To Beef or Not to Beef

This past weekend was the Texas Pete Twin City Ribfest in Winston-Salem, N.C. I had a real bee in my bonnet to go ... so I did. As it turns out, it wasn't the greatest experience. This was due mainly to the high price of admission, lack of proper organization and absence of secondary vendors. The food, however, was quite good. And, I got to sample beef ribs for the first time (as opposed to pork), so I'll consider it a win.

Unfortunately, I only had ribs from one of the pit masters. The festival sells "sampler" tickets, which allow you to taste a rib sample from each booth, but apparently they ran out on the first day of the festival. And since ribs are expensive and I'm not a Rockefeller, I couldn't afford to buy 10 half racks of ribs. So, I ended up at this stop:

You gotta love their sign: "I'm from Texas. What country are y'all from?" Anyway, Texas Thunder appealed to me because, as I mentioned, they had beef ribs, which I've wanted to try. (Texans have very peculiar ideas about barbecue and ribs being beef rather than pork, which challenge my North Carolina sensibilities.) And I have to say, beef is very good. I still prefer pork, but beef will do in a pinch.

The particular beef I had from Texas Thunder was very good. It was a little fattier than I'm used to in ribs. But, frankly, the fat adds to the flavor, so I'm not complaining too much. I also thought there was a hint of an excellent rub or sauce that I felt they could have been heavier with. My taste buds wanted a little more. Overall, though, still quite good.

A few other stops I wanted to make were Carolina Rib King (Spartanburg, S.C.):

Porky Chicks (Fayeteville, Ark.):

And Big Boned BBQ (Hixson, Tenn):

Check out those trophies!

This year's winner, however, (because the ribfest is also a competition) was the local Bib's Downtown. I look forward to trying them out soon--and without having to pay an admission price!

For a more comprehensive rundown of each pit master at this year's festival/competition, check out The "Q" Review. And I'm not sure if the BBQ Jew will have a review up this year or not, but he was a judge at last year's ribfest and wrote about it here.

So, would I recommend Twin City Ribfest? No, not until they can get better organized and offer more for admission. Would I recommend beef ribs? That's a firm "yes." They're different, but they're still very good. At least Texas Thunder's were.

I Believe in Peace, Love and Hominy

Many times, I've tried to like grits. But I could never get past the bland taste and grainy texture. In the South, eating grits is pretty much a religion, and I have to say the Hominy Grill has finally made me a believer.

My brother Matt, sister-in-law Teresa and I recently visited this downtown Charleston, S.C., establishment for breakfast. I took one bite of Matt's plate of shrimp and grits and thought, "That's what I should've ordered!" I had buckwheat pancakes that were mighty tasty, but nothing akin to the savory goodness of shrimp sauteed with mushrooms, scallions and bacon atop a creamy "sauce" of cheese grits.

No wonder it was so good. Turns out that Hominy Grill's Chef Robert Stehling won the James Beard Best Chef Southeast award in 2008.

I did a little research and found out that grits--or hominy--was first introduced to colonists in Jamestown, Va., by Native Americans as bowls of boiled corn. The Indians called it "rockahomine," and colonists shortened the word to "hominy."

Today, shrimp and grits is a quintessential Southern dish that's graduated from breakfast into dinner menus of swanky restaurants across the South. Readers of Garden & Gun magazine recently named shrimp and grits the winner over (gasp!) pulled pork barbecue in a Southern Food Championship.

Of course, Jenn would probably disagree. She's a lover of Lexington-style BBQ, and who can blame her? I may believe in hominy, but I don't believe in comparisons when it comes to picking a favorite Southern food. It's just too hard to do!

As for the rest of you out there who aren't exactly singing the praises of grits, check out the other delectable dishes on the breakfast menu for Hominy Grill, like the high-rise biscuit smothered in sausage gravy. It's all good!

Smokehouse Lane

I visited my hometown lately and had to go here:

Now, you might be wondering what's at Smokehouse Lane. Well, this:

And this:

Which are usually topped with one of these:

It might not look like much, but it's delicious pulled-pork barbecue, chopped and on a bun (or in a tray) with barbecue slaw and hot sauce or smokehouse sauce (known to locals as "dip").

It's all cooked over a pit here, a place where magic truly happens:

Yes, it's the modest, marvelous, mouthwatering, much-copied barbecue that can be found nowhere else but:

Oh yeah!

Lexington-style barbecue at Lexington Barbecue, one of many (but, arguably, the best) barbecue restaurants in Lexington, N.C.

Southern Foods We Love

Since today is Valentine's Day, I thought it would be appropriate to share with you some of our deep, abiding food loves--as well as a few hot and heavy crushes. These foods will make almost any Southern heart go pitter patter:

• Okra  Fried, grilled, pickled ... it doesn't matter; we'll take it.
• Buttermilk Biscuits  Cat-head sized, but we're not particular.
• Sawmill Gravy  Hello? You need it for your biscuits.
• Fried Pork Chops  Another canvas for sawmill gravy.
• Casseroles  Any kind, but we like our mamas' recipes best.
• Tomato Sandwiches  Summer wouldn't be summer without them--but only if they're slathered in Duke's Mayonnaise.
• Green Beans  These are only a favorite when they're cooked in fat-back (as if there's any other way).
• Pimento Cheese Homemade. ONLY homemade.
• Carolina Slaw Burgers  If you don't end up with it all over you, you're doing it wrong.
• Lexington-Style Chopped BBQ  Yes, we're taking sides in the BBQ wars.
• Chess Pie  If your teeth don't fall out and you don't go into diabetic shock, you'll probably ask for seconds.
• Sweet Tea  It's not a food, but what else are you going to wash down all this mess with? Nothing else, that's what.

Gosh, I'm starting to realize this list could go on and on. Does it make us culinary sluts that we spread our love around to so many dishes?

I hope we don't get a reputation.

A Civil Food Conflict

When I was growing up, my family (like most) always had a succession of memorable meals from November to January each year. This heavy dinner season (in the South dinner means the afternoon meal) of course started with Thanksgiving—a holiday that doesn't differ too much by region when it comes to the traditional menu. Then our Decembers would bring with them numerous get-togethers, from casserole-laden potlucks to finger-food festivities, culminating in our family's unique interpretation of Christmas Day dinner: Lexington, NC-style pulled pork barbecue sandwiches.

January 1 always capped off the months of indulgence with a final formal meal. One that, for us, was mostly Southern in tradition ... but with a tiny bit of Northern influence. (You see, my grandfather was from Pennsylvania. And while he ended up living most of his life in North Carolina and fully embraced Southern life and culture, he did introduce the rest of us to what we referred to as "Yankee foods.")

Our menu for that day always included the following:

Pork Roast

Mashed Potatoes

Squash Casserole*

Asparagus Casserole*

Black-eyed Peas

Sauerkraut

Green Beans

Rolls

Sweet Tea

*Note that all holiday meals in my family, whether it's Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's or Easter, always involve at least one casserole.

A Southern eye will detect a few problems with my list. First of all, the black-eyed peas are served as is, not in Hoppin' John. Well, don't worry; we began adopting that dish in recent years. And, regardless, the presence of the legume in general helps ensure wealth (in the form of coins, but still).

Secondly, um ... sauerkraut. Yes, this is clearly a Yankee food—and one that was not embraced by my brother and me. Thirdly, you'll notice the absence of any type of greens. This is because the sauerkraut filled the role of that food, which traditionally means money, or cash, for the new year. In later years, we did start adding collard greens to our meal; yet, somehow, none of us ever achieved double the wealth (at least not yet). Finally, you'll see that we had rolls instead of cornbread. I'm honestly not sure how cornbread factors into good luck for the new year. And, frankly, I love cornbread but rolls are just fine too.

So there you go. That's my family's history of New Year's Day meals. Very "New South," wouldn't you say? Quite progressive of us to incorporate such an alien dish as sauerkraut, I think. Of course pork equals progress, according to tradition, so maybe that's what fueled our acceptance of Northern cuisine.

If you're interested in trying some traditional Southern New Year's dishes, Southern Living has a great line-up here. And Epicurious has an interesting article on the meanings behind various New Year's food traditions.

But whether you go traditional Southern, Northern or some hybrid of the two, we wish you a very happy, prosperous and delicious New Year!