Secrets of the City

Every word in the blog link is sad, but true. I knew B & G. B & G was a friend of mine. Minnesota, you got no great B & G.

Honerable mention:

Carol’s Kitchen in Blaine. Even my sainted mother, who made B & G (with redeye gravy!) from scratch said Carol’s homemade biscuits and sage sausage gravy was “pretty good.” They are!

If there is a place in the Twin Cities (outside of Moffitt Manor and maybe Max’s) that knows the right way to make grits, I have not found it yet. Testify, my southern fried brothers and sisters!

Ribs and BBQ — get thee to the corner of Dale and University on a Saturday for a big plate of Big Daddy’s. Catfish? Dee & Lee’s, fool! Get the catfish and toast dinner. OMG!

Sorry, I got so worked up about biscuits and gravy I misspoke.

Lee & Dee’s
161 Victoria Street
Saint Paul, MN

Like I said, try the catfish.

Never mind biscuits and gravy. Where can a girl get some good collard greens?

And real corn bread, too…

they aren’t traditional southern breakfast grits, but the cheddar grits @ BRASA are pretty DG, if a little runny for my liking. I make them every few weeks with dinner in the winter…but since I’m an elitist food snob, I add pecorino and call it polenta.

Grote beat me to it re: Brasa. I’ve had a few friends say the same thing about the grits @ Brasa (that they’re runny), but I’ve had good luck there and there as close to my grandma’s as I have had here. Also, I love the collard greens and plantains.

The pork and sage breakfast sausage ’round here is of such an abyssmally low quality that there is of course no way that good biscuits and gravy could ever be produced. The key is the not the accent or the attitude, it’s all in the protein. Good gravy based on very fresh, flavorful and just fatty enough sausage transforms hockey puck biscuits to something better. There was a joint I ate at once in Omaha that took their B&G to the next level by putting sausage patties between the biscuit halves. Pure genius.

I have had a sausage problem up here. Back home you went to Franks, bought the fresh country sausage and you were set. No Franks in uptown… I have to find something soon…I’m needing some B&G…time to break out the skillet.

I sometimes mail order it from Burgers’ in MO. But maybe you could try a local sausage maker like Von Hansens or Everetts.

Being a southern snob is like being the world’s tallest midget, if you ask me.

I imagine there must be good grits, sausage, greens, bisquits and gravy in North Minneapolis.

I remember in high school going to see a basketball game at North High. Driving down Broadway the Dairy Queen advertised that they now had grits. If DQ has grits, you must be able to get some good ones somewhere.

And greens, I so love greens.

SpellsGood, you have defamed the honor of the South for the last time. I’ll meet you at Pillsbury Park at dawn tomorrow and we’ll settle this like gentlemen. You want to use your dueling pistols or mine? Mine are in storage somewhere, I think, so let me know as soon as you can.

Andyst, dontcha use the slingshot in yer back pocket? I kid…

The main reason for my denigration of the South is that my life has played out in the reverse order of yours…I find myself living in the South, having been born and raised in MN, and never thinking I’d ever leave, or have reason to do so.

My dislike is kinda ironic, as my musical tastes lean toward alt.country…can’t wait to listen to the Olympic Ass-Kicking Team CD my Mpls hipster friend burned for me.

BTW, I wish I could make it to Pillsbury Park today…I was in town last weekend, though. I think I’m still recovering from all the Surly Bender.

I imagine there must be good grits, sausage, greens, bisquits and gravy in North Minneapolis.

Well, that being the an old Jewish neighborhood, I would see why you might think that, kc. You can get grits at Dennys, but rarely cooked “stiff,” they I likes ‘em.

I like my greens, too, but not as much as Mrs. Lungs. She (a good North Dakota gal) has learned to cook some fine grits, so I can get them at home, just not at most of the breakfast joints ’round these parts.

SpellsGood,

You drink Surly Bender but have the audacity to make fun of the South? Kidding…kidding… I feel your pain. I was born in the South and lived there until I was 21. Being faced with moving back or chopping off my toes I would give up my toes. Home has a special place in my heart but my love lasts only for a few days at a time before I run to the nearest airport…

Actually, it was my first taste of the Bender (4 of ‘em), along with a Furious. Sure wish I could get it down here.

We could send the whole brewery down there if you’d like? Do you have one to trade? As long as you promise to ship the one beer of theirs I like back up here. I can’t remember which one it is though… Hmmm

DON’T TOUCH MY SURLY!! Seriously put the brewery back. And what’s wrong with Bender? Oatmeal brown ale is good for you.

I agree! I like ales in general…I just found most of the Surly brews…well…lacking in some way…a bit to bitter for me. I’m a Double Cream Stout or Dragonstooth Ale sort of girl. Oh and anything from Boundary Bay in Bellingham. Maybe I tried them to early…gosh a good Oatmeal Stout sounds good… I need to have them send me a growler.

What she said.

My first surly experience made me think of cough-syrup stout. That may have changed though. But maybe we could trade for a brewery in Washington. Or at least an exchange program.

Thankfully taste is subjective.

Abuse of ellipses is not. Lacking in some way is pretty vague. Bitter is a more objective and reasonable critique.

And usually in beer bitter = hops Washington= hop country. That would be a bad trade for you. Cough syrup stout? They only make one stout and it’s in the style of a russian imperial stout, which by definition are fairly thick and bitter. If your only experience with stouts was a dry stout like guiness or a milk stout like mackesons, I could see how you could be caught unawares.

I’m not one to complain (I love when people say that, BTW…always means the opposite), but my only complaint with Surly was that Surly Two stuff they released a few months back. The zing of fresh cranberries overwhelmed the malts. ew.

It was a bit much for me too. I heard from a lot of folks that this was a love-hate beer. In general I like that they let the brewer play with their anniversary beers.

Has anyone tried the Flat Earth Winter Warlock? I love that one. It’s a barleywine, but English in style, so not bitter like the American examples. Amazing beer.

Wow. Take Surly personally much? Maybe thats where the name came from. I love ellipses… Love…Love…Love…
Just personal taste. Not picking on Surly…

…. …. …. Did I mention the LOVE of ellipses?

Wow. Take Surly personally much? Maybe thats where the name came from. I love ellipses… Love…Love…Love…
Just personal taste. Not picking on Surly…

I’m sorry my written communication did not convey the light tone I was going for. But, like some people like film, sports or fashion or food, I like beer. So when someone says they do not enjoy products from a brewery I enjoy, I just want to know why…in concrete terms…too much bitterness…or too much sweetness…thin mouthfeel…yeasty…strange metallic taste…

Damn text. Never gets that tone quite right. I’m just glad you didn’t refer to yourself as a “foodie”. Lets see… the first Surly I had (I believe it was the Bender but am not positive) was certainly way too bitter for me. It also did seem rather thin for a darker beer. It seemed like Newcastle with a hangover. The flavor just didn’t seem right, honestly I don’t remember it much as I have avoided it ever since. It tasted…the best way I can describe it is to compare it to coffee that has been sitting too long. It could have been great coffee, but just seems stale and burnt. This was when Surly was BRAND new on tap. I didn’t find the brews in Washington to be too hoppy at all, they have some of my favorite little micro brews there. Maybe thats why I took your tone as so serious.

A guy from Newcastle once told me that people in Newcastle hate Newcastle. He said the wa’er’s bad; gives the ale it’s brown colour.

Well…that could explain Miller Light. Bad water?