9.26- Seafood Chili

Mike's Seafood Chili

The annual Chili Cookoff was held today on the Tiki-Bar deck at the Oriental Marina & Inn. The cookoff is a fundraiser for Oriental's historic Old Theater, a really cool 1940's movie theater that has been converted into something of a performing arts venue... though old movies still occasionally grace the screen.

Tiki/Toucan cook and bartender Mike's entry was Seafood Chili made with local clams, crabs, mussels and shrimp from Oriental's own Fulcher Seafood Co.

I am sure my Texas friends and readers will cringe at this one... I myself could not muster the courage to sample the Seafood Chili, not being a big seafood fan (particularly concerning the clams and mussels.)

Once again this year, there was not a single example of "real" chili in the running... All of them included tomatoes/tomato sauce, various kinds of beans, and ground beef... two entries also included ground pork. After living 20+ years in South Texas, I am always surprised that other places in the South serve "Yankee-style chili" as the norm.

None of today's entries would've qualified as chili by Texas standards, but some of them tasted pretty good for whatever they were.

My favorite came from Eric Stickrath's "Broad Street Grill" ... Eric used Vidalia onions to give it a sweetness (but without refined sugar, which is often used in the cookoff chilis, cringe again) and contrasted that with chipotle flavor (although, alas, it came from a bottle of Tabasco-brand chipotle sauce rather than actual chipotle chiles.)

Eric got my vote for best, but failed to place in the contest.

This being a fishing village, Mike's Local Seafood Chili was a favorite, winning second place.

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4.26- Crab and Shrimp Boil

Eating crabs by lamp-light
(Click on images for full size)

I went to a crab and shrimp boil & party at a friend's house here in Oriental tonight.

There were no nutcrackers or wooden mallets, so everyone improvised to get the crab meat out. The crab was delicious, and worth the struggle.

The shrimp were much easier to eat, and were also delicious.

The locally-caught (fewer food-miles and much more flavor) crabs (live) and local shrimp (de-headed) came fresh from Endurance Seafood, just across Smith't Creek from Oriental.

Both were cooked up in the same pot by our host, and seasoned with plenty of Old Bay (see pic at right... click to enlarge.)

As you can see, cooking live crabs is a matter of who has the bigger claws.


Yum.

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2.10- The "Collard Shack"

Proprietor Cathy Jones, in front of the "Collard Shack" in Otway, NC

(click on image for full size)

Today I dropped by the "Collard Shack," a colorful little... well, a shack that sells collards, among other things.

The little shack with its eye-catching sign is an irresistible must-stop on NC Hwy. 70 in Otway, NC (between Beaufort and Harkers Island.)

The Collard Shack sign... call (252) 241-9751 for more info

Despite the name, this little place offers much more than just collards... Though of course fresh collards are readily available...

Local honey, peanuts, pecans, assorted preserves (strawberry, figs, sorghum, apple butter etc), rutabagas and potatoes are available... as well as those must-haves, pickled pigs feet and pickled pork brains.

SEE MORE OF THE COLLARD SHACK at my other blog, The Dinghy Dock...

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2.01- Superbowl oysters

Fresh steamed oysters
(Click on image or here for full size)

Superbowl Sunday... I was invited to a pre-game oyster-bake out near Dawson's Creek today. The event featured two giant burlap sacks full of fresh live oysters, which were eaten after steaming.

Friends, family, relatives, and regular readers will know that I am not a huge seafood fan, to say the least, and oysters are near the bottom of my "edibles" list...

Nonetheless, I did eat a few, and they pretty much tasted like the garlic-butter-worsteshire sauce or horseradish-ketchup-tobasco sauce I dipped them in. I did eat one without sauce, but quickly washed it down with plenty of Pepsi-cola while repeating to myself "I did not just eat a slimy mucous from a shell" over and over again.

The other folks at the pre-game party thoroughly enjoyed the oysters... the host's father told me he had eaten somewhere between 30 and 40 of the bivalve mollusks, the very thought of which made me feel a little green.

As one of my favorite authors, Jonathan Swift, once said "He was a bold man that first ate an oyster."

I struggled with the oysters, but enjoyed the company, the other available edibles and drinkables, and the accompanying pool tournament in the back shed before heading back to Oriental and the local pub for the Superbowl. My favorite part was the guy hitting the Koala.

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1.16- Frozen Collard Greens

Collards for sale - $ 0.75 per lb.

Fresh collards for sale on the roadside in Grantsboro, Pamlico Co.

The collards risk becoming frozen, however, as temperatures did not rise above freezing today... A traditional Southern staple for sale in decidedly un-Southern weather!

One often sees collards for sale along Pamlico Co. roadways (and, I suppose, across the North Carolina and the South in general) , particularly in the fall and winter.

Collard greens are typically boiled with some part of a pig (hog-jaw, ham-hock, fat-back etc.) and seasoned with a little vinegar, salt and "secret" ingredients according to the cook.

Personally, I have a hard time eating the durn things... But since they are a staple offering to guests at pot-lucks and dinner parties, I regularly have to gulp down at least a token amount in respect to my hosts.

Collard greens are also required eating on New Years day. I grew up eating black-eyed peas on New Years because they bring good luck for the new year, but at least around here one must also eat collards, which bring good fortune (in the monetary sense) in the new year.

Brrrrrr, it's COLD today!

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