January's New Place for Us: Beasley’s Chicken + Honey

So our new place for January was one of Chef Ashley Christensen’s Restaurants: Beasley's Chicken + Honey. We had heard really good things about this place via newspaper and friends so wanted to give it a try. We went early on a Thursday night and had no issue getting a spot inside but opted to sit at the bar because of how short the stools were at the tables. That would be one word of warning about the place itself (not the food). It is very down to earth or rudimentary for lack of a better description: metal stools with no backs, sparse décor and just the basics for dinnerware/plates and mason glasses for drinks. It is a part of the ambiance but I have seen it and the prices complained about on some review sites. My take is know why and what a place is about and either accept it as part of the experience or don’t bother going.

 The menu is written out on a large chalkboard above the bar and focuses on basic comfort foods centering on fried chicken. Options included a quarter fried chicken with choice of white or dark meat, chicken and waffles, chicken biscuit, chicken pot pie, a pork shoulder meatloaf, and an entrée salad. Sides are a la carte and the night we were there included items such as cabbage, snap beans, greens, potato salad, sweet potatoes, a mac and cheese item, and more. We asked about portion size and it was recommended that if we each ordered something such as the quarter fried chicken that as a couple we could easily share the veggie plate option which let you pick three sides to share. So I ordered the quarter chicken white meat, Brad the chicken and waffles (white meat) and we picked snap beans with garlic and toasted peppercorn, cider braised greens, and the Ashe County cheddar pimento mac and cheese custard. Iced tea comes unsweetened but you are given sugar syrup to sweeten it to your liking. They had a nice range of beers on tap and an interesting listing of wines and champagnes to select from. When we were there I was not able to drink alcohol so I cannot wait to go back and try fried chicken and honey with a glass of champagne!

Our order came out really quickly and was served on metal plates which according to Brad were just like the ones used in the kitchen where he works for staging foods before plating. The chicken breasts were huge and had a really nice crispy crust that was drizzled with honey and the meat was tender, moist, and flavorful. Who knew honey on fried chicken could be so tasty? Brad’s also came with maple syrup on the side in addition to the honey drizzled on the chicken which was sitting on top of a very nice sized waffle. His was also very good and for me the first time I had tasted chicken and waffles. I am glad I tried it but since I am not a fan of waffles it is not something I would personally order but he loved it. The braised greens had a nice cider vinegar kick to them and were cooked right, tender but not mushy. The snap beans, which were the recommendation of the bartender serving us, were peppery and had a nice al dente texture. My absolute favorite of course was the mac and cheese. It was a casserole style with layers of the pasta with pimento cheddar that was rich yet light at the same time. Brad had to fight me for his portion of the serving. I enjoyed it so much I would love to have this recipe for myself. 

Brad noticed that the kitchen appeared to be shared with her place next door, Chuck’s. We have that our on list of places to try soon but in the meantime we hope to make Beasley’s part of our regular rotation when we can.

Food Resolutions - A Recap of 2011: New Recipes

In 2010 I managed to make 35 new recipes. In 2011, I did 43 new recipes, which I personally think is amazing especially considering my recent increased travel schedule. Granted not all of them are elaborate, complicated attempts and unless they ended up being a keeper, I honestly don’t recall details. My inspiration comes from a constant clipping of recipes from magazines but also now the wonderful world wide web. Coming up with something new to make is so much easier with Google! So in 2011 I made the following dishes:

Beef Bourgeon from Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook. Brad does not like carrots but I assumed it would be a none issue since he could just not eat the carrots; however, after simmering for hours the beef, while extremely delicious to me, took on the flavor of carrots and Brad did not like it at all. And he was honest about not liking it. That is important but what a bitter disappointment after having made something so special. Sadly, while this dish turned out perfectly it cannot be a keeper if the husband will not eat it.

Onion Soup Gratinee from Cooking Light Magazine (aka French Onion Soup). This version finally made my keep list (after trying different versions of French Onion Soup over the years). I still need to work on having the patience to really take the onions to a perfect level of brownness. This is one of those things that I find takes a lot longer than recipes actually indicate.

Jalepano Slaw from FoodNetwork Magazine, which Brad made. This keeper has become a go to whenever we are doing fried catfish sandwiches.

Pimento Cheese, I tried a new version that was more classic southern style and did not like it was much as the recipe that I have been using.

Chicken Roulade from the Fresh Market Flier is when I discovered that I am not really a huge fan of lots of goat cheese and this had lots of goat cheese in it. I did keep the recipe because that is something easy to alter and otherwise it had really nice texture and flavor and Brad loved it.

Mini Mac and Shrooms from FoodNetwork Magazine. Another keeper, but then not too many good mac and cheese recipes are not keepers. This one makes use of brie cheese and with the combination of mushrooms is a real treat as a side dish with steak.

Creamy Potato Salad with Celery Seeds from Williams Sonoma Kitchen Library: Potatoes. This has a wonderful spring/green taste to it with both fresh celery and celery seeds. Potatoes are something that I am always excited to find a new twist on a classic and I have two cookbooks just on potatoes (the only link in my cooking to my Irish heritage).

Runny Eggs in Creamy Grits ended up not being a keeper only because another version (later in the year) was so much better. Essentially this was a hearty grits with bacon and cheese topped with a poached egg.

Roti Di Porc Au Lait, another from Anthony Bourdain’s book where you simmer pork in milk with various herbs and it gets so tender and has a wonderful flavor. This was a huge hit with Brad and definitely a keeper.

Sausage Escarole Bean Soup from FoodNetwork Magazine. This is a chicken broth based soup with spicy sausage, white beans, escarole and an extra richness from simmering with the rind from good parmesan. Another keeper.

Gnocchi and Mushroom Ragu, was my first time making gnocchi from scratch and it went extremely well, the sauce however was a big disappointment. Essentially the sauce ended up being a bit too bland. In hindsight I realized that most of the time I have gnocchi in restaurants it is always with a very rich sauce. We did learn through this process that you can freeze fresh gnocchi and when cooking frozen gnocchi a quick pan sear in brown butter brings the texture back.

Sausage Stuffed Mushroom Purses from Cuisine at Home Magazine. This is a really yummy appetizer taking the concept of sausage stuffed mushrooms to a new level by then wrapping them in phyllo dough. They also freeze really well so worth the effort of making a large batch and then heating up a few at a time as needed. Obviously a keeper.

Cheeseburger Roulade, I saw this one on TV show with Robert Irvine. It uses puff pastry, a meat mixture to mimic a burger and wrapped with cheddar and goat cheese, and served with a nice dipping sauce. Definitely a savory keeper.

Deviled Egg Endive from Women’s Health Magazine is a healthy keeper recipe where you make a deviled egg salad and serve it in endive leaves. Great for times when you want a twist on the classic deviled egg. 

Macaroni Salad, I am still searching for a recipe that tastes like the salad I used to get from a deli that no longer exists. I have tweaked it to being every close to what I recall but it needs a tad more tweaking to be perfect.

Light Ranch Dressing was okay but not a keeper. It did however add to a base for the macaroni salad I was tweaking.

Southern Eggs En Cocette which I saw on TV done by Claire Robinson (her Five Ingredient show). This one turned out to be a real surprise as Brad, who does not like grits, LOVES this recipe. I have made it quite often ever since that first time and Brad now tastes grits more often in restaurants. The key to this one is making a very good real grit or polenta base, top with a breakfast meat, cheese, egg and bake till egg is cooked to the preferred level of doneness. We have done this with both sausage and bacon and with both parmesan and gruyere cheeses so it is very adaptable. I fry Brad’s egg first a little so it is done enough for him and for me I like it runny and just barely cooked in the grits.

Pommes Fondant, another Anthony Bourdain recipe that did not turn out right and as a result was just so so. This one was likely a failure in my technique as the potatoes cooked too long and it ended up more like mashed potatoes instead of the pretty football shapes it was supposed to be.

Chicken Riesling from Food & Wine Magazine is a oh my – yum yum keeper, where you cook the chicken in Bourbon, Riesling, cream and mushrooms.

Mushroom Stuffed Pork Loin from FoodNetwork Magazine is a wonderful keeper grill recipe where you sauté a garlic, mushroom, lemon zest mixture then roll in a pork loin and grill.

Zucchini Tomato Ricotta Tart from Shape Magazine was a surprise hit. This was such a fresh dish with the ricotta as a custard base topped with the zucchini and tomato. A great summer keeper.

Squash Lasagna was a self-creation based on ideas for using up squash where you sub thinly sliced squash for noodles. Otherwise we used our traditional lasagna recipe and it was absolutely wonderful.

Squash Cornbread was a recipe from a coworker. I had not actually tried this dish but heard rave reviews from others. It was not what I expected and while very good Brad did not like the texture.

Summer Squash Gratin was pretty good but did not keep or reheat well at all which was disappointing and kept the recipe from being a keeper.

Shrimp and Grits was a self-creation using leftover grits from another recipe and then part of Paula Dean’s technique for the shrimp from her shrimp and grits recipe. A first try ended up being a successful combination and Brad really liked it.

Red Beans and Rice from Emeril Lagasse. This was one of those times where I had some core ingredients and realized I probably could make this kind of thing and then I looked up several versions before deciding this one sounded best considering the items I had on hand. It was very good and ended up being a keeper. 

Mango Salsa Bean Dip was a recipe I picked up from one of Brad’s high school friends when we were at a mini reunion. It is such a nice change compared to the classic layered bean dip and can be done with either mango or peach salsa.

Apple Tart from Fresh Market Flier is a keeper using puff pastry to make simple apple tarts.

Classic Bolognese Ragu from Bon Appe’tit Magazine. I have a quick version of this pasta sauce but have continued to try classic long cook versions and finally settled on this version as being simple yet worth the cooking time.

Pepperoni Bread from News & Observer is a tasty keeper appetizer. Layers of cheese and pepperoni rolled up in dough and baked.

Spinach and Cheese Quiche, a Paula Dean recipe turned out to be way too cheesy and we ended up eating it like a cracker spread instead of a dish. It was not a keeper for us.

Spring Shells and Cheese from FoodNetwork Magazine was a fantastic way to use excess summer zucchini. The zucchini with lemon zest and fresh thyme with a light cheese sauce is definitely a keeper.

Gouda Mac and Cheese was okay, kind of mild and ultimately even though is a mac and cheese is not a keeper.

Amaretto Pumpkin Pie involved two versions: one from FoodNetwork Magazine and one from Cooking Light. Side by side comparison ended with the verdict as yes for the non-light FoodNetwork version with whole eggs, heavy cream because of the texture even though the Cooking Light version had good flavors but less desired texture (egg whites, skim milk).

Potatoes en Papillote (in parchment) from Potatoes (from Pancakes to Pommes Frites) was a huge hit and a soon to be repeated keeper. Such a simple preparation of putting small new potatoes inside parchment paper packets with just a little butter and fresh herbs and roasting till tender.

Brined turkey was a miss. I followed the FoodNetwork Magazine instructions for dry salt rub and while the inside of the turkey was wonderfully tender and juicy the outside was too salty.

Spinasse Ragu from Betty Crocker is a keeper. Same basic concept as a Bolognese but subtle changes in basic flavors.

Apple Pancake Bake was a recipe we got from the Perry House B&B in Banner Elk and it turned out beautiful when I finally tried it at home. Similar to an upside down pineapple cake only it is apples and pancake batter in a cast iron pan.

Cappallini al Forno from Giada De Laurentiis is layers of pasta, cheese, and meat and looked beautiful but I learned I don’t care for smoked mozzarella so next time I will substitute the cheese.

Tuna Salad by Martha Stewart is made with apple and celery with lemon juice and was a favorite of Brad’s.

Ham and Cheese in Puff Pastry by Ina Garten is another keeper. It is a simple layering of ham and cheese inside puff pastry.

Buffalo Turkey Sandwich was a from memory concept based on a FoodNetwork Magazine recipe where you make a bleu cheese mayonnaise and drizzle turkey with hot sauce and then build a Panini from those two items. We made this from turkey leftovers over and over this holiday season.

Well, that is it. After some upcoming travel I hope to start on new recipes for 2012. Looking back at this list there are some that I am also anxious to repeat so at some point being able to do new recipes all the time will have to compete against our favorites.

Food Resolutions - A Recap of 2011: New Places to Eat

We plan to try to continue our usual food resolutions in 2012, which includes making a new recipe a week and trying one new (to us) restaurant a month. We don’t always manage to get to one new place a month but that one is a bit easier than the one new recipe a week. Often I go weeks at a time without having time to focus on cooking and then will have a weekend where I will make three new recipes. Here is a glance back at 2011. 

For new restaurants our efforts went well until October. Then things got off the rails slightly. We did manage a new place in October but it was out of town and then our November outing really took place in December. We never did get to some place new in December, but we did two new places in June so that has to make up for it. An addition to our resolution this year will be to actually blog about these dinners as we have them versus attempting a year end recap.

January we started with Bella Mia, a wonderful brick oven pizza place. They have unusual offerings and my favorite is the Bleecker Street with fresh mozzarella, arugula, prosciutto di parma, extra virgin olive oil. We also recently discovered that their chicken wings, soaked in lemon and then oven baked, are incredible.

February was Jibarra, a contemporary Mexican place with a focus on classic dishes done in a modern style. The guacamole sampler was fun and I recall getting a pasta special which was very rich.

March was technically only new to Brad, Havana Grill. My favorite is their cuban sandwich and the fried plantains. For another opinion check out this site: Triangletastebudz.com

April was Boylan Bridge Brew Pub, which gets a big plus for the view. The menu has significantly changed since we were there shifting to more sandwich/burgers which I will go out on a limb and say is probably very wise since the best of what we had fit more into this category while the “fancier entrees” such as lobster mac and cheese, etc. were just so so. Back when we went you had to be prepared to wait for servers due to the seat yourself picnic table design but I am not sure if that is still an issue or not now.

May we finally went to Roast Grill. This is a Raleigh institution where they only serve hotdogs with options of yellow mustard, homemade chili, cole slaw and onions. Sounds boring but they are the best hotdogs and have a huge fan base considering the length of lines around lunch time.

June was Chow and then Mura. Chow is one of those places we would go to more often if it was closer to our house. We went a couple times with friends on trivia night. The burgers are fantastic. We did Mura on one of the Triangle Food Nights and some in our party did not get to order what they had planned off the set menu because the restaurant was out of it. They have a wide selection of options from bento boxes to sushi to chicken teriyaki.

July was Five Guys, again, new to Brad not to me. He described it as gut busting burgers which if you aren’t aware of their portion sizing that is certainly the truth. We also did Draft for the first time in July and that was new to us both. Draft became a place we would gather with friends until Brad’s work schedule made going out at night a challenge. Like Chow they have great and interesting burgers plus focus on NC beers on draft.

August was Ruckus Pizza, where we made use of a Groupon and had fun sitting at the bar chatting while our to go pizza was made. We opted for the Ranch Bacon Chicken Pizza (Applewood bacon, chopped chicken breast, roma tomatoes, fresh garlic, Romano and mozzarella cheeses on a homemade ranch base) and it was very yummy, too bad they are not more convenient to us or we would be eating there on a regular basis.

September was another Groupon deal leads to trying a new place month and we went to Vino Ristorante and we loved the mix of old world and new world menu options. They passed my Bolognese test and Brad loved the pan seared pork loin. We were concerned that the place was empty on a weeknight and hope they can make it.

October was Boardwalk Billys in Charlotte which was part of our Nascar Driver Experience weekend. We had really good smoked meats and bbq.

November was Rosatis Pizza where we had a margarita pizza, thin crust that was not bad. I think we should go back and do a Chicago pizza sometime for a real assessment of this place.

Stay tuned for part 2 where I will highlight the new recipes I made last year.