Child-Repellent Delicacies and the Neanderthal Cupcake Hankering

Monday, November 23, 2015 0 comments
Four Courses Podcast - Episode 21

Ah, November. The month when we really put on our Eatin' Pants and go to town on some truly impressive meals. More than any other month, this is when discussions about food and drink traditions really come to the forefront. And to that end, hows about you take a jaunt over to the Four Courses site and give Episode 21 a listen?


Topics include Farmhaus, the majesty of paprika, a chat about the Thanksgiving customs we enjoy or disdain, and a royal side-eye given to the trend of gluten-free diets. We also welcome guest host Dana McDonough, who is equal parts lovely and intimidating. Enjoy!
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American Plate - Bite #4: Venison

Wednesday, November 18, 2015 0 comments
Modern Americans tend to prioritize convenience over a lot of other attributes when it comes to eating. Getting something cheap and fast often trumps everything else - even flavor. It wasn't always so. Our continent's first residents had far more pressing concerns. Native Americans had limited options when it came to eating, so they made the most out of every food source. Anyone who lives near a forested area knows that deer are extremely fleet-footed, but native tribes developed several systems of hunting them - driving them into rivers or enclosed spaces to be picked off by bow and arrow, for example. They were more than worth it; deer was an invaluable resource to countless natives.

Hides were made into clothing, blankets, and shelters. Antlers, bone, and teeth were fashioned into weapons and tools. Tendons were stretched into webbing for shoes and papooses. There were a ton of other uses, too, but let's get to the meat. The importance of venison cannot be overstated. It was the primary source of protein for a lot of tribes. Though it's a very lean meat in comparison with cattle, the rendered fat from deer was a popular way of providing important caloric bursts to tribes that may have gone hungry otherwise. Venison was also easier to preserve than other foods. Natives would hang strips of the meat over slow fires in order to make jerky for the winter months.

Once European settlers arrived, domesticated animals became the dominant source of meat on the continent, but for a long stretch of American history, venison was king. And it's not as if those Europeans had no interest in deer. Trading for animal products was a large source of commerce in the colonies. In fact, a single deer skin could be traded for about a dollar, which is why to this day, we use the word "buck" to signify that amount.


I adore venison, but unlike most other meats, it can be difficult to get my hands on. Grocery stores rarely sell deer meet, and even butcher shops tend not to carry it. There are plenty of local hunters, though, so it may just be a matter of finding a local venison hookup on the down-low. I hope I can find a consistent supplier soon, because there are countless ways to enjoy it. I used to go down to my ex's family place in Georgia for the holidays, and his mother made a venison stroganoff that was out of this world.

Recently, I came into a bit of good luck. I was hanging out at a friend's place, when another of his friends dropped by, his arms loaded down with both ground venison and venison loin. An impromptu grill session commenced on the spot, and we were able to dive face-first into platters of deer burgers and steaks. It was a dream come true. Venison is not only leaner than a lot of other meats, but it has that gamey, pungent flavor I love so much. The holiday season (and its attendant frigid weather) is almost upon us, and I already know what's going straight to the top of my gift wishlist: The name and phone number of a local deer meat purveyor.
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How Sweet It Is

Monday, November 16, 2015 0 comments
Allow me to severely, severely, severely paraphrase Tolstoy: There are countless ways to rip apart a television show that sucks, but there's only so much you can write about a show that's consistently good. Unless it inexplicably veers off a cliff, what more can I say about a program so flawless that it earned a rare A+ grade, and that warranted a podcast mini episode devoted entirely to talking about how enjoyable it is?

I speak, of course, of The Great British Baking Show, which just wrapped up its second American season. Everything I loved about the first season is still present. The challenges are still well-designed. The contestants are still fantastic. The judging is still fair. The hosts are still engaging. The food photography is still mouth-watering. I really don't have much to add to the effusive praise I babbled in the linked post above.


If anything doesn't stack up to the first season, it's that the dishes prepared weren't quite as impressive as they were the last time around. I can't hold that too much against the show, though. And if that's the biggest nitpick I can come up with, you know we're dealing with an extraordinarily terrific program. I'm not much of a gospel-spreader when it comes to television, but if you're not watching this show, you're missing out.

The Great British Baking Show - Season 2: A+
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Small Plate #2: The Great British Baking Show

Saturday, November 7, 2015 0 comments
Four Courses Podcast

Our first Small Plate was a game, but this time, we're going for a review. Hey, remember how much I loved the first season of The Great British Baking Show? Well, that love cannot be contained to just the written word, so guest host Tiffany Greenwood (Episode 20) and I take this opportunity to talk about what makes this program so special.


Interested in a television show that will nourish your soul, plays a siren song for your sweet tooth, and gives you a good giggle all at the same time? Go take a listen to the review here. Then go find Season 1 on Netflix and get started! You won't be sorry.
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American Plate - Bite #43: Fried Catfish

Monday, November 2, 2015 0 comments
When we learn about the Civil War in school, it's pretty much just a recounting of the battles and the key figures of the time. Schoolkids aren't really asked to imagine what life must have been like for an everyday citizen at the time, so let's do that thought experiment now. You live in the South, but aren't in the army. All the foodstuffs you'd usually purchase from Northern suppliers are gone, plus the Union has set up a salt blockade, so you can't preserve meat. And the problems don't stop there.

There's nobody around to harvest crops, because most of the able-bodied white men are off fighting, and most of the able-bodied blacks (aka slaves) are fleeing to freedom. Your state has limited interest in centralized government, so no system of food distribution has been set up. And to top everything off, the weather has lately been especially punishing in your region. What do you do?

If you're a Southern citizen, you start to rely on the few remaining sources of protein: Game and fish. Squirrels, rabbits, trout, and catfish became the backbone of the Southern diet during this period. Though depending on these foods certainly wasn't a choice that people willingly made, they quickly learned to adapt. A single large catfish could feed an entire family, and could be prepared with a minimum of ingredients. Once the Civil War was over, proteins like squirrel receded back into obscurity, only eaten in a few mostly poverty-stricken regions. Catfish remained popular though, and continues to be so to this day.


Fried catfish remains a dish-of-the-people, readily available in casual settings like inexpensive restaurants, bars, and any community fish fry during Lent. The picture above is a composite of fried catfish I got at a variety of places, but it should come as no surprise that none of these places had a dress code. Happily, there was variety to the serving methods. Sometimes, the fish was just served by itself, alongside a side of fries or green beans. Some places made an effort to dress it up a bit, though, incorporating it into a po boy sandwich with greens and sauce.


The quality of the fried catfish I ate depended on the restaurant. The po boy was extremely tasty, while some of the others tasted of nothing but frying liquid. I decided that this is one of those Bites that shouldn't just be left to the service industry, and that I should make my first attempt at making some myself. As befits its history, catfish is far more affordable than other fish, and the only other ingredients you need to whip it up is some oil, some eggs and milk, something to dredge the fish in (cornmeal, preferably, though flour also works), and some spices. The verdict on my first batch? Not bad. I'd use cornmeal next time, and bump up the spices; these filets wound up needing some Sriracha to give them a kick.

That said, once they were combined with some rice and a roasted green vegetable on the side, they made a mighty fine dinner, and I'm looking forward to making this again. It seem so strange that something we enjoy as a casual dish today was once consumed almost entirely out of necessity, but hey, forging a connection with the citizens of our nation's past is part of what this project is all about. Maybe high school history teachers can learn something from this, themselves. Kids likely don't have much interest in dry recitations of names and dates, but they just might pay attention if they were asked to imagine having 90% of their food supply cut off.
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