July 2022
It's too hot to cook, so just eat that tomato over the sink
Here’s my (try as hard as I can) monthly round-up for those of you who want to learn about or keep up a little more with me and the work that I do. Hope you enjoy.
Slicing tomatoes and seafood
I’m here to report that I have reached my annual goal to have a really ripe tomato sandwich — only Duke’s mayo and bread — that drips on the plate (and my accompanying Lay’s potato chips) with every bite. In fact, this combo may have been a major food group this month.
If you’re like me, it’s that time of year that it’s too hot to cook too much, so anything from a farmer’s market or a backyard garden is the choice for my plate. But I’ve had seafood on my editorial brain, too, including a round up of new restaurants for SIP (pg. 100), an annual publication focused on Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island, as well as a list of Charleston’s best seafood restaurants for Thrillist. If you read both of those closely, you’ll notice they include Sullivan’s Fish Camp, a new restaurant with some delicious fried shrimp, which I also cover extensively for Resy in this piece — that’s just the coincidental nature of seasonal edit, I promise! And I also promise that there’s been much more happening at the little desk, but I have to wait to share more until the pieces get published.
Arkansas Traveler tomato fresh from the field at Small City Farm Charlotte.
Episode Updates
So much of the “honey” out there is little more than simply sweet on the spoon, so you have to go looking locally to find the good stuff. If you’re in Alabama, some of the best is bottled by Justin Hill of Eastaboga Bee Company. We get into his life tending the hives, and it’s a sweet episode.
I’d heard about Chef Josh Quick’s cooking at Odette in Florence, AL for years, so visiting with him was one of my inspirations for the recent Alabama trip. From pimento cheese to pickle plates and everything in between, the food is Southern for sure, but it’s often light and never stuffy.
Then it’s back to South Carolina and into the cool, dimly lit space of The Whig in Columbia, SC, where bartender turned co-owner Will Green has been behind the stick for years, tending to the independent spirit of one of my favorite bars in the South.
And finally, if you grew up in Charlotte, NC in the 80s and 90s (hey, that’s me!), then the presence of Barbara McKay cooking on WBTV was just part of daily life. Barbara has written a new book — part memoir, part cookbook — and so I sat down with this queen of Charlotte daytime TV to discuss everything from job interviews to Elvis’ favorite pound cake.
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Other podcast episodes I like right now: Dear fellow Southerners: we often get confused and think that when we see Muscadet on a wine menu, it has something to do with muscadine. It doesn’t, and Muscadet is the white you could be drinking right now. Wine 101 from VinePair explains why in this short and sweet episode.
And speaking of wine, I’d like to raise a glass to radio host and interviewer extraordinaire Krista Tippett, who, after 20 years, just suspended her weekly NPR show to move it to a seasonal podcast. You get a whole hour of her being interviewed on this episode of City Arts & Letters.
On my mind: always a million things, especially at 3 a.m … Why are there not big bunches of basil sold next to the cilantro, parsley or mint in this region in a conventional grocery store? Are y’all not eating caprese salad, making pesto, or shredding fresh atop a feta and cucumber salad? I need more than those few leaves in a plastic case the size of pack of gum, and my basil plant is stunted by shade! Throw me a bone, produce managers.
Cooking soundtrack album: The Best of Bread, Bread
Best thing I cooked this month: As I shared, cooking has not been my strong suit this month. I’ve mostly chopped a lot of fresh vegetables and fried some good eggs, but fresh corn on the cob with butter and a sprinkle of a seasoned salt from Beautiful Briny Sea is a worthwhile share.
Until next time,
Steph