A Delicious Heart Attack at Allen and Son Pit BBQ

Todd January 11, 2010

BBQ, hush puppies, north carolina barbeque, pit cooked, pork, ribs

Chest pains. Slowed, labored breathing. A giant smile on your face and a bit of BBQ sauce stuck to some part of your face. Not that much lighter a wallet…

These are the results of a trip to Allen and Son, one of my favorite NC BBQ joints. Living in NC for 2.5 years has led me to a few places now, and A&S is still my favorite. My friends Dave (you have seen a couple of his posts) and Amy swun through NC and I decided to take them to taste some delicious NC BBQ – Eastern Style! Perhaps I should explain:

In North Carolina, Barbeque is first and foremost a noun. BBQ is pulled pork. There is no brisket or steak or chicken or anything else. You can, of course, GET those things – but they ain’t BBQ. There are two primary types, East and West. This civil war of sauces pits (BBQ pun intended) vinegar-based sauce, the eastern style, against tomato based sauce, the western (or Lexington) style. Although I live in central NC, I live in an area surrounded by eastern stye BBQ houses, and A&S is one of the best. The BBQ is sumptuous, with an incredibly soft texture. The sauce balances the fatty pork with a beautiful tangy acidity that only eastern vinegar sauce can bring to the scene. Plus…the ambience is…hilarious.

When I eat BBQ, I want checkered table clothes, porcelain pigs everywhere, and waitresses that bring you literally, a HALF A GALLON of ice tea when you order it. Oh yeah – no such thing as unsweetened ice tea here. Did I mention the diabetes along with all those heart attack symptoms above?

The BBQ Plate with slaw and hushpuppies. The classic never loses its character.

Dave got the BBQ plate, Amy had the burger…and I…well, I had the Ribs. With a capital R.

The heart starts beating faster…

Pork Ribs - with slaw and the best potato salad ever.

To be honest..I rarely get the BBQ at A&S anymore. Someone said that I’ve ‘learned my lesson’ about eating A&S BBQ, which isn’t really true. That’s a little like saying a whiskey drinker ‘learned his lesson’ from all that beer he used to drink. I haven’t learned anything..I’ve just moved on to what I consider to be bigger and better things. Like ribs. Why? Question answered:

These things are delicious. Absolutely delicious. And they fall apart. Amy tried to eat the bone. I warned her that I didn't know what would happen to her digestive system on the remaining 5 hour car ride ahead of her...

In summary – if you’re in the area…go here. Trust me. I’ve been here enough that I’ve moved on to the ribs.

Allen and Son Pit Cooked BBQ
919.942.7576
6203 Millhouse Rd
Chapel Hill, NC 27516

It’s HopSlam Season

John January 11, 2010

Beer/Drinks

beer, bells, IPA

It’s officially HopSlam season, which means that we are privileged to one of the best beers on earth from January 7th until mid February. This double IPA is a must for any hop fiend and beer lovers in general. I’m serious. If you like hops, this stuff is like candy. It contains a delicious bitter hopiness, but is still a little sweet due to added honey. It would be great if this was a year around beer, but the short period of availability really makes this a special seasonal choice. I picked up my first six pack of the season this weekend and was reminded of why I have been craving the release date. I even got out my boot to celebrate.

More Presents: 9.5 qt Le Creuset Oval French Oven

Todd January 10, 2010

My Recipes

big pots, brussel sprouts, chicken, le creuset

I also got the missus the biggest Le Creuset roasting/cooking pot I could find. Known as a ‘french oven’ this thing is basically an iron brick shit-house of awesomeness that should survive much longer than I will – particularly if I keep eating stuff delectables made in…the french oven.

We first tried out this thing on Christmas night – the last of the roasted Chicken from our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA – more on that later) – still frozen two months later. Whoops!

Look at this thing. You could throw it down the stairs and the only thing that would get damaged would be the stairs. And anyone at the bottom. Cast iron enameled to protect it from heat up to god-knows-how-hot. The only problem – since it’s iron, you’ve definitely gotta watch that water doesn’t get on the edges, or else they can rust, just like any iron cook wear. We paired the chicken with roasted potatoes and my not-so-patented, roast brussel sprouts (basically stolen from Ina Garden – they are easiest thing ever – cut off stems, halve, toss in bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast at 400 for 35-40 mins until brown and crispy!).

Eat me! I'm delicious and I came out of the biggest pot in the world!

Good gracious - we threw some potatoes and onions in there too!

The delicious aftermath…

That is most certainly a full clove of garlic on the bottom of this photo. And I most certainly ate it and breathed deeply on everyone for the rest of the evening. Most certainly.

Be on the lookout for an update to my Chili that I made in this!

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