Welcome to Delicious Bits.
This issue’s five surprises include a visit to a boujee rooftop bar in downtown Savannah, my recipe for you’ll-never-guess-what-kind-of-butter Chicken Thighs, two secret ingredients from The Flavor Museum, and a link to someone I recently fell hard for in the food world.
First up, it’s 5:00 somewhere…shall we spin the wheel and see where we land?
Bar Julian- 201 Port Street, Savannah, GA
The needle drops on some Nora Jones, ambient glasses clinking, and the bubble of conversation between friends and patrons. Yes, that’s a warm breeze grazing your shoulder as you turn your gaze through the wide-open glass doors.
Aaah, the view.
As the sun sets, it’s a sweeping 270˚ panorama of color and light dancing across the backdrop of Savannah’s cityscape, the Talmadge bridge, and the Eastern Wharf.
Yes, and? Why, the cocktails!
Enjoy flavorful, creative libations that please the palate and stir conversation. They’ve got some finessed Mocktails, too, so even my mom, a teetotaler, enjoyed the fun.
What else? Elevated food.
Mediterranean-inspired salads, platters with interesting munchies and dips, and pizzas are all great for sharing with your friends. We loved the whipped feta and Muhammara, but the pepperoni butter shook me. That butter, plus a nice Cab, and I was giddy.
While Bar Julian was a superior perch for happy hour, this rooftop lounge features live music on Tuesday nights, a DJ after dark on Fridays and Saturdays, and brunch on both Saturdays and Sundays. According to the top-notch bar staff, the vibe varies from subdued to lively as the seasons fluctuate and the patrons celebrate the events and holidays that round out Savannah’s eclectic character. Pick the time that suits your mojo.
Insider’s tip: Use the Valet parking, Bar Julian will validate your ticket.
Next up, what I did once I carried all that inspiration back to my abode.
Before I left Bar Julian, I slipped my bartender Liz a note on my napkin. It said I love P.B. Do you think he loves me too? Check yes or no.
Featured Recipe
P.B. Chicken Thighs, aka Pepperoni Butter Chicken
Confession: butter and salt are on pedestals in my kitchen. And as I’ve already admitted, this glossy flavor-bomb butter shook me. In the best way. It was as if someone extracted the bursting flavor from the salame piccante's fermented, smoked, encased, and cured past life and rebirthed it into an airy, sweet, delicate cream ready to fulfill my pizza fantasy in one brazen bread swoop. Oh yeah. That glorious and peppy butter was the inspiration and star ingredient for my recipe.
If you give my recipe a go, consider making extra P.B. to slather on some crusty bread. You might also add a green salad with a bright lemon vinaigrette because— in cooking only—there is no such thing as too rich.
Description:
Pepperoni Butter doused chicken thighs that gently hug a gooey grated fresh mozzarella center.
Serves: 4
Portion Size: 1 thigh
Ingredients
1 stick of salted butter, softened.
2” of a pepperoni stick, diced.
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
8 oz. mozzarella, shredded
1 T garlic powder
2 T Honey Aleppo pepper
Kosher Salt
Directions
Mix the softened butter in a food processor with the pepperoni until the pepperoni is reduced to tiny bits. Set aside.
Sandwich the chicken thighs between two sheets of parchment paper and pound them flat. Baste with pepperoni butter. Season with garlic powder, Honey Aleppo pepper, and salt. Top with shredded cheese and roll. Place the thighs on a parchment-covered baking sheet, then baste the outside of each piece with the pepperoni butter.
Cooking Time and Temperatures
Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake for 20 minutes, then baste again with pepperoni butter. Turn up the oven to 375°F and bake another 20 minutes or until the thermometer reads 165°F.
Please let me know how this turns out for you and what you served alongside.
Introducing the Flavor Museum
My guy Peter nicknamed my pantry “The Flavor Museum.” But The Flavor Museum is an expanding concept (like body parts!) spilling beyond my pantry to claim a large sliding drawer, a kitchen cabinet, and a linen closet in the hall that we now call “the sub-pantry.”
Today I’m going to share with you two of my most-most-used flavors that go on so, so many dishes.
1) Black Truffle Salt from the San Francisco Salt Company. This is available in different sizes, but I’ve quickly graduated to the one-pound bag. The small boxes? Great surcees!
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Surcee recipients claim that the salt has more truffle flavor than truffle oil. It’s great on French fries or to make steamed green beans into something your kids will gobble up like French fries. (Don’t forget the butter on those beans, of course.) Try it on chargrilled carrots, omelets filled with cheese and mushrooms, and buttered popcorn. If they made this into a lip gloss flavor, well, I would simply not have lips left on my face. I’d have to mark them on each day, like my brows.
2) Honey Aleppo Pepper. Again, this is something that makes a great surcee if you buy the two-pack. The honey sweetens the bite of the red flake pepper, filling your pie hole with a warm “Susie-bake-oven” effect instead of the hot poker-in-the-throat issue that can happen when a regular chili flake goes AWOL during a festive feast. (Would it be okay to say a feastive among us friends? Thanks!)
The Honey Aleppo Pepper enlivens your hash browns, plays nicely with brown sugar to rub on meats or salmon, and gives homemade salad dressings a welcome kick in the pants. Almost anytime you want to layer some complexity to a broth or soup, you can’t go wrong with a pinch of Honey Aleppo Pepper. Just a pinch will do ya’!
That brings us to our final bit for today.
We’ve been so decadent here in this first issue that I’d better bring it back around to the side of wholesome and healthy. So I’m going to share with you a link to one of my newest food crushes, Emily Nunn of The Department of Salad.
Emily is not new to the world of food journalism, but I only recently discovered her bright writing and recipes. Would it not be nice to make something besides your routine salads? Yes! It is helpful to have someone deliver the salad news.
I hope that you’ve enjoyed this first edition of my newsletter and that you’ll stick with me for the ride. I’m working on a bigger project (involving food and recipes, as you might have guessed) and would love to keep you posted on that if you’re okay with us being friends in this way.
Until next time, may your life be even more delish!
Susan