A guide to the pig

 

A guide to the pig

I’m already a Chris Chamberlain fan and I just wish my daddy was still here to taste the lima bean casserole he’s sharing in “The Southern Foodie’s Guide to the Pig” This cover bills it as a culintary tour of the South’s best restaurants and the recipes that made them famous, and says this book will offer how to select, prepare, cook and enjoy everything but the oink. Chamberlain writes about food in Nashville and the book takes readers around the south in photos and imagined parties where dishes such as fried green tomato blts, sweet potato hush puppies, Tennessee whisky sauce and maple bacon muffins are served. The pig is celebrated even in the dessert section. Who’s up for bacon peanut butter cookies. Bacon is a thing, and I can’t imagine candied bacon from Chef’s Market Café would be turned down at most holiday parties in Southeast Texas. Every page brings a new temptation.  Here’s a couple of ideas to enhance your pig fests:

Jalapeno soda from Stella’s Kentucky Deli

2 ounces of Jalapeno Simple Syrup (recipe follows)

12 ounces club soda

Ice

Jalapeno Simple Syrup

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

2 to 3 medium jalapeno peppers, sliced and stem discarded (do not seed)

Mix the water and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, add the jalapenos and turn off the heat Let steep for 10 minutes and strain.

Pickled Mustard Seeds

1 cup white vinegar

2 tableslpoons kosher salt

one half cup waster

one half cup sugar

4 tablespoons dried yellow mustard seeds

Combine the vinegar, salt, water and sugar in a small saucepan and simmer on medium heat to dissolve the salt and sugar Add the mustard seeds. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the seeds soften and nearly double in size, about 30 minutes. Pour into a container and refrigerate. This will keep indefinitely in the refrigerator.

Newk’s Eatery:  It may look like just another chain, but I’m now a big supporter of  Newk’s in Katy. Everyone makes the joke that it sounds like Nuke’s, like what they used to call microwave cooking, like nuclear power. But just make your joke and start enjoying. After some shopping my aunt took me to this new place in Katy for a salad. I wanted to eat light, but these salads are way more than a meal. I thought I ordered the Greek, but actually agreed to the Newk’s Favorite and had cranberries and nuts in that big mix of greens. I thought I saw packaged chopsticks on the condiment area but they were skinny little bread sticks. Did you ever dream of all-you-could-eat capers? Help yourself. But my dream was the unattended roasted garlic cloves. I had many, then went back for many more. They were sweet and soft and satisfying.

Darragh Doiron doesn’t mind eating another feast to share with Port Arthur News readers.