I have a lot of fond memories of these biscuits as an eight-year-old on humid summer days in my Dad’s kitchen, but I hadn’t picked up the recipe since 2005, when I began experimenting with it. Vegetable shortening was the first item on the list (I can hardly abide it). I started by reducing it to half-and-half butter and shortening , then all butter, then I got crazy and tried substituting olive oil. A lazy baker, I stopped rolling the dough and began producing oddly shaped drop biscuits. They had some flake, the familiar crumb and half the mess, but they weren’t the same.
Five years later with a quart of full-fat buttermilk in the fridge, I pulled out the old recipe. Looking it over, I saw some places I could improve on my Uncle Joe’s old biscuits. My food processor incorporated the butter and I patted out the dough by hand. That first all-butter batch was well-layered but greasy and flat. I fired up the oven again, and reduced the butter by 25 percent (leaving all other measurements alone). I processed that second batch less, froze the butter beforehand, and was constantly conscious of how much I handled the dough.
The result? Damn good (if I must say so myself).
Continue reading →
Posted in: Birmingham, Recipes.
Tagged: baking · biscuit · buttermilk · buttermilk biscuit · recipe
Recently, I have wondered how one could possibly go wrong eating a hot pressed sandwich with melty cheese, roast pork, ham, pickles, and a few other choice toppings. I am sure it’s possible, just not at Kool Korner, located in the Publix shopping center in Vestavia Hills.
IIldefonso Ramirez, the shop’s Cuban-born owner, arrives each morning and personally roasts enough pork, eye-round, and chicken for the day. He opened the original Kool Korner Grocery in Atlanta in the mid-1980s and reigned as the cuban sandwich king through the 1990s. The Vestavia location opened in June 2009 and he runs the shop with his son Guillermo and grandson Will.
For more on my experience here, check out the January 2010 issue of Birmingham Magazine and its Buzzwords podcast.
Details:
Kool Korner Sandwiches
790 Montgomery Highway #134 [map]
822-4406
Open Monday to Saturday
10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
KoolKornerSandwiches.com
Dan is the producer of ‘Ham Sandwich. Read about his cooking adventures as Skip on The Gourmetro and learn about him on aisle-9.net.
Posted in: Birmingham, Dining, First Bite.
Tagged: alabama · Birmingham · chicken · chips · cuban · eye round · lunch · plantain · pork · roast · sandwich · vestavia · yerba mate
Jason Wallis/jasonwallisphotography.com
I’m not quite sure what it is about food from a truck that makes it so completely irresistible. This truck, the Taqueria Guzman, parks in a run-down Texaco parking lot on West Valley and turns out some of the best tacos in town.
Check out my article in this month’s Birmingham magazine (or, while I’m shamelessly plugging, get a subscription) for details about my experience at Taqueria Guzman.
What to remember:
- 3 tacos ($1.75 each) make a good meal
- have a cane sugar Coca Cola
- try the lengua (tongue) or tripa (tripe, but make sure it’s extra crispy)
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Jason Wallis/jasonwallisphotography.com
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Jason Wallis/jasonwallisphotography.com
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Jason Wallis/jasonwallisphotography.com
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Jason Wallis/jasonwallisphotography.com
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Jason Wallis/jasonwallisphotography.com
Dan is the producer of ‘Ham Sandwich. Read about his cooking adventures as Skip on The Gourmetro and learn about him on aisle-9.net. Photos by Jason Wallis www.jasonwallisphotography.com.
Posted in: Birmingham, Dining.
Tagged: Birmingham · guzman · lengua · road food · taco truck · taqueria · tripa · tripe
I picked up these pretty persimmons at the Oak Street Market a few days ago. When they’re red and soft (probably overripe) I like to cut the top off and eat them with a spoon. After a very brief wikipedia read, I learned that underripe persimmons could cause goo buildup in your stomach and result in serious issues. Damn.
Some people prefer thinly sliced crisp persimmons, but the syrupy sweetness that I go for doesn’t quite develop until it begins to soften. Oh, and the prevailing local variety is the sweet fuyu. Petals From the Past is a chief supplier to the Birmingham area.
For anyone who hasn’t yet been to the Oak Street Market, it’s a small local market located in Crestline Village that supports local farmers. They’ve got a great selection and friendly people. Go check them out, they’ve currently got some late-season corn, lots of apples, and tons of squash and pumpkin among their stock.
Dan is the producer of ‘Ham Sandwich. Read about his cooking adventures as Skip on The Gourmetro and learn about him on aisle-9.net.
Posted in: Birmingham, Dining.
Tagged: autumn · crestline village · fall · fruit · oak street market · persimmon
October 10, 2009
64 degrees and light rain (at 8:15)
Apples (McIntosh, Cumberland Spur, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Matsu, winesap, granny smith, jonagold, rome)
Basil
Beets (Chiogga and red)
Bok Choi
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Cilantro
Collard Greens
Cucumber
Eggplant (white, Japanese)
Escarole Continue reading →
Posted in: Birmingham, Market Update.
Tagged: farmer's market · fruit · pepper place · persimmon · produce
October 3, 2009
54 degrees and sunny
Apples (McIntosh, Cumberland Spur, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Matsu, winesap, granny smith, jonagold, rome)
Arugula
Basil
Beets (Chiogga and red)
Broccoli
Chestnuts
Collard Greens
Cucumber
Eggplant (white, Japanese) Continue reading →
Posted in: Birmingham, Market Update.
Tagged: apples · farmer's market · fruit · market · produce · squash
I am so pleased to know that BottleTree Cafe will show the documentary Food Inc Saturday, Sept 5 and Sunday, Sept 6. As excited as I am that viewers will not have to travel, as I did, it is disappointing and sobering that this excellent film, highlighting the current crisis into which our food system seems to be locked, will only be shown two days in one of the country’s most obese cities (according to Forbes, 2007).
Please reserve a ticket and support BottleTree. This film is important for everyone who eats, so no matter how well-versed on the topic you are, you will hear and see something new. Be aware that there is seriously distressing footage.
Posted in: Birmingham, Events, News.
Tagged: bottletree · documentary · film · food · food inc
The Sandwich has been quiet for a bit since I’ve been in upstate New York living and working on the American Masala Farm. And a busy few weeks it’s been. We’ve mucked barns, eaten delicious doughnuts, and, of course, have made some fantastic Indian food from chef Suvir Saran’s cookbooks. I’ve been updating the Gourmetro frequently and plan to continue until I get back to Birmingham.
Posted in: Travel.
Tagged: american masala · barn · donut · doughnut · farm · gourmetro · new york · Travel
Shady Lawn Truck Stop
Route 65 North from Birmingham to Nashville has its share of iconic roadside attractions–the Ave Maria Grotto, former President James K Polk’s home, and the shrine of the Most (!) Blessed Sacrament–but the Shady Lawn Restaurant and truck stop’s giant, well-armed chicken seemed a good enough place to stretch my legs as any. Didn’t stick around long enough to try the food because it was predictably seedy. Interestingly enough, I noticed no lawn and even if there were one it wouldn’t have been shaded (however shady).
West Nashville Farmer’s Market
I got to visit the inaugural showing at the West Nashville Farmer’s Market. A handful of purveyors has a decent variety of produce–giant white cucumbers, local honey, tomatillos, corn, peppers, and orange Turkish eggplant (below). Richland Park seems like it’s in a neat neighborhood. I’d like to go back the next time I’m in town. Excellent post over at The Charlotte Parker. The market currently runs Saturdays from 9am until noon.
Continue reading →
Posted in: Travel.
Tagged: bar · brunch · coffee · crema · fido · honky tonk · ice pop · nashville · paleta · pork belly · restaurants · roadside · tennessee · Travel
I’ve been terribly pleased with the response to the Pepper Place Market Report since its introduction back in May. It’s been a lot of fun talking with the farmers and providing the produce list, but I will be heading to pasture, so to speak, and won’t be able to publish the report for the remainder of the 2009 season.
If anyone would like to take up the reins, leave a comment and I’ll hook you up with the necessary details. Here are the requirements: arrive at Pepper Place around 7am, make a list of available produce, talk with farmers about interesting details, and publish the post by 8:30.
That’s not so bad, right? And you’ll get first dibs on the market’s bounty, not to mention my eternal gratitude. And maybe some ice cream.
It’s been a great season and I hope to keep the report going. I’ll post some details when I get them.
Posted in: Birmingham, Market Update.
Tagged: farmer's market · market · Market Update · pepper place
