Today I found some really hot wings over at Necter (formerly Brinson’s Beef and Brew). I’m talking make you sweat, your nose run, eyes bleed hot. I ordered a dozen wings and told the waiter I wanted them as hot as they come. I wasn’t disappointed, and the wings were delightful (definitely not for the faint-hearted). These were the hottest wings I’ve had since moving to Charleston.
To me, they beat out the Habanero Hots or Braveheart from Wild Wing Cafe, which I’ve always thought of as more medium (although they do tend to be a bit of a creeper) and not nearly as hot as they sound. Then again I have a pretty high tolerance for hot food.
Definitely going back for more.
I’ve heard Buffalo South has some pretty hot wings too. I’m going to have to stop by and check them out.
Key lime pie to die for
I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to sample the offerings from Sublime, but today I finally got to try the key lime pie I’ve heard so many people rave about.
I have to say, it shattered all my expectations. It’s not your traditional gelatin-set key lime pie. Oh no, it’s much, much more. It’s kind of frozen custard-y, not quite ice cream-y, not quite sherbet-y, but kind of almost all of them at the same time. Whatever it was, it was Y-U-M-M-Y.
It’s my new favourite dessert. I’ve just been ruined for all other key lime pies now.
I can’t wait to go back and try the key lime cheesecake.
And, as Jeff Allen points out, they don’t just sell pies anymore. I was just there this morning browsing through the new offerings while I was waiting for the key lime pies I ordered to be boxed up. They have lots of neat local offerings like raw milk, local peaches, green peppers, bacon, beef and jams. All very tasty looking items.
Kind of reminds me of a local corner grocery store like my dad used to run when I was a kid. Only he didn’t have desserts this good.
Slow cooker roasting
For a slow cooker experiment (did I ever mention how much I love my slow cooker?), I thought I’d try roasting a chicken. Adapting a recipe from my Slow Cooker for Dummies book, I combined some jerk seasoning (Walkerswood is my favourite…it’s seriously hot and a little bit goes a long long way), lime juice and garlic together and smeared it all over the chicken inside and out (make sure to get it under the skin). Left it in the fridge overnight and then in the morning, stuffed a few cloves of garlic inside and placed it into the slow cooker along with a half cup of chicken stock.
When I got home 8 hours later, I was greeted with the fragrant aroma of roasted jerk chicken (yum). After turning the cooker off and letting it cool a bit, I checked out the results.
There ended up being more liquid and fat coming off the chicken than I expected, so it turned into more of a braise than a roast. All the meat was falling off the bone, making disassembly a very easy job. The end result was very tasty though. I have a tendency to be a little heavy handed with the jerk seasoning, but this time I got it right. The chicken came out nice and tender, with just the right amount of spiciness. Very yummy, especially with a cold beer to cool things off when it gets too spicy hot.
Next time, remove the skin, skip the added liquid and try cooking it breast side down.
Another good reason to love chocolate
As if chocoholics really needed another excuse
Chocolate improves blood vessel function: study
“In this sample of healthy adults, dark chocolate ingestion over a short period of time was shown to significantly improve (blood vessel) function,” said Dr. Valentine Yanchou Njike of Yale Prevention Research Center, a co-investigator of the study
Maui Luau
Thursday in Maui we went out to the Old Lahaina Luau.
The commercial luau seems to be one of those quintessential Hawaiian tourist activities, but it’s basically a big outdoor restaurant with a show to watch while you’re eating dinner. There were some interesting dishes, some pretty tasty, others not so much.
Some awesome banana bread was available along with a pretty tasty ahi (tuna) poke. There was purple poi there too, which was a lot more watery than I was expecting. I was expecting poi to be something more of a mashed potato kind of consistency, but this poi was more like a salad dressing consistency. Didn’t taste like much either and didn’t really add anything to the meal at all.
Just before dinner started, people gathered around the imu to watch the roasted pig being uncovered.
The roasted pig served at the luau (I don’t think it was the same one that was uncovered) tasted pretty good – tender, flavourful and not too dry. I thought it would have a little more smoky flavour than it did, but it was pretty mild. Since I was still recovering from whatever flu-like thing I had contracted, I didn’t eat a whole lot of food, although I did manage to pack away a few yummy desserts.
The white squares were some kind of coconut square which I thought were very good, as were the macadamia nut tarts.
The dinner wrapped up with more dancing telling the history of Hawai’i
Old Lahaina Luau is an attractive setting once you get inside, and there’s plenty of things to check out while you’re waiting for the buffet to open up. You can check out people making Hawai’ian totems and other crafts, or learn basic hula steps from one of the staff. Or just wander around with a fruity drink in hand and enjoy the scenery or the expansive ocean view.
It’s a little on the pricey side, but if you’ve got room in the budget and looking for your first luau experience, it’s worth a try.
Food: 3.5 out of 5
Ambiance and entertainment: 4 out of 5