Recipe by Lindsey Chester. Photo by Tina.

Cary, NC – Word is that salsa has overtaken catsup as the most-consumed condiment. After a party I attended last weekend, I’d say guacamole is close behind!

The Bat Mitzvah & The Guacamole

My BFF had a post Bat Mizvah party at her house this past Saturday night and she ordered in some catering for a casual buffet-style dinner for all the out-of-town relatives.

Mountains of grilled chicken and beef were accompanied by tortillas, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, sour cream, salsa and everyone’s favorite: guacamole.

At the end of the night, as we were putting away the leftovers, one thing struck me – the only item that had been completely annihilated was the GUACAMOLE. Not a speck left.

Recipe: Homemade Guacamole

If you like to have a little Guac with your chips, or in your tacos or a salad or with fresh fish, here’s a super-simple recipe that will make you a star. It just has a few ingredients and takes almost no time. Perfect for Memorial Day in Cary, NC.

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe avocados - (I prefer the Haas type, they are the ones with the dark green/ black wrinkly skin. They should yield slightly to the touch when pressed if they are properly ripe. Soft, but not mushy.
• 1 lemon
• 1 small onion
• salt pepper and garlic powder

To Make:

• Slice the ripe avocados in half, removing and discarding  the large pit  in the center.
• Scoop the flesh out into a bowl. mash with a fork until no longer chunky.
• Add juice of 1 lime (or lemon in a pinch). This tastes great but also prevents avocado from turning brown.
• Add in salt and pepper to taste and dice up one half of a small onion. Combine.
• Optional: add in 1/2 cup chunky salsa. Blend with a fork.

Serve with:

• Tortilla Chips,
• Condiment for Tacos or Frajitas
• Top a burger

Now get dipping!

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CaryCitizen is sponsored in part by Booth Amphitheatre.

Story and photo by Lindsey Chester.

Cary, NC – The Luihn Family has been a force in the Cary business landscape for years, operating all of the Taco Bell and KFC restaurants in the area. Their latest venture, Hurricane Grill & Wings in Cary, breaks the mold with a sit-down family friendly atmosphere located in a long vacant spot on Kildaire Farm Road near Trader Joe’s.

Hurricane Grill Brings Beachy Style to Cary

This is the first Hurricane Grill in North Carolina and owner Cindy Luihn Toma hopes after the Cary location gets established they will roll out to more locations. The franchise is based out of Florida and has a decidedly laid back beachy style. The emphasis is on the grilling more than the wings, although those are hugely popular and offered in a jumbo size.

Why did she choose to open this particular franchise in Cary? Cindy told me that the family has strong ties to Florida. One year, they ate at a Hurricane restaurant during a Florida vacation and the family was hooked. When they wanted to expand their business, they thought the Hurricane concept would be a good fit for Cary. Cindy’s oldest brother, Jody, looked into the franchise and decided to get the exclusive rights to Wake, Durham and Wilmington areas.

Best Burger

The Luihn  family liked the variety and the unique atmosphere that Hurricane offers its customers. There are surf boards on the walls and mahi mahi on the menu. One of the most popular menu items is the 100% angus beef burger which manager Susan Miller recalls a customer calling “the best burger he’s ever eaten!” The restaurant offers a full bar with 20 beers on tap.

With her degree in restaurant and hotel management, Cindy always wanted to open a full service restaurant. With Hurricane Grill she got her wish. The space had sat empty for over 3 years as first a bank and later a mattress store tried to make the location work, but ultimately walked away. As the former Applebee’s was already zoned for a restaurant and this franchise had no need for a drive thru, the location was a perfect fit. In December they started renovations and opened in March. It’s handy that Dad also runs a contracting business as part of the Luihn empire.

Luihn Foods – Cary Restaurant Powerhouse

Luihn Foods is a family business: Cindy’s Mom and Dad, Donna Mae and Al Luihn,began opening Kentucky Fried Chicken and Taco Bells back in 1965. Now brothers, Jody and Jamie, and sisters Cindy and Sandy, are all involved with managing over 85 restaurants in North Carolina, Florida and Virginia.  Jody is the current president of the Franchise Association for Taco Bell Nationally. Cindy’s twin daughters work as hostesses at Hurricane.

With over 2500 people employed by Luihn Foods, they are one of the biggest employers in North Carolina! Next time you pass a KFC in Cary, you’ll know its owned by Cary natives.

Story by Matt Young. 

Cary-lina, NC – As any North Carolinian knows, barbecue is a noun (it’s also a religion). Barbecue is NOT the thing you grill on. It’s not something you go to. It is a cooked pig. Period.

‘Cue Guru

The author of the book - Bob Garner’s Book of Barbecue, North Carolina’s Favorite Food - ventured into the food business at 50. He’s now kind of a North Carolina living legend (and ‘cue guru).

Bob Garner is a TV (UNC-TV, Food Network, Travel Channel) personality, speaker, restaurant reviewer and pitmaster.

“Barbecue continues to be refined and repositioned as society changes, because it just plain satisfies some innate need to cook meat over a fire.” – Bob Garner

My First Pig Pickin’

It was 20 years ago, and my company was flying employees down for a house hunting trip. My wife Chris (“I can’t eat anything with a face”) and I were invited to a “pig-pickin’”.  I laughed at the idea.

But I went to it anyway (Chris said we HAD to). It was love at first bite.

So I was sure interested in Bob Garner’s new book.

A History Lesson and a Handbook

Book of Barbecue, North Carolina’s Favorite Food  will be of interest to people who love history and local culture, as well as food. It tells “the why it exists here story” – it  talks about the immigrants hundreds of years ago that started the tradition(s) and it explains how the tradition evolved region by region and the subtle differences from county to county.  Real engaging.

He then describes and reviews many different barbecue establishments across the state. If you are a barbecue lover, I’d suggest throwing this in your trunk, your backpack or your bicycle basket.

Signings

Blair Publishing is hosting a few book signings with Bob in the area:

• Tuesday, May 15, at 6 p.m. at The Pit Authentic Barbecue (where he works) in Raleigh
• Thursday, May 17, at 6 p.m. at McIntyre’s in Pittsboro
• Friday, May 18, at 5 p.m., at the Got to Be N.C. Festival in Raleigh
• Saturday, May 19, at noon, at A Southern Season, in Chapel Hill

Buy It Online

You can also buy the Book of Barbecue online from John F. Blair, Publisher in Winston-Salem, NC.

More NC Book Reviews

If you enjoy NC authors or like supporting North Carolina publishers, browse other CaryCitizen book reviews. Tag: Writers.

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Photo by Alan Pike for Southern Foodways Alliance.

Story by Matt Young. Photo by Roland Hauck. Read more in our Wine & Beer Series.

Cary, NC – Mother’s Day is next Sunday, May 13, 2012. Don’t get caught unprepared, guys! Consider planning your celebration around a bottle of fine wine.

Wine for Mother’s Day

Wine makes a fine gift all by itself, but you can also pair it with flowers or a fabulous home-cooked meal.

Not sure where to start? I’ve got some suggestions for you.

My first suggestion is do not buy her a set of screwdrivers for Mother’s Day. Besides, your house (or your Mom’s house) has a whole drawer full of them in the kitchen, you just call them “butter knives”.

Here’s some interesting wines for under $20 (closer to $15) that might make Mom happy.

Syrah – RagApple Lassie, North Carolina Success Story

Several years ago Frank Hobson Jr., a tobacco (and other things) farmer converted his Yadkin (“Yapa”) Valley fields to vineyards. His wife, Lenna, is the winemaker.  They named the winery after a prize-winning cow that Frank raised in his former farming life.

At the base of Pilot Mountain, they make many of the traditional wines and grow many of the traditional grapes. They started with Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay and then added vines of other grapes.

“Transitioning from tobacco to grapes is not such a stretch agriculturally as one might think, and now other local farmers will begin planting this spring.  Profit per acre from tobacco and grapes is similar.  Profit per acre from grapes made into wine is significantly higher.  So Frank, Jr., and Lenna’s decision to build a winery is a good fit for them.  Frank, Jr., is the quintessential farmer, Lenna is a marketing professional, and both are very comfortable in their respective roles.” – From the RagApple Lassie website.

I tried their Syrah and was pleasantly surprised. It is bold and spicy with hints of cherries and plum and quite dry. Pair it with equally bold foods like Western North Carolina barbecue and roast beef. It can easily be sipped alone but is for wine drinkers that don’t want “shy wine”.

Rosé – Steele Cabernet Franc Rosé (2011)

Steele Winery is just north of Napa Valley and the wine makers at Steele are quite frankly known for other varieties of wines. But this wine is real nice.

This rosé is made with Cabernet Franc grapes – a black-skinned French grape often used in blended wines for its unique character.

When red wines are made, the skins are left on the grape and in the “must” (the grape juice) during fermentation. When rosés are made the skins are removed to give it a lighter color.

Rosés should be chilled. The Steele Cab Franc Rosé has a nose of cherry and is quite pleasing. The wine has a fresh, crisp, fruity-berry almost sweet (but not quite) flavor.

This is a good wine for sipping on the porch on a warm day. I’d pair it with good Brie or Camembert. Or maybe with a Panini at lunch.

Three Wine Ladies – La Perlina Moscato D’Asti

This Italian winery is proud of the fact that it is run by three moms. So much so that the winery is called “Tre Donne” (Translation: “Three Women”).

Tre Donne winery is located on the top of a hill into the Langhe area (Piedmont-North/West Italy). The Lequio family started to grow vines on this soil in 1850.Today the three sisters (Rosanna-Daniela-Antonella) with the help of husbands (Piernicola, Mauro, Gianni) and four employees continue this oenological tradition.The brand Tre Donne is dedicated to the 3 sisters, the last generation of winemakers. Will their 3 daughters do the same? – The Tre Donne web site

This is a sweet, lightly effervescent wine made from Moscato grapes. It has a low alcohol content (think beer) and is fruity and almost lemon-y. It looks almost like Champagne in the glass, but is not as bubbly.

You will impress with this one. Categorize me as one who does not like dessert wines, this one is great. It’s not overly sweet. And it would go beautifully with light desserts – like strawberry shortcake. Or lemon meringue pie.

Don’t forget – May 13th  is Mother’s Day!

“God could not be everywhere and therefore he made Mothers” – Jewish Proverb

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The Wine & Beer Series on CaryCitizen is sponsored by Triangle Wine Company on Davis Drive in Morrisville.

Story by Matt Young. Photo by Kim F.

Cary, NC – With Cinco de Mayo just around the corner (Saturday, May 5), one’s thoughts turn to the beers of Mexico. But let me start with a confession: I love Corona.

Beer snobs say that liking Corona is uncool. I like its color, and its “skunkiness”. And let’s face it: their commercials make you think you need one when you are on the beach. And you do.

But keep your lime. If I want to eat fruit I’ll drink tequila.

Before Corona, Before Mexico

Mexico has more to offer though. Long before there was a “Mexico”, the natives of that part of the world were fermenting “beer” from various plants – mostly corn – it is said. Finally I can put my bachelor’s degree in Anthropology - from 30 years ago - to good use.

There are multiple theories as to how what we now call “beer” got there but there’s one that makes good sense to me.

The Spaniards brought barley from Europe, but I doubt they were making much beer due to taxes and restrictions and most importantly - lack of barley. One thing that is known is that barley-based beer breweries (say that 10 times fast) started popping up in the early 1900’s, at the same time as German immigration to the region.

Coincidence? I think not.

Beyond Corona

Let’s explore Mexico through cerveza. I chose a few you might want to try at your Cinco de Mayo party and act all “beer sommelier”.

Carta Blanca

Tasting notes: This is a low alcohol beer, an American-style lager (just a bit more ABV than Bud), and good for sittin’ on the patio en el sol. This one won’t scare a Corona drinker. It’s yellow, pale and thirst-quenching. It’s good for the price and of course goes great with food laced with jalapeños. Just a touch of hops and not malty like a pale ale. Well carbonated.

The Cuauhtémoc-Moctezuma Brewery also makes Dos Equis and Tecate and has been around for 100 years. In recent history it became a subsidiary of Heineken International.

Pacifico

Tasting notes: Technically the name is Cerveza Pacífico Clara. This is a pilsner. German style, no less. When in Mexico, it’s reportedly what the locals really drink.

This is a “hot country pilsner”.  OK, I made that term up. But it’s what you would expect. You drink it when you are thirsty, not sitting by a roaring fire with your golden retriever at your slippered feet. Or you drink it with spicy food. It is straw-colored and light. Low hop content. Low alcohol.

“So,” you may ask, “why a German style?” The answer is: this brewery was started by some Germans in the early 1900’s.

Negra Modelo

Tasting notes: So here’s where you are showing off a bit at your CdM party. Negra Modelo is referred to by the brewery (now owned by the Anheuser-Busch parent company) as “The cream of beer”. Negra Modelo is a Munich Dunkel Lager. The term simply means “dark lager”. It is also brewed with a slightly different process than the average lager, and while I find it fascinating, I’ll skip that part lest you siesta on me.

It has a subtle caramel character and is a light chocolate-orange in color for a negra. It’s a good starter “brown beer” for the beer novice. Very little hop character, sweet-malty and a tan head. It has slightly more alcohol content than the other two beers I reviewed. Beer tasters would call it “drinkable”, meaning “it goes down easy”.

In a restaurant and ordering steak fajitas or something made with chorizo? This is a good beer to pair with heartier Mexican fare. While German in origin, this is truly a Mexican beer and is wildly popular there.

On a side note, if you want to try a traditional Munich Dunkel, try a Spaten. From the Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu (founded in 1397) brewery, it will give you an idea of the original intent, if you will, of a Dunkel: toasty, malty, caramel-y.

May 5

If you are celebrating Cinco de Mayo (The Battle of Puebla) this year, why not see if you can get out of your comfort zone and explore the beers that are really consumed in Mexico? 

VIVA MEXICO!

“We’re Mexican, not Mexican’t!” - George Lopez

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The Wine & Beer Series on CaryCitizen is sponsored by Triangle Wine Company on Davis Drive in Morrisville.

Story and photo by Barbara Shepherd of The Sister Cities Association

Cary, NC – Where do culinary students from Le Touquet, France come to work and study their craft?  If you answered “Cary and the Triangle,” you would be right.  Yes, culinary students from France, right here in Cary! You can sample their work on April 26 at Page-Walker in Cary.

The Exchange Program

Ten students from the Lycée d’État Hôtelier du Touquet in Cary’s sister city of Le Touquet, France, are spending the month of April sharpening their culinary skills at leading restaurants such as Herons in The Umstead.  The visit is part of a long-standing Cary Sister Cities exchange program between Wake Tech Culinary Arts’ program and the Le Touquet culinary school.  Every year, students from the Wake Tech program travel to France in March while a group of French students come to the Cary area in April.

Jeff Hadley, department head for the Wake Tech Culinary Arts department has led the trips to France for a number of years.

“The French exchange program has so many benefits for our students from a professional and cultural perspective. Even though a different language is spoken there, the students learn our industry has a universal language all its own.”

Students from both countries also gain a greater awareness of how our two cultures view food and dining.

Public Sampling

This year, for the first time, the public will have a chance to meet these budding culinary stars at a Culinary Exchange Networking Reception on April 26 from 5:30 – 7:30 at the Page Walker Art and History Center, sponsored by Sister Cities Association of Cary, the Cary Chamber of Commerce and the Heart of Cary.

Guests can sample a variety of French wines from TotalWine and hors d’ouevres provided by local Cary restaurants including The Matthews House, Klaras and Unwine’d Wine Bar.  The event is free for Sister Cities and Cary Chamber members and $5.00 for everyone else.

Event Details

• April 26, 2012   5:30 – 7:30
• Page Walker Arts and History Center, 199 Ambassador Loop, Downtown Cary
• Space is limited, and tickets are required.
• Cost: Free for Chamber members and Sister Cities members. General Public: $5.00
• Get Tickets.

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Community coverage on CaryCitizen is sponsored in part by Studio 180 Salon in Downtown Cary.

Story by Jim McGrody, Director of Culinary Services at Rex Hospital. Photo by Hal Goodtree from Pastrami King on 23rd Street in Manhattan.

Cary, NC – I am kind of a sandwich snob. I love complex flavors, high quality meats and cheeses and, of course, the bread has to be perfect.

Searching for the Perfect Sandwich

I have spent a lot of time over the last few months developing new high-end sandwiches for our grill menu. I had created a pork burger version of the Vietnamese Bahn Mi sandwich. This is made from seasoned ground pork grilled and topped with a sriracha aioli and marinated vegetables with fresh cilantro, jalapeno and lime. This mouthwatering sandwich is then served on a crusty sesame cemita roll giving it a crunchy texture and an authentic taste.

Another great sandwich we have  is called the ” Bavarian” which is uncured ham, smoked provolone cheese, grilled onions with caraway seeds and our “house made” pickles. We serve this with a horseradish mayonnaise on a German pretzel roll. These are both awesome and have incredible flavors, but I was still looking for more. I wanted the quintessential sandwich on our menu.

I wanted something people would crave.

Brining Things – Taking the “Plunge”

I had been playing around with brining my own corned beef. I take beef briskets and place them in a brine with curing salt, Kosher salt, pickling spices and water. I then brine them for 10 days. This corned beef is better than you can buy. It has an amazing depth of flavor and texture that store bought corned beef just cannot match. In addition, the pride and satisfaction of making your own is really quite rewarding.

All Hail! Pastrami!

Having this beef made me think about Pastrami, the sexy cousin of corned beef. Pastrami is the king of all sandwich meats, this is the meat that Katz’s Deli in NYC has made famous.

Pastrami has the depth of flavor of corned beef with the addition of cracked pepper, coriander, garlic and crushed red pepper. It is then slow smoked over wood chips until moist and tender. What could be better than this? I have never made beef pastrami before but I sure was going to give it a try.

I took some charcoals from my BBQ pit in the back yard, gathered some hickory wood chips, loaded my car, and went to work. Once there I took some raw corned beef briskets from our brine. I rubbed it with the peppercorn coriander rub and I placed it over my charcoal and burning wood chips.

5 hours later, I had what I was looking for, homemade pastrami. It was so easy to do and the taste and texture is far superior then store bought.

From now on, I will never buy pastrami from a store. I will make it right in my back yard.

Recipe: Homemade Pastrami

Here is how you make it.

Ingredients:

• 5-7  pound raw corned beef brisket (must be corned beef brisket, not regular beef brisket and it must be raw)
• ½ cup whole black peppercorns
• ½ cup whole coriander
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Directions:

• Place all spices in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle and pulverize until a coarse grind is achieved.
• Rub spice mixture liberally over meat on all sides.
• Place in a smoker using indirect heat. Smoke for 1 hour then cook until meat is tender( up to 4  more hours) and is fork tender.

Allow to cool slightly and slice very thin ACROSS the grain. Place between two slices of Jewish rye bread with some good mustard and you will have the King of Sandwiches… made by the king or queen of your back yard grill.

Stay tuned for more backyard recipes.

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Jim McGrody is the Director Culinary Services at Rex Healthcare in Raleigh and Author of “What We Feed Our Patients”, a widely recognized book on how chefs are changing hospital food forever. Follow Jim on Twitter @blackhatchefs for more recipes and cooking tips. Or check him out on facebook.com/blackhatchefs.

Story by Lindsey Chester.

Cary, NC-  I recently flew back to my mother’s house in Eugene, Oregon to prepare her home for sale. Several intriguing pieces of memorabilia turned up, and one of them was my Grandmother’s recipe book.

My Grandma’s Recipe Book

Mind you, I never met my maternal grandmother. She passed away in 1943 when my Mom was a senior in high school (about my eldest daughter’s age). This book had survived all these years, through the many moves of not only my grandparents during the Depression, but moves by my Mom and Dad during my childhood.

Two the things I cherish are the magazine pages with dates like March 1932 from McCall’s magazine and the  handwritten recipes in a penmanship previously unknown to me.

I discovered that most of the recipes contained desserts. Not the workaday meals I expected. Oddly,  my grandmother was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes after giving birth to my uncle in 1928 and couldn’t actually eat any of these desserts.

Grandma Lydia “Jane” Lindsey enjoyed entertaining and hosted many parties as she headed up one organization or another. She famously hosted recitals of dramatic readings in her Springfield, Oregon living room.

Here is a classic recipe that I imagine she whipped up when her lady friends came calling.

Recipe: Grandma’s 1920′s Strawberry Whips

This recipe was cut out from a magazine, possibly in promotion of Crisco lard, a new product at the time.

It states: “Cakes made with Crisco have a fine even texture.”

• 1C sugar
• 1/2 C Crisco
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 C Milk
• 3 eggs beaten light
• 2 C pastry flour
• 2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t vanilla

Cream the Crisco, sugar and salt together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs. Mix thoroughly. Sift the flour and baking powder together and add alternately with the milk.

Last add the vanilla. Bake in 16 greased muffin tins at 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

When cool, cut out the center of each cake and fill with this mixture:

1 quart of strawberries mashed with 1/2 C powdered sugar.

Drain all of the juice. Then mix in 1 C sweetened whipped cream.

Chill before filling the cakes and serve with a strawberry on top of each.

This recipe still sounds tasty, and with such an early strawberry season, I plan to give this a try.

Story by Matt Young. Photo by Kim Cofino.

Cary, NC – Wheat beers are seen everywhere these days. They are low hopped (as in “not bitter”), tasty – often banana-y, straw-colored and generally hazy gold in color. Herewith, just in time for Spring, is my guide to enjoying the pleasures of wheat beers.

Wheat Beers: Don’t Be Witless, Be a Weiss Guy

Wheat beers are good to try if you want to have a first foray into the beauty of craft beers. They aren’t real rich and dark, like stouts. They aren’t crazy high in alcohol like Belgians (not the people – the beer).  They don’t make your tongue split with hops like an IPA. They aren’t overly fruity, which is always a plus with me. Brewers occasionally add tastefully mild spices and citrus peels to their concoctions.

They are also a nice sipping style as the weather warms.

Hefe, White, Wit, Weiss, Weizen

If you see these words in the name of a beer – it most likely means there’s wheat in the recipe.

“Hefe” means “yeast” in German. And there’s a reason for the prominent use of the word “yeast” in this beer style. Wheat beers feature special yeast strains which give them their distinctive banana (some say bubblegum) flavor.

The W words – White, Wit, Weiss, Weizen refer to the use of wheat in the recipe. For the record, a rule of thumb for brewers when making a wheat beers is about half barley, half wheat. Many wheat beers are not filtered and thus have a cloudy look. The countries that perfected the wheat beer processes include Germany, Holland, Belgium and France (we’re talking about beer..big surprise eh?).

Wheat Beers to Try

Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier. If we can say that Pilsner Urquell (Czech Republic)  is the father/mother of all pilsners and lagers that put American beer on the map 100 years ago – we need to give Weihenstephaner due props in the wheat world. One reason is that it is the world’s oldest brewery.  I mean ancient. Some beer historians claim the year to be 768 AD.

The bottle label claims 1040 AD to be the birth of the brewery - just to be sure - as there is documented evidence of an actual brewery license that names the brewery in 1040. Whatever. There’s no brewery that’s even close in age.

The beer I tasted for this article – Hefe Weissbier - is downright delicious. Not overwhelming to the wheat novice. Cloudy and straw colored. Banana and lemon hints. Even a little clove. Not a hint of bitterness to my palate.

Weeping Willow Wit. Fast forward to 2008. And travel from Bavaria to our back yard in Kinston, NC.  Peace. Love. And Beer is their motto (it’s mine too). And being a homebrewer, I can relate to the desire for these local brewers to have wanted to move from homebrewing to commercial microbrewing.

I tried their Belgian Style Wit.  It is cloudy and amber-straw colored and has an adequate head. Tastes of citrus and coriander (there’s orange peel and coriander actually in the brew). Real nice.

Leikeim Dunkle Weiss. Once you’ve graduated from the basic wits and weisses and hefes…try this one. While not high in alcohol (5.5% by volume) this is a big boy/big girl beer. It’s rich, but not like a porter. But it does have that toasty brown beer “nose”.

And it even comes in those flip-top (“Grolsch-style”) bottles we homebrewers love to re-use.

Leikeim Brauhaus is one of the largest German breweries with a long tradition.

The beer is brownish copper and has a tan head. The aroma has a hint of cloves and some citrus. Nice going down. Not harsh at all, like wheat beers should be. I drank this paired with home-made ham and split pea soup, which worked.

‘Tis the Saison

I wanted to give Saisons a little press here, since the weather is warming up.

Saison is French for “season”. They are traditionally fermented at higher temperatures than lagers and ales and are a style that brewers without fancy equipment like to try this time of year, since the ambient temperature in the brewer’s garage is about right now. Many saisons are made with wheat.

Aviator Brewing Company in Fuquay-Varina makes a nice Saison Farmhouse Ale. And by the way - Triangle Wine and Beer Company  in Morrisville is having a Habanero Saison tasting sponsored by Aviator Brewery on Saturday, May 26. Gotta try that.

A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine! That’s why you always feel smarter after a few beers. – Cliff Clavin

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The Wine & Beer Series on CaryCitizen is sponsored by Triangle Wine Company on Davis Drive in Morrisville.

Story by Leslie Huffman, first published on April 14, 2011. photo by Emilie Hardman.

Cary, NC – Passover is one of my favorite holidays. It has a great story, and is full of wonderful traditions and like most good holidays – a major part of it is “about the food”.

This year, Passover is celebrated from April 18-26. The brisket is always wonderful, the matzah ball soup marvelous, but Passover dessert has always been a challenge.

One of the many “plagues of Passover” is the flourless, dairy-less, tasteless desserts keeping with Passover dietary tradition. The other plague, while not as bad as locusts, is ending up with way too much matzah. How many ways can you eat matzah in a week?

My favorite way to eat matzah will finally free you from the bondage of a boring dessert and liberate that extra box of matzah. I make this every year and give some out to my friends and family.  This is a favorite of everyone and has become an expected tradition.

Best of all, it’s a recipe easy enough for everyone to enjoy.

“It’s a Miracle!” Chocolate-Covered Matzah

Here’s what you need:

• 4 to 6 sheets unsalted matzah
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup firmly-packed brown sugar
• 12 oz semisweet chocolate chips (my favorite is Ghirardelli’s)

Other options include:

• Toasted crushed almonds, pecans, walnuts, or hazelnuts
• Or a big pinch of sea salt

Here’s what you do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a cookie sheet with foil and lay matzah on pan (break pieces to fit).
3. Melt brown sugar with butter in saucepan; boil until mixture coats a spoon.
4. Brush matzah with brown sugar mixture.
5. Bake in oven for 10 minutes until it starts to bubble.
6. Cover with chocolate chips and put back in the oven just until the chips start to melt.
7. Spread the chocolate to cover the matzah.
8. Sprinkle your optional nuts or sea salt on top.
9. Freeze until hard, then break into pieces.

Freedom tastes divine.