New to Cincy

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by wilson1010

Just for the record, The Science Hill Inn Dining Room in Shelbyville Ky is the ultimate elegant Southern dining experience. Great daytrip. Cruise Wakefield Scarce, internationally recognized antique store, and dine at the restaurant.

Boone Tavern in Berea, Beaumont Inn in Harrodsburg, and Holly Hill Inn in Midway are all arguably just as ultimate. And all have ancillary antiquing/historical activities nearby. But yeah, Science Hill is nice.

[goyguy]

Mrs Goyguy Sr, South Carolina raised, refused to set foot in Hugo's after reading that the proprietor was claiming a menu item to be his own creation: "Ah have two recipes for this, he's got to be kidding." And how does one make home cookin' "sophisticated" anyway? I crack up at the thought of presenting a plate with a half-inch square chunk of cornbread, topped with a dollop of free-range chitlins marinated in "very old" bourbon + sprinkled with trimmed kudzu leaves, the whole thing set off by drizzled tabasco sauce. There's a reason Suth'na's have the highest rate of obesity in the country. Portions are huge, everything tastes delicious, and most dishes either started out as unhealthy or had all the nutrients cooked out of them.
My family is not one to go to for advice on where to get good down-home meals in Cincinnati. We may not be "foodies," but we're hard to please when it comes to the regional cuisine of the Old Confederacy. Greyhound Tavern? Meh. Boone Tavern? "It had some GOOD selections maybe forty years ago, but it keeps going downhill. Never was the same since so-and-so retired." And so on.
There was a C-D thread concerning BBQ not long ago, and based on all the raves about BBQ Revue on Madison Rd just beyond Center of Cincinnati I decided to host the most recent forum meet-up there. Meh. Much good has been said about Aunt Flora's, due to open (or maybe it has?) downtown after relocating from Price Hill. But some bloggers sneered at the dubiously homemade selections, and called the proprietors out specifically on the mac n' cheese. They knew what shortcuts had been taken, and I immediately recognized those shortcuts to be the same ones a Boston friend clued me in on. (Hint: It involves Stouffer's mac n' cheese, lol.) Unanimous praise has only been heard for Lena's, on Seymour Ave in Bond Hill, but they're pretty much all about ribs and also get bad-mouthed a lot for their sloooooooow and take-out-only service. And they may have closed, since the owner infamously cried poor-mouth in the paper a year or so back. (She was looking for a piece of the economic stimulus pie!)
All I know is that among one of the few things I'd actually kill for is some real peach cobbler.

[ChevelleSS]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

So to the OP who is asking, just what variety of Southern food are you looking for?

I'm really just looking for anything that slows your heart down a little when you eat it

Really though any place with good BBQ, fried chicken, mac and cheese. I'd especially like somewhere to go on the weekends to get a big southern breakfast (grits, biscuits n gravy, etc).

Thanks everyone for the recommendations so far!

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by ChevelleSS

I'm really just looking for anything that slows your heart down a little when you eat it

Really though any place with good BBQ, fried chicken, mac and cheese. I'd especially like somewhere to go on the weekends to get a big southern breakfast (grits, biscuits n gravy, etc).

Thanks everyone for the recommendations so far!

Right up the street form you. BBQ Revue has the best mac and cheese in town. Good ribs and pulled pork. No breakfast. For that, you have to go to Tuckers on Vine.

[kjbrill]

Ummm... biscuits n gravy. If you find a really good one, post it on here and let us know.

Everyplace I know the biscuits taste like they came out of a tube, though these can be better than some so-called homemade. To me a homemade prepared biscuit using lard and buttermilk still cannot be beat. And the gravy. If done right you can actually see true chunks of pork sausage, not specks of something indecipherable, and the final color will have a tinge to it from the pork fat since the sausage is not drained prior to adding the milk and flour to form the gravy. Haven't had a really great biscuits and gravy since my aunt quit working for the Frontier Nursing Hospital in Hazard, KY. Now folks that is over 50 years ago.

[Wilson513]

I hate to admit it, but my biscuits and gravy recipe uses Grands. I know, I know, homemade biscuits are better, but I'm not much of a baker. And, if I have homemade biscuits it seems a shame to dump gravy all over them.

Having said that:

Brown a 1 lb roll of Jimmy Dean pork sausage in a skillet. Break it up in chunks about crouton size and cook until much fat is rendered out but it is not yet crisp.

Remove sausage chunks with a slotted spoon.

Make a roux with flour and the sausage fat.

Add 2 cups half and half to deglaze the skillet then bring to a simmer and continue until the gravy thickens. Add the sausage chunks back in, pepper to taste and pour over Grands.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by wilson1010

I hate to admit it, but my biscuits and gravy recipe uses Grands. I know, I know, homemade biscuits are better, but I'm not much of a baker. And, if I have homemade biscuits it seems a shame to dump gravy all over them.

Having said that:

Brown a 1 lb roll of Jimmy Dean pork sausage in a skillet. Break it up in chunks about crouton size and cook until much fat is rendered out but it is not yet crisp.

Remove sausage chunks with a slotted spoon.

Make a roux with flour and the sausage fat.

Add 2 cups half and half to deglaze the skillet then bring to a simmer and continue until the gravy thickens. Add the sausage chunks back in, pepper to taste and pour over Grands.

Grands are better than poorly done homemade. Your sausage gravy is the type I recommend, whether the pork is Jimmy Dean, Tennessee Pride, Bob Evans, whoever. The secret is keep that pork fat in as you make the roux before adding the half & half, as this is where all the taste comes from.

Most of the so-called country sausage gravy sold either in the stores, or for that matter served in restaurants, reminds me of the old Wendy's commercial Where's the Beef? only in this case it's Where's the Pork?

I compare it to my favorite breakfast food goetta - if done right it is great, the majority are Blahhh.

[Sarah Perry]

If y'all want to take shortcuts, the frozen biscuits in plastic bags are a definite cut above the ones in the tube. I agree, once you dump sausage gravy all over the biscuit, you can't tell much about it. But honestly, they're not all that difficult to make from scratch.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by Sarah Perry

If y'all want to take shortcuts, the frozen biscuits in plastic bags are a definite cut above the ones in the tube. I agree, once you dump sausage gravy all over the biscuit, you can't tell much about it. But honestly, they're not all that difficult to make from scratch.

Sarah, this is one I will disagree with you on. The frozen ones in the bag come out closer to hockey pucks than biscuits. If I follow the directions, the ones in the tube at least will separate without a knife involved. The ones in the bag may need a chisel.

[abr7rmj]

Originally Posted by ChevelleSS

I'm really just looking for anything that slows your heart down a little when you eat it

Really though any place with good BBQ, fried chicken, mac and cheese. I'd especially like somewhere to go on the weekends to get a big southern breakfast (grits, biscuits n gravy, etc).

Thanks everyone for the recommendations so far!

It's a chain, but Cracker Barrel has heart-stopping Southern breakfasts. Bob Evans also has the big breakfasts, but a little less Southern.