Thanksgiving sort of lopped off the end of November before I had time to sit down and write again, so this is a little late. I also have begun travelling some again. In fact, my October submission to Chapelboro was finished on my cellphone in an airport lounge. Even though I’m retired, I still cook at charity food events and I had several of those in the last two months. For instance, I just got back from making that stupid pie for 600 people in South Carolina for an organization called Second Helpings.
We had hoped to sneak unnoticed into a regular holiday season, but unhappily there is news this week of another COVID variant. So now there is the possibility that we may find ourselves huddled around braziers in front of restaurants on Franklin Street again. I hope not. At this writing there are next to no facts, but the thought of this wears me out.
As is customary, the Carrboro Farmers Market was open for its final afternoon of the winter on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. (Its usual weekday is Wednesday afternoon, and they will resume that next spring.) It was a great finale with tons of produce, meats, cheeses, baked goods et al. I got one last pretty bouquet with lots of evergreens mixed in with flowers and dried peppers from PerryWinkle Farm. I probably have mentioned already that during the lockdown when all the bars were closed that I used my beer money to buy flowers for the house. Then, when things began to reopen, I found that I couldn’t be without them. Oh well. The Chapel Hill market follows a similar schedule, except that their weekday market is on Tuesdays all the time. They will reopen for one more Tuesday afternoon on Christmas week, and then resume its regular mid-week schedule in the spring.
Speaking of bars, Lantern has reopened theirs and it feels like home. And grace a Dieu, the Orange County Social Club has reopened inside just in time for basketball season on the big screen. When I was working, I never knew when I might be off, so like as not I would decide to go out at the last minute. Thus, I formed the habit of eating at bars all over town. One is less likely to need a reservation and it seems a little less unseemly to show up in a tee shirt. And as a restaurant person, I don’t want to take up a table when I’m eating alone.
I had supper at Momo’s Master, the new Nepali restaurant on North Columbia St. Momo is the Nepalese word for dumpling. I had steamed chicken dumplings and a bowl of traditional noodle soup- all delicious. It was the perfect ending to an afternoon at the Ackland Museum which has an exhibition of art on loan from the Asia Society.
Lastly, I got back to an old haunt, The Northside District Restaurant. It’s in the old Tijuana Fat’s building on West Rosemary Street. It’s a really pretty place with interesting art on the walls, and seating both inside and out. It’s in my neighborhood, but the reason I first started going there was that you can get good substantial food late at night. When I was traveling all the time, it seemed like I was always getting back to town on really late flights. This is the closest place to my house where I can get supper after eleven at night. The beet salad is huge, by the way.
Since it’s holiday time, I thought a fancy cake recipe might be in order. This was given to me by a friend back home in New Bern, North Carolina. It’s fabulous.
Pecan Whiskey Cake
Preheat oven to 275°, butter and flour a tube cake pan. (I also put parchment on the bottom). You’ll need:
- 2 cups of all-purpose flour, browned (The instructions say to use an iron skillet and to stir constantly until light brown.)
- ½ pound of unsalted butter
- 2 cups of sugar
- 6 large eggs
- ¾ cup of Bourbon
- 2 whole nutmegs, grated (really!)
- 1 pound pecan meats
- 1 ½ pounds raisins
Brown the flour as instructed and set aside to cool. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, then add the eggs, one by one. Grate the nutmeg into the flour, then fold this into the butter and eggs. Next comes the whiskey, nuts, and raisins. Bake in “the very slow oven” for about two and a half hours. The top will be brown and firm to the touch. Let the cake rest about half an hour before turning it out onto a cooling rack. Serve with whipped cream and perhaps a glass of sherry.
“Just The Bill, Please” is a regular column on Chapelboro.com penned by local culinary legend Bill Smith. Born and raised in New Bern, Bill Smith spent 25 years heading up the kitchen in Crook’s Corner — and over the years, he accumulated the accolades to match his incomparable takes on classic Southern food.
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