Austell: Patak Meat Products

Leslie of The Food and Me told me that I had to visit Patak Meats in Austell. As soon as she mentioned it, Grant and Marie of Marie Let's Eat nodded vigorously. Austell isn't anywhere near my usual haunts, but I decided that today was the day to try it. Luckily, they are open on the first Saturday of each month.

As soon as I saw the place I knew why Leslie had been so adamant. That's smoke coming out of the chimney in back from their smoker. Given the amount of meat inside the store and the volume of people coming through, that smoker must be running full tilt all the time. Inside, the store is very modern and immaculate. The family is from Hungary, I believe, and so they specialize in middle European style meats. The cases are full of sausages, smoked ham, bacon, plus fresh meat and pork. They also have a huge complement of pickled vegetables, desserts, and all manner of accompaniments. As one would expect in the melting pot of Atlanta food, they also carry sesame oil.

Hyesoon and I made a meal out of some kielbasa, Italian sausage, and a brace of fresh vegetables. We grilled the kielbasa and cooked the Italian sausage in some tomato sauce that I improvised. My first taste of the kielbasa was one of those times when I realize that I've never really had a particular type of food before, just a pale imitation. The kielbasa was rich with pork and seasonsings, but it wans't at all greasy or heavy. The Italian sausage was similarly heavenly. I had some very good Italian sausage in my 20+ years in New Jersey and this was right up there with the best. In short, this is a must-visit place. Bring your cooler and break out your recipe book.

Comments

Eating Around Georgia Tech: Ecco

Our Texas Instruments colleague Cathy Wicks was gracious enough to host several of us at Ecco tonight. This is one of those restaurants that has been on my list for a long time. Even though it is within easy walking distance of Georgia Tech, I hadn't made it there until tonight. The menu is a combination of Italian, Spanish, and French that make use of some local Georgia ingredients. The combination of those three countries is sometimes a little forced, although the georgia ingredients (fruit, cheese) were all great and perfectly appropriate. We started out with a meat and cheese board. This actually reverses the French tradition, where cheese usually follows the main course. Everything was excellent. The Georgia cheese was a big hit, as was the French cow/goat cheese. I thought the sauscisson was very subtle and very good. The waitress said that the roast pork pasta was their signature dish, so I had to try it. It had traditional broad pasta (fresh, of course)

DCA: Cava Mezze Grill

Cava is a DC area chain with light Mediterranean food. Saibal encouraged me to try lunch at their airport location and I was very happy with the experience. I ordered falafel on SuperSalad with assorted other toppings. The falafel was tasty. The SuperSalad was light, flavorful, and very easy to eat. Overall, a healthy and enjoyable lunch, something you can't always say about airport eating.

Pressure Cooker Candied Ginger

I made candied ginger a few years ago. It's not something I would do every day but I had a lot of fun doing it. I recently acquired a pressure cooker and it inspired an interesting idea to me: why not make candied ginger in the pressure cooker? It should be very soft and flavorful. Here is the result. I peeled two large ginger roots, cut them into small cubes, and put them in the pressure cooker with heavily sugared water. The traditional method first boils the ginger in plain water to soften it and then again in sugar water to candy it. The resulting candy was very tender but still with the characteristic ginger texture. It was also sweet without being overpowering. The traditional method leaves a lot of sugar crystallized around the ginger. The pressure cooker gives a much more subtle result. The ginger stays moist even after it cools but you can dry it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. That inspired me to dip it in chocolate. While I was in the b

Atlanta etc.: Marilyn Wolf's Food Blog and Restaurant Blog

Search This Blog