I love the chewy and nutty taste of oatmeal. My mom made it a lot when I was a kid, using the stuff in the round container from the grocery store. When I was older and moved to Vermont for school, I discovered “real oatmeal” of two types— the first was steel cut oats, made…
Quick and Easy Vegetarian Butternut Squash/Sweet Potato Soup
It’s been cold and rainy recently here in Arkansas, but summer is coming. So it’s the perfect time for a warming, but lo-cal vegetarian soup. The combination of root vegetables makes the soup sweet, and it is creamy and satisfying from a touch of butter in the base, although it has no cream itself. You’ll still fit in…
Quick Cook: Grilled Black Bean Burgers with Guacamole and Oaxacan Street-Style Corn
It’s Memorial Day, which is always a good time for gathering with family and friends to celebrate freedom and enjoy some good food. In Arkansas it’s already in the 90s, so firing up the kitchen is just too much. Let’s take it outside. Here’s a quick cook grilling meal that is vegetarian-friendly. To keep it quick,…
Smoked Salt
There’s something very nice about adding smoked salt to a dish. An hour in the smoker gives it a background hint of smoke which adds complexity, without being overbearing. Think of this as a finishing salt, adding just another layer of complexity to your favorite grilled or smoked dish. I like to use smoking woods that…
How to Smoke Real BBQ Ribs: The Master Class
I smoke ribs, pork shoulders, turkeys or chickens just about every weekend. I love tinkering with the recipes, the techniques, and shoot, I like building a fire and providing for my family (including my dog family. That’s Farrah eating a raw turkey neck). I would have made a great caveman.
My Favorite Cherry Pie
If you read my Mustang Sally’s review, you know that I love cherry pie. Seriously, if I had to pick one fruit pie, this would be it. Now, in the old days, you had to wait until cherries were in season, but today, a couple three of cans of tart cherries, some flour, butter, and…
Mustang Sally’s in Perryville, AR
There’s a winding highway that wends its way out of west Little Rock, up through the slow foothills of central Arkansas. It’s a beautiful ride, even more so when the leaves are falling. There’s even a certain turn in the road, where you crest a hill and the eastern side looks exactly like Napa. It’s…
Standard BBQ Rub — My “Spoocial” Rub
Here it is! My standard BBQ rub. This is lightly sweet, mildly hot, and just enough salt to be a rub. We also call this my “Spoocial” Rub because when Lil’ Bit was labeling the bottle once, he wrote the word Special that way and the name has now stuck. This makes a nice background that you…
Jones Bar-B-Q Diner in Marianna, AR
Oh Boy. Jones Bar-B-Q. What a wonderful visit to a very special barbecue joint. Or diner, because they actually call themselves Jones Bar-B-Q Diner. But if you are expecting the usual diner experience, booths, tables, pie case, you are mistaken. There are two tables in this diner, and one of them is mostly blocking the window…
Red Wine Braised Chicken
You could use breast meat for this, but I don’t know why you would. Life is short. Dark meat tastes better. Live the dream. It all started with freezer chicken. No one really likes freezer chicken; least of all me. But I bought too much on a sale at the store, and froze a few…