This is a great article from SAVORY simple explaining cooking oil smoke points that comes with a handy Smoke Point Index. Understanding The Smoke Point of Cooking Oils and Fats Regardless of whether you’re a beginner or advanced cook, it’s important to understand the smoke point of oils and fats. This is essential for preventing kitchen fires and burned meals.
Source: Understanding The Smoke Point of Cooking Oils and Fats
Easy to make creamy cilantro that doubles as a salad dressing and dipping sauce from GIMME DELICIOUS.
The James Beard Foundation will present the Inn at Little Washington chef Patrick O’Connell with its annual lifetime achievement award, the organization announced today. This well-deserved award will be presented in May.
Eater DC has the story: Inn at Little Washington’s Chef Wins the James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award
Once you learn what béchamel sauce is, you’ll realize it’s integral to so many amazing dishes, from mac and cheese to lasagna.
From Bon Appétit: Okay, What Is Béchamel Sauce, Anyway?
Hammerdown Barbeque
41153 John Mosby Hwy
Aldie, VA 20105
703-542-8692
www.hammerdownBBQ.com
BBQ | $
Not far from the Rt. 50 traffic circles in Aldie, Hammerdown is hard to miss. There is plenty of signage and they park a large truck with their logo out front often.
The interior if classic BBQ joint with a bar.
Ordering is easy, platters or sandwiches with sides.
Just as I was about to order a whole brisket came out of the warmer.
I ordered the Brisket Sandwich with Mac & Cheese. The brisket melts in your mouth, it has a gentle hickory flavor with a perfect thin crispy bark. This is among the best brisket I have had, certainly the best in Virginia. The Mac & Cheese is wonderful and better than any I have had offered at other BBQ restaurants.
The ribs are cooked perfectly, juicy, and fall off the bone.
My wife ordered the platter which comes with your choice of 2 meats and 2 sides.
The collards were the best she has had, which coming from this Virginia girl is saying something. They are cooked in a home-made pork broth that creates a delicious flavor.
The mashed potatoes with chives were smooth and tasty.
The sausage was smoky and juicy. The links are long and you get a good size portion.
Sodas and ice tea refills are free.
They smoke with a combination of hickory and oak.
On the day we visited they were using the smallest of their 3 smokers. During the summer, their peak BBQ season, they can smoke up to 40 briskets and still run out. The smoking starts around 5pm on the previous day, being a Pitmaster is not a 9 to 5 job. The fist class BBQ is awesome but what really got my attention was the sides. Many BBQ joints concentrate on the barbeque and view sides as something they must offer. In the past I have had Mac & Cheese with an order that was obviously Kraft Mac & Cheese or macaroni that had bits of cheese mixed in. It’s wonderful to see high quality well prepared sides offered with exceptional BBQ making for a great dinning experience.
While I always measure noise in a restaurant it was not an issue here. At times it was eerily quiet as everyone chowed down on the best BBQ of their life. It is self serve and all the staff behind the counter and bar was open, friendly, and genuinely interested in offering great BBQ. If you live within 100 miles of Aldie, VA and love BBQ you need to make the trip to Hammerdown. For BBQ lovers it’s what they imagine Heaven will be like.
Austin is a lot like Charleston, there are almost too many good places to eat. Bon Appétit says:
“Yes, there is barbecue and Tex Mex, but Austin’s delicious things per capita ratio is so high that you’ll want to come for so much more—including lamb pizza, marshmallow fluff brownie, oysters, and more.”
I can’t wait for this to arrive.
The author of the award-winning “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat” announced on Instagram this morning that her second book is definitely happening. Read more at the kitchn.
Source: Get Excited: Samin Nosrat of “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat” Is Working on a New Cookbook
