Pennington's Foodstory

I love bacon, especially when it's cooked low and slow in a cast iron pan. What I don't love about bacon is it's now appearing, AGAIN, in everything from chocolate to vodka. Am I in a time warp? This "trend" was so 10 years ago! Does anyone else remember? I will say that I do love food accented with a bit of the pork belly, but trying to repackage this as something new is a little lame. I just read about a place in Charleston that's now doing a "Bacon Happy Hour". Sounds a bit cheesy, but they will probably kill with the idea. Folks these days seem to be lacking in the short-term memory department. I have an old friend named Dan who started the "Bacon of the Month Club" through his import company The Grateful Palate. Dan offered great bacon from small farms from all over the country delivered to your doorstep and they were all incredible. In fact, we held many Bacon/Wine dinners where every course included bacon in some way. It was a lo...

Trends come and go; at least that’s the trend. Fashion, music, art, and literature all ebb and flow with whatever is currently the ‘in’ thing. Food is no different. I’ve been steadily looking for the next food trend with little success. Currently, farm to fork, local, deconstructed dishes, and reinvented Southern food are the hot tickets in these parts, but to me this is not all that ‘trendy’. I’ve lived most of my life in the South and have been eating out of backyard gardens, Farmers’ Markets, and roadside stands since I can remember. It’s just the way it’s done down here. I’ve eaten more variations of shrimp and grits that I could ever begin to  count. It’s nothing new. I flip through the pages (yes, actual paper magazines.) of Food & Wine , Bon Appetit , and others every month looking for the next big thing. I do see a bunch of cool things like a syrup used to make tonic water, smoked salts, unique vinegars, and the like. That kind of stuff almost seems like a novelt...

Lettuce wraps are nothing new. I think my first experience with them was probably at PF Chang’s in some random city. I thought it was a great idea then; I think it’s a great idea now. How easy, put bite sized food in a makeshift “taco” shell that’s just a piece of lettuce. I get home about 7:45pm each night and usually head straight to the kitchen to start whipping up dinner (preliminary beer/cocktail is a must.). I know, not the healthiest time to eat, but I’ve got to work with what I have. I’m usually pretty hungry by that time and strive to make something quick, but still cool and unique. I really try to stay away from carbs at night because I find that I don’t need the energy they provide when I’m only a few hours away from sleep. (Hint: Can’t sleep, don’t eat carbs before bed!) With lettuce wraps, the first cuisine I think of is Asian, but only by default because I first saw this at an Asian place. However, most any other cuisine will work. Mexican and Indian work brilli...

This is less about food and more about etiquette, for anyone who has dined out with me knows my biggest peeve is people who wear baseball caps in restaurants. It drives me bonkers! I guess it goes back to the manners instilled upon me by my parents. Never was it acceptable to wear a hat indoors, much less at the table. This I have carried with me. I mean really, what's the point of wearing a hat indoors? Does it help block out the sun? No, I don't think so. And what's the deal with wearing the brim off to the side? Are you trying to shade one side of your face? I can understand wearing a ball cap backwards to avoid it blowing off, but that's about it. Wearing a baseball cap in any way other than the way it's supposed to be worn, makes people look like they're too dumb to work a hat. I was visiting my mom back when she still lived in Raleigh, when one night we decided to order out from a Chinese restaurant named the "Red Dragon". As I was walkin...

Do you read cookbooks like novels? Do you subscribe to food magazines? Do you keep to-go menus from restaurants? Do you cook? Do you bake? Do you grill on week nights? Do you cut out recipes from magazines? Do you have a recipe box filled with index cards? Do you have recipes that have been past down? Do you follow food trends? Do you watch cooking shows? Do you seek out fresh local produce and meats? Do you have a membership to a CSA? Do you have a garden? Do you visit food websites? Do you post pictures of dishes on Pinterest? Do you regularly have dinner parties? Do you ask restaurants for recipes? Do you have online recipe boxes? Do you read food blogs? (trick question.) Do you pair wine and beer with food? Do you have a well stocked pantry? Do you know how to sharpen a knife? Do you not shutter at the price of good cookware knowing it will last a lifetime? Do you visit the Farmers' Market? Do you buy organic foods? Do you buy any foods through mail or...

Every night on my way home from work I pass a small family-owned Italian restaurant that just happens to be next door to a Carrabba’s. As you can probably guess, their parking lot is basically empty while the Carrabba’s lot is full. This just pisses me off; actually it makes me sad. Here’s a mom & pop establishment run by hard working people who make REAL Italian food from scratch, while the corporate monster next door churns out industrialized food product for the sheep who have been lured in by tantalizing television commercials, billboards, and other forms of print media. The folks in corporate restaurants are hard-working people too; it’s just that they are now part of the machine, and in the immortal words of Pink Floyd,  "Welcome to the Machine!” The most important factor for any restaurant is consistency. Restaurants want their food to taste the same way every time someone dines there. Anyone who has worked in a kitchen knows the importance of following a recipe...

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that most people enjoy going to brunch, but at times have been a little too out of sorts to really enjoy it due to a previous night of imbibing. I love brunch, that mystical meal that combines the glories of both breakfast and lunch. Is it going to be a French toast kind of day or shall it be Eggs Benedict? Or should I just throw caution to the wind and get a big-ass, greasy cheeseburger? Whatever the choice, the evening before has helped determine your decision. Brunch is both mine and Kelly’s favorite meal to cook, so we rarely go out. When we do, it’s usually because we have neither the energy nor the desire to destroy the kitchen. I mean when we start cooking in the morning it soon looks like a bomb went off. There are dirty pans everywhere, the waffle iron is spewing globs of batter, mixing bowls in the sink, a sheet pan of bacon grease teetering on an unstable surface, while both the espresso machine and the French press have been wor...

  If there is one thing about restaurants that drives me absolutely bat-shit crazy is the phrase "Grilled to perfection ".  Throw in any other word such as cooked, roasted, sauteed... it doesn't matter, it still drives me out of my mind.  Why is this phrase so unnerving?  It's because the word " perfection " in this sense, is very subjective.  What does this word, together with the phrase, mean anyway?   I understand that the phrase is supposed to reflect the diner’s perception, but is that really the case? When ordering a steak, is my definition of medium rare exactly the same as the guy grilling my steak?  I would like to think so, but how can I be positive?   Sure, there is a guideline for “a warm red center”, but in that nanosecond a steak crosses that threshold will it be on a dish in front of me, or still on the grill waiting to be plated?   If it’s still on the grill, the meat will continue to cook once plated and thus negate...

Trust me, I love a good Happy Hour. Great food and drinks at a reduced price? Who doesn't love it? We had a neighborhood place in Nashville that had 'Buy one, get one" on draft beer from 5-7; I tore that place up! The whole crew would meet up there and get down for a couple of hours then go our separate ways. Great times. Usually restaurant owners do a happy hour to get folks in early and possibly persuade them to stay longer and enjoy the real menu. While this is the intention, the desired outcome is sometimes far different. People tend to take advantage of the restaurant's generosity and abuse the system. They get hammered quickly and then leave, only to return for the next happy hour and never visit the establishment during their normal hours.  It is what it is. What really sucks is when a really good restaurant offers a half-priced bar (food) menu during the off season.  Let me just say "the freaks come out at night." Such is the situation down my way...

Seems like these days if someone is "worth their salt" in the kitchen it's because they have a bunch of different salts.  I myself currently have about six different types spanning from black Hawaiian to French grey flake to a 12 pound slab of pink Himalayan.  I use it all for various types of food, but what I'm most psyched about in the world of salt is a new (to me) product called Surf Salt. As it's label says, "A blend of sea salt from the world's best waves and all natural seasonings for flavor and health."  The folks that make this stuff get salt from great surf breaks and then blend it with things like almonds, bread crumbs, Meyer lemon peel, basil, dry edamame, etc. I generously sprinkle it on chicken and fish as a burst of flavor when I take them off the grill. I also sprinkle it on salads, risotto, soups, and hummus. For a product with the word "Salt" in the name, it's surprisingly not salty. There are currently 6 different b...