and Mexican Cokes (made with cane sugar, not high-fructose corn syrup) from Tolo's truck. It would be crime to have him move his business--or worse, resort to closing his kitchen. If I lived in Carrboro, I might be staging a sit-in right about now.


Tacos al Pastor | Santa Fe, NM | 2007

I grew up in Houston, Texas, and I've eaten a lot of tacos. If taco trucks were to disappear from the streets of the fourth largest city in the country, there would be hell to pay. Check out this great article on Houston's many taco trucks by Robb Walsh to learn more. There are some great photographs there, too.

Carrboro doesn't know what it has.

Support your local tacos trucks! And have a few for me.

A SCRUMPTIOUS MID-DAY SURPRISE

Kurt surprised me at work today with a bouquet of flowers and a delicious lunch: Caesar salad, humus, pita bread, olives with peppers and garlic, stuffed grape leaves, and two kinds of soup. Now that's my kind of surprise. Hallelujah! Thanks, my love. XOXOXOXO

I MISS THE SPRING ROLLS ALREADY

I'm back from Louisville and craving more spring rolls. I try to load up on the ethnic food every time I head anywhere bigger than Oxford. Yeah, there's an Indian buffet here, some Mediterranean food, and a hint of sushi, but it's Vietnamese food that I constantly crave. I had it twice in Louisville, in addition to some pistachio soup at a Persian restaurant (golly, was that good), and a red curry at a Thai place. And yes, it all went well with bourbon.

If you're interested in the interviews I collected in Louisville, they'll be online sometime this spring.

If you know someone who'd like to open a Vietnamese restaurant in north Mississippi, get in touch.