What would you serve as the best local food?

[Cricket]

A plate of hot fried chicken, snap beans fresh out of the garden with bacon for that extra flavor, juicy fried green tomatoes, moist cornbread, okra (fried or boiled; doesn't matter, it's okra) and to end it all...a piece of pecan pie or bread pudding. A glass of sweet tea and, for later in the evening, a stiff whiskey drink on a front porch.

 

[Subvet642]

[QUOTE="Skeet" McD]Well...that's what I meant....while I couldn't be certain your farm stand experience was in Massachusetts...I know you are (as am I)...so I thought it was a good bet. I guess I'll be looking for Silver Queen myself, now...
"Skeet"[/QUOTE]

If I find any anywhere, I'll shoot you a PM.

 

[Subvet642]

BLT on toast/side of homemade slaw,fries.Wash it down with a Genny Cream Ale.

Oooh, I love Genny Cream, but finding it is hit or miss around here.

 

[scottyrocks]

Genny Creams used to run right through me.

 

["Skeet" McD]

Genny Creams used to run right through me.

Uhhhhh....so I guess that would be a vote for "NOT the best local food"?

"Skeet"

 

[Atticus Finch]

If I find any anywhere, I'll shoot you a PM.

The Silver Queen corn in North Carolina is at its seasonal zenith right now. At the Farmer's Market in Raleigh, I'm sure that a dozen or more vendors are selling it by the truck load as I write this sentence.

I would offer to send y'all a box full, but sadly, Silver Queen has almost no shelf life. An old farmer once told me that for Silver Queen to taste its best, you had to get your pot boiling first, and then go pick the corn that you were planning to put into it. If you paused for even a moment between the field and the pot, the corn would be ruined.

AF

 

["Skeet" McD]

The Silver Queen corn in North Carolina is at its seasonal zenith right now...I would offer to send y'all a box full, but sadly, Silver Queen has almost no shelf life.

And I know I speak for SubVet in thanking you for the thought! But I think your farmer friend is quite right: one of the reasons the old varieties tasted better was...they were bred for taste...not staying power. It's wonderful--in a way--to be able to have basil or tomatoes or whatever any time of year. But we pay a price for it. On the other hand, there are fewer and fewer of us Americans, at least, who actually CAN support a local farmer. On the plus side, in the NorthEast at least...there seems to be a resurgence of local food; cynic that I am, I expect this will prove to be just another food fad. But...you never know! Biggest problem: where are you going to put the farms to produce that local food? Here in our area, the few that are left are winking out pretty fast.

But there are things like Anson Mills...were you already aware of them, Atticus?

"Skeet"

 

[Boodles]

BBQ for sure

I serve foreigners, like the vikings from Wisconsin and the "Youper", BBQ for sure. And like AF, I like to serve grits. Folks from that far north seem to consider the corn they have good for silage only. I think the varieties grown that far north are often similar to our own "mule corn" which are not good table fare at all. Not mentioned yet is a pretty tasty fresh water fish which we call crappie, fried in peanut oil, outside on a coleman stove. This fish is not pronounced "craw-pee" around here, it's "crap-ee" which adds a bit to it's charm for foreigners. Along with that is the slaw and especially the hushpuppies. Cooking outside, preferrably in cool weather, calls for decent Bourbon for sure and if at all possible a bit of "stumphole whiskey" is a nice plus (As an aside, I would consume home made whiskey only when I know who made it and that it was made for their personal consumption. Untaxed hootch, origin unknown, is a hazzard I'd advise you to avoid).

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I'd serve them empanadas de pino, casuela or carbonada, paile de mariscos, pastel de choclo, and lúcuma pie. Yum!


.

 

[rkwilker]

Despite the fact that I live in the deep south I also am a Genny Cream fan.

 

[Subvet642]

[QUOTE="Skeet" McD]And I know I speak for SubVet in thanking you for the thought! But I think your farmer friend is quite right: one of the reasons the old varieties tasted better was...they were bred for taste...not staying power. It's wonderful--in a way--to be able to have basil or tomatoes or whatever any time of year. But we pay a price for it. On the other hand, there are fewer and fewer of us Americans, at least, who actually CAN support a local farmer. On the plus side, in the NorthEast at least...there seems to be a resurgence of local food; cynic that I am, I expect this will prove to be just another food fad. But...you never know! Biggest problem: where are you going to put the farms to produce that local food? Here in our area, the few that are left are winking out pretty fast.
"Skeet"[/QUOTE]

Skeet, you're up in Essex, there are a bunch of farm stands along 1A in Rowley and points North.

 

[Boodles]

Too early for Silver Queen in the Piedmont

The Silver Queen corn in North Carolina is at its seasonal zenith right now. At the Farmer's Market in Raleigh, I'm sure that a dozen or more vendors are selling it by the truck load as I write this sentence.

AF

It's still too early for the tasty Silver Queen this side of Raleigh. I think Silver Queen is a variety which takes about 80-85 days and it was so cold and wet in April that almost no one put it in until way past April 15. Most of what I see here is still less than 5 feet tall. Most of what I've seen for sale has been trucked a long distance and was picked days before. It's hard as a rock and is probably more suitable as a door stop or chock block rather than the table.

 

[Atticus Finch]

Cooking outside, preferrably in cool weather, calls for decent Bourbon for sure and if at all possible a bit of "stumphole whiskey" is a nice plus (As an aside, I would consume home made whiskey only when I know who made it and that it was made for their personal consumption. Untaxed hootch, origin unknown, is a hazzard I'd advise you to avoid).

Boodles, here's one of my personal party secrets that I'm sure will be safe with you. Please don't ever mention this to anyone else. When I'm hosting an oyster roast or a herring fry, I usually have some of this stuff on hand. You can buy it at the ABC store and it tastes and smells (and burns) like real, nontaxpaid stumphole. In fact, its true corn liquor, it just wasn't condensed in a radiator from a '59 Chevy. I pour it into an old Mason jar and hide the jar in my workshop along with some small Dixie cups. From time to time during the party, I'll invite some brave guest to sneak into my workshop with me where I offer them a snort from the jar. Because of what I do for a living, they assume that they're drinking real stumphole lifted from the county evidence room. I do very little to correct their misguided assumption. I'm telling you, this little ploy adds a whole new dimension to an oyster roast and I don't see why it work just as well at a crappie fry!

Its called Georgia Moon and its the real deal!

AF

 

[GallatinHatMan]

I have some of that, too, Atticus. It is very good. I also, however, have a small supply of real untaxed liquor. Because I am a defense lawyer, I'm sure people consider that it's part of my client's retainer fees, which sometimes, of course, it is. Luckily in Tennessee it is not unlawful to possess less that three gallons of untaxed liquor. I rarely have more than a gallon on hand at any one time.

 

["Skeet" McD]

Skeet, you're up in Essex, there are a bunch of farm stands along 1A in Rowley and points North.

Thanks, SV: yes, we're still one of the lucky ones. There's a family farm just up the road in West Newbury, for instance: the real deal, 2 brothers and a sister work it. But, sadly, they don't put in corn. Yes, we can still get to the farm stand...others are not so lucky.

"Skeet"

 

[Boodles]

Mr Finch

Boodles, here's one of my personal party secrets that I'm sure will be safe with you. Please don't ever mention this to anyone else. When I'm hosting an oyster roast or a herring fry, I usually have some of this stuff on hand. You can buy it at the ABC store and it tastes and smells (and burns) like real, nontaxpaid stumphole. In fact, its true corn liquor, it just wasn't condensed in a radiator from a '59 Chevy. I pour it into an old Mason jar and hide the jar in my workshop along with some small Dixie cups. From time to time during the party, I'll invite some brave guest to sneak into my workshop with me where I offer them a snort from the jar. Because of what I do for a living, they assume that they're drinking real stumphole lifted from the county evidence room. I do very little to correct their misguided assumption. I'm telling you, this little ploy adds a whole new dimension to an oyster roast and I don't see why it work just as well at a crappie fry!

Its called Georgia Moon and its the real deal!

AF

Mr Finch, thanks for an absolutely brilliant idea! I must confess, however, that I've been buying Georgia Moon, for the same purposes as yourself, since the days when it was bottled in normal long necked glass. I guess great minds do think alike, at least on occasion. One added kicker I have employed is to decant some of it into those little jelly canning jars, like the type used for mint jelly or fig preserves. The scam is that doing so lends a bit of preciousness to the white dog; it creates an illusion that the stuff is really special and hard to get and so ought to be appreciated more (I'd never do this to my real friends but the occasional braggart has it coming). Worse than that (Yes, I know this is tacky and low down) I have a white oak tree which is hollowing out at the base and so I keep about a quart of Georgia Moon in that hollow. I put it in and take it out with a turkey baster through a hole I bored and corked with a wooden plug. I learned this stunt from my grandfather. This stems from the era when the womenfolk would not "allow liquor to cross my threshold."

By the way, when I'm warning people about buying shine, origin unknown, I use your line about it being condensed through a radiator except I say '59 Edsel. That seems to kick up the threat a notch.

 

["Skeet" McD]

I must confess, however, that I've been buying Georgia Moon, for the same purposes as yourself, since the days when it was bottled in normal long necked glass. I guess great minds do think alike, at least on occasion. One added kicker I have employed is to decant some of it into those little jelly canning jars...The scam is that doing so lends a bit of preciousness to the white dog; it creates an illusion that the stuff is really special...Worse than that (Yes, I know this is tacky and low down) I have a white oak tree which is hollowing out at the base and so I keep about a quart of Georgia Moon in that hollow. I put it in and take it out with a turkey baster through a hole I bored and corked with a wooden plug. I learned this stunt from my grandfather.

My, my: what a devious lot you suth'n boys are!

"Skeet"

 

[GallatinHatMan]

You do have to be careful about the source of your untaxed liquor. Mine comes from a master distiller of my acquaintance. I am always reluctant to get it from other sources because of that radiator thing. I have no affinity to lead based drinks.

 

[John in Covina]

Home distilling has been a truly honored American pastime since before the Revolution. There is a whole chapter on building a still in one of the early Foxfire series of books.

 

[Smithy]

Being a Kiwi and if it was back in NZ, it'd be:

Entrée: either fresh whitebait fritters or smoked brown trout salad

Main: Roast leg of NZ lamb with mint sauce and kumara

Dessert: Pavlova (even though the Aussies try to nick this from us )

If time was short then a steak and cheese pie or beer battered snapper and chips washed down with a few gallons of Monteiths' finest at the local pub.


And if it was in Norway, my second home then:

Entrée: Gravlaks, Kamchatka crab and norsk fiskesuppe (Norwegian fish soup)

Main: Rype med viltsaus (Grouse with game sauce)

Dessert: Moltekrem (Cloudberries cream)