On a recent trip south I asked Siri for the best restaurant near me and she recommended the Pig and Pint, in Jackson Mississippi.
The premise of the place is a new spin on BBQ and beer. Now I'm too young to drink so ask Mom about the beer. I ordered the bacon melt, the pork belly corndog, and the fried green tomatoes.
The sandwich was really good, it had some slightly acidic collard greens in it that helped balance out the richness of the brisket and pork belly. It was also served with comeback dressing. It was a sophisticated melt and the comeback dressing made me want to "comeback".
Now, on to the pork belly corndogs, for corndogs they were alright. The rich sweet batter and the pork belly had a good contrast. I think the pork belly could have been rendered just a bit more. The star of the dish was the dipping sauce. It was a smoked tomato ginger jam that was truly incredible.
The fried green tomatoes followed the same path as the corndogs. Solid but awesome once you dip them in the tangy sauce. The corn coating was light and crips, all in all a solid fried green tomato.
The Pig and Pint made a really good lunch. I loved how they are trying new things with classic old flavors and the rows upon rows of trophies for bbq garuntee a good lunch. I wouldn't get those corn dogs again but there are other things calling my name.
I hope to head south again soon and I know I will stop back.
Thanks, Siri!
Love the cabbage,
Logan.
Ōra king
If your sifting through culinary terms your bound to come across wagyu beef the best tasting beef in the world. Now, for the seafood fans, is there a similar standard to the incredible lusciousness of waygu in the ocean? Crab is my personally favorite but it lacks that signature melt in your mouth experience, in the search for the wagyu of the sea I have finally found it.
Ōra King Salmon is the most incredible salmon I have ever had. This salmon has that X factor that is only matched by wagyu beef, it is just the most delicious, most tender, most flavorful salmon out there. The company uses sustainable fish farming methods to grow king salmon which only accounts for 5% of all salmon enjoyed, also the fish are grown in New Zealand in the clearest water in the world.
As a chef using a fish with such incredible flavor means that you really have to use the right flavor profiles that won't get over powered by the salmon and also won't conflict with the flavor. When utilizing a fish that has a high fat content takes more skill than your average fish, mimicking how you would treat wagyu.
Ōra king sent me a whole salmon so... I had to break down the whole fish, its always more fun to fillet a fish you aren't so locked into making something boring like a simple portion you get to make portions that best suit the dish its a big deal to design a dish and have the perfect piece of fish for it.
When it comes to creating exquisite dishes it takes some thyme, so having 15lb of the best salmon in the world is a lot, well a lot is an understatement. I thought of doing a salmon dinner but I am going to spend some thyme imagining the most incredible menu for the wagyu of the sea. Unfortunately that means I have to freeze some, I know its bad but what am I going to do with 15lbs of salmon. It's a perfect Chef dilemma.
Love the Cabbage,
Logan
The National Cornbread Festival!
I really enjoy a good festival, so when I saw the National Cornbread Festival in South Pittsburg TN. I had to go. Lodge talked to me and I was selected to be the Emcee of the Kid's Cook Off.
It took some convincing to get Dad to drive but we set off on a road trip. Yaaa, road trips are so much fun. After the five hour car ride we finally arrived.
The festival was a great mix of, art, music, carnival fun, and of course great corn bread. I Emceed the 4-H cornbread cook off. That means 4th graders compete for $500 and bake their recipe for the win. The tension was high, these kids all really wanted to win. When your 9-10 years old 500 bucks is a lot of money. Heck, it is a lot of money to just about everyone.
The festival sponsored by Lodge Cast Iron and Martha White cornbread mix was huge almost 30K of people showed up for the fun.
It's interesting to learn about the benefits of cooking in cast iron and the love affair cast iron has with cornbread. One tip I learned was to pre-heat your cast iron pan before pouring in the corn bread to make sure it won't stick. I use cast iron now and then but with some new tricks and a new skillet, of course, it might be my go to pan.
I also found this really cool knife made out of an old railroad spike that I just can't wait to try.
The high point of the whole trip was defiantly the Lodge Foundry tour. Seeing how such a classic and distinctly American product is made and taking a trip back in thyme a little bit looking at how a business evolved since 1896. Actually noticing when machinery changed and the break room got redesigned was quite fascinating.
Cast iron is one of those cooking methods that has a learning curve but if your able to master it then it will work forever, like forever.
First the pans need to be seasoned and then you need to care for these pans carefully. It isn't too much extra work and it is pretty easy once you commit to your pan. Name your skillet it helps.
Watch for me to post up a video on the care and seasoning of a pan or two and you might just join me in loving this sustainable and healthy cookware.
Hit this link for a cool 360' video I took in the foundry!
https://s.insta360.com/p/0aab1274c0a391129542431bb3279723
Love the Cabbage,
Logan
The opening of the Young chef Olympiad was so much fun. There were some speeches and some flags and some dancing... lots of dancing. The girls were all dressed in the most colorful costumes and the music was vibrant and exotic. I mean you don't see this stuff on Dance Mom's.
I gave a speech too- I had one carefully memorized but in true Logan style I went rogue and made it all up!
The Young Chefs are the best of the best of the best of the best of the best of the best....
Even though it was unexpected and almost all of the planners had a come apart it still worked out great.
Now enough celebration it was time for the competition to commence.
I know people think I can't or shouldn't judge but I am super serious about it. I have a fresh perspective and I know how I would cook something and defiantly how it should taste. I look for confidence, body language, nerves, and more, not going to give out all my secrets.
I lot of people think that since i am still a kid they can sway me with friendship or bribes but ultimately what matters the most is whats on the plate, if you want to be the best of the best you have to impress the best of us watching. I was honored!
Then we hopped on a Spice Jet plane named Parsley and took off for Bangalore, the Garden City.
The IIHM group there really out did themselves to welcome us! Flowers Drummers, sunshine and Koti rolls. I loved it! My friends there even found me a most adorable suvi a Tuk Tuk toy! How nice is that?!
Sadly, I was there just one night and back to Spice jet to head to Kolkata.
Love the cabbage,
logan
IKEA
The long wait is finally over, Memphis has an IKEA! No more going to Atlanta for all those cute and well planed kitchens.
Ikea is huge. Well, it's bigger than huge, it's massive and filled with everything you need to live(excluding a cat tree) including a Swedish market and mini restaurant. All this inside a furniture store, crazy. I think I could survive the apocalypse in there.
It is really hard not to give the Swedish food a try, there are two restaurants one in the front and one hidden inside. I ate in the hidden one. I had the legendary meatballs, a cup of chicken soup and shared a salad plus the special juices. Mom got the marzipan dessert. The meatballs were tasty and just really classic. The sides were mashed potatoes, lingon berry jelly, roasted vegetables and gravy overall it was a nicely composed simple, classic dish with nothing to dislike. In retrospect I should have gotten the extra side of meat balls. I could have eaten another scoop and managed to eat some of Mom's. I was surprised how juicy the meatballs were cause they looked rather dry.
The soup was ok and the salad was fresh. It was just a salad. Mom had marzipan dessert and said it was good.
I really really want Ikea to redesigned my kitchen and help tame the chaos with all that organization and innovation. I mean it they have the coolest kitchen stuff. I loved the non electric mixer, and those pull out drawers. Some teens have slept overnight inside of Ikea all though that is not approved it still sounds like fun. When you live in 100 year old house the kitchen is a dinosaur compared to the IKEA design.
Shoot me an email with your favorite IKEA item so I can go pick one up too!
Love the Cabbage Leaf
Logan
On a recent trip south I asked Siri for the best restaurant near me and she recommended the Pig and Pint, in Jackson Mississippi.
The Pig and Pint made a really good lunch. I loved how they are trying new things with classic old flavors and the rows upon rows of trophies for bbq garuntee a good lunch. I wouldn't get those corn dogs again but there are other things calling my name.
