Check out my friend that you may have seen on Me So Hungry –Ben Sargent (who is a cooking celebrity –Cooking Channel, Food Network). He has a new Kickstarter. There’s only 4 days left. So pledge now. Sorry I should have posted this sooner. I was drunk.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1506371446/the-hunt-for-dr-klaw-take-back-the-underground
I’m happy to have Tio Wally (long-time Me So Hungry reader) aboard to send in his eating adventures from across America. Here he is in Stony Point, North Carolina.
Greetings from Stony Point, North Carolina
N 35° 51.3682’ W 081° 2.1247’ Elev. 1046 ft.
I sailed into Statesville in the early afternoon on a Saturday knowing I wouldn’t be able to off-load until early Monday morning at the earliest. So as I usually do I asked the people here: “Where’s a good place to eat?â€
Without hesitation a woman asked, “Do you like fish?†Oh yeah, I replied. “Well, then go out the driveway, turn right, go seven miles and you’ll see a parking lot on the left, with a little market on one side and a puny little pizza place on the other. Directly behind the pizza place is a restaurant called Captain’s Galley. That’s where you want to eat.â€
The next morning I went, I saw, I ate and … she was right.
Captain’s Galley is a 15-restaurant chain, all of them located in North Carolina. I think it hasn’t expanded beyond North Carolina because the good Captain may have multiple outstanding warrants for his arrest in Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina. Okay, maybe not. But that sure as hell isn’t going to stop me from starting the rumor.
This particular Captain’s Galley is in a pretty isolated location. That didn’t hamper it from quickly filling up within a half-hour of its 11:30 a.m. opening. I had the distinct impression that it was all locals filing in for their traditional after-church Sunday lunch. Of course, the hostess greeting half of them by name was a bit of a tip-off, too.
The first thing that happens after you’re seated is you’re brought a bowl of finger-like hushpuppies. I took one bite and immediately realized they were both dangerous (because they’re highly addictive) and a potential business opportunity (opening a chain of Captain’s Galley’s Hushpuppy Addiction Recovery Centers; CG-HARCs for short). Most of the other diners were putting tartar sauce (already on the tables in squeeze bottles) on them. They definitely knew what they were doing. As the late North Carolina native and television icon Andy Griffith would say, “It’s goo-ood!â€
Most of the seafood here is fried, although there are a few broiled selections located under the “Weight Watchers†section of the menu. As I wasn’t in the mood for a bunch of fried fish for breakfast, I ordered the broiled Canadian Flounder Fillet special ($6.25). Strangely, if you order the same flounder fillet as a combo you can only get it fried, according to the waitress. I thought this was pretty bizarre but I was too hungry to take the time to even attempt deciphering that conundrum.
In addition to the hushpuppies, the meal came with two other sides, so I got a sweet potato and the sweet cole slaw, along with a sweet tea ($1.69) to drink. The sweet tea was particularly good, not too sweet, and came with a small pitcher of back-up tea.
The sweet potato was served with a spread I don’t think I remember seeing before: Country Crock Cinnamon Spread. Though it seemed sort of suspicious at first, I put it on the sweet tater and was delighted to find it was quite good. The cole slaw was also good but it was of the minced cabbage variety that lacks the crunchiness I really like in slaws.
A curious thing on the menu was crab cakes for $1.50 each. Now tell me this: Where on this planet can you get a crab cake for less than the cost of a sweet tea? Judging by the price I was pretty confidant there wasn’t a single nanogram of real crab meat in it, that they are obviously made with imitation crab meat (pollock).
Because I had to know what a buck-and-a-half crab cake would be like, I ordered one and … it was really, really good, especially with a little touch of seafood/cocktail sauce. The patty was about four inches around with a nice, crunchy corn-meal crust, and was moist and delicately seasoned inside. So good was it, in fact, that I could easily see making a meal of the crab cakes; they’d make an awesome hoagie.
The fillet likewise was perfectly cooked and really good, though I wish it would’ve been a bit thicker. But hey, where else am I going to get a broiled flounder fish dinner with three sides for $6.25? This is a place I’ll definitely be visiting again for a good, low-cost fish fix.
As I was leaving I noticed the restaurant had a separate entrance for take-out orders, with a half-dozen empty cars lined at the curb. Evidently the take-out section also does a land-office business. I could see why.
Captain’s Galley was a great discovery and yet another example of the places one can find only by asking the locals. Heck, I wouldn’t have gone anywhere near it — seven miles, to be precise — had it not been recommended.
And so we roll.
Captain’s Galley, 5135 Taylorsville Hwy., Stony Point, North Carolina
Tio Wally pilots the 75-foot, 40-ton(max) land yacht SS Me So Hungry. He reports on road food from around the country whenever parking and InterTube connections permit.
Dang, Ben just put out a new book, The Catch. Looks really slick. He had a book signing yesterday at Powerhouse Arena in Dumbo. Then took the party to Red Hook at Bait and Tackle, where he had a seafood boil cooking on the sidewalk. So much food. There was a whole nother trough of shrimp and crab legs after everyone in the bar was so stuffed. Amazing. …Man, I wish I had some that right now.
I’m happy to have Tio Wally (long-time Me So Hungry reader) aboard to send in his eating adventures from across America. Here he is in Galena, Missouri.
Greetings from Galena, Missouri
N 36° 47.079’ W 093° 30.350’ Elev. 885 ft.
In the last post I wrote about our white bass deep-fry bacchanal. This time we’re again messing with white bass albeit markedly less fried.
With all the fish coming through the door I wanted to do something different with it. I came up with the idea of making ceviche, the Latino dish made with raw fish cooked in citrus juice.
We started with about two pounds of white bass fillets that had been soaked in salt water overnight; the salt-water bath helps remove excess blood from the fish. We then added chopped onion, celery and cilantro; Tabasco® sauce; and the juice of two limes. The two limes didn’t seem to yield quite enough juice so we augmented it with some Realime, that juice in the plastic bottle.
Although you can eat it after it “cooks†for an hour or two, we let it sit overnight, stirring it often.
When we tasted it the next day we realized that we’d forgotten to put in the jalapeño peppers. Still, it was pretty tasty, though very limey. In retrospect we probably should’ve waited before we put in the extra lime juice. The other thing we forgot to do was cube up avocado and tomato and add them to it just before serving. But hey, No harm no foul, and no lives were lost.
The other thing we’ve been having a lot of fun with lately is homemade raspberry syrup. We found the syrup hiding in the pantry, along with a jar of delicious apple butter (great on raisin-cinnamon toast), that had been made by our late neighbor Una. Her and her sisters were famous for utilizing everything they grew in their garden, canning up a storm and, thankfully, graciously sharing the results with her neighbors.
The syrup is really spectacular because it’s not overly sweet as commercial syrups tend to be. It’s also rather thin due to the fact that, unlike commercial syrups, it contains no corn syrup. In fact it’s very much the same consistency of the brown-sugar syrup my aunt used to make when I was a kid.
The flavor is absolutely spectacular, tangy and sweet, just like fresh, vine-ripened raspberries. I think we tend to forget how amazing and how different things taste when there are no artificial flavors added.
In addition to having the syrup on the usual suspects — pancakes, waffles, French toast — we’ve also been enjoying it as a topping on ice cream. This has become a very special treat … once we finally figured out how little syrup was actually needed, so concentrated is the flavor.
While I know it would be silly to send Jason and Russ ceviche, sillier still would be to send jars of the raspberry syrup and apple butter. Sorry, guys, it’s just too damn good to share.
And so we roll.
Tio Wally pilots the 75-foot, 40-ton(max) land yacht SS Me So Hungry. He reports on road food from around the country whenever parking and InterTube connections permit.
It’s funny. When I did a search of nearby restaurants on Yelp at my parents’ home in Orlando, all the restaurants were in Universal Studios or Disney World. I did see a restaurant in the strip mall close by called Hot N Juicy Crawfish. Dang. I’m there.
Apparently it’s a chain restaurant with restaurants spread all over the country –Las Vegas, California, D.C. and here in Orlando. Man vs Food TV show did a thing there —http://youtu.be/VbeCuujOvX0
We ordered The Drool bucket (1lb of Crawfish, 1lb of Shrimp, dozen slices of Andouille Sausages, 2 corn, 2 potatoes, 1/2lb of Snow Crab Legs and Calamari appetizer $37.99). They ran out of Snow Crab, so they gave us King Crab Legs. We also got the Etouffee ($6.99) and Fried Catfish Basket with Sweet Potato Fries ($11.99)
The waiter says the crawfish is flown in daily. Dang. That’s a lot of work. They were really juicy and flavorful …and kind of spicy. We got the lowest level of spice (Baby Spice) and that was still kind of spicy. It was the right amount of spiciness. But maybe the “Hot n Juicy Special” seasoning we ordered it with added to that heat. Really flavorful head sucking. I even sucked the heads of the shrimps.
The best deal is the all-day Happy Hour Monday through Thursdays $1 bottled beers! That’s any bottle beer, whether it’s Heineken or Blue Moon. Three per person, but still such a good deal.
Man, I wish there was a Hot N Juicy Crawfish in Brooklyn. But only if they can give me fresh crawfish at $10/lb and $1 beers. Dreamboarding it.
Hot N Juicy Crawfish - 7572 W Sand Lake Rd. Orlando, FL 32836
Dang, I had a great time at the NY Food Film Festival once again. Strengthened relationships and made many new friends. Everyone really stepped it up this year on their films. But it sure is worth submitting. If you get your film in, the parties (screenings) you get to attend are so awesome. It concluded with an Oyster Roast in Williamsburg. I loved it. The Bulls Bay Oysters are so good.
Other things I really liked at the festival —Brooklyn Star Fried Pig Tails, Wild Hibiscus Flowers stuffed with Goat Cheese, and Saxon and Parole Fried Oysters.
Congratulations to all the filmmakers and the festival crew for continually making my life a party. Thank you.
http://thefoodfilmfestival.com
This was my film, “Deep-Fried Tofurky: A Thanksgiving Miracle”
Deep-Fried Tofurky: A Thanksgiving Miracle from Jason Lam on Vimeo.
I met up with Ramen and Friends on Roosevelt Island at Pier NYC, right off the F train stop. I didn’t realize how easy it was to get on the island. I just remember watching Dark Water and the only way to run away from the creepy ghost girl and get off the island was by the air Tram. But it was pretty easy by train.
Pier NYC –an outdoor drinking and eating spot on the west side of the island, right across the street from the train stop. I got there late to meet everyone. They warned me about the Whoopie Pie and the BBQ, which they didn’t think was good. So I went with some $2-3 Oysters and $1 Clams. Pretty good pricing, with such a nice view of the water. Also went low-carb with a couple of gin and sodas ($7 each).
Then a few of us too the air Tram back to Manhattan. It was fun. Only a regular MTA card swipe –so basically free on my unlimited card. Dang, I felt like Jennifer Connelly. But more like in Requiem for a Dream.
Pier NYC - 425 Main St. Roosevelt Island, NY 10044
Ramen and Friends’ review
Oh man, this is a good NYC deal –All You Can Eat Steamed Maryland-style Blue Crabs for $21.95 in the West Village. That’s everyday 12-4pm. Dang, that’s a prime time lunch deal, even on weekends.
I came by myself and thought they were going to start me off with a couple of crabs and see how I do, but no… They brought me a whole tray load and dumped them on me. It took up almost the whole table. I think there were around 11-12 crabs. Dang.
They were decent size and good lumps of meat in there. I worked on them slowly and methodically, getting better disassembling each crab as I went along. My back was hurting by the end. Got stuffed and left five crabs on the table.
I like this deal. I gotta bring Rusty there. $2.50 draft PBR and $4 Stella. That’s cheap, especially for the location. I’ll remember to put on the bib next time.
Fish Restaurant - 280 Bleecker St (btwn Jones & Commerce St) New York, NY 10014
Afterwards, I watched some guys play b-ball in the Cage at the West Fourth Street Courts. Thirty percent of the time, they were just arguing. I thought someone was going to pull out a gun a couple times.