PI DAY

PI(E) DAY = 3/14, or as we non-mathematician, foodies see it, March 14th.

What exactly is "PI DAY"? 

     Pi is the Greek symbol used to show the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, which happens to be a mathematical constant of 3.1415926535 . . . . . . . , an infinite number computers can take to a trillion digits.  Remember that from school?

     The fact that it was voted in as a national holiday in 2009 is just too funny.  I think it was legislators looking for an excuse to have PIE, as in pizza pie, or apple pie, or whatever kind of pie.

    

"PIES AREN'T SQUARE, THEY'RE ROUND"

          And that joke comes from the equation used to find the area of a circle, using the radius, or diameter of the circle:  

A = PI R (squared)

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14TH is the day to celebrate!  So make a pie.....pumpkin, apple, or our fav, a chocolate pecan pie.   Get the lard out......or shortening..... and roll out your pastry.  Or, buy a pre-made crust.  I'm not proud, for they are mighty convenient.

     Just this week I made a Chocolate Pecan Pie for my youngest daughter, home for Spring Break.  Even though it has two ingredients I try to shy away from - corn syrup and sugar - it's one of the best pies ever and her favorite.  How often do we eat such an indulgence?  As Julia Child said, "Remember moderation."

   Here's the RECIPE:

Chocolate Pecan Pie

         CHOCOLATE PECAN PIE, (c) from THE OUTER BANKS COOKBOOK, by Elizabeth Wiegand, Globe Pequot Press, 2008.

             This is one of the most decadent pies, almost fudge-like, featuring two favorite ingredients – chocolate and pecans!

1 uncooked pie crust

1 cup corn syrup (light or dark)

¾ cup sugar

6 Tablespoons butter

3 large eggs

¼ teaspoon salt

4 to 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 tablespoons bourbon

2 ½ cups pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 2.
2. Place corn syrup and sugar in small saucepan.  Stir together, then bring to a boil without stirring further.  Remove from heat, and add butter and chocolate and stir until both are melted and mixture is smooth. 
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs until frothy and add salt and bourbon.  Slowly whisk chocolate mixture into eggs, and stir until well blended.  Add pecans, and stir. 
4. Pour mixture into unbaked pie shell, smoothing pecans into filling.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes, or until filling is set in center.   

YIELD:  6 to 8 servings

ROASTING RAINBOWS

    Wish we could catch our own rainbow trout, but it's not that easy.  I've spent many a pleasant afternoon hiking up streams or planting myself by a flowing river, taking a nap or reading a book while the hubby casts over and over with high hopes of catching dinner.

    Not a bad way to spend a day, huh?




     And sometimes, we get lucky.  He gets the thrill of reeling one in, and I get the final thrill of a delicious fish for dinner.

     The rule is, he catches, he cleans, I cook.  I'm not into gutting anything!


     






Here's one of his prize catches last year, a brook trout, the only trout that's native to the Blue Ridge.

                                        
                                                                Native Brook Trout


Rainbows, that touted mountain trout, were originally imported to the Blue Ridge!

During the early 1900s, the Blue Ridge mountains were heavily timbered, so much so that the environment was decimated, with heavy soil erosion that ran into streams.  That killed much of the fish.

To make amends, the railroad company brought in trainloads of tanks loaded with rainbow trout from Idaho and Montana, to re-stock the streams of the Blue Ridge.  That's how rainbow trout became our "mountain" trout.  Today, trout farms have ponds where you can catch your own, or we can find rainbow trout in our groceries supplied by Sunburst Trout Farm near Canton, NC and others.

A RECIPE FOR YOU.......

Watch me prepare this recipe for pan-roasted trout with pecans on Daytime Blue Ridge  (click)  with host Natalie Faunce that we taped last week.  

And here's the recipe!

PECAN-ENCRUSTED RAINBOW TROUT  adapted from THE NEW BLUE RIDGE COOKBOOK, by Elizabeth Wiegand, Globe-Pequot Press, 2010.

            Fly fishermen love to practice their casts in the wild streams of the Blue Ridge, where rainbow trout are often stocked.  Or, try catching your own at a trout farm.  Rainbow trout filets are available at most seafood counters.  This is a simple and quick preparation, so have all ingredients ready to go, as well as your side dishes that you'll be serving along with the trout.

4 fillets of rainbow trout - about 4 to 5 ounces each (sea trout is good, too)

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt

1 egg

2 tablespoons milk or buttermilk

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

2 tablespoons minced fresh herbs – choose lemon thyme, regular thyme, parsley, chives or a combination

2 to 3 Tablespoons butter and 2 to 3 Tablespoons olive oil OR 4 tablespoons canola oil

juice of one lemon

1.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash trout and pat dry.  

2.     Mix flour, cornmeal and salt together on a plate or in a shallow bowl.  In another shallow bowl, whisk together egg and milk.  And in a third shallow bowl or plate, mix the pecans and herbs together.

3.     Press fillets in  the flour mixture on each side, lift, then knock away coating until just a thin haze of the flour/cornmeal is left.  Dip just the skinless side into the egg mixture, then press that side into the pecan mixture. 

4.     In a large, ovenproof sauté pan, (or use 2 pans if filets are large), melt butter and add olive oil, or just heat the canola oil, over medium high heat.  

5.     When hot enough to make a sizzle with water droplets, add trout, skin side up, and sauté for about 2 to 3 minutes, depending on thickness.  Turn fillets over, and saute for another 2 to 3 minutes.  

6.     Slide sauté pans into oven to finish cooking, for about 3 minutes, or until the trout flakes easily with a fork.  Sprinkle with lemon juice and serve immediately.

SERVINGS:  4

THYME WASTED, NEED SAGE ADVICE

      No use crying over spilled milk, or broken water pipes that flooded my herb garden and required it being dug up to find the leak.

     Gone are the thyme, chives, rosemary and thyme that had been happily growing here for over a dozen years.  The well-worked soil embellished with compost is now laden with chunks of thick red clay, pounded and smoothed by the worker on his mighty little backhoe, thinking he was doing me a favor.

     Happiness once was tripping out to this little herb garden with scissors in hand to snip a sprig or two for whatever was cooking on the stove.

     Woe is me!

   

Starting from scratch, once again, I'm goin' to rebuild this sucker.  You see I've spread a layer of leaves I chipped up with the mower.  I'll work that in, as well as another layer of compost and more leaves, to help enrich the soil and give it some air and volume.  Again, I'll try to do this organically.  

     Below is my spinning composter.  It keeps the raccoons, squirrels and deer out, but doesn't do a great job over the long haul.  I find it difficult to remove the "black gold," that great dark, aged composted material that's ready to go to work, from the new kitchen scraps I add just about daily.    And, I found water had leaked in, so I've had to deal with a very wet mixture.  Help!  

    One of my upright rosemary plants seems to be surviving its holiday in a pot, and the bay tree seems to be thriving in its new potted home.  But I want to to find thyme that I don't have to wait on.  Okay, I know, a bad pun.  But you get my drift....I want mature plants that I can start cutting on fairly quickly.
     I plan a trip down to Sanford to Big Bloomers, and to Logan's in Raleigh.
     Any other garden shops I should check out in the VA/NC/SC area where I'd find a great variety of herbs and perennials?  Please send me your advice and suggestions via email!
      I could use some sage advice!

QUICK LENTIL STEW

          A Quick Stew seems to be a bit of an oxymoron, doesn't it?  Yet, this lentil stew can be pulled together within an hour, which, all things considered, is not that long.  This stew is built by adding that holy trinity of flavors - onions, carrots and garlic.

Get it going with a quick chop of onions, then while they're cooking, chop the carrots.  After adding them, work on peeling and chopping just two potatoes.  Mince the garlic.  Then add those along with the stock and lentils.  Don't forget to stir in the cumin, salt and pepper at this point.

     Pour yourself a glass of wine, and sip.  We enjoyed a mellow old vine zin with this meal, but a tempranillo or pinot noir would work.  Take a deep breath over the pot, and get a good whiff of the cumin.  Relax, dinner is almost done.
     While you're waiting about 15 minutes for the lentils and potatoes to become tender, cut up the broccoli into small florets.  And if you're doing the sausage version, cut those into bite-sized pieces.

Sip some more wine.  Taste a sample of the stew.  Are the lentils tender? Are the potatoes beginning to break up when pierced with a fork?  Then it's time to add the broccoli and sausage to the pot.  Stir them in, and wait another five minutes until they're heated through.
Meanwhile, chop up a couple of tablespoons of parsley.  This will sharpen up the flavors of the stew, and add more green contrast.  You eat with your eyes as well as your taste and smell, remember.
At the last minute before serving, stir in that chopped parsley.
This is a meal all by itself, but a simple green salad makes a lovely accompaniment.

Wanna see my video from Roanoke's WSLS10 DAYTIME BLUE RIDGE, on making this stew?  Click here
Recipe below.

RED LENTIL AND VEGETABLE STEW adapted from THE NEW BLUE RIDGE COOKBOOK, by Elizabeth Wiegand

            At Basic Necessities, a quaint bistro and market in Nellysford, VA, chef Sally Justice makes vegetarian dishes that have quite a following, especially among the skiers at nearby Wintergreen Resort, says owner Kay Pfaltz.

            I’ve added spicy chicken sausages, and use chicken stock, to make a hearty meal.  You can go completely vegetarian, like Basic Necessities, by omitting the meat and using vegetable stock or bouillon cubes with water.

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 large carrot, halved lengthwise and sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

5 cups chicken stock (Or use 32 ounces with 1 cup water)

1¼ cups dried red lentils, picked through and rinsed thoroughly

2 medium potatoes, cut into ½” cubes

1 cup broccoli

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried

1 teaspoon salt

freshly group pepper, to taste

1 teaspoon cumin

½ pound kielbasa or spicy chicken sausage

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1.     Heat olive oil in large pot, and sauté onions over low heat for about 10 minutes. 

2.     Add carrots, and sauté for another five minutes.  Stir in garlic and be careful not to burn.

3.     Add chicken stock to the pot and turn heat to medium high.

4.     Add lentils; stir.  Add cubed potatoes to the pot and bring mixture to a boil.

Stir in thyme, salt and cumin.

5.     Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes, until potatoes and carrots are almost cooked and lentils are tender.  Add sausages and broccoli, and continue to cook until sausages are heated through, about another five to 10 minutes.

6.     Stir in parsley, and serve hot.

YIELD:  4 to 5 Servings

SWAN LAKE & OYSTERS - A GREAT, LOCAL HOLIDAY TREAT

Tundra Swans at Lake Mattamuskeet, Down East, NC

          During the Holidays, many of us are treated to performances of Swan Lake, the classic ballet, followed perhaps by champagne and oysters on the half-shell.  

     Down East, you can have a more down-home winter's treat of Swan Lake and oysters, too.  I prefer nature's version at the Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge, where at least one hundred thousand and more tundra swans congregate from December to mid-February to put on quite a show.  You'll also find them at the nearby Pungo Lake and at the Pea Island refuge just over the Oregon Inlet bridge.

     These gorgeous and huge beauties fly in from their summer holidays in Alaska, and spend cold, wintry months in what they must consider hog heaven, feeding in the shallow waters of these lakes that might have been formed by meteorites.  They're noisy, honking constantly when not grooming or dunking their heads to eat.   Canadian geese and a variety of ducks also spend the winter here.

     The swans also like to feed in the vast fields of winter cover crops sown in the black, fertile soil of the flatlands of NC's Down East.  So, many farmers consider them royal pests who eat the grains they sow.

     This is also where the US Navy wanted to put their Outlying Landing Field so that jet pilots could practice their   stop and goes.  I thought it fitting that during one of the demo flights to show the efficacy of this area, a Navy pilot had to abort a flight because of contact with these swans and Canadian geese in flight.  Thank heavens, the plan itself has been aborted.

At sunset, the swans honk and start walking on the water for take-off, flapping their wings and finally taking flight, finding their night-time resting spots along the Pamlico Sound and other spots out of the wind.

After hiking around to find the best viewing of the swans on the water, we had built up an appetite.  And that's a good thing, as Martha loves to say, for we were also in hog heaven, in oyster country.  So at the dimming of the day, we continued our trek east on HWY 264, past humongous black fields dotted with escaped tufts of white cotton, to the tiny village of Engelhard.

"Stumpy Point is the best source of oysters in the Pamlico Sound, right?"  I asked the fellow steaming a peck of fresh oysters at the Oyster Bar at Martell's Feed House.

    "That's what they like to say," he said, an earnest look on his face.  "We claim these here are the best, from right out there," he said, pointing over his shoulder.

     "Rose Bay?" I asked, having stopped at the oyster processing plant on HWY 264 on our way to the lake.  Rose Bay, right next to salt marsh on the sound's edge, used to be famous for their salty, tasty oysters they harvested from the Pamlico Sound.  And just a few decades ago, they had competition from many other oyster houses that lined this section of our coast.  But then, storms and pollution, in the form of farm run-offs and fresh water from the huge drainage canals and ditches near those lakes and the pocosin swamps, and over-harvesting, all worked together to decimate the oyster industry along the Pamlico Sound.

     Amends have been made, with more conscious farming techniques, and the building up of reefs and oyster farms. During the last couple of years, oysters have make a comeback in NC waters.  Hallelujah!  Rose Bay Oysters are back.

     "So where is out there?" I asked when my shucker shook his head to Rose Bay.  Gull Rock, a hump in the sound, sorta near the route the ferry takes from Swan Quarter over to Ocracoke, he explained.  Just over there, across those fields, he said, pointing.  I reckon you can call THAT "local"!

     "There was a build up of oyster shells where folks used to dump the shells, you know, to make it so there were more oysters."  Over the years, hurricanes and nor'easters swept the heaps of shells away, he explained.  But the water bottom had been recently leased, the oyster reef re-built, and oysters were making their comeback in the area.

Fresh steamed oysters shucked at Martell's Feed House in Englehard

    He brought a huge peck of steamed oysters  to the counter where we were sitting, and began to shuck them, ladling them gently into our shallow dish.  We dipped those tender babies in melted butter and warm cocktail sauce, and popped them in our mouths.  A faint taste of salt, just right. OMG.  They were firm, like really, really fresh oysters should be. There was that oyster taste, the best I had experienced.  Those Gull Rocks were absolutely rocking.

"Yeh," he said with a trace of that Outer Banks Elizabethan accent, "these oysters were in the water this morning,"  and shook his head.  He talked about how the 4 a.m. start to his day on the water collecting oysters got to be too much for him, so he  became a lineman for the power company instead.  And he no longers eats oysters. Because?  "I just got sick of oysters," he said, shaking his head.  "Too many in my life."

NOT ME!  Bring on another peck, we said, and proceeded to slurp every single one of them down.  How often do we get day-old, fresh oysters plucked from the waters of NC?  Now that was a holiday treat.

The Oyster Bar at Martell's Feed House in Englehard is open Tues through Sun during bear and duck hunting seasons. . . . meaning, the cold winter months when oysters are really, really good.  Go get a peck!

A GREAT NEW YEAR'S RECIPE -  Try to score some fresh NC oysters of your own, and use this simple recipe to enjoy them.  No steaming required!

ANGELS ON HORSEBACK

            This appetizer is so named because of how the oyster curls against the bacon when cooked.  A traditional savory from England, where ”rashers” wrapped around oysters are served on toast points, it’s also known as Oysters en Brochette in New Orleans.   Since oysters are plentiful in the sounds surrounding the Outer Banks, it seems a natural tribute to the Winged Horses scattered throughout these sand banks.  

12 slices bacon, divided in half

1 pint shucked oysters, or 2 dozen raw, in shell

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper or ½ teaspoon hot sauce, like Tabasco or Texas Pete

½ teaspoon salt

1 clove garlic, minced

toothpicks or skewers

1. In a large skillet, lightly cook bacon over medium heat until just translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes.  (Partially cooking the bacon will help keep the oysters from overcooking.)
2. Drain shucked oysters, or if using raw, open oysters, retain juice and shells. 
3. In a small bowl, combine lemon juice, cayenne pepper or hot sauce, salt and garlic and oyster juice from shells.  Add the oysters and toss to coat.  Marinate for 10 minutes.
4. Preheat broiler. 
5. If using pre-shucked oysters, line a baking sheet with foil, then place metal rack on top.  If you have the shells, rinse and settle the largest half shells in crumpled foil on baking sheet. 
6. Roll each halved bacon slice around an oyster.  Secure with toothpick or skewer, and place each on the rack or on a shell. 
7. Place under broiler, and cook until bacon is crisp and the edges of the oysters have curled, turning once to cook both sides evenly.  Serve immediately on toast points or fresh spinach dressed lightly with lemon and olive oil.  

YIELD:  6 TO 8 appetizers – makes two dozen

SWEET POTATO BISCUITS....Well, just shut my mouth!

 

     Perhaps Stephanie and Vivian, chef and proprietors of Sweet Potatoes (well shut my mouth!!) will forgive me for using a portion of their restaurant's name, but I just couldn't help myself.  With a name like that, don't you just want to make the trip to Winston-Salem and check them out?  (336) 727-4844 529 Trade St.  I met them recently at a foodie event, and loved hearing about their menu and their efforts to honor foods that they grew up with.  Stephanie says she bakes hundreds of sweet potatoes a day!

     I love sweet potatoes....baked whole, french-fried, oven-roasted, made into a pie, and especially into biscuits.  These sweet and savory biscuits are perfect with butter, or perhaps sourwood honey, or apple butter, and especially with country ham. 

    This recipe is simple, and was shared with me by Early Girl Eatery in Asheville, for THE NEW BLUE RIDGE COOKBOOK.  The recipe is EASY, and the biscuits will turn out tender and thick if you follow these simple directions.  Only two things you have to remember:  One, don't overwork the dough.  It's like if you overwork a cook, she gets tough.  Secondly, when you cut out the rounds with the biscuit cutter, don't twist to remove them.  When you twist, it seals the dough and they're less likely to rise.

   And really, there's a third thing to remember.  Let the biscuits cool just a bit before taking a bite, otherwise you'll burn your tongue!

     First order of business is to cook a large sweet potato.  You can pierce it with a fork or knife tip, then microwave on high for about 5 or so minutes.  Or bake, wrapped in or under foil for about 45 minutes to an hour.  You might just as well cook 3 or 4 at a time to have on hand!

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Lightly butter a large baking sheet.

Measure 1 2/3 cups flour into a large work bowl.  Add 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Then 2 1/2 teaspoons baking POWDER.  And for a touch of sweetness, 1 tablespoon packed with brown sugar.  Stir it up with a fork or the pastry cutter.

Cut 6 tablespoons of cold butter into tiny cubes.  Add to the flour mixture, and work it into the flour until the mixture sorta looks like cornmeal, or no big globs of butter remain.  If you don't have a pastry cutter, use two forks to crisscross and cut the butter into the flour.  Or, just use your clean fingers to mash the butter in.

Peel the cooked sweet potato and mash it with a fork.  You should have anywhere from 3/4 to a cup.
Add that to the flour/butter, along with 1/4 cup half & half.  This is when you do NOT overwork the dough.  Just sorta get it to clump together.

Sprinkle your work surface with flour.  Rub your hands with flour.  Dump the dough out, and knead or push the mixture together, folding, only SIX times.  Make sure the last time you fold it over that there's plenty of flour under the dough.

With your hands, shape the dough into a circle that's about 1 1/2 inch thick. 

I like to use a smaller biscuit cutter, 2 inches or less.  Place some flour into a small dish.  Cut out the biscuits, remembering to dip the cutter into flour EACH TIME BEFORE you cut.  The dough will be less likely to stick that way.  Gently form the scraps into rounds.  

Place biscuits on baking sheet, and bake for about 10 minutes.  They should be a bit more golden in color and firm to the touch. You may want to check their bottoms to make sure they are not turning black.

Allow to cool for just a bit, then serve.  And they're actually good the next day, too, as long as they've been stored tightly from the air.

After testing several batches of these
biscuits, I needed to work off some extra calories.  A hike to Bed Rock?  I could have taken a nap like a lizard in the sun, looking out over the Blue Ridge at Beacon Heights across the BR Parkway from Grandfather's Mountain last week.  Gorgeous view and colors!

DRIVING2EAT

DRIVING2EAT

     Destination Dining.....you know, when you don't care how long it takes to get there or about the long drive home, because the meal itself just rocks all your primary senses, and the scene and the setting  compound the outstanding flavors.  And more than likely, the chosen menu items are local and seasonal, cooked in a slow or at least a soulful way.

     DRIVING2EAT is not a crazy thing to do.  Edible adventures are extremely satisfying, in more ways than just solving your hunger game.

     So, every now and then, Carolina Foodie is going to take you on a road trip to a very special place to eat.  Grab your keys, gas up the car, and get hungry.

     

            PEEP'n EAT ON THE BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY

Leaf peepers are out in droves on the Blue Ridge Parkway during the colorful fall months.  Cars snake down the spine of these southern Appalachian mountains, some times bumper to bumper with painfully slow rubberneckers.  Reds and golds dominate, while rocks, waterfalls and mountain silhouettes delight even the most impatient drivers.

Then the hunger games begin, and there are only a few dinner options to play.

You can enjoy a delightful picnic at a gorgeous overlook, not a bad option if you planned ahead and packed some gourmet goodies. But it does get dark earlier now, and chilly, too. 

 Or, you can settle for some ordinary fried chicken and mountain trout, along with long wait lines and eccentric waitstaff at the few restaurants that are actually located on the parkway itself.  We once had an elderly waitress tell us at 7:15 pm that if we wanted the trout, she'd have to stand there and watch us eat it, or we could just order that fried chicken that's sitting right there ready to go because the restaurant closed at 7:30. Yes ma'am.

Or, you can exit the parkway at several touristy crossroads, and again, face few options beyond the standard, ho-hum fare.

Or, be a winner in the hunger games and follow this locavore’s lead to some pretty good restaurants that rank as edible destinations all by themselves, with the Blue Ridge Parkway just a colorful way to get there. 

And that's a winning combination in this Southern part of heaven - a marvelous meal and a dramatic drive.  There are even motels nearby.  Just make sure you phone ahead for reservations for both.

THE NORTHERN HALF

            If you start at the northern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway, up near the Charlottesville, VA area, head down and around Roanoke, VA, which will take you a good day, especially if you stop and take a gander, and maybe lunch, at Peaks of Otter.

            Near Mile Post 160 at Tuggles Gap, head west on Route 8 to funky Floyd, a one-stoplight town with a couple of great places to eat.

     Natasha's Market Cafe, 227 North Locust Street, 540 745-2450, is above a great gourmet type market, Harvest Moon.  Natasha, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, worked as a chef in several places before settling in this SW Virginia community.  Try goat cheese truffles, zucchini pancakes, or pasture-raised beef brisket slowly braised to melt in your mouth.  Seventy-five percent of her food is sourced from local and organic farms, and from the coast of VA and NC.  

     Oddfellows Cantina, 110A North Locust Street, 540 745-3463, like it's name suggests, features casual but gourmet with a bit of a southwestern flair.  They too, pride themselves on using local and seasonal foods.  Some nights you can catch a great musical performance of progressive bluegrass, blues, Latin or Irish music.

NC'S BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY
   
       Blowing Rock, okay, yeah, it's a touristy town.  But it's still got that old time charm, and Jimmy Crippens will use lots of his charm welcoming you into his namesake inn and restaurant, Crippen's, 239 Sunset Drive, 828 295-3487.  A new chef, Stan Chamberlain, grew up in these mountains, and takes the food he cut his teeth on, like collards and trout, and gives them a creative contemporary twist. Plus there's foie gras and tuna and other delectables not necessarily Appalachian but definitely prepared with Southern polish. Some of the produce and herbs comes straight from Jimmy and wife Carolyn's farm garden.
        In between Linville Falls and Crabtree Meadows, head west to Spruce Pine, an old railroad town that's on the bank of the Toe River.  Down on the lower street you'll find Knife & Fork, a surprising little gem of a place at 61 Locust St., 828  765-1511.   Chef Nate Allen won the Small-Town Chef Award from Cooking Light magazine, and Western North Carolina's Chef Challenge this year, then placed third in NC's Best Dish Contest, and in my book, is one of the best chefs around. He and wife Wendy Gardner decided to leave the star-studded but stressful L.A. area where he'd successfully cooked for ten years, and return to their home state.  To Spruce Pines, population of about 2,000, that perhaps never gave up that farm-to-table status.  You'll find rabbit, house-made bratwurst, and yes trout, but it's been house-smoked, among a very diverse menu.