This basketball matchup comes but twice, maybe thrice a year. A great way to take the edge off the competition is to throw down some burgers on the grill and ease your mind with a beer or five. We had a great turnout this year at Tim’s for a cookout and game watching. He fired up the grill and took care of the carne and chicken, and everyone else brought the side items.
This recipe is well worth a little extra effort in making the dressing. I usually like everything Michael Chiarello makes.
first you get your bacon going. i did not use pancetta.
Now for the good part…the reason this dressing is soooo good.
reserve the rendered bacon fat. should be about 1/4 c., but you can add olive oil if you don't have enough.
assemble your ingredients.
return oil and bacon to pan.
add garlic.
add thyme.
I love the way the thyme leaves sizzle and release the intensely flavorful oils!
add balsamic vinegar. i did not use sherry vinegar.
Just like that. You have your warm dressing ready to go. I sealed mine up and zapped in the microwave right before serving. When it’s warm and pours over the spinach, goat cheese, dried cranberry concoction, the spinach wilts and goat cheese melts into salady goodness.
look at that plate!
My cheddar-bacon burger on an onion roll (!!!) was awesome…all 1/2 lb. of it. All in all, a successful day in the kitchen, at the grill and on the hardwood. Go heels!
Downtown Raleigh has a new kid on the block: Tobacco Road. By my definition it’s a sports bar; but lucky for sports fans with distinguishing appetites, the food soars way over the grub at a beer-ingesting, fanatic-congested hall of televisions. Score!I went last night with a group of friends for the Dook/Davidson and Carolina/College of Charleston games. The menu (pdf) covers many southern favorites and bar standards, some with mascot-themed names, like Wolfpack Wings, Blue Devil Crab Chowder, Hurricane Tomato Sandwich, Tar Heel Ram Wrap and Demon Deacon Tuna. The drink menu is extensive, too. Having foodstalked with LG over the internets while at work (Chef Scotty had made fried catfish and hushpuppies at her office), I had a certain menu item in mind. I ordered the Mudcat Fish & Chips. (The Mudcats are a minor league baseball team in the Triangle.)
fish & chips + bad penny brown ale
The catfish–3 hefty filets–was smothered and fried in a thick beer batter. Probably a little too breaded for my taste, but fried is fried. And fried is good. A dash of malt vinegar or a dab of the apple cider vinegar tartar sauce with the tender fish and crunchy breading, and I had myself the perfect bite!
To round it out, I had a Bad Penny Brown Ale by Big Boss Brewing Company in Raleigh. That’s a damn good beer. Tons of flavor, slightly bitter and sweet. Tastes like beer, plus coffee and cola? I’m no beer expert, but I do enjoy drinking it. Cheers!
The overall atmosphere at Tobacco Road is still up for review. We were seated in a private dining room with a big table, a glass wall of doors and our very own television. The larger space is divided into dining room and bar. The bar side features a bazillion TVs, a row of recliners and a broadcast booth. ESPN’s Mike Tirico visited last week to air his show. When returning with a smaller group, I think the bar side would be just fine. Tobacco Road was elected by online vote to be a non-smoking establishment. Finally, I love love the name. To me Tobacco Road means conference play, the original ACC (before the BC, Miami and VaTech stragglers), rivalries, upsets, net-cutting. All that good stuff that is North Carolina basketball. And I’m not referring just to my team, but to the state: NC State, UNC-Chapel Hill, Dook and Wake. Each of those universities is located along I-40, the first three within 20 miles of one another. The current AP Poll ranks Tobacco Road teams in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions. Not too shabby.
Now entering shameless, biased content. Let’s go Tar Heels!
LG (in Houston, TX, green text) and Miss Em (in Raleigh, NC, blue text) share their thoughts on foodstalking.
Foodstalk (verb, stalked, stalk·ing, stalks):
1. to find out where your friends across the country are eating for lunch and then googling the restaurant’s website to peruse menus and pick out what they should eat
2. to browse food on the internet via blogs, online recipes, restaurant menus
3. to plan your next eating move by any means necessary
4. to act shamelessly
5. to pursue food by tracking stealthily
