Last week I brought you the Top 15 Seinfeld Food Related Episodes over at Eating the Road. Seinfeld is chock full of many other hilarious food related moments that aren’t necessarily the entire plot. From Jerry’s love of cereal to their frequent dining at Monk’s food is practically the fifth cast member.
Well now over at Top Cultured we’ll continue delving-in to all those hilarious moments. We’re going to take a look at some of the all-time best and we’ll start with the top from George (a few from Elaine too). Stay tuned for the best from Jerry and Kramer. Now grab a pastrami on rye, sit back, relax and enjoy. Click here to see all the videos.
Well 2009 is almost over and Eating the Road has some good news for the New Year. As of today we’ll be moving over to www.TopCultured.com. What’s this mean to our adorable readers? Not much..except you’ll have to follow the moving van over there to continue to get all the great content you’ve been getting here….but now there will be more good stuff.
Why the change you ask? From all this eating and feasting my waistline has expanded quite a bit and I needed a bigger pair of breeches. TopCultured’s fit nicely and are perfect for my buffet-loving self (they’ve got an elastic waistband). I’ll be posting as Heesa Phadie starting today. You’ll be able to see the most recent flowchart shortly.
A couple things you can do to make sure you’re still getting all the goods (and there are a lot of goods coming up) is make sure that you add the TopCultured RSS feed and follow me @HessaPhadie & @TopCultured on Twitter.
You’re going to want to make sure you follow the dropped mattresses, boxes, newspapers and such to see what we’ve got coming up:
Jerry’s Top 20 Seinfeld Food Related Moments
Kramer’s Top 20 Seinfeld Food Related Moments
Will They Build It? Burger King (Double Bacon Rodeo State Fair Cheeseburger)
…and of course more great flowcharts to help fill your bellies!
Thanks for reading and commenting on Eating the Road…now come on and join me over at TopCultured.
If you have not seen Christmas in Connecticut it is a wonderful movie. I’ve been meaning to watch it and finally got around to it this year. One of the main characters is Elizabeth Lane, a food writer for “Smart Magazine”. Here is her menu for the 1945 Christmas Dinner:
Appetizers
Fresh Fruit Cup
Olives
Bouillon
Hot Rolls
Lettuce with Russian Dressing
I hope you have/are having/are going to have a great Holiday with the ones you love. This time of year is such a joy because of all the cheer and goodwill that is spread. I don’t know about you but I can certainly feel it in the wintry air.
Here are a couple things from around the web to bring a smile to your face:
Hollywood.com has a post about the 10 reasons why A Christmas Story is the best Christmas movie ever, including the bunny outfit, “I triple-dog dare ya!” and “Oh fudge.”
Epic Portions has a hilarious open letter from Cookie Monster where he laments all the pressure, PR and politics of his eating habits.
A friend of mine, Artist John Tebeau, has been painting a new picture each day of the month using the theme of birds. The most recent are “Seven Swans A-Swimming” and “Six Geese a-Laying”.
Here is a video of a couple of guys who want to know if anyone will respond to their spam ad…the first person to do so will receive $10,000 as a Christmas gift. You better kick up your correspondence to Nigeria.
And below are some wonderful pictures showcasing the season.
Hardworking Santa
Hard Playing Santa
No Cookies For Santa
Norman Rockwell Christmas
Turkey Dinner vs KFC Dinner
Here’s to a wonderful Christmas spent with friends, family and loved ones. Fill your hearts with love and joy, your mind with knowledge and your bellies with delicious food! Thanks for stopping by. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone.
While walking in midtown Manhattan the other day I happened by this awesome painting from NYC artist Hulbert Waldroup. This an original oil on canvas titled “The Last Breakfast”. You can see more of his work and contact him at www.hulbertwaldroup.com. He had loads of awesome art just leaning against the buildings. An artist like this deserves his work to be seen much more than it is.
The Joint Address:801 Poland Ave, New Orleans, LA 70117 Phone: (504) 949-3232 Website:www.alwayssmokin.com Known For: BBQ & Peanut Butter Pie What I had: Pulled Pork Sandwich (with Coleslaw), Mac & Cheese and Peanut Butter Pie Price: $10.27 Rating: 9 out of 10
This was another very hard to find place, I shouldn’t say hard to find (with GPS) but certainly out of the way. You wouldn’t know this was anything other than a shack if it weren’t for the signage. There are a few picnic tables inside (which were the stickiest tables I’ve eaten at outside of an amusement park). Each table has a arrangement of Crystal Louisiana Hot Sauce, 2 different types of BBQ sauce and a full roll of paper towels, and you’ll need/want them all.
The staff here are pretty funny, they just kind of do their own thing. They’re not unfriendly or unhelpful necessarily but it’s almost like they don’t really care whether or not you’re there. They’ll help you and not even be rude about it but it’s not really high on their list. It’s hard to explain it well because they actually handled all of my requests, maybe it’s just the lack of acknowledgment that patrons are even there.
The menu is pretty straightforward, they’ve got your typical BBQ meat and side choices, ribs, chicken, brisket, pulled pork, mac & cheese, potato salad, coleslaw, green beans, etc. I opted for the pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw ($.40) on top and mac & cheese as my side. I also ordered their famous peanut butter pie.
The mac & cheese was really good. My only issue with it was that you could tell it was made earlier and just scooped into a container and reheated. It was really tasty but you could sense that it had been sitting for some time, the cheese was really thick. Unfortunately this would have been outstanding fresh.
The pulled pork sandwich was top notch. You can tell that they put a lot of attention into cooking their meats, it was perfect…..and with the slaw on top, it just got better. I would suggest getting the slaw and adding their BBQ sauce with the Crystal Hot Sauce. This is certainly one of the better pulled pork sandwiches I’ve ever had.
The peanut butter pie was fantastic. If you like peanut butter you will love this pie. It was extremely delicious, creamy but with nuts on top to add a nice crunch. It was not overly sweet which was nice. I just wish there was more, maybe next time I’ll order two slices.
This place is certainly worth a trip, I would recommend anyone within an afternoon’s drive that wants some really good BBQ check them out. You will not be disappointed.
Happy Holidays to everyone out there. I hope you enjoy it with family and friends. What better thing to have during those endless parties and gatherings but a delicious piece of candy. The only problem is standing in the candy aisle with all those options staring right back at you. Ever since you first set eyes on the row after row of delectable treats as a child you’ve had this problem. Well we here at Eating The Road have taken the hard work out of it for you. Follow this handy flowchart to sweet bliss. The only thing you’ll have to decide now is whether or not it’s okay to flirt with your hot cousin that’s coming over for the family Christmas Eve dinner.
Granted not all of these are chefs per se (see what I did there?) but they are at least all food personalities. I was sure there would be a slew of Rachel Ray cartoons and over-the-top caricatures of her but alas, I couldn’t find much. I really like that Jamie Oliver one…I think it captures his spirit. Clicking on the photos will take you to the artists page.
Some of them are on Twitter so you can follow their every move. I’ve added links on their names if they have one. Who is your favorite TV chef? Who is your least favorite?
The third episode of BBQ Pitmasters is another KCBS, the Alabama state championship at the Decatur Jaycees Riverfest. There are a total of 59 competitors competing in chicken, ribs, pork and brisket for a grand total of $19,000. If you missed the first to episodes, here is a rundown (Episode 1 has a bio on the cooks):
TLC is following 7 total cooks (Jambo Pitts has yet to be on the show) but they seem willy-nilly on who they care to show each week. I assume Myron will be in each episode due to his mouth and attitude as will LeAnn for her sex appeal but the others are here-and-there. This week Paul, Tuffy and Johnny were all featured a little but there was no sign on Harry.
Since he didn’t get to be on this episode I’m share some stuff from him. Harry Soo’s blog has a few interesting tidbits, they “dodged 14 radar traps, 3 border patrol checkpoints, and pouring rain, to complete our three-day, 2,100 mile Iron-Butt drive through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi, and arrived at the Riverfest contest site in Decatur, Alabama.”
He mentions the dinner that Chris Lily’s Big Bob Gibson restaurant threw the night before the contest for all the cooks where they dined on seared giant scallops wrapped in BBQ brisket, bacon wrapped shrimp with basil mousse, BBQ gumbo , crispy fried okra, cranberry Caesar salad, grilled rack of lamb, Big Bob Gibson BBQ chicken and for dessert, lemon, peanut butter, chocolate, and coconut pies.
One of the more interesting things he brings up is how all the TLC BBQ Pitmasters chefs were sectioned off separately from the remaining 52 other chefs in the competition. Harry says that they were on a paved surface whereas the others were all on the grass. Considering it was raining pretty heavily I would take this as an advantage. That doesn’t quite seem fair to me and I would be upset if I were in the contest but I can understand them needing this for the filming.
Some notable events:
Tuffy went with a brand spankin’ new brisket recipe with a new marinade and a new injection. He talks about using the the “flat” of the brisket (“a packer”) as opposed to the point.
Myron talks about his wood choice. He likes a fruit wood with lots of sugar saps in it. This time he uses a peach wood he gets from a friend Ed Harris. He also showed how he boxed his pork differently than others. Rather than placing it on top of lettuce, he places it on top of chopped pork in order to keep the meat warm. He also cuts his sauce with water and drizzles a little of that on top.
Paul also tries a new recipe. He’s been placing dead last and having trouble reconciling whether or not it’s worth it to continue doing competition BBQ. He tries three types of ribs on some tasters. He did one his previous style, one using Johnny Trigg’s recipe and the the one he settled on, a cherry rub with chile powder, black pepper and onion powder. He mentioned that he “found” this recipe so it’s not something he came up with. Paul also steals Myron’s technique with using muffin tins to form his chicken. This was a highly featured event and Myron didn’t take to lightly to it. Oddly enough Paul was 16 seconds late in getting his chicken to the table so was disqualified from that category.
LeAnn had a bit of a tough time because they had to shut off the power for 30 minutes. She had just put her meat on and her cooker uses electricity to turn. Some of the others didn’t have that same problem. She got upset but was okay with her turn out.
Johnny spoke a little of his preparation. One of the interesting things is that he doesn’t use his own rub. He buys his pre-made. He basically said that someone else has already gone through the trouble of making a perfect rub and why should he waste his time and money when it’s already available.
Once again judging is done blind and based on three criteria, appearance, taste and tenderness, 9 being the highest score of each with a total of 27. Without further ado here are the final results:
Decatur Jaycees 15th Annual Riverfest
Location: Decatur, Alabama
Date: September 17-19, 2009
Categories: Chicken, Ribs, Pork & Brisket
Total Competitors: 59
Promoter: Kansas City Barbeque Society Website – Results
Chicken
11 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ
15 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ
17 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South
20 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers
27 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke
DQ – Paul Petersen – Pablo Diablo BBQ
Pork Ribs
1 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers
4 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South
6 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ
15 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke
28 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ
52 – Paul Petersen – Pablo Diablo BBQ
Pork
15 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke
19 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers
27 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South
30 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy
31 – Paul Petersen – Pablo Diablo BBQ
42 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ
Brisket
1 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke
5 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South
6 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ
17 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy
26 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers
51 – Paul Petersen – Pablo Diablo BBQ
Overall
6 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South
7 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke
9 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers
10 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ
15 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ
59 – Paul Petersen – Pablo Diablo BBQ
Memorable Quotes:
“I looked over at Paul’s tent…saw these damn muffin pans…you know that pissed me off….and I walked over jus’ see who the f&% he was taking my s&^%.” – Myron Mixon
“If you’re going to steal something at least be good at it. If you win today I expect a damn check.” – Myron Mixon to Paul Petersen.
“I need something to start my damn fires with.” – Myron Mixon when Chris said he bought 1/2 dozen of his books.”
“The fact the power went out did comprimise my product going into this competiton.” – LeeAnn Whippen
“I’m not going travel 1000’s of miles, spend 1000’s of dollars just to get back home empty handed. There’s a new front on the BBQ circuit and I’m it.” – Tuffy Stone
“I call her the Grillvette, she’s painted red, shes’s sexy, she’s beautiful but she cooks good. I got nicer wheels on my pit then I do my car.” – Tuffy Stone
“I’d do anything to win….except cheat.” – Paul Petersen
“Shiggin’ is the act of entering another’s cook site with the intent to steal their processes.” – Tuffy Stone giving Myron a shigging cup.
Overall the cooks did extremely well. Five of them placed 6-10 (with the inclusion of Jambo Pitts) in the overall out of 59 competitors. Johnny got first in ribs and Tuffy with his new brisket recipe placed first, both earning $1,250. For another excellent write up on the show check out Diva Q’s post.
The next show won’t be until January 7th and I’m guessing it’s the American Royal Barbecue Open in Kansas City, Missouri.
